Arts
Postcard from Lille, Part 6
We’re travelling the length of England from the Debatable lands to the white cliffs. We’re on the way to Lille but I’ve been distracted by an Arab girl who reminds me of an excellent pen, [more…]
Hobbies
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 9
June 25th, 1809. We are returned to London. Our journey from Portsmouth was necessarily a slow one, as no stagecoach driver will countenance adding eight bears to his passengers. In any case, Fred deemed it [more…]
20th Century
Milestones in Nineteenth Century Firearms Development, Part Six
Introduction Sometime in mid-2017 I casually remarked to the chap shooting at the next bench to me that I had long been fascinated by the Westley Richards ‘Monkey Tail’ transitional rifle but had never actually [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 8
May 20th, 1809. We are at sea again – on a merchant ship, Pride of Scunthorpe, under the command of Jonas Swigger, a jovial captain who was more than happy to take us bears and [more…]
Arts
Postcard from Lille, Part 5
We are on our way to France as a family group. We are travelling first class and the serotonin is high. I’m a ‘look out of the window’ kind of person and, as we travel [more…]
19th Century
Milestones in Nineteenth Century Firearms Development, Part Five
Introduction By inducing a projectile to spin around its own axis its flight is stabilised and accuracy and range are vastly improved. Rifling a barrel by cutting spiral grooves in a variety of forms and [more…]
Arts
Postcard from Lille, Part 4
We are a family group en route to the near continent travelling by first class train to London. It’s November and the English countryside is touched by frost and gentle mist. As we head south, [more…]
19th Century
Milestones in Nineteenth Century Firearms Development, Part Four
Introduction Every month my gun club holds a guest day when members can bring along friends and family to ‘have a go’ with their firearms. Maybe it’s because we were raised on a diet of [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 7
May 6th, 1809 We are part of a regular army again, pressing on to confront the French. I must confess that my old bones are aching from the furious pace of our advance. Jem is [more…]