At just before dawn on this day in history, 11th October 1532, Anne Boleyn, the newly created Marquess of Pembroke, and her sweetheart, King Henry VIII, set sail from Dover in the king’s ship, The Swallow.
They were headed for Calais, which was an English territory at the time. The purpose of their trip was to meet with King Francis I of France and gain his support for their relationship and their quest for the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
They landed at Calais, at 10 o’clock the same morning and were greeted by a “greate peale of gonnes” and a procession, which included the Mayor of Calais, the Lord Deputy and various knights. Henry and Anne then went to hear mass at the Church of St Nicholas before retiring to their lodgings at The Exchequer.
The couple stayed together there until 21st October, when Henry left Anne to meet Francis I. After a few days with the French king, Henry brought Francis back to Calais to meet Anne. Here is a timeline of the events of October and November 1532 with clickable links to find out more.
- Friday 11 October 1532 – Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn set sail. At dawn on 11th October, Henry and Anne set sail from Dover on The Swallow and arrived at Calais at 10 o’clock in the morning.
- Wednesday 16 October 1532 – The Meeting with the Great Mayster of Fraunce. While Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII were lodged in Calais, the Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Derby and a group of gentleman met with “the great mayster of Fraunce” Anne, duc de Montmorency, and his men at the English Pale, six miles outside of Calais.
- Monday 21 October 1532 – Henry VIII meets up with Francis I. Henry VIII left Anne Boleyn in Calais to spend four days with Francis I, “his beloved brother”, at the French court in Boulogne.
- Friday 25 October 1532 – Francis I makes Norfolk and Suffolk Knights of the Order of St Michel, the French equivalent of the Order of the Garter.
- Friday 25 October 1532 – Henry VIII and Francis I arrive at Calais. On 25th October, Henry VIII and Francis I left Boulogne, where Henry VIII had been Francis’s guest at the French court, to go to Calais and there meet with Anne Boleyn, Marquis of Pembroke. On arrival at Calais, Francis I sent Anne Boleyn a diamond via the Provost of Paris.
- Sunday 27 October 1532 – Anne Boleyn makes a dramatic entrance. Anne Boleyn made a dramatic entrance at the banquet held by Henry VIII in Francis I’s honour at Calais.
- Monday 28 October 1532 – Henry and Anne’s Last Full Day in Calais with Francis I. There was a chapter of the Order of the Garter, where Henry VIII made Anne, duc de Montmorency and Grand Master of France, and Philippe de Chabot, Admiral of France, Knights of the Garter.
- Tuesday 29 October 1532 – Henry VIII says Goodbye to Francis I.
- Tuesday 29 October to 10 November 1532 – Storms delay departure.
- Sunday 10 November 1532 – Henry VIII’s bed and baggage were loaded ready for departure, but departure was delayed by fog.
- Tuesday 12 November 1532 – Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn Set Sail for Dover. At midnight on Tuesday 12th November 1532, King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn set sail from Calais bound for the Kent port of Dover.
- Thursday 14 November 1532 – Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn landed at Dover, on the Kent coast, at 5am.
- Thursday 14 November 1532 – The Marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn? Chronicler Edward Hall records a marriage ceremony between Henry and Anne on 14th November 1532, St Erkenwald’s Day.
- Sunday 24 November 1532 – The couple arrive back in London at Eltham Palace. Eustace Chapuys, imperial ambassador, recorded that the King spent a few days in Dover and the surrounding area “for the purpose of having harbours constructed in the said town, or at least of creating a spacious plea for asking money from his subjects for the said works”.
Also on this day in history, 11th October 1537, poor Jane Seymour was in labour with her first and only child, Edward VI:
Today, is also the anniversary of the death of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, Tudor poet and diplomat, on 11th October 1542. You can find out more about him in my article – click here.
Henry was probably quite happy to finally have the opportunity to officially present his new paramour in a setting such as this as it really showed the world that he was quite serious about his new love. Anne of course was in her element here and even if you were one to disapprove of her you would have to admit that she made quite an impression.
