The people keeping our historic foot ferries afloat
Foot ferries were once a vital cog in the UK’s transport network, but those keeping these ancient river crossings going tell of an aging workforce,…
Writing and other Musings
I’m a journalist by training.
These days my writing and photography work sit side by side in my work for the BBC. Specialising in longer form features, I always prefer to speak with people before getting out the camera.
It all goes back to getting both a sense of the person you’re speaking with, their story, their way of being. These acts of intense listening – combined with a degree of collaboration in terms of what might work visually to express that person and their story or sense of the present moment – helps (I hope) inform the images I then make with each contributor.
The bomb hunters scouring UK waters for unexploded weapons
Hundreds of thousands of unexploded bombs and mines carpet the seabed off the UK’s coast. Many are known about and mapped, but plenty more are…
The tower block scaffolding that became ‘a ladder for cat burglars’
Lone parent Leoni Ward was fast asleep in her tower block flat when a neighbour spotted a person dressed in dark clothing pushing at her…
How were the 39 people killed in the Essex lorry case identified?
Four years ago, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were found in an airtight container on the back of a lorry. For the first time, those…
How will museums of tomorrow tell the Covid pandemic story?
Covid’s arrival in early 2020 threw organisations and businesses into turmoil. But while most workers grappled with furlough, social distancing and working from home, a…
The leafy street in Leigh-on-Sea that 80 sham firms call home
If you believed the paperwork, Henry Drive in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, would be a thriving business metropolis specialising in the wholesale clothing market with entrepreneurs from…
The cemetery where iron crosses mark people with disabilities
In a small village cemetery, 34 tiny iron crosses poke up through the soil. Many are twisted and a few are missing completely. On some,…
On set with the stars and makers of low-budget horror
Actress Tess Gustard has just one job today – to open a door, look towards a steel-framed bed and scream at the very top of…
How many other Hemsbys are waiting to happen?
Coastal erosion claimed three homes in Hemsby last weekend and a further two properties in the village are deemed at serious risk. Are there other…
“I could not read or write until 18, now I am a professor”
Diagnosed with autism and global development delay in his early years, Jason Arday was unable to speak until he was 11 years old and could…
The place where one in ten homes is largely unused
“I will never be able to buy my own home here,” says Polly Robins, a third-generation resident of Wells-next-the-Sea, a North Norfolk town sitting in…
Inside the floating polar research laboratory
The vessel the public once hoped to name Boaty McBoatface is poised to return to Antarctica after making its first voyage to the continent a…
“What were her last words? Did she ask for us?”
For years, Jack Sepple and Ashley Wadsworth were modern-day pen pals who used the internet to bridge the 4,500-mile (7,242km) distance between them. But just…
The waitress. And cleaner. And carer. And mother
Each page of the calendar on Rebecca Kellaway’s living room wall is full of highlighted entries – some for her, some for her 10-year-old daughter.…
Can going off-grid offset the cost of living crisis?
At the eastern edge of England, where the River Blackwater meets the North Sea, a small community whose size oscillates with the seasons lives without…
A Civil War letter, the witch finder’s guide and the last letter from Lawrence of Arabia
Dr Sarah Demelo was helping a researcher when she came across a handwritten letter pasted into a book. The letter was penned by Sir Thomas…
How does someone just disappear?
A man police feared had been murdered has been discovered living in undergrowth, five years after vanishing. But why do people go missing, and how…
The village where the women are still in charge
Nearly 100 years ago the long-defunct Westminster Gazette told its readers about a village “run by women”. The village in question was Lawford, which adjoins…
The tower block residents who want their old cladding back
Housing providers up and down the country have been removing potentially dangerous cladding in the aftermath of the Grenfell disaster which left 72 people dead.…
Why are old post boxes suddenly vanishing?
There are more than 100,000 post boxes across the UK. But in recent weeks, villages across East Anglia have reported their post boxes missing. Why?…
What do the new inflation figures mean for those already struggling to make ends meet?
New figures show that soaring food costs and the energy bill crisis are driving up prices at their fastest rate in almost 30 years, squeezing…
The hamlet that has all but disappeared
Once home to a small but thriving community of 11 families. the tiny hamlet of Berney Arms today lies empty but for an unused pub,…
‘Ed Sheeran inspired me to rap about my home town’
It is 2019 and Ryan Bruce is sitting eating his lunch during a work break. On the radio, Mr Bruce, whose rap name is RB…
World War Two: The brothers who fled Nazi occupation by kayak
Whenever Niels Peteri visits a beach, he thinks of his father, Henri. He was one of the “Engelandvaarders” who, on 21 September 1941, stepped back…
Allotment or a holiday? I’d rather have my allotment
During the coronavirus pandemic, waiting lists for an allotment have swelled. What do these small patches of land mean to those who cultivate them? Hidden…
Could certain accents cost people a job?
