Share 

 

Highclere Castle, which plays the part of Downton Abbey in Julian Fellowes historical drama. Why is Downton so popular? See below... (Note this image by Martin Bishop is copyright free)

Welcome to InfoBritain, for historical visiting information in the UK. InfoBritain tells you what happened and where it happened. We have articles and visits relating to all historical periods from prehistoric Britain to recent times, and to the lives of major British authors, artists, musicians, scientists, politicians, military and royal figures. You can use our site search, or our various menus to find suggested visits relating to times or people. Alternatively go to the regions menu, find a place to visit in a particular area, and then link back to the history relating to it. We also have a full accommodation booking service for all parts of the mainland UK. We specialise in historic accommodation, but we also have comprehensive lists of hotels of all types and price ranges. See the regional menus on the right. Enjoy!

An alphabetical index is available below.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y

A Personal Note (Archive)

So Downton Abbey... a massively popular historical drama, winner of the Christmas television ratings, a hit in America, victim of scathing comments from Simon Schama. What to make of it? Well Downton is something I really enjoy. For me, the programme is reminiscent of the books of the great PG Wodehouse, who wrote stories where people have to put their trust in higher things. And those higher things are not what they seem. Bertie Wooster, the famous aristocrat of the Jeeves and Wooster books, always gets into bother because he does not trust in his brilliant butler Jeeves. In Downton people are expected to trust in Lord Grantham, to respect the fact that he deserves to be where he is and behave accordingly. He has not been elected to his office. He is there by right of his birth, and people just have to accept it. As it happens Lord Grantham is a good man, interested in the well being of all the people in his charge. But the fact that he fulfills his position well is neither here nor there. Even if he was a scoundrel, he would still be an earl. So is that a good idea, accepting someone more on faith than on merit? Fascinatingly Lord Grantham is an attractive character because he is himself accepting of people. He keeps faith in his old batman Bates, who has got into a severe spot of bother with his vile wife. He even keeps giving the benefit of the doubt to his ambitious footman Thomas, who reveals himself as a petty, self interested crook on many occasions. Lord Grantham is not a naive fool. He is astute and realistic. After all he married his American wife for her fortune. But even so, there remains this charming faith that things will come out right. He married Lady Grantham for her money, but has come to love her, accepting both his own and her ulterior motives without bitterness. PG Wodehouse stories are really about having faith that things will come out right. Watching Downton I think its charm comes from exactly the same thing.

Best wishes

Martin

Historical news for February

Ships are always interesting as history. They are little national communities, revealing as much about the time they came from as the place. At the Maritime Museum, Falmouth award winning author Philip Marsden will be giving a lecture this month on his latest book The Levelling Sea. This book, fittingly has been described as a microcosm of British history, like a ship in a bottle. Date: 29th February at 6.30 pm. Telephone 01326 215546 or go to the museum web site http://www.nmmc.co.uk/index.php?/whatson/events/philip_marsdens_the_levelling_sea/

Want an idea for a special Valentines evening? Leeds Castle in Kent has hardly ever been involved in the unpleasant business of fighting. Instead it was a lovely castle for the ladies, and was given as a romantic present to a number of English queens. On February 14th you can dine at the castle, and then stay overnight in one of the castle's luxurious guest rooms. Dinner £145 per person. Rooms from £225 per night. Use the following link for more details: http://www.leeds-castle.com/goto.php?sess=+A5A5247191850465D+E+852+9+B5B5841&id=126

To mark the centenary of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole a display of photographs taken by expedition photographer Herbert Ponting is being staged at the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London. There are also photographs taken by Frank Hurley of Ernest Shackleton's Endurance expedition of 1914 - 16. Visitors will be able to view artifacts from both these expeditions. The exhibition runs from October 2011 to 15th April 2012. Telephone 020 7766 7301.

 

Anniversaries for February

1st February 1953: High winds and high tides combined to overwhelm sea defences and cause widespread flooding in eastern England; 24,000 homes were flooded, and 30,000 people left homeless.

6th February 1665 : Birth of the future Queen Anne at St James's Palace, London. She was the daugther of James Duke of York, and Anne Hyde, a determined woman, a former maid of James's mother, who refused to be just another royal fling.

7th February 1974 : Following a miners' strike and the imposition of a three day working week to conserve fuel supplies, prime minister Edward Heath calls a snap election. The election held on 28th February would see Heath defeated, and Harold Wilson's Labour government taking over.

14th February 1979 : After a series of devasating strikes involving millions of British workers, James Callaghan's government agrees a concordat with the TUC General Council. Although Trade Union leaders no longer had the authority to suddenly stop the strikes, the concordat did see the strikes begin to wind down.

17th February 1912 : Returning from the South Pole with his party of four men, Captain Scott finds Edgar Evans collapsed in the snow: "I was the first to reach the poor man and shocked at his appearance: he was on his knees with clothing disarranged, hands uncovered and frost bitten, and a wild look in his eyes. Asked what was the matter he replied with slow speech that he didn't know, but thought he must have fainted. We got him to his feet but after one or two steps he sank back down again. He showed every sign of complete collapse. Wilson, Bowers and I went back for the sledge while Oates stayed with him. When we returned he was practically unconscious, and when we got him into the tent quite comatose. He died quietly at 12.30am."

22nd February 1997: A significant moment in the history of science as Dolly the sheep in cloned by scientists in Edinburgh.

25th February 1570: Pope Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth I. This caused huge difficulties for English Catholics, as loyalty to the pope was by definition disloyalty to the monarch.

 

Enter the InfoBritain Shop via the Royal Opera Arcade, the first shopping arcade built in Britain. Here you will find a range of products and services we've put along side the information offered on InfoBritain.

Click on the image to enter the shop.

Please be aware

We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our information, but it is always advisable to check details of any visit beforehand using contact details provided. If you spot a mistake please let us know by contacting us.

Almost all photography on InfoBritain is by InfoBritain or by named contributors. All educational use is permitted, but copyright is reserved for commercial uses. Occasionally we have used copyright free stock images which are available for any use. A note will identify these images.

Thank you to photo contributors Danielle Davis, Jean Edwards, Vicky Eagle of Portsmouth Dockyard, Kevin Edwards, Julian Jones, Richard Jones, Jackie Lewis, Debbie Lowless, Judy Mills of the Corinium Museum, and Susan Stuart of Old Spitalfields Market.