Category: Celebrations & Holidays

Trade with China in the 1800s brought about a small, close-knit settlement of Chinese sailors and their families in the Limehouse district […]

Medieval fairs were travelling or occasional marketplaces for traders, with a few refreshment stalls on the periphery. In the 18th and 19th […]

Twelfth Night is usually taken to expire at midnight on 5th January but some argue for 6th January or even 31st December. […]

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

The start of a new year has been set variously at 1st January, 1st March and 25th March in times past, but […]

Before industrialisation, Plough Monday was a popular event in farming communities on the first or second Monday of the year, between 7th-13th […]

Robert (Rabbie) Burns (1759-96) was born in Ayrshire to tenant farmers, but found he had a gift for writing poetry and lyrics. […]

Until the Bank Holidays Act of 1871, the idea of taking a day off with pay for non-sacred or non-medical reasons would […]

North Devon is blessed with many long, sandy beaches, three of which have played host to the UK’s National Sandcastle Competition. This […]

Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) had four official Jubilees, the most of any British monarch. The previous longest-reigning sovereign, Queen Victoria (1819-1901), died […]

The Winter Solstice takes place on or adjacent to 21st December and is the day with the longest period of darkness ~ […]