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Blog categories

IconIcon Interesting facts about Britain
IconIcon People and customs
IconIcon Leisure, sport, food
IconIcon Homes
IconIcon Education
IconIcon Language
IconIcon History
IconIcon Transport & cars
IconIcon Work & business
IconIcon Law & government
IconIcon Family & healthcare
Pork Pies Cockney Rhyming Slang

What is Cockney rhyming slang?

Bins and graffiti in the back alley between terraced houses

How safe is the UK?

supermarket shelf showing kettle and toaster for sale

British kitchen favourites: the kettle and toaster

British cheeses on a board with sliced apple and pear and a pot of chutney

A history of British cheese

Cryptic Crossword

What is a cryptic crossword?

Longhorn cattle standing on path

The forgotten history of drovers roads

Red sign with the words Cats Eyes Removed

The danger of Cats Eyes Removed

A folly on a hillside in Somerset

Follies – fantastic or foolish?

People at a Brexit demonstration. A protester carries a European Union flag and a British flag

Why did Brexit happen?

Row of apples on a wall

Why you can’t bring apples into Britain

illuminated ship in Liverpool - one of Britains biggest cities

Guide to Britain’s biggest cities

Information about rents, crime and more
Street with houses and flats, and a rainbow over the top

What makes a good neighbour in Britain?

Shopping in English or Messages in Scots

Scots – a language like English, but not

English Countryside with the low sun showing a rippled pattern in the field caused by the medieval Ridge And Furrow system

Why some fields have a rippled surface

Wreath on door

Why we have Christmas door wreaths

Coat Of Arms

What is a coat of arms?

Window of high street betting shop

Gambling in Britain

Group of grey and white chickens

How modern English evolved

Edwardian Houses

How old is your house?

Moving to the UK - People waiting in the arrivals area of Heathrow airport

Guide to moving to the UK

A quick guide to living in the UK for new arrivals
Market stall selling bread. The stallholder is giving change to a person who has just bought something

Why people say please and thank you so much

Castle Combe, a very charming village in the Cotswolds area of the UK

Why this isn’t a typical English village

Guide to British humour. Two young people laughing together

Guide to British humour

Crows perched on wooden poles by the coast

Why this is called a ‘murder of crows’

Cards from people who have all added an X after their name

What that X means on messages

Bluebells on a slope at Roseberry Topping,Middlesbrough

The best time to see bluebells

View down one part of the M25 flanked by trees and bushes

The hidden beauty of British motorways

People on deckchairs near Brighton Pier

30 very British things to do

Terraced Houses In Chester

Why are there so many terraced houses?

Hand holding a Four Leaf Clover

Lucky and unlucky symbols in Britain

Hot water bottle and fingerless gloves

7 clever tips for winter warmth

A church organ

Pulling out all the stops – and other British expressions

A road sign saying Welcome to Beer please drive carefully. Beer is a town in Devon.

Why British places have such strange names

A pig on a lead

Pigs as pets?

View of a charming village with church in the background and a bridge in the foreground

The most popular properties in Britain

A row of colourful beach huts

Why beach huts are so expensive

View through a steamed-up window

Why there is water on the inside of the windows

Chalkboard on pub wall with the words 'Fancy dress party 80's theme new years eve'

Why fancy dress is so popular

Man using cashpoint

Where to find financial help

Cargo ship being unloaded in Felixstowe

List of benevolent funds

Two men thatching a roof

What traditional British last names mean

A group of people drinking tea from mugs

Great places to meet new people

Group of people working in an office

How to make friends at work

Group of children performing karate in a park

Where to find local groups in Britain

Woman looking fairly excited about a gift she has just opened. A man sits next to her

Why a lie can be better than the truth

A winding road on a flat landscape

Why British roads are not straight

Damaged road surface showing a hole and also an area where it has been mended before

Why road surfaces are so bad in Britain

London Underground train in a station

The best way to London from the airports

Sofa in a living room. On the sofa is a blanket and cushion

Cheap places to find furniture & appliances

A row of To Let signs from different estate agents

List of estate agents’ property descriptions

Two large recycling bins on the beach at Brighton

What you can recycle – and where

People Shopping At A Car Boot Sale

Don’t throw it away – rehome it!

