Month: August 2022

Culture

‘Bunty’ and ‘Jackie’

‘Bunty‘ and ‘Jackie‘ magazines were both published weekly by the same company that produced ‘The Beano’ and ‘The Dandy’, namely D.C. Thomson. […]

‘Bunty‘ and ‘Jackie‘ magazines were both published weekly by the same company that produced ‘The Beano’ and ‘The Dandy’, namely D.C. Thomson. ‘Bunty’ had the longest run of any British magazine for girls, from 1958 to 2001, with 2,249 editions. ‘Jackie’ had the next longest run, from 1964 to 1993, with a total of 1,534 issues. Both are remembered fondly by women who read them as young teenagers, with ‘The Best Of…’ commemorative books being popular gifts.

They both featured comic-strip stories of life’s little problems at school, in friendships and family, but ‘Bunty’ also sometimes dipped into sci-fi, ghosts and witches. It had readers’ letters, competitions and puzzles and, on the back, a cut-out girl to paste onto card, with cut-out outfits tabbed to fold over the girl’s shoulders/arms/waist/legs.

‘Jackie’ aimed at the slightly older teenager and focused much more on boyfriends and romance, always in a light-hearted tone. It had beauty tips, knitting patterns, recipes, posters of pop idols and, of course, the problem page with letters that might begin:

“Dear Cathy & Claire, You’ve probably heard this a hundred times before but I’m absolutely crazy about David Cassidy. I’ve felt like this for ages, and, please believe me, it’s NOT just a childish crush….”

(Images: tilleysvintagemagazines.com, russell davies at Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0)

30/08/2022
3 min
2 years
220 words

Celebrations & Holidays

Summer Solstice

Sunrise on the day of the Summer Solstice ranges from about 3.35am to 4.45am north to south of the UK, with sunset […]

Sunrise on the day of the Summer Solstice ranges from about 3.35am to 4.45am north to south of the UK, with sunset as late as 10.30pm in the far north (the Shetland Islands). This gives roughly 16¾ to 19 hours of daylight, the longest amount of the year. The date is either 20th or 21st June (though very rarely it may be the 22nd) and it is also known as Midsummer’s Day.

Naturally enough, it is an important time in the agricultural cycle and it was widely celebrated prior to the Industrial Revolution. It is also a significant event for Pagans, who see it as a testimony to Earth’s connection to the Sun and the seasons.

Modern-day Pagans and other interested folk gather at dawn at ancient stone monuments and on hilltops for their Summer Solstice mystical experience. In fact, it will not be the earliest sunrise of the year ~ that occurs a few days beforehand and the latest sunset likewise occurs a few days afterwards. Nevertheless, on Midsummer’s Day the timings align to produce ‘the longest day’ and to be at Stonehenge, for instance, witnessing the first rays of sunshine is a moment to appreciate and feel part of Creation.

(Top image of Summer Solstice sunrise at a historic Druidic spot in Anglesey: TheJaySpearing at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0)

22/08/2022
3 min
2 years
221 words

Sport

Andy Murray

Sir Andrew Barron Murray (1987-) is the UK’s most successful professional tennis player since Oxford-born Tim Henman (1974-) reached the world no.4 […]

Sir Andrew Barron Murray (1987-) is the UK’s most successful professional tennis player since Oxford-born Tim Henman (1974-) reached the world no.4 spot briefly in 2004. Murray achieved the same ranking four years later but he remained in the top four over a 9-year period from 2008 to 2017 for all but approximately 70 weeks. He was no.1 from November 2016 to August 2017.

Among his big wins are two Wimbledon men’s singles titles (2013, 2016), a U.S. Open men’s singles title (2012) and two Summer Olympics men’s singles Gold medals (2012. 2016).

Coached initially by his mother Judy, he showed such promise that he went to Barcelona for further training when he was 15. He turned professional in 2005 after being world no.1 junior in 2004. His brother Jamie (1986-) is also a successful tennis player but he concentrates on doubles, both men’s and mixed. Andy and Jamie have rarely partnered in doubles but they were both in the British team which won the 2015 Davis Cup.

Andy was born in Glasgow but grew up in Perthshire in a small town called Dunblane which in 1996 was the scene of the UK’s worst mass shooting incident, when more than 100 bullets were let loose on the innocent children in the brothers’ primary school, killing 16 of them and a teacher.

(Image [cropped]: Carine06 at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC 2.0)

06/08/2022
3 min
2 years
218 words

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.