Scrapbook/Silly Saturday: A Winner

It's ages since I did one of my Scrapbook Saturday blips, as I've been so busy gallivanting all over the place. But I thought I'd do one today. I chose the topic "A Winner".

This seemed appropriate on the eve of Guy Fawkes' day in the UK, when we "celebrate" the (unsuccessful!) attempt by Guy Fawkes and his accomplices to blow up the Houses of Parliament  on 5th November 1605. Read on and you'll see why.

5th November is also Son #3's birthday which actually makes it doubly appropriate. Why? Well back in 2005 the group "History of Parliament Trust" organised a national competition to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. Son #3 entered the 11-14 year-old section and was the winner out of about 400 entries, with a spoof "newspaper" purporting to have been written on 5th November 1605. It ran to 8 pages of history and tittle-tattle which clearly amused the judges. (Can't think where he got his zany sense of humour from!)

This photo (taken today of course to keep to the strict blip rules!) shows the front page of the newspaper. You'll note that along with "news" reports it included an article on Page 3 entitled "How does the Queen keep her hair so smooth" and another on "What not to wear in the army: Our fashion expert Lord Dudley gives advice"!

I Googled it and found that there's still a web page about the competition, relating to the main prize which was a private guided tour of the Houses of Parliament for the two winners and their families (this took place in 2006). There's a photo of a very young-looking Son #3 along with a rather younger-looking me. MrsC, of course, doesn't look a day older now then she did then...!  ;-))

(Needless to say, Son #3 has always been fascinated by history, and has a history Masters degree, although he's now training to be a barrister.)

PS Just realised, this newspaper was so silly I could also tag this for admirer's Silly Saturday challenge .