Category: History
York Minster, West Front / James Valentine (between 1860 and 1879)
An old photo of what was, back then, a rather new view.
Continue reading “York Minster, West Front / James Valentine (between 1860 and 1879)”Demons, Exorcisms, and the Scientific Method
This is interesting; Heresy, witchcraft, Jean Gerson, scepticism and the use of placebo controls covers a late 16th Century French attempt to apply a proto-scientific method to demonic possession and, in effect, implement a placebo-controlled trial.
The First Longships Lighthouse at Land’s End, Cornwall
A lovely shot of the first Longships Lighthouse taken in the 1860s by William May. The long exposure fuzz on the ocean is an artefact of the then-available photography process rather than an artistic choice.
NVIDIA Verses A Conspiracy Theory
Sadly lost to the mists of time the Wayback Machine, here’s NVIDIA’s recreation of the Apollo 11 moonwalk – complete with accurate, conspiracy-busting lighting!
The 185th Anniversary of the York Minster Fire of 1840
It’s the 185th anniversary of the fire at York Minster on 20th May, 1840 and here’s a print to mark the occasion!
Behind the Bamboo Curtain – Spying on China During Mao’s Cultural Revolution / ITN (1967)
An interesting historic look by ITN at monitoring Mao’s China from 1967.
A Viaduct for Staithes
A little more from my trawl through “The North Eastern Railway – Its Rise and Development“ – this time it’s a nice (and, as far as I can tell, unique) shot of the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway’s viaduct over Staithes Beck, just south of the village itself.
Described as a ‘light iron viaduct of novel construction’, it has an almost American feel to it and looks very out of place look to the modern eye. Given the failure of that particular line – even before the car and the van out competed it – It’s certainly not something we’ll ever see rebuilt again.
Prints of York’s Old Station
Not quite a Tour of Old York but, whilst scrabbling around in the Internet Archives library, I came across two rather wonderful illustrations of the first York station and the sidings that used to extend towards Lendal Bridge.
Maps – Mid March 2025 Update
It’s time for another little update and this time it’s 238 Ordnance Survey maps of various towns and cities across North Yorkshire.
Interesting map sets include:
