The First Monarch to....

QUEEN ELIZABETH II

* Queen Elizabeth II was the first monarch to CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE GLOBE. This took 6 months

* The first queen to send her children to Boarding School to keep them from the press media.

* The first monarch and only female to serve in the Armed Forces.

* The first monarch since the Act of Union (1801), to be out of the country at the moment of succession. She was in Kenya at the time.

* The first British monarch to open Buckingham Palace to the public

* Queen Elizabeth II was the first British monarch to visit China (1986).

All of these action are far from the old monarchy, very modern indeed. This show us she is quite brave when coming to breaking tradition and moving with the times. Although keeping seems tradition is foremost the Queen has broken old fashioned moulds.

When Lady Diana died she came out of the palace and stood on the street as Lady Di's funeral car drove by. This takes humility, a valuable quality in a person that is so aloof.

You could say that Queen Elizabeth is a pioneering queen of our modern day.

Scientist - Isaac Newton

Although we all know that Isaac Newton was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer and natural philosopher, he also explained Universal gravitation, the laws of motion; he built the first reflective telescope and descovered how to decompose white light into many colours of the visible Spectrum. There is another side to Newton we don't always think of.

Today we recollected 10 facts you might find interesting:

1. ISAAC WASN'T EXPECTED TO LIVE. Yes, that's right. He was born so small that he wasn't expected to survive and could fit into a quart mug(32oz(UK) or 946ml)

2. NEWTON A FARMER? He came from a farming family and started out as a farmer but he was a bad farmer so his uncle persuaded his mother to send him to Trinity College in Cambridge. Aren't you glad of that! What a waste it would have been if he carried on working the land.

3. ISAAC INSPIRED BY AN APPLE. There are a few stories about Isaac and the apple, but it is known that, at least, he was in Woolsthorpe Manor when he was inspired to formulate his theory of Universal gravitation.

4. NEWTON SECRETIVE. He was so secretive about his findings, he rarely published them which led to many quarrels about who deserved the credit for discovering such new found laws.

5. DEEPLY RELIGIOUS. Isaac said that gravity explains the motion of the planets but it didn't explain how they were set in motion and stated:" The most beautiful system of the Sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the councel and domination of an Intelligent Being. The Supreme God is a Being eternal, inifinte and absolutley perfect".

6. RELIGIOUS BUT...... Newton was deeply religious but he didn't believe in Satan or the Trinity. This might seem to us quite normal in a scientific man but back then it was blasphemous.

7. MAD ABOUT THE BIBLE. Isaac was obsessed with the Bible profesy of the End of the World (Armageddon, Apocalypse, the End of the System of things) and spent much of his life investigating, calculating profetic time and looking for hidden meanings in the Bible. So much so that he wrote more about the Bible than science.

8. NEWTON THE ALCHEMIST. Isaac secretly delved into the world of alchemy. He made many efforts to turn basic metals into gold, this was, of course, illegal. Evidently he kept it secret as it was a felony under an act of 1404.

9. A COUNTERFEITER'S ENEMY. In 1696, Newton became a warden of the London Mint and was given the task of stopping counterfeiting, which was rampant in those days:

He gathered much of that evidence himself, disguised, while he hung out at bars and taverns. Newton was made a justice of the peace and between June 1698 and December 1699 conducted some 200 cross-examinations of witnesses, informers and suspects. Newton won his convictions and in February 1699, he had ten prisoners waiting to be executed. He later ordered all records of his interrogations to be destroyed.

10. A POOR POLITICIAN. Newton a Member of Parliament in 1689 and served for exactly one year. During that time, he said only one sentence during the lengthy proceedings: he asked a nearby usher to close an open, drafty window!

Curiosity lead to Treasure

Most people think that everything is invented, found, discovered and exhibited in a museum somewhere. Although there are thousands of wonderous things to be seen; there still seems to be a lot that is undiscovered.

Last year Terry Herbert found a fantastic hoard of artefacts in a south Staffordshire field when he was metal detecting (Curiosity didn't kill the cat this time, ha, ha, ha). ^ _ ^

It has been estimated that the finds date right back to 600 - 700 A.D. Once the archaeological excavation started they found Sword fittings, helmets, Christian crosses, and precious gems. There are jewels with filigree work and animals interlaced into the work. Astonishing when you think how old they are.

If you want to see them for real the British Museum is currently showing the Staffordshire Hoard.

For more information use this address:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/the_staffordshire_hoard.aspx

One All Time Children's Favourite

THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE

A real children's favourite is Thomas the Tank Engine It is a British children's television series, first broadcast on the ITV network in September 1984.

It is based on The Railway Series of books by the Reverend Wilbert. V. Awdry. The books were based on stories Wilber Awdry told to entertain his son Christopher during his recovery from measles. Many of the stories are based on events from Awdry's personal experience. These books deal with the adventures of a group of anthropomorphised trains and road vehicles that live on the fictional Island of Sodor.

The series has featured storytellers like: Ringo Starr (1984-1986), Michael Angelis (1991-present), George Carlin (1991-1995), Alec Baldwin (1998-2002), Michael Brandon (2003-present), and Pierce Brosnan (Guest Narrator).

Heritage railways have also benefited from the series. "Day out with Thomas" events, in which passengers are given the chance to ride in full-size coaches pulled by locomotives resembling Thomas or his friends, provide a considerable source of income, and attract those who might not otherwise visit the railway.

