Wedding invitations are a mixed blessing for the recipient (I am not alone in thinking this, right?!). You have to set aside a weekend and spend a fortune on accommodation, getting there and back, a n...Read More
The Staffield Murder of 1856 filled a lot of column inches in newspapers: likely the first and last time this little Cumbrian hamlet featured on the wider public consciousness. Whodunnit? While TV dra...Read More
Deodands, a strange ‘gift to God’ Deodands – [ dee-uh-dand ] noun English Law. Animals or articles that, having been the immediate cause of the death of a human being, were forfeited to...Read More
The Cumbrian superstitions in this post may not be unique to Cumberland and Westmorland, but they were claimed as such by writers in Victorian times. “I’m not superstitious, but…” Friday the 1...Read More