Memory of Times Past...

Have you ever wondered what happened to all those folks you once knew.  The neighbours of your childhood, folks at school, those early jobs?  It surprised me somewhat to consider that the girls in my memory, the ones who used to throw themselves at men, are now well into their 60's and 70's, many are into their 90's if they still survive.  I wonder what became of them?  I expect that when I moved on they found it hard to contain their grief, this of course might be a misunderstanding on my part, but what did they do afterwards?  The nurses in the hospital could not remain their forever, it was demolished some years later, their careers as high powered nurses could get them work anywhere at the time and some were, others would soon be married or paired off and are they now glowing grannies with a pack of kids troubling them?  
Clearly some from that time would be dead long since, this tends to happen I find.  I first entered the strange world of work in 1966 and few from those days would remain now.  The management were at least in their 40's, the big boss almost 60, and many of the workers in the whisky bond were far from young, today the remnants will be in their 70's at least.  The next job also only lasted a year, and I was lucky in that, but few of those will survive today, I wonder how they fared.

This huge building was the brewery in which I lodged and grew up over some four years.  Here the girls threw themselves at me also but there again those girls threw themselves at anything male so that really doesn't count.  It is funny how memory of such people is crystal clear, except names, few names remain.  Incidents, good and bad, abound and sometimes I wonder what happened to the folks there who were so good to me, they gave me enough money for a single ticket to London when I left in 1971, hold on...!
Interestingly, yes it is, almost all those places I worked over the past century no longer exist!  Almost all are large blocs of flats, as here, or housing estates of some sort.  This reflects something of the changed industrial landscape of the nation.  So many factories I once knew have gone, production now in China or Bangladesh instead.  Leith, wherein I first worked had many whisky bonds, most are now blocks of flats for the gentry.  Even the rough Leith docks pubs now supply staff called 'Rory, ' if you understand my meaning.  That would not have worked in the 60's. 
I miss many of the girls from the hospital, the men would be long dead mostly being in their 50's then, I suspect most died by 1990, the result of smoking early on and the usual age concern diseases.  It s strange to think I left Maida Vale in 1982, which is 36 years ago, and even the loveliest lass will be near 70 now.  When working there I pondered those who had passed that way before and were soon forgotten, how few remember us even if we are 'stalwarts' of an organisation for many years.  Only the famous doctors are remembered and even then the memory fades.
Jings I'm feeling moody tonight.  Where is the whisky bottle...?

Museum Musings

Another day another few hours of fun and jollity at the museum.  The term 'fun and jollity' is not to be taken seriously!  It was fun and at times there was jollity but I found too few people to discuss history, theirs or the towns, with today.  Several came in to see the postcard exhibition, 600 postcards in all mostly of the town and area about a hundred years ago, or slightly less.  Too few from the period after the war.  It is amazing just how much remains the same even though it is very different.  Did I just say that?  Indeed little has changed in the basic layout but some buildings are drastically altered.  The old market place, pub and all, is now a modern Tesco, what once was the 'Fairfield' used often by the 'fair' is now a large old Town Hall, modern library and 1930's ex-Post Office building.  It's quite amusing to note how things have changed in many visitors lifetimes.

The school class today, dressed suitably as Victorians, faced the stern Victorian teacher for an hour or so bravely but would not understand a life in which computers of one sort or another were in use. Being about eight years old they have grown up into a computer world and many bought slates, the type once used by schoolchildren learning to write (hold your hand up at the back) just to practice in similar fashion to kids of yesteryear.  We had one or two of those in also today!
Among the stock we have old Victorian pennies made into key chains.  Pennies I once used have become historical items!  Amongst the books we have 'Living in the 50's' and the same in the '60's' but this canny be history, I was there! 

I was much amused this week to read of a lass in Brazil who had spent many years praying to a statue of St Anthony.  Now I have no idea who St Anthony was, if he ever existed, and see no point in praying to dead men, Jesus is alive so ask him, but it is important to ensure you pray to the person you think you are praying to.  This lass was in fact unknown to her making use of a figure from a 'Lord of the Rings' set!
It is not known if she got an answer...

 
With Christmas just past it would be thought that cards were the last thing folks wished to buy yet I sold several today.  The girls like these and the ones featuring the 'Warners Silk Mill' designs.  I prefer cards with humour myself, specially one that fits the receiver, but women prefer intricate designs for the most part it appears.  These animals are particularly popular.  
Christmas cards I suppose have come down now, however I notice mine are still in their place hiding dirty marks and preventing me dusting places, so they had better stay for a while.  This adds a touch of colour to the room and avoids the 'empty feeling' that results from removing them.
Ah well, that's enough fun and hilarity for one day.

 This brings to mind some of my readers....
   

