Month: April 2020

Celebrations & Holidays

The hen party

While a husband-to-be can traditionally hold his ‘stag do‘ as late as the night before the wedding, the bride-to-be could not possibly […]

While a husband-to-be can traditionally hold his ‘stag do‘ as late as the night before the wedding, the bride-to-be could not possibly risk looking worse for wear at the big event. Therefore, her ‘hen party‘ takes place at least a week beforehand.

‘Hen’ is a Scots endearment, while a ‘henpecked’ husband is one dominated by his wife. The term ‘hen party’ is a ladies-only gathering and was first documented in 1887, though it really came into general usage in the 1960s. Until then, if the bride-to-be had a pre-wedding celebration it would be a works leaving do, to mark her progression to housewife and future mother. In the new age of female empowerment, many hen parties are almost identical to the male stag do.

It is all down to personal preference. Some brides-to-be will have a meal out, some will have a night in a male stripclub, while others will rent a house for a whole weekend of tipsy hilarity (provided one can be found that accepts hens and stags). It is not uncommon to see hens wearing fancy dress, sashes or T-shirts customised with the name of the host hen, who herself wears a veil or other distinguishing attire.

(Image: Garry Knight at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

12/04/2020
3 min
5 years
207 words

Sport

Sir Chris Hoy

British cycling’s modern-day success is due in large part to Sir Chris Hoy, MBE (1976-). Born in Edinburgh, he joined his first […]

British cycling’s modern-day success is due in large part to Sir Chris Hoy, MBE (1976-). Born in Edinburgh, he joined his first cycling club at age 14 and nine years later won the first of many medals at world-class level. Hoy has won six Gold and one Silver Olympic medals, the most of any Briton in any sport and the most by anyone in cycling. He was Team GB’s flag-holder at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.

At the World Championships Hoy has won eleven Gold, eight Silver and six Bronze medals in team, keirin and individual track cycling events. His Olympic distinctions were spread over four Summer Games in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. He also has two Gold and two Bronze Commonwealth Games medals. Another first came in 2009 when both he and his mother Carol received MBEs (hers was for services to healthcare) in the same Honours List, a unique coincidence.

Hoy retired from cycling in 2013. With a lifelong enjoyment of various other sports, including rowing and rugby, he then moved on to GT motor racing and entered the 2016 Le Mans 24-hour race, finishing 17th. He has also co-authored a series of children’s books about a boy who dreams of being a champion cyclist.

(Image [cropped]: Velo Steve at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0)

11/04/2020
3 min
5 years
213 words

Culture

Advertising

Gone are the days when an advertisement was brief and to the point, consisting only of text giving the product name, manufacturer, […]

Gone are the days when an advertisement was brief and to the point, consisting only of text giving the product name, manufacturer, uses and price. Today’s multi-billion-pound advertising industry uses every type of available media and images are key. Adverts are inescapable and all businesses and charities regard advertising as an essential part of their marketing.

The first television advert in the UK, for a toothpaste, aired in 1955 in England. There was an outcry against this perceived attempt to fire up unfettered consumerism, which turned out to be prophetic. When people excitedly await the launch of the Christmas TV adverts for certain shops and then debate their merits on social media for days afterwards, it is a sign of how advertising has come to be an integral part of the culture.

The first media adverts featured their own jingles. Then advertising agencies began to create customised lyrics to existing tunes and finally they used original old songs. The music is as important as the camera-work in forming the illusion. Memorable adverts tend to be the witty ones, such as the Smash Martians, the R.White’s ‘secret lemonade drinker’, or even the Benson & Hedges claim that ‘happiness is a cigar called Hamlet‘:

(Top image [cropped]: Peter Blanchard at Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0)

10/04/2020
3 min
5 years
213 words

Discoveries

Carbon dioxide

Dr. Joseph Black (1728-99) discovered carbon dioxide (CO2) in 1754 whilst working on his thesis at the University of Glasgow. He is […]

Dr. Joseph Black (1728-99) discovered carbon dioxide (CO2) in 1754 whilst working on his thesis at the University of Glasgow. He is said to have been the first to use gravimetrics, or the weighing, of gases to ascertain changes. On heating magnesium carbonate, Black noticed that it produced what he called ‘fixed air’: an odourless, colourless gas denser than dry air and with different properties. In 1756 he found it in expelled breath and the general atmosphere, and saw that it combined with other chemicals to form compounds.

John Dalton (1766-1844) devised the first atomic theory and created useful symbols for chemical elements, including carbon and oxygen. He discovered that carbon dioxide is composed of two oxygen atoms and one carbon atom, hence CO2. He presented this in Manchester in 1803 but did not publish until 1805 and then 1808 in ‘A New System of Chemical Philosophy’.

Carbon dioxide is put to use in many industrial and commercial ways. For example, it is collected as a by-product of processes such as ammonia production for use in the food and drink industry. It is also released from magma and the burning and fermentation of organic matter. Essential for life, its level in the atmosphere is currently very low.

