My favourite music on YouTube
Monday, 18 September 2017
Friday, 16 September 2016
Sutton Bonington Campus - University of Nottingham
The weekend of September 10/11 2016 was a special time for Claire and I as we had decided to attend the 40th anniversary event for Sutton Bonington campus graduates from 1976. Yes, amazingly, it is 40 years since we graduated from Nottingham University!
We had a couple of days staying in Ashby-de-la-Zouch before the event. We visited assorted churches and cemeteries and made some good finds. Ashby seems busier than it used to be and our first house seemed smaller than we remembered it to be.
It rained quite hard on the Saturday morning but luckily the afternoon turned dry. There were about 30 of us, almost the same faces as 10 years ago. Even DK turned up in his wheelchair - "I fell off a ladder", he said. He seemed on good form and it was nice to see him. We stayed in one of the newer hostels beyond the old Hostel 5: goodness me the rooms seemed small although comfortable enough with those little bathroom "pods". The number of aircraft flying over seems to have gone up and some planes seem to arrive in the middle of the night.
We were amazed at all the new buildings, and extremely impressed with the quality of the facilities for modern students. There must have been many tens of millions of pounds spent on the site. Our jaws dropped at the (current) devastation where the JCR used to be. It is gone! A new mid-campus "Plaza" is being created: doubtless it will be wonderful when it is finished. The old Hostel 5 pond was long since filled in on safety grounds, only for modern designers/architects to add multiple new "designer" ponds elsewhere!
We had a meal together in the new facility (The Barn), but Martin and I didn't really think it was £30-worth. Sloppy pate starter with inadequate bread, and just carrots and mashed potato with the main course. Not very imaginative. But Sunday was sunny, and after a snacky breakfast in a café in the Costcutter shop on campus we went a walk down to the River Soar. Altogether a very enjoyable weekend. We will certainly like to attend the 50th and final reunion event in 2026.
We had a couple of days staying in Ashby-de-la-Zouch before the event. We visited assorted churches and cemeteries and made some good finds. Ashby seems busier than it used to be and our first house seemed smaller than we remembered it to be.
It rained quite hard on the Saturday morning but luckily the afternoon turned dry. There were about 30 of us, almost the same faces as 10 years ago. Even DK turned up in his wheelchair - "I fell off a ladder", he said. He seemed on good form and it was nice to see him. We stayed in one of the newer hostels beyond the old Hostel 5: goodness me the rooms seemed small although comfortable enough with those little bathroom "pods". The number of aircraft flying over seems to have gone up and some planes seem to arrive in the middle of the night.
I am second from the left
We were amazed at all the new buildings, and extremely impressed with the quality of the facilities for modern students. There must have been many tens of millions of pounds spent on the site. Our jaws dropped at the (current) devastation where the JCR used to be. It is gone! A new mid-campus "Plaza" is being created: doubtless it will be wonderful when it is finished. The old Hostel 5 pond was long since filled in on safety grounds, only for modern designers/architects to add multiple new "designer" ponds elsewhere!
We had a meal together in the new facility (The Barn), but Martin and I didn't really think it was £30-worth. Sloppy pate starter with inadequate bread, and just carrots and mashed potato with the main course. Not very imaginative. But Sunday was sunny, and after a snacky breakfast in a café in the Costcutter shop on campus we went a walk down to the River Soar. Altogether a very enjoyable weekend. We will certainly like to attend the 50th and final reunion event in 2026.
Friday, 1 July 2016
From the UK to the USA - grave hunting!
This 13 day holiday called America's Founding History was organised by Great Rail Journeys and as has always been the case with this company the holiday was well organised and highly enjoyable.
Holidays such as this are rather hostages to fortune with respect to the weather and the energy and enthusiasm of the tour guide. We were lucky in both respects. John Rayment was one of the best guides we have experienced and the weather, although hot and humid, was overwhelmingly dry.
We visited (in order) Washington DC, Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown, Lexington, Monticello, Charlottesville, Gettysburg and, finally, Philadelphia and, of course, we did some serious grave hunting along the way!
The only minor glitches were due to Amtrak and British Airways. The rail trip from Washington DC to Williamsburg was - to be blunt - something of a fiasco. The train arrived 45 minutes late at Washington and then fell further and further behind the advertised arrival times at assorted intermediate stops before finally arriving at Williamsburg nearly 2 hours late.
