Dartmoor. The setting for Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles, this beautiful but rugged region of Devon is shrouded in ...

This is the inspiring story of the Talalla brothers, Cyril, known as Jimmy, and Henry, known as Sonny, who made the long trip ...

The title of this story may sound immediately implausible to the cynics amongst you, but surprisingly this is one tale of folklore which is probably founded on some basis of truth! The legend of the ...

The most common date given for the arrival of tobacco in England is 27th July 1586, when it is said Sir Walter Raleigh brought it to England from Virginia. Indeed, one legend tells of how Sir Walter’s ...

Opium, laudanum and other narcotic drugs played an important part in Victorian life.

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 ...

The Highland Clearances remain a controversial period in Scotland’s history. Sheep farming being more profitable than farming, thousands of people were forcibly 'cleared' from the Scottish highlands ...

The term ‘hangover’ is universally understood to mean the disproportionate suffering that comes after a night of over-indulgence. But where does the term actually come from? One possible explanation ...

Being a chimney sweep, or climbing boy as they were often called, was a harsh and dangerous profession. Those employed were often orphans or from impoverished backgrounds, sold into the job by their ...

“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as a good tavern or inn.” So wrote Samuel Johnson and for many, this remains true today. Think of an ...

The British Empire is remembered for its extensive, long-lasting and far-reaching imperial activities that ushered in an era of globalisation and connectivity. The British Empire began in its ...

The year was 1888 and the location Bow in the East End of London, a place where some of the most poverty stricken in society lived and worked. The Match Girls’ Strike was industrial action taken up by ...