Mothering Sunday
The celebration of Mothering Sunday was firstly Christianised, then Americanised and finally commercialised into its present form. It is one of the […]
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 publicly available sources, usually more.
Keeping a stiff upper lip
The ability to keep a stiff upper lip is particularly attributed to the British. If one’s upper lip is not allowed to […]
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The Severn Bridge and Crossing
The River Severn is Britain’s longest river and one of the most turbulent, with a tidal range of 40ft. and flow of […]
Read MoreThe River Severn is Britain’s longest river and one of the most turbulent, with a tidal range of 40ft. and flow of up to 8 knots. It forms a natural barrier between the southern parts of Wales and England but many bridges have been built over it, the two most successful being the Severn Bridge and the Second Severn Crossing (re-named The Prince of Wales Bridge in 2018).
The Severn Bridge was built in 1961-66 at a cost of £8,000,000, partly to tackle road congestion in the Gloucester area from traffic rounding the river. The Bridge cut sixty miles off the journey and was a vital part of the new M4 motorway. It had tolls on the English side, payable in both directions, initially set at 2/6d (12.5p). Occasionally the Bridge would be closed because of high winds, snow or ice.
The Second Severn Crossing was built at a cost of £330,000,000 in 1992-96 with wind resistance and extra lanes, again to cope with increased traffic. The M4 was diverted onto it and the Severn Bridge became part of the M48. The tolls were in the England-to-Wales direction only and were eventually abolished on both bridges in December 2018.
(Top image of the cable-stayed Second Severn Crossing: Sarah Charlesworth at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Prime Minister’s Questions
Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) began as a concession to elderly Prime Ministers. In 1881, when PM Gladstone was seventy-one, it was decided […]
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Pink Floyd
Active from 1965 to 1995, Pink Floyd set the standard for pyrotechnics at rock concerts and were pioneers in psychedelic rock. Not […]
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The first king of Scotland
Up to the early ninth century, the Scots and the Picts had not yet unified to form the country of Scotland, but […]
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Political parties
Newspapers and TV focus heavily on just two political parties ~ Conservative and Labour ~ but there are currently almost four hundred […]
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The Maunder Minimum
Annie Russell Maunder (1868-1947) and her husband Edward Walter Maunder (1851-1928) were the first scientists to analyse records of sunspot activity and […]
Read MoreAnnie Russell Maunder (1868-1947) and her husband Edward Walter Maunder (1851-1928) were the first scientists to analyse records of sunspot activity and identify a specific ‘grand solar minimum’. This natural phenomenon, lasting from 1645 to 1715, is known as the Maunder Minimum.
The sun is a seething mass of activity which waxes and wanes on an eleven-year cycle. A normal ‘minimum’ is a quiet time for the sun, as it has fewer sunspots, thereby producing less ultra-violet light. The Maunder Minimum was a prolonged minimum and the Maunders noticed that it coincided with a cooler period in the weather ~ the River Thames froze over several times, for example. Scientists now believe there is a definite cause-and-effect on the weather, as well as changes in the upper atmosphere which are potentially dangerous for aircraft and spacecraft.
No-one can confidently predict when the next grand solar minimum will occur, but it is hypothesised that it will be shorter than the seventy-year Maunder Minimum. However, we know from the diary of Samuel Pepys that life continued as usual during that period, despite the cold. An interesting summary of the weather at that time can be found on Netweather.
(Image of the frozen River Thames in 1683 painted by Thomas Wyke: Wikimedia / Public domain)
Mad dogs and Englishmen
Sir Noel Coward (1899-1973) was a prolific playwright, composer and actor, whose wit shines through all his work. His signature tune was […]
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Caxton’s printing press
Kent-born William Caxton (c.1422-91) was the first to bring the printing press to Britain and to publish in English. During the twenty […]
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