An illustration of foot racing in Victorian times Early sporting contests were either trials of strength or speed. Prize fighting and wrestling fell into the former category and running into the latter. Wolverton did not have a running track of any kind until the Park was opened in 1885 and races were largely improvised affairs. …
As if the deadly consequences of the battlefield were not enough, a deadly virus appeared inthe closing months of the war in September 1918. It died not originate in Spain, but since Spain was neutral its newspapers were not restricted and therefore the stories first surfaced in Spain. By the time it was reported in …
On the 11th day of the 11th month representatives of the opposing forces met to agree to an armistice, which was signed at the 11th hour. So the four year war which had cost millions of lives came to a stalemate. There were losers, of course. The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, as did the Turkish Empire. …
The first schoolmaster was Archibald Laing and after his early death in 1853, he was replaced by a 25 year- old George Russell. Mr. Russell, from the accounts that we have, was successful in the post but his position was terminated in 1857 in circumstances which appear bizarre to us today. Apparently Mr Russell received …
Today, I can wave a plastic card at a machine and the money is immediately transferred from my bank account to the merchants. Yet in my early days almost all transactions were by cash. Money was handed over and change given and often those heavy pennies and half crowns would wear a hole in one’s …
Some time back I wrote a piece about local newspapers and placed the first date of publication of the Wolverton Express in January 1901. The post is here. However, I have discovered something today which may cause me to revise that view. The Oxfordshire Telegraph of 7 September 1887 features a brief column under the …
Three years ago I wrote about the balloon ascent that started from Wolverton in 1861, featuring the intrepid balloonists of the day – Coxwell and Glashier You can read about it here. I read in the newspaper the other day that someone is now making a film about these 19th century pioneers, called The Aeronauts. …
In the 1840s Wolverton was famous throughout the land for its railway refreshment rooms. Wolverton was originally designated a half way stope between London and Birmingham and passengers were allowed ten minutes while the engines were changed. What I did not realise, until I chanced upon a newspaper report in the Northampton Mercury for January …
I am constantly surprised by what I don’t know about Wolverton and district. yesterday a friend told method there had once been a Prisoner of War camp in Haversham. Apparently t was opened in 1943 for Italian pows and later accommodated Germans. it closed in 1948 and one of the buildings served as a social …
In an age before the standardisation of containers and packaging, dispensers of liquids had their own stoneware flagons, stamped with the name of their company.Paul Cox has provided an article with photographs of some theseflagonis and containers.Please click on the link to open the article.. Milton Keynes Flagons