Young History Presenter Of The Future: Winner Announced

11 year old Oliver Dean from Clitheroe has won
English Heritage's 'Young Presenter of the Future'.

Find out more about the History Presenter of the Future competition.

The final round of the competition was to make a film about Wellington Arch in London. Here's Oliver, below, in a screenshot taken from his winning film. He's standing on the balcony of the Arch.

Click on the link to see Oliver's video and find out more about Wellington Arch!







© English Heritage

English Heritage has some lovely photos and info on Wellington Arch. It is named after the Duke of Wellington who lived from 1769-1852.

You can see the Duke of Wellington's home, Apsley House in the background of Oliver's film above.

The Arch commemorates the Duke's victory over Emperor Napoleon and his French troops at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

© English Heritage

Here's a painting of the Duke of Wellington that's at Apsley House:

Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington, by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830).


© English Heritage

You can also see another great portrait of the Duke of Wellington at the
National Portrait Gallery.

English Heritage staff helped the ten finalists to make their films, which included a tour of Apsley House.

Dan Snow, BBC presenter and tv historian - and one of the competition judges - also coached them on how to be a good tv presenter.

Here's Oliver with Dan Snow in front of Wellington's Arch.










© English Heritage

Dan said, 'This was a very difficult competition to judge. Each of the children brought something unique to the screen and they were all born communicators.'

He added that Oliver won because, '... he stood out as especially engaging. He didn't worry about remembering all his lines, but instead concentrated on making the subject sound exciting and being himself - that's the key to being a good tv presenter.'

Oliver will now join the ranks of celebrity presenters like Dan Snow, Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen and Konnie Huq to present a history programme for EHTV, English Heritage's history channel.

Oliver got through to the final with a video about Rosa Parks, the African American civil rights activist.

'I love history' said Oliver,
'and I am over the moon to be chosen as the English Heritage Young Presenter of the Future. I can't wait to start making my next film.'







© English Heritage

We'll keep you posted on Oliver's progress.

Meanwhile, get in touch with us at Show Me to tell us about a site you've been to that you've enjoyed. Pictures, photos and film clips would be great too!