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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Very interesting talk about the #Roman arena & #gladiators on 'In Our Time' this morning (BBC Radio 4). The site of the Roman amphitheatre at Chichester (West Sussex, UK) is still mostly open, marked by a large encircling bank: it was built very close to the Roman city. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Aerial photo of Chichester, taken from the north. The site of the Roman East Gate is marked, as is the site of the Roman amphitheatre or arena, which was a short distance outside the city walls. Part of there amphitheatre was lost to a 1930s building, but most of its encircling bank survives.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Great talk last evening by Prof Dave Parham @buarchanth.bsky.social about the Swash Channel Wreck/'Fame' of Hoorn (1631) excavation & its place in the story of UK maritime archaeology. Glad to have been part of the project & to have identified the Wreck! Free pdf of report @archaeopress.bsky.social

This carving of a Roman warrior's head was at the top of the rudder (rudderahead) of the Dutch Westindiaman 'Fame' of Hoorn, lost off Poole (Dorset, UK) in 1631. The original can be seen in the stunning new maritime archaeology gallery at Poole Museum.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

A brief and light flurry of overnight snow in Chichester (West Sussex, UK), which hasn't seen much very much snow in recent decades.

The photo shows an upturned blue and white bowl on a wooden bench, with grass and plants behind - all with a light dusting of snow. The bowl and bench are picked out by the morning sunlight.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Wishing everyone a happy and hopeful New Year!

Lights inside a blue glass jug, next to a Chinese-style pot, both sitting on a window sill with a closed Venetian blind behind.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

A Happy Christmas and a great New Year to everyone! (appropriately #maritime Christmas 'tree' composed of lobster pots, on the quay in the fishing port of Emsworth, Hampshire, UK, 24 December 2025).

A Christmas tree shape decorated with streamers and baubles, on the quay at Emsworth, 2025. It has been built from black lobster pots and is topped with the outline of a star. A swan and a ?coot can be seen in the water below, and small boats are visible in the background.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

In his spoof 1970 'biography' of the fictional Horatio Hornblower, Northcote Parkinson credited the Hornblower 'papers' at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich as a source.This led to a number of people wanting to access them: one man, when told they did not exist, accused the NMM of losing them!

The starboard side of HMS Victory, Portsmouth Naval Base. The photo shows the ship in its dry dock, supported by metal shores. The gunport lids are open, showing the mouths of cannon. First floated out of its building dock in 1765, the present ship is the product of several major rebuilds, and is currently undergoing major restoration work.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Rare opportunity to share my one historic image of Indian railways! Came across this photo in a group of tiny, rather over-exposed images of India (c 1900-1910?), bought at a boot sale in the UK. Shows the #Railway station at #Khadki (Pune), India: probably taken by a British ex-pat.

A man driving a bullock cart in front of Khadki railway station. Another cart loaded with ?hay, drawn by two bullocks, can be seen to the right.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Presumably in this case, the cat is playing the part of God. Our current four-legged manifestation of the divine is currently under my desk, relaxing after a hard day being at the Centre of Everything... (eerily glowing eyes are as standard)

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Great resource, tho' sadly not many muster lists survive for ships' crews! I did discover, tho', when working on my book about Henry V's 1413-22 navy that his 61 or so shipmasters mostly specialised in commanding either sailing vessels or oared warships- only 3 sailed in both types #maritimehistory

Bow view of the 15th-century Mataro Model, now in the Maritiem Museum Rotterdam (photo taken 1980). Evidently made by a shipwright, this extraordinary model has a high, upcurving stem topped by a forecastle with rails. There are two figureheads - one like a dragon's head that juts out from the bow, the other a human head in the forecastle above. The model originally hung in a chapel in Mataro, a town just up the coast from Barcelona, almost certainly as a votive offering. 15th-century English sailors would probably have called this type a carrack, a kind of vessel that originated in the Mediterranean. During Henry V's sea battles in the years 1416 and 1417 against the French and their Genoese and Spanish allies, English naval forces wee able to capture eight Genoese carracks, formidable vessels much larger than most English ships of the time.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

#RomanSiteSaturday I've posted these before, but they're maybe worth another outing. Nothing obviously Roman here at first sight, on the foreshore of #ChichesterHarbour. However, tangled up among the tree roots are lumps of Roman tile, from an adjacent tilery site.

