Gretel le Maître Ponders Beauty, with Bede & other guests

By Gretel le MaîtreSociety & Culture Arts Books History Places & Travel

Gretel le Maître Ponders Beauty, with Bede & other guests episodes

October 31, 2025 A Line in the Sand ↗️
Listener mail is warmly welcomed 🙋‍♀️

Support the show
Gretel le Maître likes to look for the beauty and curiosities in life, one day at a time. She shares with you snippets from books about history, art and literature and regularly takes you on adventures to new locations, to explore churches, cathedrals and architecture. We’ve reached over 80,000 downloads.
Don’t try to listen in order, unless you’re very committed. Dip in and out, choosing an episode based on the title information. Whether you are interested in history, literature, poetry or one-to-one chatting, I try to give you something that will interest you. This is a podcast for the curious, the kind and - possibly - the suffering or lonely.
Historian Tom Holland is the Honorary Patron of this podcast. Thank you Tom🙏
Gretel invites you to accompany her as she navigates the world a day at a time; the podcast is unscripted, it’s ad-free.

Gretel loves the world and history, architecture, literature and people. And so is determined to walk this path with light footsteps and with humour and warmth. Let’s gather up the beautiful things and ponder them in our hearts.
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes. I would be so grateful if you would spare the time to give me a kind review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😬☺️🥴
Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Sir Richard Eyre; Actors Guy Henry and Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Writer David Willem; Author Nicola Cornick; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela T...
8 min
October 29, 2025 Food, glorious Food! Ring out those Bells! And Love in Adversity.
Send us a text
Support the show
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes.

Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Actor Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela Tilby; Author Bijan Omrani; Dorset garden hedgehog family, the Venerable Bede and other guests.

Your daily dose of calm. Unpolished and unscripted but no ads and no requests for anything but your company. Trying to make the world a gentler place with literature, history and nature. Please don’t expect to find a polished product. The output is lower tier but the authenticity is hopefully as good as it gets. 🦔

35, 000 All-time Downloads since October 2024 🥳

Love Gretel 🌝

45 min
October 28, 2025 An Important Literary Preface; Simon; A Thames thick with Boats; and Bunter pets Lord Wimsey
Send us a text
Support the show
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes.

Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Actor Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela Tilby; Author Bijan Omrani; Dorset garden hedgehog family, the Venerable Bede and other guests.

Your daily dose of calm. Unpolished and unscripted but no ads and no requests for anything but your company. Trying to make the world a gentler place with literature, history and nature. Please don’t expect to find a polished product. The output is lower tier but the authenticity is hopefully as good as it gets. 🦔

35, 000 All-time Downloads since October 2024 🥳

Love Gretel 🌝

49 min
October 27, 2025 St Crispin’s Day. That went by; This may too. Lord Peter Rings his Bell
Send us a text
Support the show
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes.

Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Actor Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela Tilby; Author Bijan Omrani; Dorset garden hedgehog family, the Venerable Bede and other guests.

Your daily dose of calm. Unpolished and unscripted but no ads and no requests for anything but your company. Trying to make the world a gentler place with literature, history and nature. Please don’t expect to find a polished product. The output is lower tier but the authenticity is hopefully as good as it gets. 🦔

35, 000 All-time Downloads since October 2024 🥳

Love Gretel 🌝

45 min
October 25, 2025 Anglo-Saxon Mood Music with Chastisement and Ruin
Listener mail is warmly welcomed 🙋‍♀️

Support the show
Gretel le Maître likes to look for the beauty and curiosities in life, one day at a time. She shares with you snippets from books about history, art and literature and regularly takes you on adventures to new locations, to explore churches, cathedrals and architecture. We’ve reached over 80,000 downloads.
Don’t try to listen in order, unless you’re very committed. Dip in and out, choosing an episode based on the title information. Whether you are interested in history, literature, poetry or one-to-one chatting, I try to give you something that will interest you. This is a podcast for the curious, the kind and - possibly - the suffering or lonely.
Historian Tom Holland is the Honorary Patron of this podcast. Thank you Tom🙏
Gretel invites you to accompany her as she navigates the world a day at a time; the podcast is unscripted, it’s ad-free.

Gretel loves the world and history, architecture, literature and people. And so is determined to walk this path with light footsteps and with humour and warmth. Let’s gather up the beautiful things and ponder them in our hearts.
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes. I would be so grateful if you would spare the time to give me a kind review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😬☺️🥴
Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Sir Richard Eyre; Actors Guy Henry and Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Writer David Willem; Author Nicola Cornick; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela T...
37 min
October 24, 2025 Churches Galore as Gretel steps into the ancient space of St John the Evangelist, Milborne Port, and continues with Bell Practice at Snowy Fenchurch St Paul
Send us a text
Support the show
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes.

Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Actor Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela Tilby; Author Bijan Omrani; Dorset garden hedgehog family, the Venerable Bede and other guests.

