27 July 2021 - EXECUTIONS IN THE TOWER OF LONDON

EXECUTIONS IN THE

 TOWER OF LONDON

 

G'day folks,

Being a prison since Medieval times, it follows that the Tower of London is an eerie place that had witnessed a lot of death and executions. 

 

Although the prison was there for nearly a millennium and had quite a lot of prisoners, the overall number of executions is relatively low - an estimated 400 people. Of the famous figures executed there was, as already mentioned, Anne Boleyn, as well as Jane Boleyn, William Hastings, and Jane Gray. That said, the Tower of London has also seen several murders, the most famous one being that of two little Princes, Edward V and Richard, the only two sons of King Edward IV. 

 

After their father's death and an ongoing battle for power, the two boys were held in the Tower for "protection", but vanished under mysterious circumstances and were believed to be murdered to secure the throne for Richard III of England. The tragic story is widely known as the Princes in the Tower today.

 

Clancy's comment: A dastardly place, eh?

I'm ...

 

 

20 July 2021 - FACTS ABOUT THE ENGLISH CROWN JEWELS - LONDON

 

FACTS ABOUT THE ENGLISH 

CROWN JEWELS - LONDON

 

G'day folks,

The tradition of safekeeping the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom in the Tower of London is almost as old as the fortress itself. 

 

The first king to order the Crown Jewels to be kept there was Henry III, who ruled between 1216 and 1272. Initially, a specialized Jewel House was created to house the royal regalia, but it was demolished in 1669 and the precious royal ceremonial objects have been rehoused twice after. 

 

Currently, they are stored in the Jewel House in the Waterloo Block, and the collection includes an 800-year-old Coronation Spoon, St. Edward's Crown, the Imperial State Crown, and 23,578 gemstones. What a treasure!

 

Clancy's comment: Wow, that's a lot of gemstones.

I'm ...

 

 

3 July 2021 - MAGNIFICENT SCRATCHBOARD ART by CATHY SHEETER

 

MAGNIFICENT 

SCRATCHBOARD  ART 

by 

CATHY SHEETER

 

G'day folks,

Some people have so much talent. Here is one of them. 

Hyper-realistic art is incredibly impressive. And American artist Cathy Sheeter sets the bar high with her artwork, in which she creates realistic scratch drawings on ink coated boards. Scratchboard is a unique medium. Discover more about how this form of art is done and see Cathy's mesmerizing work below.

Cathy works in the medium of Scratchboard. It helps bring her animals and wildlife to life in a hyper-realistic way that no other medium can.

It is hard to believe that Cathy's realistic animal artwork is created just from scratches into an ink coated board, but that's exactly how each work is drawn.

Scratchboard starts with a solid black ink coated board. The ink is then scratched away with sharp tools to reveal a layer of white clay that is beneath the ink. The more you scratch into the surface the lighter that area will become. This enables Cathy to create a range of tones. Some of the tools she uses include a xacto knife, sandpaper, tattoo needles and fiberglass brushes.

Check out her stunning work below.

Clancy's comment: Stunning!

I'm ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 July 2021 - FACTS ABOUT THE BEEFEATERS OF LONDON

 

 FACTS ABOUT THE 

BEEFEATERS OF LONDON

G'day folks,

The Yeoman Warders have been protecting the Tower of London since 1485, as ordered by King Henry VII, although they have likely existed for much longer. 

 

These guardians are dressed in red and very characteristic uniforms, and they are also known as Beefeaters because part of their salary consisted of chunks of beef up until the 1800s. There are 37 Beefeaters, both men and women, living in the Tower today, and they give tours of the fortress. They are probably most famous for the 7-century-old tradition called the Ceremony of Keys, where they lock the Tower every night at precisely 9:53 PM. 

 

What most people don't realize is that Beefeaters don't just work at the Tower, though. Since the 13th century, they have been living in the fortress with their families, too. Today, there are about 150 people living in the Tower of London.

 

Clancy's comment: Interesting facts, eh? I never knew that people were still living in the Tower.

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27 June 2021 - THE VERY RARE SPECTACLED FLOWERPECKER

 

THE VERY RARE 

SPECTACLED FLOWERPECKER

G'day folks,

Welcome to a very rare bird. 

First spotted in the lowland forests of Borneo, Malaysia, in 2009, the spectacled flowerpecker is a unique bird that eluded description for over a decade. Researchers weren’t certain about it and hence the fruit-loving passerine bird had a sense of wonder and mystery about it. A decade later, in 2019, scientists were eventually able to identify the unobtrusive little bird as Dicaeum dayakorum or the spectacled flowerpecker. 

