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A Brief History | Dolls' Houses

Iona Bower September 14, 2023

Tiny things hold a special sort of charm. It’s no wonder dolls’ houses have been popular for centuries. Join us on a journey through dolls’ houses across the years. 

In the beginning

No one is quite sure when the first dolls’ house was created but it may be as early as the 16th century and the earliest were likely made in Germany. Probably originally known as ‘dockenhaus’ or ‘miniature houses’, these were not toys, but statements of wealth. In Holland they were known as ‘cabinet houses’ and they were essentially posh storage for all your expensive treasures. They had glass fronts on hinges, and inside, a rabbit warren of ‘rooms’ in which to display your precious and tiny things. 

Dolls’ houses in education

Their next incarnation was as an educational tool for young ladies. Dolls’ houses were an ideal way to show them how to run a household, deal with servants and generally become au fait with being the lady of the house - all in miniature. They would have contained all the usual furniture as well as brooms, cooking pots and other practical pieces. Like Upstairs Downstairs but REALLY small. 

Baby steps

By the 18th century, the next step in the development of the dolls’ house was the ‘Baby House’, an exact replica of the owner’s home, down to the furniture in every room. Like the original cabinet houses, they were created in order to show off the owner’s fabulous wealth (but without having to let your friends nose about your actual house). 

Play houses

It was not until the 19th century that dolls’ houses became objects for children to play with. And it took an industrial revolution for them to become mass-produced enough for anyone but the incredibly rich to own one. In the aftermath of World War II, manufacturers got up and running again, plastic was suddenly becoming available and many toy producers began their own dolls’ house lines, which began to sport ‘working’ parts, such as washing machines that span, doors that opened and shut and taps that turned on and off. 

Life in Plastic

The 1960s to the 1990s was a bit of a boom time for dolls’ houses. With Playmobil, Barbie and other toy brands producing their own houses in increasingly different themes and styles, suddenly there was a dolls’ house for everyone. Leaving the traditional Victorian town house look behind, now you could have houses for dollies that dwelt in Miami apartments, bungalows, tree houses and more. 

Dolls’ house reboot

Was it Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist that did it? Or were dolls’ houses in all their tiny glory just always waiting in the (miniature) wings, ready to return to popularity? Dolls’ house enthusiasts, and miniature model-makers are big news on Instagram and you could lose yourself for hours in the impossibly tiny worlds of accounts such as @daily mini, @theclaykitchen and @nunushouse. 

If you’re inspired to see more tiny things, The National Trust website has a list of their properties that feature dolls’ houses for you to visit. You might also like to read our Modern Eccentrics feature ‘The Miniaturist’ in our September issue, which features Elizabeth Joseph, Resident Miniaturist at London’s Museum of the Home.  

More historical fun…

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In Fun Tags issue 135, history, toys, childhood
Comment

Photograph courtesy of Beamish Living Museum

Think | We are history

Iona Bower August 26, 2023

History is about so much more than dusty books and chalky memories of school days. You can bring history into your everyday easily by engaging with it in real life. Here are a few ways to immerse yourself in history and feel more meaningfully linked to the past.  

Try historical re-enactments 

Don’t panic. You don’t need to be able to joust or throw axes for this. Historical re-enactments have had a bad press historically (sorry) as something slightly nerdy and perhaps seen as the preserve of beardy middle-aged men. Today lots of historic sites and houses put on re-enactment days where you can get a taster for the past (and no beard required). Kentwell Hall in Suffolk, for example, runs Hands On History Days in August where you can meet more than 200 Tudor historians who’ll take you back to 1564 and help you get involved with brewing, stitching, felt-making, bread baking and many more activities from the time. 

Visit a historic site

We’re blessed with historical sites scattered all over our countryside here in the UK. Whether it’s climbing an iron-age hillfort or walking the corridors of a Georgian manor house, there’s nothing like walking in the footsteps of our ancestors to connect us immediately to the past. You can find the nearest historic sites and houses to you on The National Trust’s website. 

