Many plants can be used for hedges, but hawthorn is the most common. It can be planted as bare-root from Autumn to Spring, so January is as good a time as any. It can also be grown from the seeds from its red berries. But this takes 18 months to achieve. Interspersed along the hedge should be trees—either trees for timber, or crab-apples or pear-stocks. Trees were also useful as markers. Before modern surveys, property would be delineated by ancient trees. Hedges could be removed. Trees were more difficult to eradicate.
Hawthorn hedges are an oasis for insects, mammals and migrating birds (who eat the berries). It is a lovely plant for May. In fact, it is often called May, or the May Flower or May Tree and also whitethorn. The berries are called ‘haws’ hence hawthorn. For more on this, look at https://whisperingearth.co.uk.
Hawthorns & Folklore
Hawthorn produces white flowers in Spring. So, it is one of the great pagan fertility plants, its flowers forming the garlands on May Eve. One of the chemicals in the plant is the same as one given out in decay of flesh. It is, therefore, associated with death in folklore, and not to be brought into the house.
It was also said to be the thorn in the Crown of Thorns, so sacred. A crown from the helmet of the dead King Richard III was found on a hawthorn bush at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The victorious Henry VII adopted it for a symbol. . For more on the plant, https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk
A ‘Quarry’ of Stained Glass showing the Crown, a hawthorn Bush and initials representing Henry VII and his, Queen, Elizabeth of York. Possibly from Surrey. Early 16th Century and from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Public Domain).
The virtues of Hawthorn
John Worlidge, wrote in 1697
‘And first, the White-thorn is esteemed the best for fencing; it is raised either of Seeds or Plants; by Plants is the speediest way, but by Seeds where the place will admit of delay, is less charge, and as successful, though it require longer time, they being till the Spring come twelvemonth ere they spring out of the Earth; but when they have past two or three years, they flourish to admiration.’
Hawthorn is an excellent wood for burning, better than oak. It has the hottest fire so that its charcoal could melt pig-iron without the need of a blast. It is also good for making small objects such as boxes, combs, and tool-handles. It takes a fine polish, so also used for veneers and cabinets. For advice on the best wood to burn read my post.
Hawthorn has many medicinal benefits according to herbalists. Mrs Grieve’s Herbal suggests it was used as a cardiac tonic, to cure sore throats and as a diuretic. But don’t try any of these ancient remedies without medical advice!
What to plant in late January
This is the time, according to Moon Gardeners, to plant and sow plants that develop below ground. So rhubarb and garlic, fruit trees, bushes, bare-root plants and hedging plants.
First Published in January 2023, revised in January 2024
On This Day
1785 – ‘Boys play on the Plestor at marbles & peg-top. Thrushes sing in the Coppices. Thrushes & blackbirds are much reduced.’ From Gilbert White’s Garden Kalendar in Gilbert White’s Year. the Plestor is the village green. peg-top is a spinning top game. For more on Gilbert White, the inspirer of Darwin, see my post.
News from the Almanac showing readership/viewership of the site.
I have been waiting for a day when I haven’ t got a post to publish. Why? To update readers about the Almanac of the Past. And with a bit of manoeuvring today is the day.
What is the News from the Almanac of the Past?
The plan is to have a post for each day. I am virtually there for November to March, but a way away for the warmer months.
In the winter months, I have been revising, improving, developing and adding content to previously published pages. For those of you who have been here a while, you will have been receiving posts you have seen before. Next year, you might be seeing some for the third time. I’m not sure what to do about this except improve posts and add content. But I am considering stopping automatically posting repeated posts to subscribers. Maybe from next November? Feed back would be good – please email me at kpflude at chr . org . uk (I’ve slightly scrambled the email to stop the robots).
What is the planned content for the Almanac of the Past?
The nature of an almanac is to be a pot-pourri. They are about seasons, time, folklore, history, important events, and anniversaries. I also like to cover history, famous people and discoveries. Gods, Goddesses, Saints, sinners, and archaeology. What I want it to be is something that makes us more mindful about the passing of the year. How seasons and time change the way people see their world. My focus is mostly on the UK, but also on Rome and Greece. With occasional excursions to other places. I am trying to find more content that is London-based, but not to the exclusion of everything else. I also have an ambition to add more important news of discoveries that change our view of the past. If I get the formula right, I will attempt to get a publication from it, otherwise it will remain online.
Developments for the Almanac
It takes quite a lot of time for me to keep it up. You will see, from the graph above, that the readership is yearly making progress. Particularly, last year. But then it’s a steady progress from a small base, rather than Kardashian viral.
This is, at least, partially because I would rather not spend my time marketing. I want to be writing. But, I have decided I need to spend a little more time marketing the site. When I ran the Old Operating Theatre Museum, I had the skills to get our web site to first place on google searches. But this was in the pioneering days of the World Wide Web. Now, it’s more difficult, but I am taking a ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ (SEO) course. I have also loaded some ‘plugins’ to WordPress which help with SEO. I thought you might be interested in some of the consequences.
The plugins ‘parse’ the site and give recommendations for improvements. This should, get the site further up the Google landing page. I have no doubt that it involves or will involve AI. The ‘Yoast’ plugin I am using as I type this, tells me words like ‘however’ are a ‘complex’ word and so they down grade my ‘readability’ quotient. It also tells me that that last sentence was too long. So, it wants simple sentences, and words that join sentences together. And not too many sentences in a paragraph and a proper scattering of headings.
