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  1. Blackleaf

    Scotland has voted No to a second referendum

    Now that the Scottish Tories have more than doubled their seats in the Scottish Parliament, politics north of the border show signs of becoming less messianic and more normal The most important immediate effect is on next month’s nationwide EU referendum. One of the fears had been...
  2. Blackleaf

    Cartimandua

    Whilst most of us have heard of Boudica (Boadicea), queen of the Iceni in 1st century Britain, Cartimandua (Cartismandua) is less well known. Cartimandua (Cartismandua) By Ellen Castelow, Contributing Writer Historic UK Whilst most of us have heard of Boudica (Boadicea), queen of the...
  3. Blackleaf

    Phantom Battle of Edgehill

    The Battle of Edgehill, the first battle of the English Civil War, took place on 23rd October 1642. However, the ghostly re-enactment of the battle has been witnessed many times since in the very Warwickshire field where the Parliamentarians and the Royalists fought each other... Phantom...
  4. Blackleaf

    Lord Rokeby: the original hipster with water on the brain

    Whether unfashionably dipping in the sea or providing public drinking fountains, this peer was magnificently obsessed, says Hazel Davis Lord Rokeby: the original hipster with water on the brain True British eccentric: Lord Rokeby Credit: National Portrait Gallery 7 May 2016 Hazel Davis...
  5. Blackleaf

    Top 11 monarchs in British history

    Andrew Gimson, author of Gimson’s Kings and Queens: Brief Lives of the Monarchs Since 1066, selects his top 11 monarchs in English – and then British – history since 1066 Top 11 monarchs in British history...
  6. Blackleaf

    The 335 Year War - the longest war in history

    Situated off the western coast of mainland Cornwall and basking in the warmth of the Gulf Stream, the Isles of Scilly were - until 1986 - involved in the longest running war in history. The 335 Year War (as it is now known) was a bloodless conflict between the Netherlands and the tiny...
  7. Blackleaf

    Forget Zac — the Women’s Equality Party are the real fearmongers

    Up to 6 million Londoners are heading to the polls today in the London mayoral election, one of seven elections being held today around the UK. Many have accused the Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith of fearmongering - but the real fearmongerers aren't the Tories, it's the Women's Equality Party...
  8. Blackleaf

    Have Foxes turned Leicester into UK's sporting capital?

    It already lays claim to being the heart of England, but is Leicester now the sporting capital of the United Kingdom? Leicester City's Premier League title win is the force behind their case, while Mark Selby's second World Snooker Championship triumph, Leicester Tigers' hunt for an 11th...
  9. Blackleaf

    David Cameron holds Gary Lineker to MOTD pants promise

    Gary Lineker should keep his promise and present Match of the Day in his underwear, Prime Minister David Cameron has said. The former England footballer joked back in December that he would present the show "in just my undies" if Leicester City won the Premier League. Leicester East MP Keith...
  10. Blackleaf

    Captain Cook's Endeavour is finally found 230 years after it disappeared

    Captain Cook's famous ship has seemingly been discovered in the US 230 years since it was sold, sunk and forgotten. The Endeavour is one of the most famous ships in naval history and was used by Captain James Cook to discover the East Coast of Australia in 1770. The last sighting of the...
  11. Blackleaf

    Leicester City make history by winning their first ever league title

    Thousands of people across Leicester celebrated wildly late into the night last night to celebrate what is probably the greatest sporting achievement in history - 5,000-1 odds Leicester City winning their first ever league title. Bars and pubs across Britain's tenth-largest city were packed as...
  12. Blackleaf

    The EU’s defenders are clinging to something that is weakening

    If you point out that “Europe”, unlike in 1975, the last time we had an EU in/out referendum, does not feel like the future, people respond. The EU’s defenders are clinging to something that is weakening: those who want to leave are reaching out for something better. That is the exact...
  13. Blackleaf

    Lady Jane Grey

    Whilst Queen Elizabeth II is our longest reigning monarch, poor Lady Jane Grey had the shortest reign …just nine days... Lady Jane Grey By Ellen Castelow, Contributing Writer Historic UK Lady Jane Grey reigned from 10th July to 19th July 1553 Tragic Lady Jane Grey is remembered in...
  14. Blackleaf

    Princess Charlotte: Photographs released to mark first birthday

    New photographs of Princess Charlotte, taken by her mother the Duchess of Cambridge, have been released to mark her first birthday. The four photographs were taken in April at their family home in Norfolk. The princess, who turns one on Monday, is seen walking - with the aid of a baby...
  15. Blackleaf

    4,000-year-old deer skull and antlers found in fossilised forest

    A 4,000-year-old red deer skull and antlers have been found on the same Welsh beach where an ancient forest was uncovered by storms two years ago. The amazing find was made by two walkers who spotted the antlers lying in the sand on the beach at Borth, Ceredigion – an area already...
  16. Blackleaf

    Cameron must stand firm and keep refugee children out of UK

    Cameron has been wonderfully clear: Britain will take in 20,000 refugees but it will fly them in directly from the Middle East. To take those who arrive in Europe, he says, is to play the game of people trafficking – an enterprise that Britain wishes to eradicate, rather than support. On...
  17. Blackleaf

    New Doctor Who companion revealed

    Pearl Mackie has been unveiled as the Twelfth Doctor's new companion. Mackie's role as new Doctor Who companion Bill was revealed on BBC One on Saturday, at half time during the FA Cup semi-final between Everton and Manchester United in a special scene showing Capaldi's Time Lord and Bill...
  18. Blackleaf

    Anti-Semitic former London Mayor is confronted by furious Labour MP

    Furious Labour MP confronts Red Ken and brands him a 'f****** disgrace' and 'Nazi apologist' over his claim Hitler backed moving Jews to Israel 'before he went mad and ended up killing six million' Labour MP John Mann today...
  19. Blackleaf

    New EU poll puts Brexit in the lead after Obama's intervention

    After Obama's intervention in the UK's EU in/out referendum last week, in which he said that the UK will be "at the back of the queue" regarding a trade deal with the US if it decides to leave the EU, the Bremainers were looking and acting rather smug, thinking the intervention is going to put...
  20. Blackleaf

    The men who changed Henry VIII’s underpants

    Anyone who harbours serious political ambitions in the England of 2016 must first become a member of parliament. Things were very different in 1516, during the reign of Henry VIII, when the most prized courtly positions were, superficially, the most degrading. As Dr Edward Dutton reveals, the...