500 and still going!

This post marks the 500th post since I started the blog on January 1st this year. Photo by bayasaa (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bayasaa/)…

Ring Nebula

The Ring nebula (aka Messier 57 or NGC6720) is a planetary nebula found in the constellation Lyra. It is caused…

I recently went to the British Museum’s current exhibition on Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism was a state religion of Persia from around…

The Canada Goose was originally a native of North America. A few individuals manage to reach the UK naturally each…

If I think back to the time that I first became interested in steam locomotives, the names of two locomotives…

It is interesting that apart from the materials from which they were made the Roman doctor /surgeons instrument kit resembles…

As well as canals – Amsterdam is a city of bicycles. One of the most amazing sites is around the…

At the recent Roman health and medicine symposium I attended there was an excellent talk by Prof Eberhard Sauer (Edinburgh…

At first glance locomotive 4866 may not appear terribly special. The 48 class were built in the 1930s, primarily for…