Talking William Wallace with Harry Hill — history, heritage, and a few full‑circle moments
Every so often, archaeology leads me somewhere unexpected — and recently, it led me straight onto Harry Hill’s Podcast/YouTube show. It’s not every day you find yourself discussing William Wallace with Harry Hill and Adam Hills, but that’s exactly where I ended up, and it was an absolute joy.
What struck me most was how kind, curious, and genuinely interested Harry and the whole team were. Yes, it’s a comedy show, but the period we were talking about is anything but light. Scotland in Wallace’s lifetime was a landscape of conflict, shifting power, and extraordinary resilience. Keeping the conversation engaging and accessible while honouring the seriousness of the history was a challenge — but a challenge I loved.
There is so much more to Wallace’s story than we could ever fit into a short segment. His life, the politics of the time, the landscape, the legacy… it’s a tapestry, not a soundbite. But we managed to touch on some of the big themes, and I’m excited for people to see it when the episode airs in June.
Why Scotland is woven into my story
Talking about William Wallace felt natural because Scotland isn’t just a place I’ve studied — it’s a place threaded through my family and my life.
My parents lived in Scotland.
My sister lived in Scotland.
My grandparents and uncle lived there too.
I still have family there.
And I’ve visited more times than I can count.
Scotland has shaped me in ways both personal and professional. I’ve been to Orkney more than ten times, drawn back again and again by its archaeology — that extraordinary layering of human stories in the landscape. If you’ve ever wondered about the necklace and ring I wear every day, they each carry their own Scottish tales. Ask me sometime and I’ll happily share them.
So sitting there with Harry Hill, talking about Wallace, felt like a meeting point of all the threads: my work, my family, my heritage, and my love of storytelling.
A lovely nod from home
Two local papers picked up the story, which felt wonderfully full‑circle. I grew up on the Welsh side of Oswestry, in the Ceiriog Valley, and later went to sixth form at Yale College in Wrexham. To be interviewed by the very papers that covered the area where I learned to love history and landscape felt like a homecoming of its own.
You can read their pieces here:
🔗 The Leader: https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/25935882.harry-hill-youtube-show-show-off-ceiriog-valley-expert/
🔗 Oswestry Advertizer: https://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co.uk/news/25936748.harry-hill-youtube-show-show-off-ceiriog-valley-expert/
