We went to see Worcester’s famous cathedral. There was a service underway so we couldn’t visit the nave, but today’s photo shows a section of ceiling between the choir and the altar retaining stunningly beautiful medieval-style painted decoration.
What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image whenever I can.
Click thumbnails to enlarge
We visited Worcester recently, we wanted to visit the birthplace of the famous composer, Edward Elgar, in a nearby village, but afterwards we drove to the old city, parked the car, and went to see the famous cathedral. There was a service underway so we couldn’t visit the nave, but today’s photo shows a section of ceiling between the choir and the altar retaining stunningly beautiful medieval-style painted decoration. The stone vaulting was built in the 14th century and the decoration restored in Victorian times.
Beautiful buildings
Up until Henry VIII’s split from the Catholic Church, some of the most beautiful buildings in Britain were the old monasteries and abbeys, all of them Catholic and most of them destroyed and/or sold off to Henry’s associates and friends. A few centuries later Oliver Cromwell’s men caused further loss and damage, pulling down statues and rood screens, whitewashing painted masonry, and more.
Here are a few of the ruined treasures I’ve seen with my own eyes and wished I might have seen before their destruction took place: Cirencester Abbey, Fountains Abbey, Malmesbury Abbey, Tintern Abbey, Whitby Abbey. See some of these and many more at English Heritage.
But here in Worcester Cathedral some of that splendour is still to be seen, and the ceiling is just a part of it. We can make good guesses about some of the losses from documents, drawings and paintings created by people who had seen some these places before they were destroyed. Past structures can be partially imagined as well, reconstructed in our minds from fragmentary records glued together by informed thinking.
This can be extended to the deeper past as well, we can imagine Roman Cirencester (or Corinium as it was known during that era), and know small parts of it quite well based on excavated remains and reconstructions.
And in our own day?
Lowther Estate
What parts of our own early 2000s architecture and artworks will be lost before future generations have an opportunity to admire and enjoy them? We do have one advantage over past times, and that’s our ability to photograph and video structures and artworks before they are lost. This was emphasised for me when Donna and I visited the Lowther Estate during our recent family holiday in the Lake District. We drove east from our holiday house in Windermere to visit this very grand old palace, built in 1806 to replace Lowther Hall which had suffered a fire and was in a poor state of repair.
The days of grand, old houses were passing and Lowther Castle was no exception. The grounds were used for tank training during World War 2 and the beautiful and extensive gardens decayed and were later used to grow spruce for timber. The roof of the building was removed along with many of the internal walls. The two photos below show part of the interior more than 100 years ago and as it appears today.
These images represent similar parts of the building. I can’t claim they’re correctly matched, but they are close. The top photo was taken before the roof was removed and the interior structures demolished.
Click the photos to expand them.
The lower photo shows the area as it is today. These images allow us to compare two instants in time, one before the destruction and one afterwards. In a sense we can see what has changed. Technology moves on, the first image lacks colour. For more recent changes we can compare colours, movement, sound and more. So the further back in time we go, the less full and accurate the information tends to be.
Remains of the statue
There’s one more detail worth mentioning. If you expand the first photo and look at the upper right, you’ll see a statue, probably of William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (1757–1844), the man who had the present castle built between 1806 and 1814. He’s depicted as a knight in chain mail with a large sword. A small piece of that statue survives and today stands incongruously in the gardens outside the ruined building. This is one of the few details of the interior still visible to visitors today.
It seems extraordinary today that such an amazing building would be deliberately destroyed, but death duties often made it impossible for stately homes to continue in occupation and that was the case with Lowther Castle. So many lovely old houses were demolished for the same reason during the early 20th century. It’s one of the tragedies of that period of British history.
But there’s much to celebrate, too. The National Trust and English Heritage were set up to save, restore and conserve what remains; and without them we would have lost so, so much more. Let’s remember, too, that we each live our own lives and there are so many ways we can care for the people and places we value. Surely our place in this world, individually and together, is to do as much good and as little harm as possible in every aspect of our daily lives. So enjoy today to the utmost, care for the people you meet and the places you go, focus on justice, peace and beauty and you won’t go far wrong.
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The Ullswater Way is a footpath allowing visitors to walk right round the entire lake. We walked parts of it, Donna and I walked to Pooley Bridge and back one day, and I walked several times to Howtown and back. There are good coffee shops at both destinations.
What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image whenever I can.
Click thumbnails to enlarge
Ullswater is a lake in the north-east of the English Lake District. Donna drove up from Cirencester where we live and all the way home again too. I can’t share the driving as I still have no driving licence due to a medical issue nearly a year ago. I posted off my request to regain my licence today and hope soon to get my electric car back on the road and share the driving with Donna on long journeys again.
Refreshing
We had a great holiday – Debbie and Beth brought all the grandchildren along and Paz (Beth’s husband) joined us though Steve didn’t make it this year. Topping off the group was Aidan’s partner Jess and it was so good to get to know her a little better. After all the hot, dry weather we’ve had this summer in the south of the country it was wonderful to see lakes full of clean water, fields of green grass, and trees with healthy, fresh leaves. The countryside was thriving.
There’s no doubt remaining that we have messed with the Earth’s climate over the last hundred years or so and it’s becoming urgent to mend our ways. Fortunately there are some signs of progress. Despite resistance from some politicians, businesses and investors, more and more people are becoming aware and making efforts to change. And even small changes can make a difference.
In response to these shifts of climate, species of both plants and animals have been moving towards the poles and to higher hills and mountains to places where there are climates they are better adapted to. The Lake District is well north of the Cotswolds where I live most of the year, yet the conditions there are much more familiar to me, heavy snowfall in winter, much cooler summer conditions, more summer rainfall. Here in the south, summers in 2025 and 2026 have brought extreme heat and almost no rainfall. I won’t be surprised if 2027 turns out to be the same. The climate in southern England is now almost Mediterranean.
That’s another reason why the holiday week seemed so lovely to me; it was like turning the clock back 60 years or more to when I was young.
More about the lake and its surroundings
Ullswater runs from southwest to northeast across the northeastern part of the Lake District. This follows the glaciation history of the area; the glaciers of 25 000 years ago scoured out valleys from the central, highest point forming a pattern like the spokes of a wheel. This period is known as the late Devensian Glaciation, part of the Last Glacial Period. When the glaciers melted around 15 000 years ago, river-fed lakes replaced the ice, river erosion deepened the valleys and deposited silt where the rivers entered the lakes, creating the flat land areas now occupied by small towns and lowland farms. These fertile, flat areas are still slowly enlarging, encroaching further down each lake.
