Paul Schoon

The Abbey of St Edmund - once the fourth largest church in Europe but closed by Henry VIII in 1539 and systematically demolished to demonstrate his power and control. What a dick.

I found a sad will in the archives today. Thomas Underwood died in 1767 and had no family to inherit as he had outlived everyone. All 6 of his children died in infancy and he clearly wanted a daughter called Sarah. He had 5 daughters with the name, and as one died he reused the name on the next.

I’ve been caring for my son’s elderly cat as he’s on holiday. He texted & asked how the furry overlord was doing. I dictated my reply: ‘She’s curled up in a ball’. Cue a panicked call since the phone had sent the message: ‘She’s killed and in a bowl’. We have nothing to fear from AI - it’s an idiot.

A nice little discovery in the archives today - a lovely E-plan Tudor mansion in the Bedfordshire parish of Harlington. It is reputed to have burned down in the late eighteenth century and is now a farm and modern private residences. Shame.

I went to archives today and now I’m going to have to sell a kidney to pay for the camera fees.

For some light relief I’m currently reading ‘The Exorcist’ but I’m thinking of abandoning the book 50 pages in. Mrs S thinks it’s because it’s too scary but really it’s not. It’s the author’s style: written in a pretentious 70s style and there are far too many one word sentences. For. My. Liking.

If any Chinese spy is stuck for something to do, I can bore them to death with tales of early modern Bedfordshire.

One of the great benefits of YouTube and streaming catch up services is that I can rewatch some great dramas from the 70s and 80s. According to my son, they are older than some of the content he teaches in A level history.

The media is full of talk of potential sanctions for Man City. Well, let me tell you that Leeds City FC was abolished in 1918 after being found guilty of financial irregularities. Just saying…

Today’s appropriate name of the day: Blastus Godly, vicar of Barton Le Clay. 1682.

I’ve just read the government advice on stockpiling food in case of a severe winter and very quickly reached the conclusion that the weather is a front (no pun intended) for a potential war. I don’t think it’s missiles and drones, but cyberattacks on national infrastructure such as water and power.

I haven’t got the best hearing but I’m sure I’ve just heard someone on Radio 4 say that the Bayeux Tapestry is not historical.

I ask my son to keep me updated on the Leeds v Brentford match while I prepare Sunday dinner. I hear nothing for 70 minutes and when the silence is broken, it’s with the words, ‘Come on!!! …Dickhead!’ John Motson, he is not.

‘Licentiousness is the mother of contempt, and contempt is the mother of sedition, and sedition is the mother of rebellion, and in fine, rebellion is the mother of desolation and utter confusion.’ The will of Thomas Archer, Rector of Houghton Conquest, 1630. An interesting preamble for a change.

Today’s name of the day is Miss Lettice Herring, who could not find a husband in early eighteenth century rural Bedfordshire. One hopes it wasn’t because of her daft name.

I did the six degrees of Kevin Bacon test today and found out that I am one step removed from Albert Einstein. Crazy.

I know I shouldn’t expect every document to be in the archives, but I do get cheesed off when I see them for sale in antique shops, like this indenture, ready to spend the next 50 years as a piece of interior decor without a single historian even knowing of its existence.

We must brush up on our civil defence procedures. Our 1st reaction was to check the smoke alarm. 2nd reaction was to imagine Armageddon. 3rd reaction was to wonder if a warning was totally necessary. If the system is used inappropriately, it will all go Pete Tong when the real warning is issued.

That was pretty underwhelming. Eclipses seem to be totality or don’t bother.

Things move at a slower pace in rural Derbyshire.

When I was a young lad of 18, back in the early 80s, me and my mates would pile into a vintage Saab, and armed with a Good Beer Guide, would search the wilds of Yorkshire looking for pubs that sold Tim Taylor’s bitter. Now, every second pub I go in is selling the stuff. Oh, all the wasted youth!

I have a sister who replies to a text question with ‘yeah’ and a sister-in-law’ who speaks entirely in emojis. (👍). They think I’m odd because I try to ensure that my texts are grammatically correct. (He writes, using a split infinitive).

