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13/09/2024

Have you heard the story of Napoleon and the rabbit hunt?The story goes that one time Napoleon went on a rabbit hunt. But, what was meant to be a joyous occasion turned sour when the rabbits refused to run away. This was because the rabbits had been domesticated, and they presumed that Napoleon was there to feed them. So Napoleon got chased away by this swarm of bunnies!But how true is it? The story has evolved over the years, where the only real change has been Napoleons reaction to the failed hunt! So it’s likely that the hunt happened, but people would spin it into what reaction they thought was funniest!What do you think of this tale?🎵: PineAppleMusic💥: Ahtisham Ul Hayat, onlydesignz🥁: Pixaby, Fronbondi_Skegs

10/09/2024

Look at this 17th century map of Lancashire!

This hand drawn map was created by cartographer, Herald William Smith, around 1602-1604. It shows Lancashire when it was a county palatine, a semi autonomous state within the Kingdom of England. At this point in time it would have its own rights and privileges, especially when it came to laws.

This map is orientated to the west, with the Irish Sea at the top and Yorkshire along the bottom. It was one of twelve that he produced for an atlas of the British Isles that he was working on, but never finished. You can see how detailed this map is, with a key to explain the size of the town or city and where you could find the nearest castle. Perhaps someone would use this as a travel guide to go sightseeing!

This map is held at the John Rylands Library, where for almost forty years its existence and significance was unknown. A copied version of the map was already in circulation, but the original map that the library was holding had not been discovered yet. It was eventually found in 2014 and put on exhibition so that people could see this 400 year old map.

What do you think of this map?

09/09/2024

Had a great day at the King Charles Tower in Chester! ⚔️🐦‍🔥

The King Charles Tower, also known as the Phoenix Tower, was open yesterday as part of a Heritage Open Day in Chester. This meant that, for a limited time, people had the opportunity to enter this historic tower and learn about its story. Myself and my dad were stationed in the upper floor of the tower in kit to talk to visitors about the tower, as well as the history of Chester during the Civil War.

It was a long day, with very little break because we had so many visitors even with it pouring outside, but it was a very enjoyable day. It was amazing to talk to a lot of people who had never been in the tower before, especially those that had lived their whole lives in Chester. For this occasion I took on the role of a pikeman, equipped with a billhook, while my dad explained everything there is to know about musketeering.

King Charles Tower got its name because, on the 24th September 1645, King Charles I stood in that tower and watched his forces get defeated at the Battle of Rowton Heath. Now he definitely couldn’t watch the actual battle from that location, but he could watch his forces fleeing past the tower as they tried to escape the relentless Parliamentarian pursuit.

If you’re in the Chester area and fancy a fun day out then do come to Chester Castle on the 14th-15th September where we will be hosting an open day with more Civil War reenactors and even some live firing demonstrations!

08/09/2024

Yesterday I had a great day at the Chester Castle Civil War Tours! 🏰⚔️

This day had us delivering some short talks about Chester during the First British Civil War. In particular I talked about the ordinary citizen soldier, and what motivated them to fight against the besieging Parliamentarian forces. For many citizens it was less about serving an ideological cause, such as the power and privileges of the monarchy. Instead many of these soldiers fought just to protect their homes and their livelihoods.

The idea of surrendering to a besieging force was often seen as a huge risk. In many instances the besiegers entered the surrendered city, only to then begin plundering and torching whatever they could find. Each instance of a sack only hardened the resolve of those remaining defenders. Even when Sir William Brereton threatened to take Chester “by fire, famine and sword” unless the city surrendered soon, many in the city still wished to hold out for as long as possible.

Got plenty more Chester related civil war events this month, so stay tuned for more!

04/09/2024

Let’s play a 19th century game!

This game is known as the Punchinello-graphy of England! It was created in 1808 by John M. Wauthier. The game was intended to help people learn about iconic figures from history, folklore and literature, as well as counties in England and Wales. As you can see the game consists of an engraved map with goofy versions of historical figures and folklore characters where the English/Welsh counties should be.

The official rules for this game are pretty simple. Players would pick a token with a characters name from a bag and then find them on the board. Once they’d found the depiction of the character on the board they had to name the county and the principal towns within that county. If they got one wrong then another player could attempt to complete the list and steal their token. Once all of the tokens had been won the winner was the player that held onto the most pieces.

Some of the characters featured in this game will surprise you! Especially when some of these figures aren’t even English and most have no connection to the county they “represent.”

Give me a number between 1-54 and I will respond with the name of the character, the county they represent in this game and some info about who you picked!

