Clay Lane

Opened in 1725, the Tanfield Railway is one of the oldest railways still operating anywhere in the world.

Dating from 1725, the Tanfield Railway formed part of an extraordinary network of horse-drawn wagonways in North East England that became the basis of the railway revolution.

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The Prince of Denmark is bound to avenge his father’s murder.

The Danish Prince came home to find his father mysteriously dead, and his uncle ready to marry his mother the Queen, and claim the crown.

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Is an old family legend being used as a cover for a very modern murder?

Local superstition about a family legend going back to the English Civil War (1642-1651) blames the death of Charles Baskerville on a giant, ghostly hound, but Sherlock Holmes doesn’t seem to be able to take it seriously.

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A knight issues a bizarre challenge to King Arthur and his court.

One New Year’s Eve, a knight rode into King Arthur’s hall. He was green, all over, and he made a strange offer.

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The oldest surviving heroic legend in English begins with a wild creature of the fens that hunts men for prey.

‘Beowulf’ is the oldest surviving epic in English. Set in Scandinavia, it tells of a hero who pays off a debt of honour, by helping a family friend to rid his neighbourhood of a wretched but deadly enemy.

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The simple melody of the United Kingdom’s national anthem has stirred the souls of some great composers.

‘God Save the King’ was an eighteenth theatre song composed to keep English hearts strong in the face of a Scottish rebellion whipped up by France. Later, it was hailed across oppressed Europe as the anthem of popular liberty, and became one of Ludwig van Beethoven’s favourite tunes.

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