Useful Bookmarks

Of Information Websites - Compiled by John Hale

Open this document in your Browser (by double-clicking it) and then click the blue hyperlinks. An * indicates sites mentioned and viewed at the January 2014 meeting of the Purbeck U3A Intermediate Computing Group.


*10 MPs - WriteToThem – Contact MPs

*360 City views: Explore the world in panoramic photography. Travel with us, through 360 degree photos of places you know, and places where you have never been.
Action Fraud. Police.uk

Acts of the UK Parliament: The Office of Public Sector Information is at the heart of information policy, setting standards, delivering access and encouraging re-use of public sector information. We provide online access to UK legislation, license the re-use of Crown copyright material, manage the Information Fair Trader Scheme, maintain the Government Information Asset Register and provide advice and guidance on official publishing and Crown copyright.
Advice - About.com: About.com is a valuable resource for content that helps people to solve the large and small needs of everyday life.
Aerial photos - UK (charged for): UKAerialPhotos.com allows you to preview and order UK aerial photos and maps including wartime Luftwaffe, post-war RAF and detailed modern UK aerial photography from just £19.95. Additionally we offer satellite photos from NASA.
AllExperts Questions & Answers

Ancestry.com - Genealogy & Family History

Anglophile Blog: Anglotopia is a blog and portal for Anglophiles - fans of England and the British in General. Get your Anglophile fix here! We cater to all people who love Great Britain.
*Answerbag.com - Ask Questions: Ask questions on any topic, get real answers from real people. Have a question? Ask it. Know an answer? Share it. Find and share information on Answerbag.com.
AnswerBank, The: The AnswerBank - a free site for anybody to post questions, provide answers and discuss topics of interest.

Arboricultural Association: The Arboricultural Association promotes care and knowledge of trees throughout the UK. A list of approved Tree surgery contractors and consultants is available on the site and a list of tree related publications and advice on tree related matters.
*ASCII character codes

*Beaches-Bathing water profiles: A bathing water profile contains sections on catchment description and map, pollution management, streams and rivers, our investigations, working with water companies, local authorities, farmers and private owners.

Births, Marriages, Deaths - UK Free

*Bletchley Park: WW2 Bletchley Park, National Codes and Cipher Centre Main Website. Take Virtual Tour of Churchill's Secret Intelligence and Computers Headquarters. Find out about exhibits, general and educational visits, lectures, archives.
*Bletchley Park – video

Books - Text Archive: Full text books - archive of free books, texts, documents, classic literature, drama and poetry. All books free to read online.
Britannica.com

*British Birdsong: Download mp3 recordings of British bird calls
British Library, The

British Monarchy

BT - Directory Enquiries

*Calculators: The richest collection of free online calculators, including mortgage, loan, BMI, weight watchers points calculator and hundreds more...
Calculators Online

Cambridge University Press

*Campaign Against Political Correctness

Census - National Statistics

*CEO e-mail addresses: UK CEO E-mail address Chief Executive managing director

Charity Commission

Citizens Advice Bureaux

Citizens Advice Bureaux - Adviceguide

*Clinical Trials - Volunteers Wanted: Paid clinical trial volunteers wanted by UK clinical research organisation: Trials4us. We are currently recruiting healthy volunteers to take part in paid medical trials and clinical drug trials in the London area. Volunteer today and get paid for your contribution to medical research.
Coastwatch UK: National Coastwatch Institution - NCI is a voluntary organisation keeping watch along UK shores.
Communities & Local Government

Companies in UK Index: Free information on UK Limited Liability Companies, their directors, official company documents and annual accounts
*CrashMap UK

Crime Mapping UK

Crown Prosecution Service: The CPS prosecutes criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales and exists to ensure that wrongdoers are brought to justice, victims of crime are supported and that people feel safer in their communities

Data Protection Act 1998: An Act to make new provision for the regulation of the processing of information relating to individuals, including the obtaining, holding, use or disclosure of such information.
Data Protection guidelines: All organisations which handle personal data must conform to all eight principles of the Data Protection Act. This section contains a list of guidelines on the DPA.

