tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1112182991478221012024-03-21T21:14:47.529+00:00The History AnorakSome bits of the past and a few bits of the presentThe History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-61571843962586204572021-12-19T14:19:00.000+00:002021-12-19T14:19:44.936+00:002021<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEZI4C6IfK6RvJP15ESSR16cuXAID5d_wdpWSw0LKcx4kOIbNQp7NRHQ9GgcA-_nHsctDsobVT4c3f0YchLByAsXnbSOrT9V1KXNzJB2zN2_DFeRtGQAL2fkUbvKkoE8jDYz17JC8Obzu3cRmzeK6Qh5WlKcmcKeqwMfsrRsEPhEteSEBNCstco3Vo=s1050" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1050" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEZI4C6IfK6RvJP15ESSR16cuXAID5d_wdpWSw0LKcx4kOIbNQp7NRHQ9GgcA-_nHsctDsobVT4c3f0YchLByAsXnbSOrT9V1KXNzJB2zN2_DFeRtGQAL2fkUbvKkoE8jDYz17JC8Obzu3cRmzeK6Qh5WlKcmcKeqwMfsrRsEPhEteSEBNCstco3Vo=w389-h167" width="389" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Usually I write a review of the year to publish at the end of December. But the last two years have been so complicated and downright depressing that I've given it a miss for 2021. <br />Perhaps next year. <p></p><br />The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-88598918988887064982020-12-28T12:25:00.048+00:002020-12-31T13:11:52.754+00:002020 - year of the plague<p style="text-align: left;">Let's face it, 2020 hasn't exactly been an ordinary year. In the UK, two things have dominated the headlines: Covid and Brexit. But there have been plenty of other events going on - some of which you might have forgotten. </p><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">January</span></b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/cm/rimage/11962838-3x2-xlarge.jpg?v=2" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="144" src="https://www.abc.net.au/cm/rimage/11962838-3x2-xlarge.jpg?v=2" width="216" /></a></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Australian wildfires.<br />
Coronavirus outbreak in China.<br />
Britain leaves the EU.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Kicked the bucket</b><br />
Author Mary Higgins Clark, 92.<br />
Medium Derek Acorah, 69.<br />
Actor Christopher Beeny, 78. (<i>Upstairs Downstairs</i>)<br />
Actor Alan Harris, 81 (<i>The Empire Strikes Back</i>)<br />
French vintner Georges Duboeuf, 86. (<i>Le roi du Beaujolais</i>)<br />
American actor Edd Byrnes, 87. (Kookie in <i>77 Sunset Strip</i>)<br />
<i>Monty Python</i> star Terry Jones, 77.<br />
Academic Christopher Tolkien, 95.<br />
<i>LA Lakers</i> basketball star Kobe Bryant, 41.<br />
Actor Derek Fowlds, 82. (<i>Yes Prime Minister, Heartbeat, Basil Brush Show</i>)<br />
Actor and presenter Nicholas Parsons, 96.<div>Actor John Karlen, 86. (Harve in <i>Cagney and Lacey</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>February</b></span><br />
Coronavirus continues to spread. Japanese cruise ship affected.<br />
Five dead in Turkish avalanche.<br />
33 rescuers buried by second Turkish avalanche.<br />
Storm Dennis brings massive floods to UK. A month of rain overnight.<br />
Outcry over press treatment of TV presenter Caroline Flack.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Pushing up daisies</b><br />
TV director Gene Reynolds, 96. (<i>M*A*S*H, Lou Grant</i>)<br />
Singer Pearl Carr, 98.<br />
TV presenter Caroline Flack, 40. (<i>Found hanged</i>)<br />
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak , 91.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Kirk_douglas_photo_signed.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="592" height="195" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Kirk_douglas_photo_signed.JPG" width="144" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Actor Kirk Douglas, 103. (<i>Spartacus</i>)</div><div>Actor Kellye Nakahara, 72. (M.A.S.H.)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>March</b></span><br />
Coronavirus divides the country over what should be done.<br />
FA cancels all matches.<br />
Panic buying empties shelves. Toilet rolls unavailable.<br />
UK closes schools.<br />
Government introduces package of aid for businesses.<br />
US blocks all flights from Europe.<br />
Bank of England interest rate cut to 0.1%<br />
Total lockdown of UK. No-one allowed out except for food and medicine.<br />
Prince Charles tests positive for Covid-19.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Met the angels</b><br />
Actor Max von Sydow, 90.<br />
Chef Michel Roux, 79.<br />
Quiz star Dave Rainford, 51. (<i>Eggheads</i>)<br />
Actor, comedian Roy Hudd, 83.<br />
Actor Lyle Waggoner, 84. (<i>Wonder Woman</i>)<br />
Actor David Collings, 79. (<i>Scrooge, The Invisible Woman</i>)<br />
Folk singer Julie Felix, 81.<br />
Country singer Kenny Rogers, 81.</div><div>R & B singer Bill Withers, 81. (<i>Ain't No Sunshine</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>April</b></span><br />
Shortage of supplies and testing kits hampers NHS response to Coronavirus.<br />
PM hospitalised with Coronavirus. Goes into intensive care.<br />
Scotland's health minister resigns after admitting travel to second home.<br />
Queen broadcasts to the nation.<br />
Trump wants to mine the moon.<br />
99-year-old Captain Tom Moore raises £25million plus for NHS.<br />
Trump suggests injecting bleach to cure Covid-19.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Passed away</b><br />
Hugh McGinnis - comedian Eddie Large, 78. (<i>Coronavirus</i>)<br /><i>The Virginian</i> James Drury, 85.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.goods.co.uk/762f82ba3d9b527297b075479ab3fb98/Web-News-pic-Lord-Bath.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://assets.goods.co.uk/762f82ba3d9b527297b075479ab3fb98/Web-News-pic-Lord-Bath.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
Lord Bath of Longleat, 87. (<i>Coronavirus</i>)<br />
Actress Honor Blackman, 94. (<i>Bond girl Pussy Galore</i>)<br />
Actor Jay Benedict, 68. (<i>Emmerdale, Aliens, Foyle's War. Coronavirus</i>)<br />
Racing driver Sir Stirling Moss, 90.<br />
Comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor, 79. (<i>The Goodies, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Coronavirus</i>)<br />
Footballer Peter Bonetti, 78.<br />
TV presenter Lynn Faulds Wood, 72.<br />
Actress Jill Gascoine, 83. (<i>The Gentle Touch, C.A.T.S. Eyes, The Onedin Line</i>)<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></i><br />
Bollywood star Irrfan Khan, 53.<br />
Indian actor Rishi Kapoor, 67.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>May</b></span><br />
Lockdown continues but Boris says ease up slightly.<br />
UK Coronavirus death toll passes 30,000.<br />
UK has second highest death rate in the world.<div>Row flares over Dominic Cummings' trip to Barnard Castle.</div><div>Apparently the house he stayed in has no planning permission.</div><div>Riots in US follow death of George Floyd at the hands of police.</div><div>Black Lives Matter campaign launches. </div><div>Sunniest month on record for UK.</div><div><br /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Lost the battle</b><br />
Millie Small, 73. (<i>My Boy Lollipop</i>)<br />
Magician Roy Horn, 75. (<i>Siegfried and Roy. Coronavirus</i>)<br />
Singer songwriter Little Richard, 87.</div><div>Actor Richard Herd, 87. (<i>Star Trek: Voyager, T J Hooker</i>)<br />
Rock singer Brian Howe, 66. (<i>Bad Company</i>)<br />
British rapper Ty, 47. (<i>Coronavirus</i>)<br />
Actor comedian Jerry Stiller, 92. (<i>Zoolander, Seinfeld</i>)</div><div>Actor Michael Angelis, 76. (<i>Boys from the Black Stuff, Thomas the Tank Engine</i>)</div><div>Artist Christo, 84. </div><div>Actor Anthony James, 77. (<i>Gunsmoke</i>)<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;">June</span></b><br />
Schools start to go back after lockdown. </div><div>And then they don't. </div><div>Black Lives Matter campaign continues.</div><div>Statues of slave owners toppled in several UK cities.</div><div>Zoos allowed to reopen. </div><div>
Non-essential shops open.<br />
US fighter jet crashes in North Sea.</div><div><br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Called home</b><br />
Actor Corey Fischer, 75. (<i>M*A*S*H, Brewster McCloud, McCabe & Mrs. Miller. Complications from a brain aneurysm.</i>)<br />
Singer Ricky Valance, 84. (<i>Tell Laura I love Her</i>)</div><div>Snooker player Willie Thorne, 66. (<i>Leukaemia</i>)<br />
Forces Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn, 103. (<i>We'll Meet Again</i>)</div><div>Actor Ian Holm, 88. (<i>Alien, Lord of the Rings, Chariots of Fire</i>)</div><div>Film director Joel Schumacher, 80. (<i>The Lost Boys, Batman Forever</i>)</div><div><div>Cuban singer Margarita Pracatan, 89.</div><div>Aintree Racecourse chair Rose Paterson, 63.</div><div>Actor Carl Reiner, 98. (<i>Ocean's Eleven, The Jerk</i>)</div><div>Composer Johnny Mandel 94. (<i>M.A.S.H Theme</i>)</div><div>Actor Linda Cristal, 89. (<i>High Chaparral</i>)</div>
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>July</b></span><br />
Lockdown measures relaxed. Pubs, restaurants, museums reopening. <br />
Except in Leicester, which goes back into lockdown.</div><div>Huawei banned from UK 5G installations.</div><div>Face coverings become law in shops in England.</div><div>Quarantine imposed on travelers from Spain.</div><div>Pet cat catches coronavirus from its keepers. </div><div><br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">In a better place</b><br />Barbadian cricketer Sir Everton Weekes, 98. </div><div>Actor Earl Cameron, 102. (<i>Doctor Who, The Prisoner</i>)</div><div>Footballer Jack Charlton, 85.</div><div>Musician Charlie Daniels, 83. (<i>The Devil Went Down to Georgia</i>)<br />
Scottish actor Maurice Roeves, 83. (<i>The Scobie Man, The Sweeney, Star Trek</i>) </div><div><i>Fleetwood Mac </i>founder Peter Green, 73.</div><div>Actor Olivia de Havilland, 104.</div><div><i>Primal Scream</i> singer Denise Johnson, 56.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>August</b></span><br />Government launches "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme to help failing restaurants.</div><div>Government launches anti-obesity campaign.</div><div>Government halts lockdown easing. </div><div>Major incident declared after Covid spike in Manchester. </div><div>Lewis Hamilton wins Silverstone Grand Prix on three wheels. </div><div>Massive explosion in Beirut. 137 dead, 5,000 injured. </div><div>Train derailment near Aberdeen. Three dead. </div><div>Covid death recount reduces total by 5,000.</div><div>UK has worst recession on record. </div><div>A level results in chaos as algorithm downgrades working class students.</div><div>Government U-turn agrees to use teacher assessments as A level grades. </div><div>Government ditches Public Health England. </div><div>Hurricane Laura batters the US.</div><div><br /></div><div>
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Given up the ghost</b><br />National Hunt jockey Stan Mellor, 83. (<i>Champion Jockey 1960-62</i>)</div><div>Newsreader Tony Morris, 57. (<i>kidney cancer</i>)</div><div>Northern Ireland peace campaigner, Nobel Prize winner John Hume, 83. </div><div>Golfer Gordon J Brand, 65.</div><div>Singer Trini Lopez, 83. </div><div>Robert Trump, 71. POTUS's brother.</div><div>Classical guitarist Julian Bream, 87.</div><div><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>September</b></span><br />Brexit stalemate.</div><div>UK government threatens to break international law and withdraw from agreement. </div><div>Covid R number rises above 1.</div><div>Second wave of Corona on the way, warns Boris Johnson.</div><div>Rule of Six limits group meeting size - unless you're hunting.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Didn't make it</b><br />Cricketer David Capel, 57. (<i>Brain tumour</i>)</div><div>Bond girl and Avenger Dame Diana Rigg, 82.<br /><div>Drummer Lee Kerslake, 73. (<i>Uriah Heep</i>)</div><div>American Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87.</div><div>Former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner, 91. </div><div>Author Terry Goodkind, 72.</div><div>Habitat founder, designer Sir Terence Conran, 88.</div><div>Sex educator Shere Hite, 77.</div><div>Boxer Alan Minter, 69. (<i>Olympic bronze medalist (1972) and undisputed world middleweight champion. Cancer</i>)</div><div>American beauty influencer Ethan Peters, 17. (<i>Drug overdose</i>)</div><div>Actor Rodney Litchfield, 81. (<i>Coronation Street's Wilfred Morton</i>)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i2-prod.somersetlive.co.uk/incoming/article4545385.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/2_EHP_CHP_230920EJ-Osborne_34520JPG.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="615" height="111" src="https://i2-prod.somersetlive.co.uk/incoming/article4545385.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/2_EHP_CHP_230920EJ-Osborne_34520JPG.jpg" width="167" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Actor, presenter EJ Osborne, 45. (<i>Money for Nothing</i>)</div><div>Journalist Sir Harold Evans, 92.</div><div>Actor Frank Windsor, 92. (<i>Z Cars, Softly Softly</i>) </div><div><b style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;">October</span></b></div>Donald Trump has Covid.</div><div>Then he hasn't. <br />
Track and Trace tracks but doesn't contact anyone. </div><div>Lewis Hamilton matches 91 F1 wins record.</div><div>Four dead and baby missing after migrant boat sinks in Channel.</div><div>French history teacher Samuel Paty beheaded after using Charlie Hebdo cartoons in lessons.</div><div>President Macron declares a crackdown on Islamic extremism. </div><div>Three killed in terrorist attack on a church in Nice.</div><div>A fifth of England has Covid restrictions tightened.</div><div>Jeremy Corbyn suspended from Labour Party.</div><div>Magnitude 7 earthquake hits Greece and Turkey. </div><div><br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Deceased</b><br />Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen, 65.</div><div>Singer Johnny Nash, 80. <i>(I Can See Clearly Now</i>)<br />
Footballer Bob Wilson, 77.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Kenzo_Takada_cropped_2_Kenzo_Takada_20170310.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="186" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Kenzo_Takada_cropped_2_Kenzo_Takada_20170310.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Designer Kenzo Takada, 81.</div><div>Journalist Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, 96.</div><div>Dubstep producer Cookie Monsta, 31.</div><div>Comedian Bobby Ball, 76. (<i>Covid</i>)</div><div>Welsh rugby player J J Williams, 72.</div><div>England 66 World Cup squad member Nobby Stiles, 78. (<i>Prostate cancer</i>)</div><div>Bond actor Sir Sean Connery, 90.<br /><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>November</b></span><br />Actor Johnny Depp loses "wifebeater" libel case.</div><div>US presidential election goes to the wire.</div><div>Joe Biden wins.</div><div>Trump refuses to accept it. </div><div>Covid 19 second lockdown angers many.</div><div><div>Terror shooting in Vienna - 4 dead.</div><div>UK terror alert level raised. </div></div><div><div>Trump tries legal attacks and claims voter fraud. </div><div>Joe Biden is President Elect.</div></div><div>Boris Johnson panics because of his racist record with Obama. </div><div>Dominic Cummings ousted from No 10.</div><div>Duchess of Sussex says she had a miscarriage.</div><div>TV drama The Crown raises hackles over "fictional" details.</div><div>
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Dearly departed</b><br />Comedian John Sessions, 67.</div><div>Great British Bake Off finalist Luis Troyano, 48. (C<i>ancer</i>) </div><div>Actor Geoffrey Palmer, 93. (<i>Butterflies, As Time Goes By</i>) </div><div>Singer Len Barry, 78. (<i>1-2-3</i>)</div><div>Former UK Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, 72. </div><div>Serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, 74. (<i>Covid 19</i>)</div><div>John Hays, 71. (<i>Founder of Hays Travel</i>) </div><div>Entertainer Des O'Connor, 88. (C<i>omplications from a fall.</i>)</div><div>Footballer Diego "<i>Hand of God</i>" Maradona, 60. </div><div><i>Strawbs </i>guitarist Tony Hooper, 81.</div><div>Footballer Ray Clemence, 72. (<i>Spurs, Liverpool</i>)</div><div>Actor Dave Prowse, 85. (<i>Darth Vader, Green Cross Code Man</i>)</div><div><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>December</b></span><br />
Covid vaccinations start in the UK</div><div>Talks drag on over Brexit deal.</div><div>
Major tailbacks at UK ports.</div><div>Worldwide ginger shortage.</div><div>Concern over link between contact-sports injury and dementia.</div><div>New Covid strain found.</div><div>Tier 4 restrictions introduced in UK.</div><div>Most of the world bans UK from travel. </div><div>Lorry gridlock in Kent. </div><div>Lots of groups turn out to offer drivers food. </div><div>Tier 4 restrictions extended over wider area. </div><div>Finally, Boris negotiates his "oven-ready" deal. </div><div><br /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Over the rainbow bridge</b><br />
Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, 94.</div><div>Actress Dame Barbara Windsor, 83. (<i>Get outta my pub!</i>)</div><div><div>Golfer and commentator Peter Alliss, 89. (<i>A Round With Alliss</i>)</div><div>American pilot Chuck Yeager, 97. First person to break the sound barrier.</div><div>English mountaineer and philanthropist Doug Scott, 79. </div><div>American Hall of Fame singer Charley Pride, 86. (<i>Complications from Covid</i>.) </div></div><div>Author John le Carré, 89.</div><div>Football manager Gérard Houllier, 73. (<i>France, Liverpool</i>)</div><div>Lady Margaret Tebbit, 86. Wife of former cabinet minister Norman.</div><div>French-Italian fashion designer Pierre Cardin, 98.</div><div><br /><br /></div></div></div>The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-83860451272975699812019-12-28T11:58:00.000+00:002019-12-28T12:02:12.456+00:002019 - the highlights<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>January</b></span><br />
Brexit vote gives Government the biggest defeat in history. (432 to 202)<br />
Four dead in Paris bakery explosion.<br />
Andy Murray faces career decision over hip injury.<br />
Prince Philip escapes injury in car accident.<br />
Police question Prince Philip for not wearing a seatbelt.<br />
Cafe chain Patisserie Valerie collapses.<br />
Footballer Emiliano Sala missing after plane crash.<br />
US temperatures lowest for 108 years.<br />
Lake Michigan frozen.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Bought the farm</b></span><br />
Actress Carol Channing, 97.<br />
Poet Mary Oliver, 83.<br />
Actor Windsor Davies, 88.<br />
BBC presenter Dianne Oxberry, 51. (cancer) <br />
Chemist Stewart Adams, 95, developer of ibuprofen.<br />
Footballer Emiliano Sala, 28. (<i>Plane crash</i>)<br />
Singer James Ingram, 66.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>February</b></span><br />
Big freeze hits UK.<br />
Snow closes hundreds of schools across Wales and south of England.<br />
Duke of Edinburgh agrees to stop driving.<br />
Equine flu halts racing calendar.<br />
8 MPs quit Labour party over Jeremy Corbyn.<br />
3 Tories follow suit over Brexit 'no deal' threat.<br />
Knife crime reaches its highest UK level on record. (Office for National Statistics)<br />
Flybmi blames Brexit for its collapse.<br />
IS schoolgirl Shamima Begum has British citizenship withdrawn.<br />
End of February 'unseasonably warm'.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Gone beyond</b></span><br />
Comedian Jeremy Hardy, 57. (<i>The News Quiz, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation</i>) cancer.<br />
Actor Clive Swift, 82. (<i>Keeping up Appearances</i>)<br />
Actor Albert Finney, 82.<br />
Rapper Cadet, 28. (<i>Road accident</i>)<br />
Actor Carmen Argenziano, 75. (<i>Stargate</i>)<br />
Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, 85.<br />
Former England goalkeeper Gordon Banks, 81. (<i>Leicester City, Stoke City, national team</i>)<br />
Dick Churchill, 99. (British RAF squadron leader, last survivor of <i>the Great Escape</i>)<br />
Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police John Stalker, 79.<br />
Paul Flynn, 84. (MP for Newport West)<br />
Monkee Peter Tork, 77.<br />
Conductor composer André Previn, 89.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>March</b></span><br />
Ethiopian Airlines crash kills 157.<br />
Boeing 737 Max planes grounded.<br />
House of Commons rejects Theresa May's Brexit deal again.<br />
Speaker John Bercow says she can't have a third vote without changing the offer.<br />
