For many people, knowledge of British history is an awareness of the Romans, the Norman invasion and its aftermath, and then more recent history from the War of the Roses and the Tudors onward. There are surprisingly few English monarchs who are household names from before the Norman Invasion – perhaps Alfred the Great, Æthelred…
Most people in the UK are familiar with the Mary Rose, the famous ship of the English navy under Henry VIII which was sank in battle in 1545 before being recovered in 1982. Sweden has its own ship with a similar history, the Vasa, a 64 gun ship, that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628,…
70 years ago today, the former Great West Aerodrome, which had been a small airfield used since 1929 growing at the end of World War II to take large military aircraft bound for the Far East, opened as London Airport. Twenty years later, it officially took the name of the hamlet in which the airfield…
This weekend saw the Moira Canal Festival 2016, the annual local fundraiser for the Ashby Canal that has a fantastically varied series of events. I’ve written about the 2013, 2014 and 2015 events, and as with those and other previous years, I went along to see what was going on. The trip to Moira is…
I was reminded this week of when Uruguay Won The European Championships, a topic of many quiz questions and cryptic answers. The more astute among you might spot the problem with this conundrum, Uruguay is in South America, and therefore, how would it be eligible for any European Championship? That said, Australia is a recent…
Growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, local sports stars on the world stage were relatively limited in number, but among the small band that there were, there were three who were among the greatest in their sports not just among their contemporaries, but in the recent history of the sport. They were football’s…
This weekend sees XH558, the last flying Avro Vulcan, performing the Salute to the V Force Tour, as the majestic aircraft makes her way around the various sites in the UK that are home to the remaining V Force aircraft. I was at East Midlands Airport earlier to see The Spirit of Great Britain –…
This week say St George’s Day, the 23rd April, the patron saint of – among other places – England, and from where the English flag originates. Several English Heritage sites were hosting events to celebrate this weekend, and we headed off the the event for St George’s Day at Kenilworth Castle. The castle is impressive…
Today marks a most remarkable event in history, as the funeral cortege of King Richard III makes its way to Leicester. Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth field in 1485, in an event that changed British history. He was succeeded by Henry Tudor, who became King Henry VII, and with that ended the…
As you may be aware, today, 17th March, is St Patrick’s Day, where much of the world seems to find a reason to have a connection with Ireland. St Patrick was an interesting character, and unlike lots of other patron saints, had a close association with Ireland. He was born in a celtic part of…
It’s pancake day. For many, Shrove Tuesday, as it is also known, is associated with little other than the making of pancakes, but there is of course more meaning to the day than that. In the Christian calendar, the day marks the eve of Lent, a time of abstinence, when traditionally people shrive, or confess…
Today is the 750th anniversary of what is often claimed to be the first parliament as we would recognise it today, when, on the 20th January 1265 during the Second Barons’ War, an English parliament met at the Palace of Westminster. It was not the first parliament to have met in England, but what differentiated…