The Truck Acts
Employee welfare in Britain’s unprecedented and, for some, traumatic passage through the Industrial Revolution was not always uppermost in employers’ minds. The […]
Read MoreAuthor: Purple Brolly
My aim is to give a flavour of these precious islands we call 'the UK'. All research is based on a minimum of two public domain sources, usually more.
The marine chronometer
As one of history’s greatest seafaring nations, Britain has made many contributions to oceanography, with the marine chronometer being one of the […]
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Stonehenge
Stonehenge in Wiltshire is Crown property and its mysterious origins and purpose remain unknown, although Druids believe they have a special connection […]
Read MoreStonehenge in Wiltshire is Crown property and its mysterious origins and purpose remain unknown, although Druids believe they have a special connection to it. There are theories that it served as a calendar for Neolithic farmers, or a burial ground or a place for pagan festivals. The word ‘henge’, meaning a prehistoric ring of upright stone, timber or earth surrounding a circular ditch, is taken from the name Stonehenge, which itself means either ‘stone gallows’ or ‘hanging stones’.
Legend tells of the stone formation then called ‘The Giants’ Dance’ being sailed from Ireland to commemorate the spot where British leaders were disgracefully murdered by their Saxon counterparts during negotiations. In a similar vein, giant skeletons have been discovered in Stonehenge’s vicinity, one of which was 14’10” tall. Clearly the “wonder” of this World Heritage Site still has much to be revealed.
However, the stones have been subjected to a spot of house-cleaning ~ between 1901 and 1964 the stones were repositioned and even replaced and finally set into concrete footings in order to create a more aesthetic and tidy impression for the million visitors per year, now only permitted to walk the perimeter. Compare John Constable‘s 1835 Stonehenge painting (left) to a 2008 photograph (right):-
(Top image: Mark Philpott at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC 2.0)
Windsor Castle
The neighbouring towns of Ascot and Windsor in Berkshire lie just 20 miles from central London and while Ascot has its royal […]
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Galton and Simpson
Raymond (Ray) Percy Galton (1930-2018) and Alan Francis Simpson (1929-2017) were both Londoners, both 6’4″ tall, both had tuberculosis as teenagers and, […]
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Harold Pinter
Londoner Harold Pinter (1930-2008), writer for stage, screen and print, actor and director, was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature. This […]
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Neutrons
Mathematician and physicist Sir James Chadwick (1891-1974) from Cheshire discovered the third type of sub-atomic particle, namely neutrons, for which he received […]
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Gretna Green
“We two matched for mating Came, handclasped, at last, Where the blacksmith was waiting To fetter us fast . . .” (Edith […]
Read More“We two matched for mating
Came, handclasped, at last,
Where the blacksmith was waiting
To fetter us fast . . .” (Edith Nesbit (1858-1924))
From the poem ‘Gretna Green‘, these lines depict a love-struck couple who impetuously rush to Gretna Green’s famous blacksmith’s shop to be married. In fact, many thousands of ‘anvil’ weddings took place, so called because in old Scottish law neither a clergyman nor parental consent were required ~ just two people to witness the lovers’ declarations ~ and the blacksmith would simply strike his anvil and announce the deed done. Though rare, girls as young as 12 and boys of 14 could marry in Scotland until 1929.
By 1753 the problem of bigamy (divorce being very difficult to obtain) and reckless wedlock by teenagers, was such that an Act for the Better Prevention of Clandestine Marriages was passed in England. This stipulated that weddings could only take place on Church of England premises with the Banns read out three Sundays beforehand. If the betrothed were aged under 21, parents could refuse permission.
So it was that impassioned couples hit on the idea of eloping north to Scotland, by stagecoach or train, often hotly pursued by infuriated relatives. Today, Gretna Green remains a romantic location for many weddings.
(Top image: Milivojevic at pixnio.com)
Fêtes, fairs and fayres
Medieval fairs were travelling or occasional marketplaces for traders, with a few refreshment stalls on the periphery. In the 18th and 19th […]
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The right of peaceful assembly
Large crowds are desirable for a ticketed or invitation event or meeting, but the right of peaceful assembly, as enshrined in British […]
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English billiards
Cleopatra: “Let it alone. Let’s to billiards. Come, Charmian.” ~ from Shakespeare’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ (1606) This shows not only that the […]
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