An online e-petition calling on the government to revoke Brexit Article 50 reaches 5,000,000 signatures.<br />
A million people march for 'People's Vote' in London.<br />
Theresa May submits a third, updated offer and is rejected again.<br />
Soldier faces prosecution over Bloody Sunday.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Passed on</b></span><br />
Mountaineers Tom Ballard, 30 and Daniele Nardi, 42. (Lost on Nanga Parbat)<br />
Actor Luke Perry, 52.<br />
Prodigy singer Keith Flint, 49.<br />
Walker Brother Scott, 76,<br />
Philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock, 94.<br />
Television presenter Magenta Devine, 61, (<i>Rough Guide, Network 7</i>)
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>April</b></span><br />
Brexit row rumbles on.<br />
Ex UKIP leader Nigel Farage launches the Brexit Party.<br />
Climate change action group Extinction Rebellion causes transport chaos in London.<br />
Hottest April day on record (25C)<br />
Huge fire at Notre Dame in Paris.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Joined the choir eternal</b></span><br />
John McEnery, 75, British actor<br />
Trainspotting actor Bradley Welsh, 48. (shooting)<br />
Songwriter Les Reed, 83 (<i>It's Not Unusual, Delilah, The Last Waltz</i>)<br />
CBBC star Mya-Lecia Naylor, 16.<br />
David Winters, 80, English-American actor and choreographer (<i>West Side Story</i>).<br />
Dick Rivers, 74, French rock and roll singer (<i>Les Chats Sauvages</i>), cancer.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>May</b></span><br />
The Duchess of Sussex gives birth to a son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.<br />
<div>
UK local elections bring gains for Lib Dems and Greens. </div>
Britain gets lowest ever score in Eurovision - then gets five points taken away to finish last.<br />
Calls for PM's resignation over Brexit.<br />
Jeremy Kyle show suspended after the death of a participant.<br />
Theresa May announces her resignation from the Tory party.<br />
Boris Johnson says he'll run for Tory party leader.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Kicked the bucket</b></span><br />
Broadcaster Brian Walden, 86.<br />
Hollywood legend Doris Day, 97.<br />
Comedian Freddie Starr, 76.<br />
Broadcaster Nan Winton, 93. First woman to read BBC News on television<br />
Louvre pyramid architect I M Pei, 102.<br />
F1 legend Niki Lauda, 70.<br />
Actor Stephen Thorne, 84. (Z-Cars, Crossroads, Doctor Who)<br />
First BBC woman newsreader Nan Winton, 93.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>June</b></span><br />
Isle of Lewis chessman found in Edinburgh house.<br />
Liverpool defeat Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 0 in the first all-English UEFA Champions League Final since 2008.<br />
US President Donald Trump pays three-day state visit to the UK.<br />
BBC announces it will end free television licences for over-75s from June 2020.<br />
First person in the UK convicted of illegally manufacturing a firearm using a 3D printer.<br />
Heavy rain causes chaos in UK.<br />
Met Office records hottest June day for 40 years. (34C)<br />
Brexit party sweeps the board in Euro elections.<br />
D-Day 75th anniversary marked with events both sides of the channel.<br />
Theresa May steps down as prime minister.<br />
Massive power failure plunges Argentina and Uruguay into darkness.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Snuffed it</b></span><br />
<i>Blake's 7</i> actor Paul Darrow, 78.<br />
UK's oldest person Grace Jones, 112.<br />
Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli, 96.<br />
Jazz musician Dr John, 77.<br />
Actor Bryan Marshall, 81. (<i>The Spy Who Loved Me, Quatermass and the Pit, The Long Good Friday</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>July</b></span><br />
Big Ben is 160 years old<br />
6.4 earthquake hits California<br />
Warner Brothers Studio fire.<br />
Boris Johnson wins Tory leadership contest to become PM.<br />
Theresa May resigns and Boris Johnson takes over.<br />
"Bloodbath" cabinet reshuffle removes all but five ministers.<br />
5.1 earthquake hits Athens.<br />
11.7 million viewers watch England's 1 - 2 defeat to USA in the FIFA Women's World Cup semi final.<br />
Lewis Hamilton wins a record sixth Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.<br />
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beats Roger Federer (Switzerland) in the longest ever Wimbledon final. (4 hours 57 minutes.)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Conked out</b></span><br />
Horse racing pundit John McCririck, 79.<br />
Disney star Cameron Boyce, 20. (complications from epilepsy)<br />
Comedy actor Michael Sleggs, 33. (heart failure)<br />
Journalist Christopher Booker, 81. (Sunday Telegraph)<br />
Actress Denise Nickerson, 62. (Violet Beauregarde in <i>Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory</i>)<br />
Actor Brendan Grace, 68. (<i>Father Ted</i>)<br />
Actor Freddie Jones, 91. (<i>Emmerdale, Elephant Man</i>)<br />
Actor Rip Torn, 88. (<i>Men in Black</i>)<br />
Actor Rutger Hauer, 75.<br />
Chaser, 15, American Border Collie with the largest-tested non-human memory.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>August</b></span><br />
Two mass shootings kill 20 people in a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas and 9 in Dayton Ohio.<br />
Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire evacuated following dam failure.<br />
Six-year-old thrown off Tate Modern by teenager.<br />
Research shows the Milky Way galaxy is warped.<br />
20 hospitals to receive a share of £850m<br />
Whaley Bridge, Furness Vale and New Mills in Derbyshire evacuated when after concrete slabs on Toddbrook Reservoir partially collapse.<br />
Three remaining cooling towers at Didcot power station, Oxfordshire are demolished, hitting an electricity pole and leaving 40,000 homes without power.<br />
Worldwide protests over climate change.100 MPs write to Boris Johnson for a recall of Parliament to debate concerns that the UK faces "a national emergency" over Brexit.<br />
Video of Prince Andrew with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<br />
Hottest late August bank holiday weekend on record<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Pushing up daisies</b><br />
Saoirse Kennedy Hill, Granddaughter of Robert F Kennedy, 22. (Overdosed. (33.3C)<br />
Barrington Pheloung, composer of Inspector Morse theme, 65.<br />
Scottish golfer Gordon Brand Jnr, 60.<br />
<i>Kinks</i> keyboardist Ian Gibbons, 67.<br />
Singer and impressionist Joe Longthorne, 64.<br />
Actor Peter Fonda, 79. (<i>Easy Rider</i>)<br />
Animator and director Richard Williams, 86. (<i>Who Framed </i><br />
<i>Roger Rabbit</i>)<br />
Bass guitarist Larry Taylor, 77. (<i>Canned Heat</i>)<br />
Actress Sheila Steafel, 84.<br />
Screenwriter Terrance Dicks, 84. (<i>Doctor Who, Crossroads, Space: 1999</i>)<br />
Actress Valerie Harper, 80. (<i>Mary Tyler Moore Show</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>September</b></span><br />
Brexit row grinds on.<br />
Pound falls below $1.20 - its lowest since October 2016.<br />
Boris's brother resigns as an MP.<br />
Boris's call for a general election in October fails.<br />
Court wrangling over whether proroguing parliament is legal. Supreme Court decides it isn't.<br />
American woman says she had sex with Prince Andrew as a 17-year-old. He denies it.<br />
Government forced to publish Brexit no-deal contingency plan, Operation Yellowhammer.<br />
Travel company Thomas Cook collapses after 178 years in business.<br />
BBC row over Naga Munchetty reponse to Trump racism.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Gone to meet their maker</b></span><br />
Singer Ric Ocasek, 75. (<i>The Cars</i>)<br />
Former Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe, 95.<br />
Former French president Jacques Chirac, 86.<br />
BBC News journalist Hanna Yusuf, 27.<br />
Actress Jean Heywood, 98. (<i>When the Boat Comes In, Our Day Out, Billy Elliot</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>October</b></span><br />
Office for National Statistics says 726 homeless people died in last year. The highest number on record.<br />
Stabbings in Arndale Centre, Manchester.<br />
London bans Extinction Rebellion protests.<br />
John Bercow resigns.<br />
Grenfell Tower report criticises fire service.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Six feet under</b></span><br />
Opera soprano Jessye Norman, 74.<br />
British journalist and broadcaster Peter Sissons, 77.<br />
American actress Diahann Carroll, 84. (<i>Julia, Dynasty, Claudine</i>)<br />
Actor Stephen Moore, 81. (<i>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i>)<br />
Drummer Ginger Baker, 80. (<i>Cream, Blind Faith</i>)<br />
Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, 85. (<i>Voskhod 2, first person to walk in space</i>.)<br />
Rock singer and guitarist Paul Barrere, 71. (<i>Little Feat</i>)<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">November</b><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Immediate end to fracking in the UK.<br />
Fracking ban might not be permanent.<br />
18 female MPs say they won't seek re-election because of threats and abuse. <br />
"Biblical" rainfall levels cause more than 100 flood warnings across the Midlands and northern England.<br />
Mothercare goes bust.<br />
Prince Andrew steps down from public engagements as pressure builds.<br />
Police shoot dead a terrorism suspect on London Bridge. Two others killed and five injured in knife attack.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Had a good innings</b></span><br />
TV presenter Gay Byrne, 85. (<i>The Late Late Show</i>)<br />
Actor Ian Cullen, 80. (<i>Z Cars</i>)<br />
Irish actor Niall Tóibín, 89.<br />
Photographer Terry O'Neill, 81.<br />
Actor Michael J Pollard, 80. (<i>Bonnie and Clyde</i>)<br />
Australian-born broadcaster and writer Clive James, 80.<br />
Chef Gary Rhodes, 59.<br />
Theatre director Sir Jonathan Miller, 85.<br />
Shoe designer Terry de Havilland, 81.<br />
Veteran Labour politician Frank Dobson, 79.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>December</b></span><br />
At least 18 dead after volcano erupts in New Zealand.<br />
General election Tory landslide.<br />
SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon calls for independence referendum.<br />
Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg named Time magazine Person of the Year.<br />
Trump throws his dummy out of the pram.<br />
Last-minute <i>Strictly Come Dancing</i> entrant Kelvin Fletcher lifts the glitter ball trophy.<br />
Australia has hottest days on record, approaching 50C.<br />
Wildfires sweep through Australia.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Code black</b></span><br />
Actor Rene Auberjonois, 79. (<i>Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Benson, M.A.S.H</i>.)<br />
<i>Sesame Street</i>'s Big Bird puppeteer Caroll Spinney, 85.<br />
Australian musician Greedy Smith, 63. (<i>Mental as Anything</i>)<br />
Cricketer Bob Willis, 70.<br />
Rapper Juice Wrld, 21.<br />
Battle of Britain pilot Maurice Mounsdon, 101.<br />
Botanist and naturalist David Bellamy, 86.<br />
The Rev. David Coles, 42. (<i>Partner of Richard Coles, Vicar of Finedon</i>.)<br />
Actor Nicky Henson, 74.<br />
Singer and entertainer Kenny Lynch, 81.<br />
Actor Tony Britton, 95. (<i>Day of the Jackal, Sunday Bloody Sunday</i>.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-17231234462190476552018-12-30T00:49:00.000+00:002019-01-20T16:01:34.387+00:002018 in Review<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>January</b></span><br />
Ringo Starr and Barry Gibb get knighthoods. Darcey Bussell's a Dame. Rick Stein CBE. Jilly Cooper CBE. Eammon Holmes OBE.<br />
NY Eve car park blaze destroys 1400 cars at Liverpool Echo Arena.<br />
California mudslides kill 17.<br />
London stabbings leave four dead.<br />
Massive fire at Nottingham Station.<br />
Flu hits UK.<br />
Construction giant Carillion goes into liquidation.<br />
US government shutdown after budget talks fail.<br />
Heavy snow causes chaos in Scotland and parts of England. Airports closed. Roads blocked. Mountaineers rescued.<br />
7.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Alaska.<br />
Paris floods.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Bought the farm</b></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM4MTQyMDExMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODQ0NDY2OQ@@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,722,1000_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="578" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM4MTQyMDExMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODQ0NDY2OQ@@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,722,1000_AL_.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Wyngarde as Jason King</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Actor Jon Paul Steuer, 33. (<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i>)<br />
Actress Doreen Keogh, 91. (<i>Coronation Street</i>’s first barmaid Concepta Riley.)<br />
Actor Jerry Van Dyke, 86. (Dick Van Dyke's younger brother.)<br />
<i>Blunderwoman</i> comedy star Bella Emberg, 80.<br />
Astronaut John Young, 87.<br />
Longleat's Western lowland gorilla Nico, 56.<br />
Motörhead guitarist Eddie Clarke, 67. (pneumonia)<br />
West Brom and England footballer Cyrille Regis, 59.<br />
Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan, 46.<br />
<i>Jason King</i> actor Peter Wyngarde, 90.<br />
Broadcaster Ed Doolan, 76.<br />
Actor Bradford Dillman, 87.<br />
Author Peter Mayle, 78. (<i>A Year in Provence</i>)<br />
French chef Paul Bocuse, 91.<br />
Comedian Howard Lew Lewis, 76.<br />
Legendary jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela, 78.<br />
Fantasy author Ursula K Le Guin, 88.<br />
Tinky Winky actor Simon Shelton, 52.<br />
Daleswoman Hannah Hauxwell, 91.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>February</b></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/720x405/p05zgcbs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" height="180" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/720x405/p05zgcbs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beast from the East brings extreme low temperatures</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Cairo archaeologists unveil 4,400 year old tomb of an ancient priestess.<br />
Winter Olympics.<br />
N&S Korea annoy Trump by talking to each other.<br />
Heavy snow closes Eiffel Tower.<br />
Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes in Russia, killing all 71 people on board.<br />
Oxfam prostitution scandal.<br />
Florida school shooting leaves 17 dead.<br />
4.2 earthquake hits Wales.<br />
Five dead after Leicester shop explosion.<br />
Severe snow hits UK. <i>"The Beast from the East"</i><br />
Retailers Maplin and Toys R Us go into administration.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Gone beyond</b></span><br />
World's oldest man Francisco Nunez Olivera, 113.<br />
Irish footballer Liam Miller, 36.<br />
<i>Frasier</i> star John Mahoney, 77.<br />
US evangelist Billy Graham, 99.<br />
<i>Vicar of Dibley</i> actress Emma Chambers, 53.<br />
Bollywood superstar Sridevi Kapoor, 54. (heart attack)<br />
British author Penny Vincenzi, 78.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>March</b></span><br />
Paper £10 notes phased out.<br />
KFC runs out of chicken.<br />
Notre Dame cathedral is showing its age. Appeal fund launched for repairs.<br />
Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal poisoned in Salisbury.<br />
Trump secretary of state Rex Tillerson fired.<br />
Toys R Us to close its UK stores.<br />
UK's first polar bear cub in 25 years born in Scotland.<br />
Bridge collapse in Florida kills six.<br />
Russian diplomats expelled all over the world.<br />
Ireland and Ulster rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding cleared of rape.<br />
Irish pubs lift Good Friday alcohol ban.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Passed on</b></span><br />
<i>M*A*S*H</i> star David Ogden Stiers, 75<br />
Four minute mile runner Sir Roger Bannister, 88.<br />
Sir William McAlpine, 82.<br />
Italy international footballer Davide Astori, 31.<br />
Inventor Trevor Baylis, 80.<br />
Hubert de Givenchy, French fashion icon, 91.<br />
Comedian Ken Dodd, 90.<br />
British genome pioneer Sir John Sulston, 75.<br />
Sudan, last male northern white rhino, 45<br />
Scientist Stephen Hawking, 76.<br />
<i>Bullseye</i> host Jim Bowen, 80.<br />
Actor Bill Maynard, 89. (<i>Selwyn Froggatt, </i> <i>Heartbeat</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>April</b></span><br />
Labour Party facing antisemitism accusations.<br />
14 dead after Canadian junior hockey team bus crash.<br />
Poisoned Russian spy Sergei Skripal regains consciousness.<br />
3 die as vehicle driven into crowd in Munster.<br />
Arsene Wenger announces he's leaving Arsenal.<br />
Spring finally arrives in UK. Hottest April day since 1949.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Joined the choir eternal</b></span><br />
Emmy winning producer Steven Bochco, 74. (<i>Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, Doogie Howser MD</i>)<br />
<i>Crafty Cockney</i> darts player Eric Bristow, 60.<br />
Football player and manager Ray Wilkins, 61.<br />
American Hall of Fame professional wrestler Johnny Valiant, 71.<br />
South African anti-apartheid activist and politician Winnie Mandela, 81.<br />
Former First Lady Barbara Bush, 92.<br />
TV personality Dale Winton, 62.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>May</b></span><br />
Hottest May Day bank holiday on record.<br />
THAT wedding.<br />
Hawaii homes destroyed by lava from Kilauea volcano.<br />
Monsoon rain kills 12 in Sri Lanka.<br />
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect in UK.<br />
North and South Korea relations changing.<br />
Violent thunder storms cause flooding across UK.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Kicked the bucket</b></span><br />
Israeli musician Abi Ofarim, 80.<br />
UK politician Tessa Jowell, 70.<br />
Serial killer Dennis Nilsen, 72,<br />
Actress Margot Kidder, 69.<br />
Gardener Beth Chatto, 94.<br />
Author Tom Wolfe, 88.<br />
Actor Peter Byrne, 90. (<i>Dixon of Dock Green</i>)<br />
Writer Philip Roth, 85.<br />
Astronaut Alan Bean, 86.<br />
Archaeologist John Ashdown-Hill, 69. (<i>Richard III expert</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>June</b></span><br />
Dozens killed by Guatemala earthquake.<br />
Learner drivers allowed onto motorways.<br />
Cambridge Uni finally works out it's not getting ethnic minority applicants.<br />
Grenfell inquiry criticises practically everything.<br />
G7 summit in Canada.<br />
Fire devastates Glasgow school of art<br />
High winds make Heckington windmill spin backwards.<br />
5.5 magnitude earthquake hits Japan.<br />
Major incident declared over blaze on Saddleworth Moor.<br />
Heatwave hits highest June temperature on record.<br />
"Fatberg" on show at Museum of London.<br />
Five dead and two hurt in shooting at Maryland newspaper the Capital Gazette.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Snuffed it</b></span><br />
Jerry Maren, Last <i>Wizard of Oz</i> Munchkin, 98.<br />
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, 61.<br />
<i>Eastenders</i> 'Dirty Den' Leslie Grantham, 71.<br />
Koko the signing gorilla, 46.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>July</b></span><br />
Andy Murray pulls out of Wimbledon.<br />
Fizzy drinks on ration as CO<sub>2</sub> shortage continues.<br />
Arson blamed for Lancashire moors fires.<br />
Twelve boys and their football coach found in Thai cave.<br />
Diver dies during rescue attempt.<br />
England loses in the World Cup semis.<br />
Massive protests as Trump visits UK.<br />
Severe heatwave takes Japanese temperatures to over 40 C.<br />
Many killed in wildfires in Greece.<br />
The heatwave continues in UK.<br />
Blood moon - longest eclipse this century.<br />
Imran Khan leads Pakistan election.<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Conked out</b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1LVn9z_dYL9c8hCBhR125pYezaUWiBfGoP8OXaBKi0p20AFwWVHjvTgp2ap2CSdKmklHijDtdelj1tUHwt8Q_0Riayk8s2TXF0PviloFo0mAGOWIUIRa9WKTZjMRHyY4u__Afccfnxs/s1600/clangers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1LVn9z_dYL9c8hCBhR125pYezaUWiBfGoP8OXaBKi0p20AFwWVHjvTgp2ap2CSdKmklHijDtdelj1tUHwt8Q_0Riayk8s2TXF0PviloFo0mAGOWIUIRa9WKTZjMRHyY4u__Afccfnxs/s200/clangers.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne, 92.<br />
Clangers and Bagpuss co-creator Peter Firmin, 89.
