By Tim Lambert Dedicated to Sophie Goode Ancient Wales During the last Ice Age, people hunted reindeer and mammoths in what is now Wales. When the ice age ended around 10,000 BC new animals appeared in Wales, such as red deer and wild boar. Stone Age hunters hunted them both. They also gathered plants for… Continue reading A Short History of Wales
The Mary Rose
By Tim Lambert The Mary Rose was a great Tudor warship. However, it is a myth that the Mary Rose sank on its maiden voyage! It was launched in 1511 and it did not sink until 1545! The Mary Rose was a new kind of warship. In the Middle Ages, battles at sea were like… Continue reading The Mary Rose
A History of Copnor
By Tim Lambert Early Copnor The Saxons settled on Portsea Island in the 6th century. One of them was called Coppa. He owned a stretch of shoreline, in the Saxon language an ora. Today we put an apostrophe ‘s’ at the end of a person’s name but the Saxons put the letter n so it… Continue reading A History of Copnor
A History of Fratton, Portsmouth
By Tim Lambert Early Fratton In the 6th century, the Saxons landed on Portsea Island. At that time most of it was marshy but the Saxons built a settlement in the middle of the island. It was called Frodda ing tun, which means the tun (farm or village) belonging to Frodda. In time the name… Continue reading A History of Fratton, Portsmouth
A History of Milton, Portsmouth
By Tim Lambert Early Milton The Saxons landed founded small villages on Portsea Island. One of them was middle tun. The word tun meant farm or small village. This one was in the middle between Froddington (Fratton) and the sea. Eastney was eastern eg (the Saxon word eg meant island). In the Middle Ages Milton… Continue reading A History of Milton, Portsmouth
A History of Portsea, Portsmouth
By Tim Lambert Early Portsea The area of Portsmouth we call Portsea was once called Portsmouth Common. Its name was changed in 1792. Firstly where does the name Portsea come from? It comes from two words, the Latin word Portus, which means harbour, and the Saxon word eg (pronounced ‘ee’) which means island. Portsea Island… Continue reading A History of Portsea, Portsmouth
A History of Southsea
By Tim Lambert Early Southsea Henry VIII built a castle, east of the town of Portsmouth, overlooking the sea. Southsea Castle, as it is called, was ready in 1544. However, during the Civil War in 1642, the military governor of Portsmouth declared for the king. Parliament sent men to besiege Portsmouth and Southsea Castle was… Continue reading A History of Southsea
A History of Stamshaw, Portsmouth
By Tim Lambert Early Stamshaw In the 6th century, the Saxons landed on Portsea Island and they gave names to the areas of Portsmouth. The name Stamshaw was originally made up of two words, stam meaning post and shaw, which was an old way of spelling shore. Nobody knows why there was a post by… Continue reading A History of Stamshaw, Portsmouth
A Biography of George Fox
By Tim Lambert His Early Life George Fox was a founder of the Quakers. Fox was born in Fenny Drayton, in Leicestershire in July 1624. His father was a weaver and the family was comfortably off. George Fox trained as a shoemaker. George Fox came to believe that every person has an inner light to… Continue reading A Biography of George Fox
A Biography of John Wycliffe
By Tim Lambert John Wycliffe was a famous preacher of the Middle Ages. He was born in the North of England but we do not know the exact year (it was around 1328). John Wycliffe was educated at Oxford University and he soon became famous there for his learning and his skill in debate. In… Continue reading A Biography of John Wycliffe