Time for a walk in the Yorkshire Dales. We will stroll from the old market town of Settle, up into the hills and do a circuit of around 5 miles. The route will take in the lonely starkness of Attermire…
Blessed Virgin Mary and St Leodegarius
Someone on Twitter was talking about Ashby St Ledgers. This is a small, attractive, village in Northamptonshire, famous for being home to the Catesby family and for its associations with the Gunpowder Plot. Then I remembered a brief winter’s morning…
The full British breakfast
Does your breakfast have a nationality? Should breakfasts be stateless? Travelling around this great land of ours, it is common to see the option of ‘full [insert adjective as applicable] breakfast’ available on hotel menus. Thus: full English, full Scottish,…
The Stone Circle at Mitchell’s Fold
Mitchell’s Fold Stone Circle is one of those places you think you should have arrived at much sooner than you do. “We must have passed it. Maybe I should turn round”. Surely, supernatural forces were at work, discombobulating me as…
A walk round Montgomery
We went to the small town of Montgomery, in Powys, for some much-needed peace and quiet – and found it. Girdled by lush landscape, the old county market town of Montgomeryshire has a Georgian appearance and is a peach, a…
Rutupiae, gateway to Britain
Richborough has always fascinated me. Caesar may have landed near Deal but it was at Richborough, a century later, that the story of Roman Britain really began. It was in this corner of Kent that part of Emperor Claudius’ 40,000…
A bit about Slaidburn
Slaidburn is a village in Lancashire. It is one of those places that proves the north of England is not (or no longer) purely a place of dark satanic mills, clogs, cloth caps and Whippets; all pies and prejudice as…
A bit about Bede
A Bit About Britain often refers to ‘Bede’. It occurred to me the other day that some of my readers may not know who – or what – this means. Which, frankly, is fair enough. Thus, for the benefit of…
Test your lungs on Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill looms over East Lancashire between the towns of Clitheroe and Nelson. With its distinctive humpback shape, visible for miles around from all directions, it is a local landmark, rising from an area of green beauty. The district is…
The Pig War
A guest post by author, Anne Clare In spite of its name, ‘The Pig War’ didn’t have much to do with farm animals. Rather, the unfortunate demise of a pig who ventured into the wrong garden in 1859 almost led…
St Martin’s and Rupert Bear
The Venerable Bede tells us that, in 597 AD (1425 years ago in 2022), St Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet, in Kent, with some forty companions. Their purpose was to spread the news of eternal joy in heaven…
A visit to Chester Zoo
It seemed like a good idea. Extreme youngsters were visiting; they like animals don’t they – so what better than a trip to the zoo? Eschewing a more local option in favour of the much bigger and allegedly more betterer…
A break in Rutland
I seem to have been passing through Rutland, England’s smallest county, for years. It just happens to be in the way when taking a particular route to or from the Deep South and the East Midlands. A leg of this…
Anniversaries, 2022
Which anniversaries are being marked in Britain in 2022? Below is a selection of more than sixty noteworthy occasions for you. Each one will be on someone’s calendar for 2022 – and each one offers an insight into Britain’s story. …