On discovering the real sex of my owl, I began to hatch a plan
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Learning that one of her male Eurasian eagle owls was, in fact, a female, poet and artist Frieda Hughes decided to try and hatch one of its eggs in an incubator this week
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BBC News
21 minutes ago
- BBC News
Green-fingered Gloucestershire pupils turn £5 veg loan into profit
Green-fingered schoolchildren have risen to the challenge of growing their own vegetables and selling them for six pupils from Churchdown Village School, Gloucestershire, took part in a project to "grow £5".Ten members of the school's gardening club were given an initial budget of £5 to buy seeds to grow vegetables which were then sold at the school's farmers' market which helped to bring in a return of £400."It's essentially a business loan, so they can decide whether to keep any extra for themselves or give to charity," said club volunteer, Rebecca Henwood. Thomas, one of the young gardeners, has been growing lettuce, courgettes, beetroots and cucumbers."I've enjoyed coming back to school and seeing how everything has grown a lot more. "Every day at school I come up here and water my plants," he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire. Alfie, another keen member of the club, said he hoped to turn a profit from his crop of garlic."I was thinking I could give it to a dog charity because I love dogs and they should be treated well," he said. The club started 16 years ago and its young members have been given advice from professional gardener, Chris Evans, from Dundry Nurseries, Cheltenham. "When I was given the chance to help, I was very excited because this is like me going back to when I was their age, when I would be gardening with my dad and grandad," he said. Ms Henwood said: "Their passion for gardening has truly grown."I know one young man who's now got an allotment with his dad, and another one who saved his pocket money to buy himself a greenhouse," she added.
BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
Remembering Yorkshire's Caribbean WW2 volunteers
A plaque above a door on a building in a North Yorkshire seaside resort is the only memorial to thousands of men from the Caribbean who came to Filey during World War Two. The recruits were there train at RAF Hunmanby Moor, a former Butlin's holiday camp which had been requisitioned by the government. "Caribbean people wanted to serve the mother country," said RAF veteran Douglas is the director of Forgotten Generations, which highlights the service of British African and Caribbean people."Initially there was a problem that they wanted to serve but because of the colour of their skin they weren't allowed to join the armed forces."So the colour bar was reduced, taken away, and then they were allowed to join." It is estimated that about 6,000 men came to the UK from Britain's Caribbean colonies to serve in the RAF. Among them were two of Glenn Parsons' uncles."One was Gilmour Westcarr and the other Edwin Samuals. They were both in their early 20s and both trained here at Filey and were dispersed off to other camps."They didn't have to come but they were proud to do so and proud to give service to the motherland, as it was then."Mr Parsons said what was so "interesting and vital" about the story of Hunmanby Moor is that it was pre-Windrush - the era when large numbers of West Indians emigrated to Britain to fill post-war labour shortages."The perception is that black people only came to this country after World War Two to help in the rebuilding of the economy."But what is not said is that thousands came over here in the war and helped win that war and were instrumental in turning the tide in favour of Britain and its allies." Mr Campbell said the first contingent of Caribbean troops, numbering 2,000, came in the summer of 1944, followed by a second group later that year."A lot of them would have been really excited because it was an adventure."Some of those people heard the King's call for them to serve the country but some didn't, they just had a mate who said 'do you want to come along'."About 4,000 of the recruits were sent to Hunmanby Moor for their initial would be 80 years before any memorial to them was erected to mark their service in Filey. Mr Parsons was one of those involved in ensuring they were remembered and said a handful of elderly, surviving veterans were able to attend the installation in said they remembered coming to a place by the sea and believing it would be like the Caribbean."They were in for a nasty shock. The sea was so cold they never went back in again."He said conditions for the men used to much warmer temperatures were not ideal."They were stationed in what was a Butlin's holiday camp, half-built at the time and commandeered, they were in huts heated by one pipe and unfortunately disease and illness ran rife."He said two men died at the camp and "conditions were pretty bleak".Of those who became air crew nearly a third were killed in action, according to the of those who survived would return to Britain as part of the Windrush to the camp, it was returned to Billy Butlin and its original with its own railway station, the camp was one of the largest owned by Butlin with accommodation for up to 11,000 would close in 1983 and the buildings, some of which had once been home to thousands of Caribbean volunteers, were gradually demolished. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
Volunteers transform Eyres Monsell Community Centre garden space
Volunteers have created a garden and social hub in four days on underused land at a community centre in Leicester.A total of 130 colleagues from food firm Samworth Brothers built the sustainable and accessible garden earlier this month at Eyres Monsell Community Centre and a ribbon was cut on Monday to officially open design features sheltered seating areas, a potting shed, raised planters, picnic benches, a barbecue and compost transformation will allow the garden to support the centre's food education and cooking projects, while providing a social space for those who need it. The project was part of an initiative by the company to instigate positive change in the area around the centre."The garden is more than just a space - it's a symbol of what can happen when people come together with a purpose," said Karen Holdsworth, group community engagement lead at Samworth Brothers."It was a great team building experience. Everyone enjoyed pulling together to meet the tight project deadline." The Conservation Volunteers charity will manage the officer Julie Richards added: "We can now grow more, give more away, and cook more for the community. This project has saved us years of work."Pete Simmons, project manager for Splash Projects which facilitated the project, said: "This was a challenging build, we gave them a lot to do, and some of the participants had never used tools before."Their work ethic was exemplary, they all grafted from the moment the safety briefing ended until it was time to down tools at the end of the day."
