Gnomes are for life – not just for Chelsea. The Royal Horticultural Society has lifted its 100-year ban on gnomes at this year's Chelsea flower show.
"It's good, isn't it? " says Ann Atkin, who runs the Gnome Reserve, a four-acre haven for 2,000 gnomes in Devon. "I'm sure that quite a lot of visitors who go to Chelsea do have gnomes in their gardens and the fact they don't show them casts a little shadow over it. " Is it just an example of long-held snobbery? Atkin is too polite to say so, but explains: "If you go back to the late 19th century, when gnomes first came to this country, the fashion for garden statuary was neo-classicism – things in white – and gnomes were bright colours so they weren't in fashion. " Why is she so enamoured with them? Combat gnome At just under a foot tall, "this vicious warrior knows there's no drink more intoxicating than the blood of his enemies", according to its creator Shawn Thorsson, a costume and prop maker.
Classic gnome. Tree surgeon creates intricate 'Bough Houses' out of felled Leylandii after being inspired while recovering from a car accident. Rob Heard, 47, of Somerset, uses tree that has no real use once felledEach bough house can take up to 500 hours to build and is uniqueHe takes inspiration from countryside surrounding home near ExmoorLeylandiis have reputation of soaring to huge heights and blocking out light By Daily Mail Reporter Published: 14:38 GMT, 14 May 2013 | Updated: 09:04 GMT, 15 May 2013 A former tree surgeon has turned artist to hand-carve these intricate models.
Rob Heard, 47, from Somerset, creates the 'bough houses' from Leylandii, a tree that has no real use once felled. Newcastle United tops survey of matchday travel among football fans. Manchester United may have bagged the Premier League title, but Old Trafford is relegation fodder when it comes to fans' transport needs according to research.
Newcastle United is the clear champion when it comes to transport options, according to a study of football fans' journeys published on Tuesday and carried out by the Campaign for Better Transport and the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF). Season ticket holders at the club can buy a £10 matchday travel ticket for Tyne and Wear that covers them for every home game of the season at their St James' Park ground.
Researchers surveyed fans and supporters' clubs, and assessed travel information and travel planning provided by clubs. Oxford graduate quit mainstream society to live a hobbit-style existence in mud hut in the Welsh hills. Emma Orbach, 58, has shunned society, living in a mudhut she built herselfThe Oxford graduate named her home Tir Ysbrydol, which means ‘spirit land’ in Welsh, where she has banned technologyShe fetches water from a stream and keeps three goats, seven chickens and two horses By David Wilkes for the Daily Mail Published: 22:01 GMT, 28 December 2012 | Updated: 11:28 GMT, 29 December 2012 Her straw and mud hut looks more suited to Bilbo Baggins.
But unlike the wandering hobbit, Oxford University graduate Emma Orbach is staying firmly put. The 58-year-old has spent the past 13 years living with no electricity in her self-built roundhouse, generating her own power and growing her own food. Subterranean Victorian shopping street in Keighley set to reopen after lying abandoned for 120 years. Cavern of old shops and stables were uncovered in 2002 under Royal Arcade in Keighley, West YorkshireStreet was last used in 1890s and found when builders smashed their way through while converting arcadeMuch of Victorian building work was still intact and builders also found original doors, signs and fittingsNow manager Nick Holroyd is investigating whether the street - once at ground level - could be restoredTour groups have been taken down in recent years - and some items from post-1890s have been added By Mark Duell Published: 09:28 GMT, 13 May 2013 | Updated: 12:11 GMT, 13 May 2013 Shoppers may soon be able to walk through a secret Victorian shopping street after it was revealed the maze could be reopened for business.
The cavern of former shops and stables were uncovered under the Royal Arcade - a two-storey complex of stores and flats in Keighley, West Yorkshire. Inside the Paris apartment untouched for 70 years: Treasure trove finally revealed after owner locked up and fled at outbreak of WWII. By Leon Watson Published: 09:39 GMT, 12 May 2013 | Updated: 06:57 GMT, 13 May 2013 Caked in dust and full of turn-of-the century treasures, this Paris apartment is like going back in time.
