The Waggonette
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…
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
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 Motor Car and Putting on Weight
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…
The Man Who Broke The Bank at Monte Carlo
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…
New Year 1917 from Harry Lauder
Here is an account of Christmas 1916 and New Year 1917 by the star of the music hall stage Harry Lauder from his book “A Minstrel in France.” I think…
Saved from sailing on the Titanic
Emigrations to new counties were seen as a way for families who were very large and there was not enough work in villages. Just before the First World War in…
The Sinking of the Lusitania
This story was published in “The Story of the Great War – Volume V. “One of the most catastrophic events of the Great War was the sinking of the Cunard…
The Railway Arrived In Brighton
The railway arrived in Brighton, East Sussex in 1841, four years after Queen Victoria came to the throne, and it changed the town for ever. On a day in October…
Barbed Wire in the German Trenches
In his book The Old Front Line, John Masefield describes the German trench defences in the Somme battlefield and their use of barbed wire. Dug-outs and barbed wire in La…
Salvation Army Riots
There were ‘Salvation Army riots’ in Worthing, East Sussex in the 1880’s and in Eastbourne in the early 1890s as the evangelical movement clashed with publicans and members of the…