When 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 the ways I loved you,…
Kings and carols
Last Updated on 24th December 2018Every Christmas Eve, millions of people all round the world tune in to their TVs or radios to listen to carols from King’s – or ‘Nine Lessons and Carols’ – from King’s College Chapel, Cambridge.…
The A-Z of Christmas in Britain
Last Updated on 21st October 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…
Battle of Britain Day
Last Updated on 26th September 201815 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…
St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland
Last Updated on 7th November 2019Scotland’s national saint, St Andrew, has his day on 30th November. As well as being the patron saint of Scotland, St Andrew is the patron saint of Amalfi, Barbados, Greece, Romania, Russia, the Ukraine, singers,…
London’s Lord Mayor’s Show
Last Updated on 3rd August 2018What are you doing on the 2nd Saturday in November? If you want to experience a little pageantry – well, quite a lot, actually – get yourself up, down, over, across, or whatever, to the…
For England and St George!
Last Updated on 3rd August 2018St 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…
Christmas magic
Last Updated on 21st October 2019Do 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…
The custom and origins of Christmas crackers
Last Updated on 3rd August 2018We 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…
A bit about Christmas cards
Last Updated on 3rd August 2018Received 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…