On Foot
Blimey! Walks
Tread the same cobbles as kings, killers and commoners. Historic towns, hidden stories, secret corners, by lantern, by daylight, by complete surprise.
- Public + private tours
- Lantern night walks
- Custom routes for groups
Touring the UK
New season, bookings open
History entertainment & education
Blimey,It's History!
Britain's most astonishing stories, unbelievable characters and unforgettable adventures.
Walks. Talks. Theatre. Workshops. History without the boring bits.
BLIMEY!★NO WAY!★THAT REALLY HAPPENED?★WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?★ABSOLUTE LEGENDS★STOP IT★BLIMEY!★NO WAY!★THAT REALLY HAPPENED?★WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?★ABSOLUTE LEGENDS★STOP IT★
The Hall of Astonishment
History's Greatest Blimey Moments
Choose Your Adventure
Where would you like to go?
Eight ages of mischief, mayhem and majesty. Pick a world, every one of them is utterly bonkers in its own special way.
🏺AD 43 – 410
Romans
Straight roads, hot baths, and the original British complaint about the weather.
🛶AD 793 – 1066
Vikings
Raiders, traders, and frankly excellent hair-care enthusiasts.
⚔️1066 – 1485
Medieval
Knights, plagues, and a frankly suspicious amount of pottage.
👑1485 – 1603
Tudors
Six wives, two religions, and one extremely smelly king.
🏭1837 – 1901
Victorians
Steam, soot, sideburns and stiff upper lips.
🪖1914 – 1918
WW1
Trenches, tin hats, and the world turned upside-down.
✈️1939 – 1945
WW2
Evacuees, spitfires, spam fritters and unsinkable spirit.
🏙️1945 – Now
Modern Britain
Mini-skirts, motorways, moon landings and Marmite.
Blimey! Experiences
Four ways to get stuck in
In Conversation
An Audience With
Pull up a chair for an evening with the historian. Big stories, juicy detail and a proper conversation with the room, your questions answered, no topic off limits.
- Intimate, conversational format
- Audience Q&A throughout
- Perfect for theatres, libraries & festivals
In Character
Blimey! Theatre
Henry VIII walks in. Boudica wants a word. You can ask them anything. Interactive living-history shows for schools, museums and festivals.
- Solo character pieces
- Multi-actor ensemble shows
- Audience interaction guaranteed
Hands On
Blimey! Workshops
Replica swords, real plague-doctor masks, ancient ciphers and forensic puzzles. Pupils become history detectives, and remember every second.
- KS1–KS5 packages
- Replica artefact kits
- Curriculum linked
Why schools love us
History lessons they'll actually remember.
Curriculum linked. Interactive. Inclusive. Memorable. Creative. Educational. (And we promise not a single worksheet.)
- 16
- Years experience
- 2
- Published books
- 1,000+
- Events delivered
Meet the cast
History's biggest characters
👑
Tudors
1491 – 1547
Henry VIII
“If anyone is found speaking ill of me, off with their head.”
Blimey fact: His jousting accident knocked him out for two hours and may have rewired his personality.
⚔️
Romans
c.30 – 61 AD
Boudica
“I'm fighting for my freedom, my bruised body and my outraged daughters.”
Blimey fact: She torched Roman London so thoroughly there's still a layer of ash 4 metres down.
🎭
Tudors
1564 – 1616
William Shakespeare
“All the world's a stage. (And I want top billing.)”
Blimey fact: He invented over 1,700 words we still use, including 'eyeball' and 'gossip'.
💥
Stuarts
1570 – 1606
Guy Fawkes
“A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.”
Blimey fact: He was caught with 36 barrels of gunpowder, enough to flatten Westminster Abbey.
🕯️
Victorians
1820 – 1910
Florence Nightingale
“How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.”
Blimey fact: She invented a pie chart so terrifying it forced the British Army to wash its hands.
🎩
WW2
1874 – 1965
Winston Churchill
“We shall fight on the beaches…”
Blimey fact: He drank champagne at breakfast, painted 500 paintings, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
The game show
Blimey, or Baloney?
We say something outrageous. You decide if it really happened. Warning: the answer is usually weirder than the question.
Blimey or Baloney?
Score 0 / 0
“Vikings left graffiti inside a 5,000-year-old tomb in Orkney.”
★★★★★
“Jo is a fantastic speaker and is full of Coventry knowledge. Jo spoke to all our year 7 pupils and she had them eating out of the palm of her hand. Staff too were extremely engaged and wanted to participate in her Coventry tours. Not only is Jo a superb tour guide who loves her City and its history (gore and all) but is also a great educator and wants to develop the next generation of tour guides - we hope that Jo will visit our school again.”
Cardinal Newman School
★★★★★
“Blimey! Thank you Jo for giving Greyfriars Arts and Recreation Society another very informative local history story at our last meeting about Coroner Charles Webb Iliffe's Final Case. We look forward to booking you again in the near future.”
Bob — Greyfriars Art & Recreation Society
★★★★★
“Blimey! Once again thank you so much for last week! It went so well and I've got a handful of very excited young people who want to do more!”
Sarah — Grapevine Coventry & Warwickshire
★★★★★
“Thank you so much for your amazing tour! The young people loved it! It was great to have local young people engaged in another side of their city and learning all about the rich heritage and dark side of our amazing city! Thank you so much! We will definitely be doing this again!”
Grapevine Coventry & Warwickshire
★★★★★
“Contacted Jo to enquire about a small private tour as our daughter has a brain injury and cannot cope with an evening tour nor a big group. Guide was warm, friendly and our daughter instantly liked her. Very interesting stories, with age/SEN appropriate questions to involve us all. We cannot wait to do another tour soon.”
Kay — Coventry
★★★★★
“Many many thanks for a great evening walking around Coventry last night. Everyone enjoyed it tremendously with a bit of history, blitz, ghosts and a laugh as we went. Thank you again.”
Bedworth 41 Club
★★★★★
“Jo provided a ghost walk around Coventry City Centre for Allesley Scouts who are aged 10–14. Jo is an excellent guide, her talk provided exactly the right level of fright for their mixed age range, whilst being informative about the traditional and alternative history of Coventry. An excellent night out that both the scouts and adults enjoyed.”
Darren Male, Assistant Group Scout Leader — 1st Coventry (Allesley Village) Scout Group
★★★★★
“Thank you so much for the tour yesterday. I love your passion and knowledge about Coventry, and the way it came across was so inspiring.”
Chloe — Coventry University Students Union
BLIMEY!★NO WAY!★THAT REALLY HAPPENED?★WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?★ABSOLUTE LEGENDS★STOP IT★BLIMEY!★NO WAY!★THAT REALLY HAPPENED?★WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?★ABSOLUTE LEGENDS★STOP IT★
Ready for the next one?
Ready for a big Blimey?
Bring history to life for your school, group, festival or stage. Tell us what you fancy and we'll plot the perfect riot.