A statue or other structure dedicated to or associated with a famous British person or event.
Given its two thousand-year history, it would be surprising if London had no secrets. Obviously, I cannot tell you how many it has, or what they all are… But It is certainly one of those places where you often turn a corner and stumble across something unexpected and interesting – a building, a memorial, some […]
I spy – secret London Read More »
A tiny cottage, close to the Dorset HQ of the Royal Tank Regiment at Bovington Camp, was once owned by one of Britain’s most fascinating and enigmatic figures, T E Lawrence – also known as Lawrence of Arabia. The cottage is called Clouds Hill and it was built in 1808 as a forester’s or labourer’s
Lawrence of Arabia’s bolt-hole Read More »
London’s Bunhill Fields is known as a place for dissenters. Not living ones – though I daresay there are plenty of those too – but dead ones, non-conformist Protestants opposed to the practices of the established Church of England, who were able to be laid to rest here without having the form of service prescribed
The bodies at Bunhill Read More »
The Battle of Culloden, fought on 16th April 1746, was the last pitched battle fought on British soil. Like many battlefield sites, Culloden’s oozes an atmosphere of profound sadness, embroidered by its own mythology. It was a long time ago, but, even now, Culloden’s misleading myths can be powerful: this was the place where a
The pity of Culloden Read More »
The final resting place of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill is in a quiet corner of a peaceful English churchyard. It was his own decision to be buried in Bladon, just a long stone’s throw from Blenheim Palace, where he was born. He is buried with his wife, Clementine Ogilvy Spencer Churchill. Close to him
Christmas in the year 877 did not turn out as Alfred planned. One minute he was celebrating, the next his hall was overrun by screaming, violent, bloody-weaponed, pagan warriors. He escaped with his life and a small band of followers, ending up in hiding in the swamps around Athelney, in Somerset. Today, Athelney is a
Was England born in Athelney? Read More »
Ah, look at all the lonely people. A bronze statue of a woman sits alone on a stone bench in Liverpool’s Stanley Street. She appears to be middle-aged, tired, worn down by life. Her small handbag sits carelessly in her lap and she seems to be gazing down wistfully to her left at a sparrow
The story of Eleanor Rigby Read More »
A recent visit to Portsmouth necessitated a walk along the seafront – really, it has to be done – and a visit to this enormous monument. The seafront was familiar from childhood and I remembered the memorial well; I might even have played within its semi-hallowed embrace and fidgetingly attended a remembrance service there. I
Finding George on Portsmouth’s Naval Memorial Read More »
The Belgian town of Ypres, now more generally and correctly known by its Flemish name, Ieper, is very close to Britain. Geographically, it is only about an hour and a half away – through the Channel Tunnel from Folkestone to Calais, head north to Dunkirk, hang a right and you’re there. Spiritually, it’s even closer.
The Ypres Salient, 1914-1918 Read More »
It’s funny how things turn out. John Rylands was born in St Helens, Lancashire, in 1801 and helped to create what was at one time the biggest textile company in the UK. At its peak, John Rylands & Sons employed 15,000 people, mainly across North West England in and around Wigan, Bolton and Manchester, in
Manchester’s John Rylands Library Read More »
Scotland’s Glen Coe is justifiably well known to walkers, geographers, geologists and nature-lovers as a place of beauty and interest. It also has a rich history of saints and Vikings. Yet, year after year, visitors from all over the world are drawn by a single event, the terrible massacre at Glen Coe that took place
The massacre at Glen Coe Read More »
Not to be confused with the sound that a cockney makes… There has been a church on the site of St Mary le Bow, on London’s Cheapside, since Saxon times. And this is where Cockneys come from. Or, rather, a Cockney is deemed to be one born within earshot of the sound of St Mary
The church that makes a cockney Read More »
Beyond Scotland, ex-pat Scots and a few informed corners of Britain as a whole, not many people would have heard of William Wallace before the 1995 film, Braveheart. The American, Mel Gibson, directed and starred in the movie, playing the downtrodden, noble, medieval Scottish hero battling the evil English, led by Patrick McGoohan – who
National Wallace Monument Read More »
London’s Smithfield seemed a little ragged round the edges to me. Home to the capital’s huge meat and poultry market, some of the buildings have seen better days and the well-intentioned Victorian garden at West Smithfield appeared a little sad; it did not encourage me to linger. What I was looking for, though, was the
Wallace memorial, Smithfield Read More »