<br />
Bay City Roller Alan Longmuir, 70.<br />
Thai ex-navy rescue diver Saman Gunan.<br />
Politician Lord Peter Carrington, 99.<br />
Sqn Ldr Geoffrey Wellum, youngest Spitfire pilot to fly in the Battle of Britain, 96.<br />
Team GB snowboarder Ellie Soutter, 18.<br />
Wrestlers Brian Lawler, 46, Brickhouse Brown, 57 and Nikolai Volkoff, 70. All died the same day.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>August</b></span><br />
Bank of England raises interest rate.<br />
Long hot summer reveals crop marks over many unknown archaeological sites<br />
40+ dead as motorway bridge collapses in Genoa, Italy.<br />
350+ dead in floods in Kerala, India.<br />
Half-mast row over White House flag for John McCain.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Pushing up daisies</b></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/29C8/production/_103069601_fceee515-976f-451a-a1d7-0ac8d92057c2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kofi Annan" border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="660" height="111" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/29C8/production/_103069601_fceee515-976f-451a-a1d7-0ac8d92057c2.jpg" title="" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kofi Annan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Trinidadian-born British writer V.S. Naipaul, 85.</div>
Half of the Chuckle Brothers Barry Chuckle, 73.<br />
Soul singer Aretha Franklin, 76.<br />
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, 80.<br />
Half of the Chuckle Brothers Barry Chuckle, 73.<br />
Aberfan heroine, teacher Hettie Williams, 75.<br />
Soul singer Aretha Franklin, 76.<br />
Republican senator John McCain, 90.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>September</b></span><br />
Brexit row rumbles on.<br />
Probiotics labelled 'quite useless'.<br />
Hurricane Florence hits US eastern seaboard.<br />
Super Typhoon Mangkhut hits Philippines and China.<br />
More than 800 dead in 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Gone to meet their maker</b></span><br />
<i>Smokey and the Bandit</i> star Burt Reynolds, 82.<br />
Heartbeat star Peter Benson, 75,<br />
US rapper Mac Miller, 26. (<i>Suspected overdose</i>)<br />
Comedy actress Fenella Fielding, 90.<br />
Actor Dudley Sutton, 85. (<i>Lovejoy</i>)<br />
Comedian and writer Denis Norden, 96.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>October</b></span><br />
Glastonbury tickets sell out in half an hour.<br />
Walkers launch bag recycling scheme after protests.<br />
Furore over appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to US Supreme Court.<br />
Princess Eugenie shows off her scar at her wedding.<br />
Storm Callum causes worst Wales flooding for 30 years.<br />
Banksy work sells for £1million then self destructs.<br />
Same sex lab mice have babies.<br />
Five dead in helicopter crash at Leicester City football ground.<br />
11 dead as storm hits Venice causing major flood.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Six feet under</b></span><br />
Singer Charles Aznavour, 94.<br />
<i>Rainbow</i> presenter Geoffrey Hayes, 76.<br />
Comedy scriptwriter Ray Galton, 88.<br />
<i>Walking Dead</i> actor Scott Wilson, 76.<br />
Leicester City Football Club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, 60. (<i>Helicopter crash</i>)<br />
American rock singer Jimmy Farrar, 67. (<i>Molly Hatchet</i>)<br />
American gangster Whitey Bulger, 89.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">November</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjL5y-lIPdtOoz76Yx8v4EGBrFbAzz6Q4nD_PeJiiO588hyscjc9Zc-KYbiO9nB2q3wfEEHVH2-Qq1qzSppEq6-UTSBTz7nv284yZONmJBPae4JeDTLT7FdWly1Zy6oG39DUpYmS4qJ4/s1600/Andre-van-Noord-Belstaff1-copy-667x1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjL5y-lIPdtOoz76Yx8v4EGBrFbAzz6Q4nD_PeJiiO588hyscjc9Zc-KYbiO9nB2q3wfEEHVH2-Qq1qzSppEq6-UTSBTz7nv284yZONmJBPae4JeDTLT7FdWly1Zy6oG39DUpYmS4qJ4/s200/Andre-van-Noord-Belstaff1-copy-667x1000.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andre van Noord</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Democrats regain control of the House in US mid terms.<br />
12 dead in bar shooting in Thousand Oaks California.<br />
Wildfires devastate huge areas of California.<br />
71 dead, 1000+ missing.<br />
100th anniversary of the end of WWI.<br />
Brexit chaos. Cabinet members and others quit in wake of May agreement.<br />
Pound and shares plummet.<br />
David Hockney's <i>Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)</i> makes $90 million at auction.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Had a good innings</b></span><br />
Marvel Comics genius Stan Lee, 95.<br />
Model Andre van Noord, 54. (<i>Brain tumour</i>)<br />
British equestrian Tim Stockdale, 54. (<i>Stomach cancer</i>)<br />
Beverley Sister Babs, 91.<br />
Newsreader and presenter Richard Baker, 93.<br />
Actor John Bluthal, 89. (<i>Vicar of Dibley</i>)<br />
Film director Nicolas Roeg, 90. (<i>Don't Look Now</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>December</b></span><br />
"Gilets jaunes" riots in Paris over French petrol prices.<br />
8,000 police drafted in to Paris. Tear gas and rubber bullets used.<br />
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<a href="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/7A56/production/_104881313_2.1451615robinhoodandhismerrymenstatuesreportrobinhoodstatue-front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="800" height="153" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/7A56/production/_104881313_2.1451615robinhoodandhismerrymenstatuesreportrobinhoodstatue-front.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
O2 network breakdown stops data service.<br />
Six dead in stampede at Italian nightclub.<br />
Brexit chaos. PM faces vote of no confidence.<br />
Fire at Chester Zoo.<br />
Egyptian Saqqara tomb find 'one of a kind'.<br />
Manchester United sack manager Jose Mourinho.<br />
Gatwick Airport closed by drones.<br />
Newly listed buildings include Robin Hood statue.<br />
Tsunami hits Indonesia after Krakatau erupts.<br />
Mount Etna erupts causing 4.8 magnitude earthquake.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Code black</b></span><br />
Former US president George HW Bush, 94.<br />
Punk rocker Pete Shelley, 63. (<i>Buzzcocks</i>)<br />
Roger the giant kangaroo, 12. (<i>old age</i>)<br />
Actress Sondra Locke,74. (<i>Any Which Way You Can</i>)<br />
Video app co-founder Colin Kroll, 34.<br />
Politician Paddy Ashdown, 77.<br />
Art historian Sister Wendy Beckett, 88.<br />
<i>Terry and June</i> comedy actress June Whitfield, 93.<br />
<br />The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-15847563408945482012018-05-01T00:07:00.001+01:002021-12-19T14:21:14.505+00:00May Day<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiNsogEqYeYOeGiXetCXgC0HkPjXzA6KfAOm8UZ06kKkQ8S4wYlSscjOFGRAmyGi99h4jygpFL_02ChuDn3U3r8yBcy5iVSFLXB4txKFbWyC85WEQdpc7ynwImJVXXWM3LgW2qJlH_Tg/s1600/maypole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1539" data-original-width="1600" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiNsogEqYeYOeGiXetCXgC0HkPjXzA6KfAOm8UZ06kKkQ8S4wYlSscjOFGRAmyGi99h4jygpFL_02ChuDn3U3r8yBcy5iVSFLXB4txKFbWyC85WEQdpc7ynwImJVXXWM3LgW2qJlH_Tg/s200/maypole.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maypole in Castle Gardens</span></td></tr>
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Beltane Blessings<br />
<br />
May 1 is a Pagan festival known as Beltane - which means good fire. Traditionally it was the first day of Summer and a reason to celebrate the end of the long winter days. Many of the celebrations involved bonfires, including one ritual where cattle were driven between two fires to purify them before being moved to their summer grazing.<br />
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Near the centre of Leicester, just behind De Montfort University you'll find an area called Castle Gardens which has a clearing that contains a Maypole. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-naS_LlBdugYzruUdytsJgN5bfpVgxQpc3ilyPfEXVlUI0G2_lAMMxv8Hh2Wrdw0_oAf9ayl0SEjte_M66X-9Ckwghu7-4xT0pmDqbwOABF-cqNyxp7wCTHScktajV0_r-MLEFtHl1Mk/s1600/green+man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1254" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-naS_LlBdugYzruUdytsJgN5bfpVgxQpc3ilyPfEXVlUI0G2_lAMMxv8Hh2Wrdw0_oAf9ayl0SEjte_M66X-9Ckwghu7-4xT0pmDqbwOABF-cqNyxp7wCTHScktajV0_r-MLEFtHl1Mk/s200/green+man.jpg" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Green man on <br />Leicester Maypole</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Dancing round the Maypole was supposed to promote fertility. Think about what shape it is! Legend says they date back to Celtic times and survived until the fun-killing Puritans turned up and banned them.<br />
<br />
They were revived, apparently, by the polymath John Ruskin, who introduced one at Whitelands College in 1881 and created a series of dances and a May Pageant to go with it. That's quite a thing for a man whose marriage was annulled because he allegedly couldn't face having <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruskin#Sexuality" target="_blank">sex with his wife</a>. He did, however, own an extensive collection of<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruskin#Turner's_erotic_drawings" target="_blank"> erotic art</a> by the artist JMW Turner. Makes you think doesn't it?<br />
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Another face you'll find associated with May Day is the Green Man. There's one on the base of the Leicester Maypole. He represents a spirit of summer. Green like the new shoots. A spirit of the woods and fields. Usually he has leaves over his face. A true green man has shoots growing from his mouth. The leafy ones are technically known as foliate heads.<br />
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For a blatantly Pagan symbol they don't half turn up in churches a lot. Why don't you pop along to your local one and see if you can find any?<br />
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The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-33082604699717038212018-04-02T18:48:00.001+01:002018-04-05T17:53:37.956+01:00The Repair Shop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-UfOr0mQHqvLMC8Sd7S3XsIz65_XmiXA3L27QF8aEn86xRpM9E10uc26wbAtxWLHLtOTdE0UOSpdaa2jXuJ9qCsIg4z8LiC8QXLIPQPnn-rv_xjXTjxIpWjlAxsS6SDEQ5m9fjXq97nY/s1600/repair+shop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="700" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-UfOr0mQHqvLMC8Sd7S3XsIz65_XmiXA3L27QF8aEn86xRpM9E10uc26wbAtxWLHLtOTdE0UOSpdaa2jXuJ9qCsIg4z8LiC8QXLIPQPnn-rv_xjXTjxIpWjlAxsS6SDEQ5m9fjXq97nY/s320/repair+shop.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I've always been jealous of craftspeople. I can just about knit and purl enough to make a scarf and I occasionally get the watercolours out and have a go at painting, but nothing I produce could ever be described as skillful. That's why I love the BBC 2 programme <i>The Repair Shop</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_NTyHo-TIA9xFgvVs93Awffn9_2Hllwkfv8xrkPwlc1CQGM8Z_5PUo5LxOoW1M0NKOt1UWz9kxD6azKHHCMk-ojHmgWNQalWvfubZ7KZPfaPGhObGO6HdKh9nK1kMYBDo8Xs4rLe1ok/s1600/repair+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="630" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_NTyHo-TIA9xFgvVs93Awffn9_2Hllwkfv8xrkPwlc1CQGM8Z_5PUo5LxOoW1M0NKOt1UWz9kxD6azKHHCMk-ojHmgWNQalWvfubZ7KZPfaPGhObGO6HdKh9nK1kMYBDo8Xs4rLe1ok/s320/repair+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
A team of artists and craftspeople - ceramics experts, carpenters, furniture makers, metalworkers, seamstresses, and others - take in precious heirlooms that are today past their best, and restore them.<br />
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Every one works a tiny miracle on someone's prized possession. They've done clocks, teddy bears, musical instruments, chairs, allsorts.<br />
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If you've not seen it you should switch on at 6.30pm on weekdays, or <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08l581p" target="_blank">find it on the iplayer</a>. You'll be well rewarded.The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-62900411413442843652018-02-11T15:49:00.000+00:002018-02-11T15:49:20.484+00:00Castle Gardens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSBqHTDBmbSfaJLTMl89iqqbNUoBpPXPmxsaU2rbCqKrea3xE8EurpagoEZk62ggIpUm9G28sZkqGIJr8_lIJ607uu6IBfcxbE1vAg8fyFF4T0hf42icjQtQ7ULGwhPZO6yCDVbnBzz4/s1600/castle+gardens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSBqHTDBmbSfaJLTMl89iqqbNUoBpPXPmxsaU2rbCqKrea3xE8EurpagoEZk62ggIpUm9G28sZkqGIJr8_lIJ607uu6IBfcxbE1vAg8fyFF4T0hf42icjQtQ7ULGwhPZO6yCDVbnBzz4/s320/castle+gardens.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
Close by De Montfort University in Leicester you'll find an area called Castle Gardens. Leicester Castle was a motte and bailey structure, but these days all you'll find is a large mound surrounded by trees and ornamental flower beds. It's believed there's been a garden of some sort on the site, possibly an orchard or even allotments, for several centuries.<br />
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It became a public garden in 1926 when Leicester Corporation started reclaiming land along the River Soar and the Grand Union Canal. The land belonged to Trinity Hospital and the county council, and the Corporation leased it to add to its own land and the site of the old West Bridge Mills. In 1937 the site was extended by leasing more Trinity Hospital land. The whole site now belongs to De Montfort Uni.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDzHo0rZ-41CofkUBm-bgnEzC4adh81lFN8k3SGrxRoZSLglb1Av6xCCdLx1zabgEzZ2dkTErcjP0WQqu4QtgIeAdAVBeJUkRr51GZRyqTlNClKln38IZxstTH_O4mWLZlJMaZoK7btc/s1600/flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="754" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDzHo0rZ-41CofkUBm-bgnEzC4adh81lFN8k3SGrxRoZSLglb1Av6xCCdLx1zabgEzZ2dkTErcjP0WQqu4QtgIeAdAVBeJUkRr51GZRyqTlNClKln38IZxstTH_O4mWLZlJMaZoK7btc/s200/flowers.jpg" width="158" /></a></div>
Trinity Hospital was founded in 1330 by Henry Earl of Lancaster to provide homes for 50 poor and infirm people. Some time later Henry's son enlarged the building, calling it his New Work. (The area is today called Newarke.) The establishment included a college of canons and a church. The foundation closed in 1548 during the Protestant Reformation and many of the buildings were demolished.<br />
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The associated hospital survived, however, and was renamed Trinity Hospital. It's been rebuilt twice, in 1776 and 1901, but the residents moved to a modern property in 1995. Then the building was renamed Trinity House ad is now part of the university campus.<br />
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The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-91048049199562801232017-12-31T00:13:00.000+00:002017-12-31T12:39:17.081+00:002017 review<span style="color: blue;"><b>2017 was a year when terror attacks became less organised, more random, but just as deadly. The celebrity death toll was lower than in 2016 but still claimed some dearly-loved figures. Politics took an unpredictable and sometimes unpleasant turn. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><b>January</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQtptzmUuGBmqehyAerWGelDlkSp_c0FPPs_pI78V_W-W4wvFydNQ8U6DZCQmgz0tzPDhVRcoWLSBOLy1voYHOhZN9tLR1mg8fl7IhkjWtvbgNyi6J1XgsylZFdGaYm-RHXfaIIvKhhc/s1600/IMG_6418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQtptzmUuGBmqehyAerWGelDlkSp_c0FPPs_pI78V_W-W4wvFydNQ8U6DZCQmgz0tzPDhVRcoWLSBOLy1voYHOhZN9tLR1mg8fl7IhkjWtvbgNyi6J1XgsylZFdGaYm-RHXfaIIvKhhc/s200/IMG_6418.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarborough</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
39 killed in new year gun attack on Istanbul nightclub.<br />
Queen misses church through ill health.<br />
3.9 magnitude earthquake off Scarborough.<br />
Four earthquakes in Italy trigger avalanche that buries hotel.<br />
Protests across USA after Trump brings in 'Muslim ban'.<br />
Six dead and eight injured in shooting at Quebec mosque.<br />
Demonstrations across the UK against Trump Muslim ban.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue;">Gone beyond</span><br />
<i>M.A.S.H</i>.'s Father Mulcahy, William Christopher, 84. (New Year's Eve)<br />
Bollywood actor Om Puri, 66.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM1NTgyMTAyOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTE4MjQwNA@@._V1_UY317_CR5,0,214,317_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="214" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM1NTgyMTAyOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTE4MjQwNA@@._V1_UY317_CR5,0,214,317_AL_.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Hurt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Singer songwriter Peter Sarstedt, 75.<br />
Former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 82.<br />
Ex-England football manager Graham Taylor, 72.<br />
Lord Snowdon (Princess Margaret's husband), 86.<br />
Last man to walk on the moon, Eugene Cernan, 82.<br />
Former England women's cricket captain Rachel Heyhoe Flint, 77.<br />
Actor Gorden Kaye, 75.<br />
Mott the Hoople bassist Pete Overend Watts, 69.<br />
Actress Mary Tyler Moore, 80.<br />
Actor Sir John Hurt, 77.<br />
Nazi propagandist Goebbels' secretary Brunhilde Pomsel, 106.<br />
Scottish politician Sir Tam Dalyell, 84.<br />
<i>Perry Mason</i> actress Barbara Hale, 94.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>February</b></span><br />
UK Parliament votes to leave the EU.<br />
<i>Black Sabbath</i> play their farewell gig in Birmingham.<br />
Avalanches in Afghanistan and Pakistan kill more than 100.<br />
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow opposes POTUS Trump addressing MPs.<br />
Queen celebrates record 65 years on the throne by taking a day off.<br />
UK Government rejects 1.8million petition against POTUS visit.<br />
Lots more anti-Potus activities.<br />
Introduction of "Scrotus" (So-called ruler of the United States)<br />
NASA announces discovery of earth-like planets 40 light years away.<br />
Metropolitan Police appoints first female Commissioner. (She's called Dick.)<br />
Storm Doris causes damage across the UK.<br />
Oscars chaos as wrong film named as best picture.<br />
Record snowfall in Reykjavik.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Through the veil</span><br />
Sir Ken Morrison, supermarket supremo, 85.<br />
