'If you inherit a really big pile, it's simply appalling. Suddenly your life has been torn apart'
Be careful what you wish for, the saying goes — you might just get it. If you've ever daydreamed about inheriting a vast Scottish estate, a story in the Daily Telegraph this weekend provides a bit of a reality check.
It's a fascinating interview with Sir Malcolm and Lady Colquhoun, written by regular Country Life contributor Eleanor Doughty, in which the couple discuss the realities of keeping the 40,000-acre Luss estate going while juggling their existing lives back in London.
'Some years it makes a tiny profit, other years it makes a whacking great loss,' Sir Malcolm says of what little farming can be done on this wild, hilly landscape. 'We do it because it’s the right thing to do. If all the subsidies were to be withdrawn, then one would walk away from it and revert it to being beautiful hillside.
Health and Safety 1, Common Sense 0
A pair of hugely-experienced lifeguards in Devon have resigned after being punished for taking a teenager to hospital in their van rather than making him wait two hours for an ambulance.
The officer in charge of Croyde Coastguard Rescue Team, a man of 32 years' experience, 'quit after being told he would have to start his training again. He said a female colleague with 18 years' experience also resigned,' the BBC reports.
The lifeguard 'was told he would lose his OIC [officer in charge] status. He said he had seen "so many changes" since he started, but health and safety regulations had "gone absolutely [mad]".
The school growing a generation of avid gardeners
The Telegraph carries dispatches from Writhlington secondary school in Radstock, Somerset, where an engineer-turned-teacher has spent three decades passing on his love (and skills) in botany.
Full story (Daily Telegraph) or read more about the school's projects here (writhlington.org.uk)
'Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind'
The Times carries a profile and interview with Ingrid Newkirk, head of the animal rights group PETA — most famous for its high-profile ad campaigns featuring naked supermodels and the phrase: 'I' rather go naked than wear fur.'
It's an interesting read that raises awkward questions for anyone with an interest in animals.
'She wants to erode “human supremacism. The feeling that we are gods and the rest of the animals are just trash and we can do with them what we please”. Empathy is the tool to do that. To Newkirk it’s no different to the social recalibrations that led to the emancipation of black slaves and women in the 19th and 20th centuries. She sees no value difference between an animal life and a human one.... '"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind,” Newkirk says, quoting Henry James. “If people actively lived by that they would see opportunities at every turn.”'
Full story (The Times - subscription required)
And finally... Badgers topping the roadkill charts for 2019
We'd never heard of the gruesomely-named 'Project Splatter', but apparently they keep tabs on roadkill numbers in the UK. Badgers top the list for 2019 so far with 905 victims having been spotted, ahead of foxes (475) and hedgehogs (453). So it's not just you: there really are more dead badgers on the roads than you've ever seen in your life.
Our only question now is this: who on earth Googles to find out a place where they can report such things, as opposed to just driving on by?
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Nature and nurture in the gardens of Bramham ParkTim Richardson looks at the innovative and superbly maintained 18th-century landscape garden of Bramham Park in West Yorkshire, home of Nick and Rachel Lane Fox. Photographs by Paul Highnam.
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If the future of Ferrari is electric vehicles, then it is our future tooIt's widely believed that Ferrari will unveil its first electric car this year. It's the signal that the internal combustion era is coming to an end.
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The brilliant tractor tribute to the NHS from a group of Warwickshire farmersPeople around Britain have been paying tribute to the efforts of our NHS workers at the time of the coronavirus pandemic — but few have been as creative and clever as this one.
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London's iconic red bus at risk and 6,000 year old chewing gum gives clues into our DNA historyCuts to industry subsidies and an increase in fares has left bus use at its lowest point ever, while DNA extracted from ancient 'chewing gum' allows scientists to decipher the genetic code of a Stone Age woman.
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90-million-year-old 'swimming dinosaur' skeleton found by dogs out walking in Somerset, and the nonchalant moths who don't bother fleeing enemiesA superbly intact dinosaur skeleton — described as being 'museum quality' — has been discovered on a beach in Somerset.
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Battle to ban 4x4s from the idyllic Lake District spot bequeathed by Beatrix Potter, eagle fights octopus and the 'snail's pace' climate talksThis morning we look at Little Langdale's fight for peace, reflect on the climate change talks in Madrid and discover the soundtrack for Brexit.
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Country Life Today: How Greta Thunberg shifted the dial on climate change — and the backlash shows just how muchThis morning we ponder whether Greta Thunberg is the Joan of Arc for the environmental movement, look at a key election — one from 19 years ago — and ponder the marvel of 'dad tidying'.
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Country Life Today: Great news for those who love our great country pubs — the years of decline are overThere is a great sign of health in the pub industry, we look back at Edward VIII's abdication message and fret about Greenland's melting ice.
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Country Life Today: Spain accused of being 'a deplorable choice' for UN climate conferenceA no-holds-barred assault on the Spanish fishing industry, Banksy raising awareness of the homeless and the woes of the Christmas jumper are in today's news round-up.
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Country Life Today: 'This is perhaps the ultimate wake-up call from the uncontrolled experiment humanity is unleashing on the world’s oceans'In today's round up, we examine why oxygen loss is putting oceans at risk, discover that action to cut air pollution brings almost immediate benefits to human health and find out which bird's arrival marks the start of winter in Gloucestershire.