It also assesses the SEOness of the text. So I have to tell it what the main subject of the page is. And it wants that word or phrase in:
the title: the first paragraph the image the meta description tag and scattered, but not too densely (because Google will punish the site for playing the algorithm) through the text.
Hence, you will see the phrase ‘News from the Almanac’ scattered more than I would normally like through this text. Of course, I know no one really will be searching for ‘News from the Almanac. So I should change the SEO phrase just to Almanac. But, then I’m not really interested in attracting non-readers to this page. I see this as between me and my email subscribers!
After writing that paragraph I realised that I would want people to land up here if they typed in ‘Almanac of the Past’. So you will see, I’ve editing the text scattering that phrase here and thereabouts.
In effect, I am being trained by a slightly stupid tutor who has no particular understanding of the needs of a writer of history! And you can’t answer back, you just get downgraded!
And it seems to be working as my numbers are getting better more quickly.
Any problems for the Almanac of the Past?
Obviously, my terrible proofreading is a concern! Maybe that’s one-way republishing helps. A year later, it’s easier to see the typos, the ugly writing, and issues with the content.
But there is another issue with the emails, which I have been trying to solve for about 6 months. The links in the emailed posts don’t work. But they do work if you visit the almanac on the web. This is nuts as I always use the full URL. For example: https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/december-29th-st-thomas-wassailing/.
So, this is very much a technical issue, one might say a bug in the system. I think it stems from the fact that my blog was stored not in https:/public_html/ but in https://public_html/anddidthosefeet. This seemed a logical choice at the time, as the blog shared space with other things. I haven’t managed to convince the tech guys at either the internet provider or WordPress that this is a bug. So, the alternative is to move the blog. But I am reluctant to do this in case it completely messes everything up.
Change the content of the newsletter, you might think. But I can find nothing that allows me to alter or add anything to the email version of the post. As I write this, I think I will temporarily add a line at the bottom of the post which says:
if the links are not working, copy and paste this URL https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/whateverkevinsalmanacpageiscalled
to your browser. This, will get you to the Almanac of the Past on the web where all the links will work.
And this will allow you to easily copy or link to the webpage and send the Almanac of the Past to your friends and followers. (I’m hoping you are Taylor Swift). You willalso be able to comment easily and maybe even like the post?
Another advantage of visiting the web version is that you get a better version to read. This is because I often find howling typos when I read the emailed post. I correct them, with a red embarrassed face.
If you are reading this on the web, then all the above must have been very annoying to read! Maybe I will move it down to the bottom of the post! (which I did).
Trying new things on the Blog
Do you want to make a comment?
Please leave me a comment – its great to hear what you think.Cancel reply
In order to clear January 22nd I moved the previous January 22nd post to December 10th. As its all about Mulled Wine, Glugg, and Gluwein., its better at the beginning of the Christmas Season than in late January.
To see it click here: or cut and past this url https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/january-22-22-time-to-mull-it-over/
I also didn't tell you Monday was Blue Monday because I had already sent you one post on the 20th. So this is the Blue Monday Post. https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/january-13th-18th-blue-monday-wolf-moon-start-of-lambing-and-twelfth-night-old-style/
“To Concordia,the Sixth Legion, Victorious, Loyal and Faithful and the Twentieth Legion [dedicates this].” Found at Roman Corbridge (Coriosopitum)
Concordia on the Day of Peace
Today, seems to be a day of peace for Gaza. Let’s hope it becomes a permanent state of concord. Concordia was the Roman goddess of conciliation and harmony. The 17th January is also the Day of Peace for the Goddesses Felicitas, and Pax. There are altars to Concordia in Britain at Corbridge and Carlisle on the Roman Frontier. The Gods of Roman Britain points out that the altars are found where there were:
‘detachments of troops from more than one Roman legion posted in the same place’.
Does this suggest that the soldiers needed to be reminded that they should not fight each other? The altar stone pictured above is dedicated to the VI Legion and the Twentieth. The Twentieth, called Valeria Victrix, was stationed in Deva – Chester. But there are stones such as the one above which shows a detachment (or vexillation) was sent to Hadrian’s Wall. For more on the stone and Corbridge see this site. The VIth Victrix legion served on Hadrian’s Wall and at Eboracum (York).
Ovid & Concordia
The Roman Poet, Ovid locates the Day of Peace on the 16th January. (Or does he? He writes about Concordia on the 16th but says: ‘Radiant One, the next day places you in your snow-white shrine’. The Goddess Book of Days puts her on the 17th. So, perhaps, I’m right placing her on the 17th, afterall?
The translator of Ovid’s almanac poem, the Fasti, A. S. Kline, explains that the Goddess Concordia:
‘symbolised the harmonious union of citizens. A temple was erected to her in 367BC (on the Capitol, near the temple of Juno Moneta) It was erected by Marcus Furius Camillus at the time when the plebeians won political equality. The Temple of Concord was restored by the Emperor Tiberius from his German spoils in AD10. This is how Ovid puts it:
The Fasti, by Ovid
Book I: January 16 Radiant one, the next day places you in your snow-white shrine, Near where lofty Moneta lifts her noble stairway: Concord, you will gaze on the Latin crowd’s prosperity, Now sacred hands have established you. Camillus, conqueror of the Etruscan people, Vowed your ancient temple and kept his vow. His reason was that the commoners had armed themselves, Seceding from the nobles, and Rome feared their power. This latest reason was a better one: revered Leader, Germany Offered up her dishevelled tresses, at your command: From that, you dedicated the spoils of a defeated race, And built a shrine to the goddess that you yourself worship. A goddess your mother honoured by her life, and by an altar, She alone worthy to share great Jupiter’s couch.
