Spring Blooms
If you think Britain is stuck in the grips of a seemingly endless winter, rest assured Spring is just around the corner....more
Most Remote Fuel Station
This fuel station is a staggering five kilometres underground and is thought to be the most remote in Britain. ...more
iPhone School
Rather than banning phones in class, secondary school children are now being given iphones in an experiment that may see the end of books in class....more
Inside Out Horse
Gillian Higgins, 27, shows off her art work on Kiitos (Finnish for 'Thank You') at BCA Equestrian, Maidenhead before her lecture there last night....more
Fauld Crater
Today (Friday) is the 65th anniversary of Britain's biggest explosion, caused when an underground ammunition dump blew up killing more than seventy people....more
Banksy Graffitied
Britain's most notorious graffiti artist may be accustomed to art world adulation but Banksy's latest work has landed him in an old fashioned street fight....more
Red Kites
The frosty air is full of swooping wings and harsh cries. At a secret location somewhere in West Wales it is feeding time for more than 100 red kites.
With a wingspan of nearly two metres, but a relatively small body, these predators are extremely agile and their brilliant chestnut red plumage and forked tails make them a dazzling sight....more
Verticrop
Ten feet tall, 55 feet long and 23 feet wide , it is the award-winning device which is making a monkey out of feeding time at the zoo.
Called a vertical farm - and just acclaimed by Time magazine as one of the top 50 innovations of the year - it has been installed at Paignton Zoo in South Devon, to help cut a £200,000 a year food bill for the animals....more
Stinging Nettle Eating Championships
Sixty-five brave, if not rather mad, contestants battled for glory, last night, at the World Stinging Nettle Eating Championships.
Each competitor is given a pile of freshly picked nettles - carefully measured and cut into two foot lengths. The winner is the one who can strip bare and eat all the leaves on as many of these stems as possible in one hour - the stalks are counted and a winning 'length' is then awarded - one prize (a trophy and a crate of beer) to the men, and one to the women.
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Hovercaft 50th Anniversary
Fifty years ago today saw the first ever Hovercraft take to the water/air. But there were no thoughts of retirement or time for a party on the Solent today as the Hoverspeed fleet was flat out flying revelers from Southsea to Ryde for this weekend's Isle of Wight Festival.
For the first time ever a smaller Griffon hovercraft, a demonstrator from the Southampton factory, was needed to help ship freight to and from the Island....more
Biddys and Codgers
It was supposed to be a humorous way of describing the pensioners who are enjoying retirement in the seaside town of Selsey in Sussex by the sea.
Instead, the decision by a taxi firm to describe them as 'biddies and codgers' in an advertising campaign, sparked uproar yesterday. One dictionary describes biddies as 'interfering old women' and codgers as 'old or eccentric men'.
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Britain's most unsellable house
Behind its five-bar gate and across its pebbled drive, Malcolm Godden's old farmhouse in Wolfmere Lane looks, at first, worth every bit of its £440,000 valuation by estate agents Cubitt and West.
Dating from the 19th century, and benefiting from a smart new extension to provide a garden room and study, it once boasted views across open farmland in what will soon be part of the new South Downs National Park.
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Calais Immigrants
An Afghan migrant stows away on a passing lorry, yesterday near the ferry port in Calais, France, in an attempt to reach the UK.
Fellow Afghans first attempted to slow down the truck and distract the driver as he slowed near a road junction, while the stow away, who had been hidden behind a wall, ran under the trailer and climbed on its rear axle...more
Miniature Clocks
As chilly Britain prepares to spring into summer this week-end by putting the clocks forward an hour, spare a thought for Malcolm Hall.
As well as being a collector of clocks, he is also one of the world’s greatest exponents in the art of making miniature ones for dolls houses.
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World War Two Medals
A war veteran who fought for Britain during the Normandy landings has finally been given his World War 2 medals 60 years after he served in the army - because he forgot to fill out some paperwork at the time.
Patrick Holland, who turns 93 today, should have been given the medals back in the forties but he didn't get round to sending off the documents when he returned home because he was so relieved to have made it home alive.
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Dummies
A rugby team was not just selling dummies on the pitch - but sticking them in the stands yesterday.
