Christmas post A Bit About Britain provides several seasonal ever-green offerings with which to amuse its reader (click or tap on an image below). A new topical article is planned for Christmas 2019. Meanwhile, last posting dates in the UK…
The office of Prime Minister
Last Updated on 28th July 2019The appointment of a new Prime Minister for the United Kingdom on 24 July 2019 necessitated an update to the list of British Prime Ministers provided on A Bit About Britain. Actually, the whole page…
Be my Valentine?
Last Updated on 9th December 2019When you are old and grey, and full of sleep, shall I compare thee to a summer’s day; or do you walk in beauty, like the night, down by the Sally Garden? Shall I count…
Robert Burns, an’ a’ that
Last Updated on 29th January 2019What is all the fuss about Robert Burns? Robert – Robbie or ‘Rabbie’ – Burns was a prolific poet and lyricist, who died more than 200 years ago. He is Scotland’s favourite bard, still revered…
Anniversaries, 2019
Last Updated on 10th August 2019Which anniversaries will be marked in Britain in 2019? Here is a selection of noteworthy events and birthdays for you – each one is on someone’s calendar for 2019 – and each one offers a…
The A-Z of Christmas in Britain
Last Updated on 9th December 2019Of course, Christmas is Christmas and the basics are ubiquitous in any country with a Christian tradition. That said, everybody celebrates it, if they celebrate it at all, in their own way. Each family seems…
A year in Britain
Last Updated on 22nd March 2019Casual visitors to A Bit About Britain, and the regular reader, are already spoiled. Not only can they find inspiration to explore wonderful places, accompanied by questionably witty or downright curmudgeonly observations (and the occasional…
Armistice 1918
Last Updated on 26th May 2019For four years, the armies had slugged it out. Millions had died and most people had forgotten what started it all in the first place, or what they were actually fighting for. It took much,…
Battle of Britain Day
Last Updated on 9th December 201915 September is Battle of Britain Day. It commemorates the legendary air battle that took place in Britain’s skies, mainly – though not exclusively – over southern England, during the long hot summer and early…
Lights Out
Last Updated on 26th August 2018At 10pm BST on 4th August 2014, the villagers of Burton in Lonsdale, a small community of fewer than 600 souls in North Yorkshire, on the borders with Lancashire and Cumbria, gathered on the village…
Easter, eggs, bunnies and buns
Last Updated on 26th May 2019It should be simple enough to write a bit about Easter, I thought. After all, it is the most important festival in the Christian calendar, and a good deal of Britain’s heritage, at least for…
Anniversaries, 2018
Last Updated on 10th August 2019Which anniversaries were marked in Britain in 2018? The end of public hanging, votes for women, the first traffic light, the Roman invasion and Mick Jagger’s 75th birthday? Have a quick scan through the eclectic…