Who are the British? Do they really drink tea, eat roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and never leave home without an umbrella? Find out more about true Brits; past and present, myth and legend, fact and fiction.
Named among the 100 Greatest Britons in a 2002 BBC poll, William Booth, along with his wife Catherine, founded the Salvation Army…
The term ‘hangover’ is universally understood to mean the disproportionate suffering that comes after a night of over-indulgence. But where does the term actually come from? One possible explanation is, somewhat strangely, Victorian England…
The patriotic song ‘Rule, Britannia!, Britannia rule the waves’, is traditionally performed at the ‘Last Night of the Proms’. The first public performance of ‘Rule, Britannia!’ however, was in London in 1745, and it instantly became very popular for a nation trying to…
The cat is one of Britain’s best loved animals. Here is a short history of our furry friends in the UK…
Written in 1892 by Henry Newbolt, the poem ‘Vitai Lampada’ (“The Torch of Life”) includes the memorable phrase, “Play up! play up! and play the game!’. These final words are perhaps one of the real gifts of British culture to the world…
The Folklore Year – traditional folklore and culture of Britain, events taking place every year in August, including the Feast Day of St. Oswald. St. Oswald was a Northumbrian warrior king and champion of Christianity. He was killed at Maserfield near Hexham, in 642 in a battle with…
Publican and poet John Freeth ran the Leicester Arms in Bell Street, Birmingham in the 18th century. The coffee house was the home of the Birmingham Book Club, also known as the Jacobin Club due to its political radicalism…
Although the Union Flag represents the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, it does not seem to include any Welsh symbols or colours…
“After my mother, she is the most remarkable woman in the kingdom”. This was how King Edward VII described Angela Burdett-Coutts, an outspoken and dedicated philanthropist, who helped to found both the NSPCC and RSPCA, as well as funding countless other humanitarian causes…
The Wardian Case was an early example of a terrarium, a glass case with plants inside. However this humble portable glass case would come to play a huge part in the success of the British Empire, facilitating the transportation of commodities across the globe, changing fortunes of nations and influencing the palates of a generation…