MUSUEMS in East Anglia have been successful in a campaign to stop an early landscape painting – thought to be the first painted in the open air – by the artist JMW Turner, leaving the UK, reports the Guardian.
Turner’s Walton Bridges, which dates from 1806, is a scene of the Thames in Surrey, Norfolk and was the subject of a temporary export bar preventing it from leaving the UK after it was sold at auction for £3.4m.
The museums’ actions to match the auction price were because there are no Turners in east of England collections and they were helped by £2.1m of lottery money as well as private donors.
Margaret Dewsbury, a Norfolk county councillor said: “This news is cause for celebration for everyone who cares about the cultural heritage of the nation. For the east of England, the acquisition of Walton Bridges will make a significant contribution
The Daily Mirror says that divers off the coast of Cornwall have encountered a barrel jellyfish “the size of a human”.
The barrel is the largest species of jellyfish found in British waters, and can be found washed ashore in summer and autumn when they swarm off the coast.
Cornish marine enthusiast Rupert Kirkwood said: “There are more barrel jellyfish around the coast of SW England than I have ever seen in 15-plus years of sea kayaking. A lot more.”
The face of Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing will feature on the new design of the Bank of England’s £50 note.
The BBC says that the £50 note will be the last of the Bank of England collection to switch from paper to polymer when it enters circulation by the end of 2021.
Turing’s work helped accelerate Allied efforts to read German Naval messages enciphered with the Enigma machine.
“Alan Turing was an outstanding mathematician whose work has had an enormous impact on how we live today,” said Bank of England governor Mark Carney.
“As the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, as well as a war hero, Alan Turing’s contributions were far ranging and path breaking. Turing is a giant on whose shoulders so many now stand.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has advised planners to reject proposals for the 1,000ft (305m) Tulip tower skyscraper proposed for Bury Street, beside the Gherkin tower., reports the BBC.
A spokesperson for the mayor said Mr Khan “has a number of serious concerns with this application and having studied it in detail has refused permission for a scheme that he believes would result in very limited public benefit”
These included the fact that the tower would harm the skyline.
Ffordd Pen Llech in the historic town of Harlech in Wales has been confirmed as the steepest in the world. An article in The Guardian says that it has been judged steeper than Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand.
It has been established that the street has a gradient of 37.5% at its steepest point, compared with Baldwin’s Street mere 35%.
Campaigner Gwyn Headley, commented:: “I feel utter relief and jubilation. I feel sorry for Baldwin Street and the New Zealanders, but steeper is steeper.”
Border collies have been named as Britain’s most badly-behaved dogs, and, says the Daily Mail, apparently they are the breed most likely to need therapy. Research, carried out on pet insurance claims by John Lewis, also highlighted psychological issues with labradors, golden retrievers, cocker spaniels, cockapoos and border terriers.
The findings suggest that collies are likely to become frustrated and unruly when they are raised in urban homes without the mental and physical challenges they were bred for.
Rebecca Cannon, a Veterinary Surgeon for RSA, which underwrites John Lewis Pet Insurance, said: ‘Working dogs such as border collies have been bred to have exceptional herding abilities and are highly intelligent and energetic.”
Reference list
- The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk)
- BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
- The Daily Mirror