Trees Wirth exposed roots on the shore of Chichester Harbour. A scatter of red clay is visible amid the screen of the seaweed.

Fragments of Roman tile from the adjacent Roman tilery site, tangled up in the tree roots, Chichester Harbour.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Glad to help! The bases probably looked a bit like these wrought-iron (15th cent) Venetian examples, or those from the #MaryRose. The word 'foist' came from the Italian 'fusta' (light galley), which had apparently come into English by 1485.

Two wrought-iron swivel gun barrels, mounted on reconstructed stocks. They have been dated to the 15th century, and were found in the Lagoon at Venice. The handle on the nearest gun is attached to the detachable breech chamber, which contained the powder charge. Guns like these normally fired stone or lead roundshot, or sometimes mixtures of metal fragments and stone, and were intended for use against the crews of enemy ships. The shot was loaded at the back of the barrel, before the breech chamber was put in place and secured with a rope binding.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

I like this photo, so thought I would post it. This visitor arrived in our back garden in Chichester in April 2024. A peregrine falcon, I think, but happy to be corrected (nesting peregrines have taken up residence in the tower of #Chichester Cathedral every year for the last 20 years+).

A ?peregrine falcon standing at the edge of a garden pond, with a small solar-powered fountain behind.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Roman merchant vessel and oared warship on the Danube, from Trajan's Column in Rome (113 AD), which commemorated his Dacian Wars. The detail is incredible: regarding #maritimehistory interestingly, I don't recall seeing any vessels in this riverine campaign being shown with sails. #ReliefWednesday

A Roman merchant ship unloading (lefthand side) at a town quay and a bireme warship (right; bireme = two banks of oars). Soldier are shown unloading rope-bound packages from the merchant vessel, with the ?Emperor Trajan and a group other senior figures standing on the right.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Thinking of wind powered ships, I've got a book called 'Something New in Model Boat Building' (publ 1945-50, I think) by D H Matheson with illus by Bernard Richardson. Among the conventional ship-type models are instructions for building a rotor ship, based on the principles developed in the 1920s!

The image shows a model ship with three rotors, which rotate int he wind and cause the vessel to move. The first rotor ship was designed and built in the mid-1920s by the German engineer Anton Flettner. Though it did not catch on then, the idea has been revived in recent decades as shipbuilders explore ways of propelling vessels that lower their carbon footprint.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Working through some medieval manorial accounts for my maritime history book: every year the places were spending money on cart repairs - they seem to break or wear out regularly. #medievalsky @themerl.bsky.social can anyone suggest good recent works on road vehicles in medieval Britain, please?

A photo taken c 1906 in southern England, showing a boy with a horse and two-wheeled cart.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Photo taken in East Street, Chichester (UK) just after sunset yesterday: shows the Cathedral spire, clock on the 1501 Market Cross (purple dot!) and the late 14th/early 15th cent Cathedral bell tower beyond. The red sky promised good weather today: it lied - the rain is tipping down this morning.

A view taken just after sunset in East Street (Chichester) looking west, with a deep red sky. The row of buildings on the left of there photo mostly date from the 18th century. The Market Cross, its clock dial illuminated with a purple glow, was built in 1501. It stands and the meeting-point of the four main streets of medieval Chichester - East, South, West and North Streets, which radiate in from the former positions of the Roman and medieval city gates.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Another part of the western end of Hadrian's Wall - Bowness-on-Solway fort. Ph: portions of a W gate guard chamber & a piece of the W wall, dug by @lancasteruni.bsky.social archaeologists & students in December 1973. First excavation I ever took part in- freezing, gloomy, wet weather. It was great!

Black and white photo of an archaeological excavation of the western side of the Roman fort at Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria. Part of the northern guard chamber of the west gate is shown (left), with a section of the fort's wall at right angles to it.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Is this a cat that thinks it's a jug, or a jug with feline aspirations? (and no, before anyone asks, her head did not get stuck in the jug).

