5x15 English Heritage: Celebrating London's Blue Plaques
Gavin Pretor-Pinney is founder and Member 001 of the Cloud Appreciation Society, which has over 64,000 members in 120 countries. He is the author of three top-ten bestselling books about clouds (the international bestsellers The Cloudspotter’s Guide and Cloud Collector’s Handbook, and the recent Cloudspotting for Beginners). Gavin won the Royal Society Book Prize, the most prestigious science book prize in Britain, and the Royal Meteorological Society’s Michael Hunt award.
John Simpson CBE, the BBC’s World Affairs Editor, is considered by his peers and public as the most distinguished foreign correspondent of the age. John has covered most of the major world news events from the 1960s to the present day, and won numerous awards, including an International Emmy, a Peabody and three Baftas. He has also written multiple books, including his Sunday Times bestelling memoir A Mad World, My Masters. He currently presents Unspun World with John Simpson, which is broadcast weekly on the BBC.
Meera Sodha is a cook and a food writer, renowned for her Asian-inspired, meat-free recipes. She writes the Guardian’s weekly ‘The New Vegan’ column, and is the author of three best-selling cookbooks: Made in India, Fresh India and East. Her latest book is Dinner: 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes for the Most Important Meal of the Day. Author photo credit: David Loftus.
Dr Philippa Gregory studied history at the University of Sussex and was awarded a PhD by the University of Edinburgh where she is a Regent and was made Alumna of the Year in 2009. In 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Platinum Award by Neilsen for achieving significant lifetime sales across her entire book output. In 2021, she was awarded a CBE for services to literature and to her charity Gardens for the Gambia. and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and in 2023 she published her groundbreaking history book, Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History, which was also released as a podcast and a children's edition.
Musician, broadcaster, music venue owner as well as a double MOBO Award winning artist, YolanDa Brown is a champion for the importance of musical education.
Ray Mears has become recognised as a leading expert in the skills of Bushcraft and Survival around the world. In 1983 Ray founded Woodlore, Britain’s first School of Wilderness and Bushcraft. Ray’s vision was to provide others with the opportunity to step beyond survival training and really master the skills of traditional wilderness travel. He is best known for the TV Series Ray Mears Bushcraft, Ray Mears World of Survival, Wilderness Walks, Extreme Survival, Wild Britain with Ray Mears, Wild China and the Real Heroes of Telemark. In 2010 Ray was asked by Northumbria police to help them track fugitive killer Raoul Moat.