Broadcaster and actor Desmond Carrington, 90.<br />
Radio 4 newsreader Howard Philpott, 63.<br />
<i>Battlestar Galactica</i> star (Captain Apollo) Richard Hatch, 71.<br />
Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, 45. (<i>Brain tumour</i>)<br />
<i>Steptoe and Son</i> writer Alan Simpson, 87.<br />
<i>The Archers</i> star Sara Coward (Caroline Sterling), 69.<br />
Singer Al Jarreau, 76.<br />
Singer Peter Skellern, 69.<br />
<i>Miffy</i> creator Dick Bruna, 89.<br />
Britain's tallest man Neil Fingleton, 36. (<i>Heart failure</i>)<br />
<i>Aliens</i> and <i>Titanic</i> star Bill Paxton, 61. (<i>Complications from heart surgery</i>)<br />
Labour politician Sir Gerald Kaufman, 86.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>March</b></span><br />
East African countries face famine.<br />
Brexit gets the go ahead after delays from House of Lords.<br />
Huge snow storm hits North East US.<br />
Muirfield golf club finally admits women members.<br />
Mount Etna eruption.<br />
Gun attack at Orly Airport in Paris.<br />
Terrorist incident outside Houses of Parliament. 5 dead, 28 injured.<br />
Dozens injured in Wirral gas explosion.<br />
PM starts Brexit process.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Joined the choir eternal</span><br />
World champion motorcyclist John Surtees, 83.<br />
Singer Jonie Sledge, 60. (<i>Sister Sledge</i>)<br />
Character actor Tony Haygarth, 72. (<i>Emmerdale, The Bill, New Tricks, Casualty</i>)<br />
Nobel Prize winning poet Sir Derek Walcott, 87.<br />
Father of Rock n Roll Chuck Berry, 90.<br />
Irish Republican politician Martin McGuinness, 66.<br />
<i>Inspector Morse</i> author Colin Dexter, 86.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: blue;">April</b><br />
Mudslide in Colombia kills 250+<br />
Explosion on St Petersburg Metro.<br />
Lorry driven into crowd in Stockholm. Four dead.<br />
United Airlines forcibly removes passenger in over-booking fiasco.<br />
US drops 'mother of all bombs' on Afghanistan.<br />
PM May announces snap election.<br />
Britain goes 24 hours without needing coal to generate power.<br />
Political relations failing between US and North Korea.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">In memoriam</span><br />
Broadcaster, writer, and civil liberties campaigner Darcus Howe, 74.<br />
Actor Tim Pigott-Smith, 70. <br />
Radio presenter Brian Matthew, 88.<br />
Jamiroquai keyboard player Toby Smith, 46.<br />
Guitarist J Geils, 71.<br />
Theatre director Michael Bogdanov, 78.<br />
Actress Erin Moran, 56. (<i>Happy Days</i>)<br />
<i>Silence of the Lambs </i>director Jonathan Demme, 73.<br />
<i>Bash Street Kids</i> and <i>Minnie the Minx</i> artist Leo Baxendale, 86.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>May</b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Prince Philip announces his retirement.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Emmanuel_Macron_July_2017.jpg/220px-Emmanuel_Macron_July_2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="220" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Emmanuel_Macron_July_2017.jpg/220px-Emmanuel_Macron_July_2017.jpg" width="147" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emmanuel Macron</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron wins French presidential election.<br />
Trump sacks FBI head James Comey.<br />
Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Legoland close water rides following death of 11-year-old at Drayton Manor.<br />
Cyber ransom attack threatens UK hospitals as well as businesses worldwide.<br />
Rape allegation dropped against Julian Assange.<br />
Rolf Harris released from jail.<br />
Trump: 'No politician in history has been treated more unfairly'<br />
Historians reply to Trump's claim. Cite Gandhi, Mandela, Kennedy, among others.<br />
22 dead in terrorist attack on Manchester Arena.<br />
80 dead and 350 injured in Kabul car bomb attack.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmJkMjJlZTktYzgwNi00NzIzLTlmMjEtMzAwN2Y5NjJmNTExXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg1MDYzNzI@._V1_UY1200_CR505,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="420" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmJkMjJlZTktYzgwNi00NzIzLTlmMjEtMzAwN2Y5NjJmNTExXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg1MDYzNzI@._V1_UY1200_CR505,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg" width="105" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Catweazle</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: blue;">Shuffled off this mortal coil</span><br />
11-year-old Evha Jannath dies after falling from a ride at Drayton Manor Park.<br />
Catweazel actor Geoffrey Bayldon, 93.<br />
Moors murderer Ian Brady, 79.<br />
Chris Cornell, Audioslave and Soundgarden singer, 52.<br />
Former Wales First Minister Rhodri Morgan, 77.<br />
<i>The Saint</i> and James Bond star Sir Roger Moore, 89.<br />
<i>Blue Peter</i> presenter John Noakes, 83.<br />
Musician Greg Allman, 69.<br />
Panamanian politician Manuel Noriega, 83.<br />
Zoo keeper Rosa King, 33. (<i>Killed by tiger</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b></b></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><b>June</b></span><br />
Seven dead and many injured in terror attack at London Bridge and Borough Market.<br />
General election ends in a hung parliament. Chaos ensues.<br />
Phil Collins abandons tour after a fall.<br />
Scottish Episcopal Church approves gay marriage.<br />
French President Emmanuel Macron wins landslide in parliamentary elections.<br />
Estimated 79 dead in fire at Grenfell Tower, London.<br />
Van drives into Ramadan worshippers at Finsbury Park Mosque.<br />
Portuguese forest fires. 62 dead 132 injured.<br />
China landslide: 15 dead, more than 100 missing in Sichuan.<br />
Actor Sir Daniel Day-Lewis announces his retirement.<br />
Queen’s Speech delayed two days for Tory/DUP alliance to be arranged<br />
Jeremy Corbyn appears at Glastonbury.<br />
HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier begins sea trials.<br />
Brexit negotiations begin.<br />
Trump cancels the annual White House Eid celebration.<br />
Fallout from Grenfell Tower disaster continues: 60 tower blocks fail safety checks.<br />
Six people face charges over 1989 Hillsborough deaths.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Only resting</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-amt2-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/19379615_1417078938382183_508401918846959616_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="200" src="https://scontent-amt2-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/19379615_1417078938382183_508401918846959616_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brian Cant</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: blue;">This was the month that stole my childhood: Wallace,</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">Bodger and Badger, Batman, Playschool and Paddington.</span><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Coronation Street</i> actor Roy Barraclough, 81.<br />
Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace, 96.
<br />
Children’s TV star Andy Cunningham, 67. (<i>Bodger and Badger</i>)<br />
<i>Batman</i> star Adam West, 88.<br />
Model Anita Pallenberg, 73.<br />
Astrophysics professor and telescope designer Jerry Nelson, 73.<br />
Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, 87.<br />
<i>Playschool</i>'s Brian Cant, 83.<br />
Paddington Bear author Michael Bond, 91.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>July</b></span><br />
Canada's 150th anniversary.<br />
Fire hits Camden Lock Market in London.<br />
Lake District given UNESCO World Heritage status.<br />
A “quarter size of Wales” iceberg calves from Antarctica.<br />
Humber Bridge given Grade I listing.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://i2-prod.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article392763.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Humber-Bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="615" height="132" src="https://i2-prod.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article392763.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Humber-Bridge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The new Dr Who is female.<br />
Actor Paul Nicholls breaks both legs in Thai waterfall accident.<br />
Flash flood hits Coverack in Cornwall.<br />
State pension age will rise to 68 in 2037.<br />
Largest rise in crime figures for 10 years.<br />
North sea cod is officially sustainable again.<br />
Two dead and 100 injured in Turkey/Greece earthquake.<br />
BBC wages revealed as unfair to women and BME presenters.<br />
Buddhist temple in Magway, central Myanmar washed into river by rising floodwaters.<br />
Courts rule terminally-ill baby Charlie Gard must be allowed to die.<br />
Met Office warns of potentially dangerous rainfall levels next winter.<br />
Y Not festival in Derbyshire cancelled due to excessive mud.<br />
N Korea runs missile tests.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Gone to meet their maker</span><br />
Film critic Barry Norman, 83.<br />
Actor Martin Landau, 89. (<i>Space 1999, Mission: Impossible</i>)<br />
<i>Linkin Park</i> singer Chester Bennington, 41. (<i>suicide</i>)<br />
<i>Dr Who</i> assistant Victoria, actress Deborah Watling, 69.<br />
<i>Home Alone</i> actor John Heard, 71.<br />
Baby Charlie Gard, 11 months.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>August</b></span><br />
Mo Farah ends his career with gold and silver medals.<br />
Usain Bolt's last race ends with cramp.<br />
Trump threatens North Korea with "fire and fury". And "frankly power".<br />
Norovirus devastates World Athletics Championship.<br />
Heavy rain causes floods and land slips in Nepal.<br />
North Korea threatens Guam as tensions rise.<br />
White supremacy march in Charlottesville, VA. leaves 1 dead and 19 injured.<br />
Trump under fire for not condemning Nazis.<br />
Sierra Leone mudslide.<br />
Terror attack in Barcelona kills 14 and injures dozens more.<br />
Hurricane Harvey brings 'catastrophic floods' to Houston Texas.<br />
North Korea fires missile over Japan.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Pushing up daisies</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbj2IoBCGpO11NPlNuYZL0z6LLXamrGSrEDiwsWzKbAvc4cXn9I1Ssf586GrHRB2QdWWgWb7BQ_KyAyoSZ2BTQra9k_WnaMmfdneKmVVyj9y6oepDEC4L9Yjld0Meclhs-uh-rM4o0KVo/s1600/aldiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbj2IoBCGpO11NPlNuYZL0z6LLXamrGSrEDiwsWzKbAvc4cXn9I1Ssf586GrHRB2QdWWgWb7BQ_KyAyoSZ2BTQra9k_WnaMmfdneKmVVyj9y6oepDEC4L9Yjld0Meclhs-uh-rM4o0KVo/s1600/aldiss.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>All Creatures Great and Small</i> actor Robert Hardy, 91<br />
<i>Shelley</i> actor Hywell Bennett, 73.<br />
Country music great Glen Campbell, 81.<br />
George Medal hero Bernard Kenny, who tried to save Jo Cox, 79.<br />
<i>Doctor at Large</i> author Richard Gordon, 95.<br />
Sir Bruce Forsyth, 89.<br />
Comedian Jerry Lewis, 91.<br />
Author Brian Aldiss, 92.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>September</b></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/cassini_share.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="250" height="200" src="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/cassini_share.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the last Cassini images of Jupiter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Yellow Pages to stop printing directory after 51 years.<br />
The Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant again.<br />
Hurricane Irma devastates Caribbean and Florida Keys.<br />
8.2 quake hits Mexico.<br />
Archaeologists discover tomb of Egyptian goldsmith Amenemhat.<br />
Cricket commentator Henry Blofeld retires.<br />
Operatic Dame Kiri Te Kanawa announces retirement.<br />
Jane Austen £10 note released.<br />
District tube line bomb attack at Parsons Green.<br />
Cassini probe crashes into Jupiter.<br />
7.1 earthquake hits Mexico.<br />
Hurricane Maria adds to devastation in the Caribbean.<br />
Travel chaos as Ryan Air cancels hundreds of flights at short notice.<br />
Remains of 6,000-year-old dwelling found in Ayrshire.<br />
Radio One is 50 years old.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<span style="color: blue;">Passed on</span><br />
Senior Roman Catholic Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, 85.<br />
<i>Holby City </i>star John Michie's daughter dies at Bestival.<br />
<i>Steely Dan</i> guitarist Walter Becker, 67.<br />
TV presenter Mike Neville, 80.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2f/Shepherd-Elephants.jpg/280px-Shepherd-Elephants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="280" height="113" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2f/Shepherd-Elephants.jpg/280px-Shepherd-Elephants.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Shepherd painting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Theatre director Sir Peter Hall, 86.<br />
Actor Harry Dean Stanton, 91.<br />
"<i>Raging Bull</i>" boxer Jake LaMotta, 95.<br />
Former MP Sir Teddy Taylor, 80.<br />
Quiz host William G Stewart, 84.<br />
Animal artist David Shepherd, 86.<br />
Comedy actor Bobby Knutt, 71.<br />
<i>Coronation Street</i> actress Liz Dawn, 77.<br />
<i>Till Death Us Do Part </i>actor Tony Booth, 85.<br />
Playboy Hugh Hefner, 91.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: blue;">October</b><br />
Monarch Airlines collapses.<br />
"Biggest evacuation since Dunkirk" to rescue Monarch passengers.<br />
More than 50 dead in Las Vegas shooting.<br />
London museum road crash deemed 'not terrorist'.<br />
Catalonia votes for independence from Spain.<br />
Harvey Weinstein accused of sexual harassment.<br />
Wildfires in northern California.<br />
Red sun and yellow skies over UK. Saharan sand blamed.<br />
Ex-hurricane Ophelia hits Northern Ireland.<br />
Round pound taken out of circulation.<br />
Kevin Spacey comes out as a gay man after child molesting accusation.<br />
Terror attack in NY kills 8.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Through the Pearly Gates</span><br />
Former general secretary of Unison Rodney Bickerstaffe, 72.<br />
Actor Roy Dotrice, 94.<br />
Comedian Sean Hughes, 51. (cirrohsis)<br />
Canadian rock band <i>Tragically Hip</i> frontman Gord Downie, 53. (brain cancer)<br />
Musician Tom Petty, 66.<br />
Australian songwriter and producer of <i>AC/DC</i>, George Young, 70.<br />
Actress Rosemary Leach, 81.<br />
<i>Benson</i> actor Robert Guillaume, 89.<br />
Singer 'Fats' Domino, 89.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>November</b></span><br />
Australia bans climbing on Uluru.<br />
The sexual harassment scandal grows.<br />
- Sir Michael Fallon resigns from cabinet.<br />
- Dustin Hoffman accused.<br />
First UK interest rate rise in 10 years.<br />
New orangutan species discovered in Indonesia.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Leonardo_da_Vinci%2C_Salvator_Mundi%2C_c.1500%2C_oil_on_walnut%2C_45.4_%C3%97_65.6_cm.jpg/250px-Leonardo_da_Vinci%2C_Salvator_Mundi%2C_c.1500%2C_oil_on_walnut%2C_45.4_%C3%97_65.6_cm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="250" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Leonardo_da_Vinci%2C_Salvator_Mundi%2C_c.1500%2C_oil_on_walnut%2C_45.4_%C3%97_65.6_cm.jpg/250px-Leonardo_da_Vinci%2C_Salvator_Mundi%2C_c.1500%2C_oil_on_walnut%2C_45.4_%C3%97_65.6_cm.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Salvator Mundi</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
26 killed in Texas church shooting.<br />
Political fallout from sexual harrassment claims continues.<br />
Massive backlash after Aston Merrygold loses <i>Strictly Come Dancing</i> place.<br />
Queen accused of tax avoidance by investing offshore.<br />
Kevin Spacey edited out of film in response to sexual harassment claims.<br />
Military coup in Zimbabwe.<br />
Leonardo da Vinci painting <i>Salvator Mundi</i> sells for record $450m.<br />
Grenfell Tower final death toll stands at 71.<br />
Zimbabwe's ruling party sacks Robert Mugabe as leader.<br />
Four dead as helicopter and light aircraft collide over Waddesdon.<br />
Explorer Benedict Allen rescued from jungle.<br />
Robert Mugabe resigns before he's impeached.<br />
Disco floor collapse injures 40 in Tenerife.<br />
Royal Navy performs Changing of the Guard for the first time.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Left the building</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/148C6/production/_98666148_mediaitem98666145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="660" height="111" src="https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/148C6/production/_98666148_mediaitem98666145.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Welsh Labour AM Carl Sargeant, 49. (After allegations of poor conduct.)<br />
Chef Antonio Carluccio, 80.<br />
Actor John Hillerman, 84. (<i>Magnum, PI</i>’s butler)<br />
Comedy actor Keith Barron, 83.<br />
<i>AC/DC</i> guitarist Malcolm Young, 64.<br />
Murderous cult leader Charles Manson, 83.<br />
Former Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, 49. (Cancer)<br />
“Grandpa Huxtable” actor Earle Hyman, 91.<br />
<i>Partridge Family</i> singer David Cassidy, 67.<br />
<i>Likely Lads</i> actor Rodney Bewes, 79.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: blue;">December</b><br />
Californian wildfires.<br />
Brexit negotiations scuppered by DUP protest vote.<br />
Russia is banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang by the International Olympic Committee.<br />
Trump reinstates the Muslim ban.<br />
The United States officially recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital.<br />
Heavy snow hits the Midlands and Wales.<br />
May pledges not to be derailed on Brexit.<br />
Mo Farah is <i>BBC Sports Personality of the Year.</i><br />
Joe McFadden wins <i>Strictly Come Dancing.</i><br />
Mutterings about racism affecting the <i>Strictly</i> result.<br />
Six dead in Birmingham pile-up.<br />
Two dead in Scottish hotel blaze.<br />
Train falls on motorway in Washington state.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<span style="color: blue;">Paid the ferryman</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1w9Y9QtrlTflimLX_orHfFjfqc8LP7LP7FtxCgBlhTWzvp76mAzIjXWL3FzYtQOHRJGef8kOyM9ERaD_PvSQg4TiIY1bKr8JiAJ6gXYi_91PNfHuI3adzsvH61wtugmkfkJyeW5PPkw/s1600/kevin+rice+RIP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="236" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1w9Y9QtrlTflimLX_orHfFjfqc8LP7LP7FtxCgBlhTWzvp76mAzIjXWL3FzYtQOHRJGef8kOyM9ERaD_PvSQg4TiIY1bKr8JiAJ6gXYi_91PNfHuI3adzsvH61wtugmkfkJyeW5PPkw/s200/kevin+rice+RIP.jpg" width="145" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin Rice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"Well he would, wouldn't he?" Profumo affair model Christine Keeler, 75.<br />