A tortoiseshell cat standing on a windowsill, with its head in a blue jug.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Very much enjoyed my visit to the Nautical Archaeology Society's Heritage Open Days event at Gosport, about studying the remains of MMS 113, a wooden WW2 minesweeper. The vessel was taken apart for its upper timbers (1950s?), but what is left is good for training students in surveying wrecksites.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Absolute cloudburst in Chichester at the moment! Still, the plants will like it...

A back garden and furniture in heavy rain, photographed through glass. The fuzzy patches on the image are caused by rain on the glass.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Amongst other things, I'm currently working on a #househistory in E Sussex. Most of the key sources are at the wonderful 'The Keep' at Falmer, home of the E Sussex Record Office. Rail journey involves a change at Brighton, & I never fail to be impressed by the station's magnificent 1882 canopy!

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

HMS Hind was built at Itchenor on #ChichesterHarbour, W Sussex, one of 4 warships constructed in the 1740s by Chitty & Vernon. Nothing of the yard is now visible, but it lay between the house & yachts. It was used intermittently until early 1800s & in 1780s built 2 huge Eastindiamen #MaritimeHistory

The site of Chitty and Vernon's former 1740s shipyard at Itchenor on Chichester Harbour. Nothing of the yard is now visible, but it lay between the house on the left and the laid-up yachts in the distance. The yard had at least two launching slips.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

We went out for a bike ride south of Chichester (UK) this afternoon in brilliant sunshine. Then... Still drying out!

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

I went to the Rotary charity dragon boat race on the Chichester Canal yesterday - great event and lots of excitement. It was also fascinating two truly ancient types of boat technology in use - paddles and a steering oar! #MaritimeHistory

A dragon boat in the race on Chichester Canal 22 June 2025. The dragon boat, based on a. Chinese design, has a red and green dragon figurehead. A drummer sits near the prow, beating a drum to enable the pairs of paddlers to keep time. The steerswoman stands at the stern, holding the steering oar.

A dragon boat steerswoman and steering oar. The oar has a handle like that of an old-fashioned shovel. It is held in place between two metal uprights by rope or rubber strops.

The long, straight blade of the steering oar is partially visible.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Just posting a beautiful sight for a Monday - the sky at Chichester about half an hour before sunset on the longest day.

The setting sun and clouds over Chichester (UK) at about 8.50pm on Saturday 21 June 2025. Rays of sunlight can be seen projecting through the clouds.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Really enjoyed giving a talk about my historical research for the 13th-century Mortar Wreck project with Tom Cousins of @buarchanth.bsky.social speaking about the extraordinary archaeological finds at the @antiquaries.bsky.social last evening! #maritimehistory #medievalhistory #MedievalSky

The lecture room in the Society of Antiquaries at Burlington House, London, showing speaker, lectern and the projection screen. The image behind 'The Maritime World of the Mortar Wreck' title slide shows a 13th/14th century graffito of a one-masted ship carved on a pillar in the church of St Mary the Virgin, Hayling Island, Hampshire UK. Photo courtesy of Tom Cousins.

13th/14th century graffito of a one-masted ship carved on a pillar in the church of St Mary the Virgin, Hayling Island, Hampshire UK. The ship has a curved bow and straight stern, with a bowsprit projecting from the bow (with a flagstaff and triangular flag at its tip) and a crenellated aftercastle at the stern. The standing rigging, the ropes that support the mast, are shown in some detail, along 2with some other rigging, and the sail is furled against the yard. A cable goes from the bow to an (off-camera) anchor. The graffito may well have had a votive purpose, drawn in the church to give thanks for a safe voyage, or to ask for protection in an upcoming journey.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Francis Drake commanded the fleet that fought the Spanish Armada. No! The English fleet was led by Lord High Admiral Charles Howard: Drake was a vice-admiral. At one point he even disobeyed an order to tail the Armada through the night & sailed off to capture a damaged (& lucrative) Spanish ship!

Full-size plaster model of Sir Francis Drake by Sir Joseph Boehm (1834-1890) made for reference use in his studio - it came from the moulds used to make the bronze sculptures of Drake at Tavistock and on Plymouth Hoe. This imposing work is displayed in Drake's former home, Buckland Abbey in Devon.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

West Sussex (UK) has been my home for over 30 years, and as it's #SussexDay, it's a chance to celebrate both West and East Sussex. Photos show some of the remarkable more-than-lifesize sculptures in the beautiful garden of the sculptor Philip Jackson near Midhurst, West Sussex.

