Bøker av Robert Bard

Secret Barnet and Hadley explores the lesser-known history of the town of Barnet and adjoining Hadley through a fascinating selection of stories, unusual facts and attractive photographs.

During its 600 year history 50,000 sould were executed on the gallows at Tyburn somewhere near where Oxford Street meets the Edgware Road. Many thousands of victims remain buried nearby in anonymous graves. Many of the condemned made their final journey from Newgate Prison three miles distant. The condemned travelled in a cart seated on his or her coffin, stopping frequently for refreshments. Sometimes the condemned survived hanging. What was it like to be hanged? This book examines contemporary accounts. Most of those executed at Tyburn were from London's underclass. An exception was Earl Ferrers on 5 May 1760 who wore the same white suit with silver trimmings that he had worn at his wedding. He travelled from the Tower to Tyburn in his own carriage but the crowds were so thick that the journey took nearly three hours. In addition to Tyburn, this book identifies a number of london's lesser known places of execution such as Shepherds Bush Green, Cricklewood, Hampstead Heath and the City of London.

Discover spine-chilling tales of hauntings, paranormal activity and supernatural phenomena from throughout Kent.

In this book, author Robert Bard guides readers on a spine-tingling journey to discover the paranormal and unexplained happenings that have occurred throughout Berkshire. From haunted sites to spectral figures and supernatural phenomena, here is an eerie exploration of the royal county and a collection of its chilling tales. Each of the chapters in Paranormal Berkshire focuses on a different location linked to ghostly occurrences and among the places featured are Windsor Castle, Old Windsor, Reading Abbey, Maidenhead, Ascot, Newbury, Hungerford, Bisham, Caversham, Cookham, Datchet, Slough, Thatcham and some of the smaller villages in the county. The author visits the traditional sites of paranormal activity and, with the assistance of the Oxfordshire and Berkshire Paranormal Research Group, reveals newly discovered material. He also participates in a local ghost hunt and provides a fascinating account of his observations accompanied by his own photographs. As well as detailing the nature of his own interest in the paranormal, and his experiences at the various paranormal sites, author Robert Bard also selects his own haunted highlights from his chilling exploration through the county. Paranormal Berkshire will appeal to those with an interest in the supernatural, and to local people who want to discover their county's haunted heritage. Are you brave enough to read on?

Situated in North London near the county boundary with Hertfordshire, Barnet has a long and distinguished history. Properly called Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, the area has become synonymous with its historic horse fair, founded in 1588 and now immortalised in cockney rhyming slang. The Battle of Barnet of 1471 is also rumoured to have served as the inspiration for the nursery rhyme, 'The Grand Old Duke of York'. A further glimpse of the past is provided by Barnet's sixteenth-century church. The neighbouring suburb of Hadley is no less historic and, like Barnet, has many points of interest. The childhood home of Princess Diana, Hadley is home to the 400-acre Trent Country Park, the former hunting ground of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Robert Bard invites you to join him on a journey through time, showcasing the changes and developments that have made Barnet & Hadley the bustling communities that they are today.

St Albans History Tour is a unique guide to the illustrious past of this delightful city in southern Hertfordshire. As one of the earliest recorded cities in Britain, St Albans has had a long, colourful and distinguished history. Dominated by the great abbey church of St Alban, the adjacent site was a thriving market town in Saxon, Norman, medieval and Georgian times. Robert Bard guides us through its historical streets, showing how its famous landmarks used to look and how they've changed over the years, as well as exploring its lesser-known sights and hidden corners. With the help of a handy location map, readers are invited to follow a timeline of events and discover for themselves the changing face of St Albans.

Over a period of 400 years, the Capell family built a fortune, and over the next 500 years, lost it due to an incredible number of mistakes, bad judgment calls, and misfortunes. `The Earls of Essex' examines the rise and fall of this family, providing in-depth analysis and judgement on the reasons behind their decline.

It is fascinating to think that many hundreds of generations of Londoners lie beneath the city without us knowing. Over many centuries burial grounds have been developed, built over and then forgotten, often beneath playgrounds, gardens or car parks. When modern development takes place, remains are disturbed and we are reminded of a London that has long since disappeared, particularly with recent archaeological discoveries across the city. In London's Hidden Burial Grounds, authors Robert Bard and Adrian Miles seek to uncover many of the capital's lost graveyards, often in the unlikeliest of places.

The incredible true story of what really happened in the Channel Islands during the Second World War. The Channel lslands were occupied on 30 June 1940 when four German planes landed at Guernsey Airport. They were the only part of Britain to be occupied during the Second World War. The islands had been officially demilitarised on 19 June, but the War Office in London overlooked the necessity to inform the Germans. This led to a German air attack on 28 June, which resulted in thirty-eight civilian deaths. Hitler was extremely proud of the conquest of the Channel lslands, and saw it as a stepping-stone to the full invasion of the rest of Britain. The occupying forces were instructed to behave correctly. This would show the rest of Britain that there was nothing to be feared from life under the Third Reich. This book looks at the German Occupation, the unsavoury events that occurred on the Islands, and why at the end of the war a cover-up of these events was instigated by the British Government.

Although early records of Hampstead can be found in a grant by King Ethelred the Unready to the monastery of St Peter's at Westminster (AD 986) and it is referred to in the Domesday Book (1086), the history of Hampstead is generally traced back to the seventeenth century. Much luxurious housing was created during the 1870s and 1880s in the area that is now the political ward of Frognal & Fitzjohns. A lot of this housing remains to this day. Historically, Highgate adjoined the Bishop of London's hunting estate. The bishop kept a toll house where one of the main northward roads out of London entered his land. In later centuries, Highgate was associated with the highwayman Dick Turpin. Highgate Hill, the steep street linking Archway and Highgate Village, was the route of the first cable car to be built in Europe. It operated between 1884 and 1909. Today, Hampstead and Highgate retain their village feel.

London's Lost Battlefields hides the ghosts of bloodshed and rebellion from Boudicca to the devastating but little known Zeppelin attacks of the First World War.