Learn an ancient skill

The past is a different country; they do things differently there. So there’s no way to connect with the past like learning how to do things the way they were done hundreds of years ago. You might want to learn how to build a dry-stone wall or how to spin wool into yarn by hand. Whatever tickles your distaff there’s sure to be a course in it somewhere near you. For a bit of inspiration, have a look at The Field Studies Council website, which offers courses in everything from bookbinding to spoon carving.

Immerse yourself in a podcast

If the plethora of podcasts about the past had been around when we were at school, the Industrial Revolution might have felt a lot more accessible. Listening to a podcast is a very simple way to learn a little about an event or period you know nothing about. We particularly love The Rest is History, available on the BBC, Spotify and all the usual podcast platforms. 

Listen to sounds from long ago

There are several sound libraries available online, but we love the British Library’s version, where you can listen to everything from Fairground music from the 1980s to  Queen Victoria’s voice.

Archive of smells

The thing about history is it’s pretty smelly. Those pomanders only go so far. If you want a real sense of what the past was like, you’ll want to give it a sniff. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) you can’t be transported so easily to the times of plague pits but you can get an idea by browsing the Odeuropa Smell Explorer, where they have collected information about various smells from visual and text sources, from coffee houses to public baths.

Go to a history festival

Pick an era and transport yourself there with one of the many historic festivals that take place around the UK. You can even dress up if you like, though it isn’t usually mandatory. We like the look of The Largs Viking Festival near Glasgow, and the medieval Loxwood Joust in Sussex. 

Enjoy an immersive experience

You won’t get much more immersive than an immersive historical experience, from escape rooms to theatre, there’s something for everyone and every era, and you’ll leave feeling like you’ve time travelled. The Gunpowder Plot Experience, which is currently being staged next door to the Tower of London, is full of 1605-style thrills and spills, using a mixture of live theatre and digital technology. 

Volunteer for local heritage projects and museums

Appreciate history while giving a little back by volunteering for a local museum or heritage project. The opportunity to be there ‘after hours’ gives you a connection to the past that you don’t get as a mere visitor and you’ll have the joy of imparting your newfound wisdom to others, too. Historic England has some good ideas about how to get started. 


See a living museums

Wander down an Edwardian high street at Beamish, or sit around a fire in a Tudor kitchen at the Weald and Downland… There are so many living museums to visit in the UK, where you don’t just look at the exhibits but become part of them. You’ll find more inspiration in our feature, A Slice of Life, from page 68 in our August issue. 


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More fun for history buffs…

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In Think Tags issue 134, history, museums
1 Comment

Image of George Blake: Alamy

Primer | Spy Gadgets

Iona Bower January 15, 2022

At the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, some of the world’s most intriguing and ingenious gadgets can be found. Here are just a few…

An unassuming lump of explosive coal was issued with its own dinky camouflage kit so that spies could colourmatch it to local coal.

America’s dog poo homing beacon directed planes to missile strikes in the 1970s. It doesn’t look very convincing, truth be told, but who’s going to be staring that intently at it, really?

The trees have ears! During the Cold War, a solar-powered tree stump listening device was placed near a Soviet airbase to eavesdrop for the CIA.

Pigeons are the world’s most decorated birds, and for good reason – 95% of wartime pigeons successfully completed their missions. Some even wore a tiny camera to spy on the enemy.

The KGB’s lipstick pistol could dispense the kiss of death in a flash. Not one to be fished out of a make-up bag by mistake on a bleary morning, though.

Closer to home, the Derwent Pencil Museum in Keswick has a rather nifty deception device of its own. In 1942, Charles Fraser-Smith – the man who inspired Ian Fleming’s character of Q – asked the Cumberland Pencil Factory to design a special hollowed-out pencil that could house a secret map, to be given to Lancaster Bomber pilots. A compass was hidden under the rubber, something we’d be bound to lose within about three minutes.

These gadgets were collated for our Looking Back feature on spies from our January issue. Read all about some of the world’s most famous spies (and their gadgets) from page 84.

