Following on from the last post (blog, s.p.b.) today’s picture shows two old postcards showing scenes in Pearson Park, Hull, both showing what was known as ‘The Ruins’. The top picture is an artist’s (unknown) impression and, as such, its location in relation to the current Park is unclear. The lower one is a photo […]

The photo above, attributed to James Mollison – James Mollison, CCBY-SA2, shows a section of the Khyber Pass on, or near, the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This road and rail pass through the Himalayan range mostly comprises a succession of interlocking spurs around which the road has to twist and turn, as well as

Above is an image of Kabul city in Afghanistan etched in the 1880s by an Italian artist. Amongst other things it shows the Himalayan backdrop and the ancient walled city. Afghanistan is a remarkable country with a history of little more than hostility over the last two centuries with countries wishing to control power therein;

The photo above shows the tree fountains in Pearson Park, Hull last winter. The one on the right is now out of action owing to vandalism. The naming of newly created municipal parks around Britain in the 19th century followed the three eras of Victoria’s reign. From 1819 to the early 1860s Victoria was actively

One can only suggest possible reasons why the status of the Queen was so celebrated in the 19th century. One factor may well be that the Hanoverian succession had never been ‘popular’, their accession at the end of Anne’s reign being a result of Anne having no surviving children (despite being pregnant for most of

It is remarkable how adoring the 19th century governments, local and national, were to the celebrity of Queen Victoria, even in the first 20 or so years of her reign when it could not have been known that she would outlive all previous monarchs. The statue above from Pearson Park, Hull was created in the