How Times Change

One of the threads on the Braintree Facebook page recently has been photographs taken over the town in days of yore.  One chap has cleverly enlarged some sections for us and enabled a better look into the peoples past.
This picture features the town centre (well almost) in 1952 and shows a vastly changed image from any similar one taken today.  Where trees and meadow exist now stands a 'Sainsburys' complete with car park and for the locals so many changes to a town they once knew.  I suspect all of us would see the place we grew up in as vastly different to what is on offer today.  If I returned to Edinburgh I would note the basic layout to be the same but so many things have changed, no different for those who once played on the streets here.  Mind you if they played on the streets they would be in trouble as traffic was busy enough even then, our perception of traffic changes more than the actual traffic in my view.  A mothers fear for her young while ten cars an hour pass along is no better than her fear when hundreds pass.  
The museum is funnily enough sited in the middle of this section of the picture.  Once a small school the four pointed arches above the windows remain but all around them has changed considerably.   The playground and buildings on the other side of the road are now a car park however the market day is still under way so this picture was taken on a Wednesday or Saturday, Wednesday is my guess.
The bus park remains but I suspect the prices have increased.

The world has changed considerably since 1952 when I was still learning to walk.  A war had just been won, rationing was in place, a huge rebuilding work was happening almost everywhere and war damage to the town can be seen in some of the empty spaces.  To be a builder at that time must have been a kind of heaven.  In 1951 Harold MacMillan was given the task of creating three million homes and he did so by 1953 and later went on to become Prime Minister.  He would be better thaan the money grubbing one we have today.  MacMillan it must be said was well to the left of David Cameron, indeed he was further to the left of many in the Labour party today as he had a concern for the lower orders and wished to offer better conditions, unlike those who appear to merely line their pockets today.  
Yes Jeremy Hunt I mean you! 
Those who grew up in the fifties have a different outlook to those who grew up in later decades. The wealth amassed by the west during the decades of peace have driven us mad.  Wealth brings a strange security that vanishes like the mist as it did in 2008 when the world collapsed.  However the belief that we ought to be wealthy and have whatever we want remains and people will still spend what they have not got or use credit to get it.  Sometimes I'm glad I'm poor although if anyone has a spare million I will accept it.
What will the town, now 40,000 strong, be like in another fifty years?   Still the same basic layout and ... then what?

A Walk

  
Having got myself on the bike this morning, I had to get myself on the bike as no-one would help, and cycling around for thirty minutes, it may have been five but it felt like thirty, and finished by coming up the slope in the park and near killing myself I found climbing the stairs back home enough for the day, or so I thought.
Exercise is a good thing when you are young and fit, it is less entertaining when a short bike ride leaves the rider looking for a defibrillator!  However I made it and more will occur if I remember tomorrow and at the weekend.  I am now searching the weather forecast hoping for rain!
During the afternoon I decided my knees, now aching with stiffness required a walk.  Off we hobbled across the park as the clouds that have covered us for a week thinned out and pretended they were going to let the sun shine through, they didn't!  
There is an old picture from around 200 years ago showing this park as a field, a cow or two grazing idly and a yokel wandering about.  In the distance the new Congregational church building stands alongside one or two grand houses, the church the only remaining memory of that time.  All else has changed.  Probably owned by a wealthy type and farmed by tenant farmers the field was turned into the grounds of the large house built by one of the Courtauld family of weaving fame.  His grand large home lasted for around forty years before it passed into the hands of a school in whose possesion it remained for many years.  Near one gate there was a grass verge and one day I saw a lady of undetermined age walk across this grass quite deliberately.
"I was never allowed to do this while at the school so I am doing it now," she laughed and went on her way.  In recent times the house became flash flats with a few houses alongside owned by folks who can afford half a million, I did not apply.  
Passing the school gym which now serves as the registry office usually with a flash car dressed for a bride outside, I walked slowly past the few large houses that stand alongside the church.  The names and uses have changed with the years, one superb house is now used by the Salvation Army to rehouse people with specific difficulties, another rebuilt by a painter and decorator and the only one I can identify used by a Council 'Community' office whatever that is.  The gray brick community building was built by one John Brown, his initials in the Latin version 'IJ' and seen above the door, Latin was the trendy Victorian manner, and it is clear he did well for himself in his day.  As far as I can gather he began as a brickie and later made bricks near the railway and made his money that way.  It is clear he had talent and was seen by the later years of the nineteenth century as one of the towns more important people.  He would be shocked by the house today.  In fact several other houses have similar styles if not the same bricks and possibly he built them, or got his men to do so, and established his reputation.  He is not there now of course.
I strolled against the wind along the Roman Road called Stane Street (which also lies outside my window) heading east.  I passed the 'Horse & Groom' a pub where one Saturday lunchtime two workmates ran outside and pulled me through the door and made me join them!  Even in 1937 this pub was where people gathered if they wished goods to be taken to the villages round about.  Most pubs continued the tradition of carriers, by vehicle in the thirties no longer plodding horse and carts, delivering goods near and far, well into the big towns at least.  The 'Horse & Groom' appeared to be best placed for the villages within a ten mile radius.  UPS and a variety of others can find their beginnings in men plodding along at two miles an hour beside a pair of carthorses with loaded cart.

The rest of this side of the street contains many houses from the past including further along a row of weavers houses, the narrow homes contain windows designed to aid weavers.  It is said that once upon a time the attic roof had no divisions as long rolls of cloth would be stretched out up there.  On the other side of the street all was demolished and a new roadway capable of dealing with increased traffic established, also the new shopping centre sweeping away generations of buildings.  However the museum benefited from this as an archaeological dig must take place before building work and many items were found.  There is a Iron Age, Roman and Anglo Saxon finds from there.  A hamlet of some sort containing roundhouses was later joined by Roman dwellings.  When Rome withered and the Saxons arrived the may well have farmed much of this area although it is possible there were houses at this spot also.  Now there is a variety of modern day shops in the usual style, sometimes I wish the one time inhabitants were still around.  

