tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47546930802390806432024-03-08T23:23:03.662-08:00Random encounters with the unusualPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-11452630893460390882018-11-03T12:28:00.000-07:002018-11-03T12:28:32.643-07:00Scars of WW2 in South KensingtonIf you’ve ever visited London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (commonly known as the V&A) in South Kensington, you probably went in via the main entrance on Cromwell Road. The museum also has a side façade running along Exhibition Road, but if you walked that way you were probably heading for the Science Museum, in which case you were on the other side of the road. If so you missed an astonishing sight, because that whole side of the V&A is disfigured by bomb damage that dates from World War Two – almost 80 years ago.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb3DK_6Ie35_EV4UjaII8oJ4LKsX1eOmz66RQ8s6rCPHSx6WZD5WCGv976SVO-prUaWwF1UdkASfdrBGTifCowwdClB-v3iKRCKGJonSbKs-iJHQqJT6zggiz0wtVPg8mpkngdWmyQeaNp/s1600/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1111" data-original-width="1536" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb3DK_6Ie35_EV4UjaII8oJ4LKsX1eOmz66RQ8s6rCPHSx6WZD5WCGv976SVO-prUaWwF1UdkASfdrBGTifCowwdClB-v3iKRCKGJonSbKs-iJHQqJT6zggiz0wtVPg8mpkngdWmyQeaNp/s400/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The museum was fortunate in that it never received a direct hit, but it bears countless small scars caused by shrapnel and debris from explosions nearby. The inscription pictured above reads:<br />
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The damage to these walls is the result of enemy bombing during the Blitz of the Second World War 1939 – 1945 and is left as a memorial to the enduring values of this great museum in a time of conflict.</blockquote>
The “enemy” in question was, of course, Germany – which is ironic, because the Albert in “Victoria and Albert” was a German himself. Officially known as Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Queen Victoria’s husband was born in a castle about a hundred kilometres north of Nuremberg.<br />
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Here is a wider angle shot of the area around the inscription:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFGjPDpegdqfCabhrm2Ya-TysxiCazfM3LQLZSchWJjFHUPP0NRb6IvbgWq1W_BPYLj3cGcuL-0A4_g0yFjJlNz-b8YnYE32atwU-wogUuIFTc-s26OdkpgdIx4VdD05CPhB8d-3EAKEbp/s1600/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFGjPDpegdqfCabhrm2Ya-TysxiCazfM3LQLZSchWJjFHUPP0NRb6IvbgWq1W_BPYLj3cGcuL-0A4_g0yFjJlNz-b8YnYE32atwU-wogUuIFTc-s26OdkpgdIx4VdD05CPhB8d-3EAKEbp/s320/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The next five photographs form a sequence walking back towards Cromwell Road:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLH-AzpRlcc95GaKsxy44tLwMANC6tQ0kYfSnt87vUqa0r7AI1ewKfbL8oKj47Alq0QQhnicfZ0y_fa_nG5O-0qS7EfLOpOiSCfbvWkub5qkNjTKQ-RvXqVdyV3YR8TWQ0TDQD-3hmm-jg/s1600/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="1308" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLH-AzpRlcc95GaKsxy44tLwMANC6tQ0kYfSnt87vUqa0r7AI1ewKfbL8oKj47Alq0QQhnicfZ0y_fa_nG5O-0qS7EfLOpOiSCfbvWkub5qkNjTKQ-RvXqVdyV3YR8TWQ0TDQD-3hmm-jg/s320/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAo_i3_YixaRaaBrGmWbtWDMGKaPNqB8elRFRRYxpw0Gq-Wjy5DDU_OLO4LtrFJ0HKmlz6RaY85T7h0sgpsDbf2_2Ab4BMbZIEyTxENP3dM5dMG5BKEyLJzi83VT8JiG493mNIBHP-MlK/s1600/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1096" data-original-width="1384" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAo_i3_YixaRaaBrGmWbtWDMGKaPNqB8elRFRRYxpw0Gq-Wjy5DDU_OLO4LtrFJ0HKmlz6RaY85T7h0sgpsDbf2_2Ab4BMbZIEyTxENP3dM5dMG5BKEyLJzi83VT8JiG493mNIBHP-MlK/s320/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRU3NzQ5Ne7U09Twj_WmVTI6BbqCERZ9sHcmcEqlF-tXGZYsI75-0Y9bN8hJN8hls8QSZUFtC01SC_LR83ro5tNrUc2MKT3QVajC4X-Er1UAE47Pzy42CGgpgY6NUo0gpweUuLQDBFLacI/s1600/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1536" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRU3NzQ5Ne7U09Twj_WmVTI6BbqCERZ9sHcmcEqlF-tXGZYsI75-0Y9bN8hJN8hls8QSZUFtC01SC_LR83ro5tNrUc2MKT3QVajC4X-Er1UAE47Pzy42CGgpgY6NUo0gpweUuLQDBFLacI/s320/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmGz3u75mS43xjSKrPdXhMo38wXREC30Xu3DLDMzK7jJi-uVPSAd_VBu-WuvEL42IWXQENxJSg3ihIjQJBCriLFh5lrO-H1RzKQmkAJziJbVNucryXJa-6StFwxLHJhDWs8ud_xvRUvnA/s1600/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1536" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmGz3u75mS43xjSKrPdXhMo38wXREC30Xu3DLDMzK7jJi-uVPSAd_VBu-WuvEL42IWXQENxJSg3ihIjQJBCriLFh5lrO-H1RzKQmkAJziJbVNucryXJa-6StFwxLHJhDWs8ud_xvRUvnA/s320/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFGhacMHQ5YJazwVVRGc6g_G9fasa0MVH8zZRbHu4tWPOHOiRopK0E9lmx_koPmkTJBgbdNoCaBBSBkhiQ1hN75tRjcHmvoFgsjbNMC31vCtbGLJMF0RR6aWtRfWOxBUXnK_1I3rmaQk-/s1600/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1536" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFGhacMHQ5YJazwVVRGc6g_G9fasa0MVH8zZRbHu4tWPOHOiRopK0E9lmx_koPmkTJBgbdNoCaBBSBkhiQ1hN75tRjcHmvoFgsjbNMC31vCtbGLJMF0RR6aWtRfWOxBUXnK_1I3rmaQk-/s320/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Even this telephone box appears to have suffered shrapnel damage:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCs1_vAc1ncbCsWtxKERPXWihsoX3CHB2CvyK1JRQPmQ979m5zwRs2wFdrrizrC1fDQX9ULCVgZMwbm9g7pXeLL246lkeeK7W6lyvtTBCJXrT9M868uMOcDupgIWT0xT68naoR4TH3SFmt/s1600/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1536" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCs1_vAc1ncbCsWtxKERPXWihsoX3CHB2CvyK1JRQPmQ979m5zwRs2wFdrrizrC1fDQX9ULCVgZMwbm9g7pXeLL246lkeeK7W6lyvtTBCJXrT9M868uMOcDupgIWT0xT68naoR4TH3SFmt/s320/victoria-albert-museum-bomb-damage-8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
For many more unusual sights in London, don’t forget to check out <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/172386126X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=172386126X&linkCode=as2&tag=forteana-21&linkId=f298305c00855f1df6decbaace01bb68" target="_blank">Random Encounters on the London Tourist Trail</a>.<br />
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Pictures by Andrew May, October 2018.
Andrew Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-23002244216795502792018-10-12T09:35:00.000-07:002018-10-12T09:35:03.389-07:00Introducing "Random Encounters on the London Tourist Trail"<br />
Three years ago this month Andrew May and myself penned a <i>Fortean
Traveller</i> article for <i>Fortean Times</i> titled <i>Oddities of the Jurassic
Coast</i>. The article explored some of the lesser known unusual sights
that could be found along the southern Wessex coastline, and it was a
shameless plug for our new book at that time <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Wessex-Tourist-Strange-Unusual/dp/1909488356">Weird Wessex: A Tourist Guide to 100 Strange and Unusual Sights</a></i>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEr5SAV5osZs6JiQ7Jwr6GjGetXzxhzQ_NvnaBy2z9chaJZAMarXLQu_VMFJRUktCuhzMZD_Aa-7FQorSEfUmxl2Za0iDJBWd6tC00gkJh7j-MkrQ-fBnIU8ElJ4yHoq0_unQ08OD_4H8/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="960" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEr5SAV5osZs6JiQ7Jwr6GjGetXzxhzQ_NvnaBy2z9chaJZAMarXLQu_VMFJRUktCuhzMZD_Aa-7FQorSEfUmxl2Za0iDJBWd6tC00gkJh7j-MkrQ-fBnIU8ElJ4yHoq0_unQ08OD_4H8/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <i>Fortean Traveller</i> article.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Following on from the success of <i>Weird Wessex</i> we have now turned
out sights to the nation's capital and are pleased to announce the
release of <i>Random Encounters on the London Tourist Trail</i>. <i>Random
Encounters</i> takes the tourist off the beaten path from London's iconic
landmarks to explore some of the assortment of quirky and unusual sights
that are lurking just a short walk away from the regular tourist trail.
