Pargeting; or time to rethink the pebble-dash….

  I have continued to watch The Prince’s Master Crafters series , and in the penultimate episode the contestants had a go at one another’s speciality craft. The very last episode will be when they all try to produce their very best work in their own craft. The winner will get to present their work… Continue reading Pargeting; or time to rethink the pebble-dash….

Sassanachs don’t Like Mondays (allegedly)

Ormond versus Desmond In addition to the canonical list of battles, the sporadic chaos of the Wars of the Roses spawned one or two encounters between the heads of rival aristocratic families, of which the best known is the battle between the Berkeleys and Talbots at Nibley Green in Gloucestershire in March 1470. What is… Continue reading Sassanachs don’t Like Mondays (allegedly)

The Great British Dig – History in Your Garden

This excellent series began with a pilot last April, with Hugh Dennis and three archaeologists looking for a Roman settlement on the site of a former inn in Maidstone’s Florence Road. It resumed in February with the small team moving to Benwell, Newcastle, to locate a Hadrian’s Wall fort, followed by a Viking burial ground… Continue reading The Great British Dig – History in Your Garden

TREASON 3 – The Long Parliament 1649

Introduction “ The scaffold was hung round with black, and the floor covered with black, and the axe and block (were) laid in the middle of the scaffold. There were divers companies of Foot and Horse on every side of the scaffold, and the multitude of people that came to be spectators were very great.”[1]… Continue reading TREASON 3 – The Long Parliament 1649

Slightly disappointed ………..

Lady Antonia Fraser’s “The Kings and Queens of England” was a favourite of mine nearly forty years ago – my grandmother owned it and I read it whilst visiting her. Anyway, I consulted the entries on Charles II and James II – Maurice Ashley wrote the Stuart chapter and he said: 1) (p.236) “(the Rye… Continue reading Slightly disappointed ………..