02/09/2024

On the 2nd September 1642 Parliament banned the performance of theatrical plays in London! Let’s learn about the wider history of the theatre in 17th century England!

01/09/2024

On the 1st September 1939 the German invasion of Poland began! This was also the spark for the beginning of the Second World War!The invasion of Poland is well known, but have you ever heard how the Poles learned about the invasion? For many their first warning would have been this radio broadcast, informing people that the Germans have crossed the border. By this point the German army had already been storming past the border defences and were attacking cities like Danzig. This broadcast also includes a speech from Stefan Starzyński, Mayor of Warsaw. After this speech Starzyński joined the army as a major of infantry in the defence of Warsaw. After Warsaw was captured he remained the president of Warsaw and used his position to face identification documents for members of the Polish resistance.The footage for this video comes from a ‘restricted’ United States Department Film Bulletin that primarily follows the invasion from the German perspective. It shows scenes of the German offensive at Danzig (Gdańsk) and across the countryside. The film ends with scenes of Polish troops surrendering. The original film contains narration about the German arms and tactics, but it ends with an interesting comment:“The world was permitted to view this display of military pomp and expected to bow before Germany’s might. But the events in years following Poland’s setback were to tell another story. The Allies are fighting to prove that these goose-stepping legions are not supermen. The events of September 1939 shall never happen again.”What do you think of this radio announcement?

01/05/2023

What has been the weirdest tourist attraction you’ve ever been to? I bet none of you would say the local morgue! I. The 19th century people would use to visit the morgue at Paris as a strange form of entertainment, to gaze upon the dead and gossip about who they were in life!

What do you think of this? Would you ever have visited it yourself?

28/04/2023

The fact we still say ‘going down like a lead balloon’ but don’t say ‘going down like a Leicester balloon’ disappoints me on a whole other level!

Read here about the time people got so angry at a hot air balloon they ripped it to shreds! This kind of thing happened many more times but this was the most notorious example!

What do you think of this bizarre tale?

25/04/2023

One of the most noteworthy events to take place in Grenoble was known as the Day of the Tiles, a precursor to the French Revolution.

In 1788 the French city of Grenoble was facing economic hardship after a dramatic decline in demand for luxury gloves, its primary industry. With poor harvests and rising costs the region was pushed to its limits. And attempts to reform the financial system in the region were being blocked.

On the 7th June 1788 a large group of 400 about men and women formed, armed with sticks, stones and makeshift weapons. This crowd stormed the city gates and began to spread out throughout the city. The crowd began to rapidly grow in size as more joined in the rioting.

One group of rioters stormed the ‘L’hôtel de la Première Présidence’ where the Duke of Clermont-Tonnerre was staying at the time. The soldiers protecting the Duke attempted to force the people back without the use of weapons. But as the situation escalated this quickly descended into violence, and the soldiers began using bayonets and shot on the crowd.

When one of the soldiers attacked a seventy-five year old man the people responded by hurling roof tiles onto the soldiers in the streets. This forced many of the soldiers to flee indoors and continue firing through windows.

Three of the city’s four consuls gathered at the City Hall to try and reason with the crowd. Realising that such an act was futile the consuls took shelter with the Dukes men and they all retired out of the city. The people then took control of the hotel and began to celebrate their victory.

During the night the people celebrated their victory with a large bonfire, singing and dancing. They had won a victory for the Parliamentarians in Grenoble and safeguarded an institution that the aristocracy had attempted to close down.

The victory was however short lived as on the 12th June 1788 King Louis XVI ordered the exile of the leading Parliamentarians in Grenoble, and they were forced to flee the city. It would take until the 14th July 1788 that order was fully restored to Grenoble once more. Following this a meeting of representatives from the Three Estates was allowed to happen at Vizille.

22/04/2023

Did you know that Grenoble was once the globe capital of the world?

Recently I got to see an amazing temporary exhibition at the Musée dauphinois, an old nunnery converted into a museum, about the history of Grenoble’s globe making industry. For centuries Grenoble has been making gloves for famous people in history, including Marie Antoinette and Queen Elizabeth II. The glove industry really took off during the 19th century, when they could be mass produced for global clients. The exhibition took you through the development of the globe industry in Grenoble, and even explained how the globes were made in a step by step guide.

