How many English pubs are named after monarchs….?

  Well, obviously a lot of our pubs bear the names of kings and queens, with Queen Victoria heading the list above. I’m surprised to find Kings George III, George IV and William IV galloping up behind her, while all the rest are far more thinly spread. Why are these four monarchs, who all reigned…

MPs who want to quit can apply to be Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead….

“….MPs wishing to quit can apply to be ‘Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds’ or ‘Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead’. Neither job has existed for centuries but the ‘jobs’ still exist as a workaround to the law of 1624….” Well, I’d heard of the Chiltern Hundreds, but have to…

YORKSHIRE’S HIDDEN HERITAGE REVEALED

Beneath our feet and hidden away in nooks and crannies of Britain’s towns and cities,  there is still a treasure trove of ancient wonders to be found–we’ve learned that from important finds in recent years such as the Staffordshire Hoard, and, of course, King Richard III’s grave in Leicester. Even more recently there have been…

The ghosts and urban legends of Scarborough….

  To the best of my knowledge I’ve never seen a ghost, although when I was six/seven and living near Castle Archdale on the shores of Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, our landlady’s dog, named Master Dash, sat on the steps outside the great house (no longer there) and howled. He was a soft old…

A house in Scarborough

If you visit Scarborough Castle and go down towards the beach from there, turn your head to your right and walk along the seafront opposite the Harbour, and you will notice something singular. Among the shops, cafés and fish-and-chip restaurants, there is a house that stands out because it is the oldest in the area.…

Tales of a Ricardian Traveler – Part Two: Rievaulx Abbey and Helmsley Castle

Originally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS:
Lady on Horseback, mid-15th c., British Museum My previous Travel Tales blog talked about the Forest of Bowland and Skipton.  Today, we’re going to two places that sometimes get forgotten by the traveler who is interested in visiting places having some Richard III connections:  Rievaulx Abbey and Helmsley Castle. ?…

On two nineteenth century novelists …

The novelists in question are Jane Austen (1775-1817) and Charlotte Bronte (1816-55). Jane Austen’s views on Richard III are well known: http://www.richardiii-nsw.org.au/about/a-literary-taste/jane-austen-and-richard-iii/. Was Charlotte Bronte, whose sister Anne is buried on the approach to Richard’s Scarborough Castle, also a Ricardian? Perhaps she left a clue in her 1847 bestseller “Jane Eyre”, in which the eponymous…

Between the Salt Water and the Sea Sand, Richard the Third Expresses his Affection for Scarborough Town:

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/royal-history/art520834-charter-reveals-how-richard-iii-planned-to-make-scarborough-an-independent-county One of the new myths to pop up since the discovery of the remains of Richard the Third (particularly by the denialists) is that The King had very little genuine connection to the county of Yorkshire, much less strong affection for it. And yet, in this recent article posted in Culture 24, a rare…

A return to the East Riding (2007)

I had visited York twice before, the first time with my primary school thirty years ago, and am thus familiar with the classic medieval and subsequent attractions. On my second visit, my late mother and I went to the same venues, thus I was determined to visit the subsequently built Jorvik centre. In this I…

Thomas Stafford – his execution clarified

Thomas Stafford – a new source (by Stephen Lark)   When I composed a Bulletin article about Thomas Stafford in 2005, I knew a few things about him – his descent from George of Clarence and Henry of Buckingham whilst not being the senior descendant of either – but some things were not known. There…