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 Bathing Machine
The brightly coloured little beach huts at the seaside have a rather curious Victorian ancestor: the bathing machine. Designed to preserve modesty and dignity, these little huts on wheels rolled into the sea, giving bathers somewhere to change in private before entering the water.
Grace O’Malley, Pirate Queen, and Queen Elizabeth I
Grace O’Malley (Gráinne O’Malley) was a famous 16th-century Irish chieftain and seafarer, whose fleet of ships not only traded around the coasts of Ireland but also participated in piracy and protection rackets. She became known as the “Pirate Queen of Ireland.”
Seeking Sanctuary – A History
Between 600 AD and 1624, those escaping justice could seek sanctuary in English churches, giving them 40 days of breathing space in which to plan their next move..
When London shook: Elizabethan and Georgian earthquakes
Two earthquakes shook London in early 1750. Then a third was predicted. Cue thousands of Londoners fleeing the city in panic, women clutching their ‘earthquake gowns’…
Defined by war: Audrey Hepburn’s early years
Audrey Hepburn’s name evokes the glamour and elegance of the golden age of cinema in the 1950s. Yet her childhood and adolescence were shaped by the harsh realities of Nazi occupation, starvation, and the devastation of war.
The Common Yew
Worshipped by the Druids for its longevity, the Common Yew is typically found in churchyards, its soft wood used over centuries for the longbows that defined medieval warfare. Its Latin name however warns us of its toxicity: ‘Taxus baccata’ translates as ‘toxic tree with berries’…
The Dinner Party – 1970s Style
In the 1950s and early 60s, entertaining at home had meant a cocktail party with nibbles rather than a sit down meal. A decade later, with a mortgage to pay and money a little tighter than before, for many couples the dinner party was an ideal way to socialise…
Inspirations Behind Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is the story of the doomed love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, a tale of passion and violence. First published in December 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, it was astonishing to discover that the novel was actually written by a parson’s daughter, who lived on the edge of the wild and remote Yorkshire Moors.
