Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 16, 2011
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I love watching old movies and shows on television. The later ones bring back memories of times gone by when I was young. I was born in November 1945 and I can remember many things from the late forties, from the fifties and sixties right up unto today. I remember the ration books that people had to have in order to buy food and other commodities because many things were in short supply due to the second world war. Gradually things improved and rationing was abandoned in or around 1954, the year following Queen Elizabeth’s succession to the throne. I remember the bunting and the decorating of bicycles, prams and other things with red, white and blue crêpe paper as we celebrated the coronation of the queen as children. I would be almost eight years old then. Many houses had been destroyed during the war so many people had to live where they could, usually with relatives. My parents were fortunate to get accommodation in one of the newly built prefabricated houses, prefabs, that were erected to ease the housing shortage. We stayed in that house from 1946 until 1958 when we moved to a semi-detached house in the suburbs. The prefab had many things in it that most people couldn’t afford to buy for themselves, things like a refrigerator, an immersion heater, a boiler (as opposed to a washing machine which came later), a built-in cooker and what was commonly called a ‘all night burner’, a fire that also heated the water by having a water pipe coil linked to the storage tank (indirect heating) and a modern electrical control panel. We didn’t have a telephone in those days, not many people had. We didn’t get a telephone until many years later after we had moved into the semi-detached house and even then not until about 1970! We had a radio but no television until 1953. The things which altered our lives more than any other were the telephone and the television. We could hear the news over the radio but to see the news was a real eye-opener. We could see places we could only dream about visiting until the advent of cheap flights and overseas accommodation. The telephone most certainly changed our lives. We had embarked on the journey into a faster way to communicate with people. When I began working for myself the mobile telephone had been developed enough for anyone to own one and it was that fact alone which enabled me to run my electrical business efficiently whereas before I had to telephone home for any messages, now people could telephone me wherever I was. Now of course the mobile phone is much more than just a phone, it is a tool for visual communication too, a device which can connect us to the Internet enabling us to get information from anywhere in the world. The Internet enables the world to come into our living rooms, we can see those we are talking with, we can watch television, listen to music without having to store it at home on discs. Technology has advanced so rapidly over the last sixty years and it has done it exponentially. Progress begets progress and is running away with itself. I wonder where it will all end? Things we can do almost immediately today would have taken days to do when I was a child.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Communication, History, Life, Society | Tagged: Communication, Progress, Semi-detached, Telephone, Television | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 21, 2011
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Now I know that many folk living in the UK do speak French but if events in history had turned out differently we might, as a nation, be using French as a main language instead of English. Had Napoleon won the upper hand that might have been the case. For those who may not know, today is Trafalgar Day, the anniversary of the day when the French fleet were put asunder by the English fleet during the Napoleonic War at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately the English Admiral of the fleet was mortally wounded. His name? Of course you know that it was Nelson. The Battle of Waterloo was the decisive turning point ten years later but at sea the Battle of Trafalgar put an end to a possible invasion of our land. I wonder how this country would have turned out had that battle been lost. Better or worse?
Shirley Anne
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Posted in History | Tagged: France, French Navy, History, Napoleon, Napoleon I, Napoleonic War, Nelson, Trafalgar Day | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on July 14, 2011
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In yesterday’s post I mentioned The Battle of The Boyne, a remembered and infamous event in our relatively recent past. The resultant effect on our modern society leaves much to be desired. We have rioting, vandalism and even murder committed in the name of this ‘religious’ historical event even though many of the people involved have little knowledge of the reason for it’s happening all those years ago. Our society has been built on centuries of violence, wars, slave trading, religious unrest and many more things too and yet we developed into a thriving community despite our notoriety, albeit at the expense of other countries for the most part. Having said that, many new ideas and many inventions were brought into being by the learned people of this land and still is the case today. Our ‘greatness’ could not last as other countries began to prosper and grow and today many once called ‘Third World‘ countries are making great strides in developing into independent and very prosperous nations. It seems our little country is still trying to cling on to its former glory but without the strength it once had. For a country our size we are a very wealthy nation as a whole but that may change in future times. As a Christian I believe we are destined to be a fallen kingdom as prophecy would dictate and I can see events happening right now which are pointers and first steps to the fact. The blind cannot see and we as a nation are blind! We are trapped in history, still tied to the past and with only hope for the future. Lets us hope we will be able to cope with whatever the future does hold for us. One thing is certain, things will change.
