Author: Ms. R.

Pistols at the ready, Jane Ingilby sat in the hush of the castle’s library, careful not to drop her guard. All night she watched her captive: a cavalry commander of growing acclaim named Oliver Cromwell. “I imagine Cromwell, who had just won the greatest military victory of his career, was stunned to find himself effectively held prisoner by a woman,” says Sir Thomas Ingilby, the 27th generation of his family to live at Ripley Castle in Yorkshire, England. For……

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On many islands, water is a valuable commodity even though the land is literally surrounded by it. But fresh water is needed for drinking, bathing, and irrigating crops. The amount of water needed quickly adds up—what happens when you run out?  On the Canary Islands, freshwater is obtained in several ways: rainfall, saltwater desalination, and water mines (like the Pajarito water tunnels in La Palma). The last option has been the go-to for the last few decades due to……

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Born in 1920, Roland Manteiga began his career at the age of 10 as a paperboy, delivering copies of his father’s newspaper. In the 1950s, La Gaceta became the only trilingual newspaper (published in English, Italian, and Spanish) in the U.S., a distinction that it still holds to this day.  The paper expanded dramatically between 1943-1953 with World War II bringing a massive increase in defense activities to the area. Manteiga left during that time to serve in the infantry in……

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When a stacked spectrum of colors stretched across the sky above parts of central and western Pennsylvania in early July 2021, Joe Murgo missed it. He was in Italy with his family. Perhaps that was fitting. The sight, visible across at least four counties spanning 40 or 50 miles, looked a little like a rainbow cookie from an Italian-American pastry shop—red, yellow, green, a riff on the colors of the Italian flag. It was a familiar kind of sight,……

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As the centerpiece of a grand international event, the Doulton Fountain was designed to impress— a showcase of Victorian Britain’s achievements in science, art, and industry. The fountain became one of the most popular attractions at the International Exhibition, which ran from May to November 1888 and attracted around six million visitors. Glasgow at the time was the British Empire’s second city. The exhibition was designed to rival the famous exhibitions which had previously been held in London. The……

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The Gorbals is an area south of Glasgow‘s city center.  It’s believed its name derived from a leper colony where charitable people would leave food for the unfortunate inhabitants after ringing the “gory bells,” this area is steeped in rich social history. This is largely due to Gorbals’ proximity to the city center. The area has attracted thousands of people throughout the centuries in search of work.  In the 1920s and 1930s, Gorbals was notorious for its razor gangs…….

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Where do worn-out old signs go when they retire? Much of Montréal‘s sign heritage, especially its spectacular neons, has been lost; unceremoniously removed, carted away, and scrapped. As with changing ideals in urban architecture, one generation’s idea of visual blight is another’s enduring fascination. Cue the Montréal Signs Project. When it launched in 2010, the project was already playing catch up: the lion’s share of the city’s grand old commercial signage was long gone. But as neighborhoods have been……

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The tract of land known as “Black Rock” on Sinclair Creek was patented to John Brisco in September 1760. It was over 50 years before Thomas Hilleary built the eponymous mill, after having purchased a portion of the land known as “Sprained Ankle Tract” from his father, Henry. The Black Rock Mill was built in 1815, and operated as both a sawmill and grist mill. Details are hazy between the mill’s opening and its passage to Franklin Waters and……

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Sitting onstage at the Country Inn of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, I, once again, felt a bit puzzled by the crowd gathering in the event space. Who knew that water judging was a spectator sport? This was my second year as a water judge, so as I stared at the dozens of wine glasses set before me, all half-filled with water and placed carefully on a corresponding numeral, I had already made a mental note of the nearest bathroom…….

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While a handful of museums exist dedicated to matchboxes, the only museum in the world dedicated to the labels of matchboxes is located in the small town of Tumanyan, halfway between Yerevan and Tbilisi. Matchbox label collecting was once a common hobby, especially in the Soviet Union where factories produced extra runs of labels for collectors. The collecting of match-related items is known as phillumeny, and collectors clubs have been across the globe. A collection of over 10,000 matchbox……

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