Charity shops have become a staple of British high streets in the past decade, and more and more of us are doing our shopping there — particularly as times are tight. But what's the story behind them? Martin Fone unearths the history of the charity shop.
As we prepare to embark upon the season of wrapping leftover foodstuffs, Martin Fone answers a question that's been bugging us for years: is it dull side up and shiny side down, or the other way around?
Martin Fone investigates the most traditional seasonal food of all: mince pies.
A chance encounter with Nature's answer to the helicopter prompts Martin Fone to ponder how sycamore seeds managed to fall to earth so gracefully.
No English country house is complete, or so it sometimes seems, without an Aga at the heart of the kitchen — yet it's a Swedish invention whose roots are rooted in a tragic explosion, as Martin Fone discovers.
Just when you were musing about the nature of coincidences, along comes Martin Fone to explain exactly what they are — and what they aren't.
Martin Fone tells the tale of a true British culinary classic: the pork pie.
Captain Matthew Webb was famously the first man to successfully swim the English Channel — or was he? Martin Fone investigates.
Despite the British love of seafaring, voluntarily taking a dip in the sea was almost unheard of until relatively recently. Martin Fone takes a look at how a bit of canny marketing helped change that.
The annual Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race has been a fixture on the sporting calendar of Britain for almost two centuries — but there is a far older example still going, Doggett's Coat and Badge, which boasts an unbroken record of winners for more than three centuries examples. Martin Fone explains.
Martin Fone takes a look at the curiously intriguing tale of the evolution of nurseries in Britain.
Martin Fone tells a tale of fruit, sensuality and espionage as he digs in to the tale of the strawberry we know and love.
From floral and fruity gins to wines that you can drink without a pang of conscience, we've rounded up some of the best new drinks on the market, perfect for an al fresco drink as the height of summer approaches.
'Nowadays we travel to all parts of the globe, often within a day and often without changing planes,' says Martin Fone, as he muses on the birth of commercial air travel exactly 70 years ago.
This weekend marks Father's Day across the world, prompting Martin Fone to take a look at the origins of this day of celebration. The tale he discovered is not what he expected....
Martin Fone set off to investigate the origins of the saying that cats have nine lives. In the process he discovered something less supernatural, but no less incredible.
Martin Fone considers the beautiful and ancient fern, once commonly held to have mysterious properties.
The celebration of HM's Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee is imminent — but what is a jubilee, and where does this strange word come from? Martin Fone investigates.
The mysterious term crinkle-crankle wall is something you'll see scattered in to architecture books and even property listings. But what are crinkle-crankle walls? Why are they shaped as they are? And who first came up with the idea? Martin Fone explains all.
Unimaginable as it seems in the era of the gastropub, in the relatively recent past the ploughman's lunch was the only food served at most British pubs — and it was so much a part of agricultural labourers' lives that some even went to court for their right to bread, cheese and pickles. Martin Fone takes a look at the curious tale of the ploughman's lunch.
