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  1. Blackleaf

    Brexit suggests we’re on the right side of history

    Are we really divided almost equally into two hostile camps, the 52 per cent and the 48 per cent? I doubt it. The referendum and its agitation created that impression, but diehard Remainers are a small minority, however influential. Before the referendum raised our collective blood...
  2. Blackleaf

    Beard-stroking 'job' advert gets thousands of responses

    More than 4,000 bearded men have applied to have their facial fuzz stroked by stressed-out Christmas shoppers. Mo Bro's Grooming Co in Leicester advertised for hirsute gentlemen to staff its "beard stroking station" in return for £30 an hour. It hopes the soothing service will "de-stress"...
  3. Blackleaf

    How Charles Dickens invented Christmas

    A loving family gathered around the festive table with a succulent turkey at its centre accompanied by flaming puddings, crackling firesides and an obligatory blanket of glistening snow outside. For many of us – in the imagination if not perhaps in the drizzlier reality of frayed tempers...
  4. Blackleaf

    Stonehenge 'was built to cast phallic shadows in summer'

    Stonehenge was built to cast phallic-shaped shadows during midsummer and was part of a fertility cult, a new study claims. Professor Terance Meade said Stonehege's ancient builders created a 'play without words' in which one stone in particular cast a growing phallic-shaped shadow. The shadow...
  5. Blackleaf

    Singer Chris Rea collapses on stage

    Singer Chris Rea is said to be in a stable condition in hospital after collapsing during a performance. Fans posted on Twitter that they saw the 66-year-old "fall backwards" mid-song at the New Theatre Oxford. Rea, who is known for his hits "Driving Home for Christmas" and "Road to Hell", is...
  6. Blackleaf

    Winfarthing Woman rewrites Anglo-Saxon history

    The chance discovery of a mysterious wealthy lady in poor farmland soil is about to rewrite the history of Anglo-Saxon England. The find by Tom Lucking, a student, of the remains bedecked with an exquisite gold pendant and diplomatic coins has led to a reassessment of the powerbases of the...
  7. Blackleaf

    Theresa May is deluded – a truly great deal would be the Brexit we all voted for

    It all looks a bit too much for Mrs May. I do not doubt her essential decency, patriotism and sense of duty. But even after Friday, I have come to doubt her ability to get Brexit done. I doubt her ability to say to Brussels: “Bog off.” Tony Parsons Theresa May is deluded – a truly...
  8. Blackleaf

    The shoes hidden in homes to ward off evil

    Thousands of buildings in the British Isles are believed to have shoes hidden within their walls. But why did superstitious builders and homeowners believe in such a mysterious tradition? The shoes hidden in homes to ward off evil By Katy Prickett BBC News...
  9. Blackleaf

    The Queen commissions HMS Queen Elizabeth

    On Thursday morning, the Queen welcomed Britain's new £3.1 billion aircraft carrier into the Royal Navy fleet and declared it the "best of British". Accompanied by the Princess Royal, the Queen arrived on board HMS Queen Elizabeth at Portsmouth Naval Base using a specially installed lift to...
  10. Blackleaf

    Sir Isaac Newton wall picture found at Woolsthorpe Manor

    A picture thought to have been hand-carved by Sir Isaac Newton has been discovered on a wall at his childhood home in Lincolnshire. An etching of a windmill was found following an investigation of Woolsthorpe Manor in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth near Grantham. The famous scientist was born...
  11. Blackleaf

    The Pictish cave where children were sacrificed

    It's been feared since ancient times as a place of the dead and the scene of at least one gruesome act of human child sacrifice. But now scientists have braved Sculptor's Cave in Moray to create a digital model of the iconic landmark. Researchers hope that the digitisation will shed light on...
  12. Blackleaf

    Mysterious remains of an Iron Age structure, tools and pottery unearthed

    Archaeologists in the Highlands have unearthed a possible Iron Age structure, tool and pottery pieces during roadworks this week. The discoveries were made on the Crubenmore to Kincraig stretch of the A9, which is to be made into a dual carriageway. The experts have also found pottery...
  13. Blackleaf

    How Queen Victoria adopted an African slave girl whose parents were murdered

    Queen Victoria and Prince Albert enjoyed a passionate private life that saw them share nine children. Victoria, portrayed by Jenna Coleman in the ITV drama of the same name, famously refused to obey the conservative standards of the time, even going as far as calling her many pregnancies...
  14. Blackleaf

    Training exercise turned into chaos as Paras and Gurkhas fought each other

    MORE than 100 Paras and Gurkhas fought with poles, bats and heavy machine-gun barrels as a training exercise exploded into mayhem... TRAINING PUNCH-UP More than 100 Paras and Gurkhas fought with poles, bats and heavy machine-gun barrels as a training exercise exploded into mayhem...
  15. Blackleaf

    Brexit: Late-night deals seal end of Phase 1 of negotiations

    Mrs May celebrated yesterday after the European Commission cleared the way for negotiations on the future relationship after the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Britain will pay a 'divorce bill' of between £35 billion and £39 billion under the terms of a withdrawal package agreed with...
  16. Blackleaf

    Coin dropped by soldier fleeing Battle of Bosworth is discovered

    An amateur metal detector struck gold when she stumbled across a rare 500-year-old coin near one of England's most historic battlefields. The coin, minted during the doomed reign of King Richard III, is one of only a handful still in existence. Experts speculate the gold coin may have been...
  17. Blackleaf

    Devon pub's fire hasn't gone out in 172 years

    This is the English pub which has kept its own log fire burning continuously for a staggering 172 years - and manages to burn through three transit vans full of logs each month. The Warren House Inn in Postbridge on Dartmoor, Devon, sits 1,425ft above sea level and is more than a mile from the...
  18. Blackleaf

    OMG happy bday! Txt msgs turn 25 2day :-) x

    We send 96 billion text messages every day in the UK but the very first, sent 25 years ago today, was pretty simple: "Merry Christmas." "Spelt with the full words - not Xmas," says Neil Papworth, the British engineer who sent it, eschewing the abbreviations that would define the medium. That...
  19. Blackleaf

    Family's camera falls into sea off Yorkshire and ends up 350 miles away in Germany

    The hunt is on for a family, videoed enjoying their seaside holiday, after their camera containing the footage washed up 350 miles away in Germany. Incredibly, the small waterproof camera still works and recorded the last moments at Thornwick Bay in Flamborough, East Yorkshire. It was...
  20. Blackleaf

    Medieval artefacts found under 900-year-old rubbish dump

    Medieval artefacts trapped in a waterlogged waste dump for 900 years have been found in Newcastle. Archaeologists have uncovered green-glazed pottery, neatly cut animal horns, as well as a pit-like oven during excavations of a construction site. A woven wooden fence and the boundaries of a...