Lancaster
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An Interview With… Thomas Dennis

This is the first in a proposed series of interviews with notable people associated with King Richard III. A short while ago, I was lucky enough to interview Thomas Dennis, the young actor who recreated the voice of Richard III. He was chosen, not only for his acting ability (which has garnered great reviews), but…
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It so happens that I am writing about the Holands, a noble family that originated in Lancashire and rose to prominence in the 14th and 15th centuries. The town of Upholland records their name. And what should come my way? A link to old maps of Lancashire! An extract from one of these maps is…
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A pleasant surprise
“Princes”, Avon-Kennet Canal, Birmingham, Bristol, Brunel, canals, centurions, Channel Five, Coventry, Crimewatch, Dan Jones, Edward II, Endeavour Morse, Grand Union Canal, Lancashire towns, Lancaster, Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Liverpool, London, Oxford, Oxford Canal, ports, rainfall, red hot poker, Richard III, Roman roads, The Wench is Dead, trade, transport, YorkshireIn recent years, Dan Jones’ posing and fanciful Crimewatch-style re-enactments, together with Starkeyesque conclusions formed before he started, has marred quite a few series on mediaeval history. Now he seems to have changed tack completely with this series, covering canal building from the middle of the eighteenth century and – yes – I rather enjoyed…
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If the witchcraft trials at North Berwick in the 1590s and later in England, of which Pendle in 1610 is an example, happened because James VI/I fervently believed in witchcraft, as shown by the three characters in Macbeth, it can be argued that the subsequent decline in such cases came because judges and Charles I…