Poor poor Jane Seymour in labour for two days she must have been exhausted, as she lay on her birthing bed struck by waves of agony a solemn procession wound its way through the city, praying for a safe delivery and a fair prince, the king must have been pacing up and down his bed chamber and the atmosphere at court must have been fraught and grim, how many times had Henry been here, this was his third queen and all he had to show for his previous marriages were two daughters, for this child about to be born he had murdered his previous wife, and this marriage with Jane he had told himself was his one true marriage, the others had been not legal and therefore cursed, the blood vessels must have stood out on his large florid face and as the shadows turned the day into night, his anxiety grew, the bells pealed throughout London and the chilly October night stretched into a new day, and still Queen Jane writhed on her bed, sweat falling down her brow, her ladies must have been very very worried as they tried to keep her comfortable with the herbal concoctions they used in those days, they tended her carefully with sweet wine and cool linen cloths maybe sweetened with lavender and rosemary, they must have prayed to themselves in that dark stuffy room, it must a been a scene of much suffering, Henry consulted with his physician’s and out was bundled the midwife, this was an error as the former were not used to dealing with women in childbirth, one source explains how the queen was roughly handled, two days is long to be in labour and today she probably would have had a caesarean, any difficulties would have been dealt with and she would have no doubt lived, it is assumed Janes baby was in the breech position and today a midwife would have put her hands in and turned the baby round, whatever was wrong with Jane he was born perfectly healthy, a bonny prince pink and white and none the worse for his rough entry into the world, Jane was exhausted and yet she had to receive well wishers propped up in her bed and only when they had gone could she sink into a blissful sleep, the trumpets blared out there were fanfares and celebrations, this was what Henry V111 had waited over twenty years for, the city was as jubilant as its king and the christening ceremony was lavish and full of pomp, but Jane lived barely two weeks to enjoy her triumph, like all women in childbirth she was in peril of her life and succumbed to puerperal fever which later was to claim the life of Henry’s sixth and final queen, unclean hands had caused bacteria to flourish and there is a theory she could have had some of the placenta still in her, fatal for this has to be removed quickly mothers were not stitched up either as they had not the medical skill or instruments and so they had to lie and suffer bleeding continuously till it stopped and their bodies began to heal naturally, after the birth in the days that followed Jane regained a healthy appetite and wanted rich foods to eat, we are not told what these were but during pregnancy she had developed a craving for quails eggs, it could be the rich foods were simply puddings and other sugary confections, but this also was blamed for her death, and her attendants were rebuked for giving her what she wanted, Henry had his son but he
grieved his wife and sunk into depression soon after, along with the celebrations for his son were the mournful obsequies for his dead queen, life and death walked hand in hand together at the Tudor court.
Jane’s birth experience was a terrible ordeal. Her life was in danger and so was that of her son. In the end she died of complications twelve days later, although she looked alright at first. Two days in labour and nothing happening, the poor Queen must have been in agony and totally exhausted. Today a C may have been done, especially if the child was in distress or nothing was happening to bring the birth safely to a conclusion. Recently I was watching a home birth in America, with this huge family all gathering and the young girl and her husband were really going through it. She was over 24 hours and it looked as if the labour had stopped. The doctor was arranging to move her to a hospital when she suddenly started again and gave birth very quickly. She had a bath all set up for the birth, was in and out of this bath, then back into bed, walking and in a lot of distress and it was absolutely heart wrenching to watch. She looked too exhausted to give birth and the doctor had stepped in over the objections of other family members to obviously get an ambulance and arrange an emergency C section. My sister in law had to have an emergency C after 30 hours in labour because Edward was 9 pounds and she simply couldn’t get him out. He was in distress and they rushed her into the theatre, but of course the Women’s Hospital here is one of the best in the world. Ned is a robustuous boy, big and very strong. She was lucky, she had modern medical care: poor Jane had the best available, but less aftercare than an ordinary woman and that may have caused her death from infection.
I have been watching Catherine the Great with Helen Miriam and in the second episode they highlighted a very sad event in her son’s life, the death of his wife, Natasha and infant son. In reality the Grand Duchess had a long and difficult Labour because the baby was too big for her to give birth to and he was believed to have been healthy and had a strong physical body but he became distressed and couldn’t breathe inside the birth canal where he was stuck. A C was only ever done on a mother who had died to attempt to save a child thought to be still alive, probably because it would kill the mother. Natasha died in childbirth and her son died inside her. He was apparently more than twice the size she was able to open to and was stuck, he was over 9 pounds in weight. His bones were quite big for a new born. He was removed during an autopsy and buried at her side. Catherine was with her through the entire ordeal. This was moving and beautifully portrayed very accurately in the episode and because I knew about this tragedy, I felt very sad watching the reconstruction in the series. Paul never had a good relationship with his mother who was affectionate but kept him at arms length and didn’t give him any responsibility or instructions on how to rule, although his tutor was Minister Panin and he was very bright. His second wife, Maria, bore him five living children, two sons, Alexander I and Prince Constantine. But this was another example of a very difficult birth and tragic circumstances. The real danger of what women went through pre modern medical care is really terrible, childbirth killed one third of all mothers. In Tudor times it was the single largest cause of female deaths recorded. No wonder rituals surrounded the childbirth with prayers, relics, good luck charms, in this case a solemn procession, even natural magic all played a part in preparation for a safe delivery. Thanksgiving for the survival of the mother was part of her Churching ceremony, even if the baby died.
