Author: Kevin Flude

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JANUARY 12 OLD MOORE’S ALMANAC

Old Moore's Almanac for 2022 photo of January
Old Moore’s Almanac for 2022 photo of January

The Alamanac which claims to have begun in 1697 is heavily based on predictions which are mostly astrologically based. It begins with a World Preview of 2022. The economy is going to be uncertain, but growth will start to build from March.

Then there profiles of people such as Joe Biden, Keeley Hawkes, Countess of Wess etc. Biden it appears is unconventional and a maverick. He will surprise everyone by proving himself a modern FDR.

There is a page of predictions for each for star sign; a Chinese horoscope and then a page for each month as illustrated above. At the end are astrological pointers for horse racing, greyhound racing, gardening by the moon, Football pools, Angler’s Guide, lottery numbers. It finishes with a list of UK fairs and events, and lighting up times.

Very similar to almanacs since the 15th Century which I discussed here.

ADVERT FOR OLD MOORE'S ALMANAC 2022
Image of an advert for ADVERT FOR OLD MOORE’S ALMANAC 2022

This week I received my copy of Old Moore’s Almanac and a reproduction of the Illustrated London Almanac of 1873 (which I will discuss on another day).

As I stated in an earlier post the content of Almanacs has been similar since the Kalendar of Shepherdes of the 15th Century.

Old Moore’s, which claims ancestry back to 1697., begins with a large tranche of predictions both for the world and for celebrities, based on astrology. 2022 is the ‘year of Adjustment’. We are, they say, confronted with weak leaders, with weak values and so we, ‘the governed must build them.’

Then there is a page for each month, noting the calendar events such as Epiphany, Burns Night, Australia Day, and other days filled with very random notable events chosen to represent that day through history- 2nd Jan Conquest of Granada 1462. 9th Jan Duchess of Cambridge b. 1982, 13th Jan Trump impeached 2021 etc.

Next are columns for Sun rise and set, high water at London Bridge, moon at London. and a weather column. (Early snow, improvements mid month, and gale at the end of the month)

Then a column of predictions for the month:

‘The New Moon on 2nd January falls in Capricorn in the sixth house at London in a harmonious trine aspect to Uranus in the tenth house and a conjunction to the UK’s Sun.’ Venus is conjunct Pluto’. Phew! ‘The country is ready for a fresh start with a prevailing sense of optimism correlating with high support for government.’ And then they predict moves to constitutional reform for proportional representation! Boris Johnson will be surprised at this!

The horoscopes continue after the calendar has come to Dec 31st. We have pages for celebrities such as Joe Biden (he is unorthodox and will surprise people by some amazing FDR style transformation.) ; Matt Baker,;Peter Kay; Sophie Countess of Wessex etc. Right at the end we have astrological pointers to betting on the horses; greyhound racing; Gardening by the Moon; Football pools forecasts,; Angler’s guide; lottery numbers, and finishes with lighting up times.

£3.50 good value or is it just cheap?

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JANUARY 10TH PLOUGH MONDAY, BACK TO WORK AND FALSE SPRING

Medieval scene showing a man plouging with the plough pulled by a bullock from Les_Très_Riches_Heures_du_duc_de_Berry
Detail from LesTrès Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

But as we saw Distaff Sunday is the day that women traditionally went back to work and Plough Monday was the men’s turn. 2022 it was on the 10th January. Plough Monday was not just a normal day of work though. Particularly in the North it was celebrated with a procession of ‘plough boys’, with a decorated plough and team and known as ‘Fool Plough’. Mumming, sword dancing and foolery propelled people back to work.

Here is a lovely recipe for a ‘Norfolk Plough Pudding‘ brought to my attention by Sue Walker.

The Christmas/Mid Winter break went on for some until Candlemas in early February, and in Jane Austen’s day the school boys had a 6 week holiday at Christmas much to the distress of Mary Musgrove in ‘Persuasion’, Chapter 18. She complains bitterly of children being left with her during the long winter holiday. But as it was written on 1st February I will leave the joy of that great FOMO letter till then.

This is a period when the world is dead but underneath the ground the bulbs are stirring. This year in London, after a very warm period, we have had a lot of premature budding. In my local park Euphorbia’s have been budding, there is blossom on a Japanese Cherry Tree and on a Bear’s Breech. The Park has a high wall facing south and this does provide a very sheltered spot but even so! In my arctic, North-facing garden some geraniums, and fuchsias are hanging on, and I have two white flowers on my Convolvulus which is unheard of.