The outwards trip from London Heathrow to Washington by British Airways was excellent but the over-night homewards trip from Philadelphia was spectacularly bad.
Holidays such as this are rather hostages to fortune with respect to the weather and the energy and enthusiasm of the tour guide. We were lucky in both respects. John Rayment was one of the best guides we have experienced and the weather, although hot and humid, was overwhelmingly dry.
We visited (in order) Washington DC, Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown, Lexington, Monticello, Charlottesville, Gettysburg and, finally, Philadelphia and, of course, we did some serious grave hunting along the way!
Arlington National Cemetery - Joe Louis, World Heavyweight boxing champion.
Arlington National Cemetery - Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II.
The only minor glitches were due to Amtrak and British Airways. The rail trip from Washington DC to Williamsburg was - to be blunt - something of a fiasco. The train arrived 45 minutes late at Washington and then fell further and further behind the advertised arrival times at assorted intermediate stops before finally arriving at Williamsburg nearly 2 hours late.
The outwards trip from London Heathrow to Washington by British Airways was excellent but the over-night homewards trip from Philadelphia was spectacularly bad.
- The plane left Philadelphia nearly an hour late.
- The cabin was so cold that many people wore the supplied blanket over their head to mitigate the icy blasts coming from the overhead vents.
- The breakfast was both tiny and almost inedible. The croissant was so stale that it was solid and the Granola cereal fruit bar would not have been out of place as a surfacing material on a road.
- When we arrived at Heathrow there was nowhere for the plane to park and we just sat there for 20 minutes waiting for a slot to become vacant so that we could disembark.
Thursday, 17 March 2016
My Mother's diaries
For most of her married life my Mother kept a diary and these give an interesting insight into everyday life in English suburbia during the last third of the 20th century.
The first diary I have managed to locate is dated 1955. I was particularly pleased to find this one because I had been born in late 1954 so quite a few of the entries mention my early childhood. Sadly she stopped writing half way through the year and the next volume I have been able to locate is her Boots Diary for 1969. There is then an unbroken series of diaries covering her life right up to the time that vascular dementia kicked in - at which point she stopped writing regular entries.
The gradual decline of my paternal grand-parents is covered in poignant detail. They died aged 98 and 99 meaning that my father was 72, and so well into retirement, before he became an orphan. By contrast my wife reached this unhappy milestone when she was only 40. Both grand-parents said they were "ready to go" almost a decade before they actually died and the whole concept of them sitting around waiting to die is quite upsetting.
For many years my mother's closest friend was "Aunty" Chris. She lived in the same street as my parents and she and my mother had many interests in common - especially the Townswomen's Guild and its associated drama and poetry groups. The two of them would meet up two or three times a week and their respective lives were very much inter-twined.
Then Chris was taken ill and in a matter of a couple of months she was dead. My mother briefly mentioned going to her funeral and then nothing - she just put her sadness behind her and got on with her, rather more restricted, life. My mother was like that sometimes, some part of her emotional brain had been damaged by her very traumatic childhood and she was good at coping with sad events of this type.
It was noise that she couldn't stand. At various times in her daily dairy entries she would launch into a rant about the noise made by the boiler, the TV, the fridge or the school across the road. She would also worry about world events for a three week window just before the annual overseas holiday. Wherever in the world Mum and Dad were due to visit you could be almost certain that some related man-made or natural disaster would cause her to have sleepless nights.
The first diary I have managed to locate is dated 1955. I was particularly pleased to find this one because I had been born in late 1954 so quite a few of the entries mention my early childhood. Sadly she stopped writing half way through the year and the next volume I have been able to locate is her Boots Diary for 1969. There is then an unbroken series of diaries covering her life right up to the time that vascular dementia kicked in - at which point she stopped writing regular entries.
The gradual decline of my paternal grand-parents is covered in poignant detail. They died aged 98 and 99 meaning that my father was 72, and so well into retirement, before he became an orphan. By contrast my wife reached this unhappy milestone when she was only 40. Both grand-parents said they were "ready to go" almost a decade before they actually died and the whole concept of them sitting around waiting to die is quite upsetting.
For many years my mother's closest friend was "Aunty" Chris. She lived in the same street as my parents and she and my mother had many interests in common - especially the Townswomen's Guild and its associated drama and poetry groups. The two of them would meet up two or three times a week and their respective lives were very much inter-twined.
