Dateline

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Who would have thought that a century and a half later Hudson Taylor would put Barnsley on the map?[/caption]

Barnsley, Yorkshire

A Pilgrimage to Barnsley?

THE SOUTH YORKSHIRE mining town of Barnsley doesn’t generally appear on tourist itineraries. People of Barnsley and local tourism officials are launching a major campaign, intent on making the town a top destination of Christian pilgrimage for Chinese visitors, who now represent more than half of overseas tourists visiting Britain. Some 70 million Chinese Christians revere the mining town as the birthplace of 19th-century missionary James Hudson Taylor, who made taking Christianity to the Chinese his life’s work and spent 50 years of his life there.

Lambeth Palace, London

Archbishop of Canterbury Moving On

DR. ROWAN WILLIAMS, Archbishop of Canterbury, has announced that he is stepping down after 10 years as head of the Church of England and worldwide Anglican Communion. Williams’ tenure was marked by controversy within the church and often by his own divisive comments on social and political matters. The first Welsh Archbishop since the English Reformation, however, is being widely praised for his efforts to maintain the unity of the church. Williams will take the position of Master of Magdalene College at Cambridge beginning in January.

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It’s been a rocky decade for Archbishop and Church.[/caption]

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The Olympics Are Coming!

A set of giant Olympic rings, embedded with thousands of LED lights, was towed down the River Thames, to remind anyone who somehow might have missed the news that the London 2012 Olympics are now just a few short months away.

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Busy Lizzies in Crisis

Britain’s favorite garden plant, Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) are being killed off by a fungicide-resistant yellow mildew. With the support of the Royal Horticultural Society, commercial suppliers are withholding the pretty flowers from the market this year, hoping to control the aggressive disease wiping out the plants.

Oxford Gets the Cash

Oxford University has received one of the largest donations in its 900-year history from Mica Ertegun, widow of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. The £26 million gift will support humanities scholarships for graduate students in areas including literature, history, music and art history.

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One of Oxford’s largest gifts ever supports arts and humanities.[/caption]

Not Enough Rain in England?

No. A dry warm summer in 2011 followed by a dry mild winter has left much of southern and eastern England in an official state of drought. From Lincolnshire to Hampshire, officials are calling for serious conservation of water and warning of consequences this summer barring significant rainfall through the spring.

Port Stanley, Falklands

30th Anniversary of the Falklands War

HIGH-PROFILE EVENTS marking the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war include a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, a parade and a new memorial to the Falkland victims. Meanwhile, diplomatic tensions over the islands continue between Britain and Argentina. Prince William, or Flight Lieutenant Wales as he is professionally known, has completed a six-week tour of duty in the Falklands as a search and rescue Sea King helicopter pilot. His presence in the islands stirred anti-British sentiment among the Argentines, who saw his deployment as deliberately provocative.

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Flight Lieutenant Wales is briefed for a sortie during his first overseas operational deployment.[/caption]

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The old royal yacht Brittania may finally get a replacement.[/caption]

PM DAVID CAMERON and senior royals are backing a campaign to replace the Queen’s retired yacht Brittania with a new state of the art national flagship in honor of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee. The initiative calls for an £80 million, 600-foot vessel that would be among the world’s largest sailing ships—funded entirely by public subscription. When not in use by the Queen, the ship would provide a sail-training facility for young people from across the Commonwealth.

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The grand fir is common in northern America, but reaches this massive size in The Lake District.[/caption]

Ambleside, Cumbria

Standing Tall in the Lake District

OFFICIALS FROM THE TREE REGISTER have confirmed that England’s tallest tree stands in Skelghyll Woods near Ambleside. The 150-year-old grand fir rises a lofty 190 feet toward the sky—some 30 feet taller than Nelson’s Monument in Trafalgar Square. A species native to Canada, the conifer was planted around 1860 as part of an arboretum on the Wansfell Holme country estate, about half a mile from the shores of Lake Windermere.

London

Return of the Routemaster

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LONDON’S ICONIC, red double-decker bus, the Routemaster, was a familiar scene on London’s streets for half a century. Introduced in 1956, more than 2,800 of the open-platform workhorses plied London’s bus routes until they were withdrawn from service in 2005—in favor of modern single-floor models, including the highly unpopular “bendy busses.” Now, fulfilling a pledge made by Mayor Boris Johnson in his election campaign, a new and improved Routemaster has returned to the city streets, to the joy of many.

Tightening Dress Code at Ascot

Officials at Royal Ascot have announced new regulations governing dress at the famous June race meeting following allegations that many visitors were too “casually dressed.” New guidelines insist that gentlemen wear a jacket and tie, while ladies will be given strict instructions on the width of dress straps and skirt length.

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It’s That English Sense of Humor

Comedian Tim Vine was declared king of the one-liners at the annual Lafta Joke of the Year Awards held at the Cuckoo Club in London. His winning quip: “Conjunctivitis.com–that’s a site for sore eyes.”

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Lord Nelson Memorabilia Stolen

In a daring daylight robbery, thieves broke into a display case in Norwich Castle, making off with more than $50,000 worth of artifacts related to Admiral Lord Nelson, who was born in Norfolk and had close association with the area. Among the purloined items were a mourning ring and part of an 1802 tea service.

Celebrating Dickens at 200

The 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth was commemorated with ceremonies at his Portsmouth birthplace, with 24-hour “readathons” around the world, and with a service at Westminster Abbey, where Prince Charles laid a wreath on the novelist’s grave in Poets Corner.

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Cardiff

Given the Freedom of Cardiff

DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY has been given the Freedom of Cardiff. The highest honor the city can bestow has been awarded to the 75-year-old singer for her contributions to Wales, the capital city, show business and her charity work. Only the 61st person to be granted the Freedom in 116 years, Dame Shirley joins such notables so honored as Nelson Mandala, Pope John Paul II and Winston Churchill. The legendary Dame Shirley will perform at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert in June.

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Shirley Bassey has been an ambassador for Cardiff.[/caption]

Down the Pub

The Return of the Dimple Mug

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YES, BEER-DRINKING traditionalists and folks over 40 are cheering. The Telegraph reports that there is a real resurgence of the sturdy glass jug commonly known as a dimple mug. Landlords in the cities are saying that drinkers are demanding the classic tankard rather than the long-popular “straight glass.” One publican notes that the dimple mug is seen as “retro-cool, yet comforting and traditional.” The truth is that the old pint jug is just more practical. It’s easier to hold in a crowded pub, and the mug keeps the beer cooler longer because you are holding a handle instead of warming the glass with your hand. Sometimes progress looks to the past.