Archive
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Dom Joly: When I was cool
My 45-date tour of the UK rolls on and the schedule is pretty brutal. So, when we get the opportunity of a day and, more importantly, a night off, we tend to cut loose. When I say we, I’m on the road with my technical support crew who are both
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When is Christmas Jumper Day 2024? Why the annual day is celebrated
It’s almost time for this year’s Christmas Jumper Day but what is it and when does it take place? Christmas Jumper Day is a campaign that sees celebrities and the general public wear Christmas Jumpers on a specific date to raise money for Save
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7 of the best beauty advent calendars for 2024
Beauty advent calendars are a tricky purchase. What if I never wear lipstick? What if the shades aren’t right? What if I don’t like the scent? The list of worrying questions can feel so endless they deter us from calendars all together. Nevertheless
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The enigmatic Cumbrian character who gained notoriety for her unique look
The annals of our county’s history are chockful of remarkable characters. Some of the most intriguing led lonely lives. That certainly seems to have been Jane Roger’s lot. A recluse and eccentric, she was a familiar figure around west Cumbria some
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‘Unique’ Bronze Age wooden spade found during wetlands creation project
An extremely rare 3,500-year-old wooden spade has been uncovered by archaeologists working as part of a scheme to create coastal habitat. The “once-in-a-career find” in Poole Harbour is one of the oldest, most complete wooden spades to have been
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A remarkable discovery of the Cheddar Brooch
Dating from about AD 800 to 900, the large silver and copper alloy disc brooch is well over a thousand years old and is one of the most important single objects ever found in the county. It comes from a time when the survival of Saxon Wessex was in
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The mysterious world of illusionist, escapologist and inventor John Maskelyne
This month, by sleight of hand, I give you John Maskelyne (1839-1917), the Cheltenham-born illusionist and escapologist of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This month’s ‘Great’ certainly made his mark in the Cotswolds, and elsewhere, not only as ‘
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The vicar’s daughter whose travels became the talk of Victorian society
Isabella Lucy Bishop, née Bird, was born on 15th October 1831, the year before the Great Reform Act, which extended male suffrage in the UK, while offering nothing to women. A writer, photographer, naturalist and traveller, Isabella was the daughter
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A Lancashire village’s 400 years at the heart of a religious movement
The village of Yealand Conyers is perhaps best known for its proximity to popular tourist attractions, rather than the parish itself. Just a short walk from Leighton Hall, the ancestral home which dates back to 1246, and Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve
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Ten years on: What do we know about the objects in the Galloway Hoard?
The remarkable origins of a lidded vessel which contained treasures of the Galloway Hoard have been revealed for the first time, 10 years after its discovery. Conservation work, research and scientific analysis have proved that the materials used
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The Beccles boy turned vice-master of Trinity College
A writer and editor, and a man of letters like me, William Aldis Wright presented immediate problems with general disagreement on the year of his birth with 1831 and 1836 also proffered. He was principally an editor, so with a shout out for our own
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Samantha Harvey becomes first woman since 2019 to win Booker Prize
British author Samantha Harvey has become the first woman since 2019 to win the Booker Prize. Her book Orbital, about astronauts looking down at Earth, was named as the winner of the £50,000 prize and trophy at a ceremony held at Old Billingsgate
