The One Man Invasion of Sark
Dec21

The One Man Invasion of Sark

Not a lot happens on the island of Sark, that was until August 1990, when it was the centre of a bizarre invasion and attempted coup. What is more, the manner of the ‘official response’ to this armed incursion was equally extraordinary.   Invasion! Frenchman Andre Gardes, an unemployed nuclear physicist, having convinced himself that he was the rightful heir and “Seigneur” of Sark, resolved to take action....

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The End of World War One : The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month
Nov09

The End of World War One : The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month

1918 – At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month an armistice, signed 6 hours before in French marshal Ferdinand Foch’s railway carriage at Compiegne, France, took effect between the Allies and the Central Powers, bringing the First World War to a close after 4 years, 3 months and 9 days of fighting.

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Guernsey’s WWI Military & Convalescence Hospitals
Nov06

Guernsey’s WWI Military & Convalescence Hospitals

Whilst the RGLI can be considered Guernsey’s ‘official’ response to the war it wasn’t the islands only one. One such contribution was the creation of a number of hospital facilities right here on the island for soldiers who were returning sick or wounded from the trenches.

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Who was Guy Fawkes?
Nov02

Who was Guy Fawkes?

Every year in Britain on November 5th, thousands of us make life-size effigies of pne of the most infamous men in British History – Guy Fawkes. We then proceed to set him on fire and then let off lots of fireworks. But who was Guy Fawkes and what do we know about him ? In this article we explore the life of the conspirator most closely associated with the foiled plot.

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How Far Back in Time Could an English Speaker Go and Still Understand the Language ?
Oct26

How Far Back in Time Could an English Speaker Go and Still Understand the Language ?

“How Far Back in Time Could an English Speaker Go and Still Understand the Language ?” In a Nutshell : it would be somewhere between 400 to 500 yrs ago. In order to justify this let’s compare how the speech of ‘English’ speakers sounded in Chaucer’s time, the late 14th Century, with that in the late 16th Century – at the time of Shakespeare.

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The Guernseymen at Trafalgar
Oct19

The Guernseymen at Trafalgar

Tucked away in the corner of Guernsey’s Priaulx Library is a framed plaque, written in ornate gothic script that lists the names of 29 Guernseymen. Not just any Guernseymen but men who were there at the possibly most famous naval engagement in history. It’s a list to make you stop and wonder what deeds these men performed that day, what horrors and what acts of courage they witnessed. We may never know for sure but in this article we dig into some of the details of these men that we do know. Men who, that day of days, served their beloved Admiral Nelson and the hungry guns.

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How to Win a World War – Buy all the Tea in the World!
Oct16

How to Win a World War – Buy all the Tea in the World!

So, you’re country is engaged in a World War, its stands alone against a ruthless enemy and is fighting for its very existence. What should you do to ensure victory? How can you stiffen the nation’s resolve to fight and never surrender? This dilemma was faced by the British in 1942 during World War II and with typical British aplomb the solution they chose was … to buy all the tea in the World! A Desperate Situation...

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The British Parliament – “Mother of Parliaments”
Oct05

The British Parliament – “Mother of Parliaments”

The British Parliament is often referred to as the Mother of Parliaments (in fact a misquotation of John Bright, who remarked in 1865 that “England is the Mother of Parliaments”) because the British Parliament has been the model for most other parliamentary systems. In this article we look at 4 other amazing facts about one of our most venerated institutions.

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Coffee – The Revolutionary’s Drink of Choice ?
Sep25

Coffee – The Revolutionary’s Drink of Choice ?

Did you grab a cup of coffee on your way to work this morning, or drop in to a coffee shop with a friend to gossip whilst savouring the bitter sweet nectar of the that king of all beans the coffee berry ? If you’d done this in the 17th Century then you might have been regarded as either a subversive or or a danger to the moral fabric of society.

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An Ancient Mystery Solved … Hierapolis, “The Gates to Hell” & Instant Death
Sep14

An Ancient Mystery Solved … Hierapolis, “The Gates to Hell” & Instant Death

One of the world’s most chilling ruins is the Ploutonion at Hierapolis, “the Gates to Hell”. Here crowds watched priests lead animal sacrifices down into a cave, where they died mysteriously as if dragged down to the underworld. No one knew how they did it, that is, until very recently.

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Did You Know … Between AD 208 and 211 the entire Roman Empire was governed from York
Jul24

Did You Know … Between AD 208 and 211 the entire Roman Empire was governed from York

A Rare Known Factoid …  “Between AD 208 and AD 211 the entire Roman Empire was governed from York.” Some Random Romano British Factoids For 3,000 years, chickens were farmed primarily for their eggs. Only when the Romans came to Britain did it dawn on them to eat the bird. Ruyton-XI-Towns, Shropshire, is the only place in Britain whose name contains Roman numerals. When the Romans first arrived in Britain, they...

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Before Mechanised Transport How Far Could Someone Expect to Travel In a Single Day on Horseback or Stagecoach?
Jul20

Before Mechanised Transport How Far Could Someone Expect to Travel In a Single Day on Horseback or Stagecoach?

Before Mechanised Transport How Far Could Someone Expect to Travel In a Single Day on Horseback or Stagecoach?

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A History of Guernsey’s Official (& Unofficial) Island Flags
Jul06

A History of Guernsey’s Official (& Unofficial) Island Flags

A History of Guernsey’s Official (& Unofficial) Island Flags

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A Naval Historical First – The Battle of the Ironclads
Mar09

A Naval Historical First – The Battle of the Ironclads

When we picture Naval vessels in a historical context we often see them in some very fixed regonisable form we rarely think about them in their interim ‘ugly duckling’ phases. Such was the state of affairs when the naval first of the ‘The Battle of the Iron Clads’ occurred.

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How Medieval People Used to Walk
Feb16

How Medieval People Used to Walk

I expect that you’ve heard of ‘Doing the Hussle’ or maybe even ‘Doing the funky Chicken’ (they’re dances by the way), but what about ‘Doing the Medieval Walk’? No ?
Well, it’s not a dance craze but a real historic thing.

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