1 May 2023

Chester - Learn about Europe's 5th Prettiest City (according to Readers of USA Today)

A decade or so ago, the readers of USA today voted the city of Chester in England as Europe’s fifth prettiest city.

While this may have come as a surprise to many (it beat Prague, Budapest and Venice for starters), for those acquainted with this historic city, founded by Roman invaders almost 2,000 years ago, it came as a long overdue recognition of one of the UK’s best kept secrets.

While Oxford, Cambridge, Bath and York hog the spotlight as England's premier historic towns, Chester is sometimes overlooked.  As someone born and brought up there I believe I can help explain why this city came so surprisingly high in the USA Today poll.

Chester is tucked away about twenty miles under Liverpool on the map of England and it is true that it is often overshadowed by its larger, more famous neighbor. It is difficult to compete with The Beatles, after all. However, Chester has charms that are all its own so I would like to invite you to a short tour of the city.

20 December 2022

A Dandelion Going To Seed - Carl Sagan on Space Travel


In 1977 Carl Sagan gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures Lectures on space travel. In his final lecture, he spoke about the human race venturing out into space; his words are as relevant now as they were then.  

A wonderful simile that Sagan used when imagining the human race venturing out in to space was ‘a dandelion going to seed’.  Once can only wonder if, as we look to send people to Mars and then beyond, are we finally realising Sagan’s vision?

This clip was animated by the Ri animator-in-residence Andrew Khosravani. Although I love the pale blue dot animations I have seen it's great to see another set of Sagan's memorable words brought to life again through the medium of animation.

20 April 2022

You're Never Bored with a Gourd!

It's strange how traditions start. In the late 1960s Ralph Upton, a farmer from the small, picturesque English village of Slindon in the county of West Sussex place his yearly crop of pumpkins, squashes and gourds on his shed to ripen.  

The colors and shapes of his harvest soon attracted visitors - and things have never been quite the same in Slindon since.

31 January 2021

A Magical Mermaid Miscellany

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark, has entranced onlookers since it was erected in 1909. Yet there are statues of mermaids the world over – a testament to the way in which these alluring ladies of the sea have embedded themselves in global popular culture. Let’s take a tour around the world and visit some of the best.

Baltinore Easter Ross, Scotland

28 July 2019

The Underwater Billiard Room of Witley Park

Whitaker Wright was a very rich man. He had made his fortune in the mining industry and so when it came to the creation of a billiard room on his new estate perhaps it was only fitting to build it underground. Not only that, this eccentric millionaire decided to build it underwater too. With windows.

7 December 2018

The Mystery of the Margate Shell Grotto

In 1835 a labourer was digging a field just outside the English seaside town of Margate.  His work was interrupted when he thrust his spade in to the soil and it simply vanished in to the ground.  The master of the nearby Dane House School, James Newlove, was made aware of this strange disappearance.  He volunteered his young son, Joshua, for the task of being lowered, candle in hand, in to the void via a length of rope

Regardless of our modern sensibilities about the health and safety of children, when Joshua was pulled back to the surface his wide-eyed tale astonished everyone. He told of a magical temple adorned in shells, hundreds, thousands… millions of them.  All told, 4.6 million.

18 February 2018

The Fleet – London’s Underground River

If you listen carefully just above this unassuming grate you can hear the ripple and splash of flowing water. This is the sound of the River Fleet, London’s largest subterranean river. Forced underground by the city’s burgeoning populace the river still flows from its source to its mouth where it joins London’s main waterway, the Thames. Yet what lies beneath?

Below the ground there is a remarkable network of tunnels and chambers, put in to place by Victorian engineers, the final step in a process which took centuries.  For over a thousand years there had been a shipping dock at the mouth of the river – its name comes from the Anglo-Saxon fleot which means a tidal inlet. Yet it was not destined to persevere as a river in its own right.

