Lockdown doesn’t mean the learning has to stop – here’s what we’ve learned during our daily exercise!
The quintessentially English village of Lavenham has a proud history. Once among the twenty wealthiest settlements in England during medieval times, today it is a popular destination for people from across the country.
I have lived in the same house in Talbot Park all my life and a 5-minute walk from the small woodland of Talbot Village, established by the Talbot sisters in the mid-19th century.
Known as a popular walking spot for Royal Holloway Students, this might still be one of the most underappreciated places in the area – until lockdown happened and the people of Surrey and Berkshire rediscovered the park as their nearest green place for daily exercise. Windsor Great Park – under which name this specific place is best known - is Grade I listed but the only royal park not directly managed by The Royal Parks. This open space will treat its visitors with more surprising sites the further one ventures in, featuring an obelisk and a much-loved Canadian totem pole.
The main player in the story of the Pentrich Revolution was Jeremiah Brandreth, a disenchanted Framework Knitter, who had been egged on by a mysterious man, only known as Oliver the Spy. This mysterious figure has been the centre of much speculation, but many believe he was a government spy hired to incite revolution in the Midlands to ensure an example could be made, especially as the Luddites in the area were still within memory. The group of up to 400 men hoped to march to Nottingham, but never got that far. Many deserted and there was a shootout with a local family, which killed a man and led to their eventual capture.
During the Second World War, there were over thirty airbases located in Norfolk occupied by the US Eighth Air Force and a variety of Royal Air Force (RAF) units. These airbases were fulfilling different missions in the fight against Axis Powers. One of the most top-secret bases of the war was located just outside Fersfield, a village consisting of farm buildings, a church, and a tiny population. It was here that the brother of a future president lost his life while the RAF launched missions to help their covert intelligence operations in Europe.
If I mentioned the Castleman Corkscrew to fellow Dorset residents, it is unlikely that they would really know what I am talking about. They might, however, be familiar with the Castleman Trailway, which is a 16.5 mile way-marked footpath from Poole to Ringwood...
Follow a narrow wooded path at the end of my street, and you will come to a clearing. Here, you are met with a choice. Walk straight ahead over a stream and through the fields and you will reach Hockley, the village where my grandparents used to live. Go right, following the stream past the lake, and you will reach Southend, its busy roads indicating a clear route towards the town centre. Head left, and you’ll get lost in the woods which lead to Rayleigh, a small historic town...
The Doncaster Racecourse is one of the most famous landmarks in the town. Situated about fifteen minutes away from my house, it is one of the sights I see on my various daily walks.
Housebound Histories 