History Shorts: snippets of local history

According to Wikipedia, this is a Palladian villa built in the 1750s-60s for Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, a British diplomat and general, with grounds later landscaped by Capability Brown. The old village of Nuneham Courtenay was uprooted to make way for the house and grounds and was recreated a mile away on the Oxford to Dorchester road (now the A4074). Destruction of the old village has been linked to the Deserted Village, in the poem of that name by Oliver Goldsmith. During World War II, it was used by the RAF, home to a photographic reconnaissance interpretation unit. It is now owned by Oxford University (their Harcourt Arboretum is also nearby) and the building used as a retreat centre.

Titanic Belfast visit , a set on Flickr. I was able to fit in a visit to the Titanic Belfast building recently and was very impressed with the experience. On the plus sides, it focuses quite heavily on the industrial history of Belfast and Northern Ireland to good effect (such as the Shipyard Ride), the cabin recreations are fascinating, the building itself is of course striking and the public spaces around have been landscaped in an interesting manner. The gift shop, perhaps not surprisingly, falls a little on the side of bad taste - after all, this was a shipping disaster, not really a reason for keyrings and chocolates! However, such a modern tourist facility does need to turn a profit so it's hardly surprising to see a range of tie-in tat on offer. All in all we probably spent almost 4 hours touring the exhibition - it's very in-depth and was also very busy, good to see for business but it made some of the areas quite claustroph

Victorian postbox , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. One of two Victorian letter boxes I'm aware of in Abingdon. There are also several GR letter boxes around. Just a minor, almost mundane slice of local history!

3 Lombard Street, Margate, late 1890s? Mystery finally solved! , a photo by whatsthatpicture on Flickr. I just discovered this Flickr photostream via a HistoryPin tweet on Twitter - it caused me to delve a little more into some of the other photos available on the stream. The one I've selected above literally made me go Wow! As one of the comments state, this is an example of Flickr at its best. It's really a type of crowd-sourcing or, to borrow a phrase, citizen history. Terrific local history debate from several contributors in the comments section, and it makes me even more determined to scan the old photos that I have!

Roaming around the British Newspaper Archive today, I came across some adverts from the London Standard which do feel a little bizarre by today's standards! Personals: B*****. De W – You have been traced. Write and give E.P. an explanation, also W., or immediate proceedings will be taken. – F.D. Green Bushes. – Dangerously ill. Mind unhinged. Shop closed: not take sufficient pay rent. Pray  help before Tuesday or will lose all. Ruined. Mother cannot help. What will become our darling. I.V.O.R – I know there is an impassable gulf between us now. Don’t throw across a relic of happier time when you loved and trusted me. It was given on certain conditions and I can only take it from your hand. If you will not see me call for letter. Perhaps your turn has come. Be generous and spare me. Slater's Detective Agency:   Before commencing Divorce proceedings consult Henry Slater, who will obtain all available reliable evidence. Consultations free. Successful in ever

I had read a lot about the secret side of ‘underground London’ for a while without tasting too much of the real thing: the odd surface remnant of a disused tube station being the height of it. So I was delighted then to stumble across news that London Transport Museum were again hosting visits inside the disused Aldwych station, which had closed to passengers in September 1994. The tours sold out sharpish but I managed to get a couple of tickets in time! There is definitely a sense of excitement about getting a glimpse of something that has been ‘hidden’, even in relatively recent history. Even when in use, Aldwych (which opened as the Strand station in November 1907 on the site of a demolished theatre) had an aura of sadness about it, and not just because the ghost of a theatre actress allegedly haunts one of the platforms!. Despite bigger plans on several occasions, it only ever existed as a small branch line from Holborn and was under-used by passengers throughout its hi

Green man , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. I've just spotted in the Radio Times that Dr Richard Taylor's excellent Churches: How to Read Them series is getting a repeat run on BBC4. (Tonight, Nov 30, is episode 2 Medieval Life - try to tune in if you haven't seen it. There's also a DVD or iPlayer!). In a (very) little nod to the series I'm blogging this photo of a carved Green Man from All Saints Church, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire! (The church was built in the late 12th century although includes later additions.)