Images Dated 15th December 2015

Hadrians Wall

Hadrian's Wall also called the Roman Wall, Picts Wall, or Vallum Hadriani in Latin, was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in 122 AD during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea. It had a stone base and a stone wall. There were milecastles with two turrets in between. There was a fort about every five Roman miles. From north to south, the wall comprised a ditch, wall, military way and vallum (another ditch with adjoining mounds). It is thought that the milecastles were staffed with static garrisons, whereas the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry. In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been used as customs posts.
A significant portion of the wall still stands and can be followed on foot along the adjoining Hadrian's Wall Path. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987

© fitopardo

House of Windsor name change

The British Royal Family during World War One prudently change their name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor, so as not to be mistaken for Germans. Date: July 1917

© Mary Evans Picture Library

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Women finding themselves suddenly unemployed in 1919

"Good-bye-e-e!" These girls marching off to pastures new seem a jolly bunch, although for the 750000 women who found themselves suddenly unemployed in 1919, the choices of "new jobs" were very limited. Women who were made redundant were given two weeks pay in lieu of notice, and their train ticket home. Subsequently, they would receive six months unemployment benefit, although those who chose to remain on benefit rather than accept available work - usually domestic service - were the subject of virulent contempt. Those women who continued in employment, particularly if married, were accused of being greedy, only holding onto men's jobs in order to earn themselves a little "pin money". Women did continue to be employed in clerical and shop work after the war, but, broadly speaking, both sexes were complicit in steering a return to pre-war gender roles and employment patterns. Date: 1918

© Illustrated London News/Mary Evans