The Northamptonshire village where people keep on digging up treasure
The village of Deanshanger has once again been the site of treasure being dug up by amateur 'detectorists'. The BBC reports that two Henry VIII silver groats - worth four old pennies each - were found by a metal detectorist in the Northamptonshire village neat Milton Keynes. The coins are thought to date from the 1520s, and depict Henry as the dashing Renaissance prince he still was, rather than the portly elder gentleman we tend to think of from Holbein's famous portraits.
The find comes not hot, but at least lukewarm on the heels of recent discoveries of coins and jewellery from Roman, medieval and early modern times in the area. Deanshanger is a small village on the outskirts of Milton Keynes today, but for a couple of thousand years it was just off the old Watling Street route connecting London with the Midlands.
It seems that the finds are almost a self-fulfilling prophecy, with each new piece of treasure inspiring other treasure hunters to trawl the area more closely with their metal detectors. It's something which sounds like an episode of BBC Four's brilliant sitcom, Detectorists - but there is none of the skulduggery that enlivened that show, since local finds liaison office Ellie Cox says that all are behaving impeccably. 'They are absolutely fantastic at reporting everything to me,' she told the BBC.
Oxfordshire sky 'rains down with sparks that burn' as cooling tower demolition goes horribly wrong
https://youtu.be/TFyRweYlkg8?t=32
The destruction of a trio of cooling towers near Didcot on Sunday went awry, with the explosion apparently starting a fire, leaving several people injured, others terrified - and 40,000 people without power. One woman apparently told the Oxford Mail that her three-year-old daughter's hair was singed as it 'rained down with sparks that burned'.
An investigation is already under way but it seems that power lines were hit by debris from the explosion at the old coal-fired power station, which was mothballed in 2013. The usual precautions - months of preparation, a large exclusion zone and so on - were all taken, but some debris seems to have collided with power lines to cause the issue.
On This Day... the trial of the Samlesbury Witches
On 19 August 1612, the trial of three young 'witches' at the Lancashire Assizes collapsed as the key prosecution witness admitted openly that she'd been told to lie on the stand. Witch trials were still commonplace in England at the time, but this case became famous - not just because the witches were saved by a refreshing application of rigour and common sense, but also because the whole proceedings were recorded by the clerk of the court, Thomas Potts, in his book: 'The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster'.
'We are leaving an EU that is rapidly turning into the Museum of World Farming'
Readers of The Sunday Times woke up yesterday to read about the leaking of 'Operation Yellowhammer', the government's report on what to expect in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Suffice to say, it's not a fun read - not unless you find a lack of food, medicine and clean water supplies a laughing matter. The Guardian's write-up summarises the main point succinctly if you want to avoid the rhetoric.
On Sunday afternoon, however, The Daily Telegraph ran a very different article indeed: a bullish opinion piece which flies in the face of many of the comments we've seen and heard of late about the impact of Brexit on British farming.
The piece is not actually written by a farmer but rather Owen Patterson MP, a former environment secretary who gained notoriety for being pro-fracking and anti-wind power. Patterson - who grew up on a farm - gives the blisteringly pro-Brexit newspaper an unashamedly glass-half-full take on why farmers should be delighted at the prospect of leaving the EU without a deal.
'From gene editing to robotics, Brexit will free us to build the farms of the future' is the headline, with Mr Patterson saying that by 'abandoning this punitive [withdrawal] agreement' British farmers will be able to 'boost their productivity outside the precautionary constraints of the CAP'. Patterson seems to be a particular fan of expanded exports beyond the EU: he cites Welsh lamb being flown to the USA, Cornish crabs consumed across the world and Scotch whisky being shipped to India.
Patterson's views on environmental and scientific issues have often been controversial, and this article has already proven so as well (as the Tweet above suggests). But for everyone's sake let's hope that, on this occasion, he's got it right.
And finally... Donald Trump wants to buy Greenland
Sometimes, even the phrase 'you couldn't make it up' feels scarcely adequate to cover what you're feeling.
Credit: Gage Skidmore
On Donald Trump, Hitler's speeches, and why this is the time to stay optimistic
Carla Carlisle is tempted to hunker down and shut the world out for the next four years – but she won't.
Credit: Country Life / Whitehouse.gov
Donald Trump's new home: 100 years of change at The White House
In December 1916 Country Life magazine was granted extraordinary access to The White House.
Credit: Alamy
Jason Goodwin: 'I learned to leave judging beauty pageants to people with natural tact, such as Donald Trump'
Credit: Alamy
Carla Carlisle: The end of the world may be nigh, but it won't be permanent. Now pass the wine.
Our columnist takes aim at everything from Remainers and Leavers to Donald Trump and the weather – and ends up remembering
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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.
