If you read my review of The Limehouse Golem earlier this week, you’ll remember how much of the plot revolves around a Victorian era music hall. Music Halls were once widespread around the entire country but eventually became all but extinct with the advent of cinema, television and modern day discos and clubs. However there… Continue reading Wilton’s Music Hall – Victorian London Comes To Life!
Category: Heritage
I’ve just had my DNA tested
I’ve always wanted to have my DNA tested and short of getting myself arrested, it seemed the best way to do this was to pay for one of those home-delivery kits. It must be said that I know quite a lot about my likely heritage and have written before about being related to various Anglo-Saxon… Continue reading I’ve just had my DNA tested
Predicting the weather with Old Wives Tales
Most of us are familiar with Old Wives Tales, traditional pearls of wisdom from sources lost through the ages but seemingly tapping into an eternal truth that is only revealed to older married women whose only qualification is a lifetime of experience. They cover all areas of life but not least the weather. Despite being… Continue reading Predicting the weather with Old Wives Tales
Do Accents Hold You Back?
As George Bernhard Shaw commented, ‘It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him.Hello madam, how do you do? or alternatively Aye up Hello madam, how do you do? or alternatively Aye up pet, how’s it ganning like? If you were to meet someone on… Continue reading Do Accents Hold You Back?
A brief history of Milkmen
If you’re anything like me then if you cast your mind back to around 7am or so then up until the late 1980’s you’d likely be very familiar with the jingle of milk bottles and the heavy clunk as they were placed on doorsteps. There’s almost certainly a couple of foil-topped glass milk bottles… Continue reading A brief history of Milkmen
My New Book – Straight from the Horse’s Mouth : 100 Idioms, their Meanings and Origins
Today is one of those wonderful days that can be the highlight of my creative year, the launch day of my latest book. I’ve always enjoyed words and sayings, some of them archaic that seemingly make no sense to us today. The history of language and word usage is the history of us. Straight from… Continue reading My New Book – Straight from the Horse’s Mouth : 100 Idioms, their Meanings and Origins
One ha’penny, two ha’penny, hot cross buns!
Hot Cross Buns are one of those delicious treats that you can have at Easter. Until just a few years ago, they could only be found within a week or two of Easter but these days hundreds of millions are consumed from early Spring if not sooner. Hot Cross Buns are a primarily British culinary… Continue reading One ha’penny, two ha’penny, hot cross buns!
Great Fires Of London & those who fought them
I’ve been crisscrossing the country so far this week so have got a little behind on my blog posts so please consider this an emergency posting! I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to create a few Youtube videos on two channels broadly related to my blogs and tours and writing and… Continue reading Great Fires Of London & those who fought them
The Ædifying use of Æ
No, I haven’t been holding down random keys on my keyboard when writing the title of this post though I dare say that it might be the only published article anywhere on the internet today that features Æ.Whilst writing an upcoming blog post, I realised that it contained an awful lot of these things “Æ”.… Continue reading The Ædifying use of Æ
A tragic hero, forgotten in his own time but now remembered in ours.
Whilst out with his metal detector on the muddy foreshore of Thameside, amateur historian and enthusiast Tobias Neto stumbled on a very small but very special piece of history in December 2016. It was a medal, a VC or Victoria Cross, the highest medal for valour possible in the United Kingdom and old Commonwealth… Continue reading A tragic hero, forgotten in his own time but now remembered in ours.
Stephen Liddell 