May/June visit to the Submarine Museum

HISTORY OF SUBMARINES. MAY/JUNE 2010.
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On Monday 17th May, 14 members enjoyed a visit to the Submarine Museum at Gosport. We began with a one hour tour of the WW11 submarine HMS Alliance led by a former crewman. Then members split up into groups visiting the museum of submarine history, the original Holland 1 submarine in its own building, other exhibits around the site and of course refreshments at the café.

On a sunny Monday 21st June we sat in our garden and talked about the history of submarines, and how for many years man had dreamed of going beneath the waves in such a boat.
The first known attempt at building a submarine was in 1620 and built by Van Drebbel. It was a wooden frame and hulled boat covered in leather with oars coming out of sealed flaps to propel it, and it had a Snorkel to let air in.
It is recorded that James 1 had a trip up the River Thames in it at a depth of approximately 12 to 15 feet.

The first recorded time a submarine was used in conflict was in 1775 at Connecticut, USA by the Americans against the British in the war of Independence. It was called the “Turtle” and again was made of wood and sealed. It had one crewman and enough air for 30 minutes and a speed of 3 mph and was operated by a hand cranked propeller (the first recorded use of a screw propeller for ships). An attack failed against HMS Eagle through a combination of strong currents and the copper sheath on the ship’s hull (which prevented a hole being drilled in it to place explosives inside), but this scared the British.

Before Holland 1,the basis of all modern submarines, could be built, a series of events took place including some important inventions:

In 1800 Alexandro Volta- an Italian Physicist, invented the first battery to emit a continuous current.
In 1850 Michael Faraday invented the first working Electric Dynamo.
In 1860 Jules Verne wrote his famous book “20,000 Leagues under the Sea“.
In the mid/late 1800’s some countries, including Britain, built steam powered submarines, with a funnel for surface running.
In 1885 Daimler invented the first successful 4 stroke petrol/gasoline engine.
Then in 1901 Holland 1 was launched and became the first Royal Navy submarine.

Since then the Royal Navy have had built and used many different/improved designs of diesel electric powered boats, however in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s a decision was taken that the UK would operate only nuclear submarines. The Swiftsure and Trafalgar attack class submarines were built and operated, and they are now being gradually taken out of service as the new nuclear attack Astute class submarines come into service (it is hoped that 7 will be built).
Specifications are:
Tonnage: 7800(dived) 6500 (surface).
Dimensions: 97m long x 11.3 m wide x 10 m high.
Max speed: 29 plus knots dived.( a knot is 1.151 mph).
Endurance: 90 days.
Crew: 84(accommodation of 98)
Home Port: Faslane, Scotland.
It has 100 km of cabling and 10 km of pipe work.

The next meeting will be on Monday 19th July and the topic will be
the formation of “modern“ Italy .

Michael Page.

April Meeting

At our April meeting , members spoke for a few minutes on an historical character (living or dead) of their choice, and covered the following:

*Mikhail Gorbachev, the Russian leader responsible for the collapse of
the Berlin Wall.
*Amy Johnson ,the famous woman aviator who set many new records
in the 20/30s, but was killed in an air crash in WW11.
*Thomas Cromwell- from humble beginning to Earl of Essex, First
Minister to Henry V111, but executed over the failure of the Anne of
Cleves marriage.
*Jane Austin of the 18/19th Century, a daughter of a clergyman and
famous for the many books she wrote, but sadly only fully recognised
after her death.
*Aneurin Bevin, the Welsh Politician, who as Minister of Health in 1948
brought in the National Health Service.
*George Lovelace, who started the first Union and became famous as
one of the Tolpuddle Martyrs.
*Mary Queen of Scots, brought up in France, had 3 failed marriages in
Scotland and was executed by Elizabeth 1.
*Sir Walter Raleigh, a favourite of Elizabeth 1, famous explorer and
founder of the State of Virginia, but executed by James 1 to please
Spain.
*Douglas Bader, the RAF fighter pilot who lost the lower part of both
legs in a flying accident in 1931,but with artificial legs went on to
achieve fame as a fighter pilot in WW11.
*Holbein was the official portrait painter to Henry V111, but lost some
support from Henry over his failure to paint a true picture of Anne of
Cleves.
*Samuel Pepys of the 17th Century, famous for his diaries and helping to
create our Royal Navy.
*Isaac Watts, famous inventor, born in Scotland and grew up and worked
in Birmingham and died in 1819.
*Sir Thomas Moore, a strong Roman Catholic who believed God was
above the King, and as a result was executed by Henry V111 for High
Treason.
*And finally Lady Mary Montague (no relation to our Montagues at
Beaulieu) daughter of Duke of Kingston, known as a wit and beauty in
London, brought back and successfully used the scratch type of
inoculation for smallpox from Turkey 70 years before Jenner and died
In 1762.