Then Chris was taken ill and in a matter of a couple of months she was dead. My mother briefly mentioned going to her funeral and then nothing - she just put her sadness behind her and got on with her, rather more restricted, life. My mother was like that sometimes, some part of her emotional brain had been damaged by her very traumatic childhood and she was good at coping with sad events of this type.
It was noise that she couldn't stand. At various times in her daily dairy entries she would launch into a rant about the noise made by the boiler, the TV, the fridge or the school across the road. She would also worry about world events for a three week window just before the annual overseas holiday. Wherever in the world Mum and Dad were due to visit you could be almost certain that some related man-made or natural disaster would cause her to have sleepless nights.
Sunday, 14 February 2016
If books had feelings some of mine would be crying today!
As my family will tell you I have lots of books. There are bookcases in my study (2), in the lounge, in the front hall and in the dining room (2) to say nothing of the many boxes of books that live in the utility room or in the walk-in wardrobe upstairs.
Once a book has been relegated to the boxes in the utility room they have little chance of every being read again. To slightly paraphrase my daughter, "I will store them there until I die, then somebody else will throw them away." Some of the boxes I looked at today had been sealed up for nearly 20 years which both amused and shocked me.
After many years of "living" in the dining room my set of Jennings books have been packed up and will probably not emerge into the daylight again in the foreseeable future. There are 23 novels in the series and it is a curious fact that although I have read some of the books many times there is one I have never seen, never mind read. Jennings at Large (#23) was an experiment by the author that didn't work according to many other enthusiasts and so I have never felt motivated to search for a copy.
The Jennings books are timeless in that the hero stays the same age throughout the series. This of course is a strength and a weakness but by the end of the 23 books all the best story lines have been used over and over again. Other series gradually allow the characters to age (The Lone Pine series does this) and the famous Chalet stories are spread out over many years and perhaps they benefit from this editorial decision.
Once a book has been relegated to the boxes in the utility room they have little chance of every being read again. To slightly paraphrase my daughter, "I will store them there until I die, then somebody else will throw them away." Some of the boxes I looked at today had been sealed up for nearly 20 years which both amused and shocked me.
After many years of "living" in the dining room my set of Jennings books have been packed up and will probably not emerge into the daylight again in the foreseeable future. There are 23 novels in the series and it is a curious fact that although I have read some of the books many times there is one I have never seen, never mind read. Jennings at Large (#23) was an experiment by the author that didn't work according to many other enthusiasts and so I have never felt motivated to search for a copy.
The Jennings books are timeless in that the hero stays the same age throughout the series. This of course is a strength and a weakness but by the end of the 23 books all the best story lines have been used over and over again. Other series gradually allow the characters to age (The Lone Pine series does this) and the famous Chalet stories are spread out over many years and perhaps they benefit from this editorial decision.
Wednesday, 3 February 2016
I received my first posthumous email today.
My long-time friend Charles died on Monday 1st February 2016 - and how did I know this? Because he told me!
When Charles found out last June that he was suffering from cancer he arranged with his daughter that as soon as he died a final message would be sent out to his various on-line friends scattered around the world. In practice Charles had so many different hobbies that he had to create four different messages and four different mailing lists that reflected the different aspects of his busy life!
I first came across Charles through our shared interest in amateur astronomy. He and I were part of a small group who used to exchange news and views a couple of times a month. But as the years went by our numbers gradually reduced. Hannah died, far too young, and we were down to four and then in 2013 two other members gave up practical astronomy as advancing years and retreating finances took their toll. Eventually Charles, my friend and sounding board in the USA, also decided to retire from the wonderful world of science to take up golf and fossil hunting and after a long and amusing "do you remember when" email he and I went our separate ways.
And now he is gone. None of my close family knew Charles, except perhaps as a name I mentioned occasionally, so there is nobody to share my loss. I suspect that many of us have E-pals or Internet Friends and sometimes, if you are anything like me, one of them will suddenly vanish from your in box and you will be left wondering what happened to them. I think the idea of a posthumous email is both considerate and quite poignant and it certainly something that members of this group might want to consider creating.
When Charles found out last June that he was suffering from cancer he arranged with his daughter that as soon as he died a final message would be sent out to his various on-line friends scattered around the world. In practice Charles had so many different hobbies that he had to create four different messages and four different mailing lists that reflected the different aspects of his busy life!
