One of the oldest and largest satellite earth stations in the world, based in Cornwall, will receive the UK’s first ever direct transmission from the planet Mars.

Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station is located on Goonhilly Downs on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, not far from Helston. Its first dish Antenna One (referred to as Arthur) was built in 1962 to communicate with the Telstar system. The first transatlantic television broadcasts from the United States to be seen in the UK were received via the Telstar satellite and Arthur on the 11th July 1962. Further dishes were added over time, including…

Have you ever watched a period drama and noticed something which shouldn’t be in the film? Some people check every frame looking for the tiniest mistake, while others don’t seem to care. I guess I am somewhere in between; I like things to be right, so a modern street sign in a 17th century scene, for example, would irritate me. Production companies spend many hours and a lot of money ensuring historical details are correct. They have to check costumes, hairstyles, etiquette, transport, buildings, furniture, machines, road markings, phrases used in conversations and the whole chronological order of events. It…

The 47th G7 Summit is planned to be held in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, 11–13 June 2021. In addition to the seven member states and representatives from the European Union, leaders from Australia, India and South Korea have also been invited. The United States President Joe Biden and the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will be attending for the first time.

What is the G7?

The Group of Seven (G7) is an organisation consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. It used to be the G8, but Russia was suspended in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea, and…

Biography

Reginald John (Jack) Clemo was born in Goonamarris, near St Austell in Cornwall on the 11th of March 1916. His father, also called Reginald was killed at sea during the First World War, so Jack was raised by his mother Eveline. The daughter of a preacher, she was deeply religious and her strong nonconformist views influenced her son and later his writing. At the age of five Jack had an attack of blindness, which left him quite withdrawn. He did learn to read and write, but apart from English and religious studies, he was not keen on school. …

Hunted to extinction over 400 years ago, beavers have only been seen in zoos and wildlife parks, until recently. Now, following some unexplained appearances and a number of official release projects, they are back in Britain once more. However, their reintroduction is not welcomed by everyone.

What is a beaver?

Beavers are large, semi aquatic rodents which can be found in many European, Asian and American countries. There are two species, the Eurasian beaver and the North American beaver.

The Eurasian beaver is the largest living, native rodent in Britain. Growing up to 1.7 metres in length, including the tail, they can weigh up…

If you are unfortunate enough to break down on a motorway, you try and get to the hard shoulder and then phone for assistance. However, if you are on a so called “smart" motorway, there is no hard shoulder. If you are lucky you may make it to an emergency refuge area, but if not you have to pull over and get out before a 40 ton truck crushes your car like a tin can.

What are smart motorways?

In the UK a traditional motorway has three lanes for traffic and one narrow lane for emergencies, known as the hard shoulder. Initially motorways only…

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Cornwall is a county in the southwest corner of Britain. Bordered on three sides by the sea, and a river to the east forming the border with Devon, Cornwall is almost an island. Although officially part of England, Cornwall is often seen as a little bit different to the rest of the country. Here are twenty facts you might not know…

1. Cornwall has the longest coastline of any British county.
2. Cornwall has more ancient monuments than any other British county.
3. Cornwall has more bathing beaches than any other British county.
4. Cornwall has no motorways.
5. Cornwall has the highest…

Controlled at different times by the Danes, the British and the Germans, Heligoland has an interesting history. After the British captured it from Denmark in the Napoleonic Wars, it became a tourist resort. Then the Germans became interested in it, so the British swapped it for some land in Africa. It was then used as a naval base in both World Wars, before being partially blown up in one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever. It is now being used as a tourist destination once more. …