Our plane came down in to land out of a clear night sky over London, and we could see all the landmarks lit up.

Please send any important documents by Registered Post, but in a plain brown envelope.

Salisbury Plain is a good example of a large flat expanse of land within the British Isles; often, as here, such formations are on the floodplain of a river.

Most metals are obtained by smelting from the ore which is mined out of the ground.

When you go on a river cruise in London, and see the Tower and pass under Tower Bridge, you cannot help being struck with awe at the scale and history of it all.

The boat had vanished without trace, but a single oar was found floating downstream later in the day.

I always feel a bit silly sending cards to people for important occasions like weddings and funerals; I mean, what on earth can you write that won't sound weak or silly?

Many British people have the surname 'Wright': it means 'someone who makes things', such as a wheelwright or cartwright, cheesewright, plowright (originally ploughwright) ... or indeed a playwright (this latter, containing an obvious pun ~ when you consider it for a moment!).

Key occasions in a person's life, such as their formal name-giving as a baby, their transition into adulthood, maybe their marriage, and in due course their funeral, are known to anthropologists and sociologists as 'rites of passage'.

She saw through his plan straight away.

The engineers then saw through this layer to reveal the inner core.

It can be a wonderful experience to attend a full sung service in a cathedral, and hear the children's voices soar up into the ancient roofing.

During a Mental Maths test, only the teacher is allowed to speak numbers aloud.

This photograph shows the planes all arrayed on the ground, prior to taking off on a raid.

When we speak of leaving a door ajar, as it happens, the gap between the door and its lintel would typically be just about wide enough to pass a small object through, such as a jar of jam, but not a complete human being.

He rowed the boat out into the middle of the lake, and there, he quietly went down on one knee in classic fashion to propose marriage to her.

Carry on towards the end of the road until you pass the pillar-box, then it's in the next street on your left.

'Why did the chicken only walk halfway across the street?' 'Because it was a Rhode Island Red.'

Sebastian is delighted to have led the team into the next phase of its expansion, before moving to a similar role in one of our overseas operations.

In the good old bad old days, children were surrounded by compounds of lead, from car exhaust fumes to the paint on their school radiators and playground equipment.

Some people in this world are more easily led, or indeed misled, than others.

The poor girl was practically as pale as the milk in her pail.

Even nowadays, more of the employees of the Royal Mail are male than female.

'Any idea how we can manage to untie this knot?' 'I'm afraid not.'

We hope you will find you now have everything you need for the trip.

Because people out there need bread, bakers get up at extraordinarily early hours to knead their dough so we can enjoy it fresh-baked at breakfast.

'It's outrageous that she should be the one facing court on an assault charge: after all, he was the one who was trying to force his unwanted attentions onto her ~ but, as she'd been taught to do in any such desperate situation, she kneed him in the groin and he could barely even run away.'

A good sailor is one who has been taught to coil any unused ropes neatly ready for action; and meanwhile, even more importantly, to keep all active ropes on their vessel good and taut.

The attacking troops fought long and hard until they had surrounded and captured the fort.

Even with the might of modern medicine behind you, and try as you might to avoid potential infection, the chance remains of a sudden and massive allergic reaction to something as tiny as a common mite.