1423
A hungry monk thought he had got away with the tastiest of crimes, but St Cuthbert kept his promise to his beloved birds.
St Cuthbert the Wonderworker of Lindisfarne (?634-687) is one the the most famous of all English saints. He lived in solitude on Inner Farne off the coast of Northumberland, surrounded by the birds he loved, and promised to take care of them even after he was gone.
Posted February 1 2016
1424
Opened in 1725, the Tanfield Railway is one of the oldest railways still operating anywhere in the world.
Dating from 1725, the Tanfield Railway formed part of an extraordinary network of horse-drawn wagonways in North East England that became the basis of the railway revolution.
Posted January 31 2016
1426
Is an old family legend being used as a cover for a very modern murder?
Local superstition about a family legend going back to the English Civil War (1642-1651) blames the death of Charles Baskerville on a giant, ghostly hound, but Sherlock Holmes doesn’t seem to be able to take it seriously.
Posted January 30 2016
1427
It is not politicians and their policies that create wealth, but the hard work and ingenuity of ordinary people.
Richard Cobden MP led the fight in the House of Commons to repeal the Corn Laws, which taxed imports of grain in order to shore up Britain’s agriculture industry. The laws caused the price of bread to rise, making the poor poorer; after the laws were repealed, Britain became the manufacturing centre of the world.
Posted January 29 2016
1428
The oldest surviving heroic legend in English begins with a wild creature of the fens that hunts men for prey.
‘Beowulf’ is the oldest surviving epic in English. Set in Scandinavia, it tells of a hero who pays off a debt of honour, by helping a family friend to rid his neighbourhood of a wretched but deadly enemy.
Posted January 28 2016