SHEARSBY in Leicestershire could have been famous. In 1807, a spa was opened outside the village, the pungent waters of which offered relief from a wide range of complaints, including skin diseases, indigestion, rheumatism, bilious problems, and nervous disorders. The name of the Bath Hotel, which still exists, bears witness to the hopes had for the development— but, alas, Shearsby was one of dozens of spa developments that failed during the 18th and 19th centuries: evidence of intense competition. Landowners who could turn a spring, strongly laced with minerals—if not marmalade in color from the iron content—into a successful resort could make quick profits. As a result, some of Britain’s most beautiful Georgian cities were spas.
Wells and springs have been credited with special properties since early times. Sacred to the Romans and their successors, they were often regarded as holy places by the Celtic Church. At St Non’s well at Altarnun in Cornwall, mad people could be made sane if they were hit on the chest and then dunked in the waters, with prayers in church afterward. Other forms of bathing were regarded with suspicion by Pope Gregory the Great, who saw warm baths as sinful.
Denne historien er fra August 11, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra August 11, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