The globe industry really began to take off in the 1830s in what was known as the “Jouvin Revolution,” when Xavier Jouvin invented an iron hand that greatly reduced the production time. Not only did this museum showcase how the gloves were made in Grenoble, but had a wide range of gloves on display. Some of these were reproductions of famous gloves, but also they had plenty of originals thrown into the mix. It also had this fun display showing gloves in films, and how most period dramas still made use of these gloves as part of their costumes. The glove industry eventually began to decline following the Second World War as gloves became seen as a winter only item instead of a classy fashion accessory!!

21/04/2023

On the outside this place looks like any other church, but on the inside it is a completely different story!

This is the ‘Musée archéologique Saint-Laurent.’ This is a museum exploring the excavated interior of the Saint-Laurent church, revealing how the church evolved throughout the centuries. It was initially a fourth century Roman Mausoleum, before being converted into a Catholic Church. It was amazing to see how this transition between building styles could be physically seen in the ground itself. Attached to the church is a crypt that was also breathtaking to look at. The museum does an excellent job of explaining the archaeology to visitors using audio guides. These audio guides can be synced to visual clues such as spotlights that show what is currently being discussed on the audio guide. Both the audio and visual mediums help provide a complete experience that could explain the site better than any standard text or picture display could.

As the building was both a church and mausoleum it naturally has a lot of skeletons on sight, and the museum does not dodge around the issue but instead provides in-depth explanations on what can be learned from these skeletons. I loved hearing them explain the methods used to determine a skeletons age, diet, lifestyle and even how they died. It really showed how much could be learned from the past. And with the sheer amount of skeletons available there is definitely plenty still to learn. The skeletons had been well preserved within the site under a large glass ceiling which kept them safe but still allowed you to view them.

All in all I recommend the ‘Musée archéologique Saint-Laurent,’ not just for the amazing views of the archaeological site but for the incredible explanations on what has been learned from the site.

20/04/2023

Yesterday I hiked up a mountain to bring you this museum review!

This is the ‘Musée des troupes de montagne!’ Situated at the Fort de la Bastille overlooking Grenoble from the North this museum covered the history of the mountaineer troops stationed along the Alps. These troops were trained how to fight in mountainous terrain to defend France from an invasion through the Alps. Since the 19th century these troops had guarded the passes from possible attack. The museum covers the experiences of the mountaineers from their creation; their involvement in both world wars, the part they played in the ‘Secret Army’ during the resistance and their modern organisation. It also had a nice little section on mules transporting arms and supplies up the mountains.

The museum had nicely laid out exhibits complete with an audio guide you brought around with you. This was very handy as it reduced the need for text in every exhibit and everyone could grab an audio guide without having to pay extra. The audio guides were synced to projections displayed on the walls in each section, allowing characters on the walls to talk to you about their exhibits. Some of the characters tried to speak of the period in scripted dialogue. While this did succeed in making you feel like you were there on the front lines the voice acting was… sub par at best. In some cases it was just comical how bad the voice acting was. But despite this it was still a really engaging and interactive experience. The only negative I had was how the section on the mules didn’t utilise the audio guide and only had text signs without any translations, a disappointment to be sure considering how the audio guides were available in a range of languages.

All in all I consider this museum a must visit for anyone visiting Grenoble.

19/04/2023

Another day, another museum review!

This time I ended up in the ‘Museum of the Resistance and Deportation of Isère’ in Grenoble. This museum covered the experience Grenoble had during WW2, from its occupation to its resistance, and its eventual liberation. Grenoble was not conquered during the Battle for the Alps in 1940, and become a centre for fierce resistance throughout the rest of the war. Following its brief transfer into Italian occupation it became seen as a safe haven for Jewish refugees, and about 20,000 Jews found refuge in Grenoble.

With well laid out panels and displays this museum covers a very wide spectrum of information, though some of the panels were hard to find. The museum had a mixture of classic museum displays to very artistic displays such as a panel highlighting text that had been engraved onto a cell door to projections of German soldiers marching down the streets. The museum should be commended for the amount of topics it covers, and how much detail they put into it. The Holocaust exhibit itself was especially harrowing and really well executed.

However there were things about the museum that could be improved on. While I commended how much it covered I have to say there was just too much text. It became difficult to retain all of the information. Furthermore it had a bad habit of jumping back and forth in time, causing confusion over what they were talking about. But despite these minor flaws I think the museum was well worth the visit if you wanted to know more about the history of French resistance in detail!

18/04/2023

If there was ever a place for a film buff to go it would have to be the Musée Cinéma et Miniature!

