This my penultimate post for now on WW1 and my recent tour to the battlefields of France and Belgium. There are simply so many places to see and despite being out all day, every day for a week, we only scratched the surface. One of the first places that we visited was Vimy Ridge. This… Continue reading Sights of the WW1 battlefields
Category: history
Paying homage at the Thiepval Memorial to family and strangers alike.
During my trip to the WW1 battlefields in September there were a number of places I wanted to visit for the first time and just as many as I wanted to revisit after a gap of several years. Thiepval though is one of the must-sees for the area, if there can be such a thing… Continue reading Paying homage at the Thiepval Memorial to family and strangers alike.
The tragic genius of Alan Turing and The Imitation Game
If you’re not familiar with the name Alan Turing, the chances are that you soon will be with the release of the new film, The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the starring role. Alan Turing holds a unique place in history as being someone who not only one of the greatest minds in… Continue reading The tragic genius of Alan Turing and The Imitation Game
The Lochnagar Crater and a relic of war
At the end of September I visited some of the WW1 battlefields in northern France and Belgium and thought in the lead up to Armistice Day on 11th November I would dedicate some of my posts to what I saw. One of the places that we visited was the Lochnagar Crater in The Somme. This… Continue reading The Lochnagar Crater and a relic of war
Edward Jenner – The greatest man you might never have heard of
This morning I received my free Flu vaccination and a time when nearly all of us are fortunate enough to receive vaccinations and inoculations for many illnesses from the winter flu upwards it is well worth remembering that there was once a time when people weren’t so lucky. When there were countless diseases and infections… Continue reading Edward Jenner – The greatest man you might never have heard of
Dick Turpin Highwayman – Stand and Deliver
For millennia, travelling by land across the British Isles was a dangerous and slow business. Most people when they could travelled by boat on rivers and along the sea-coast and later by canals. Travelling by land was a slow and arduous thing to do at the best of times. After the Romans, the roads largely… Continue reading Dick Turpin Highwayman – Stand and Deliver
The death of the Aral Sea
Once the fourth largest inland body of water in the world and half the size of England has over the last few decades almost totally disappeared. The Aral Sea sits in the middle of the Kyzylkum Desert fed by the two rivers, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya. It wasn’t really a sea but a… Continue reading The death of the Aral Sea
The Angel of Mons
Whilst writing and researching my WW1 history book, Lest We Forget, I came across a number of semi-mythical events and accounts that went from the completely unbelievable to those that actually occurred despite being hugely unlikely. There is the grim tale of the Crucified Soldier which went from being common knowledge in WW1 to increasingly… Continue reading The Angel of Mons
Better Together – Scottish Separatist Referendum
For everyone living in the U.K., we’ve all been aware that the big day has been approaching for years (indeed some have been waiting for it for 300 years) whilst for everyone overseas, if you didn’t know there was going to be a referendum in Scotland on thursday then you will soon. As someone born… Continue reading Better Together – Scottish Separatist Referendum
Jack The Ripper Breakthrough: Identified as Aaron Kosminski
It seems slightly unreal to be updating a historical blog post I wrote just a week ago on Jack The Ripper. Jack being the legendary serial killer in Victorian London for whom police identified over 100 suspects. However, several British newspapers have printed a story that his identity has finally been proven, again. This time… Continue reading Jack The Ripper Breakthrough: Identified as Aaron Kosminski
Stephen Liddell 