The UK is a rich tapestry of dialects and accents which in turn reflect the ebbs and flow of local history. But why are people…
The street where neighbours eat, dance and party together
Six people or two households can now meet outside in England. The BBC asked what lockdown-easing measures meant to one neighbourhood where Covid-19 has already…
The Eerie Emptiness of our lockdown spaces
England is home to countless indoor and outdoor public spaces which are usually teeming with life and visitors. I visited a number of them for…
Inside a Covid-19 Mass Vaccination Centre
Last week, the government opened 10 new mass vaccination sites across England. I spent the afternoon in one of them and joined two patients on…
Covid-19: Demand for Norfolk school key worker places ‘outstrips supply’
Children of key workers are entitled to attend school during the lockdown, according to government regulations. But many head teachers say they simply do not…
Covid-19 School decision: It’s like the Vicar of Dibley – no, no, no, no… yes.
The following piece was publishd on the BBC News website on 5 January, 2021. Thousands of pupils expecting to return to school in Essex learned…
The message never sent: “Maybe going to die in the container, can’t breathe any more dear.”
The following piece was written and produced for BBC News Online and was published on 21 December, 2020 “Maybe going to die in the container,…
Before Covid-19, working from home was a luxurious oddity. For many it is now the norm
When James and Jo Williamson first started working from home together, everything was fine. “We both had our desks set up in our home office.…
Covid-19 Vaccine: Portraits of Hope
As Covid-19 vaccinations began last week across the UK, I was granted access to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital to meet some of those…
The creator of the abbreviation ‘OMG’ would have loved Emojis
The following piece was inspired by and entry in Snopes about the derivation of the term OMG. How interesting, I thought. Then I realised the…
Covid 19 and the curious world of lockdown DIY
“When you called,” architectural photographer Tim Soar told me, “the last thing I thought it would be about was my putting up some shelves.” “Indeed,”…
Cemre Yesil’s Hayal and Hakikat: Thumbs, forefingers and murder in the time of Abdul Hamid II.
For a work so dominated by photographed hands, it is perhaps no accident that Cemre Yesil Gonenli’s Hayal and Hakikat opens with the book maker’s…
Weird Assignments: How to Wear a Scarf. No seriously.
My son asked me whether he could borrow my scarf. Then he asked me how best to tie it up. I told him, “you know…
The Mayflower Ship that Never Set Sail to the USA
It was a lofty ambition: To build a life-size replica of the 17th Century Mayflower and recreate the Transatlantic crossing that set sail 400 years…
Covid-19: The chaplains at the front line of end-of-life care
Coronavirus has radically altered the working life of hospitals. But it has not just affected the doctors, nurses and ancillary staff. While the main role…
Covid-19: Inside the hospice caring for the most vulnerable of the vulnerable
They care for dying patients in their final days, but having to shut their charity shops and cancel fundraising events has put UK hospices in…
Covid-19: Southwold and Lowestoft
Lowestoft and Southwold sit just 14 miles apart on the eastern edge of England. As the coronavirus outbreak took hold, one was bustling with people,…
Elections, elections, elections: The thoughts of people in Canvey and Peterborough
Recently dispatched to Canvey Island and Peterborough to photograph the faces of the electorate voting in the European elections and the Peterborough by-elections, here are…
Music at the Margins: Creativity in the wake of Gang Violence
Ipswich, Suffolk. Two rival groups of boys and young men engage in a “turf war”, in this case J-Block versus Neno. They start trading insults…
Numbers of falsely accused teachers are of ‘considerable concern’, says union
Last year, I did a piece of work looking into the geography of, and reasons behind, teacher bans. In response, a source at the National…
Presumed Dead: The Torments of Those Left Behind
I first learned of the Presumption of Death act in researching a piece of work I did on unidentified bodies a few years ago. When…
The asylum seekers, migrants and refugees in search of legitimacy
This is the scene. A BBC crew arrives at a Red Cross refugee drop-in centre with a large camera and a long furry microphone. Is…
In the footsteps of Corrie McKeague
The last known images of Corrie Mckeague alive are grainy, monochrome pictures captured by a town centre CCTV system. The 23-year-old airman had been for…
Teaching bans: Gathering the numbers