** On Monday the 17th May we have our outing to the Submarine
Museum at Gosport, please ensure that you are at the entrance by
10 am, ready for us to move across to HMS Alliance for the
guided tour.

Michael Page.

March Meeting

MONDAY 15th MARCH 2010

MARCH HISTORY REPORT

Bonnie Prince Charlie- The Young Chevalier- also called the young pretender

Charles Edward Stuart’s Grandfather-James II of England and James VII of Scotland- only ruled from 1685 to 1688, before being forced to flee the country as William of Orange and Mary (James’s daughter) invaded- by invitation from the English government - and became King and Queen of England.

James II landed in Ireland in 1690 to try and regain his throne, but he failed and spent the rest of his life in exile. His son, James Francis Edward Stuart - the old pretender - also tried in 1715 by invading through Scotland, but failed also and spent the rest of his life in exile in Italy.

Charles Edward Stuart - son of the old pretender- was born in exile and as he grew up he longed to try and regain the throne of England. His chance came in 1744 after his father had got the support of the French Government for an invasion of England. He then travelled from Italy to France to assume command of the expedition which included 7000 soldiers, however the expedition had to be abandoned after fierce storms wrecked many of the French ships.
He still wanted to go, so with 7 companions he set sail for for Moidart, where Macdonald of Clanranald at once rallied to his colours.
The news of his landing filled the mainland Jacobites with concern, and one laird, always a fervent supporter of the Stuarts, begged him to abandon the enterprise. He carried on and raised his father’s standard at Glenfinnan. Men started to join him, and by November he was on the March with 6000 men.
On the 21st September 1745 he defeated a government force at Prestonpans, and on the 17th January 1746 he defeated another government force at Falkirk.
He then marched South into England to get the English throne as well, telling the clansmen that the English Jacobites would rise up and support them, but only 300 came from Manchester. So on reaching Derby the Clan Chiefs told him that they were going back to Scotland. He could not change their mind and was bitterly disappointed but had to accept it and go back. Little did he know that the English Government was in panic and George II had all his valuables packed on a ship on the Thames ,ready to take him back to Hanover.

So the Jacobites went back to Scotland ,with many clansmen deserting on the way, at Culloden they were totally defeated by the English forces under Duke of Cumberland.

Bonnie Prince Charlie was forced to go on the run, hiding from the English who were hunting him as he had a price of £30,000 on his head. He did however after some months succeed in reaching the shores of the same sea-loch where he had landed 14 months earlier, where a French ship took him back to France.
Bonnie Prince Charlie fully intended to raise more money and return with French soldiers but never did. He did visit London in disguise in 1750 and ended his days in a rented Italian palace with the Royal Coat of arms painted in the entrance hall, which still to this day bears the Royal cypher CRIII. He finally died in Rome on the 31st January 1788, and was buried in a church at Frascatti.

On Charles’s death he was succeeded as head of the house of Stuart by his younger brother Henry, Cardinal York, who by entering the Church had effectively destroyed the prospects of his dynasty, but nevertheless now assumed the title of Henry IX.
Henry died in 1807 and twelve years later, his body, his brother Charles’s body and their father’s were removed and placed in a marble tomb in St Peter’s Rome, which was paid for by George III.

The next meeting will be on Monday 19th April, and the subject will be 4/5 minutes on an Historical Character of your choice.

Michael Page.

FEBRUARY HISTORY REPORT.

At this meeting we talked about the native American Indians and their origins.

It is believed that from about 60,000 years, waves of settlers started coming from Siberia across the Bering Straits into Alaska and then down the continent to Cape Horn, and each new wave destroyed ,or displaced and moved on the existing tribes.

In 1492 Columbus sailed west from Spain to try and find a short cut to India, but instead found Hispaniola and the vast American continent. Not realising his mistake, he started calling all the natives “Indians” and all future explorers did the same. Even when they realised their error no one wanted to admit that they had made a mistake.

As the Europeans moved around this vast continent they left a trail of devastation and despair among the Indians as European diseases ( such as smallpox, cholera, influenza and measles), together with forced labour on plantations and in mines, and segregation of sexes for working purposes destroyed whole communities and left thousands dead.

