Six historical bookshops to celebrate Independent Bookshop Week
To celebrate Independent Bookshop Week, here are six historical bookshops from across the country
Independent Bookshop Week will take place from 15 to 22 June this year, with exciting initiatives and events celebrating independent bookshops...
D-Day secrets: Stately homes during the Second World War
80 years ago, D-Day marked a turning point in the Second World War. Far from the Normandy beaches, a number of stately homes played a pivotal – and top-secret – role in wartime operations
Words...
Secrets of D-Day: Bletchley Park codebreakers
On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Bletchley Park veteran Pat Davies looks back at her time working for Station X, the hidden home of the Second World War codebreakers
Words by Natasha Foges
Pat Davies, Second...
The D-Day Landings
80 years ago, On 6 June 1944, over 4,000 Allied soldiers lost their lives fighting to free Europe from Nazi oppression during the D-Day landings
What were the D-Day landings?
The Allied D-Day landings on the...
Elizabethan London: Royals and rogues
From taverns and playhouses to markets and slums, what was London really like in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I?
Words by Neil Jones
Elizabethan London
A French visitor to England in 1578 waxed lyrical that “rumour...
West Penwith: Cornish myths and legends
West Penwith at Cornwall’s southwestern tip is a little land apart, with a landscape of craggy cliffs and windswept moors that swirl with Cornish myths and legends
Words by Elizabeth Dale
Cornish myths and legends in...
Ashdown Forest: In Winnie-the-Pooh’s footsteps
Magical Ashdown Forest was the inspiration for A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books. A century on, it is as enchanting as ever...
Words by Natasha Foges
Who wrote Winnie-the-Pooh?
The stories of Winnie-the-Pooh, the bumbling “Bear of Very Little...
Pitchford Hall: A day in the life of a historic home
James and his wife Rowena Nason returned to the beautiful Tudor Pitchford Hall in Shropshire where she grew up, 25 years after it was sold and fell into neglect. They are now restoring it...
Ceremonial events in London: From Changing the Guard to the State Opening of Parliament
From the world-famous Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace to quirky traditions at the Tower of London, there is a spectacular calendar of ceremonial events in London. But what does this symbol-laden pageantry...
10 facts about St George’s Day
How did a man born in Cappadocia in AD 270 become the patron saint of England? Here are 10 fantastic facts about St George’s Day.