Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts

Monday, January 4, 2021

German Castle Paid for by British Tax Payers

Count Hans Caspar von Bothmer was instrumental in paving the way for his master the way to Great Britain and Ireland's throne. The Elector of Hanover showed his gratitude with largesse and the count built one of the most beautiful castles in northern Europe. After extensive restoration by the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, it can now be admired in its baroque beauty. The money to build a palace in Germany, by the way, didn't come from Hanover.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Bruce Castle or Lordship House

Bruce Castle is a misnomer, a historical cheat. It is a manor house in Tottenham in London and was just plain Lordship House for most of its existence. Trying to live up to a grand name, it does have some history and even a resident ghost, as well as quite a few historical questions that need to be worked out.


Sunday, March 17, 2013

The Prince, The Princess, And The Perfect Murder

If you think that wanting to marry serial divorcee Wallis Simpson was the only blunder of King Edward VIII, then here is a book to make you think again. It is also a book for all conspiracy theorists, because this conspiracy is well enough documented to hold water. It was a conspiracy to keep the promiscuous and rather stupid Crown Prince of the United Kingdom David Prince of Wales out of a sordid murder trial. The price that had to be paid was the freedom of a murderess and princess. The Prince, The Princess, And The Perfect Murder by Andrew Rose is published by Coronet.


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Roman Troop Highway

A Roman road has been uncovered in Puddletown Forest in Dorset. While the existence of a road had been a well-known fact, so far it had been so well hidden by the forest that it could't be located. The harvesting of a planting of Norway spruce firs by the Forestry Commission brought a considerable stretch of it to light, though. 


Monday, October 8, 2012

The Beginnings of Investigative Journalism

James Greenwood started out as a printer. Later, he began writing adventure tales before entering journalism. As a journalist, he was the first to go undercover for research and to invent investigative journalism in the process. His subsequent writing was nothing short of revolutionary.

 

Abolition of Slavery: A Purely Financial Decision

In 1783, a scandal in the slave trade of Great Britain rocked the economy. The court case that ensued sparked righteous outrage throughout the country. It was the beginning of the end of slavery. And the outrage that had gripped the general public had nothing to do at all with slavery. 


Saturday, October 6, 2012

St Botolph and a Head in a Glass Casket

The church of St Botolph without Aldgate used to have a curious show piece, a head in a glass casket. The provenience of the head is a great mystery. Different theories as to its history have been proposed, but there are no clues as to whom the head was once attached to. And it is conceivable that the mystery will remain unsolved.