So if you think you know London, think again! As the book's back-cover
blurb explains:<br />
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<i>There’s an Egyptian Goddess in Mayfair and Karl Marx in Soho, a tiny
police station in Trafalgar Square and an 18-inch-wide alley in Covent
Garden (careful you don’t get stuck!). Alongside the iconic landmarks
that the regular guidebooks tell you about, central London has an
impressive assortment of quirky and unusual sights, from art
installations in the form of human body parts to hundred-year-old
advertising signs and a forgotten tube station. This book gives you a
guided tour of all these sights and more – without straying far from the
places you were going to see anyway, like Big Ben and Buckingham
Palace, the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral, the museums of
South Kensington and the entertainment hotspots of the West End.</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODlHMYm9WmQSud0HRpOqAPt_yklQUsSvyOrx-lM6lqiDpWx8wa4GF_4Elqgcr3GRFP9sAlpHJZt-4gHLcS2IphhlTUoTwd9giX9sjNVWVMTF_dDxnSS8i6lN5dzGDxrU6rPBRCPzZ1zc/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="603" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODlHMYm9WmQSud0HRpOqAPt_yklQUsSvyOrx-lM6lqiDpWx8wa4GF_4Elqgcr3GRFP9sAlpHJZt-4gHLcS2IphhlTUoTwd9giX9sjNVWVMTF_dDxnSS8i6lN5dzGDxrU6rPBRCPzZ1zc/s640/3.jpg" width="401" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Random Encounters on the London Tourist Trail.</i></td></tr>
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So if you are looking for a tourist guide to London's unusual sights
that is packed with full-colour photographs, look no further than <i><a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F172386126X%2Fref%3Das_li_tl%3Fie%3DUTF8%26camp%3D1634%26creative%3D6738%26creativeASIN%3D172386126X%26linkCode%3Das2%26tag%3Dforteana-21%26linkId%3Df298305c00855f1df6decbaace01bb68&h=AT1PnoaFoEDl8C9FKqwUejsiOz8WjElSH2hqZHa6d9QSaugm9Ma2oSyYlbZTWQVnpLIdRW7_A1U0PSoyWNXFU3hvYbE4WqHSwOnCAOq0X9G2Rd7rzTTyLISCfsaVokF-hdA">Random Encounters on the London Tourist Trail</a></i>. <i>Random Encounters</i> is
available from Amazon UK or any other Amazon store and is also available
on Kindle version.<br />
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If you find this post interesting please share it using the buttons below.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-40737319695026322152018-05-15T07:02:00.000-07:002018-05-15T07:02:22.177-07:00James Bond's London HomeA few roads over from Chester Square in London where the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, <a href="http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-london-house-where-frankensteins.html">lived from 1846 to 1851</a> is the home of another famous literary icon. The home in question can be found at 22 Ebury Street, and a blue plaque on the building reveals who the previous resident was. The blue plaque reads: “IAN FLEMING 1908-1964 Creator of James Bond lived here”.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicyTcPX4ZsxBlAQqY9Aacn1Vx_EzhKj9zI6qzVV4lP43ZGKTamONED_UhusJh6TXNpWvxwr91oi8IrH5I78bGwa79twy47xrsWaywDZfIkmT4hbEGC1M1n-uV9JrwBTwQguK3G_tlXNz8/s1600/2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1600" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicyTcPX4ZsxBlAQqY9Aacn1Vx_EzhKj9zI6qzVV4lP43ZGKTamONED_UhusJh6TXNpWvxwr91oi8IrH5I78bGwa79twy47xrsWaywDZfIkmT4hbEGC1M1n-uV9JrwBTwQguK3G_tlXNz8/s640/2.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fleming's blue plaque.</td></tr>
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Born into a wealthy family, Ian Lancaster Fleming had a privileged upbringing with an education that included studies at Eton, Sandhurst and the universities of Munich and Geneva. After completing his studies Fleming’s career initially saw him working as a journalist and then as a Royal Navy Officer for British Naval Intelligence. It was Fleming’s experiences in Naval Intelligence during World War II that give him the inspiration and source material for his famous literary creation, the fictional British Spy, James Bond.<br />
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Some of Fleming's wartime experiences found their way into his James Bond books. Like the fictional Bond, Fleming held the naval rank of Commander, and at one point he worked as the personal assistant to the director of Naval Intelligence, John Godfrey - believed to be the model for the character M, the head of MI6.<br />
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Fleming wrote his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952 and it was an immediate success, kick starting a worldwide phenomenon that would lead to sales of over 100 million copies of James Bond novels. During his writing career Fleming managed to author a total of 14 James Bond novels. The other 25 official James Bond novels to date being penned by other authors after Fleming’s death.<br />
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Due to his wealth and success Fleming could afford to live a lavish Bond-esque lifestyle. In the novels (for example Moonraker, 1955), James Bond is described as living in "a small but comfortable flat off the Kings Road" - a desirable address in Chelsea, but not in the same league as Fleming's own residence in Belgravia! However, the film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) shows a fleeting glimpse of a document giving his address as "<a href="http://www.mjnewton.demon.co.uk/bond/jbond.htm">61 Horsen Ferry Road, London S1</a>" - a fictionalised version of Horseferry Road in SW1, just a short walk from Ebury Street.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtQXH-YwrXsLmK_lZLyxCnA91uLNpI3BbtSGQ0Gg3niJFKKlUcwF-k1styxqCfTIBEal-Cl9swM_yqxtRBKVwS0t8SJXu06_9bJjNCZH6E-v9-Kz8NzC07fehkwQBMHsetMf-TKCJOm4/s1600/1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1600" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtQXH-YwrXsLmK_lZLyxCnA91uLNpI3BbtSGQ0Gg3niJFKKlUcwF-k1styxqCfTIBEal-Cl9swM_yqxtRBKVwS0t8SJXu06_9bJjNCZH6E-v9-Kz8NzC07fehkwQBMHsetMf-TKCJOm4/s640/1.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">22 Ebury Street</td></tr>
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Fleming had other homes besides the one in London - including an estate in Jamaica, which he called Goldeneye. That was another reminder of his naval career - Goldeneye had been the codename of a British intelligence operation during the Spanish Civil War. Much later, in 1995, one of the post-Fleming Bond movies was given that title as a homage to him.<br />
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Fleming's years of good living (he was a heavy drinker and smoker) eventually caught up with him and he suffered his first heart attack in 1961. It was whilst recovering from a subsequent heart attack that Fleming dreamt up the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. Apparently the idea for the novel stemmed from bedtime stories that he told his young son whilst he was convalescing. It seems that heart attacks would be the bane of Fleming’s later years, and it was a further heart attack in 1964 that claimed his life.<br />
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At the time of his death Fleming was living at Warneford Place, a mansion that James Bond would have been proud of in Sevenhampton near Swindon. Fleming was buried in the village’s churchyard (St James’) on the 15 August 1964, his resting place marked by a somewhat modest obelisk. His grave is not the only indication of his time in Sevenhampton, eagle-eyed visitors may notice the name of the nearby Ellipsis Farm, a name that may be familiar to some from Casino Royale.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi559iGbH0q7_RPzJvjygNdm0zEj67UfUJ38yU3oE7dAjXknhX09sjNVwPi59RuAYq8REevfSgB9tC9bN8Ra8KFMyeTcwUjknUD0QvGQg0BM_UnepXpdVuNHXzUr7KWSpR9NixnIWVqLrE/s1600/3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1064" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi559iGbH0q7_RPzJvjygNdm0zEj67UfUJ38yU3oE7dAjXknhX09sjNVwPi59RuAYq8REevfSgB9tC9bN8Ra8KFMyeTcwUjknUD0QvGQg0BM_UnepXpdVuNHXzUr7KWSpR9NixnIWVqLrE/s640/3.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fleming's grave in Sevenhampton near Swindon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A James Bond inspired Farm Name in Sevenhampton.</td></tr>
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Pictures, London (February 2018) & Sevenhampton (July 2015).Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-72292537770807686992018-03-03T04:02:00.000-08:002018-03-03T04:02:33.886-08:00Secrets of Mithras in London<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJx61Bqx88uSCB1KyO4WS9y8lx_GZRycMICZSBTYGgG3FwYFUy9wFwyL12rIffhn6hnOqx9QKqDie1qaL99Jpiz7CVr-YmzQoJNUxPYNO73idpUxzCiyTSxg-1zJFk6SMnxu70CM_RESjq/s1600/london-mithraeum1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="1600" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJx61Bqx88uSCB1KyO4WS9y8lx_GZRycMICZSBTYGgG3FwYFUy9wFwyL12rIffhn6hnOqx9QKqDie1qaL99Jpiz7CVr-YmzQoJNUxPYNO73idpUxzCiyTSxg-1zJFk6SMnxu70CM_RESjq/s400/london-mithraeum1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The above picture shows the remains of London’s Mithraeum, or Temple of Mithras. Although the temple dates from the 3rd century, and was rediscovered by archaeologists in 1954, the careful restoration that can be seen today is only a year or so old. It can be viewed, after obtaining a free but timed-entry ticket, in the basement of the new Bloomberg headquarters near the Bank of England. You might assume its subterranean location is due to the change in ground level since Roman times, but actually the Mithraeum was always underground.<br />
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Basically Mithraism was an “underground” religion. It emerged around the same time as Christianity, but it was much more secretive. At first glance the layout of the Mithraeum looks like a small Christian church, but being built underground it didn’t have any windows, and would have had a much spookier feel to it. The current reconstruction captures the atmosphere very well (there is also chanting in Latin, and other audiovisual effects).<br />
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Here is another picture, showing the viewing platform from which the first photograph was taken:<br />
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And here is a reverse-angle view, showing the carefully reconstructed stonework:<br />
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Unlike Bible-based Christianity, Mithraism seems to have revolved around visual symbols – which recur with remarkable consistency in archaeological remains from all over the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, in the absence of written records, no one knows what all this symbolism was supposed mean!<br />
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The most important symbol seems to have been the Tauroctony, which appears at the far end of the Mithraeum, where the altar would be in a Christian church. The Tauroctony shows Mithras slaying a bull – Taurus in the astrological zodiac – while enigmatically gazing at something in the opposite direction. The Tauroctony in the London Mithraeum is a modern replica – the original is now in the Museum of London. Here is a picture of it, photographed from one of the touchscreen displays in the Mithraeum:<br />
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The British Museum also has a very nice statue of Mithras slaying the bull. This one didn’t come from some hick provincial town like Londinium, but from the Emperor Hadrian’s villa near Rome:<br />
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Just as Mithraism was a secretive cult in Roman times, London’s Mithraeum seems to be something of a secret today. It’s one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the city – both visually and in terms of its intriguing back-story – yet it’s barely known to most tourists. That’s not just because it’s “new” – a poorer quality restoration was on show at street level prior to its current incarnation.<br />
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As an example of the Mithraeum’s obscurity, take the 2014 video game <i>Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments</i>. This includes an episode called “The Blood Bath”, which pits Holmes against Victorian-era followers of Mithras – without once mentioning London’s real-world Mithraeum. Of course, it hadn’t been discovered in Victorian times, but the game developers could have twisted the facts to fit it in. Instead, they twisted them in quite a different way, creating a fictional Mithraeum 20 miles away in St Albans, and focusing the London scenes around the so-called “Roman Bath” in Strand Lane (which, as described in <a href="http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-strands-roman-bath.html" target="_blank">a previous post on this blog</a>, probably isn’t Roman at all).<br />
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The Strand Lane complex depicted in <i>Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments</i> is much larger and more extravagant than its real-world counterpart, and hidden beneath it there’s an underground burial chamber – complete with Mithraic Tauroctony, as the following screenshot shows:<br />
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Pictures by Andrew May, September 2013 (British Museum) and February 2018 (Mithraeum)Andrew Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-22145458235652227182018-02-28T10:07:00.000-08:002018-02-28T10:07:06.321-08:00The London House Where Frankenstein’s Mother DiedChester Square in Belgravia, just to the south-west of Buckingham Palace, is one of London’s most expensive addresses. Chester Square was built in the early 19th century by the Grosevenor Family and is the sister square (albeit the much less grand sister) to both nearby Belgrave Square and Eaton Square. Chester Square is home to a number of huge multi-floored town houses, all of which are seemingly uniform in decoration, with white frontages adorned with black front doors. Ever since its construction Chester Square has been the home to the rich and famous, with past residents including Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, the poet Matthew Arnold, Mick Jagger, Tony Curtis, Margaret Thatcher, Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber, Nigella Lawson, and more recently Roman Abramovich.<br />
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Another notable previous resident of the square is Mary Shelley. Shelley was the famed author <i>Frankenstein</i>, a story that she conceived during her stay with her husband Percy Shelley and his fellow poet Lord Byron at his villa near Lake Geneva during the <a href="http://forteana-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/year-without-summer.html">Year Without a Summer</a> (1816). Apparently she based the novel on a vivid dream, as she explained later:<br />
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<i>I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion... He sleeps; but he is awakened; he opens his eyes; behold the horrid thing stands at his bedside, opening his curtains, and looking on him with yellow, watery, but speculative eyes. I opened mine in terror. The idea so possessed my mind, that a thrill of fear ran through me.</i><br />
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Shelley’s residency at Chester Square was during the last few years of her life and ended when she succumbed to a brain tumour at the age of 53. Following her death a silk parcel was found in Mary's possessions that was said to contain some of her husband’s ashes along with the remains of his heart - which legend suggests refused to burn when he was cremated in 1822. Mary’s body along with her husband’s incombustible heart left the city of London are now <a href="http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/finding-frankenstein-in-bournemouth.html">buried</a> in St Peter's Churchyard in Bournemouth.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9APt4hgSDErYoXWrA_bBw_5JPPr6LRkbeRp18k9Wt7VD07duysj_T_WC1-ZelagrzzUfl6A7-1-EWjI9AVCbh0VYxa2GfFtR27lvtE83UhyphenhyphenJvMFXhSou4vd-5AWaVjggT1cbIo0zzdq0/s1600/01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1064" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9APt4hgSDErYoXWrA_bBw_5JPPr6LRkbeRp18k9Wt7VD07duysj_T_WC1-ZelagrzzUfl6A7-1-EWjI9AVCbh0VYxa2GfFtR27lvtE83UhyphenhyphenJvMFXhSou4vd-5AWaVjggT1cbIo0zzdq0/s640/01.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The houses of Chester Square. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A plaque recognising Mary Shelley's residence at number 24 Chester Square. </td></tr>
