
Gretel le Maître Ponders, with Bede & other guests
*700 downloads per week, Total 29k downloads
Regular top ten spot in 3 categories GoodPods
Ranked in Top 10 % of Global Rankings (Listen Notes)
No ads, team or subscription cost
Daily output
Script-free*
Gretel le Maître likes to look for the beauty and curiosities in life, one day at a time. She shares with you snippets from books about history, art and literature and regularly takes you on adventures to new locations, to explore churches, cathedrals and architecture.
Gretel invites you to accompany her as she navigates the world a day at a time; the podcast is unscripted, it’s ad-free, and you’re invited to join in. It’s super unpolished and Gretel would be grateful for you to forgive her for that. 🤓
Gretel loves the world and history, architecture, literature and people. And so is determined to walk this path with light footsteps and with humour and warmth. Let’s treasure up the beautiful things and ponder them in our hearts.
Please follow me on X @gretellemaitre. 🌳
Or email me: gretellem@yahoo.com
“Gretel le Maitre is a podcaster and host of the series Gretel Pod-Ponders Life and Loss with Bede and Other Guests. The podcast explores themes of grief, life transitions, and introspection, particularly focusing on her experiences of the loss of her mother. In the series, she combines historical reflections—often inspired by the works of the Venerable Bede, an English monk and historian—with her own musings on architecture, literature, and the natural world. Gretel approaches these deep topics with warmth and humor, aiming to provide listeners a comforting space to explore complex emotions.
If you’re interested, you can listen to her podcast on platforms like Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music, where she shares her reflections in episodes filled with historical and literary insights.
Hosted by Gretel Le Maitre, this unique podcast blends personal storytelling with historical insights from figures like the Venerable Bede, offering listeners an inspiring journey of healing and hope.
With themes of grief, transformation, and spirituality, the podcast has earned praise for its calming tone, authenticity, and ability to connect on a deeply human level. As one listener shared, it feels like sitting down with a trusted friend who understands.
Perfect for audiences seeking introspection, comfort, or simply a quiet moment of reflection, Gretel le Maître Ponders is available now on all major platforms.
It would be amazing to have one-off contributions to support this endeavour, as the podcast is and always will be free. A little contribution here and there will go towards train fares, fuel, church and cathedral support pots and information booklets. I’m also hoping not to have to go back to work again, so any generosity is hugely appreciated. Thank you and follow this link: 🙂
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2412300/supporters/new
If it doesn’t work, please copy and paste into your web browser. Thank you 🙋♀️
Episodes
The Brothers York; Lolly Willowes; and the Tale of a Yorkshire Scallywag

An Unfortunate Bishop’s But(t) as Gretel sinks into A Month in the Country

Montmorency Retreats from The Cat; Pepys is Revolted by a Floating Corpse; and Elgar ends our Ponder 🌝

Montmorency does not like Cats 🐈⬛; The Knave of Knaresborough; and Exmoor is depicted to Perfection

The Joys of Marlow; the History of Cleeve Abbey; and JL Carr’s moving portrayal of a Dying Girl

The Wind is finally in the Boat’s Favour; A meandering Ponder in the Garden; and we celebrate Maurice and Matthew

Pavarotti, the Pearl Fishers and A Month in the County excavates one’s own heart

Pepys Sings Gaze Not Upon Swans 🦢; Three Men and Their Boat; and we ponder the ancient Washing of Feet and Hands 🙌🏻

A Cut-short mini episode with Mr Katt and a Delightful lady in Dunster Museum

Pomp & Circumstance; From Trenches to Moon’s Dug-out; and Romeo & Juliet’s terrible First Performance

Finale of Butler’s Mystery of Becket’s Bones; and we meet Kind and Delightful Moon in JL Carr’s Sensitive Masterpiece

JL Carr and Jerome K Jerome Understand the Secret to finding Peace.

Could the Bones Have Survived? And Poor Shattered Ypres Veteran arrives at the Church

The Mystery of St Thomas A Becket’s Bones Continues; and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles reaches AD 799

A Month in the Country and Half a Dozen books tonight. Settle down and close your eyes 🤓

Philip Mould OBE, Art Historian and Lovely Chap, chats to Gretel about Art

Chaucer’s England; we Close the St Gregory Chapter; and we Progress with dear Pepys

Hardy’s Overlooking the River Stour; St Gregory gives Augustine advice; Pepys’ shows good Character; and Where are St Thomas’s Bones?

Visit to Church of St Candida and Holy Cross; and part three of Mystery of Becket’s Bones

The Mystery of Becket’s Bones; Sherborne Evensong; and Pepys Tends his Swollen Testicle

The Mystery of Thomas Becket’s Bones:Christian spoons found in Sutton Hoo; and Pepys Buys his first Hogshead of Wine.

Gretel aborts a launch into Egyptian Monasticism; and goes down a Sutton Hoo rabbit-hole