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In Think Tags looking back, spies, history
Comment
Illustration: Jessica Hayman

Illustration: Jessica Hayman

Project | Uncover the History of your Home

Iona Bower January 5, 2021

If you’ve ever thought about tracing your family tree, you might like to research the history of your home

Whether you live in a mediaeval pile or are the first owners of your new build, there’s plenty of detective work to be done finding out about previous owners or the history of the land your home is built on. In our January issue, house historian Melanie Backe-Hansen has written about the joy of getting to know your home’s heritage and how to get started.

If you’re inspired but unable to get out much at the moment, here are a few things you can do online to make a start on your research. You can read the whole feature on page 100 of the January issue, in shops and available from our online store now.

Maps
Start with the historic Ordnance Survey maps online, which were produced from the 1860s and then periodically through to the late 20th century. A wide selection for England, Scotland, and Wales can be viewed at the National Library of Scotland (maps.nls.uk).

Local history
Find out about the development of the area over time or even provide clues as to why and when your house was built. Start with British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).

1939 Register
A census taken in the first month of the Second World War providing valuable details of residents. Available on subscription sites ancestry.co.uk and findmypast.co.uk.

Census (1841-1911)
Taken every ten years, they record all those resident in the house on census night, with details of family relationships, occupations, and ages. Also found on findmypast. co.uk and ancestry.co.uk.

Newspapers
Search for your house, former occupants, plus events, through historic newspapers. An increasing amount of information can be unearthed by searching britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.

Land Registry
This department is responsible for registering the ownership of property in England and Wales. A title register can provide details of recent ownership and, in some cases, historic details going back decades. Go to the official website at gov.uk/government/ organisations/land-registry.

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More from our January issue…

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Comment
Photography by @designermumetc

Photography by @designermumetc

Potted Histories | The Kilner Jar

Iona Bower October 17, 2020

Kilner jars are a staple of the nation’s larders. We thought we’d lift the lid on their history

The Kilner company was originally established as a bottle manufacturer, with the Kilner Glassworks being founded by John Kilner in 1842 in Thornhill Lees, West Yorkshire, making bottles and apothecary items. The company passed to Kilner’s four sons on his death and continued to be hugely successful, even accepting an award at The Great Exhibition in 1862 for innovation in glassmaking. 

But in 1871 the company was taken to court over the coal smoke that billowed from its chimneys, polluting the neighbouring land. The judge ruled that ‘no man has the right to interfere with the supply of clean air.’ The factory was forced to close temporarily in order to convert to gas furnaces but managed to get back on its feet, even investing in new mechanisation as the end of the century loomed.

It wasn’t until 1900 that Kilner produced its first jar with its famous patented vacuum seal, still recognisable to bottler and preservers today. But in the first decades of the 20th century, competition in the industry saw Kilner suffer and eventually in 1937 the company went bankrupt and the patents and were sold to United Glass Bottle Manufacturers. 

Despite the business leaving the hands of the Kilner family, the jar itself went from strength to strength. In the 1960s the first Kilner jars with metal discs and screw bands were introduced and in the 1970s replaced with a less attractive but very practical plastic screw band. 

In 2000 the Rayware Group bought the patent, design and trademark for the original Kilner jar and today the range includes everything from infusion jars to make-and-take Kilners for picnics, and specially designed tops for every job from butter-churning to spiralizing. 

So next time you’re bottling tomatoes or packing up your salad lunch, consider that you’re screwing the lid onto a Victorian miracle and 120 years of glassmaking history.

In our October issue, we’ve curated a few pages of photographs of lovely larders, including the one above by @designermumetc.

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Embroidery by The Profanity Embroidery Group, Whitstable

Embroidery by The Profanity Embroidery Group, Whitstable

History | Vintage Vulgarities

Iona Bower June 9, 2020

In 1785, Captain Francis Grose compiled A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – an impressive compilation of the choice vocabulary he heard in the less genteel areas of London. It’s still in print (a pocket version was published by Chronicle Books earlier this year) and is testament to the values of its time – and the evolving wonders of the English language. A few choice definitions follow:

A BLOWSE or BLOWSABELLA: A woman whose hair is dishevelled, and hanging around her face; a slattern

BUMFIDDLE: The backside, the breech.

