Bringing a little colour to your life each day - with six things that delight, inform and entertain.
A beautiful avenue of beech trees, planted by the local landowning family in the eighteenth century, has provided the legacy known as the Dark Hedges of County Antrim - a somewhat eerie landscape to be found near Ballymoney in Northern Ireland.
The Mills Observatory in Dundee is Britain’s first purpose-built public observatory. Built in 1935, the observatory is classically styled in sandstone and has a distinctive 7m dome, which houses a Victorian refracting telescope, a small planetarium, and display areas. The dome is one of two made from papier-mâché to survive in the UK.
The remnants of a fascinating technological dead end can be seen near Dungeness in Kent. The Greatstone sound mirrors are three concrete “listening ears” built between 1928 and 1935 as part of Britain's national defence strategy.
It comes as no surprise that such an exotic-looking bird as the Common Pheasant is not native to Britain, but was introduced to Europe from Asia by the Romans, arriving in Britain with the Normans in the 1100s.
Since 1859, Loughborough Bellfoundry, home to John Taylor & Co bellfounders, has cast more than 25,000 bells hung in the cathedrals, churches, universities and public buildings of over 100 countries.
Ancient trees can be considered as much a part of our heritage as stately homes, cathedrals and works of art. But they arguably don’t get the same protection. It is believed that there are hundreds of very old trees still living, and yet not recorded as significant and properly protected.
Six things to delight and entertain you every day.