28 Dales Later

A revealing, personal and sometimes hilarious talk by master of dark fiction, David Mark.

David spent more than fifteen years as a journalist, including seven years as a crime reporter with the Yorkshire Post - walking the Hull streets that would later become the setting for the Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy novels.

He has been championed by such industry luminaries as Val McDermid, Peter James, Mick Herron and Martina Cole. His work has been translated into several languages and his debut novel was an Amazon and Sunday Times bestseller.

He has written eleven novels in the McAvoy series: Dark Winter, Original Skin, Sorrow Bound, Taking Pity, Dead Pretty, Cruel Mercy, Scorched Earth, Cold Bones, Past Life, Blind Justice and the forthcoming Flesh and Blood. His first historical thriller, The Zealot’s Bones, was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. With publishers Severn House, he has written the critically-acclaimed thrillers The Burying Ground, A Rush of Blood, Borrowed Time, Suspicious Minds, Cages and The Whispering Dead.

Dark Winter was selected for the Harrogate New Blood panel (where he was Reader in Residence) and was a Richard & Judy pick and a Sunday Times bestseller. Dead Pretty was long-listed for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger in 2016, as was Cold Bones in 2019.

David’s Radio 4 drama, A Marriage of Inconvenience, aired in 2017. His first novel has been adapted for the stage and was a sell-out smash in Hull. He has also written for the theatre and has contributed articles and reviews to several national and international publications. He is a regular performer at literary festivals and is a sought-after public speaker. He also teaches creative writing.

Katie Hale is the author of a novel, My Name is Monster, and two poetry pamphlets. She is a former MacDowell Fellow, and winner of the Palette Poetry Prize, Munster Chapbook Prize, and Prole Laureate Competition. Her short fiction has been longlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. Katie also runs Dove Cottage Young Poets for Wordsworth Grasmere, and is a Core Team Member of the Writing Squad. In 2022, she won the Northern Writers’ Award for Fiction for her second novel – and her debut poetry collection, White Ghosts, comes out with Nine Arches in March 2023.

In this engrossing Book Flood talk, Katie reads a selection of revealing, unflinching poems from White Ghosts. A work tracing maternal lines and difficult legacies of slavery and whiteness interwoven into the fabric of America. 

Content warning: contains strong language and references to slavery and gun violence.

David Watson gives a summary of the activity at Moorforge Viking Settlement before we settle down in the longhouse with tea and scones to listen to writer Kim Moore's talk. She even brought her trumpet, and then answered questions from Annie Wilson, Sean McGhee, JM Newsome, David Watson, Steve Wharton, William A Young and Caroline Gilfillan.

Kim Moore’s first pamphlet If We Could Speak Like Wolves was a winner in the 2011 Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition, and went on to be shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award and the Lakeland Book of the Year. Her first full length collection The Art of Falling (Seren 2015) won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her second collection All The Men I Never Married was published by Seren in 2021 and her first non-fiction book What The Trumpet Taught Me was published by Smith/Doorstop in May 2022.

She is the co-director of Kendal Poetry Festival and hosts a monthly reading series for Wordsworth Grasmere as well as running regular writing workshops for young people and adults.

28 Dales Later is back - with a twist! We're bringing you a selection of author talks and interviews which were recorded at the Book Flood, a 9-day book fair held at Moorforge Viking Settlement from 22-30 October 2022. This short episode features an introduction to the Book Flood and Moorforge by Steve Wharton, followed by an abridged recording of the talk by Tom Ashton (Lemonade, The Hostiles) which also has contributions from Alan Cleaver (Corpse Roads of Cumbria) and William A Young (Ghosts of the Forest: The Lost Mythology of the North).

Stayed tuned for a flurry of episodes before Christmas with talks by:

Kim Moore (What The Trumpet Taught Me, All The Men I Never Married)

Kathryn Warner (Sex & Sexuality in Medieval England)

Katie Hale (My Name Is Monster, White Ghosts)

Caroline Gilfillan (Hail Sisters of the Revolution)

David Mark (McAvoy crime series, Piece of Mind)

William A Young (Ghosts of the Forest: The Lost Mythology of the North)

Ian Cumpstey (Warrior Lore, Lord Peter and Little Kerstin)

Kathleen Jones (A Passionate Sisterhood, Travelling to the Edge of the World)

Karen Babayan (Swallows and Armenians)

Clare Cooper (Milestones of Motherhood)

Graham Smith (DI Harry Evans and DC Beth Young series)

Helen Haraldsen (Amber's Pony Tales)

Steve Wharton visits the Brontë's school at Cowan Bridge, the inspiration for Lowood in Jane Eyre, before walking to Casterton and finding out more about life in boarding schools. Features interviews with Sedbergh School Deputy Head Lotte Tulloch and Steve's friend and ex-boarder Toby Gregory. 