I first came across Charles through our shared interest in amateur astronomy. He and I were part of a small group who used to exchange news and views a couple of times a month. But as the years went by our numbers gradually reduced. Hannah died, far too young, and we were down to four and then in 2013 two other members gave up practical astronomy as advancing years and retreating finances took their toll. Eventually Charles, my friend and sounding board in the USA, also decided to retire from the wonderful world of science to take up golf and fossil hunting and after a long and amusing "do you remember when" email he and I went our separate ways.
And now he is gone. None of my close family knew Charles, except perhaps as a name I mentioned occasionally, so there is nobody to share my loss. I suspect that many of us have E-pals or Internet Friends and sometimes, if you are anything like me, one of them will suddenly vanish from your in box and you will be left wondering what happened to them. I think the idea of a posthumous email is both considerate and quite poignant and it certainly something that members of this group might want to consider creating.
Thursday, 14 January 2016
The War-Graves of the Western Front 1914-1918
The Arras War Graves and Memorials
The Menin Gate Memorial
Published June 2015 and now available from Amazon.
The Thiepval War Graves and Memorials
The Tyne Cot War Graves and Memorials
Published June 2015 and now available from Amazon.
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
The Cambridge American Cemetery
The Cambridge American Cemetery
by
About the author - Martin Nicholson and his wife Claire Nicholson own one of the largest archives of grave related photographs in the world. A selection of their work appears in the blog "Grave Mistakes" that has had over 400,000 hits since it was launched in 2013. Other examples appear in the Facebook group "Social History" where Martin acts as the group administrator.
This book is compiled from the records maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) of servicemen and women killed or missing since April 6th 1917. The ABMC lists over 218,000 names of dead and missing service personnel. Of these just over 8,900 (4.1%) are to be found at the Cambridge American Cemetery. The book is divided into sections that contain details of the location within the cemetery of the service personnel who were one of two or less of their particular service rank or were only members of a unit who lost their lives. Every life lost as a result of military service is a tragedy for the family and friends of the individual, and this book does not seek to imply that those listed here are any more deserving of memory than those not selected.
The Honolulu Memorial - An explorers guide
The Honolulu Memorial - An explorers guide
Published January 2016 and now available from Amazon.
This book is compiled from the records maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) of servicemen and women killed or missing since April 6th 1917.
The ABMC lists over 218,000 names of dead and missing service personnel. Of these just over 28,780 (13.2%) are to be found at the Honolulu Memorial which is located within the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
The book is divided into sections that contain details of the location within the site where service personnel who were one of five or less of their particular service rank to lose their lives are commemorated.
Every life lost as a result of military service is a tragedy for the family and friends of the individual, and this book does not seek to imply that those listed here are any more deserving of memory than those not selected.
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Martin Nicholson - Ticklerton Barn, Ticklerton, Church Stretton, Shropshire, UK
Unique Commonwealth War Graves - a new 6 volume worldwide survey
Unique United Kingdom War Graves and Memorials Worldwide
Published December 2015 and now available from Amazon.
This book is compiled from the records maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission of servicemen and women killed or missing since the start of the First World War in 1914.
The book is subdivided into three separate sections. The first contains details of the location of the grave or memorial that is the only one in a particular country. The second and third sections contain details of the locations of the graves or memorials naming United Kingdom servicemen or women who were the only representative of their rank or unit anywhere in the world to lose their lives.
The other books in this series, for the war graves of other Commonwealth nationalities, also include a section listing those cemeteries worldwide that include only one grave or name on a memorial of a serviceman or woman of that nationality. This has proved impractical for United Kingdom service personnel because of the huge number of such sites, both in the UK and worldwide. However this additional list is available via e-mail for any reader who requires it, on request to the author.
Every life lost as a result of military service is a tragedy for the family and friends of the individual, and this book does not seek to imply that those listed here are any more deserving of memory than those not selected.
The CWGC lists over 1,282,000 names of dead or missing United Kingdom service personnel who are remembered at locations worldwide. Of these 559,808 (43.7%) were Privates but only one was a Nursing Assistant.
