1

Private Risk, Public Benefit

By Michael Longridge

For George Stephenson, the motto of the Stockton and Darlington Railway was a code to live by.

2

Cuthbert and Sheriff John

By Reginald of Durham

The Sheriff of Northumberland allows wealth and power to go to his head — and his digestion.

3

Cuthbert’s Box

Paraphrased from an account by Reginald of Durham

Shortly before Easter, an ivory box went missing from the gifts presented at the shrine of St Cuthbert.

4

Poisoned Chalice

By Temple Chevallier

Scientist and clergyman Temple Chevallier believed that the fast pace of recent discoveries in astronomy risked substituting a new superstition for an old one.

5

Sanctuary!

By Temple Chevallier

As late as the fifteenth century, criminals on the run could find refuge in the precincts of England’s great churches.

6

The Vast Depths of Infinity

By Thomas Wright

Thomas Wright offers his readers a way of thinking about the enormous distances involved in any description of the solar system.