The Ullswater Way is a footpath allowing visitors to walk right round the entire lake. We walked parts of it, Donna and I walked to Pooley Bridge and back one day, and I walked several times to Howtown and back. There are good coffee shops at both destinations.
The holiday house
Our holiday house was very close to the path and it was well marked with signposts so reasonably easy to follow. There was a private field on the lake shore near the bottom of the rough track up to the house so we had our own little bit of shingle beach with room to park the car and some picnic benches. A lovely place to stay, though some of us would have liked a small shop within easy walking distance; but you can’t have everything!
Boats on Ullswater link Pooley Bridge with Howtown and Glenridding.
Map around the holiday house
Click the map to open it, you can then drag it and resize it to explore the area more fully and see Ullswater in context (if you shrink the map far enough).
People and language
During the Roman and sub-Roman periods The Lake District was occupied by close cousins of the Welsh. The people are still here but English has replaced the original Celtic language. Lots of familiar name elements appear on roadsigns for anyone with a slight knowledge of Wales, Cornwall or Brittany. Pen (top), crag (rock), mere (sea) and many more pop up all the time.
The mountains of Wales are known as the Cambrian Mountains and the area of the Lake District was traditionally called Cumbria. Wales (in Welsh) is called Cymru (say Come-ree) The Welsh language is Cymraig (pronounced Come-rye-g) so you can see the similarities right away. The Celtic language that was spoken in Cumbria was Cumbric. It’s pretty certain that back in Roman times the two languages would have been very similar and probably mutually understandable as two dialects. Also, something very close to Cumbric was spoken in south west Scotland.
Saint Patrick came from a Roman villa somewhere on this western coast, perhaps on the Welsh, Cumbrian, or south-west Scottish areas. He’d have been able to speak Cumbric or Welsh as well as Latin and perhaps Greek, later learning the Irish Gaelic as well, of course.
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Speech House has a sculpture trail set up and we walked some of it, then drove to Monmouth to explore the lovely old town, and on to Chepstow stopping again at Tintern Abbey before crossing the old Severn Bridge.
We travelled to York by train on 1st January, returning on 3rd. I took the photo while we were waiting for the Cross Country train back to Cheltenham. It was great to see all the family again, and rail travel is definitely easier than the long trek by road. Until I can drive again, Donna would have to do the entire trip both ways, it’s a long way and a bit daunting (though Debbie seems to be happy enough to drive down with Sara and/or Aidan to visit us in Cirencester).
Family in Fulford
The second photo shows some of us at Beth and Paz’s home in Fulford. From left to right are Jess and Aidan, Mero, and Paz. Beth is reflected in the window. It was a lovely, relaxed time and so good to see everyone.
JHM: I wrote about the significant difference between who I am and what I do; and a bit of a hero about Mark Carney. World events: Bulgaria adopted the euro, becoming the 21st member state of the eurozone; and Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland; while the United States officially left the World Health Organization.
Donna and I visited Westonbirt Arboretum and enjoyed some of the autumn colours; on the way round I spotted this low-hanging branch of cedar and just had to take a photo. Lots of colours here as well as interesting shapes.
Churnside
Walking through the town one day I took this photo. It shows Churnside, 37 Victoria Road; originally my grandparents house, and later my parent’s house. Most of my teenage years were spent in this home and it was a short walk to school as this was also in Victoria Road.
My old work colleague, Dave Clarke came to visit me in town for coffee, a light lunch, and a chat on 3rd. I always enjoy meeting Dave and we usually find a lot to talk about.
I noticed some areas of cuckoo flower growing in the grass along Riverside Walk on my way into town and took a photo. Such a pretty little thing and only visible for a short time while it’s in flower; by the time the seeds are ready to fall the plants are usually deeply hidden by grasses, nettles and other actively growing vegetation.
Aidan did a bungee jump while in South America, and the video appeared in WhatsApp, rather him than me!
I took this photo of the Lauriston Hotel in Weston-super-Mare where I stayed for a week with my parents and grandparents when I was about two-years-old.
I ordered a refurbished Google Pixel 7 phone to replace my old Pixel 3, and I continued scanning photos and documents. Paul and Vanessa visited with the dogs, I took them to see the old amphitheatre but it was too muddy. We bought a second-hand ‘Rollator‘ from Minchinhampton for Isobel so she can sit down at a moment’s notice if she comes over dizzy.
The Roman villa
On 16th we visited the Newt in Somerset where the reconstructed Roman Villa was amazing to visit. It’s complete, based on the ground plan of the remains of an original nearby and built using methods that would have been familiar to Roman builders. It’s complete with mosaic floors, an upstairs section, and wall paintings, furniture etc in the Roman style as well. The Master’s office looks as if he’s just been called away and might return at any moment. Amazing!
We visited the Forest of Dean, just across the River Severn from Gloucester and a lovely journey whichever way you approach it. Speech House has a sculpture trail set up and we walked some of it, then drove to Monmouth to explore the lovely old town, and on to Chepstow stopping again at Tintern Abbey before crossing the old Severn Bridge and making our way home from there. It was a lovely day out; and how lovely to be able to do things like this again after all the COVID-19 restrictions are starting to ease.
SpaceX seemed to be doing well now. Starship SN10 landed rather heavily, caught fire, then later blew up. SN11 was nearly ready to make another attempt within a few weeks, hopefully without the explosion! And I was busy updating the MainEvents files.
Bradford Tithe Barn
We met Paul and Vanessa in Bradford-on-Avon on 16th and walked part of the Kennett and Avon Canal together, then Donna and I took a look at the historic Barton Grange Farm near the town. The old tithe barn is very similar to the Barton Grange Barn in Cirencester!
World events: Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq. The first-ever meeting between a pope and a grand ayatollah; and the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered worldwide exceeded 500 million.
We met the family in Leicester for a day at the National Space Centre. The photo shows young astronauts in training, Aidan and Sara making sure they stay well hydrated.
Bury St Albans
We explored Bury St Albans, a beautiful town some distance east of Cambridge and an area we hadn’t seen before. We rented a little space for a week on the east coast and spent the time exploring and visiting old friends. We stopped at St Albans on our way home to St Neots. The photo shows Bury St Albans Cathedral and part of on the central city parks.
