C.G.P. Grey created a short video history of the British royal family since the Norman Conquest, in 1066.
Enjoy!
Tag: Britain
The World’s Largest Tomato
Now that’s a tomato!
A new tomato, called Gigantomo, can grow up to 10 inches wide and as heavy as 3lbs – about 12 times the size of an average salad tomato.
The revolutionary tomatoes have now gone on sale in Britain just in time for gardeners to buy them before spring arrives.
The tomatoes are so large that one tomato alone can serve up to four people, and just one slice fills an entire burger bun or sandwich.
Each plant can grow to 6ft tall and yield as many as 11 tomatoes but must be supported to prevent it buckling under the weight of the fruit.
The new variety is the result of almost two decades of research and development by breeders in the UK and the US.
Simon Crawford, one of the UK’s leading plant breeders, was called in five years ago to finish the work of late American grower Paul Thomas, who spent 15 years trying to breed the huge tomato.
Mr Thomas passed away before he saw his tomatoes hit the market, but Mr Crawford was able to complete the breeding programme to ensure there would be enough seed to sell commercially.
They were launched in the US last year by seed company Burpee and sold under the name SteakHouse.
The huge tomatoes were such a hit that they have now been brought across the Atlantic but EU chiefs ruled the name unacceptable so it was changed to Gigantomo.
Blind Darts Team
A group of friends has launched Britain’s first darts team for the blind. The team, named ‘The Optimists’, admit some wayward darts have already caused damage to the inside of their local pub. The players guide their darts with a piece of string attached to the board which helps them feel where it is.
One question… who keeps the score?
We’re shutting the door to the toilet just in case someone comes through and gets a dart in the rear.
Cornwall’s first blind darts team is preparing for its inaugural game. The four wholly visually impaired teammates will make their first appearance at the Dolphin Inn in Grampound on Thursday. Richard Pryor, who lost his sight 40 years ago, said the idea was mooted after a few pints at the pub, where the group of friends, called the Optimists, meet monthly.
Mr Pryor, 68, said: “While we were down the pub the other day, Joe, the landlord, mentioned that Rotary had organised for pubs to take part in the a Fast Darts competition. He asked if we wanted to put in a blind darts team. After three pints I am up for anything and we said yes.” The team will be aided by a piece of string attached to the bull’s eye which they will use with one hand as a tactile means to establish their aim. After “quite a lot of practice” and help from Joe’s son, the Darting Optimists are preparing to make a throw.
Mr Pryor, a social worker, added: “No one has been injured yet, although there has been quite a bit of damage to the door and around the board. I think it’s a great idea and it’s quite exciting. We’re always up for something that’s a bit different. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. I have been blind for 40 years and I have had a superb time, I wouldn’t swap it for anything. However, on the night people might want to stand back a little bit as I don’t think we get any points for hitting the spectators.”
Terri Rosnau-Ward, chief executive of the Cornwall Blind Association, said the county has blind shooting and bowls, but she has never come across a visually impaired darts team. “With the right bit of support there’s nothing you cannot do,” she added. “It might take you slightly longer but we can usually achieve the same things as sighted people.” Fast Darts starts at 8pm and has been organised by the St Austell Bay Rotary Club to raise money for the Merlin MS Centre and the other good causes it supports. Landlord Joe Fryer said it will be about having fun and raising money, although the door to the room where the competition takes place will be closed “just in case” a dart strays off course.
Margaret Thatcher Dies
Rest in peace Iron Lady. You were the greatest Prime Minister Great Britain ever had or will ever hope to have.
Britain’s first and only female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died peacefully following a stroke at the age of 87.
Baroness Thatcher has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke, her spokesman Lord Bell has announced.
Lord Bell said: “It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning.
“A further statement will be made later.”
Baroness Thatcher, Britain’s first and only woman prime minister, had become increasingly frail and was suffering ill health in recent years.
She was admitted to hospital shortly before Christmas where she underwent an operation to remove a growth from her bladder but was allowed to return home before new year.
Call To Ban Kitchen Knives in Britain
Call To Ban Kitchen Knives in Britain
As Glenn Beck would say… This is going to make blood shoot out of your eyes.
A&E doctors are calling for a ban on long pointed kitchen knives to reduce deaths from stabbing.
A team from West Middlesex University Hospital said violent crime is on the increase – and kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings.
They argued many assaults are committed impulsively, prompted by alcohol and drugs, and a kitchen knife often makes an all too available weapon.
The research is published in the British Medical Journal.
The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all.
They consulted 10 top chefs from around the UK, and found such knives have little practical value in the kitchen.
None of the chefs felt such knives were essential, since the point of a short blade was just as useful when a sharp end was needed.
The researchers said a short pointed knife may cause a substantial superficial wound if used in an assault – but is unlikely to penetrate to inner organs.
Kitchen knives can inflict appalling wounds
In contrast, a pointed long blade pierces the body like “cutting into a ripe melon”.The use of knives is particularly worrying amongst adolescents, say the researchers, reporting that 24% of 16-year-olds have been shown to carry weapons, primarily knives.
The study found links between easy access to domestic knives and violent assault are long established.
French laws in the 17th century decreed that the tips of table and street knives be ground smooth.
A century later, forks and blunt-ended table knives were introduced in the UK in an effort to reduce injuries during arguments in public eating houses.
The researchers say legislation to ban the sale of long pointed knives would be a key step in the fight against violent crime.
“The Home Office is looking for ways to reduce knife crime.
“We suggest that banning the sale of long pointed knives is a sensible and practical measure that would have this effect.”
Government response
Home Office spokesperson said there were already extensive restrictions in place to control the sale and possession of knives.
“The law already prohibits the possession of offensive weapons in a public place, and the possession of knives in public without good reason or lawful authority, with the exception of a folding pocket knife with a blade not exceeding three inches.
“Offensive weapons are defined as any weapon designed or adapted to cause injury, or intended by the person possessing them to do so.
“An individual has to demonstrate that he had good reason to possess a knife, for example for fishing, other sporting purposes or as part of his profession (e.g. a chef) in a public place.
“The manufacture, sale and importation of 17 bladed, pointed and other offensive weapons have been banned, in addition to flick knives and gravity knives.”
A spokesperson for the Association of Chief Police Officers said: “ACPO supports any move to reduce the number of knife related incidents, however, it is important to consider the practicalities of enforcing such changes.”
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