Culture UK
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.
The Coronation Robes
After the monarch, the Crown Jewels are undoubtedly the glittering stars of the coronation ceremony, sparkling with their 23,578 diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds. Yet amid the main stars of the show, there is a co-star in their own right: the Coronation Robes. Steeped in rich symbolism and lavish history, the robes form an integral part of the ceremony…
Sen Yamen: Comedy, Colonialism and the Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion and in particular the Siege of Peking in 1900 grabbed the public’s attention. A play called ‘Sen Yamen’ performed at Rugby’s Theatre Royal in October 1901 fused comedy with colonialism to create a rather bizarre angle on the Chinese rebels…
A World War Two Christmas
Today it is hard to imagine, with the conspicuous consumption and commercialisation of a modern Christmas, how families coped during World War Two. Presents were often homemade and as wrapping paper was scarce, gifts were wrapped in brown paper…
A Puritan Christmas under Cromwell
It is a common myth that Cromwell personally abolished Christmas. During the Interregnum, a deeply religious Parliament voted to abolish the ‘popish’ celebration of Christmas…
The Seaweed Eating Sheep of North Ronaldsay
North Ronaldsay is one of the most remote of the 70 islands that make up Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. North Ronaldsay is also home to a unique ancient breed of sheep which eat only seaweed for most of the year…
Gertrude Bell
Best remembered for her travel writings on the Middle East and her key role in establishing the modern state of Iraq, Gertrude Bell has been described as the female Lawrence of Arabia…
Martinmas
St Martin’s Day or Martinmas falls on November 11th and was traditionally celebrated with feasting as it also marked the gathering in of the harvest…
Bonfire Night in the 1950s and 1960s
In 21st century Britain, Bonfire Night is usually celebrated with a trip to an organised bonfire and firework display. Not so in the 1950s and 1960s, when Bonfire Night was a hands-on celebration…
