National Memorial Arboretum revisited

Armed Forces Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum

The National Memorial Arboretum is a year-round centre of remembrance and needs to be revisited.  Not only should a first visit be mandatory, but also it is one of those places that gives more each time you go.  It changes with the seasons of course, but also as trees mature and new memorials are added.  …

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The Witches of Pendle

St Mary's, Newchurch, Lancashire

The story of the Witches of Pendle is one of the most sinister and troubling tales to come out of Lancashire.  It does not feature cackling old hags riding broomsticks across the night sky, but real living beings, victims of time and circumstance.  The broad facts are well-known locally, but lest you be unaware, in …

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Website update

Website update

My regular reader will know that the A Bit About Britain website has received a little makeover.  Some things were not working as they should before, but they should do now.  The site also looks a bit different, though it still contains most of the original rubbish.  The Home Page, in particular, has been changed …

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Swaledale meadows and the corpse way

The Corpse Road

We set off with friends David and Cecile (and Hamish the dog) to visit Swaledale’s corpse trail.  It is one of their favourite walks and the views are terrific.  You may know of Yorkshire’s Swaledale, but I suppose I had better explain what a corpse trail is: so here goes.  Once upon a very long …

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We went to London for the Coronation

Coronation of King Charles III

We did.  A few other people came along too.  Actually, we didn’t only go to London; we went to Slough.  And Windsor.  And London again.  As the Coronation of Charles III was a moment in time, it seems appropriate to share a few inadequate photographs of this experience with you, dear reader, as well as …

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Ravenglass to Eskdale and return

La'al Ratty

A meeting of the Ways and Means Committee decided that a visit to Ravenglass and its steam railway was required. Dissent would not be brooked.  Reports of riding the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway were examined.  Indeed, a stationary lurking locomotive had even been spotted a couple of times, at Ravenglass and Eskdale (respectively).  But the …

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Coombes

Coombes Church, chancel arch

The tiny, downland, Church of Coombes is one of the most extraordinary English churches I have ever seen.  There are thousands of medieval churches in Britain, each one illuminating parts of our nation’s story.  Though not a religious man, I am a long-standing member of the “Oh Look, There’s a Church, Let’s Go in” Club …

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Why hadn’t I heard of Holme Cultram?

Holme Cultram Abbey feature on A Bit About Britain

“Do you want to go into the church?”  The neatly dressed middle-aged lady beamed at us. It was a little late in the day and it seemed she was just about to lock up. “Well, if it’s not too much trouble…”. Visiting Holme Cultram was one of those happy accidents.  I had never heard of …

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