Author Archives: Magicfingers

Bill’s House

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Magicfingers

Spotted this blue plaque the other week.  Wasn’t there last time I passed by. Alfred William (Bill) Bedford O.B.E., was a World War II fighter pilot and later, in the 1950s & 1960s, chief test pilot at Hawker Siddeley.  It … Continue reading →

Posted in Surrey, U.K. Churches, Memorials & Cemeteries - Back in Blighty | 2 Comments

Esher War Memorial

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Magicfingers

Never assume that your war memorial will always be where you think it is.  This is Esher war memorial, these first few pictures taken some fifteen years ago. The Great War panels (above & below),… …and the Second World War … Continue reading →

Posted in Surrey, U.K. Churches, Memorials & Cemeteries - Back in Blighty | 3 Comments

St. Gwinear Churchyard & Church Cemetery

Posted on February 25, 2023 by Magicfingers

A locked church, and as it turned out, a churchyard devoid of war graves. However, it’s always nice, at least in terms of churchyards and memorials,… …to find a lych gate converted into a war memorial, as we have here. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cornwall, U.K. Churches, Memorials & Cemeteries - Back in Blighty | 6 Comments

Coming Soon……

Posted on February 17, 2023 by Magicfingers

I appreciate that ‘Coming Soon’ is a moveable feast, but then that is exactly my reason for using it. 

Posted in French Flanders, Laventie | 5 Comments

Westham – St. Mary the Virgin Churchyard

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Magicfingers

Just a mile inland from Pevensey Bay and the English Channel, this is St. Mary’s church in Westham, on the Sussex coast. Where we find another locked church, I’m afraid,… …although the churchyard would make the visit worthwhile.  To refresh … Continue reading →

Posted in Sussex East, U.K. Churches, Memorials & Cemeteries - Back in Blighty | 6 Comments

St. Luke’s Church, Stone Cross & Westham War Memorial

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Magicfingers

The church of St Luke at Stone Cross, built as a memorial to a Lieutenant Colonel Charles William Owen, who died in 1922, was opened in 1929 as a chapelry of St. Mary’s Church in nearby Westham, long before eventually … Continue reading →

Posted in Sussex East, U.K. Churches, Memorials & Cemeteries - Back in Blighty | 4 Comments

Austro-Hungarian Hand Grenades of the Great War Part Two – The Ball Rohr Stielhandgranate

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Magicfingers

This is the Ball Rohr Stielhandgranate (stick grenade), once attached to a cardboard handle (as in the replica inset), remnants of which you can still see inside the ball in the main picture. 

Posted in Austro-Hungarian Grenades, Weaponry & Relics | 4 Comments