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Can’t see it? Neither can I! Under all that foliage is St. Andrew’s Church in Bircham Tofts, England. It was abandoned in the 19th century when parishes were consolidated, but you can still get in, if you know how. There are photos of the interior stonework as well as more exterior shots at Urban Ghosts. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Gary Troughton)
The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn is a real tavern in Stalybridge, Cheshire, England. But it’s not the strangest name for a bar you’ll find in this gallery of ten at DJMick. Link -via Breakfast Links
The British television show The Gadget Show has created a simulator for Battlefield 3 that will appeal to those who feel the game isn’t realistic enough.
Featuring a treadmill floor, projection screens and a motion controlled gun that looks kind of cheesy but doesn’t seem to detract from the tester’s enjoyment of this unique gaming experience. I don’t know about you, but I want one!
–via Joystiq
Wales is having an identity crisis. Actually, it’s been having one off and on for the past 2,000 years. Is it part of England? Part of the U.K? Or is Wales just …Wales?
Sometime in Britain’s mythological past, King Llud Llaw Eraint had a problem with dragons. Specifically, two warring dragons -one white and one red- whose screams rang through the countryside, causing women to miscarry and livestock to become barren. So, the king lured the dragons in to a deep pit and got them so drunk that they passed out. While the dragons were asleep, he buried them deep underneath a mountain in Wales. “The white dragon is the Saxon,” the Welsh magician Merlin once explained. “The red dragon is Cymru [Wales], and so they will fight, red against the white, until at last the dragon of Wales is triumphant over the dragon of the Saxons.”
Today, the red dragon of Wales has reappeared. It’s everywhere in 21st-century Welsh culture -on the flag, on t-shirts, ashtrays, and bumper stickers, and on the tattoos of patriotic men and women. It embodies the spirit of the country. For 2,000 years, Wales has suffered though waves of invaders and conquerors, and each time, its people have emerged with a deepened sense of national pride. Its character is one of defiance -a red dragon always ready for battle.
more …
We once featured an Euler diagram that explained the British Isles, the United Kingdom, and Great Britain. This video explains all that clearly but quickly, then goes on to explain the British Empire, the Crown Colonies, Crown Dependencies, and other terms that confuse Americans and others who don’t deal with such geographical concepts every day. If this goes too fast for you, the script is available from C. G. P. Grey. Link -via reddit
This animation is a 3D rendering of Mortimer’s Cave, one of many available at the Nottingham Caves Survey. You’ll also find photographic virtual tours of caves, movies, images, and a Google map to find more of the 450 specific caves in Nottingham. You could get lost in here! Link -Thanks, John James!
Pride of the Valley Sculpture Park is an outdoor gallery just outside the small village of Churt, Surrey, England. There are around 150 sculptures at any time, and many are for sale. See lots more pictures at Kuriositas. Be warned, some sculptures are nudes. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Mike Lawrence)
Remember, remember the fifth of November… Oh yes, this is Guy Fawkes Day! In the 400 years that have passed since the Gunpowder Plot, a lot of the historical details of the story have become garbled in popular culture, and many people don’t know the story at all. But Guy Fawkes is not the only English folk hero. Oh you know King Arthur and Robin Hood, but have you ever heard the story of Jan Tregeagle?
Aside from having a hilariously awesome name, Jan Tregeagle was definitely a magistrate in the 17th century who was so much of a jerk that stories circulated claiming he made a pact with the devil. And murdered his wife. And that he supposedly rose to power by stealing an estate from an orphan.
Geekosystem has his story, as well as those of nine other folk heroes from English history. Link
In 1966, England was preparing to host the World Cup games when someone stole the championship Jules Rimet Trophy out from under their noses! Police received a ransom note and met with the contact -and arrested him. But it took a little dog named Pickles to actually find the trophy. Read the story of how Pickles became the hero of the World Cup at mental_floss. Link
Looking at the pictures, I would definitely live in this church in Kyloe, North Cumberland, England, which was converted into a home. Look at the beautiful stained glass! But, based on all the comments, there are certainly some other strong opinions. For example, you have to consider the graveyard just outside your windows.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by ninigoat.
Aha! I knew these guys would eventually open a restaurant, but I always imagined it would be a joint venture, not next-door competing eateries. Found at Google Street View, ever the source for coincidence, not irony. This is in Manchester, United Kingdom, where reports of plumbing failures have peppered the news there.
