Encirclement of the Ninth Army around Halbe as Berlin is cut off from the outside world. Destruction, Survival and Betrayal in the Last Days of the Third Reich In the final weeks of the Second World War in Europe, as Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich collapsed beneath the crushing advance of the Red Army and the relentless pressure of the Western Allies, one of the war’s most desperate and tragic battles unfolded in the forests and villages south-east of Berlin. Known today as the Battle of the Halbe Pocket, or simply “Halbe”, the struggle was not merely another military engagement in the dying hours of Nazi Germany. It became instead a…

A window into the Past of St Patrick’s Chapel in Heysham (photograph courtesy of the author) A beautifully traditional Lancashire lane leads from the square at Heysham down to the coast. One begins to feel time presenting itself on either side as the delightful eighteenth & nineteenth century fishing cottages pass during the gentle walk. Such pretty & well maintained properties have to lead to something well worth visiting. The Irish sea & huge expanse of Morecambe Bay soon comes into view. The street & view are well worth the visit already, yet that is not all you have come to see. St Peter’s Church, Heysham. Photograph Courtesy of the…

A long shadow of dereliction has cast down upon the beautiful Derbyshire countryside for two and a half centuries. Wingfield Manor, located just four miles from Alfreton, saw three hundred years of dramatic history come to an end. Never to rise again.  The property was originally constructed for the Treasurer to King Henry VI, Ralph Cromwell, in 1441. Unfortunately for Ralph he was not to see his Country Manor House completed. It was then taken on by the second Earl of Shrewsbury, John Talbot, who’s family was to be the custodians for the next two centuries.  The turbulent years to follow were to see the Wingfield Manor used as a…

Cambusnethan House, Dylan Avery, Cambusneathan House Side View, CC BY-SA 4.0 Introduction The United Kingdom is blessed with Centuries of wonderful historic architecture, yet neglect or changing trends can see many of these properties fall into disrepair. Local authorities often use such downturns in a building’s fortunes as an opportunity to clear the site & start again. Usually with disastrously ugly projects.  Ruinous states of buildings, though, is not always down to the shortsightedness  of twentieth and twenty first century planners. There are many examples where the ruins have been maintained in such a state for centuries following tumultuous episodes in history such as the Dissolution of the Monasteries or changes in…

Llanthony Priory dates back to the year 1100, having been founded by Norman Nobleman Walter De Lacey who had discovered a ruin chapel at the site. His plan for secluded prayer could not have found a better site, with the Priory located in the sparsely populated Ewyas Valley. The glacial scar in the earth is found in the beautiful Black Mountains seven miles north of Abergavenny.  The peace and quiet Walter wished for was not a constant. Long before the Dissolution of the Monasteries the priory was under frequent attack from the Welsh locals. By 1135 the monks had retreated to their daughter cell in Gloucester, yet this was not to…