Brian Edwards
@public-history.bsky.social
Historiographer and public historian that is fanatical about rugby union.
Hippisley Cox's 1909 Avebury guide was heavily criticised by the proprietor of the Devizes and Wilts Advertiser, who died in 1910. Cox died in 1923 and keeping the reversed Uffington Horse on a 'Green Road' the guide was republished unchanged in 1929 other than a new name and an additional preface.
November 17, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Hippisley Cox's 1909 Avebury guide was heavily criticised by the proprietor of the Devizes and Wilts Advertiser, who died in 1910. Cox died in 1923 and keeping the reversed Uffington Horse on a 'Green Road' the guide was republished unchanged in 1929 other than a new name and an additional preface.
Reposted by Brian Edwards
Woodhenge was discovered in Dec 1925. Delighted to see my article about this in @CurrentArchaeo’s December issue - fittingly for the 100th anniversary of this state monument. 🏺https://the-past.com/feature/100-years-of-woodhenge-tracing-an-archaeological-icon-from-discovery-to-new-dating-evidence/
November 17, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Woodhenge was discovered in Dec 1925. Delighted to see my article about this in @CurrentArchaeo’s December issue - fittingly for the 100th anniversary of this state monument. 🏺https://the-past.com/feature/100-years-of-woodhenge-tracing-an-archaeological-icon-from-discovery-to-new-dating-evidence/
Haven't opened the pages of this 1909 guide to Avebury for a while. A note about the Devil's Den appears to have been torn from the corner of an accounts book with a printed reference to some hotels.
November 16, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Haven't opened the pages of this 1909 guide to Avebury for a while. A note about the Devil's Den appears to have been torn from the corner of an accounts book with a printed reference to some hotels.
The censored Giant by William Wiehe Collins for The Green Roads of England, 1914. An erect penis would not offend the author, 51 yr old former Coldstream Guard and surgeon Robert Hippisley Cox - context lost when Cox was known as a hotelier and restauranteur that ran Romano's in the Strand.
November 15, 2025 at 11:15 AM
The censored Giant by William Wiehe Collins for The Green Roads of England, 1914. An erect penis would not offend the author, 51 yr old former Coldstream Guard and surgeon Robert Hippisley Cox - context lost when Cox was known as a hotelier and restauranteur that ran Romano's in the Strand.
If I mentioned this is in the Avebury half of the World Heritage Site I might be asked for the exact location by people wanting to see it - so I shall keep it to myself.
November 13, 2025 at 4:33 PM
If I mentioned this is in the Avebury half of the World Heritage Site I might be asked for the exact location by people wanting to see it - so I shall keep it to myself.
@peteglastonbury.bsky.social is this one of those you photographed laying flat at the edge of a field in the last century please? Someone posted the question on Ancient Stone Bothering, and as you know I don't do rocks.
November 12, 2025 at 1:24 PM
@peteglastonbury.bsky.social is this one of those you photographed laying flat at the edge of a field in the last century please? Someone posted the question on Ancient Stone Bothering, and as you know I don't do rocks.
Reposted by Brian Edwards
Yesterday we welcomed a team from NHK (Japan's biggest broadcaster) interviewing @public-history.bsky.social about the amazing story of the Wiltshire Thatcher and the cover of Led Zeppelin IV (with Stairway to Heaven!). Broadcast in the New Year.
More at www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/news-article...
More at www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/news-article...
November 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Yesterday we welcomed a team from NHK (Japan's biggest broadcaster) interviewing @public-history.bsky.social about the amazing story of the Wiltshire Thatcher and the cover of Led Zeppelin IV (with Stairway to Heaven!). Broadcast in the New Year.
More at www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/news-article...
More at www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/news-article...
The questions were so interesting it was a pleasure being interviewed by Yasuhiro Kodama and Haruyoshi Nishimura for a Japanese television series about famous rock music album covers.
November 10, 2025 at 5:24 PM
The questions were so interesting it was a pleasure being interviewed by Yasuhiro Kodama and Haruyoshi Nishimura for a Japanese television series about famous rock music album covers.
