Category: History

Swiss Role

The Honourable Artillery Company takes pride in being the oldest regiment in the British Army, founded by Henry VIII in 1537. It is irksome for the HAC that Pope Julius II founded the Pontifical Swiss Guard in 1506.

The Day The Dream Died

Today I am casting my bread upon the waters. TDTDD – I enjoyed writing that, it reminds me of TWTWTW – is a documentary screened, only once, on Channel 4 in 1988.

Lord Mayor’s Show

When I was a Trooper in the Honourable Artillery Company in the 1970s I twice took part in the Lord Mayor’s Show.

Published
Categorised as History

The Last Stuarts

No Plan Like Yours To Study History Wisely is a useful mnemonic: Norman, Plantagenet, Lancaster, York, Tudor, Stuart, Hanover and Windsor.

Building Barons Court

London is being transformed by new blocks of flats and offices. Supply will outstrip demand, especially if we have a Brexit led recession. I have looked at some old Ordnance Survey maps to see how it changed towards the end of the 19th century.

The Master of the Rolls

If there is a consistent thread that binds the complex tapestry of English history it is inconsistency. Forty years ago we were agog to join Europe … now? But I want to look back to the 13th century.

Quiz Answers

When you open this website sometimes you must think “I don’t want this. This is just what I don’t want. What I want is Wodehouse and I want Wodehouse now.”

Quiz

Put on your thinking cap. Mark Mason has written Question Time – A Journey Round Britain’s Quizzes. I know this because he has an article about it in the October edition of The Oldie.

Frank Cooper

It’s always worth browsing in a second hand bookshop. So often I buy something I didn’t know existed. This is a collection of interviews by John Mortimer, published in 1986, that originally appeared in The Sunday Times.