27 OCTOBER IS NATIONAL BLACK CAT DAY! 🐈‍⬛ BAD LUCK? NOT IN BRITISH FOLKLORE! Today we're celebrating our beautiful black cats, and some of the wonderfully strange superstitions surrounding them throughout British history! Black cats have long been associated with witches, magic and Halloween...But did you know that in much of Britain, they were traditionally considered GOOD LUCK? 🐈‍⬛ SCOTLAND: PROSPERITY AT YOUR DOOR! In Scottish folklore, a stray black cat arriving at your doorstep was considered a sign that wealth and good fortune were on their way. 🐈‍⬛ ENGLAND: A LUCKY WEDDING PRESENT! In parts of England, particularly the Midlands, black cats were once given to newlyweds as symbols of happiness and good fortune. Northern English rhymes: Beliefs linking a black cat in the house to success in love and marriage for the daughters “Whenever the cat o’ the house is black, The lasses o’ lovers will have no lack” 🐈‍⬛ WALES: A BLACK CAT BRINGS GOOD HEALTH In Wales black cats bring good health and ward off sickness. There is a recorded folk rhyme (from late-19th-century Welsh folklore collections): roughly “A black cat, I’ve heard it said, Can charm all ill away, And keep the house wherein she dwells From fever’s deadly sway.” 🐈‍⬛ YORKSHIRE: PROTECTORS OF FISHERMEN! Along the Yorkshire coast, fishermen's wives traditionally kept black cats at home, believing they would protect their husbands and help bring them safely back from sea. 🐈‍⬛ BRITISH SAILORS: LUCK AT SEA! Sailors also regarded black cats as lucky companions, believing their presence aboard ship could offer protection against storms and dangerous voyages. 🐈‍⬛ THE THEATRE: A STAR IN THE AUDIENCE! According to an old British superstition, a black cat appearing in the audience on opening night meant the production would enjoy a long and successful run. 🐈‍⬛ CROSSING YOUR PATH? In much of Britain, a black cat crossing your path was regarded as GOOD luck; although some regional traditions, including parts of Yorkshire, believed quite the opposite! 🐈‍⬛ KING CHARLES I: The king was said to have treasured a black cat as a good-luck charm and had it guarded. After its death he reportedly lamented that his luck had gone; according to the anecdote, he was arrested for treason shortly afterward. So how did black cats end up with such an unfortunate reputation? During the European witch trials, cats became associated with witchcraft and were sometimes believed to be witches' companions or supernatural creatures. Those associations eventually became part of the familiar Halloween imagery we recognise today. But the truth is that black cats are simply cats; beautiful, affectionate, mischievous and every bit as deserving of loving homes as any other colour. ❤️ WHY NATIONAL BLACK CAT DAY MATTERS The charity Cats Protection established the day in 2011 to celebrate black and black-and-white cats and help challenge attitudes that could affect adoption. And the campaign has helped make a difference. So today, forget the bad-luck myths and celebrate these little furry animals! Do you have a black cat? Do you believe black cats are lucky or unlucky? Happy National Black Cat Day!

Slavery was near-universal across history and continents (African, Arab, European, Asian); the idea that ordinary people in one country uniquely “owe” for it is selective. The obsession with historical reparations for slavery is a fiscal and moral dead end. Reports (such as the Brattle Group analysis) put the bill for the transatlantic trade alone in the tens or even hundreds of trillions across Western nations, including claims of £18–24 trillion from the UK. These sums are fantasy accounting that would bankrupt economies while delivering no proven benefit to any living person. Money would flow to governments and bureaucracies centuries after the fact, not to individuals who suffered. Most people never profited from it. In Britain, only a few thousand (out of a population of roughly 16–20 million) received compensation when the practice ended in the 1830s. The overwhelming majority of Britons were working people who never owned a slave, never invested in the trade, and often lived in grinding poverty themselves; as the mill towns and child labour of the industrial era make clear.