A sculpture by Philip Jackson of a female figure in a long dress, wearing a tricorn hat and blowing a brass trumpet.

A sculpture group by Philip Jackson, with the figures of a pope and cardinals. The hands of the pope are made of brass. These figures are about 2.5 metres tall.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Went for a walk around Heyshott Common, W Sussex (UK), yesterday- got slightly lost & spotted a building amid the trees. It turned out to be a WW2 pillbox, obviously built before the tree grew up around it!

The top of a low building amid trees, see across a bed of ferns.

One side of the building, a Second World War pillbox, built before the trees grew up around it. The Pillbox has multiple firing slits, and was accessed by a doorway at the back.

The back of the Heyshott Common pillbox. It was built of brick, with a concrete roof that was evidently reinforced with sections of steel rail taken from an old train line (two rails protrude from under the roof). The pillbox was almost certainly manned by the local Home Guard detachment, a part-time military organisation made up of civilians, better known perhaps nowadays as 'Dad's Army' (after the popular 1960s/70s TV series).

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

New dig in Chichester's (UK) Priory Park- see BBC link. Park is in the NE corner of the Roman city: was the site of a Norman castle & 13th-cent Franciscan friary. Its chancel became the town's Guildhall in 1541. Poet William Blake was tried for sedition there in 1804! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

An aerial view from 2011, taken from the north, showing Priory Park, Chichester, annotated to show some of its historic features. The Park is bounded on two sides by the city wall, which was originally built by the Romans, and the boundaries on the other sides are believed to follow the line of the defensive around the bailey, the outer area of the late 11th-century Norman castle. The much-reduced stump of the motte, the mound on which the castle's tower or keep sat, still survives. The castle was destroyed on royal orders in c 1217 after a brief French invasion. The site was given to the Franciscans in 1269 and their priory was completed c 1282. It was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538 and in 1541 the surviving chancel of the Franciscan church was given to the city, and became the Guildhall, or town hall. The Guildhall was also used as a courthouse: in 1588, four Jesuits were tried here and condemned to death. The same thing happened to the notorious Hawkhurst Gang of smugglers in 1749. William Blake was tried here in 1804 on a trumped-up charge of sedition, but fortunately acquitted.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

Hope you're feeling better soon! In the meantime, here is a piece of (W) Sussex coastline with history- the shifting channel at Pagham Harbour mouth, spring 2021. Photo: rare surviving section of Admiralty Obstacle Z1- WW2 beach defence, probably long buried in shingle, that re-emerged for a time.

A rare articulated section of Admiralty Obstacle Z1, previously buried in shingle, that emerged in the shifting channel at the mouth of Pagham Harbour, West Sussex (UK) in spring 2021. Made from commercial scaffolding, they stood on the surface of a beach and were intended to delay or obstruct tanks in the event of a German invasion during the Second World War. Many hundreds of miles of Z1 structures were built on the south and east coasts of England, but most were dismantled after the war. Surviving articulated sections are very uncommon.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Just wanted to thank everyone for their good wishes for my election as a FRHistS!

Image of a heart from an 18th-century child's alphabet, with the word written above.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Delighted & honoured to hear that I have been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society! @royalhistsoc.org @donaldwin.bsky.social @ospreypublishing.bsky.social Image: the c 1300 town seal of Dover. It depicts a ship about to get under sail & reflects some of my work in #MaritimeHistory.

A red wax impression of the town seal of Dover, c 1300. It shows a ship about to get under way: the bow is to the left, the stern to the right. Inside the hull, two men stand in front of the mast, working the bars of a windlass in order to raise the anchor. The steersman is near the stern, his hands on the large side rudder, while above him a sailor is climbing up the standing rigging behind the mast to unloose the sail. The ship has three crenellated defensive structures - the forecastle at the bow, the aftercastle at the stern and a small topcastle near the head of the mast. Dover is one of the Cinque Ports and a flag hangs from a staff in the aftercastle, bearing the arms of the Cinque Ports - the front halves of three lions, each with a back that consists of the stern of a medieval ship. There is also a streamer or vane at the head of the mast, blowing left, which would have revealed the wind direction. Two trumpeters stand in the forecastle, their trumpets evidently announcing the ship's imminent departure.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

This year there seems to be a group of sparrows in our garden - maybe 6 young, after years of barely seeing a single sparrow around our house. Two years ago (photo) we had 2 successive broods of robins from a nest in the shed. The adult in the image was apparently encouraging the chick to fly.