Book I: January 17 When this day is over, Phoebus, you will leave Capricorn, And take your course through the sign of the WaterBearer.
Camillus was a semi-legendary military leader who is said to have built the Temple to Concordia in 367BC. The Temple was rebuilt several times. In 121 BC is was rebuilt at a larger size and thereafter, the Senate and thereafter the Senate would meet there during are after political conflict. Ovid’s revered Leader above it Tiberius, and his mother is Livia, the wife of Augustus. Tiberius filled the Temple full of art Treasures and it became a museum and was a tourist attraction for visitors to Rome.
For more on Concordia and Pax look at my post here. More Ovid, read my post here.
On This Day!
1752 – Today is also Twelfth Night Old style which is the date of the celebration of the last night of Christmas according to Julian Calendar which was replaced by the Gregorian in 1752. So Old Style time to Wassail the Orchard!
1773 – Captain Cook captained the first Ship (the Resolution) to cross the Antarctic Circle
Today is St Antony’s Day – father of Monasticism, curer of St Antony’s Fire, patron Saint of domestic animals, especially pigs. The runt of a litter is a ‘tantony pig’ and the smallest bell in a chime is a ‘tantony bell’. His symbols are pigs and bells.
First written in Jan 2023, revised and republished in Jan 2024,2025
1375, French Caesarian Birth, (caesarians at this time would have killed the mother or be performed when she was already dead or dying.)
When Britain reluctantly joined the Gregorian Calendar, in 1752, we lost 11 days. So if you add 11 to 31st December you get to New Year Old Style. You can do this with any date, and when celebrating, feel you are being really authentic.
So, anything you did on the New Year’s Eve New Style (31st Dec), you can do today. Except, of course, when you call in sick because of a hangover you will need to convince your boss of the illegitimacy of the Gregorian Calendar! In case you have forgotten what you should be doing on New Year’s Eve you can look at my post here to find out.
Witches
It’s a particularly ‘witchy’ evening because it is the traditional Eve, not the newfangled one. Reginald Scot in his ‘Discovery of Witchcraft’ first published in 1584 reports on a way to find witches:
‘a charm to find who has bewitched your cattle. Put a pair of breeches upon the cow’s head, and beat her out of the pasture with a good cudgel upon a Friday and she will run right to the witch’s door and strike it with her horns‘
Reginald Scott’s book is available on this website and is a fascinating read. But, perhaps I need to say: don’t try this at home, as it is not supported by scientific research.
When I first posted this in 2022. I did not, to my shame, know the background to the book. I assumed the book was advocating this nonsense that a cow could lead you to whoever bewitched it. On the contrary. Reginald Scot was trying to debunk the absurd claims for witchcraft and magic. His book tries to prove that witchcraft and magic were rejected both by reason and religion. He believed that manifestations of either were ‘wilful impostures or illusions due to mental disturbance in the observers’.
The book is evidence that the large number of people who were executed as witches in the 16th and 17th Century, were the victims of a QAnon-like conspiracy which was rejected by many educated and rational people. Please have a good look at the cover of this 17th Century edition of Reginald Scot’s book. It gives a good idea of what he was setting out to counteract. Scot was a member of Parliament for New Romney, in Kent.
Carmentalia
Carmenta or Nicostrata , Goddess of Prophecy, Childbirth, Midwives and Technical Innovations. Published by Guillaume Rouille (1518?-1589) – “Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum”
It is also Carmentalia, the festival for Carmenta, the Roman Goddess of prophecy and childbirth. She was a much loved Goddess in the Roman pantheon. But little is known about her, perhaps because she has no clear match in the Greek pantheon. However, she was thought to be a nymph of the Arcadians, called Themis.
She has a long history in the story of Rome. This may surprise you, she was the mother of Evander. Who is he? I hear you shouting! Well, he is the founder of Pallantium. Where on earth is that? You cry. It is the City on the site of Rome (on the Palatine Hill) that predated Rome! Who knew that? (The people at Vindolanda Roman Fort know, and they have a great page on Carmenta here). The City was supposed to be of Greek origin, founded 60 years before the fall of Troy. Later, it was absorbed into Rome.
Carmenta had two sidekicks who were her sisters and attendants. Postvorta and Antevorta, They might be explained by Past and Future. (or, After and Before) as part of her role in prophecy. Or the two figures could represent babies that are either born head or legs first. She was an important enough Diety to command one of the fifteen flamen. These were priests of state-sponsored religions. One of their jobs was to ensure no one came to the temple wearing anything of leather. Leather was created from death, and not suitable for the Goddess of Childbirth, who was all about life.
The Vindolanda post makes the point that 2% of pre-modern births are likely to have caused the death of the mother. Because there was a high child mortality the Roman Mother would have to have 5 children on average to keep the population stable. With a 2% death rate, and 5 children, they estimate that each mother had a 12% chance of death by giving birth. Good reason to have a Goddess on the Mum’s side. She is also the Goddess of Midwives.
She was originally known as Nicostrata. She was credited with creating the Latin Alphabet by adding additional letters to the Greek one. So, she is also the Goddess of Technological Innovation. Some Goddess!
