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Ten years ago, on 15th March 2011, the Syrian Civil War began. It continues today. Hostilities started with “Arab Spring” pro-democracy demonstrations that were crushed by President Bashar al-Assad, and the violence spread, with different groups, backed by various countries, joining in. The Sunni Muslim majority clashed with the President’s Shia Alawite sect, and jihadist...

It was 1700 years ago, on 7th March 321, that the Roman Emperor Constantine 1 (Constantine the Great), who had converted to Christianity, decreed that Sunday should be a day of rest throughout the Empire. This was a change from normal Roman Empire practice, which was to regard Sunday as just another work-day – something...

Joyce Grenfell wrote a wonderful song, Joyful Noise, about three lady choristers: Miss Clissold, Miss Truss and Ivy Trembley. Their greatest delight was to sing in an oratorio at the Royal Albert Hall. ‘It may be like a gasworks with a green-house roof above it, and it may lack convenience, but all the same we...

Two hundred years ago, on 19th March 1821, Sir Richard Burton, British explorer, writer and translator, was born in Torquay. He was noted for his unexpurgated translations of The Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra, but his interests were much wider. He was a scholar, a diplomat, a spy and an Orientalist, and the first...

28 Too Many, a UK based research charity set up to campaign against the continuing practice of Female Genital Mutilation [FGM] is running a series of workshops in an effort to halt the resurgence of FGM which has occurred worldwide, including the UK, during the coronavirus pandemic. Dr Ann-Marie Wilson, the founder and executive director...

All in the month of February Remembering John Keats Celebrating 75 years of the RSV Version Fairtrade Fortnight: 22nd February – 7th March Leave them be The birds and bees Boom in unwanted pets National survey finds our favourite walks Potholes Smart bird Over-60s ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable dates...

It was: 200 years ago, on 23rd Feb 1821 that John Keats, the poet, died of tuberculosis, aged 25. 125 years ago, on 1st Feb 1896 that the premiere of Giacomo Puccini’s opera La boheme, took place in Turin, Italy. 75 years ago, on 11th Feb 1946 that The Revised Standard Version of the New...

It was 200 years ago, on 23rd February 1821, that John Keats, the Romantic poet, died in Rome of tuberculosis, aged 25. Keats was a generous, likeable and hard-working man who had much experience of suffering in his short life. He also had a love of civil and religious liberty. Most of his best work was...

The Revised Standard Version of the New Testament was published 75 years ago, on 11th February 1946. It was the first major English-language update of the Bible since the King James version published in 1611. The RSV Old Testament followed in 1952 and the Apocrypha in 1957. The translation was a revision of the American Standard...

It has been a terrible year for farmers and workers in the global south. In 2020, on top of the pandemic, they had to deal with the growing impact of climate change: more droughts and crop disease, locusts, floods, fires, and heatwaves.  No wonder their harvests were shrinking. Yet with the help of Fairtrade, many...

The National Trust has urged the public to stay away from certain areas during breeding season this Spring. It hopes to mimic the effects of lockdown last year, which helped more vulnerable species. The call follows the discovery last year that lockdown did our peregrine falcons, grey partridges and other species a real favour. The...

Here is some good news: all new major roads will have wildflower-friendly verges that could boost our numbers of birds and bees. Highway England has said that vibrant road verges will be created as standard on new roads over 300 miles in England, using low nutrient soils which will be seeded with wildflowers or left...