Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in York….?

I do hope they plan to stage more than just the Bard’s improbable notion of Richard III, clever as it is. But whatever they do, this theatre can only do well for York. See here, here and here.  

Fancy a Richard III coin in your collection…?

Richard’s coins are, inevitably, rare. He didn’t reign long enough for there to be all that many. However, one of his “long cross pennies” is up for auction, and can be viewed from noon, Monday, 4th September 2017, at the Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3DW. Cheque books and plastic at the…

A pastoral tale

This article investigates why, as the Mediaeval Warm Period drew to a close, Britain (and particularly England) developed differently to many nations of Southern Europe. Sandbrook mentions two major cultural factors: the tradition of salting bacon because ham could not be dry-cured and the evolution of the wool trade through the systematic elimination of the…

Another house for sale

Have you ever wanted to own a property associated with the Gosnold family? Well, here is your chance. Otley Hall, the childhood home of Bartholomew Gosnold, is now for sale and will hopefully be open more frequently. It was also featured here.

A possible film about the “ordinary woman” who found Richard III under a car park…?

Well, I’m not at all sure about this—one seldom dares to be sure about anything where Alan Partridge is concerned. It may be a joke. If you look at the penultimate paragraph of this article, then you see why I’m hesitant. Not sure if it’s actually about Philippa Langley, but one thing you cannot say…

York Minster

Here is an interesting article on York Minster with some stunning photographs. My Ricardian friends will find it easy to picture King Richard, Queen Anne and their small son, Edward, emerging through the massive doorway and pausing for a short while on the steps,  following the glorious ceremony  where  Edward was invested as Prince of…

Richard III – the musical

There has been attempt to write this already and some of the songs are available. The songwriter in question, who died during the process, was Anthony Newley, who would have been 86 today. So how do they compare to other music on the subject?

Stanley and the Stanley Knife

They are sharp and good for purposes both fair and foul, and might even be handy for some back-stabbing (should one be of that disposition!) What am I talking about? The Stanley Knife. Jokes abound on certain medieval groups about these multi purpose knives being something that should have been invented by the two side-shifting,…

Ricardian Story in ‘Scary’ Anthology!

I wrote a short story a couple of years ago, one of the first ‘Ricardian’ works I had ever written. So, when a best-selling Amazon author, Dan Alatorre (whose blog I follow), announced he wanted to make an anthology of stories from a variety of authors, all on a ‘scary’ theme, I remembered this story…

More than one target for the Cairo dwellers?

21 September 1327 is the traditional date of death for Edward II at Berkeley Castle and various myths about it and his life have passed through these 690 years almost unquestioned. They are repeated by quite a few notable people without real evidence as well. If this sounds familiar, it is because certain individuals have…