Looking Back At History

Welcome to the first installation of Museums Worth Visiting - a blog series where I share with you museums around the UK that I think are worth visiting.   I recently took a trip to Powderham Castle located in the countryside near Exeter in Devon. The castle is unique in that it is not owned or looked after by your typical heritage organisations such as English Heritage or National Trust and instead is privately owned. Powderham Castle is owned by Courtenay family. The castle first came to be owned by the Courtenays when it came to them in the dowry of Maragaret du Bohun when she married Hugh de Courtenay, son of the first Courtenay Earl of Devon in 1325.  The castle has a fascinating and well-documented history which you can learn all about during a guided tour of the castle. All tour guides and staff that we met on our visit were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. I found it really great that staff included their pronouns on their name badges - not something I hav...

 AD - PR Product  My first ever museum job was in an aerospace museum and, as a result of that, I will always have a fascination with planes and aviation history. I was excited to read Robert Jeffrey's Scotland's Wings as I was keen to find out more about Scotland's aeronautical connections.  Jeffrey drew me in within the introduction by talking about famous Bristol planes the Brabazon and Britannia - planes that I already knew quite a lot about. From the outset it is clear that the author is an aviation enthusiast and holds an in-depth knowledge of the topic.  Throughout his book, Jeffrey discusses Scotland's pioneering work in the aviation industry from early wooden frame based aircraft to zeppelins and space shuttles. Having previously learned a great deal about how crucial the city of Bristol is to aviation and aerospace history, I found it really fascinating to learn about Scotland's connections within the industry. Jeffrey highlights key innovators and inventi...

  AD - PR Product.  John Lambshead's new book, The Fall of Roman Britain and Why We Speak English, is an interesting analysis of the abrupt fall of Roman Britain. His particular focus is how and why Britain was so unlike former European provinces of the Western Empire, such as in terms of language and religion. The Fall of Roman Britain uses data from historians, archaeologists, climatologists and biologists to determine why Britannia was so different to the other former European provinces and had seemed to have few Roman cultural influences. Lambshead  I found it incredibly interesting that Lambshead analysed this question through a range of different perspectives, considering both historical and scientific reasoning.   As mentioned in my  previous book review , Roman history isn't something that I have studied in great detail. With this in mind, I found Lambshead's writing style is both accessible and informative and easy to follow for those with a limite...

AD - PR Product.  Admittedly I don't know a great deal about Roman history. It's not something that was really studied in great detail throughout my education but definitely an area of history that I'm intrigued to discover more about which is why I was keen to read this book.  Simon Elliott's  Roman Britain's Pirate King: Carausius Constantitus Chlorus and the Fourth Roman Invasion tells the fascinating story of how Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Valerius Carausius usurped the western augustus (senior emperor) Maximian in 286 AD. This allowed him to establish a North Sea Empire in Gaul and Britain which lasted a little over a decade until 296 AD. Elliott analyses key events and aspects of the chronology of the Roman Empire which are pivotal to the story of Carausius' seizure of power and rule including the role of Roman coinage, the disappearance of the  Classis Britannia and also considers the impact of his rule on the Roman Empire as a whole. Elliott does an excel...

A Victorian boot scraper in Exeter. Have you ever seen these around your town or city and wondered what they're for? You might have hypothesised of what they might be. Sometimes people think they're holes to put your milk bottles in whilst some parents tell their children they're doors to fairy or gnome homes. Whatever it is that you have theorised, did you ever actually find out what they're for? These contraptions can usually be found next to doorways in some towns and cities and are actually boot scrapers from the around Victorian era . Pre-Eighteenth Century, walking was largely considered something that only poor people did. Back in those days, roads and paths were not tarmacked or paved and instead were lined with mud and horse poop, among other debris, and therefore travelling by carriage was much more preferable. An example of a boot scraper found in Exeter. However around the mid-Nineteenth Century, popular attitudes towards walking began to change. The Romanti...

Charles Dickens by Ary Scheffer oil on canvas, 1855 NPG 315 © National Portrait Gallery, London Charles Dickens has always been associated with Christmas . In 1988, the Sunday Telegraph even went as far as to call Dickens, "the man who invented Christmas". Many of his most popular works have focussed on Christmas, from some of his first novels including  Pickwick Papers and A Christmas Carol to some of his short Christmas stories such as A Christmas Tree and  What Christmas is as we Grow Older.  Whilst we know that Dickens didn't  literally, invent Christmas, he did a great deal to popularise the holiday and its traditions in Britain. By the late 19th Century, the medieval Christmas traditions were not really celebrated. According to some scholars, the medieval Christmas, which combined the religious celebration of Christ, Pagan traditions and the German festival of Yule, had come under much scrutiny by the Puritans under Oliver Cromwell which saw traditional practic...

 As someone who loves to research history it's pretty essential to have access to archives. However, as I'm currently in full time employment in a non-history related field and don't live in a large city, it can be difficult to access archives physically. Likewise, as researching history is currently a hobby it's not something I can afford to spend a great deal of money on, meaning online archives that are behind a paywall remain inaccessible to me.  For those in a similar situation to me, I thought it would be beneficial to compile a list of the best free online archives so that all us history bloggers can continue to make the most of our hobby and have access to invaluable historical resources and collections. The National Archives  - You can either peruse their online digital archive guides or simply search for the topic you're researching and select "Available for Download Only" in the filters as this shows you what is available online and sometimes f...

