The Tudor Fair Blog
London Bridge: For wise to pass over, and fools to pass under …
London wouldn’t be London without London Bridge. Truly, as there was no London until the Romans built the bridge. Instead, in ancient pre-Roman times there were scattered settlements on either side of the river. But after Caesar’s invasion, soldiers built a pontoon bridge in an area where there were natural…
Summing up Shakespeare in Three Simple Thoughts
My most recent Renaissance English History Podcast was a short intro into the life of Shakespeare, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of his death. I had been extremely negligent in not talking about Shakespeare before. It’s simply because my interests – which have driven the sporadic nature of my podcast…
How Scotland arrived in Westminster
This week I’ve been re-reading Alison Weir’s The Lost Tudor Princess, Alison Weir’s book about Margaret Douglas, Henry VIII’s niece via his sister Margaret, who married the King of Scotland. When her husband died, she married again for love, and had Margaret, who, because she was born on English soil became a…
A Week in London at Christmas with a Toddler
So I’ve been negligent in posting lately (I’m getting back on top of that – thanks for sticking with me). I got back from a week in London with a 2 year old, which is no small feat, let me tell you. And on top of it all, the first…
John Stowe: Grumpy Old Man with a Parchment Polaroid
In 1598 a very old man decided to write a history of his changing city, a snapshot of a city that was going through enormous transformation, and he wanted to capture the city he knew as a younger man for posterity. The man was called John Stowe, and the city…
Favorite Places and Spaces: Soho in London
When I lived in London, I worked at 76 Brewer Street, on the end of Soho near Golden Square, on the eastern end, tucked away from the tourists of Piccadilly, Leicester Square, and Oxford Street on all sides, a neighborhood of its own. What used to be a hunting ground…
The Week in Books
Normally I post on Thursday’s about the books I’ve finished. And I’ve had a ton of time to read while I’ve been away from my daughter and home responsibilities while traveling for my shoulder tests. I read two hours a day, at least. So you’d think I’d have all kinds…
Crystal Palace, the world’s most awesome building at the time
I recently watched a few episodes of my Favorite TV Show Ever, Great British Railway Journeys; a trip from Brighton to Crystal Palace. I first heard the words Crystal Palace used together in a sentence when my voice teacher lived at the Crystal Palace train stop in south London. Yes,…