I saw Catherine the Great advertised but did not fancy watching it, although I do like Helen Mirren, as I do not know anything about Catherine I thought I may get bored, yes you are right about the rituals surrounding childbirth, it was so dangerous for mother and child no wonder they held it so sacred with charms and prayers and of course the churching afterwards, the thanks they gave to God for the safe delivery of the child and the life of the mother, even as you say the baby died, if the mother survived that was something to be thankful for, so sad last night i heard on the news about the baby that died in the war between Syria and Turkey, the youngest fatality was only a few months old, his poor family were weeping at the graveside, human misery is the same whatever century we live in.
Yes, it’s terrible, the way so many innocent civilians become victims in these wars. The Turkish government has sent soldiers over the border into Kurdistan and Syria a few times and has been doing so for years. The area is so remote that you can be anywhere in Turkey away from the border and not even be affected. The Mountains of Arraat form a natural barrier but on either side it can be terrible. The excuse is always the same..Kurdish military action is maintained by taking young Turks and training them and then attacking remote areas of Turkey. We are in a difficult position now as Britain is part of NATO and so is Turkey. America has obligations towards Kurdistan because of the help they gave against ISIS and yet are sitting there in the region while the Turks cause so many casualties, including civilians. I am not saying they are deliberately killing civilians, but its one of those areas which is likely to take heavier losses because of the fire power being aimed st villages and towns. This is the first time it has escalated into more or less a full war and it’s very worrying. It is very sad seeing mothers with sick and injured children trying to find shelter. I hate to say it but we have to provide humanitarian aid and quickly. The U.N has to make a decision. It’s a very sad situation. Syria also has to take responsibility. If they hadn’t have gone mad with their terrible civil war over the last few years and caused a massive crisis in the Middle East, this conflict might have been avoided. Border skirmishes are one thing, invasions are another. Either way it’s always the innocent who suffer the most.
I don’t believe anyone would be bored with Catherine the Great, not with all those lovers and battles. Helen Mirrim is brilliant. She even looks like Catherine during her middle and later years. I am also watching on Prime Ekaterina, an epic three series life of Catherine the Great, in Russian with English subtitles and occasionally English narration of the history, which is the typical Russian epic, hence 10 episodes in each series and I ended up bingeing on the first five or six in one evening. It’s so full of drama and intrigue, I couldn’t put it down. Having square eyes the next day reminded me of those Star Wars marathons they have occasionally, so I have watched the rest at a more leisurely pace. You might get bored if you don’t really know much about her. The English make a sumptuous four part drama and the Russians make an epic. Well they did give us War and Peace.
What I find amazing is this 70 years of female rule in Russia. Catherine I followed her husband Peter the Great, having been crowned by him, with no claims at all being a peasant girl from the Ukraine. She was his lover and unofficial wife until he married her, 15 children later. She was followed briefly by his grandson and then the eldest daughter, Anna, then a regency with another Anna for her son, who was the widow of the co ruler of Peter the Great, then his other daughter Elizabeth takes the crown and imprisoned the infant Ivan vi and his mother and siblings and Catherine was brought to marry her crazy nephew when she was 16. Elizabeth was a strong and enlightened ruler but her problems are due to having no heir as her groom died on their wedding night. Her nephew wasn’t suitable to rule so really the highly intelligible Catherine is groomed as a future ruler. She has a son in 1754 but it is doubtful that the future Emperor Paul was her husband’s as he was incapable. Elizabeth extended trade, introduced land reforms, had a good international reputation and relationship with Europe and ruled over a time of prosperity and Peace. She refused to sign any death warrants during her reign and opened Russia up scientifically as her father had done, ruling for 19 years. Catherine succeeded with her husband in 1762 who was Peter iii but took over in a swift bloodless coup six months later. Her reign lasted 34 years. She added 2000000 square miles of territory to Russia, through conquest and building cities and ports in the Crimea. She encouraged the arts and culture and intended to free the serfs but this was abandoned due to a crisis. She did, however, reform how they were treated and reformed the judicial system to grant more people access to it, she expanded trade and international relations, took Russia into a Golden Age, introduced a radical system of state education, free hospitals and clinics, inoculation against smallpox, many scientific institutions, although she also faced two serf rebellions as she had not kept her promise to free them. She had about twelve lovers, although some historians in her son’s short reign wildly exaggerated her affairs and basically enjoyed life, having many wild parties. She didn’t train her son to rule, although his tutor did a reasonable job, but he was assassinated