Historic Auckland Castle reopens in November
The former palace of the bishops of Durham, 900-year-old Auckland Castle, in Bishop Auckland, is set to reopen on Saturday, November 2, after a multi-million pound renovation.
The building, which banker Jonathan Ruffer bought from the Church of England by seven years ago, has been brought back to its Georgian splendour, thanks to support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Visitors will be able to admire an important series of paintings by Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbarán, discover the bright colours of the Castle's Georgian interiors, and become acquainted with the idiosyncratic lives of the local bishops, including Ian Ramsey, who joked his cassock was a maxi-skirt, and David Jenkins, whom Margaret Thatcher called ‘the cuckoo in the establishment’s nest’.
Meet Britain’s naughtiest dog
She may look like an innocent, fun-loving, children-friendly Jack Russell…but Pici is a light-fingered thief and chewer extraordinaire who is guilty of stealing and shredding a passport, alongside more usual crimes like eating biscuits or Easter eggs.
However, her greatest mischief was summoning the police. Munching happily through a phone, she called 999 and when the responders heard what sounded like strangling noises, a team was immediately dispatched to Pici’s house…giving the only family member who had been at home at the time the scare of her life.
Wanted: horses with good temperament
Northumbria Police’s Mounted Section is looking for four-legged recruits and is asking horse owners ‘to consider whether their animal would be suitable for a career’ in the force.
The Section is after draught horses, such as Clydesdale or Shire, aged five to 12 and standing between 16.2hh and 17.3hh. Both mares or geldings are suitable but they must be fit, trainable and, above all, have a good temperament — after all, they need to keep their cool whether patrolling a protest or being stroked in the street by the public.
Full story (The Northumberland Gazette)
Lake District calls for dark-sky volunteers
The Lake District is hoping to emulate the Cranborne Chase AONB, which has just been named a dark-sky reserve, but it needs help to measure the darkness of the Cumbrian sky and find out what could be done to improve it. So Friends of the Lake Districts, an organisation that protects the local landscape, is looking for volunteers that can take dark-sky meter readings in five different locations across the county.
The first round of measurements will be taken from November 23 to 30, when the skies are darkest because there is no moonlight. Training will be provide and anyone wanting to volunteer can email Friends of the Lake Districts at info@fld.org.uk.
On this day
On October 28, 1726, Gulliver’s Travels was published. Lemuel Gulliver’s adventures across Lilliput, Brobdingnag, the kingdoms of the East and the land of the Houyhnhnms was a political, rather misanthropic satire that also mocked the travel literature genre so popular in the 18th century.
The book was a massive success, with copies printed four times within a year in Britain and international translations in French, Dutch and German appearing in 1727.
Giant straw-bale tractor wins Wheat Art contest
A massive, tractor-shaped sculpture has beaten fierce competition to win the 2019 Wheat Art award. Made of 62 straw bales, the ten-foot tractor (complete with trailer) is the brainchild of Cambridgeshire farmer Michael Sly, whose victory earned his chosen charity—local heritage group The Thorney Society—a £1,000 donation.
Alongside the winning entry, the contest, chaired by Sally Abbott, the MD of breakfast cereal giant Weetabix, and judged by MPs Philip Hollobone, Tom Pursglove and Chris Heaton-Harris, saw many extraordinary straw-bale sculptures, including a giant sausage dog and a stack of six farm animals.
And finally...the grimy kitchen painting worth £20.7 million
A small painting that was hanging in the kitchen of an elderly French lady turned out to be a panel by Italian master Cimabue and has just been sold at auction for £20.7 million.
The lady thought the 13th-century work was just an old religious icon and kept it above her cooker. So the panel was somewhat grimy when it was discovered after she moved into assisted living accommodation in June, but it was otherwise intact.
Experts called in by a judge gave it an initial estimate of £5 million, but the sale went ‘beyond all our dreams’, says a spokesperson for French auction house Actéon.
This is thought to be the first time a work by Cimabue has ever gone under the hammer.
-
Game, set, match: 12 of the world’s most beautiful tennis courtsFrom Italy to Indonesia, when it comes to hotel amenities, a picturesque tennis court will always trump a 24-hour gym. So, before you book your next holiday, take a look at our pick of the 12 best.
-
Five frankly enormous mansions, including one with its own private swimming lake, as seen in Country LifeSometimes bigger really is better.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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'.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