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Pictures, London (February 2018).<br />
<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-22361744314318171942018-02-24T07:26:00.000-08:002018-02-24T07:26:04.791-08:00A tour of Polperro, alias Saxton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On a very hot day last summer I made a trip to Polperro on the south coat of Cornwall. I’d been meaning to go there for a long time – not just because it’s such a picturesque place, but because it’s the main inspiration for the fictional town of Saxton in Jonathan Boakes’s adventure game <i>The Lost Crown</i>.<br />
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I’ve written enthusiastically about <i>The Lost Crown</i> before (see <a href="http://forteana-blog.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-lost-crown.html" target="_blank">this blog post</a> from 2014), so all I’ll say here is that it’s acquired something of a cult following due to its quirky storyline and characters. I suspect that anyone who enjoyed playing the game will have vivid memories of Saxton and its surroundings, so for their benefit the following pictures focus on sights that were used in the game. For everyone else – just enjoy the views!<br />
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To start with here’s Harbour Cottage, the run-down hovel rented by the game’s protagonist, Nigel Danvers. In the real world it’s a nice, well-kept little house called Studio Cottage:<br />
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And here’s Saxton Museum – just a commercial establishment in the real world (the sign that says “Harbour & Smuggling Museum” is referring to something else):<br />
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I was looking forward to visiting “Celtic Corner”, because in the game it’s just the sort of incense-burning, hippie shop I like. In the real world, however, it’s just somebody’s house:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbX9zZ0QVePu1RYax1RIQB4Y0fVk5tZ6IdQn01LW4PvGT_WtdeHVZ8UxJrB8wT4SwMzYTvuSbNNkAOepTi_4YRduazPd36UMPt1ejBZzkwPcdi7h8BbmBA2JKhTIPQJ3Njhts78MQ-VwyV/s1600/polperro-celtic-corner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="1282" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbX9zZ0QVePu1RYax1RIQB4Y0fVk5tZ6IdQn01LW4PvGT_WtdeHVZ8UxJrB8wT4SwMzYTvuSbNNkAOepTi_4YRduazPd36UMPt1ejBZzkwPcdi7h8BbmBA2JKhTIPQJ3Njhts78MQ-VwyV/s400/polperro-celtic-corner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here’s the entrance to “Saxton Caverns” – actually just a small cave on Polperro beach:<br />
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And here’s the Net Hut, which is the scene of some gruesome goings-on in <i>The Lost Crown</i>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidL_TBR8KPaJ1qQpZW1DrQ138mJf3KVi2sMX-sqFPXOen8IYMIssZrwsD9G4axuqB2KhJgrZeTnig5ix6wEvefbUhk2J_XTvSOAC7p8PpaDJ4-XcI_VCrw1My_m86HqpmM6jUcMIOpUREc/s1600/polperro-net-hut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="1536" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidL_TBR8KPaJ1qQpZW1DrQ138mJf3KVi2sMX-sqFPXOen8IYMIssZrwsD9G4axuqB2KhJgrZeTnig5ix6wEvefbUhk2J_XTvSOAC7p8PpaDJ4-XcI_VCrw1My_m86HqpmM6jUcMIOpUREc/s400/polperro-net-hut.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Looking back towards the town from the Net Hut:<br />
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And here’s the little lighthouse – which as far as I can tell really is a little lighthouse!<br />
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Here’s a final piece of trivia for fans of <i>The Lost Crown</i>. The best character in the game (the only sane one) is called Lucy Reubens, which is quite an unusual surname. So it’s interesting to see that Polperro has a real-world Reubens Walk:<br />
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Pictures by Andrew May, June 2017.Andrew Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-497906742502328642018-02-15T09:48:00.002-08:002018-02-26T11:08:00.835-08:00Finding Shackleton’s Crow’s Nest in one of London’s Oldest ChurchesThe church shown in the below photos is All Hallows-by-the-Tower, which is located on Byward Street near the Tower of London.<br />
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Dating from 675 the church is one of the oldest in London and it still retains a number of clues to its long history. One example is a 7th-century Saxon arch within the church that was built using recycled Roman tiles – possibly from a Roman building that used to occupy the site. This Saxon arch is thought to be the oldest piece of church material still standing in London, dating from only a few years after the Saxons arrived in the city. Other examples of the church’s long history can be found in the church’s crypt museum, which is known as the "Undercroft Museum”. The museum is home to a number of Saxon and Roman artefacts, including Saxon crosses found on the church grounds as well as an impressive section of original tessellated Roman flooring which is still in situ in its original location and shows just how low ground level would have been during Roman times.<br />
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Another interesting artefact in the Undercroft Museum is a crow’s nest from Sir Earnest Shackleton’s 125-ton Norwegian Steamer “Quest”. Departing England on the 24th September 1921 Quest set sail for Antarctica on what was to be Shackleton’s last expedition. The ship ventured south visiting Rio De Janeiro and then moving onwards to South Georgia where Shackleton died on the 5th January 1922 and is now buried.<br />
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The crypt also contains an altar that is believed to have been carried on the Second Crusade to the Holy Land by King Richard II.<br />
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Unlike other churches in London, All Hallows was lucky enough to survive the 1666 Great Fire of London unscathed. Its survival was due to nearby buildings being demolished to prevent the fire from reaching the church. All Hallows' survival is just as well, as the famous diarist of the period (Samuel Pepys) is said to have used the spire of the church as a place to watch the progress of the fearsome blaze. Sadly however, All Hallows fell victim to the Luftwaffe, and the church was gutted by bombing during the Blitz and had to be extensively repaired following the war.<br />
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Pepys is not the only well-known person to be associated with the church. Due to All Hallows’ close proximity to the Tower of London it became the temporary resting place for a number of victims of the Tower’s scaffold and executioner’s block. Some of the more notable unfortunates to have visited All-Hallows post mortem include Bishop Fisher (1535), Sir Thomas More (1535) and Archbishop Laud (1645).<br />
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Other notable people associated with the church include William Penn, who was the founder of the state of Pennsylvania (one of the original 13 colonies of America) who was baptised in the church in 1644. Also, John Quincy Adams the sixth president of the United States was married in the church in 1797. Adams remains the only American President to date to be married on foreign soil!<br />
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So next time you visit the Tower of London consider a trip to All Hallows and see where an American President once got married.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Church of All Hallows </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shackleton's Crow's Nest</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Saxon Arch. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Roman Floor. </td></tr>
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Pictures, London (August 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-36477889455770709952018-01-31T12:31:00.001-08:002018-02-26T11:07:37.940-08:00London's church still ruined by the BlitzIn a city where land is a scarce commodity it is somewhat surprising to come across a ruined building that is allowed to remain untouched. The building in question is the Grade 1 listed St Dunstan-in-the-East, which can be found just off of Lower Thames Street, a short distance from the Tower of London. Originally constructed around 1100 the church was in use until 1666 when it was extensively damaged during the Great Fire of London. Following the great fire the church was repaired and a tower and steeple designed by Sir Christopher Wren was added. The church continued to remain in use until London fell victim to its second “great fire”, also known as the Blitz! During the Blitz of 1941 the church was unlucky enough to be hit by German bombs and only Wren's tower and steeple, and some of the church’s outer walls survived the carnage.<br />
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Now ruined, St Dunstan-in-the-East would cease to be a church and in 1971 the decision was made to turn the ruins into a public garden. What remains is a somewhat eerie and tranquil public space where plant life slowly overgrows the carcass of the former church, and the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city seems worlds away.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Dunstan-in-the-East, with Sir Christopher Wren's tower and Steeple visible. </td></tr>
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Pictures, London (August 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-18773694711256268652018-01-26T06:15:00.000-08:002018-01-26T06:15:37.558-08:00Of Alley and London's Water Gate scandal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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“Of” is one of the commonest words in the English language, and one that’s noticeably low on information content. So it’s surprising to see that London once had a thoroughfare called “Of Alley” – as the above photograph demonstrates.<br />
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Now officially known as “York Place”, Of Alley can be found between the Strand and Victoria Embankment Gardens, running crosswise between Villiers Street and Buckingham Street. At one time this whole area was occupied by a large mansion called York House. However, in 1672 its then-owner sold it for development – with the rather strange condition that all the new streets should be named after him.<br />
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There were five new streets altogether, but they just managed it. The vendor was George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, and the result was George Street, Villiers Street, Duke Street, Buckingham Street ... and Of Alley! While all those streets still exist today, only Villiers Street and Buckingham Street have their original names. George Street is now “York Buildings”, Duke Street is “John Adam Street” and – as already mentioned – Of Alley is “York Place”. Nevertheless, all the old names can be seen on the old map on the <a href="https://www.locatinglondon.org/" target="_blank">Locating London’s Past</a> website – as you can see from the following screenshot:<br />
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There’s an odd thing about that map, isn’t there? Where you would expect to see Victoria Embankment Gardens, the map shows the river! That’s because the map predates the construction of the Embankment in the 1860s, when the land was reclaimed from the river. A feature of York House that made it a particularly desirable property was the fact that it had direct access to the river. Even though the house was long gone by the time of the above map, you can still see its erstwhile river access in the form of the “York Building Stairs” at the end of Buckingham Street.<br />
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And it’s still there today, despite being more than a hundred metres from the edge of the river now! It’s called the “York Water Gate”, and it dates from a renovation of the house in the 1620s. When the rest of the house was demolished 50 years later, the gate was left standing. It can still be seen today, high and dry in Victoria Embankment Gardens, as the following picture shows:<br />
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Photographs by Andrew May, January 2018.Andrew Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-28406225407011404542018-01-21T05:35:00.000-08:002018-01-21T05:35:54.481-08:00Bomb Shelters and Ghost Signs in London<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the fascinating things about London is the way some of its most unusual and little-known sights can be found just a stone’s throw from the big tourist attractions. A prime example of the latter is the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square (pictured above). Churchill’s fame, of course, rests mainly on his role in World War Two – a particularly unpleasant time for London, which suffered heavy air raids by German bombers. Another, less well-known, reminder of that time can be seen in Lord North Street, just 400 metres south of Parliament Square:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMCvVkTFpmJi6jyy1LKqnxx8jzEoC5kyjjbaFCnyGEMgEsxk0VzhsHfE1czzLYuF9RcXGAL6h7TIk9HIgG6ZKqCFxlCLzBj-rdhv0UJZmGXHWyrPgpYimbMhMSCsva3UJ9d3mPOHos7aH/s1600/lord-north-street-sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1372" data-original-width="1066" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMCvVkTFpmJi6jyy1LKqnxx8jzEoC5kyjjbaFCnyGEMgEsxk0VzhsHfE1czzLYuF9RcXGAL6h7TIk9HIgG6ZKqCFxlCLzBj-rdhv0UJZmGXHWyrPgpYimbMhMSCsva3UJ9d3mPOHos7aH/s320/lord-north-street-sign.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
The above photograph shows a faded sign on a brick wall that reads <i>“Public shelters in vaults under pavements in this street”</i>. Although it was painted during the “Blitz” – almost 80 years ago now – it’s still there today! The public shelters, of course, are long gone, although there are a couple of places further along the street where signs can be seen pointing down into the basement areaways. Like this one:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3M9W96jKHnEL13YaagLbbWfgt_RTF6y-iIxYyVIHtGX6Dj7jB5UFT3TUdb-8ttkObejWz3SlJ-vT-CL7ELKt0IkGHZtZthHnRiirLTofOjeFoTmsD5P5VXnv6bz8C110ztTZyH8zQMiZv/s1600/lord-north-street-sign2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1386" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3M9W96jKHnEL13YaagLbbWfgt_RTF6y-iIxYyVIHtGX6Dj7jB5UFT3TUdb-8ttkObejWz3SlJ-vT-CL7ELKt0IkGHZtZthHnRiirLTofOjeFoTmsD5P5VXnv6bz8C110ztTZyH8zQMiZv/s320/lord-north-street-sign2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Although the signs are easy enough to read in the above photographs, they’re actually very faded and difficult to spot unless you known exactly where to look. They’re an example of “ghost signs” – old signs that were painted on brick walls and are still faintly visible today, despite having long since ceased to be relevant. Another ghost sign that’s located close to the London tourist trail can be seen in Tisbury Court in Soho.<br />
