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…
‘That Was The Week That Was’
‘That Was The Week That Was‘ (“TW3” for short) made stars of the lone female performer, the…
Alfred the Great’s book of laws
One of the achievements of Alfred the Great (849-899), King of Wessex, was to compile ‘The Dōmbōc’…
Liverpool
‘Port of Departure (or Arrival):Liverpool‘ appears in many a search for records of family ancestors, since Liverpool’s…
Netlon and Tensar
Dr. Brian Mercer (1927-98) was born in Blackburn towards the end of the British textile industry’s golden…