The Website for People Who Love Britain - Anglophiles
Decked out in hardhats and yellow safety jackets, we’re sloshing through grey mud towards the distinctive ship’s bow-shaped, silver building that is Titanic Belfast, a £100m visitor centre due to open March 31, 2012. Despite the legendary story of Titanic and her tragic sinking, few people … [Read more...]
St. David’s Day is on 1st March and, for me at least, it’s a time to contemplate why the Welsh culture isn’t as celebrated in England as the Irish culture is. In England, St. Patrick’s Day seems to be a much bigger event than St. David’s Day is and while you can find plenty of Irish … [Read more...]
Tynwald Day, 5 July, is the national day of the Isle of Man, and is marked by an open-air meeting of its legislature – claimed to be the oldest continuous parliament in the world. The Tynwald, which celebrated 1,000 years of existence in 1979, consists of two chambers, the Legislative Council … [Read more...]
A man-made island 2km (1 mile) from Portsmouth Harbour on the south coast of England opens in March as a 5-star luxury retreat. Spitbank Fort was built in the 1870s to protect Portsmouth from a possible invasion by Napoleon III. It is 50 metres (162 ft) in diameter with walls that are 4.6 metres … [Read more...]
In honour of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, BBC Motion Gallery brings you a short film of Her Majesty's Coronation using original footage from deep within our extensive archive. Not only do we see the pomp and the ceremony, but also the hard graft of ordinary British subjects as they strive to make … [Read more...]
We are going to move right on from Cnut, and pass over 30 years of history. The super summary is that Cnut's dynasty ended within a few years, and led to the the establishment of the old English monarch in the form of the rather ineffectual Edward the Confessor. Edward was dominated by his leading … [Read more...]
The British television show Downton Abbey is set in 1912 and features gorgeous estates, picturesque villages and drama. Cast includes talented actors and actresses like Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael and Michelle Dockery. In a January 30, 2012 Reuter’s article it is reported that Golden Globe … [Read more...]
Given the recent growth of interest in Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee and the various announcements of pageants, flotillas, beacons and concerts, you may be wondering how you can play your part in the Diamond Jubilee. One answer is to enter the Jubilee Time Capsule. The Jubilee Time Capsule … [Read more...]
Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's 63rd monarch, has steered the monarchy through decades of social change while remaining a symbol of national stability in a shifting world. This video from The Telegraph is a good overview of her life and times. … [Read more...]
Full Text: "Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to call to his mercy our late Sovereign Lord King George VI, of blessed and glorious memory, by whose Decease the Crown is solely and rightfully come to the High and Mighty Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary: We, therefore, the Lords Spiritual and … [Read more...]
We found this audio recording of the BBC reporting that the King had died and that Britain now had a new Queen. Very sad and moving. Death of King George VI - 6 Feb 1952 - Snagge (mp3) … [Read more...]
The Queen released a statement today to mark her accession to the throne on February 6th 1952. It's reproduced below. Today, as I mark 60 years as your Queen, I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and … [Read more...]
The met office records some of the UK's most extreme weather patterns. Here are a few that hold the current weather records. Brought to you by Confused.com - Find cheap car insurance in minutes. … [Read more...]
Scotland’s National Museum of Costume’s exhibition for 2012 will be Off the Peg: Fashion from the ’40s and ’50s. The exhibition will centre around designs produced by Horrockses Fashions Ltd, one of the most well-respected off-the-peg labels of the 1940s and 1950s. Horrockses gained a … [Read more...]
Credit: chrisdb1 The United Kingdom is gearing up for some spectacular events this summer. The Olympic Games is considered the biggest sporting and tourism event on the planet, but there are other events happening across the UK that will be taking centre stage that have a global reach and are set … [Read more...]
This being the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year, there's a whole host of books coming out about her that purport to tell her life story. The first of them is The Real Elizabeth - An Intimate Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Andrew Marr (in the UK the book is titled The Diamond Queen: Elizabeth II and … [Read more...]
Great Britain is likely to be a tourism hotspot this year and there is plenty to shout about, what with the upcoming 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and also the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. You may have also seen that the tourism board VisitBritain has today announced UK businesses to invite their … [Read more...]
The website Wales Online has an interesting article about the history and traditions behind Wales' colored harbour houses. Here's an excerpt: It is one of the best-known and best-loved traditions of West Wales’ coastline. Sion Morgan traces the history of painting harbourside houses in a … [Read more...]
From the beginning, the unexpected has pervaded the 60-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. As a child, “Lilibet” and her younger sister Margaret were groomed for a life considered ordinary by royal standards. However, at the age of 10, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor’s future as Defender of … [Read more...]
Britain’s biggest celebration of trains and railways takes place this June in York. Railfest 2012 will bring together more than 30 record-breaking locomotives that have made their mark on rail history for being the fastest, largest, strongest, first, last or oldest. Record-breakers include … [Read more...]
Making a biopic about Margaret Thatcher is not an easy thing to do. She’s not a sparkling conversationalist, she’s not overly witty, and she’s not electric in personality. However she is one of the most significant women of the last century and remains England’s first and only female Prime … [Read more...]
MPs could be forced to move out of the Houses of Parliament after subsidence has caused Big Ben's clock tower to lean by an alarming 18 inches. Report by Sophie Foster. … [Read more...]
A unique artistic collaboration will turn a dilapidated building in Oxford into a giant compendium of strange, amusing and haunting stories in May this year. Other Worlds is a series of installations in 25 rooms in Rochester House, an empty Victorian building that is destined to be a museum of … [Read more...]
This week, a Podcast about England's most famous Danish king - Cnut, or if you are a Dane, Cnut the Great. For the complete story, come to www.historyofengland.typepad.com. History of England Podcast - Cnut the Conqueror Cnut and Svein didn't have it all their own way; Aethelred's son Edmund … [Read more...]
The largest ever exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s studies of the human body is to go on display in May at the Queen’s Gallery, next to Buckingham Palace. Leonardo was not just one of the great artists of the Renaissance: he was also a pioneer in the understanding of human anatomy. He wanted … [Read more...]
The 11th-century Durham Castle is benefitting from a £5-million refurbishment – and now offers holiday accommodation within its ancient walls. The UNESCO World Heritage Site in north-east England is home to Durham University’s oldest college and its rooms are available to rent for bed and … [Read more...]
Editor's Note: This if the first review for Anglotopia's new staff Brit movie reviewer - James Bartlett - a British Expat living in LA. Period dramas and classic novel adaptations aside, in many ways this is perhaps the most British movie released for many years, as it is a biopic of Margaret … [Read more...]
The Guardian has a wonderful - and frank - article written by a modern day butler about how the industry has changed compared to what we see in shows like Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs. Here's an excerpt: As the travelling butler to a self-made Asian industrialist who sleeps less than … [Read more...]
This is a guest post by by John Evans, Editor of sportcloseup.co.uk Becoming Jane, the 2007 biopic of the writer Jane Austen re-run over the holidays by the BBC, may not seem the most obvious contender to be a movie about sport – but that was just the start of the festive surprises. What … [Read more...]
The Economist has a great article on the concept of Walker's Rights in Britain that I thought was worth sharing. Here's an excerpt: PACKHORSES first crossed the Old Bridge in Ilkley in 1675, probably bringing wool to market from the sheep farms that still dot the Yorkshire Dales. The modern … [Read more...]
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Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dreams of traveling to the UK whenever we want a reality.
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