Banham campsite clampdown for 'aggressive' cat Harry
"I'm really sorry he's upset people - it's a lovely campsite and the people there are lovely."He doesn't mean any harm."
Applewood's director Kiera Goymour said she had heard about Harry's behaviour from a number of less-than-happy campers. The eight-year-old puss allegedly followed a dog walker on site and became "aggressive and attacked the dog", she stated in her letter."It continued to follow and act aggressively, which ultimately forced the guest to run across the park to get away," the letter adds.The same guest had seen Harry being affectionate with people but his aggression towards dogs would "seriously deter them from visiting again", Ms Goymour wrote.On another occasion, Harry sat in front of reception, "impeding vehicle access, which nearly caused an accident due to the driver having to emergency brake whilst towing a caravan," her letter said.She urged Ms Wood to intervene for Harry's welfare and the safety of guests, or she would "have to take matters further".Ms Wood said she no-one else had complained about Harry, who follows her to the village shops.
"He's fine, he's lovely," said Jonathan Wise, of Banham Butchers."He's a cute little cat. "Sometimes when we open up he's out there waiting and will dart in hoping for a little sneaky sausage."Brian Mcallister, who runs The Barrell pub, said: "He's part of The Barrel family, and he's entertaining for everybody. He's a great character, we all love him."In a statement to the BBC, Ms Goymer said: "It was such a minor matter."I had a conversation with the owner and it was all resolved, sharing our concerns for the cat's welfare and safety as a result of customer feedback we received, and the fact that I witnessed a potential accident happen in front of reception."Ms Wood said she had had several offers of a new home for Harry."It would be sad for me to do that, but I just don't want him mistreated," she added.
Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
34 minutes ago
- Sky News
The talented carpenter sleeping on trains - because he can't afford a place to live
The hours after midnight allow Daniel Wren the chance to drift off to sleep while the trains are empty. He can nap for 45 minutes from Croydon to London Bridge, then back, 45 minutes more sleep, then repeat. From 1am to 5am - which he calls the "zombie hours" - Daniel naps and swaps trains, trams and buses until, as the public returns, he becomes a commuter on his way to work. 4:44 The 56-year-old is a working carpenter who has fallen on hard times, and he is among a growing population of rough sleepers. His demographic, someone in the twilight of his working life, is one that homeless charities are increasingly concerned about. "You've been working hard all your life - you don't think the bubble is going to burst," says Daniel, carrying his fresh laundry from the crisis centre, where he has also showered. He does not look homeless. Conscious of the stigma, he says he is "incognito homeless". Daniel wants to blend in and "stay under the radar". Older generation 'no longer safe from housing crisis' Figures released by the Combined Homelessness and Information Network show that the number of people considered to be living on the streets in London is up 26% on last year, and has doubled in the past 10 years. This is despite a pledge from the previous government to end rough sleeping, and this government offering to develop a cross-government strategy to tackle the problem. Daniel's road to homelessness was complex. He took a period off work to look after his sick father, whose death left Daniel without a home to fall back on. He later had his van broken into and had to endure aggressive flatmates in a multi-occupancy house from which he was ultimately evicted. Then, while Daniel was staying in B&Bs, an employer failed to pay him for a job. He is still trying to work. "The problem with my kind of work is if you're not focused on that specific detail, you make mistakes," he says. "Me not being about to work skilfully through lack of sleep, lack of washing facilities and lack of food, there comes a point when I'm a liability." A new study by homelessness charity Crisis found that among older low-income earners, one in five feared homelessness in their retirement, and many say they cannot afford to stop working. "A generation once thought to be safe from our housing crisis is now increasingly being swept up in it and at real risk of homelessness," it concludes. Francesca Albanese, executive director of policy and social change at Crisis, told Sky News: "Most people are thinking they will go into later life with savings and security, and actually the cost of housing alongside lower wages is meaning that for lots more people that just isn't an option." 'You don't change the person you are' Daniel has a bag system. A carrier for dirty laundry, a rucksack for clean, and a small essentials bag on top. We pass Croydon College, where he obtained his City & Guilds carpentry qualifications, and go to the public library where Daniel charges his phone and uses computers to apply for work. He has not turned to drugs or alcohol and seems determined to remain working. When I observe this, he tells me: "You don't change the person you are." It's hard to imagine how this experience can't change him, but Daniel has one foothold on normality - his lockup. Behind carefully stacked toolboxes are his memories. He has a banner from his father's 70th birthday. A photo of his parents on their wedding day outside the library where he now charges his phone. At the back, he pulls out a giant cuddly "Doc" from the seven dwarves. "I took it to cheer up my mum when she was in hospital," he says. She liked it so much that he bought her the other six, which he also still has. "This is my world," he says. "This is what I've created over the last 50 years - everything from emotional memories to tools that make me money to put me in a shelter or a house. "When you buy something or get given something, it's got a memory, and that's what we're made up of. "It gives me hope, it gives me some sort of reason." 'You've got to get on with it' When we catch up with Daniel a few weeks later, he is at a pop-up soup kitchen. Staff are handing out tea, soup and sandwiches. Their 70 or so clientele includes several working people who cannot afford food on top of their rent. "Who comes out at 9.30pm for a sandwich and some soup unless you are desperate?" says Linda Palmas from charity Croydon Nightwatch. Things have changed for Daniel - his attempt to "stay under the radar" failed. He was fined £50 for not having a ticket on an overnight tram. So, he has changed his sleeping arrangements to a local park. As he tucks into his sleeping bag, his essentials rucksack tied to his belt, he strikes a positive note. "You've got to get on with it, haven't you?" Daniel refuses to be beaten. He is a skilled contributor to society, a man who can make stuff with his hands. He is hanging on to that, by his fingertips.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
My father finally acknowledged my stepmother's cruelty. How do I ask him to reconsider their marriage?
I have a stepmother who my brother and I really despise. She has made our relationship with our dad really hard, and has tried to stop him seeing us at points. She has resented us since we were little. My dad has recently admitted that he thinks she is jealous of us and has a lot of regret for the way we were treated in the past. The trouble lies in the fact that he has said if anything happens to him (ie if he dies first) we would need to make an effort with her will-wise, to ensure we were treated fairly, as he doesn't quite trust she would do the right thing. It feels incredibly hard to acknowledge this and agree when he has essentially admitted he doesn't trust her with his dying wish. I also find it really hard to deal with the fact he is finally acknowledging how cruel she has been, but still insists we have a relationship. It makes me think he's a coward. I really want to bring this up to him, but have no idea how to say: 'Do you not think you should reconsider your marriage, based on the way in which you have shown you don't trust your wife, and believe she is jealous of your children?' Eleanor says: First non-philosophical thing: if you haven't already, I think you should get legal advice about the will. Is it that he might die intestate, and he's hoping you'll all sort it out? Or has he made arrangements, but worries she might challenge them? Legal advice would clarify what can be done now to avoid a horrible tangle later. That's hard – nobody likes to get into the details about their dad's death. Or indeed their own. But it'll be so much harder, emotionally and legally, if your first advice about a possible estate conflict only comes after he's died. To your question. You said you weren't sure how to say what you wanted to say. When we say 'I can't figure out how to say such-and-such', I always think the answer is to just say the such-and-such. You wrote it: 'Do you not think you should reconsider your marriage, based on the ways you don't trust your wife, and believe she's jealous of your children?' A heady thing to say, for sure. But it's not the word choice that makes it heady. You'd be asking your dad why he's still married. You can soften the phrasing, but it's the content of that question that makes us flinch, not the way of asking it. More frightening still is the fact that he might have an answer. Through your (and my) eyes that question is almost rhetorical: why stay married to someone you don't trust and who's mean to your kids? However, the fact that they are still married and that he wants you to have a relationship with her means that, for him, there might well be an answer. He might have considerations on the other side of the scale that outweigh the fact that she's mean to his kids. Maybe he likes her enough. Maybe he doesn't want to be alone. Maybe he thinks he's too old, he's not willing to make the change. Maybe he thinks the conflicts between her and his kids aren't