Culture UK
Who are the British? Do they really drink tea, eat roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and never leave home without an umbrella? Find out more about true Brits; past and present, myth and legend, fact and fiction.
Cockney Rhyming Slang
Would you Adam and Eve it! Cockney rhyming slang developed in London’s East End in the 19th century, and was used by market traders and petty criminals to evade and confuse the police…
Mince Pies
One of Britain’s favourite sweet treats at Christmas is the mince pie. This crumbly pastry is filled with fruit, often soaked in brandy and flavoured with citrus and mild spice. However the mince pie was originally a savoury pie – and not even round!
A Tudor Christmas
The twelve days of Christmas would have been a most welcome break for the workers on the land, which in Tudor times would have been the majority of the people. All work, except for looking after the animals, would stop, restarting again on…
A Victorian Christmas
Christmas trees, carol singers, Christmas cards, Father Christmas and crackers – integral parts of a traditional Christmas, but why? The Victorians…
William Armstrong
Inventor, engineer, industrialist and philanthropist, William Armstrong the 1st Baron Armstrong is sometimes called Britain’s forgotten genius…
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…” So begins Sonnet 43 from poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Sonnets from the Portuguese”…
The Loch Ness Monster On Land
The Loch Ness monster is well known to be a water dwelling creature, but few realise that over the years it has reputedly been spotted on land…
Boy, Prince Rupert’s Dog
Boy was a white hunting poodle belonging to Prince Rupert of the Rhine during the English Civil War. Devoted to his master and considered a mascot, Boy accompanied the Prince everywhere, even onto the battlefield at Marston Moor…