I wandered about the town for a while and made my way home.   I came back via the park, the sun still striving to break through as it dipped in the west but the clouds were not relenting.  A couple of new houses are being constructed nearby right next to the road and not far from the skatepark.  How the new tenants will love those brats come summer!  Along Stane Street, but a different part my aged home stands, just.  The houses nearby go back some distance also, at least two hundred years but possibly more.  It is possible to discover something of those who lived there in the last hundred years but going further back this is harder.  When I have time I will seek more re the doctors who used this building as a surgery and the woman who made corsets in the 1920's, I wonder how she made enough for this place!  Maybe their story will always be hidden.

Now I'm not one to complain, but....

So for a while the laptop has been doing strange things, one of which concerns Google.  Normally on Chrome I have the Google UK picture, and on the right hand side a link takes me to the next page where the 'Add-Ons' are found.  Now when I click a tab the Google page that appears is different, and the next page link on Google UK has gone.  The new page is not 'Google UK' but a Google page with no Google mail, images, +You link or indeed the email address as usual.  There is nothing aIong the base either, instead under the sign there are links to places I have been, none of which I use as I don;t trust this, and attempting to use the type an address in the address bar takes over.  What is this? Is there a way of fixing this?  I have run the anti bad guys stuff but none have worked so far.  This irritates me, and I am not one to complain.....

There is the usual fuss in the media concerning this appalling event.  It appears this took place last night when I was busy having a life.  As usual banal, trite melodies offered by perverts and weirdos won the day.  It is long since this vapid bilge ceased to be an opportunity for struggling singers and became a replacement for the psychiatric hospitals Thatcher killed off, but why do people watch it?  This freak show 'entertains two thirds of the European public, yet there is nothing there!  I am more and more convinced the end is nigh, when you see what won can I be wrong?

"You'll never get out of here alive!"

Once again I spent Saturday morning at the museum as nobody was available to work it.  Next week l, off my own free will and kindness, will be there on Saturday again.  You see I am so kind and caring gentle and sweet.  I was also knackered!  I did manage to persuade the boss to make up a short advert looking for volunteers for the museum to fill in the empty spaces, far too many are sick, dying or finding jobs, and sweet as she is this happened.  So I shoved them into three churches letterboxes as there are people there who will be available I am convinced.  As one of the churches has many older "cough" peoples there will be historical knowledge also.  We will see!

Hours I have spent looking for my family.  So far none have been in prison but several have disappeared, if only one or two others would join them?   This has helped with finding dead soldiers but there is so much to do and I have hours of work to do to get through it all.  This and watching the football takes up so much time!  Of course dithering, falling asleep and wandering to the shops to obtain reduced price goods has also been required, the falling asleep bit being most popular.  However uncomplaining I battle on, my day ahead is planned out, nothing will deter my study, rise at six and plod on till midnight!  But I ask, what happened to my man George....?

Looking Back.....

Jarmo

Reading in this book by H.V.Morton I was struck by something he said when on an ancient roadway.  He was discussing a building erected generations before to protect traders as they reached the half way point on the journey.  It had been standing there in one form or another there about three thousand years, possibly following on a resting place going back much, much further. This got me thinking about something those colonials in the Americas sometimes say regarding old UK buildings being 'ancient,' and 'historical.'  Many Americans touring the free world do find the age off buildings fascinating and it brought to mind Soub's picture of a building in Texas dating from I think 1848.  This wooden structure, reminiscent of a 'cowboy' TV set, was classed as the 'Oldest building in town.'  Now 1848 is not that far back, my Grandfather was born a mere three years earlier in 1845 and I am only 25 so it is only two generations, yet in the USA the early 1800's are ancient history.  Of course man has been living on that land for thousands of years but the mind forgets this and concentrates only on present culture when considering the past.  Our view is often limited by ourselves.
History is seen in the buildings.  Edinburgh, towering above the world was built of solid stone structures reaching for the sky ten or twelve stories high.  This reflected the available materials, the numbers crowding inside the walls and the need for walls to defend against the nasty English invaders.  The 'closes' contain housing reaching back several hundred years each with its own history, each worthy of a blog all by themselves.  Digging back further prehistoric man lived in several places around the city, both on Castle Rock and Arthur's Seat and in the Pentland Hills nearby.  
In the part of paradise in which I dwell houses arose from the wood that covered the land. Made of wood and plaster with only castles made from stone and the churches flint and rubble, contained in a form of 'clinker,' often containing Roman brickwork.  The latter showing how happy many Britons were to accept Roman standards.  Many building in this small town go back to well before the 1800, one in the High Street has a pillar dated to 1395 I was told. Dating trees is an interesting insight into the age of buildings.  Quite a few began their life in the early Medieval period and have been transformed according to contemporary needs and still serve their purpose today.  The stairs creak a wee bit mind! People were known to be farming in this district at least four thousand years ago, some of their leftovers have been found.  Before them as the Ice Age receded man trekked this land from the south of Cornwall across what became the North Sea to northern Germany following the herds hunting and gathering.  No buildings were left but signs of habitation are abundant.  The melting ice gave us the North Sea and fishermen still dredge up mammoth Tusks and the like daily.  

