The symphonium and the concertina
Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-75) from Gloucestershire is best known for the ‘Wheatstone bridge’, a device for measuring…
The Jarrow March
The 1929 ‘Wall Street Crash’ over in the USA had repercussions in the UK which put a…
Edinburgh
Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, complements the surrounding geological heights with its own towering architecture. The…
Working men’s clubs
In 1862 Henry Solly (1813-1903), a Presbyterian clergyman from London, founded the Working Men’s Club & Institute…
Received Pronunciation
The relatively modern concept of ‘standard English’ has become known as Received Pronunciation (RP) or even ‘BBC…
Capt. Henry J. Round, ‘the tame wizard’
Staffordshire-born Henry Joseph Round (1881-1966) lived and breathed engineering and was affectionately nicknamed ‘the tame wizard’ by…
The Millennium Dome
Where better to build an enormous structure dedicated to a moment in time than on 0° longitude…
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night is usually taken to expire at midnight on 5th January but some argue for 6th…
Speakers’ Corner
Public access to London’s 350-acre Hyde Park was granted in 1637. In the 1800s its proximity to…
Three Lions
Knights began to have personal coats-of-arms for identification on the battlefield in the 1100s and this quickly…
Bell-ringing
The first Christian monks would ring handbells to summon converts to prayer and by the 7th century…
The Good Parliament of 1376
The Good Parliament of 28 April – 10 July 1376 was followed by the Bad Parliament of…