First published in Jan 2022, revised January 2024, 2025
Spinning—showing the distaff in the left hand and the spindle or rock in the right hand
I’m not sure what the Three Kings were doing on the day after Epiphany. But, the shepherds, if they were like medieval English farmworkers, would still be on holiday. They went back to work, traditionally, next Monday, which is Plough Monday. By contrast, the women, according to folk customs, went back to work St. Distaff’s Day, the day after Epiphany. In an ideal world, St Distaff’s Day is the Sunday after Epiphany (January 6th), and Plough Monday is the next day. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way. I am not sure the woman going back to work on the 7th January, would be happy with the men lounging about until Plough Monday,. This year on the 13th January.
A distaff is ‘a stick or spindle on to which wool or flax is wound for spinning’. Because of its importance in the medieval and early modern economy, it became a synecdoche for women. St Distaff is a ‘canonisation’ of this use of the word. So, a day to celebrate working women.
We know that medieval and early modern women were a vital part of the work force, despite the demands of childcare. Many women took on apprenticeships, even more continued their husband’s work after he died. Some professions like silk became a female speciality. Plus, London was full of female servants and nurses. Many women had several jobs. The exhibition at the British Library on Medieval Women. In Their Own Words, indicated that most of the sex workers had two or more other jobs. In the house, the wife was the mistress of a formidable range of technologies. Baking, Brewing, Cooking, Laundry, Gardening, Dairy, Medicine (including distillation), horticulture, spinning, sewing and embroidery. Even, aristocratic women did embroidery of the finest quality, and it often made an important financial contribution to the household.
St Distaff’s Day and Plough Monday
Robert Herrick (1591–1674), born in Cheapside, London, a Goldsmith, priest, Royalist and Poet wrote in ‘Hesperides’.
Partly work and partly play You must on St. Distaff’s Day: From the plough, soon free your team; Then come home and fother them; If the maids a-spinning go, Burn the flax and fire the tow. Bring in pails of water then, Let the maids bewash the men. Give St. Distaff all the right; Then bid Christmas sport good night, And next morrow every one To his own vocation.
Here he links the plough team with St Distaff’s Day. This implies that the ploughs would be out on the next day. So as St Distaff’s Day is not always on a Sunday, perhaps Plough Monday is not always on a Monday? He certainly suggests everyone goes back to work on the day after St Distaff’s Day.
Saints & Goddesses of the Distaff Side
In London, the Fraternity of St Anne and St Agnes met at the Church dedicated to the saints. It is by a corner of the Roman Wall on the junction of Gresham Street and Noble Street. St Agnes is the patron saint of young girls, abused women and Girl Scouts. St Anne is the mother of the mother of the Son of God. So, she represents the three generations of women: maidens, mothers, and grandmothers.
The Three Mother Goddesses (and someone else) “Limestone relief depicting four female figures sitting on a bench holding bread and fruit, a suckling baby, a dog and a basket of fruit’ the Museum of London
This trinity of women were worshipped by the Celts. Archaeologists discovered the sculpture above while investigating the Roman Wall a few hundred yards away at Blackfriars. Scholars believe it depicts the Celtic Three Mother Goddesses. The fourth person is a mystery, maybe the patron of a nearby temple. The relief sculpture was removed perhaps from a temple, or the temple was trashed at some point. Then the sculpture was used as rubble and became part of the defences of London.
The idea of triple goddesses is a common one. In Folklore and History they have been referred to as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, or even Maiden, Mother and Hag. They come in Roman, Greek, Celtic, Irish, and Germanic forms. Their names include the Norns, the Three Fates, the Weird Sisters, the Mórrígan and many more. The Three Fates, the Goddess Book of Days says, were celebrated during the Gamelia. This is the Greco/Roman January Festival to the marriage of Zeus and Juno. The Festival also gives its name to the Athenian month of January.
The use of the terms Hag and Crone for the third Goddess is rare now, but was common. It does a great disservice to the importance of the Grandmother figure. (Although the original meaning of the words were less pejorative. For example, Hag may have meant diviner, soothsayer.) The three phases of womanhood are equally as important to the continuation of the species. They provide love, support, and experience through the generations. Compare these three generations of supportive deities with Ouranos (Uranus), Cronus (Saturn) and Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn castrated and deposed his father, Uranus. Later, he tried to eat his son, Jupiter. But then, Jupiter is nobody’s idea of an ideal father. As one example, he eats his lover, Metis, to avoid her giving birth. (See my post on the birth of Athena.)
Recent work on human evolution has suggested that the role of the Grandmother is crucial to our species’ ability to live beyond the age of fertility. Because, in evolutionary terms, once an individual cannot procreate, their usefulness for the survival of the genes is finished. So what’s the point of putting resources into grandma’s survival? The theory is the Grandmother has such an impact on the survival of the next generation, that longevity. for the female, beyond fertility makes evolutionary sense.
There was a theory widely held that the original Deities, dating before the spread of farming, were mother goddesses. The idea is that the hunter-gather goddesses (perhaps like the Venus of Willendorf) were overthrown by the coming of farmers. These patriarchal societies worshipped the male gods, which destroyed the ancient Matriarchy. Jane Ellen Harrison proposed an ancient matriarchal civilization. Robert Graves wrote some interesting, but no longer thought to be very scientific studies, on the idea. Neopaganism has taken these ideas forward.