Nottingham RFC - known as the Green and Whites - imported 1,000 blow up dolls for their crucial League One fixture with Exeter Chieftains in a bid to snatch a vital win. Before the game started the club was lying fifth in the table.
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Model Spitfire in Garden
Retired doctor Hamish MacLeod has built a full-size replica Spitfire in his front garden because he loves the aircraft so much and wants to leave it to his village when he dies because it is also the birth place of the man who commanded the RAF during the Battle of Britain....more
Horse Logging Apprenticeship
An industry which nearly died out a few years ago has grown so much that 15 horse loggers now make a full-time living out of it - and a new apprenticeship has been launched because there is such huge demand for the environmentally-friendly skills.
Horse logging involves moving heavy tree trunks out of forests and clearing woodland - but it was a dying profession just a few years ago.
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Three Generation Rugby
Three generations of the same family made history today as Granddad Brian Burdett (68), Dad Brady Burdett (45) and grandson Jeremy Burdett (17) took to the rugby pitch for a match called 'The Burdett's 3G Game'.
The trio play for Heathfield and Waldron Rugby Club in West Sussex where two further family members (Leo and Kieran Burdett) play for the junior team. ...more
Zoo wants a job?
Job-seekers were so desperate to find work that they caused a four-mile traffic jam as more than 3,000 of them descended on a zoo to fill just 150 vacancies at its annual recruitment day.
Twycross Zoo, in Atherstone, Warwickshire, had to close its doors to job hunters just one hour after it opened as thousands of people had already flooded through its doors.
People queued for more than two hours before the recruitment day opened to find seasonal work waiting on tables or selling souvenirs....more
Thousands in scramble for free books
Thousands of booklovers from across the UK are descending on a warehouse full of books which have been abandoned after the owners left the site.
People are turning up at the huge warehouse and arming themselves with as many books as they can get their hands on. Some are even driving cars and vans straight into the building and stacking their vehicles with the free books.
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UK's Tallest Tree
The tallest tree in Britain has been officially named - and it is so enormous that it makes passersby dizzy if they look up at it.
The colossal Douglas fir tree has always dominated the landscape and it has now been measured at a whopping 63.79 metres.
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Gardening Pigs
A herd of pigs has been enlisted at one of the country's most popular gardens to clear scrubland instead of using potentially harmful pesticides and heavy machinery as a new way to help protect the environment.
Five hard-working saddleback pigs are the latest addition to the gardening team at the 180 acre estate and they have already set to work and cleared nearly an acre of dense brambles and scrub in less than a week.
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Britain in Snow
By Monday afternoon the national papers were snowed under by a flurry of nearly 10,000 blizzard pictures - despite the huge competition, a dozen of those submitted by PIN were used in Tuesday's newspapers....more
LDV workers turn to sales
Normally at 7.30am on a Monday morning, Mike Trewartha would be clocking on for his shift on the LDV van production line.
Yesterday, as the Birmingham plant remained shut down because of the recession, he found himself behind the wheel of one of the vans with fellow production workers Colin Coton, 58, and Colin Mahoney, 52.
Mr Trewartha, 45, from Coleshill, is one of the 950 employees who have had to down tools and pick up salesmanship skills instead in a bid to get business moving again.
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Wedding Sovereign
It was the summer of 1907 and for his daughter Elizabeth's wedding to carpenter Archibald Gilbert, farmer Henry Trigg had bought them a freshly minted gold sovereign as a traditional gift.
Somehow, however, the tiny coin fell from his pocket as he walked in his orchard prior to the big day and defied attempts to find it.
For years afterwards the disconsolate farmer would scour the 54 acres of Deal Farm in Greatham, Hampshire, telling people that he was sure he had lost the coin somewhere near the drive....more
Late Bloomers
Despatch Supervisor Lucyna Biegun, anxiously inspects a greenhouse full of 400,000 boxes of pansies (24 plants per box) which are finally starting to flower three weeks later than expected.
Nursery manager John Polman said: "This is the latest they've come into bloom for at least ten years. The cold days we've had this winter means that our customers will be getting their bedding plants much later than normal this year.
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Micro Herbs
Poking their tiny heads over the rim of their equally tiny flower pots, these fledgling herbs look as if they would have trouble feeding a mouse rather than a restaurant.
