Michael Bond, creator of ‘Paddington Bear’
The children’s stories about the accident-prone bear called Paddington, were written by Berkshire-born Michael Bond, CBE (1926-2017). They encompass three classic themes […]
Read MoreAuthor: 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.
Oxygen & other gases
Yorkshireman Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) was a skilled experimental chemist, among other occupations, and in 1774 he made some extraordinary discoveries by heating […]
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The British Constitution
A constitution sets out how a community has agreed to be governed. The British Constitution is a unique, time-worn set of principles […]
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Rag Weeks
University and college Rag Weeks once had the reputation of being an outlet for the rebellious spirit of some young adults on […]
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Life Expectancy
Below is an example of the result obtained with the online calculator available at the Office of National Statistics. In 2024, upon […]
Read MoreBelow is an example of the result obtained with the online calculator available at the Office of National Statistics. In 2024, upon entering an age of 69 for a male, the statistics point to an average age at death as being 86 years. The same age (69) for a female gives an estimate of 88 years.
This is a huge improvement on the situation in, for example, the mid-1700s, when life expectancy in the UK was barely 40 years. Wars, smallpox, dangerous workplaces and lack of hygienic sanitation kept this number down until the period 1895 to 1930, when there was an extraordinary increase to almost 60.
Better medical treatments, town planning and work environments, added to the provisions of the new Welfare State post-WW2, have seen life expectancy steadily rise to the current (2024) level of 82. However, a modern tendency towards unhealthy lifestyles means that the UK is ranked in the world’s top 30, whereas it was in the top 10 in the 1950s.
Nevertheless, there have been at least 150 so-called ‘supercentenarians’ in this country, i.e. people reaching the age of 110, and our oldest citizen in recorded history — Charlotte Hughes — was 115 years and 228 days old when she died in 1993. Her tips for a long life were healthy eating and Christian valTues.
(Top image: “Do you think we are getting too old for this?” by Neil Moralee at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Steve Redgrave
Sir Steven G. Redgrave, (1962-) was Great Britain’s first competitor to win five Olympic Gold medals in five consecutive Games and he […]
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Monasteries
The monastic movement came to the British Isles in the 6th century. The remote settings of monasteries, such as the Holy Island […]
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Listed Buildings
Since its inception in 1882, the designation of ‘Listed Building‘ has been applied to all shapes, sizes and types of structure judged […]
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The glider and the seatbelt
Yorkshireman Sir George Cayley (1773-1857) was a man ahead of his time. For the want of a suitable engine, he would have […]
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Adam Smith & free trade
Born in Fife, Adam Smith (1723-90) immersed himself in philosopy, ethics, logic theology and jurisprudence at the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford, […]
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Weather wisdom
Predicting British weather by means of traditional sayings is surely just as successful as an electronic app, since conditions can change from […]
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