V

The era of Queen Victoria's reign, 1837 to 1901: industrial power, imperial expansion, railways, reform, and the invention of much of modern…

Scandinavian raiders and settlers who attacked Britain from 793, conquered much of England, and left place names, words and DNA behind them.

The 14th of February: cards, flowers and dinner out, and a British tradition of sending them anonymously that predates the commercial version.

Value Added Tax: the 20% sales tax included in the displayed price of almost everything in Britain, with a famously arbitrary list…

Britain's native flora: ancient woodland, heather moorland, chalk grassland and hedgerows — a landscape almost entirely shaped by farming rather than nature.

Two layers of plain sponge sandwiched with jam and sometimes cream, dusted with sugar — the benchmark British cake, and the standard…