By Tim Lambert Early Calne Calne is a market town in Winchester. Its name is derived from the Celtic words Col-aun, meaning “meeting of the waters”. Calne was first mentioned in a document about 955. In 978, a council of powerful men called the Witan met in Calne. However, the upper floor of the hall they… Continue reading A History of Calne
Author: Tim Lambert
A History of Huntingdon
By Tim Lambert Early Huntingdon Huntingdon began as an Anglo-Saxon and Danish settlement. Its name was probably Huntandun, which means the hill (dun) belonging to Hunta. By the 10th century, it was a small town. There has been a church in Huntingdon since 973 but All Saints Church was largely rebuilt in the early 17th… Continue reading A History of Huntingdon
A History of Melksham
By Tim Lambert Early Melksham Melksham is a market town in Wiltshire. It began as a Saxon village. Its name may have once been meolc ham, which means milk settlement. Obviously, there must have been a dairy farm there. At the time of the Domesday Book, Melksham probably had a population of about 850. By… Continue reading A History of Melksham
Catherine Hayes
By Tim Lambert Catherine Hayes was executed for killing her husband in 1726. She was born Catherine Hall near Birmingham in 1690. She moved around the country working as a domestic servant. Eventually, she was employed by a farmer named Hayes in Warwickshire. In 1713, she married the farmer’s son John, who was a carpenter… Continue reading Catherine Hayes
Weather Related History Facts
By Tim Lambert 15 July is St Swithun’s Day. St Swithun was Bishop of Winchester in the 9th century. He asked to be buried outside the cathedral so people could walk over his grave and raindrops could fall on it. However, on 15 July 971, his body was reburied in the cathedral. According to legend… Continue reading Weather Related History Facts
Learning History Through Storytelling: A Look at Children’s Historical Fiction That Makes the Past Accessible
Alt text: Two children sitting on floor reading book together Image link: https://www.canva.com/photos/MAEbqHoFzrI/ History is often presented to children as a sequence of dates, rulers, and wars. While factual accuracy matters, this approach alone can leave young readers disengaged and disconnected from the human experiences that shaped the past. Children’s historical fiction offers a more… Continue reading Learning History Through Storytelling: A Look at Children’s Historical Fiction That Makes the Past Accessible
A History of Marlborough
By Tim Lambert Early Marlborough Marlborough is a market town in Wiltshire. It began as an Anglo-Saxon settlement. We are not sure what its name meant, but ‘borough’ is probably a corruption of ‘beorg’, meaning hill or mound. The ‘marl’ may have come from a man’s name. Maybe it was Mærla’s mound. Or it may… Continue reading A History of Marlborough
Who Created the First Online Game
It’s easy to forget that online games haven’t been around forever. Not that long ago, if you wanted to play casino games, you had to actually go somewhere. There was no playing on your phone. No live games at home. All of that changed in the 1990s, when the internet started showing up in everyday… Continue reading Who Created the First Online Game
The History of How Immigration Shaped the Neighbourhoods of Modern London
If you took a time machine back to the London of the 1940s, you’d find a city that was, frankly, a bit of a grey smudge. The food was boiled until it surrendered, the fashion was strictly “sensible,” and the social scene was about as vibrant as a wet Sunday in a library. Fast forward… Continue reading The History of How Immigration Shaped the Neighbourhoods of Modern London
A History of Wellingborough
By Tim Lambert Early Wellingborough Wellingborough began as an Anglo-Saxon settlement. It was once called Waendel’s burh, which means Waendel’s fortified settlement. At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Wellingborough probably had a population of about 250. By the standards of the time, it was a large village. (A typical village would be… Continue reading A History of Wellingborough