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There should be more posts soon, starting my first day at the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders museum on Monday afternoon. Lots to do, lots to discuss hopefully!
Thursday, 28 February 2013
Friday, 15 February 2013
Got free time? Why not a historical thriller?
Thirteen Days - BBC Iplayer
A decent film on Iplayer at the moment, covering the fortnight of tensions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. When I saw this again after watching Lincoln I saw a fair few parallels in style. If you saw Lincoln and liked it, you should enjoy this one: one century on, another president, another political shit-storm.
A decent film on Iplayer at the moment, covering the fortnight of tensions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. When I saw this again after watching Lincoln I saw a fair few parallels in style. If you saw Lincoln and liked it, you should enjoy this one: one century on, another president, another political shit-storm.
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
History in the Making, Where were you? A Curious Conclave?
Interesting developments in the last few days from the Holy See. As many of you will have heard, His Holiness the Pope has announced he will retire from office by the end of the month, the first Pope to do so in nearly 400 years.
The interesting thing is, Papal elections are performed by the College of Cardinals through Conclave , a election in which the Cardinals of the Catholic Church will elect the next Pope. With the Pope still alive, i'm interested to see how it will be done. Normally, the Pope dies in office and the Papal apartments are sealed following his death. No wonder the Vatican is less than ecstatic about his resignation, he's forcing them to totally change their policy for elections!
It'll be fascinating to see how this develops
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
History in the making! Where were you?
Richard III - The King in the Car Park
Great bit of history that I have been around for, the remains of King Richard III are identified in a car park in Leicester, England 600 years after his death. Successfully identified after the DNA of Richard's descendants was matched with that of the skeleton. Now famous traits such as his hunch and his feminine physique have been seen in the remains and he had a grisly end! Part of his skull appears to have been sliced away, a wound in the skull penetrated 4 inches into his brain and multiple lacerations on the face indicate a furious final battle at Bosworth in which Richard was clearly in the fray!
But how much about what we know about the "evil uncle" is true and what is fiction? Excellent documentary, unfortunately I doubt those outside the UK may view it on 4od, sorry!
Great bit of history that I have been around for, the remains of King Richard III are identified in a car park in Leicester, England 600 years after his death. Successfully identified after the DNA of Richard's descendants was matched with that of the skeleton. Now famous traits such as his hunch and his feminine physique have been seen in the remains and he had a grisly end! Part of his skull appears to have been sliced away, a wound in the skull penetrated 4 inches into his brain and multiple lacerations on the face indicate a furious final battle at Bosworth in which Richard was clearly in the fray!
But how much about what we know about the "evil uncle" is true and what is fiction? Excellent documentary, unfortunately I doubt those outside the UK may view it on 4od, sorry!
A Fair Chance
Welcome back from the Christmas holidays, for me at least! Finally back at Uni after longer down south away from Scotland than I care to mention!
A promising step for me though today! Breaking News if you will!
I managed to secure myself a position for research and work at the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders museum at Stirling Castle. According to the guys who interviewed me my duties will be to get through the archives (which i can say are massive!) and write up papers and new articles for their collections on the Regiment and its history. As if this wasn't enough i'll also be able to have the immense honour and pleasure of talking to Regiment's veterans who liase closely with the museum, to add their recollections to our collections as well.
I feel this is a great opportunity for me and also for you! I intend to relay the information and the stories I uncover to you! So those who choose can share in the stories that I can hopefully recover from obscurity ( sounds a bit over zealous doesn't it?)
A promising step for me though today! Breaking News if you will!
I managed to secure myself a position for research and work at the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders museum at Stirling Castle. According to the guys who interviewed me my duties will be to get through the archives (which i can say are massive!) and write up papers and new articles for their collections on the Regiment and its history. As if this wasn't enough i'll also be able to have the immense honour and pleasure of talking to Regiment's veterans who liase closely with the museum, to add their recollections to our collections as well.
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| "The Thin Red Line" The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders at Balaklava 1854 |
I feel this is a great opportunity for me and also for you! I intend to relay the information and the stories I uncover to you! So those who choose can share in the stories that I can hopefully recover from obscurity ( sounds a bit over zealous doesn't it?)
Monday, 31 December 2012
Happy New Year! Welcome to 2013!
Welcome to 2013!
A very Happy New Year to all, wherever you may be in the World, i wish you the very best for the next 365 days until we all descend, one more, into Christmas shopping and endless fireworks, in a pointless attempt to outdo the Aussies! ( If you're British, i hope you'll understand what i mean!)
On a more serious note, the current US financial problem and the generally chaotic view of the political world at the moment, my hope for the year 2013 is that we see some kind of unilateral cooperation between the world's nations. Whether motivated by fear in a world unsure of its financial future or hope from a world looking for a better one, i sincerely hope that this year is the one!
I know, i know... I'm a pathetic optimist... Comes with being British!
Happy New Year!
A very Happy New Year to all, wherever you may be in the World, i wish you the very best for the next 365 days until we all descend, one more, into Christmas shopping and endless fireworks, in a pointless attempt to outdo the Aussies! ( If you're British, i hope you'll understand what i mean!)
On a more serious note, the current US financial problem and the generally chaotic view of the political world at the moment, my hope for the year 2013 is that we see some kind of unilateral cooperation between the world's nations. Whether motivated by fear in a world unsure of its financial future or hope from a world looking for a better one, i sincerely hope that this year is the one!
I know, i know... I'm a pathetic optimist... Comes with being British!
Happy New Year!
Friday, 28 December 2012
On this Day - 28th December 1879
On this Day - 28th December 1879
The Tay Bridge collapse. A rather infamous event in Britain, when a violent storm caused the collapse of the rail bridge over the Firth of Tay in Scotland. Winds in excess of 70mph blowing at right angles to the bridge were recorded and was unanimously hailed as one of the worst storms in living memory.
A train carrying 60 people was on the bridge when a central section of it collapsed and fell into the estuary, taking the train with it. There were no survivors and 14 bodies were never recovered. Many elements were criticised as being the cause of the tragedy, from the construction of the bridge, to it's seeming lack of maintenance and the speed of trains crossing it. As there were no survivors, the true cause of the disaster was never conclusively determined. A new bridge stands on the sight today, with the stumps of the old one still visible in the water, there is no other memorial to the victims.
The Tay Bridge collapse. A rather infamous event in Britain, when a violent storm caused the collapse of the rail bridge over the Firth of Tay in Scotland. Winds in excess of 70mph blowing at right angles to the bridge were recorded and was unanimously hailed as one of the worst storms in living memory.
A train carrying 60 people was on the bridge when a central section of it collapsed and fell into the estuary, taking the train with it. There were no survivors and 14 bodies were never recovered. Many elements were criticised as being the cause of the tragedy, from the construction of the bridge, to it's seeming lack of maintenance and the speed of trains crossing it. As there were no survivors, the true cause of the disaster was never conclusively determined. A new bridge stands on the sight today, with the stumps of the old one still visible in the water, there is no other memorial to the victims.
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