Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday

21st April 1926 was the day when Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the Queen Elizabeth II, was born. Actually, at the time of her birth, nobody would think she will become the Queen of the country. There was a great deal of public interest when news came through that the Duke and Duchess of York had become a proud parents of  a baby daughter. 

Her uncle, Edward, became the King after the death of George V, but he abdicated very soon. On 10th December 1936, Princess Elizabeth of York was with her sister, Margaret, in their London home, 145 Piccadilly, when she became aware of people shouting for her father outside. Her father was away and her mother was ill in bed. Finally, she went to ask a footman the reason for the commotion. He replied that her beloved uncle, Edward VIII, had abdicated and her father was king.

Morris Dancing

The morris dances of the Cotswold, Borders and North-West are all ritual not social dances and, as such, were traditionally performed only by men. Their origins are obscure and their association with fertility debatable, but some features do suggest a relationship with the courtly dances of medieval Europe. Sword dances, and even mumming plays, are also often considered as being part of 'the morris'.

Villages once had their own morris 'sides' and style of dancing, whose secrets were passed down from father to son. The loss of so many men in World War I broke this continuity but, fortunately, most dances were rescued by dedicated collectors before they faded into oblivion. Since then, there has been a great revival of interest in the morris and, today, there are male, female and mixed morris sides throughout the country, performing dances from all these areas and not just on high days and holidays.

The beautiful coast of Hartland Quay, Devon, England

Hartland Quay was once a thriving harbour, mainly because of the area's remote location and the difficulty of transporting goods by road. In the mid 18th century, once the railway had reached Bideford and improvements were made to the road network, the harbour fell into decline, and it became uneconomic to repair from the repeated storm damage.

Hartland Quay, photo by James Appleton

A New Year's Day customs and first-footing

New Year is a minefield of superstitions. There is plenty of good luck to be garnered, but one foot wrong - first or otherwise - and ill-fortune, the evil eye, death, plagues of carnivorous geese and worse await. From Manchester comes a warning about being over-zealous in enforcing these traditions. A man once walked into a pub in the city and asked for whisky on credit. Giving money in the form of cash or credit on New Year's Day is considered very bad luck, but as the date was Monday January 2nd, the man felt that he was entitled to his whisky. The barman refused, pointing out that as New Year's Day had fallen on the Sunday, the Monday was the carried-over holiday and so counted as January 1st, taboos and all. One thing led to another, and during the ensuing brawl the barman was stabbed to death. The discreditable drinker was sent to the gallows.

Places and names in UK

The meaning of a placename is almost always a matter of guesswork. The main fact about place names in England is that they are in origin overwhelmingly English or Norse. This reflects the occupation of England by the Anglo-Saxons and the later settlement of much of eastern England by the Vikings.

Traces the older Celtic placeneames crop up here and there, sometimes in odd ways. Bre was the Celtic word for 'hill' and dun meant 'hill' in Old English. So Breedon on the Hill in Leicestershire is named 'Hill hill on the hill'. In Scotland, Wales and Cornwall many more Celtic names have survived.

Tradition of well-dressing

The charming custom of well-dressing is seen almost exclusively in the villages of the Derbyshire Peak District, an area particularly rich in wells and springs. This originally pagan practice of adorning wells with flowers and greenery was absorbed into the clearly Church - which also appreciated the value of its water supplies.

The wells were re-dedicated to some holy personage and, as in the present-day ceremonies, any decoration was performed as an expression of thanks-giving to God rather than to appease any water spirit.

Royal Ascot fashion

There is a long history of horse racing on the grounds at Ascot and it’s always had a royal association. King James I began the family tradition in the 16th century, becoming a huge supporter of horse races and equestrian sports. In 1711 Queen Anne was out riding near her home in Windsor Castle when she came upon an area of heath. She claimed it was “ideal for horses to gallop at full stretch.” Over the next few years she held a series of equestrian events on the site, which is the site of today’s Ascot race course.