Author Archives: John Pullen

Large cities all share one problem; what to do with the bodies of its dead citizens? Churchyards and cemeteries soon become full and over the centuries, plagues such as the Black Death in Europe killed off millions.     London was no exception and in the nineteenth century, after an outbreak of cholera killed over 14,500Continue reading “All Aboard the Train for the Dead”

“There are only two things required to fly a modern airliner – a pilot and a dog. It’s the pilot’s job to feed the dog. It’s the dog’s job to bite the pilot if he touches anything in the cockpit.” Anon The vast majority of commercial airliners today use jet engines to power them. ThereContinue reading “Technology – How a Jet Engine works”

London has always been in danger of being flooded by the River Thames overflowing. The main danger comes from tidal surges making their way up the river from the North Sea. It has only been since the construction of the Thames Barrier that the city has been able to breathe a sigh of relief.    Continue reading “History – Drowning Lions in the River Thames”

“There is an art to flying The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” Douglas Adams Many people these days have taken a flight in an aircraft and if not, they have certainly seen them making their way across the sky. We fully accept that planes fly; after all,Continue reading “Technology – How an Aircraft Flies”

The idea of women buying or more correctly, renting men is a strange one. Of course, transactions in the other direction have been going on for time immemorial. But to understand how this other state of affairs came about in the early 1800s, we have to take a look at two London Royal Parks –Continue reading “History – How to Buy a Soldier”

Tennis is a sport known around the world and played and watched by millions. There are professional tournaments almost every week with the four grand slam championships as the highlights. And of the four, the Wimbledon grass court championships are looked upon by most as the one to win. It is associated so much withContinue reading “History – Game, Set & Match in Berkeley Square”

The Sun is not only the largest body in the solar system it is also the most important. For without its influence, the planets could not be held within the solar system and there would be absolutely no chance of life ever developing on the Earth.     The Sun is our star and is aboutContinue reading “Astronomy – The Sun”

Any debate about who were the most influential pop performers of the twentieth century would almost certainly include John Lennon as part of the Beatles and then as a solo performer in later years.     He was born on the 9th October 1940 in Liverpool. His first band, which was formed whilst he was aContinue reading “Famous People – John Lennon”

As the universe evolved, vast clouds of gaseous material called nebulae formed and about 4.6 billion years ago, just such a nebula formed in the neighbourhood where our solar system is now situated. It also covered a much larger area than our present system.     Very slowly particles within the nebula began to come togetherContinue reading “Astronomy – How the Solar System formed”

Fleet Street in London is famous as it used to be the centre of the newspaper industry. These days those businesses have moved further out from the City of London. But a building which precedes most others still remains. It is St Bride’s Church. It cannot easily be missed as it has a tall andContinue reading “History – The Wedding Cake Church”