Tag: Maps

100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Most of us are familiar with the holocaust in WW2 enacted by Nazi Germany against Jewish people, Gypsies, communists and the mentally ill but this week sees the 100th anniversary of another holocaust or Genocide, the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. Historically The Ottoman Empire had far outshone most European states for centuries in terms of… Continue reading 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

The Red Squirrel Fightback begins!

It is one of our most loved creatures and like the Robin redbreast is one of our most treasured creatures.  Symbolised in snowy British winters it is iconic and yet like most of us, I’ve never seen a Red Squirrel. 150 years ago they were rampant across much of the nation but then in 1876… Continue reading The Red Squirrel Fightback begins!

Terra Nullius, enclaves & the strange case of Bir Tawil – The land that nobody wants.

When European nations were looking at empire building there were a number of sham reasons used to justify it.  Either religious edicts from Rome, pure Ethnocentrism from France (the belief of one race being superior to all others) or in the case of Great Britain Terra Nullius.  It was the Romans who first came up… Continue reading Terra Nullius, enclaves & the strange case of Bir Tawil – The land that nobody wants.

Was it something I said? – Accents and dialects of the world and Great Britain

Over the weekend it was a revealed in a Time Magazine survey that we British apparently have the most sexy accent in the world.  Whilst not sure how many from Tanzania or Mongolia were surveyed, we sure are grateful to all our English speaking and European friends. I must say though that I find it… Continue reading Was it something I said? – Accents and dialects of the world and Great Britain

70th Anniversary of D-Day

This time 70 years ago on 6th June 1944, the world held its breath as the largest amphibious military operation even seen was under way.  Operation Overlord was the long-awaited Allied invasion of Nazi held Europe that would lead to the liberation of mainland Europe and 70 years of freedom and democracy. D-Day was never… Continue reading 70th Anniversary of D-Day

Hope you had a nice Christmas

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas wherever you are and whatever you did. Our Christmas was very low-key which is how we like it. Most of the morning was spent cooking Christmas Dinner. We fancied being a little extravagant and so had some gammon to supplement the turkey as well as the required… Continue reading Hope you had a nice Christmas

How Google Keeps The Roads Moving

Like pretty much everyone, I used Google nearly every day.  In fact probably dozens of times a day.  I don’t use it as much as I used to due to privacy concerns and there are no shortage of alternative search engines and service providers that don’t misuse my data or let untrustworthy governments spy on… Continue reading How Google Keeps The Roads Moving

A brief history of time(zones) or why do we keep changing the clocks?

Some of us have just done it and others are about to do it but this week sees many of us changing our clocks to go onto winter time but why do we do this often quite annoying ritual. In the old days every town and village in effect had its own time-zone.  When the… Continue reading A brief history of time(zones) or why do we keep changing the clocks?

The Man Who Planted Trees and The Green Wall of Africa

About five years ago, I watched part of a short animated film entitled The Man Who Planted Trees. It is the most lovely short French film (an English version can be viewed here) and it tells the story of a man in an early 20thC European Alpine valley that was desolate and empty of life… Continue reading The Man Who Planted Trees and The Green Wall of Africa