Your daily dose of calm. Unpolished and unscripted but no ads and no requests for anything but your company. Trying to make the world a gentler place with literature, history and nature. Please don’t expect to find a polished product. The output is lower tier but the authenticity is hopefully as good as it gets. 🦔

35, 000 All-time Downloads since October 2024 🥳

Love Gretel 🌝

36 min
October 23, 2025Wimsey agrees to Ring Treble Bob 🔔; Old Mother’s Recipes; and A Corpse in a Grand Procession
Send us a text
Hello and a very happy Thursday to you wherever you are.
I know I have regular listeners in America, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Ukraine, Poland, The Russian Federation and Czechia. Do say hello via my email: [email protected]. I would love to hear about you.
Extracts from St Cuthbert’s Corpse: A Life After Death published by Sacristy Press are copyright © David Willem. Copies of his book are available fromhttps://www.sacristy.co.uk/book/cuthberts-corpse.

Do you have a piece of music you would like me to play? An extract from a book to read? A poem? A message to a loved one?
And do check X and BlueSky for a teeny poll I’m putting out.
Thank you to everyone. Especially to you who help fund this little (mis?) adventure? No one need ever feel obliged to pay and there will never be ads or subscriptions.
Lots of love and adieu for today ☺️🍁🌳🦔🥳
Support the show
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes.

Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Actor Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela Tilby; Author Bijan Omrani; Dorset garden hedgehog family, the Venerable Bede and other guests.

Your daily dose of calm. Unpolished and unscripted but no ads and no requests for anything but your company. Trying to make the world a gentler place with literature, history and nature. Please don’t expect to find a polished product. The output is lower tier but the authenticity is hopefully as good as it gets. 🦔

35, 000 All-time Downloads since October 2024 🥳

Love Gretel 🌝
45 min
October 22, 2025 Jerusalem, Donatus and a close to Bede’s Life of Cuthbert; The Nine Tailors, The Decorated and Sir Walter Scott. A Veritable Feast!
Send us a text
Extracts from St Cuthbert’s Corpse: A Life After Death published by Sacristy Press are copyright © David Willem. Copies of his book are available fromhttps://www.sacristy.co.uk/book/cuthberts-corpse.
Support the show
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes.

Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Actor Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela Tilby; Author Bijan Omrani; Dorset garden hedgehog family, the Venerable Bede and other guests.

Your daily dose of calm. Unpolished and unscripted but no ads and no requests for anything but your company. Trying to make the world a gentler place with literature, history and nature. Please don’t expect to find a polished product. The output is lower tier but the authenticity is hopefully as good as it gets. 🦔

35, 000 All-time Downloads since October 2024 🥳

Love Gretel 🌝

43 min
October 21, 2025 We begin The Nine Tailors; Discuss Cuthbert’s Remains; Hear of Pepys’ Maths Lessons; and Ponder Grief
Send us a text
Hello and welcome to tonight’s episode, where we turn our backs to the lighter days and face with chins high the winter months ahead, by beginning The Nine Tailors, one of Dorothy L Sayers’ finest novels. Thank you so much for joining me and I hope you are well.
Extracts from St Cuthbert’s Corpse: A Life After Death published by Sacristy Press are copyright © David Willem. Copies of his book are available fromhttps://www.sacristy.co.uk/book/cuthberts-corpse.

Lots of love xx
Support the show
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes.

Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Actor Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela Tilby; Author Bijan Omrani; Dorset garden hedgehog family, the Venerable Bede and other guests.

Your daily dose of calm. Unpolished and unscripted but no ads and no requests for anything but your company. Trying to make the world a gentler place with literature, history and nature. Please don’t expect to find a polished product. The output is lower tier but the authenticity is hopefully as good as it gets. 🦔

35, 000 All-time Downloads since October 2024 🥳

Love Gretel 🌝

55 min
October 20, 2025 The Evolution of Church Architecture; Saint Frideswide and Gretel climbs a Bell Tower 🔔
Listener mail is warmly welcomed 🙋‍♀️

Support the show
Gretel le Maître likes to look for the beauty and curiosities in life, one day at a time. She shares with you snippets from books about history, art and literature and regularly takes you on adventures to new locations, to explore churches, cathedrals and architecture. We’ve reached over 80,000 downloads.
Don’t try to listen in order, unless you’re very committed. Dip in and out, choosing an episode based on the title information. Whether you are interested in history, literature, poetry or one-to-one chatting, I try to give you something that will interest you. This is a podcast for the curious, the kind and - possibly - the suffering or lonely.
Historian Tom Holland is the Honorary Patron of this podcast. Thank you Tom🙏
Gretel invites you to accompany her as she navigates the world a day at a time; the podcast is unscripted, it’s ad-free.

Gretel loves the world and history, architecture, literature and people. And so is determined to walk this path with light footsteps and with humour and warmth. Let’s gather up the beautiful things and ponder them in our hearts.
Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes. I would be so grateful if you would spare the time to give me a kind review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😬☺️🥴
Previous guests include historian Tom Holland; Sir Richard Eyre; Actors Guy Henry and Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Writer David Willem; Author Nicola Cornick; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela T...
37 min

About Gretel le Maître Ponders Beauty, with Bede & other guests

From the publisher's feed

Gretel le Maître likes to look for the beauty and curiosities in life, one day at a time. She shares with you snippets from books about history, art and literature and regularly takes you on…