The Old and Young Pretenders
The Stuarts’ reign (1603-1714) was a tumultuous period and the so-called Old and Young Pretenders extended the…
Discover British history, culture, geography, achievements and more in snippet size
‘Dad’s Army’
Several of the actors in the sitcom ‘Dad’s Army‘ died shortly after the last episode in 1977, since…
Glasgow
Glasgow is one of those places that bears its ups-and-downs and stoically moves on to the next…
Charlotte Brontë
While Irish priest Patrick Brunty (later Brontë, 1777-1861) lived to age 84, neither his wife nor any…
The West End
Going to the West End, or “going up West”, usually means visiting one of the many entertainment…
Linford Christie
Britain’s most successful sprint athlete is Linford Christie, OBE (1960-). Born in Jamaica but growing up in London,…
Department for Transport
The overseer of the UK’s transport network is the government’s Department for Transport (DfT), with Transport Scotland having…
Divorce
Although wedding vows are taken with all good intentions, relationships can deteriorate, leading to decisions to divorce.…
Pocket Calculators and Home Computing
Sir Clive Sinclair (1940=2021), from Middlesex, may not have been a good businessman, but he opened the…
King James VI & I, the first Stuart
The first monarch to, in effect, rule over the British Isles was King James VI & I…
Lough Neagh
The largest freshwater lake in the UK, indeed the British Isles, is Lough Neagh (“lokh nay”) in…
Dame Shirley Bassey
Dubbed the ‘Tigress of Tiger Bay’, Dame Shirley Bassey (1937-) was born in a poor, cosmopolitan part of…