Curious Questions

How to tie the only knots you'll ever need

The 'Surrey Six' is a collection of ways to tie rope that, for most people, are the only six knots you'll ever need. Agnes Stamp tries her hand at tying them, and looks in to the lore of knot tying.

The years when England cancelled Christmas

No feasting. No drinking. No celebrations. Ian Morton explores what the festive period was like when Oliver Cromwell’s Christmas clampdown gripped the nation.

Curious Questions: Why do ships have figureheads?

Always adorned with eyes, often female and sometimes in a compromising pose, carved figureheads were cherished by their crews. But why? Harry Pearson takes a look.

The stories behind the strangest phrases in English from being 'gone for a burton' to 'caught red-handed'

Learning a language is one thing, getting to grips with a pig in a poke is another altogether. Octavia Pollock explores some of our best idioms

What should you do if bats take up residence in your roof?

Watching bats flit across the night sky might be captivating, but their presence can be a challenge for the homeowners in whose roofs they roost. Jane Wheatley reports on what to do if a colony has taken up residence.

When did Stir-up Sunday first begin?

On the last weekend before Advent, families gather to make Christmas pudding on the day we know as Stir-up Sunday. But when did we start giving it that name? With Stir-up Sunday 2023 falling on November 26th, Neil Buttery takes a look.

The penny-farthing rider who made a 400-mile trek across war-torn Ukraine

Is it still possible to use a penny-farthing today? The answer is an emphatic yes, at least if you're former Special Forces officer and adventurer Neil Laughton. He rode his Victorian high wheeler for 400 miles across war-torn Ukraine, doing everything from making pizza for local children to raising money for charity. Here he tells his tale.

Fifty of shades of green: The sex lives of plants

Plants have developed surprising ways of spreading their seed, says John Wright, as he explores the unusual and risqué manner in which some species reproduce to answer one of botany's oldest questions: how do plants have sex?

How did they come up with the numbers for shoe sizes?

If you've ever wondered why a six is a six and a ten is a ten, so has Martin Fone. He decided to find out how we came to settle on the shoe size numbers we use today.

Why has it been a bumper year for British berries?

The sunny, yet wet summer might have been a dampener at the time, but the resulting autumnal berry haul is a feast for mice and men, says John Lewis-Stempel.

How to win at conkers

Few games rival conkers for sheer excitement. Simon Lester ponders the merits of round-topped nuts versus flat-sided cheesers and exposes the nefarious tricks some use to win at all costs.

How London nearly had its own Eiffel Tower

England and France competed fiercely for bragging rights in the 19th and early 20th centuries — but no version of France's most famous building ever came to fruition. That wasn't for the lack of trying, though, as Martin Fone discovers.

How the Leyland Cypress went from botanical accident to taking over the world

The near-ubiquitous Leyland Cypress — or leylandii — is an evergreen with an extraordinary back story. Martin Fone explains.

Curious Questions: Did English ladies really have a secret 'language of fans'?

Did ladies' fans in 18th and 19th century England carry hidden meanings? Many at the time certainly seemed to think so, and Martin Fone delves in to the history books and discovers that 'so shall each passion by the fan be seen, from noisie anger to the sullen spleen.'

Curious Questions: Why do leaves change colour in Autumn? And why do some go yellow while others are red, purple or brown?

The riotous colours on the trees around us are one of the highlights of the year — but why do leaves change colour in Autuumn? Mark Griffiths explains.

What is a garden hermit?

Martin Fone takes a look at the curious history of the hermits who spent years living happily in the grounds of country houses, perhaps the ultimate garden folly.

What is the Stone of Scone?

Shrouded in myth and mystery, the unremarkable-looking Stone of Scone — the ancient symbol of Scottish sovereigns — still plays a significant role in the coronations of British monarchs, says Matthew Dennison.

Curious Questions: Why was absinthe banned?

Absinthe is almost unique among alcoholic spirits for having been outlawed in even some of the world's most liberal countries — but how did that happen? Martin Fone traces back the story to find the tales of debauchery, hallucination and even murder that once gave the drink its bad name — and looks at how it's returned to prominence.

Why John Nash, London's greatest architect, was despised in his own lifetime and for decades afterwards

John Nash is the man responsible for London's most beautiful buildings — yet he was once as reviled as he is now revered. Carla Passino retraces his life to see how his star rose, fell and rose again.

Curious Questions: What is Linnaeus’s Flower Clock?

Martin Fone takes a look at one of the most ingenious uses of plants ever imagined by mankind: Linnaeus’s Flower Clock.