UK News

Best of Britain: Let it snow

For the past week, snow was more than just a single story, it encompassed many stories.  This week’s Best of Britain features a selection of pictures ranging from a sheep in a winter landscape to students determined to protest despite the snow.  There’s a West Ham United player frolicking after scoring a goal and the trace footprints of pedestrians walking down a London street.

Also included are photos of Elton John guest editing The Independent, the cries of anguish as a fallen soldier is lead through Wootton Bassett and football fans distraught that the World Cup will not be coming to England in the near future.

Best of Britain: Reflections

This week’s Best of Britain photos involve reflections of the literal as well as the metaphorical.  From an artist’s work consisting of giant upside down mirrors, mourners lining Wootton Bassett, a portrait of pensioners hit by the recent “death bonds” scandal, to Gordon Brown speaking at the Labour Party’s annual conference.

Also included is an image of Lehman Brothers artwork being auctioned, a costumed Ryder Cup spectator, as well as a man tending to the greens of Celtic Manor.

from Photographers Blog:

A town of grief

The coffins of six British soldiers killed in Afghanistan are driven though the streets of Wootton Bassett in southwest England November 10, 2009. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Since the early 2000's, the bodies of fallen servicemen and women from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places have been repatriated to RAF Lyneham. They pass through the town of Wootton Bassett on their way to the coroner in Oxford. This has led to family members, friends, locals and mourners from further afield assembling along the route of the funeral cortege. It is an emotionally charged event that garners wide media coverage every time.