Cottage Capers

On this day in history….19th May 1935

On this day in history : 19th May 1935 – Army Officer and writer T.E. Lawrence, better known as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, dies of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident six days before….

Thomas Edward Lawrence was born in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales on the 16th of August 1888…. His parents never married but lived together under the name of Lawrence…. His father was actually Thomas Chapman (later to become Sir) and was married to Edith…. He had ran off with Sarah Judder, the governess of his daughters and together they had five sons, of which Thomas Edward Lawrence was the second….

Lawrence obtained a first class honours degree at Oxford in modern history – and began a career in archeology…. In 1911 he was part of an archeological expedition in Syria and also worked in Egypt and Palestine…. He came to know the customs of the people and gained knowledge of their languages….

At the outbreak of World War I he was selected for an intelligence role, as Liaison Officer, on account of his Arabian expertise…. In 1916 he gave his support to the Arab revolt against the Turks; he became advisor to Prince Faisal, who led the uprising…. It was at this time that he began to dress as an Arab….

Lawrence, 1917 – Public domain

Public domain

He became an influential presence in the Arab forces…. He was successful in his campaigns against the Ottomans, who were Germany’s ally…. but he was badly injured on several occasions…. In July 1917 he led his Arab forces into the desert, acting as a decoy to distract the Turks whilst the British army invaded Palestine and Syria…. By the time the war was over he had risen to the rank of Colonel and had become recognised as a national hero….and known as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’….

After the War he worked to support independence for the Arab states at the Versailles Peace Conference and also served Winston Churchill as advisor at the Colonial Office on Middle Eastern Affairs…

Emil Faisal’s party at Versailles 1919 – Public domain

As a writer he published three major works – the most significant being ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ – his account of the Arab Revolt….

Wanting a life of obscurity he joined the RAF under the assumed name of John Hume Ross…. However, a Press leak revealed his true identity and he was released from the RAF…. He changed his name to T.E. Shaw and joined the Royal Tank Corps as a Private but was unable to find happiness there – so returned to the RAF…. He remained as Aircraftsman Shaw until he retired from service in February 1935….

He then went to live in his cottage retreat ‘Clouds Hill’, near Wareham in Dorset…. He had bought it as a place to escape to – just three rooms – a ‘book room’, ‘music room’ and an ‘eating room’…. Clouds Hill is now owned by the National Trust and is a museum dedicated to T.E. Lawrence….

Front & side of Clouds Hill

Back of Clouds Hill

Music Room at Clouds Hill – Photo credit: Ydigresse CC BY-SA 4.0

Having always been a keen motorcyclist Lawrence had owned a series of Brough Superior motorcycles….and was riding his SS100 when fatally injured in a road accident…. He was close to Clouds Hill when he came to a dip in the road – which obscured his view of two boys on bicycles…. He had to swerve to miss them – lost control of his bike and was thrown from it…. He died of severe head injuries at Bovington Camp Hospital six days later…. A memorial marks the site of the crash…. Lawrence was just 46-years-old and had only left military service three months before….

Lawrence on his Brough Superior SS100 – he called it ‘George V’…. – Public domain

Memorial near to the crash site – Image credit: Dr Gaz Wild – Public domain

Lawrence, 1919 – Taken by Lowell Thomas (photographer) – Public domain

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….18th May 1830

On this day in history : 18th May 1830 – Engineer Edwin Beard Budding signs an agreement to go into partnership for the production of and to secure a patent for his invention….the lawn mower….

Budding had got the idea for his grass cutter after seeing a machine in a cotton mill with a cylindrical blade which was used to cut cloth…. He initially designed the mower for use at sports grounds and large manicured gardens that required a smooth finish to their grassed areas and lawns…. It was intended as a superior method to the scythe…. It is said he tested his invention under cover of darkness so as not to be seen – incase people thought he had gone mad…!

He signed an agreement with fellow engineer John Ferrabee, who was to pay for development costs to improve the existing design and to obtain a patent….

The pair went into partnership and started manufacturing lawn mowers in a factory at Thrupp, near Stroud…. On the 31st of August 1830 a patent was granted…. Two of the earliest models of the lawn mower were sold to Regent’s Park Zoological Gardens and the Oxford Colleges….

A cylinder (reel) mower from 1888 showing a fixed cutting blade in front of the rear roller and wheel-driven rotary blades – Public domain

Budding is also credited for the invention of the adjustable spanner in 1842….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….17th May 1916

On this day in history : 17th May 1916 – The Summer Time Act 1916 is passed in Britain, introducing Daylight-Saving Time….after a campaign by builder William Willett….

William Willett in 1909, photographed by Sir John Benjamin Stone

It is often said Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of America, first came up with the idea of daylight saving when visiting Paris in 1784…. There could be more than a grain of truth in this as he had joked that if people got up earlier on the lighter mornings then they could save on candles….

English builder, William Willett, obviously thought it a good idea as he campaigned tirelessly for it – publishing a leaflet in 1907 entitled ‘The Waste of Daylight”, in which he encouraged people to rise earlier in the mornings and take advantage…. Being a person who enjoyed the outdoors he liked to go riding early in the morning – and couldn’t help noticing how many people still had their curtains drawn closed…. Also being a keen golfer he would be frequently frustrated at not being able to finish his evening game as dusk had fallen…. However, he wasn’t the first to petition for change….

British born New Zealander, George Vernon Hudson, an entomologist and astronomer, first proposed modern Daylight-Saving Time in 1895…. His work schedule allowed him free time to collect and study insects and so he valued his spare daylight hours…. He presented a paper to Wellington Philosophical Society proposing a two hour shift in the time…. It took New Zealand until 1927 before they finally passed their Summer Time Act….

The British government discussed whether to introduce Daylight-Saving on several occasions…. Willett’s idea had been to make the clocks go forward by 80 minutes in 20 minute increments, on four successive Sundays in April – to be reversed in September…. A serious debate took place in Parliament in 1908 but the idea proved unpopular and so nothing happened….

It was the outbreak of World War I that suddenly made it important to act….due to the need to save coal – Germany had already introduced the idea…. On the 17th of May 1916 the Bill was finally passed – to be put into practice the following Sunday, the 21st of May…. Nowadays the clocks go back one hour on the last Sunday of October and forward on the last Sunday of March…. As for poor William Willett – who was incidentally the great-great-grandfather of Coldplay’s Chris Martin – he never did get to enjoy the benefit, as sadly he died from influenza in 1915….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….16th May 1983

On this day in history : 16th May 1983 – The Metropolitan Police Force begin to clamp illegally parked cars – in the ‘Central London Wheel Clamp Experiment’….

Between its introduction in May and mid-November 1983 – 22,430 vehicles had been clamped, giving a gross revenue of £431,418…. When it was first introduced in the Knightsbridge area of London it proved popular with residents – who were finally able to claim their parking spaces back from those who were using them without authorisation…. There were problems that needed ironing out, such as when tradesmen and service engineers needed to park in order to carry out their work….

From the late 1980s local councils began to introduce stricter rules around parking….as a result drivers began to look for places to leave their cars where the traffic wardens wouldn’t find them…. Residential and private property became a target…. Understandably the owners of such properties were not happy….but the supply and maintenance of prohibitive equipment, such as barriers, proved expensive…. Wheel clamping, being self-funding, was an easy and often lucrative solution….it would effectively cost a landlord nothing to call out a wheel clamping company – and sometimes a commission would be paid to the property owner….

From 1990 onwards a steady rise of wheel clamp operatives was seen across the whole of the UK – with sometimes questionable practices…. However, the clampers did not always get things their own way….some motorists resorted to using bolt cutters or even angle grinders to remove clamps – meaning the operators lost not only the release fee but their clamp as well….

One of the best known wheel clamps used in the UK is the ‘London Wheel Clamp’…. Its designer, Trevor Whitehouse, filed for its patent in 1991 – originally it was to be named the ‘Preston’ after his hometown…. In the beginning it was used on private land but was introduced on public roads under the ‘Road Traffic Regulations Act of 1991’….and the wheel clamp became notorious…. The first areas to use it were 33 boroughs in London – hence the name change….

For many, especially those who had experienced having their car clamped, the practice became extremely controversial…. In 2012 the ‘Protection of Freedom Act 2012’, criminalising some wheel clamping on private land, came into force on the 1st of October…. It prohibited clamping in places such as supermarket car parks and effectively made it an offence for a private individual or company to act on its own behalf and have a car clamped…. Scotland had banned clamping and towing away in 1992….

It is still legal in the UK in some instances, such as by the police, DVLA or local authorities….and you are allowed to clamp your own car to prevent it from being stolen….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….15th May 1536

On this day in history : 15th May 1536 – The trial of Anne Boleyn takes place; she is accused of adultery, incest and plotting to kill her husband, King Henry VIII….

Anne Boleyn, unknown artist – Public domain

Henry had gone to great lengths to make Anne his wife, having made himself the head of the English Church in order to obtain a divorce from his first wife, Katherine of Aragon…. Now Anne had fallen from favour – she had failed to provide a male heir and after suffering a second miscarriage in January 1536 Henry was beginning to look elsewhere – and needed to find a way to end his second marriage….

What better way than to cite adultery – an act that would have been regarded as treason…. He enlisted the help of his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell – who detested Anne…. An enquiry was made into Anne’s behaviour – both her personal and sexual conduct….she had never been a popular Queen and several accusations were brought against her….

A commission was established to investigate the rumours and on the 2nd of May 1536 Anne was arrested, accused of committing adultery with five men – one of them her own brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochfield…. It was claimed she’d had intimate relations with him on the 2nd of November and 22nd & 29th of December 1535…. Also named were four members of Henry’s Court whom she had supposedly slept with: Henry Norris, on the 12th & 19th of November 1533; Sir William Bremerton, the 16th & 27th of November and 3rd & 8th of December 1533; Sir Francis Weston, the 8th & 20th of May and 6th & 20th of June 1534; and Mark Smeaton, a musician of the Court, on the 13th & 19th of May 1534…. If that sounds excessive, Henry actually believed she’d had over 100 lovers…. No doubt this was all lies fabricated by Thomas Cromwell….

Thomas Cromwell – Hans Holbein, Public domain

On the 12th of May 1536 Smeaton, Norris, Bremerton and Weston were brought to trial… Cracking under the strain Smeaton admitted guilt but the others all protested their innocence…. To add to their plight all of the men, with the exception of Norris, were also accused of sodomy…. The four were found guilty of all charges and executed at Tyburn on the 17th of May….

Anne and her brother were brought to trial at King’s Hall, the Tower of London on the 15th of May….the trial was presided over by her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk…. Despite having alibis for at least twelve of the occasions on which she had been accused her pleas fell on deaf ears…. The court was obsessed with ‘her frail and carnal sexual appetites’….

In addition to the charges of adultery and incest Anne was accused of plotting the death of Henry with her ‘lovers’…. It was claimed she intended to marry one of the traitors after his demise….

Anne Boleyn in the Tower by Edouard Cibot – Public domain

Both Anne and her brother were found guilty….George Boleyn was executed along with the other men two days later…. Anne herself was executed four days after the trial…. All were victims of Thomas Cromwell’s fiction….but as they say ‘what goes around, comes around’…. Thomas Cromwell was himself beheaded just four years later….