Having lain untouched for seven decades the abandoned home was discovered three years ago after its owner died aged 91. The woman who owned the flat, a Mrs De Florian, had fled for the south of France before the outbreak of the Second World War. Is this London's narrowest home? Make-shift wooden house just 6 feet wide pops up sandwiched between two terraces. Neighbours in Manor Road, Leyton, say house appeared there a month agoIt fills a gap between two houses that used to house a decrepit shedWaltham Forest Council says it will be torn down if no planning permission By Harriet Arkell Published: 16:44 GMT, 8 May 2013 | Updated: 22:26 GMT, 8 May 2013 At barely a couple of metres wide, this ramshackle home looks like a contender for the title of narrowest house in Britain.
It sprung up in between two more solidly constructed houses in Leyton, east London, a month ago, leaving locals wondering who was behind it. The quaint English market community that's 5,700 miles out of place: Thames Town in China is the ultimate cultural knock-off. By Daily Mail Reporter Published: 11:47 GMT, 6 May 2013 | Updated: 12:15 GMT, 7 May 2013 China is notorious for making knock-off designer clothes and high-end electronics.
But this time the country has excelled itself. With its mock Tudor buildings, cobbled streets, red telephone boxes and a Gothic church, this could be a quaint English market town, but bizarre settlement is actually in the People's Republic. And unlike most places in the UK, its population is shrinking. Frozen in time: The clothes store left as it was on the last day of trading 12 years ago with £6 shirts and pastel-coloured bow-ties. "Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection," Through July 8, Chicago Cultural Center: Exhibition Report. I collect images of "Death" because I am a visual person who takes in information best visually.
As I have gotten older the thought of my own demise has begun to enter my conscious thoughts. The universality of "Death," with the realization that we will all die, encouraged me to begin the conversation of my mortality visually rather than talking or reading about it. Photographs of charnel houses and ossuaries by Paul Koudounaris. 27 common scams to avoid. You can lock your doors against burglars, but making sure you don't fall victim to a scam – even in the safety of your own home – is much less straightforward.
More than 22,000 people were scammed in 2012, according to Citizens Advice, and fraudsters are constantly inventing ways to swindle you out of your cash. The month of May has been designated Scams Awareness Month by Citizens Advice and Trading Standards, and forewarned is forearmed so here are 27 to look out for. Excavated skull proves Jamestown colony settlers turned to cannibalism. Gruesome archaeological evidence has emerged revealing how some of the first settlers of America survived a period of famine.
The vicious winter of 1609, dubbed the Starving Time by historians, saw the colonists at Jamestown, Virginia, who had consumed every scrap of food in the settlement, turn to cannibalism. When help and supplies finally arrived the following spring, only 60 of the original 300 settlers were still alive. Is this really human? DNA tests on six-inch skeleton of 'alien-looking' creature with over-sized head prove it was actually human claim scientists in new documentary. 10 years ago the bones of a six-inch skeleton with a large head were found in ChileThere was speculation that the Atacama humanoid, nicknamed Ata, was either an aborted fetus, a monkey or even an alienNow scientists at Stanford University have carried out conclusive DNA tests which have found the remains are those of a mutated human.
The Maine hermit survival guide: steal, don't forage. Yogi bear could learn a thing or two from Christopher Knight: the 47-year-old hermit has apparently been living in the woods of Maine for 27 years – surviving by stealing food and supplies from local campsites. When he was finally caught by a game warden who set up a surveillance alarm he told police he had not spoken to another person since the 90s. He survived in a tent covered by tarpaulin, with a stove and and a bed, and was called the "North pond hermit" by local people. Survivalist Guy Grieve, who lived for a year in the wilderness of Alaska, says the large canvas tent with tarpaulin would have kept Knight warm – especially if he had a wood-burning stove inside.
