Chinese New Year
Trade with China in the 1800s brought about a small, close-knit settlement of Chinese sailors and their families in the Limehouse district […]
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.
Freedom of association
In its simplest form, freedom of association places no restrictions on which friendship circles, clubs or societies we choose to join, but […]
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Table Tennis
To while away chilly evenings, some sports developed miniature indoor versions adapted for play on tables, initially in the gentry’s mansions. ‘Whiff-Whaff’ […]
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Stained glass church windows
Two Northumbrian clergymen, Wilfrid (634-709/10) and Benedict (c.628-90), adopted the European idea of having stained glass church windows for their monasteries (home […]
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The formation of Great Britain
One of the noteworthy figures in the formation of Great Britain (England, Wales & Scotland) was the 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658-1712) […]
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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 […]
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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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