November 8, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Led Zeppelin IV released on this day 1971. The Victorian photograph on the cover is of the Wiltshire Thatcher - the original is in the collection of Wiltshire Museum. @wiltshiremuseum.bsky.social
November 8, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Led Zeppelin IV released on this day 1971. The Victorian photograph on the cover is of the Wiltshire Thatcher - the original is in the collection of Wiltshire Museum. @wiltshiremuseum.bsky.social
An open air talk to Christian Climate Action pilgrims at Silbury Hill in the footsteps of talks popularised in the 19th century: the collapse on 29 May 2000, Edward Drax's miners of 1776, Dean Merewether's 1849 tunnel, BBC failing to backfill in 1970 + climate info text from @jimleary.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 3:14 PM
An open air talk to Christian Climate Action pilgrims at Silbury Hill in the footsteps of talks popularised in the 19th century: the collapse on 29 May 2000, Edward Drax's miners of 1776, Dean Merewether's 1849 tunnel, BBC failing to backfill in 1970 + climate info text from @jimleary.bsky.social
'Sofa',... end credits from Men Behaving Badly series 6 episode 6, broadcast 11 December 1997. Moments earlier, a large exotic snake had been tipped out of a sack in front of the sofa, but was removed. Wondering if the cast and crew were aware of the justifiable reputation for adders on that hill.
November 4, 2025 at 10:28 AM
'Sofa',... end credits from Men Behaving Badly series 6 episode 6, broadcast 11 December 1997. Moments earlier, a large exotic snake had been tipped out of a sack in front of the sofa, but was removed. Wondering if the cast and crew were aware of the justifiable reputation for adders on that hill.
Released this day in 1967, I didn't buy it until nearer Christmas. My father was sick of it within the first few days but within a week started to sing along to the Mother's Lament.
November 2, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Released this day in 1967, I didn't buy it until nearer Christmas. My father was sick of it within the first few days but within a week started to sing along to the Mother's Lament.
Reposted by Brian Edwards
A splendid 2 days exploring the mysterious and not so mysterious Chiltern chalk figures.
Had a lovely visit to an iconic Chilterns monument today with @jonwoolcott.bsky.social , the man who's bringing us a brilliant new book in April!
In between rain deluges, we captured the impressive Vale below the Chilterns Scarp, and even managed to see and hear one of my favourite things
In between rain deluges, we captured the impressive Vale below the Chilterns Scarp, and even managed to see and hear one of my favourite things
October 31, 2025 at 7:21 PM
A splendid 2 days exploring the mysterious and not so mysterious Chiltern chalk figures.
The wonderful White Horse of Kilburn.
October 30, 2025 at 6:46 PM
The wonderful White Horse of Kilburn.
Have just written a draft note about the onset of Guy Underwood's interest in dowsing during wartime for a magazine. Can't though source any photograph of him other than one used in a previous article. Has anyone knowledge of any photographs of Underwood please?
October 30, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Have just written a draft note about the onset of Guy Underwood's interest in dowsing during wartime for a magazine. Can't though source any photograph of him other than one used in a previous article. Has anyone knowledge of any photographs of Underwood please?
This is further from the window in the living room. I am writing an article about hill figures and having lived in a house for 20 years with a full view of a chalk horse, I now miss that hillside companionship terribly.
October 29, 2025 at 5:02 PM
This is further from the window in the living room. I am writing an article about hill figures and having lived in a house for 20 years with a full view of a chalk horse, I now miss that hillside companionship terribly.
Can't conjure up another unknown painting of Stonehenge at short notice, this Victorian painting by Charles Maggs is on our living room wall.
October 28, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Can't conjure up another unknown painting of Stonehenge at short notice, this Victorian painting by Charles Maggs is on our living room wall.
60 years before train passengers spotted hill figures at Westbury or Uffington, the White Horse of Cherhill was the subject of 'first to spot' it wagers for those travelling to and from Bath for the season. This is a period interior. The view is a late Victorian painting by James Pegrum.
October 27, 2025 at 4:03 PM
60 years before train passengers spotted hill figures at Westbury or Uffington, the White Horse of Cherhill was the subject of 'first to spot' it wagers for those travelling to and from Bath for the season. This is a period interior. The view is a late Victorian painting by James Pegrum.
It is sad that English Heritage dropped the annual Stonehenge Dahlia Exhibition this year, having for the previous two years revisited the Victorian Dahlia Shows of 1842-45. Here's the article I produced in 2014.
October 27, 2025 at 7:47 AM
It is sad that English Heritage dropped the annual Stonehenge Dahlia Exhibition this year, having for the previous two years revisited the Victorian Dahlia Shows of 1842-45. Here's the article I produced in 2014.