Bollywood legend Shashi Kapoor, 79.<br />
French rock singer Johnny Hallyday, 74.<br />
Disgraced celebrity publicist Max Clifford, 74.<br />
TV presenter Keith Chegwin, 60.<br />
Science expert Prof. Heinz Wolff, 89.<br />
Actress Heather Menzies-Urich, 68. (<i>Sound of Music, Logan's Run.</i>)<br />
Star Wars actor Alfie Curtis, 87. (Mos Eisley cantina scene)<br />
Actor and model Kevin Rice, 43. (<i>The Mistover Tale, Serendipity, The Woodsman</i>) (<i>Blood clot</i>)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-80635776788495676732017-11-02T21:14:00.000+00:002017-11-02T21:14:34.918+00:00GlassyBack in the day when The Anorak was a lowly archaeological surveyor working for British Waterways it was a favourite story to talk about Chance's Glass in Smethwick, West Midlands.<br />
<br />
The factory was famous in its day. It was the place that made the windows for the Crystal Palace, built to house the Great Exhibition in 1851. The panes were transported by canal from Chance's own side branch of the Birmingham main line, all the way to London. And when they arrived not a<br />
single one was broken!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2021/2006504989_522b6a931d_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="640" height="212" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2021/2006504989_522b6a931d_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
If you've ever travelled the M5 between junctions 1 and 2 you'll have spotted the seven storey high building, though it's a bit square, and you're more likely to have marvelled at the wonderful terracotta-coloured edifice that housed Archibald Kenrick's foundry on the opposite side of<br />
the road.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Chance’s glass was also responsible for a key part of maritime safety. They made the lenses for many of the world's lighthouses. They're a special kind of lens called a fresnel, that focuses the light through a series of concentric rings, rather than a curved surface.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3139/3424682802_b3ddfcf565_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="640" height="212" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3139/3424682802_b3ddfcf565_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Now, it seems, I'm not the only person fascinated by Chance's history. Australian engineer Tim Nguyen has set himself the task of learning old glassmaking skills so that he and a group of friends can restore all the Chance lighthouse lenses around the world. There are about 2,000.<br />
<br />
Chance glass was founded in 1824 and continued until 1981. Towards the end of its life it was known for much smaller pieces of household glass.<br />
<br />
For more on this story see the BBC website by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-40887830" target="_blank">clicking here</a>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-40887830</span>The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-33328601324692983662017-10-08T17:05:00.002+01:002017-10-08T17:07:25.686+01:00Leicester Streets<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXXsdiwhDIaGKYp8bb5gEv_Z1A7R1uVdiCLFDWRhIt2ue9XrELZMDBLqyblvLxInQLjPCuuaS5rEaeDYCKOxVfiBXmET9e3I2xjXKrSbuFFBUHAmNEzLgajkgMetphiu9nNjaLwXZSsA/s1600/Guildhall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1309" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXXsdiwhDIaGKYp8bb5gEv_Z1A7R1uVdiCLFDWRhIt2ue9XrELZMDBLqyblvLxInQLjPCuuaS5rEaeDYCKOxVfiBXmET9e3I2xjXKrSbuFFBUHAmNEzLgajkgMetphiu9nNjaLwXZSsA/s320/Guildhall.jpg" width="244" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bit of Medieval Leicester - the Guildhall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One of the newest parts of Leicester city is the High Cross shopping centre. It's massive, modern and shiny, but bears the name of a Medieval tall cross that stood at the top of the High Street.<br />
<br />
Medieval Leicester had four main entrances called (unimaginatively) North Gate, South Gate, East Gate, and West Gate. High Street ran across town from North Gate to South Gate and, true to its name, was higher than all other streets because it was paved.<br />
<br />
High Cross stood at the heart of trade and was the site of the Wednesday Market where country folk would bring produce to sell to the locals. By the 14th century there was enough trade to justify a regular Friday market too.<br />
<br />
In 1577 a structure, which became known as High Cross, was erected in the area. It consisted of eight pillars topped by an eight-sided dome and must have been quite magnificent, but the march of progress and increasing size of carts meant it was knocked down in 1773 in an early road-widening scheme. A single pillar survives and now stands in Jubilee Square.<br />
<br />
There are many information boards around Leicester that tell you about the area you're in. High Cross is close to the Medieval heart of the city and a board close to the new shopping centre gives details of local street names and their derivations.<br />
<br />
Here's a few:<br />
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<b>Cank Street</b>. I've never encountered 'cank' before but the board says the street is named after a public well that stood there.<br />
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<b>Holy Bones</b>. What a great name. It might have something to do with the graves in nearby St Nicholas Church. Sadly it might be a Medieval joke about the number of butchers that could be found around it.<br />
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<b>Gallowtree Gate</b>. You might remember from a recent York post that gate means road, or way. (From the Old Norse 'gata'.) Gallowtree is fairly self-explanatory. It's where public hangings took place on the gallows 'tree'.<br />
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<b>Sanvey Gate</b>. Another 'gate', but the Sanvey bit is believed to be a corruption of Sancta Via, or holy way. It possibly marks the route of old religious processions through town.<br />
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And for any teenage boys out there, here's a chance to snigger.<br />
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<b>Butt Close Lane</b>. Butts were, of course, the place where archers practised their skills. You can stop laughing now!<br />
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<br />The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-38980003415510107132017-09-28T19:23:00.000+01:002017-09-28T19:23:07.349+01:00Richard III <i> I, that am curtailed of this fair proportion,</i><br />
<i> Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,</i><br />
<i> Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time</i><br />
<i> Into this breathing world, scarce half made up</i><br />
Shakespeare<br />
Richard III Act1 Scene 1<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4374/37119255370_8e884d33d5_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4374/37119255370_8e884d33d5_c.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statue by the Cathedral</td></tr>
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I'm going to let you into a secret dear Reader: I share something with Richard III. No, I didn't spend the last 500 years under a car park in Leicester, I am, like him, "deformed, unfinished ......scarce half made up". Yep, I have scoliosis. My spine is curved. Or in other words I'm a hunchback.<br />
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It means I've always had a soft spot for the much-maligned king. I never believed that he had the Princes in the Tower murdered (though I'd be prepared to believe that someone did it thinking they were doing him a favour); I always hoped that one day I'd learn something positive about him.<br />
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And that's where the latest day out comes in. I decided to visit Richard in his adopted home of Leicester. Of course it was never his idea to adopt Leicester. He didn't set out on 22 August 1485 to lose the Battle of Bosworth and so, by a convoluted route, end up under a city centre car park. He always said he wanted to be buried in York, but when the fight to provide his final resting place ended York Minster came in second.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The car park</td></tr>
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This, as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1066_and_All_That" target="_blank">Sellar and Yeatman </a>would say, is A Good Thing. York didn't really need an additional tourist attraction. Leicester has done him proud. I regret to say that my photos of his tomb came out very badly blurred so I can't show you the views I'd like. I plan to return to get better shots.<br />
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Richard turned up in a car park on the site of the old Franciscan priory (Greyfriars) which, these days, is opposite the Cathedral. (That's quite likely, when you think about it.) After the scientists finished doing all their DNA tests and the rest of the investigations they subjected him to, he was re-interred in the Cathedral. The site opposite, where he was found, is now the Richard III visitor centre.<br />
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It covers his family history, the background to the Wars of the Roses (in which the House of Lancaster and Richard's House of York argued over who was the rightful King), the lead up to the Battle of Bosworth, and the treachery of the Stanley family who brought their forces to the battlefield then held back to see which side was winning before they joined in!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4432/37119257790_8cd8f7ae2e_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="450" height="200" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4432/37119257790_8cd8f7ae2e_c.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Model of Richard's spine</td></tr>
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However, it was the upper floor that had most effect on me, where the topic of Richard's shape is discussed. We're all familiar with Shakespeare's version of Richard's story. He's portrayed as an ugly, misshapen and evil man who will stop at nothing to get his own way, Now the Tudors (who gained the throne after victory at Bosworth) believed that deformity and disability were linked to moral weakness. In other words, the more twisted Richard's body, the worse his character. Shakespeare, who relied on Tudor patronage, exaggerated the deformity to make Richard seem more unworthy of the throne.<br />
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Will also lied about a few other things: that famous quote about offering his kingdom for a horse, for example. The implication is that he wanted means to escape, but contemporary reports say he went down fighting and determined not to yield a yard of ground. The archaeological evidence supports that. Richard died from multiple head injuries caused by a number of different weapons.<br />
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In fact much of what we learned about Richard at school conflicts with the truth. Contemporary reports of the man suggest he was, in fact, a fine and respected King. Like this one on the wall of the visitor centre:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsHLo_sZ3GNUFQJM7Gr7a3KjPsHyUWnDNT106YNpbjYm7wGceOhUbPAAqH2aLvE4SwuBB93rIj9MMN4dkiUa03hDtVG8edY3a6wqhV2-o3K9hRm0sCquP2sOfxgAeIBYnwtwQ5LdSM80/s1600/quote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1600" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsHLo_sZ3GNUFQJM7Gr7a3KjPsHyUWnDNT106YNpbjYm7wGceOhUbPAAqH2aLvE4SwuBB93rIj9MMN4dkiUa03hDtVG8edY3a6wqhV2-o3K9hRm0sCquP2sOfxgAeIBYnwtwQ5LdSM80/s400/quote.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Links</b><br />
<a href="https://kriii.com/" target="_blank">King Richard III Visitor Centre</a><br />
<a href="https://kriii.com/about-the-centre/putting-a-face-to-richard/" target="_blank">Putting a face to Richard</a><br />
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<br />The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-61105392539147600162017-09-04T15:29:00.001+01:002017-09-04T15:29:31.606+01:00Buildings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFfpcbNk6oQ_vone8qwCOw5xH3J_get_FoM7uQ1u_nn9utYNixi-ppQWNUJM7K1zpO3mec0g4u1zskxshzEBzkbZwdTZe6gy7qf0fgLe3NNf1iKkwMaXQD4cSJa19hZIrFwG8Dh2lm5Q/s1600/mill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="986" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFfpcbNk6oQ_vone8qwCOw5xH3J_get_FoM7uQ1u_nn9utYNixi-ppQWNUJM7K1zpO3mec0g4u1zskxshzEBzkbZwdTZe6gy7qf0fgLe3NNf1iKkwMaXQD4cSJa19hZIrFwG8Dh2lm5Q/s320/mill.jpg" width="197" /></a></div>
If you fancy a stroll through history (literally) you could do worse than pay a visit to the Avoncroft Museum of Buildings near Bromsgrove in the West Midlands. Basically it's a huge estate where buildings that would otherwise have been demolished, or allowed to crumble away, have been lovingly gathered together and restored.<br />
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It's an interesting collection. You can find most things there. Some are obvious: there's a windmill, and a dovecote, and barns, and a stable. There's a former pub that's now the Edwardian tea room. Cottages of all ages give you a taste of life across the centuries, from Tudor times to post World War Two.<br />
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But it's the less obvious bits that I most enjoyed. For example there's the top off a redundant church from Smethwick. The spire of the 19th century St Paul's Church was made of wood, and by 1959 was severely rotten. It was replaced in the early 1960s with a fibreglass replica, which was lighter, and cheaper, than creating a new brick one. But in 1963 the church burned down and only the spire and tower survived. A new church was built alongside it, but that was made redundant in 1996. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chainmakers' workshop</td></tr>
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There are various workshops including a fine example of a nail shop. And I don't mean a place where you can get acrylic extensions to your fingers! Back in the day nail making was a cottage industry and people had a workshop in their back yards. Chain making, however, was more organised and chain workshops had rows of anvils where individual makers would work alongside each other.<br />
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But I think my favourite part was the National Telephone Kiosk Collection. Yes, phone boxes through the ages are lined up around a yard and each one is connected to one of three exchanges the museum owns. That means that excited children can phone each other (at a cost of 2p a call) and not realise that they don't have to shout. The REALLY fun part is that they need instructions to use a phone dial. They don't realise they have to take their fingers out of the slot once they've rotated the mechanism. Consequently they mis-dial a lot and end up talking to total strangers!<br />
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I found a Mk II kiosk with a phone that reminded me of my childhood, and of course the first thing I did was press Button B. For the youngsters and foreigners among you Button B was what you pressed to get your money back if your call wasn't connected. People often forgot, of course, and so enterprising children would rush in behind them and press the button to pocket the cash! It was fourpence - but three successes brought you a shilling, and that was a big bar of chocolate!<br />
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There are also a few other things that aren't technically buildings, like a showman's wagon for example, and the wonderful roadmenders' wagon, both the type of thing it's trendy to take a holiday in these days. How would the old roadmenders who used to travel round in the carts react to the idea that their old 'make do' accommodation is now considered a treat?<br />
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Avoncroft's was owned by Worcestershire County Council. There's a hard-looking bench at the back and a small cast iron stove that would have doubled up as cooker and heating in the original cart. They were towed behind the steamroller when gangs went out to fix potholes around the county. It was hardly the height of luxury, but somehow it has an air of romance about it; I can see how it might have the same kind of effect as the canary yellow gipsy caravan had on Toad in <i>Wind in the Willows</i>, and that the novelty would wear off just as quickly!<br />
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The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-36075427616649076152017-07-30T20:22:00.000+01:002017-07-30T20:22:13.850+01:00Sent to Coventry<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkkLRVxat838_I9zvC8lehIlEd-1cv6aBlA5gw5i_gOIMg9a6s4QpEITX4LixcOhkRa1kY679U2fLogR0eO-rV4xxjiT9QmBzif3NH_fRqY1wzDMALckpyuXEr8wF5eh5Qe5wE3fmzjk/s1600/coventry+tower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkkLRVxat838_I9zvC8lehIlEd-1cv6aBlA5gw5i_gOIMg9a6s4QpEITX4LixcOhkRa1kY679U2fLogR0eO-rV4xxjiT9QmBzif3NH_fRqY1wzDMALckpyuXEr8wF5eh5Qe5wE3fmzjk/s320/coventry+tower.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fair in the old cathedral ruins</td></tr>
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On the night of 14 November 1940 the German Luftwaffe carried out a bombing raid on Coventry and dropped incendiary devices across the city. It was considered a legitimate target because of its concentration of engineering firms: cars, bicycles, aeroplane engines and munitions factories.<br />
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There was a story that Britain knew the German bombers were on the way because messages sent by the coded Enigma machines had been intercepted and translated. It was not possible to stop the planes without letting the German government know that Bletchley Park, the UK government's signals base, had cracked the Enigma code and so Coventry was sacrificed. The story has been denied by some former Bletchley Park workers, but like the lady once said, they would say that, wouldn't they?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuk1zDDLXCDW0vPsYUjN9gLAY2-nsuaAW45rSGmqbTUSlXIY1hY3zqGJoZ7oP2Va4lgh74OotIrIdmwO7Gc8gtlFMrTZ3mU0rITFBcNsFpzqHRQdWgQGxcAuLeoocApa1daVpJ5DnshU/s1600/20170729_124233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuk1zDDLXCDW0vPsYUjN9gLAY2-nsuaAW45rSGmqbTUSlXIY1hY3zqGJoZ7oP2Va4lgh74OotIrIdmwO7Gc8gtlFMrTZ3mU0rITFBcNsFpzqHRQdWgQGxcAuLeoocApa1daVpJ5DnshU/s320/20170729_124233.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the new cathedral</td></tr>