It used to be a matter of pride that I finished every book I started. Now I’ve decided that life is too short. The latest to suffer the axe is Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake. Utterly incomprehensible gibberish.

‘James Barber, died 10 March 1743. Bastard.’ I wonder what he did to offend the vicar.

apple.news/Auu6adIBsRBO... It’s safe to say that Mrs S has a view.

Can’t wait to see Trump’s face when he has to hand the cup to Spain.

A film about the Peasants’ Revolt coming in October. They’ll probably get most of it wrong, but who cares? I’m still looking forward to it.

I think I can say with absolute certainty that Lionel Messi is not the ‘greatest player the world has ever seen’ as the BBC pundits are suggesting. They are just showing their relative youth. Not only were Pele and Cryuff better, they did it in heavy boots, using leather balls, on rough pitches.

www.museumsassociation.org/museums-jour... I feel for US historian colleagues. I cannot imagine operating in an environment where I am told my conclusions must support a flawed narrative of national superiority.

news.sky.com/story/iran-w... Curious timing for renewed strikes, while Trump is at the NATO summit. Makes me wonder if this is a contrivance designed to pressurise the defensive alliance into supporting offensive actions.

My forebears were from the Low Countries (hence the surname). Tonight I am a Belgian.

It’s a shame that Chris Froome, seven time Grand Tour winner and Olympic medalist is retiring with barely a peep from the media. He’s the (unrecognised) greatest athlete Britain has ever produced but I guarantee our daft honours system will ignore him.

As the end of the school year approaches, the pupils of my history teacher son begin to lose interest.

Suddenly the decision to leave Trent Alexander Arnold at home seems a bit suspect. Good goal by DR Congo.

We really do have the durgiest, most depressing national anthem. It’s difficult to think of a country with a worst one. I vote we change it to the Sex Pistols version.

The table next to us ask the waitress, ‘Would you recommend the pizza?’ She replies, ‘Not really, I prefer pasta’. I predict she’ll be looking for a new job pretty soon.

news.sky.com/story/politi... Sorry Mancunians, but I just don’t get the attraction. Leeds is a far more attractive alternative capital. It’s the financial and legal centre of the north, it has a better football team and the world’s best beer.

The current Mrs S, has just dropped into the conversation that she has met AJP Taylor, FLM Thompson and Joan Thirsk, and completely blown my history teacher son’s mind.

The year 1592 was a drought year. There was a great death of cattle from want of water, springs and brooks dried up and the Thames was so low that a man might ride over on horseback near London Bridge. Thomas Short, 1749.

We regret that our event on Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office. Our apologies to everyone who was planning to attend the event.

After a decade of political misjudgments, I don’t suppose I should be surprised that the Labour Party is likely to appoint a new PM before anyone outside Westminster knows what he stands for.

There’d be no war if the US and Iran shared a bottle of prosecco on a warm Sunday afternoon. Plenty of giggling though.

My son, who has to use AI in his work, asked his gizmotron to criticise one of my papers. The damned thing was vicious and made the peer review process seem like a tickle with a feather duster.

The BBC programmes axed under new boss news.sky.com/video/share-... It’s concerning that in this post-truth world we’re decimating news coverage. Cheap shot, but we still seem able to produce cheap reality shows and send dozens of people to cover the World Cup.

I entered some beautiful words in today’s Wordle and they were all wrong. I eventually got it, but I refuse to accept the solution as a proper word.

When we adopted an elderly cat we tried to create a pet routine to ease her into her new life. Two years down the line we live under the authoritarian rule of a furry dictator.

I found it interesting that the residents of Carlton in north Bedfordshire, about 50 miles north of London, could see a golden glow on the southern horizon during the great fire. The whole village came out to watch. There was clearly not a lot on TV that night.

news.sky.com/story/tommy-... What are they thinking giving this racist idiot air time? You just cannot debate with stupid.

Rugby star Sinfield and authors Donaldson and Blackman lead honours list About time! However, I am disappointed to see I have missed out on a knighthood once more.

After attending the Midland History conference yesterday, I should be recuperating by enjoying a relaxed Sunday, but my mind is buzzing with ideas. Sometimes you get so close to a problem that you focus in like a microscope. It’s good to meet colleagues who can give you a different perspective.