Historic London - Bus Tour

On Saturday a friend and I went on a London Bus Tour, which allows the passengers get on and off whenever they want to.

It was very interesting seeing how London developed over the centuries north and south of the River Thames.

Sandwiched between very modern buildings and narrow roads and lanes are many small and large mediaeval buildings to admire.

A building which fascinated me was the St George, the narrowest pub in London a tall black and white timber building, which I hope to visit.

The tour clearly delineated London from the oldest to the most modern parts.

All in all, a day well spent.

Cuttings Files + Cutting re:Frescos

As part of decluttering my entire house I have been going through box files in which I have been filing cuttings for yearsonly . I am only keeping ones pertinent to history.  Amongst them I found one I had forgotten about medieval frescoes.

A character in my 'Edward II' novel has built a manor in the early 14th century with all the latest 'mod cons' century and decorated it. Amongst the decorations is a frescoe my imaginary character thinks even the king might envy.

In the medieval era the choice of colours were limited because only natural pigments were available. For example in the great Chamber of Longthorpe Tower three miles from Peterborough red, the same colour as nearby iron deposits predominates, in some of the best frescoes in the country.