Mature Times - History

How talking about my interests changed my life

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:03:38 +0100

Finding an audience for talks on his interests and pursuits has proved a life-changing experience for MT reader Brian Jones. And you, he says, could find your life changed too.

Access our heritage at the click of a button

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:18:33 +0100

Forget dusty archive rooms and dark library basements, English Heritage is bringing history bang up to date and direct to homes with the launch of "EHTV" – a new online service, offering an alternative way to watch and relive history at a click of a mouse.

Some fascinating facts from history...

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:59:35 +0000

It was a sign of wealth that a man could bring home the bacon and this was hung in the fireplace to cure. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat...

Recognition at last for women Spitfire pilots

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:57:24 +0000

The handful of women survivors who flew Spitfires as part of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) during the Second World War are now expected to be honoured with a special badge

Did you know that the Germans had their own Dunkirk?

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:29:40 +0000

"Few people will have heard of the crucial Battle for the Scheldt in 1944, which is not surprising because there is very little mention made of it. Perhaps because it was the scene of much to be ashamed of: mistakes made by prima donna Generals which cost many lives, young men fighting with inadequate weapons, and hundreds dying in the mud of Flanders' Polder fields, flooded by the retreating Germans opening the sluice gates."

MT reader Jim Woodward is fighting to make sure that the memory of thousands of young lives in a campaign that went badly wrong is not lost in this country.

E-museum launched to celebrate wildlife film memories and milestones.

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:02:16 +0100

David Attenborough’s romp with wild gorillas in the mountains of Rwanda has become one of television’s most memorable moments - now the real story about the sequence’s shaky beginnings is among the scores of surprising anecdotes that have just become available online following the launch by the Bristol-based charity of WildFilmHistory – an e-museum of wildlife film memories and milestones.

My Grandfather's Great War

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:15:28 +0000

"Ninety years ago my grandfather wrote a very personal and graphic account of his time on the Somme in the Great War..." A remarkable World War I diary has just been published by the soldier's grandson. Bringing the diary to the public has proved an emotional journey for TV and theatre actor Cameron Stewart.

Putting England's glorious heritage in the frame

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:01:07 +0100

It started in October 1999, and now, 13,000 rolls of film later a totally unique snapshot of England’s listed buildings has been preserved for future generations in "Images of England" - an ambitious English Heritage project to create one of the UK’s largest on-line image libraries.

150 years on - not just a postcode lottery

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:00:42 +0100

On August 31st the Royal Mail celebrated the 150th anniversary of UK postcodes in the UK today - a service that most of us take for granted - but how often do we reflect on how invaluable the humble postcode has been to ensure mail is delivered accurately and promptly?

Britain's oldest veteran inspires younger generation

Wed, 02 May 2007 11:32:37 +0100

Henry Allingham, aged 110, Britain's oldest surviving veteran of the First World War has brought to schoolchildren in Tamworth something that no history book could ever deliver: his own living memory.

New detector to help you unearth history

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:28:44 +0100

Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman has launched an easy-to-use, light-weight effective metal detector - enabling people of all ages to find their own piece of history.

Emma Darwin gets her place in the sun

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:20:20 +0000

For the first time, the small pocket diaries of Emma Wedgwood Darwin (1808-1896) wife of Charles Darwin, can be seen by the public at Darwin Online. Previously known only to a few scholars of the Darwin Archive at Cambridge University Library, Emma’s diaries are have been made available through the kindness of their owner, Professor Richard Darwin Keynes.

Can you help uncover the secrets of Ypres?

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:00:45 +0000

Ninety years after the battle of Passchendaele, known officially as the third battle of Ypres, a group of mud-splattered enthusiasts are trying to dig up some of the key trenches of World War I. And the BBC needs your help.

One woman show captures suffragette suffering

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 15:12:19 +0000

Stories of eccentric, talented and feisty women from a previous century are rare. And for such women to become independently recognised public figures, let alone ending up in jail, is even rarer. Thankfully the story of one such woman, Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (1858-1944), has been preserved not just through her writing and compositions, but by an unique one-woman show performed by actress Gill Stoker.

Make a date with the past in York

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 14:54:11 +0000

The Jorvik Viking Festival festival returns to York once again in February and promises to be as spectacular as ever, bringing Viking mayhem and madness to the streets of York. Between the 14th and 18th February 2007, a packed five-day themed programme will celebrate the richness of Viking life and will offer an exhilarating mix of spectacle and culture.