Oil Drum Lane

  History is a compendium of stories, many of which melt into the mist on closer inspection. Magna Carta or the Great Charter, agreed between King John and his Batons at Runnymede in  June 1215, is cited ad nauseam as a foundation and guarantee of the rights of the individual against authority in the English-speaking world. Some claim, even the more  ambitiously, that it was a triumph in the fight between democracy and European feudalism. In fact, it was neither of those things. The Charter was just one in a long series of accommodations between the Crown and the Barons. But the events that soon followed were indeed pivotal in our history.  It is partly a tale of myth-making and derring-do. And this is a narrative, as all histories are, and other narratives are available. I have tried hard to rescue it from dry lists of Kings and dates. I have tried hard to rescue it from dry lists of Kings and dates. I know the illustrations are sub-standard. Frankly, they are some...

Full confession. For a long time I had a professional involvement as well, on the sidelines of the housebuilding and regeneration business.  This is a country in which property ownership is an addiction. One result is that we have some of the world's highest land values and more of the price you pay goes into paying for the site and less into the building itself. (Dry economics. I will unpack it in a postscript). A result is that most of the buildings are small and unattractive so a dark art must be used to pe rsuade people that they are worth the price. I call it pyschotropicgeography. Psychogeography is about how places affect our emotions and behaviour. You will find my view of it here: Psychogeography - Without Enthusiasm    It suggests that you build an image of a place to please yourself, with arcane and hidden histories, ley lines, ghosts or whatever.  Psychotropic drugs have the same aim.  Psychotropicgeography marries the two in the interest of sel...