Welcome to October Newsletter 2025
383 years ago, the first major battle of the English War was fought at Edgehill in Warwickshire on October 23rd 1642
The King’s army was commanded by his nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine; the Parliamentary forces were under the command of the Earl of Essex.
Here's briefly what happened.
The battle finally got under way at around 2pm with an artillery bombardment and ended two and a half hours later when Rupert’s cavalry drove Essex’s Horse from the field.
Approximately 26,000 men fought at Edgehill; of them an estimated 1000 died and 2000 were wounded.
That night, both armies slept in the open, despite a hard frost and no food.
Next day, they drew up in battle formation again but neither side had the stamina to fight again.
Two days later, the king paused his march on London in order to take Banbury – which allowed Essex to seize the advantage and get to London before him.
However, this was not to be the end of the Battle of Edgehill.
Just before Christmas 1642, the first sighting of a ghostly re-enactment was reported by some shepherds as they walked across what had been the battlefield.
They claimed to have heard voices and the screams of horses, the clash of armour and the cries of the dying; and they said they had seen a ghostly re-enactment of the battle in the night sky.
They reported it to a local vicar and he too saw the phantoms of fighting soldiers.
Indeed there were so many sightings of the ghostly re-enactment in the days that followed, that a pamphlet called
A Great Wonder in Heaven giving an account of them was published in January 1643.
News of the terrifying apparitions reached the King.
The members of it not only witnessed the ghostly battle but even identified some of the soldiers taking part – such as Sir Edmund Verney, the king’s standard bearer.
When captured, Sir Edmund had refused to give up the Royal Standard.
So the enemy took it from him by taking his hand as well.
Later, the Royalists recaptured the Standard … it is said with Sir Edmund’s hand still attached.
The Kineton villagers decided that the only way to stop the apparitions was to give Christian burial to all the corpses still lying on the battlefield.
His Majesty sent a Royal Commission to investigate.
Three months later, after this had been done, the ghostly battles were fought less and less often.
But to this day, the events of October 23rd 1642 continue to haunt Edgehill.
And while sightings of phantom armies have decreased, eerie screams and booming canon-fire still clash with thundering hooves and battle cries in the dark … particularly around the battle’s anniversary each year.
Dare you go to the Vale of the Red Horse on the night of October 23rd?
If you would – or have done so – we’d love to hear about it.
The Battle of Edgehill takes place in The Black Madonna – watched from a safe distance by Luciano del Santi.
Available as e-book, paperback, hard copy or in Audio. Here's the link:
https://books2read.com/u/meLNKZ
And now for this month’s trivia …
Up, up and away soared the first, intrepid balloonists … a sheep, a duck and a cockerel.
Ever since Leonardo da Vinci, men have dreamed of flying. Most of his ideas were impractical – such as his aerial screw helicopter design that could not provide lift.
However, the hang glider has been successfully constructed and demonstrated.
In the previous year, brothers Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier had begun to experiment with lighter-than-air flight using a piece of fabric billowed aloft by a fire of wool and damp straw.
One of their demonstrations attracted the attention of the Académie Royale des Sciences, which asked them to repeat their experiment in Paris.
So Étienne carried out an initial tethered attempt, which was successful and which he repeated a week later in front of the king at the Palace of Versailles.
Unfortunately, the skin of the balloon tore and had to be stitched back together.
And on September 19th 1783, flight finally became a possibility.
Made of cotton canvas with paper glued onto both sides, the balloon was 60 ft high (18.47m) high, 40 ft wide (13.28m wide) and weighed 880 lb (400 kg.).
It was named Le Réveillon after Étienne's friend Jean-Baptiste Réveillon who had designed a motif on a sky-blue background decorated with the king’s cypher – two interwoven L’s – linked with elements in gold.
The demonstration was held before Louis XVI and the royal family in the palace forecourt, which was packed tight with onlookers.
As a precaution, it was decided to use animals for the flight instead of Etienne Montgolfier risking it himself.
The passengers on the first balloon flight!
A sheep, a duck and a cockerel were placed in the round wicker basket tied to the balloon by rope.
Then came lift-off.
Amidst stupefaction and applause, the balloon left the ground and soared just over 2,000 feet (600 metres) into the air.
Unfortunately, the repair to the tear in the fabric soon began to give way and (luckily!) caused a slow descent.
The flight lasted eight minutes, travelled 2 miles (3.5 km) and came back to earth in the Wood of Vaucresson.
