Category: History

Bomb Sight

I recently came across this website: www.bombsight.org. It maps where the bombs fell in the Blitz. My street had one hit. It also has accounts of those dark days in diaries, letters and memoirs.

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Categorised as History

Croissants for Breakfast

Croissant in French means crescent (and as a noun can be used to describe a new moon) but not all croissants are crescent-shaped.

A Marshal of France

The Gers countryside rolls attractively, when seen from a car. On foot the hills seem steeper and it took two hours to walk to Lectoure.

Sudak Remembered

Henry Sanford said that although he’d never been to Sudak, he visited Koktibel which is nearby in 2005. His great, great grandfather was the Russian seascape painter, Ivan Aivazovsky, who lived in Theodossia (now Feodosia). Russian readers will be familiar with Aivazovsky (1817-1900). He was more highly regarded internationally in his own lifetime than his British… Continue reading Sudak Remembered

Take a Seat

The diocese alluded to in a recent post, How Big is Your Diocese, is Sudak in the Crimea. I’d hitherto never heard of the place and never expected to hear of it again, until a few days ago.

Restoration Romp

Number 79 Pall Mall is the only one on the south side of the street that does not belong to the Crown Estate. The freehold was given to Nell Gwynn in 1676 and, in her opinion, not before time; ‘Madam Gwinn complains she has no house yett’, reported Sir Joseph Williamson in 1673.

History Isn’t Always Bunk

History often has something to teach us; it’s a matter of opening it at the right page. The up-coming UK referendum about membership of the EU is dividing the country; husband against wife, father against son, step-father against step-daughter.

A Monsignor

I’ve  been asked by a regular reader to mention a famous 20th century scion of the Gilbey family, Monsignor Alfred Gilbey.  To get him in context, Monsignor Gilbey is the grandson of the Alfred Gilbey who founded the firm with his brother, Walter, in 1856. I met him only once that I can remember, when… Continue reading A Monsignor

Pevsner

I was foolish last week when I was walking in Derbyshire. Because, initially, the plan had been to carry our kit I travelled light and left something indispensable at home, namely Pevsner’s The Buildings of England DERBYSHIRE.