In fact, even though they are dwarfed by grower Grahame Dunling's hand as he picks them up between finger and thumb, they pack more of a punch than people realise.
They are micro herbs, the in-thing for the kitchen table because they are so rich in flavour. Raymond Blanc grows them for his restaurant Le Manoir Aux Quatre Saisons in Oxfordshire; Glynn Purnell uses them in his Michelin starred Purnell's Restaurant in Birmingham; Gordon Ramsay swears by them....more
The Treadmobile
For people who have piled on the pounds over Christmas, it may just be the perfect way to take them off again.
The Treadmobile - the latest piece of fitness equipment to come from America - is a gymnasium treadmill which has been fitted with wheels to allow it to be taken into the great outdoors.
Its maker Alex Astilan, 46, a former decathlete in the Romanian Olympic team, claims that like Daisy, Daisy and the bicycle made for two the Treadmobile helps couples get along together.
But unlike a tandem, where the back seat passenger can take a sneaky rest while their partner does all the pedalling up front, the machine is definitely a two person show....more
Christmas Tree Prices
The Christmas tree is about to become a potent symbol of Britain's economic woes with prices soaring and pine needles dropping in equal measure, it was revealed yesterday.
Imports of the most popular tree - the Nordmann Fir from Denmark - have crashed because of the pound's weakness against the euro and the Danish krone.
Although British growers say they can still satisfy demand, the price of a six foot tree is likely to be £10 more expensive than last year. And most of the versions available will not have the Nordmann's prime perceived asset - its ability to hang onto its needles rather than let them drop all over the carpet....more
Poinsettias
In the carefully controlled temperature of the greenhouse, the sea of perfect poinsettias stretches away as far as the eye can see, the layers of leaves gradually turning from green to red.
In a few weeks time they will be on the shelves in Sainsbury's, nicely in time for Christmas.
Until then they remain in the care of growers at Roundstone Nurseries near Chichester, West Sussex, who have nurtured them from tiny seedlings imported from Germany three months ago....more
Otter Parents Worry
It's every parent's worry that their young child might toddle off and fall in a pond, but it's three times as much stress for Guinevere and Lancelot as their triplets have just begun to explore the world outside their nest box and are determined to take the plunge before they can swim properly.
Mum and Dad are keeping a constant vigil and spend their days ferrying their six-week-old cubs away from the water's edge back to their home....more
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine knew it was going to be a bad day the moment the Fat Controller said he was going to have to travel by road rather than rail.
Sure enough, the giant low loader used to transport him back to his engine shed broke down just as it was making its final approach.
Traffic in the town of Alresford, Hampshire, where Thomas is based on the Watercress Line steam railway was backed up for hours as engineers puzzled what to do....more
Transgender Toilets
Over the years, the way for men and women to find their way to the toilet has always been perfectly simple. Signs said 'Ladies' or 'Gents' or printed little symbols of men in trousers and women in skirts. Even if the sign in the pub said 'Stags' and Does,' everyone pretty much knew where to go.
Not any longer in the Steve Biko students' union building at Manchester University, however....more
Scarecrow Speed Trap
A scarecrow is being used as the latest weapon to slow down bird-brained drivers.
The straw-filled constable has been put up by villagers in Oakington, Cambridgeshire on a notorious stretch of road know locally as 'death row' and police have no plans to remove it.
Spokeswoman, Shelly Spratt from Cambridgeshire Police said: "Residents think he's slowing motorists down. We've had no complaints and he's not causing a distraction to motorists so we have no plans to remove him. I'm not sure if I'd slow down for a scarecrow but maybe some people do."...more
Rubbish Honeymoon
A couple spent three months trawling the streets of their town for litter so that they could recycle it and turn it into air miles to pay for their honeymoon flight.
In a true labour of love, John and Ann Till, left their home in Petersfield, Hampshire, night after night armed with carrier bags and plastic sacks to pick up cans, bottles and plastic containers.