 

At just two inches in height, drab in color and having only faint white markings around its eyes, this bird is hard to spot. The species belongs to Dicaeidae, which is a family of fruit-eating passerine birds found in tropical southern Asia and Australia. The spectacled flowerpecker is not closely related to any of the other flowerpecker species.

 

Clancy's comment: What a survivor!

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2 July 2021 - TOWER OF LONDON WAS ONCE A ZOO

 

TOWER OF LONDON

 WAS ONCE A ZOO

 

G'day folks,

In the 13th century, the Tower of London earned a new profile as King John started collecting exotic animals from all around the world and created the royal menagerie. 

 

Ever since, kings and queens have held all the animals that they received as gifts from other monarchs at the Tower, and the place became an attraction where Londoners could see polar bears and captive lions, to name a few. The zoo remained active until the 1830s, and all the inhabitants were subsequently moved to the London Zoo. 

 

To remember the castle's legacy as the royal zoo, artist Kendra Haste created a sculpture of three lions to be displayed at the Tower of London. The sculpture is a nod to an archeological discovery made in 1936, during which 2 lion skulls from the Middle ages were found in the moat of the fortress. These were not ordinary lions either, but a variety of Barbary lions that have been extinct for over a century.

Clancy's comment: The Tower of London appears to have had a multitude of uses.

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28 June 2021 - WHO HAS KEYS TO THE TOWER OF LONDON?

 

WHO HAS KEYS TO 

THE TOWER OF LONDON?

 

G'day folks,

Listen up! 

On November 6, 2012, a man was caught trespassing the Tower of London in the early morning and he was then escorted from the premises of the fortress. The security services of the Tower later revealed that the keys from the tourist attraction and home of the crown jewels were stolen.

 

 As a result, some locks have been replaced immediately to prevent the intruder from entering the premises, but to this day, someone somewhere likely has the ring of keys that may still be able to unlock at least some of the rooms in the castle.

Clancy's comment: Anyone knowing the whereabouts of these keys can email me. 

I'm ...

 

23 June 2021 - FAMOUS PRISONERS HELD IN THE TOWER OF LONDON

 

FAMOUS PRISONERS HELD

 IN THE TOWER OF LONDON

 

G'day folks,

At its very beginning, The Tower of London was to serve as the royal residence of William the Conqueror and become a symbol of the Norman king's power over Londoners. 

 

The White Tower, the first part of the now huge fortress, was completed in 1078 and soon after, in 1100, the first prisoners started to be held in the castle. And although it wasn't its primary role throughout history, the fortress was used as a prison until 1952. In this time, many famous historical figures - queens, revolutionaries, and even major Nazi leaders - were kept there. 

 

Anne Boleyn was condemned to death by King Henry VIII, her husband, at the Tower of London. Other famous people like Sir Walter Raleigh, who was kept there for 13 years, had a more favorable prison stay - Raleigh had comfortable lodgings, servants, and even his family living with him in the Tower. Other famous prisoners committed to the Tower of London include Guy Fawkes, the revolutionary who wanted to blow up the English parliament, and Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s second-in-command.

Clancy's comment: That is quite a list of infamous people.

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18 June 2021 - THE PAINTED VILLAGE – ZALIPIE, POLAND

 

THE PAINTED VILLAGE

 – ZALIPIE, POLAND -

G'day folks,

The small village of Zalipie can be found at a remote area of South Poland. But to those who make the effort to get there the trip is well worth it, because this village contains quite the surprise between its walls.

The residents of this village have a beautiful tradition that started over 100 years ago, when the women of the village began to paint decorations of flowers on the walls of all the houses.

Although it isn't known exactly when the tradition began, we know that it started because the women wanted to cover the stains of chimney smoke. The stains were evident even through the paint, which is why they began drawing flowers on the walls.

When more modern furnaces and stoves began to come into use, there was no more need for the festive decorations, but instead of stopping, the paintings became more and more elaborate. Slowly, these paintings became an important part of the local culture and the village began to initiate contests between the painters to see who has done the best job.

And what started as the work of a few became the hobby of all, and today the flowers have conquered public buildings, bridges, roundaoubts, trees wells and even the local chicken pens and dog houses.

 

 

 

Clancy's comment: Good for them. It looks like a happy place.

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