The Coronation Written by PAM PREEDY, historian & author. There have been 39 coronation ceremonies for monarchs held in England. The first can be traced to the ceremony devised by Saint Dunstan for King Edgar’s crowning at Bath Abbey in 973AD (CE). The earliest form of an oath was an oral contract between a monarch and their people. The crown may have been an ornate helmet. At this time there was no immediate (or automatic) right of succession, and so a coronation was an essential rite of passage. Nowadays, a…
Category: Local History
Pigeons in war
Pigeons in war Written by PAM PREEDY, historian & author. The messenger birds. Pigeons have been used to send messages since around 1200 BC. By the 1800s AD the French had an official pigeon postal service, and in Britain pigeon fancying and racing has long been a popular hobby. What many people don’t know is that pigeons were a tremendous asset during the World Wars. In World War I carrier pigeons transported messages back to their home soops behind the lines. Got the British this would be in a stationary…
South Hill Woods, Bromley
South Hill Woods (Bromley) Written by PAM PREEDY, historian & author. A wealth of flora and fauna At the end of Westmoreland Road is a wooded park frequented by bowlers, tennis players, dog walkers and those just out for fresh air, South Hill Woods. Today it has regenerated into a wild woodland habitat, with a wealth of flora and fauna, including woodpeckers, nuthatches, two species of bat, and a variety of insects, bees, centipedes, and battles inhabiting the rich variety of trees, such as oak, ash, hazel and beech. The…
The Birth of Women’s Football
The birth of women’s football Written by Pam Preedy. Girls Versus Boys Football had always been a male preserve, but in December 1915, a match was played between Bromley Boys (National Team) and Vickers Girls: The Bromley & Kentish Times reported on the match (7th July 1914). “A game that finished up in a comical football match was played on the Queen’s Mead ground last Saturday … The game ended with a large amount of scoring, the Old Boys scoring 17 goals to the Ladies’ 1 … At the start…
An Airman’s Life in India, WW2
An Airman’s Life in India Written by Pam Preedy. A Land of Jackals, Snakes and Mosquitoes Some of the “Life” which our boys are seeing on active service is described in a letter which A/C1 Gilbert Attwood has written from a wireless unit in India to his mother in Lincoln Road, Sidcup. He says:- “I am very well and have just returned from a five day trip to a location right out in the jungle, where I carried out practice out practice duties under surroundings which will in future be,…
The Creation of the Calendar
The Creation of the Calendar Written by Pam Preedy. How old is timekeeping? Historians believe that timekeeping (and the calendar) goes as far back as the Neolithic period. Recent research suggested that Stonehenge (2,500BC) was originally built to track a solar year of 365.25 days. The Sumerians divided the year into 12 lunar months, each comprising 29 or 30 days, giving a total of 354 days. According to legend, Romulus, the founder of Rome, instituted the calendar in about 738 BC, though it is more likely to have evolved from…
Christmas in the Workhouse
Christmas in the Workhouse Written by Pam Preedy. ‘Please Sir, I want some more.’ Who amongst us doesn’t recognise these words when Oliver Twist, an orphan, drew the short straw to ask for more food? Although this story by Charles Dickens was not set at Christmas, it illustrates one of the horrors of the workhouse – hunger. Poverty had always been a problem. It was generally believed that poverty was the fault of the poor because they were lazy and feckless. With the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII,…
The “Spanish” Flu Pandemic of 1918-1920
The “Spanish” Flu Pandemic of 1918-1920 Written by Pam Preedy. Towards the end of January in 1918, Dr. Loring Miner who lived in Haskell County, Kansas was called to see a patient with body aches, fever, a headache, and a dry cough. It was clearly influenza, but the symptoms were more severe than typical flu symptoms, and as the days went on more people became ill, with disproportionately large numbers of young, strong adults dying. Then it spread to a military training camp, Camp Funston in Kansas, on March 4,…
Horses in the First World War
Horses in the First World War Written by Pam Preedy. We sometimes forget that horses were essential to the Army during World War One. Much attention has been focused on the dreadful conditions and sufferings of the men in the trenches, yet the suffering was shared by the horses as seen in the book, play and film War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. All the armies used horses and mules. At the outbreak of war, there were 25,000 horses at the disposal of the British Army. Under the Horse Mobilisation Scheme of…
The First Boys of Bromley Who Went Away to War
The First Boys of Bromley Who Went Away to War Busy scenes in Bromley (BDT 7th August 1914) After weeks of speculation and mounting tensions, on Tuesday 4th August 1914, at 8am, the German Army invaded Belgium. Britain leapt to defend their little ally and an ultimatum was immediately sent to Germany to withdraw its troops. When no response was received by 11pm that evening, Britain declared war on Germany. The men of Bromley were ready to play their part in the forthcoming war. Many were already trained for battle…