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Showing category "Seasons" (Show all posts)

March On

Posted by BCM on Sunday, February 26, 2017, In : Seasons 
March is a belter of a month.

Full of promise, it heralds the arrival of spring and the season of renewal and growth.

The name comes from the Latin Martius, the first month of the ancient Roman year, which was dedicated to Mars, the Roman god of war.

Strong and fearsome, Mars was also a great defender and protector. People prayed to him to keep storms, disease and famine at bay and promote bountiful crops, animals and farms. 

This association with battle and struggle fits well with the English pr...

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Love is in the Air

Posted by BCM on Sunday, January 29, 2017, In : Seasons 

The hopeless romantics out there will have only one thing on their mind this month.
 
Valentine’s Day is on 14th February and they’ll be hatching plans to express undying love for their significant other. 
 
A good start would be twelve red roses, the favourite flower of Venus, the goddess of Love, followed maybe by a candle-lit dinner.
 
A card is important.  Chocolates are a must. 
 
A full wallet will get you a long way too. Apparently, we lovesick Brits spend around £1.6 billion on Valentine...

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Cold Comfort

Posted by BCM on Monday, January 2, 2017, In : Seasons 


January is generally the coldest month of the year in London.  

Coming so soon after Christmas, it can be a bleak and uninspiring time.

But, if you think it gets cold now, it’s nothing to how it once was.  In days gone by, it was quite common for the Thames to freeze over.

The years between 1309 and 1814 were known as the Little Ice Age and the Thames iced over at least 23 times!  

The river was wider then and flowed a lot slower.  Blocks of ice would catch in the narrow arches of the Old Londo...

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May All Your Christmases Be White

Posted by BCM on Thursday, November 24, 2016, In : Seasons 
Are you dreaming of a White Christmas?

Just like the ones you used to know?

Let's face it, the odds on this happening in London are pretty bad. But that won't stop people who enjoy a flutter taking a punt on it.

All it takes, according to the Met Office, is one single snowflake to fall during the 24 hours of Christmas Day.  

The last time a “bookies'” event was triggered in London was 1999 when, literally, a few wet flakes fell from the sky. Very disappointing. 

There's something about a white...

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Turn Back the Clock

Posted by BCM on Thursday, October 27, 2016, In : Seasons 
Come the 30th of October this year British Summer Time will end. The clocks go back an hour and we’ll be coming home from work in the dark.

We weren’t the first to introduce daylight saving hours but it probably wouldn’t have happened without the campaigning of a builder from Kent called William Willett. 

He thought it a defect in our civilisation that for nearly half the year the nation slept while the sun shone for several hours each day. 

Rather than get up earlier, he proposed to advan...

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Goodbye Summer Hello Autumn

Posted by BCM on Monday, September 26, 2016, In : Seasons 

Like it or not, it’s now autumn!

Whether you measure the start like the weathermen from 1st September or astrologically from the autumn equinox, which fell on the 22nd September this year, there’s no denying it.  The nights are drawing in.  The air is cooler.  And damper.  As John Keats famously put it, the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is upon us.

After the wet spring, the summer ended well.  September just kept giving with sensational temperatures.  If this continues the autumn ...


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Shine On Harvest Moon

Posted by BCM on Monday, August 22, 2016, In : Seasons 
You’ll easily recognise the farmers amongst us.  

At this time of the year, they’ll be the ones with furrowed brows and fingernails gnawed to the bone.

It’s a fraught time for them. Since early July they’ll have been watching the weather like hawks and checking their crops to decide when to start the annual harvest. 

But in a few weeks, all the crops will be safely gathered in. On the Sunday of the Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox, Harvest Festival will be held a...

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