Policing Volunteers
There have always been volunteers helping to keep law and order and today they are to be…
Discover British history, culture, geography, achievements and more in snippet size
Limelight and a Steam-Powered Coach
Sir Goldsworthy Gurney (1793-1875) of Cornwall first became a surgeon, chemist and lecturer but in 1823 decided…
The Great Fire of London
Restoration London was crammed with buildings made of flammable materials ~ timber, thatch and pitch. Streets were…
Chelsea Flower Show
The Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show is held for five days every May in the grounds…
The Pilgrim Fathers
British emigration to eastern North America in the 1600s and 1700s is recorded in the numerous duplicated…
Glacial Erratics
We are told that the last Ice Age (the Younger Dryas) ended around 12,000 years ago, with…
Cliff Richard & The Shadows
Sir Cliff Richard was born Harry Webb in 1940 and grew up in London, where he met…
Children’s singing and chanting games
Peter Opie (1918-82) and his wife Iona (1923-2017) were pioneers of research into and cataloguing of children’s…
London’s 35 Bridges
Some of London’s 35 bridges are pedestrian-only and some are for trains, but the vast majority date…
Doctor Who Day
The first episode of the science fiction TV show ‘Doctor Who’ was aired on the BBC on…
The Lifeboat
As a collection of islands set in what can be treacherous seas, it is unsurprising that Britain…
The Last Warrior Kings
The British monarch retains the ultimate power to send the country to war, but the decision is…