Which Baron Hungerford was responsible….?

English Heritage has embarked upon the restoration of some wall murals in Farleigh Hungerford in Somerset. The photograph above shows an image of St George as a 15th-century knight, and has suffered over the centuries from damp conditions and misguided previous attempts to save it. You can read about the work here which describes it…

Dickon’s Diaries 3

The Dickon’s Diaries series was written to lighten the mood surrounding Richard III as the authors felt that there was so much tragedy and sadness regarding his life, especially the last few years. Susan Lamb has a Facebook page, Dickon for his Dames, and on meeting Joanne Larner (me!) she asked her to collaborate to…

“The Buildings that fought Hitler” (Yesterday)

Once you have reached beyond the bizarre title, which sounds rather like a Dr. Who episode, this is actually a very good series. Rob Bell, the engineer who is becoming quite ubiquitous, demonstrates how the UK was ready to use ther natural and built environments, together with science, to repel and then restrict a German…

Was Henry VIII contemplating a seventh wife….?

    The prospect of becoming Henry VIII’s seventh wife cannot have been cheering, but it seems possible it was the fate of Katherine Willoughby, who was the widow of Henry’s great friend, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. It seems she’d been ‘in the wings’ so to speak since marrying Brandon, who was well over…

‘The Road Not Travelled’ – New Anthology

I recently read a brilliant short story anthology called ‘1066 Turned Upside Down’ which explored different ways in which the momentous year of 1066 might have turned out differently if something was changed. This made me think that a similar anthology for the Wars of the Roses would also be a great idea. There are…

Eleanor of Aquitaine is to get the Starz treatment….!

Eleanor of Aquitaine needs to keep her head down, I fear – Starz is coming after her, aided and abetted by Alison Weir this time. See this link.  Has Philippa Gregory had the elbow? Whatever, we can batten down the hatches for another storm of misinformatiion! And one thing’s certain – it won’t be even…

The Time Travellers Conference….?

I know you’re ahead of me here (ha! joke!) but can you imagine what my nincompoop brain did at first glance of the illustration below? That’s right, my brain leapt to “The Time Travellers Conference”. Oh, if only! What a thought, with or without Covid restrictions, but who/what/why/where would be involved in such a conference?…

Um, Princess Anne Neville of Bohemia….?

Don’t have a drink in your hand as you read the following:- “ . . . Princess Anne Neville of Bohemia, who was looked to as the embodiment of virtue and modesty, rode side-saddle across Europe prior to her marriage to King Richard III in 1472. Their marriage lasted three years, as King Richard died…

Welcome to Shakespeare Land….

“….Margaret of Anjou challenged all gender notions, defied her own banishment and even brought down Richard III‘s terrorising rule….” Er, Margaret of Anjou did what? She died in 1482, so how’d she manage that? Well, we are in Shakespeare Land here, where any lie is possible. Even poor old Richard’s “terrorising” reign. Perhaps they know…

Who’s coming to dinner (a guest post)

How did this happen? Am I dreaming? Is there some sort of Time-slip? Yet here I am, somehow “transposed” from my 21st century self to a Lady-in-Waiting, helping to host a secret dinner. I cannot understand how or why it has occurred, all I know is that it is the end of February 1485, after…