Preparation Gallery

Christmas Eve - about 1460 by Pauline Baynes

Christmas Eve, as celebrated in 1460 with children bringing in holly and the Yule Log to be lit on Christmas Day, and other joining in a last minute carol practice, while the lord of the manor sends his seasonable gifts of cheer and goodwill to the poor tenants. A holly wreath hangs from the weathercock and inside, a kissing bough is being fixed in place, the table linen, pewter and gold plate is arranged in readiness for the next day and one of the ladies carries a Twelfth Night cake which will be cut to mark the end of the Christmas celebrations

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Young girl preparing chips - Fish & Chip Shop, Morecambe

A young girl (likely the daughter of the shop owner) prepares chips at a Fish & Chip Shop in Morecambe Lancashire. Note the wonderful chipper machine on the counter, which forces the peeled potatoes down through a lattice of sharp cutter, dropping the formed chips into the basin below. Note also the wide selection of beers and other alcoholic beverages available for purchase alongside one's large plaice and chips! Date: circa 1901

Marshal Soult on a white horse outside the town of Alba de Tormes, near Salamanca, Spain

Marshal Soult on a white horse outside the town of Alba de Tormes, near Salamanca, Spain, an orderly on foot behind him, in preparation for an attack on Anglo-Portuguese forces stationed there, 10 November 1812. Date: 1812

© Mary Evans Picture Library

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