Shirley Anne
Posted in History, Prophecy, Values | Tagged: History, Prophecy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on February 8, 2011
I was watching a broadcast on television on Sunday night about the Colosseum in Rome and what the building was used for. It’s whole construction was determined by the fact that they wanted the audience to focus on one place in the stadium. Not only did its construction allow people to focus on the activity but it allowed any sound to be heard all around the arena without any obstruction. I am fascinated with Architecture and purpose of use in buildings and I was fortunate to be in Rome a few years ago to see this particular masterpiece for myself. I was on a sort of date and was being shown the sights as it were. After my visit to the Colosseum I was taken to a restaurant nearby for a rather lavish dinner. I remember having my picture taken there with some men dressed in Roman soldier costume. I wondered what it must have been like when the Colosseum was actually in use so many years ago. It took ten years to build the Colosseum and the events held inside its walls were not new to the newly completed arena. I suppose at the time they were bringing things up to date as it were much as we do today by bringing activities normally taking place elsewhere, such as combat, to be seen by the masses in comfort. Although the games held there were for entertainment they were very brutal and of course many lost their lives in some of the activities. Their dead bodies were thrown into the river Tiber which flows close by. The games themselves were sponsored by the rich of the day and they were obliged to pay for them as required. Many of the Colosseum lower areas are not available to the public to see but down below was where much of the activity went on. Not only were games held in the arena the public execution of criminals were held there too. Animals, gladiators, support personnel and equipment were kept below the arenas stage and were brought up to the arena using a sophisticated system of elevators driven with ropes and pulleys by the many slaves they had doing the labour. One of the most amazing facts about the arena is that provision was made for the audience to watch the events in complete shade with only a small shaft of sunlight being allowed to light up the action below. We think in this day and age that we are the first to have covered arenas and stadiums but in the days of the Colosseum they used a system of ropes and netting with sailcloth fitted to haul a massive cover over the whole stadium. There is nothing new under the sun as they say. They even considered the safety of the audience and its evacuation in an emergency. The whole building was designed to allow the whole stadium to be evacuated within fifteen minutes. Alas not much of the original building has been left standing but there is still enough to see for those who might be interested. Rome is a wonderful city to visit and the people there are so friendly.
Shirley Anne
Posted in History | Tagged: Colosseum, History, Italy, Rome | 4 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on November 8, 2010
Among the various places I visited today, somewhere I have been quite a few times in the last two years, was an old thatched-roof cottage, a typical ‘chocolate box’ place. This one however dates back to the 13th century. Its accurate age is unknown but it was built sometime in the 1200′s. It has a small pond in its large garden which dates from the same time. All the original timbers are in place of course and the interior, which has obviously seen many changes during the lifetime of the property, is tastefully preserved in the Elizabethan/Jacobean style. The present owners have many artifacts dating back to the days of Oliver Cromwell where battles took place locally. There are cannon balls of various sizes and also swords, helmets and armour dating back to those times. There is a lovely ‘Inglenook’ fireplace in the main lounge. I love visiting the house and its owners but I am there only in a professional capacity. It’s a house most people would love to own and live in and it seems a little out-of-place now because of the various other modern properties along the lane in which it stands. At least it stands at the end of the lane beyond which there are only fields. It is one of quite a few old buildings in the general area but even the ’Scotch Piper Inn’ some fives miles or so away which was built in 1320 isn’t as old. Scarisbrick, Lancashire is the location, a sprawling district east of the newer (Victorian) town of Southport where I live.
