Photographic negatives
William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77) from Dorset was a polymath but lacked one skill, namely draughtmanship, and he was even frustrated with […]
Author: Purple Brolly
My aim is to give a flavour of these precious islands we call 'the UK'. All research is based on a minimum of two public domain sources, usually more.
The Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp
Camping out year-round in British weather is not recommended, but the women who decided to do just that outside RAF Greenham Common […]
Bodnant Garden
To call the 80 acres of terraces, woodland glades, ponds and special plant collections on the Bodnant estate below Snowdonia in Denbighshire […]
TV sitcoms
The British ‘sitcom‘ (situation comedy) began life on radio after WW2 but it quickly moved to television due to the benefits of […]
Dylan Thomas
The most famous Welsh poet is surely Dylan Marlais Thomas (1914-53), whose most prolific period came in his late teens. Heavy drinking […]
The Eddington Limit
The Eddington Limit (or Luminosity) is a measurement of the the maximum brightness of, say, a star before it starts to blow […]
Punch & Judy
A mixture of pantomime, horror and absurdity, the Punch & Judy show in its portable format has been with us for at […]
The Cheltenham Festival
The Cheltenham Festival ranks alongside other sporting events where one is sure to see the best performances in the most splendid facilities. […]
Ely Cathedral
The exquisite workmanship seen in the structure of Ely Cathedral exhibits the now rare manual skills that were once employed to elevate […]
Earl Grey and the Great Reform Act
The Representation of the People Act of 1832 is also known as the Reform Act or even the Great Reform Act despite […]
The pneumatic tyre
The pneumatic tyre was invented twice, since the second claimant was unaware of a patent registered in 1846 in France and 1847 […]
The Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was fought on 1st July 1690 on the banks of Ireland’s River Boyne at Oldbridge. King James […]