The Jurassic fossil forests at Curio Bay, southern New Zealand, have been known for at least a hundred and fifty years. They first appear to have come under scientific scrutiny in 1878, when the geologist James Hector collected there. He was followed by another geologist, Hector in 1878, and then James Park, who visited in… Continue reading The Jurassic Fossil Forests at Curio Bay, New Zealand, and their connection to two remarkable English scientists
Tag: History
Ukraine: War and Wonders – Ukraine’s Womanly Face of War
Svetlana Alexievich’s book ‘The Unwomanly Face of War’ is one of the most impactful I’ve ever read. The book is a series of interviews with surviving women who fought in the Soviet Red Army during World War Two. Most (not all), of these women were medics and snipers. There are first-person tales of incredible stuff… Continue reading Ukraine: War and Wonders – Ukraine’s Womanly Face of War
1066 and the Dead Parrot (The weird things going on in the margins of the Bayeux Tapestry)
I like to see things for myself. It can give me a sense of place or scale that one doesn’t get from books or the internet. It also gives a chance to spot something new, that whoever might have photographed the original, wasn’t thinking about. Like most people of generally British Isles background, I was… Continue reading 1066 and the Dead Parrot (The weird things going on in the margins of the Bayeux Tapestry)
Where Mongolians fought to the last man
“Would you like to see a Museum?” We were in one of the most remote parts of Mongolia – and I wondered what my driver was talking about. Work Place Health and Safety in Mongolia really came down to you – ‘Don’t Do Stupid Stuff – because any help was going to be a long,… Continue reading Where Mongolians fought to the last man
‘Woman with nails in both sides of skull’ – the Nanjing Massacre Memorial
Arguably, the most shocking part of Iris Chang’s book ‘The Rape Of Nanking’, comes in its Epilogue. During my 12 months living in Nanjing (sometimes written Nanking) , what struck me was a disturbing lack of even slightly old buildings. There are some old treasures – Nanjings famous city wall, is an almost entirely intact, 40 km… Continue reading ‘Woman with nails in both sides of skull’ – the Nanjing Massacre Memorial
The Log Cabin at the Heart of St Petersburg, Russia
The most famous ‘little log cabin in the woods’ is probably the one in which Abraham Lincoln grew up in Kentucky. It was built in 1808, but unfortunately, no longer exists. However, in St Petersburg, Russia, there is to this day, a log cabin built in 1703. It was the home for a few years of Tsar Peter… Continue reading The Log Cabin at the Heart of St Petersburg, Russia
Turkey/Armenia: Ani – capital on the wrong side of a border
I’ve seen two cities that look like they were comprehensively destroyed. I don’t mean just ruins, but places where someone seems to have made a comprehensive, and successful attempt to wipe the place out. Warsaw may come to mind – it was practically obliterated in the Second World War, but then it was rebuilt. In Ani,… Continue reading Turkey/Armenia: Ani – capital on the wrong side of a border