Behind the dream

Inside London's Guildhall in 3D

The people behind the Cradle of English project and the specialist scanning team who captured the Great Hall in extraordinary detail.

The Cradle of English team

Tam McDonald

Tam McDonald

Digital publisher, entrepreneur, and inveterate optimist, Tam McDonald has five decades' experience as a teacher, writer for BBC radio and as a playwright and producer. He survived three years "in corporate" before establishing a corporate publishing business with clients in the hospitality, public sector, and financial services industries. After 23 years as a business mentor at the London Business School, Tam "retired" to the Cotswolds, from where he maintains two key business interests: the Cradle of English is driving the 3D immersive heritage revolution in transforming the worlds of education and tourism, leading with a project digitising the Great Hall of London's Guildhall. And then there's TimeTable London, a podcast featuring convivial conversations in a variety of the city's cosiest pubs: "crafted by lovers of London for lovers of London."

Christopher Winn

Christopher Winn

Christopher Winn is a historian, travel writer and author of some 20 books including the best selling I Never Knew That series. He has written for all the major newspapers, currently as a travel correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and articles for the Spectator. His work in television includes editorial assistant to Terry Wogan on his TV chat show from 1982-92 and associate producer for ITV's I Never Knew That About Britain. Christopher also produced over 100 performances in the stately homes of England of Hugh Massingberd's Ancestral Voices adapted from the diaries of James Lees-Milne, Country House Secretary for the National Trust. He is currently producing three podcasts, Christopher Winn's I Never Knew That, That Wilbur Smith Show and TimeTable London.

Geoff Browell

Geoff Browell

A senior archivist at King's College London. Geoff has a background in historical research. He is chair of AIM25, a charitable consortium of the archives of more than one hundred and fifty cultural organisations in London, including universities, learned societies, galleries, and museums, and was formerly chair of the national Health Archives and Records Group. He is co-founder of XRchiving, an initiative to promote education, standards, and adoption of Extended Reality in heritage and Higher Education, and which organises conferences and workshops. Geoff is the co-author of the recent book The Strand: A Biography and is a co-host of the podcast, TimeTable London.

Thomas Flynn

Thomas Flynn

Thomas Flynn is a UK based digital heritage specialist offering services and advice related to 3D digitisation, online publishing, open access, storytelling, and interoperability. He has worked with UNESCO, Europeana, Oxford University, Creative Commons, and many more organisations. Thomas is a Visiting Fellow to Bournemouth University's Faculty of Archaeology & Anthropology, a co-chair of the IIIF 3D Community Group, and sits on the advisory board of the Rijksmuseum's 2and3D Photography Conference. Thomas runs the Spatial Heritage Review newsletter and LinkedIn Group, is co-author of glam3d.org, and co-founder of museuminabox.org. Previously, Thomas was Cultural Heritage Lead at sketchfab.com and launched the British Museum's first public online collection of 3D scans.

The scanning team

Rob Fanner

Rob Fanner

Innovation & Business Development Manager for Arts University Bournemouth. Supporting the development of collaborative projects to provide external enterprises with access to academic resources and state-of-the-art creative technologies at the Arts University Bournemouth.

David Speare

David Speare

Senior Technician for the Digital Workshop at the Arts University Bournemouth. Supported the project through LiDAR scanning and the processing and digitisation of 3D data for the Guildhall.

Jordan Cutler

Jordan Cutler

Technician Demonstrator for the AUB Innovation Studio and Lecturer in Games Art and Design at Arts University Bournemouth. Supported the project through LiDAR scanning and the processing and digitisation of 3D data for the Guildhall.

David Fletcher

David Fletcher

London-based photogrammetry specialist David Fletcher is known for his extensive work documenting cultural heritage sites, having created well over 2,000 digital 3D models. In his work for National Trust Archaeology and through his personal projects, he allows a global audience to virtually explore numerous London locations, including the Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel, the Southbank Undercroft Skatepark, and various sections of the historic Charterhouse. David's unique approach to digitising and preserving the city's history has been featured by the BBC and Londonist, and through his passion, he has created a significant digital archive that offers new ways to experience London's heritage.