7 August 2016

Bourton-on-the-Water: Entire Village Placed on Special Architectural or Historic Interest List

The village of Bourton-on-the-Water is one of those quintessentially English places – you might not be surprised to bump in to a Downton Abbey cast member on its quaint streets.  It is considered so important that this week the entire village was designated Grade II Listed by English Heritage, the body which advises on the care of the historic environment in England.

Located in the Cotswolds range of hills in the county of Gloucestershire, the village is a perfectly preserved slice of the British way of life during the early decades of the twentieth century. Yet look a little closer.  Is there something not quite right about the place? For a start – where are the people?

30 May 2013

Cheese Rolling: Traditional Death Defying Race goes Ahead Despite Health and Safety Warnings

Cheese Rolling 2013, Coopers Hill, Gloucestershire.
Thousands of people gathered last weekend at Cooper’s Hill in the English county of Gloucestershire for the annual cheese-rolling race.  The unofficial event, which has taken place at the same spot for over five hundred years, sees people risking life and limb in the pursuit of a rolling 7lb round of Double Gloucester cheese.

Cheese Rolling 2013, Coopers Hill, Gloucestershire.
However, this year the weighty cheese was replaced with a lighter foam version in a gesture towards making the event a little more health and safety conscious.  Just a little. The event is, as you can imagine, never without casualties.  However, cheese rolling has always been exuberantly amateur in nature and everyone who participates is well aware of the risks that they take. To grab and win the cheese is, it seems, worth the potential hazards of lunging headlong down a hill at breakneck speed.

27 November 2011

Field of Light Blooms in the Night

The Holburne Museum in Bath in the United Kingdom is giving its visitors a new winter experience – and it makes a very cool change from the usual decorative lights we see at this time of year!  

Field of Light, the artwork of acclaimed lighting artist Bruce Munro, was yesterday switched on in the grounds of the Museum.

Field of Light at the Holburne consists of over 5,000 bulbs of light planted in the grounds of the Museum and flowing into the Garden Cafe. Acrylic stems are topped by frosted spheres which are threaded with fibre optic cables and lit by a colour projector. The result is quite magical, as both colour and light flow through the bulbs to create a uniquely captivating experience.

The starting point for Bruce Munro's motivation to produce this artwork was nearly twenty years ago while he was doing his walkabout in Australia. He became fascinated by the way the barren dessert would explode into blossom after rain. Field of Light too lies dormant during the hours of day light, but when darkness falls the bulbs flower with gentle rhythms of light and patterns of color.

Just another reason for visiting Bath, an ancient but still culturally vibrant city in the south west of England. I can only imagine how excited I would have been by this when I was a child by measuring how in awe of it I am as an adult.

Kuriositas would like to thank Flickr photographers Harry_S (his website is Chris Harrison Photography) and Ricksphotos101 (aka Rick Breakspear) for allowing us to show you their photographs of the Field of Light. Please visit their Flickr Photostreams to enjoy more of their marvelous work.

9 October 2011

Elvis


This is fun. It seems that Elvis did not die all those years ago but relocated to a suburb somewhere in the north of England. And he’s lonesome. Tonight.

This is one of those animations that, to begin with, make you scratch your head and wonder why it was made.

Then, because it is so unambiguously silly you cease to wonder and simply get on with the job of enjoying it.

Created by A Large Evil Organisation, Elvis may not be a hit with all of his traditional fans but at least for the rest of us we have some (further) closure. Ahem.

11 August 2011

After the Riot, Peckham Builds a Love Wall

One of the many areas in London hit by the recent riots was the slice of South East London which goes by the name of Peckham.  Over the years the place has become almost a byword for inner city problems in the UK and there is no doubt that the area has its issues.  Yet the real people of Peckham made their voices heard in the aftermath of the riot in a creative and thought provoking way.

On the smashed and boarded up window of Poundland (for those of you out of the UK this is a chain of shops where nothing costs over a pound but you probably guessed that!) a few people began to stick notes explaining in a few words Why We Love Peckham.

It wasn't long before the wall became a riot - of color! By the evening the wall was covered in hundreds of messages of goodwill - a positive indication that Peckham will rise again.