CAPTAIN JAMES COOK (A Northerner again!) THE YORKSHIRE LAD WHO HELPED MAP THE WORLD On this day in 1728, James Cook was born in Marton, Yorkshire (27 October, Old Style; 7 November, New Style), beginning a life that would make him one of the most accomplished navigators in maritime history. He was baptised a week later, on 3rd November, at the parish church of St Cuthbert’s. His beginnings were humble. The son of a Scottish farm labourer and his Yorkshire wife, Cook attended a village school in Great Ayton, worked briefly in a shop at Staithes, and was eventually apprenticed to shipowners in Whitby. It was there, sailing colliers along Britain’s eastern coast, that he developed the seamanship and navigational skills that would shape his extraordinary career. Cook joined the Royal Navy in 1755, later distinguishing himself through his remarkably accurate charts of the St Lawrence River (which helped the British capture Quebec) and the coasts of Newfoundland. But his greatest achievements lay ahead. ⚓ 1768–1771: Commanding HMS Endeavour, he sailed to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus, then circumnavigated and charted New Zealand before surveying Australia’s eastern coastline. ⚓ 1772–1775: His second expedition ventured deep into the Southern Ocean, becoming the first to cross the Antarctic Circle (multiple times) and transforming European understanding of the southern seas. ⚓ 1776–1779: His final voyage sought a northern passage between the Pacific and Atlantic. It brought him to the Hawaiian Islands (the first recorded European contact), where he was killed on 14th February 1779 at Kealakekua Bay. Cook’s achievements were not simply about exploration. His meticulous charts transformed navigation, while his attention to cleanliness, provisions and diet helped combat scurvy; one of the great killers of eighteenth-century seafarers. His expeditions dramatically expanded European geographical and scientific knowledge. In 1776 the Royal Society awarded him its prestigious Copley Medal for his work in preserving the health of his crews. From a Yorkshire village to the farthest reaches of the Pacific; an extraordinary story o f skill, courage, determination and British maritime history. On what would have been his 298th birthday, we remember Captain James Cook (1728–1779).

This is unhinged. People travel from all over the country (and the world) to see Oxford Street’s Christmas lights; a proper magical moment, especially for children (and adults) who love Harry Potter. Now a load of furious activists in frocks and nose rings want to turn up and scream “bigot” at families just for enjoying a bit of festive fun, because they can’t cope with the fact that sex is real. Christmas isn’t a political battleground. Let people enjoy the magic. Keep the Magic Alive: Let the Harry Potter Christmas Lights Go Ahead on Oxford Street! - Sign the Petition! c.org/674F2jkK6r via @UKChange

27 OCTOBER 939 A NEW KING OF ENGLAND On this day in 939; exactly 1,087 years ago, King Æthelstan died, and his younger half-brother Edmund succeeded him as King of the English. Edmund was just 18 years old. Æthelstan is widely regarded as the first king of a united England, having brought the kingdom of York under his control in 927 and then defeated a major coalition of Scots, Strathclyde Britons and Vikings at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937. The teenage Edmund had already fought beside him there. A contemporary poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle praised the brothers for winning “eternal glory” with the sword’s edge, noting that they had often fought for their land since boyhood. Æthelstan’s death left the young Edmund with the enormous task of preserving that hard-won unity. And it was far from straightforward. Viking forces under Olaf Guthfrithson of Dublin immediately challenged English control in the north, seizing York and pushing into the Midlands. Edmund initially lost territory, but he fought back: he recovered the Five Boroughs and, in 944, drove the Norse kings out of York, restoring West Saxon rule in the north. In 945 he campaigned into Strathclyde and entrusted it to Malcolm I of Scotland in return for support; a shrewd move to stabilise the frontier. Known as Edmund I, and sometimes as Edmund the Magnificent or the Deed-Doer, he was a grandson of Alfred the Great. He reigned for just over six and a half years (commonly rounded to seven). His life ended violently on 26 May 946, when he was killed at Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire; stabbed while intervening to protect his steward from an outlaw during a gathering on St Augustine’s Day, aged about 25. He was succeeded by his brother Eadred. His own young sons, Eadwig and Edgar, would later become kings themselves. More than a thousand years later, Edmund’s short but crucial reign remains an important chapter in the formation of England and the struggle to keep its emerging kingdom united. An extraordinary period of our nation’s early history.

27 OCTOBER 1965 THE HEATHROW AIR DISASTER REMEMBERING 36 LIVES LOST On this day in 1965, 36 people lost their lives when a British European Airways aircraft crashed while attempting to land at London Heathrow Airport. The Vickers Vanguard had been travelling from Edinburgh to London, carrying 30 passengers and six crew members. The aircraft was on a scheduled flight from Edinburgh Turnhouse Airport to Heathrow. The flight departed from Edinburgh at 23:17 on 26th October. The flight was uneventful until the aircraft approached London when, during the final approach to runway 28R, the aircraft encountered fog, with reports indicating visibility was less than 50 metres. Conditions at Heathrow were extremely difficult, with poor visibility affecting the aircraft's approach. After two unsuccessful approaches, the aircraft attempted another landing but crashed on Runway 28 Right. There were no survivors. The tragedy sent shockwaves through Britain's aviation community. Later that same day, Aviation Minister Roy Jenkins addressed the House of Commons, confirming the devastating loss of life and announcing a public inquiry into the circumstances of the accident. The disaster became part of the continuing effort to understand and improve the safety of aviation during an era when commercial air travel was rapidly expanding. Today, on the 61st anniversary, we remember the 30 passengers and six crew members who never returned home. Behind every number was a person, a family and a life cut tragically short. May all 36 be remembered. 🕯️

