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It seems that most of us have bought just four from our supermarket in the last year, which is a drop of 95 per cent since the 5p charge was introduced five years ago. The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs reports that prior to 2015, most shoppers were buying 140 single-use bags a...

School nativity plays will take place differently this year. So warned the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, speaking recently at a school in south London. He stressed that while he wanted to save the much-loved tradition, and “how special and important it is to go along to see your children performing in a nativity play”, safety...

A music manuscript from about 1515 and attributed to King Henry VIII has the words:  Green grow’th the holly, So doth the ivy, Though winter blasts ne’er so high Green grow’th the holly. The next three verses take us through spring, summer and autumn, so this is clearly not a Christmas carol, unlike the familiar...

All in the month of October Discovering the vital route from Atlantic to Pacific Remembering Elizabeth Fry, prison reformer When Oxford accepted women Remembering the Hatfield rail crash Ivy RSPCA launches emergency appeal in wake of Covid Shops dreaming of an early Christmas this year ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable...

Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable dates in the month (this time, OCTOBER) down the years. Here is a range from which to pick and choose, as your space allows. Why not consider putting one date at the bottom of each one of your magazine pages?   It was: 500 years ago,...

Editor:  Some discoveries change world history. By Tim Lenton.   It was 500 years ago, on 21st October 1520, that Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s Spanish expedition to the East Indies discovered the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of Chile. His ships, backed by King Charles I of Spain (soon to become Charles V...

Editor:  Some people make the world a better place for hundreds of thousands of others. By Tim Lenton.   The prison reformer and philanthropist Elizabeth Fry died 175 years ago, on 12th October 1845.  She was widely admired during her lifetime and after, and was depicted on the British £5 note between 2001 and 2016....

Editor:  A significant cultural milestone was passed 100 years ago this month. By Tim Lenton.   A century ago, on 7th October 1920, Oxford University allowed women to become full members and study for full degrees for the first time, and the first 100 women were admitted. Women had been attending lectures, taking examinations and...

Editor:  Tim Lenton looks back on a horrific and unnecessary accident.   The Hatfield rail crash took place 20 years ago, on 17th October 2000. Four people were killed and more than 70 injured when a high-speed passenger train derailed because of a cracked rail. The crash was caused by metal fatigue and exposed major...

Autumn is in full swing but there is at least one plant that is in full bloom. Not spectacular to look at, yet ivy is an important source of nectar for bees, moths, flies and wasps, and while they are not most people’s favourite insects, they all play a vital part in Nature’s jigsaw. Ivy...

The RSPCA has been overwhelmed this year by calls for help from people who are ill with Covid-19. The animal welfare charity was swamped with 442,344 calls, and responded to 106,676 incidents of animals in need just between 24th March and 5th August. That averaged out at 790 incidents a day. Such a volume of...

Christmas should start with October’s half-term this year, rather than in November. Christmas lights could be switched on, and shoppers (hopefully) enticed back to the shops. So say many retailers, as they struggle to recover from the pandemic. An executive with the New West End Company in London explains: “If we can bring the start...