In the same series
Unique Australian War Graves and Memorials Worldwide
Unique Canadian War Graves and Memorials Worldwide
Unique Indian War Graves and Memorials Worldwide
Unique New Zealand War Graves and Memorials Worldwide
Unique South African War Graves and Memorials Worldwide
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Martin Nicholson - Ticklerton Barn, Ticklerton, Church Stretton, Shropshire
Thursday, 31 December 2015
Review of 2015
Although 2015 has been an enjoyable and productive year not everything has gone exactly the way I would have expected.
- I got quite close to resigning from being a school governor - after 32 years service in assorted schools and colleges. Then, rather unexpectedly, a new series of challenges fell into my lap and I felt sufficiently motivated to carry on.
- My postal history research has pretty much ground to a halt. There are several incomplete projects sitting on my study table but at the moment I lack to time, energy and enthusiasm to do anything with them. Much the same has happened with my South African postcard collection - nobody out there seems interested in the social history of South Africa pre-union and I don't seem to get the pleasure I used to get from working on these things on my own.
- Claire and I finished our survey of Herefordshire Churches, Churchyards and Cemeteries and we have now turned our attention to Worcestershire. We have sold 364 books in the last 365 days which is vastly more than I would ever have predicted. It was quite an experience "appearing" on Radio Shropshire and giving a talk to the local Probus group on our favourite topic.
- Our former neighbour Betty died in late January. She was a character in the very nicest sense of the word. Julie Bourchier, a former work colleague from my time in Somerset, died far too young in May. Eli and Flora have joined our extended family in 2015 to take their places.
- We had a lovely day with other family members at Blist Hill Victorian town and we also attended my Auntie Margaret’s 90th birthday party over in Cambridge.
- The Christmas family gathering was great fun even if it was all rather hectic.
- The three young people I mentor continue to thrive despite the very casual approach of the project organisers who spent all the available money on staff salaries leaving nothing for the travel expenses of the volunteers such as me!
- The electrics for the outside lights remain a problem that seems to be unresolvable at the moment.
Sunday, 13 December 2015
Beyond the Messier and Caldwell Catalogues
If you subscribe to one of the magazines that cater for amateur astronomers you will soon realise that the same few objects are mentioned again and again as suitable targets for owners of small telescopes. I am, of course, referring to those listed in the Messier catalogue.
However there is a limit to how many times an object can be viewed or imaged before boredom sets in. So it is hardly surprising that more active observers started looking for advice on possible deep-sky objects “beyond the Messier catalogue”. Many other lists of astronomical targets have been compiled. Perhaps the best known of these is the Herschel 400. All 400 targets can be seen with a 6 inch telescope from a moderately dark site.
These lists seem to have one important feature in common – they are sub-sets extracted from much larger catalogues using a range of selection criteria that are not always well explained.
My lists of targets are not like these others. I have discovered all these objects myself: either by direct observation or via data mining.
This new book is now available from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
Grave Hunting - Tips and Tales
CONTENTS
- Introduction Why go grave hunting?
- How to hunt for gravestones safely.
- When to go grave-hunting.
- How to find the grave that you want.
- Photograph the gravestones you have discovered.
- Should you clean the gravestones?
- Keeping records during your graveyard visits.
- Do look inside the church.
- Be polite and respectful.
- Churchyard maintenance.
- How do I find every church?
- Survival tips!
- Potential technical disasters.
- Publicise the results of your grave-hunts.
- Contact with other grave-hunters.
- What else have we learned?
- Research Unexpected pleasures (and disappointments).
- These are gravestones, but you have to laugh sometimes…..!
- Review of our year of 2015.
- More projects.
- Conclusion.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Death, Disaster and the South Wales Railways: Volume 1 (Social History Today)
Death, Disaster and the South Wales Railways
This book is available from Amazon
CONTENTS
A MAN DECAPITATED ON THE TAFF VALE RAILWAY IN 1900
THE TAFF VALE RAILWAY STRIKE OF 1900
A FATAL FIGHT AT MERTHYR RAILWAY STATION IN 1901
A FATAL COLLISON ON THE SOUTH WALES MINERAL RAILWAY
THE USE OF BRAKE VANS ON THE TAFF VALE RAILWAY
A BOILER EXPLOSION ON THE RHYMNEY RAILWAY AT CARDIFF DOCKS
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Martin Nicholson - Ticklerton Barn, Ticklerton, Church Stretton, Shropshire
The South African Picture Postcard Catalogue
Both these volumes are available from Amazon
As a former stamp collector the idea of conducting my hobby without the use of a full-colour priced catalogue would have seemed ridiculous. Many such catalogues are produced each year - ranging in scope from those covering the whole world in a highly simplified format to others covering the issues of a single country in great detail. It therefore came as a great surprise to me to discover that no catalogue had been produced covering the activities of the many postcard publishers who had been in business in South Africa in the early part of the twentieth century. Starting in the 1980's the now defunct Southern Africa Postcard Research Group (SAPRG) under the leadership of Aston (Archie) Atkinson published a number of preliminary checklists of publishers and the cards they had produced. It soon became clear that these lists, although admirable starting points, were far from complete and it was for this reason that I proposed the compilation and subsequent publication of the South African Picture Postcard Catalogue.
