My skills and services

Hello! I'm Sheridan Parsons. I live with my husband Mike and my youngest son, by Glascote Locks in Tamworth. Fun fact: we're 9 miles from the UK's furthest point from the sea, and 13 miles from England's centre of gravity! I'm a bit quirky, in fact I'm quite public about the fact that I am 'neurodiverse', although I’ve never been officially diagnosed. Far from being a disadvantage, it gives me selective hyperfocus, excellent research skills, and a straight talking, honest approach, which many people find quite refreshing, although I'm sure that some find me a tad annoying! To find my social accounts check out my Linktree!

Canalside Homes

Over the years I have helped many people to buy their perfect canalside home. I thoroughly research the whole market and share everything I find with my subscribers. As far as I know, I am the only person in the UK providing this service. To enjoy a free trial, just click the subscribe button on this page and select "Start 7-day free trial". This will give you access to all my past posts, and all the posts I publish over the next seven days. For more information, see this post.

Property Services

I provide 360° virtual tours for houses and narrowboats, EPCs (Energy Performance Certificates), and other freelance estate agency services such as viewings, floor plans, inspection reports, and photos. Many of my appointments are booked through a platform called Viewber. My husband Mike is a mortgage broker.

Books

My books include: a narrowboat log book; my mother's memoirs; a series of history books about Wootton Bassett; and a family history record book. My husband has written two canal themed murder mysteries. You'll find them all here. I am currently working on a history of the teasmade.

Teasmades

I'm considered to be the world expert on the history of teasmades and I used to have the world's largest collection of teasmades (172 of them). I run the biggest teasmade collectors' and enthusiasts' resource on the internet: www.teasmade.uk. I have appeared on TV several times talking about teasmades, most famously in Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention! I'm currently publishing a book about the history of teasmades and digitising all my instruction manuals.

Find a Grave volunteering

I enjoy exploring cemeteries, and I'm a Find a Grave volunteer. My local cemetery sits right next to the Coventry Canal, so it's just a short walk up the towpath from our house.  I take photos of the graves, respond to photo requests, and plot the locations with GPS; I identify unmarked grave sites where possible; and sometimes I research the stories of those who are buried in the graveyard.

Genealogy, house history, and archives

I am an experienced and qualified local historian, house historian, and genealogist, with a particular interest in canal heritage and WW1. I have researched literally hundreds of houses and families. I sometimes do family tree commissions too!

I have a Post Graduate Diploma in Local and Family History which included the following modules:

• Skills And Sources for Family And Local History In England
• House History
• The Theory and Context of Recordkeeping
• Archive Management Principles And Practice
• English Palaeography And Diplomatic
• Public History
• Oral History

I am proud that my previous experience includes working on several contracts for the Royal Voluntary Service Archives. My work included:

• Metatagging thousands of archive images using Adobe Lightroom, correcting cataloguing errors, and writing a guide for my successor.
• Digitising over 7,000 narrative reports.
• Selecting archive content for a high profile national fundraising campaign, and obtaining clearances from copyright holders.
• Answering internal and external enquiries, accessioning and appraising new material, cataloguing using CALM, and more.
• Social media management, increasing Twitter followers from 72 to over 1800.
• Filming a 'behind the scenes' video.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

I am qualified to teach English as a foreign language and I have the following certificates and diplomas:

• Diploma in TEFL / TESOL Level 5
• Advanced Certificate in TEFL - Exam Preparation
• Advanced Certificate in TEFL - IELTS Exam Preparation Course
• Advanced Certificate in TEFL - Online Teaching
• RSA Cert TEFLA (Cambridge)
• OET Knowledge Certificate (for teaching English to international nurses)

Other qualifications

• BA Hons Social Psychology
• Suzuki Violin Teacher
• Shoe Fitter

Canal volunteering

I'm well known for my passion for canals and canalside property. I used to volunteer as a 'greeter' on The Admiral, the Canal and River Trust's widebeam boat, moored at Caen Hill Locks in Devizes. Here in Tamworth, I used to volunteer with the local Towpath Taskforce. I'm pretty handy with a windlass, a litter picker, or a paintbrush!