CATCH FART: A footboy: so called from such servants commonly following close behind their master or mistress.

CRINKUM CRANKUM: A woman’s commodity

FLASH LINGO: The canting or slang language

GOTCH-GUTTED: Pot-bellied: a gotch in Norfolk signifying a pitcher, or a large round jug.

JOHNNY BUM: A he or jack ass; so called by a lady that affected to be extremely polite and modest, who would not say jack because it was vulgar, nor ass because it was indecent.

JUST-ASS: A punning appellation for a justice.

NOB: The head

TALLYWAGS or TARRYWAGS: A man’s testicles.


If a bit of a swear-up makes you feel better occasionally you are not alone and you might like to read our feature Strong Words on p44 of our June issue by Frances Ambler. It features lots of examples of the ways in which swearing can be good for you, including a look at the work of Whitstable’s Profanity Emrboidery Group (pictured above) - @pegwhistable

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In Fun Tags words, history, swearing, June
Comment
Photography: Alamy

Photography: Alamy

Interesting things | secret signs on houses

Iona Bower May 30, 2020

Rainbows are gracing many of our windows right now as a symbol of hope but they weren’t the first symbol to have been displayed on our windows and doors as a sign of solidarity, welcome or more 

From the Icthus ‘fish’ symbol to let passers-by know you were a Christian, to a European flag to let them know you voted Remain, we’re all quite keen on displaying signs on the outside of our homes as messages to others. At Halloween, a pumpkin in the window is a sign trick-or-treaters are welcome, at Christmas a wreath goes out to welcome in both neighbours and the season. 

Here are a few more secret signs that people have displayed to send a clandestine (or not so clandestine) message to others over the years, that you might not know about. 

Candles

When practising the Catholic faith was outlawed under British repression in Ireland, priests went underground, conducting masses in secret. Catholics would leave a candle burning in their window and the door unlocked to let priests know they could sneak in for a quick bit of clandestine Catholicism. When the British queried the practice they were told it was to represent the pure and open of heart welcoming Our Lady and the Christ child into their homes. Sneaky!

Secret paintings

In 18th Century South Africa, the Ndebele people were at war with the neighbouring Boers. They suffered great losses and terrible treatment at the hands of the Boers and began to express their grief and anger with symbols painted on their houses to communicate with other Ndebele groups. The Boer farmers thought it was simply cultural art so allowed it to continue. 


Blood on the doorposts (or something slightly less frightening if you prefer)

In the story of the Passover, Moses tells the enslaved Israelites to paint their doorposts with the blood of a lamb they have sacrificed. When the angel of death passes over their houses, those with blood were ‘passed over’ and the Israelites remain safe, while the firstborn son of every Egyptian home died. Some Jews still mark this, the beginning of their safe passage out of Egypt, with a decorative piece of red cloth over the door as they celebrate Passover each year., cloth being a little less of a terror to get off paintwork than lamb’s blood.


Horseshoes

A message to Old Nick himself to warn him off. The story goes that St Dunstan (patron saint of blacksmiths) was visited by the devil who demanded a horseshoe for one of his cloven hooves. St Dunstan nailed a red hot horseshoe to his hoof and said he would only remove it if the devil promised to respect the horseshoe and never again visit any home with one displayed. (Sadly, this doesn’t work for political canvassers, junk mail and the like.)


Pampas grass in the front garden

Said to be a sign that the occupants are, ahem, ‘swingers’ looking for willing participants, sales of the sharp-leafed plant have apparently plummeted in recent years as home-owners have cottoned on that they may be attracting unwanted attention.


Rude graffiti

In ancient Rome, phalluses were carved everywhere but were often seen on doors and around windows as a symbol of protection or good fortune (and you thought horse shoes were weird). Rather charmingly, tiny phalluses were also used like arrows, pointing men in the direction of the nearest brothel. We’d say ‘when in Rome’ but perhaps best NOT to go carving any willies on windows if you’re visiting.

