I have a joke that will make it easy to remember when Magna Carta was signed.

"Joe and Betty from Boise, Idaho are visiting Runnymede where Magna Carta was signed. Betty says to Joe "Magna Carta signing - 1215". "Shucks", says Joe looking at his watch "Just missed it. It is now 1225".

Each time I drove past the old yew tree in Runnymede on my way to work in Windsor I would remember 1215.

I was showing my girlfriend around the West Country of England. We were on our way to Kingston, Herefordshire to visit where her family comes from and popped into Worcester. I love wandering around churches, so we went into Worcester Cathedral. I was surprised to find the grave of King John in the crypt there. I never knew.

As a student of English Constitutional History (I studied English law as part of my South African law degree), Magana Carta is a big part of what I was learning about then.

Runnymede, the joke and Worcester Cathedral was how my pieces came together for my remembering all about King John.