National Sandcastle Competition
North Devon is blessed with many long, sandy beaches, three of which have played host to the…
The Beveridge Report
Sir William Beveridge (1879-1963) took many years to develop his plan for social reform as detailed in…
West Kennet Long Barrow
West Kennet Long Barrow (WKLB), near the Avebury stone circles in Wiltshire, is one of 180 barrows…
Orthodox Christianity
Before the Norman Conquest of 1066, Britain’s practice of Christianity was ‘orthodox’, i.e. faithful to the original…
DEFRA
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is only the 10th biggest UK government department…
Belfast
The city of Belfast, Northern Ireland’s capital, has endured its fair share of bombings, both during WW2…
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born in ‘British India’, a place he loved, settled awhile in the…
Polythene and Perspex
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was once the UK’s largest manufacturing company and from the 1930s to the…
The VC and GC awards for heroism
The Victoria Cross (VC), named after Queen Victoria (1819-1901), was instituted in 1856. It is a decoration…
Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilees
Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) had four official Jubilees, the most of any British monarch. The previous longest-reigning…
Tanni Grey-Thompson, Paralympian
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, DBE (1969-) is the UK’s most successful Paralympian. Born in Cardiff, she was immobilised…
Table manners
“In Europe, people eat good food. In England people think that good manners at the table are…