A Bit About Britain is on Instagram. Just thought I’d mention it. If anyone reading this is also on Instagram, plugging stuff about Britain like wot I do, let’s follow one another, shall we? Every little helps. I am currently…
The 2021 Census
The UK census is a decennial occurrence, held since 1801, with some regional or national variations and the exception of 1941 (when we had other things on our minds). Therefore, 2021 is a census year – at least, it is…
Submit a guest post
Received wisdom is that guest blogging is a good idea. A guest post can help increase website readership and traffic, and can be an excellent way of baby writers helping one another. Being a bright sort of chap-chapess, you probably…
Britain’s High Days and Holidays – Smorgasbord Book Review
The lovely Sally Cronin has published a review of ‘A Bit About Britain’s High Days and Holidays’ on her Smorgasbord Blog Magazine. “This book is not only an entertaining and informative guide to the history of the high days and…
Anniversaries, 2021
Which anniversaries will be marked in Britain in 2021? Here is a selection of noteworthy events and birthdays for you. Each one will be on someone’s calendar for 2021 – and each one offers a little insight into Britain’s story.…
Who we lost in 2020
Which celebrities did Britain say goodbye to in 2020? It is a depressingly long list, but a reminder of some wonderful people, and of our recent past. Most – though certainly not all – of these individuals achieved great things…
2020 – a review
2020 was an exceptional year. It began with the US execution by drone of Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, horrendous bushfires still raging in parts of Australia – and things just got better from there. I have picked…
High Days and Holidays
Just published and available from Amazon – A Bit About Britain’s High Days and Holidays. High Days and Holidays are special occasions, celebrations, or commemorations. They occur throughout the year, some wanted, some not, some remembered more than others. In…
A bit of a plug about Britain’s history
This is (mainly) an unashamed plug for ‘A Bit about Britain’s History’, the book. (No, no – the film’s not out yet, thank you for asking). So if you know all there is to know about British history (because you’ve…
Britain’s biggest, smallest, tallest, oldest …
What is Britain’s longest river, highest mountain, smallest city, oldest pub, longest road, best-selling album, longest-reigning monarch? If you don’t already have this essential knowledge at your finger-tips, look no further. Why? – because the answer to these, and other…
Britain’s changing calendar
News for my loyal reader – the ‘Britain’s calendar’ page on A Bit About Britain, which previously listed holidays and annual events, has been massively overhauled and updated. That page now focuses on public holidays, with all that information contained…
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 75 years on in 2020, most people had no memory of the event,…
Somewhere in England – Part 3
This is the third, and fortunately final, part of our gripping video series exhibiting an unassuming English garden during the lockdown in April 2020. As with Parts 1 and 2, the narrator helpfully points out features not immediately obvious to…
Somewhere in England – Part 2
This is the second in our short three-part video series showing a humble English garden during the lockdown of 2020. Not to be taken very seriously – obviously – these videos perfectly illustrate why preparing a script is such good…