Krampus

Krampus

When searching through old Victorian Christmas cards I came across this horrid figure known as Krampus. Why you would want to send a season’s greeting card with this demon on it is beyond me.....

I did some research and this is what I found. His name originates with the German krampen, which means "claw," and tradition has it that he is the son of the Norse god of the underworld. 

In Central European folklore Krampus is a horned, figure described as "half-goat, half-demon" who, during the Christmas season, punishes children who have misbehaved. This contrasts with Saint Nicholas who rewards the well-behaved with gifts and is the patron saint of children.

Krampus was created as a counterpart to kindly St. Nicholas, who rewarded children with sweets. Krampus, in contrast, would swat "wicked" children, stuff them in a sack, and take them away to his lair. 

The origin of the figure is unclear; some folklorists and anthropologists have postulated it as having pre-Christian origins.

In traditional parades and in such events as the Krampuslauf (Krampus run), young men dressed as Krampus participate; such events occur annually in most Alpine towns, and in regions including Austria, Bavaria, Croatia, Hungary, Northern Italy including South Tyrol and the Province of Trento, and Slovenia. Krampus is featured on holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten.

 Pretty freaky if you ask me!

Mural Mile End Road

The Mile End Road Mural was painted in 2011 by artist Mychael Barratt and two assistants. This mural reflects the history of the surrounding area of Whitechapel with an array of buildings and people. The mural includes the artists Gilbert and George, William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, the Krays, Joseph Merrick known as the Elephant Man. Buildings such as The Royal London Hospital, Christ church in Spitalfields and even captures the dockers from Victoria Dock and much more if you look closely.

Trinity Almshouses Whitechapel

Trinity Green Almshouses (formerly Trinity Hospital) are a series of Grade I listed almshouses on Mile End Road in Whitechapel. They were originally built in 1695 to provide housing for retired sailors, and are the oldest almshouses in Central London. The buildings were damaged during WW2 and were then restored in the 1950s by London County Council. The land was given to the Corporation by Captain Henry Mudd of Ratcliffe. The almshouses are believed to have been designed by Sir William Ogbourne,and the houses were organised into two rows, with a central green and chapel. Charles Robert Ashbee set up a Committee for the Survey of the Memorials of Greater London. The almshouses were the first buildings to be put on his preservation register, which eventually became the listed building system.

Gerard the Giant

Meet Gerard the giant dates from c1670

This figure shown in Photo 1 stood at the front elevation of what was Gerard’s Hall at Basing Lane, Cheapside in the City of London. Legend had it that a giant lived in the building.

Photo 2: Shows a Trade card engraving for T. Younghusband, Gerard's Hall Hotel, Basing Lane. Additional hand writing indicates the position of an effigy before 1835.

Photo 3: Shows a map of where Gerard’s Hall was situated.

The crypt of Gerard's Hall survived the great fire of London in 1666  and was used as a cellar with barrels against the walls with a vaulted ceiling but was removed in a street widening scheme during 1852. Photo 4 shows an illustration of the crypt dated 1795.

Vintage Postal Posters 1941-1957

Vintage Christmas 🎄 posters from the the British Postal Museum & Archive collection
Photo 1 year: 1957
Photo 2 year: 1952
Photo 3 year: 1941
Photo 4 year: 1957
#postalheritage #christmas ✉️ 🎄

My Unknown soldier

My unknown soldier this photo was in my Nanny Dixie’s collection of old photos Iv never been able to identify who he is it’s a shame that on the back of this card a Christmas message was written to his family but it’s says love..... then his name is not there #wewillrememberthem #lestweforget 🌹

William Nicholas Graham 1874-1958

William Nicholas Graham
25th April 1874-1958

My 2x great grandfather known as Nick from Holborn, London served in the First World War as Private in the Royal Defence Corps known as the R.D.C in the last year of the war he was discharged to the reserve as he was suffering with an inguinal hernia. Thank you to my great aunt and cousin for providing me with this wonderful photo capturing him in his uniform. #lestweforget 🌹

St Peters Italian Church, Clerkenwell

I visited this beautiful Roman Catholic Church this week nestled in the City of London on Clerkenwell road, Holborn.

As a little girl my Nanny Rose said it was beautiful in there, and this was my very first time visiting. 

As I climbed up the steps from the main road there is a carved memorial in the shape of a ship dedicated to the Arandora Star which shows 3 drowning men reaching up to the cross from the waves. It was erected to remember those Italians that were killed when the Anadora Star sank in July 1940. Arandora Star's final voyage, was the transport of Italian and German internees as well as German prisoners of war to Canada. She was sunk by a German U-boat with a large loss of life, 865 is the estimated figure.

Above the façade is a 33 metre-high bell tower, built in 1891 which houses a bell known as "The Steel Monster".

As I then opened the double door, my Nanny Rose for sure was right I was in total awe the church is absolutely stunning. It opened in 1863, it was at the time the only church in Britain designed in the Roman basilican style. 

The Irish architect John Miller Bryson worked from plans drawn by Francesco Gualandi of Bologna, modelled on the Basilica of San Crisogno in Rome. It has a tranquil feel and i could have easily spent hours there, soaking up the prayerful atmosphere and admiring the stunning painted ceilings and artwork.

