John was born in Carlisle but since 1970 he has lived in Newcastle. He was an English teacher for 40 years but managed to combine that career with his passion for the architecture and history of the North of England, a passion that was encouraged when his Auntie Bessie gave him a copy of Niklaus Pevsner ‘s “Cumberland and Westmorland” on his 16th birthday. In the 1980s he left teaching for three years to become a fieldworker on the Re-survey of Listed Buildings in Northumberland and since then he has made many TV programmes about North-Eastern architecture for BBC North East, Tyne Tees and BBC2. On the radio he was a presenter of ‘Take a Place Like’ on Radio Four. He was the co-writer of the 2nd edition of Pevsner’s “Northumberland “and the author of “Northern Pride”, a survey of Northern architecture. His most recent publication is “John Grundy’s History of Newcastle on Tyne” published in 2016 and he remains a regular contributor to “The Northumbrian” magazine.He still lives in the same house that he bought in 1970. He is married with three grown-up children and two beautiful and growing up grand daughters

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• 1. Prehistory2. The Romans3. Anglo-Saxons4. The Vikings5. The Normans6. 13th Century7. Border Wars8. The 1500s9. 17th Century10.Three 17th Century Women11.18th Century Homes and Gardens12.1715 Onwards13. Ordinary Buildings14. Industrial Age15. The Tyne16. 19th Century Mansions and Churches17. Keeping the county Nice

John was born in Carlisle but since 1970 he has lived in Newcastle. He was an English teacher for 40 years but managed to combine that career with his passion for the architecture and history of the North of England, a passion that was encouraged when his Auntie Bessie gave him a copy of Niklaus Pevsner ‘s “Cumberland and Westmorland” on his 16th birthday. In the 1980s he left teaching for three years to become a fieldworker on the Re-survey of Listed Buildings in Northumberland and since then he has made many TV programmes about North-Eastern architecture for BBC North East, Tyne Tees and BBC2. On the radio he was a presenter of ‘Take a Place Like’ on Radio Four. He was the co-writer of the 2nd edition of Pevsner’s “Northumberland “and the author of “Northern Pride”, a survey of Northern architecture. His most recent publication is “John Grundy’s History of Newcastle on Tyne” published in 2016 and he remains a regular contributor to “The Northumbrian” magazine.He still lives in the same house that he bought in 1970. He is married with three grown-up children and two beautiful and growing up grand daughters

Select Guide Rating

• 1. Prehistory2. The Romans3. Anglo-Saxons4. The Vikings5. The Normans6. 13th Century7. Border Wars8. The 1500s9. 17th Century10.Three 17th Century Women11.18th Century Homes and Gardens12.1715 Onwards13. Ordinary Buildings14. Industrial Age15. The Tyne16. 19th Century Mansions and Churches17. Keeping the county Nice