Four Roman roads are named in the Laws of Edward the Confessor; Watling Street, Ermine Street, the Fosse Way and Hikenild (or Icknield) Street. Hikenild Street, is generally supposed to be connected with the Iceni. Various forms of the name, the earliest, in Anglo-Saxon, are Icenhilde Weg or Icenilde We. These roads are from the borders of Norfolk through Cambridgeshire, Bucks, Berks, Hants, and Wilts into Dorset. These locations however would identify the path as Icknield Way, an Iron Age trackway running from Norfolk to Dorset.
This road got the name Ryknild Street during the 12th century when it was named by Ranulf Higdon, a monk writing in 1344 in his "Polychronicon". Higdon, gives the name of the fourth road as Rikenild Strete, which, he says, tends from the south-west to the north, and begins at St. David's and continues to the mouth of the Tyne, passing Worcester, Droitwich, Birmingham, Lichfield, Derby, and Chesterfield. It has borne that name, or Rigning, Reenald, or Rignall, from early times. In three of the four MSS. of Higdon, the name is given Rikenilde, Rikenyldes, and in the fourth, which is said to be one of the earliest, Hikenil Street. Trevisa's English translation (1387) calls it Rykeneldes Street. Harverfield writing in the Victoria County History of Warwickshire doubted if the road had any real and original right to either name, preferring Ryknild as no less correct, (or no more wrong) and being able to separate it from Icknield Street in Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It is now called Icknield or Ryknild Street to separate it from the older Icknield Way. A kept part of the Roman road can be seen at Sutton Park in Birmingham.
Francis Octavius Grenfell
Francis Octavius Grenfell, VC (4 September 1880 - 24 May 1915) was an English soldier of British Army. He received the Victoria Cross. The cross is the highest award for bravery against the enemy, and can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Grenfell was born on 4 September 1880. His parents were Sophia and Pascoe Du Pré Grenfell. He was one of fifteen children. He had a twin brother, Riversdale Grenfell. He was also in the 9th Lancers and killed in action in September 1914. Admiral John Pascoe Grenfell was their grandfather. Field Marshal Francis Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell was their uncle. An older brother, Lieutenant Robert Septimus Grenfell, 21st Lancers, was killed in a cavalry charge during the Battle of Omdurman in 1898. Three other brothers, Cecil Grenfell, Howard Maxwell Grenfell and Arthur Morton Grenfell all reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army. A cousin, Lieutenant Claude George Grenfell was killed at Spion Kop during the Boer War. Two other cousins Julian Grenfell (the poet) and his brother Gerald William Grenfell were killed in the First World War.
Grenfell was a representative cricket player at Eton collage. He joined the army in 1900 and first served in the Second Boer War in the King's Royal Rifle Corps.
Later, he served in First World War in the 9th Lancers, British Army. He was 33 years old and a Captain, when he was awarded the VC for the following brave deed.
On 24 August 1914 at Audregnies, Belgium, Captain Grenfell rode with the regiment in a charge against a large body of unbroken German infantry. Damages of friendly army were so heavy, and Grenfell was left as the senior officer. When he was reorganizing the regiment behind a railway bank, he was twice hit and severely wounded. But once he was asked to save the guns by Major Ernest Wright Alexander of the 119th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, Grenfell and some volunteers helped to push the guns out of range of enemy fire, under a shower of bullets.
London Gazette on 16 September 1914 wrote as follows:
He was killed in action on 24 May 1915 and is buried in the Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Regimental Museum of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers housed in Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Derby, England.
All nine of the Grenfell brothers were expert polo players. Francis and his brother Riversdale Grenfell were regarded as the best in the family. Francis was rated at an 8 goal handicap. The twin brothers were on the Ranelagh team that won the American Open. And they were on the team Freebooters, alongside Leopold Christian Duncan Jenner and the Duke of Roxburghe, that won the Hurlingham Champion Cup.
Sudan at the Olympics
Sudan was first at the Olympic Games in 1960. They have been in most Summer Olympic Games since then. The nation did not attend the 1964 Games, boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics along with most African nations, and boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics. The nation has never been in the Winter Olympic Games.
The National Olympic Committee for Sudan was formed in 1956 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1959.
Eswatini at the Olympics
Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) was first at the Olympic Games in 1972. They missed the next two games but returned for the 1984 games in Los Angeles. They have been in all games since then. They were in the 1992 Winter Olympics.
Swaziland has been represented by the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association since 1972.
Swaziland has never won a medal.
Tanzania at the Olympics
Tanzania was first at the Olympic Games in 1964. They have been in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for the boycotted 1976 Games. The nation has been in the Winter Olympic Games.
The National Olympic Committee for Tanzania was formed in 1968 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee that same year.
Togo at the Olympics
Togo has been to every Summer Olympic Games held since 1972 except for 1976 and 1980. No athletes from Togo have been in any Winter Olympic Games.
Tunisia at the Olympics
Tunisia was first at the Olympic Games in 1960. They have been in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. Tunisia has never been in the Winter Olympic Games.
The National Olympic Committee for Tunisia was formed in 1957.
Uganda at the Olympics
Uganda was first at the Olympic Games in 1956. They have been in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for the boycotted 1976 Summer Olympics. Uganda has never been at the Winter Olympic Games.
The National Olympic Committee for Uganda was formed in 1950 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1956.
Zambia at the Olympics
Zambia has been in 10 Summer Olympic Games. They have never been in the Winter Olympic Games. They competed before as Northern Rhodesia.
Zimbabwe at the Olympics
Zimbabwe was first at the Olympic Games in 1980. They have been in every Summer Olympic Games since then. The nation has never been in the Winter Olympic Games.
The National Olympic Committee for Zimbabwe was formed in 1934 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1980.
Rhodesia at the Olympics
Rhodesia at the Olympics is a history which began in 1928.
The International Olympic Committee's official abbreviation for Rhodesia is RHO.
A team from Rhodesia was first in the Olympic Games in 1928. They were also at the 1960 Summer Olympics and 1964 Summer Olympics. The country always competed as a British territory. It was unable to be in the 1968 Games in Mexico.
Following Ian Smith's declaration of an independent Rhodesian republic in 1970, they never competed again. In 1972 Rhodesia was expelled by the International Olympic Committee four days before the opening ceremony. This was due to pressure from other African countries, which did not recognise the legitimacy of the Rhodesian state. The country's successor state, Zimbabwe, made its Olympic début in 1980.
Rhodesia was never in the Winter Olympics. No Rhodesian athlete ever won an Olympic medal.
Antigua and Barbuda at the Olympics