This castle-like building is actually a Saxon fortified church at Viscri, in the heart of Transylvania, which we visited about three weeks ago. We were on a Distant Horizons small group tour of Romania, with several visits to painted and/ or fortified churches there, mainly in Moldavia in the north-east and Transylvania across the eastern […]
Another Angle on the Saxons? Read More »
This is the ‘Door of No Return’ on the Isle of Goree, a short boat ride from Dakar, the capital of Senegal in West Africa. The ray of sunshine is an illusion, as beyond the door used to lie the boats that would ferry the unfortunate captives to the ships lying at anchor, leading to
The Point of No Return Read More »
The 8 July talk mentioned in my last post is for The Wallingford History and Archaeological Society, not the Wallingford u3a.
The spring and summer months are starting to look quite lively. My next (quarterly) u3a national talk by Zoom is booked in for Tuesday 21 April at 2pm on the fascinating Anglo-Saxon period From the Dark Ages to the Viking Age. That will be sandwiched between a couple of trips abroad to new places for
February 2026 – A busy programme ahead! Read More »
After very positive feedback from earlier talks, on 15th January I’ll be giving my next u3a national talk by Zoom. This will follow the Roman ‘colonisation’ of Britain through to the next period, sometimes called ‘the Dark Ages’. I’ll unpick what we know happened, when, how, and possibly why. Whatever else, the immediate post-Roman period
Dark Ages to Magna Carta! Read More »
In Ice to Athelstan I mention the ancient hill fort at Crickley Hill in Gloucestershire as the site of an 4th millennium BCE massacre of the local tribe who had settled there. Having now visited the site, perched on the spur of a long ridge on the scarp slope of the Cotswolds near Birdlip, with
Crickley Hill – A view at a price! Read More »
King & Conqueror – a new low? I’ve been working hard on Book 2, which covers the 3+ centuries from the death of Athelstan in 939 to the end of Henry III in 1272. That includes the Danish and Norman Conquests, which I’ve been studying and writing about in detail. So I was interested to
History and drama by Charles Boundy Read More »
The picture shows a section of a magnificent life-size representation of King Athelstan created by award-winning contemporary embroiderer, Jacky Puzey, for Kingston-upon-Thames. This is part of the ‘Seven Kings’ set of vividly embroidered panels, inspired by this year being the 1100th anniversary of the crowning of King Athelstan there in in 925, with Kingston also
Athelstan’s Big Bash! Read More »
This memorial may not mean much to those from Britain, but is fundamental to Albanians. For them, Skanderbeg, as we know him, is the archetypal national hero. His main claim to fame rests on his success in limiting Ottoman expansion in the Balkans in the 15th century. But with the fame comes the myth, as
Why does nationality matter? Read More »
This was the scene at Thame Library on a warm spring day for an informal talk – and perhaps the beginnings of a history discussion group! It’s another experience talking to a small group without PowerPoint, as I also did at the local Cuttlebrook Hall, encouraging some interesting exchanges with the audience. The next couple