1845. Today is the anniversary of the breaking of the fabulous Portland Vase by a drunken visitor to the British Museum. It looks immaculate despite being smashed into myriad pieces, a wonder of the conservator’s art. To see the vase and read its story, go to the BM web site here:
In the orthodox church, дед Мороз (Ded Moroz= father of frost), accompanied by Cнегурочка (Snieguroshka= fairy of the snow) brings gifts on New year’s eve, (which is on January 7th). He travels with a horse drawn troika.
Marble statue of Bacchus from the Temple of Mithras London. The inscription reads ‘hominibus vagis vitam’ Translation … (give) life to men who wander.
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me: 8 Maids a Milking; 7 Swans a Swimming; 6 Geese a Laying 5 Golden Rings 4 Calling Birds; 3 French Hens; 2 Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Closing Time
The 8th day, New Years Day, is the day of the Throbbing Head. In ‘Closing Time’ Leonard Cohen wrote about drinking to excess. I like to think he refers to Christmas and New Year’s Day:
‘And the whole damn place goes crazy twice And it’s once for the devil and it’s once for Christ But the boss don’t like these dizzy heights We’re busted in the blinding lights of closing time.
Trouble is the song mentions summer. Oh well. You can enjoy the official video on YouTube below:
Hangover Cure
So what you need is a hangover cure. Nature provides many plants that can soothe headaches. And in the midst of the season of excess, let’s start with a hangover cure.
Common ivy Photo by Zuriel Galindo from unsplash
Ivy and Bacchus
Ivy, ‘is a plant of Bacchus’…. ‘the berries taken before one be set to drink hard, preserve from drunkenness…. and if one hath got a surfeit by drinking of wine, the speediest cure is to drink a draft of the same wine, wherein a handful of ivy leaves (being first bruised) have been boiled.’
Culpeper Herbal 1653 quoted in ‘the Perpetual Almanac’ by Charles Kightly
The image of Bacchus, at the top of the post, is from a fascinating article by the Museum of London on wine making in Roman Britain. Bacchus is often shown with an ivy crown around his head as Romans were wont to wear them to fend of hangovers.
Skullache, and Willow,
Crack Willow Trees on the Oxford Canal, August 2021
One of the best documented folk hangover cure is willow bark. It could be used for headaches, earaches and toothaches. Here is a record of how simple it was to use:
‘I am nearly 70 years old and was born and bred in Norfolk… My father, if he had a ‘skullache’ as he called it, would often chew a new growth willow twig, like a cigarette in the mouth.’
‘A Dictionary of Plant Lore by Roy Vickery (Pg 401)
In the 19th Century, Willow was found to contain salicylic acid from which aspirin was derived. As a child I remember chewing liquorice sticks in a similar way. However, we chewed, supposedly for the pleasure and the sweetness not for the medicinal virtues of the plant.
Country Weather
January 1st’s weather on the 8th Day of Christmas was warm and wet all day. So, according to Gervase Markham, the 8th Month, August, will be similarly warm and drenched. (source: ‘The English Husbandman’ of 1635.)
On this Day
It was the Day of Nymphs in Greece dedicated to Artemis, Andromeda, Ariadne, Ceres. (according to the Goddess Book of Days by Diane Stein.)
Here are listed the public guided walks and tours I have in my diary. I will be adding others all the time.
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall 11.30am 13th July 2025 To Book Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 3pm Sunday 13th July 25 To book Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 11.30 am Sat 2nd Aug 2025 To Book Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 2:30pm Sat 2nd Aug 2025 To Book Myths, Legends, Archaeology and the Origins of London 11.00am Sat 11th Aug 2025 to Book The Archaeology of London Walk 6.30pm Fri 3rd October 2025 To Book Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 11:30pm Sat 4th Oct 2025 Aldgate Underground To book Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30pm Sat 4th Oct 25 To book The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Walk 11.30pm Sat 8th Nov 25 Exit 2 St Pauls Underground Station To book The Rebirth Of Saxon London Archaeology Walk 11.30am Sun 23rd Nov 2025 To Book Charles I and the Civil War. Martyrdom Anniversary Walk Jan 30th 2026 To book For a complete list of my guided walks for London Walks in 2025 look here
Monday 1st January 2025 7.00 pm On this Virtual Walk we look at how London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years.
The New Year has been a time of review, renewal, and anticipation of the future from time immemorial. The Ancient Britons saw the Solstice as a symbol of a promise of renewal as the Sun was reborn. As the weather turns to bleak mid winter, a festival or reflection and renewal cheers everyone up. This idea of renewal was followed by the Romans, and presided over by a two headed God called Janus who looked both backwards and forwards. Dickens Christmas Carol was based on redemption and his second great Christmas Book ‘The Chimes’ on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.
We look at London’s past to see where and how the New Year was celebrated. We also explore the different New Years we use and their associated Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other Winter Festival and New Year London traditions and folklore.
At the end, we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2023.
The virtual walk finds interesting and historic places in the City of London to link to our stories of Past New Year’s Days. We begin, virtually, at the Barbican Underground and continue to the Museum of London, the Roman Fort; Noble Street, Goldsmiths Hall, Foster Lane, St Pauls, Doctors Commons, St. Nicholas Colechurch and on towards the River Thames.
The Civil War, Restoration and the Great Fire of London Virtual Tour
The Great Fire of London looking towards StPauls Cathedral from an old print
7:30pm Fri 30th January 2025
January 30th is the Anniversary of the execution of Charles I and to commemorate it we explore the events and the aftermath of the Civil War in London.