Indeed nobody knows for sure how many people lived in Hispaniola when Columbus arrived, but half a century later they had all been wiped out .
The male natives considered farming and milling to be women’s work ,and settlements the opposite of their mobile life - style ,so many men refused to work on the plantations, and they fled, revolted or committed suicide . So from the 1550s in ever increasing numbers, black slaves were brought in from Africa to replace them.

The Spanish and Portuguese colonised all of South America between them and had many boundary disputes until the Pope stepped in and divided it up between them, so Portugal had Brazil and Spain the rest.
However by 1620 Portugal’s only colony was Brazil as she had lost all the others to Britain, France and Holland .

Before Columbus “discovered” America only Captains and Officers had a bunk to sleep in at night, however Columbus first saw Native American Indians using hammocks in the new world and later they were adopted for use at sea by ordinary crew members.
The famous explorer Amerigo Vespucci voyaged down the coast of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. His reactions to this wonderful “land of milk and honey” in his book about the trip, which was translated into several languages, so impressed the cartographers that they named the new world continent “America” after him.

The Spanish settlers were lesser nobility. Though often poorly educated, even illiterate, these lesser nobles had a place in a rigid Spanish caste system far above that of the common labourer and peasant. They were too grand for manual labour, fiercely proud, contemptuous of their inferiors, and ambitious for military glory and personal wealth. It was from their ranks that many of the new warlords came, most famously Hernan Cortes and in Central and South America they became important.
The Spanish and Portuguese settlers found that Africans were much stronger and hardier than the local Indians, and more resistant to Western diseases. Also in Africa they had farmed tropical crops with iron tools and had mined, processed and refined gold and silver.

In 1492 the native Americans did not have horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, sugar cane, iron and other hard metals, cash currency or shops ,just bartering. Aztecs did not have doors or wheels. Native Americans used bone for arrow heads.
They grew cotton, tobacco, potatoes, chocolate beans and the much prized Brazilwood from Brazil.

Before 1492 the natives of Central, South and North America had a highly organised society structure, with some tribes always on the move like Stone Age Farmers, whilst others lived settled lives in well organised settlements and town. Indeed the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was larger than any contemporary city on the continent of Europe, with causeways, wide streets, great houses of red brick. The inhabitants were elegant, with cotton cloaks for men and women. Their craftsmanship was of a high order and their decorated tapestries depicting parrots, pheasants, hummingbirds and the such like were of a very high standard. But all this changed for ever with the arrival of the white man ,who crushed and destroyed all these civilisations, without regret, for their own personal gain and changed the continent for ever.

The next meeting will be on Monday 15th March and the subject will be Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Michael Page.

January Meeting

HISTORY REPORT FOR 18 th JANUARY 2010.
History of Aviation.

In December 1903, the Wright Brothers made the first powered flight of a plane with a person in it .This then set in course a series of events with many years later the public taking it for granted to fly in planes holding 200/300 people, and man landing on the moon in 1969.

It all started in 1799 when Sir George Cayley first worked out the relationship of the 4 basic principals of aerodynamics- weight, lift, drag and thrust - which enabled him to build and fly the first glider with his coachman in. This then set in motion the events for Wright Brothers in 1903.

Julie talked about her grandfather George Bertram Cockburn who was an early aviator, and took part in the first flying competition held in Rheims, France in 1909. In 1911 he started to train future pilots at the Aero Club based at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain, and there is now a plaque there to commemorate this. He was a good friend of the pilot Mr Rolls (of Rolls Royce the car makers) who became a pilot but was killed in a flying accident in 1910.

In the early days flying was considered a man’s job -with no room for women- and it took many years for them to fly and gain recognition from the men. (There is now a woman pilot in the Red Arrows).
In America in 1925 the first woman pilot’s air race across the country was organised, but they could only fly inferior planes and a man had to be with them for the whole race. However it was not many more years before women were organising their own solo races.
Amy Johnson took flying lessons and became the first woman to be granted an Aircraft Ground Engineer’s Licence . In 1930 she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.
In the second World War women took on the role of flying planes around the world from the factory to the airfields (with many losses).

Airships were around before planes, indeed in 1900 Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin flew his airship for the first time, a short distance near Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance in Southern Germany. In 1915 a German Zeppelin crossed the Norfolk coast at night and bombed unsuspecting British towns, with 20 civilian deaths and 40 seriously injured. This first event heralded the bombing of civilians from the air in time of war, and went on to the massed bombing raids of WWII.