on his own son’s command. She wisely raised her two grandsons to rule instead. Catherine was a great builder and patron of the Arts and much of what we see today is down to her and her predecessor, Elizabeth and Peter the Great. Although the last female ruler of Russia, she showed herself to be the equal of any man and this long period of female rule was a definitive period in Russian national identity. When I think of Catherine, I have to think of Elizabeth I because they shared many of the same attributes. Catherine never remarried after her husband was deposed and died mysteriously soon afterwards and like Elizabeth was determined to share her throne with nobody. Unlike Elizabeth, although she too most definitely had lovers and was no virgin, despite her image, Catherine made no secret of her love affairs. She also had at least four children by her various lovers, but like Elizabeth she also knew how to control them and keep them in check. Ironically the great love of her life, General Grigory Potemkin was buried in the Crimea and predeceased her. When she was buried in 1796 in the Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, her unlucky husband was dug up and buried at her side, as Emperor by her son, Paul. His first Act was to ban women from the throne of Russia. He didn’t last long as his son, Alexander I, who would tussle with Napoleon Bonaparte, had him assassinated after five years and attempted to continue Catherine’s legacy. Their wars with the Turks were the undoing of the Russian Empire, as the Ottoman alliance with Britain led to the reversal in the Crimea and the loss of Sevastopol. The Russian fleet was sank by themselves and the city abandoned. It became part of the Ukraine and withstood heavy bombs during WW2. It is currently officially in the Ukraine but since 2014 Russia has administered the City as a Federal City. The area is very much one of conflict. The greatest achievement of building this great city was that it was finally a huge port out into the Black Sea and with it the beginning of a great Russian Navy. Catherine was a good judge of character and she appeared to choose her statesman with care. I believe she was a remarkable woman and to be honest I wish the drama series currently on was longer as four episodes hardly does her justice.
Must say did not Francois have a long nose it looks like it’s tipping over his mouth, he was a dreadful womaniser and like his great rival exceptionally tall, he was debauched and I believe died of syphilis which is hardly surprising, he seems to have a smirk on his face in his portrait, his wife Claude died young and maybe she had a venereal disease, poor woman yet she did her duty by her faithless husband and presented him with many heirs, apart from the life he led he was a true Renaissance prince cultured and educated and his court was the most polished in Europe.
My sister was in labour for about 26 hours and she said afterwards the pain was so great she thought she was going to pass out, a friend of mine said she thought she was dying whilst in labour, my nephew was born a big baby, over 8 and half pounds and surprisingly my sister needed not one stitch, but she was so exhausted only our mother was allowed to visit her after, in the days that followed we were allowed to go to the hospital and see her and the lovely new addition to the family, my sister was quite emotional and when she first saw mum she started weeping and said she could not believe she had a baby, it is a very emotional time with the hormones all over the place, and when I think of what Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn went through to give the King a son, the trauma they both had to endure when they suffered the labour and then the grief that followed on the deaths of their infants, no counselling to help them no support groups like today, and on top of that the anger that Henry V111 felt, caused by grief yes, but a total lack of concern for his queens misery, when young he must have been more concerned for Katherine after their children died, he commiserated with her after their first born Henry died, but in Anne Boleyns case his sympathy was coupled with very real anger that she had failed him – again, the argument they had when she lost her last infant shows he had a total lack of compassion for what his queen had gone through, exhausted miserable frightened and desperately needing assurance from her husband that he still loved and cherished her, what did she get, anger and contempt?
Is this the visit when the French queen Eleanor refused to receive Anne and why Anne had to remain in Calais?-This must have been embarrassing, humiliating and upsetting for Anne but as Eleanor was the niece of Katherine of Aragon you can understand her stance
I think it probably was Francois after his wife refused to meet Anne could not find any other suitable lady either to fill in for her, I think Marguerite de Alencon Annes one time friend refused also, Anne had caused such a stir both sides of the channel, and of course Henry brought Francois back with him to meet Anne in Calais, the gift of the beautiful diamond was maybe a consolation prize from the French King, Anne refused to let the French queens snub and the Duchess upset her though, and by all accounts she made a grand impression, I think I heard that Henry was quite miffed as she converted long with Francois, she must at times have been homesick for France as she had spent most of her childhood and teens there, she must have also been delighted with having the support of Francois it was a right dig at Spain, Katherine and her newphew the Emperor Charles.
