The restoration and living in of an English country cottage
On this day in history : 26th November 1805 – The official opening of Thomas Telford’s Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – carrying the Llangollen Canal over the valley of the River Dee at the Welsh/English border….
The 18 arched stone and cast iron structure, designed to take narrow boats, is the highest aqueduct in the World, standing at 38m above the water…. At 307m long it is the longest aqueduct in Britain; it is Grade 1 listed and a World Heritage Site….
On this day in history : 25th November 1952 – Agatha Christie’s murder mystery play ‘The Mousetrap’ opens at the Ambassadors Theatre, London….
With its original cast, including Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim, it is to become the longest continuously-running play in history…. Agatha Christie herself thought it would only run for about 8 months….
A radio play entitled ‘Three Blind Mice’ was broadcast on the 30th of May 1947 – from this came a short story – on which The Mousetrap was based…. Agatha Christie asked that the story not be published until after the play had finished its West End run…. To this day the story has still not been published in the UK – (although it has been in the United States)….
Agatha was always very particular in trying to ensure her plots were not revealed…. In true tradition at the end of each plot twisting performance of The Mousetrap the audience is asked not to reveal the identity of the murderer outside of the theatre – so as not to spoil it for future audiences….
On this day in history : 24th November 1991 – Freddie Mercury dies at the age of 45, at his West London home – just one day after announcing publicly that he was HIV positive….
The lead singer of Queen died from bronchial-pneumonia brought on by AIDS….it is thought he had been suffering from the disease for at least two years…. Even as his health declined Freddie continued to make music….
As news of his death broke tributes from around the world began to flood in…. Dr. Patrick Dixon, the director of an AIDS education charity told the BBC that by admitting that he was a sufferer of the disease he was giving his fans the greatest of gifts…. “His hope was no doubt that through his openness many people throughout the world would see that AIDS is a real illness”….
Five months later, on Easter Monday 20th of April 1992, a Freddie Mercury tribute concert for AIDS awareness was held at Wembley Stadium – with an audience of 72,000 people…. It was broadcast in 70 countries and raised approximately £20m for AIDS charities….
The concert opened with a tribute message from the three remaining Queen members :- Roger Taylor, Brian May and John Deacon…. The first half of the concert saw performances from bands who had been influenced by Queen’s music – such as Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Def Leppard and Extreme…. The second half featured a performance from Queen with guest vocalists:- David Bowie, Elton John, Roger Daltry, George Michael, Robert Plant, Annie Lennox, Paul Young, Seal, Lisa Stansfield, Liza Minnelli and so many more took part – all wanting to pay their own tribute to Freddie Mercury, rock legend….
On this day in history : 23rd November 1963 – The very first episode of the science fiction series Dr. Who is shown by the BBC….
‘An Unearthly Child’ was shown in four weekly parts and introduced William Hartnell as the first Doctor….with Carole Ann Ford as his granddaughter and companion….
The first episode centres on school teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton (played by Susan Foreman – with Jacqueline Hall and William Russell) discovering the Doctor and his TARDIS…. The rest of the story takes place in the Stone Age and follows the plot of warring tribes who have lost the knowledge of how to make fire….
On this day in history : 22nd November 1990 – Margaret Thatcher announces that she is standing down as the UK’s Prime Minister – after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership….
Margaret Hilda Roberts was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in 1925….
She married businessman Denis Thatcher in 1959 and they became the parents of twins…. During the 1960s Mrs Thatcher progressed quickly through the ranks of the Conservative Party and it was in 1967 that she joined the Shadow Cabinet – sitting in opposition to Harold Wilson’s Labour Government….
A Conservative victory in the 1970 election saw Margaret Thatcher become Secretary of State for Education and Science in Edward Heath’s government…. Labour came back into power in 1974 and Mrs Thatcher acted as joint Shadow Chancellor…. She replaced Edward Heath as leader of the Conservatives in February 1975…. It wasn’t long before she became known as the ‘Iron Lady’ – a nickname she herself embraced and given to her by a Soviet journalist in 1976….
In March 1979 Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan was defeated by a vote of no confidence and on May the 3rd a general election took place – which was won by the Conservatives, with a 44 seat majority in Parliament…. The following day Margaret Thatcher was sworn in – making her Britain’s first woman Prime Minister….
Margaret Thatcher’s three consecutive terms in office made her the longest serving Prime Minister since 1827…. After retiring from the House of Commons she was given a life Peerage as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, Lincolnshire – which entitled her to sit in The House of Lords…. She died on the 8th of April 2013 following a stroke….
Cottage Capers 