Dialing codes - UK

*Dictionary - 100 Most Often Mispronounced Words

Dictionary - Oxford English Dictionary: Search the Compact Oxford English Dictionary online; get answers to questions on English, language, grammar, spelling, quotations, and usage; find out about OUP dictionaries; improve your writing skills; try our word games, crosswords, and puzzles; win books in our prize draw; learn French, German, Spanish, Russian, Greek, Japanese, and Italian.

Distance Selling Regulations

Distance Selling Regulations 2000: These Regulations implement Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 20 May 1997 (O.J. No. L144, 4.6.97, p.19) on the protection of consumers in relation to distance contracts, with the exception of Article 10.
DIY - Do It Yourself: DIY Encylopaedia and Home Improvement guide including, diy plumbing, decorating, diy building, electrics, flooring, roofing, insulation, woodwork, windows and doors, guttering and stain removal, everything and anything related to diy. Also forums, find local experts, suppliers, diy
DIY - Fix It: Free DIY home improvement guide with advice covering decorating heating plumbing and electrics plus help with tiling wallpapering kitchens and bathrooms. Diy fix it answers your do it yourself questions
DIY Information: Do it yourself home improvement and diy repair at Doityourself.com. Includes home improvement projects, home repair, kitchen remodeling, plumbing, electrical, painting, real estate, and decorating.
Driving Licence Renewal: Renewing the photo on your driving licence
DVLA Driving, tax etc- Gov.uk
DVLA Swansea
DVLA Vehicle Licensing Online
DVLA VOSA MOT site
DVLA: Motoring : Directgov: Information and services about car drivers, motorcyclists, driving licences, driving tests, towing a caravan or trailer, medical rules and online services
*E Numbers in food

*Earth from Space - Overview

Encyclopedia - Wikipedia

Environment Agency: Environment Agency homepage

Eye on Earth

*Fake Faces

Fantastic Fiction - books: Over 25000 bestselling author bibliographies with all the latest books, covers and descriptions

*FlightRadar24-Live flight tracker: Flightradar24 is the best live flight tracker that shows air traffic in real time. Best coverage and cool features!
*Floods - Environment Agency

Freedom of information: View detailed documentation on many aspects of the freedom of information act.
Freedom of Information Act

Friends Reunited: Find, reunite, contact old friends from school, work, college, university, neighbours, armed forces, expats. Find a date with our uk online dating agency, trace family history and ancestors and build family tree.

*Geograph Britain photos every grid square!: Geograph Britain and Ireland is a web based project to collect and reference geographically representative images of every square kilometre of the British Isles.
Google Sightseeing: Explore the globe with satellite and aerial images from Google Earth and Google Maps. Why bother seeing the world for real?

Hansard House of Parliament

*House Price game: A house-price guessing game from Us Vs Th3m.
House Prices - UK Property Prices

House Rebuilding Cost Calculator: The House Rebuilding Cost Calculator can be used to check the sum insured on a domestic house
*How Stuff Works

Hudsons Heritage UK Attractions: Attraction review and trip planning for over 1400 Heritage Attractions
ICO -Info Com's Office: The Freedom of Information Act gives the public the right to request information held by public authorities. The ICO explains how you can make a request for information.

Imperial War Museum

Income Tax-HM R&C

Information Commissioner's Office: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) contains a wealth of content about information privacy, Freedom of Information Act, the Data Protection Act and much more.
Inheritance Tax


Land Registry: Land Registry is the government department responsible to the Lord Chancellor. It is responsible for keeping and maintaining the Land Register of England and Wales. Its main purpose is to register title to land in England and Wales and to record dealings once the land is registered. Established in 1862, it is required by statute to be self-financing and makes no call on public funds.

Legislation.gov.uk: The official home of UK legislation, revised and as enacted 1267-present. This website is managed by The National Archives on behalf of HM Government. Publishing all UK legislation is a core part of the remit of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO), part of The National Archives, and the Office of the Queen's Printer for Scotland.
*London BT Tower Panorama

*London Tube-trains LIVE!