At this time I was still typing up my old hand-written notebooks as Diary files, storing them as editable odt files as well as pdfs. In April I was working through the notebooks for 1996.
Approach roads for the new foot and cycle bridge across the River Great Ouse between Eaton Socon and Eynesbury were making rapid progress. But apart from putting in some piling and rebar, form work and some pouring of concrete for the abutments on both banks there was no sign of progress on the bridge itself yet.
Removing the shed base
I finished removing the old shed base in the garden during April. I smashed the concrete into manageable sized pieces with the sledgehammer and carted the pieces away to the recycling centre over the space of a week or so. The photo shows the job nearing completion.
Verity and Aidan
On the 20th Debbie, Steve and Beth drove down to Sundown Adventureland (near Lincoln) with the grandchildren and we drove up to meet them there. There was a flume running around the site with boats that were actually quite large.
Meredith focused on cake
And of course there were good things to eat and drink though we had mostly brought everything we needed with us. There was a lot to see and do. So we were busy all afternoon long. It seemed like a shame when we made our way back to the car park and headed off home again.
Dad died on 2nd April at Gloucestershire General Hospital. He’d suffered from a dissected aorta a few days earlier, and it was not possible to repair the damage. He was not in pain and died peacefully with almost the entire family around the bed.
Dad’s desk, just as he left it
On 3rd My three sisters and I met with Dad’s solicitor, Richard Mullings, for an initial discussion about what needed to be done and to begin the process of working through the will. I spent the night at Churnside and on 4th I decided to make a detailed photographic record of Churnside just as Mum and Dad had left it.
The back sitting room
The second photo shows the Back Sitting Room (as we always knew it), the pictures on the wall show my parents, Mike and Lilias and the sofa belonged to Mum’s Aunt Annie from Belfast where she and her husband Samuel had lived most of their lives.
Churnside, 37 Victoria Road
I took photos of the outside of the house on 5th April, here’s a view from the west looking across Victoria Road at an angle. The house is close to Tower Street where my grandfather’s family had lived when he was a child, and also to The Avenue where my great-great-grandfather had lived.
World events: The European Space Agency’s Venus Express space probe entered Venus orbit; and Iran announced a deal with Russia, involving a joint uranium enrichment company in Russia.
On the 1st of April we drove to Cirencester to visit my Mum and Dad and went with them to Eastleach to look at the daffodils for which the village is rightfully famous.
Donna with her parents
Then we travelled to High Wycombe on Donna’s birthday to spend the weekend with her parents. In the photo she’s watching TV with her Mum and Dad while I snuck a photo while I had a chance.
Geoff and Dawn
Later in the month we flew to Tenerife with our friends Geoff and Dawn who had a time share in Los Christianos. Here they are getting ready to leave the timeshare on an expedition somewhere.
Mount Teide
We drove up to Mount Teide on this holiday where there were still patches of snow lying near the summit. It was the reverse of the Grand Canyon where we made snowballs at the top and at the bottom the conditions demanded shorts and T-shirts.
JHM: In April 2001 I had a simple web page, an early precursor of the current site. World events: Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević surrendered to police special forces to be tried; and The Parliament of Ukraine voted to dismiss Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko.
On April 1st, the County of Avon was abolished. This seemed a real pity to me, it was a sensibly sized area based around the cities of Bristol and Bath, a very nice entity and quite logical, so I regretted its demise. Dad had minor surgery during April, the work was done with a local anaesthetic and he needed morphine to sleep properly on the first evening; but by the and of the month he was better than before the op.
Donna had a rather difficult and unhappy month, but got through it OK eventually. Meanwhile it was an interesting time in Computing at Long Ashton. Some of the science staff were getting irritated by slowness in moving forward with better Computing facilities. Micha Semenov, a Russian, was pushing hard and just doing things for himself without waiting for the Computing Department. He bought a Windows 95 machine for his office, and then an NT box as well, meanwhile telling Peter Shewry that the Computing section was too slow moving forward.
He was right to be concerned. I could foresee problems ahead as my boss, Pete, wanted to save money and go slowly. He was right that resources were restricted, but he didn’t seem to want to make the case for more funding.
We visited the Natural History Museum in London on 5th; Judy was very impressed with this table made of a range of different coloured stones fitted carefully together and finely polished.
The table top
The second image gives a much clearer view of the table top itself. We enjoyed our museum trip, it’s a lovely old building full of so many things of great interest.
Fritillary in flower
On the 28th we were back in Cirencester, visiting Granny and Grandpa (my parents) and visiting the fritillaries in North Meadow at Cricklade. There are so many of these spread out across the enormous meadow – absolutely stunning!
You can buy these plants for the garden, but North Meadow is a large natural population, they’ve been thriving here for generations.
A hot air balloon flew near our house in Stowey Road, it was quite low, so very exciting to see. On one occasion (it might very well have been this one) a balloon landed in Hangstones Playing Field nearby and we walked down to see it on the ground.
A fine bonfire
In March I had cut down a row of conifers growing at the front of our house; the remains were all wheelbarrowed down to the bottom of the garden and I made a bonfire to burn the waste. That was a job for early April, and here’s a photo Judy took of the work in progress. I had to choose a day when the wind wouldn’t blow the smoke across other people’s gardens. Now, in 2026, I’d take the material to the local recycling centre for producing wood chips or compost, or try to find a way to turn it into wood char for digging into our garden soil, but in the 1980s burning the waste was quite normal.
Judy and I were both 37, Debbie was 11-years-old and Beth was seven, but eight the following month.
I was working at Long Ashton Research Station in the Pollination Unit and one of the experiments arranged by the Unit head, Ray Williams, was the result of poor gooseberry yields on a farm north-west of Birmingham. Ray agreed to conduct some experiments to work out whether poor pollination or some other cause was responsible. We replicated trials on a Long Ashton plot north of the A370 and also on the fruit grower’s farm. A summer student helped with the work and we published a paper on the results of this study in 1982.
Judy and I were 32, Debbie was 6, and Beth was two, but would be 3 in May.
World events: Bucks Fizz’s song “Making Your Mind Up” won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin; and Space Shuttle Columbia, with NASA astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen, launched on the STS-1 mission, returning to Earth on April 14, the first time a crewed reusable spacecraft had returned from orbit.