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At the time Coventry city centre was a well preserved medieval town with many original buildings still surviving. Among them was the magnificent cathedral. Its lead-covered roof was a serious victim of the incendiary attack. As the metal was hit, it melted, burned and dripped through the timbers onto the floor below. This devastated the building, which was more or less leveled overnight. Only remnants of the walls, and the tall tower survived, mainly because the floors below the spire were stone and were impervious to the heat.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEeD2D849VFsGJNA5KKhGgpsk5yaGMSjarnOzMSOQtEN8_Ng_3m_c8taaJOMxwY8Gsx0yUN4eGMsopJPoq2ERI4sgKTDy9gC1FXDlGZfr3S_UTwzjPdsU_8tjUOR27FK4cKxgMNo2vu6I/s1600/20170729_124507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEeD2D849VFsGJNA5KKhGgpsk5yaGMSjarnOzMSOQtEN8_Ng_3m_c8taaJOMxwY8Gsx0yUN4eGMsopJPoq2ERI4sgKTDy9gC1FXDlGZfr3S_UTwzjPdsU_8tjUOR27FK4cKxgMNo2vu6I/s200/20170729_124507.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The charred cross</td></tr>
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The following morning as workers sifted through the wreckage they found two burned timbers lying in the form of a cross in the wrecked nave. The two were fixed together and the whole thing raised up to act as a symbol of the city's resurrection. That cross still stands in the modern cathedral that lies alongside the remains of the original. Surviving medieval roof nails were also collected and formed, in threes, into smaller crosses. One stands on the old altar at the eastern end of the old building.<br />
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In a single night more than 4,300 homes were destroyed, two thirds of the buildings in the city were damaged and a third of the city's factories were wrecked, including the main Daimler production centre. More than 560 people, including nine police officers, were killed. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikCwaNs1-M9yRfljjJs2pa_kDMEWlRtm7XIuDrvbf7SSvG4YabgxTWTDBlhLPJquQDjo7qB3Bl78_n_ofD1DXJCabE9UxR9mxvhNEMsIiAPpx8ci_dcbhg1IYFoIuJWzTvDNd9129oOxc/s1600/20170729_125416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikCwaNs1-M9yRfljjJs2pa_kDMEWlRtm7XIuDrvbf7SSvG4YabgxTWTDBlhLPJquQDjo7qB3Bl78_n_ofD1DXJCabE9UxR9mxvhNEMsIiAPpx8ci_dcbhg1IYFoIuJWzTvDNd9129oOxc/s200/20170729_125416.jpg" width="112" /></a>Coventry has, over the years, become a symbol of peace and reconciliation. A new cathedral, designed by Basil Spence, was constructed in the 1950s alongside the ruins of the old church. It is rich with symbolism, not just because of the charred beams and nails. In the Chapel of Unity are hundreds of paper birds which represent the story of Sadako Sasaki who contracted leukemia after atom bombs were dropped on her home city of Hiroshima. She planned to fold 1,000 origami cranes but didn't finish them before she died.<br />
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The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-20007880112378726242017-07-20T19:59:00.001+01:002017-07-21T17:23:15.042+01:00Humber<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Humber_Bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Humber_Bridge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Humber Bridge spans the Humber estuary just outside this year's City of Culture, Hull. To mark the city's place as a centre of culture a number of its structures have been given listed building status - including the bridge, which is now officially Grade I.</div>
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At the time of its construction, (it opened in June 1981) it was the longest bridge of its kind in the world. As a measure of architectural development it now stands at only eighth. It's a significant landmark and recognised for miles around. It has come to symbolise the city, appearing on many of its publicity materials.</div>
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Before its construction the route from bank to bank across the estuary went via Goole and passed across a rather smaller swing bridge. The leading roads had high accident rates and often faced difficulties in poor weather.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the deck</td></tr>
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The central span is 1,410 metres (4,626 feet - or around 200 yards short of a mile) and is suspended between two towers 155.5 metres (510 feet) tall. although both towers are vertical they are further apart at the top than the bottom, owing to the curvature of the earth.</div>
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Oh, and everyone locally remembers the summer of 1976 when the area around the bridge (and much of the rest of East Yorkshire) suffered a plague of ladybirds. The insects settled on the bridge, wriggling into small crevices and setting work back weeks while constructors cleared them away from sensitive parts of the structure!</div>
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The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-16899466743709100642017-07-16T16:50:00.001+01:002017-07-16T17:12:25.211+01:00Arbor Low<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6vUQH9-8mGGx-s0tdqY_Q0vWpkodvWUXWyw-W6ZGIbHTM_5YzNzYHi3B7OBm-_Jbg7EmWW6fMjqrNSQBPKs2UtzZkZxpuTYM-KnUE-WkJGDC9WThllzdInSEs87CwU8Wc8cbrXHDGhY/s1600/20170702_123410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6vUQH9-8mGGx-s0tdqY_Q0vWpkodvWUXWyw-W6ZGIbHTM_5YzNzYHi3B7OBm-_Jbg7EmWW6fMjqrNSQBPKs2UtzZkZxpuTYM-KnUE-WkJGDC9WThllzdInSEs87CwU8Wc8cbrXHDGhY/s320/20170702_123410.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Arbor Low, Derbyshire is a prehistoric henge monument, that is, it consists of a circle of stones set inside a circular ditch with a bank enclosing the complete structure. It is unclear what henges were used for but it seems likely that whatever went on there was designed to be seen only by a few chosen people. The bank around the monument would have made it impossible to see activities within the stone circle from outside. Perhaps observers sat on the inner side of the bank, but it would still have been available to only a restricted few.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.historyanorak.co.uk/history/TheNewHistoryanorak/archaeological/pix/arbor_bank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.historyanorak.co.uk/history/TheNewHistoryanorak/archaeological/pix/arbor_bank.jpg" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bank and ditch arrangement</td></tr>
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The site is a Neolithic one, built around 5,000 years ago from locally quarried limestone. Superimposed on it is a burial mound dating from the Bronze Age, which was excavated in the 19th century and found to contain two urn burials. The stones would originally have been upright but they are all now fallen over. There are a number of entrances to the circle that show as gaps in the bank and there is some evidence that a processional way might once have led from the south because there is a linear earthwork close to the southern entrance. About 250 metres away on a horizon to the south west is another Bronze Age burial mound called Gib Hill. It too lies over an earlier monument, a Neolithic long barrow that probably pre-dates the circle.<br />
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<a href="http://www.historyanorak.co.uk/history/TheNewHistoryanorak/archaeological/pix/arbor_view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.historyanorak.co.uk/history/TheNewHistoryanorak/archaeological/pix/arbor_view.jpg" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="747" height="144" width="640" /></a></div>
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Arbor Low stands on private land behind a farm at the top of a fairly steep hill. The view from the site is extremely dramatic as it is possible to see for a very long way. Whoever built the site must either have wanted the mound to be visible from a great distance or to be able to see anyone approaching it.<br />
(This post was originally published as part of the HistoryAnorak website.<br />
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The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-5713830182283498502017-06-26T20:39:00.002+01:002017-06-26T20:39:53.180+01:00Dolly Shepherd<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">
Last weekend we visited a local craft trail where the wonderful art of yarn bombing was on display. Trees, lamp posts and other street furniture had been wrapped in colourful knitting and crochet all on the theme of flight. <span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Among the displays was one about a woman called Dolly Shepherd, who was a new name to me. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A decorated tree dedicated to Dolly</td></tr>
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Dolly Shepherd (1886-1983), born Elizabeth Shepherd, was a parachutist and fairground entertainer in the Edwardian era. Born in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, as a teenager she went to work as a waitress in a North London cafe so she could afford to see a concert by the composer John Philip Sousa. While there she overheard two men talking about needing a girl to act as 'target' in their shooting act, and volunteered.</div>
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She immediately became known as a daredevil and, in 1905, she ascended to 4,000 feet on a trapeze slung below a hot air balloon, descending by parachute. This became a regular act, but on one occasion she made the descent with another girl whose chute failed to open.</div>
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Dolly carried the girl to the ground but the descent was too fast, and both were severely injured. Dolly was paralysed for many weeks but fought her way back to health and returned to her high flying act at a show in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire. </div>
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She continued her flying tricks throughout her life and never showed fear. On one occasion she almost hit a steam train on her descent but the driver had the presence of mind to blow his whistle, and the blast diverted her into the nearby canal.</div>
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She f<span style="background-color: transparent;">lew with the Red Devils display team a few years before she died at the age of 96.</span></div>
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The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-58962601496377247702017-06-10T20:37:00.000+01:002017-06-10T20:37:29.299+01:00Kirby Muxloe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Ui7y5vrRgj8RsLRTgWjyTCCmd31HtCdJqE0PRa9NE1zCP4LsrJhK1IKVL9JO4lccgt05031e1cpHmRbeUZ9B27NU_xwBFPMAXvYJ_-Mx6A3IABJ4YqX1AKcq02Y8ULX8DRH3e3s4-e8/s1600/20170514_123208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Ui7y5vrRgj8RsLRTgWjyTCCmd31HtCdJqE0PRa9NE1zCP4LsrJhK1IKVL9JO4lccgt05031e1cpHmRbeUZ9B27NU_xwBFPMAXvYJ_-Mx6A3IABJ4YqX1AKcq02Y8ULX8DRH3e3s4-e8/s320/20170514_123208.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
William Hastings was Edward IV's lord chamberlain and made a small fortune in the post. As a result he could afford to build himself a luxury home on the family estates in Leicestershire.<br />
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Hastings chose a plot of land at Kirby Muxloe where the family already had a manor house. The new fortified house was built entirely out of brick, an expensive and fashionable material only recently introduced to England. Hastings brought craftsmen from the Netherlands to make the bricks on site because too few people here knew the skill. <br />
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However, the house was never completed because Hastings fell foul of the ambitious Duke of Gloucester, later to be Richard III, who accused him of conspiracy and had him executed in 1483.<br />
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The land remained in the family's possession until 1630, but only one tower was ever finished, although it's still possible to see how impressive the house would have been. Most of what remains today is footings for the outer walls, but the gatehouse stands proudly to welcome you on site.<br />
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Although it was also never finished, the gatehouse shows how well designed the building was. You can still pick out the pattern of dark bricks (known as diaper work) on the frontage.<br />
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In addition the castle had gun ports and a moat to aid its defence.The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-30792073980848287042017-06-08T20:32:00.000+01:002017-06-08T20:32:35.745+01:00Wallingford Clock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuoXaD162JfLMeSrSwJNfwKunjqFyiV7yE58LE8CikEcRLyjBKTs_CEWmyoHmEzFp8CKqlpJNzcNIfj5GHC05YAWfPvsedisULOAR6luJndXhW6OdYMEpiUubx5sFhpLV0_t3KMJPPJ8/s1600/anorakblogheaderstalbans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="1600" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuoXaD162JfLMeSrSwJNfwKunjqFyiV7yE58LE8CikEcRLyjBKTs_CEWmyoHmEzFp8CKqlpJNzcNIfj5GHC05YAWfPvsedisULOAR6luJndXhW6OdYMEpiUubx5sFhpLV0_t3KMJPPJ8/s640/anorakblogheaderstalbans.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><span style="color: blue;">The Wallingford Clock</span></b>. A replica of a 14th century clock at St Albans Cathedral. The original was designed and constructed by Richard of Wallingford who was abbot from 1327 until 1336. As well as sounding the hours the clock has an astronomical section that shows the position of various stars, the sun and the moon. It can also predict lunar eclipses.The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-74188012584209454612017-06-04T19:51:00.002+01:002017-06-04T19:51:39.749+01:00Heritage cateringWell, dear readers, the regular visitors among you will know that Mr Anorak and I spend many days a year visiting heritage and historic sites so that I can bring you my thoughts on them through this blog. I'm sure that, for many of you, the reason you read me is because you enjoy similar visits. And, like us, you probably enjoy a trip to the tea room as part of your treat.<br />
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We sometimes plan our visits around the tea room at the venue we choose. For example, this weekend we planned a trip to Boscobel House, the place where Charles II hid while escaping from Cromwell's troops after the execution of his father Charles I. It's about an hour from where we live, so finding something to eat as part of the deal was quite important.<br />
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(If you want to know where we live take a look at the map on <a href="http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/" target="_blank">English Heritage's website</a> and find that large, oval shape in the middle with no EH properties in it. Then find the centre of that oval and you'll be close to our house!)<br />
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So, we checked out the EH website to see whether Boscobel would make a suitable destination. It warns you that the tearoom is an independent business and even tells you that it doesn't accept plastic payments. So far, so good. It actually says: "Situated within the old stables, the tearoom serves home-made cakes, light lunches and hot and cold drinks." Sounded reasonable. So off we went.<br />
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Fortunately, we have EH membership, so we didn't pay to get in. It was 12.30, so we went straight for lunch. There were precisely five things on the menu. (If you don't count cakes. We're both diabetic, so we don't count cakes.) Two of them had bacon in, the other three had cheese. So we ordered bacon sandwiches. Except there wasn't any bacon. So why were they still on the (chalked) menu board? <br />
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The waitress/whatever began a long tale about her woes and how the people from yesterday didn't leave a list of what was used up, like they were supposed to do. I don't care about how the system works. I asked why the two bacon items hadn't been crossed off the board so I didn't choose it in the first place? No chalk, apparently. And no damp cloth either, I assume.<br />
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This was two and a half hours after the place opened and nobody had done anything about visiting the two supermarkets within 15 minutes drive and buying some bacon. No-one had attempted to get any kind of alternative food, in fact, no-one seemed to give a dingo's kidney about customer service.<br />
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This isn't good enough English Heritage! Don't let an unprepared, unprofessional bunch of wasters damage your image. We left. Not just the cafe, but the site. We didn't spend anything in the gift shop. And we're unlikely to go back. We're also unlikely to renew our EH membership when it comes up either. <br />
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MUST TRY HARDER!</div>
The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-19783642358714380202017-05-30T20:27:00.001+01:002017-05-30T20:27:20.237+01:00Stand and deliver<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_w8TZQezU6KaWu0H8S_iTLmuCFljVIkxZmHGEighw0sXDGt1b9YqtxwdIatBcghVanSFWKRbsAg6dxZIoSag1L1F2iLhBGdxEh4u7SYvS1rM4usl4bp_9Oj82ICu7lyyGqnePK8Ae10/s1600/Turpin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="637" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_w8TZQezU6KaWu0H8S_iTLmuCFljVIkxZmHGEighw0sXDGt1b9YqtxwdIatBcghVanSFWKRbsAg6dxZIoSag1L1F2iLhBGdxEh4u7SYvS1rM4usl4bp_9Oj82ICu7lyyGqnePK8Ae10/s320/Turpin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Richard (Dick) Turpin is well known as a highwayman, a career that holds a certain air of adventure, even though it means he held people up at gunpoint and stole their property. The truth about him is, however, rather sordid.<br />