While such nomads dragged their weary way in the cold north the peoples of Mesopotamia were already beginning to farm, gathering cattle, sheep and goats, and no doubt dogs and cats also, to produce a more settled life.   The cities of Ur and Uruk had something like 60,000 citizens five thousand years ago.  Their mud brick buildings lie in the south of what is now Iraq.  This seems ancient to us who consider the Greek and Roman period as far distant yet Mesopotamia is a rich cultural heritage ignored for the most part and contains, so they say, our beginnings.  Further back settled life arose Jarmo at least 7000 years before Christ and hunter gatherers walked for millennia before that.  Man spread out quickly over the earth and similar finds occur in China, India and South America going back thousands of years.

It makes the history of this wee town appear quite recent.  It also makes me feel quite young.  

Jarmo

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Saturday Historical Cinema

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Slow Reader?

I have just finished reading Keith Feilding's 'A History of England.'  I am quite pleased as I began reading the book in 1974.  In those days, long before any of my female readers were born, it was the thing to obtain books via a postal book club.  These usually offered an introductory offer of a couple of good books free or for a small sum if you took a book a month for six months or more.  At the time these were good ideas and I obtained many good books that I would never afford this way.  Where are they now I ask?  The problem of such clubs I found was the lack of choice.  On offer were good deals on rubbish books, some insisting you took the main volume, others did not, but the main offer I found was often a girly book or junk in my view, and the rest much the same.  It became difficult to find a book worth having each month the choice being so limited.  The end for such clubs arrived with Amazon of course.  

One book on offer I did take was Keith Feildings history.  Naturally I began to read at once but life was difficult for me in the 70's, the worst decade of the 20th century, and coupled with working long hours I did not get far.  Eventually I managed to bring it down to my wonderful box in London's fashionable slum area (one bedroom flats now costing £4-900,000) and began to read.  However I did not get far, beginning 'Before the Romans' as any book should I read on well into the Saxon era and even into Medieval times before putting the book down and forgetting all about it.  One day a while back I picked it up and began again from the beginning.  

At last I reached the time just before the second world war.  Neville Chamberlain is in power, Adolf is grunting overseas and the Empire is demanding independence.  I might never know what happens next as he stops there!  Our man Keith was a decent enough conservative historian, and this book covers a huge area of time yet he gives a comprehensive coverage of events.  Clearly there is a limit as to how deep he can go but I found it very interesting, especially as it is foreign history of which I was almost totally ignorant before.  Some points have arisen in the past, usually English aggressive imperialism, but so much was new to me.  

The book was written after the war, possibly during, and it was first published in 1950.  This means that some attitudes appear quaint to some, although his attitude actually quite good regarding most things I think, and it gives us a view from the past of the past.  Naturally he as an English historian includes Scotland, typical!  I'm glad I read it, I am also aware just how much of it I forget, although things come to mind when a subject rears its head and hopefully I will not be required to read this again!  I might however, or possibly another persons viewpoint, you know how historians disagree don't you.  


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Christchurch Priory

To get away from her indoors for a few hours out of the house he and I drove around the edge of town looking at the horrendous flooding that has occurred in this region.  Huge acres were covered in water, much more than in previous years.  The fields were covered in numbers of swans rather than horses.  Interesting to look at from the safety of the car, although not when the stuff swamped the roads, but not what I would wish outside my door.  Driving through some small interesting red bricked villages, never designed for vehicle traffic, we arrived eventually at Christchurch where we sauntered among the Boxing Day walkers braving the howling wind.  The swans eagerly gathered around those foolish enough to wear themselves out and sit on the sheltered benches for a sandwich.  The tide here was so high at one point it had actually reached as high as the benches, these were covered with the detritus left behind by the water.

Much wealth found around this area.  Even in the days of long ago this area was inhabited, it was well developed by the time the Romans arrived and later saw the Saxons move in.  It is thought a chap named Birnius erected a minster here around the late 600's.  This was demolished by the Norman chaps once they took over and in their humble manner they rebuilt the place in solid stone.  The church was part of the Augustinian Monastery which began in 1094 and lasted as such until Henry 8 dissolved the monasteries in1539 to find himself an heir. It Typical Norman stone arches stand proud and are always worth a look in my (very) humble opinion.

The 'quire' stalls are decorated with intricate carvings.  It was here the monks would worship during compline or matins.  Whether the constant construction and reconstruction bothered them I know not.  Today I notice the stalls have red cushions on them, I wonder if this was always the case?  

Christchurch took this name in the 12th century when the story of the 'miraculous beam' began.  Since the dissolution the church has served as a parish church for the area.  Just as well this is a wealthy area, the upkeep must be enormous.  It must always have cost a fortune to keep the fabric of the building in shape.  The number of masons and such like who have worked here must be enormous also.  The carvings found here are worth a look.  When in such places I cannot help but think of the thousands who have passed through for whatever reason in the past, some leaving their graffiti as they did so, others their memory is found on a tablet folks rich enough have placed on the walls.     

Today the vicar is a man who actually knows his God, something unusual amongst Anglicans I can tell you, however he is far from perfect, he is an American!  Imagine!   The Victorians naturally decided the vicar required a home equated with his status and a red brick house stands at the edge of the grounds.  As always I cannot ignore the lovely door, note the beginning of the yellow lines at the bottom of the steps.

What a way to spend Boxing Day, while stayed where she ought to, cooking lunch for our return.  What a great woman!  The one thing that keeps her inside at such times is the idea of passing by the waterside, especially in a cold wind.  She hates that.  Such trips ensure a constant supply of fabulous dinners.   

2012 ends soon and I will be glad to see the back of the year.  Hogmany will hopefully bring a better year tomorrow.  I hope so for all our sakes.   

   

Megalithic, Mesolithic, The Past

I bought some reduced price books from the museum a few weeks ago and have been enjoying myself pondering life here several thousand years BC.  After the 'Ice Age' went away, and some occasionally fear may not have gone that far away, the land soon sprouted grasses, trees, animals and human life.  At that time the British Isles was connected to the European landmass until the melting ice caps flood water created the North Sea and flooded the area now known by some as 'Doggerland.'  Fishermen regularly collect bones of Mammoths and other long dead creatures from this area, the depth not being great.  

Peoples spread from the continent and made their way to the very tip of the land mass.  However it was not until around 6000 BC or so that they took to creating the many mammoth monuments that dot the land.  These often took the form of tombs, sometimes containing bones, sometimes not, and when bones were found these were often incomplete!  Later occasional pieces of pottery were to be found.  Different areas offered a variety of such tombs, some containing several niches, others additional tombs were added much later and the 'barrow' increased on size, often by a large mass.  Usually these comprised earth piled high, in northern regions stones expertly worked together creating very large barrows.  Many still remain almost untouched, others have been flattened by farming methods over many centuries.  

Winterbourne

Questions remain regarding the ceremonies that took place at such places, no writing was left, and the lack of personal material implies we may never know what really went on there.  A few years ago a man from Madagascar was taken to one area of 'Standing Stones.'  He was informed that no-one could understand their meaning.  In surprise he mentioned that it was obvious, these were commemorating the dead!  That is what happens in his society, and it is a decent enough observation, although no other evidence appears.  Did thousands gather to remember their dead, the past generations?  Could it be that these Barrows and Standing stones were less to do with the solstice and more to bring peoples together?  Today we so similar.  Families gather at weddings and funerals.  Nations gather at Armistice Day, or around major national events.  Sometimes football matches can be used in this manner.  Did Stone age man use ceremonies, possibly sporting or other activities, and certainly feasting at some places, to unite the peoples of an area, sometimes a quite large area at that?  What a shame they did not write this down.  

What happened before such tombs were built is generally unknown.  Hunter gatherers left little in the way of memorials,and possibly were constantly on the move.  It would be a more static society that combined to erect large monuments.  Possibly these were stating this was their area to outsiders, possibly it helped them sink roots deep into the land through their ancestors.  Nations need a 'myth' to build their self esteem.  The Athenians held to the belief that they had 'always belonged in Attica,' even though historians indicate they actually moved in from the north some years before.  The 'Myth' keeps the nation together.  Whatever the reason almost suddenly things changed.  Possibly it was wealth, or an increased population, but most likely ideas coming through contact with the continent.  The large works, which may have taken generations to build, were no longer constructed.  These continued to serve as places for ceremonials however, but individual tombs began to appear, and these began to contain grave goods.  

Wessexarch.co.uk

All this changed when the Romans arrived.  Not only did the world around them become Romanised, the incoming gods accepted, but the arrival of Christianity saw the end of any connection with past ceremonials.  The Druids concerned were probably wiped out by Paulinus before Boudica began her revolt.  She and hers followed almost immediately.  Six, seven or ten thousand years ago people just like you and me wandered the land, hunting, farming, building shelters, developing tools, and going forth and multiplying, and evidence for that is found amongst some items left at the meeting places!  Did they have a philosophy?  Did they sit at the door of their round huts or cave dwellings staring at the sky and wondering?  Was the daily struggle such that little time was left for cogitation, or did they just wish they could watch TV and read the tabloid press?  One thing is sure, the women gossiped, the men boasted of their imported stone hammer from Poland, someone was proud of their expensive pot with intriguing design brought from far away.  Human nature never changes, whatever the culture.              

I find them fascinating, and several 'Time Team' programmes this week on one of the obscure channels have encouraged my fascination, with their existence in those days.  How trees could be felled by brute force and stone axes, flint could be made into a razor sharp knife, and deer antlers could be used to create the huge embankments and Barrows, and later hill forts, all makes me wonder at the human ability to make the best of the circumstances.  Great stuff, but I am glad I live in the days of photography and laptops myself.  Especially when the weather is rough.

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Ancient Figures

This handsome chap was dug up in the middle of town during reconstruction works some years ago.  At first it was thought to be just a bit of Bronze but cleaning revealed a horse and rider.  It is likely our cavalryman held a spear in his right hand and possibly represents some God or other.  They say it is unusual in that usually cavalrymen were dressed in armour, this man appears naked.  Soldier or God I wonder.  It sits in one of the museums renovated cases alongside a small child and a head.

