March 2019 completed the twelve month to mark a whole year of the blog’s existence; something which I am quite happy with, what with my track record of previous failed ventures. March brought a few different posts, ranging from activities attempted in the classroom to the more classic “nuts and bolts” of local history.

The Blue Monkey pub – ever my fixation, what with recent research and writing – featured a couple of times. The first was in the form of a newspaper article that I found from the 1950s outlining how the local community of St. Budeaux would respond to a threat from Napoleon. Aside from a couple of errors (dating, persons, etc), it is an interesting snapshot into the life of the parish at the turn of the 19th Century. This post was followed up with one on the ruins of the Blue Monkey as it stands today: the structure has gone, but yet certain features remain.

The Torre Abbey exhibit “Torbay Rocks” influenced me to discuss ideas about the spread of Marwick’s “Cultural Revolution” in the vicinity of Devon; this is a debate that fascinates me, and furthermore, it includes an adorable photograph of my daughter dressed up (she is a big fan of Torre Abbey!). Furthermore, I also outlined another cultural debate relating to the boom of art and creativity in Weimar Germany in the 1920s. Perhaps the political, economic, and social instability created this artistic output. I attempted an activity in the classroom where students pretended to be certain political/social types attending an art gallery (either Hans the disgruntled person of the Mittelstand, or Gunter the radical revolutionary). I’m not entirely sure just how productive this activity was, but it definitely helped me understand more of the challenge that Weimar art represented (also, it also cemented my love of the work of Otto Dix).

The other posts from March are the usual contrasting mix: an evaluation of the solo career of Paul McCartney, the social and political upheaval in the American colonies in the form of Bacon’s Rebellion, and the tenth entry in the War World Cup series (along with an updated table of current standings).

Other Monthly Round-Ups: