A Mixed Bag of Music...

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the lack of posts this week.  I have been out of the country, and although I had hoped to carry on as normal, it just didn't happen.

Anyway, with today being 30th October, here are three offerings of music - completely different genres, I must add - that all have associations with this very day.

The Peak District...

A couple of days ago, I was running through some interesting place names.  Several of these locations were in Derbyshire's Peak District.  So, as one of of the most popular tourist spots outside of London, I think it would be nice to have a better look at the area.

Learning Some ABC's...

I wasn't quite sure what to call this post, as it's a little unusual.  Okay, so what's new?  You can probably tell I have a penchant for interesting and unique place names, so here is another batch, but with a common theme - or two themes, actually!

English Football Team Names (Part Two)...

Carrying on from where I left of last week, here are some more unusual footy team names!

I Vow to Thee My Country...

You may be wondering just what today's post is about, although you probably suspect some sort of patriotism.  Well, if that's what you think, you would be correct!  More precisely, though, this is a musical interlude - of patriotic British tunes!

English Football Team Names (Part One)...

Last year, I published about some of the more unusual team names in Scottish football.  This time, it is the turn of the English.  None of the teams mentioned here are currently competing in the Football League itself, but are all active in regional and local league play.  They are also all members of the Football Association, and played in the Preliminary Round of the 2015-16 F.A.Cup.

Bridging the Gap...

One architectural feature of Britain that is very under-rated (in my honest opinion) is the good old bridge!  Of course, foreigners know about Tower Bridge, the Severn Bridge etc, but we do have a lot more than that - in a remarkable variety of materials and designs.  Here a few that you might not be familiar with...

The Orkney Islands...

...are an island group of the northeast coast of the Scottish mainland.  There are some 70 islands, of which the largest - quite confusingly - is called Mainland!  There are another 19 inhabited islands in the group.  The administrative centre of the Orkneys is Kirkwall, which has a population of approximately 3,300.

A Rural Retreat...

Time for some more poetry, I think.  This offering, however, will not refer to specific places or areas of the UK, but to one of the most wonderful aspects of British life - the countryside!  Here are a couple of short poems for your enjoyment!

The British Final...

We return to my favourite sport - speedway!  The British Final (given its full name of the British Speedway Championship) has been held annually since 1961.  A number of different venues have been used, although you will see that some tracks did become established as regular hosts.  Until the mid-1970's, the event did include Australians and New Zealanders, who also represented Great Britain in international team fixtures.