On Sunday 14th Feb 2021 at 6.30pm (GMT) I am doing a Virtual Walks for London Walks. Here is my podcast.
To book for the Walk, click here:
ROMAN LONDON – ARCHAEOLOGY VIRTUAL TOUR
Sunday 11th April 2021 6.30pm
The virtual walk looks at the amazing archaeological discoveries of Roman Londinium
Archaeology has transformed our knowledge of Roman London and this walk takes us around the amazing archaeological discoveries and the stories they reveal.
We disembark at the Roman Waterfront by the Roman Bridge, and investigate the circumstances which lead to the foundation of London. Then we walk up the hill to the Roman Town Hall, past the houses of its wealthy citizens. At the Forum we look at the market and discuss Roman local politics. We proceed through the streets of Londinium, with its vivid and cosmopolitan street life and to the site of the excavation called ‘the Pompeii of the North’. Then we worship at the Temple of Mithras, and finish with Bread and Circus at the Roman Amphitheatre.
.This is a London Walks Guided Walk. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks
To Book:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/roman-london-virtual-archaeology-walk-tickets-137340139053
Ralph Fiennes and Cast of the Dig visit London Excavation
So you need a new Hand Axe?
Blunted your Axe chopping down a tree for the rafter of your aging Roundhouse?
Can’t find a craftsman and blaming Brexit? Well, here is a man you can go to: Dr James Dilley, recently profiled in London Archaeologist by Becky Wallover.
Here is the website to order your Axe, or indeed, a Roundhouse.
https://www.ancientcraft.co.uk/
New Light on Thomas Becket’s Window at Canterbury
Recent research has revealed the true story behind stained glass windows at Canterbury which had been reassembled wrongly.
The story is told here:
And if you cannot get through the pay wall here:
I am doing a Chaucer Walk on Sunday 31st 2021 at 6:30 which will feature the pilgrimage to Canterbury.
For more on Becket and London see my post here.
Life Scientific vindicates Florence Nightingale’s Wards
Cath Noakes, an expert on ventilation and Covid talking on Life Scientific today on BBc Radio 4 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000rcnl) reported on experiments using a Nightingale Ward design and found it was likely to cut down the spread of infection by 4 times.
This was by
1. use of high ceilings
2. Big Windows that could open top and bottom
3. Radiators with ventilation grills behind them
She noted that most Florence Nightingale wards have since been modernised with low ceilings, smaller sealed windows and radiators replaced.
Her message was that ventilation is, with distance, one of the best ways of cutting the spread of infection.
Here is an image of Dorcas Ward st St Thomas’s Hospital, London.
Lighting a Fire at Tudor Hampton Court
This short video shows you all you need to know to light a fire in Tudor times. All you need is a piece of flight, a piece of steel, some tinder and kindling.
Watching the demo I can’t help feeling that some damage must have been done to the fingers if you were not skilled and careful.
Click here to view
PODCAST FOR ROMAN LONDON – A LITERARY & ARCHAEOLOGICAL VIRTUAL WALK
To book click here
SULAWESI WARTY PIG PAINTING 44,000 YEARS AGO
This is the oldest animal art found, and it takes the focus of early art from Europe to the Far East. What is remarkable about it is that it isn’t a scribble. It is clearly done by someone who knows how to make a likeness and a pleasing piece of art.
The hands created using the human hand as a stencil and by blowing paint from the mouth are a feature found all over the world.
The BBC has an excellent article about the subjects here:
FLOWER OF CITIES ALL – THE CITY OF LONDON FROM CHAUCER TO SHAKESPEARE
Every Thursday (from Jan 7th 2021) at 6.30pm Exit 2 Bank Underground Station
A walk which explores the City of London that was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. By 1400 London was dominating the affairs of the Kingdom in spectacular fashion and had grown into a sophisticated medieval Capital, competing against the great capitals of Europe.
We will walk in the footsteps of Geffrey Chaucer, in the muddy City Streets, exploring the unhealthy conditions and poverty amidst great riches and pageantry. It was a cosmopolitan City with colonies of Italians, Germans, Dutch, and French who lived cheek by jowl with native Londoners.
By the 16th Century despite repeated visitations of plague, the huge influx of newcomers created non-stop growth in London. There was a corresponding increase in trade, in crime, in violence, and in creativity.
There were riots against foreigners, riots against May Revels, and burnings at the stake of both protestants and catholics as society struggled to cope with the impact of religious change.
With so many young people drawn into the City to work in its expanding industries, entertainment grew more sophisticated and poets could make a living penning entertainments to the masses. The London landscape changed dramatically as new renaissance inspired architecture began to replace the medieval timber framed buildings and the old medieval monasteries were pulled down.
We explore London in one of its greatest periods of change. The walk is given alternately by Kevin Flude & Leo Heaton
This is a walk for London Walks