Hobo emojis

Around the turn of the 20th century in America, hobos (men travelling from place to place looking for work and hitching illegal rides on freight trains) would leave little hieroglyph style pictures all over the place, but often on doors, to give other hobos useful information such as where alcohol could be found, where good places were to get a train and where law-makers lived. A square and a circle each with a dot in meant ‘an ill-tempered man lives here’, a simple cat denoted ‘a kind lady lives here’. How reliable this all is, is uncertain - the tales of the hobo symbols were passed down by hobos themselves, who were known for enjoying a tall tale. 


Quilts

Legend has it that on the Underground Railroad in the States (a network of people offering safe houses and passage to slaves escaping from the south) quilts were stitched with secret messages to aid escape and then hung from windows and clothes lines. Escaping slaves would know the house’s owners might help them and the quilts would give them information about where to go next and how to stay safe.


You can read more about rainbows and their history in our June issue, which is on sale now.

Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More mini histories for you…

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Sep 14, 2023
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Sep 14, 2023
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Jun 2, 2020
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In Think Tags issue 96, June, rainbows, history, houses
Comment
Photography: Kirstie Young

Photography: Kirstie Young

Oranges and lemons (and more things the bells said)

Iona Bower January 11, 2020

An explanation of a rather confusing nursery rhyme

In our January issue, we have a zesty, juicy collection of recipes by Lia Leendertz all using oranges and lemons (and other citrus fruits too). And it got us wondering, why do the bells of St Clements say ‘oranges and lemons’? And in fact, what on earth were all those other bells in the nursery rhyme on about, too? Well, we found out, and we’ll tell you. 


What did the bells of St Clements say?

“Oranges and lemons.”

Why?

St Clement Danes church is on The Strand. The oranges and lemons refer to the fruits that would have been unloaded on the wharves nearby. 


What did the bells of St Martin’s say?

“You owe me five farthings”

Why?

Presumably because not much else rhymes with ‘Martin’s’, but the farthings also apparently refer to the money lenders who worked near St Martin’s in Orgar church just off Cannon Street. 


What did the bells of Old Bailey ask?

“When will you pay me?”

Why?

Well, actually, they didn’t at all. This is a complex one. The Old Bailey of course has no bell at all, being a court rather than a church. The bells referred to are thought to belong to the church of St Sepulchre Without Newgate and the bell of Newgate Prison, located opposite. Newgate would have housed debtors who would then have been tried at The Old Bailey, hence ‘when will you pay me?’


What did the bells of Shoreditch reply?

“When I grow rich?”

Why?

This one’s a bit sarcastic. The bells belong to St Leonard’s church in Hackney, an area that at the time was particularly poor and known for being home to Shakespearean actors, who were definitely not known for their wealth. No one within sound of St Leonard’s would have had much hope of ever growing rich.


What did the bells of Stepney ask?

“When will that be?”

Why?

St Dunstan’s church in Stepney High Street was known as ‘the church of the seas’ as many sailors are buried here. ‘When will that be’ is thought to refer to the wives of the sailors who might have to wait years for them to return with their wages. 


What did the great bell of Bow boom?

“I do not know”

Why?

We don’t know either. What we do know is that the great bell of Box probably refers not to Bow Church but to the bells of Mary-le-Box in Cheapside. 


As for the candle to light you to bed and the chopper to chop off your head, the candle is said to refer to the Bellman of St Sepulchre who would visit condemned prisoners at midnight, by candlelight to inform them of their fate. The choppers are exactly what you think. Ouch.

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More from our January issue…

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In Think Tags issue 91, January, history, London, nursery rhymes, folklore
Comment
Photograph: Alamy

Photograph: Alamy

History | women on walls

Iona Bower January 8, 2020

Celebrating some of the women who have featured on London’s blue plaques

Having a blue plaque (or any other colour plaque) in your local area is a bit exciting, isn’t it? Whether you’ve got a little-known local philanthropist or a world-famous philosopher, it’s quite a thrill to think of that person coming and going from that very property on that very street all those years ago. 