"When it snows you dig the snow round the tent and bury it, but if I didn't want to be found I would have found a cave. " But Grieve says he was not surprised the hermit chose to steal food. Forager John Wright agrees. The biggest problem the hermit would have faced, say both men, is having no one to learn from. Hermit caught after 27 years in Maine woods.
A man who lived as a hermit for decades in a makeshift camp in the woods and may be responsible for more than 1,000 burglaries for food and other supplies has been caught by a determined game warden who was fed up with the thefts. Christopher Knight, 47, was arrested when he tripped a surveillance sensor while allegedly stealing food from a camp for people with special needs in a small town in the far north-eastern US state of Maine. Authorities on Tuesday found the campsite where they believe Knight, known as the North Pond Hermit in local lore, lived for up to 27 years. The Holburne. Rapper Online - Characters. Epecuen: Eerie pictures of real life Atlantis that was underwater for 25 years. In 1985 a long period of heavy rains sent the lagoon bursting over its banks, and it swept over a busy small townEpecuen was submerged beneath 10 metres (30 feet) of water and 1,500 residents fled their homes Even when waters receded, the country town, 550 kilometres (340 miles) south of the capital, was never rebuilt By Jill Reilly.
Just how fast can Formula One cars go? If there were no restrictions imposed on the design of Formula One cars, what might the cars look like, and what speeds would they be achieving? Potato parties: the worst kids' food fad ever? The Gates of Hell Just Opened In Guatemala. Crossword blog: The story of the puzzle - Woodchuck Puzzle. Something unusual appeared on the pages of the Independent Saturday magazine this month, home of the trickier fare of the Inquisitor crossword. It's one of those weekend puzzles with bars instead of black squares and typically an intriguing preamble: like the Listener, Azed and Enigmatic Variations, it's not to be attempted lightly but offers enormous pleasure.
Coin Rings handmade from real Silver Coins by CoinCrafter.com. Titbits from blaydon. Mystery of Henri IV's missing head divides France. Toy Theatres. Australia's big things. The big things of Australia are a loosely related set of large structures, some of which are novelty architecture and some are sculptures. There are estimated to be over 150 such objects around the country, the first being the Big Scotsman in Medindie, Adelaide, which was built in 1963. Scary airports - in pictures. Blog : How-To: Duplicate Records Through Casting. Underclassrising.net. Laelaps (mythology) Lykov family cut off from civilisation for 40 years in Siberia wilderness. Cut off from all human contact, they were completely unaware of the Second World War, the moon landings, TV and modern medicine.
The NME – The Best Consumer Guide Ever » Empire Of Swag. Barabadabada. Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil makes his yearly weather prediction - video. Space > exploration > leadership. History of women's tattoos: From Native Americans to cancer victims' 'tatts' instead of breast reconstruction. From Beyonce to Mother Teresa: Kelvin Okafor's incredible drawings look just like digital photos. Tom Cruise’s Scientology Marriages: The Secret Wife-Auditioning Process Before Katie Holmes, Revealed. Scientology was inevitable: the lesson of Lawrence Wright's book, Going Clear. Menswear Dog: the top model who is best in show. Most parents 'lie to their children' SportPursuit. ‘Strange Worlds’ photographer aims to trick the eye.
Ashens.com. Poundland Instant Cupcake. Blizzard conditions expected to cause travel chaos across UK. Dogs invade pitch during Galatasaray friendly – video. 18 heads found at airport were sent for cremation. Tatler's Dog Dies In Door Disaster at Vogue House. From mephedrone to Benzo Fury: the new 'legal highs' At Google X, a Top-Secret Lab Dreaming Up the Future. Whittlesey Straw Bear. Anaglyph - Draw wiggly lines in 3D. Fladdict.net. Twitter map finally reveals exactly where Manchester United fans live.
Crayon creatures - figurines from children's drawings. Immortalise your children's drawings as coloured 3D-printed sculptures. Whitby church under threat from landslips.