Natalie Wilson talks to Blackpool based photographer Henry Iddon about some of the many series and projects he has created. In this podcast we delve into his home town, Reasons to be Cheerful, Spots of Time (Lake District by Moonlight) and Henry's ongoing photo series, A Place to Go. 

You can find Henry's work at henryiddon.com 

Steve Wharton tells the story of Nicholas Size, the eccentric hotelier and author of Viking saga 'The Secret Valley', which continues to draw people to the Rannerdale Bluebells every year with its legend of slain soldiers.

Steve Wharton treks to the birthplace of the Brontë sisters in Thornton Village, finding a new appreciation for the landscape they inhabited.

In this seasonal episode, Natalie visits an area of Cumbria that became part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in 2016.  She visits Dent train station, above the cobbled village of Dent in search of singers, and takes a walk in the Howgills in search of snow. 

Guest presenter John Hall takes us to Whitby with subtle soundscapes, interviews and narration that tell of an early medieval tradition that continues today; one that involves the creation of a Horngarth, an enclosure on the coast that must withstand the ebb and flow of three tides.

This podcast is a celebration of our high places, a tribute to our service men and women and a commemoration of our loved ones, residing in heart and memory. In this episode, Natalie Wilson explores how we materialise memorial in the landscape as she uncovers the history of our high war memorials in the Lake District and also gives us a view of how high places are revered in other places around the world.

A bonus episode of 28 Dales Later which was recorded as research for Episode 13: Ballads & Bloodshed. Steve Wharton interviews blacksmiths David Watson and Alex Sowden about their craft, though its evolution, decline and resurgence. They discuss why the trade has little regional diversity, Vikings, Damascus Steel and weapons the Border Reivers would have used.

Steve Wharton ventures to the Debatable Lands of the English/Scottish Borders, uncovering ballads and bloodshed courtesy of the Reivers.

Johnny Campbell meets Carol Hodge, Huddersfield-based artist (Steve Ignorant's Slice of Life, Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts) and solo musician in her own right for an informal chat about creativity in the North.

In this episode, Natalie embarks on a journey to find the geographical centre of Great Britain. She cycles to a small but well known place, only to find a red herring there, in a phone box. She returns on foot and with more knowledge in order to complete her mission, heading to a remote, much lesser known location 

Johnny Campbell heads to the Northumberland coast in search of fortifications that span the ages, from centuries past to the 20th century. Passing by the alluring coastline with white-washed cottages and a smokery, this sonic amble takes in some of the best this coastline has to offer.

Steve Wharton ventures out to Filey Brigg to find stories about fish and fate. Having never visited the seaside resort of Filey, Steve explores the town and the Carr Naze peninsula, the bedrock of which juts out into the North Sea and is known as the Brigg. Folklore and history abound in this area, Steve puts on his storyteller hat to tell a tale of ancient origin with local connections.

Whilst the team prepare full episodes, Steve Wharton finds the surprising equine heritage of a remote Lakeland village name in this short, bonus podcast.

Guest presenters Rob & Harriet Fraser reflect on their journey alongside families of curlews.

Johnny Campbell treads Alfred Wainwright's most-hated summit, Black Hill. With curlews for company and locals on the loose.  

Natalie Wilson guides us to salt marsh, samphire and reminders of slavery along the southern stretch of Morecambe Bay.

Steve Wharton searches for the origin of 'The North of England' with visits to Bradford, Eamont Bridge and Shibden Hall.

Guest presenter Stephen Benson guides us along the far northwestern edge of England.

Johnny Campbell heads to the South Pennines. The packhorse trail in Marsden, West Yorkshire is full to the brim with industrial heritage, a bygone traveller's inn and Norse dialect.

Natalie Wilson explores the moors above Lancaster just a few miles from her home.

These last few months have made us all stay closer to home and for some it’s given rise to a reawakening and reconnection with all the those little treasures that surround us - they are  often in full view but often remain unseen as our gaze and minds are focussed elsewhere. Once we start seeking these treasures and pleasures, they turn up everywhere.

Join Nat on a short walk up Clougha Pike, a lovely lump with a magnificent view from where you can see three counties on a clear day, Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire. She shares her love of birdlife and finds an everyday walk turning into a celebration. 

Steve Wharton uncovers history and folklore on the first stretch of the coast-to-coast cyclepath. 

A teaser for this month's collection of podcasts and blogs, on the theme of 'The Dale On Your Doorstep'.