Frank Matcham and His Theatres – A Flair for Magic
If you’ve ever been to the London’s Coliseum, the home of English National Opera, you will always remember the special feeling when you saw its interior for the first time – a kind of intimacy combined with baroque-like opulence, when the Victorian era met the Edwardian one. This was the creation of architect Frank Matcham, […]
The Girl I Left Behind Me (Brighton Camp)
What is the song about? The Girl I Left Behind Me (Brighton Camp) is sung by a soldier going to war, who remembers the beautiful girl whom he left back home, hoping to return to her soon. Where did it start? As with many folk songs, no one knows for sure. Some date the song […]
VE Day, 8 May 2020
Today we hang out the Union Jack, dress up and sing patriotic songs – it VE Day! Unlike Russia, which celebrates Victory Day on 9th May, here it is commemorated on the 8th. It was on this day 75 years ago that Winston Churchill officially announced on the radio that Germany surrendered and the war […]
The Paul McCartney Rose
We have a Paul McCartney in our garden – it’s the lovely rose created by French rose breeder Alain Meilland in 1988. It was paid for and named by EMI, the record company that issued all Beatles records in the 1960s. This was EMI’s 50th birthday present to Sir Paul a few years later. The […]
May Day
With the sun shining brightly, today is the day to welcome the summer! People have been celebrating this since the Roman times. Floralia, a Roman festival lasting a week around this time, celebrated Flora, the goddess of flowers and fruit, with theatrical performances, spectacles, throwing beans and seeds and hares and goats running around. Later […]
