Month: February 2019

Discoveries

Saxon treasure at Sutton Hoo

In 1938-9 Basil Brown carried out a series of archaeological digs in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, on a group of Saxon-style (or arguably […]

In 1938-9 Basil Brown carried out a series of archaeological digs in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, on a group of Saxon-style (or arguably British-style) burial mounds. Two of these contained ships and the largest revealed an unspoilt treasure trove of gold and silver tableware, weapons, armour and coins from the 7th century. It is assumed that a ‘ship burial’ was afforded to a king or other important person (as opposed to a ‘boat burial’ for, say, a warrior).

From the imprints left by the rotted timber and the position of the rivets, Brown could see that the ship was 90ft by 14ft, the largest ever found. It had been hauled up from the nearby river and put in a long trench. A chamber had been built in the centre to house the coffin and precious goods. Everything was then buried under a mound of soil. No sign of a body remained because the acidity of the soil had completely dissolved it, experts say.

The famous Sutton Hoo helmet was pieced together over several years and is now the iconic symbol of the find. It can be seen in the British Museum with other Sutton Hoo artefacts.

(Image: Leo Reynolds at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

07/02/2019
3 min
6 years
203 words

Celebrations & Holidays

St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day is on 17th March because he died in Ireland on that day in 461. St. Patrick was born as […]

St. Patrick’s Day is on 17th March because he died in Ireland on that day in 461. St. Patrick was born as ‘Maewyn’ in northern Britain in 387 but in 403 he was either kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave or he chose to leave home. Maewyn worked as a shepherd for six years, during which time he learnt the Irish language and had a religious awakening.

He returned to Britain, trained as a priest and returned to Ireland as a missionary. He travelled all around the northern half of Ireland setting up churches and converting thousands of people. 17th March was eventually put on the Catholic saints calendar in the 1600s and it can be moved if it clashes with Easter. Over time, St. Patrick’s Day’s religious observance merged with Irish cultural symbols and festivities.

Today, some believe it has become too much of a commercialised portrayal of an Irish stereotype ~ for example, with people wearing leprechaun costumes and drinking to excess. It is a public holiday in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat in the Caribbean, where it has a unique West Indian flavour. The biggest St. Patrick’s Day parade is in New York.

(Image: David Dixon at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

06/02/2019
3 min
6 years
212 words

Law

Rights on becoming 17 years old

Reaching the age of 17 in the UK gives a few more legal rights on top of those granted at age 16. […]

Reaching the age of 17 in the UK gives a few more legal rights on top of those granted at age 16. The most important milestone for many teenagers is the right to drive. A 17-year-old can take the driving test and, if successful, can drive any vehicle except:-

lorries
motorbikes over 125cc
buses, unless he/she is in the Armed Forces

A 17-year-old can also fly an aeroplane or helicopter; leave his/her foster home or other care arrangement; donate blood; write a consent for body donation to a medical school; and be interviewed by the police without his/her parents having to be there. However, 17 is still not old enough to be classed as an adult, apart from a few child protection situations in Scotland.

(Image: Carissa Rogers at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

05/02/2019
2 min
6 years
134 words

Basic principles

School governors

The role of school governors has been gradually extended by successive Education Acts from 1870 onwards. As state schools are funded by […]

The role of school governors has been gradually extended by successive Education Acts from 1870 onwards. As state schools are funded by the tax-payers, the idea is to have some public involvement in their running. This is not always met with enthusiasm by the teaching staff, but the duties required of governors are sufficiently demanding as to only attract the most committed, skilled and team-minded volunteers.

A school can have between nine and twenty governors. The headteacher is automatically on the board of governors. The other types of governor are staff, local authority, co-opted (usually with business expertise of some sort), possibly foundation (from a sponsoring company, if any) and parent. Each has a term of four years, which may be renewed.

Governors must attend training. They must also become members of committees dealing with particular aspects, such as finance, curriculum and building maintenance. They meet with the OfSTED inspectors, sit on staff interview panels, deal with disciplinary and safeguarding matters and write school policies and an annual report. Their role is described as being a “critical friend” to the headteacher. Perhaps that is why they are not paid!

(Image: pixabay.com)

04/02/2019
3 min
6 years
191 words

Inventions

The mackintosh (mac)

A ‘mac’ is a generic name for a waterproof coat, shortened from ‘mackintosh’. In the early 19th century Charles Macintosh (no ‘k’), […]

A ‘mac’ is a generic name for a waterproof coat, shortened from ‘mackintosh’. In the early 19th century Charles Macintosh (no ‘k’), a chemist in Scotland, came up with a process for sandwiching rubber between two layers of fabric. He patented his rubberised material in 1823 and his company used it to make coats that were glued and taped together at the seams. The problem was that these first macs were heavy, stiff and tended to melt in hot sun!

