
Gold. Where did the gold come from for England's medieval gold coinage?
The first English gold coin was minted in London in 1257 for King Henry III; a fact only known from research in the early 18th century. ...

Synopsis for JW3 One off zoom lecture: 8th October. Check out JW3 website for details
The Hanseatic League Our morning, starting at 10.30 and ending at 1pm, will be in three parts with comfort breaks Part 1: Introduction...

Scramble for Africa and The Boer War: A short reading list.
AFRICA: GENERAL A Short History of Africa G.Kerr The State of Africa M.Meredith SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA The Scramble for...

History: The twin dangers of nationalism and 'wokism'
I have been thinking a great deal recently about the nature and the teaching of history. We all know there is no truly objective history...

History and Memory
One of the strange things about teaching contemporary history is that the teacher, as well as the students, tend to have but a muddled...

A Tudor Story
This is the story of John Vesey, who became bishop of Exeter. He was born John Harman in c.1464 in Sutton Coldfield. The change of...

Little songbirds, Jewish Garum, Sexual abstinence, and Thongweed - some pieces of grim food history
I have been mulling over a number of different historical/folklore topics to blog about and couldn't really get going on any of them. ...

More Words and Acronyms from this Corona Virus (CV) Year
A good test on what we know; so many of these words and acronyms pass across our horizons with the speed of light, whereas others linger...

Mrs Thatcher, we need you now ......
Some of you may wonder why lawyers are so concerned with The Rule of Law. The simple answer is that it is the bedrock of our democracy. ...

History of Eels: In Jelly, In Religion, In dodgy horse dealing
Ogden Nash wrote: I don't mind eels Except as meals. And the way they feels. Churchill more than once used eels as a metaphor. During...

NOT ANOTHER! A FURTHER BOOKLIST
Travel: THE LAND OF MAYBE by Tim Ecott, former BBC correspondent. Tells the story of a year in Faroese life. Much of the book is about...

Times (Just) Past: Spills, Winter Underwear, Six of the Best, and a load more
We, who are older, all know the feeling of visiting museums or exhibitions and saying, 'We used to have one of those at home when we were...

Before Compulsory Education: Autodidacts
As an adult educator, I have always been fascinated by autodidacts, that is people who have largely taught themselves, sometimes as...

STEPMOTHERS: In Folklore and History
The stepmother is a frequent motif in folklore, from a dialect term for cow parsley - stepmother's blessing - to the stepmother in the...

Wednesday 19th August: JW3 hour long look at the two World Wars. v. JW3 website for details.
I am sharing the hour, 11am to 12pm (or 12 am if things really get out of hand!!) with Trudy Gold. I am speaking about the First War,...

Asylum Seekers: A British History
People coming across The Channel with the intention of reaching Britain in order to claim asylum have dominated the news in the last few...

Synopsis for Thursday 13th August Morning One -Off course
Eternal Truths and Present Challenges As with Caesar's Gaul, the morning is divided into three parts, with a short break between each...

PILLOW TALK: A short history of bed linen (and bed bugs!)
Where now are bolsters? Where eiderdowns? Where bed bugs? As for the latter, I really don't care as long as they are not near me....

Always a student: West African Empires
A late friend of mine, Professor Brian Groombridge, once said, 'we are learning animals from the moment of our birth to the moment of our...