Neil Oliver Podcast

This week Neil steps foot into Cambuskenneth Abbey, a place that was to prove crucial in the making of a legendary king - Robert the Bruce.The Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 was a defining moment in the long Wars of Scottish Independence. Overlooked by the mighty Stirling castle, which sits atop the crag and tail of an extinct volcano, is a low-lying plain with the lazy meandering river Forth running across it. It was here that Robert the Bruce and his army took on a much larger English force, which was spearheaded by its dreaded heavy cavalry. Cambuskenneth Abbey, built beside the river Forth, plays an important part in Robert the Bruce’s story and this famous battle – it’s a location so thick with history you can almost feel it brush against your face!Check out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series INSTAGRAM account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Neil’s journey takes us to one of the most beautiful glens in Scotland where we discover, what is believed to be, the oldest living thing in Europe - the Fortingall Yew.The legendary Fortingall Yew nestles at the eastern end of Glen Lyon – the glen which Sir Walter Scott called the ‘longest, loneliest and loveliest in Scotland’. Many experts put the age of the yew at 9000 years old, which means it was a thousand years old before the British Isles were even created. The tree has seen so much history. Folklore in this part of Scotland has it that Pontious Pilate was born here and as a young child would shelter under the Fortingall Yew before he was whisked off to Rome and into the history books. What’s certain is, the tree and the glen are somewhere that have always mattered to our ancestors, a place that invites deep contemplation as you stand there and mark the long passage of time  Check out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series INSTAGRAM account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Neil takes us to a place of legends, a place where, with a glint in his eye, he proudly tells us he was once the warm-up act to Bono and U2 on the Pyramid stage.Glastonbury Tor is a magical landscape shimmering with ancient traditions, beauty and horrors. It’s a place that has always been, and still feels ‘special, the air around it thick with history. Tales of Jesus, the Holy Grail, King Arthur and Guinevere, Glastonbury is a place swirling with wonderful fables and myths.Check out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series INSTAGRAM account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we travel with Neil to Angus where the glowing red eye of Arbroath Abbey casts a watchful look over us.It was here at the Abbey in 1320 that the Declaration of Arbroath was written, a revolutionary document whose words would resonate around the world. Drafted as a declaration of Scottish independence and a show of support for the celebrated king, Robert the Bruce, it also held the monarch and his heirs to account. On the heels of Magna Carta this document, was another important steppingstone on the path to democracy. Check out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series INSTAGRAM account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Neil takes us off the beaten track to St Nectan’s Glen in Cornwall. It’s one of a number of enchanted places that are dotted all over the British Isles, which have a real aura and presence around them. Shimmering with crystal clear waters and enclosed by cliffs coated with rich moss and ferns it’s a place that somehow manages to stop you in your tracks and invites you to think.Named after St Nectan who lived a life of contemplation and devotion there in the 5th century the glen, with its healing waters, has long been a place of importance and pilgrimage for our ancient ancestors. Long before St Nectan and for as long as can be remembered it was known as a special place, a deep reservoir of human hopes, dreams and the future. Check out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series INSTAGRAM account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Neil travels to an island at the heart of the British Isles.Snaefell is the highest mountain on the Isle of Man. On a clear day, from it’s peak, they say you can spin 360 degrees and see seven Kingdoms. The Isle of Man is at the geographical centre of the British Isles archipelago, but it’s a place apart. A constitutional anomaly that’s under the UK’s protection, but has its own parliament, laws and language. It’s an island of great beauty, deep history and stubborn independence, a place with the power to reset your equilibrium.Check out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series INSTAGRAM account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Neil travels to see an iconic document that shook the world.In 1215 a battling king squared up to his rebellious barons in a power struggle produced Magna Carta and a new political order. A charter of rights that started to pin back the monarchy, Magna Carta declared not even a king is above the law. Never again would an English monarch have absolute power. Magna Carta and a follow-up document the Charter of the Forest helped lay the foundations for parliamentary democracy, shaping the world we live in today.Check out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series INSTAGRAM account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Neil travels back in time, almost 1000 years, to what became the city of Durham and the construction of a majestic building whose beauty and power have resonated down through the centuries ever since – Durham cathedral.Our ancestors have always been driven by the need to build. In the years following the turn of the first millennium a great wave of energy ran across Europe and through the British Isles. In 1093 the Normans started building a cathedral whose towering pillars, cavernous interiors and powerful presence make it truly feel like a mountain raised by humans.Check out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series INSTAGRAM account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Neil’s journey takes us in search of the battle whose ferocity, violence and savagery shocked the whole of the British Isles and shaped its borders for ever – the battle of Brunanburh.The repercussions from this momentous battle, fought in AD 937, have reverberated right up to the present day. Long remembered as the Great War this was the battle that sliced the long island in two!Check out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series Instagram account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Neil takes us in search of the remains of one the greatest Kings ever to reign in the British Isles.Not far from Winchester’s city centre, in amongst modern residential streets, Neil is on the trail of the location where Alfred the Great’s bones were buried. Alfred the Great took on the Vikings and won. On the field of battle he was a brave and determined soldier. As a ruler his intellect and charisma helped put in place many of the practical and philosophical foundations that have shaped the British Isles. The hunt for his remains gives us a telling snapshot of the man and the history that followed his deathCheck out, NEIL OLIVER LOVE LETTER – the series INSTAGRAM account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.