This has been the hottest period in the world since records have been taken. A false spring can cause major disruption to agriculture. Plants put a lot of energy into surviving the winter so they can bloom in the spring. If they are fooled to bud early, the plant will pay a cost when the cold weather comes back, and this will mean either no flowering or fruiting later in the year or a reduced yield. Caitlin Reinartz, (follow the link above) says ‘the false spring of 2012 caused an estimated $500 million dollars of losses in the orchards of Michigan.’

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NEW MASS IMMIGRATION FOUND IN LATE BRONZE AGE.

Screen shot of BBC web page announcing report of mass migration in the Bronze Age discovered by DNA
Screen shot of BBC web page

This BBC article reports on a genetic discovery by the Francis Crick Institute, co-authored with Prof. Barry Cunliffe, which shows a new genetic trait arriving in Kent and then, after a pause, spreading throughout England. It did not spread into Scotland and there is not enough data to show whether it moved into Ireland.

It is possible that it either brought the Celtic language with it. Or did it bring the Brythonic version of Celtic to England, leaving Scotland and Ireland speaking the pre-existing Goidelic version of the language branch?

The article also discusses the spreading of a gene for tolerance to lactose which spread rapidly, suggesting it must have contributed greatly to genetic survival. They postulate some existential threat during the Bronze Age which allowed those who could drink milk to survive much better than those who did not.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59741723

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RING IN THE NEW YEAR VIRTUAL WALK

Druids at All Hallows, by the Tower
Druids at All Hallows, by the Tower

On this walk we look at how London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years, and using our crystal ball look forward to what will befall London in 2022

Sunday January 2nd 2022 7.30pm

We look at London’s past to see where and how the Solstice might be celebrated. We also explore the different New Years we use and their associated Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other New Year London tradition and folklore.

At the end we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2022.

The walk finds interesting and historic places in the City of London to link to our stories of Past New Year’s Days. We begin, virtually, at Barbican Underground and continue to the Museum of London, the Roman Fort; Noble Street, Goldsmiths Hall, Foster Lane, St Pauls, Dr Commons, St. Nicholas Colechurch and on towards the River.

To book

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HAPPY EPONALIA – DECEMBER 18TH

Roman Horse from Bunwell, Norfolk. Illustration by Sue Walker

I’ve been too busy working on my Jane Austen and Christmas Virtual Tour (Sunday 19th December 7.30) to post over the last few days. And I have, therefore, shamelessly stolen this post off my facebook friend Sue Walker, who is a talented archaeological illustrator, artist and a very good photographer.

She wrote: ‘the 18th December is the festival of the Celtic goddess Epona, the protector of horses she was adopted by the Romans and became a favourite with the cavalry. This finely sculpted bronze horse with a head dress and symbol on its chest is 37mm high – found in Bunwell #Norfolk #Archaeology’

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LITERARY ROMAN LONDON 11.30AM WALK 7.30PM VIRTUAL WALK

Painting of the Roman Forum of London from the air
Painting of the Roman Forum of London from the air

ROMAN LONDON – A LITERARY & ARCHAEOLOGICAL VIRTUAL WALK

Sunday 12 December 2021 11.30 MONUMENT TUBE VIRTUAL TOUR 7.30pm

This is a virtual sightseeing tour of Roman London accompanied by Ovid, Martial, ex Museum of London Archaeologist Kevin Flude and others.

The virtual walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London.

It features the amazing archaeological discoveries of Roman London, and looks at life in the provincial Roman capital of Londinium.

We disembark at the Roman Waterfront by the Roman Bridge, and then explore the lives of the citizens as we walk up to the site of the Roman Town Hall, and discuss Roman politics. We proceed through the streets of Roman London, with its vivid and cosmopolitan street life via the Temple of Mithras to finish with Bread and Circus at the Roman Amphitheatre.

Publius Ovidius Naso and Marcus Valerius Martialis will be helped by Kevin Flude, former Museum of London Archaeologist, Museum Curator and Lecturer.

This is a London Walks Guided Walk. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks.

