6 April: Tartan Day

Why is today Tartan Day? Because April 6^th is the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, a letter written to the Pope in 1320, declaring Scottish independence. While it might be easy to assume Tartan Day started in Scotland, the home of the fabric, it actually started in Canada in the 1980s. It's a big thing in New York City where there is an annual Tartan Day parade.

1. The origin of the word tartan isn't entirely clear but it most likely comes from the French word tiretaine, which comes from the verb tirer, to pull, and/or the Gaelic word tarsainn, meaning across.
2. The word came into use around the 1500s but the patterns were around long before that. The oldest design dates back to the year 245 and was found in a jar of coins near Falkirk, and hence is known as the Falkirk Tartan. There were even people in central Europe making tartan like patterns between the 8^th and 6^th centuries BC.
3. While tartans are associated with Scottish clans, that association only dates from the 19^th century. Before that, people simply wore tartans they liked. Some countries, including Zimbabwe, have national tartans and all the US states and Canadian provinces (except for Nunavut) have state tartans. In Japan, Hello Kitty has her own tartan, too. Elvis Presley has three – not only did he have Scottish roots but a tartan was designed for The King in 2004 by Mike King and an even more modern version a few years later. The official Presley of Lonmay tartan is based on the colours of the US flag with a gold stripe to represent Elvis's gold records.
4. Tartan and kilts may seem inoffensive now, but back in the 18^th century they were banned as subversive – a sign that a person supported the Jacobite cause. Suspected Jacobites had to sign a declaration that they would never wear tartan. The declaration was basically that they were putting a curse on themselves if they broke the ban and as a result would be separated from their families, die in battle as a coward and be buried far away from Scotland. The law banning tartan was repealed on July 1 1746, which is why in some places, like Australia, they celebrate Tartan Day on July 1^st.
5. Tartan has been to the Moon. Astronaut Alan Bean is of Scottish descent and belongs to the clan MacBean. When he went to the Moon in 1969, he took a little bit of tartan cloth with him. He brought it back with him, and donated it to the chapel of St Bean in Perthshire, Scotland.
6. Tartan was the subject of the first colour photograph ever taken. James Clerk Maxwell took a picture of a piece of tartan ribbon in 1861.
7. There is a wildlife centre in Perthshire which paints its resident flock of sheep in tartan patterns for tartan day.
8. The most popular tartans are the Black Watch, named after a battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and the Royal Stewart, which was the tartan of the royal house of the same name, and is also the Queen's personal tartan.
9. The Black and White check patterns often seen on police uniforms are technically a tartan, too. It even has a name – the Sillitoe tartan, after Chief Constable Percy Sillitoe from Glasgow. Scottish police were the first to use the pattern in 1932.
10. The most expensive tartan is produced by Holland and Sherry in Peebles and is made from Mongolian cashmere. Their highest quality kilts made from this material cost £5,000.

My Books 

(for more details and buying options Click Here)

The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny. 

5 April: Central Park, New York

On this date in 1851 New York's Central Park was first proposed. It was proposed by New York City's elite, who'd admired the city parks in Europe and thought New Yorkers would benefit from some green open space as well. 10 things you might not know about Central Park.

1. The park covers 3.5 square miles, and is actually bigger than a couple of countries (Vatican City and Monaco). That includes 136 acres of woodlands, 250 acres of lawns, 150 acres of water, 58 miles of paths, 36 bridges, 21 playgrounds, 30 tennis courts and 26,000 trees.
2. It was designed by a couple of guys called Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who won a contest to design the proposed park. They called it the Greensward plan, Greensward being an old word for Lawn.
3. Their design incorporated natural, curving forms, which means there is only one straight path in the entire park. It's a quarter of a mile long and is called The Mall.
4. The chosen site for the park was largely swamps and rocks. Nothing would actually grow in the boggy soil so they had to import 500,000 cubic feet of topsoil in order to make it work. The soil came from nearby New Jersey. The rocks were dealt with using gunpowder – they were blown up and removed in carriages. It's said this project used more gunpowder than the Battle of Gettysburg. The rocks are said to have come from ancient glaciers which melted 12,000 years ago.
5. The park also displaced about 1,600 people, who lived in a village there, called Seneca Village, which had been founded by free African Americans. Some were paid for their land but others were forcibly evicted.
6. According to the 2010 US census, 25 people still live there. This was an increase from 2000 when the park had 18 residents. To the census authorities, Central Park is called New York City Census Tract No 143; but they have no idea how come 25 people say they live there. One explanation put forward was that they were caretakers or park keepers, but the park authorities say there are no resident caretakers. It may be that some homeless people were claiming a park bench or underground tunnel as their home.
7. Green spaces will have animal life, and Central park is no exception. It has its own zoo and the numerous wild birds and Squirrels you'd normally find in a park. There's even a species of centipede that was only discovered in 2002, the Nannarup hoffmani, that lives in leaf litter and probably arrived in potted soil. A new species of fly and a new Moth have also been found there. There have been sheep – Sheep Meadow is so called for a reason. The sheep were moved during the great depression because it was feared that hungry New Yorkers might eat them.
8. There have been four Carousels. Two were destroyed by fire and the third, which required a Horse to power it was replaced by an abandoned carousel from Coney Island which is still there. It has 57 horses and is over 100 years old.
9. It has been a location for over 350 films.
10. It's haunted. The ghosts of two Victorian sisters called Janet and Rosetta Van Der Voort are said to appear there. They had a wealthy father who rarely let them out of the house alone, but the one place there were allowed to go without a chaperone was Central Park. Neither of them married and they died within a few months of each other. Their ghosts are said to be seen dressed in Red and Purple dresses, skating on the pond in winter.