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Soho is a bright, fashionable area that has been smartened up considerably in recent decades. Tisbury Court, however, seems to have been largely overlooked. Despite its posh-sounding name, it’s quite a sleazy little alley – and one end of it still bears a large painted advertisement on the wall:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONDJM7ruy25er79WEjr09VOejXqq9tyBwsutVcCaOvWhuicCgxuvCxRlJ4SIoClQc2g43sm3DY9pjGd_7t2-jxgKKo1Ph32h72RH5CQnF5yPJ-NNViXuDr6MwfrDwhpFGXjJyH_fpRuZ_/s1600/tisbury-court-ghost-sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="1333" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONDJM7ruy25er79WEjr09VOejXqq9tyBwsutVcCaOvWhuicCgxuvCxRlJ4SIoClQc2g43sm3DY9pjGd_7t2-jxgKKo1Ph32h72RH5CQnF5yPJ-NNViXuDr6MwfrDwhpFGXjJyH_fpRuZ_/s320/tisbury-court-ghost-sign.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Here’s a close-up of the upper part of the advertisement. Note that it dates from a time when Tisbury Court was called “Little Crown Court” – apparently some time in the early 20th century.<br />
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Pictures by Andrew May, January 2018.Andrew Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-5817848422871275682016-11-03T13:51:00.000-07:002016-11-03T14:42:12.729-07:00Sayings what you will about BathDuring a recent walk around Bath in Somerset I was made aware of a number of sayings in everyday use that have possible origins that are linked to sights within the city. Here are the sayings in question and how they may be related to points of interest in the city of Bath. <br />
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<b>"Paying on the nail"</b><br />
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The photos below show the inside of the Guildhall Market on the High Street in Bath. The market is said to have been in operation for around 800 years, and over that period the products for sale will have changed from fresh produce and livestock, to today’s tacky gifts and DIY supplies. The market has been operating from its current venue from at least the 16th century, and one of the monuments to the age of the market is its stone pillar, which is known as a “Nail”. According to popular belief the Nail is the place where all transactions at the market used to take place, with debts being settled by people putting their money on a Nail. This practice apparently lead to the phrase “paying on the nail”, which nowadays means to pay a debt promptly. Nails made of bronze can also be found in nearby Bristol. The Bristol Nails are set in the pavement outside of the Corn Exchange and are again said to be where merchants in Bristol paid their debts.<br />
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The association of the these pillars with the origin of the phrase “paying on the nail” is however challenged by some. Some sources suggest that the origin of the phrase predates the use of these pillars as point of payment and that the phrase possibly derives from ancient Greece. It seems that there is written evidence (circa 1300) for an Anglo-Norman version of the phrase and also a Roman version of the phrase (circa 1 AD). It is thought that these may have in turn been based on an older Greek phrase. The Greek phrase is said to relate to a person running their finger nail over a newly carved sculpture or a carpenter’s joint to feel for imperfections and test the quality of the work, before making payment. So perhaps the Nails were named as a result of a phrase that was already in common use at the time of their construction, as opposed to be them being the origin of the phrase “paying on the nail”?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bath Guildhall Market "Nail".</td></tr>
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<b>"If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen"</b></div>
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The photos below show the Roman Baths in the city of Bath. The hot springs in Bath consist of approximately 1.2 million litres of spring water that rises each day at a balmy temperature of 46 °C. The site of the spring has been considered special since ancient times, with evidence of a Celtic shrine to the goddess Sulis having been built at the site. This Celtic religious site was seemingly co-opted by the invading Romans who built their own temple around 60-70 AD. During the Roman occupation of Britain the site gradually developed, and the baths remained in use until the Romans withdrew from Britain in the 5th century AD. After the Roman withdrawal the site fell into disrepair and was eventually lost due to flooding and silting, until however, it was rediscovered in the modern era and restored to its former glory. </div>
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So what do the Roman Baths have to do with phrase “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”? Well it seems that during the medieval era, that at the centre of the baths where the heated water emerged from the ground, there used to be a structure known as the “kitchen”. The kitchen was a focus for the baths and people would relax on and around it. However as this was the hottest point of the baths, sometimes the heat would be too much for some and as such people would apparently have to leave the vicinity of the kitchen to cool down. Whether or not this structure in the medieval baths really led to the phrase “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” remains to be seen. A brief searching of the Internet for the origin of the phrase does not return any results linking it to the Roman Baths (well none that I have been able to find that is).</div>
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The origin of this phrase (if the collective wisdom of the Internet is to be believed) suggests that it was a phrase coined by Senator (Latterly President) Harry S. Truman. In an Idaho newspaper in July 1942 an article apparently included the line “Favorite rejoinder of Senator Harry S. Truman, when a member of his war contracts investigating committee objects to his strenuous pace: ‘If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen.'”. It is this article that is widely cited as the proof that Truman coined the phrase. However the residents of Bath may be minded to disagree with this!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qmxalvcV0DuQLA8-_GL6VfZvG9dL9_irlQGl5P35XjIzQALnDImEBnAwbdmiJ93iJRYdvG1ENZYJAhiPd8jBZVn6XzYxReKzBjJljmSlv0RXfjb8daPfTj2dfsZlJeVX3tFXc-oEt4c/s1600/04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qmxalvcV0DuQLA8-_GL6VfZvG9dL9_irlQGl5P35XjIzQALnDImEBnAwbdmiJ93iJRYdvG1ENZYJAhiPd8jBZVn6XzYxReKzBjJljmSlv0RXfjb8daPfTj2dfsZlJeVX3tFXc-oEt4c/s640/04.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Roman Baths, known as "The Kings Bath" in the medieval era.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The middle image in the above shows "the kitchen" at the centre of "The Kings Bath".</td></tr>
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<b>"Daylight Robbery"</b><br />
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The last phrase I will mention is “Daylight Robbery”. Possible evidence for the origin of this phrase can be seen in the architecture of the city of Bath.<br />
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In 1696, King William III of England introduced a tax which charged people based on the number of windows in their property. The idea of income tax was distasteful to the population on the basis that it was an unwelcome intrusion into a person’s private affairs, so instead a person’s perceived income was taxed by taxing the size of their property, based on the number of windows. The tax had two tiers, a flat rate was charged for all houses with up to 10 windows and then an extra variable element was added on properties with extra windows above the initial ten.<br />
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In order to dodge the tax, some house owners took to the practice of bricking up any excess windows. These bricked-up windows would have prevented some areas of the properties from receiving the daylight that they once had. As such, some people saw this tax as them being robbed of their daylight and fresh air! Hence it is said that the phrase “Daylight Robbery” came into being.<br />
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The Window Tax was repealed around 1851, and as can be seen in the below pictures, some of the older houses in Bath still show signs of having bricked up windows. Some older houses even have fake windows installed to mask these bricked up windows and restore the property’s natural symmetry.<br />
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As with all of these phrases, the origin of the phrase is disputed, with some sources highlighting that the phrase was not first seen in print until the late 1940’s, and if this is true can it really have an origin dating back to 1696?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfmhhX9aCzsxnzSIMpHkKdtYDBwKAC3Zlptjtrj0zdNvsNXt2Jmq1K_Vb1KsLddJnY9x_1NssJKkaKSFoeOxzGJWvWsh7UghgSFLI1VnQsYRYzDywzC081vfdaW2LCTT0KBSZ2eQVcik/s1600/08.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfmhhX9aCzsxnzSIMpHkKdtYDBwKAC3Zlptjtrj0zdNvsNXt2Jmq1K_Vb1KsLddJnY9x_1NssJKkaKSFoeOxzGJWvWsh7UghgSFLI1VnQsYRYzDywzC081vfdaW2LCTT0KBSZ2eQVcik/s640/08.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blocked off windows - an attempt to dodge the window tax?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4UnkFGmnWo-WiTUSkoUNPsq8bVjI6irXVsaNafwId9RbUWfu5ZOGjE0R3kYU_A36ZzyNN2q5DGXUUR1YhkGJtJscH1PpyiTL1RM6SgTzDfMhIEjKBFWmgAH1N879hqSdN-O4cT-oIc3Q/s1600/11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4UnkFGmnWo-WiTUSkoUNPsq8bVjI6irXVsaNafwId9RbUWfu5ZOGjE0R3kYU_A36ZzyNN2q5DGXUUR1YhkGJtJscH1PpyiTL1RM6SgTzDfMhIEjKBFWmgAH1N879hqSdN-O4cT-oIc3Q/s640/11.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you tell which windows on this building are real and which are fake?</td></tr>
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So that is end of my tour around Bath. It is hard to be sure of the exact origin of these phrases, but clearly there is no need to let that get in the way of a good story! And who knows, perhaps even one of them may be true!<br />
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Pictures: Somerset (August 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-77149011283351101312016-10-09T11:12:00.000-07:002016-10-09T11:13:18.042-07:00Burying ScroogeThe church in the below photos is St Chad's Church in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. St Chad’s dates from 1792, and the church’s distinctive round profile (you can just see this in the second picture below), makes it somewhat of an eye-catcher. As interesting as the church is however, it is an oddity in the church’s small graveyard that really caught my attention.<br />
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Wandering St Chad’s graveyard the observant may notice a rather plain grave stone bearing the name Ebenezer Scrooge (the fictional character from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol). Scrooge’s gravestone was apparently created for the 1984 film version of this story (starring George C Scott as Scrooge), which was filmed in Shrewsbury. It seems that a weathered gravestone in the graveyard was re-purposed for the film with Ebenezer Scrooge’s name being engraved into the stone. In the last picture below it is just possible to discern at the bottom of the stone, the faint markings from the original inscription, presumably commemorating the previous owner of the gravestone. Once filming had ceased the stone was left in place and now probably confuses the occasional visitor to the graveyard who now wonders if Ebenezer Scrooge was perhaps a real person?<br />
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George C Scott who portrayed Scrooge in the 1984 film was rather famous during his career. Scott’s most notable performance was probably playing the title character from the 1970 film Patton, for which he was awarded, but did not accept, an Academy Award for Best Actor. Scott died in 1999 and given his fame one might expect that Scott would have a lavish grave, however it seems to be that he actually resides in an unmarked grave in the Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. I cannot find any clear explanation why Scott’s grave is unmarked, but it does seem rather ironic that he rests without a memorial stone, whilst one of the fictional characters that he portrayed has a memorial!<br />
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It does make me wonder if any other fictional character has a burial plot in a graveyard? If you know of one, let me know in the comments section.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbfuATM4-0d54VHpGGAEnUsqNbqQ2PO5CrQvHONzuc2-uEiewocIF4d0zIa9fez5fN8WI5HTnw50tD9OzCync8Dwg_teNcW6lds_9gBpkpEN5cdqao5V9zWIOViRuY9xJgagRDOqQfxqM/s1600/1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbfuATM4-0d54VHpGGAEnUsqNbqQ2PO5CrQvHONzuc2-uEiewocIF4d0zIa9fez5fN8WI5HTnw50tD9OzCync8Dwg_teNcW6lds_9gBpkpEN5cdqao5V9zWIOViRuY9xJgagRDOqQfxqM/s640/1.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Chad's in Shrewbury, Shropshire.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scrooge's grave is the horizontal stone at the bottom right of the photo. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7K_bTuSL4hrCJIYxdTtuT6mwIq-y89TPMUVSDja8-HQL0xnsiURKDqRPokgo3clGTHYSFTDpuIrM3qq3-OcazYAJDdxYQw9Ljk794E9D4LD37p1e0-tY6GTH5M2TQnw8m4dGD2bywt8/s1600/4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7K_bTuSL4hrCJIYxdTtuT6mwIq-y89TPMUVSDja8-HQL0xnsiURKDqRPokgo3clGTHYSFTDpuIrM3qq3-OcazYAJDdxYQw9Ljk794E9D4LD37p1e0-tY6GTH5M2TQnw8m4dGD2bywt8/s640/4.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here lies Ebenezer Scrooge.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Shropshire (October 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-14668346345688290472016-09-23T11:35:00.001-07:002016-09-23T11:35:19.483-07:00Discovering Oxygen at Wiltshire's AtlantisAnyone who has studied chemistry will be familiar with the name Joseph Priestley (1733 - 1804). Priestley was the clergyman chemist who is credited with the discovery of oxygen in August 1774.<br />
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Oxygen, which Priestley called "dephlogisticated air", was only one of the "airs" that he discovered during his experiments. Priestley also isolated: nitric oxide (NO); hydrogen chloride (HCl); ammonia (NH3); nitrous oxide (N2O); carbon monoxide (CO); and sulphur dioxide (SO2). Priestley also conducted electrical experiments, and his dabblings with charged spheres lead him to propose that the electrical force followed an inverse-square law. This relationship was formalised and published in 1784 by French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb, and became known as Coulomb's law.<br />
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Priestley's greatest gift to the world was probably his method for making soda water. Thinking that soda water might cure scurvy, he provided the method to Captain James Cook for his second voyage. If only he had provided them with some lemons and limes to go in it, his idea may have worked!<br />
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When Priestly discovered oxygen he was resident at Bowood House near Calne in Wiltshire, as a guest of Lord Shelburne who had provided him with lodgings and a laboratory.<br />
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Bowood House today is a shadow of its former self. At its peak the house consisted of the "Big House" and the "Little House" which were connected by a huge drawing room. In the modern era Bowood become too expensive to maintain, so in 1956 the "Big House" and the drawing room were demolished. During this rationalisation of the house a dining room designed by Robert Adam was auctioned off to Lloyd's of London. Lloyd's had the drawing room rebuilt in their London offices, and today this part of Bowood House can be found on the 11th floor of their Lime Street offices. All that remains of Bowood house today is just the "Little House", but this name does a disservice to what is still a rather substantial country residence.<br />
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The grounds of Bowood House were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown, and the centerpiece of his design was a sizeable lake. However, one thing stood in the way of Capability Brown's lake, and that was the village of Manning's Hill!<br />
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To enable the lake to be constructed the residents of Mannings Hill had to be relocated, and in 1766 they were persuaded to move to nearby villages such as Sandy Lane. Once the former village was empty Capability Brown had it flooded to form the sinuous lake that is seen today. A lake that is almost 1 km long covering an impressive area of 45 acres.<br />
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It seems that parts of the village remain submerged in the lake to this very day and in 2007 divers <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/6904129.stm">found the remains</a> of two cottages and stone walls in the lake's murky depths.<br />
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So not only does Wiltshire boast its own <a href="http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/ghost-towns.html">ghost town</a>, it also boasts its own version of Atlantis!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQIL9zlDdi9Qs-FaP0MNbrCgHDRiNAX8Yp_Of6gj-1DCfY1TuplLAmaLEweOF2tOOmxJv_zK8E8MArBTxK_XVKNVXtv2g18W4d6JO70qcS35NYrR5pkiCriDbNgZLsfsDj-ZjVPIlynxA/s1600/01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQIL9zlDdi9Qs-FaP0MNbrCgHDRiNAX8Yp_Of6gj-1DCfY1TuplLAmaLEweOF2tOOmxJv_zK8E8MArBTxK_XVKNVXtv2g18W4d6JO70qcS35NYrR5pkiCriDbNgZLsfsDj-ZjVPIlynxA/s640/01.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bowood House.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The laboratory where Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bowood's Lake, but what lies beneath its surface?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0NiGQPPDyfLACW6it7yVAM8LbNnP14IozABfRc7f-bMf65RI88kClj3lLyrrBnmWlPCj4AqEQK0LMlBwdAV-akM9VscP-4ou1G9a6c8O2R1eVse9wv_CGF84j6iXxB01iSNkah7jEN8/s1600/12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0NiGQPPDyfLACW6it7yVAM8LbNnP14IozABfRc7f-bMf65RI88kClj3lLyrrBnmWlPCj4AqEQK0LMlBwdAV-akM9VscP-4ou1G9a6c8O2R1eVse9wv_CGF84j6iXxB01iSNkah7jEN8/s640/12.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Doric temple folly on the lakeside. </td></tr>
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Pictures: Wiltshire (August 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-28302580461442688812016-09-07T10:25:00.001-07:002016-09-07T10:26:45.451-07:00Levitating Canal Boats and Massive Water HorsesThis week’s post is a guest post penned by author and long-time Fortean Dr Andrew May. Andrew maintains his own blog “<a href="http://forteana-blog.blogspot.co.uk/">Retro-Forteana</a>”, which in his own words "focuses on the weirder fringes of history (and other old-fashioned stuff)". Andrew regularly contributes to Fortean Times and was my co-author and editor for "<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Wessex-Tourist-Strange-Unusual/dp/1909488356">Weird Wessex</a>". Andrew's two most recent books are part of the " Pocket Giants" series looking at the scientific giants <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Isaac-Newton-pocket-Andrew-May/dp/0750962321/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473243763&sr=1-1&keywords=pocket+giants+newton">Isaac Newton</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Albert-Einstein-Dr-Andrew-May/dp/0750963808/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Q4PXJ7R0B091VW6F1NGJ">Albert Einstein</a>. Andrew has previously written for this blog, with his previous post exploring some of <a href="http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/somersets-ww2-oddities.html">Somerset's World War II oddities</a>. Andrew's latest post describes two oddities that Andrew encountered during a recent visit to Scotland. Over to Andrew...<br />
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The Falkirk Wheel is a massive steampunk-looking contraption two miles west of the town of Falkirk in Scotland. It's essentially a giant lift, or elevator, designed to raise and lower boats between two canals at different levels. Although distinctly Victorian in its eccentricity and ingenuity, the Falkirk Wheel only dates from 2002. By that time, the series of eleven locks that used to connect the two canals - the Forth and Clyde Canal (lower level) and the Union Canal (upper level) - had fallen into disuse, and a new solution was needed. It used to take a boat almost a day to pass through all the locks - the new mechanism can do the job in just a few minutes.<br />
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Here is a view from the upper level, looking along the aqueduct leading to the "wheel". At first sight it doesn't look like a wheel, but the name becomes clearer when it's seen in action. The last section of the aqueduct is actually a sealable water tank which can hold up to four canal boats. Below it, at the lower level, there is another similar tank. The two tanks are attached to a central axle, around which they rotate - so one tank goes up as the other comes down (the tanks swivel so they remain horizontal). The total vertical distance travelled is 35 metres, and each tank can raise or lower 500 tonnes of water plus payload.<br />
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Here is the wheel as it starts to move...<br />
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And here it is just past the half way point:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLabhIykMhyhO5P0iWX8dzQaPyfUNAgT2AX8LXEgcqiQ3Nip6BySPMGKXIABKHs8YRfShVOiKtgCfiob_qbXUUxfZxwndY3wexYhzZ0MzRQ1zutsqmOOKAesBER5AaZgWFo47cIk9jykY/s1600/falkirk_wheel_1c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLabhIykMhyhO5P0iWX8dzQaPyfUNAgT2AX8LXEgcqiQ3Nip6BySPMGKXIABKHs8YRfShVOiKtgCfiob_qbXUUxfZxwndY3wexYhzZ0MzRQ1zutsqmOOKAesBER5AaZgWFo47cIk9jykY/s640/falkirk_wheel_1c.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And here is another sequence from the reverse angle:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZCrB_ie-62Z7LYIZC464WK_gy1pZjgpiDpzb7lRUZPx7cclA9r430HMDBLgywbT_ObD-e42DzMIuTaJXuVrqF9SiIBAV89Ir3_Pws6U1_EBoHrX2it9ZvSrfHC7zQce57BuNwZVOPfk/s1600/falkirk_wheel_2d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZCrB_ie-62Z7LYIZC464WK_gy1pZjgpiDpzb7lRUZPx7cclA9r430HMDBLgywbT_ObD-e42DzMIuTaJXuVrqF9SiIBAV89Ir3_Pws6U1_EBoHrX2it9ZvSrfHC7zQce57BuNwZVOPfk/s640/falkirk_wheel_2d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Although the Falkirk Wheel was designed for a practical purpose, it has become a major tourist attraction with a large visitor centre. A significant proportion of the wheel's traffic is made up of tourist boats which spend the day going up and down from one canal to the other!<br />
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One striking feature at the visitor centre is a stainless steel sculpture of two horses' heads. In fact this is a one-tenth scale model of a towering modern sculpture, dating from 2013, which can be seen on the other side of Falkirk near the M9 motorway. It's called "The Kelpies", after the mythical water-horses of Scottish folklore. At 30 metres in height, it is currently the tallest statue in Britain.<br />
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Here is the small-scale version of the Kelpies at the Falkirk Wheel. If you look closely at the right-hand corner of the plinth of the left-hand horse, you can see a tiny human figure to the same scale!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7B8s7HVo2YivZvXbbyANE7FlikVEdZLCGPsSJf4-WaJzxVHxkh5NMntKKdA3kTzuQYhAXc8wPplSwJB-J5vu9IFuvTVE8e6Zxvm9ER1sQsaNZpPQSwzcLbNuvlULsiSlpQbKm3j8AWE8/s1600/K1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7B8s7HVo2YivZvXbbyANE7FlikVEdZLCGPsSJf4-WaJzxVHxkh5NMntKKdA3kTzuQYhAXc8wPplSwJB-J5vu9IFuvTVE8e6Zxvm9ER1sQsaNZpPQSwzcLbNuvlULsiSlpQbKm3j8AWE8/s640/K1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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... and here are the full-size Kelpies:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1ZfFKDzYA-Uj5Gb7qrWxt8IOOlo2VHOTWs17qd2Ru7WHBFJ6TPvon5L05lub5jSjwUrYtVryfaLXPRUjiPCdUZMxuEcPue4eM9fJ5agsu_MxrLPpVUPdHsZd90J_r8kgP1X2Xvw6t7Y/s1600/k2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1ZfFKDzYA-Uj5Gb7qrWxt8IOOlo2VHOTWs17qd2Ru7WHBFJ6TPvon5L05lub5jSjwUrYtVryfaLXPRUjiPCdUZMxuEcPue4eM9fJ5agsu_MxrLPpVUPdHsZd90J_r8kgP1X2Xvw6t7Y/s640/k2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Pictures from July 2016 by Tomasz Babarowski (Falkirk Wheel), Andrew May (small kelpies) and Ewa Babarowski (large kelpies)<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-43367410186656780522016-08-25T10:44:00.002-07:002016-08-25T10:44:56.003-07:00The Southwark SpikeAt the southern end of London Bridge, in the shadow of the spike-shaped building “The Shard”, is another spike shaped structure. This structure is a 16m tall spike made from light grey Portland stone. This leaning spike tapers from its base to a point, and it apparently lies at an odd 19.5° angle. This structure is known locally as the Southwark Spike or more correctly as the Southwark Gateway Needle. The Needle bears no inscription or plaque to explain its purpose or why it was built where it is.<br />
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The common explanation on the Internet seems to be that the Needle is a monument that relates to an old practice of displaying heads on spikes. Today’s London Bridge was built in 1974 and is not the original London Bridge. It seems that there have been various crossings of the River Thames at Southwark since Roman times. In 1209 a medieval bridge was completed at Southwark and this may have been the first to be formally known as “London Bridge”. This medieval bridge was 8m wide and around 240m to 270m long. By 1358 it had become home to around 138 shops making it just as much a part of the city as any other street. The other key feature of the bridge was that it had defensive gatehouses at each end, and these gatehouses were regularly decorated with the tarred and spiked heads of executed criminals. William Wallace (of "Brave Heart" fame) is regularly cited as being one of the first people to have their head displayed on a spike at the bridge. The idea of displaying heads was that people crossing the bridge would be deterred from committing crimes by the clear and obvious indication of the punishment that may befall them!<br />
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Based on this history of impaling heads at the entrance to London Bridge, it is understandable why the collective wisdom of the Internet seems to be that the Southwark Gateway Needle was built as a monument to this practice. It seems however that the truth behind the Needle is somewhat less exciting. In the May 2014 issue of Fortean Times, David Hambling’s “Forum” article explains the intention of the architect who built the Needle in 1999. The idea is that if you follow the trajectory of the Needle as it passes through the ground, it points to the termination point of the old (medieval) London Bridge.<br />
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The medieval London Bridge was replaced in 1831 by a new London Bridge that was built a few metres upstream (at the site of today’s London Bridge) by John Rennie. By 1896 this new bridge was found to be insufficient for the volume of traffic that was passing over it. The bridge also appeared to be slowly sinking by 2.5cm every eight years, and by 1924 it was found that the east side of the bridge had sunk some 9cm lower than the west side of the bridge! As such it was decided that the bridge needed to be replaced and in 1967 the bridge was put up for sale. The bridge was bought on the 18th April 1968 by the American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch, who paid just over £1M for it. McCulloch had the bridge dismantled and shipped it back to the USA where he had it rebuilt at Lake Havasu City in Arizona on the Lonn Colorado River. The rebuilt bridge was opened for use in October 1971. The sale of this bridge lead to another myth, with the story being that McCulloch bought London Bridge thinking he was buying the much more impressive Tower Bridge! There seems to be no evidence to support this claim however, and it is a bit of stretch to believe that a wealthy entrepreneur would mix the two bridges up!<br />
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So it just goes to show not to believe everything you read on the Internet! Although having said that perhaps I should try to start a myth that The Shard was built as a monument to severed heads of London Bridge!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjatuJuqusk7faCSsBo02MQVRpchlYhgj0xd2OB77KHiQi08aa_nYGhNh6bDuW9l5ZFW2BL-yy8z2H3e2s42cDv184p0uud1Dn8nc5I35IOfyDTtzKxr0C8qREvo98L4KENsxzX73-I8xU/s1600/01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjatuJuqusk7faCSsBo02MQVRpchlYhgj0xd2OB77KHiQi08aa_nYGhNh6bDuW9l5ZFW2BL-yy8z2H3e2s42cDv184p0uud1Dn8nc5I35IOfyDTtzKxr0C8qREvo98L4KENsxzX73-I8xU/s640/01.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Shard". The Southwark Gateway Needle can just be seen to the right hand side of the square building.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1WPbsjDx52-wZw7d4tV8LUkyQIHQicMxO0duUh58HWbht_bA4v4Avhe0IYudOmZ3zT3puA5XmtpUr6zTNhvuRYY7d8dxLvvs0MtghC8_W0eon18rVr4YUwJDVN33e-jOJKZIxNu9arA/s1600/02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1WPbsjDx52-wZw7d4tV8LUkyQIHQicMxO0duUh58HWbht_bA4v4Avhe0IYudOmZ3zT3puA5XmtpUr6zTNhvuRYY7d8dxLvvs0MtghC8_W0eon18rVr4YUwJDVN33e-jOJKZIxNu9arA/s640/02.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Southwark Gateway Needle.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_DupsxKYQzRUM5eOxoQB7X54DchJrXeNb5w9lAwKBAXLwRtZOD8qTb7iGEVdU_un7nZ1Z9-u0zoDjxwjIL6NUw21DgrZnFnBQRmxO6CKDCoq2_tRjHXijdxfdD3N0FpH25N_7-4-ljA/s1600/03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_DupsxKYQzRUM5eOxoQB7X54DchJrXeNb5w9lAwKBAXLwRtZOD8qTb7iGEVdU_un7nZ1Z9-u0zoDjxwjIL6NUw21DgrZnFnBQRmxO6CKDCoq2_tRjHXijdxfdD3N0FpH25N_7-4-ljA/s640/03.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the other side.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ClNCzkHyqzSP8AjcOp0V5KnTC9W7Hq9Vgl_-rdje4K1KGhd50K7UZ4zZhfCzP4v8ejSjggWoiWQDFn9dUdG2yGfVGggcHyfUJmZuy38oFjRJApxdc37m4CrhFIDDZKJkoTDMhsgekkg/s1600/04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ClNCzkHyqzSP8AjcOp0V5KnTC9W7Hq9Vgl_-rdje4K1KGhd50K7UZ4zZhfCzP4v8ejSjggWoiWQDFn9dUdG2yGfVGggcHyfUJmZuy38oFjRJApxdc37m4CrhFIDDZKJkoTDMhsgekkg/s640/04.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> David Hambling’s “Forum” article in the <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">May 2014 issue of </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Fortean Times.</span></td></tr>
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Pictures: London (August 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-78960325785371769472016-08-07T04:23:00.000-07:002016-08-07T04:23:36.016-07:00The Sarsen and the Trap Door<div class="MsoNormal">
Previously in this blog I have visited<a href="http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-bell-that-came-to-mysterious-end.html"> Knowlton Church and earthworks</a> in Dorset, where a 12<sup>th</sup> century Norman church resides within the confines of a much older Neolithic henge monument (dating
from circa 2,500 BC). Knowlton Church and earthworks is cited as
an example of a newer religion (Christianity) trying to assimilate an
older religion (Paganism), by adopting and repurposing the older religion’s place
of worship. Recently
I came across another possible example of this repurposing of an
ancient religious site, when I visited All Saints Church in Alton
Priors, Wiltshire.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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All Saints Church also dates from the 12<sup>th</sup>
century and over the years it has undergone a number of major
refurbishments and improvements. In the early 1970’s the church was
declared redundant and today it only hosts three services
a year. The church is however still open to visitors and based on the day of my visit it is rather popular!
