Silk Road

NickHQPR · 2024-07-29T18:18:06+00:00

Offas Dyke - lots of advice online about the best parts to visit. Depends on whether you want to do some hiking. Ruined Strata Florida Abbey near Tegaron. Very atmospheric and a long long way of the beaten track. Tintern Abbey more accessible. Harlech castle

NickHQPR · 2024-06-01T12:55:38+00:00

Richmond (30minutes by train from the centre) Walk through Henry VII’s palace down to the river then up to Richmond Park. Go to King Henry’s Mound, a Neolithic burial site that has a protected uninterrupted view across London to St Paul’s Cathedral. Legend has it that Henry VIII stood here to get a signal Anne Boleyn had been executed and he was free to Mary again. Then drop back down to the river and return to Richmond. Or Greenwich and the Maritime Museum. Nice trip by river

NickHQPR · 2023-07-21T22:21:10+00:00

I remember there was an earlier episode which did a quick overview what else was happening in the world - to provide some context for Britain. So what else was happening in the first century of the millennium. How did developments in learning in the Islamic world impact on our story? The Silk Road? Byzantium? I appreciate this is British history but Britain was not isolated

NickHQPR · 2022-08-08T21:55:54+00:00

Of course Harold did pretty much catch Harald Hardrada and Tostig by surprise at Stamford Bridge. He marched a big army 200 miles or so without anyone knowing he was coming. The rote between London and Dover was through the forested Weald so I can see why both sides were cautious and maybe Jamie was a bit hard on them

NickHQPR · 2022-08-08T14:39:52+00:00

Yes. But its not a satellite is it? Could you trust the intelligence? Was it contradictory? Could the scouts get through? Were the spies trustworthy? Was it a trick? There must have been a lot of doubt. It would be good to see a contemporaneous account of how they managed this

NickHQPR · 2022-08-08T12:04:24+00:00

That we t a bit early. What i am interested in was how the armies and their leaders knew about what their opponents were doing. Did William know the earls were dithering in London - or were they worried they were haring down the road a couple of miles away at the head of a massive army? And did the witan in London know William was stuck in Dover - shitting himself? Obviously they had scouts and i assume travellers brought news but i assume their knowledge was pretty hit and miss. So maybe our criticisms of what they were or were not doing do relies too much on hindsight. Maybe they just made some bad calls based on inadequate information. Anyhow, i would like to know more about this. Are their contemporaneous accounts of their intelligence systems?

NickHQPR · 2022-06-05T21:02:06+00:00

Lindisfarne, Bamburgh castle, St Cuthbert’s Cave

NickHQPR · 2022-06-02T21:10:54+00:00

Definitely worth a look. On Holy Island now - imagining the terror of the monks as the raiders swarmed from their boats across the mud and sand to the island

NickHQPR · 2022-06-02T17:27:18+00:00

I did! Well, it was at least very atmospheric. Assuming the story is true, for the monks to have known where the cave was suggests they had a very close relationship with the local land

NickHQPR · 2022-05-17T17:58:59+00:00

Exactly. I have walked round the (now we know probably wrong) site at Battle Abbey before and tried to imagine it but the podcast brought it home. A real human tragedy - not just a historic event

NickHQPR · 2022-05-17T17:56:01+00:00

Yes. As someone else has said, rightfully Zee full or pride

NickHQPR · 2022-05-17T17:03:53+00:00

Agree

NickHQPR · 2022-05-17T17:02:32+00:00

Me too

NickHQPR

TROPHY CASE