H
In French sources and in an English book called GOLDEN AGE LADIES by Sylvia Barbara Soberton, on page 169 she relates that Queen Eleanor suffered a miscarriage in late September 1532 and was physically unable to attend, as much as she may have otherwise pleased her husband. Aside from family politics, she simply couldn’t attend for health reasons.
This visit to France was the highlight of the relationship of Henry and Anne Boleyn, now made a peeress in her own right, the Marquis of Pembroke, a Tudor peerage granted to Jasper Tudor by Henry vi, so very significant and representing the place were Henry Vii was born. Henry most probably had been worried about it, as in the Tudors because he wanted his sweetheart and future Queen received with full honours and as if she was his betrothed. Unfortunately, for all the splendour of the visit and the entertainment and reception by Francis on the English side, Anne wasn’t received as anything on the French side. Neither Eleanor or Marguerite would have anything to do with her, because this was in fact a scandal in their eyes, for Queen Katherine of Aragon was still Henry’s wife, even if he didn’t accept her as such. They may accept her as Henry’s mistress, but they couldn’t receive her as his future wife. This meant Henry had to leave her behind in Calais when he visited Francis as there was no female of appropriate rank to receive her. On the other hand when Francis was received Anne and Henry went all out to impress him, Anne making a grand entrance in a masked dance with plumes in her hair and exotic costumes. He was very impressed and they talked at great lengths. I believe Henry Viii and Francis made some vow to go on Crusade together against the Turks. Francis promised to support the case for a marriage with the Pope, but he didn’t bank on Anne and Henry being married when they returned home. He later sent wedding presents but his actual support had wavered.
I liked ‘The Pallisers’ I saw it being shown I think on the yesterday channel last year, and thought I’d watch it, it’s very old with Philip Latham and I think Susannah York? Not sure it could have been another actress think it was from the late 60’s, me and mum used to love ‘Poldark’ the original with Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees, the BBC have always been good at producing period dramas, and of course ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ which I believe went down very well in America, I loved ‘ Clarissa’ with Saskia Wickham and Sean Bean but the ending was horrific with the poor virtuous heroine dying, I do love a good period drama and of course must mention ‘ Vanity Fair’, the recent one was very good but I preferred the earlier version with Natasha Little, shown quite a few years earlier, about Henry and Francois they had a sort of love hate relationship rather like the one Elizabeth his daughter had with Mary Queen Of Scots, there were great displays of friendship along with flowery letters and gifts sent backwards and forwards, of course most of these were not exactly heartfelt but merely bribes, later Anne was furious and so very upset when Elizabeth had been promised as a wife for the dauphin then Francois annulled the engagement, deep down he probably looked on her as a bastard but kept up the display of friendship with Henry V111, Anne had set her heart on Elizabeth being married to his son and cementing indefinitely Anglo/ French relations but it was not to be, however for now she had her beautiful diamond as a consolation prize, maybe it helped lighten her spirits after the snub by the French queen and Duchess, she may not have cared that much she had experienced plenty of obstacles and hatred in England about her forthcoming marriage to the King, she flirted with Francois and told herself she had his support he was the king after all, what did she care for his queen?
I loved this visit to Francis as depicted in the Tudors and the Chronicles. We know that Anne probably spoke with King Francis for some time, but not what they discussed but he was enchanted. Anne was intelligent and could be very persuasive but her smooth talking was also costly when things didn’t go quite to plan over her daughter’s future. Her diplomacy could be very diplomatic at times and she displayed some very odd behaviour in public at times. She insulted the French Envoy sent to discuss the marriage of her daughter, Elizabeth, to the French Dauphan, by ignoring him, making a joke and laughing which he didn’t get and by complaining he hadn’t come to any of the events she planned for his visit. She also complained about Henry’s wandering eyes during the state banquet in his honour. To her horror, his mission wasn’t to accept Elizabeth as a future Princess of France but to refute the support hoped for for her own marriage and to demand the hand of Mary instead. It was most likely after an occasion such as this that Henry cruelly yelled he could put her down in her place again and knowing what he now knows, that she was an international burden, he would not raise her as Queen in the first place. Henry also told her to keep her eyes diverted as Katherine had done and everyone knew she wasn’t his true wife. Wow! If that wasn’t a warning of the dangers which lay ahead, I don’t know what was.