Shirley Anne
Posted in History | Tagged: History | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on February 20, 2010
Here in the UK there is an organisation called Ancestry.co.uk which advertises often on television encouraging people to search their family history. I think many people these days are using sites like this one to do their research but of course there are other ways to carry out the research too. I made an attempt at delving into my family’s history many years ago but gave it up as it was too time-consuming. My youngest sister took up the challenge a few years ago and as far as I can tell she did better. I know I come from Scottish stock on my dad’s side of the family and believe the same for my mother’s side too but I am not sure. I also believe there is a dash of French genes in my family but I never did prove that. As far as I know though there are no skeletons in the cupboard, no surprises of a more unsavoury kind but who knows? I suppose many people are put off tracing their history for fear of finding something they don’t wish believe about their family. They might think if word got out it might not be so good for them. Others might like the idea of having some colourful character as a great, great, great-grandfather or something, maybe a pirate or two. Does it really matter? Does it really matter whether we have a colourful history or not? Why bother tracing one’s past if not to reveal something unusual or is it just for curiosity that we stir our imagination? Skeletons in the cupboard or not will not alter the past. It will not alter who we are now, which is more important. It may be nice to discover how important our families were in the past and to feel that applies to us today but as they say, ‘It is nice to be important but it is more important to be nice’.
Shirley Anne
Posted in History | Tagged: Family, History, Philosophy | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on February 1, 2010
How many of us look to the future and hope for better things to come? Most of us I think. Many of us though look backwards to days gone by. It seems there is a hankering for the past, a renewal of old standards and desiring things that are old. I love history and there is a fascination for me in events that happened long ago. I imagine myself part of the scenario, being there in person and living at that same moment. I treasure old things. Some jokingly say that’s why I like myself! Seriously, there is something about holding an article steeped in history or being in a place that is old. I don’t know why there is such a liking for the past especially as we cannot re-live it, except in our thoughts but I suppose that is the attraction! In a way the future is only something in our imagination just as the past is. The only difference being the past cannot be changed, the future can.
Shirley Anne
Posted in History | Tagged: History | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on November 6, 2009
I am sitting here writing this and there are explosions going on outside. It is that time of year here in the UK. We are a strange lot over here (stop laughing), we celebrate the attempted blowing up of our Parliament building some 400 years ago by setting off fireworks and lighting bonfires. The plot itself was organised by a group of men in order to kill the King and members of Parliament because of the oppression of Catholics at that time. I personally cannot see the reason why the tradition still persists and to be honest it becomes a nuisance when the celebrations go on sometimes for days.
Shirley Anne
Posted in Government, History | Tagged: Government, History | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 18, 2009
Wednesday 14th was an anniversary day for me. Seven years ago I had my operation. The day almost passed me by unnoticed and when I did realise I didn’t celebrate or anything but just remembered back to that day seven years ago when my whole life changed. A friend in Canada has just had her operation and low and behold it was on the same date! Pure coincidence. As I read about her progress it brings the memories flooding back. I don’t dwell on the past though, what’s been has gone but it’s nice to remember the good times in one’s life. My next anniversary will be 21st November, my birthday. These days I don’t celebrate that date, in fact I don’t really celebrate any special days for myself but do like to treat those around me on their special days. New Year means to me just the next day and I never celebrate it. I suppose being a Christian I should enjoy celebrating on 25th December but the fact is I don’t, instead I celebrate being a Christian every day of the year. Anniversaries are to me, simply days to remember moments in my life. I prefer to look forward rather than backward.
Shirley Anne
Posted in History | Tagged: History, Time | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on May 11, 2009
Happy and I’m smiling,
Walk a mile to drink your water.
You know I’d love to love you,
And above you there’s no other.
We’ll go walking out
While others shout of wars disaster.
Oh, we wont give in,
Let’s go living in the past.
Once I used to join in
Every boy and girl was my friend.
Now there’s revolution, but they dont know
What they’re fighting.
Let us close our eyes;
Outside their lives go on much faster.
Oh, we wont give in,
We’ll keep living in the past.
Copyright Jethro Tull
Why is it that we like the things of the past? We visit historical places, we love traditional pubs, quaint old fashioned shops, villages that reflect bygone days. I was listening to another of my favourite groups from the past (and still going strong), Jethro Tull. The name conjures up images from English history and of course it was the name of an actual person, an agriculturist in the late 17th and early 18th century who invented the seed drill. (see Wikipedia). Personally I love old things, things from the past, traditional things and it’s probably why I love History as a subject. It was my worst subject at school and I took little interest then. I read about events in history and imagine what it was like to be there.
Guess I’m a dreamer, living in the past……………….Love
Shirley Anne x
Posted in History | Tagged: History | 2 Comments »
