I’m away on holiday for a few days and staying in an old farmhouse, 500 metres/ 1600 feet up in the northern Pennines, an official area of outstanding beauty towards the top of England near the border with Scotland. Going up the M6 motorway approaching the eastern fringes of The Lake District Hart… Continue reading Alston Holiday Day 1
Tag: Life
Best TV adverts and commercials
This week marks the 60th anniversary of the first television advertisements on British television with the creation of the first Independent Television channel to take on the BBC which famously (and in my view, thanks heavens for that) doesn’t show any television advertising. Maybe it is because in the U.K. we all very easily able… Continue reading Best TV adverts and commercials
Knebworth House – It was a dark and stormy night…
One of the houses that I enjoy visiting but don’t actually get to very often is Knebworth House. It is an extremely distinctive looking country house in northern Hertfordshire just above London. The house has been in the hands of the Lytton family since 1490 and over the centuries the house has evolved from a… Continue reading Knebworth House – It was a dark and stormy night…
Rugby World Cup 2015
Have you ever cheated at a game? The chances are we all have at one time or other but perhaps our cheating didn’t have quite the same repercussions as one day in the autumn of 1823 when William Webb Ellis who was playing the game of football such as it was then when this student… Continue reading Rugby World Cup 2015
The Greatest Emergency Landings In History
This week many of us have been amazed and horrified in equal measure by the sight of a British Airways Boeing 777 which made an aborted take-off following a catasphrophic engine failure. Thanks to the incredible reactions of the flight crew and most especially Captain Chris Henkey who after 42 years of piloting was performing… Continue reading The Greatest Emergency Landings In History
Longest reign over us – Queen Elizabeth II becomes our longest serving monarch in history
Today is one of those typically historic but low-level sort of days when The Queen becomes the longest serving British monarch in history, surpassing the magnificent reign of Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years and 216 days and died in January 1901. The precise moment that The Queen will break the record is believed… Continue reading Longest reign over us – Queen Elizabeth II becomes our longest serving monarch in history
The Queen – Her powers, perks and privileges.
It seems likely that September 9th will see Queen Elizabeth II surpass the achievement of her Great Grandmother, Queen Victoria, and become the longest ever serving monarch in British history. Whilst the role of the monarch has long since been transformed from the potentially tyrannical approach taken by some of her forebears, it is… Continue reading The Queen – Her powers, perks and privileges.
Doggerland – Britain’s Atlantis
Being an island nation, our long history and pre-history has been shaped by the sea possibly more than anywhere else on earth. Whilst some areas of our land were under sea just a millennia or so a go, since the last ice-age our coastline has gradually been pushed back by the ever rising oceans.… Continue reading Doggerland – Britain’s Atlantis
Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic! New Dad’s Army film but are remakes worth the risk?
One of the things I find being an avid cinema and television fan is that remakes are often ultimately disappointing. I’d much rather watch a brand new idea rather than revisit an old one which is likely to be much less enjoyable than the memories, if slightly biased of older classics. You can never… Continue reading Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic! New Dad’s Army film but are remakes worth the risk?
Nazi Gold Train Found In Poland After 70 Years?
As has happened a few times in the history of this blog, an event which I wrote about from a historical standpoint is now unravelling as a live event. A few months ago I wrote on the treasures of the missing treasures of bad King John and several other missing treasures including Nazi gold and this week… Continue reading Nazi Gold Train Found In Poland After 70 Years?
Stephen Liddell 