Something more to Mr Railton than the usual denatured Victorian book illustrator. Thank-you Dave Walker and the inestimable library at the RBKC.
Category: Uncategorized
Bad Education
Slightly off any topic at all to do with history, I wonder how long before some benighted college student is accepted onto a PhD programme somewhere to produce their thesis “Inherent racism, oppressive hierarchies and social divisiveness in the Harry Potter Series.” Think about it: Dobby the house elf was a slave. The Gringotts bank… Continue reading Bad Education
Burt Shavitz: Way to go, Burt
Detail from today’s New York Times obit of Burt Shavitz, beekeeper and co-founder of Burt’s Bees lip balm:- “He had hawks and owls and stunning sunsets and his neighbors’ good will, he explained, and no claims to gregariousness. Two of his dogs were listed by name in the local telephone directory; he wasn’t.”
Religious significance has the whip hand on the road
The Victorians — people of the age, not just those under the flag of the British Empire — were proudly aware that they did not know everything; though each and every day they grew to know more and more. They knew how to put things together. They knew how to explore. They gloried in doing… Continue reading Religious significance has the whip hand on the road
The days when sorry did not seem to be the hardest word
Just in case any researcher stumbles upon my thoughts on whether there was once a “rule of the road” in England that said drive on the left. Yes there was, and here’s proof it predated that 1835 Act of Parliament cited in the last post. Also, in passing, what a nice chap was the reverend… Continue reading The days when sorry did not seem to be the hardest word
The rules of the road in the 19th century
It’s been the equivalent to an earworm. It has been driving me a bit crazy after I read on another great history site that there were no traffic rules in 19th century London. The estimable site is Two Nerdy History Girls. I always thought that driving on the left was the rule, albeit an informal… Continue reading The rules of the road in the 19th century
Cycle killer: Qu’est-ce que c’est?
I have been thwacked on the back by a passing truck’s mirror while waiting at traffic lights to turn right opposite the Old Vic Theatre and nearly squished beneath the back wheels of a tour bus on Chelsea embankment where it meets Albert Bridge. In short I have been a cyclist in London. Cycle deaths… Continue reading Cycle killer: Qu’est-ce que c’est?
Shuttered
You kind of held out the hope that US medicine was somehow better — because of the money spent on aggressively interventionist diagnostics and treatment. Victo dolore says different and it’s mostly people that are the problem. But just to cheer you up, read her previous post, Happy Dance