St George is the patron saint of England and St George’s Day is on 23rd April. Every year. Curiously enough, 23rd April is also the day that William Shakespeare, who put the words “Cry ‘God for Harry! England and Saint…
Great Britain, Britain, or the United Kingdom?
The page on A Bit About Britain entitled What does ‘Britain’ mean has been getting quite a few views lately. Whether that’s because there are people who foolishly want to try and understand our muddled foreign policy, or Britain’s relationships…
Anniversaries, 2017
Which anniversaries were marked in Britain in 2017? Have a quick scan through the eclectic list of events below, some of which may have slipped your mind; they were bound to have been on someone’s British calendar for 2017. 1650th…
The Christmas Truce of 1914
In the dying moments of 1914 and the opening days of 1915, remarkable stories began to circulate in Britain’s newspapers. The stories came from France and Belgium, where great armies were locked in mighty conflict, and told of a truce…
Christmas magic
Do you believe in Christmas magic? Some years ago, when my children were very small, I was dismayed to hear my son pipe up that little Johnny at school said that his dad had told him there was no such…
The custom and origins of Christmas crackers
We take traditions for granted but, when you think about it, some of them are pretty odd. Amongst the more bizarre compulsory customs for a good Christmas in Britain are Christmas crackers – and I refer, not to dry biscuits…
A bit about Christmas cards
Received wisdom is that it’s always good to get into a business that makes money on Christmas Day. And it could be argued that Christmas cards fall into that category. The Greeting Card Association told me that we buy 1…
National Service of Remembrance
Amazing; moving; humbling; impressive: words you could choose to describe the annual National Service of Remembrance held in London on Remembrance Sunday, the second Sunday in November. Thousands attend every year; thousands watch it on TV; thousands more attend similar,…
On Hallowe’en
The local supermarket is pretending to be the props department for “Night of the Living Dead”. There are plastic skulls, axes, hairy hands, spiders, broomsticks, masks more gruesome than many of the weekend shoppers in the Trafford Centre – and…
Anniversaries, 2016
What have William the Conqueror, Shakespeare, Peter Rabbit, the Big Friendly Giant, Bobby Moore and David Cameron all got in common? Answer: they were all associated with anniversaries in 2016. Of course, some anniversaries were very kindly highlighted by publicists,…