Category: History

Wodehouse in Swaledale

After dicing with death for almost five hours on the M1 it was good to change down a couple of gears and drive up the narrow, winding road to Swaledale and Keld. The cottage is old-fashioned with thick stone walls, a small stone-flagged kitchen and so on.

No Darkness but Ignorance

The Statues of London is a large, heavy and expensive coffee table book. It was recommended by a reader and in spite of its drawbacks I’m pleased to own the tome.

I Once Met Pius XII

I enjoy the I Once Met column in The Oldie. If you are a fan Richard Ingrams edited two anthologies. James Lees-Milne’s diary entry for Tuesday 14th September 1948 qualifies for, although I don’t think has appeared in, I Once Met. He was on holiday in Rome and was granted an audience with the Pope (Pius… Continue reading I Once Met Pius XII

Dear Father

I rather enjoy writing letters but it often takes me a while to get round to the task. It seems that it runs in the family judging by this one written by my great-great-great grandfather.

Partitions, a new play by Tom Stoppard

Mary Kenny’s Crown and Shamrock colours in the history of the relationship between Britain and Ireland in the 19th and 20th centuries, often producing unexpected quirky details – always popular here.

Chips

I reckon I have written more than 250,000 words here, a bagatelle compared to Chips Channon whose fifty or so volumes of diaries run to more than three million words.

Orlando

The sermon last Sunday at The Royal Hospital was about baptism. The Chaplain (I prefer padre) recounted that he had been to where John the Baptist baptised Christ in the Jordan.

Soldiers and Spooks

A childhood friend lived not far away just across the Boyne in Co Meath. His parents had generously and compassionately asked a cousin to come and live with them. She was Miss Chapman, a spinster whose half-brother is TE Lawrence.

Battle of the Medway

At the MP Evans AGM last week a Dutch friend reminded me of an anniversary. The Battle of the Medway took place 350 years ago this week. The Dutch navy broke through a protective barrier (the Gillingham Line, as impregnable as the Maginot Line) and attacked naval ships anchored off Chatham.

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Categorised as History