Monthly Archives: February 2017

The Albion Disaster

Posted on February 28, 2017 by

Originally posted on Cemetery Club:
by Sheldon Now that I’m working amongst the glass towers of Canary Wharf, the history of Docklands is of particular interest to me at the moment. I regularly find myself stalking the exhibits of the…

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We walked on the moon. You be polite…

Posted on February 26, 2017 by

Moving the entire Crystal Palace from Hyde Park nine hilly miles to that vale in Sydenham after the Great Exhibition closed in 1851 was an audacious piece of Victorian chutzpah, but it was by no means unique in that age … Continue reading →

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Kill Whitey, or at least stop labelling him

Posted on February 24, 2017 by

I have just finished re-watching Ken Burns’ austere yet elegiac panorama in time and space entitled simply The Civil War, first broadcast 27 years ago. It occurred to me how quickly have curse words changed. I don’t mean since 1861-5, you understand, but … Continue reading →

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Three murders; three verdicts

Posted on February 23, 2017 by

For those incensed over the waywardness of justice these days, where ‘human rights’ trump human wrongs, it’s worth thinking about the way things were. On one evening in April a visiting judge arrived with a fanfare and civic reception to work his way through … Continue reading →

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Your seed catalogue for 1797 has arrived

Posted on February 21, 2017 by

Fresh off the ship from England, five, yes count them, five, different varieties of asparagus seed and 23 different melon varieties. Things weren’t so bad in Philadelphia after the war as long as you could feast on 13 different kinds … Continue reading →

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Operation Restore Arugula

Posted on February 20, 2017 by

What better than a salad lunch on a warm Spring day? As I prepared mine just now I was gratified to learn that the packet that contained the rocket salad proudly carried the logo telling me that the contents had been “honestly … Continue reading →

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A Moat Defensive

Posted on February 16, 2017 by

It’s a truth self-evident that history is about questions. Some of them have answers, such as when did so and so live or die. Some are Donald Rumsfeld’s known unknowns; we know that someone was Jack the Ripper but not … Continue reading →

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I thought you died alone… A long long time ago

Posted on February 13, 2017 by

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! How about, let’s see, how … Continue reading →

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