An adult robin and a chick standing on a piece of timber by a garden wall.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Bosham, West Sussex, UK. Fascinating Holy Trinity church, linked to the story of the Norman Conquest: Bosham was a port for the powerful family of Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king, killed at Hastings in 1066. Top section of the tower dates to c1080-1110 - lower parts are late Anglo-Saxon.

Bosham from the south, with the tower and spire of Holy Trinity to the right and the late-18th century quay and warehouse (small building with red roof) to the left, standing on the Bosham Channel, which leads to the main channel to Chichester Harbour and the sea.

The tower of Holy Trinity from the west. Built in sections, each marked by a line of stones, the top section dates to c 1080-1110, when the manor was in the hands of William I (the Conqueror) and his successors William II and Henry I. The Norman kings may well have kept the manor in their hands as it was a good port of departure for voyages to Normandy. The lower sections of the tower are Anglo-Saxon, probably built by the powerful Godwinson family. Harold Godwinson is said to have sailed from here in 1064 on a voyage during which he was shipwrecked in Normandy. Taken in by Duke William of Normandy, he is said to have been conned into swearing in the presence of hidden holy relics that he would support William's claim to the English throne when the then-King Edward the Confessor died. The story is mired in Norman propaganda, and as a result it (and Bosham Church) feature on the Bayeux Tapestry. According to the Norman story, when Harold took the throne for himself in 1066, this gave William a legitimate reason to invade - leading to the Norman Conquest of England. The spire at the top of the tower here is much later - built with timber built from trees felled in 1405/1406.

c 1080-1110 window in the top storey of the tower of Holy Trinity, Bosham.

Scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry reproduced on the altar cloth of Holy Trinity, Bosham.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

More #medieval Winchester, this time Wolvesey Castle, the imposing 12th cent ruins of the Bishop's Palace. Photos show c 1141-54 fortifications (a relic of the chaos under King Stephen) & part of the medieval drainage system. Fascinating @englishheritage.bsky.social site, with free entry!

Part of the c 1141-54 fortifications, seen from outside, including Wymond's Tower.

The c 1141-54 fortifications, seen from inside.

The lines of a medieval drainage channel that served a toilet block.

A small stone arch, part of the drainage system.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Trip to Winchester (Hampshire, UK) at the weekend - the city is threaded through by rivers - here is the River Itchen, with the back of #medieval 12th century St Peter's church, which for many years has been the Chesil Theatre.

The River Itchen is in the foreground, with St Peter's church in the back centre. Part of a river wall can be seen on the left.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Probable #Medieval graffiti on one of the door jambs of lovely late 12th cent church St Simon & St Jude, Bramdean, Hampshire UK. A profusion of crosses- very common early graffiti in churches, often called 'pilgrim crosses', but as Matt Champion ('Medieval Graffiti') points out, on zero evidence!

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

#Caturday A warning for cat owners - could your beloved pet actually be a Gremlin? Signs to look out for: (1) Sudden appearance of a Mohican on the head; (2) Instead of 'meow' or 'purr', 'cat' actually says 'Yum Yum'... At all costs, avoid feeding after midnight!!!

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

An unusual one for #HillfortsWednesday perhaps, with no actual hillfort in view, just the parapet of the massive Kalemegedan fortress in Belgrade, Serbia and its strategic outlook over the confluence of the rivers Sava & Danube (seen at top). Original hillfort built here by Celts in 3rd cent BC.

Photographed on a gloomy day in December 2015, the view shows the River Danube running across the top, with the Sava joining left. The fortress parapet is in the foreground, with a ruined building and walls of lines on the river plain below. The Kalemegedan fortress is massive, and has been fought over and rebuilt many times since antiquity.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Not quite as colourful, but still impressive, is this compass rose from the cover of John Todd & W B Whall's 'Practical Seamanship' (1903)...

