cannon

Wythenshawe Hall

Feb 10, 2024

battles, buildings, genealogy

cannon, Cheshire, English Civil War, ghosts, housing estates, Lord Simon of Wythenshawe, manchester airport, Manchester Corporation, manchester victoria, railways, sieges, Sir William Stanley, Tatton family, Wythenshawe Hall

Wythenshawe Hall. (2023, December 3). In Wikipedia By Dave Smethurst, CC BY-SA 2.0, image here The Tatton family had a deer park in Wythenshawe, then Cheshire, as far back as 1297. However, the present Hall dates to about 1540 when Robert Tatton was the head of the family. The Tattons were relatively minor Cheshire gentry.…
More naval archaeology

Feb 1, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, religion

Atlantic, Canada, cannon, downings, First World War, Henry V, Henry VIII, Holighost, Ireland, Laurentic, logboats, Malin head, Mary Rose, mines, Newport Ship, River Boyne, shipping forecast, St. Bridget, Titanic, Warwick the Kingmaker, White Star Line

We now know a lot about Henry V’s Holighost, Henry VIII’s Mary Rose and the Kingmaker’s “Newport ship“, as well as the Boyne’s mediaeval log boats. Now there is evidence of a much later find, also in Ireland. The SS (HMS) Laurentic was a White Star liner and sister to the Titanic, sunk by two…
Humpty-Dumpty and his wall were Richard III and his horse….!

Jan 2, 2022

battles, culture

Battle of Bosworth, cannon, English Civil War, horses, India, nursery rhymes, one-eyed Jack, Richard III, siege of Colchester, slang, Tik-Tok

Well, we’ve all heard versions of the true meaning of Humpty-Dumpty, including that it was a reference to a 17th-century cannon used in the Siege of Colchester. Oh and Humpty may also have been a drink of brandy boiled with ale. All nursery rhymes had beginnings somewhere, and also have some wild notions about their…
Hey Diddle Dumpty….!

Aug 22, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings, culture

Archbishop Cranmer, Battle of Bosworth, Bishop Ridley, cannon, Charles I, Edward I, Hugh Latimer, nursery rhymes, one-eyed Jack, Richard III, siege of Colchester

Here is a quote from this article: “….Some say Humpty Dumpty is a sly allusion to King Richard III, whose brutal 26-month reign ended with his death in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. In this speculative version, King Richard III’s horse was supposedly called “Wall,” off of [sic] which he fell during battle.…
Walking “Tudor” England

Aug 10, 2021

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, television reviews, travel

“Bloody Mary”, “Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Arthur “Tudor”, Ashdown Forest, attainder, Austin Friars, bear-baiting, Bishops of London, Bridewell Palace, brothels, Cambridge, cannon, Channel Five, Christopher Hatton, Clifford’s Tower, conspiracies, dancing, de heretico comburendo, Dutch refugees, East Midlands, Edmund Bonner, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, excommunication, executions, exile, fire, Framlingham Castle, Fulham Palace, Greenwich Palace, Grey-Dudley rebellion, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Hampton Court, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Hever Castle, James VI/I, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Foxe, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Katherine Howard, Kenilworth Castle, Kenninghall, Kett Rebellion, Leicester, London, Lord Chancellor, Lord Guildford Dudley, Margaret Clitherow, Mary Stuart, Mass, Michelham Priory, naval power, Nicholas Ridley, Northern Earls’ Rebellion, Norwich, Penshurst Place, Pilgrimage of Grace, Pontefract, Portsmouth, recusants, Ripon Cathedral, Robert Aske, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal barges, royal hunting estates, Rushton Triangular Lodge, severed heads, Sir Henry Dudley, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir Walter Raleigh, Southwark, St. Mary’s Abbey, Stamford, Suzannah Lipscomb, The Globe, Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Stafford, tobacco, torture, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Will Kemp, William Cecil, William Shakespeare, Wyatt Rebellion, Yorkshire Museum

Suzannah Lipscomb has just completed another series on Channel Five, this time visiting the sites related to the “Tudors”. In the first episode, she concentrated on Henry VIII and the naval power he inherited from John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The second was principally about the penultimate “Tudor”, Mary I, as well as Edward VI…
Susan Calman’s Secret Scotland

Feb 16, 2020

buildings, television reviews

Arran, Auld Lang Syne, Ayrshire, Balmoral, Burns, Cairngorns, cannon, Channel Five, chicken tikka masali, DC Comics, Dumfries, Dundee, Dunlop cheese, Dunrobin, Dunure Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Glasgow, Glasgow Subway, Greenyards, Irn Bru, J.M. Barrie, John O’Groats, lighthouses, Loch Ness, making glass, Melrose, music halls, Orkneys, Perthshire, Rose Reilly, Scone Palace, Scotland, seaweed, shearing, Skye, smugglers’ tunnels, Stirling, Susan Calman, Tam O’Shanter, tree planting, Viking longboats

This excellent programme, now on its second series, has seen the diminutive Glaswegian comedienne visit parts of Scotland that she had not previously, “behind the scenes” areas or, in the case of the Borders, driven straight through to work in England. Last year, Calman visited places like Edinburgh Castle (left), Stirling (to fry fish, among…
A great “feasting” hall where Edward IV and Richard III dined….

Feb 2, 2020

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, television reviews

Alice Roberts, Battle of Bosworth, cannon, digging for Britain, Edward IV, Edward of Warwick, Henry VII, Hornby Castle, plots, Richard III, sir John Conyers

I have just watched an episode of Digging for Britain (2014, series 3, episode 3, entitled “North”) in which Alice Roberts presented a section about an archaeological dig that had at that time been going on for five years at a large 15th-century hall owned by Sir John Conyers. Sir John had served both Edward…
It’s a wonder anyone survived medieval battles….!

May 15, 2019

anniversaries, battles

axe, Battle of Bosworth, Blackheath, caltrop, cannon, cowardice, crossbow, dagger, death, handguns, Henry VII, Hexham, lance, longbow, mace, quicklime, spear, Stoke Field, sword, trebuchet, weapons

The title above says it all. Go to this article and see what I mean. With such weapons being wielded on all sides, how on earth did anything—man or horse—emerge still standing? I don’t think we should be in any doubt at all that by going to battle, all men knew they were putting their…
The Antiques Roadshow goes to Floors

May 6, 2018

battles, buildings, television reviews

Antiques Roadshow, BBC1, cannon, Cheviot Hills, Dukes of Roxburghe, Floors Castle, ilex aquifolium, James II, James II holly, Kelso, River Tweed, Roxburgh, Scottish border, siege of Roxburgh

There are few television programmes so long-running that participation in an early show is of interest in itself but the Antiques Roadshow is one of them. On April 29, the experts came to the majestic Georgian structure of Floors Castle, home of the Duke of Roxburghe and from which the ruins of Roxburgh Castle are…
Those accident-prone Stewarts

Mar 27, 2017

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy

accidents, assassination, battles, cannon, executions, exile, Flodden, James I, James II, James III, James IV, James V, Joan “Beaufort”, Margaret “Tudor”, Mary Stuart, Perth, rebellion, Richard III, Roxburgh, Sauchieburn, Scotland, Solway Moss, Stewarts

As this excellent article reminds us, there were eight pre-union Stewart monarchs, or nine if you exclude James VI, who had already reigned in Scotland for nearly forty years before inheriting the English throne. Of these, excepting the two Roberts, only two turned up for a pitched battle with against an English army and only…