The riots were something which shocked the nation – and the rest of the world.  This show of unity by Peckham’s diverse communities serves as a reminder that the people can, do and will stand united in the face of civil unrest and havoc created by a minority.

While many questions about the riots need to be answered this spontaneous act of public art by the real people of Peckham shows that for every rioter intent on destroying their own environment there are many more who will not allow this to happen.  Hats off to the people of Peckham!

26 July 2011

Memories of London


If you live or have ever visited London you will know what a busy and vibrant place it is in the twentieth century.  Of course, it has been like that for centuries – we have pictures and engravings which prove just that.

Yet with the advent of the moving picture, organisations like the BBC were able to begin recording the English capital on film.

In this – memories of London – we see the city in black and white, but the scenes of the place from the fifties and sixties show that in some ways the place hasn’t changed a bit. 

However, in terms of fashion perhaps we can be satisfied that we have moved on a little!

2 December 2010

Snow in the UK - in Pictures

If you live in a colder climate you may scratch your head and wonder why, every time there is a sprinkling of the white stuff, the UK grinds to a halt. Well, it has happened again but this time it is a little different. The UK has had the most snow over the last few days than it has had for a generation - for this time of year. At least it gives people a good reason to take pictures. So, we thought we would put together a selection.The above is from Meath in Northern Ireland.

For many the snow means a day off work.  However, just because you can;t get to work, it doesn't mean that you can't get out in the snow closer to home and enjoy yourself.  Certainly, Wollaton Hall in Nottingham had no shortage of visitors wanting to try to tobogan down its slopes.

For some, however, the show must go on - rain or shine or snow.  The Royal Mail, for instance, must get through.  However, from the expression on the face of this postman in Otley, West Yorks, it could have waited a day or two really.

At Westgate School, someone left a message for the children in case that they got there. The wags.

The weather isn't completely without the opportunity for a little irony.  In fact it is ripe with ironic possibiities.  The above window cleaning service van in Sheffield (one of the worst hit places) certainly has a certain irony to it.  Perhaps the owner could have ensured the windows were uncovered.  Yet sometimes, the intervention of the human hand is not needed.

The Sphinx in Crystal Palace Park has been given a new hair style, thanks to the snow.

If you do manage to get out to take a walk, you may not be able to have a rest if you tire. These park chairs in Sheffield need a little clearing.

If you were hoping to use alternative transport then you might have to reconsider, particularly if you live in Bradford.  In general the media has been telling people that unless their journey is completely necessary then the safest thing to do is to stay indoors.  However, people are already asking about what happens if the snowy weather persists?  We may just have to get uesed to it.

Shops are opening but if you want to make a call or have a cigarette break then you still have to go outside.  At least with the plethora of snowmen that have sprung up you have some company.  However, don't expect to get far in your car.

Unless.....
Now, that's what I call winter transport!


No need to tell you where this is but you are probably best not to go there.  Of course, going by the stereotype that all the British ever talk about is the weather, imagine the conversations and text messages that have been occurring throughout the snow bound British Isles!

Yetdespite the moans and the groans about the snow (and the weather in general) there is a beauty to it which cannot be denied.  Edinburgh Castle (above) looks magnificent in the snow.

There may not be (m)any shopper on Lewes High Street but with the added festive cheer of the Christmas tree is looks lovelier than usual.


The view of the river Thurso is beautiful. Yet there is a certain desolation to many scenes.

In many places it looks as if a zombie apocalypse has happened - many roads are deserted.  The only sign that there are survivors, possibly, are the tracks in the snow.  Yet they look like they may have been made by a certain undead shuffle.

Yet there are many living beings still around.  Children are everywhere, some experiencing their first large snowfall.  Yet it is still a matter for debate whose behaviour is the dafter - the kids or the parents!

One group which should not be forgotten are those who do not necessarily have access to warm homes and central heating.  Many have spared a thought for the birds and other animals, making sure that the little creatures have something to eat.