A building, collection or organisation in Britain that you can visit and see objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest.
Attempting to write anything about Richard III is somewhat daunting. He was king of England for little over two years, from July 1483 until being slaughtered at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485, yet he is one of our most controversial monarchs, whose reputation and character still divide opinion more than five centuries […]
The search for King Richard III Read More »
East Midlands
Captain James Bigglesworth, known as Biggles, absent-mindedly tapped a fresh cigarette on the back of his hand and anxiously eyed the grey eastern sky. Algy – the Honourable Algernon Montgomery Lacey – was long overdue from patrol over the lines and his fuel would be getting low. Just then, the melodic hum of a Bentley
RAF100 – calling Biggles Read More »
London
The sectioned remains of a World War Two vintage German submarine, or U-boat (from Unterseeboot – undersea boat), lie next to Woodside ferry terminal at Birkenhead, on the west bank of the River Mersey. In April 1945, Hitler’s Third Reich was dying. The Allied armies were inexorably closing in, like the jaws of a giant pair
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North West England
English literature resonates with killer opening lines. Some have become embedded in our culture to the extent that they help define the people we are: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” “Last night I dreamt I went to
From garden to plate – a helping of Peter Rabbit Read More »
North West England
You can see it from miles away. Stirling Castle stands guard from the top of a massive volcanic plug, with steep cliffs on three sides, towering above the ancient crossing over the River Forth and the route armies take between Highland and Lowland. It has witnessed so much of Scotland’s history, including two of its
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Scotland
I’m driving through the terraced urban landscape of South Shields, in search of a Roman fort. It is called Arbeia, a name believed to be a Latinised form of the Aramaic for ‘the place of the Arabs’, because the last known unit stationed there was a company of bargemen – possibly some kind of specialised
There are many secrets buried beneath London’s streets. Once classified, but no longer, is the underground complex beneath the Government Offices Great George Street (GOGGS) near Whitehall, in Westminster: the Second World War Cabinet War Rooms. These will forever be associated with Britain’s wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (1874-1965); thus, including a remarkable Churchill Museum,
The secret Cabinet War Rooms Read More »
London
The Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm Museum is situated, with startling logic, twenty miles or more from the sea. It is a massive place and, if you haven’t already guessed, it tells the story of the Royal Navy in the air: oh, come on – you know what I mean… The museum opened in 1964
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South West
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 »
Scotland
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
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Scotland
They used to build big ships on the New Forest’s tranquil, pretty, Beaulieu River. Men of war that formed part of the Royal Navy’s wooden walls, when Britannia ruled the waves: vessels 150 feet, or more, in length, with 70 menacing cannons poking through gun-ports and crewed by hundreds of officers and men; ships that
You can’t imagine Edinburgh without Edinburgh Castle – it is one of the City’s landmarks, dominating the skyline, perched on a seemingly impregnable, daunting, volcanic rock at the end of The Royal Mile. On a bright day, perhaps at festival time and viewed through the colours of Princes Street Gardens, it is ambiguous; fearsome yet
Formidable Edinburgh Castle Read More »
Scotland