Mike and Lilias visited an airshow in April and watched an RAF Hercules transport plane dropping parachutes. He took some 8 mm cine of this process and the photo shows one of the frames from the film.
With his RAF background and experience, and as a keen aeromodeller, he was always enthusiastic about flying and didn’t like to miss an opportunity to see and photographically record any event of this sort. It’s very much part of who he was.
In April 1976 Judy and I were 27, and Debbie was one-year-old.
Talks were underway for introducing a new grade structure for scientific staff. I was engaged in the Willows Section at Long Ashton Research Station in October 1970 as an Assistant Scientific Officer with a salary in the region of £800/year. There were separate Experimental Officer grades, paid rather less and with no way to cross between the two classes of grade. So it seemed I might do reasonably well when the changes were announced in September/October 1871, just five or six months away. One lived in hope!
Judy and I were 22 years old and living in our unfurnished flat, 20 Belmont Road in St Andrews, Bristol. We were starting to collect furniture (mostly second hand) to prepare the time when we might be able buy a home of our own. However, we lacked a fridge and couldn’t afford to buy one brand new. But Judy knew a colleague at the University who was buying a new fridge and wanted to sell her old one second hand. We offered, I think, £20 and she was happy with that. It was quite old and battered, though we weren’t worried about that, but while cleaning it we found some maggots living in the four feet that were steel pressings welded on and open on the inside. There were fatty deposits in the feet and the maggots were munching away. What to do?
Fibreglass resin
I didn’t fancy digging out the fat and the maggots, but I had some fibreglass resin left over from repairing a rusty hole in the boot of our car. So I pushed some balls of newspaper in first and then plastered over the openings with a strong mix of resin. It became quite hot as it was setting and I had to brush cold water over it to keep it safe, but it did the job and we were able to give the inside of the fridge a good clean out, plug it in, and start using it. In the previous summer in our bed-sit we had to get the milk in as soon as possible after delivery, wrap a damp towel around it, and stand it outside our window on the stone window ledge to keep it cool. Now we had a fridge which made life much simpler. It also taught me a useful lesson about fibreglass – don’t add too much accelerant to the resin!
World events: Libya, Syria and Egypt signed an agreement to form a confederation; and some 200,000 people in Washington, D.C., and 125,000 in San Francisco marched in protest against the Vietnam War.
This was my Easter card to Judy, it looks very dull and boring and would never sell today, but hessian was definitely ‘in’ during the mid 60s to mid 70s so at the time it would have seemed cool and classy. How times and fashions change!
I was still at Cirencester Grammar School at this time, studying Biology, Chemistry and Physics at A level, General Studies O*, and Art O-level which I managed to squeeze in by dropping PE. With the exams coming up in just a couple of months, the emphasis now was on revision. Judy was a year behind me though we had been taking biology lessons together (which was part of how we got to know one another in the first place).
Judy and I were both 17 years old at the time but my birthday is in July and hers was in September so we were in different school years.
World events: The United Kingdom asked the United Nations Security Council for authority to use force to stop oil tankers that violated the embargo against Rhodesia; and Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were tried at Chester Crown Court for the murders of 3 children.
The railway branchline from Kemble to Cirencester was to close a few years after this photo was taken in 1961. The new extension to the station building on the extreme left is still there in 2026, as is the listed main part of the building, built by Brunel as the western terminus from Paddington.
I was twelve-years-old, studying at Cirencester Grammar School for O levels in a range of subjects including Latin which I would eventually drop. My favourite subjects at this time were Maths, English Language, Chemistry, Physics, Geography, Music and History; I was unable to fit Art in, though that was another subject I would have enjoyed. Subjects I did not like were Latin, French, and English Literature.
I began the summer term of my third year at Querns School. I was really used to school by this time and we were starting to broaden our knowledge a bit, learning elements of geography, religion (RE), music and history now as well as arithmetic and English. I was developing an interest in science and technology too, not from school but from a chidren’s encyclopaedia I’d been given for Christmas or a birthday.
In 1951 I was 2¾-years-old, and Mum was expecting a baby brother or sister to arrive in the autumn. I didn’t really understand what this meant, of course, but I clearly remember not wanting to put my hand on Mummy’s tummy while she was in the bath, and the curious kicking movements when I did.
World events: After its clandestine removal from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1950, the Stone of Scone resurfaced at Arbroath Abbey in Scotland; and the Treaty of Paris (1951) was adopted, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.
April 1946
Scene from The True Glory
On 1st April, Mike was on Motor Transport (MT) guard duty so slept in a tent, presumably at the entrance; he had the following day off in compensation and wrote to Lilias and also to his friend Joe. He saw the film, The True Glory on the base. Click the link to watch it yourself if you like, it’s very gung-ho and 1950s, covering D-Day and the Normandy landings.
Letter writing continued apace, there was swimming at the Lido on 7th and on 10th he passed his MT test and received a new driving licence. on 14th he took Communion in Singapore Cathedral
World events:Videotape was first demonstrated at a 1956 convention in Chicago; and the actress Grace Kelly legally married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, with a religious ceremony the following day.
This covers about 75 years from April 1951 to January 2026 To be continued.
Useful? Interesting?
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!
It’s a great place to stay up-to-date on all sorts of important topics. Furthermore, you need a university degree as the bare minimum if you want to write articles for the website. This results in a high standard of writing.
I’ve started reading The Conversation, not every item but whenever I spot something that catches my attention. This happened back on 8th April when I added a news item based on a post from ‘The Conversation’. This time I’d like to write about the website itself, not just an item that I read and liked.
The web as intended
I mentioned this in the news item. Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World-Wide-Web, made his original intentions very clear in his recent book, ‘This is for Everyone’. The web, especially recently, has significantly tampered with and damaged what he had hoped to create. If you read the book you’ll see what he means and how he intends to fix things and is already working to do so.
The Conversation is a website that already conforms rather well to Berners-Lees’s intentions. For one thing it’s completely free to use, like Wikipedia, the Internet Archive, and my own site which you’re reading now. Everything here is free to read, use, copy, and re-use. Check my copyright page for more details.
