These days it seems like everyone’s twittering about Twitter, and in this new weekly column we delve behind the stories of some of our favourite Shropshire tweeters to find out more about them.
We’ve stumbled across a very interesting selection of people this week, beginning with Shrewsbury-based actor and voice over artist, @RobertHarper.
Robert moved to London after leaving drama college and embarked on a successful acting career, working in theatre and appearing in TV shows such as The Bill.
As a voice over artist, he recorded over 300 plays for the BBC Radio Drama Company and became a sought-after voice for advertisements.
Robert’s been living in Shrewsbury for the past five years, where he managed his wife’s jewellery business until economic conditions forced the company into liquidation.
He says he became hooked on Twitter after having the “tiniest two-way conversations imaginable” with celebrity Twitterers Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross, and has met lots of like-minded people through the site, as well as joining a photography group.
“The trouble with being the father of an eight-year-old and having spent six years building a business is that you forget to have a social life,” he says.
“Now I’m making up for it!”
Robert also uses Twitter to keep an eye on jobs and subscribes to several job feeds through the site.
“I’d like to get back into using my vocal skills, perhaps working for local radio as a presenter, and I’m hoping that Twitter might one day lead to me getting a new job – you never know!”
We were also delighted to discover another bed and breakfast business on Twitter – @agaqueen, aka Carolyn Cheshire, runs Lower Buckton Country House near Leintwardine.
She also owns a self catering cottage in Ludlow, as well as a food tourism initiative, where she takes people on food safari’s into the Shropshire and Herefordshire countryside to learn more about the wonderful produce on their doorstep.
“They’re great fun!” says Carolyn. “We go on magical mystery tours exploring the culture and heritage of the area’s food and drink, visiting small-scale artisan producers and introducing people to places they never knew existed.”
Carolyn uses local and home-grown produce to make award-winning breakfasts and delicious dinners at Lower Buckton.
“I haven’t visited a supermarket for eight years!” she says. “I buy everything from my food to my furniture from local independent retailers – everything is done to support the local community.”
Twitter was a fairly recent discovery for Carolyn, who started using the site after an Irish food writer came to stay with her and posted a subsequent article about Lower Buckton on Twitter.
“I”m quite new to it but I can see that there’s huge potential. I’ve just spent the weekend at the Real Food Festival in London and discovered lots of other foodie’s there were using Twitter too.
“I also run cookery courses for bed and breakfast owners who come from all over the country, and Twitter enables us all to keep in touch.”
Over in Telford, professional CV writer Libby Calaby is using Twitter to promote her career enhancement firm, @ConceptCV, which helps people to make the most of their skills in today’s competitive job market.
She discovered Twitter purely by accident and confesses she’s now a fully fledged twitter-holic.
“It’s an amazing communication tool,” she says. “I love the expressiveness of having 140 characters to communicate views, news and reviews.
“I use it to keep in touch with other professionals, job seekers and potential partners, as well as promoting the blog and services of ConceptCV.
“It’s fantastic that in today’s technology-driven society, relationships can be built on a global scale.
“I’ve connected with so many fascinating people and even found some potential staff members!”
Are you a local Twitterer with an interesting story to tell? Whether you’re a business or individual, follow us and get in touch with @ShropStar on Twitter.
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