In The Day Parliament Burned Down, I have attempted to provide as detailed an account of the disaster as possible, using a wide range of official reports, public records, eyewitness correspondence, contemporary diaries, periodicals and newspapers. On their own, each would provide a skewed and confusing picture of what happened, but when set side-by-side, I hope […]
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Parliament Buildings of the World: No 6 – Israel
A recent trip to Jerusalem included a visit to the Knesset. Getting there on foot is quite hard work: up a modern hairpin road on a steep hill outside West Jerusalem (should have taken the bus). Approached from the back, it was rather forbidding because of the high security fence around it, and the untended grounds on […]
The Timetravelling Beer Drinker
The cost of a pint of beer in 1834 was a ha’penny. That’s right, a ha’penny. Half a penny. In today’s money the cost is even more surprising: a pint cost the equivalent of just 16p. Why is that? Well, there are all sorts of factors to be taken into account apart simply from inflation […]
North, South, East or Westminster?
You may have seen a story in the news that there is an early day motion being set down in the House of Commons for the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster (officially ‘St Stephen’s Tower’ but better known as “Big Ben”, which is in fact the name of the Hour Bell) to be renamed the Elizabeth […]
My Fantasy Writing Shed
I really want a shed. A big glamorous shed to write in. Regular followers of this blog will know that I write in the cellar, which is in fact a lined basement also doubling as a dining room and household store. Recently things have improved down there, with the addition of a whole wall of […]
In Other (1834) News…
I admit to becoming totally obsessed with the 1834 fire at Parliament over the last couple of years. Several diarists and commentators at the time also got fed up with the blanket coverage of the disaster, as this bad-tempered columnist indicates: “The newspapers have rioted and revel[l]ed in this fire so much, have dallied so […]
