The Great Bed of Ware
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 25, 2020
For much of human history, sleeping arrangements were very informal. You heaped a pile of straw or leaves on the floor, covered it with anim...
Showing posts with the label England
George Cayley: The Man Who Invented Flight
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 19, 2020
History credits Orville and Wilbur Wright for flying the world’s first aircraft, but it was Yorkshire Baronet Sir George Cayley who first pr...
The Dambusters Raid of 1943
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 11, 2020
On the night of 16–17 May 1943, a squadron of the Royal Air Force conducted a daring mission deep into German territory to destroy two dams ...
The Nottingham Cheese Riot of 1766
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 6, 2020
1766 was a bad year for farmers. Crops failed all across Europe, and prices of wheat, flour, corn and other foodstuffs shot up as a conseque...
Rushton Triangular Lodge
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 5, 2020
The Triangular Lodge near Rushton, in Northamptonshire, England, is an unusual building. This three-sided house was built in the late 16th c...
A la Ronde: The 16-Sided House That’s Never Short of Sunlight
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 22, 2020
Near the village of Lympstone, in Devon, England, stands a unique 18th century property—a one of a kind 16-sided house built by two fiercely...
Broomway: Britain’s Deadliest Path
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 21, 2020
Situated on the east coast of Essex, England, on the estuary of River Roach, Foulness Island has long been controlled by the military. The a...
Huer's Hut And Pilchard Fishing
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 20, 2020
Cornwall, in southwest England, once had a thriving fishing industry and at the heart of this industry was the pilchard, also known as sardi...
Writing Sheds of Famous Writers
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 12, 2020
Writers usually have their favorite writing spots, a small, secluded space, sparsely furnished, where creativity flows unimpeded. The chosen...
The Failed British Plan to Destroy Nazi Factories With Exploding Rats
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 29, 2020
During the Second World War, the British Special Operations Executive (SOE)—a secret organization whose job was to conduct espionage and sab...
The Iron Bridge of Shropshire
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 18, 2020
The world’s first cast iron bridge still stands in Shropshire, England, across River Severn. It’s more than two hundred years old. Althoug...
Burnley Embankment
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 11, 2020
Regarded as one of the “Seven Wonders of British Waterways”, the Burnley Embankment, locally known as “The Straight Mile”, is an impressive ...
Medieval Rabbit Warrens
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 31, 2020
Back in medieval England rabbits were not bred in cages but in specially crafted earthen burrows called warrens, or pillow mounds. These wer...
Bull Running in Britain
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 28, 2020
Bull running as a sport is mostly associated with the city of Pamplona, in northern Spain. But until the 19th century, Britain had a similar...
Sway Tower, The 14-Story Folly And The World Tallest Unreinforced Concrete Structure
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 25, 2020
On the outskirts of Sway, a village near Lymington, on Britain’s south coast, stands a peculiar Victorian tower. Visible for miles around, t...
Slip Coach: Trains That Split
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 24, 2020
In the middle of the 19th century, British railway engineers realized that journey times could be appreciably shortened if trains didn’t hav...
Middleton, The World’s Oldest Operating Railway
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 19, 2020
The Middleton Railway in Leeds has been chugging along for the past 260 years, longer than any other railways in the world. It was establish...
London Bridge’s Nonsuch House
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 17, 2020
The Old London Bridge that stood for 600 years over Thames was the river’s key crossing point, as well as the city’s prime real estate area....
Thames Tunnel: The World’s First Tunnel Under a River
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 13, 2020
At the beginning of the 19th century, London was one of the busiest river ports in the world, and the 600-year old stone bridge over Thames ...
Why Britain Lost 11 Days in September 1752
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 11, 2020
Do you know how many British people were born between September 3 and September 13 in the year 1752? None. Absolutely no one was born, nobod...