⚓ 🇬🇧 27 OCTOBER 1914. THE SINKING OF HMS AUDACIOUS AND THE SECRET BRITAIN KEPT FOR FOUR YEARS On this day in 1914, one of Britain's most powerful battleships was lost off the north-west coast of Ireland, barely three months into the First World War. HMS Audacious was a King George V-class super-dreadnought, commissioned only the previous year. She was among the Royal Navy's formidable modern warships, armed with ten 13.5-inch guns. But on the morning of 27th October, while conducting gunnery exercises near Tory Island, disaster struck. At approximately 8.45am, Audacious hit a mine laid by the German auxiliary minelayer Berlin. The explosion caused severe flooding. Despite determined attempts to save her, the battleship gradually lost power and began listing. Then came an extraordinary rescue. The great ocean liner RMS Olympic; sister ship of the ill-fated Titanic, came to her assistance. Her crew helped rescue sailors and even attempted to tow the stricken battleship to safety. The effort ultimately failed. By early evening, Audacious had been abandoned. Later that night she capsized and suffered a tremendous internal explosion before sinking. Remarkably, her crew had been evacuated. Tragically, debris from the final explosion killed a petty officer aboard the nearby light cruiser HMS Liverpool. The British Government kept the loss of HMS Audacious officially secret until after the war. Despite rumours and overseas reports, Britain continued to conceal the sinking, partly to avoid revealing the reduction in the Grand Fleet's strength. It was not officially acknowledged until November 1918. Today, 112 years later, we remember the sailors involved, the remarkable rescue effort and the serviceman who lost his life. A dramatic and little-known chapter of Royal Navy history. ⚓ We Will Remember Them.

Lest We Forget. 12 years since British forces handed over Camp Bastion and ended combat operations in Afghanistan. Honouring all those who never came home, and those who did; carrying scars seen and unseen. 🇬🇧 We will remember them.

26 OCTOBER 2017 A statue was unveiled in Congleton to honour Treo, the courageous military dog whose work in Afghanistan helped save many lives. 🐾🫡 On this day in 2017, people gathered in Congleton, Cheshire, to remember a very special soldier. Not a general. Not a politician. Not even a human being. But Treo; a black Labrador English Springer Spaniel crossbreed, an arms and explosives search dog, and one of the bravest animals ever to serve with the British Armed Forces. A remarkable military dog Treo served with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and worked alongside his handler, Sergeant Dave Heyhoe. Together they were deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, where Treo’s role was to search for hidden explosives and improvised explosive devices; work that required extraordinary training, discipline and courage. And courage he certainly had. According to the official citation for his PDSA Dickin Medal; often described as the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, Treo located a deadly “daisy chain” IED on 15th August 2008 while acting as forward protection for 8 Platoon, The Royal Irish Regiment. The device had been placed on a roadside used by British troops and was capable of causing devastating casualties. Then, on 3rd and 4th September 2008, Treo’s actions were again credited with saving soldiers from what were described as guaranteed casualties. Without his skill, focus and devotion to duty, lives would almost certainly have been lost. Treo was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal on 24th February 2010. The medal is the highest honour an animal can receive for gallantry or devotion to duty in military conflict. It was richly deserved. Treo’s service was not dramatic in the way films sometimes portray heroism. It was quieter than that; patient, disciplined, alert, and absolutely vital. He went ahead so that others might live. After retiring from the Army in 2010, Treo spent the final years of his life in Congleton with his handler, Dave Heyhoe. He died in 2015, but his story was not forgotten. Two years later, on 26th October 2017, a life-size bronze statue was unveiled near the entrance to the Community Garden on Lawton Street. The memorial was created by sculptor Amy Goodman and made possible by support from the local community. It stands not only as a tribute to Treo himself, but also to the wider service and sacrifice of military animals. Animals such as Treo are sometimes affectionately remembered as mascots, but that risks understating what they really were. Treo was a working military dog operating in a war zone. He was part of a team. He undertook dangerous duties. And he helped bring soldiers home alive. That deserves remembrance. The words associated with Treo’s memorial are especially fitting: “Search & Secure DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF TREO 63 DM AND OTHER SERVICE ANIMALS WHO LOYALLY SERVED US” They remind us that military service has not always been carried only by people. Horses, pigeons, dogs and many other animals have played crucial roles in war, often facing the same dangers as the humans beside them. Treo’s story is one of loyalty, training, trust and courage. And thanks to the people of Congleton, his name and service continue to be remembered. We remember Treo and all the service animals who have served with courage alongside our Armed Forces.