Absent but Dear

This evening I had the magical experience of watching my favourite Christmas film in the comfort of Salisbury Cathedral. Definitely won’t forget this 🎄

Come with me to the oldest coffee house in London, The Jamaica Wine House.

Tucked away down a narrow street, the Jamaica Wine House is built on the site of the first coffee house in London which opened in 1652 on Cornhill.

The coffee house was founded by Pasqua Rosée, who was one of the first people to introduce coffee to England after bringing it from the Ottoman Empire.

These early coffee houses quickly became important meeting places for businessmen, politicians and intellectuals and was where many Londoners first tried coffee, which was a strange new drink at the time.

After Rosée opened his establishment, the number of coffee houses increased rapidly. By 1708 there were between 500 and 600 across London and Westminster, with many more appearing in provincial towns and cities.

The original coffee house premises were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The site is now occupied by a late Victorian building, which today houses the Jamaica Wine House pub.

The original step into the building has been worn down over hundreds of years of use.

Currently at the filming location of one of my favourite ever films Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. The church scene was filmed here at St Batholomew the Great, one of the oldest churches in London. It was built in 1123 by a courtier of King Henry I. Will do a write up when I’m back!

Good evening from Anne Boleyn’s Great Kitchen, now known as the Inner Hall.

To think the food King Henry VIII ate whilst visiting Hever Castle was cooked here. The thick stone walls of the original castle are still evident in the window recesses.

Hever Castle at Christmas is something else🎄

Dr. Phene's house, also known as the "Mystery House" or "Gingerbread Castle," was an eccentric building located at the corner of Oakley Street and Upper Cheyne Row in Chelsea, London.

Built by John Phene, a developer and architect, it was adorned with architectural relics and was a replica of his family's French chateau. Sadly the house was demolished in 1917 and the site is now occupied by 32 Oakley Street.

Today I added another Victorian photo album to my large collection. Lots of names written on the back of most of the photos. I will have lots of fun researching the Baskin family from Aylesbury. Do you own any Victorian albums? I’d love to see!

Nurse Tremlow, monthly nurse, in retirement, circa early 1900s

Nurse Tremlow, photographed here, was a monthly nurse who cared for women during the first month after childbirth. She attended Helen Lucas Tooth as well as members of the English and German royal families. On the walls are pictures of her employers in her almshouse at Langley near Slough in Buckinghamshire, England, in the early 20th century.

📸 Iconographic Collection
L0035991

We've all used the phrase "laughing my head off" but do we know the history behind it?

On 9th April 1747, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, was executed on Tower Hill in London by the headsman John Thrift. Lovat was the Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat and, by most accounts, he was not a particularly pleasant man. He had a violent streak and a very cunning mind. During the 45 Uprising he forced his son to fight with the Jacobites, while he himself claimed to be loyal to King George the Second and insisted that his son’s actions were entirely against his wishes.

After the Jacobites were defeated at Culloden, the government quickly uncovered his deception and he fled into hiding in the Highlands. He was eventually found on an island in Loch Morar and taken to London. There he faced a trial that lasted five days, during which evidence was given against him by the fellow Jacobite John Murray of Broughton. He was sentenced to beheading on the 19th March 1747.

Shortly before the ex*****on a spectator scaffold collapsed, killing around 9 people, which greatly amused him. It is said that Lovat was laughing at the scene even as the ex*****oner’s axe came down. That was the end of Simon Fraser, and it is from this moment that the phrase laughing your head off is said to have begun.

Today i’m in the church of St Cuthberga, Wimborne, Dorset and came across the fragments of a medieval wall mural.

Some of the painting survived beneath the limewash until the 19th century, but unfortunately it was destroyed when it was uncovered during restoration work in 1861.

Before the Reformation, the walls of the church would have been completely covered with paintings of Biblical scenes, saints, moral tales and decorative motifs. The roof timbers would have been painted, the windows filled with stained glass, and a painted rood screen would have divided the nave from the chancel. Inside, the church would have appeared dark yet richly coloured.

After the break with Rome, figurative imagery quickly fell out of favour, and by the time of the Civil War and the rise of Puritanism a century later, it was effectively banned. Sculptures were smashed, paintings and screens burnt, and wall paintings covered with limewash. Within just a few generations, the church had been transformed from a mass of colour into the plain, simple interior we recognise today. Wall painting continued for a time in the form of Biblical and religious texts, with the occasional figurative subject, but the age of rich imagery had passed.

The only painting now visible is in a niche in the north transept. Although the image is confused and appears to contain five fragmentary layers, the main subject can still be identified as the Crucifixion.

The Holy Austin Rock Houses, Kinver, Staffordshire

The Holy Austin Rock Houses are a group of homes carved directly into sandstone cliffs at Kinver Edge, near the village of Kinver in Staffordshire, England. These unusual dwellings are thought to have been occupied for several centuries, with some records suggesting they were already in use by the seventeenth century, though the exact date of their origin is uncertain.

The houses were cut into the soft rock by hand, creating small rooms that stayed cool in summer and warm in winter. Over time, people added proper doors, windows, and even chimneys, turning the caves into comfortable homes. Families lived there for generations, forming a small community on the hillside.

By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the rock houses had become a local curiosity, attracting visitors who came to see the unique cliffside homes. However, by the 1950s, most residents had moved out, as modern housing became available and living conditions improved elsewhere.

In the 1960s, the National Trust took over the site and began restoring it. Today, the Holy Austin Rock Houses are open to visitors and they will be on my visit list next year!

📸 Graham Hogg

William Harvey, saddler, of 102 Heaton Lane, Stockport, stands outside his shop in Wilmslow.

Drinking beer after a long day in the field with only water to drink, Bradford Peverell, Dorset