Since 2016, English Heritage, which runs London’s Blue Plaque scheme, has been campaigning to encourage more nominations for blue plaques representing women. Just 14% of blue plaques currently represent females, and English Heritage wants that to change. In the last year, half of the blue plaques that have been put have been for women, but still only a third of the nominations are for them. You can help change that by making a nomination yourself. Here’s how to do it.

In the meantime, here are five fascinating females who have been commemorated with plaques all over the country through various schemes to inspire you to make a nomination of your own. 

Violette Szabo

Listen very carefully, we shall say this only once… Intriguingly commemorated with the words ‘Secret agent lived here – she gave her life for the French Resistance’ Szabo was a spy in the second world war who was tortured and executed by the Nazis. 

Marie Stopes

Stopes has a plaque in Upper Norwood, London as a ‘promoter of sex education and birth control’. Less glamorous than some of the artists and writers commemorated perhaps, but far more life-changing for us women of today. 

Mary Hughes

Charmingly listed as ‘Friend of all in Need’ on the side of 71A Vallance Road, east London, Mary Hughes was a social worker who acquired the pub The Earl Grey at Vallance Road and turned it into a teetotal refuge for the homeless, The Dewdrop Inn (do drop in). 

Doreen Valiente

Commemorated on the side of a block of council flats in Tyson Place, Brighton you’ll find an unlikely plaque to the ‘mother of modern witchcraft’. Valiente (1922-1999) cast her first spell as a teenager, on a woman she thought was harassing her mother at work. She worked as a translator at Bletchley Park during the Second World War and settled in Brighton later in life as part of the Silver Malkin coven. 

 

Dolly the Sheep

Commemorated at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, where she lived her entire life, dear Dolly was the first cloned sheep and died of lung disease in 2003.

If you’re inspired to take a walk round your neighbourhood appreciating the bits of local history lurking there, don’t miss our feature, Up Town by The Simple Things’ editor, Lisa Sykes, in which we learn to appreciate the towns and villages we grew up in - we’ve even include an Eye Spy spotters’ guide for you!

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Cathedrals guided tour GETTY IMAGES.jpg

Behind the scenes at the cathedral

Iona Bower September 14, 2019

Stay together, ladies and gents! We’re off on a tour of some of Britain’s best kept cathedral secrets

We’re so lucky to have some of the world’s best cathedrals on our doorsteps. Almost every town in Britain has a cathedral within striking distance and nearly all have their own peculiarities and curiosities to explore, from secret passages and underground tunnels to irreverent carvings and ancient graffiti. Here are a few to look out for to get you started next time you’re exploring a cathedral near you...

At Westminster Cathedral, make your way to the Henry VII chapel where you can see a statue of St Wilgefortis, a female saint best known for her flowing beard. Not something you see every day. It’s said that St Wilgefortis prayed for God to make her unattractive to her husband, and, overnight, she grew the luxuriant beard. 

The strong of stomach will be fascinated by the West facade of Lincoln Cathedral. The building is best known for its carvings of the Lincoln Imp but look up at its Western exterior and there are some altogether more impish goings on to be seen… Among them fornicators being punished by having their, ahem, fornicatory equipment eaten by wyverns, and devils torturing sinners by pulling their hair. Ouch! 

Look up, but with caution in the cloisters of Norwich Cathedral, where there are hundreds of beautifully carved bosses on the ceiling - including one of a naked man defecating on the people below. 

Sneak a peek under the seats in the choir stalls of Wells Cathedral and you’ll find dragons eating their own tails. 

At St Magnus’ Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney, 12th century graffiti artists have been at work. Have a look at the pillars in the interior of the building and you may spot waves, boats, harpoons and fish hooks. 

Have a careful look at the stained glass in Gloucester Cathedral. A window that dates back to 1350 depicts the earliest image of golf! Thankfully, 14th century golfers hadn’t yet discovered Pringle sweaters or lairy trousers, which might have proved too much for the stained glass artists. 