I am not clear as to what these represent but I am not likely to want that head sitting on my mantelpiece any time soon.  I am fascinated by the items that have been found in the ground from days of long ago.  These will be Roman (ish) as they say Celts did not have figurines of any type before the Roman invasion.  Plenty of convoluted patters but no figures it appears.  This fact had not struck me and reminded me of how little I know.  

   

Sadly I did not take the time to ensure the image was clear.  It was not easy in that light to picture the items through the glass, as you can see!  Also I have enlarged the picture so that does not help.  What thinkest thou of this lass?  I had no intention of going to the Museum this morning but when the phone rang at five minutes past nine I knew who was on the other end!  To me the position of 'dogsbody,' on call as it were to fill gaps, is better than a regular spot at the moment.  It does mean that my day is altered if the phone rings!  It was enjoyable today however, and these figures fascinated me when I saw them again.  Consider the folks who lost them, their homes, around 2000 years ago, their society and position within it.  The homes, few rreaching into the sky like ours do today.  The difficulty of getting water daily, the constant milling of grain and the smell of bread baking daily, the view over open fields and the sky always above us, not hidden behind vapour trails.  The silence, no music bar that made by individuals, not deep base thumping from passing cars.  Animals running loose, walking everywhere unless very rich, the day filled with tasks technology makes easy for us.  

I wonder if we or they are more stressed by our lives?   

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Lock Up

The old town lock-up.  In times past rogues, and often late night drunks, were deposited inside one of the two small cells.  As the building is only 12 feet long and six wide it may appear a little cramped.  This jail served the town well into the 19th century when a better police force, and later police station, were provided.  it was helpfully situated in the centre of town and in one of the worst roads.  I say 'worst' because there were then many public houses in the place and three down this road became notorious.  One was called 'Little Hell,' a second had the name 'Big Hell,' and the third was referred to as 'Perdition!'   None exist in the redeveloped street today.  Actually I think one does as now operates as a restaurant, whether it was one of the famous three I have yet to discover.  


the lock-up served its purpose, later became a store for ammunition belonging to the militia or Territorial Army as it became, and now some wish to preserve this as a relic from the past.  Not sure what use it could be put to today, suggestions welcome, although some may consider a lock-up after the football on Saturday nights finishes may be the best idea.  Personally I consider dumping adolescents there for a night the best plan.  

It appears the kiddies were attempting to set fire to the skatepark again last night.  Since this blight on the landscape arrived the brats have burned off the covering tarmac on the site, set fire to at least two trees, not counting the ones they just vandalise, burnt down the shelter provided, burnt down an empty hut, burnt all the litter bins, set fire to much else besides and yet the council provided a too noisy 'funday' for them last week?  Can I suggest a 'funday' for the neighbours?  I suggest locking the brats in the lock-up and leaving them there for a we...no, just leave them there! 

British Gas, who demand I pay extra each month, have disclosed today profits of 23%.  Centrica, the owners, made £1,45 BILLION profit.  Gas consumption rose by 3.5% but revenues by 21%.  No wonder that nobody would appear to answer questions on the BBC's 'Today' programme this morning!  It appears that while even the banks are hindered from lining the pockets of their directors energy companies can ignore the recession and grab what they can with no sense of responsibility to society as a whole.  It is time for nationalisation of these greedy companies.  Thatcher's bonkers idea that privatisation would benefit the nation has proved wrong so many times, and the energy companies are the biggest money makers of them all!  I will be phoning them today, I do hope the man has his ear plugs in.....

Big Town Again

'The Marquis' is a pub on the North Hill created out of a 16th century dwelling.  Timber framed, black and white frontage I didn't bother picturing as the sun hid at the time.  The doorway caught my attention, pub doorways do catch some of my readers attention I know, and this featured two faces, one carved into each wooden corner.  Whether for decoration or some other reason I fail to say because as usual I can find no info on this building online, just details of the pub itself.  However it appears they have preserved much similar woodwork inside.  I have to plead poverty of course and walk past in spite of searing hunger and exhaustion.

The plastic pipe is not 16th century.

This big beast is 'Jumbo!'  He once supplied the towns water but now is undergoing renovation as a home for some lucky (wealthy) person.  I cut off the bottom as it is hidden behind wooden fencing etc belonging to the developers.  The last time I looked every ledge all the way up was home to the pigeon, masses of them, and I suspect the first job will be to insert netting to prevent that if someone will actually live there.  The view from the top must be fantastic!  The town spread out beneath you, the river leading to the estuary in the distance, the roads running off in all directions and the rain clouds hiding all this from view!  The Romans were not keen on the weather either!

The Romans were keen on building however and also they became very keen on defence at this spot.  What is shown here are the remains of a Roman Gateway known today as the Balkerne Gate. Having invaded successfully in 43 AD the Romans settled down in their small city then known as Colonia Victricencis (City of Victory, but you knew that.)  This settlement was unfortified at the time, which was unfortunate as the Roman in charge upset a woman after her man, the local King, died.  He took all she had, raped her daughters and killed one or two.  As we all know that sort of thing means trouble.  Boudica decided to vent her wrath by burning  Colonia Victricencis to the ground, along with all therein. The only building to survive was the base of the basillica, this now forms the base of the 'castle.' Rome was not best pleased. After removing the Queen of the Iceni and her threat a wall was constructed around the town. She visited in 60/61 AD and the walls have been dated to around 65-80 AD. Lucky for us this almost complete gate survived by being hidden by overgrowth which preserved it in reasonable condition. Around a hundred years ago the structure was dug out and forms a real historical connection to the Roman era we have all read about. During Victorian times the then owner of the pub next door demolished half the wall to allow his guests to see the new railway. This brought him much in the way of custom then and abuse from history lovers today! It was then the pub became known as the 'Hole in the Wall.' The floor of the gateway has been somewhat modernised to cope with visitors and occasional repairs have taken place but most of the wall dates from the first century and reveals the Roman thoroughness when it came to defence. They did enjoy their engineering did the Romans.