his concern. Maybe what look like obvious dealbreakers to you are just some considerations among many for him. The point is, your real question for him might be an even bigger flinch. Not just 'why won't you act on your judgment?', but 'why isn't it your judgment that you should leave?' It's possible he has bona fide answers – things that, to him, are more important than the way she treats you. It is hard to say which would hurt more: him not being brave enough to act on what he values, or this being exactly what it looks like when he does. I truly don't know which of these it is. I feel for you the same in both cases. I don't know whether you should ask him either question out loud; I don't know how conversations with him tend to go, or whether his answer would make you feel better. I do know that when someone isn't acting on what they say they see, it isn't always that they lack the courage of their convictions. Sometimes they're showing us their convictions through inaction.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Is YOUR name going extinct? Find out with our search tool
The names Jack, Harry and Emily are dying out, according to data that shows how monikers common in the 90s are going out of fashion. Jack, which sat atop the boys' names popularity list every year between 1996 and 2008, last year ranked 22nd, with just 1,711 babies being given the name. This is a fall of more than 4,000 (70 per cent) compared with 10 years ago, marking the biggest decrease of all 6,000-plus boy names. Harry, also once top of the charts, has had tumbled by 3,600 (67 per cent) and now sits 20th, with a continuing downward trajectory. For girls, Emily and Jessica saw the biggest falls in the past 10 years, from 3,991 to 1,170 (-70 per cent) and 2,995 to just 483 (-84 per cent), respectively. Both names were among the most common in the 1990s. The Daily Mail has built a new search tool which shows how your name has risen or plummeted in popularity over the last few decades. To use our interactive below, first select your gender, then search for your name in the box and select it from the dropdown menu. It will then tell you how many babies of your sex and name were born this year and how popular it is, how it has changed from its heyday, and in what years the name reached its peak position in the charts. You can then compare your name against up to five more names of any gender. Our tool comes as official data yesterday crowned Muhammad as the most popular boys' name in England and Wales for the second year running. More than 5,700 boys were given the name in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This represents a significant 23 per cent rise since the year before – the first time it topped the list – when around 4,660 boys were named after the Islamic prophet. It tops our biggest risers list. In 1996, just 441 baby boys were given the name Muhammad. Mohammed entered the top 100 boys' names for England and Wales 101 years ago, debuting at 91st in 1924. Its prevalence dropped considerably in the lead up to and during WW2 but began to rise in the 1960s. That particular iteration of the name was the only one to appear in the ONS' top 100 data from 1924 until Mohammad joined in the early 1980s. Muhammad, now the most popular of the trio, first broke into the top 100 in the mid-1980s and has seen the fastest growth of all three iterations since – seeing a 12-fold increase in the past three decades. Another popular name rising the charts is Arlo, an old English word for 'fortified hill' which saw a rise from 397 in 2014 to 2,220 in 2024 for a total change of 1,823 (459 per cent). Olivia held onto the top spot for girls for the ninth year running, with 2,761 girls being given the name by their parents last year. Despite still being top pick, the name is falling fastly out of fashion – down by 1,963 since 2014 (-42 per cent). Amelia (2,448) also held on to the second spot for the third year in a row, but Isla (2,056) dropped out of the top three after being replaced by Lily (2,185). Names inspired by pop culture have proved popular, with Maeve – which surged in popularity after the 2019 debut of Netflix's Sex Education, starring Emma Mackey as the fiercely intelligent Maeve Wiley – growing the most of all girls' names. Just 61 infants were given the name in 2014, compared to 1,264 last year, a rise of 1,204 – or 1,974 per cent. Otis, the lead from the same show played by Asa Butterfield also saw a rise in popularity at the same time, from 164 in 2014 to 762 in 2024. Hollywood is also a popular inspiration, with Margot (1,243) – a name shared Australian Barbie actress Margot Robbie – has seen steady rises in popularity over the past few years, peaking this year in 28th place, a rise from 44th in 2023. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister appears to have killed off his own name for good. Keir did not appear in the list of names last year. This could mean it has gone extinct completely, although the ONS hides actual figures for names with fewer than three instances.
