Category Archives: History

Today we remember Charles I, executed this day in 1649. At 2 o clock in the afternoon Charles went through the open middle window of the great Banqueting Hall on Whitehall, to stand on the scaffold that had been erected. He handed the jewel of the George and Garter to Bishop Juxon and laid his [...]

When I was Secretary of State for Wales, the National Coal Board was embarked on a substantial pits closure programme. In each case they reported to the Energy Minister and Secretary of State (DTI) that the particular pit was worked out. They claimed to have surveyed it accurately, and discovered either that there was no [...]

On 17th January 1912 Captain Robert Scott of the Royal Navy reached the South Pole. On his arrival he discovered that his Norwegian rival Amundsen had made it a month earlier, claiming the title of first man to set foot on the southern most place on earth. This event became one of the most heroic [...]

On January 4th 1642 Charles I attempted to arrest five Members of Parliament in the Commons. The day before the Kings Attorney General had accused Lord Mandeville, and the five members, of High Treason in the Lords. As a result John Pym MP, John Hampden MP, Arthur Haslerig MP, Denzil Holles MP and William Strode [...]

Today is the anniversary of two different unions that have had a profound effect on the UK and its people. The first was the Union of Ireland with England, Scotland and Wales on 1st January 1801. It was a union that many Catholics never wanted. Its early years were made worse for the Catholic majority [...]

??1066 and all that?? told us there were only two memorable dates in English history, 55 BC (Caesars invasion) and 1066 (The Norman Conquest). By the same standard there is only one memorable day and month date in English history ?? the 5th November (Gunpowder Plot). The present government has had a very poor understanding [...]

As dusk fell on 29th December 1170 the four knights came into Canterbury Cathedral from the cloister. The monks had barred the doors against them,but Becket had them unlocked, with the words ??I will not have the Church made a castle??. The Knights accused him of treachery to the King. Becket responded ?? I am [...]