Meanwhile, Thomas Hancock in England also had a company working on rubber goods, including recycling rubber left-overs. Macintosh and Hancock started to collaborate as Hancock’s rubberised fabric was made in a way that solved the previous issues. Hancock filed a patent for his vulcanised rubber in 1843.

The British Army made use of this invention and, in rainy UK, macs were very popular with the public. Later competition saw a downturn in sales, but today, Mackintosh Ltd and Hancock Vulcanised Articles Ltd both operate in the up-market rainwear sector.

(Image: pixabay.com)

03/02/2019
3 min
6 years
171 words

Geography & Environment

The Lake District

The Lake District is in Cumbria and is a World Heritage Site. It is the second largest national park in the UK […]

The Lake District is in Cumbria and is a World Heritage Site. It is the second largest national park in the UK at 885 sq. miles and its many mountains, dales, lakes and reservoirs attract fifteen million tourists every year. The landscape, formed by glaciers in the last Ice Age, inspires artists, poets, writers and photographers.

It was the poet William Wordsworth’s ‘Guide to the District of the Lakes’ of 1810 which first caught the attention of the public and a programme of railway and road building followed. It has also been an area of valuable mining industries. Slate, copper, gypsum, iron-ore, graphite and coal have all been extracted.

Although it is called the ‘Lake District’ (or ‘Lakeland’), only one of its bodies of water has the word ‘Lake’ in its name ~ that being Bassenthwaite Lake. A few are called ‘-mere’ (Old English for ‘lake’), such as the largest lake of the District, Windermere. Many are called ‘-water’ and others ‘tarn’ (Old Norse for ‘small lake’).

(Image: Kate Jewell at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

03/02/2019
3 min
6 years
174 words

Religion

Judaism

In Christian Britain the followers of the Jewish religion, or Judaism, have historically had a mixed welcome. They see Jesus Christ (who […]

In Christian Britain the followers of the Jewish religion, or Judaism, have historically had a mixed welcome. They see Jesus Christ (who would have been Jewish) as nothing more than a preacher and their holy text is the first five books of the Old Testament, from which a list of over 600 commandments has been derived.

Jewish merchants and bankers from western Europe did not arrive until after the Norman Conquest of 1066. However, further bad feeling was generated by their money-lending activities and their apparent wealth. This culminated in a massacre in 1190 of all Jews then living in York. By 1290 the Jewish population had been expelled from the country and it was not until almost four centuries later that they were allowed to return. It is said that this was partly because some Christians thought that a Jewish presence was a prerequisite for the second coming of Christ.

The Jews Relief Act of 1858 gave those professing the Jewish religion all the rights of British subjects. Since then there have been arrivals from eastern Europe ~ during and after WW2, for instance. There are around 260,000 followers of Judaism in the UK. The largest community is in London, with others in Manchester and Gateshead.

(Image: David Dixon at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

02/02/2019
3 min
6 years
209 words

Politics

Joining the Common Market

After World War 2, Britain took a long time to recover ~ rationing, for example, lasted until 1954. At the time that […]

After World War 2, Britain took a long time to recover ~ rationing, for example, lasted until 1954. At the time that British Prime Ministers first had talks with European leaders about joining the ‘Common Market’ ~ the European Economic Community (EEC) ~ there were industrial strikes, power cuts, inflation and the Cold War. These talks, in the 1960s, were unsuccessful.

However, Prime Minister Edward Heath (1916-2005) eventually signed on the dotted line in 1972 and Britain joined the EEC on 1st January 1973. It is claimed that this was unconstitutional, since the people had not been consulted and Heath knew that it was planned for the EEC to become a political union, not simply a customs agreement. In 1975 Prime Minister Harold Wilson (1916-95) made amends and held a referendum asking whether people wanted to “stay” in the EEC, to which they voted ‘yes’. There were just nine western European members at that time.

In 1993 the EEC became the European Community (EC) when it widened its scope beyond the economic. In 2009 the EC became the European Union (EU) and it grew to twenty-eight members. Seven years later, the British public voted in a referendum to leave the EU and regain independence.

(Image: David Iliff at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)

01/02/2019
3 min
6 years
202 words

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Quoting Neil Oliver...

I love Britain more than anywhere else in the world. With all my heart I declare that those of us born here, or who have made a home here by choice, are the luckiest, most blessed of all people. I am British. I will always be British.