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.
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain) is a medieval text written by Geoffrey of Monmouth around 1136. It introduces us to the legend of King Arthur, including Merlin the magician, his wife Guinevere and the sword Excalibur…
St Nicholas Day
Have you ever wondered why people hang stockings up on Christmas Eve for Father Christmas (or Santa Claus) to fill…
Christmas Crackers
A history of Christmas Crackers… and why the British wear paper hats at the Christmas lunch table!
The History of Firearms in the British Police
The image that springs to mind of the British Police is that of a bobby swinging a truncheon, chasing down criminals and sending them away in handcuffs. However, there was a time when several branches of British Police were armed and…
William Blake
William Blake was a man of many talents: an engraver, poet, writer, painter and mystic…
The Ghost Stories of M.R. James
As the nights draw in, lovers of ghost stories turn with anticipation once again to the works of M.R. James, acknowledged by many to be the master of the English ghost story…
Robert Owen, Father of British Socialism
Known as the ‘Father of British Socialism’, Robert Owen was a textile manufacturer turned social reformer, and an early advocate of utopian socialism…
Hyde Park
“I never ride in from Hyde Park Corner… but the ghosts of an army of horsemen ride with me,” wrote Roland Collins in 1967. If the ghosts of all those who have ridden or driven in Hyde Park were visible, it would create the ultimate pageant of British history…
