First World War

The military career of Edward IV….

May 15, 2023

anniversaries, battles

Academia, Edward IV, First World War, French Revolution, height, Hexham, Oliver Cromwell, soldiers, Wars of the Roses

While we all enjoy an excellent text, I think we also have a sneaking enjoyment when it’s accompanied by lavish illustrations. I know I do. I remember that when I was small and my father was always reading some large tome about the French Revolution, or Oliver Cromwell or World War I, he was appalled…
Torquay and Torre Abbey

Jan 12, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion, travel

abbeys, Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie Mile, Babbacombe murder, Barons Hunsdon, Careys, Carys, crime, Dissolution of the Monasteries, First World War, Jacobites, museums, poisons garden, Premonstratensian order, priests, recusants, Royal Navy, the Green Ginger, The Legendary Ten Seconds, Torquay, Torquay Crime Museum, Torre Abbey, Viscounts Falkland

Thanks to our friends at the Legendary Ten Seconds, I had heard of Torre Abbey but didn’t realise that it was open to visit, as convenient or spectacular as it is. Half of the original building remains, on three floors including an art exhibition, whilst the other half (including the church) is a ruin, complete…
The art that made us

Nov 8, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, culture, humour, religion, Science, television reviews

Aphra Benn, Armada, Arts and Crafts, Barbara Hepworth, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, BBC2, Beowulf, Black Death, Bloomsbury Group, British Empire, Burns, Charles I, Colonel Blimp, Cool Britannia, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, David Threlfall, Death and the Gallant, Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth I, embroidery, English Civil War, Festival of Britain, First World War, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Fire of London, Hanif Kureishi, Harry Potter, Hogarth, Industrial Revolution, Jane Austen, Jarrow march, John Foxe, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Joshua Reynolds, Julian of Norwich, kitchen sink drama, Llancarfon, Margery Kempe, Mary Stuart, murals, Norman conquest, Oliver Cromwell, Phillip Larkin, Piers Plowman, poetry, pre-Raphaelites, Reformation, Restoration, Richard II, Roman Britain, Rubens, satire, Second World War, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir William Orpen, St. Cadoc’s church, St. Paul’s, stained glass, Stuarts, The art that made us, The Fighting Temeraire, The unknown soldier, Tracey Emin, Trainspotting, Turner, urbanisation, van Dyck, Walter Sickert, Welsh Bible, William Cobbett, William Morgan, William Shakespeare, Wilton Diptych, York Minster

This is another fascinating BBC2 series, illustrating English and British history through the evolution of our art. The eight one-hour episodes, narrated by David Threlfall (Men of the World), feature:The Roman and pre-Roman periods, Beowulf, the Norman conquest and the Bayeux Tapestry; The Black Death, Wilton Diptych, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich,…
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…
My reaction to Lucy Worsley’s Christmas Carol Odyssey….

Dec 26, 2021

buildings, Events, religion, television reviews

“Tudor” propaganda, “Tudors”, Anglo-Saxons, bias, Catholics, Charles “III”, Christina Rossetti, Christmas carols, Christmas truce, Edward VI, Ely Cathedral, Father Christmas, First World War, French Revolution, Gustav Holst, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Jacobites, Lucy Worsley, Methodists, music, mystery plays, Napoleonic wars, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Reformation, Reverend Phillips, wassailing

Sometimes the stories behind our much-loved Christmas carols are quite disheartening, involving as they do national and international strife and religious rivalry that was both bloody and filled with hatred. Yet every year we sing the resultant carols with joy. The reactions of the human race are sometimes contradictory. To say the least! I am…
Ant and Dec’s DNA Journey

Mar 21, 2021

archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, Science, television reviews

Aed Findliath, Alistair Moffat, Anthony McPartlin, Crimean War, Declan Donnelly, Dixie Carter, DNA analysis, Elizabeth Wydeville, Fermoy, First World War, Graves, High Kings of Ireland, Ireland, ITV, Jim Wilson, Kings of Connacht, Leitrim, Londonderry, Mail on Sunday, McGowans, McLauchlins, Military Medal, New York, Philadelphia, Robert Barrett, Rosslare, soldiers, Somme, Texas, Tyneside Irish regiment, Ui Briuin, United Nations, Vikings, wrestling

This programme, which has recently been repeated, began in 2017 with the duo meeting the legendary Borders historian Alistair Moffat, who just happens to be the uncle of a friend of theirs. Following DNA tests, it was revealed that McPartlin’s great-grandfather, Peter, had joined the 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade and fought at the Battle of…
To be Bl(o)unt …

Jul 23, 2020

anniversaries, culture, genealogy

American branch, army service, Barons Mountjoy, Bessie Blount, Blount baronets, Boer War, British Army, death in service, Dukes of Richmond, First World War, Henry VIII, illegitimacy, James Blunt, Lady Mary Howard, RAF, Second World War, St. Michael’s Church Framlingham, Vikings

Most people are aware that James Blunt’s real surname is Blount. This is an influential name in late mediaeval, “Tudor” and Stuart times. Bessie Blount was another mistress of Henry VIII and bore him Henry Duke of Richmond, who married Lady Mary Howard but died without issue, to be buried at Framlingham. Walter Blount, who…
History Book Part Two

Jun 2, 2020

battles, buildings, Music Reviews

Armada, Blenheim, Civil War, Dartmouth Castle, de Cobham, First World War, History Book Part Two, Jack Cade, James Templer, Lord Howard of Effingham, Mayflower, metal detecting, Munich agreement, naval battles, Pilgrim Fathers, re-enactment, Richard III, Roger Mortimer, Stover canal, The Legendary Ten Seconds, Tower of London, trenches, Wars of the Roses

A press release for the follow-up to this: History Book Part Two, February 2020. Song of a metal detectorist – About Ashley Mantle’s favourite hobby. A rare romance – Roger Mortimer escapes from the Tower of London and flees to France. Cade’s rebellion – The rebellion of 1450. De Cobham – Song for the De…
An unexpected conclusion

Jan 20, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, religion, television reviews

Amsterdam, Andalucia, Antiques Roadshow, Balding, BBC1, Bevis Marks synagogue, British Army, builders, conversos, Danny Dyer, Edward I, executions, fencing, First World War, football, Frank Gardner, heresy, Jewish community, Mark Smith, Mark Wright, Mediterranean complexion, namesakes, Oliver Cromwell, Sephardic Jews, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Spain, Spanish Inquisition, theft, Who do you think you are?

Who do you think you are? is always an interesting programme and is disappointing to see only eight episodes in the series. In the past, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Frank Gardner, Danny Dyer and Clare Balding have all been revealed as proven descendants of Edward I. That has not happened in 2019 and few lines have…
da Vinci and the RAF centenary

Nov 11, 2018

anniversaries, art, battles, Science

air warfare, aviation, engineering, First World War, George Stubbs, horses, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci, painting, parachute, portraits, renaissance, Royal Air Force

Leonardo di ser Piero “da Vinci” (below left) was nearly six months older than Richard III, having been born in the Republic of Florence on 15 April 1452. Over his lifetime, which ended in 1519, he is best known for his paintings, such as The Last Supper or la Gioconda. However, he also left us…