Dan Jones hits the road …

… Walking Britain’s Roman Roads, in fact. It is quite a good series, in which Jones explores some of the most important of these, together with some aspects of Romano-British Society. The first episode takes him the length of Watling Street, the first part of which is now he M2, during which he visits the…

“Bone Detectives” come to Ipswich …

… and other venues, with Tori Herridge and Raksha Dave. This Channel Four series, which consists of five episodes, begins at Stoke Quay on the town’s Waterfront where a long-forgotten (St. Augustine’s) burial ground was fully explored before some new buildings were constructed. Three bodies in particular were examined: 1) A wealthy man buried in…

Come and have a dip in Bath….

As a writer of historical novels (I’ve produced a lot!) it is always of immense interest to know exactly what a certain place might have looked like in the time my novel is set.  Having written many that were set in Regency Bath, I would have been very thankful indeed to find this site. Alas, my…

George Washington’s England, especially Sulgrave Manor….

  I had never looked into the English origins of George Washington’s family, although I did know that his ancestors were associated with Washington Old Hall, Washington, Tyne & Wear. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/washington-old-hall So I am surprised to discover that the family was also associated with other places, including Purleigh in Essex  (http://www.kenmore.org/genealogy/washington/descendants.html)  and Sulgrave Manor in…

The Tewkesbury Medieval Festival 2015

  I’ve been wanting to attend this festival for at least 20 years and finally everything came together this year and I was able to take my family with me for an orgy of medieval shopping, weaponry, costumes and merchandising followed by the re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury on part of the original site…