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Blog

Penny Hampson

Looking for a hero? More Comfort Reading During #Lockdown

April 21st, 2020

Well, this is the second of my blogs about my comfort reading during Lockdown, and I’ve stayed with one of my favourite authors, Georgette Heyer. I decided that I could do no better than re-read some of her Regency historicals to discover if my opinion of her writing had changed in the intervening years. Yesterday […]

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Looking For Some Comfort Reading?

April 13th, 2020

For those of you feeling the stress right now, (and who isn’t in these challenging times?) I thought I’d review one of the books of an author who inspired me to start writing. I first discovered Georgette Heyer when I was a teenager. Her books were considered suitable reading for the pupils at the convent […]

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Who was Caleb Hillier Parry?

March 2nd, 2020

Bath in its heyday was renowned as the place to go if you were in poor health. Since Roman times its hot spring had been famed for its curative powers, and the same waters were used by the Georgians in an attempt to cure their ills. Bath, a magnet for the sick, also became a […]

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How to Spend 3 Days in Bath

February 23rd, 2020

Last week I was on my travels again, this time to Bath. Yes, I know I have written about this place before, but I can honestly say there always seems to be something new to discover. This visit didn’t disappoint. Arriving just before midday, husband and I enjoyed lunch and then paid a visit to […]

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3 reasons to visit the picturesque Cotswold village of Swinbrook

February 11th, 2020

Last week I joined some friends for lunch in Swinbrook, a pretty Oxfordshire village. If you are looking for a quintessential English village, then Swinbrook fits the bill. A babbling stream runs through the centre, and there are quaint honeystone coloured Cotswold cottages galore. At this time of year, the village verges are covered in […]

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The Curious and Tragic Case of ‘Miss Paris’

January 31st, 2020

In The Monthly Magazine for 1810, I discovered this intriguing report for February. A death ‘in St Martin’s-street, Leicester-fields, Mrs Jones, but who had for some time resumed her maiden-name of Miss Paris.’ Immediately, I was hooked. Why did Mrs Jones merit a two-column report of her life and death? And why was she calling […]

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A Postcard from Kingham

January 12th, 2020

Just a short blog today. As the sun was shining, the husband and I decided to travel a little further afield for our Sunday walk. We ended up in Kingham, a beautiful village in the Cotswolds. Kingham is situated in a large bowl in the Cotswold Hills and close to the railway line linking Oxford […]

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The Harsh Reality of Life As A Climbing Boy

January 7th, 2020

Join me on The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog today, where I’m taking a look at the harsh reality of life as a climbing boy (Warning! It’s not for the faint-hearted)

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Discover the disease that terrified parents in the early1800s, and the man who argued for inoculation.

December 2nd, 2019

With all the doom and gloom around at the moment, I thought I’d look at what was being reported in The Gentleman’s Magazine for November 1802. Well, it wasn’t better then, much worse in fact, particularly with regard to a disease that we no longer have to contend with… smallpox. I discovered a letter from […]

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