Along with the Norman Conquest of 1066 and winning the World Cup in 1966 the Great Fire in 1666 are the only dates the British can remember!
And we remember the Great Fire because it destroyed one of the great medieval Cities in an epic conflagration that shocked the world.
But it wasn’t just the Great Fire that made the 17th Century an epic period in English History. There was a Civil War, beheading of the King, a Republic, a peaceful Restoration of the Monarch, the last great plague outbreak in the UK, the Glorious Revolution and the Great Wind.
The Virtual Walk puts the Great Fire in the context of the time – Civil War, anti-catholicism, plague, and the commercial development of London. The walk brings to life 17th Century London. It starts with the events that lead up to the Civil War concentrating on Westminster and ends with a vivid recreation of the drama of the Fire as experienced by eye-witnesses. Route includes: Westminster, Fish Street Hill, Pudding Lane, Monument, Royal Exchange, Guildhall, Cheapside, St Pauls, Amen Corner, Newgate Street, Smithfield.
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk
11.30 am Sun 9th Feb 2025 Monument Underground Station
also on 11.30am Sun 27th Apr 25 but starting from Moorgate
London Roman Riverside Wall o
This is a walking tour features the amazing archaeological discoveries of Roman London, and looks at life in the provincial Roman capital of Londinium.
This is a walking tour that features the amazing archaeological discoveries of Roman London, and looks at life in the provincial Roman capital of Londinium.
Our Guides will be Publius Ovidius Naso and Marcus Valerius Martialis who will be helped by Kevin Flude, former Museum of London Archaeologist, Museum Curator and Lecturer.
We disembark at the Roman Waterfront by the Roman Bridge, and then explore the lives of the citizens as we walk up to the site of the Roman Town Hall, and discuss Roman politics. We proceed through the streets of Roman London, with its vivid and cosmopolitan street life via the Temple of Mithras to finish with Bread and Circus at the Roman Amphitheatre.
Zinger Read: Talk about a high-quality one-two punch. This walk investigates the groundbreaking archaeological discoveries of Roman London. And then it reconstructs life in a provincial Roman capital using archaeological and literary sources. Discoveries – insights – like flashes of lightning in a cloud. We begin at the site of the Roman bridge. We might be decent young Roman citizens in togas, having this and that bit of explained to us as we make our way towards the Roman Town Hall. From there we head to the site of the excavation called ‘the Pompeii of the North.’ Followed by the Temple of Mithras. We finish with a walk along the Roman High Street in order to end at the site of the Roman Amphitheatre. So, yes, welcome to London as it was 2,000, 1,900, 1,800, 1,700 and 1,600 years ago. And, yes, the walk’s guided by a real expert, the distinguished emeritus Museum of London archaeologist Kevin Flude. That means you’ll see things other people don’t get to see, delve into London via fissures that aren’t visible, let alone accessible, to non-specialists.
REVIEWS “Kevin, I just wanted to drop you a quick email to thank you ever so much for your archaeological tours of London! I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon your tours! I look forward to them more than you can imagine! They’re the best 2 hours of my week! 🙂 Best, Sue
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Guided Walk
2.30 pm Sunday 9th Feb 2025
Green Park underground station, Green Park exit, by the fountain To book
Also
9 February 2025
Sunday
2.30 pm
4.30 pm
8 March 2025
Saturday
2.30 pm
4.30 pm
6 April 2025
Sunday
11.30 am
1.30 pm
2025 is the 250th Anniversary of Jane Austen’s Birth in Steventon, Hampshire. We celebrate her fictional and real life visits to Mayfair, the centre of the London section of Sense & Sensibility and where Jane came to visit her brother
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Jane Austen devotee in possession of the good fortune of a couple of free hours today must be in want of this walk.”
People associate Jane Austen and her characters with a rural setting. But London is central to both Jane Austen’s real life and her literary life. So, this tour will explore Jane’s connections with London and give the background to Sense and Sensibility, a good part of which is based in this very area. We begin with the place Jane’s coach would arrive from Hampshire, and then walk the streets haunted by Willougby; past shops visited by the Palmers, the Ferrars; visit the location of Jane Austen’s brother’s bank and see the publisher of Jane’s Books. The area around Old Bond Street was the home of the Regency elite and many buildings and a surprising number of the shops remain as they were in Jane Austen’s day.
Jane Austen’s ‘A Picture of London’ in 1809 Virtual Walk
With the help of a contemporary Guide Book, Jane Austen’s letters, and works we explore London in 1809.
‘The Picture of London for 1809 Being a CORRECT GUIDE to all the Curiosities, Amusements, Exhibitions, Public Establishments, and Remarkable Objects in and near London.’
This Guide Book to London might have been on Henry Austen’s shelf when his sister, Jane, came to visit him in London. But it enables us to tour the London that Jane Austen knew in some detail. We will look at the Curiosities as well as the shopping, residential, theatres areas as well as the Port, the Parks and the Palaces.
The guided walk is a thank you to Alix Gronau, who, having been to one of my lectures in 1994, wanted the book to come to me. I have had the book restored and am using it to explore London in 1809.