‘The Conversation’ presents world news and updates and articles on research and development; so it’s a great place to stay up-to-date on all sorts of important topics. Furthermore, you need a university degree as the bare minimum if you want to write articles for the website. This results in a high standard of writing and articles you should be able to trust. There are different versions for different nations and regions, every Conversation page has a drop down list near the top where you can select the version you want to view.
That’s all I wanted to say about ‘The Conversation’. If you subscribe for notifications and read whatever grabs your attention, you’ll stand a good chance of being better informed than ever before and enjoying the process as well. Happy reading!
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!
I took this photo of the Lauriston Hotel in Weston-super-Mare where I stayed for a week with my parents and grandparents when I was about two-years-old.
LARS Reunion Christmas lunch (click any image to enlarge)
On 2nd December Donna and I visited Bristol and Clifton Golf Club for the annual Christmas dinner for retired Long Ashton Research Station (LARS) staff. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, older of course yet clearly still the people I remembered. Of course, as we age we all change under the influence of new experiences, getting to know so many new friends and aquaintances, yet all the old patterns and habits are still there, faces instantly recognised, voices still sounding the same, facial expressions just as remembered from decades previously.
Sunset over Stratton
There were some glorious skies during December. I captured this view on the evening of 12th, walking around Stratton. In December the sun sets early here in the UK where the latitude is fairly high.
JHM: I wrote about an amazing photo of a volcano in Chile; and considered the effect of fog. World events: EU leaders approved a €90bn ($105bn) loan for Ukraine for the next two years; and Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland.
I did a canal walk along part of the Stroudwater Canal with my friends Al and Phil. We began by taking a look at Dock Lock, east of Stonehouse, It was under repair as the canal restoration steadily heads towards Saul Junction where the waterway will be reconnected to the national canal nework.
We walked from Dock Lock right into the centre of Stroud, stopping for lunch and coffee next to the Canal at Ebley en route. It was mostly dry with the odd shower.
Albion Street
The second photo shows Albion Street in Stratton where a lovely double-rainbow jostled for attention with telephone cables and local properties.
On 15th Donna dropped me off at the Daneway Inn at Sapperton and I walked east along the short section of the Thames and Severn Canal to the tunnel portal. I then walked the above ground course of the canal tunnel to Sapperton, through Hailey Wood and on to the Coates portal following the canal again as closely as possible to Siddington, and then along the Cirencester Arm to meet Donna in town and walk back to Stratton together. It was a 15 mile walk in all as I diverted several times to see the canal at various points where it’s not possible to follow the towpath.
I had my laptop rebuilt and had it back on 5th, now with a 2 TB SSD and the original HDD for internal backup. I hooked it up to our Wi-Fi and began streaming data back from Dropbox.
Gumstool Brook website
Another task this month was to transfer the Gumstool Brook website fully over to Nick Henderson. This was completed on 21st and it’s a relief to have passed on the responsibility.
Aidan was travelling and exploring in Columbia this month, very adventurous and exciting for him. He seemed to be doing well, making some friends with other young people doing much the same thing, and having a generally awesome time.
JHM: I wrote about a new terraced garden at Blenheim Palace; and installing our heat pump. World events: The Trump administration paused military aid to Ukraine; and Israel launched widespread aerial bombardments and attacks on the Gaza Strip.
I took this photo of the Lauriston Hotel in Weston-super-Mare where I stayed for a week with my parents and grandparents when I was about two-years-old.
I ordered a refurbished Google Pixel 7 phone to replace my old Pixel 3, and I continued scanning photos and documents. Paul and Vanessa visited with the dogs, I took them to see the old amphitheatre but it was too muddy. We bought a second-hand ‘Rollator‘ from Minchinhampton for Isobel so she can sit down at a moment’s notice if she comes over dizzy.
The Roman villa
On 16th we visited the Newt in Somerset where the reconstructed Roman Villa was amazing to visit. It’s complete, based on the ground plan of the remains of an original nearby and built using methods that would have been familiar to Roman builders. It’s complete with mosaic floors, an upstairs section, and wall paintings, furniture etc in the Roman style as well. The Master’s office looks as if he’s just been called away and might return at any moment. Amazing!
We were beginning to see the first signs of relaxation of the strictest rules of COVID-19 isolation here in the UK. After isolation and 20 million vaccine doses, hospital admissions, and total numbers of patients were both beginning to fall. I got a bit of decorating done while some restrictions remained in place; the photo shows a first coat of primer/undercoat on a door frame in the hallway.
SpaceX seemed to be doing well now. Starship SN10 landed rather heavily, caught fire, then later blew up. SN11 was nearly ready to make another attempt within a few weeks, hopefully without the explosion! And I was busy updating the MainEvents files.
In Paul and Vanessa’s garden
We visited Paul and Vanessa in Weston -super-Mare and sat chatting in their garden, we can only do this because we’re in the same COVID ‘bubble’, regulations are due to ease further soon and we’ll be able to start meeting outdoors with friends and family more often and more freely.
World events: Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq. The first-ever meeting between a pope and a grand ayatollah; and the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered worldwide exceeded 500 million.
There was flooding in St Neots as the Great Ouse spilled out over the surrounding low-lying land. This happens quite often, one year in four or five and usually in the winter or spring. It rarely causes damage as most buildings are above the danger area.
We were meeting regularly with Roger and Carolyn’s Small Group on Tuesdays, these were fairly open and flexible meetings, almost always with a shared meal. sometimes at our house, Roger and Carolyn’s, the Bresnen’s, Leanne’s, or at the Open Door Office in Eaton Ford. Meetings at the office were becoming more common, and at someone’s home rather less so, a trend I regretted. I was also meeting regularly with Jim and Kevin, and sometimes Sean would join us as well. At a meeting on 9th I gave some thought to what it means to be sons of the Most High. How come some sons (or daughters) can be leaders. elders or teachers, but others not; how can one son or daughter have some kind of authority over other sons or daughters?
We were helping Peter and Dadka in practical ways, and also our friend Darryn who was living in our flat up at Stone Hill. Dadka got a new job at Lidl’s in Eaton Socon and Peter returned to work driving the concrete mixing lorry following recovery from a leg injury.
Melford Hall
We also visited our friends Ken and Gayna in Yoxford on 26th, we don’t get to see them often these days so this was a special opportunity not to be missed. On 27th we visited Melford Hall, an Elizabethan building, though parts of the building are much older, going back to before 1065.