Lost Accounts: Lost Accounts
*Marine Traffic Live Ships Map: Vessel positions tracking based on AIS data. Real-time ship locations and port arrivals departures

*Meanings of Phrases: The meaning and origin of thousands of English phrases and sayings.
Metric Conversions: Metric Conversions - metric conversion calculators, tables and metric formulas for temperature, length, area, volume and weight units.
Migration Watch UK: MigrationwatchUK is an independent and non-political body established in October 2001. Our purposes are to; monitor migration flows to and from the UK, provide to the press and public the most accurate, available information, in a comprehensible form, provide balanced comment, identify policy options for consideration by government. MigrationwatchUK proceeds on the basis that existing ethnic minorities form a valuable part of British society, and that genuine asylum seekers should be given refuge.

Money Saving Expert: Martin Lewis’s free site saves you money. Beat the system on credit cards, shopping, special offers, mortgages, council tax, interest rate payments, freebies, loans, loopholes, best buys. Compare, read, discuss and be a Money Expert.
Money.co.uk: Compare all the savings accounts available in the UK at a glance with the help of our best saving account comparison table and find the best high interest savings account no matter how much you have to save. We list all types of account including tax free ISAs, internet saving, fixed term, instant access and offshore savings.
National Trust - Main: Protects and opens to the public many historic houses and gardens, mills and monuments for great days out and visits. They also look after countryside and coastal sites.
National Trust - Walks: Discover stunning walks at National Trust properties and countryside. Find a two day hike, a short family stroll, a place to walk your dog or guided walk or event.
Neighbourhood Statistics: Neighbourhood Statistics - free to access government website providing range of local area information.

Ofcom

Online Court - sentences for offences
Ordnance Survey - Get-a-map

*Outlook Express Error Codes

Parcelforce Tracking: With Parcelforce you can track online the progress of items sent using selected Parcelforce Worldwide services. Quick and easy to use, simply add your reference number.
Parking Ticket Appeal - Ticket Busters

Parking Tickets - London & UK: The web site guide to parking regulations in London and the UK
PenaltyChargeNotice.co.uk

Pension Service, The: Impartial UK government information on state and private pensions from The Pension Service, part of the Department for Work and Pensions, whether you are retired, approaching retirement or planning ahead for retirement.
*Periodic Table

*Manufacturers Helpline Phone Numbers

*Phone Nos - SAY NO to 0870

*Phone-Call Centre Menus FREE Directory-PleasePress1: Join our campaign for access to Customer Services. We have a free database of major companies' automated phone systems. Skip ahead and save time, money & frustration with Please Press 1.
PhonepayPlus - Premium Nos: PhonepayPlus is the regulatory body for all premium rate charged telecommunications services. We investigate complaints, and have the power to fine companies and bar access to services if the Code is breached.
*Phone-Who called me? Reverse phone directory.: Got a call from an unknown number? Use this free reverse phone directory to find out who called you.

Police - Dorset Crime mapping: Crime levels & statistics for Dorset Police
Police - London Crime mapping: Crime Mapping
Police Complaints Commission: The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is an organisation that has overall responsibility for the system for complaints against the police.
Police.uk - Local crime information: Local crime and policing information for England and Wales.

*Poole Y C - Live Weather

*Population Clocks, world

Population England and Wales 2011: According to the 2011 census 56,075,912 people live in England and Wales. We've drawn every person as a dot in their approximate location. The results give a beautiful picture of population density across…
Postcode Map
Postcodes & Addresses (UK )
Postcodes (Royal Mail)

Pubs Galore - UK Pubs

Road collision stats UK

*Road Names: Weird British road names
Royal Horticultural Society: The Home Page of the website of Britain's gardening charity - the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) - is the gateway to gardening, keeping you up to date with the latest news, advice, events, RHS shows, RHS gardens and membership. The RHS is the world's leading horticultural organisation and the UK's leading gardening charity. Our aim is to protect Britain's gardening heritage and help gardeners everywhere

Royal Mail portal

RSPB: The RSPB is the UK charity working to secure a healthy environment for birds and all wildlife, helping to create a better world for everyone. We depend on the goodwill and financial support of people like you.
RSPB: Birds by name

