Author: andrei

In the 18th century, Thomas Birch a keeper of books at the British Museum, was a keen fisherman who devised an unusual way of disguising his intentions. Dressed as a…

In 1832, Dennis Collins an able seaman who had lose a leg at the battle of Trafalgar, limped 21 miles from London to Ascot, where he attended the races and…

In 1937, Gandar Dower introduced cheetah racing into England as an exciting alternative to greyhounds. He imported 8 cats and staged highly publicized events at Romford and Haringey. He had…

In Preston Park there is a tank. Relic of the Battle of Cambrai. Its rusty treads loom over, Threatening. I play with Army buttons, Unwind some tattered puttees. On corners…

In the early 18th century Francis Waring was vicar of Heybridge in Essex. He liked to get through a service as quickly as possible. Having set up a small clock…

On 21st May 1827 at Harefield Common, near Rickmansworth, farmer Francis Trumper and his sheepdog, ‘Cooper’, challenged ‘two gentlemen of Middlesex’ to a game of cricket, and defeated them. Cooper,…

Mr Hamblin was born in Chedzoy, Somerset in 1891, he recalls life growing up: – Most people had to rely on the carrier’s van to take them to Bridgewater to…

Mrs Hillman of Lyng in Somerset remembered celebrating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 when she was nine years old. She went to tea in the schoolroom at Lyng where…

The invention of the Motor Car brought with it many difficulties for the Edwardian’s, as Sir Henry Thompson, noted in his 1902 publication ‘Motors and Motor Driving’ one was the…

Charles Wells was a very dubious inventor.  Wells born sometime around 1860 duped people into investing in far-fetched inventions, among them a musical skipping rope. He was successful enough to…