Monthly Archives: August 2016

The Dotterel

Posted on 27/08/2016 by carolinemmurray

I was dining at the Reform Club the other night (not something that happens to me particularly often). I didn’t get to see Alexis Soyer’s legendary kitchens – do they indeed still exist? – but we did take coffee in … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge, History, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Object of the Month: August

Posted on 22/08/2016 by carolinemmurray

The apotheosis of Nelson was already well under way in 1836, when one George Gunning, of Frindsbury in Kent, presented a snuffbox to the Fitzwilliam Museum. Books, prints, portraits, medals and ceramics preserved the great naval hero in the public … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Cambridge, History, Museums and Galleries, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Bourns

Posted on 18/08/2016 by carolinemmurray

The word ‘bourn’ has two main meanings: it is either a brook (cf. northern and Scots ‘burn’) or it is a destination, limit, or boundary (as in ‘… That undiscovered country, from whose bourn / No traveller returns’). As a … Continue reading →

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Plant of the Month: August

Posted on 11/08/2016 by carolinemmurray

When everything else is looking a bit tired and dusty, there are some plants which you can rely on to go on and on. They are mostly ‘daisies’, Asteraceae, and mostly introductions from hotter climates, and my favourite is Cosmos. … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Gardens, History, Natural history | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Lammas

Posted on 08/08/2016 by carolinemmurray

… is about now, sort of. It is an ancient festival, but seems to have meant different things to different people, and to have been celebrated at different times in different circumstance. It is not an official moveable feast of … Continue reading →

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