Hard times

On 30 September 1888, the body of Elizabeth Stride, one of Jack the Ripper’s victims, was discovered in Dutfield’s Yard, off Commercial Road in East London. Situated just over a mile to the east was t

We’re all familiar with the opulence of the great ocean liners in all their glory: polished brass fittings, glittering dining saloons, and wealthy passengers promenading on deck. Yet far below, in a w

One of the few benefits of the country’s transformation into a cashless society is that schoolchildren in receipt of free school meals are no longer made to standout from their peers. With senior scho

“You can’t live here. There are no shops,” my friend Jen stated. We were sitting in the van belonging to the pub I lived in, the Golden Cross, Slough, waiting for my parents who had an interview for t

The rise and fall of an undervalued institution

WOULD you look at the man!” Maggie said. She wasn’t much to look at herself, being as black as sin from the coal dust. She’d just finished a shift at the colliery screens, picking lumps of coal out of