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  1. Blackleaf

    Jeremy Clarkson offends the Germans (again) and the Poles

    Due to recent historical events, poking fun at the Germans - who the British think of as possessing no sense of humour - is a great British pastime. Jeremy Clarkson is no exception. Jeremy, the presenter of the BBC motoring series Top Gear, must be taunting the Germans at least once a month...
  2. Blackleaf

    Images from history: Rarely seen photographs bring 1800s London back to life

    If you're interested in old photography, take a look at these photos. These old photos of London were taken back in the 1800s. There's one from way back in 1844 showing the construction of Nelson's Column just 39 years after the Battle of Trafalgar at a time when the Bloody Code reigned...
  3. Blackleaf

    Saved for the nation: The oak trees that shaded Henry VIII and his bride-to-be Jane

    Savernake Forest in Wiltshire is where King Henry VIII courted his soon-to-be third wife Jane Seymour - the mother of the future King Edward VI - beneath the trees. It's also the location of the Belly Oak. According to legend, the Devil appears to anyone who dances around it anti-clockwise and...
  4. Blackleaf

    Hay, clock this: Farmer builds Big Ben replica in his field from 50 bales of straw

    Motorists travelling along the A51 in Cheshire between Chester and Nantwich may think they are seeing things when they see Big Ben in a field. But they're not. Local businessmen Chris Sadler and Mike Harper built a straw replica of London's great icon in a field by the side of the road to...
  5. Blackleaf

    Afghanistan (With apologies To Kipling)

    In 1895, British poet and author Rudyard Kipling - the man who wrote The Jungle Book in 1894, giving us characters such as Mowgli and Shere Khan - wrote a poem about the hellish conditions British troops face in Afghanistan. Now, just like in the 19th Century, British soldiers are fighting a...
  6. Blackleaf

    McDuffers: Apart from the Glasgow kiss, are the Scots good for anything?

    It was revealed last week that haggis, Scotland's national dish, was actually invented in England. Food historian Catherine Brown (who is Scottish, so it wasn't an English person making these claims) has found a reference to haggis in an English cooking guide from 1615. The earliest mention...
  7. Blackleaf

    Haggis was invented by the English but hijacked by Scottish nationalists

    Who would be Scottish? They didn't beat the English many times in battles and nowadays they don't beat the English many times in football or rugby. Scotland and England may nowadays be unified as one nation as they have been for 300 years, but there are still reasons for the hapless Scots to...
  8. Blackleaf

    The Human Shrub strikes again... with his wife the Human Shrubette

    For the last couple of months, a "human shrub", whose identity remains a mystery, has been transforming neglected public gardens by pulling out the weeds and replacing them with brightly-coloured flowers. There are rumours that the Human Shrub is a member of the Conservative Party (or maybe...
  9. Blackleaf

    Booze culture: Drinking to excess can leave you red-faced in the morning

    Everyone knows that the British like a good drink, as they have done for centuries. And it's not that weak stuff that's drunk in North America either. An incredible ten million British adults (out of an adult population of around 45 million) are currently drinking more than the recommended...
  10. Blackleaf

    E.T. find home? RSPCA struggles to find new owner for Britain's ugliest mutt

    Meet ET, Britain's ugliest dog. The unfortunate mutt is so ugly that, for the last three months, visitors to the kennels in Waltham Abbey, Essex, where he is looked after just ignore him. ET is so ugly because he is a Mexican Hairless, one of just 27 in the UK. He's so ugly he can't even...
  11. Blackleaf

    Inside the imposing interior of Britain's new £36m Supreme Court

    Here are some pictures of Britain's brand new Supreme Court, which will start work on 5th October. It will take over the judicial functions of the House of Lords, which are currently exercised by the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lords) - separating the judicial and legislative roles of the...
  12. Blackleaf

    Children flee as bus carrying them home from seaside bursts into flames

    When a group of primary school children were returning from a trip to the seaside, their journey home was more eventful than they thought it would be. They were travelling up the M3 from Weymouth in Dorset when their double-decker bus burst into flames. Pictured: Primary school children flee...
  13. Blackleaf

    English football in mourning after the death of legend Sir Bobby Robson

    English football legend Sir Bobby Robson has died aged 76. The former England player and manager battled cancer five times, and passed away on Friday. Sir Bobby was at Newcastle's St James' Park on Sunday to watch a friendly match to raise money for his cancer charity. The England and...
  14. Blackleaf

    Doctor Who named as 'most successful sci-fi show ever' by Guinness World Records

    British TV series Doctor Who has been named the most successful sci-fi show ever. It has already been awarded a Guinness record for the world's longest-running sci-fi series - it has been on our screens since 1963. The new series - Series 31 - returns in 2010, and there will be a new Doctor...
  15. Blackleaf

    Photograph: swallow flies through two-inch gap at 35 miles per hour

    He's not Biggles, but he sure is an exceptional flyer. This little swallow was photographed travelling at 35mph through a two-inch gap. The swallow is one of a pair of breeding chicks in the mountainous Angus Glens area, near Dundee, Angus. Photograph: swallow flies through two-inch gap at...
  16. Blackleaf

    The South of France?... No, it's harvest time at Britain's largest lavender farm

    One of the advantages of having plenty of rain, as Britain does, is that the land isn't blighted by scorched, yellowed grass as Southern Europe is, and we don't have parched desert areas, such as in the United States or Australia. Instead, Britain's countryside is always lush and green, and an...
  17. Blackleaf

    The Hex Factor: Estate agent wins £50,000 job as Wookey Hole witch

    An estate agent (or "realtor" as I think you say in North America) known as Carla Calamity has won the competition to work as a witch at Somerset's Wookey Hole Caves, a tourist attraction. Wookey Hole Caves (the world "Wookey" comes from the Old English "Wocig", which meant "animal trap") was...
  18. Blackleaf

    Gloriously British: UK's attempt to put a cheddar cheese into space ends in failure

    The Americans, who like things being done on a grand and glitzy scale, have put the odd man into space and even on the Moon. But the Yanks cannot beat the British at one thing - eccentricity (and cricket). Rather than putting a man, or even a monkey or a dog, into space, the British have...
  19. Blackleaf

    Armed and ready to protect One: Meet the first Sikh soldiers to guard the Queen

    The two proud young British soldiers wear their smart uniforms with pride as they go about the task of guarding their country's Head of State and the Crown Jewels. Armed with loaded rifles, it won't be a good idea to mess with these two. Signaler Simranjit Singh, 26, and Lance Corporal...
  20. Blackleaf

    England win bid to host 2015 Rugby Union World Cup and 2013 Rugby League World Cup

    The next decade is looking to be a golden one for British sport. London is hosting the 2012 Olympics, Glasgow is hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games and England is hosting the 2019 Cricket World Cup. On top of that, England is also bidding to host the 2018 Football World Cup. And...