The oldest remains yet of a member of English royalty are thought to have been found in Germany. Queen Eadgyth (pronounced Edith) was the sister of King Athelstan and married the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I in 929 AD. She died in 946. The bone fragments from a lead coffin in Magdeburg will be analyzed by a team of forensic specialists.
Professor Mark Horton of the Bristol University’s Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, who is coordinating this side of the research, explained the strategy: “We know that Saxon royalty moved around quite a lot, and we hope to match the isotope results with known locations around Wessex and Mercia, where she could have spent her childhood. If we can prove this truly is Eadgyth, this will be one of the most exciting historical discoveries in recent years.”
Eadgyth is likely to be the oldest member of the English royal family whose remains have survived. Her brother, King Athelstan is generally considered to have been the first King of England after he unified the various Saxon and Celtic kingdoms following the battle of Brunanburgh in 937. His tomb survives in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, but is most likely empty. Eadgyth’s sister Adiva – also offered to Otto as wife, but he choose Eadgyth instead – was also married to an unknown European ruler, but her tomb is not located.
(image credit: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Juraj Liptak)
David and Katie France of Dorset County, England thought they were being eco-friendly when they walked to dump to dispose of their recyclables. But they were met at the gate by an employee who told them they would have to bring their bags in by car! He cited safety concerns and warned the couple they may be hit by a vehicle. David France walked the 400 yards back to their home, got the car, and drove to the gate where they loaded their bags of scrap metal and took them into the center.
Mr France said: “It was farcical. I thought we were being doubly green by taking our recycling there on foot.
“But whatever good we did in recycling our waste was probably counteracted by the CO2 emissions we used up in our car.”
The council responsible for tip said that because there is no “dedicated pedestrian access point” it was unsafe for people to walk there.
Link -via Arbroath
(image credit: Flickr user hugovk)
I’m sure if I asked you what country do you think haggis originated from, you’d say Scotland. Well, that would be wrong. In fact, haggis was invented by the English.
Food historian Catherine Brown has discovered something that would be very hard for the Scots to swallow: that the national dish of Scotland was described in a 1615 recipe book The English Hus-wife by Gervase Markham.
Ms Brown, whose findings feature in a TV documentary broadcast this week, said: “It was originally an English dish. In 1615, Gervase Markham says that it is very popular among all people in England.
“By the middle of the 18th century another English cookery writer, Hannah Glasse, has a recipe that she calls Scotch haggis, the haggis that we know today.”
But reference to haggis in a 1771 novel by Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, showed it was considered a Scottish dish by the late 18th century.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by pigjockey.
The folks at Eden TV, a new UK-based natural history television network, celebrated its launch by building a 16-foot-tall of a polar bear and cub stranded on an iceberg. The sculpture was then set free to float down the Thames in an attempt to bring attention to the new network and to raise awareness about the polar bear’s dwindling habitat.
– via inhabitat
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by whitespace.
This is an interesting concept – just for February, the Little Bay Restaurant in London is letting diners eat their meal and then pay whatever they think that meal was worth… including nothing (excluding alcoholic beverages). I think it’s probably not a bad idea in theory – I’m definitely willing to pony up for a wonderful meal. But the problem lies in maybe not realizing how much a meal is actually worth. If I had duck salad, which is one of the items on the menu, I would have no idea what the going price for duck meat is, so I could potentially be totally stiffing the restaurant without intending to. At any rate, it’s definitely getting the restaurant some free publicity… which is probably the point.
There are some pretty nifty things you can win through puzzles and contests. iPods, concert tickets or dvd’s…but what about a house? Dave Mackie, a 49 year old Englishman is offering his house (valued roughly at $750,000) as a prize to whoever can solve a Sudoku puzzle.
To participate you’ll have to pay 60 bucks, but otherwise there is no catch. Mackie claims he is planning to migrate to Egypt and needed a fun way to get rid of his current home near Blackpool, England. Being addicted to Sudoku’s himself, Mackie quickly set up the plan. He is hoping enough people will participate so that he will have a fair amount of money in return for his house, which includes a sauna and hot tub.
"It’s a fun way to sell my house and a way to avoid getting sucked into the global financial crisis" says Mackie.
The puzzle will be available on Mackie’s website til February 2010. By then Mackie hopes at least 14,000 people will have participated.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lilrawker.
This disturbing thing that sort of resembles a rolly polly is set to go on display in England for the first time ever. These rare Isopods live deep in the ocean in extremely cold temperatures, but for some reason, fishermen in the Atlantic discovered 9 of them in their lobster nets. They’re ugly, but sure are interesting to learn about.
