Stairway to Heaven!

Northants: Kirby Hall – [1570] Elizabethan Home of Nobility! (1.8.2025)

This building reminded us in structure of Hampton Court (not far from where we live in London) – and Berry Pomeroy in Totnes, South Devon (not far from where my parents live). This is not surprising, as I believe from reading the available “English Heritage” literature that the same architects and engineers were used by the Court of Queen Elizabeth I and the nobility that served her. The front of the Hall faces North – with the back of house facing South (built on a North-South orientation). Local serfs (landless or homeless peasants) and peasants (land-occupying peasants) were employed by the nobility when large-scale building projects were initiated. Indeed, with the development of Guilds (primitive unions) – certain groups of peasants became highly skilled in specific construction and maintenance skills. Whether any such labour was employed from nearly Kirby Village, (situated to the South-West of what became the ornate rear garden of the complex), is open to debate.

Inside the Castle!

Torbay: Berry Pomeroy Castle – Tudor Ruins! (2.4.2024)

During the 1500s, Elizabeth I was an absolute monarch (as was her father – King Henry VIII) – who preferred to live in and around the Nonsuch Park area – including Hampton Court Palace (which is no longer used by the royal family). However, there was once a “Nonsuch Palace” which does not exist today. After Elizabeth I died (1603 CE) – many of the castles she frequented were no long favoured by the royal family – leading to these buildings falling into neglect and ruin. This was the case with Nonsuch Palace which was so badly dilapidate that what was left of it had to be demolished in 1683 CE – for safety reasons – with the ruins being recycled into the constructon (or maintenance) of local buildings.

The Case for Karl Marx NOT Being an Ethnic Jew! (2.7.2023)

His mother was the daughter of a Prussian (Christian) aristocrat. Marx would have experienced Judaism very much in the same objective manner that most non-Jews do – through the pages of academic books and perhaps the odd site-seeing tour. Indeed, Marx even penned an article addressing the so-called ‘Jewish Question’ – where he treats the presence (and activities) of Jews with an alarming frankness. This has led a number of commentators to treat Marx in something of a unique way, as he is simultaneously accused of being a Jew on the one-hand, and acting in an anti-Semitic (Secular) manner on the other!

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