Going into this museum I didn’t have much idea what to expect! Little did I know I was walking into a collection of props and prosthetics spanning across the history of film! Here you could see some of the most iconic items on display, from Ghostbusters to Harry Potter, Terminator to Jurassic World this place had it all and more! The museum has an impressive collections of items and beautifully lays them out across multiple floors, ensuring that you never feel overwhelmed during your visit. And to top it all off on the very top floor was an amazing collection of miniatures that were just amazing to look at!!

Out of the impressive collection there were two things that stood out to me particularly! The first was in the basement, where you could find the entire set to the 2006 film ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,” complete with all of the props. The owner of the museum had managed to buy the entire collection and rebuilt the set to an incredible degree of accuracy. Even if you haven’t seen the film it was a very impressive set to explore. The second was a restoration of the Alien Queen from Alien Vs Predator! It was such a well done restoration that really made you feel that the Alien Queen was alive and coming for you!

In conclusion, I cannot recommend the Musée Cinéma et Miniature enough!

17/04/2023

Yesterday I went around the Roman ruins at Lyon!

Lyon used to be called Lugdunum from 43BCE onwards and it functioned as the Roman capitol of their territory in Gaul. Between 69-192 CE the city is estimated to have had almost 100,000 inhabitants. It was here that leading Gallic nobles met for assembly before forwarding reports or demands onwards to Rome itself. It was even the birthplace of Emperors Claudius and Caracalla. As it was an important city it had all that was required to live the good Roman life. The main ruin to have survived was the amphitheatre, capable of hosting gladiator fights or theatre plays for up to 10,000 people! Just next to the amphitheatre was a small odeon that could contain a further 3000 people!

Attached to the amphitheatre was this amazing Roman museum that showed things that had been found in excavations around the area (and from other places too). This museum was amazing and helped add more to the history of Lugdunum. It explored many different aspects of Roman society, from the different trades to what happened in the amphitheater itself. The museum had some amazing displays, my favourite was a working model that showed how the amphitheatre used a pulley system with weights to raise and lower a curtain to either across the stage or into its hidden underground storage area. It also had this interesting display where a screen overlayed a stone with a drawing engraved onto it, and then digitally drew over the stone to reveal in detail what was drawn on it.

Overall I recommend a visit to the ruins of Lugdunum and the accompanying museum, it is well worth the trip!

14/04/2023

One part of Gods of Egypt they never really chose to explain was what the giant snake was, or how important it actually was! So let’s learn about it! This is Apep (or Apophis as it’s sometimes referred to as), Lord of Chaos and rival with Ra!

What do you think of this creature?

13/04/2023

Gods of Egypt may be a terrible film but the real story of the contest between Seth and Horus is one hell of a whacky story!! Read about how these two competed for the throne of Egypt!

What do you think of this tale? Would you prefer watching this over the actual plot of Gods of Egypt?

12/04/2023

NEW PODCAST OUT!!! I REPEAT!! NEW PODCAST OUT!!!

Join me along with and as talk about the terrible 2016 blockbuster film Gods of Egypt! Laugh along with ‘A Little Cloak and Jammy’ as we tear apart each of the terrible characters in turn! Especially Bek, we all hate Bek!

If you have seen this film let us know your thoughts! We’d love to hear your opinions on it!

Special thanks to my patrons for all of their support!

09/04/2023

It’s Easter once again which means it’s time to look at some more quirky Victorian Easter cards!!

Long time fans of the account will know how much I love these whacky cards Victorians used to make! What better way to have a laugh during the intense labour or terrible conditions present everywhere in Victorian times than to receive a card like this?!? Who knew giving cheap posting costs would encourage this kind of whacky behaviour.

The selection I have this year contains a lot of whacky designs, and some I have no idea how they would get sold to anyone! In particular I love the bunny armies and the chickens boarding onto the ferry, like perfect tourists. From these cards you can get a glimpse into the kind of humour present during the Victorian period.

Which of these cards is your favourite? Would you buy any of these for your friends and family?

07/04/2023

William Dampier was a pirate like no other! Not because he was particularly successful but because of what he did during his time on the sea, researching wildlife and plants! Who knew piracy was the best way to fund your research projects!

I must say though some of his descriptions of creatures are quite bizarre! Look at how he described an armadillo:

“The head is small with a nose like a pig….on any danger…she lies stock-still like a land-turtle. And though you toss her about she will not move herself.”

Was he just throwing armadillos about trying to see what they could do?!?

What do you think of this guy? Who’s gonna join my pirate crew?

05/04/2023

I always love it when people attempt to predict the future. You always get such whacky yet such accurate ideas coming out. So when I stumbled into this collection of 1930s collectors cards I had to talk about it.