Michael finished off by recounting about his 3 parachute jumps in 1966/7 at Thruxton. The plane they went up in had no door and no seats. In order to jump he had to climb out of the doorway and onto the wing and hold the strut(at 3000 feet),he then let go and fell off, the parachute opened and he gently glided down to earth (what a great experience).

The next meeting will be on Monday 15th February and the topic will be “Native American Indians”.

Michael Page.

November Meeting

History Group Report - November 2009

It’s November again, and our last topic in another varied and interesting year was “Social Care”.

Barbara opened this session talking about the life and times of Doctor Barnardo , who was born in Dublin where he nearly died at the age of 4. He planned to become a missionary in China, and a doctor (which he did), but upon moving to London he became very distressed by the wretched plight of young ragged children (especially boys) forced out onto the street at a very early age to exist as best they could. He then devoted the rest of his life to their care, building homes and finding employment and a life for them. He then proceeded to do the same for girls, and in the middle of it all found time to get married. His wife fully supported and helped him in his crusade, and he died in 1905 at the age of 60, after a long and fulfilling life.

Julie talked about an autistic person who lived next door to her. When this person was in a special home with 24 hour care they lived as good a life as possible. It was only when the local authority placed them in the community that the care was nowhere near as good, with carers only popping in two or three times a day.

Lesley talked about Almshouses and what a wonderful service they have provided over the years, but whilst researching her family tree was surprised how many of her ancestors had lived in almshouses.

In Roman times if there was no male heir, then they would adopt an orphan boy to ensure the family line continued.

In Medieval times, the Church grew to be the main body looking after the needs of the ordinary people. However after Henry VIII ,this started to move to the state with the Poor Laws being brought in. Parishes then started to look after their own (but often moved strangers out of their parish so they would not have to help them!!!)

In the 19th Century Workhouses were introduced, and then at the beginning of the 20th Century Labour Exchanges, Old Age Pensions, Medical care for school children came in and finally the National Health Service came into being after World War II.

Our next meeting will be on Monday 18th January 2010 when we will be talking about “The History of Aviation”.

Michael Page.

October

HISTORY DISCUSSION GROUP REPORT FOR OCTOBER


At this meeting we talked about clothing and Michael started with the Iceman.
This was the body of a Neolithic hunter who died about 3,300 BC on a mountain ridge in the Austrian Alps and was found frozen in a gully in September 1991. With the body they also found fragments of clothing.
He had a belt and pouch of calf leather, a loincloth of leather (not fur), leggings (separate) tied on to his belt and stretching down to his feet, a cap of strips of fur sown together, an upper garment of strips of fur sewn together stretching from shoulder to knees but open in the front, and on top of all this was a grass coat made from grass lengths over 1 metre long- plaited together and thought to stretch from neck to knees- and probably again open in the front. His body is on display in a special cabinet in the Museum at Bolzano in Northern Italy, and Joan U. has seen it there.

Brian told us that in certain times in the past, ordinary people were not allowed to wear certain colours of clothing - purple, scarlet, gold, silver, deep blue- as they were worn only by high class people .

Myra showed us sketches of Tudor costumes she had made, pointing out the slits in the clothing through which you could see the expensive material underneath (this was the height of fashion).

Kathy talked about the evolution of bathing costumes and showed us pictures of them, and how when it first became fashionable the clothes worn were more like a full set of day clothes, and then gradually became more and more simplified until now when sometimes the costumes are sometimes a “bit too brief”.
Jean showed us a picture of a lady in Roman times wearing a bikini (who said they were not an advanced civilisation!)

Brian mentioned about cod pieces in Tudor times in which people often kept their money and jewels and sometimes a dagger. A cod piece was made of velvet, silk and satins for noble people and cloth for commoners. After Tudor times they went out of fashion.

Joan R. talked about ladies fashions from the 1920s onwards, and how their hem lines gradually rose to above the knees, about pin stripped suits, James Dean hair style, flower power and bell bottoms, but in contrast men’s fashions had not changed much.

Barbara talked about ladies’ fashions 1947 to 1950, and how women rebelled from the austerity clothing of WWII to colourful, flowing clothes (including underwear) of the 1950s. It made them feel so much better.

Pam talked about underwear and how it has only been around for about 200 years. The first was a chemise worn mainly to protect outer garments from body odour. The first “pants” or “drawers”, appeared about 1800, so called because each leg was separate and was drawn up, but was not joined in the middle until the Royal Drawer Maker decided to join them up and her name was Florence Gusset (the rest is History).

