News Round Up
by Patrick O'Connor
A 56 year old woman from Preston, Lancashire, has just completed an unusual challenge which has seen her visit every pub in Britain with the name of Red Lion.
The Daily Mail reports that Cathy Price has spent almost five years and nearly £16,000 in tracking down the 656 venues that share the UK's most common pub name.
Her 90,000 mole trek has taken her from the beaches of Cornwall to the Highlands of Scotland and Cathy also added on Red Lions in Australia, Dubai, and New York.
She commented: “I was drinking in the Red Lion in Hawkshead in Cumbria and saw a plaque saying it is the most common pub name. I immediately imagined hundreds of them dotted all over the country and came up with a crazy idea of visiting all of them.”
If you are strolling along the beach and spot a lump of whale vomit, don't run away – it could be valuable.
A Daily Mirror article explains that a rare piece of ambergris - a waxy rock-like substance that can prolong the scent of perfume - was found washed-up on the shore at Angelsey, north Wales by a dog walker who is now putting the foul-smelling object up for sale in the first auction in the world of its kind. And valuers will begin bids at £7,000!
The ambergris, that measures 8ins by 6ins and weighs 2.6lbs, could have been floating in the sea for decades before it came ashore.
It is used in the perfumery industry and has sold for thousands of pounds privately before.
Chris Surfleet, a senior valuer and auctioneer, said: “We are 100 per cent certain it is ambergris. A number of people with experience with ambergris have studied it who have confirmed it.
“It is a bit like gold in that it comes down to the price per gram.”
As a regular walker in the Derbyshire Peak District this story in the Daily Express, is of particular interest.
It seems that walkers who cannot use a paper map and compass, relying instead on phones and GPS, are blamed for a rise in mountain rescue call-outs.
The paper reports that Coniston Mountain Rescue Team in the Lake District has sprung into action 44 times this year – more than during the whole of 2014.
A spokesman for the group said an over-reliance on high-tech navigation aides had been a major issue and urged tourists, walkers and cyclists to carry a simple compass and Ordnance Survey paper map.
New research has shown that despite technically becoming an adult at 18, the average Brit does not feel they have become a 'grown-up' until they are 29.
A story in the Independent newspaper said that the survey, by life insurance provider Beagle Street,
cited ‘living at home longer, playing computer games, watching children’s movies and a reluctance to settle for a 'real job’ as some of the most common reasons for not feeling like an adult.
The survey questioned 2,000 people over the age of 18 to identify the triggers of becoming an adult. 68 per cent of people said picking up the keys to a new home was the biggest sign of being an adult, closely followed by becoming a parent (63 per cent) and getting married (52 per cent).
Sociologist Dr Frank Furedi, of the University of Kent, commented that more adults than ever before are leaving it later in life to move out from the parental home, get married or have children.
Fifty one people crammed in a 1974 camper van to earn a place in the Guinness World Record book.
The Daily Express says the event was at Busfest which saw 25,000 camper van enthusiasts and 5,000 vehicles descend on the Malvern Showground in Worcestershire
The challenge raised money for Make-A-Wish Foundation, a charity that grants wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions such as cancer.
The Daily Mirror tells us that social media users are to be given the chance to name storms hitting the UK and Ireland.
A project by the Met Office over the forthcoming autumn and winter means that people will be able to tweet possible names to the weather watchdog and also send in suggestions via Facebook and email.
Derrick Ryall, head of the public weather service at the Met Office, said: “The aim of this pilot is to provide a single authoritative naming system for the storms that affect UK and Ireland.”
Going to the toilet at a railway station is a pretty lucrative business for the rail industry, says The Guardian.
Data released by Network Rail shows that London Victoria made the most money, taking £2.3m from passengers over the past three financial years, while Euston took £1.8m, King’s Cross £1.4m and Paddington £1.2m.
Archaeologists have discovered another amazing site just a mile away from historic Stonehenge,
says the Daily Mail.
Ninety or more stones, lying 3ft underground, have been found by sophisticated radar equipment towed by quadbikes
The monoliths are each up to 15ft tall and instead of being arranged in a circle as they are at Stonehenge, it is thought they once formed a long standing line.
Professor Vince Gaffney, from the University of Bradford, one of the archaeologists leading the research said: “We don't think there's anything quite like this anywhere else in the world. This is completely new and the scale is extraordinary.”
Reference list:
The Express (www.express.co.uk)
The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk)
The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
Daily Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)