A former cruise ship and Butlin’s entertainer with a passion for history has produced his own YouTube series about the county as some people “don’t realise just how much is here”.
Karl Bird, 43, from Spilsby had performed in a few plays when attending Spilsby High School before being hired as a singing Redcoat for Butlin’s at the age of 18.
After travelling the world on cruise ships with Carnival Cruiseline between 2001 to 2014, Karl returned to Lincolnshire to spend time with his poorly mother who sadly died in 2018.
Karl currently works part-time doing film review shows for BBC Radio Lincolnshire and has also worked as a self-employed singer.
In his spare time, Karl worked with his dad Maurice, who was a cameraman on their documentary. It was originally going to be a one-off longer film and ended up turning into a nine episode YouTube series called ‘Why the world needs Lincolnshire’.
Karl produced the YouTube series with his dad Maurice.
They tried to travel to every corner of Lincolnshire starting in 2019 and the first episode of the YouTube series aired in January this year.
Karl sadly lost his dad in January, who was a script writer for famous comedian Ken Dodd during the 1970s and 80s and this features in episode two of the series.
He was pleased they were able to share the filming journey together about the county they both love.
Karl performing one of his shows on a cruise ship in Australia.
Karl told The Lincolnite: “To me Lincolnshire is definitely about the people and the community and how we all pull together.
“It is a very close knit community, but we are also quieter about it and I feel as a county we all need to be proud of everything we achieve. We are humble in Lincolnshire and don’t really shout about all the great things and people from here.
“Lincolnshire is a place that is very unsung. 99% of what is in Lincolnshire is unknown to many outside of it. It is steeped in history and beautiful landscapes and historic places, but if you think you know Lincolnshire you don’t, there is so much to it.”
He added that people as far afield as America and Australia have tuned in to watch his series, with episode six of nine due to be released on Wednesday, February 24.
Episode six will focus on world’s firsts including topics such as the tallest spire in Louth, Margaret Thatcher, and the first barcode in Britain being scanned at a supermarket in Spalding.
Looking ahead to the future, Karl said he has several other projects pending. He wants to do another YouTube series encouraging people to travel and go to film locations around the UK.
He also wants to do a documentary about inspirational authors across the United Kingdom whose books have been turned into films.
Why the world needs Lincolnshire
Episode 1 – ‘Ancient Beginnings’
Episode 2 – ‘Born to Entertain’
Episode 3 – ‘The Greatest Briton & Royal Associations’
Episode 4 – Birth of America
Episode 5 – ‘A World of Exploration’
Episode 6 – ‘Leading The Way’
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We are saddened to report that a 27-year-old man has lost his life in a road traffic collision today (2nd December).
We were called shortly after 7pm to reports of a road traffic collision involving a motorcycle at Station Road, Tydd Gote. Despite the efforts of medical staff, the man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
The A1101 was closed at around 7:40pm.
We are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the collision to contact us immediately. If you were driving in the area at the time and captured dashcam footage, we would like to hear from you. There are a number of ways to get in touch.
By calling 101 quoting incident 346 of today’s date.
We are appealing for witnesses following a serious collision on the A1.
Officers received reports of a two-vehicle collision at 5:41pm involving a black BMW X5 and a silver Citroen C5.
The driver of the BMW sustained minor injuries and the driver of the Citroen sustained serious injuries. Both were taken to hospital.
The A1 remains closed in both directions while emergency services are dealing with the incident.
We would like to hear from you if you witnessed the collision or were driving in the area at the time and captured dashcam footage. If you can help, there are a number of ways you can get in touch.
By calling 101 quoting incident 304 of today’s date.
Children at a Lincoln school were treated to a PE session led by Team GB medallist Sam Oldham.
The pupils at Lincoln Carlton Academy were specially selected by Persimmon Homes South Yorkshire to enjoy the unique training session as part of the housebuilder’s partnership with Team GB.
Gymnast Sam Oldham, who won a team bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games, was guest of honour at the school where the pupils completed a warmup session, an obstacle as well as admire his medal and Olympic torch.
Year 1 teacher, Leah Catten said: “It has been wonderful to welcome Sam to our school. We aim to give each child the best start in life so they can succeed with confidence and Sam’s inspiring session helped the children to understand that anything is possible, if you work hard.
“He talked about uncovering his own potential and that’s what we want for our pupils. He has been absolutely wonderful, and the children were amazed by his back flip.”
Sam said: “It was wonderful to be working with the children.
“It feels great to give back at the end of my career. I am approaching my final chapter, but these guys are just starting out.
“I never had an athlete come to my school to talk about the amazing things sport can do for you, so hopefully the kids will feel really inspired today to get into sport because it is so important for their mental and physical health – maybe some of them could even be Lincolnshire Olympians of the future.”
Alastair Hart, sales director of Persimmon Homes South Yorkshire, added: “The school is not far from our Greetwell Fields development, and we are always keen to support the communities where we are building.”
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