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Great to receive copies of the paperback edition of my 'Breaking Seas, Broken Ships' (hbk 2021), published by @penandswordbooks.bsky.social this month. Rudder on the cover was from British-built, French-owned steamer 'Hoche', lost near Hartland Point, Devon in 1882, fortunately without loss of life.

A pile of copies of 'Breaking Seas, Broken Ships', with a image of a wrecked ship's rudder on the front cover, and a photo of the former Victoria Deepwater Container Terminal at Charlton on the River Thames, taken in the early 1980s.

The rocky foreshore at Blueberry Bay, North Devon, with the sea in the distance. Part of the steamship Hoche can be seen closer to the camera, including an iron spar, a boiler and trunking for the ship's funnel. Photo taken in 2012.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Perceptive thread- thanks! Chilling insight into the mind of Donaldus Dei Gratia Rex Americae - Donald, by the Grace of God, King of America... Rightly, there's a lot of discussion about the relevance of history at the moment- just didn't think it would concern my original field - the Middle Ages.

Fragment of late medieval stained glass in St Mary's church, Diss, Norfolk, showing the head of a king. The king's face, beard and hair are rendered in black and white, but the crown is gold. The king has his mouth open, baring his teeth: to me, it is an unsettling image.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

In Herefordshire for a few days & encountering typical Herefordshire fauna: (1) Map-Reading Cat (2) Deer (3) Stripy horses...

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Sorry- photos were taken in 2007, as was this one of Salterns Copse! I still live locally tho', & continue to be fascinated by the history of #ChichesterHarbour. According to a mid-C19 source, smugglers used to hide goods in the Copse. 'Salterns' refers to the nearby old saltworks (now the Marina).

Trees in Salterns Copse, Chichester Harbour. The name 'Salterns' comes from the 18th/19th-century saltworks that once stood on the site now occupied by Chichester Marina.

The old saltworks, Copperas Point and Birdham Mill (L-shaped building marked 'Mill') on Yeakell and Gardener's 1778-1783 map of Sussex. The main Harbour channel can be seen towards the top left. Salterns Copse is between the Salterns and Copperas Point.

Aerial view of Chichester Marina from the east, 2011. The outline of the Marina preserves the boundaries of the old saltworks, and Salterns Copse is the triangular wood to the right of it (photo copyright Ian Friel 2011).

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

#TilesOnTuesday The orange stuff tangled in the tree routes on the foreshore in #ChichesterHarbour (West Sussex, UK) near Dell Quay comes from eroded Roman tile wasters, discarded from an adjacent Roman tileworks (partly excavated, but exact date uncertain).

Tree routes with what looks orange clay mixed in among them.

A fragment of a Roman tile among the tree roots.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

There's evidence that oysters cultivated in #ChichesterHarbour were being consumed @romanpalace.bsky.social at Fishbourne in the Roman period, I believe. The oysters in the photo are not from the Roman era, but probably came from 19th-cent oyster ponds in the Harbour at nearby Bosham.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Posted for no other reason than it may cheer people up a bit - some sparrows having a bath in our old back garden in summer 2009

Four sparrows found an on brass bowl on a table in a garden. One is in flight, about to land, two are on the rim, and the fourth is in the bowl. Next to the bowl is a colander with some plants growing in it., and there is a bird feeder to the left of the bowl.

The same four spares, with water splashing about.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

My old passport with indefinite 1986 visa for USA, & festival of stamps from Volkspolizei for 4-day 1987 visit to East Germany. Always struck me as showing the gulf between a flawed, but free state & a police state like the DDR, tho' at present I would not visit the US for fear it is going that way.

Passport stamped by the East German Volkspolizei and other state bodies, January 1987.

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Dr Ian Friel @drianfriel.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

View looking along #Chichester Canal, from Salterns Lock, where it enters #ChichesterHarbour. Just under 4 miles long, opened in 1822 & saw its last commercial cargo in 1906. Partly navigable now from Chichester end, but this part is home to houseboats, moorhen & swans.

A view along the canal, with modern houseboats on the right. Part of the stonework of the lock structure is visible lower left.

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