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In spite of the romantic tales that have grown up around him and his horse Black Bess (who never existed) the man was a violent thug. In his native county of Essex, Turpin belonged to a notorious group of marauders called the Gregory Gang. They would invade isolated farmhouses and terrorise any female occupants to make them give up their jewels. In one case Turpin roasted an old woman over her own hearth until she told him where her valuables were hidden. He is also known to have murdered a few people during his raids.<br />
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Eventually his exploits led him to leave London and the south, heading for Yorkshire, where he took on the name of John Palmer. He financed his lifestyle by carrying out horse and cattle rustling forays into Lincolnshire, and it is at this stage that he took up highway robbery in earnest.<br />
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He was also a bit of an idiot. Rather than keep his head down in York he returned from a poor hunting expedition one day and shot his landlord's prize rooster to make up for his losses. Naturally the landlord complained, but Turpin threatened to shoot him too!<br />
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So Turpin was arrested and hauled off to York Castle while the charge against him was investigated and lots of complaints about "Mr Palmer" Came to light from around Yorkshire and Lincolnshire so he stayed in the dungeons in York. However, while he was there he wrote to his brother in Essex, asking him to find some evidence in London that would provide an alibi. But his tightwad brother refused to pay the postage and so the letter was returned unread.<br />
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By a stroke of luck it fell into the hands of Turpin's old schoolmaster, who recognised the handwriting. So, in spite of the letter being signed "John Palmer", it became known that Turpin was living under an alias. His early exploits were revealed alongside his later offences, and Turpin was sentenced to death.<br />
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His father appealed to have the sentence commuted to transportation, but to no avail. On April 7, 1739, he was taken to Knavesmire, a marshy area outside the city, where York racecourse now stands, and hanged. He was just 33 years old. He's buried in an unremarkable graveyard close to where York Station now stands, and his grave bears both the names he carried in life.<br />
<br />The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-67748639908183455392017-05-15T20:18:00.000+01:002017-05-15T20:18:22.246+01:00Crippled <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPNKW072PAxMj1JkL8AUQoCt3EkpiD0Utj5QtN_l-gFOEosyd5GaBLAnxX2yqQuLKkRXV_OMPX1z1CGac-7QEORYyNqH-UC7PoxsI5UZ_P9swNWzZFUR-yeaC6Ke-36zVmaP3CdMzYoE/s1600/IMG_7302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPNKW072PAxMj1JkL8AUQoCt3EkpiD0Utj5QtN_l-gFOEosyd5GaBLAnxX2yqQuLKkRXV_OMPX1z1CGac-7QEORYyNqH-UC7PoxsI5UZ_P9swNWzZFUR-yeaC6Ke-36zVmaP3CdMzYoE/s320/IMG_7302.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
This strange contraption is called a builder's or painter's cripple. It's a wooden structure designed to offer a platform for workers to stand on while repairing or decorating windows. This one was found in the cellar at Brodsworth Hall in South Yorkshire, an English Heritage property which is being conserved 'as found'. There's an illustration of one in use in a painter's handbook from 1830.<br />
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I can find nothing about the word's etymology so I'm assuming it got its name because of what happened if a builder fell off one.The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-59570373983857057762017-04-08T08:14:00.000+01:002017-04-08T08:14:09.258+01:00Greensted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you want a proper description of Greensted Church you could do no better than to visit fellow blogger Mike's <a href="http://bitaboutbritain.com/greensted-log-church/" target="_blank">A Bit About Britain</a> because he'll include a lot of facts and his own brand of interpretation. He's the reason we stopped off at Greensted <i>en route</i> south recently.<br />
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The Anorak read the blurb and looked around like a proper tourist but very little of the reality set in. It was the atmosphere that took hold, once the brash quasi-local with his loud, Estuary English voice, and equally annoying son, completed their brief inspection and moved on. "<i>A mayt o mine wuz krissened ere. Are dere enny leeflits?</i>" Well yes, there is an informative guidebook, but the Essex visitor didn't care enough to invest £2.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wooden grave marker</td></tr>
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The church is Saxon, although it stands on a site with evidence of earlier structures, and is rumoured to be the oldest stave built building in Europe. It's in a quiet corner of a quiet village and little disturbs the peace except an occasional bird call (and Towie tourist).<br />
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As you enter through the gate among the first things you spot is a wooden grave marker. I found no clue as to who is buried below it, though the Admirable Mike says it's a local landlord who lost a fight with a scythe. The rapidly deteriorating wooden cross looks shaped in sympathy.<br />
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There's a large tomb by the porch that tells you helpfully that it's a grave of a Crusader, dating from the 12th century. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tomb of the unknown bowman</td></tr>
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Looking at the outside of the church it's clear it's not your average place of worship. The walls are constructed from what look like bisected tree trunks, stood upright, side-by-side, more like a fortress than a church. But they are topped off with a beautiful tiled roof with pretty dormer windows that wouldn't look out of place on a country pub. Then there's the wooden tower, clad in weatherboarding like some kind of seaside hut and topped by a witch's hat spire. <br />
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Inside is even more atmospheric. Entering through the cute 'dolls house' porch you find yourself in a dark space with heavily-carved beams, lit by a few, dark, stained-glass windows.<br />
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There's a wooden (appropriately) model of the church perched on the pulpit; an impressive eagle lectern; colourful tapestry kneelers; and those beams. The light (and my dusty camera lens) makes it almost impossible to get a good photo inside. And the angles prevent any decent shots of what's called the St Edmund beam. Greensted is supposed to be one of the resting places of the body of St Edmund, first patron saint of England, on its journey from London to its final resting place. (Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Big clue in the name there!) Edmund was tortured by the Danes, in numerous ways, for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. Eventually they beheaded him, and the beam shows his crowned head - minus body - and a fox. I don't know where the fox comes into the story.<br />
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So there you have it. Clearly it's a popular spot because there's a large designated parking area. Incidentally, I defy you to understand the signs if you are first to arrive. They tell you to park at an angle, then unhelpfully include an arrow that points parallel to the hedge.The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-68570809805254343422017-03-30T15:30:00.000+01:002017-03-30T15:30:33.048+01:00Big Ben<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Visit the town of Hucknall in Nottinghamshire and you can't help but notice that a certain "mad, bad and dangerous to know" poet used to live in the area. There's at least one Byron coffee bar, there's a statue of him on the front of a local shop, and you'll find his grave in the church yard.<br />
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However, if you wander around the corner you'll find a rather larger monument, surrounded by an iron railing.
Beneath the sod (as they say on a few Victorian headstones) lie the remains of one Ben Caunt, a bare knuckle fighter who rose to the giddy heights of Champion of England. He was born in Hucknall but moved around the country fighting various opponents.<br />
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He eventually settled in London where he became the landlord of the Coach and Horses pub in St Martin's Lane. (Which was destroyed by a fire in 1851, killing his two children, who are buried with him.)<br />
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At 6 feet 2 inches and 18 stone, Caunt became known as "Big Ben" and there is at least one claim that he passed on the name to the large bell in the tower at the Houses of Parliament. There's no documentary evidence to back up the claim, and other Benjamins have been linked to the title. But it's a nice idea that the original Big Ben is buried a very long way from London. The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-34145840538815113582017-03-01T20:35:00.000+00:002017-03-01T20:35:44.422+00:00Bolsover Castle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On a recent misty day we took a trip up the M1 to north Derbyshire and Bolsover Castle. Unlike many similar structures, it is genuinely right in the heart of the town.<br />
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In 1617 William Cavendish, who was to become the First Duke of Newcastle, inherited Bolsover Castle from his father Charles.<br />
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Charles died in the middle of creating the Little Castle, a mock Norman keep intended to act as a retreat from the family seat at Welbeck a few miles away. William continued work on the site, completing a range of luxurious interiors depicting life from earthly pursuits to heavenly wonders.<br />
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William employed architect Robert Smythson, who was also responsible for the design of William's later home, Hardwick Hall, and Longleat House, now home of the Marquis of Bath.<br />
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Bolsover's Little Castle was the perfect place to hold lavish parties and to impress visitors with its exquisite detail. Elaborately carved fireplaces, Italian-inspired stonework and richly decorated panelling combined to show off the host's taste and fortune.<br />
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Guests entered through a Gothic doorway and into an ante room which was decorated with brightly painted panels.<br />
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Banquets and dinner parties were held in the Pillar Parlour, which gets its name from a central pillar formed by its arched ceiling. The panelling is decorated with faux graining and gilding, and at the focus of each arch the panels contain a painted illustration of one of the five senses.<br />
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The grand hall is decorated with paintings that depict the labours of Hercules.<br />
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They are designed to create an illusion of additional space because they incorporate pictures of the ceiling vaulting.<br />
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Perhaps the most impressive room on the upper floors is the Star Chamber, the main room used by the castle owners. Only family and very close friends would have been invited to see it. Again the panelling is richly decorated and English Heritage, which now manages Bolsover, has restored almost all of the paintings. Two have been left to show the actual state of the originals. The restored ceiling is wondrous.The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111218299147822101.post-72050325604840316212016-12-31T00:49:00.000+00:002016-12-31T00:49:01.111+00:002016 in review<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>2016 has earned a reputation for taking away a large number of celebrities. Read on to be reminded of a few.</b> <b> But bear in mind that the number mentioned here is only three more than the celebrity deaths I reported last year. <a href="http://thehistoryanorak.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/history-never-stops-2015-in-review.html" target="_blank">You can count them if you like</a>!</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;">January</span></b><br />
2016 begins with terror warnings across Europe. New Year celebrations cancelled in several cities.<br />
Women in Cologne subjected to sexual and violent assaults. <br />
Flooding continues across north of England and Scotland.<br />
N Korea claims to carry out successful H bomb test.<br />
Mumbai schoolboy cricketer Pranav Dhanawade scores 1,009 runs in one innings.<br />
North Scotland beats January rainfall record in just six days.<br />
Australian bushfires.<br />
Environment Agency chairman Sir Philip Dilley resigns for holidaying while England drowned.<br />
UK astronaut Tim Peake completes his first space walk.<br />
Serious injuries, including one brain dead, in French drug tests.<br />
26 killed and 56 injured in terrorist attack on Burkina Faso hotel.<br />
England beats South Africa in the cricket Test.<br />
New York and Washington DC brought to a standstill by snow.<br />
Five whales beach on UK coast.<br />
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<b>Crossed the Styx</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">David Bowie starred in Labyrinth</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>MASH</i> star Wayne Rogers, 82. (Trapper John)<br />
Singer Natalie Cole, 65.<br />
Music producer Robert Stigwood, 81. (<i>Bee Gees, Cream</i>)<br />
Composer Pierre Boulez, 90.<br />
Sussex fast bowler Matthew Hobden, 22.<br />
Warwickshire County bowler Tom Allin, 28. (fall)<br />
Actress Sian Blake, 43, and her children Zachary, eight, and Amon, four. (murdered)<br />
DJ Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, 74.<br />
Singer David Bowie, 69.<br />
Actor Alan Rickman, 69.<br />
<i>Bergerac</i> writer Robert Banks Stewart, 84.<br />
<i>Grizzly Adams </i>actor Dan Haggerty, 74.<br />
<i>Mott The Hoople</i> drummer Dale Griffin, 67.<br />
<i>Eagles</i> vocalist and founder Glenn Frey, 67.<br />
Vietnam's good luck symbol, Yangtze giant softshell turtle, Cu Rua, age unknown.<br />
Antarctic explorer Henry Worsley, 55.<br />
Tory politician Lord Cecil Parkinson, 84. <br />
Singer-songwriter Black (Colin Vearncombe), 53. (<i>Wonderful Life</i>)<br />
Broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan, 77.<br />
Actor Frank Finlay, 89. <br />
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>February</b></span><br />
UK scientists given go-ahead to modify human embryo DNA.<br />
More whales beaching on UK east coast.<br />
New York crane collapse kills passer-by.<br />
Magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits southern Taiwan.<br />
Gravitational waves detected in space. <br />
At least nine killed and scores more injured when two passenger trains collide in Bavaria.<br />
Stephen Fry quits Twitter (again) after BAFTA hosting row.<br />
Virgin Atlantic plane returns to Heathrow after 'laser incident'.<br />
Seven shot dead in Kalamazoo, Michigan.<br />
Pound plummets amid Euro membership debate.<br />
Building collapse at Didcot power station.<br />
Tony Blackburn sacked by BBC over evidence he gave child abuse inquiry.<br />
Ceasefire in Syria. <br />
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<b>Over the rainbow bridge</b><br />
Michelin starred chef Benoit Violier, 44.<br />
Bugs Bunny voice artist Joe Alaskey, 63.<br />
Earth Wind & Fire frontman Maurice White, 74.<br />
Actor Raphael Schumacher, 27. (hanging accident on stage.)<br />
BMX star Dave Mirra, 41. (self inflicted gunshot wound)<br />
London marathon co-founder John Disley, 87.<br />
Churchill's navigator Air Commodore John Mitchell, 97. <br />
Indie band Viola Beach: Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin and manager Craig Tarry, aged between 19 and 32. (car crash)<br />
Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, 93. <br />
<i>Police Academy</i> star George Gaynes, 98.<br />
Novelist Harper Lee, 89. (<i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>)<br />
Novelist Umberto Eco, 84. (<i>Name of the Rose</i>)<br />
British cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, 103. (<i>The Lavender Hill Mob, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Indiana Jones</i>)<br />
Father Jack actor Frank Kelly, 77. (Exactly 18 years after <i>Father Ted</i> co-star Dermot Morgan.)<br />
Actor George Kennedy, 91.<br />
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>March</b></span><br />
Heavy snow hits the North of England<br />
Total solar eclipse in Indonesia.<br />
Northern lights visible as far south as Wales.<br />
Car bomb in Ankara.<br />
Gunmen attack Ivory Coast hotel. <br />
Massive "St Patrick's Day" meteor seen across southern England.<br />
Ian Duncan Smith resigns from cabinet over budget details.<br />
England Rugby win the Grand Slam after beating France in Six Nations.<br />
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55 passengers and seven crew die in Russian plane crash.<br />
Eddie Izzard completes 27 marathons in 27 days for charity.<br />
Terror attacks on Brussels airport and metro station.<br />
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic sentenced to 40 years in prison for war crimes.<br />
New Zealand votes to keep its flag.<br />
Taliban suicide bomber at a Lahore, Pakistan park kills more than 70.<br />
Police shoot armed man in US Capitol building visitor centre, Washington, DC.<br />
Storm Katie wreaks havoc across the south of England.<br />
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<b>Gone beyond </b><br />
<i>Coronation Street </i>creator Tony Warren, 79.<br />
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Former US First Lady Nancy Reagan, 94.<br />
Ray Tomlinson, email inventor and selector of @ symbol, 74.<br />
'Fifth Beatle' Sir George Martin, 90.<br />
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Trilogy_(Emerson,_Lake_%26_Palmer_album_-_cover_art).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Trilogy_(Emerson,_Lake_%26_Palmer_album_-_cover_art).jpg" width="200" /></a>Prog rock legend Keith Emerson, 71. (self inflicted gunshot wound)<br />
