Science
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This was shown on BBC2 over three consecutive Mondays, featuring an all-Italian excavation of the abandoned city and the British volcanologist Dr. Chris Jackson. It featured the familiar story of the two-day eruption and pyrochastic flow killing thousands, including Pliny the Elder, before they could escape as many ran from the lava towards the sea…
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Today, 16 October, in 1987 something happened that most of us who are old enough will remember very clearly. Overnight we’d endured the raging of a terrible storm (see here, here and here). The resultant destruction of property and trees meant that Sevenoaks in Kent no longer had its famous seven oaks! In the…
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When we think of alchemy and alchemists, we tend to categorise them as men. But no. There were women alchemists as well, as I discovered when I came upon this article which lists ten such women through history. One of the ten caught my eye. She lived in the reign of Elizabeth I, who was…
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The simple but elegant tomb of King Richard III at Leicester Cathedral is known to us all, and has been visited by thousands of people, but the cathedral itself needed attention and so the decision was made to close it for nearly two years while a considerable upgrading was carried out. But what you see…
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I can’t say that I am very well up on Alfred the Great. The closest I’ve come to his “history” is the Blowing Stone Blowing Stone on the hill at Kingston Lisle. The sound it makes can be heard over a long distance, and according to a legend, in 871AD, when the Danish army approached…
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As I write my failure to find anything online about a particular event, apart from someone’s FB page, leads me to hesitate. But let’s assume it IS what’s happening…. It ‘s said that art galleries are suddenly declining to display the above portrait of Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and the boy Edward VI (who died…
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I had no idea how much work would be involved when I decided to turn out everything in my garage. It’s not a big garage, room for only one vehicle, but it’s packed to the gunnels, believe me. I have the crockery, cutlery, silver, porcelain and glass from the homes of about five late members…
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You might wonder what the above 1855 painting (from Gunby Hall, Lincolnshire) has to do with the summer solstice, but it’s taken from this National Trust article, which emphasises the magical aspect of this particular time of the year. It also illustrates the sort of books I read as a child. Today’s adults underestimate…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 