Arnhem & Operation Market Garden

Nov 06, 18 Arnhem & Operation Market Garden

Posted by in Holland, Miscellaneous, Travel

To celebrate my impending “big birthday” my in-laws gave me a VERY special early birthday present – A trip to Arnhem to visit the Airborn Museum 🙂

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Queensland Maritime Museum

Apr 03, 18 Queensland Maritime Museum

Posted by in Singapore & Australia 2018, Travel

Another great day with our Aussie family … this time at Brisbane’s Maritime Museum where there was an exhibition on the RAN in WWI which included details of HMAS AE2 – the first allied (& Australian) submarine to pierce the Turkish Dardanelle defences at the start of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign. On board was no less that Sylvan’s Great Grandfather Stoker Horace James Harding!

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A Great Day for a History Nerd…

Sep 01, 17 A Great Day for a History Nerd…

Posted by in France 2017, Travel

What a great day for a history nerd Visited Fontevraud … burial place of Henry II, the redoubtable Eleanor of Aquitaine, her son the mighty Richard the Lionheart and centre of their Angevin...

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Megalithic Menhir Madness ?

Aug 29, 17 Megalithic Menhir Madness ?

Posted by in France 2017, Travel

Our first visit to the megalithic spectacular that is Carnac, the largest megalithic site in the world, in southern Brittany

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Some notes on a not so ‘Civil War’

Jun 08, 12 Some notes on a not so ‘Civil War’

Posted by in Cambridgeshire 2012, Miscellaneous, Travel

The Civil War in England broke out in in August 1642. On one side stood King Charles I, and his supporters and on the other, men like Oliver Cromwell who believed that the king was a tyrant. War spread to Scotland, Ireland and Wales and lasted nearly nine years. Families and friends found themselves on opposite sides but were prepared to fight each other to the death.

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Cromwell Country

Jun 07, 12 Cromwell Country

Posted by in Cambridgeshire 2012, Travel

The area around Cambridge can definitely be described as “Cromwell Country”. His influence and memory can be seen everywhere. Accordingly we immersed ourselves in exploring his historical legacy today by visiting his house in Ely. It was great to walk through the house where this great man lived, worked and planned the...

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The Queen … Our Duke

Jun 04, 12 The Queen … Our Duke

Posted by in Cambridgeshire 2012, Miscellaneous, Travel

“The Queen, Our Duke” – an odd thing to say, especially in a loyal toast to the English Sovereign. Nonetheless whenever Channel Islanders raise their glasses to her majesty that’s the toast that will be made.

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Norfolk Island … a potted history

Mar 21, 12 Norfolk Island … a potted history

Posted by in Singapore-Sydney-Norfolk 2012, Travel

Norfolk Island is situated some 1,500 kilometres from Sydney and 1,060 kilometres from Auckland. It is an island with an unusual & chequered history. Discovery and First Settlement Discovered by Captain Cook during his second voyage in 1774, Norfolk Island was initially used as a penal colony. The first penal colony was...

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Singapore -Origins

Mar 15, 12

Sir Stamford Thomas Raffles (1781-1826) first set foot on the island of Singapore on 29th January 1819 which was then just a small fishing village. Raffles, an agent of the British East India Company ventured to Singapore hoping to establish a free port and a halfway point for traders along the China-India trade routes. After...

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