Martin Nicholson - Ticklerton Barn, Ticklerton, Church Stretton, Shropshire
Saturday, 28 November 2015
Unusual gravestones - a new book for grave hunters
Unusual gravestones
About the authors - Martin and Claire Nicholson own one of the largest archives of grave related photographs in the world. A selection of their work appears in the blog "Grave Mistakes" that has had over a quarter of a million hits since it was launched in 2013. Other examples appear in the Facebook group "Social History" where Martin acts as the group administrator.
The authors have viewed millions of gravestones, and are offering readers a selection of the rare and unusual gravestones that they have seen, with full-colour illustrations. Each category of type of gravestone, age of person, cause of death, rare names, and errors found on gravestones are given a points score to indicate rarity.
Specimen pages from Amazon previewer
Martin Nicholson - Ticklerton Barn, Ticklerton, Church Stretton, Shropshire
Unusual Commonwealth War Graves - The country catalogues
Unusual Commonwealth War Graves Vol 1 - United Kingdom
Published June 2015 and now available from Amazon.
This book is compiled from the records maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission of servicemen and women killed or missing since the start of the First World War in 1914.
The book is subdivided into separate nationalities – British, Australian, Canadian, South African, Indian, New Zealander, and the Merchant Navy. The first list contains details of the location of the grave or memorial in the U.K. naming servicemen or women of each nationality who were one of five or less of their particular service rank who lost their lives.
The second list contains details of the location of the grave or memorial in the U.K. naming servicemen or women of each nationality who were one of five or less of their particular regiment or service who lost their lives.
Every life lost as a result of military service is a tragedy for the family and friends of the individual, and this book does not seek to imply that those listed here are any more deserving of memory than those not selected.
The book shows the wide range of units from which only a handful, or even a single, life was lost, and also the wide range of ranks where also only a handful, or even a single, holder of that rank is commemorated in the United Kingdom. The CWGC lists 307,131 names of dead and missing service personnel and members of the Merchant Navy who are remembered at locations in the United Kingdom. Of these 61,064 (19.9%) were private soldiers but only 1 was an Artificer Engine Room 5th Class.
In the same series
Unusual Commonwealth War Graves Vol 2 - France
Unusual Commonwealth War Graves Vol 3 - Belgium
Unusual Commonwealth War Graves Vol 4 - Iraq
Unusual Commonwealth War Graves Vol 5 - Germany
Unusual Commonwealth War Graves Vol 6 - Egypt
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Martin Nicholson - Ticklerton Barn, Ticklerton, Church Stretton, Shropshire
Four books on world famous military cemeteries
Vol 1 - The Arras War Graves and Memorials
This book is compiled from the records maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission of servicemen and women killed or missing since the start of the First World War in 1914.
The first section contains details of the location on the Arras Memorial of servicemen or women who were one of five or less of their particular service rank or unit who lost their lives. I have also identified where winners of the Victoria Cross can be found.
The second section contains details of the location on the Arras Flying Service Memorial of servicemen or women who were one of five or less of their particular service rank or unit who lost their lives.
The third section contains details of the location of the graves in the Faubourg D’Amiens Cemetery naming servicemen or women who were one of five or less of their particular regiment or service who lost their lives.
Every life lost as a result of military service is a tragedy for the family and friends of the individual, and this book does not seek to imply that those listed here are any more deserving of memory than those not selected. The book shows the wide range of units from which only a handful, or even a single, life was lost, and also the wide range of ranks where also only a handful, or even a single, holder of that rank is commemorated in Arras.