Francis gave an indication he would help to smooth the path with Rome, for Henry had not yet fully broken as yet, he would champion Anne and Henry’s cause, but he didn’t give a guarantee of support without the Pope. Henry even went as far to suggest Francis put into action the reforms in France and he later tried to get James V to do the same. This visit was a good will exercise, the preparation for the future marriage between Anne and Henry and to fully strengthen the political alliance both appeared to favour. Henry actually hated Francis I but he required an ally as Katherine was strongly backed by the Emperor Charles V. Henry was shrewd enough to know that as long as Francis and Charles were at loggerheads, they were not in a position to turn their guns on him. Just how unprepared he actually was at this time for a military campaign was brought home during the early months of the Pilgrimage of Grace when he didn’t have a big enough Royal army to send against them. The counties fell far short of their obligations, but had do their best. Henry was seeking help from Francis, not just because it favoured his future Queen, but because it made strategic sense. Anne charmed the pants of Francis and it appeared to work. The snub of little Elizabeth, however, was an insult and a reality check, one which said the envoy on behalf of King Francis didn’t accept her legitimacy as Henry had not waited for Rome and was now Excommunicated.
“Upstairs Downstairs” was very popular over here. I really enjoyed that series. A story line it dealt with that really stuck with me was when the Titanic sank and how it effected the household and how the disaster was a catalyst for a change in the class system. We had a bit of a class system over here too but it was not as formalized but I believe the effect was the same.
Yes I remember that episode, it was Lady Bellamy who died and her maid returned, I liked Ruby the maid, she was a bit simple but very engaging, and Sarah the other maid they were all extremely good actors, of course Gordon Jackson was brilliant as Hudson the butler the cast were all such interesting different characters, it was shown on Saturday nights in Britain and it was something to look forward to with some goodies to eat of course.
When ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ first aired over here decades ago there were very few channels and certainly not BBC America on cable like we have now. British programming , both comedies and dramas aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting System). I believe US DS aired on Saturday nights. There are still many British programs on PBS. That is how Doctor Who first came over here either during Tom Baker’s stint or just before.
Growing up we only had two channels, BBC one and two, then ITV then years later Ch4, our friends who lived down the road from us didn’t have BBC2, Alias Smith And Jones was shown on that channel and they always bemoaned the fact they couldn’t watch it, when I think now of the hundreds of channels available, some of them show what I think is complete rubbish, but it all depends on your preference, there were no mobile phones or computers how did we survive?
It was the same for me growing up. The only channels available were ABC, NBC and CBS and the local PBS station. Do you remember when the weatherman would stand behind a piece of glass and draw the isobars and cold/warm fronts and write the temps backwards (from his perspective) on it to give the forecast long before computet graphics?
I think so, I remember my dad never liked us having the tv on except if it was raining hard and we couldn’t play outside, we were always encouraged to create our own fun, not like today where there’s computer games and the kids are in front of it 24/7, we were always out on our bikes with sandwiches, we didn’t have expensive toys for Christmas but we always had a great time because it was more about fun and party games and being together, I think for all the fact that people are better of these days, I think we were more happier in those days.
I agree. When I was a kid I spent most of my time playing outside. I had a great childhood. I think kids today are missing out on a lot and are expected to grow up way too soon.
Too true and I see a lot of young girls today dressing way too old for them, skirts and shorts halfway up their rear and skinny tops, they look more like mini adults, trouble is there’s such a lot of perverts around it’s very worrying.
It’s no different here.
I loved Upstairs Downstairs and Alias Smith and Jones and the documentaries on PBS and Yesterday. It was quality stuff back then, but there are still some good dramatic programmes and documentaries. Unfortunately some of the really good stuff is only on line and not necessarily English. Ekaterina is Russian with Russian and German actors, filmed entirely in and around Saint Petersburg. However, it’s high quality drama and has English narration and subtitles. But you wouldn’t even realise you are having to follow the subtitles as it is so well done. Its much more sober that the Helen Mirrim series and follows Catherine from her arrival as a Prussian Princess aged 15 to marry Peter Fyderorich also about 16 but an odd creature, not entirely sane through to her coup in 1762 and the second and third series follow her reign. I absolutely can’t put it down, but as we are on holiday at the moment, I have been having a catch up tonight. The Russians definitely do drama well.