We were inspired to seek out these cathedral secrets after we read Walkie Talkie, our ‘outings’ feature in our September issue on how to get the most out of walking tours. Before you fill your Thermos and don your rucksack, pop to the shops and buy a copy of September’s’Begin’ issue for more inspiration.


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Photography: Peter Wright

Photography: Peter Wright

Pudding facts: strawberries and cream

Iona Bower June 23, 2019

Like the look of these strawberries and cream muffins? Join us in delving into their history (before we delve into their paper cases and get our faces mucky)

Wimbledon begins again in just over a week. And out come the strawberries and cream. Of course, everyone associates the dish with the tennis tournament but we only recently learned why, and just how far back strawberries and cream goes…

It’s summer, 1509. Henry VII has recently shuffled off his mortal coil and his son, Henry (soon to be VIII) has set about spending his father’s carefully tended coffers. Henry has married Catherine of Aragon and is shortly to have a bun in the royal oven. As is custom, on ascending the throne, he has also released most of the country’s prisoners. A generous, if fairly rash idea. All in all, it’s early days, they know nothing of the difficulties to come. It’s a summer of love, of excess… and of feasting.

Royal banquets were expected to feed up to 600 at a time. Twice a day. A feat that would make a bottle of Fairy Liquid cower today. Thomas Wolsey was tasked with arranging all this and, with 600-odd guests chomping their way through up to 44 courses at any one meal, some of those courses would need to be very simple to prepare.

The combination of strawberries and cream is said to have first appeared at one of these feasts in 1509. Cream had previously been considered a peasant food - the Turkey Twizzler of its day - but the dish went down a storm. And of course, what was served for the King soon became fashionable in every well-to-do dining room across England. English ladies became so excited about the pud, they were charging their gardeners to cultivate strawberries to serve to their own dinner guests. The country went briefly strawberries and cream mad.

But whence came the tennis link? Thomas Wolsey’s palace had a tennis court, where he apparently also served strawberries and cream. Well don’t we all have that one signature pud we always fall back on when guests descend?

By the time the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament began in 1877, it was obviously peak strawberry season, but also Tudor history was ‘having a moment’. It seems to have a moment at least once a century - Hilary Mantel didn’t jump willy nilly on that particular bandwagon, of course. So all the planets were aligned for strawberries and cream to make a comeback. And come back they did. But they never left.

And why would they? Sweet, juicy strawberries and rich, cold cream are one of history’s most winning combinations, going together like love and marriage, fun and feasting… Henry VIII and gout…. Yes, maybe go easy on the cream with those strawberries this Wimbledon.

We’re celebrating Wimbledon with these strawberries and cream muffins (pictured) from our June issue, which is on sale now if you’d like the recipe. Just the thing to accompany your cuppa during the Women’s Final. The recipe from The Tin & Traybake Cookbook by Sam Gates (Robinson). Photography: Peter Wright

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1 Comment
Photography: Jonathan Cherry

Photography: Jonathan Cherry

British Summer Time: a brief history

Iona Bower March 25, 2019

When you put your clocks forward this Sunday spare a thought for the man who began it all


Talk of adopting different times in summer has been discussed since ancient times and Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding father’s of the United States even mooted the idea of everyone getting up a bit earlier in summer. Franklin is often credited with being the inventor of daylight saving but in fact, the chap we really have to thank is one William Willett of Chislehurst, Kent.

Willett was out riding his horse early one summer’s morning in Petts Wood, he noticed how many blinds were still down and began mulling the idea of daylight saving.

In 1907 he published a pamphlet called ‘The Waste of Daylight’, in which Willett proposed that all clocks should be moved forward by 20 minutes at 2am each Sunday in April and then back by 20 minutes at 2am each Sunday in September. It’s not a bad idea, and does negate the loss of a large chunk of sleep on ‘move the clocks’ day in Spring. Though we’d be quite sad to lose our extra hour in bed come October, it must be said.

