Gnomes are for life – not just for Chelsea | Life and style. 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? Why is she so enamoured with them? Although Chelsea's ban on "brightly coloured mythical creatures" looks as if it will be lifted for one year only – 100 gnomes, painted by celebrities including Elton John and Judi Dench, will be auctioned for charity to celebrate the show's centenary – this renewed focus on gnomes could prompt a comeback.
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 Gnome table Urban 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. Mr Heard hit on the idea of creating the sculptures as a way of staving off boredom after he injured his wrist in a car accident that left him unable to work for six months. A view of one of Rob Heard's leylandii tree models outside his home in Somerset Each bough house can take up to four or five hundred hours to build and is completely unique Each bough house can take up to 400 or 500 hours to build and is unique.
Newcastle United tops survey of matchday travel among football fans | Money. 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.
The report, Door to Turnstile, reveals that while fans often want to leave their cars at home they are prevented from doing so by poor public transport provision. Instead they are regularly "condemned to a weekly pattern of expensive parking and endless traffic jams. " 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. Scroll down for video Enjoying a night in: Oxford graduate Emma Orbach plays the Celtic harp in her hobbit-style mud and straw roundhouse in the Welsh mountains Independent life: Emma collects firewood for her eco-home which lacks electricity and running water Mrs Orbach said: ‘This is how I want to live. 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. Hopes: Nick Holroyd, manager of the Royal Arcade, is seen underground. Tea (250g): £49.17 // £1.20 today. 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. She never returned and in the 70 years since, it looks like no-one had set foot inside. Back in time: The flat near the Trinité church in Paris between the Pigalle red light district and Opera The property was found near a church in the French capital's 9th arrondissement, between Pigalle red light district and Opera.
One expert said it was like stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900. But he said his heart missed a beat when he caught sight of a stunning tableau of a woman in a pink muslin evening dress. 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. Now Waltham Forest Council is investigating the house, which is believed not to have planning permission, and is expected to order it to be torn down imminently. The makeshift house has sprung up in Manor Road, Leyton, in the past month, leaving neighbours puzzled The wooden house began to be built a month ago, apparently without planning permission The plywood construction hides what used to be a dilapidated shed.
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. 'Thames Town', about 19 miles from central Shanghai, is virtually a ghost town. Scroll down for video Quaint: Newly-wed Chinese couples pose in the streets of Thames town, a British themed town near Shanghai Chinese knock off: Thames Town is in Songjiang District, about 19 miles from central Shanghai Spot the difference: With its mock Tudor buildings, cobbled streets, red telephone boxes and a Gothic church, it is an almost perfect replica of a quaint English town 'I think English properties are very special.
Where are we? 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. George Moore Menswear in London has remained untouched for a decade Brian Moore inherited the store in Bowes Park from his father in 1969 But Mr Moore couldn't bring himself to clear out the store when he retiredStore has been left exactly as it was on its last day of business 12 years ago By Suzannah Hills Published: 10:22 GMT, 6 May 2013 | Updated: 12:15 GMT, 6 May 2013 This unique shopfront has been frozen in time for more than a decade after its owner left it exactly as it was on the last day of business. Brian Moore took over George Moore Menswear in Bowes Park, north west London, after his father passed away in 1969.
But when it came time for his own retirement 12 years ago, Mr Moore couldn't bring himself to clear out the family shop, so left everything exactly as it was. How times haven't changed: George Moore Menswear in Bowes Park, London, has been left completely untouched since it closed 12 years ago George Moore managed to successfully establish the firm during the war in 1942. "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. I believe that there is a larger audience who might also be more comfortable beginning that discussion in a visual way, which is why I always thought of my collection in terms of a public exhibition. --Richard Harris, the collector whose works are featured in "Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection,"in an interview with Morbid Anatomy Whilst in Chicago a few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to be able to spend a good two hours or so with the works in the profoundly wonderful new exhibition "Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection," on view through July 8 at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Empire de la Mort | Photographs of charnel houses and ossuaries by Paul Koudounaris. 27 common scams to avoid | Money. 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. Door-to-door scams 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 'Too good to be true' scams 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Scams which prey on your fears 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. Reporting scams If you encounter any of the above scams you should report them to the following organisations:
Excavated skull proves Jamestown colony settlers turned to cannibalism | World news. 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.
The skull of a 14-year-old girl, excavated last year from a rubbish dump at James Fort, has revealed a mass of cut marks, at first tentative, then fiercely smashing the skull apart to extract the brain and other soft tissue for food. Her skull has been reconstructed by forensic artists to reveal a delicately pretty face. Her bones prove accounts from those who spoke to some survivors that corpses were eaten: one husband was executed when it was claimed that he had killed his wife and salted and stored her body. 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 By David Mccormack Published: 01:13 GMT, 24 April 2013 | Updated: 00:13 GMT, 25 April 2013 It was hailed as proof of alien life, a mummified visitor from another planet. Ten years after the remains of a six-inch ‘space alien’ were first discovered, they have been confirmed as ‘human’ by Stanford scientists in a new documentary film Sirius.
Since the remains of the small humanoid - known as the 'Atacama Humanoid' and nicknamed Ata - were discovered in Chile's Atacama Desert 10 years ago there has been much speculation about its origins. Scroll down for videos Scientists say DNA tests have revealed the ususal remains to be human rather than alien. 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. "He could hunt and fish and trap, but I suppose like any other wild animal he saw the convenience in campsites. " Grieve agrees. Hermit caught after 27 years in Maine woods | World news. 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. Knight's living quarters included a tent covered by tarps suspended between trees, a bed, propane cooking stoves and a battery-run radio, which he used to keep up with the news and listen to talk radio and a rock station, authorities said. Some residents say they have been aware of the hermit for years, often in connection with break-ins. "I think it's still sinking in," Vance said. Home | The Holburne | Art Museum | Bath. Rapper Online - Characters. Epecuen: Eerie pictures of real life Atlantis that was underwater for 25 years. Just how fast can Formula One cars go?
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