Sussex historian Chris Hare offers wide range of spring and summer talks and walks

As he says, it is the largest number of events he has offered for about 25 years. Full details and booking on https://www.tickettailor.com/events/historypeople

“I have always loved history ever since my grandmother used to buy me the Ladybird adventures in history books, maybe from about the age of seven or eight. They were always pretty well told and when I look at them now they are quite well written. They always tried to make you sympathetic towards the character that they were dealing with but they get across really well the salient points of history and I think that's how my interest in history started.”

Chris, who is director of History People UK, added: “Also my mum was always very Sussex orientated. She was often reciting Hilaire Belloc. When I was 12 I did a school project. I decided to do the history between the River Adur and the River Arun, and I wanted to visit every church and get every church guidebook. So from that age I had a pretty good idea of the archaeology and history of the area.”

And it's a love which has stayed with him ever since. This summer’s talks will be covering a period of several hundred years: “But my main area is the 19th century and a number of the talks are focused on that. I suppose you just acquire the knowledge. I'm 63 now. I've been interested in history since the age of eight and I have been researching history since the age of 16 so I think it just builds up!”

But it's a particular approach to history that Chris takes, one that makes him want to share his knowledge through the talks: “For me history is about the human experience. Different people research history and write about history for different reasons. A lot of people get into it because they love analysing the data about who owned what land and the distribution of land between the church and secular for instance, but for me I have always been interested in the human aspect. Belloc said that knowing history gives you a bigger perspective on a single lifetime. That's what I'm interested in. I'm interested in people and how they dealt with the problems that they were up against. There is a genre now of history called emotional history. We know what the historical documents say and we know when the government passed certain laws but it's a question of what people felt about them at the time. And I think if you look at Trump now, people are not deciding methodically what they feel about him. I think when it comes to Trump, I think it is very much about an emotional response that people have. I think you can see in history that the people that are the most successful are the ones that manage to bring whole generations together emotionally.”

Chris’s talks include:

The Spirit of the English countryside: Richard Jefferies and W H Hudson in Worthing. Sat 3 May 2:30pm-4:00pm, Sidney Walter Centre, BN11 1DS.

Witchcraft and Cunning folk in West Sussex: history and myth. Sat 24 May 2:30pm -4:00 pm, Sidney Walter Centre, BN11 1DS.

Siege and Plunder: the Civil War comes to Chichester in 1642. Wed 25 Jun 7:00pm-8:30pm, Chichester City Arts Centre, PO19 3DQ.

Worthing 1825: Life in Worthing two hundred years ago. Sat 28 Jun 2:30pm-4:00pm, Sidney Walter Centre, BN11 1DS.

Historic Chichester: a guided walk discovering some tales of the unexpected. Sun 29 Jun 2:30pm-4:00pm. Meet outside Chichester railway station (northern side), PO19 8DL.

The West Sussex Fascists of the 1930s Wed 2 Jul 7:00pm-8:30pm, Chichester City Arts Centre, PO19 3DQ.

Worthing 1925: Life in Worthing 100 years ago. Sat 5 Jul 2:30 pm-4:00pm, Sidney Walter Centre, BN11 1DS

Historic Chichester: a guided walk discovering some tales of the unexpected. Sun 6 Jul 2:30pm-4:00 pm. Meet outside Chichester railway station (northern side), PO19 8DL

Witchcraft and Cunning folk in West Sussex: history and myth. Wed 9 Jul 7:00pm-8:30pm, Chichester City Arts Centre, PO19 3DQ

Historic Chichester: a guided walk discovering some tales of the unexpected. Sun 13 Jul 2:30pm - 4:00PM. Meet outside Chichester railway station (northern side), PO19 8DL

Hilaire Belloc, the Politics of Living. Wed 16 Jul 7:00pm-8:30pm, Chichester City Arts Centre, PO19 3DQ

Historic Arundel, a guided walk. Wed 13 Aug 7:00pm-8:30pm, Arundel Museum, BN18 9PA

Arundel, a rotten borough? Thu 14 Aug 7:00 pm-8:30pm, Arundel Museum, BN18 9PA

Historic Arundel, a guided walk. Wed 20 Aug 7:00pm-8:30pm, Arundel Museum, BN18 9PA