My Books 

(for more details and buying options Click Here)

The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny. 

4 April: Art Deco

Today is Art Deco Day. Here are ten things you might not know about Art Deco.

1. First of all, what is it? It's a style of architecture and art that was popular from the mid 1920s to the mid 1940s. There are Art Deco buildings in almost every country in the world.
2. It originated in France. Hence the name is derived from a French phrase, “Art decoratif”.
3. French artists were exhibiting works in an Art Deco style as early as 1905.
4. It's said to have been influenced by cubism and modernism.
5. In architecture, it was used for public buildings rather than houses, incorporating the idea that buildings could be streamlined as you would a car for aerodynamics. Shiny metals and bold geometric patterns are characteristic of Art Deco – think the Chrysler Building in New York.
6. It wasn't just for buildings. Cars, jewellery, furniture and clothing has also been made in Art Deco style.
7. There are even fonts in Art Deco style which are used to evoke that era of history.
8. Miami in Florida has a whole district, the Miami ArtDeco District, in South Beach, where you can find around 800 examples of Art Deco structures. You can even take a walking tour of the area.
9. In  London much of the surviving Art Deco designs can be found on the London Underground. Stations, tunnels and arches are often Art Deco. There's also the Hoover Building in West London.
10. Napier, a town in New Zealand (see picture above), was nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its Art Deco buildings. Most of the town's architecture is Art Deco, because the town was levelled by an Earthquake in 1931, and was rebuilt in what was then the fashionable style.

My Books 

(for more details and buying options Click Here)

The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny. 

3 April: Beech trees

Today is the Day of the Beech Tree in the French Revolutionary Calendar. Here are 10 things you might not know about beech trees.

1. The Latin name for the common beech is Fagus sylvatica.
2. They can grow to over 40m/80 feet in height and live for up to 400 years.
3. In Celtic mythology, Fagus was the god of Beech trees. Beech is, however, associated with femininity and is considered to be the queen of British trees (the Oak is the king).
4. Some beech trees have Purple leaves rather than Green ones. While they are usually bred to be that way for ornamental reasons, the colour variation has been around for centuries and no-one knows why it happens – possibly a mutation. Some beech trees have one purple branch while the rest of the tree remains green.
5. Scientists don't know, either, why some beech trees have rippled bark. One theory is that the tree suffered some kind of stress, like a lack of Water, as a young tree. Mature beeches with rippled bark are perfectly healthy and stable, however.
6. Some beech trees don't completely shed their leaves in winter and have dead Brown leaves still hanging from the branches. Some other species of tree do the same thing and there's a name for it – marcescence. Theories as to why this happens include that, if the leaves are shed at the end of winter, they provide much needed nutrients for the new growth in spring, or that they retain more Snow, providing water for the tree when the snow melts in spring. The trees which keep their leaves through the winter are usually sexually immature trees which don't flower yet. A beech tree may not become sexually mature until it's about 40 years old.
7. In olden times, beech nuts were fed to Pigs to fatten them up.
8. Beech leaves used to be boiled and made into a poultice to relieve swelling.
9. The trees lining the King's Road in Game of Thrones are beech trees. In real life this road is called the Dark Hedges and is in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The trees are over 240 years old.
10. Another famous beech tree is a grafting together of three saplings to make a letter N. These trees are now 100 years old and were voted Britain's Tree of the Year in 2018. The story behind it? A young man called Vic Stead grafted the saplings together to make the initial of his sweetheart, later wife, Nellie.

More Trees

Alder 

Ash 

Birch

Hawthorn

Holly

Horse chestnut

Oak Tree

Rowan

Willow

Yew tree

My Books 

(for more details and buying options Click Here)

The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny. 

2 April: April

Ten things you didn't know about the month of April.

1. It's uncertain where the name of the month comes from. It's generally thought to come from the Latin verb meaning “to open” because it's when the buds of trees and flowers open. However, the Romans had a tendency to name months after gods, and April was sacred to the goddess Venus. Hence an alternative theory that it was named for her Greek equivalent, Aphrodite.
2. In Roman times April was the second month of the year with January and February being added later. It had 29 days – its 30^th day was added as part of Julius Caesar's calendar reform.
3. The Finnish word for April translates as “slash and burn moon” because it was the month when clearing of farmland took place. A poetic name for the month in Japan is “Hare Month”.
4. The Native American names for the Moon of April include Moon of the Big Leaves, Ice Breaking in the River, Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs and Red Grass Appearing.
5. The birthstone for people born in April is the diamond.
6. The birth flowers for this month are Daisy and sweet pea.
7. It's one of the best months in which to get married, according to folklore. “Marry in April when you can – joy for maiden and for man.”
8. April is famous for its showers, although various folk sayings remind us: “Sweet April showers do spring May flowers”.
9. In weather lore, a cold April predicts a good harvest: “A cold April the barn will fill”.
10. Month long observances in April include Actors appreciation, Animal cruelty prevention, Child abuse prevention, Fresh Florida tomatoes, Guitars, Jazz appreciation, Anxiety, Autism awareness, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Therapeutic value of humour, marbles, poetry, self-publishing, welding, woodworking, Thai heritage and eye safety in sports.

My Books 

(for more details and buying options Click Here)

The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny.