First of all, let's hit our top 5 blogs according to the number of visits to our website. Before we begin we do need to point out a slight flaw in this methodology in that the longer a blog has been up the more likely it is to have more hits... but we'll go with it anyway! The other thing we noticed is that most of the blogs are about Welsh history reflecting a strong showing from our friends across various Welsh Facebook pages - diolch yn fawr ​cyfeillion! So starting the countdown, with number 5...

In May and June 1831 the workers of Merthyr Tydfyl, Wales, rose up against the British Government in what would become known as the Merthyr Rising. Trouble blew up after William Crawshay of Cyfarthfa Ironworks reduced the wages of his iron workers, however the causes were more deep-rooted with frustration around the truck system, the management of dept and the desire for Parliamentary Reform. It is believed that the red flag of revolution was flown as a symbol of workers' revolt for the first time during this event.

The Battle of Brunanburh was fought in 937 between Æthelstan, King of England, and an alliance of Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Dublin; Constantine II, King of Scotland, and Owain, King of Strathclyde. The battle is often cited as the point of origin for English nationalism: historians such as Michael Livingston argue that "the men who fought and died on that field forged a political map of the future that remains [in modernity], arguably making the Battle of Brunanburh one of the most significant battles in the long history not just of England, but of the whole of the British Isles."

Located in The Fens of Cambridgshire are the remains of a Bronze Age settlement known as Must Farm, named after the quarry in which they were found. Discovered in 1999 when a local archaeologist noticed a series of wooden posts sticking out of the quarry’s edge, the site has since been subject to a programme of excavations, which have revealed many incredibly well preserved artefacts that give us a real glimpse into life during the Bronze Age.

So there you have it, our top five blogs of 2020! honourable mentions should also go to the next five, which are The Battle of Lugdunum, Horatius at the Bridge, The Black Death, The Last Invasion of Mainland Britain and The Miracle of the Rain. Do check them out!

Next up we have the highlights from some of our team, beginning with James Pegrum. James has been responsible for a most of our new material this year and boy has he put a shift a in! When asked what he was most pleased with this year, he said it was his model of Scrooby Manor, which was made as part of a series on the history of the Mayflower. James said it was because he "enjoyed working in dark red colour and playing around with the arch details". The work on the arch has been developed further in later builds - so there's more to look forward to!

Next up we have Dan Harris, who was told he couldn't pick one of his Welsh blogs, because most of them are already featured here. According to him, his favourite bit of creativity of 2020 was his model on the Miracle of the Rain, because it gave him a chance to play with his Roman soldiers again; the big man child he is.

Finally, according to Colin Parry, his favourite build of 2020  was his model on astronomer Sir William Herchel who discovered Uranus in 1781. This was an easy choice for Colin, because it's the only thing he's built all year, because, and I quote "I'm up to my neck in kids and never managed to build anything else". Fair play to him.

Another  highlight for all of us in 2020 has been the sheer number of new followers we've gained on our social media platforms. We're really grateful for everyone who supports us in this way, because without you we're just shouting into the ether. Anyway, we look forward to bringing you lots of new stuff in 2021 and with any luck, get to see you and say hello at some LEGO shows! If you haven't already, please follow us on  Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Happy new year friends!

Merry Christmas folks! Today we come to you with a festive themed blog on the Nativity. Yes, the Nativity, the Christian tradition of creating an artistic representation of the birth of Jesus.

Nativity scenes take it inspiration from the accounts of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Luke's narrative describes an angel announcing the birth of Jesus to shepherds who then visit the humble site where Jesus is found lying in a manger, a trough for cattle feed. Matthew's narrative tells of "wise men", or Magi,  who follow a star to the house where Jesus dwelt, and indicates that the Magi found Jesus some time later, less than two years after his birth, rather than on the exact day. Matthew's account does not mention the angels and shepherds, while Luke's narrative is silent on the Magi and the star. The Magi and the angels are often displayed in a nativity scene with the Holy Family and the shepherds although there is no scriptural basis for their presence.

The first nativity scene is thought to have been created by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1223 at Greccio, central Italy, in an attempt to place the emphasis of Christmas upon the worship of Christ rather than upon secular materialism and gift giving. The nativity scene created by Francis is described by Saint Bonaventure in his Life of Saint Francis of Assisi written around 1260. Staged in a cave near Greccio, Saint Francis' nativity scene was a living one with humans and animals cast in the Biblical roles. Pope Honorius III even gave his blessing to the exhibit.

Such re-enactments became hugely popular and spread throughout Christendom and within a hundred years every church in Italy was expected to have a nativity scene at Christmastime. Eventually, statues replaced human and animal participants, and static scenes grew to elaborate affairs with richly robed figurines placed in intricate landscape settings. 

Different traditions of nativity scenes emerged in different countries. A tradition in England involved baking a mince pie in the shape of a manger which would hold the Christ child until dinnertime, when the pie was eaten. When the Puritans banned Christmas celebrations in the 17th century, they also passed specific legislation to outlaw such pies, calling them "Idolaterie in crust". We do not think they would have approved of our “Idolaterie bricks”.
 
Anyway, we wish you a merry Christmas filled with idolaterie bricks! 

These scenes were built by James Pegrum; please be sure to follow and support us on  Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

On this day in 1620 the Mayflower, having crossed the Atlantic and reached Cape Cod, dropped anchor in Plymouth Harbor. It would be here that those on board, the so called Pilgrims and Strangers, would establish their new community and England's newest colony. The task would be an arduous one and they would need to fall on the charity of the local native Americans to see them through.

This is our final blog of 2020 to mark the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's voyage. We will return in next year with lots more content, but for now we wish you a happy Christmas and a Happy New Year and the hope that 2021 will be a better year for everyone.

Please be sure to follow and support us on  Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - we always love hearing from you!

Once back onboard the shallop the explorers headed along the south coast of Cape Cod Bay, during which time the weather got worse. With the wind picking up and the temperatures around freezing they became drenched by the freezing horizontal sleet and salt spray.  As they made their way along the coast a sudden wave hit them, tearing the rudder off the shallop.  It took two men and a long oak oar to get the boat back under control.  As night came it became harder to control the shallop and the news that their aimed for destination was in site, a place called Thievish Harbor, which is thought to actually be Plymouth Harbor, cheered them up.  Then, another disaster, the mast broke into three pieces which had to be gathered up along with the sodden sail.  They were now dependent on rowing and soon realised that they were drifting off course towards a wave pounded beech, which they had to avoid. ​

They commenced their exploration on the Monday and found that the harbor would be suitable for ships the same size as the Mayflower.  They explored the land in the area that is now Plymouth and found a site that had good water supply, fields that were cultivated and signs that there had been no recent native settlement.  They had now found the site they would settle and so they headed back to the Mayflower with the good news.  On their return William Bradford was met with the sad news that his wife Dorothy had slipped overboard and drowned and that night he went to sleep with mixed emotions.

As a post note, it has become legendary that the Pilgrims first stepped onto a rock, now known as Plymouth Rock, when they landed in the area on Monday.  However, this was not recorded by those who were on the Mayflower and the first records appear from 1774.  Since then, the rock has become an American symbol of the nation's founding.  

These scenes were built by James Pegrum and Dan Harris as part of a series of models on the voyage of the Mayflower. Follow us on  Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to see them first.

Charles Ignatius Sancho was a British writer, composer shopkeeper and abolitionist and is the first known Briton of African heritage to have voted in a general election.
 
Much of what we know about Sancho’s life comes from Joseph Jekyll’s 1782 biography, which accompanied a collection of Sancho's posthumously published letters. There are however doubt about the reliability of the biography and indeed it is contradicted in places by Sancho’s own writing.

According to Jekyll, Sancho was born in around 1729 aboard a slave ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean, in what was known as the Middle Passage. Sancho however wrote in his letters that he was born in Africa. His mother died not long after in the Spanish colony of New Granada, corresponding to modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. According to Jekyll, his father took his own life rather than live as a slave. Sancho therefore grew up an orphan and so was taken to London, where he was forced to work as a slave for three sisters at a house in Greenwich, where he lived from around 1731 to 1749. As an adult, Sancho wrote:
​
“the first part of my life was rather unlucky, as I was placed in a family who judged ignorance the best and only security for obedience”.

However while at Greenwich he met John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu who, impressed by Sancho's intellect, frankness, and amiability, encouraged his education and gave him books to read. Sancho's informal education made his lack of freedom in Greenwich unbearable. Following the Duke’s death in 1749 he fled to the Montagu House where he served as the butler for Mary Montagu (née Churchill), Duchess of Montagu until her death in 1751. He would then go on to act as valet to George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, son-in-law of his earlier patron. He remained there until 1773. In 1758 Sancho married Anne Osborne, a West Indian woman with whom he had seven children.

On this day in 1282 Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, known in Welsh as Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf (lit. 'Llywelyn, Our Last Leader') was killed when he was ambushed near Cilmeri in Mid Wales. The son of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr and grandson of Llywelyn the Great, he was Prince of Wales from 1258 until his death and was the last sovereign prince of Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England.

In 1267 Llywelyn had been recognised by the English Crown as Prince of Wales, holding his lands with the king of England as his feudal overlord. However, following the death of Henry III in 1272, the relationship between England and Wales broke down as the new and ambitious King Edward I pressed his ambition to master of the whole island of Great Britain. By 1276 Llywelyn had been declared a rebel and diplomatic pressure was followed by a massive invasion force the following year. Edward forced Llywelyn into submission, confining him to lands above the Conwy.
 
In 1282 however, many of the lesser princes who had supported Edward against Llywelyn in 1277 had become disillusioned with the exactions of the English royal officers. On Palm Sunday that year, Llywelyn’s brother Dafydd ap Gruffydd attacked the English at Hawarden Castle and then laid siege to Rhuddlan. The revolt quickly spread to other parts of Wales, with Aberystwyth Castle captured and burnt and rebellion in Ystrad Tywi in south Wales, also inspired by Dafydd according to the annals, where Carreg Cennen castle was captured.

Though he claimed not to have been involved in the planning, Llywelyn felt obliged to join his brother’s ill prepared rebellion. The Archbishop of Canterbury tried mediating between Llywelyn and Edward, and Llywelyn was offered a large estate in England if he would surrender Wales to Edward, while Dafydd was to go on a crusade and not return without the king's permission. In an emotional reply, which has been compared to the Declaration of Arbroath, Llywelyn said he would not abandon the people whom his ancestors had protected since "the days of Kamber son of Brutus". The offer was refused.
 
Llywelyn now left Dafydd to lead the defense of Gwynedd and took a force south, trying to rally support in mid and south Wales and open up an important second front. On December 11th at the Battle of Orewin Bridge at Builth Wells, he was killed while separated from his army. The exact circumstances are unclear and there are two conflicting accounts of his death. Both accounts agree that Llywelyn was tricked into leaving the bulk of his army and was then attacked and killed. The first account says that Llywelyn and his chief minister approached the forces of Edmund Mortimer and Hugh Le Strange after crossing a bridge. They then heard the sound of battle as the main body of his army was met in battle by the forces of Roger Despenser and Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn. Llywelyn turned to rejoin his forces and was pursued by a lone lancer who struck him down. It was not until sometime later that an English knight recognised the body as that of the prince. This version of events was written in the north of England some fifty years later and has suspicious similarities with details about the Battle of Stirling Bridge in Scotland.

On December 7th 1620 Captain Jones led a group of 34 on a second exploration of the Cape Cod area.  The group was made up of 24 passengers and 10 sailors.  The shallop had finally been rebuilt, but due to the wind they had difficulty weathering the point where the Mayflower was anchored.  They were blown to the other side of the harbour where they found shelter in an inlet and spent the night there; the inlet is a part of what is now called Pilgrim Lake.  Temperatures were now falling well below freezing and Bradford later reflected that this was the beginning of the death of some of those onboard the Mayflower. By morning there had been six inches of snow.