Category Archives: history

Posts predominantly history related.

Looking for a neolithic burial mound in my local (Cassiobury) Park

Posted on June 24, 2019 by Stephen Liddell

It’s reached the time of year that IO’ve gone a bit doolally and I mean more doolally than I generally am from the 1st of January until around the 31st December each year. I’ve not had a day off for … Continue reading →

Posted in geography, history, Life, London | Tagged Burial Mound, Cassiobury Park, hertfordshire, Long Barrow, Mound, Neolithic, Watford, West Kennet | Leave a comment

The Knollys Rose Ceremony – Paying off a 619 year old rent

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Stephen Liddell

London and Britain is full of obscure ancient traditions and on Monday I bore witness to a ceremony that I did know about but never expected to see and it all has its foundations in events 619 years ago. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, history, Life, London, Ye Olde England Tours | Tagged All Hallows Church, Company of Watermen and Lightermen, Lord Mayor of London, Rose, Seething Lane, Sir Robert Knollys, The Knollys Rose Ceremony | 5 Comments

100 years ago Aviators Alcock and Brown made their pioneering trans-Atlantic flight

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Stephen Liddell

Today, millions of people cross the Atlantic every year thanks to commercial air travel, but it’s easy to forget that it had never been done less than a century ago. Glasgow born Arthur Brown was shot down over Germany during … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Life, WW1 | Tagged Arthur Brown, Atlantic, Aviation, Churchill, Flying, John Alcock, Planes, WW1 | 10 Comments

Winston Churchill style icon? Siren Suits – the precursor to Onesies.

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Stephen Liddell

It was only 2 or 3 years ago where much of the world, or at least those perhaps lacking in sartorial elegance, was obsessed with an item of clothing known as a Onesie. Usually made for people who want a … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Life, Travel, WW2 | Tagged Boiler Suits, Churchill, history, London, Siren Suits, WW2, Ye Olde England Tours | Leave a comment

John Donne – A forgotten poet and his discovered manuscript.

Posted on June 10, 2019 by Stephen Liddell

In the long and rich history of English literature, John Donne is almost forgotten about by many today but in his time he was pioneering. Born into a Catholic family at a time when it was illegal to practice the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Heritage, history, Life, writing | Tagged English, John Donne, Literature, Poetry, Treasure | 3 Comments

When two (spaces) are better than one

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Stephen Liddell

I don’t know about you but there are countless things that annoy me about modern life and one of them is the slow decline into the use of a single space after a full stop or period. Until the early … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Funny & Humour, history, Life, Opinion | Tagged fingerspaces, Full-Stop, Grammar, Period, Space, typewriter, writing, Writing style | 5 Comments

The history of 10 Downing Street and a peek behind its famous black door.

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Stephen Liddell

A few weeks ago I posted about a ‘fake’ Number 10 Downing Street and so I thought it would be timely to write about the actual Number 10 Downing Street especially as having written about historic and political situations for … Continue reading →