The day I visited there was a coach load of foreign tourists
also exploring the church and its grounds. <o:p>
</o:p></div>
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The church itself is
a relatively small barn like structure and the floor is home to two
trap doors, both of which hide sarsen stones. It seems that the church
was constructed over these sarsens,
and presumably they were originally part of a much older place of worship. The
hidden sarsens are not the only indication that the site of the church may have once held religious significance prior to the construction of the present day church.
The churchyard is also home to a yew
tree that is estimated to be 1700 years old. The aforementioned foreign
tourists seemed to be captivated by the yew tree, with some of them
taking turns to stand in its hollow trunk, others
pressing themselves flat against its
outer trunk, some leaving votive offerings, and even a few standing
cupping the trees branches and needles in their hands! Clearly to these
particular visitors the tree held some spiritual
significance. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The other main feature of the church is a monument to local landowner
William Button who died in 1590. The monument includes an unusual ornate brass plaque
that shows a young man rising from the grave and looking towards the gates of
what is presumably heaven. The <a href="http://roy25booth.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/shining-button.html">inscriptions</a> on the plaque and its overall design is somewhat complex, and it seems out of place in what is otherwise a rather simple and plain church.
These complex inscriptions have led
some to speculate that the plaque conceals a hidden meaning, as opposed
to just being a grand attempt at a monument to a wealthy local!
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQcXqrABRL_tZW-r6q7oSBO-UZAt6mOYucwIryMQs-aJWgir_1vB0Bfz6bvZpk11bXymAeGQm90dhwR4sfX03FFLiFh5U3o7gLmF7hqNDPJWfM1NPTsEXM8GFNMnIaVfGtpOrVkbB5Pg/s1600/01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQcXqrABRL_tZW-r6q7oSBO-UZAt6mOYucwIryMQs-aJWgir_1vB0Bfz6bvZpk11bXymAeGQm90dhwR4sfX03FFLiFh5U3o7gLmF7hqNDPJWfM1NPTsEXM8GFNMnIaVfGtpOrVkbB5Pg/s640/01.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All Saints Church.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWu2z0LO-oHd6acpTzgBiQVudSBrj9zZ5sfoG3m0isOODfIutqmsLy4sJAzXZlFs2KmZCtIRu2DyCQ408UgoyLmkaA3EL99KLoqTts8vNbmiFZlWrLQhAtRYz2kkP9Wkzv4wVcg4RaGI/s1600/02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWu2z0LO-oHd6acpTzgBiQVudSBrj9zZ5sfoG3m0isOODfIutqmsLy4sJAzXZlFs2KmZCtIRu2DyCQ408UgoyLmkaA3EL99KLoqTts8vNbmiFZlWrLQhAtRYz2kkP9Wkzv4wVcg4RaGI/s640/02.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the church.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy318Xlu-YDtaqz5y-jOI4VA0dPavT1DIyEdsCvU2_iccXvfxryVjvQB1ciy0nZrWs2O6BZem0MWnxcfJ4eZ1xaCfARH1WdbNNPt0SzdHLfqc1jequw0PoU5D5_vES1WsFtYFhsFtV_30/s1600/03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy318Xlu-YDtaqz5y-jOI4VA0dPavT1DIyEdsCvU2_iccXvfxryVjvQB1ciy0nZrWs2O6BZem0MWnxcfJ4eZ1xaCfARH1WdbNNPt0SzdHLfqc1jequw0PoU5D5_vES1WsFtYFhsFtV_30/s640/03.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A trap door.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzuNBvKKdAtnyzRNj4Ewx6kyEMtvCQkLuCmTbXU-o9mePQjCJXiAQ9oCGni-ylfoF__Fpg_zaC4FVyTmwPNdkfp39xzrRcnbSKWZgzimOMpon4sX2TXFtWwY8tuEYUpPmpiuRdH4kz80/s1600/04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzuNBvKKdAtnyzRNj4Ewx6kyEMtvCQkLuCmTbXU-o9mePQjCJXiAQ9oCGni-ylfoF__Fpg_zaC4FVyTmwPNdkfp39xzrRcnbSKWZgzimOMpon4sX2TXFtWwY8tuEYUpPmpiuRdH4kz80/s640/04.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hidden sarsen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrPfa7QDJY-xxLNnhr_3drdDP56nRRVclQKti25W5_Nt5WRimXzeRuYGWOHaojSRPT4yjgVtRlY5YX2WrvdgG555gYrxHuTIrBLfKERIhfV2ucvW4s1JCBDcxV1c8cV2-1H1IHCQdMzo/s1600/05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrPfa7QDJY-xxLNnhr_3drdDP56nRRVclQKti25W5_Nt5WRimXzeRuYGWOHaojSRPT4yjgVtRlY5YX2WrvdgG555gYrxHuTIrBLfKERIhfV2ucvW4s1JCBDcxV1c8cV2-1H1IHCQdMzo/s640/05.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The monument to William Button.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRGcrX3uxCGBNdX9rkuiF1NnNpvXmjYuvtSE_vR-B2A2EhTSisev5iRnk7Olhtza3OPtPXaDFGCgCF5P7bh2QyMrT5coHo-Vx_XeCD5zKrawnh50x-cRzn9zfH4joj0nVd48YGpdftMcc/s1600/06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRGcrX3uxCGBNdX9rkuiF1NnNpvXmjYuvtSE_vR-B2A2EhTSisev5iRnk7Olhtza3OPtPXaDFGCgCF5P7bh2QyMrT5coHo-Vx_XeCD5zKrawnh50x-cRzn9zfH4joj0nVd48YGpdftMcc/s640/06.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Button's plaque. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy38HNsCreOkbTX1ta8e40T42blbZkkfU5lEp36Z2Bn8lfxESbmf3BjlQ_D23Eel8GUmRWnwXIjpUWqhvNBTEwxLSom7fAJhvVj4g8kdZp6hPwUwr5zB85hui5A8np8mbpBjEvX7AR_gI/s1600/07.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy38HNsCreOkbTX1ta8e40T42blbZkkfU5lEp36Z2Bn8lfxESbmf3BjlQ_D23Eel8GUmRWnwXIjpUWqhvNBTEwxLSom7fAJhvVj4g8kdZp6hPwUwr5zB85hui5A8np8mbpBjEvX7AR_gI/s640/07.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The churchyard's 1700 year old yew tree.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The yew's split trunk.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Wiltshire (July 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-13578664584520607362016-07-14T11:36:00.000-07:002016-07-14T11:37:35.254-07:00The Blowing StoneThe Blowing Stone is a sarsen stone that resides outside Blowing Stone Cottages, at the base of Blowingstone Hill, just to the south of the B4507 near Kingston Lisle in Oxfordshire.<br />
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The sarsen is around 3ft tall and is perforated by a number of holes, which were possibly created by long vanished tree roots. It is said that one of the holes in the stone, if blown into in the correct manner, turns the stone into a form of trumpet and produces a loud booming sound that can be heard for several miles around. According to legend the Blowing Stone was originally located on Kingstone Down, a few miles to the south west of its present location, and it was here that King Alfred made use of the stone’s trumpet-like effect. King Alfred apparently used the Blowing Stone to rally his Saxon armies in preparation for his battle against the Vikings at the Battle of Ashdown. But like all good legends, it is highly unlikely to be true!<br />
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The Blowing Stone seems to have been first documented in 1761 and it is believed that the stone was brought down from the ridgeway in the mid-18th century by either a local blacksmith or a local landowning family, who placed the stone in its present position outside the cottages. In 1811 the Blowing Stone Cottages were in fact the Blowing Stone Inn, and the landlord of the time would apparently amuse his customers by making the stone bellow for a small fee. It seems that using the stone to generate an income may have continued for a good number of years. The “<i>Getty Images</i>” website hosts a <a href="http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/pictures/the-blowing-stone-kingston-lisle-oxfordshire-c1860-c1922-news-photo-464415147#the-blowing-stone-kingston-lisle-oxfordshire-c1860c1922-the-blowing-picture-id464415147">picture</a> of the stone dating from c1860-c1922 and claims to show an enterprising young boy on hand to charge tourists who try to blow the stone.<br />
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The Blowing Stone has also featured in fiction, being referred to in Thomas Hughes’ (1822 – 1896) novel “<i>Tom Brown's Schooldays</i>” which was published in 1857. In the novel the stone is referred to as the “<i><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/striderv/2516465603">Blawing Stwun</a></i>”.<br />
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The idea of a Blowing Stone is not just limited to Oxfordshire. As the “<i><a href="http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/blowing_stone.htm">Legendary Dartmoor</a></i>” website suggests, Devon is also home to a tradition of a Blowing Stone. Unlike the Kingston Lisle sarsen, which was used as an instrument itself, the Devon Blowing Stone was instead used to amplify the sound of a trumpeter’s horn. The Devon Blowing Stone is described as a flat slab of granite with a concave hollow in it. The trumpeter was said to place the end of his horn into the hollow and then blow his trumpet. The Blowing Stone would then amplify the sound of the trumpet allowing it to be heard far and wide.<br />
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So if you are ever passing the Blowing Stone at Kingston Lisle why not stop and try blowing the stone? Legend does suggests that any person who is capable of making the Blowing Stone sound a note which can be heard atop of the nearby White Horse Hill at <a href="http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-wonders-of-uffington.html">Uffington</a> will be a future King of England. So it is worth an attempt, as long as you don’t mind pursing your lips against a dirty old piece of rock where countless other lips have been pursed before!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Blowing Stone Cottages.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Blowing Stone.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new Blowing Stone Inn at nearby Kingston Lisle.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kingston Lisle Church.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Oxfordshire (June 2016).<br />
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If you find this post interesting please share it using the buttons below.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-11949627689731814912016-07-05T12:12:00.001-07:002016-08-04T11:16:34.093-07:00The Headington SharkI first saw the Headington Shark in March 1994 on the front cover of Fortean Times, and in June this year I finally got to see it in the flesh.<br />
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The Headington Shark “crash landed” head first in to the roof of 2 New High Street, Headington, Oxford early on the morning of Saturday 9th August 1986, 41 years to the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.<br />
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The 299kg, 7.6m (25ft) long painted fibreglass shark was the brain child of the property owner Bill Heine and sculptor John Buckley. Known formally us “<i>Untitled 1986</i>”, when Heine was asked what the purpose of the shark was, his reply was apparently: "<i>The shark was to express someone feeling totally impotent and ripping a hole in their roof out of a sense of impotence and anger and desperation... It is saying something about CND, nuclear power, Chernobyl and Nagasaki</i>"<br />
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After its installation the shark became a local topic of controversy and a 6 year battle commenced between Heine and Oxford City Council, who wanted the shark removed. The Council first tried to have the shark removed on the grounds of health & safety. However, following an inspection, the structure was declared safe and secure. So the council pursued the line that the shark should be removed because planning permission had not been granted, and because of the precedent that it might set. If the shark was allowed to stay everyone might want one on their roof! Somewhat expectedly the council rejected Heine’s retrospective application for planning permission.<br />
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Undeterred, Heine and local residents battled to keep the shark and in 1992 the case was eventually escalated to central government. Peter Macdonald, a minister in the Department of the Environment, was asked to rule on the case. Heine's book "<i>The Hunting of the Shark</i>" outlines Macdonald's verdict:<br />
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<i>"Into this archetypal urban setting crashes (almost literally) the Shark. The contrast </i><i>between the object and its setting is quite deliberate. </i><i>In this sense, the work is specific to its setting, and it would "read" quite differently in the context of, say, the foyer to an arts centre in Gloucester Green. </i><br />
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<i>It is (as the Council say) incongruous, and that
incongruity is quite consciously sought by the artist. It is, indeed,
out of harmony with its surrounds. It is that lack of harmony, that
sense of being “out of place”, to which the Council
objects, and which it equates with demonstrable harm to visual amenity.
It is the very same feature which appeals to many of the Shark’s
supporters, and which has made it an urban landmark… An “incongruous”
object can become accepted as a landmark in some
cases becoming well-known, even well-loved, in the process. Something
of this sort seems to have happened, for many people, to the Shark.