REVIEWS (from London Walks website)
“Kevin, I just wanted to drop you a quick email to thank you ever so much for your archaeological tours of London! I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon your tours! I look forward to them more than you can imagine! They’re the best 2 hours of my week! 🙂 Best, Sue

To book the virtual tour:

To book the physical walk:

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BOVRIL FACTORY – OLD STREET, LONDON

This is what my dad wrote about my Grandma’s work at Bovrils.

‘My mum left school at 14 years old, and went to work as a cook in the staff canteen at Bovril’s factory and offices in Old Street. The factory was opposite to Henry Street, where she lived. Everyone said my Mum was a great cook. My children used to love going to her house on a Saturday, as she made a superb tea of egg, bacon, beans and chips. Kevin, my son, tells me he has never tasted better fried eggs, and he hated going to her house on a Sunday as Sunday was the day for cucumber Sandwiches rather than a fry up.’

I looked up the factory and discovered that the Bovril factory was set up in 1889 to produce a meat extract from beef. The name came from Bo (bovinus – ox in Latin), and the suffix ‘vril’ came from an early science fiction novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton‘ called the The Coming Race (1870), in which a superior race of the Vril-ya, gain their powers from an electromagnetic substance named “Vril”. Bovril is therefore the super-power given by eating Ox.

Scott, Shackleton and Edmund Hilary’s expeditions were powered by tea made from Bovril. The beef was from Argentina. In 1924 the company introduced ‘Marmite’ and in 1935 Ambrosia Creamed Rice.

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MUSEUMS FOR TODDLERS

This is a good case for a 16 month old (British Museum)

Now that I am a grandfather, and have taken my grandson to a couple of Museums I am, suddenly, an expert on the subject. My preliminary conclusions:

  1. Museum toddler playgrounds could be a lot more imaginative. London Transport Museum basically has buses with buttons to push and steering wheels to turn. Its ok, but then not much better than you get in countless parks around London.. Surely, there should be more story telling and even a bit of wit to amuse the carers?
  2. What is much better, in my grandson’s opinion, is designing the museum itself to cater for the toddlers. My one loved the British Museum, which has absolutely no provision for toddlers as far as I can see. But he loved it! Why?
  1. He loved the space; the length of the rooms to run along; the height of the ceiling; the variety of cases and spaces, and key holes and handles and grids and lighting; the echoes and percussive effects he could produce by his hands or feet.
  2. The floors he loved because the BM in some rooms has ventilation grills that run along a track along the length of the Room. He loved running along them. And was most engaged by the metal grills his feet found every couple of meters. They made a different sound as he ran along them. He ran along them, turned round and ran back and repeated the effort. I should point out he is only 16 months old so not running at a pace that annoys or endangers. In the Classical Galleries, the hard floor changed to carpet. He immediately lay down on it and enjoyed the texture enough to roll around on it, until he found the only visible bit of fluff on the well dyson’d carpet. He took the fluff to the next room, dropped it on the floor, and carefully picked it up. I think we got that bit of fluff from the Cyprus Gallery to the Portland Vase in the Roman and Greek Gallery. A testament to the BM’s cleaning staff.
  3. Crucial to his enjoyment were cases that stretched down to the floor, or about a foot above the floor. He could look in and see the objects, and was often fascinated. In comparison the London Transport Museum’s cases were higher and he could not see in . He also loved any fitting he could touch or move on the cases. Even key holes interested him. The BM also has cases which have low ledges for labels beside cases. He loved to climb on these – although I had to stop him. But a museum could easily build in little cubby holes for kids to climb into and onto. And add little knobs, buttons, bells, declivities and raised areas at low level for kids to turn, press, poke, stroke and twist.
  4. Touch was very important, and he liked to touch the glass of the cases, and there was a stone pillar, he was touching. I thought it was behind glass so did not stop him but when I got closer realised it was the surface of the stone he was repeatedly stroking. Of course I stopped him immediately, but it was a good reminder of the interest at this age in texture.
  5. Sound was really interesting to him. And I know it would be horrifying to visits to have children all halloing the echoes but he did love it! Wooden infrastructure which was hollow offers lots of potential.

So, in conclusion. Make the Museum itself the playground. Use the playgrounds as part of the displays. Insist on floor length glass cases with knobs, bells, holes and textures integral to the design. Vary the floors, put markings on the floor for children to follow. Create little spaces every so often they can get into, climb on, explore.

Toddler Friendly Display Case at the British Museum.