A great link for your little brother, sister, son, daughter, niece, nephew, etc is:

www.randomhouse.com/kids/thomas/

It good fun for all the family.

Great British Painters

JOHN CONTABLE

John Constable was born 11 June 1776 in Suffolk England. He was an English Romantic painter. He is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area where he lived—now known as "Constable Country"—which he loved and this affection comes through in his paintings. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "Painting is but another word for feeling".
His most famous paintings include Dedham Vale of 1802 and The Hay Wain of 1821. His paintings are now among the most popular and valuable in British art although while he was alive he was never financially successful. He did not become a member of the establishment until he was elected to the Royal Academy at the age of 52. He sold more paintings in France than in his native England, can you believe it?

Hidden History

Many English nursery rhymes have a hidden history lesson for us. One example is 'There Was A Crooked Man'
Here is the rhyme:

THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN
There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

It has been suggested by one scholar that the crooked man may have been General Sir Alexander Leslie of Scotland, one of those who signed the Covenant during Charles I’s reign, securing the religious and political freedom of Scotland. The ‘crooked sixpence’ would thus be Charles I, and the ‘crooked stile’ the English/Scottish border. That the English and the Scots reached agreement, after Leslie had crossed the border and seized Newcastle in 1640, is implicit in ‘they all lived together in a little crooked house’.

Do you know any nursery rhymes that tell a story? If you do please let us know.

ABBEY ROAD

If we did a ranking of the most famous streets in Great Britain, this would probably be on the top of it or, at least, very, very close.
This street is located in the Borough of Candem, city of Westminster, London. Well, in fact, there are many other streets with this same name -20 only in the area of London-, but the really famous one goes from the northeast area of St. John's Wood, close to Lord's Cricket Ground, towards the East-End.
And this could be like any other street, however, this one became an Iconic street because of the fact that the Abbey Road Studios of the discography label EMI are located at the South-East End, at number 3, and because there, The Beatles recorded their acclaimed album ABBEY ROAD in 1969.
Since then, the image of the four of Liverpool going across the street through the pedestrian crossing belongs to Music History.

Frozen Britain

This is a photo taken from a NASA satellite on January 7th. It was front page last Friday on for of the six biggest newspapers in England.

Where Did the New Year's Resolution Come From?

New Year’s Resolution
Well, here is a brief history of the origins of the New Year’s resolution for you:
The Babylonians The first recorded New Year’s resolutions were made by the Babylonians around 4000 years ago. Most commonly, it revolved around returning any borrowed farm equipment, as their New Year coincided with the start of their farming season.
The Romans Not long after, the Romans would start the New Year by counting the stock of the previous year and setting a goal to accomplish more in the coming year.
The Chinese The Chinese set a special New Year’s resolution - house cleaning. Most people nowadays would relate this to Spring-Cleaning. At the coming of the New Year, the Chinese would clean their house from top to bottom. What a great way to start the year, with a beautiful clean house!
The Modern World Today we still set New Year’s resolutions, and try to achieve them. They are almost always based around self-improvement resolutions and goals. They are a way to mark the beginning of changes in our habits and lifestyle. The most common resolutions include losing weight, give up smoking and/or drinking, and improving your finances.
As mentioned earlier, millions of people make these resolutions but unfortunately only 10% ever manage to achieve them. It is a sad fact, but many of these resolutions do not even last longer than a few weeks. By July, most have been completely forgotten and no real progress against the resolution has been made.

It’s always interesting to see where these traditions come from, why they are done and the basis for these traditions that are sometime ambiguous.
So if you are the sort to make a New Year’s Resolution, are you going to stick to it or will you be one of the 10% that manage to reach the goal you set yourself????????

Top Ten Resolution:
1. Spend more time with Family & Friends.
2. Keep Fit.
3. Reduce the Bulge.
4. Quit Smoking.
5. Enjoy Life More.
6. Quit Drinking.
7. Get Out of Debt.
8. Learn Something New.
9. Help Others.
10.Get Organized.

Yorkshire Terrier

Hi friends. Here in S&R we are very fond of dogs, so today we are going to tell you about one of the most well-known dog breeds all around the world as a companion dog, and nowadays the most popular breed in the UK according to a list published last year for The Guardian.

Obviously, as its name indicates, it comes from the county of Yorkshire. Reportedly, the first Yorkshire Terrier was called Huddersfield Ben, and its breader was a very keen dogs man called Mr. Eastwood from Bradford in west Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield Ben was the result of the crossbreeding of a mother and her son, and it is considered the pilar of the modern Yorkshire. But his ancestors, were dogs who ranged weights from 6 to 8 or 9 kilos, and do you know what they were for? They were used to hunt rats. Disgusting?? Maybe, but necessary at those big country houses. H. Ben was born in 1865 and died in 1871, a short life for a pioneer.

Yorkshire Terrier is the product of combinig Scottish and English Terriers that was made up when a big part of Scottish population moved to England because of the Industrial revolution. Amongst the breeds that created the current Yorkshire terrier were the Waterside terrier, Clydesdale Terrier, or Paisley Terrier. The influence from Scottland comes from the Scottish Terrier, the West Highland White Terrier, The Maltese, Cairn Terrier, and Skye Terrier.
We hope you will enjoy its company. Cheers.