Before the pub landlord intervened the gate was double in size and would possibly have been dedicated to the Emperor Claudius.  He had visited while claiming the victory of 43 AD and then received the surrender of the Britons there.  He then hopped of home before he caught cold.  He also named his son Britannicus, and hoped he would become heir, however the lad  was bumped him off later to prevent this.  That nice Tacitus tells us more about that intrigue.  This gate, the oldest and best preserved, faced west and lined up with Londinium, a place you may have heard off.  The opening on the left, a round room, possibly became the guard room but I wonder if anyone actually knows?  Do tell if you know.  The lads needed somewhere to hide when Joe Public was around didn't they?   I love the red bricks used by the Romans.  There are vast numbers on this wall, and indeed on many ancient buildings throughout areas they dominated.  These strong bricks have been reused in houses, walls and church buildings and stand out well.  The soldiers would have been the ones building the wall.  This kept them occupied in between bashing any who may have decided to rebel.  In 'Agricola,' Tacitus tells of his father in laws work in taming this island.  he is accurate in every detail I am sure.   

You wish a close up?  Sure!

A few modern bricks inserted to stop collapse in places but the nature of the structure clear from the top of the gate.  The road outside sinks away but this came from a more recent development, nevertheless the wall plus the previous ditch dug by the Britons left the defenders high above anyone who wished to attack.  The name Balkerne comes from 'baulk,' as in Roman times the gate was baulked up, closed up and sealed, other gates having come into preferred use it seems.  Road widening and later building or renovations have removed almost all traces of previous gates.  One or two remnants remain but nothing as good as this gate.  During excavations in the sixties when the road works were undertaken archaeologists discovered a great deal about the Roman occupation and later times.  They decided to make use of the gate and as the roadworks involved a bridge over the roadway many people pass through today.

More, much more, can be found at Camulos and that is worth a read to those who find such things fascinating.  I recommend this.

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Gant

What?  You don't understand?  It's quite clear isn't it, this sign I mean?  Are you so slow you fail to understand a name plate, a simple address I ask?  Tsk!  The standard of blog reader is lowering.  OK we will take it slowly. 


In the days of long ago weaving was very important.  The south east of Englandshire was chock a block with sheep.  Counties like Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex grew wealthy on the export of wool or the weaving that followed.  Much was sent over to the Low Countries, what is now Holland, Belgium, Flanders  and Northern France.  At the same time weavers flocked over this way, either because English Kings tempted them with better pay or a persecution of some sort made the weavers flee with their kin.  Well into the twentieth century the weaving and allied trades were big business.  Far East competition killing the trade in the years after the war.  

The influence of the Flanders incomers can be seen in many areas around here.  Spitalfields in London is one such area. Many weavers houses remain, much tarted up, although the windows betray the need for light, and shutters and rooftops often reflect attics more often seen in Belgium than here.  This house for instance has what seems to me to be an nineteenth century porch but with a Lowland influenced double attic, a not uncommon sight.  A bit late for the weavers perhaps but a lingering architectural legacy maybe? 

A terrace of houses elsewhere in town are thought to have belonged to weavers who worked from home.  It is said the dozen or so houses shared one attic which ran the whole length of the terrace.  This enabled long bales of cloth to be stretched out for whatever purpose they had in store.  The windows also look high and allow much light.


However you wonder about the term 'Gant,' don't you?   It is a word left behind by such folks and simply refers to the alleyway between the tight packed buildings.  These buildings began as a large square where goods were traded on market day.  These developed first into stalls and later into proper buildings between which these 'gants' ran to enable access.  The term has remained and reflects the Flemish weavers language.  I suspect other words are used daily in the UK which arose this way but have become part of the fabric and we neither know where they came from nor really care. Other words to refer to alleys used in England are 'Jennels, Jitties, Jiggers and Snickets,' possibly 'Vennels also should be mentioned.' The naming of the gant does not imply this is a tourist site worth visiting I must add.  In fact this gant leads on to another named 'Leatherworkers Gant' if I remember correctly but is now mostly used solely the butcher for deliveries, so it is somewhat uncouth!  


Of course stubborn folks will then as about the 'pigs head' and the 'pottage pot,' which is to be expected.  When new streets require names, and any postman will tell you streets arise out of nowhere, then the town asks local historians for suggestions.  I also was asked for a suggestion by a Councillor once, he called the police!  Anyway this chap has done some research and came up with this name which he implies, but does not say, could refer to a pub that once stood in this area  in times past.  A bit slack if you ask me, although references in ancient deeds mention the pub but with insufficient clarity sadly.  A further 'gant' has been names after a business that once flourished there and I suspect names will be found for those, if any are left, that are as yet unnamed.    

