About Purple Brolly

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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.

Articles created by Purple Brolly

05/07/2024

Oxygen & other gases

Yorkshireman Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) was a skilled experimental chemist, among other occupations, and in 1774 he made…

23/06/2024

The British Constitution

A constitution sets out how a community has agreed to be governed. The British Constitution is a…

11/06/2024

Haggis

In times past, when tribal societies killed their own food animals, it made sense to use as…

30/05/2024

Rag Weeks

University and college Rag Weeks once had the reputation of being an outlet for the rebellious spirit…

12/05/2024

Life Expectancy

Below is an example of the result obtained with the online calculator available at the Office of…

25/04/2024

Steve Redgrave

Sir Steven G. Redgrave, (1962-) was Great Britain’s first competitor to win five Olympic Gold medals in…

09/04/2024

Monasteries

The monastic movement came to the British Isles in the 6th century. The remote settings of monasteries,…

22/03/2024

Listed Buildings

Since its inception in 1882, the designation of ‘Listed Building‘ has been applied to all shapes, sizes…

05/03/2024

The glider and the seatbelt

Yorkshireman Sir George Cayley (1773-1857) was a man ahead of his time. For the want of a…

26/02/2024

Adam Smith and Free Trade

Born in Fife, Adam Smith (1723-90) immersed himself in philosopy, ethics, logic theology and jurisprudence at the…

19/02/2024

Weather wisdom

Predicting British weather by means of traditional sayings is surely just as successful as an electronic app,…

11/02/2024

Glastonbury Festival

Sir A.J. Michael Eavis (1935-) was born and brought up in Pilton, Somerset, and inherited Worthy Farm,…