Chambers Book of Days (a miscellany of popular antiquities in connection with the calendar 2004 - Edited by R Chambers ) A truly lovable book which I found in a charity shop and bought for £1. A lucky find as this book is out of print. A source of factual information on ancient customs, dates of births and deaths, and loads of other unusual bits and pieces.
The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland by Steve Roud A delightful and diverse collection of strange and obscure facts.
I Never Knew That About England by Christopher Winn 'An entertaining and instructive read - a compendium of facts and anecdotes that offers an exciting new kind of guide to England.'
Schott's Original Miscellany by Ben Schott A delightful book full of lists of things. I'm not sure whether we really need know the stuff within but it amuses me to wander round looking at the odd facts. For instance, I now realise that I've never properly learned our National Anthem, there are five more verses after the one I know. Then my eye was caught by a list of famous horses and their riders. Yes, I did know Dick Turpin rode Black Bess, and Roy Rogers galloped around on Trigger. However, further down the list I found King Arthur's charger was called Lamri and Archangel Gabriel's horse was called Haizum. Maybe I'll not bother committing them to memory, nor the many others in the list.
Word Perfect by Susie Dent "Etymological entertainment for every day of the year" Susie is a true Guru when it comes to words and English language. She gives a word for every day of the year - some still in usage, some now out of use, and interestingly Susie includes words that have changed meaning since they were used in earlier times. She gives explanations, derivations, and loads of interesting facts. If you're a Word Nerd this is the book for you.
WEBSITES I've put a link in each of the headings if you want to dive straight to it - a left click will bring up the link
www.historyorb.com A great website for looking up dates, birth and death dates, facts related to specific dates and famous people, events etc.
http://www.timeanddate.com A great place to find dates relating to all sorts of stuff - a haven for anoraks.
bbc.co.uk I always set this as the home page on my computer and iPad. Always up to date - great for the weather - latest news - and vast resource when looking for information on all and everything.
http://www.SRUK.co.uk This is the website I use for information and support relating to disease I'm lumbered with.
THANKS (and apologies)...to my long suffering family and friends who are subjected to my questions and wanton habit of "borrowing" their photographs, and for putting up with my tendency to snoop round Facebook and Instagram to see what's going on in their world.