Last Updated on 2nd June 2020Say “Dunkirk”* to anyone with a modest knowledge of Britain’s recent history and probably the least they will do is to nod sagely; Dunkirk, ‘the miracle of Dunkirk’ or the ‘Dunkirk spirit’, is part of…
The Mousetrap
Among the many temporarily closures due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) was The Mousetrap. All of you luvvies out there, plus one or two others, will know that ‘The Mousetrap’ is a play. But it isn’t just any old performance; it…
What is VE Day and is it relevant?
VE Day, Victory in Europe Day, is celebrated on 8 May as the day the Second World War came to an end in Europe in 1945. Writing now, 75 years on in 2020, most people have no memory of the…
The outcast dead
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…
Ten of the best in the west
Last Updated on 19th June 2020South West England has two main draw-backs: it is popular and, as it’s on the west, it can suffer from wetness – particularly at its extremities. Other than that, it has pretty much everything, including…
Walking around Oxford
Last Updated on 16th February 2020I’m not easily given to hyperbole; I’ve told you that a million times. But it is genuinely hard to think of a British town that can be quite so achingly beautiful as Oxford. Perhaps I…
Bletchley Park beyond Enigma
Part 2 – Lorenz and legacy Enigma was only part of the Bletchley Park story. As early as 1940, listening stations began to pick up enciphered teleprinter messages. These worked in a completely different way to messages enciphered on an…
Bletchley Park
Part 1 – Enigma and Ultra This is Bletchley Park. To all intents and purposes, it’s a nondescript, somewhat ugly, large Victorian mansion and estate just north of London. But what went on at Bletchley Park was extraordinary: it changed…
The chuffing romance of Haverthwaite
Last Updated on 30th September 2019Imagine a simpler, hate-free, monochrome world, where you know your doctor, civil servants are both civil and servile, politicians benign and dogs only ever bark happily. You are secure in the womb of grim, factory-stained,…
Update – Flying Officer James Tillett
Last Updated on 20th September 2019Occasionally, 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…
Molly visits Pevensey Castle, a Very Important Place
We bowled up to Pevensey Castle on a blue-sky day in the company of Molly. Molly, I should say, is a small dog of exceptional poise and dignity, but has no relevance whatsoever to our story. She is mentioned merely…
A Bit About Britain’s History repeats itself
Finally – A Bit About Britain’s History (From a long time ago until quite recently) is available as both an e-book and paperback on Amazon. A Bit About Britain’s History is a light introduction to Britain’s fascinating story. It could…