Months ago, I sent a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Education asking for details of all teachers banned in the past five…
Meeting the Historical Re-enactors
It turns out the world of historical re-enactment is far from a monolith of collectively-interested hobbyists. Re-enactment has its own sub-cultures, sea-shelves and side-streets. For…
Crunching Data: The School Holiday Fines
A couple of weeks ago my piece of work on school holiday and truancy penalties was broadcast across telly, the wireless and t’internet. The online…
They have a dream: Harwich friends buy an overgrown, graffiti-strewn derelict Tudor fort
If only every assignment went like this: Hey Laurence, could you do a picture feature on an abandoned fort out on the Essex coast? Alas,…
Dead Ends: Life and work in the shadows of unsolved murders
Loose ends make a fertile breeding ground for rumour, suspicion and fear. And few loose ends linger in quite the same way as an unsolved…
Gosh, a woman with a comic shop
We were trying something a little new on the BBC news website a few weeks back. The idea – called ‘Slides’ – was to try…
Faith Spear: The Prison Monitor Who Spoke Out
I recently wrote a piece about a former prison monitor who had raised concerns about the state of prison monitoring. As a result of her…
‘Little America’: Where the Stars and Stripes fly high
Many years ago, when I worked in Suffolk, I had an idea for a feature about the peculiarly American feel of north west Suffolk. Yes,…
The school nobody wants to talk about
This week saw the publication of an extended project on a primary school in Essex. With its austere 1920s red brick design, outdoor playgrounds and…
The public costs of bird control
A few months back I was leaving an inquest and noticed some guys putting up netting around a council building. They told me it was…
Inside Reggie Kray’s old prison cell at Blundeston
There are some places you never imagine you’ll end up. Take, for example, the prison cell which was once home to one of east London’s…
India Chipchase: Lured to sheet-covered home by a ‘meticulous’ killer
A seemingly kind passer-by stopped to help a distressed woman outside a nightclub. But far from being a helping hand, Edward Tenniswood was a calculated…
The Schoolboy Killer
First, a vulnerable man was found in a town centre park with more than 100 knife wounds. Second, a young Saudi woman was found stabbed…
Treasure finds in England
“Walking with a purpose.” What a great phrase! It came from a metal detectorist called Stuart Eldon while I was producing an Inside Out film…
Unidentified bodies, Cockley Cley and the people trying to give the unnamed dead a name
I couldn’t believe there were more than 1,000 people in the UK who were dead, unnamed and with nobody to mourn them. In this age…
Fertility and aphrodisiacs in the 17th Century
I’m a bit old fashioned. I grew up on letters rather than email and I can still remember the excitement of opening my first ever,…
Amputees: how people adjust to life after limb loss
Being the odd one out is strangely invigorating, a good-for-the-soul experience. I experienced it being the only white man on a Tanzania-bound cargo ferry, I…
For the love of ‘Soup’
Above all else, I love spending time with people. Family. Friends. And work subjects. Yes, you can probably get what you ‘need’ from a quick…
De Beers myth: Do people spend a month’s salary on a diamond engagement ring?
Some say you should spend three months’ salary on an engagement ring. Or perhaps two. Or maybe even one. Over the years these ring-wallet equations…
The ubiquity of the modern beep
We’re surrounded by beeps. From reversing vehicles to supermarket checkouts to trains, they punctuate our day. But what’s the story behind them? (the piece which…
Mods and rockers 50 years on since Clacton ‘invasion’
Fifty years ago, England was invaded. At least, that’s what the headlines claimed. The invaders? Fans of two-wheeled transport. They were the mods and the…
What do those squiggles on the pavement actually mean?
Look down at British roads and pavements and there’s often a slew of squiggles, dots and arrows, painted in a plethora of hues. But what…
People always say the same thing about tattoos
News just in – tattooing is no longer the preserve of bikers, sailors and convicts. More than that, celebrities are getting tattoos. And women too.…
Shoes, tattoos and female bodybuilding
Behind the scenes I've been having fun meeting some of the nation's more unusual academics. It was an idea born when I heard about a…
M40 minibus disaster 20 year anniversary
Last week I was on an assignment speaking with some of those affected by the M40 minibus disaster, which happened 20 years ago. They included…