The 9 times Britain has left Europe and why the cycle will happen again.

Much of the world and indeed the country is looking on at ever ongoing Brexit situation. What many don’t realise is that Britain has always had a love-hate relationship with Europe and it’s largely due to geography and history. Around the world and through the millennia, nations on the edge of a sphere of influence… Continue reading The 9 times Britain has left Europe and why the cycle will happen again.

More photos from the old and the new

Today I finish my series of three posts looking at how particular locations have changed in appearance between some old photos that I found and which date from the 1880’s and 1890’s and how they look today using Google Steet view. Originally I was just interested to see if I could find the locations for… Continue reading More photos from the old and the new

The debacle of Boaty McBoatface

There have been many illustrious names during British Maritime history.   The Victory, Ark Royal, Illustrious, Endeavour, The Beagle to name just a few.   In the last few months, the public have been given the opportunity to choose the name of the next Polar research vessel. Over 7,000 names were put forward with some… Continue reading The debacle of Boaty McBoatface

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.

You are what you live

Have you ever given pause to thought about national stereotypes and the perceptions that strangers may have of you because of where you live?   It’s hard to talk about such things without over generalising but often like many other things they can be based on fact. Germans can come over as hard working and… Continue reading You are what you live

Mad dogs and Englishmen

You might not realise it if you live elsewhere but for today at least London is about the hottest city on planet earth, not including Paris and err New Delhi.  It’s easy for everyone to scoff at the idea that we aren’t living in the hottest place on earth, especially if you happen to live… Continue reading Mad dogs and Englishmen

The Fox News Guide To Britain

Following the sad events in Paris last week, an alleged terrorist expert by the name of Steven Emerson appeared on Fox News over the weekend and proclaimed that there were areas of London that had Muslim gangs patrolling the streets to enforce an Islamic dress-code as well as incredibly writing off entire cities such as Birmingham as… Continue reading The Fox News Guide To Britain

I Salute You – The History of Saluting

Saluting is primarily but not exclusively a military sign of respect with a very long history.  This week it hit the news that some senior officers have become upset as recruits are not showing them the respect they are due and recently none other than President Obama have been criticised for taking saluting seriously and… Continue reading I Salute You – The History of Saluting

The Lost Treasures of Bad King John (plus other treasures both found and missing).

Have you ever wanted to get rich quick?  Long before Nigerian spammers were in on the act there was the art of metal-detecting.  Often metal-detecting enthusiasts are derided as being a little bit odd and depicted as spending their lives wondering around barren fields with not much to show for it but then one of them… Continue reading The Lost Treasures of Bad King John (plus other treasures both found and missing).