26th August

I tell the story to my GCSE classes and AS aspirants every year. At Crecy on this day in 1346, Edward III and his son the Black Prince took on a French force twice their size and destroyed it. At one point when the Prince's flank was under heavy attack, he sent a messenger to his father asking for reinforcements. The king said, 'Let the boy win his spurs' and sent him nothing. Why do I tell this story to my GCSE and AS candidates? Because the Black Prince was their age - 16 - at the time.

They don't make them like him any more.

In other news ...
I shouldn't tell half my readers about this in case they create a copy cat situation. Today in 1970 women went on strike in New York and the city stopped. Don't have nightmares, chaps, but can you imagine? No tea in bed? No full English? No cleaned house, ironed shirts, washed car, walked dog, gourmet dinner ... I can't go on because this is a family blog!

8th June

Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince, died today in 1376, possibly of the plague. A brilliant soldier and a tough nut, his death paved the way for the reign of his son, Richard II. who started well by confronting peasants on the rampage in London when he was fourteen. After that it was downhill all the way until he lost his throne, his horse and his life to Henry Bolingbroke.

In other news ...
Today in 1969 General Franco closed the frontier between Spain and Gibraltar hoping to ruin its economy. He clearly hadn't noticed that Gib. could be supplied by sea indefinitely, so how was that going to work? It got me thinking, though, about who owns what and how it should all be given back. Britain belongs to the Celts (that's the Welsh, Irish and Scots) so the English can go home. Where's that? Well, some of them have to go to Denmark, Norway and Sweden and others to North Germany. And don't get me started on how the Americans are going to cope.
It is time, however, that we returned the Elgin Marbles to Greece. Their return alone would restore the country's economy overnight.