Sunday, 17 July 2016

Sunday Snap – King of Wessex

We had a date under a clock for last week's Sunday Snap. I asked which London railway station it was in and the answer is

Waterloo

Bang on time with the right answer were Kara, Cheryl, Jo, Susan, Angela and Cass.

We're looking back in time for this week's Sunday Snap. The statue above is of the King of Wessex who ruled his southern kingdom from 871 to 899. During his reign he sought to protect his lands from the Viking invaders coming across from Denmark. As the fifth son of the ruling King of Wessex he never expected to take to the throne. Rather than preparing for such duties he spent much of his younger life learning and starting on his life-long passion of promoting the English language by translating Latin texts into English. His other achievements throughout his life included converting the Viking King Guthrum to Christianity and reforming Saxon law. His diplomacy enabled him to form closer links the neighbouring kingdoms of Wales and Mercia. He is often seen as the founder of the British nation. Despite having died over a thousand years he is regularly listed as one this is country's greatest Britons.

The statue seen above was designed by Ham Thornycroft and erected in 1901. It stands in the Hampshire city of Winchester which was once the capital of his kingdom. It was here in 899 that he died. This week's question is

Which king is this?

We were joined last week by Susan who was welcoming a new addition to the family. Kara and family have met the Fat Controller and have been playing on the ropes. It was the start of the summer holidays for Jack and Noah and they have been designing their own pyjamas. It was on the bikes for Jo's sons. Finally, Kelly has been taking in the Welsh landscape.

If you want to join in with this week's Sunday Snap then add your link to the linky below. Any theme is allowed. It doesn't have to be published today as you have until 23.55 on Friday 22nd July 2016 to join in. Grab my badge below for your blog post. Just make sure it is your photo and you hold the copyright for it.
Sunday Snap


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11 comments:

  1. It's King Alfred the Great and when I was little, I was told he burnt the cakes - don't know any more about that though ! For some reason, last week's picture didn't add to the linky so I've put last week's and this week's up today - hope that's ok ! xx

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  2. It's King Alfred the Great and when I was little, I was told he burnt the cakes - don't know any more about that though ! For some reason, last week's picture didn't add to the linky so I've put last week's and this week's up today - hope that's ok ! xx

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  3. Definitely King Alfred, I know exactly where this statue is too! :)

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  4. Google came in handy here haha! King Alfred.
    I've linked up too xx

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  5. Great King Alfred - Great statue. Well shot. Thanks for linky :)

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  6. I do love coming here and getting a little history lesson each week. I had no idea but thanks to the other comments I now know! lol Mich x

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  7. Well I didn't know who it was at first glance but now I can see it was Great King Alfred. You are a fountain of historical knowledge! x

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  8. King Alfred the Great - I didn't know, but the boys did, thanks to Horrible histories!

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  9. I had no idea until I read the rest of the comments - is that cheating ;-)

    King Alfred the Great x x

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  10. Since moving to New Zealand, I have begun to realize how much ancient history the US doesn't have!

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