Sale of Goods Act - DTI: Sale of Goods Act

Small Claims service - MCOL

Spotlight - Actors' entries

*Stain Removal Solutions

State Pension age calculator: Directgov - Pensions and retirement planning

Stock Market: FTSE 100 Index ($GB:UKX) - stock market index quote. Get the latest quotes for stock market indexes and sector indexes including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 Index

Stolen property - CheckMEND: Use CheckMEND to avoid stolen, counterfeit or faulty goods and network disabled cell phones. The comprehensive global checking system for buyers and sellers. Searches IMEI, ESN and all other serial numbers

Tax Calculator: 2010 Tax Calculator For UK Taxes - PAYE and CIS Tax Calculator - Answer a few questions and get a detailed tax breakdown of your salary online.

Telephone Code Locator: The UK Telephone Code Locator takes telephone numbers, std codes, uk dialling codes, any UK phone code, any uk area code, exchange names or the name of a location. The phone number search takes full UK telephone numbers and checks whether they are potentially valid, and, if applicable, gives other information such as the area where the number originates.

Telephone Preference Service: Telephone Preference Service.
Telephones UK
The Right to Know

Thesaurus.com

*Time and Date.com: This site includes lots of information that is time and date related, such as yearly and monthly calendars, countdown counters and the world clock which shows current time in cities all over the world.
*Time Clocks, Counters & Countdowns
*Time Server - correct, current, local
*Time Standard: Weymouth, United Kingdom: Exact time now, + more.
*Time, A Walk Through

Trading Standards - Consumer Direct: Consumer Direct is a government funded advice service for everyone to use. Our regionally based advisors are specially trained to give practical advice on all kinds of consumer issues - from problems with cars to faulty household appliances.
Trading Standards - Main: Trading Standards and consumer protection information in the UK, supported and maintained by TSI, the Trading Standards Institute. Information for consumers, business, schools, advice and information centres. Your local service deals with complaints and enquiries and provides advice, information and protection for residents and traders.

*Traffic England: Traffic England
*Traffic Information UK

Train Timetable - National Rail

Translate - Google: Google's free online language translation service instantly translates text and web pages. This translator supports: English, Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu,; Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish
TV cameras - EarthTv: earthTV - the world's biggest remote controlled TV camera network broadcasting 24h live video footage of more than 70 locations in Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Oceania
U3A Dorchester & District: ... in the heart of Hardy country (by Aramis)
U3A Weymouth & Portland

UpMyStreet. Property Prices, Schools, Council Tax, Crime,Health

*Video Archives - ITN Source: ITN Source - The UK's leading TV & Film footage source
Vision of Britain

Walks in Britain: Walking Britain - 12,000 pages of information for walkers in Britain with descriptions of walks, photos from the walks, maps of walks, accommodation for walkers, walking equipment, a walking forum and news for walkers.
*What's that song?: You wonder What's that song? Sing, hum, tap, play a song and people will tell you what that song is! Show that you are the best at music quizzes by naming other one's songs!
Which?: No advertising, no bias, no hidden agenda. Just expert advice from an independent source.

Wildlife Garden A-Z RSPB

Wildlife of Britain: Wildlife Britain - Guide to British Wildlife, british animals and conservation in Britain
World Digital Library: The World Digital Library will make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from cultures around the world, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and more. The objectives of the World Digital Library are to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, provide resources to educators, expand non-English and non-Western content on the Internet, and to contribute to scholarly research.
World Intellectual Property Organization: WIPO, The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) homepage, entry point for information about industrial property and copyright.
World Time Server: Get correct and current world times with accurate daylight saving adjustments for every zone. Also, sync your PC clock with an atomic clock server and subscribe to our official database.

Yell.com: Yell.com is United Kingdom's local search engine, providing access to classified business information, including business websites, addresses, phone numbers and detailed local maps and directions for locations throughout the UK.
*Zoopla! Property prices: The UK's leading market resource for a property finder to search property for sale, find houses and flats to rent, see house prices paid and current property values all in one place.