That is a sick looking GameCube

Souling is not a well recorded activity, and we don't know what traditions were popular when. Turnip jack-o-lanterns, costumes, plays, and songs seem to date to the late-16th century at the earliest. Medieval Halloween was for the dead, not fun. But it was at least a good time to tell ghost stories!

Toward the end of the Middle Ages, this led to the tradition of "souling", where groups of people would go door to door offering prayers for dead relatives in exchange for sweet treats, usually a "soul cake". They'd carry lanterns to see, and at some point these were put into carved turnips. (6)

Often, ghost stories would be modified such that the power of Christianity was the solution. Medieval ghosts were usually portrayed stuck in this world as Purgatory, and needed the prayers of the living to pass on.

Not always though, with revenants (undead) you could usually decapitate them (5)

So while the Catholic Church generally took a dim view of ghosts and the pagan "Otherworld" that they came from, it was common during Allhallowtide to use ghost stories as a preaching tool. In the 12th century, Walter Map could record loads of them ranging from the undead to the Wild Hunt. (4)

Little is known about Samhain in the Middle Ages with certainty. Samhain was more about ghosts and spirits coming into our world, while Allhallowtide was about Christian souls departing to the next. But as both concerned the dead, they merged into a festival of both pagan and Christian elements. (3)

Modern Halloween has many influences from across the world, but some practises may have been vaguely similar as early as c.1400. All Hallows coincided with the festival of Samhain, practised initially in Ireland and spread to the wider British Isles in the Middle Ages. (2)

Ok, I tried out the new Affinity. It's a bit finicky, and although it will load old affinity files it's hit or miss as to how much functionality there actually is with them. Still better than Adobe. This is what I did with an old Lib Dem leaflet template, for which I wholeheartedly apologise.

As far as I can tell, no. The new version is an all-in-one programme now rather than lots of different ones for different applications, and it's free. Seems like the new parent company wants to very aggressively go after Adobe's market share and is only charging for premium AI tools.

What I find most striking is how invisible all this history is. There is no visible trace of what was once one of the most important military camps in the nascent kingdom of England. The Roman road is just a mediocre footpath, the only indication of its history being its constant gradient. (end)

A bridge crossing between Berkshire and Buckinghamshire would not return until 1280 at Maidenhead. Locals got by with a ferry until a bridge was built in Cookham in 1840. The Roman road is now lost, but pieces survive as a footpath. Now all that remains is farmland, a lock, and some nice trees. (7)

It’s not clear why William would have wanted it gone, but it may have been to give the Normans unfettered access by river to the Thames Valley. The point of the burh at Sashes Island was to limit access, so it was a nuisance. It seems the crossing, if still around in 1066, was also destroyed. (6)

What happened to it? It seems William the Conqueror happened to it. No post-conquest material has ever been found there, nor are there references to it as a military site after 1066. And the Domesday Book marks the local parish as 'partial waste' in 1086, having lost value from £50 to £38 15s. (5)

That this was the site of the Burh of Sceaftessige mentioned in the 914 AD Burghal Hidage was only confirmed in the 1830s, when Cookham Lock was constructed. This required extensive earthworks on and around the island, during which a variety of late-Saxon spearheads and axeheads were found. (4)

After this battle it seems the island was militarised. Being in the middle of the Thames at a point where the river splits and becomes shallow, any raid that made it past London could be stopped here. The defences likely ran around the entire island, totalling 1km of fortifications. (3)

After Alfred the Great beat the Danes at Burnham, they were - according to contemporary sources - pursued north until they reached a crossing of the Thames known as 'Thorney'. The only crossing north of Burnham was Sashes Island, where the Romans had built one centuries earlier. (2)

It's very strange. There is a strong case out there for digital ID similar to some other European countries; it is somewhat cumbersome and risky to prove ID using bills and passport scans, for example. The Estonian model is just out there for us to copy.

And he's instead doing... whatever this is?

That explains why Sam was trying to wrangle pigeons behind the ruins of the WHSmith, I assume that was a challenge

Or Jet Lag induced psychosis

Your thread on this reeks of an undergrad who hasn't done their work but insists they understand the subject matter as, many months ago, they listened to a dodgy podcast.

You evidence only ignorance here, but pretend to be authoritative. Why take you seriously on anything if this is how you work?