JHM: I wrote about Ben Scott and the Calais camp; and about Belgium’s pain. World events: Barack Obama visited Cuba, the first time a sitting US president had visited the island since Calvin Coolidge in 1928; and Radovan Karadžić was sentenced to 40 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Walking along the bank of the River Great Ouse, I got some great photos of common reed flower heads (Phragmites australis). So delicate and pretty, especially when lit from behind on a bright, sunny day. They might be very effective (with their long stalks) for removing cobwebs from high corners around the house. Some time I might harvest a few to try.
Rivermill
Further upstream I got another nice shot, this time of the River Mill Inn in Eaton Socon.
Debbie and the children
We visited Debbie and family on 12th for her birthday. It’s always good to see them. Beth and Paz also came over so we saw the entire family and I did a short walk with Paz across the local fields.
Towards the end of the month preparations began for a new footbridge across the River Great Ouse between Eaton Socon and the secondary school and Tesco Extra in Eynesbury.
We had the ceilings and walls plastered in the passageway to the back door, the guy who did the work was cheap but did an awful job, even plastering over cables and so on, I was appalled! We decided to let him finish, pay him, and then decide what to do next. And the old wooden footbridge from Riverside Park to Eynesbury was about to be replaced with a new, steel bridge.
I set up a new server in the KSG collection, this one (named Hazel) provided space for virtual machines that we used to investigate Linux, and versions of Windows beyond those we normally use. I was also trying to get my head around the spreadsheets used to manage the Colworth phone bills, though I didn’t know enough about Excel to do the job and didn’t have time to learn it.
On most Fridays I drove down to Cirencester early and came home late to spend some time with Dad. His health, however, was the main issue during this month; on 30th March (or around that date) he was taken ill at the Little Chef at the Burford Road services. He was enjoying a meal there when he stopped eating and looked very unwell. He was in pain, the staff were worried and called an ambulance, and he was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for tests and treatment.
Donna and I travelled down to see him on 31st and by that time he was terminally ill with a dissected aorta. He died peacefully with the family gathered around the bed on 2nd April. He was the last member of the Jefferies family to live in Cirencester until Donna and I returned there ten years later in 2016.
World events: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter entered orbit around Mars; and the website Twitter was launched for microblogging and social networking.
Donna’s Mum and Dad came to visit us and helped us with some decorating. The photo shows Donna’s Dad, Tony, putting a roller coat of brilliant white emulsion on the ceiling of the stairwell.
Mir re-enters
Also this month there was a major event in spaceflight, Russia de-orbited their Mir Space Station over the Pacific Ocean. It was the largest spacecraft so far deorbited and re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific on 23rd March 2001.
Open Door
We were involved at Open Door Church in St Neots at this time, going to the Sunday meetings at Ernulf School and weekday cell group meetings one evening each week. I was not happy in the Sunday meetings, feeling unable to contribute fully; the cell group was more relaxed, friendly and personal.
World events: The Taliban government of Afghanistan began destroying the Buddhas of Bamiyan; and Apple Inc. released the Mac OS X operating system for Mac computers.
Donna and I were growing closer and closer in March, in one sense this was wonderful, but we both felt the need to take things quite slowly because it was so soon after Judy’s death and we didn’t want to make things harder than necessary for my family. Debbie and Beth seemed to be coping surprisingly well, but there were my sisters and Mum and Dad to consider as well. We both came to a clear decision about wanting to be married. Debbie was a little anxious that she’d lose touch with Beth and with me, but no fear of that, we have a three-way video chat most Sunday evenings (30 years later!)
My Nigerian friend Elfrida died unexpectedly from a brain haemorrhage leaving Francis and the children without a wife and mother. This was a shock, there was no advance warning as we’d had with the loss of Judy, and no time to plan or adjust or to communicate or prepare. It was so very much a surprise.
I spotted Comet Hyakutake for the first time on 23rd March. It passed Earth at about a tenth of the distance of the Sun so was very bright and easy to spot in the early evening sky.
World events: The Dunblane school massacre took place in Scotland; and the IMF approved a $10.2 billion loan to Russia for economic reform.
Pretty much the entire family descended on Ruth and Martin’s house in Holmer Green on 10th March for a party and a good old chat followed by their daughter, Eleanor’s, Christening.
The video is an unedited view from a VHS copy of my Sony Hi-8 original. It only covers the gathering at their home, you’ll get glimpses and voices of many people who are no longer with us as well as much younger versions of those of us who remain. A real trip down memory lane! (If you’re not a family member you’ll probably find the video utterly boring!)
Debbie and Sarah
On 11th, Debbie and her friend Sarah Fido played clarinet at a concert in Bristol’s Colston Hall (now renamed Bristol Beacon). The orchestra played really well, much, much better than most youth orchestras.
Presents
The 12th was Debbie’s birthday so it was time to open presents. This year they included a collapsible umbrella.
Helicopter Museum
And on 31st we had a day visit from my Mum and Dad who brought Dan Holme with them from Cirencester. We drove over to Weston -super-Mare and visited the Helicopter Museum on the Westland helicopter site there.
World events:Massive demonstrations were held against Slobodan Milošević in Belgrade; and Germany formally regained complete independence after France, the UK, the USA and the USSR relinquished all remaining rights to the country.
Judy made Debbie a cake for her 11th birthday (12th March).
The previous owners of our house had planted a row of conifers along the front of the property and they were becoming too large; I decided to remove them before they got too big to tackle.
Tree removal
It was quite a major task, but I cut them off about a metre above ground level, removed all the side branches, and then used the trunks for leverage after digging round them and cutting through the main roots. They made a lovely bonfire at the bottom of the garden!
World events: The first paper was published describing the atomic force microscope invented the previous year; and on 13th March, Microsoft Corporation held its initial public offering of stock shares.
Debbie was six on 12th March, Judy had made her a cottage cake with hollyhocks and other garden plants growing outside. She had a lot of friends round for her party (the friends had multiplied quickly when she began school in 1980).
Debbie reading to Beth
Later in the month, here’s Debbie (now at school and becoming good at reading) reading a bedtime story to her sister, Beth and three other characters who don’t really seem to be paying much attention to the story.
My Mum and Dad came to visit us on 13th March, the day after Debbie’s first birthday.
At work I was writing up the previous year’s research on flower and fruit development and nutrient transfer in developing plum fruit as well as the problem of gum production in plums which affects fruit quality and marketability. These and other results were published in the Long Ashton Annual Report for 1975, published during 1976.