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Sunday 9th February 25 To book
A Virtual Tour of Jane Austen’s Bath
7.30pm 10th February 2025
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall 11.30am Sat 22nd Feb 25
Myths, Legends, Archaeology and the Origins of London
Druids at All Hallows, by the Tower
2.30pm Sat 22nd February 2025 Tower Hill Underground
The walk tells the stories of our changing ideas about the origins of London during the Prehistoric, Roman and Saxon periods.
The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, who has an interest both in myths, legends and London’s Archaeology.
The walk will tell the story of the legendary origins of London which record that it was founded in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan and was called New Troy, which became corrupted to Trinovantum. This name was recorded in the words of Julius Caesar; and, then, according to Legend, the town was renamed after King Ludd and called Lud’s Dun. Antiquarians and Archaeologists have taken centuries to demolish this idea, and became convinced London was founded by the Romans. Recently, dramatic evidence of a Bronze Age presence in London was found.
When the Roman system broke down in 410 AD, historical records were almost non-existent, until the Venerable Bede recorded the building of St Pauls Cathedral in 604 AD. The two hundred year gap, has another rich selection of legends. which the paucity of archaeological remains struggles to debunk.
The walk will explore these stories and compare the myths and legends with Archaeological discoveries.
The route starts at Tower Hill, then down to the River at Billingsgate, London Bridge, and into the centre of Roman London.
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 11.30am Sat Mar 8th 25 Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30pm Sat 8th Mar 25
The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Walk 11.30 Sat 22nd March 2025 London. 1066 and All That Walk Sat 2.30pm 22nd March 2025
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 11.30am Sun 6th Apr 25
Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 2:30pm Sun 6th Apr 25
and
Chaucer’s London To Canterbury Virtual Pilgrimage 7.30pm Friday 18th April 25 To book
George Inn,Southwark
A Walk around Medieval London following in the footsteps of its resident medieval poet – Geoffrey Chaucer
One of the spectators at the Peasants Revolt was Geoffrey Chaucer, born in the Vintry area of London, who rose to be a diplomat, a Courtier and London’s Customs Officer. He lived with his wife in the Chamber above the Gate in the City Wall at Aldgate. His poetry shows a rugged, joyous medieval England including many scenes reflecting life in London. His stories document the ending of the feudal system, growing dissatisfaction with the corruption in the Church, and shows the robust independence with which the English led their lives.
His work helped change the fashion from poetry in French or Latin to acceptance of the English language as suitable literary language. This was helped by the growth of literacy in London as its Merchants and Guildsmen became increasingly successful. In 1422, for example, the Brewers decided to keep their records in English ‘as there are many of our craft who have the knowledge of reading and writing in the English idiom.’
Chaucer and other poets such as Langland give a vivid portrait of Medieval London which was dynamic, successful but also torn by crisis such as the Lollard challenge to Catholic hegemony, and the Peasants who revolted against oppression as the ruling classes struggled to resist the increased independence of the working people following the Black Death.
A walk which explores London in the Middle Ages, We begin at Aldgate, and follow Chaucer from his home to his place of work at the Customs House, and then to St Thomas Chapel on London Bridge, and across the River to where the Canterbury Tales start – at the Tabard Inn.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 11.30am Sun 27th Apr 25
Roman layer opus signinum,
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall 3:00pm Sun 27th Apr 25
Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield.
The Walk creates a portrait of London in the early 16th Century, with particular emphasis on the life and times of Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More during the Anne Boleyn years.
More and Cromwell had much in common, both lawyers, commoners, who rose to be Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, and ended their careers on the block at Tower Hill.
The walk starts with an exploration of Smithfield – site of the stake where heretics were burnt alive and of St Bartholomew’s Monastery – given to Richard Rich after his decisive role in the downfall of Thomas More. We continue to St Paul where Martin Luther’s books were burnt, and later, where Puritans preached against dancing round the Maypole.
We walk along the main markets streets of London, to Thomas More’s birthplace, and to the site of More’s and Cromwell’s townhouses before, if time allows, finishing at the site of the Scaffold where More and Cromwell met their ends, overlooking where Anne Boleyn was incarcerated in the Tower of London
To Book: https://www.walks.com/our-walks/tudor-london-the-city-of-wolf-hall/
A Boy From Haggerston before the War. 6pm 1st May 2025 Shoreditch Library.
Myths, Legends, Archaeology and the Origins of London 11.30am Sun 25th May 25 To book
The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Walk 3pm Sun May 25 To book
The Peasants Revolt Anniversary Guided Walk
Medieval drawing of an archer
6.30pm Wed 11th June 2025 Aldgate Underground To book
An Anniversary Walk tracking the progress of the Peasants as they take control of London in June of 1381
Short read: The Summer of Blood
Long read: The Peasants’ Revolt. The greatest popular rising in English history. This is the anniversary walk. The London Walk that heads back to 1381, back to the Peasants’ Revolt. You want a metaphor, think stations of the cross. This is the stations of the Peasants’ Revolt walk. We go over the ground, literally and metaphorically. Where it took place. Why it took place. Why it took place at these places. What happened. The walk is guided by the distinguished Museum of London Archaeologist His expertise means you’ll see the invisible. And understand the inscrutable.
On the anniversary of the Peasants Revolt we reconstruct the events that shook the medieval world. In June 1381, following the introduction of the iniquitous Poll Tax, England’s government nearly fell, shaken to the core by a revolt led by working men. This dramatic tour follows the events of the Revolt as the Peasants move through London in June 1381.
