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  1. Blackleaf

    Could Mr Pip be one of the world's moodiest moggies?

    Could this really be Britain's most bad tempered cat? Mr Pip - who maybe should have been called Victor Meldrew - does not like noise, bad weather or football. And, of course, he doesn't like dogs. The Burmese Persian crossbreed, who lives with his owner Rose Oughton, 65, in King's Lynn...
  2. Blackleaf

    The magician who can walk on water: Dynamo crosses the River Thames on foot

    Astounded members of the public watched from Westminster Bridge as a man walked across the River Thames in central London - without using a bridge. He walked on water. British illusionist Dynamo, 28, whose real name is Steve Frayne, made it half way across the stretch of the river in front of...
  3. Blackleaf

    Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits Shakespeare's birthplace at start of 3 day UK visit

    The leader of the world's largest nation today visited the birthplace of William Shakespeare at the start of his three day visit to the UK. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and his large entourage arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, to be greeted by dozens of flag-waving members of the...
  4. Blackleaf

    This is the BBC. And now the weather... with Rudolph Hess

    A hapless BBC presenter has been at the heart of so many "technical difficulties" that she has become a hit on YouTube. Catriona Stewart, who presents Reporting Scotland, made a mistake which saw an aid worker introduced as a Nazi war criminal. As Shearer revealed it was the 70th...
  5. Blackleaf

    Al Fayed burns the Queen's coat of arms from Harrods for 'cynical' documentary

    Mohammed Al Fayed has burnt the royal crests that used to adorn the wall of Harrods as part of a TV documentary on the death of Princess Diana. The Egyptian - but one who has wanted, but been refused, British citizenship - owns the world famous store in Knightsbridge, central London. Al...
  6. Blackleaf

    Roman camp that housed refugees fleeing Scotland discovered near Hadrian's Wall

    Hundreds of Roman huts which housed refugees fleeing turmoil in Scotland have been discovered by archaeologists near Hadrian's Wall. The huts were unearthed earlier this year within the site of the Roman fortress of Vindolanda near the English/Scottish border. Compared with the usual style...
  7. Blackleaf

    'Clumsy' love letters show how strategic genius Nelson struggled to hide affair

    A letter shows how Admiral Nelson clumsily and haplessly tried to hide his steamy affair with Lady Hamilton. The letter, on display at Great Yarmouth's Nelson Museum in Norfolk, Nelson's native county, tells how the British national hero and his mistress pretended to be Mr and Mrs Thompson to...
  8. Blackleaf

    200 zombies descend on city centre and attack council offices

    Up to 200 zombies invaded a city centre and descended en masse on council offices. To the bemusement of Saturday shoppers in Leicester, Britain's 10th largest city, the groaning, bloodstained mob made their way through the city. Thankfully, however, they were not real zombies. The "zombies"...
  9. Blackleaf

    18,000 gather at a cloudy Stonehenge for all-night summer solstice party

    18,000 revellers gathered at Stonehenge in the early hours of yesterday morning to witness the sun rising on the longest day of the year. English Heritage says the druids, hippies, pagans, tourists and young people looking for an excuse to party descended on the ancient monument on Salisbury...
  10. Blackleaf

    Wills and Kate wedding raises £1,058,367 for charity

    Wills and Kate have raised over £1 million for charity from their wedding. Before they wed the couple stipulated that guests were not to give them wedding gifts but instead make donations to charity. In so doing, they have raised £1,058,367 which will go to 26 different charitable groups...
  11. Blackleaf

    Harry Potter actor attacks English Heritage over battlefield plans

    A Harry Potter actor is coming to the resuce of one of England's battlefields. 85-year-old Robert Hardy, who plays Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, in the Harry Potter films, is a member of English Heritage's own panel which advises on how to preserve battlefields. However, he...
  12. Blackleaf

    150 years after it was shut down for debauchery, Dickens’ favourite fair is back

    If you lived in London in the early 19th Century, the chances are you would have visited Greenwich Fair in the south east of the metropolis. It even attracted the famous. It was Charles Dickens' favourite fair. In Sketches by Boz (1836), he declares “we were a constant frequenter of...
  13. Blackleaf

    Parliament Square anti-war protester Brian Haw dies aged 62

    A men who lived in a tent outside the Mother of Parliaments for the last ten years in protest at the Iraq War and wars elsewhere has died. Brian Haw, 62, died over the weekend in Germany after losing his battle with lung cancer. The 62-year-old first pitched his tent on Parliament Square -...
  14. Blackleaf

    Kate and William to take entourage of just SEVEN on tour to Canada and the U.S.

    Wills and Kate will have an entourage of just seven when they tour the US and Canada. Seven may seem like quite a lot of support for two people. But the entourage includes two press secretaries and a couple of private secretaries to ensure that royal protocol is followed. The Duke and...
  15. Blackleaf

    Better call the fire baa-gade: Sheep stuck on roof of house is rescued by firemen

    Two fire engines were called out.... to rescue a sheep stuck on the roof of a house. The sheep was spotted scrambling across roof tiles in the remote village of Pontycymer, South Wales. A team from Bridgend Fire and Rescue Service took 40 minutes to bring the animal down from the terraced...
  16. Blackleaf

    If you go down to the woods today: Farmer builds 18ft high teddy bear made of straw

    Children are sure of a big surprise if they go down to the woods today. That's because they'll see an 18ft high teddy bear made of straw bales. Farmer Phil Gwilliam made it out of more than a ton of newly-mown straw in the village of English Bicknor in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire to...
  17. Blackleaf

    ExtermiNUT! Squirrel looks out of this world as he dons Dalek-shaped bird feeder

    This nutty squirrel looks like he was impersonating one of Doctor Who's arch enemies. But all it was doing was eating its favourite snack from a Dalek-shaped bird feeder. The extravagant bird feeder was made by sci-fi fan Chris Balcombe of Purlieu, Hampshire, who made it from an old Dalek...
  18. Blackleaf

    William and Kate attend Trooping the Colour, their first state occasion as a couple

    William and Kate yesterday attended their first state occasion together as a married couple. The new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended Trooping the Colour which marks the Queen's official birthday. In fact, the Duke actually took part in the ceremony for the first time. Watched by...
  19. Blackleaf

    Dam Busters dog renamed for movie remake

    The remake of the classic 1955 British movie Dam Busters is to have the name of the dog changed. The new movie, like the original one, will be based on a true story depicting RAF 617 squadron, which in 1943 destroyed dams in Germany with Barnes Wallis's famous and ingenious bouncing bomb...
  20. Blackleaf

    Don't panic Mr Mainwaring: Teenager turns shed into shrine to Dad's Army TV heroes

    A teenager has turned his garden shed into a shrine to the classic BBC comedy series Dad's Army. Dad's Army ran from 1968 to 1977 and was about the Home Guard whose job it was to try and defend Britain if Germany had invaded during WWII. Now dedicated Darren Stride, 19, is hoping his...