During World War II when Italian immigrants were interned, Irish Pallottines made use of the church. In 1953 it was returned to Italian control, since then it has been substantially remodelled during 1996.

The church has been the main gathering and reunion venue for the "Little Italy" community of Clerkenwell, and is a central feature of the annual procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel held in mid July this is Little Italy’s most important event. Except during wartime it has taken place annually since at least 1896. According to the church’s historian, “it appears to have been the first outdoor Roman Catholic manifestation of faith in England since the time of Henry VIII’s Reformation”. 

Queen Victoria is said to have granted special permission to the local police chief in Holborn for the parade to take place.

St Peters Italian church is now one of my favourite churches in London.

St Peters Italian church is a listed Grade II building by Historic England and was first listed on 14 May 1974.

Ingersoll, Clerkenwell

This building situated on St John street & Skinner street used to be the factory of the watch makers Ingersoll.

The factory was built during the 1930s by an architect Stanley Waghorn (the brother of Gilbert Waghorn, who designed several factories around Barking and Stratford) modified slightly around the edge of the building on the St John Street façade to incorporate the green and off-white mosaic with the logo of Ingersoll at the top of the building.

Ingersoll Watch Company began in New York City in 1882 by brothers Robert and Charles Ingersoll. The first Ingersoll watches, 'Universal', were introduced in 1892. These were small spring-driven clocks fitted into watchcases.

Production of Ingersoll watches in Clerkenwell stopped when the new factory of the Anglo-Celtic Watch Co. Ltd opened near Swansea, in the late 1940s. Ingersoll Ltd was one of the two shareholders of the Anglo-Celtic Watch Co. Ltd.

In the 1950s, the Clerkenwell factory was bought by Condé Nast and became the pattern factory for fashion magazine Vogue. As a result, the building is now known as Pattern House rather than the Ingersoll building. In the mid-1990s, after 60 years of industrial use, it was converted into lofts then today it is now industrialised flats.

Sweet Fanny Adams

The phrase ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’ came into popular usage in Victorian England to mean nothing or very little, but was there a real Fanny Adams? The answer is yes, and her story is anything but sweet. The phrase also appears today as "sweet F.A. Maybe we should think before using this saying ...... and this is why.

Fanny Adams born on 30 April 1859 was an English girl who was murdered by solicitor's clerk Frederick Baker in Alton, Hampshire on 24 August 1867. The murder itself was extraordinarily brutal and caused a national outcry in the United Kingdom. On that day Fanny was out playing with her friend Minnie Warner and her sister Lizzie Adams.

As the girls were walking towards Flood Meadows and into a hop garden they met Frederick Baker, a 24-year-old solicitor's clerk. He was wearing a frock coat, light-coloured trousers and a tall hat on his head. Baker had moved to work and live in Alton about two months prior, which allegedly made him unfamiliar with the town.

Baker gave Minnie and Lizzie three halfpence to spend on sweets and Fanny another halfpenny. The girls had seen Baker before at church meetings and were thus unconcerned to take money from him. Baker then watched the girls run up and down The Hollow (a lane leading to the nearby village of Shalden) as they played and ate the blackberries he had picked for them.
An hour later, Lizzie and Minnie decided that they had had enough and opted to go home. Baker then approached Fanny and asked her to accompany him to Shalden. Fanny refused, and it was then Baker picked her up and carried her into the nearby hop garden near her home.

She was then brutally murdered and her body cut into several pieces, with some parts never being found. Further investigations suggested that two small knives were used for the murder, but it was later ruled they would have been insufficient to carry out the crime and that another weapon must have been used.

Sometime between 7-8pm the discovery was made by a labourer
Thomas Gates who found the head of Fanny Adams stuck on two hop poles while he was tending to the crops. An ear had been severed from the head which had two large cuts, from mouth to ear across the temple. Further investigation discovered the remains of the child; the head, arms and legs were separated from the trunk. There were three incisions on the left side of the chest, and a deep cut on the left arm, dividing her muscles. Fanny's forearm was cut off at the elbow joint, and her left leg nearly severed off at the hip joint with her left foot cut off at the ankle point. Her right leg was torn from the trunk, and the whole contents of her pelvis and chest completely removed. Five further incisions had been made on the liver, the heart cut out, and vagina missing. Both of her eyes were cut out and found in the nearby River Wey.

Baker was eventually found guilty and on Christmas Eve 1867 Baker was hanged outside Winchester Gaol. The crime had become notorious and a crowd of 5,000 attended the execution. This was the last public execution held at that gaol.

Fanny Adams was buried in Alton cemetery Hampshire. Her headstone was erected by voluntary subscription, reads:
Sacred to the memory of Fanny Adams aged 8 years and 4 months who was cruelly murdered on Saturday August 24th 1867.
Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Matthew 10 v 28

The image of a young girl which appears to have a studio feel to it, in this instance is supposedly used to capture the innocence in a child. There was an alternative photo which is also supposed to be Fanny Adams, which I have included in this post.


Such a horrific sad story which I only learnt this month.
God Bless Fanny Adams