BleakChesneyWold

                                             The Charles Dickens connection  Acting obsessed him ( Dickens) . He supported actors experiencing financial hard times and even dreamed of great actor Macready as his desirable double. John Glavin.  The play referred to here was . 'The Frozen Deep'  written by Wilkie Collins in 1853 with a certain input from Charles Dickens:  Dickens also played one of the leading roles, that of Richard Wardour. Collins and Dickens had been literary associates and friends from 1851. Dickens expert, Michael Slater went as far as to describe this play as a "melodrama expressly written for Dickens and his amateurs." SLATER  And the play was based on true events: In 1845 Captain Sir  John Franklin of the Erebus accompanied by the Terror sailed from Greenhithe, Kent, to The Arctic in a bid to discover the north west passage through the icebergs and hazardous coast and islands off Greenland to reach the Pacific. The expedition ended in tragic

                                                    Novel by Mike Langridge  I had not really been convinced about the value of sequels and prequels written by modern novelists inspired by well known works by dead authors : But have to say that I enjoyed this book very much. Certainly some knowledge of the  plot of 'Tess of the 'd'Urbevilles' and perhaps a familiarity of Thomas Hardy's main novels, are a great help.  Starting with Angel Clare and Tess's sister Liza-Lu seeing the black flag raised marking the hanging of Tess for the killing of Alec D'Urbeville whose malign actions had contributed to Angel Clare abandoning Tess shortly after he had married her. Alec had at least financially supported Tess's family,and with his death. a crisis soon looms. Angel Clare, still feels contrite for his treatment of Tess, and for leaving her once she disclosed on their wedding night that she had previously had a child out of wedlock after being seduced by Alec.  A

   Death of Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria-Hungary  and Maria (Mary)  Vetsera                                       I remember as a nipper watching the  1976 series BBC  'Fall of Eagles' about the decline and collapse of the Imperial rulers of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Russia: Episode 4 concerned the Mayerling incident: On 30th January 1889, Crown Prince Rudolph ( born 21st August 1858) and his mistress Mary Vetsera  ( born 19th March 1871) were found dead at Mayerling, a hunting lodge near Vienna.              Rudolph was married to Princess Stephanie of Belgium, cousin once removed to Queen Victoria. He visited Britain at least twice. In 1878 his travels took him to Scotland and Ireland, besides England. Rudolph represented the Austrian-Hungarian dual monarchy at Queen  Victoria's Golden Jubilee of 1887, where he was made a Knight of The Order of the Garter. His death was particularly mourned by Bertie, the Prince of Wales and future Edward VII.  The bodies of the  cou