Bringing a little colour to your life each day - with six things that delight, inform and entertain.
Said to be the smallest house in Britain, this property on the quay side of Conwy harbour in North Wales might be described by an estate agent as 'compact', as it is just six feet wide, 11 feet high and just goes back a similar distance. But it does have a great view across the water. It was last occupied as a residence until May 1900 when the occupant was a six fee three inches tall fisherman named Robert Jones.
Barbara Hepworth was an English artist and sculptor born in Wakefield in 1903. Her work made a significant contribution to Modernist creative ideas, and in particular, free form modern sculpture. Some of her work became a familiar feature of the public realm, and is now often unnoticed.
The first patent for what became known as the pneumatic tyre was filed in 1847 by Scottish inventor and engineer Robert William Thomson, who also invented the fountain pen. Thomson produced his 'Aerial Wheels' some 43 years before John Dunlop’s re-invention of the air-filled tyre.
London's expansion over the last few centuries is legendary. Many station names on London's Underground hint at lost greenery, especially in the northern section of the Piccadilly Line - Finsbury Park, Wood Green, Bounds Green, Arnos Grove and Oakwood. So was there some great lost forest covering what is now north London?
The common field speedwell is a rather prolific British wildflower, generally treated as a weed, but bringing a cheery beauty to gardens nonetheless. Its tiny blue flowers can be spotted in many a lawn, appearing for most of the year.
The common current meaning of the word sinister is “ominous” or “presaging evil”. In traditional heraldry, however, from whence it comes, it means “on the left-hand side” eg. of a coat of arms, and was sometimes associated with an illegitimate descendant. The word "sinister" comes from the Latin for “left-handed”. Whereas "dexter" is the right-handed equivalent.
Six things to delight and entertain you every day.