A statue or other structure dedicated to or associated with a famous British person or event.
This is Cross Bones Graveyard, surely one of the saddest places in London. Its story belongs within a wider narrative about poverty and prostitution, an important aspect of the two-thousand year history of the Borough of Southwark. Just an unfashionable step from busy Bankside in Redcross Way, Cross Bones is part of a very old […]
Occasionally, things on A Bit About Britain need to be updated. It doesn’t normally warrant a mention. However, some time ago, I wrote a piece about a simple memorial to a 22-year old Battle of Britain pilot, James Tillet, or Tillett. I couldn’t help wondering about this young flyer who gave his life long before
Update – Flying Officer James Tillett Read More »
News
The small south coast town of Gosport is an interesting, rather than a pretty, place. Optimistic residents may believe it was once known as ‘God’s port’, though the Oxford Dictionary of Place Names’ more prosaic and likely explanation is that the name derives from ‘Goose port’. What we do know is that Gosport developed as
Some corner of a foreign field that is forever Turkey Read More »
South East
Of all the thousands, or millions, of memorials in Britain, there aren’t many one arrogant enough to be known by the definite article. The Monument in London is one and, for the benefit of those bursting to know, it is the monument to London’s Great Fire of 1666. The Great Fire is so much a
Sifting through the ashes of the Great Fire Read More »
London
A neighbour was taking a short break in Northumberland, and told me that one of the reasons she was excited about it was because, growing up, she had a picture of Grace Darling on her bedroom wall. She would not have been alone; Grace Darling was a perfect Victorian heroine who braved a violent North
The Grace Darling legend Read More »
North East England
Hard facts about Scottish patriot and hero Sir William Wallace are as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster. The cult of Wallace fascinates me – and the 13th/14th century Wars of Scottish Independence between Scotland and England is a fascinating chapter in the evolution of the United Kingdom. People have been known to get terribly
The betrayal and capture of William Wallace Read More »
Scotland
Have you ever found yourself in the middle of Scotland? Not just vaguely messing about in it, as it were, or immersed in its cultural hub (wherever that is), but bang in the geographical centre of the country? There really is a centre of Scotland – of course there is – and its location is
In the middle of Scotland Read More »
Scotland
A statue of 1960s pop idol Billy Fury stares out from Liverpool’s Albert Dock, across the Mersey, where he used to work on a tug-boat. Billy was hot stuff in his day. Of course, no immediate contemporary of mine has any clear recollection of those far-off heady times, when Billy Fury made the girls swoon.Â
Halfway to paradise Read More »
North West England
What 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 throughout the land, the world over by those of Scottish descent – and, in fact, by many non-Scots as well.Â
Robert Burns, an’ a’ that Read More »
British Stuff Scotland
Something like 3 million US citizens passed through the United Kingdom during the Second World War. The Cambridge American Cemetery commemorates almost 9,000 Americans who died while based here, or en route, in those years of conflict. They died at sea on convoys transporting essential supplies, troops and military equipment, across the Atlantic; they died
The Cambridge American Cemetery Read More »
East of England
Trafalgar Square is one of those places that have always seemed to be there. It is so famous, such a focal point, and featured in so many news clips and photographs – including those taken by most of London’s tourists – that it’s easy to take it for granted. Its name commemorates, as most people
Exploring Trafalgar Square Read More »
London
Peter Pan flew away from his nursery and landed beside the Long Water in London’s Kensington Gardens. And there, on the very spot, Scottish author J M Barrie decided to erect a statue to his creation. It has been there since 1912, the boy who would never grow up frozen forever in bronze, surrounded by
Peter Pan in the Park Read More »
London