It was hailed an outstanding success!
Physician Pilâtre de Rozier, himself a future aeronaut, hurried to collect and examine the animals. To everyone’s surprise, all three were alive and well – if somewhat confused.
They were hailed as 'Heroes of the Air' and rewarded with places in the Royal Menagerie of Versailles.
Despite this success, the king still refused to allow human flight.
Assisted by the Marquis d’Arlandes and Marie Antionette, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier set about persuading His Majesty to change his mind.
On October 12th, a new hot air balloon was tested. Tethered by 100 ft long ropes (30 metres), de Rozier sought ways to refine/control the supply of hot air from the furnace.
Louis XVI gave way to persuasion and the first manned flight took place on November 21st, 1783.
De Rozier and the Marquis climbed into the basket and the flight took off from the gardens of Château La Muette, near the Bois de Boulogne on the western outskirts of Paris.
On this, the first manned and untethered ascent, de Rozier and Marquis d’Arlandes rose to an altitude of approximately 3,000 feet (910 metres) and drifted to the southwest.
The balloon had an approximate volume of 60,000 cubic feet (1,699 cubic metres). It was approximately 75 feet (22.86 metres) tall with a diameter of 50 feet (15.24 metres).
The air within the balloon was heated by burning coals.
This resulted in a pressure differential: the heated air was less dense than the ambient air and thus caused the balloon to rise.
After roughly 25 minutes, they descended to land between two windmills outside the city, at Butte-aux-Cailles.
They had travelled about 5 miles (9 km).
They could have flown farther, but the embers from the fire were beginning to scorch the balloon.
On the 19th of January 1784, in Lyon, France, the largest Montgolfier balloon ever made was laid out for launching.
Called Le Flesselle, it was 120 feet high (36 metres) and had a capacity of 700,000 cubic feet (20,000 cubic metres) - making it one of the largest hot air balloons ever flown, even to this day.
It was sponsored by the governor of Lyon, Jacques de Flesselles, Seigneur de Champgueffier en Brie et de La Chapelle-Iger.
And it would be piloted by two experienced balloonists — Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier.
Five gentlemen were passengers, including Prince Charles De Ligne and the Comte de la Porte d’Anglefort.
After 13 minutes and at a height of 3,000 feet (900 metres), winter weather and previous shoddy repairs caused the envelope rip.
The balloon immediately began leaking hot air.
For a moment it hung in the sky and then seemingly hesitated before it began to fall … slowly at first, then faster, as cold winter air entered the envelope.
Le Flesselle was doomed. Despite releasing the ballast, the rate of descent only accelerated.
A crash was inevitable — Montgolfier, de Rozier and the passengers could do nothing but hang on. Finally, the balloon struck the ground.
Somehow, the seven aboard survived the impact, though it was a jarring affair.
As for Le Flesselle, it was never flown again.
On June 23rd 1784, a balloon named the Marie-Antoinette rose again at Versailles – this time watched by the kings of France and Sweden.
Aboard it were de Rozier and the chemist, Joseph Louis Proust.
The balloon climbed steadily, heading north and reaching an estimated altitude of 1.8 miles (3,000 metres) after rising through cloud layers.
The flight lasted 45 minutes, travelled 32 miles (52 kms) and landed near the forest of Chantilly.
Unfortunately, once on the ground, the balloon caught fire and well-meaning but clumsy attempts of on-lookers to put it out worsened the damage.
Nonetheless, three world records had been broken: distance, speed and altitude.
Étienne Montgolfier wanted to recover the balloon, but this time it truly was beyond repair and, even had it not been, the government refused to put any further money into the project.
The Montgolfier brothers were honoured by the French Académie des Sciences.
They published books on aeronautics and continued their scientific careers. Joseph invented a calorimeter and the hydraulic ram, and Étienne developed a process for manufacturing vellum.
Joseph Montgolfier passed away on June 26, 1810, at the age of 70.
Étienne Montgolfier died several years later on August 2, 1816, at the age of 62.
Neither brother met a dramatic or tragic end so their landmark achievements were not spoiled by personal tragedy.
And here, as a footnote, are a few photographs taken of balloon ascents from Amboise for flights down the Loire while I was there in September.
Until next month, happy reading and listening.
Stella
Newsletter 1
Hello, everyone – and a warm welcome to my new website! Here, to celebrate it, is the answer to a question I’ve often been asked since the cover of The Shadow Earl was first revealed.
“How were these book-covers created?”
