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We've all seen the pictures of London's skyline - great edifices such as the Palace of Westminster, St Paul's Cathedral, Nelson's Column, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London alongside more modern structures such as the Gherkin skyscraper, the London Eye and Canary Wharf...

Today is the day in which Britain's great "unwritten" constitution is on display in all its glory. It is the day in which the Queen opens Parliament, amid all sorts of pomp and ceremony (many people assume today's ceremonies are ancient, but in fact many of them date back only to the 20th...

Most people have ducks in their bathrooms, but they are usually made of rubber. But these nine little fellas are very real, very fluffy and very cute. They were born six months before most broods, and at a time of freezing weather. Fearing they would die outdoors, they were rescued by a...

Stars from the world of sport, film and TV braved the terrible weather on Friday night for the first Heroes Cup, held at the Madejski Stadium, home of Reading football team (the Royals) and London Irish rugby union team. The game was in aid of the Help the Heroes charity. The charity was...

The bravery of British soldiers can be absolutely breathtaking. Olaf Schmid is a perfect example. Bomb disposal expert, Staff Sergeant Olaf "Oz" Schmid of the Royal Logistic Corps and who was serving with 2 Rifles Battle Group, defused 64 bombs in Afghanistan in just 5 months, each time...

Britain's Chinook fleet is to increase in size by over 40% after the Government has ordered another 20. The public, including the families of soldiers serving in Afghanistan, have been concerned that a helicopter shortage is to blame for the deaths of many British troops. The beleagured...

In 1999, Scotland got its own parliament, albeit with limited powers, for the first time since 1707. The Scottish Government is currently the Scottish National Party - who wish Scotland to secede from the Union, but polls show that the majority of Scots wish to remain in the UK - who have been...

Kirsty Moore has become the first female pilot to train with the RAF's world famous Red Arrows display team. She's put in more than 1,500 hours of flying and beat 40 other hopefuls. Flight Lieutenant Moore is currently training at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and will join the team proper...

Shoppers at a leather goods store couldn't believe their eyes when an urban fox fell 12 feet through the ceiling. The calamitous canine fell through the ceiling and landed on a pile of luggage in the front window display at the shop in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. The daft animal only...

The fact that the average EU bureaucrat wouldn't know what democracy is even if it strode up to them in the street, introduced itself in the proper way (with the help of a third person) and asked if they would fancy having a few gallons of lagers with it at The Slug and Lettuce isn't the only...

It might have been a game between two giants of the English game battling it out to be crowned champions. But thousands of people have been interested in the clash between Chelsea and champions Manchester United for an entirely different, and bizarre, reason. As Chelsea's Salomon Kalou and...

Not so long ago, British soldiers would have been shot at dawn for desertion or cowardice. Now that capital punishment is, unfortunately, currently banned in Britain, that cannot happen nowadays (though they should bring it back). However, Lance Corporal Joe Glenton still faces 10 years in...

On 12th September 2006, a bomb blast in Afghanistan's Helmand Province left Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson seriously injured. Ben, 25, lost both of his legs, the use of his left arm and was left severaly brain damaged which left him unable to speak. Since then he has had to learn to walk...

The Welsh are "unfriendly" and "rude", finds report by their own tourist board It is known as a land whose national sport is rugby; a land whose inhabitants love singing; a land which is home to Europe's oldest surviving language; a land which gave us the Tudors; a land which didn't have a...

Many Americans have recently protested against Obama's proposals to reform America's health service, fearing that it could become more like Britain's National Health Service (NHS). Scare stories were spread - nearly all of them not true - about Britain's "socialist" health system, including...

Usually, the sight of a rainbow barely warrants a mention. But it does if the rainbow appears at night. Photographer Chris Walker was driving through a storm in Richmond, North Yorkshire, last Sunday when he spotted a rainbow, despite it being 7pm and dark. Most rainbows are seen during the...

England may only be a part of the UK, just as California is a part of the US, Alberta is a part of Canada and Queensland is a part of Australia, but Roy Hattersley considers himself to be English rather than British. The former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Shadow Chancellor, Shadow Home...

The Whitechapel area of east London is not just famous as being the place where Jack the Ripper went on his (or, I suppose, her) bloody killing spree in 1888. It's also the location of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The foundry is Britain's oldest manufacturing firm, founded in 1570 during the...

The Queen today led the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph in central London, the first ever in which no First World War veteran has been present. Britain's last two WWI veterans - Henry Allingham and Harry Patch - died earlier this year. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher...

What a hugely eccentric (in a good sort of way) a nation Britain is. A man named Taffy Thomas, from the Lake District county of Cumbria, has been named the country's first storytelling laureate. Taffy, 60, will start his two-year tenure in January and will travel the length and breadth of...