World events: The Cray-1 was released as the first commercially developed supercomputer; and Harold Wilson resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Judy and I moved into an unfurnished flat at 20 Belmont Road in St Andrews, Bristol, perhaps on 10th. The photo shows the building; our flat contained the two windows at the right hand end of the middle floor.
It was great to have a lot more space than our cramped bed-sit in Clifton, it was great to have our own bath, it was great to have our own loo even though that was on the landing just outside the door to our flat, and it was great to have a proper kitchen instead of the tiny cupboard/kitchen in the bed-sit. We had no furniture (but quickly bought an extendable table and four chairs from a second-hand shop on the nearby Gloucester Road) and we bought our own electric cooker with four rings, a grill and a clock/timer for the oven. We bought a double bed with the £60 my grandmother had given us as a wedding present, telling us ‘You spend a third of your life in bed, so make sure it’s a good one that will support your backs properly and last well’.
We felt we were off to a good start now, our rent was lower than before, we were able to begin buying our own furniture, and had room for our books, records, photos and other possessions. We both had steady jobs and were able to save some money most months to build a deposit for eventually buying a house of our own. And, of course, we still had our car, Pumpkin (so called because Judy’s Dad had once remarked that if I was still at their house after midnight at 18 Hales Close in Cheltenham, my Ford Anglia 100E might turn into a pumpkin).
World events: The Pakistani army occupied East Pakistan; and Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali in a 15-round boxing match at Madison Square Garden.
The Grammar School Founders and Benefactors Memorial Service was held on 3rd March. The whole school and many parents turned up for the occasion at Cirencester Parish Church. The front cover of the order of service is shown at the left (click to enlarge), or you can view the entire document as a PDF.
World events: The British Government announced plans for monetary decimalisation; and NASA’s Gemini 8 docked in space, with an Agena target vehicle. The first time this was achieved.
My entire school year was tested for sensitivity and resistance to tuberculosis. If we were found to be susceptible we were inoculated. This included me, and I ended up with a large hole in my upper arm where I was inoculated, when the family GP saw this he told Mum that if I’d remained uninoculated and had been infected with the virus later in life I would almost certainly have died as a result. The hole filled in eventually, but I still have the scar (along with many others my age, I suspect).
TB is now a real rarity in western nations as almost everyone has received the vaccination or has recovered from an infection.
World events:Kurenivka mudslide: A dam burst in Kiev, USSR, killing 145; and black and white £5 notes ceased to be legal tender in the UK.
I was approaching six-years-old and in the third year at Querns Junior School, the Spring Term ended in late March. Most of our lessons were arithmetic or English, reading and writing more widely and competently now as we grew older. We were also starting to learn some history, geography, art, religion, music and science, not as formal, dedicated lessons but rather as a sort of general knowledge.
World events:Morocco declared independence from France; and Britain’s Fairey Delta 2 broke the World Air Speed Record, raising it to 1,132 mph (1,822 km/h) or Mach 1.73.
I was now nearly 2¾ and, no doubt into everything. No specific memories remain, of course, except for one. I know it was early in my life because I was wearing a blue leather harness with three silver bells on the front. I had to wear this for safety if I was walking along the pavement, ie not riding in the pushchair. I remember being in Purley Avenue, just around the corner from Victoria Road where Granny and Grandpa lived. We were walking towards Victoria Road and had reached the footpath that runs between the gardens of Victoria Road and Purley Road (the path is still there today in 2026). I got very cross about wearing the harness; I probably had a tantrum. Dad said I could walk without it but if I did I must hold his hand – and that’s what happened.
I suppose it’s quite possible I was told about this when I was older, but it certainly feels like a memory. There are several other events I seem to remember from about the same age or even a little younger.
World events: In the Korean War’s Operation Ripper, United Nations troops recaptured Seoul for the second time; and Remington Rand delivered the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
Mike, at 19-years-old was still worried about Lilias’ health and in particular that they might not be able to have a family if surgery became necessary. On 6th March he packed and addressed his kit and boarded the HMS Largo Bay (an anti-aircraft frigate) at 11:00 on 7th. It seems the food and the hammocks were not great, and he was put in charge of deck welfare.
They were due to leave at 10:00 on 8th, but the crew went on strike so everyone had to disembark and return to Santa Cruz. On 11th they were to leave at midnight on the train to Calcutta but this, too, was cancelled. They returned to Largo Bay on 13th and finally left at 09:00 on 14th. This time Mike was appointed ‘Ablution Cleaner’. They passed Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 17th, putting the clocks forward 30 minutes every day until 19th.
The 22nd was an interesting day, they went ashore in an amphibious DUKW and saw Rangoon which was ‘much knocked about’. Mike saw his first rickshaw and some Japanese prisoners. The clocks were set an hour earlier here. He attended a Japanese War Crimes Trial on 23rd; and on 24th the ship sailed again but with the addition of Indian troops making it very hard to find enough space for sleeping.
Mike reached Singapore on the afternoon of 27th March. He had one letter from Lilias on 28th and thought that a lot of others had been lost. But 12 more arrived on 29th and a further 5 on 30th.
World events:British troops withdrew from Iran according to an agreement, the Soviets did not; and in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill spoke about the Iron Curtain.
John and Bob joined the Army and Dick joined the Royal Navy. All three served as officers during the Second World War, and all three survived the experience without injury. The photo was taken in 1939 before they left home. Presumably there would have been a similar image from the front, too, unfortunately lost I think.
While they were away Churnside must have seemed a very empty house with just Guv, Nor and Mike (who was still at school aged 15). The older brothers were in their 30s and 40s and would have been home on leave from time to time, but not all at once.
World events: In WWII, Rommel launched his first offensive in Cyrenaica; and in the Battle of Cape Matapan British naval forces defeated an Italian fleet, sinking 5 warships.
This Wolseley car was bought my my grandfather in the 1930s. I believe it came from Steels Garage in Dyer Street and Lewis Lane. In the photo it’s parked outside 35 Victoria Road, next door to 37 (Churnside) where my grandparents lived. I think I travelled in this car when I was a small child and it was later replaced with an Austin Somerset which I also remember.
World events:(March 1936): In violation of treaties, Nazi Germany reoccupied the Rhineland. (March 1931): The British viceroy of India and Mohandas Gandhi signed the Gandhi–Irwin Pact.
