Charlie is a tireless performer with a commanding stage presence. He has a number of different shows and talks, including his classic all evening, “Eccentric Look at Suffolk”. He has other popular shows that you might wish to book him for:

The Dig!!!

Charlie was personally chosen by the great Ralph Fiennes to be the dialect coach for the wonderful Netflix film The Dig. Charlie has created a fascinating new talk about his experiences preparing Ralph and the cast for their roles and Charlie will reveal the extraordinary lengths Ralph Fiennes took, not only to play Basil Brown, but to become Basil Brown!

History of spoken English

This is not a talk on split infinitives, and what the differences are between the past participle and the past tense. Definitely not! Charlie shows how the seeds of spoken English was first sown, and how each invading force affected the English language with the different sounds they brought. Charlie includes a dialect tour of the British Isles, demonstrating the different facial expressions of each dialect. He also shows how some people he knows that lip read can tell what dialect a person has.

 

 

History of English Surnames

Charlie will talk about the Anglo-Saxon and Viking bynames and nicknames we had prior to the Norman Conquest. He will explain how and why surnames evolved after 1066 AD, and the disruption it caused. Charlie then enlightens the audience on the four different types of surnames which includes explaining the meanings of some of the surnames sitting in the audience.

This will be followed by Q&A

 

2025 Bookings

Key

TD - Charlie and "The Dig"

HOSE - History of Spoken English

HOSE-2 - History of Spoken English - Part 2

HOS – History of Surnames

ELS – Eccentric Look at Suffolk

ELEA – Eccentric Look at East Anglia

ELC – Eccentric Look at the Countryside

OTP – Open to the Public

PF – Private Function

 

2025

September

Fri 19th Sept - Laxfield Museum - TD - OTP

Fri 26th Sept - Everyman Folk Club

Sat 27th Sept - Sutton Hoo Society - TD - OTP

Tues 30th Sept - Fressingfield LHG - ELS - OTP

 

October

Sat 4th Oct - Gestingthorpe Hist. Group - OTP "An Evening with Charlie Haylock"

Mon 6th Oct - Thorley U3A - HOSE - PF

Wed 15th Oct - Huntingdon U3A - HOSE - PF

Sat 18th Oct - Bergh Apton Church - HOSE - OTP

Tues 21st Oct - Chet Staithe Probus - Chedgrave - TD - PF

Tues 21st Oct - Trafalgar Day Talk - Bergh Apton. Norfolk

Thurs 23rd Oct - Pennoyer Centre - Pulham St Mary - TD - OTP

Fri 31 st Oct – Everyman Folk Club

 

November

Mon 17th Nov - Maldon & District U3A - TD - PF

Thurs 20th Nov - Lawford Hort. Soc. - TD - PF

Sat 22nd Nov - Two Sisters Arts Centre, Trimley - ELS - OTP (Sell out!)

Thurs 27th Nov - Pennoyer Centre - Pulham St Mary - HOSE - OTP

Fri 28th Nov - Everyman Folk Club

Sat 29th Nov - Suffolk Horse Society - TD - PF

 

December

Thurs 4th Dec - University of Suffolk - TD - OTP

Sat 6th Dec - VIVO Concert - Holbrook Church - OTP

Mon 8th Dec - Dedham Vale Society - ELS - PF

Tues 9th Dec - Fornham All Saints VH - ELS - PF "Sell out!"

Fri 12th Dec - Bulmer Hist. Soc. - ELC - PF

Sat 13th Dec - Harkstead Church - ELS - OTP

 

2026

January - I am sorry to disappoint you, but I will be retiring from public
speaking from the end of December 2025; and as such, I will not be
taking any more bookings from January 2026 onwards . . . I have
enjoyed giving my talks for over a quarter of a century, but it's now
time for me to move on and do other things . . . whilst I can.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have
booked me for my various talks.
Over the years, wherever I have given my presentations, I've met
some wonderful and very interesting people and I've always been made
very welcome . . . And hopefully we have had a few laughs on the way.
I would also like to thank Nick Jenkins for maintaining my website
and also coming up with the idea for my "Charlie and The Dig" talk . . .
Over 200 bookings for that talk so far. . . nearly always a "full house".
and it has brought a lot of joy to a lot of people. Thank you Nick.
I will miss you all . . . I really will, and it will be a great wrench to
stop what I have loved doing for so long . . . but as I have already said,
. . . it is time for me to move on and do other things.
Kindest regards and best wishes to you all, Charlie