What have the Romans ever given us? It’s an oft-quoted line from Monty Python’s Life of Brian that provokes quite a list of benefits, from medicine and education to wine and public baths. They also gave us the Latin alphabet – and western calligraphy is instantly recognisable by the use of Latin script. The Latin…

Another fascinating example of medieval calligraphy has gone on display in South Tyneside. Bede’s World in Jarrow is currently home to the only surviving full-scale replica of the Codex Amiatinus – and now South Shields Museum & Art Gallery is playing host to the oldest of the four surviving copies of the Boldon Book. Both manuscripts are in…

Bede’s World in Jarrow is currently exhibiting the only existing copy of the Codex Amiatinus. When I first laid eyes on the full-scale replica of Bede’s Great Bible, it was still packed in boxes on a pallet in the museum’s reception, fresh from its flight from Italy. To see it on display, in all its…

Starting a new business is like having another child. So, just like I did with my son James, four, and daughter Sophie, two, I’ve been taking my new ‘baby’ along to some groups to meet other ‘parents’. Having written about The Inspire Network during my time as a journalist, one of the first people I…

I believe in fate stepping in to lend a hand every now and again. I changed supermarket jobs as a student and ended up meeting my husband. As I sought out a career in journalism, he was the one who encouraged me to apply for work experience with the newspaper that went on to employ me…