We met up with the Peasants at Aldgate, force our way into the City. We march on the Tower of London as the King makes concessions by ending serfdom, at Mile End. But the leaders take the mighty Tower of London and behead the leaders of Richard’s government. Attacks follow on the lawyers in the Temple, the Prior at St. John’s of Jerusalem, Flemish Londoners, and on Lambeth and Savoy Palaces.
The climax of the Revolt comes at Smithfield where a small Royal party confront the 30,000 peasants.
Here are previous archive of guided walks and events
The First Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Nebra Sun disc from Stonehenge Exhibition British Museum (photo Kevin Flude) The Disc shows the Sun, the Moon, the Pleides, and illustrates the Summer and Winter Solstice movements of the Sun.
On the 25th December were born Jesus, Mithras, Attis, Saturn, Apollo, and the Invincible Sun.
The Sun Gods have quite a complicated interrelationship. Zeus, and Apollo are both also considered to be Sun Gods. Apollo is particularly interrelated to Helios, the Greek God who drives the Chariot that carries the Sun across the skies every day. The Romans had a God called Sol who some say was a deity who declined to be of minor importance, until the transexual Emperor Elagabalas and then Aurelian in 274 AD revived the cult. Sol Invictus was the focus of Constantine the Great, and has been suggested as a response of the Romans to a trend towards monotheism in the later Roman period. Sol for Constantine was a gateway God to Christianity.
It is also notable that early worship of Jesus is full of solar metaphors, Jesus being, for example, the light of the world. Churches are also virtually all orientated East West, aligned with the rising and setting suns. The Altar is always at the East End, and effigies on tombs face the East.
Did the Celts have a sun-god? Belenos is a contender, but linguists are proposing his name does not come from words meaning bright but from strong. The God Lugh’s name is suggested to mean ‘shining’ but his attributes are more of a warrior than a sun god. Taranis is probably the best candidate, but he is more of a sky or thunder god than specifically a sun god. However, his symbol is a wheel and the wheel is symbolic of the turning of the year.
The Golden Wheel from Haute Marne in France, (Public Domain, Wikipedia)
His 8 spoked wheel is said to be symbolic of the Sun and it represents the division of the year by the 4 quarterly sun festivals (Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox) and the 4 cross-quarter festivals, (Samhain or Halloween, Imbolc or Candlemas, Beltane or May Day, Lughnasa or Harvest Festival).
December 25th is a few days after our reckoning of the Solstice but it was the date of the Roman Solstice.
Christmas Cake
Today, you might be tucking into a Christmas Cake (originally eaten on Twelfth Night). Now, I know many Americans have a bizarre belief that fruit cake is the cake of the devil, something you receive as a gift and give away to someone else, as most Americans hate it. More fool them for missing out on one of the delights of the Christmas period, that and cold turkey sandwiches. Christmas Cake is made on stir up Sunday, the last Sunday in November, to let the ingredients develop their flavour. They are then covered with marzipan and decorative icing.
19th Century Christmas Cake, generally now the icing continues down the side of the cake.
In Germany, they also eat a fruit bread called Stollen or Weihnachtsstollen. The tradition is said to have been started in the 15th Century, when the Pope gave dispensation to allow the use of butter in the fasting period of Advent. The Germans had to use oil to replace the banned butter, but they could only make oil from turnips, so eventually the Pope allowed the use of butter, with which they made bread with added dried fruits.
Stollen By Gürgi – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3720379
In Italy, they eat Panettone, a fruit bread/cake. It is a sourdough, and a cross between a brioche and a cake. It often comes in a beautiful decorative tin, and is delicious. The centre of panettone production is Milan and this year is the 200th Anniversary of Milan’s famous Marchesi 1824 which makes artisanal Panettone from ‘fine ingredients such as six-crown sultanas, naturally candied fruit, Bourbon vanilla from Madagascar, Italian honey and eggs from free-range hens, blended in a slow-rising dough with the exclusive use of Marchesi 1824 sourdough starter‘. Thank you, Mara from Milan, for the heads-up.
Screen shot from website – does not click through to sales!
Which is best? The only way to find out is to eat several slices of each. America, you don’t know what you are missing.
For stir up sunday see the second half of this post of mine.
Helios Colossus of Rhodes, artist’s impression, 1880
Tomorrow is the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti. But as, in the Northern Tradition, the day begins at dusk, so Christmas Day really begins on Christmas Eve. So many countries celebrate the eve as much or more than the day. Also the Christian Church follows a similar tradition of beginning the celebrations on the eve. This is said to be following the Jewish tradition. In Genesis are the words;
‘And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.’
Christian tradition holds that Jesus was born on the holy night and thus is celebrated by the midnight mass.
In Germany there is a relatively light dinner often consisting of potato salad and sausages. Gifts are exchanged afterwards.
December 24th is a day for Mothers, as tomorrow, the 25th, will be born Jesus, Mithras, Attis, Saturn, Apollo, and the Day of the Birth of the Invincible Sun, Solis Invictus. And so we think of Mary, Isis, Theia, the Three Mother Goddesses and mothers everywhere.
First Published 24th December 2022, Republished 2023,2024
![“To Concordia,¹ the Sixth Legion, Victorious, Loyal and Faithful and the Twentieth Legion [dedicates this].” found at Roman Corbridge (Coriosopitum)](https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/To-Concordia¹-the-Sixth-Legion-Victorious-Loyal-and-Faithful-and-the-Twentieth-Legion-dedicates-this..png)
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