The CWGC lists 584,992 names of dead and missing service personnel who are remembered at locations in France. Of these just over 38,489 (6.6%) are to be found in the three sites in Arras studied in this survey.
The first section contains details of the location on the Arras Memorial of servicemen or women who were one of five or less of their particular service rank or unit who lost their lives. I have also identified where winners of the Victoria Cross can be found.
The second section contains details of the location on the Arras Flying Service Memorial of servicemen or women who were one of five or less of their particular service rank or unit who lost their lives.
The third section contains details of the location of the graves in the Faubourg D’Amiens Cemetery naming servicemen or women who were one of five or less of their particular regiment or service who lost their lives.
Every life lost as a result of military service is a tragedy for the family and friends of the individual, and this book does not seek to imply that those listed here are any more deserving of memory than those not selected. The book shows the wide range of units from which only a handful, or even a single, life was lost, and also the wide range of ranks where also only a handful, or even a single, holder of that rank is commemorated in Arras.
The CWGC lists 584,992 names of dead and missing service personnel who are remembered at locations in France. Of these just over 38,489 (6.6%) are to be found in the three sites in Arras studied in this survey.
In the same series
Vol 2 - The Menin Gate Memorial
Vol 2 - The Menin Gate Memorial
Now available from Amazon.
Vol 3 - The Thiepval War Graves and Memorials
Now available from Amazon.
Vol 4 - The Tyne Cot War Graves and Memorials
Now available from Amazon.
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Martin Nicholson - Ticklerton Barn, Ticklerton, Church Stretton, Shropshire
Book piracy and the Cockrill series 29 to 32
If you own any of the 4 books I wrote on Nigerian Postal History
there is a fairly good chance that you have a pirated copy!
The four books were:
1. Cockrill
Series - No. 29, “The Stamps and Postal History of the Niger Territories and
the Niger Coast Protectorate”.
2. Cockrill
Series - No. 30, “The Local Bisects & Surcharges of the Oil Rivers and
Niger Coast, 1893-1894”.
3. Cockrill
Series - No. 31, “The Stamps and Postal History of Southern Nigeria”.
4. Cockrill
Series - No. 32, “The Stamps and Postal History of Northern Nigeria”.
The only copies that are genuine are those that identify
Philip Cockrill as the publisher and that have my former address in Somerset on
the back cover. All other copies were produced entirely without my knowledge or
consent. There never has been an “authorized reprint” by Mervyn Todd – or
indeed by anybody else - of any of these books.
In the
High Court of Justice Chancery Division on 20 September 2013 the long running
dispute between Mr Mervyn Todd and Mr Martin Nicholson in respect of the
so-called "authorized reprints" of Cockrill booklets #29, 30, 31 and
32 was resolved.
Mr
Todd paid an agreed sum to Mr Nicholson for compensation and costs. Mr Todd
also "acknowledges that Mr Nicholson was, is and remains the
copyright holder of the four books."
I thought the judge was very patient with Mr Todd and his
total lack of knowledge of copyright law!
Amusingly Mr Todd subsequently tried to save face by
claiming, “… we mutually agreed that neither of us could prove copyright
convincingly …” . This is entirely untrue.
If you do have a pirated copy I would be grateful if you
would email me with details of where and when it was purchased.
Sunday, 11 October 2015
Living in the border lands
Living in the border lands
It is totally undefended and passage in either direction
is entirely unregulated. There are no “border controls” and it is only on the
major roads that there is even a sign to tell travellers that they have crossed
from one country to the other. Any English or Scottish person can move to live
and work in Wales without permission.
To an outsider this casual approach might seem rather strange
especially once they realise that Wales now has its own Parliament and some of
its laws are different from those that apply in England. The Welsh people even have
their own language, and in a few areas it is still the first language of the
residents, though everyone also speaks English.
It is thought important to preserve the language, so all road signs have
both languages as soon as the border is crossed, and children in Welsh schools
are taught the Welsh language.
There are many castles along the border between Wales and
England that date from the time when the English and Welsh felt the need to
build defences against each other. Some
are almost total ruins, others are well preserved, and all are now popular
tourist attractions, many on hilltops and in isolated positions. In 1282 King
Edward I of England won control of Wales, though some hostility continued for
another 200 years.
Our passports declare that we belong to The United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles and to the west of it
is the island of Ireland. Great Britain is comprised of England, Wales, and
Scotland and all three used to be politically separate countries.
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