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Something is Rotten in the Borough of Southwark – Michelle Lovric
Look at this lovely little blue-grey building, tucked into the Thames foreshore at Clink Street in London. Let's call it Wharf W, because it is not just a place but also a parable.Hard by London...
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Regrets of a Failed Bell Ringer, by Laurie Graham
I’ve always had a thing about church bells and a brief, unsuccessful career in the bell tower of an English village church forty years ago did nothing to dilute that love. Since then I’ve relished the...
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The other Raleigh by Tanya Landman
I grew up in Gravesend, where Pocahontas died and was buried in 1617. I’d always thought she was the first Native American to come to England, but when we moved to Bideford in 2001 I was intrigued to...
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I'VE GOT THAT END OF YEAR ROUND-UP FEELING – Elizabeth Fremantle
2015 has been a year of rich historical pickings and here are some of my highlights:FILMOf the numerous wonderful films I've seen this year a few have truly stood out. Justin Kurzel's Macbeth with the...
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Behind You!!! Catherine Johnson
Imagine the scene, a small room above a pub, a circle of chairs, a sorry looking group of people, one wearing far too much glitter, another dressed as the back end of a horse. The sign on the door...
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Norse-Style Ploughing
by Marie-Louise JensenI always get excited when I learn something new about one of the eras I write about. Of course there's masses I don't know, but some things reshape your view of the past more than...
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Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer: Sue Purkiss
Until 14th February, for £10 you can go and see two exhibitions at The Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace: one which includes Rembrandts, Vermeers and other Dutch artists, and the other featuring The...
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"My Era's Better Than Your Era": reported by Penny Dolan
I’ve been writing my Christmas List, as requested by some nearest and dearest, and as ever, the list is mostly books, However, as I scan down the titles, I can see I’m not being very loyal to the...
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A Merry Christmas To You All! - Celia Rees
I have a confession. I don't very often read poetry but there are certain times when only a poem will do and, for me, Christmas is one of those times. The approach of the Solstice takes me always to...
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Those Magnificent Women in Their Flying Machines - Aviatrices of the 1920s...
Having just finished my latest novel, ‘Time of Flight’, which is set in 1931, and features - amongst other characters - a number of female flyers, I wanted to make my last post for the History Girls...
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The Yelverton Affair - by Ann Swinfen
In 1852 a young couple met for the first time by chance aboard the cross channel packet from Boulogne. Theresa Longworth, the sixth child of a wealthy Manchester silk manufacturer, was just twenty-two,...
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The Cultural Resolutions by Imogen Robertson
I know, I know we haven’t got through Christmas yet, but I think it’s a good idea to consider some New Year’s resolutions a bit ahead of time. Once I’ve decided on them I can plunge into the festive...
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A Woman's Heart by Kate Lord Brown
Seeing the river of Novel Reading flowing through the Land of Sentimentality is enough to warm the heart of any writer to boiling point. This Victorian document, purporting to 'Map the Open Country of...
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Did they really have platform soles in the 1940s? And other Recency Illusions...
French fashion, 1941My lovely editor for Saving Rafael at one stage asked me: 'Did they have platform soles in the Forties? Well, yes, they did, and here's a picture of them. In fact, I can remember my...
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KING JOHN'S CHRISTMAS EVE by Elizabeth Chadwick
The first Christmas I joined The History Girls, I posted a piece about where King Henry II spent every Christmas of his reign. IF IT'S CHRISTMAS IT MUST BE CHINONMy monthly spot always falls on the...
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Happy Christmas by Miranda Miller
I’m sure you’ve all got better things to do than read my blog today but as it IS Christmas I started to think about the cosy traditions Prince Albert and Dickens are said to have invented between them....
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Rome at Christmas, by Carol Drinkwater
I am in Rome. I usually make the ‘pilgrimage’ at some point during the run-up to Christmas. The street illuminations are magnificent, the shopping is deliciously decadent and hectic and the Irish...
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Fifi Skene by Janie Hampton
When I moved to Oxford I rather disapproved of the hostel next door, with its Victorian attitude to young, single mothers. I was not surprised when our local vicar told me that it was run by the ‘Skene...
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Out with the Old . . .
Hang on, hang on. It is all too easy at the back end of the year to get over enthusiastic about throwing things out. I love having a good sort through my shelves and cupboards but I do wonder if I get...
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Drawing the Future, Dreaming the Past by Rhian Ivory
Photo credit: Jo CotterillOur December guest is Rhian Ivory and we welcome her warmly to The History Girls.The Boy who drew the Future is Rhian Ivory’s fifth novel, she’s recently finished writing her...
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