Author: author

This is a Neolithic and axe for sale on Coventry. It’s a beautiful piece and I might just go and pick it up this afternoon.

Today I’m teaching Stone Age. I have some lovely Stone Age tools, artefacts and stories.

Did you know that baal is the Stone Age word for fire? It’s an onomatopoeia.

I have just had a lovely day teaching Vikings in a Nottingham school. Vikings is one of my favourite topics because I get to teach some pretty funny myths. Myths are great because you get to see into a culture. A culture of cold rugged mountains, salt spray and tales by the fireside.

And I got to try out my new Viking beads from the GrimFrost. If your looking for excellent replicas these are the guys to visit.

I have already posted today that I have been reading Horrible Histories but I have also been listening to some serious Greek Philosophy.  I find audio books very useful because first I have dyslexia, second I can listen to them in the car on the way to work and third because the cat can sit on my lap whilst I listen which she can not do when I am reading a book.

One of the time periods I cover in Primary Schools is the Ancient Greeks. It’s a really fun workshop covering myths, history and artefacts. In fact its one of my faviourate workshops because I work so many song lyrics into my talks. I read extensively for my workshops and constantly reread my faviourate books to keep my knowledge fresh so today I have been reading the ever popular Groovy Greeks by Terry Deary of Horrible Histories fame.

Sorry I have not posted anything today. After a horrible train journey down to Cornwall I have been recovering.

When I am sufficiently recovered I will be posting about monuments and stone circles.

Until then I leave you with some dinosaur teeth.

Today I am traveling down to my parents who live in Cornwall. Anyone living in Britain knows that South West Cornwall is far away from anywhere including South West Cornwall.

I should have time to read but I am taking wife and child with me which means conversion probably about robots.

While in Cornwall I will be playing with my new drone that I have bought for work purposes 🤥 and hopefully will have some useful images to share with you.

Happy 3rd Day if Christmas

Well it’s the Feast of Stephen and snow is predicted for Coventry. I’ve been a good boy so I’ve decided to have a couple of pints. No reading today but have listened to my America West Audiobook and am amazed that America is so interesting!

As you know I am reading Viking Britain: An Exploration. Yesterday I was reading about Offa, Saxon king of Mercia, who is most remembered for his dike which runs along the boarder with Wales. He was a very powerful man who commanded that a kingling under his “protection” should have his head chopped off for the crime of minting his own coins. What I found striking was that Mercia and its domination of Saxon England swiftly declined (read collapsed) after his death. I woke up this morning thinking about a conversation I had with a friend Dr Simon May, of Coventry University, over a game of Bloodbowl. He is an expert in the history of organised crime and told me that criminal gangs under the control of a single charismatic leader are easy to destroy by removing that leader, organisations built around and idea are harder to destroy. I think that is what we are seeing in Mercia, that Offa rules as a gangster and when he goes so does everything built with his power, very Lord of the Rings!

On this special day remember our poor Saxon ancestors who unfortunately drank too much at Yule. Terrible because our Viking ancestors had gotten hold of diaries so knew when the holy days were and didn’t have to fight the Saxons, they just turned up, shoved them in a sack and took them off to Micklegard to be sold as slaves.

Spare a thought also for Hengist and Horsa who were sent by the Jutes on a peace mission to the Frisians over Yule. This episode is called “The Frisian Massacre” so you can guess how well it went! Before Yule started one of the Jutes killed a Frisian but before honour could be satisfied Yule started and our ancestors didn’t fight over Yule. It must have been a very uncomfortable Yuletide, would make the most uncomfortable Christmas dinner look like a feast, and at the end the Jutes fell on the Frisians before coming home.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.