Progress was slower than a watched clock, however, and by the time Willett’s plan was gaining the required support, World War I was on the horizon.

So eventually, it was not until 1916 that the Summer Time Act was passed, introducing British Summer Time as being GMT plus one hour and Dublin Mean Time plus one hour.

Sadly, and rather ironically, this came too late for William Willett who died in early 1915. If only he could have turned the hands of the clocks back just a little more.

Since 2002 the Act has specified the last Sunday in March as the beginning of British Summer Time. We’ll miss the hour in bed but like Willett, we’ll be glad of the extra light evenings. We might even take our horses for a little trot around the village in the semi-light dawn to celebrate.

In our March issue, our regular ‘Analogue’ feature is about a horologist and her love of clocks and watches. The issue is on sale now.

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The Titanic in dry dock c 1911. From Ocean Liners at the V&A until 17 June (Getty Images)

The Titanic in dry dock c 1911. From Ocean Liners at the V&A until 17 June (Getty Images)

The Titanic | A liner to remember

Lottie Storey May 27, 2018

The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is one of the world’s most famous tragedies, with the loss of around 1,500 lives. “As the first major international disaster in peacetime, it generated a huge interest,” says Eric Kentley, co-curator of ‘Titanic Stories’ at National Maritime Museum, Cornwall. “Not just in America, Britain and Ireland, but also in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. No area seemed to be untouched.” But it continues to fascinate.

As Kentley points out, “Few people have heard about the Doña Paz or the Wilhelm Gustloff, which are far worse tragedies.” The reason, he thinks, is “partly because it is so rich in stories.” He explains: “In the two hours 40 minutes it took for the ship to sink, you can see every type of human behaviour – self-sacrifice, self-preservation, bravery, cowardice, duty, incompetence... It’s very easy to imagine ourselves on the deck of that ship and wonder how we would behave.”

Some positives did emerge from the disaster, however, such as a re-examination of safety measures at sea. And, for the QE2, a perhaps surprising surge in bookings following the release of the James Cameron film.

‘Ocean Liners: Speed and Style’, sponsored by Viking Cruises, is at the V&A until 17 June, and opens at the Dundee V&A on 15 September. ‘Titanic Stories' is at National Maritime Museum, Cornwall until 7 January 2019.

Turn to page 86 of May's The Simple Things for more on our look back at ocean liners.
 

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View the sampler here.

 

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Looking back: Explore Britain on Film

Lottie Storey July 10, 2015

We love this new way to explore the rich history of the UK, without having to leave the comfort of your own home. Britain on Film is an amazing archive, recently launched by the British Film Institute, which puts thousands of films online for the first time, available to watch for free through the BFI player.

The footage, taken from around the UK – including news reels, documentaries, as well as family films – dates from the 1980s all the way back to the 1890s.

The films bring the stuff of history books alive, whether they show Queen Victoria’s funeral or life on the home front in the World Wars and reveal the changing (and, sometimes, incredibly unchanging) landscape of Britain, from cities to village greens, all searchable on an interactive map.

Some of the most fascinating footage shows some of the country’s rich regional traditions. There’s Lady Godiva in Coventry, Well Dressing in Buxton and Up Helly Aa in the Shetlands in 1927 just for starters (keep a lookout for the ‘sheep’ and ‘walruses’ in the last one).

And, as revealed by the footage of 1920s pet shows at London’s Alexandra Palace and Crystal Palace, we’ve never been able to resist a cute cat or dog.

And, with summer holidays on the horizon, you can see how generations before us flocked to the seaside, whether Eastbourne, Skegness, or Aberystwyth. The coast is also the setting for one of the earliest family films, which dates to 1903 and shows the children of the Passmore family happily playing on the beach – a complete contrast to the stiff family portraits we’re so used to seeing from the era.

Take a look at the BFI Facebook page where there will be a new film posted each day. And, while the project isn’t available outside of the UK, there are still plenty of films to be explored on the BFI’s YouTube channel.

 

 

 

In Think Tags looking back, film, nostalgia, britain, history
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  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
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The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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