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<i>There is a real sense in which permitting the Shark
to remain is the “risky” option, the safe and easy thing to do being to
remove it. However, I cannot believe that the purpose of planning
control is to enforce a boring and mediocre uniformity
to the built environment. Any system of control must make some small
space for the dynamic, the unexpected and the downright quirky or we
shall all be the poorer for it. I believe that this is one case where a
little vision and imagination is appropriate,
and I recommend that the Headington shark be allowed to remain."</i></div>
<i><br /></i>So whilst the government is often accused of being bureaucratic, it seems that common sense and imagination can sometimes prevail!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Headington Shark.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cover of Fortean Times #73.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Oxfordshire (June 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-85428194976516986022016-06-17T12:44:00.001-07:002016-06-17T12:44:55.996-07:00Britain's only Blue Post Box?On a recent trip to Windsor I was surprised see my first blue Royal Mail post box, which is located near Windsor Castle where the High Street joins St Alban’s Street. Blue post boxes seem to be a very rare thing indeed and some sources suggest that this may be the last still to be found in the country. Blue post boxes began to be introduced into some British cities and other locations of note in 1930 and were used for postal airmail services to send and receive mail mainly to and from Europe. The blue post box at Windsor Castle, which is near the site of the old Windsor Post Office (1887 – 1966) commemorates the first United Kingdom airmail service. On the 9th September 1911, Gustav Hamel flew a <a href="http://www.belgian-wings.be/Webpages/Navigator/Photos/MilltaryPics/ww1_precurseurs/Bleriot%20XI/Bleriot%20XI%20startu%20JS%20Coll%2001.jpg">Blériot monoplane</a> (which looks a bit of a death-trap) from Hendon aerodrome in London and landed on the Long Walk behind Windsor Castle. This 19 mile flight took only 18 minutes and his cargo was a sack of mail celebrating the coronation of King George V. Following this first official airmail flight the use of airmail slowly increased and became firmly established in the 1920’s when improved post World War I aircraft and pilots became available to support the service. <br />
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The use of these bespoke blue post boxes was short lived however and by the end of 1938 they had fallen out of use. A number of reasons for their withdrawal are citied including: the rise of air travel; the build-up to the Second World War and the re-allocation of aircraft assets; and the cost associated with having bespoke post boxes solely for airmail. Whatever the true reason, come the end of 1938 it was acceptable for airmail to be posted in normal red post boxes and the only reference to the blue boxes remained in the blue airmail stickers that adorned the envelopes of airmail letters.<br />
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Gustav Hamel (25 June 1889 – 23 May 1914) who safely delivered the UK’s first airmail in 1911, sadly got “lost in the post” himself. Hamel disappeared on the 23rd May 1914 whilst returning from France in a <a href="http://flyingmachines.ru/Images7/Flight/1913/539-1.jpg">Morane-Saulnier monoplane</a> that he had just collected. Whilst his aircraft was never found a body was found on the 6th July 1914 by the crew of a fishing vessel in the English Channel near Boulogne. The crew did not retrieve the body, but their description of clothing on the corpse and the fact that one of the personnel effects of the deceased was a road map of southern England led some to conclude that the body was Hamel.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Windsor's commemorative blue airmail post box.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If unusual post boxes are of interest, then Windsor is home to another peculiar example. Located on the High Street next to the Guild Hall is a green hexagonal Penfold post box dating from around 1872. Between 1866 and 1879 green was the standard colour for all British post boxes, however from 1874 they were all re-painted to the now traditional post box red to enable them to be more easily seen.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Berkshire (June 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-55201813621377364102016-06-01T11:03:00.001-07:002016-08-04T11:16:50.195-07:00The Shoes that Undertook the First "Grand Tour"The Church of St Peter & St Paul in the village of Odcombe in Somerset is home to an usual monument. The monument in question can be found inside the church, attached to one of the walls is a stone carving of a pair of old shoes. This stone carving is actually a replacement for a real pair of shoes that were lost in the 1860’s when work was carried out on the church. So whose old shoes are worthy enough of being immortalised in a village church?<br />
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The original shoes belonged to a man from Odcombe called Thomas Coryat (circa 1577 – 1617) who was a wanderer and early travel writer, who documented his journeys in an era where traveling the world was an extremely challenging pursuit.<br />
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The Oxford educated Coryat considered himself a witty and intellectual person, and he spent an early part of his adult life (1603 to 1607) employed in the court of the eldest son of James I (Prince Henry). Sadly for Coryat he was described as being “<i>some form of court jester</i>”, and presumably chose to undertake an impressive feat to prove himself to his contemporaries. In May 1608 Coryat set off on his first trip, a tour of Europe, which saw him visit France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands before returning to England. This 1,975 mile journey took Coryat until October 1608 and saw him walk around half of the distance (nearly 1000 miles) over the course of 5 months.<br />
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On his return from Europe, Coryat published an account of his travels entitled “<i>Coryat's crudities : hastily gobled up in five moneths travells in France, Savoy, Italy, Rhetia commonly called the Grisons country, Helvetia alias Switzerland, some parts of high Germany and the Netherlands : newly digested in the hungry aire of Odcombe in the county of Somerset, and now dispersed to the nourishment of the travelling members of this kingdome</i>”.<br />
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Coryat’s first journey is said to have resulted in a number of changes to English culture. Firstly Coryat is credited with the introduction of the table fork to England - the table fork having become part of Italian etiquette in 16th century. Coryat is also said to have introduced the word “<i>umbrella</i>” into the English language, which apparently arose from his description of how Italians shielded themselves from the sun! Coryat’s journey is also said to have been the first Grand Tour of Europe, and his travel writing is said to have inspired wealthy upper-class young men to follow in his footsteps. The custom of the Grand Tour became popular from the 1660's onwards and remained a rite of passage for wealthy upper-class young men well into the 19th Century.<br />
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In 1612 Coryat set off again on another journey, this one taking him to Greece, through the Mediterranean to Constantinople and onwards to Jerusalem. From Jerusalem, Coryat decided to walk to Moghul India, a mere 2,700 miles, and he arrived in the court of Emperor Jahangir in Ajmer, Rajasthan in 1615. Coryat’s second travelogue entitled “<i>Thomas Coriate traueller for the English vvits: greeting. From the court of the Great Mogvl, resident at the towne of Asmere, in easterne India</i>“ was published in 1616 and was an account of his adventures which included seeing the Great Mogul’s pet unicorns!<br />
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Coryat’s travels are not just amazing for the distances that he walked, but for the way in which he undertook his travels. Coryat did not seek to make arrangements in advance, but instead he took things as they came and relied on the kindness of the people he encountered to get him through. This approach saw him get in trouble more than once, with him having to flee from angry farmers whose vineyards he snacked on, and having to dodge an angry Rabbi who wanted to circumcise him.<br />
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Unsurprisingly for such an avid wanderer, Coryat did not die at home in his own bed. Instead Coryat died of dysentery while traveling in India in December 1617. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Church of St Peter & St Paul.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A stone carving of Thomas Coryat's shoes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa8V4cQoZA7hTPzE5H6toTerftkRDrgNJ7CnZ_KIihLT2bXnHeuDwpD_OJV4TqfsRAUiQ8qeu8nXaUfRadPu9dlsO-HDQmv13WGWcCdHr3Mt5gl-gBaoDiqn9TsNAsDVtETsPabEEAb0/s1600/10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa8V4cQoZA7hTPzE5H6toTerftkRDrgNJ7CnZ_KIihLT2bXnHeuDwpD_OJV4TqfsRAUiQ8qeu8nXaUfRadPu9dlsO-HDQmv13WGWcCdHr3Mt5gl-gBaoDiqn9TsNAsDVtETsPabEEAb0/s640/10.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The front piece of Coryat's crudities. The illustrations labeled A to N depict some of his experiences on his travels. Note the women in the centre being sick on his head! She apparently represents the German people and their love of boozing.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKM0SDXa-hXuX-xl5IIJFdtIch0_YX_Ljeec_5HNyfU-0Mu-8bEtnDaPh8qWW3BYoN2uaLwv16MvWtB_MS6_Hmpv5RLLyQb-s14o4vEFP6pMjCRHD53aZ4QHMt1nDmfgoD3q8016J0Ks/s1600/11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKM0SDXa-hXuX-xl5IIJFdtIch0_YX_Ljeec_5HNyfU-0Mu-8bEtnDaPh8qWW3BYoN2uaLwv16MvWtB_MS6_Hmpv5RLLyQb-s14o4vEFP6pMjCRHD53aZ4QHMt1nDmfgoD3q8016J0Ks/s640/11.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Somerset (March 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-62943240105237602082016-05-10T12:28:00.001-07:002016-05-10T12:28:54.772-07:00A Robbery at Gore CrossOn the side of the A360 near the hamlet of Gore Cross in Wiltshire there is a small, easy to miss, memorial to an event that occurred near the spot in 1839. The stone is denoted on the Ordnance Survey map as the “Robbers’ Stone” and it commemorates an attempted robbery that had an unfortunate end for the bandits in question. <br />
<br />
The events described on the stone occurred on the evening of the 21st October 1839 when a Mr Dean, a farmer, from the now deserted ghost town of <a href="http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/ghost-towns.html">Imber</a> was making his way home from the market at Devizes. As he approached Gore Cross along the Lavington Road he was accosted by four highway men. Apparently Mr Dean had the wits to pretend that he was not alone (he called out to an imaginary companion) and also went on the attack, using his horse-whip to fend of the robbers. Surprised by their potential victim’s response the robbers fled and Mr Dean gave chase, pursuing one of the robbers for three hours across the countryside.<br />
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It seems that the fleeing robber, Benjamin Colclough, was not up to the task of escaping Mr Dean and he eventually fell down dead in his tracks upon Chitterne Down. His three accomplices Thomas Saunders, George Waters and Richard Harris were eventually captured and tried for the attempted robbery, with their sentence being transportation for a term of 15 years.<br />
<br />
The death of Benjamin Colclough on Chitterne Down is commemorated with a second “Robbers’ Stone”. Unfortunately however, the site of this second stone is today inside the “Danger Area” that is the Imber live firing range on Salisbury Plain, and as such access to the stone is strictly limited. An image of the stone can however be found on the <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/522677">Geograph website</a>.<br />
<br />
The stones were erected as a warning, to other potential highway men. To remind them that crime does not pay, and presumably also to warn them not to mess with Mr Dean the Farmer.<br />
<br />
The inscriptions on the Gore Cross stone reads:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
AT THIS SPOT</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mr. DEAN, of Imber. was</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Attacked and Robbed by</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Four Highwaymen, in the</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
evening of Octr. 21st. 1839.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
After a spirited pursuit of</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
three hours one of the Felons</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
BENJAMIN COLCLOUGH</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
fell dead on Chitterne Down.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
THOMAS SAUNDERS,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
GEORGE WATERS, &</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
RICHARD HARRIS,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
were eventually Captured,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and were convicted at the</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
ensuing Quarter Sessions at</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Devizes, and Transported for</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the term of Fifteen Years.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This Monument is erected</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
by Public Subscription</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
as a warning to those who</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
presumptuously think to</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
escape the punishment God</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
has threatened against</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thieves and Robbers.</div>
<br />
The inscriptions on the Chitterne Down stone reads:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
This Monument is erected</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to record the awful end of</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
BENJAMIN COLCLOUGH</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
a Highway Robber who fell</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dead, on this Spot, in</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
attempting to escape his</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Pursuers after Robbing</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mr Dean of Imber, in the</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Evening of Oct 21st 1839,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and was buried at Chitterne</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
without Funeral Rights.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The robbery of the wicked</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
shall destroy them.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prov. 21. 7.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
His three companions in</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Iniquity</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
THOMAS SAUNDERS</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
GEORGE WATERS &</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
RICHARD HARRIS.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
were captured & sentenced</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
at the ensuing Quarter</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sessions at Devizes to</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Transportation for the</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Term of Fifteen Years.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Though hand join in</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
hand the wicked shall</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