The Shadow Earl
Masque of Deceptions
So, for those who asked, here is a brief outline of how they were done - but since the basic process was the same for both books, I’ll concentrate on The Shadow Earl with occasional references to Masque of Deceptions.
Larry Rostant
Fire & Blood
The first step was for me to think about cover-art differently.
The second was a lengthy telephone conversation with UK photographer and book cover designer, Larry Rostant.
Larry has designed the covers of many books you may have read– most famously, perhaps, George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones.
Needless to say, I was thrilled when he said that he’d be delighted to work with me on my (then) forthcoming title,
The Shadow Earl.
Basic details of what was entailed, along with costs and an estimated time-frame, were largely sorted out over the telephone and we also agreed that the cover would feature the title character; so the first job was find our Christian Selwyn, alias the Shadow Earl.
This began with Larry sending me portfolio photos of possible models from various agencies. (Studying photos of good-looking young men is gruelling work but I persevered!)
Portfolio shots of Michael Oates, Christian (Shadow) & Jack Waldouck, Daniel (Masque)
I realised early on that most male models these days have facial hair – something an 18th century gentleman would absolutely not have – which meant ensuring that the guy we chose would be willing to shave, if necessary!
We eventually settled on Michael.
Next step? Dressing him like an earl!
For this, Larry regularly uses Angels (costumiers to film and TV) in London.
I sent images and descriptions of 1780s male fashion to him so he knew what to ask for.
Costume examples to help Larry brief Angels
Then a zoom call was set up between Angels and ourselves in order that final choices could be made.
Once the costume had been booked and a suitable wig ordered, we were ready for the actual shoot.
Angels Costumiers, London
Finally, the great day arrived. Larry collected the costume from Angels on his way to the Camera Club studio; I took the wig which had been sent to me by carrier a few days earlier; and Michael, who would be travelling down from Manchester, was scheduled to meet us at the Camera Club.
The Camera Club – Kennington, South London
Everything was set. Curtain up.
Terry and I drove to London rather than taking the train. On the top floor of the Camera Club, we met and got to know Larry whilst waiting for Lord Hazelmere, alias Michael, to arrive.
Michael photo shoot May 2023
And, when he did, his first words, whilst shaking my hand, were, ‘Look! I’ve had a shave!’
Michael, I should say, is extremely good at his job - and an absolute sweetie!
At this stage, it’s worth mentioning that this particular photo-shoot was a ‘first’ for all three of us.
I’d never had a cover created this way.
Larry usually works with publishers and had therefore never previously had an author attend one of his shoots.
And Michael, having never modelled for a book cover, found the whole thing exciting.
However, returning to the day of the shoot … our first task was to get Michael into costume. And certain parts of 18th century male clothing are notoriously tricky – most notably, the cravat.
But with Terry’s help (and although poor Michael was nearly strangled in the process!) Lord Hazelmere emerged looking very different to the way he had when he’d walked in an hour ago.
And then Larry went to work … taking, as he’d said, hundreds of photographs against white or black boards and all with the minimum of instruction which Michael seemed to understand intuitively.
Watching two professionals at work was absolutely fascinating and the afternoon flew by.
But eventually Larry was satisfied that, amongst the many he had taken, was that One Perfect Shot.
Larry looking for 'the' shot!
Could this be 'it'?
Meanwhile, here are the ‘team photos’ from both Shadow and Masque – with me looking (and feeling!) like a hobbit.
The Shadow Earl team photo May 2023
Masque of Deceptions team photo May 2024
Next day, Larry e-mailed me some 50 photographs of what he considered to be ‘the pick of the bunch’ and asked me to narrow them down to a dozen.
This was a lot more difficult than you might think but eventually I managed it … and from the twelve I chose, we whittled it down to just one.
The next step was a bit of ‘photo-shopping’ at Larry’s end – mostly tidying up loose threads and such-like on his lordship’s coat.
And with that done, it was time to choose a background.
This was the easy bit.
The plot of The Shadow Earl reaches its climax in Lord Hazelmere’s library … so here he is, standing inside it.
The Shadow Earl minus typography
At this point, Larry’s role was now complete.
For the final element, Lord Hazelmere had to journey to Stuttgart for Ana Voicu to add the typography in my existing ‘house-style’.
And the completed cover is where this post began.
If you have comments or questions, you can make or ask them here – so don’t be shy.
I enjoy hearing from my readers so you’ll always get an answer!
Happy reading and listening.
Stella
