A Quart of Ale
A Pint of Ale - Roland Raffell - March 2025
‘For a Quart of Ale is a Dish for a King.’ (Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale IV: ii). For centuries, drinking ale has always been a ...
Growing Up in Long Itchington – Edna Beck
Growing Up in Long Itchington - Edna Beck - Feb 2025
My youngest sister, Amy, was born in the thatched cottage on the Green where Mum and Dad lived for fifty-two years. I remember ...
Pre-war and WW2 Memories – Edna Beck
Pre-war and WW2 Memories - Edna Beck - Richard Clarke - January 2025
I was born in my Gran's back bedroom in Church Street, Marton, the second daughter of Louis and Violet Stevens. The Stevens family were residents of ...
Recusancy: Defiance of the Established Church
Recusancy: Defiance of the Established Church - Roland Raffell - Dec 2024
Recusant was the name given to Roman Catholics and persons of other faiths who refused to attend Church of England services. The term was mainly ...
The Origins of Workhouse Support in Southam
The Origins of Workhouse Support in Southam - Roland Raffell - Nov 2024
Before 1601, poverty was an issue for the country that had never really been addressed successfully, particularly when connected to beggars and vagrants. Despite the use ...
The Land Value Tax
The Land Value Tax - Roland Raffell - Oct 2024
The Land Value Tax of 1692 was enacted with the intention of gaining income for the Crown through a tax related to the value ...
Seth Bond, Local Hero
Seth Bond, Local Hero - Bernard Cadogan - Sept 2024
“Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred” are perhaps two of the most memorable and famous lines in British poetry. The poem, “The Charge of the Light ...
Old Road Names
Old Road Names - Linda Doyle - Aug 2024
As one researches through old Southam records, certain road and place names are easy to understand as they are quite logical. It is easy to follow ...
Taxing Hair
Taxing Hair - Dr Roland Raffell - July 2024
‘...but in the world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes...’ (Benjamin Franklin). ...
The Hearth Tax
The Hearth Tax - Dr Roland Raffell - June 2024
In the year 1660, Charles II was restored to the throne following the English Civil War and the Interregnum under ...
Southam’s Charter and Beating the Bounds
Southam's Charter and Beating the Bounds - Dr Roland Raffell - May 2024
Southam town’s Charter, established in 998 AD, provided a clearly defined map of its borders with its neighbours: Long Itchington, Stockton, Napton, Ladbroke, Radbourne, Harbury ...
A Rambling Story
A Rambling Story - Richard Clarke - Apr 2024
On 12 November 1985 the premises now occupied by Everest Fitness in Southam High Street hosted a group dedicated to a gentler form of healthy exercise. The first Annual ...