"Lady Penelope" Sylvia Anderson, 88.<br />
Broadcaster Cliff Michelmore, 96.<br />
Frank Sinatra Jr, 72.<br />
Magician Paul Daniels, 77.<br />
<i>Kes</i> author Barry Hines, 76.<br />
Netherlands footballer Johan Cruyff, 68.<br />
<i>"Larry Sanders Show"</i> Garry Shandling, 66.<br />
<i>The Waltons</i> creator Earl Hamner Jr., 92.<br />
Belgian sports cyclists Antoine Demoitie, 25 (motorcycle collision) and Daan Myngheer, 22. (heart attack)<br />
Actress Patty Duke, 69.<br />
Comedian Ronnie Corbett, 85. "<i>And it's goodnight from him.</i>" <br />
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>April</b></span><br />
UK National Living Wage rises to £7.20 an hour.<br />
Record £35.1m UK Lotto win.<br />
PM David Cameron faces rising anger over tax avoidance.<br />
Mississippi passes controversial 'religious freedom' bill allowing businesses to discriminate against gay couples.<br />
Singer Bryan Adams cancels Mississippi tour dates in protest at new law.<br />
6.4 earthquake hits Japan.<br />
7.3 second quake hits Japan.<br />
7.8 earthquake hits Ecuador<br />
Extensive Roman villa found in Wiltshire.<br />
Record breaking floods hit Houston, TX.<br />
Queen's 90th birthday.<br />
Retailer BHS files for administration.<br />
Junior doctors strike, including emergency cover.<br />
Hillsborough inquest decides fans were unlawfully killed.<br />
Heavy snow hits Scotland and northern England.<br />
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<b>Joined the choir eternal</b><br />
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ITV agony aunt Denise Robertson, 83.<br />
Author Howard Marks, 70.<br />
<i>Paddington</i> illustrator Peggy Fortnum, 96.<br />
Singer Tom Jones's wife, Melinda Rose Woodward, 75.<br />
Playwright Arnold Wesker, 83.<br />
Singer songwriter Merle Haggard, 79. (died on his birthday.)<br />
Entertainer David Gest, 62.<br />
<i>Blake's 7</i> actor Gareth Thomas, 71.<br />
London Underground 'mind the gap' announcer Phil Sayer, 62.<br />
<i>Everybody Loves Raymond</i> actress Doris Roberts, 90.<br />
Comedienne Victoria Wood, 62.<br />
Musician Prince, 57.<br />
The last PG Tips chimp, Choppers, 48.<br />
<i>Hi-de-Hi!</i> actor Barry Howard, 78.<br />
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>May</b></span><br />
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Leicester City win the Premier League (from being 5,000 to 1 outsider)<br />
Wildfires sweep across Canada making many homeless.<br />
BBC news team expelled from North Korea.<br />
London elects Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan.<br />
Queen filmed calling Chinese diplomats 'rude'.<br />
1,000 homes evacuated in Bath following WWII bomb discovery.<br />
18-year-old Max Verstappen becomes youngest ever F1 race winner.<br />
State opening of Parliament.<br />
Massive storm hits Europe with multiple lightning strikes.<br />
<br />
<b>Passed on</b><br />
Astrologer Jonathan Cainer, 58. (heart attack)<br />
<i>Neighbours</i> producer Reg Grundy, 92.<br />
World’s oldest person Susannah Mushatt Jones, 116.<br />
Actor Burt Kwouk, 85.<br />
Ballroom dancing legend Peggy Spencer, 95.<br />
Gorilla Harambe, 17, shot at Cincinnati zoo.<br />
Archers actor Alan Devereux, 75. (Sid Perks)<br />
Scriptwriter Carla Lane, 87.<br />
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>June</b></span><br />
World's longest tunnel opens under the Alps.<br />
Floods hit large areas of western Europe.<br />
River Seine reaches 30 year high.<br />
Pre-EU Referendum rows.<br />
Damage closes Gatwick airport runway.<br />
England and Russia threatened with expulsion from Euro 2016 after street violence.<br />
Gunman kills 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida.<br />
Sir Clement Freud accused of abusing two girls.<br />
US divided over Donald Trump's presidential campaign.<br />
Labour MP for Batley and Spen Jo Cox shot dead after advice surgery.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwnOTdLNXltZWYvn448sQcREofq6PONCLbvmI-HRWxycZIMuPd" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwnOTdLNXltZWYvn448sQcREofq6PONCLbvmI-HRWxycZIMuPd" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hair raising ride </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Glass slide opens 1,000ft above Los Angeles.<br />
Massive queues as mud prevents Glastonbury revelers accessing site.<br />
Britain votes out of EU. Chaos ensues.<br />
Deadly floods hit West Virginia.<br />
Gudni Johannesson wins Iceland presidential election.<br />
Suicide bomb attack on Istanbul airport.<br />
Wettest UK June on record.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>No longer present</b><br />
<i>Fairport Convention</i> fiddler Dave Swarbrick. 75.<br />
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali, 74.<br />
Playwright Peter Shaffer, 90.<br />
<i>Voice </i>US contestant Christina Grimmie, 22. (shot)<br />
<i>Wings</i> guitarist Henry McCullough, 72.<br />
MP Jo Cox, 41. (Murdered after a constituency surgery)<br />
<i>Star Trek</i> actor Anton Yelchin, 27. (car accident)<br />
Film music composer Harry Rabinowitz, 100. (<i>Chariots of Fire, Reilly Ace of Spies</i>)<br />
Former NI secretary Lord Patrick Mayhew, 86.<br />
NY Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, 87.<br />
<i>Trumpton</i> creator Gordon Murray, 95.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>July</b></span><br />
100th anniversary of Battle of the Somme marked by re-enactors in uniform across the UK.<br />
Estimated 10,000 plus rally in London in opposition to Brexit vote.<br />
Labour Party in chaos as MPs attempt to oust leader Jeremy Corbyn.<br />
280+ dead in suicide bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/2C03/production/_90276211_nasa-juno.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/2C03/production/_90276211_nasa-juno.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juno around Jupiter </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
NASA's Juno probe enters Jupiter orbit.<br />
Wales reach final four in Euro2016.<br />
Oscar Pistorius given six years for Reeva Steenkamp murder.<br />
Chilcot report on Iraq War.<br />
Five police officers shot in Dallas, Texas in protests against police shootings of black men.<br />
Sharp rise in UK hate crimes blamed on Brexit vote.<br />
Chris Evans quits <i>Top Gear.</i><br />
Mersey Ferry runs aground.<br />
Theresa May moves in to Downing Street.<br />
Bastille Day truck attack in Nice kills 84.<br />
Three police officers shot in Baton Rouge.<br />
Boris Johnson is Foreign Secretary.<br />
Axe attack on train in Wuerzburg, Germany.<br />
Nine dead in Munich shopping centre attack.<br />
Long delays at Dover as French border security tightens.<br />
Brexit blamed for steep drop in UK business turnover.<br />
Suicide bomber kills himself and injures 12 in Ansbach, Germany.<br />
19 killed in attack at care centre in Sagamihara, Japan.<br />
Priest Father Jacques Hamel killed in church attack near Rouen.<br />
Solar Impulse plane completes round-the-world journey.<br />
Two car bombs explode at Mogadishu airport.<br />
<br />
<b>But not forgotten</b><br />
Comedienne Caroline Aherne, 52. (cancer)<br />
Film director Robin Hardy, 86. (<i>Wicker Man</i>)<br />
UK's oldest resident Gladys Hooper, 113,<br />
Matador Victor Barrio, 29. (gored by a bull.)<br />
Jockey JT McNamara, 41. (fall)<br />
Actress Vivean Gray, <i>Neighbours</i>' Mrs Mangel, 92.<br />
Actor Jerry Doyle, <i>Babylon 5</i>'s Mr. Garibaldi, 60.<br />
The voice of Postman Pat, Ken Barrie, 83.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #351c75;">August</span></b><br />
64-year-old Darlene Horton killed, and six injured in stabbing near British Museum in London.<br />
Bank of England cuts interest to its lowest ever rate.<br />
Olympics held in Rio.<br />
- US tops medal table.<br />
- UK beats 2012 medal haul. <br />
- Jamaica's Usain Bolt wins three golds for third time.<br />
- UK's Nick Skelton overcomes broken neck to win showjumping gold.<br />
- Engaged couple Laura Trott and Jason Kenny dominate track cycling for UK.<br />
- Mo Farah wins two golds to become UK's best ever track athlete. (Total 9 golds)<br />
Series of bomb blasts across Thailand.<br />
Cannes mayor bans "burkinis".<br />
Three dead and thousands need rescue in Louisiana flooding.<br />
Labour Party turmoil continues.<br />
London Transport introduces tube "night trains".<br />
China opens world's highest and longest glass bridge.<br />
Unseasonable weather brings lethal high waves around UK.<br />
- Father and daughter Rudy and Mckayla Bruynius die in Newquay.<br />
- Mother and son Julie and Lucas Walker die off Aberdeen beach.<br />
- Woman's body recovered from sea off Jersey.<br />
- Man dies in rough seas off Dorset coast.<br />
6.2 earthquake hits Italy. 120+ dead, hundreds more injured.<br />
6.8 earthquake hits Myanmar. 1 dead. Many tourist attractions destroyed.<br />
World's longest aircraft, <i>Airlander 10</i>, crashes.<br />
Scientists discover earth-sized planet orbiting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri" target="_blank">Proxima Centauri</a>.<br />
Italian earthquake death toll rises to almost 300 because of aftershocks.<br />
Five friends die in quicksand accident at Camber Sands.<br />
The last BHS stores close.<br />
Russian SETI scientists detect unidentified signal from outer space.<br />
Scientists say early hominid fossil 'Lucy' died from a fall.<br />
<br />
<b>Breathed their last</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/R2-D2_Droid.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/R2-D2_Droid.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RIP2D2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Actor David Huddleston, 85. (<i>Santa Claus the Movie</i>)<br />
Actor Barry Jenner, 75. (<i>Star Trek: Deep Space Nine</i>)<br />
Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, 64.<br />
R2D2 actor Kenny Baker, 81.<br />
Comedy actor and charity campaigner Lord Brian Rix, 92.<br />
Backstreet Boys and *N sync founder Lou Pearlman, 62.<br />
Architects guitarist Tom Searle, 28. (cancer)<br />
<i>Yes Minister</i> writer Sir Antony Jay, 86.<br />
Backpacker Mia Aycliffe-Chung, 21, stabbed in Queensland.<br />
Tom Jackson, 30, who tried to protect Mia from her attacker.<br />
Cookie the cockatoo, 83, world's oldest parrot.<br />
The only proper <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ-uV72pQKI" target="_blank">Willy Wonka</a></i>, Gene Wilder, 83.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #351c75;">September</b><br />
7.1 earthquake off New Zealand<br />
Hurricane Hermine hits Florida.<br />
Government approves Hinkley Point power plant deal.<br />
Rio Paralympics:<br />
- Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad killed in race crash.<br />
- UK ends in second place with 147 medals (64 gold).<br />
- Kadeena Cox is first Briton to win gold in two sports at same Olympics (athletics and cycling).<br />
- Dame Sarah Storey wins record breaking 12th gold medal.<br />
David Cameron resigns as MP.<br />
Political boundary changes threaten Labour MPs seats.<br />
29 injured in New York bomb attack.<br />
Second bomb in New Jersey.<br />
Aid convoy bombed in Syria.<br />
<a href="https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8037/29440826391_b4cc5f1d4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="plastic fiver" border="0" height="99" src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8037/29440826391_b4cc5f1d4a.jpg" title="" width="150" /></a>"Brangelina" announce marriage break-up.<br />
<i>Great British Bake Off </i>sold to Channel 4.<br />
Jeremy Corbyn wins Labour leadership campaign.<br />
Labour Party internal conflict continues.<br />
Plastic fivers hit the streets.<br />
Collector sells three new £5 notes for £460.<br />
Alton Towers operator fined £5 million for <i>Smiler</i> crash,<br />
<br />
<b>Paid the debt of Nature</b><br />
Actor John Polito, 65. (<i>Homicide: Life on the Street</i>)<br />
Iranian paralympic cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad, 48. (crash during road race)<br />
Actor Hugh O'Brian, 91. (<i>Wyatt Earp</i>)<br />
<i>Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?</i> playwright Edward Albee, 88.<br />
Oscar-winning film writer and director Curtis Hanson, 71.<br />
Actor Bill Nunn, 62.<br />
Golfer Arnold Palmer,87.<br />
Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres, 93.<br />
Boxer Mike Towell, 25. (fight related injuries)<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #351c75;">October</span></b><br />
Hurricane Matthew hits the Caribbean.<br />
- More than 1000 dead in Haiti<br />
Diane James quits as UKIP leader after just 18 days.<br />
Fracking given go-ahead in Lancashire in spite of local objections.<br />
US election campaign increasingly acrimonious.<br />
Trump 'groping' tape released.<br />
Gorilla Kumbuka escapes from London Zoo.<br />
Bob Dylan wins Nobel prize for literature.<br />
Missing toddler Ben Needham died accidentally, police decide.<br />
50th anniversary of Aberfan disaster.<br />
European Schiaparelli probe crashes on Mars.<br />
MPs call for BHS boss Philip Green to lose his knighthood.<br />
France closes Calais migrant camp, the Jungle.<br />
Titanic locker key sells for £85,000.<br />
Fire devastates cathedral close in Exeter.<br />
- 18th century Royal Clarence Hotel destroyed.<br />
6.6 magnitude earthquake hits Italy<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond the veil</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/audio/video/2015/7/28/1438101118822/KP_371857_crop_1200x720.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=86f078f10934a326a909b8027cf9a496" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/audio/video/2015/7/28/1438101118822/KP_371857_crop_1200x720.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=86f078f10934a326a909b8027cf9a496" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jia Jia's 37th birthday party</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
British conductor Sir Neville Marriner, 92<br />
Songwriter Rod Temperton, 66. (<i>Thriller</i>)<br />
King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, 88.<br />
<i>Coronation Street</i> actress Jean Alexander, 90. (Hilda Ogden)<br />
Oldest panda in captivity Jia Jia, 38.<br />
Dad's Army creator Jimmy Perry, 93.<br />
Comic book artist Steve Dillon, 54.<br />
Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns, 57.<br />
60s pop singer Bobby Vee, 73.<br />
DJ Dave Cash, 74.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>November</b></span><br />
Gymnast Louis Smith suspended for three months over racist behaviour.<br />
High Court says parliament must vote on Brexit.<br />
Tennis player Andy Murray becomes world number one.<br />
£2.5m stolen from Tesco bank accounts.<br />
Donald Trump wins USA presidential election.<br />
- Asian markets drop overnight<br />
- Canadian immigration website collapses<br />
Seven dead and 50 injured in Croydon tram crash.<br />
7.5 earthquake and tsunami hit New Zealand.<br />
Second quake hits New Zealand. (Magnitude 6.3)<br />
Drone near-miss with Airbus A320 in London.<br />
US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper resigns.<br />
Strictly dancer Gorka Marquez attacked in Blackpool.<br />
Jenson Button retires from F1.<br />
Brazilian football team Chapecoense in air disaster.<br />
<br />
<b>Bought the farm</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/d/d7/Mag7_22.jpg/600px-Mag7_22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/d/d7/Mag7_22.jpg/600px-Mag7_22.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Vaughn in <i>The Magnificent Seven</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Actor Don Marshall, 80. (<i>Land of the Giants</i>)<br />
Broadcaster Sir Jimmy Young, 95.<br />
Singer Leonard Cohen, 82.<br />
<i>Man from U.N.C.L.E. </i>Robert Vaughn, 83.<br />
Musician Leon Russell, 74.<br />
Cuban leader Fidel Castro, 90.<br />
Actor Ron Glass, 71. (<i>Firefly</i>)<br />
Actor Andrew Sachs, 86. (<i>Fawlty Towers</i>)<br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #351c75;">December</b><br />
Nico Rosberg retires from F1.<br />
Three feet of snow falls in Hawaii<br />
Football abuse scandal continues.<br />
6.5 earthquake in Indonesia. 100+ dead.<br />
Kirk Douglas 100th birthday.<br />
Bomb blast in Cairo.<br />
Ceasefire in Aleppo fails in less than 24 hours.<br />
Riot at HMP Birmingham.<br />
Len Goodman retires from <i>Strictly Come Dancing.</i><br />
Lorry drives into crowd in terror attack on Berlin Christmas market.<br />
Driver later shot dead in Milan.<br />
Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov shot in Turkey.<br />
Explosion at a fireworks market outside Mexico City.<br />
First Sahara desert snow in 40 years.<br />
7.7 earthquake off Chile.<br />
Severe cold prevents Queen from attending Christmas Day church service.<br />
Cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins retires from sport.<br />
Russian President Vladimir Putin brokers peace agreement in Syria.<br />
<br />
<b>Joined the great majority</b><br />
<i>Porridge </i>actor Peter Vaughan, 93.<br />
<i>Green Hornet</i> actor Van Williams, 82.<br />
Prog rock musician Greg Lake, 69.<br />
Astronaut and US senator John Glenn, 95.<br />
Sunday Times restaurant critic AA Gill, 62.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXKoJ26B32Y1jfFS54Lry13_2BPnAV5GEsk4Ogvzre8dw63RAoecg-wb_TvA5ppM7QXmycmmt4YvpU2Pk9c5AkwWkw-ezX6sBUyjePDZvOB18QmT1twIBM4JJAEjBlNLKd65AdQAw4t0/s1600/wtareship+down.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXKoJ26B32Y1jfFS54Lry13_2BPnAV5GEsk4Ogvzre8dw63RAoecg-wb_TvA5ppM7QXmycmmt4YvpU2Pk9c5AkwWkw-ezX6sBUyjePDZvOB18QmT1twIBM4JJAEjBlNLKd65AdQAw4t0/s200/wtareship+down.jpg" width="121" /></a></div>
Former Conservative cabinet minister Lord (Jim) Prior, 89.<br />
Weatherman Ian McCaskill, 78.<br />
Shergar jockey Walter Swinburn, 55.<br />
<i>To Sir With Love</i> author E R Braithwaite, 104.<br />
Heimlich manoeuvre inventor, Henry Heimlich, 96.<br />
ITN war correspondent Michael Nicholson, 79.<br />
Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, 99.<br />
Broadcaster Rabbi Lionel Blue, 86.<br />
Status Quo's Rick Parfitt, 68.<br />
Wham frontman George Michael, 53.<br />
Actress Liz Smith, 95.<br />
<i>Watership Down</i> author Richard Adams, 96.<br />
<i>Star Wars </i>actress Carrie Fisher, 60.<br />
Actress Debbie Reynolds, 84. (Stroke while planning daughter Carrie Fisher's funeral.)The History Anorakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09718067264562106116noreply@blogger.com6