(Image from the carbon cycle, i.e. crops: Derek Harper at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

08/04/2020
3 min
5 years
218 words

Religion

Islam

Followers of Islam (Muslims), first arrived in the UK from the Indian sub-continent some 300 years ago. By 2011 there were 2.5 […]

Followers of Islam (Muslims), first arrived in the UK from the Indian sub-continent some 300 years ago. By 2011 there were 2.5 million British Muslims. While a strict adherence to the practice and beliefs of the religion of Islam appear difficult to integrate into British culture, the younger UK-born generations have inevitably had the most success with this.

Islam shares parts of the Bible and some important figures with Christianity ~ Adam, Abraham, Moses, Noah, the Angel Gabriel and Jesus. It also believes in one God (‘Allah’) and has a holy site in Jerusalem. However, the differences in traditional beliefs are evident, particularly on rights for women and children, and on food animal welfare.

Muhammad (570-632) is revered as the last prophet and is said to have been visited by Angel Gabriel. The Quran/Koran is the main holy text and the ‘Five Pillars of Islam’ are the actions which devotees must carry out. These include praying five times a day, preferably in the direction of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, where Islam began. At least one pilgrimage must also be made to Mecca and one month of fasting in daylight hours carried out during ‘Ramadam’.

(Image of Islamic mosque in Rochdale: Michael Ely at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

06/04/2020
3 min
5 years
205 words

Law

Youth Courts

After the dust of the Industrial Revolution had settled, there began to be voices heard about declining morals and their effect on […]

After the dust of the Industrial Revolution had settled, there began to be voices heard about declining morals and their effect on children. By the late 1800s the concept had evolved of childhood being an important developmental stage to be protected and cherished. With that came the establishment of special courts to deal solely with our young people, who may well have been led astray by adult criminals.

Today these are the Youth Courts, part of the magistrate system. There is no jury, no media reporting and no public audience. Defendants aged from 10 to 17 are dealt with in these Courts, where they are questioned either by three magistrates or one district judge. Rather than using “Miss..” or “Master..”, the youngsters are addressed by their first name. A parent or guardian must sit with them unless they are aged 16 or 17.

The crimes committed are rarely classified as ‘serious’, e.g. murder, but if they are, a Crown Court appearance is the next stage. Sentencing in those cases may be as severe as with adult criminals, but in most Youth Court convictions the punishment is accompanied by some sort of therapy or training aimed at redirecting these youngsters away from their criminal tendencies.

(Image: pickpik.com / Public domain)

04/04/2020
3 min
5 years
206 words

Geography & Environment

Hedgehogs

It is not known exactly how many of these spine-backed, small, hibernating mammals there are in the UK, but the estimate is […]

It is not known exactly how many of these spine-backed, small, hibernating mammals there are in the UK, but the estimate is one million. It is also thought that this is a drastic reduction from the hedgehog population of fifty years ago, at around 30 million. The vast majority live in England and they avoid being counted as they are nocturnal and generally sleep in a different hidey-hole every day of their active period from March to November.

British hedgehogs are of the Erinaceus-West European type, which can grow up to 1ft. long, with a little tail, 4-inch legs and approximately 6,000 spines an inch long. These spines are like tough bristles, comprising the same fibrous proteins as are in human nails and hair.

Hedgehogs feed on insects, snails, worms, beetles, caterpillars, slugs, baby birds, rodents and frogs. This tends to make them the gardener’s friend. Preservation societies encourage gardeners to reciprocate by making their plots hedgehog-friendly, with unobtrusive holes at the bottom of boundary fences and piles of logs and leaves in a wilderness corner. This enables hedgehogs to roam from garden to garden, as they like to do, and avoid the dangers of electric gardening tools and bonfires.

(Image: needpix.com / Public domain)

03/04/2020
3 min
5 years
204 words

Politics

Bill of Rights & Claim of Right Act

The Bill of Rights of 1688/89 put into law the Declaration of Rights signed by King William III & II and Queen […]

The Bill of Rights of 1688/89 put into law the Declaration of Rights signed by King William III & II and Queen Mary II on their accession to the throne in the Glorious Revolution. While this covered England and Wales, a similar Claim of Right Act of 1689 covered Scotland.

These Acts fundamentally changed the hold on power in Britain, moving it from the monarchy alone to the people, Parliament and a strictly Protestant monarchy, in a 3-way partnership. The Bill of Rights firstly laid out all the wrongdoings of the Catholic King James II & VII, who had fled the country, before listing certain rights and freedoms that the people should have. The Claim of Right was even more censorious of any Catholic activities and prohibited any Catholic from ever being crowned King or Queen.

The rights included the abolition of religious courts; the need for all taxes and laws to have parliamentary approval; the ability to freely petition the monarch; parliamentary privilege; the holding of frequent parliamentary sessions; the abolition of excessive or cruel punishments or bail, and of pre-trial fines; free elections of MPs; the banning of peacetime armies and private jails, and the right of individuals to possess arms for self-defence.

(Image: pixabay.com)

02/04/2020
3 min
5 years
204 words

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Quoting Neil Oliver...

I love Britain more than anywhere else in the world. With all my heart I declare that those of us born here, or who have made a home here by choice, are the luckiest, most blessed of all people. I am British. I will always be British.