Then they drove 14 miles to a Tesco superstore in Havant where a special recycling machine awards one club card point for every four items recycled. Points were turned into vouchers which in turn were converted into British Airways air miles....more
Rescue Dog Wins Medals
A four-legged athlete has won another haul of medals for Britain. Four-year-old, Alsatian, Simba won two golds, a silver and a bronze at the World Firefighter Games in Merseyside. The trainee West Midlands Fire Service rescue dog beat 5,000 competitors from around the world to become overall competition winner and bagged a second gold in the agility competition. ...more
Piel Coronation
As coronations go, it was not the most conventional of occasions. Steve Chattaway, the new 'king' of Piel Island, wore his oldest clothes beneath the battered old military helmet which serves as his crown. The reason why only became obvious at the height of the ceremony just off the Cumbria coast near Barrow-in-Furness yesterday when a gallon of beer was poured over his head to seal his accession to the rustic black throne carved from a 17th century barrel....more
Mobile Detention Vehicle Hunts Down Illegal Immigrants
A mobile detention vehicle has begun hunting down illegal immigrants today. The vehicle, fitted out with eight cells, will patrol the Midlands to catch and detain foreign nationals believed to be in the country illegally.
UK Border Agency regional deputy director Simon Excell was at Northampton RoadChef Services on the M1 to see the vehicle hit the road as it started a five-week trial....more
Lost Stonehenge Gold Found in Desk
Thousands of tiny gold studs which have lain forgotten in a university desk for more than 40 years are part of one of Britain's most important historical finds known as 'the work of the gods', it was revealed yesterday. The pinhead-sized studs had formed the intricate pattern on the handle of a dagger buried with a warrior chief by Britain's Bronze Age people near Stonehenge, Wiltshire, almost 4000 years ago....more
Goat Rescue
Gareth the goat is tonight recovering following a two week ordeal stranded on a cliff face in North Wales where a team of a dozen professional rescue personnel were called in to bring him to safety today.
Two RSPCA officers abseiled 250ft down a cliff face on the Conwy coast to reach him.
The animal survived on the grass verges on the rocky outcrops of the Great Orme, Llandudno. A rescue attempt earlier in the week had to be abandoned when the route to the goat was considered too dangerous.
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Fuel Saving Pensioners
Pensioners Bill and Gladys Devine have turned day into night in a desperate attempt to make ends meet in a world of spiralling prices.
While most people are going to bed, the couple, both in their 80s, are up and about in their three bedroomed bungalow trying to take advantage of low tariff night-time electricity.
They vacuum the floors, use the washing machine, cook meals, do the ironing and prepare for dawn baths before the cut price 11pm to 7am tariff ends.
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Fence Battle
When the rotting 20 year old garden fence at Keith Williams's 18th century home started to become a danger both to his family and passers-by, he decided to mend it.
Using as many of the old wooden support posts as he could salvage, he spent £1,000 rebuilding the fence with new panels so that it was the same size as it was before. But he had barely finished the 120 ft long structure when council officialstold him to tear it down.
If he had just patched it up, they said, it would have been fine....more
Facebook Bans Teddy
As the first teddy bear to sign up to the social networking website,Facebook, Barty Bristle attracted quite a following.
Arctophiles - people who collect teddy bears - flocked to add him as a friend so that he could interact with them. Even an Ogre called Jeff joined in.
But now the hand-stitched smile has been wiped from Barty and his chums' faces after Facebook pulled the plug on their membership, claiming it was against the rules....more
Blond Hedgehog
A rare blond hedgehog - only the third of its kind to be born in Britain in the last 30 years - is being flown first class to the Channel Islands today (Thurs) to give it a better chance of survival.
Blondie, who has somehow picked up a gene usually only seen in hedgehogs in Alderney, would have been easy meat for badgers and foxes if he had had to stay because he is so conspicuous.
Alderney has no such predators....more
Bacon Rolling Stock
With a ticket office, information screens and a blonde 'virtual assistant' called Lisa, passengers using a busy commuter station might expect at least to know whether their trains are running on time.
Instead they have to go and ask Christopher and Derinda Hyde who run The Railway Cafe on Platform 2.
The couple have become the font of information at the station in Worksop, Notts, since passengers realised that they had a hotline to what was going on on the Robin Hood line to Nottingham....more
Antarctic Plumber Wanted
For the latest hot jobs it's probably best to ignore this classified ad.
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is seeking a plumber or electrician to work at its Bird Island Research Station in Antarctica.
The general maintenance post is for up to 18 months and and will support scientists studying wildlife (penguins, seals and albatrosses) that surround the small research station. ...more