These cards were made by Echte Wagner, a German margarine company, as part of a marketing stunt. Echte Wagner always used to include trade cards with their products as an incentive for people to keep buying them. But in 1930 they decided to do a one off special. They paid artists to paint a series of images on what the future would look like. These images were then put into a series of books and released as collectors photo albums.

Although there is no specific date on when this vision of the future is meant to be, many of these images actually predict modern technology. For example, one of these images contains people talking on portable phones, but you don’t just talk to them but you can see them too on the screen. They predicted FaceTime very early on! Some of these images look like they’ve come straight out of a sci fi film, like the space base. Along with each of these images came a short description explaining what this vision of the future was.

What do you think about this? What is your favourite image?

01/04/2023

As it’s I thought I’d look at the life of someone who managed to fool many by pretending to be a princess from a far off land! This is the life of Princess Caraboo!

What do you think of this tale?

31/03/2023

It’s the last day of so I thought I’d end it with a figure that often gets overlooked in medical history, Dr Jame Barry. James Barry was the first doctor in Africa to successfully complete a Caesarean section with both the mother and child surviving. But more importantly, she was secretly a woman in disguise. Learn about the incredible life of Barry, and how she maintained her cover throughout her entire life.

One thing I found whilst researching this post was a quote from Florence Nightingale that I particularly liked. After Barry’s death Florence wrote:

“After (she) was dead, I was told (he) was a woman. ... I should say (she) was the most hardened creature I ever met.”

What do you think of this incredible woman?

29/03/2023

Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta has sometimes been referred tl@as I’ve of Spains greatest tacticians, so who is he? Learn the crash course of his life, his famous victory and how many times this man got injured.

What do you think of this man?

28/03/2023

The Lord is my shepherd… and he wants me to rise up against my nobility!

This is the Shepherds Crusade of 1251. A time when peasants rose up to save their king by burning down their own towns and villages! Probably was not the right plan but I respect their commitment!

What do you think of this odd crusade?

25/03/2023

When everyone talks about Japan fighting the US and Europe we all think of WW2, but what about the unofficial war they had before that? This is the Shimonoseki campaign, when the Western powers proved that they would enforce their treaties on Japan by force if needed!

Have you heard of this before? What do you make of it?

24/03/2023

Tarrare was a man with one mission in mind, the question for endless scran! Read all about the man that could not stop eating no matter what you put in front of him!

It is now believed that Tarrare suffered from a rare version of hyperthyroidism, where you have an increased metabolism.

What do you think of this man? What would be your favourite meal (Tarrare’s personal favourite turned out to be snake meat)?

17/03/2023

NEW EPISODE OUT!!!!

It’s and for this episode I was joined by the wonderful from where we discussed the female racers that made Brooklands history! Here we discussed three amazing women: Elsie ‘Bill’ Wisdom, Jessie Ennis and Kay Petre and their amazing stories!

This one is well worth a listen! And make sure to check out Brooklands museums social pages for yet more fabulous content!

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Videos

Napoleon and the Rabbit Hunt

Last Saturday I performed a demonstration at Chester Castle (authorised by English Heritage) on how to load and fire a matchlock musket! This video had me performing the loading at speed, but let’s look at a breakdown of the steps I had to follow to load this musket:-Port your musket-Open the pan-Clean the pan-Prime the pan with powder-Cast about the piece to the left hand-Charge the piece with 1 shots worth of powder-Place the wadding (and the ball if I was live firing) in the barrel-Withdraw the scouring stick-Turn and shorten the scouring stick-Ram the wadding to the bottom of the barrel-Withdraw the scouring stick-Turn and shorten the scouring stick-Return the scouring stick-Port your musket-Blow your match-Mount your match onto the serpent-Check your match-Present your piece-Open the pan and prepare to give fire-Give fire 💥Do you think you’d be able to remember and follow all of these instructions quickly? A well trained musketeer could do all this in 20-30 seconds.

Does anyone else feel the same when they talk about their favourite hobbies?I am now in my 8th year of being a reenactor and I still feel as passionate about the hobby as I did when I first started! I always remember my first battle where I had absolutely no idea what was happening, but I loved it! And now here I am many years later continuing to fight in battles and talk to the public about the history they may not know!What hobbies do you like to share passionately with others? Do you think it’s about time I shut up a little about reenactment?#history #reenactment #meme #historymeme #reenactmentmeme #englishcivilwar #britishcivilwar #warofthreekingdoms #sabrinacarpenter #espresso #coachella #thisisespresso #hobby #hobbies

Polish Radio Announcement 1st September 1939

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