Hands on a laptop

What to do if you don’t have fixed broadband

Basic British Gardening - a trowel, a lawn and some primroses

Very basic British gardening

Boys fighting with wooden weapons outside ruined castle

The most important dates in British history

Berrington Hall is a large country house set in grassy parkland with large trees and sheep.

Who was Capability Brown?

A Young Family Walking Through Flowers with a signpost showing an acorn in the foreground

Why you want to follow the acorn sign

Hidcote garden

Where to find the best British gardens

People walking in woodland in the winter

The hidden dangers of walking in Britain

Map showing the counties of England

British counties explained

Police car parked by residential street

When to contact the police

Fireworks in the sky

Some interesting British laws

People visiting stalls of traditional village fayre

The best month for an outdoor event

Cars driving on a flooded road

The funny side of British weather

Beach in summer with heavy grey clouds covering the whole sky

Why Britain’s weather is so bad

Man pouring tea for his daughter

Why do British people drink so much tea?

Sign on a train saying 'No smoking, vaping or candle stick making on platforms or trains'

Is it a joke? Everyday humour

Dictionary lying open

Why English has so many words for the same thing

Group of women seen from behind. All are wearing trousers

Pants – and other American misunderstandings

A British roast dinner, consisting of roasted meat, roast potatoes, boiled carrots, peas and broccoli plus a Yorkshire pudding and stuffing balls

British food – good or bad?

A tray with three types of beer in the foreground. In the background there is a man in a wheelchair

The custom of buying a round

Men sitting at the bar of a pub in front of different beer and ale pump handles

The difference between lager, bitter and ale

Pallets with tins of baked beans in a supermarket

Why British people love baked beans

Picture of a flat wheat roll on a paper plate

From baps to barmcakes – strange names for bread rolls

A man shows a graph to another man

Chief, Chairman or CEO? Names at the top

People sitting outside on a sunny day, one man looking at his mobile phone

Guide to the language in job adverts

Woman in suit with her feet on the table in front of her. She is holding a mobile phone

How to get a better job

Man buttoning a dark suit

What to wear for a job interview

Demonstration by teachers against cuts to education budget

How to find a trade union

Child putting sand in toy truck

Guide to childcare options in Britain

Children wearing school uniform in a classroom

Guide to the different types of state school

SAT exam papers on a table

School exams in Britain

Children in a classroom doing art activities

Names for school years

Conkers lying in grass and fallen leaves. Conkers are the fruit of the horse chestnut tree

Britain’s strangest sports

Man on a horse playing polo

Sport and social class in Britain

Group of people on horses in front of a large country house. The people are wearing clothes used for foxhunting

What is foxhunting?

Group of men watching sport, seen from behind

Britain’s most popular spectator sports

Wooden pole showing yellow arrows for public footpaths

Great places to go for a walk

Hands on a laptop

Further education as an adult

Classroom with colourful walls and paintings

How councils choose a school for your child

Variety of signs for pleasure boat trips called Pirate and Yorkshireman

Regional accents in Britain

View of a newspaper advert from the government with the words Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives. Also a cup of tea and a child's drawing of a rainbow

The NHS: a national hero

A doctor is using a stethoscope to listen to a man's lungs

What is a GP?

Bus at a bus stop, man in wheelchair is using the ramp access

Need help getting to a hospital appointment?

Two medical staff in an operating theatre

Private medical care vs the NHS

Saxon-style huts at an open air museum in Suffolk

Britain’s best living history museums

A plate of mixed biscuits

Biscuits – and manners

Side of pub building showing a colorful sign hanging from the wall and the words 'free house'

Pubs: what are they?

Students on graduation day at Portsmouth university, throwing their mortarboard hats into the air

University tuition fees – things to consider

Back view of schoolboys at Eton walking through a very smart courtyward. The boys are wearing long black formal jackets

Private vs state schools