GOLDEN PIXELS/ALAMY
British Multiculturalism Speaks 311 Languages
A Daily Express study based on Department of Education data has found that more than 300 different languages are now spoken in British schools. In hundreds of classrooms, English-speaking pupils are a minority. In one school of 360 students, 342 identified Punjabi as their fist language, while only six were native English-speakers.
OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA WIRE
Cooling off at Appleby
More than 10,000 gypsies gathered from across Britain in Cumbria for the annual Appleby Horse Fair this June. One of the largest gypsy events in the world, Travelers gather for days of horse racing and trading, family reunions and cultural bonding. A mini heat wave kept temperatures warm this year. Nearly 30,000 other visitors attended the event to people watch and shop at the colorful market stalls.
Westminster
Houses of Parliament Falling Down
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A REPORT BY independe consultants Deloitte has dropped a bombshell; the historic Palace of Westmi ster needs major restorati work urgently. There’s even apparently growing risk that the House of Lords roof could collapse. Paint is peeling, walls are crumbling, iron corroding and asbestos lurks throughou the Victorian palace. The building has no adequate ventilation system or fire alarm system. Repairs are estimated to run some £7 billion, though the taxpayer tab could be lower if MPs are willing to vacate the premises for six years.
Sandringham, Norfolk
Princess Charlotte Christened at Sandringham
MARIO TESTINO/ART PARTNER
WHILE A CROWD OF MORE THAN 3,000 milled outside the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, the newest member of Britain’s Royal Family was christened in front of a congregation of a private party with just 21 guests. The service was officiated by Archbishop Justin Welby and local rector, the Rev. Jonathan Riviere. The Royal party then walked the few minutes back to Sandring ham House for tea and christening cake.
Ashdown, Kent
Flames Ravage the Hundred Acre Wood
PHOTOS 12/ALAMY
A BACKPACKER’S CAMP STOVE ignited a blaze this spring in Ashdown Forest, the real-life Hundred Acre Wood of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh. Flames leapt 30-feet high as the fire races through dense gorse underbrush. Fire crews from nine stations spent eight hours fighting the blaze that destroyed wildlife and left 16 acres of the forest wiped out.
Windsor
The Queen Stops Breeding Corgis
DAILY MAIL/REX/ALAMY
HER MAJESTY will always be remembered for her favorite breed of dogs. In the years since her childhood, the Queen has owned 30 Pembroke Welsh Corgis. Now, she has only two surviving pets, Holly and Willow, both 12 years old and nearing their life expectancy. While she has always bred her dogs, the line will end and there will be no more pups. According to family friends, the Queen has said that she does not want to leave any behind when she dies.
AF ARCHIVE/ALAMY
RIP
Britain Loses Two theatrical Treasures
SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE
A film legend that found fame playing Dracula, Sir Christopher Lee died at age 93. In addition to a stellar career as a villain in horror and cult films (including 1974’s Jamas Bond movie The Man with the Golden gun), the actor became known to a new generation as the wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings films.
AF ARCHIVE/ALAMY
RON MOODY
Versatile veteran of film and the West End stage, Ron Moody is most widely recognized for his Oscar-nominated role as Fagin in 1968’s Lionel Bart musical Oliver Twist—a role he played first on stage, loved and reprised several times. Moody died in hospital at 91, “singing to the end” according to his family.
Ayrshire
Historic Prestwick Airport on the Ropes
RADHARC IMAGES/ALAMY
SNP MINISTERS CREATED a firestorm of controversy over the decision to purchase Glasgow Prestwick Airport for public ownership. The strugglin privately-owned international airport has been on the block for two years, its subsidized losses of £4 million a year covered by the taxpayer. Opened in 1934, for decades following World War II Prestwick was the major international point of air entry to Scotland, and a customary refueling stop for long-haul flights between Europe and North America. Since the BAA moved all transatlantic flights to newer and closer Glasgow Airport in the 1990s, Prestwick (32 miles south of central Glasgow) has irretrievably slipped into the shadows.
Portsmouth
Victory in the Works
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL NAVY
LORD NELSON’S FLAGSHIP, HMS Victory, is undergoing a £40 million restoration in its drydock home in Portsmouth. In the process, workers have chipped away 72 layers of paint to determine its original color. Accordingly, the historic ship will be painted a delicate lemon shade to replace its familiar pumpkin orange.
DAVID PAGE PHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY
Sausages on the Chopping Block
After generations as a British favorite as comfort food, breakfast component and barbecue must-have, the humble sausage is on the wane.
Consumer awareness of fats and salt has contributed to its disfavor. Sales of sausages have dropped by two billion a year, a decline of 25 percent since 2008.
Salford
BBC on Hot Seat for Wasteful Spending
YANICE IDIR/ALAMY
THE NEXT GREAT BRITISH public scandal may be brewing. Critics are fuming at recent revelations the BBC spends less than half its £5.1 billion annual budgeting on programs and actually transmitting programming to the public. Meanwhile, it cost £89 million annually to run New Broadcasting House, and £230,000 to provide it with tea for a year. MPs have called for a parliamentary inquiry into what is being called “staggering waste” funded by TV licensing fees.
Record Year for International Tourism
DAVID ILIFF
WHILE BRITS TAKE advantage of cheap airlines and jet off to Spain, Majorca and Orlando for holidays in the sun, back home Great Britain has welcomed a record 34.6 million foreign visitors over the last year. Not surprisingly, London proves the most popular destination with 17.6 million international tourists. Edinburgh is the second most popular city with a tenth as many guests, 1.7 million. Atop the leader board of attractions, remains the British Museum, receiving almost 7 million visitors annually.
British Heritage Online Extras
Want to read more? Our British Heritage website often includes extra tidbits posted for readers. In addition to Sandra Lawrence’s London blog “Around Town Online,” catch her podcast on Dennis Severs House. Check out Editor Dana Huntley’s personal narrative of East Anglia at www.britishheritage.com/on-the-road-cruising-east-anglia. If romantic Cornwall captures your imagination, there’s the story of creating Poldark at www.britishheritage.com/poldark-a-qa-with-ep-debbie-horsfield.
MARK DAVIDSON/ALAMY
New Sites Listed by Historic England
The government heritage body Historic England has published highlights from more than 500 sites selected over the past year for national heritage status. Among the newly listed places are a Victorian gin palace at the Cauliflower Hotel in Ilford, Essex, the gravestone of the bandleader from the Titanic, and a bus station in Milton Keynes designed in 1975.