After more discussion, Marie and Jane handed around old photos. of past generations showing their fashions in clothing.

The next meeting will be on Monday 16th and the topic will be Social Care.

Michael Page.

September Meeting

HISTORY DISCUSSION GROUP

At our September meeting we talked about Women Inventors and the roll they have played in our society over the years.

Some of the women’s inventions include the circular saw by Tabitha Babbit in 1812, the windscreen wiper blade by Mary Anderson in 1903, the medical syringe by Letitia Geer in 1899, a permanent wave for hair by Marjorie Joyner in 1928, the chocolate cookie by Ruth Wakefield in 1924, the life-raft by Maria Beaseley in 1882, the fold away bed by Sarah. E. Goode, in 1885,a torpedo guidance system by Heddy Lamarr in 1942 and the rolling pin by Catherine Deiner in 1891( and many many more).

Ruth Handler invented an anatomically improbable moulded plastic statuette named “Barbie” . Since its debut in 1959,the Barbie Doll has become an American icon that functions as both a steady outlet for girls dreams and an ever changing reflection of society.

Mary Dixon Kies received the first U.S. patent issued to a woman (before that all women inventions had to be registered in a man’s name) for a process for weaving straw with silk or thread. The Patent Act of 1790 opened the door for anyone, male or female to protect his or her invention with a patent. However, because in many American states women could not legally own property independent of their husbands, many women did not bother to patent their new inventions.

Every year a conference is held honouring the best of women’s inventions. In 2009 Denise Anstey of Bristol won British female inventor of the year with her invention of the “slik stik“ . As a disabled lady she was dissatisfied with conventional walking sticks, and came up with the idea of a stick that folds away for convenient storage and portability, whilst maintaining a firm and rigid support when extended.

At the Korea International Women’s Invention Exposition last year Iranian women won 12 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze medals, and gained first place among 25 countries participating.

One of the earliest known women’s invention was Sibilla Masters in 1715 in the USA, when she invented a process making cornmeal from maize.

It was a very interesting meeting, and shows how brilliant women have been over the years with their inventions, and how the world would be a poorer place without them!!!

The next meeting will be on Monday the 19th October at Kim House, starting at 10 am when the subject will be Clothing through the Ages.

Michael Page

July meeting

At our July meeting the theme was "Follow a House" and some members gave short talks on the following..

Lesley talked about the workers cottages at the Wilton Carpet factory.
Marie and Brian discussed Testwood House.
Kathy talked about the history of Sarehole Mill near Birmingham (near where she comes from).
Phyllis about the hotel they stayed in at Devils Bridge,Vale of Rheidol.
Michael the history of the Palace of Greenwich (Michael comes from the next borough of Lewisham)
Myra - Nappa Hall, Wensleydale, which was the seat of the Metcalfe Family.
Margaret talked about Dyrham House, where a relation of hers had worked for the National Trust.
Jack and Joan explained about the history of Avington House.
Pam talked about Blickley Hall in Norfolk.

It proved a very interesting meeting.

The next meeting will be on Monday 21st September when the subject will be Women Inventors.

Michael Page.

History report for May and June 2009.

History report for May and June 2009.
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On Monday 18th May, 18 members enjoyed a tour round Portchester Castle by one of the Portsmouth City Guides, whose enthusiasm and interest in this subject soon rubbed off onto us.

The castle was built in the late 3rd century as one of a chain of forts from the Wash to Southampton Water , as a protection against the Saxon and Frankish raiders on both sides of the Channel. They were placed under the command of a high officer called “Count of the Saxon Shore”, whence they are now commonly known as “Saxon Shore Forts”.

Under Roman occupation Portchester was not always in continuous use, and in 410 when the Romans finally went, it fell into disuse. There is evidence that the Saxons used it from the early 6th century, continuing for some generations. With the re-introduction of Christianity about a century later, several Saxon Shore Forts, including Portchester, made convenient mission-stations with ready made precinct walls.

In 904 King Edward the Elder made it into a fortified township (burghs) within the existing walls, to help provide for the defence of Wessex.

In Norman times Portchester was a convenient enclosure for assembling large forces, especially on their trips to Normandy. During the 12th century Portchester (already 900 years old) was transformed into a Royal Castle, only exceeded in grandeur on the south coast by Dover and Corfe. An Augustinian Priory was established within the walls in 1133 for some time before moving to Southwick.