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Lost Relatives

I have spent much of this week in a daze.  Another of those bugs has been irking me and my concentration levels have been low.  A pain as I had the museum meet on Monday and found myself involved with preparations for the 2014 centenary of the Great War.  The bug meant I ate little so was quite content to play couch potato and sit at this brute of a laptop and look for dead soldiers, some of whom I actually found. (By found I do not mean I discovered a dead soldier in the back garden, I mean a record of his death.  I know one or two of you are a bit slow.....)  However I was dragged out to the museum to discover I had been volunteered for more work.  How nice I thought, although I am yet to be let into the secret as to what this entails.  I hope it's not brain work, I tend to fail at that.     

Tonight however as the bug had worn off, I decided to eat without burning the chips (yes oven chips can be burnt) and look for dead relatives.  My granddad married grandma when both had been widowed.  Three kids she left as he drunk too much and for this reason dad, and my aunt, rarely if ever spoke of him.  I think it made my dad very family orientated later.  Aunt Annie did allow some information eventually, but she was always very careful with what she revealed.  It appears two previous sons may have taken poison, but I wonder?  I looked tonight in all the (free) places where info might arise and found nothing.  Plenty of relevant names to be found, all the wrong ones, and almost all in the US!   

I did however go through that strange emotion again of wondering about the lives of those who went before.  Each link brought information which while irrelevant made me wish to wander off down alleyways into stories untold, well to me at least.  It was as I allowed my mind to wander through the grimy smoke filled streets of the past that I realised my chips were done, well done.  I think I will have salad tomorrow....

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Braintree District Museum

I spent an enjoyable morning at a volunteers get together at the Braintree Museum this morning. (Where most of the pictures come from) Delightful to see so many willing to do something to aid the town's history.  We had an lovely time attempting to decide what we liked and disliked about the museum.  Small groups gathered to discuss the various sections, I managed to claim one Warners section was not my favourite, it just happened to be the company the lass next to me had worked 28 years for!  I meet people when I am rude.....

It was generally agreed the outstanding aspect of the museum was the Victorian school room.  This receives groups of young folks (children were considered 'small people' not 'children' in Victorian days), dressed in period costume, who endure a Victorian type education for an hour or so before experimenting with this or that elsewhere  Playtime features suitable games, no iPads allowed!  As the building was a school built by one of the Courtalds in the late 19th century it seemed an obvious idea.   

My primary had desks like these!  The teachers however had more appropriate 1930's style desks, containing a 'strap' (a Lochgelly Tawse) for punishment.  I am not quite sure where the spears at the back came from.  There are shields and drums of an African origin elsewhere and I wonder if these are the fruits of English imperialism?  We heard of future projects and priorities for the museum, and the Warners Archive, for which we were shown the new website.  Warners had a large mill nearby and the archive not only keeps alive the history it is an active producer of material.  Silk manufacture is a highly skilled affair and designs and materials are still produced and sold there today.  Not quite the same volume as in times past of course.  Warners Archive

Note the obvious mistake with this Victorian tableau!

I love the Victorian era, especially as I did not live through it, but my aged family were close to it, one uncle being born in the 1890's.  The attitudes of the day was seen to some extent in the family members throughout the seventy years or so they lived.  Much of Victorian infrastructure lies about us still, railways, buildings, crowded High Streets, churches for a sample.  We are much closer to Victorian days than we realise.  

However I also like the distant past and artifacts that reflect life here from 2000 BC or thereabouts are very interesting.  To be in possession of a daily object from so long ago releases a strange emotion.  I am not sure what it is, maybe I had too much porridge for breakfast.  Anyway I love bits of aged pottery, a coin or an axe head from the distant past, it connects us to those who lived and died here so long ago.  Why should people be forgotten?  I am frequently amazed at how little information appears concerning men who lived, worked and served in this are from a mere hundred years ago.  Many of their houses remain but just as many have long since been demolished, and with the house goes the memory of the individual.  It often appears as if they had never existed, but an effect of their life remains with us all, usually never realised.

When the school took us to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh as kids we were forced to sit in front of a large glass display and listen to a wifie discussing the stuffed birds found therein!  How enthralling!  At least on one occasion we were confronted with a Japanese crab with claws six foot long.  Why I have absolutely no idea, there were few of those around our way.  Some people find Museums to be boring and kids need to do something, not be lectured about stuff.  Make them enjoy something, even if it appears to be boring, and they will remember it.  Folks remember humour better than dullness.  Dressed up like 19th century waifs, but smelling much nicer (well up to a point), the urchins have a more 'hands on' affair in the museum today.  The RSM had one or two very expensive machines that revealed the working of coal mines and the likes, but miserable teachers insisted we ignored those and stopped sliding along the polished floors and sit down and belt up.  I am happy to report no miserable, bullying, harridan like witches were found teaching there today.  Instead I found a group of interested knowledgeable volunteers who wish to discover more and make the towns history known.  I myself am happy in a dogsbody role, to me this is a promotion, and I am learning from those that really know.  I am well impressed with the knowledge found here amongst professional and volunteer workers.  

So that's where my old bike got to!

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