not be unpunished</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prov 11. 21</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRV3rjxeKLC5cakyqTcxIc77ZS-eu_86_L_MEVVoSyGcWdRt2ijo6QxRqoE2HxI424BqJ7yPlS70R9Cu1ikVlQ3ov_7HPWDaJe4OPKR_lvKl1N5_iK2MrbkiOQ-xUuWZM9knaaPVWPiA/s1600/20.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRV3rjxeKLC5cakyqTcxIc77ZS-eu_86_L_MEVVoSyGcWdRt2ijo6QxRqoE2HxI424BqJ7yPlS70R9Cu1ikVlQ3ov_7HPWDaJe4OPKR_lvKl1N5_iK2MrbkiOQ-xUuWZM9knaaPVWPiA/s640/20.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "Robber's Stone" at Gore Cross.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Wiltshire (May 2015).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-41502093572508518372016-04-29T10:41:00.002-07:002016-04-29T10:42:22.026-07:00Willet's Hidden TowerWillet Tower is a folly that can be found hidden in dense woodland on the summit of Willet hill, to the south of the village of Elworthy in Somerset.<br />
<br />
The tower stands 15 metres tall and was apparently originally built to resemble a ruinous church tower. The exact date of the tower's construction is uncertain but it was documented in 1791, meaning it was built at some point before that date. Some sources say that the tower was built in 1774 with the required funds of £130 being raised by public subscription. Other sources suggest that the tower may not have been built until 1782.<br />
<br />
It is also unclear if the tower served any purpose or was a pure folly. Perhaps it was just an eye catcher or a “steeple” for horse riders? When the tower was originally built Willet hill would not have been home to the dense tree coverage which now hides its summit. So the tower would have originally commanded views across the landscape and also could have been seen from a good way off. As it can be seen from the below pictures, the tower did once have an internal wooden staircase, so it is likely that the tower would have been used for viewing the surrounding countryside at some point in its lifetime.<br />
<br />
British listed buildings <a href="http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-264770-willett-tower-elworthy-somerset#.Vw4vs3L2aHs">website</a> describes the tower as:<br />
<br />
<i>Folly in the form of a ruined church tower. Circa 1820. Iron stone random rubble, brick dressings. 3 stage crenellated tower, one merlon on South side larger to give the illusion of stair turret, stepped buttresses to second stage, arched openings third stage, arched entrance on East and West sides. About 5 metres of wall on South side, 6 metres high including arched opening. Remains of rafters inside and indications of stairway to viewing platform. The quality of the workmanship is poor, but the tower is a very prominent landscape feature crowning a wooded hill and visible for some distance. Probably erected for Daniel Blommart of Willett House (qv) and therefore perhaps by the architect of Willet House, Richard Carver.</i><br />
<br />
Ultimately however, the detailed history of Willet Tower remains uncertain, and this folly that was once built as a sham ruin of a church tower is ironically now a ruin itself.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJt0d4TJBYkK4asx9GjN80KRR3_DN8Gx4zy_MuJ3DtSjwK0EtbnhWcUry32ptFfTzjFb6L2sRAGdeRHV7gHkMp9sRSXos_mKH8x49i_OKRiXbnRs8PrcuxQSb1xv9nMYHM5Rb8YU0pDE/s1600/01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJt0d4TJBYkK4asx9GjN80KRR3_DN8Gx4zy_MuJ3DtSjwK0EtbnhWcUry32ptFfTzjFb6L2sRAGdeRHV7gHkMp9sRSXos_mKH8x49i_OKRiXbnRs8PrcuxQSb1xv9nMYHM5Rb8YU0pDE/s640/01.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching the tower.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The remains of the internal staircase.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Somerset (March 2016).<br />
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If you find this post interesting please share it using the buttons below.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-73245085908031364702016-04-10T11:57:00.001-07:002016-04-10T11:58:01.415-07:00The Ancient Holford Dog PoundThe unusual structure in the below pictures can be found in the Somerset village of Holford, at the entrance to Alfoxton Park.<br />
<br />
The structure is an ancient dog pound, which was originally owned by the St. Albyn family, who were the owners of Alfoxton Park. The plaque on the dog pound provides a little of the history of the structure:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
“This ancient dog pound</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
was given to</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the village of Holford in 1982</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
by the family of the late</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
John Lancelot Brereton</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
descendants of the St. Albyns</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
owners of Alfoxton</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
since the 15th Century</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
whose crest appears above”</div>
<br />
The dog pound dates from sometime in the 16th to 17th centuries and is a square roof-less structure with walls that are about 3 meters tall. There is an opening at the rear where once a gate or door may have stood. The walls of the dog pound have small slits in them which are angled downwards through the walls. These slits were probably used to enable people on the outside to look down and in to the dog pound and see what was on the floor (e.g. the dogs).<br />
<br />
The dog pound was apparently built following the tragic death of the huntsman who used to look after the hunting dogs of the Alfoxton Estate. The story seems to be that back in the day (no exact date given) the meat for the estate’s hunting dogs was stored by being hung in trees. This practice however seems to have had the unfortunate side effect of attracting local stray dogs which in turn would unsettle the estate’s hunting dogs. On the tragic night of the huntsman’s death it is said that he was awoken by the sound of unruly dogs and went to investigate. Unluckily for the huntsman he did not dress in his usual hunting attire and was apparently not recognised by the estate’s hunting dogs who savaged and killed him.<br />
<br />
Whilst there does not seem to be any clear evidence to support this story, it is a possible reason why the Alfoxton Estate may have chosen to build the dog pound, to house local stray dogs and prevent them from causing trouble on the estate.<br />
<br />
On my visit to the dog pound, a small scattering of used prophylactics made me think that the structure may still to this day be used for a dog-related activity. But the less said about that the better!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7E4huu3rWHpXeg7WLf2V8ygbSGO2CYzYk3CP5NiqMYdYRGgOH8mk-pQfjlZm5WGe5o2PWwipOwem4f7M229VarvGZzuQMRdNvZ6HOe6eisc5x0JFaINOchaa13V0nR3FBR8Nu-7T_nE/s1600/01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7E4huu3rWHpXeg7WLf2V8ygbSGO2CYzYk3CP5NiqMYdYRGgOH8mk-pQfjlZm5WGe5o2PWwipOwem4f7M229VarvGZzuQMRdNvZ6HOe6eisc5x0JFaINOchaa13V0nR3FBR8Nu-7T_nE/s640/01.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Holford dog pound, at the entrance to Alfoxton Park.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crest of the St. Albyns family.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Somerset (March 2016).<br />
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If you find this post interesting please share it using the buttons below.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-17632403546622543112016-03-29T13:21:00.001-07:002016-03-29T13:22:01.869-07:00The Templecombe HeadThe Church of St Mary in the village of Templecombe, in Somerset is home to an unusual painted wooden panel which depicts a disembodied head. The painting was discovered in the outhouse of a local building by a resident of Templecombe in 1945. The roof of the outhouse had started to collapse and the panel was found hidden behind the plaster of the roof, with the face looking down upon the surprised home-owner.<br />
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The panel was gifted to the Church of St Mary in 1956, and is not as brightly coloured as it was when it was found back in 1945. It seems that during the intervening 11 years the panel may have been partially damaged by some over eager cleaning by a previous custodian, leading to the rather faint image that is seen today.<br />
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The panel has been dated to the 13th century and has been linked to the presence of the Knights Templar in Templecombe. In 1185 the Knights Templar established a preceptory (a headquarters) in the village, which served as the administrative base for their land holdings in the south west of the country. The Knights Templar's presence in the area would have lasted until the early 1300's when they were forced to disband as an organisation.<br />
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So who does the Templecombe Head depict? The most common theory is that the Templecombe Head depicts Jesus Christ, but Christ without his halo. It seems that in the 13th century it was normal for religious iconography to show Christ with a halo, however the Knights Templar were apparently known to depict Christ without a halo. So it could well be a Knights Templar image of Christ.<br />
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Other theories suggest that the head may be that of John the Baptist. Andrew May in his <a href="http://forteana-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/damned-data.html">Forteana Blog</a> points out that the Templecombe Head has drooping eyelids and a gaping mouth which may indicate that the image is of a decapitated head. Perhaps even the decapitated head of John the Baptist, who according to the Gospel of Mark was beheaded on the orders of King Herod. King Herod apparently gave John's head to his daughter as a gift.<br />
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But as with all mysteries, ultimately no-one truly knows who the Templecombe Head depicts. Or whether the Templecombe Head was originally in the possession of the Knights Templar, and if it was perhaps used as an icon for worship. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Church of St Mary, Templecombe, Somerset.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Templecombe Head - Jesus Christ? John the Baptist? Or someone else?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the church.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Somerset (March 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4754693080239080643.post-2687856447598760962016-03-13T11:20:00.001-07:002016-08-04T11:17:05.216-07:00When a "moot point" was not quite so "moot"The below memorial can be found on the White Horse Trail footpath in Wiltshire where it intersects the Woodborough to Pewsey Road, just to the south of the Kennet and Avon Canal.<br />
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The memorial reads:<br />
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"<i>29th July 2000. A gathering was held at this site of families who bear
the Swanborough name and whose origins can be traced to this location.</i>"</div>
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"<i>Swanborough Tump</i></div>
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<i>Swinbeorg. C.850</i></div>
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<i>Meeting Place of The Hundred of Swanborough</i>"</div>
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"<i>Here in the year 871 the future King Alfred the Great met his elder brother King Aethelred I on their way to fight the invading Danes and each one swore if the other died in battle the dead man's children would inherit the lands of their father King Aethelwulf.</i>"</div>
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Swanborough Tump is a small hillock which today is marked with a memorial and a standing stone, which are shown below. The Tump would originally have been the moot (the meeting point) for the Swanborough Hundred, where people would have come together to debate and discuss important issues. The memorial refers to one such meeting in 871 A.D. when King Alfred and his brother Ethelred assembled their troops at the Tump, prior to going to fight the raiding Danes at the battle of Ethandun. Unsure if they would survive the coming battle Alfred and Ethelred made their wills at the Tump to ensure that their lands and children would be provided for in the event of their death. Alfred eventually went on to finally defeat the Danes seven years later at the battle of Edington.<br />
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So what was the Swanborough Hundred? In Saxon times a "Hundred" was a unit of land that was divided into one hundred "Hides". A "Hide" being a parcel of land that was able to support one family. The size of a "Hide" varied however, depending on the quality of the soil and the size of the family it was intended to support. So in Saxon times a 'Hundred Hide' was an administrative area that could comfortably support one hundred families.<br />
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Similarly in the Norman era, land was divided into three levels of administrative district. These were the "Shire", the "Hundred", and the "Vill". Which are roughly comparable to today’s Counties, local districts, and villages. Each "Hundred" had a designated meeting place and the Swanborough Tump was the meeting place for the Hundred Moot of Swanborough. Moots were assemblies or councils where points of local governance and other issues could be debated. In such assemblies points which were put up for discussion were said to be mooted. This practice gave rise to the original definition of a “moot point", a point worthy of debate and discussion.<br />
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Interestingly however the modern common meaning of a "moot point" is exactly the opposite, with a "moot point" these days being one that is not worthy of debate and discussion. It seems that this modern day meaning may have arisen from the legal profession and the introduction of "moot courts". A "moot court" being a training court where law students can argue hypothetical cases and particpate in simulated court proceedings, but which ultimately led to no real outcome. Well except for helping to change the meaning of a "moot point".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1jcBFaCxN8Gy_rKibTk4TWs_rCkO7n565i_5GWzHmXEjGqViZIb8NvrVc6UqS55aGeCVI5Yv3D0q7ttCq_gf949J3GFmzG3qAjeAkz0NJLZcjIRClPdvuyZnHOebOQ4NwA1dYtqHIRc/s1600/01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1jcBFaCxN8Gy_rKibTk4TWs_rCkO7n565i_5GWzHmXEjGqViZIb8NvrVc6UqS55aGeCVI5Yv3D0q7ttCq_gf949J3GFmzG3qAjeAkz0NJLZcjIRClPdvuyZnHOebOQ4NwA1dYtqHIRc/s640/01.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swanborough Tump, a public meeting place from the Saxon era until as recently as 1764.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79bacsNs2ub4HZCxpGOgFwUynDpoUQbaDDCxgdRybXk1TXVZzScS7URxhrHRwDDoYmmjz2d8kWwrKfqbxM6JLIV56TAiwpfYc5SCNh_lbw4uKHu9mcHHWSkQ1pVQTiiU8jCVg8Inz1sA/s1600/04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79bacsNs2ub4HZCxpGOgFwUynDpoUQbaDDCxgdRybXk1TXVZzScS7URxhrHRwDDoYmmjz2d8kWwrKfqbxM6JLIV56TAiwpfYc5SCNh_lbw4uKHu9mcHHWSkQ1pVQTiiU8jCVg8Inz1sA/s640/04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsHFKirMR6Ww0i4VMZS0T6A6-YToiHFZhwAlbcla1zf_zTnafRhxbo7Xm6RCOkgK1Q3vxPqnonnIFFQxR6dB2JCxriMivkzIrSFLkt-_OtS4y2aMhWCXNPYIztKgQlPS4y47Qh-VcVttk/s1600/05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsHFKirMR6Ww0i4VMZS0T6A6-YToiHFZhwAlbcla1zf_zTnafRhxbo7Xm6RCOkgK1Q3vxPqnonnIFFQxR6dB2JCxriMivkzIrSFLkt-_OtS4y2aMhWCXNPYIztKgQlPS4y47Qh-VcVttk/s640/05.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even though Swanborough is not the name of a local town or village it seems that in the thirteenth century, when the fashion of having a surname began in Britain, that the name of the Swanborough Hundred’s meeting place began to be used as a local surname.</td></tr>
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Pictures: Wiltshire (March 2016).<br />
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<br />Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02266236563141985693noreply@blogger.com0