Click the agreement to enlarge it. The document was signed on 19th March 1920. The cottage it refers to was empty when I remember it as a teenager, but it was always known as ‘The Carter’s Cottage’ and its last resident might well have been the William Richard Robinson mentioned here. I took a look inside when I was about 16-years-old and doing holiday work on the rose nursery a few hundred metres north of it (where Tesco Extra stands today). It seemed sound and was unlocked, but was very dusty, cobwebby and empty inside.
The rent in 1920 was 3/- per week, that’s 15p per week; with the large garden it might have been rented today for perhaps £1500 per month. Two and a half thousand times as much, that’s inflation for you! When Donna and I moved to Cirencester in 2016 the cottage was still standing and in use, although Watermoor Nursery had been sold and a housing estate built there. The cottage was demolished a few years ago and the land now houses three or four modern homes.
World events(March 1926):Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fuel rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.(March 1921): The Treaty of Versailles forces Germany to pay war reparations. (March 1916): US President Woodrow Wilson sent 12,000 US troops over the U.S.–Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa. (March 1911): The first congressional appropriation was made for what would become the United States Air Force(March 1906): Romanian inventor Traian Vuia becomes the first person to achieve an unassisted takeoff in a powered monoplane. (January 1901):Irish nationalist demonstrators were ejected by police from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in London.
My great-grandfather, Edward Jefferies was born in 1849 in Cirencester. In the baptismal record his father, John Jefferies, was listed as a Nurseryman living at Querns Cottage. Presumably John and Alice lived in the cottage when John worked as a nursery manager for Richard Gregory. After taking over the business, John may have built Minerva Villa on nursery land at the junction of the Avenue and Tower Street and the family moved there from Querns Cottage. Alternatively Minerva villa might have been built by Richard Gregory. Either way, Edward would have lived in Querns Cottage as a young child but would also have remembered Minerva Villa as an older child.
Edward married Mary Elizabeth Hedges in 1875 and they lived at 10 Tower Street (within sight of Minerva Villa), Mary’s wedding dress was in the possession of her daughter-in-law, my grandmother, Nor. She, in turn handed it over to my Mum, Lilias who passed it on to my sister, Rachael. As it was difficult to save the delicate and aging silk, it was finally sold to a Museum.
Edward worked as a Seedsman in the family business, and died aged just 35 (he was buried in Chesterton Cemetery, recorded as having died in Bournemouth). Although we don’t know the cause of death, it was quite likely to have been tuberculosis (consumption) as patients were often encouraged to move to a seaside town where cleaner air, bright sunshine, and rest from work were thought to offer a real chance of recovery.
In 1500 the wool trade was still thriving in Cirencester and the countryside in the area was partly devoted to raising sheep. A slow decline had begun towards the end of the previous century and was continuing, but there was still plenty of profit in the wool trade in 1500 f0r decades to come. The decline was partly due to a growing preference for Spanish Merino wool over the wool from the Cotswold Lion breed.
There were two main sources for wool. Cirencester Abbey controlled a good portion of the land around the area suitable for raising sheep (mainly the higher ground as this was well drained). Sheep don’t do well if their feet are frequently wet. The other source for wool was the privately owned and farmed land. Both sources sent wool to Cirencester for sale following shearing time and in rather large quantities. After sale to wool merchants the wool was baled up for export or for further processing locally (the Abbey may have done this in house). Wherever it went, the wool had to be washed and dried, carded with teasles, spun into woollen thread, dyed and then woven into fine cloth. The Cotswold sheep produced wool of particularly high yield and quality so it was in great demand. Much of the exported wool was processed, woven and sold in Flemish lands (today’s Belgium and the Netherlands).
The Kings of England at this time were also focused on trade and export so encouraged this wool trade as it brought useful income to England and could be taxed to increase royal revenues. The 1500s were mostly times of peace, stability, and industry in England. Cirencester Parish Church began to be rebuilt from 1514, and the earlier rivalry between townsfolk and the Abbots calmed down as there was adequate income for both to prosper.
The South Porch (now the main entrance to the Parish Church) was built by the abbey around this time, mainly as office space for the Abbey’s business connections with the town and its surroundings. If it had been paid for and built by town guilds there would have been carved crests and shields for the various guilds, but there’s nothing of that sort anywhere in the building. A small bridge over the Churn in Gloucester Street was known as Gilden Bridge but appears to have no connection with guilds or the building and use of the South Porch.
The old street
At this time the porch was separated from the Parish Church by a narrow street, the two being connected later by new walls and roofing. The heavy doors on the east and west sides of the porch show where this old street passed through, and it can be traced some distance on the east even today.
Continuing east
Some of the names of the old town streets are still known; in the following list I’ll provide the old name first in Tudor spelling, and then the current name in brackets:
Abbot Strete – (Coxwell Street)
Batel Strete – (Thomas Street)*
Castell Strete – (Castle Street)
Cheping Strete – (The Market Place)
Cricklade Strete -(Cricklade Street)
Dole-halle Strete – (Dollar Street)
Dyar Strete – (Dyer Street)
Foss, the – (Lewis Lane)
Goseditch Street – (Gosditch Street)
Inch-thrope – (Cecily Hill)
New Strete – (Querns Lane)
Shoter Strete – (Sheep Street)
St Laurens Strete – (Gloucester Street)
*Batel Strete may refer to the 7th century Battle of Cirencester between Cwichelm and Penda. The name far precedes the English Civil War battle in Cirencester between Cavaliers and Roundheads.
The source for these street names (and some additional names and details not included here) is ‘A History of Cirencester’ by Welbore St. Clare Baddeley, page 213, published in 1924.
World events(Mar 1731): The Treaty of Vienna was signed between the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and Spain. (Apr 1701):Mecklenburg-Strelitz was created as a north German duchy. (Mar 1631): The siege of the Protestant German city of Magdeburg by the Catholic League began and lasted for more than two months before the city fell and the inhabitants were massacred. (Mar 1601): The treason trial for five secondary participants in Essex’s Rebellion was held in London. All five were found guilty. (Mar 1531): King Henry VIII gives royal assent to the Poisoning Act 1530 which provided for the boiling to death of people convicted of poisioning others. (Mar 1501):Portuguese navigator João da Nova discovered Ascension Island.
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