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…
Pilgrims, Pie, and Plymouth Rock: the British roots of the USA’s Thanksgiving Day
A guest post by Anne Clare The United States’ celebration of Thanksgiving might seem, at first glance, like a surprising choice for a blog dedicated to Britain. After all, modern U.S. celebrations largely focus on eating turkey (a bird native…
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…
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…
Kings and carols
Last Updated on 9th December 2019Every 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.…
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…
Christmas post, 2017
In case I’ve missed the Christmas post and my card hasn’t arrived through the door yet, here some pretty, wintry, pictures for you. A very merry Christmas and a peaceful, happy, New Year to everyone who has visited A Bit…
Christmas at Liberty
Don’t think I haven’t noticed that people are talking about Christmas. In our local, The Olde Ruptured Duck, decorations started to appear weeks ago and nearby houses are lit up like, well, Christmas trees. I’ve seen things on TV too,…
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…