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  1. Blackleaf

    Photographer captures moment massive lightning bolt strikes Ayers Rock

    A photographer has taken a once-in-a-lifetime shot of the raw battle between mother nature's harsh elements and one of her most breathtaking creations. Trys Eddy, a local tour guide in Uluru, was enjoying a 'romantic evening' with his girlfriend, Tatianna, late last year when a massive...
  2. Blackleaf

    Spears, tribal tattoos and war cries: New Zealanders celebrate Waitangi Day

    New Zealanders have kicked off celebrations for Waitangi Day with a dawn service at 5am in Te Whare Runanga - the carved meeting house - followed by all-day entertainment and traditional Maori demonstrations at three different parts of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The national holiday...
  3. Blackleaf

    HMS Queen Elizabeth sets sail for helicopter trials

    Sailors have long been known for speaking their own nautical language that leaves landlubbers baffled. That tradition continued when the Royal Navy's largest ever warship published its daily orders for the public to see on Twitter as the 72,000 ton vessel left Portsmouth. As the £3.1bn HMS...
  4. Blackleaf

    'The discovery of Richard III's skeleton changed my life'

    Exactly five years ago, archaeologists confirmed that a skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park was that of Richard III. It was an extraordinary revelation that captured imaginations across the world. But for some people, whose fates seemed in some way entwined with the last Plantagenet...
  5. Blackleaf

    Gold and garnet Anglo-Saxon cross found 'still gleaming' on the chest of teenage girl

    A gold and garnet cross, found on the chest of a girl buried 1,300 years ago, is set to go on display at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge. The noble girl was buried between around 650AD and 680AD in a very rare Christian 'bed burial', just 15 of which have been...
  6. Blackleaf

    300 mutilated bodies in Derbyshire could be the remains of the Viking Great Army

    A mass grave of 300 bodies uncovered in Derbyshire could be the burial site of the Viking Great Army's war dead, a new study has found. The mass grave was found in Repton in the 1980s and dating techniques at the time suggested it consisted of bones collected over several centuries...
  7. Blackleaf

    For true sovereignty, Britain must extract itself from another meddling behemoth

    Mrs May said yet again yesterday that Britain, post-Brexit, must regain control of our money, our laws and our borders. She is right. But if we ask ourselves why we do not have control of our laws and borders, our membership of the European Union is only part of the answer. The other...
  8. Blackleaf

    Germans – not Brits – are the ones who keep mentioning the war

    The German ambassador, Peter Ammon, leaves Britain this month and retires after a distinguished diplomatic career as Berlin’s man in Paris, Washington, and finally London. Before packing his koffer, Herr Ammon issued the traditional plangent lament that every single German envoy to our...
  9. Blackleaf

    Spice Girls to reunite

    The Spice Girls have confirmed they are planning to work on new projects, after meeting for the first time since 2012. It comes after Victoria Beckham, Geri Horner, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm were pictured together at Horner's house in Hertfordshire. "The time now...
  10. Blackleaf

    2018 Six Nations Champions gets underway

    The 2018 Rugby Union Six Nations Championship gets underway today. Defending champions England are looking to become the first nation in 135 years to win the title outright for three consecutive years. They have lost only once under coach Eddie Jones - against Ireland in last year's tournament -...
  11. Blackleaf

    Bronze Age skeleton was a "good-looking chap"

    Forensic scientists have been analysing Bronze Age bones found in a field - but how do they work out who the person was? In September 2017, a farmer near Rock, Northumberland, preparing his field for drainage, discovered a burial cist - or stone coffin - containing a skeleton and a jug. Sanita...
  12. Blackleaf

    Bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland proposed

    Northern Ireland could be connected to mainland Britain with a £20 billion superbridge across the Irish Sea. Proposals have been made for a crossing from Larne in County Antrim stretching the 25-mile gap to Portpatrick in Dumfries and Galloway. THE GIANT CAUSEWAY Forget the English Channel…...
  13. Blackleaf

    The dark side of Samuel Pepys

    Today, Samuel Pepys - MP, Chief Secretary to the Admiralty and diarist - would be deemed, at best, a sex addict, at worst a serial sex offender. Either way, he was a man who abused his position of power to prey on the vulnerable, just as the film mogul Harvey Weinstein would do several...
  14. Blackleaf

    Bureaucats: The felines with official positions

    A cat's life typically consists of sleeping, interspersed with eating and the occasional manic bout of skittishness, followed by a good old nap. But some of our feline friends actually work for a living and hold down a proper job - in some cases, complete with uniform... Bureaucats: The...
  15. Blackleaf

    The island that switches countries every six months

    Next week, France will hand over 3,000 sq m (9,942 sq ft) of its territory to Spain without a single shot being fired. But in six months' time Spain will voluntarily hand back the land to France. As Chris Bockman reports, it's been that way for more than 350 years. The island that...
  16. Blackleaf

    Stilton cheese rolling cancelled as 'no longer seen as cool'

    An annual cheese rolling event in a village famed for its dairy connections has been cancelled as it is no longer seen as "cool", organisers said. It has taken place for more than 50 years in Stilton, Cambridgeshire, which some claim to be the true home of its namesake cheese. However, the...
  17. Blackleaf

    Blanche Parry's life at the side of Queen Elizabeth I

    Blanche Parry is one of history's most influential Welsh women, yet few know the name and only a handful know her story. From her home on the Welsh marches she joined the Tudor court, nursing the young Princess Elizabeth and becoming a lifelong confidante who lived, breathed and slept alongside...
  18. Blackleaf

    Man photographs ghost of a monk at medieval castle

    A man is adamant that he has photographed a ghost after he spotted something very mysterious in his images of a medieval castle. Jon Wickes, 50, was visiting Eynsford Castle in Kent with his 12-year-old son Harry to help him out with his history homework. However, when returning from the...
  19. Blackleaf

    The ‘experts’ must learn their lesson from Project Fear’s failure

    Unemployment would soar. Trade would collapse. Factories would close, and house prices would be in freefall. Rewind to the spring and summer of 2016, when Project Fear was at its peak, and we were meant to be shivering in the streets by now, flicking through battered copies of ‘The Road’...
  20. Blackleaf

    8 must-visit castles with Tudor connections

    Let's go on a tour of eight castles of England and Wales with significant Tudor links... 8 must-visit castles with Tudor connections The 112-year reign of the Tudors left an indelible mark on modern Britain, says Nathen Amin. Here, the author and historian...