Steve Roberts
Freelance writer, published author, public speaker, private tutor
GLOBETROTTING
I've done a bit of travelling in my time and am always casting my writer's eye over 'stuff' in case there's something I can scribe about. At the last count I had set foot in 29 different countries, including the UK of course. Here's my list with a few anecdotes:
UNITED KINGDOM - includes island hopping (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Orkney, Shetland Islands and not forgetting the Isle of Wight) and a few visits to Gibraltar
IRELAND - Dublin, the only time I've managed to fly from my local airport, Bournemouth
FRANCE (Paris via Eurostar for my 40th and a memorable drive around Normandy)
SPAIN
PORTUGAL
ITALY
SAN MARINO
VATICAN CITY
MONACO (but I didn't break the bank at Monte Carlo)
GERMANY (including some of the former East Germany)
BELGIUM (another Eurostar, this time to Brussels)
ICELAND
USA
CANADA (including a trip aboard the 'Rocky Mountaineer')
NORWAY
SWEDEN
DENMARK
FINLAND
RUSSIA (a memorable day in St Petersburg on an individual visa - very intrepid)
SWITZERLAND
HOLLAND
INDIA (a business trip to Chennai. It was the monsoon season so I didn't see much of the place sadly)
FAROE ISLANDS
GREECE (including Athens)
TURKEY (Asia and Europe, including the fab ISTANBUL)
ROMANIA
UKRAINE (including Crimea which was part of Ukraine at the time)
CROATIA
MALTA
I have had a grand total of 1,543 magazine articles published in more than 80 different publications (correct @ 30/04/2024).
REGULAR COLUMNS
As an historian I love writing about characters from the past and contribute series of 'Greats' for a number of magazines.
I have regular monthly or bi-monthly columns in 6 magazines up and down the country. These are (with numbers of published articles in brackets):
COTSWOLD LIFE (115)
SUFFOLK NORFOLK LIFE (95)
HAMPSHIRE LIFE (61)
CHESHIRE LIFE (47)
THE NORTHUMBRIAN (27)
CORNWALL LIFE & CORNWALL LIFE HOME & GARDEN (26)
LOCAL HISTORY COLUMNS
I have contributed local history columns to a trio of local magazines mainly for the love of it but also to spread the word about our rich heritage:
HIGHCLIFFE HERALD (105)
CHRISTCHURCH EYE (82)
MUDEFORD MAG (27)
COUNTY, CITY and REGIONAL MAGAZINES
As well as my regular columns I have also contributed one-off articles to a number of other county magazines:
SOMERSET LIFE (81)
ESSEX LIFE (70)
KENT LIFE (42)
SURREY LIFE (36) - a sadly discontinued magazine
HERTFORDSHIRE LIFE (22)
WILTSHIRE LIFE (20)
SUSSEX LIFE (18)
DEVON LIFE (15)
EXETER LIFE (14)
DORSET LIFE (13)
WHAT'S WHAT magazine - SHROPSHIRE (8)
LINCOLNSHIRE LIFE & LINCOLNSHIRE POACHER (8)
BERKSHIRE LIFE (7) - another sadly discontinued magazine
THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE (7)
SUFFOLK MAGAZINE (7)
LAKE DISTRICT & LANCASHIRE LIFE (6)
DERBYSHIRE LIFE (6)
CORNWALL TODAY (4)
DOWN YOUR WAY - YORKSHIRE (4)
YORKSHIRE RIDINGS magazine (2) - discontinued
ABSOLUTE HEREFORDSHIRE (2) - discontinued
CAMBRIDGESHIRE COUNTY (2)
PURBECK (2)
DORSET (1)
NORFOLK MAGAZINE (1)
YORKSHIRE LIFE (1)
BRIGHTON ARGUS (1)
RAILWAY MAGAZINES
One of my guilty pleasures is rail travel (I detest driving because there are so few competent/considerate motorists about any longer!)
I have written for the following railway publications. My 'Britain by Bradshaw' features for RAIL magazine have given me particular pleasure.
RAIL (23)
BACK TRACK (18)
TODAY'S RAILWAYS (15)
RAILWAYS ILLUSTRATED (14)
STEAM WORLD (14)
RAILWAY BYLINES (8)
STEAM DAYS (6)
BRITISH RAILWAYS ILLUSTRATED (4)
HERITAGE RAILWAY (4)
THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE (4)
THE REST OF THE UK and IRELAND
I get around as I've also written for magazines in Scotland, Ireland and Wales. This included a pair of memorable research/photography trips to Orkney (2014) and the Shetland Islands (2016)
SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER (28)
WELSH COUNTRY (20)
THE SCOTS MAGAZINE (20)
SCOTTISH MEMORIES (16) - discontinued
SCOTLAND MAGAZINE (8)
SCOTS HERITAGE (6)
IRELAND of the WELCOMES (5)
MILITARY HISTORY
Another favoured subject of mine. I want to pay a personal tribute to the late Dr. Neil Faulkner here, the former editor of Military History Matters, who gave me sound advice, to read some Hemingway and adopt a more economical style of writing. It's advice that has stood me in good stead.
MILITARY HISTORY MATTERS (23)
MILITARY HISTORY (4) - US magazine
BRITAIN at War (3)
WORLD WAR II MAGAZINE (2)
ANCIENT WARFARE (1)
THE MILITARY TIMES (1)
TRAVEL, HERITAGE, the ENVIRONMENT etc
I've written for some magazines where my purpose has been to spread the word about the amazing places we have in the UK to visit:
THIS ENGLAND, EVERGREEN etc (27)
THE COUNTRYMAN (16)
BRITISH HERITAGE (13) - sadly discontinued
MAIL on SUNDAY travel section (2)
FAMILY HISTORY, GENEALOGY & MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY
I also quite like a dabble into family history. As well as writing one or two personal stories I've also written a bunch of royal histories for Family Tree magazine which has been fun.
DISCOVER YOUR ANCESTORS (12)
FAMILY TREE magazine (10)
ALL ABOUT HISTORY (2)
DISCOVER YOUR HISTORY (1)
SPORT
Although football is really my bag the only sport magazine I'm actively writing for these days is The Cricketer.
THE CRICKETER (7)
BACKPASS (5) - football
LATE TACKLE (3) - football
WHEN SATURDAY COMES (3) - football
MY ROGUES' GALLERY
I think every freelancer should have a rogues' gallery of magazines they no longer write for and these are mine. To be fair they may well have me in their own rogues' galleries and I'm not sure I'd blame them. There's not too many of them anyway:
LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE (135)
CUMBRIA MAGAZINE (32)
THE HIGHLANDER (18)
THE DALESMAN (10)
BEST of BRITISH (7)
HISTORY of WAR (2)