The farmer who went to buy a field - and accidentally ended up with a 13th century castle
The Daily Mail carries a fascinating tale of Gwylim Morris, a Welsh farmer. Back in the 1960s Mr Morris decided to buy the fields that he'd been renting, but a mix-up with the deeds meant that the parcel of land he bought included Carreg Cennen, a staggeringly dramatic hilltop castle ruin.
Morris, from the sounds of things, was delighted.
'There were no deeds associated with the castle, so a firm drew up the deeds for the farm and drew a red line that went around the castle,' said Bernard Llywellyn, Mr Morris's son-in-law, of the deal. 'That meant the castle was included in the purchase.
'They quickly realised their mistake and contacted the family soon after to explain what had happened. They offered to buy the castle back.
'They said that, being a farmer of a certain age, my father-in-law was not in a position to look after a castle. He wasn't having any of it - he refused to sell it back.'
Mr Morris's family have kept the castle ever since (they now run it with the help of Cadw) and have added a cafe and converted an out-building for weddings. They've also built a gift shop - let's hope somebody who works there doesn't accidentally end up selling the castle on once more.
The beautiful British streets 'being ruined by Instagram'
'It’s got worse and worse,' says Ingrid, a 90-year-old inhabitant of Notting Hill, of the tourists who come to take pictures of themselves in one of London's prettiest areas. 'They’re sitting on my doorstep. They’re quite rude sometimes, they make a noise.'
Ingrid (and Notting Hill) are far from alone in the Daily Telegraph's report on the 'Instagrammable' streets across Britain where you can barely move (at times) for people grabbing pictures to share on social media. Arlington Row in Bibury, Circus Place in Edinburgh and Blaker St in Brighton are among the other places mentioned.
Stat of the Day
1 football pitch per minute
The current rate at which the Amazon is being deforested. 'Satellite images show a sharp increase in clearances of trees over the first half of this year, since Jair Bolsonaro became president of Brazil,' the BBC reports.
Brexit and farming: The £6 billion man vs the 'whatever' man
Jeremy Hunt's pledge to support farmers with £6bn in the event of a no-deal Brexit has been doused with cold water by Tim Breitmeyer of the CLA, who said that 'there is little detail on time frames or, most importantly, what follows once they are concluded.'
If getting beyond 'little detail' is the benchmark for obtaining Mr Breitmeyer's support, we await with interest his analysis of Boris Johnson's pledge that 'we will support the rural community, with price support, efficiency payments, whatever.'
On This Day: The French naval frigate Méduse is wrecked
It's exactly 113 years since one of the most infamous shipwrecks in the age of sail. Breathtaking incompetence from the captain cause the French ship Méduse to run aground. With not enough lifeboats on board, some 150 souls were put onto an improvised raft which was supposed to be towed by the boats the 31 miles to the coast of Mauritania — but the raft was very quickly cut loose. There followed days of murder, suicide and even cannibalism before the survivors – just 15 of them — were picked up by a passing brig.
The incident became a scandal that inspired the 25-year-old artist Théodore Géricault to create his famous imagining of the scene. It remains one of the most famous paintings in all of French art.
And finally... Football has another chance of coming home tonight
After Gareth Southgate's England side did a great job of restoring national pride in English football by making it to the World Cup semi-finals last summer, Phil Neville's Lionesses have the chance to go one better on Tuesday night. Fingers crossed...
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Classical style meets fun and flair in a seven-bedroom manor in CornwallAt Polstrong Manor, the current owners have combined period charm and elegant modern interiors to create a flamboyant country home 10-minutes from the beach.
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Dawn Chorus: The beavers who built a £1 million project for free, and Alexa Chung's new Barbour collection
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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.
