Mark Brayshay

An Amazing and Portentous Summer: Environmental and Social Responses in Britain to the 1783 Eruption of an Iceland Volcano

This paper investigates the impact of the 1783 eruption of the Laki volcanic fissure in Iceland. This was the most violent, extensive and prolonged volcanic episode which has occurred in the northern hemisphere during the modern era. A detailed examination of newspaper accounts and other documentary evidence reveals the dramatic effect of the eruption on the weather over much of Western Europe. It is shown that Icelandic volcanic eruptions can cause serious environmental damage and extreme climatic disturbance in locations far from the source. Moreover, the evidence indicates a variety of human responses to the weather conditions ranging from panic to attempts to find a scientific explanation.

Environmental and social responses in Europe to the 1783 eruption of the Laki fissure volcano in Iceland: a consideration of contemporary documentary evidence

Abstract A detailed examination of contemporary documentary evidence, including letters, diaries, historical accounts and newspaper reports, reveals the dramatic effect on the weather across the whole of western Europe of the eruption of the Laki volcanic fissure in Iceland in 1783. Extreme heat, dry sulphurous fogs, chemical pollution, and tremendous storms of thunder, lightning and hail were reported from northern Scotland to Sicily. Vegetation was defoliated, crops were destroyed, livestock were killed and property was damaged. There were also direct and indirect human casualties. The unusual conditions engendered considerable fear as well as an appeal to science for a rational explanation. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in southern Italy and Iceland were blamed as the cause.

Vision, vested interest and pragmatism: who re‐made Britain’s blitzed cities?

For many British cities, the received history of post‐war reconstruction, accepted rather uncritically by succeeding generations, suggests a fairly swift and harmonious development and implementation of a plan, driven forward by one or two key individuals such as a city engineer, a main planner and, perhaps, a lord mayor. Such suspiciously tidy versions of post‐war history have had high visibility and have been hard to challenge. This paper utilizes the theory of actor networks to reveal new insights into the reconstruction of Plymouth by evaluating the mismatch between the intentions set out in post‐war urban reconstruction plans and their actual implementation. Using a rich but neglected archive of evidence in Plymouth, one of Britain’s most badly bombed cities, a chronology of the dynamic interactions of the network(s) involved in devising and realizing the 1943 Plan for Plymouth is reconstructed. The discussion illustrates that, while the formulation of the plan itself, with its radical and ambitious proposals, was the work of a relatively small elite network, its implementation drew in other much larger groups of actors and interests. The interactions and tensions amongst the players in these bigger networks led to significant compromises and, ultimately, there was a mismatch between the original vision and the reality that was delivered.

SUSTAINABLE HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AT VISITED HERITAGE SITES IN DEVON AND CORNWALL

Sustainability is a key challenge facing society in the twenty-first century, although its implementation at heritage sites can present some significant challenges for the custodians. This paper investigates progress in the adoption of sustainable practices in the management of a sample of 416 heritage properties and sites in Devon and Cornwall. The findings are based on the compilation of an inventory of selected heritage resources; an extensive questionnaire survey of managers of historic houses, churches and museums, which investigated the extent of, and opinions about, sustainable management approaches; and targeted, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with a small number of heritage managers that probed key issues in greater depth. The results indicate that very few heritage sites produce sufficient surpluses to facilitate investment in sustainable practices that might ultimately enhance their financial viability and fund enhanced conservation activities. It is argued that future strategies for the management of heritage resources must therefore not only deal with capacity-building, such as access to information and training on sector-specific sustainable management, but also address institutional factors governing heritage in the UK, such as strategic leadership, the most effective models for governance and funding mechanisms for sustainability, and the creation of local and regional heritage networks.

Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales: the evolution of the network in the later-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century

Abstract Postmasters receiving Exchequer wages in return for hiring out post horses to official travellers and undertaking to arrange the conveyance of the royal packet from stage to stage, were first established in England and Wales during the sixteenth century. But until late in the reign of Elizabeth I only the routes from London to Dover and from London to Berwick were continuously funded. Elsewhere the services of provincial postmasters were periodically engaged and discharged according to changing military and strategic considerations. By the 1590s however the spread of the network was greater than it had ever been and routes were more permanent in character. This paper analyses the accounts of the Master of the Posts which commence in 1566 in order to trace the evolution of the network, its extent and its cost in Treasury wages. The wider significance of the royal post-horse system is also considered.

Boldness diminished? The post-war battle to replan a bomb-damaged provincial city

The retreat from bold reconstruction planning in Britains blitzed cities is now well established, although there are two notable exceptions: Coventry and Plymouth. While the circumstances in Coventry have been fully researched, the narrative in Plymouth remains untold. The aim of this article is therefore to evaluate the main formal measures required to embark on the comprehensive redevelopment of Plymouths heavily blitzed core area and whether, despite Whitehalls failure to deliver the necessary legal and administrative powers in a timely and co-ordinated manner, the city maintained its faith in bold plans and planners.

LONG-DISTANCE ROYAL JOURNEYS: ANNE OF DENMARK'S JOURNEY FROM STIRLING TO WINDSOR IN 1603

This paper discusses the detailed organization and management of the journey of Anne of Denmark from Scotland to Windsor in June 1603. The scale and the role of the Queens escort of noblemen, noblewomen, and servants; the means of transport employed; and the accommodations provided during the journey are reconstructed and analyzed. The Queens escort set out from Whitehall on May 2 and arrived in Windsor almost 9 weeks later on June 30, 1603.

Capitalism and Division of Labor

Capitalism is defined as a socioeconomic system in which goods and services are produced and traded in a free market. The means of production are predominantly held in private ownership. A labor force, working for wages, produces goods and services. The division of labor refers on the one hand to a functional subdivision of production into separate tasks, each of these performed by workers possessing relatively few skills, and on the other hand to a geographical phenomenon whereby the components of a product might be manufactured in widely dispersed locations and brought together only at the point of final assembly and distribution. Although trade and exchange have always existed, capitalism is regarded as a relatively recent phenomenon. Most scholars believe that it emerged as the old feudal system decayed in early post-Medieval England. In its first manifestation, as merchant capitalism, regulations and controls were a prominent feature of its operation. As merchant capitalism broadened into full industrial capitalism, unfettered trade and a liberal economic regime were increasingly favored. Governments have periodically attempted to manage the more adverse and extreme social and economic impacts of capitalism by adopting more or less interventionist policies. By the modern era, capitalism had spread to the entire world, engendering profound and far-reaching change. Despite facing strong ideological challenges, the global influence of capitalism has become all pervasive. This article comprises three main sections. First, theoretical explanations and conceptual ideas that have been advanced as a means of understanding capitalism and the division of labor are summarized and reviewed. Second, the origins and early history of capitalism are discussed in the context of debates about the shift from feudalism to merchant capitalism in Europe. The spread of mercantilism, mainly through colonialism, to other parts of the world, and the emergence of industrial capitalism are then considered. Third, an examination is made of geographies of modern capitalism that have been shaped by the growth of large (increasingly transnational) corporations and the adoption of Fordist approaches to production, and subjected to the shocks and challenges of the rise of communism, fascism, global conflict, world economic crises, the rise of post-Fordism, and the anti-globalization movement.

The Choreography of Journeys of Magnificence: Arranging the Post-Nuptial Progress of Frederick, the Elector Palatine, and Princess Elizabeth of England from London to Heidelberg in 1613

In examining the detailed planning and operation of an example of long-distance royal travel in the early modern period, this paper draws on contemporary documentary evidence to reconstruct the arrangements that were made for the Princess Elizabeth of England, and her new husband, Prince Frederick, the Elector Palatine, in their journey from London to Heidelberg between April and June in 1613. The progress of the royal couple is well known for its lavishness, splendour, symbolism and political significance but, in this analysis, attention is paid to the composition and character of the escort party, and the elaborate and intricate choreography that underpinned early seventeenth century European travel en fete .