The castle remained in use in many different ways, and had various improvements done until 1632 when it ceased to be a Royal Castle.
From then until early 19th century it was used on many occasions to house prisoners of war, often in squalid, overcrowded conditions.
In 1926 the heirs placed it in the guardianship of the Department of the Environment, and it is now run by English Heritage.

At our June meeting we talked about our trip, and all the different things that have happened to the castle. It is a tribute to the building skills of the Romans that after 1800 years it is in nearly as good a condition as when it was built.

Our next meeting will be on Monday 20/07/2009 when the topic will be “Follow a House”.

Michael Page.

April meeting - Celts and the Iron Age. 700BC to AD43

As with all the “periods” in history this era did not start exactly at that time but was a gradual process. The impact at first of iron would have been slight with most communities carrying on with making and using bronze articles. Gradually however iron spread across the land, firstly with imported articles and then making their own as the technology arrived.

A major difference that bronze and iron had on communities was that with bronze, traders travelled the land with lumps of bronze making articles on the spot as requested, but to work iron you have to have very high temperatures, so forges had to be set up as a permanent structure which became part of each community.

It is thought that the Celts originated in Central Europe , and expanded in all directions, conquering and eventually settling down, but the expanding Roman Empire gradually took over many of their lands, including, finally, Britain.

The Celts became skilled warriors, loved feasting , drinking and fighting. They were also skilled craftsmen in their own right, making beautiful articles especially in iron, bronze and gold.

Early Celtic culture did not have or need coinage as they were always on the move, and their most important possessions were their cattle and gold. But in the 1st/2nd century BC they started to come into contact with Rome through trade and so coins started to circulate, firstly as tokens and then as actual currency.

In trading with the Romans, they imported large quantities of wine and in return ,supplied them with raw materials and slaves which the Roman Empire always needed. It is thought that the Celts renewed their inter tribal warfare in order to get and sell slaves for this trade.

The Iron Age has always been associated with “Hill forts”, however this term is very misleading as they had been around for a long time before and had been used for a variety of purposes, i.e. gathering and meeting places to conduct business of all sorts, as well as places to live in. It is thought that the Hill forts of the 1st century BC were indeed the final, “super” variety with many layers of earthworks, complicated gateways and large communities living in them. The Romans however overran them with great ease.

The Iron Age was the last “period” in Pre History (i.e. before the Romans came) and after initial uprisings the Celts settled down to become Romano-Celtic citizens, or as we know them “Ancient Britons”.

The next History Group event will be the outing to Portchester Castle on Monday 18/5/09, meeting at 10.30 am in the car park.

Michael Page

March Meeting

ALFRED THE GREAT
Alfred the Great - His name rings down through history as one of our greatest kings.
He was born in 849 at the royal estate of Wantage to his father King Aethelwulf and mother Osburh. The king already had 4 sons and a daughter by his previous wife.
Within months of Alfred’s arrival a great Danish army of some 350 long ships entered the mouth of the Thames, stormed Canterbury, put to flight Beorhtwulf, King of Mercia and his levies, and then went south into Surrey where they were halted and defeated in battle by Alfred’s father.
Alfred came to the throne in 871 after his 4 elder brothers, and by then he was a seasoned warrior, and it seemed at that time that fighting battles was the usual thing.
In 878, after a great defeat Alfred and a small group of loyal supporters were forced to hide at Athelney on the Somerset Levels. He was lucky because their fortified hideout- although visible to the Vikings from distant hills - was surrounded by water and so they were safe whilst carrying out guerrilla attacks on the Vikings. It was here that Alfred drew on his strength and resolve to carry on to win back Wessex.
In May of that year, he came out from the levels, gathered a mighty Saxon army and defeated Guthrun and his Viking army at Edington.
A treaty was made, the Vikings withdrew to beyond a line from the Thames, River Lea and then across to Chester. This gave Alfred time to reorganise, fortify and start to win back Wessex.
He went on to rule till his death in 899, and his son Edward carried on his important work.
Some of Alfred’s greatest achievements were the reform of the Saxon army so that there were always men available to fight; encouraging his nobles to learn to read to read and write so that they would be better rulers; building a series of fortified towns to defend Wessex from the Vikings; inventing the candle clock; starting the writing of the Anglo -Saxon Chronicle.

Mike Granger mentioned that, that he had heard that the foundations of Alfred’s statute in Winchester are made of sugar! anyone for a cuppa !
The next meeting will be on Monday 20th April, when the subject will be “Celts and the Iron Age”. …

Michael Page.