I recently went on a camping trip to Cornwall and had to visit the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft based in Boscastle particularly as it's on my museum bucketlist! The Museum of Magic and Witchcraft was created by Cecil Williamson who had always had an interest in witchcraft since he was a child. A Witchcraft Museum was originally opened by him in Stratford-Upon-Avon but this was met with local opposition and moved it to the Isle of Man in 1951 under the name The Folklore Centre of Superstition and Witchcraft. Eventually in 1960 Cecil decided to move his museum to Boscastle, Cornwall where it remains today. Cecil stated, ‘Three miles away from this spot you can find this pre-historic maze stone carved into a living rock face, proof that from ancient times man and his magic making with the world of spirit were active in this area. The centuries have passed and times have changed and yet all around us in this quiet corner of England there is a strange feeling that we are not alone an...

Via Flickr Everybody has heard of T.E. Lawrence or Lawrence of Arabia but what about his incredibly influential female companion Gertrude Bell? As an explorer, archaeologist, diplomat, writer and spy Gertrude Bell established what we now today as modern Iraq. So who was Gertrude Bell? What did she do and why was she so important? The Early Life of Gertrude Bell Young Gertrude was born in 1868 in County Durham in the North East of England. Her Father was an industrialist and her Mother sadly died when giving birth to Gertrude's younger brother. Gertrude received an insight into politics from a young age since her Grandfather was the MP Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell who worked alongside Benjamin Disraeli . When she was 17, Gertrude Bell attended Oxford University to study history, one of the few subjects on offer to women at the time.  In 1892, following her graduation, she travelled to Tehran, Persia (modern day Iran) where her Uncle, Sir France Lacelle was based as a British Minister. S...

It's October so that means it's Black History Month , an annual event to promote and celebrate Black history. The origins of Black History Month lay in the development of 'Negro History Week' in 1926 in the United States, created by Carter G Woodson and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in 1926. By the 1970s this later evolved into what we now know as Black History Month and was celebrated in the US every February. By the 1980s, as a result of campaigning by activists who wanted to challenge racism and the teaching of a Eurocentric version of history in schools, Black History Month was exported to the UK, starting mainly in London.  Black History Month's founder Woodson said,  “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated,” - Via Time When I first saw this quote it really hit a chord with me and echoed some of the th...

 After spending 18 months travelling in New Zealand, I am back on British soil and raring to explore my home country. One thing I have realised whilst I've been away is that I have barely explored my hometown of Lancashire never mind the rest of the UK and that includes museums and heritage places. I started compiling a list of such places that I want to visit once I'm back even though it's unlikely I will get to visit them any time soon due to Covid. What places are on your UK museum and historic places bucket list? North West Pendle Heritage Centre , Lancashire  Helmshore Textile Museum , Lancashire Imperial War Museum North , Manchester The Beatles Story, Liverpool International Slavery Museum, Liverpool British Music Experience , Liverpool The Pankhurst Centre, Manchester Quarry Bank, Cheshire Helmshore Textile Museum North East Eden Camp , Yorkshire National Science & Media Museum , Bradford South East Bletchley Park , Milton Keynes Portsmouth Historic Dockyard , P...

The Clash and Steel Pulse outside National Front Leader's House in 1977 via Metro In the late 1970's racist attacks were prominent in the UK, particularly against West Indian and Asian immigrants. In response to racist comments by various musicians, a group of punk musicians banded together to start the Rock Against Racism campaign to unite black and white fans in their common love for music and in an attempt to discourage youth from embracing racist rhetoric.  Racism & Violence in the Late 1970s Throughout the 1960s and 1970s racism and anti-immigrant sentiment were at an all time high as reflected by Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' which condemned the rates of immigration. A poll suggested that 74% of the British population agreed with sentiments of Powell's speech which is often attributed for the rise in racially motivated violence.  In the late 1970s there was a wave of racial violence in Britain which coincided with an increase in police aggression. ...

One of my favourite ways to learn about new topics is to listen to podcasts. Simply pop you headphones in whilst you're working or cooking or put one on in the background whilst your cleaning or having a bath. In classic nerd fashion, I obviously love a good historical podcast. I tend to look for ones that are entertaining yet informative whilst keeping me engaged and not have me drifting off thinking about what I might want for dinner. Without further ado, here are my top 5 history podcasts! 1. You're Dead to Me Presented by 'Chief Nerd' of Horrible Histories and historian, Greg Jenner, You're Dead to Me cobmines comedy and history to explore a wide range of topics. In each episode, Greg is joined by an expert historian as well as a comedian to give you an alternative take on history. Together they explore the topic in depth, spouting fun facts whilst keeping you entertained. Caution, if you listen to this whilst at work you will get given weird looks for c...

Via BBC The final instalment of the British Nuclear Weapons series will of course be focused on the current system in place that is Trident. Origins In 1980, the government made the decision to obtain a Trident C4 missile system to begin replacing Polaris. In 1982, the decision was made to instead obtain a D5 missile which was financially beneficial for Britain since it was the same missile used by the US Navy. The 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement and the 1963 Polaris Sales Agreement allow Britain to procure Trident missiles from the US at a lower  cost whilst retaining British nuclear independence. From 1994, 4 Vanguard-class submarines which carried Trident missiles slowly replaced the Resolution-class submarines, ending the Polaris/Chevaline systems . The Polaris era officially ended on 28 August 1996. Image: Danny Lawson/PA via Telegraph HMS Vigilant  What is Trident? Trident is the nuclear weapons system introduced after the Polaris/Chevaline systems. The D...