This Britain

Tubullar Bells by Mike Oldfield is to get the stamp of approval

New stamps to show album covers

A dogs' home, the Girl Guides and album covers will all be featured on new stamps being released in 2010.

Inside This Britain

2009: The Good, the Bad and the Bonkers

Sunday, 27 December 2009

We all know the Booker, Turner, and Orange Prizes, and the Oscars, Grammys, and Perriers. But not every award handed out in the course of the year is as high-profile. Some – perhaps more socially useful – gongs do not get the coverage they deserve. Time to put that right. Here, then, are The Other Awards of the year

The bells are ringing – but for how long?

Sunday, 27 December 2009

A Slice of Britain: An essential part of the soundtrack of Britain, church bellringing relies on a dwindling number of skilled ringers who dash from tower to tower.

2020 vision: Old-age homes for the YBAs, Simon Cowell's 'Big Brother' makeover and the McPolyphenol burger

Sunday, 27 December 2009

From Heston Blumenthal's molecular menu makeover at McDonald's to the horror of Big Brother's comeback, BB: Celebrity Suicide Watch, the past decade has seen our leisure time transformed in ways we could never have imagined.

2020 vision: Our crack team of futurologists peers into the mists of time and reflects back on the decade to come

Sunday, 27 December 2009

Britain's first black prime minister is settling into Number 10, Sir Alexander McQueen has given King Charles a makeover and the City's carbon traders are coining it. Welcome to the future – but what other surprises are around the corner? Our experts reflect on the biggest events of the next 10 years

Minor British Institutions: The campaign for Real Ale

Saturday, 26 December 2009

Obviously you don't have to have a big beer belly peeking out from your real-ale festival T-shirt to be a member of Camra – but it helps. It's also true that there are lots of real-ale bores (just as there are wine bores too), but none of this detracts from the import and enjoyability of Camra's long crusade to save decent British beer and habitable, proper pubs.