Letters by Lawrence of Arabia discovered

London, Sept 19 (ANI): Fascinating letters written by Lawrence of Arabia have been found years after they were thought to have been burned on a fire.

In the letters, the hero of the Arab revolt in the First World War talks about his love of motorcycles, which led to his death in a road accident in 1935, reports The Telegraph.

Speaking about one of his machines, he wrote: “It’s a heavenly bike, goes like smoke and is as smooth as milk to ride.”

The correspondence – found when an envelope fell out of an old book – will be auctioned on October 1 in Dorchester, Dorset, and could fetch more than 10,000 pounds.

Dorset historian Rodney Legg, who has written numerous books on Lawrence, said: “It’s mysterious how Lawrence managed to balance his finances. He sometimes spent lavishly and at other times wrote letters to friends proclaiming poverty.

“So anything that throws light on the relationship with his banker is quite revealing.” (ANI)

Scientists discover deadly plant that eats rats

London, August 18 (ANI): British scientists have discovered a deadly plant that eats rats, and is believed to be the largest meat-eating shrub.

According to a report in The Sun, the giant pitcher plant lures rodents into its slipper-shaped mouth and dissolves them with acid-like enzymes.

Scientists, led by botanists Stewart McPherson and Alastair Robinson, tracked it down on Mount Victoria in the Philippines after hearing that missionaries had seen “whole rats” being eaten.

“The plant produces spectacular traps which catch not only insects, but also rodents. It is remarkable that it remained undiscovered until the 21st century,” said McPherson, of Poole, Dorset.

The research team named the incredibly rare species after legendary wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.

“My team and I named it in honour of Sir David whose work has inspired generations toward a better understanding of the beauty and diversity of the natural world,” said McPherson.

“I was contacted by the team shortly after the discovery and they asked if they could name it after me. I was delighted and told them, ‘Thank you very much’,” said Sir David.

“I’m absolutely flattered. This is a remarkable species the largest of its kind. I’m told it can catch rats then eat them with its digestive enzymes. It’s certainly capable of that,” he added.

The plant, now dubbed Nepenthes attenboroughii, is green and red and can grow a stem more than 4ft long. It is found only in the scrub high on the windswept slopes of Mount Victoria.

McPherson and former Cambridge University botanist Robinson made their discovery during an expedition in 2007.

But, they have only just described the killer shrub in a journal after a three-year study of all 120 species of pitcher plant. (ANI)

Wardens set to patrol Studland’s nudist beach after sexual incidents

Melbourne, Jul 2 (ANI): Community wardens have been called in to patrol a popular nudist beach in England, after there was a rise in sexual misconduct.

According to the Daily Telegraph, local police in Studland Bay, Dorset, trained the wardens to spot sexual misconduct and incidents, which threaten “to bring naturism into disrepute”.

The initiative was taken to make visitors to the internationally renowned nudist beach and local residents feel safer, after nine sexual offences were recorded in the last three years.

“They will be a point of contact in incidents that may occur on the beaches such as littering, unauthorised fires and barbecues, dog fouling, illegal parking, sexual misconduct or incidents which threaten to bring naturism into disrepute,” News.com.au quoted a Dorset police spokesman as saying.

The community wardens will be highly visible in bright yellow T-shirts and will work alongside existing officers from Dorset Police.

Dorset police sergeant Des Connor said that Studland had welcomed naturists for more than 90 years, but recent reports of sexual misconduct have threatened to bring naturism into disrepute.

“We will not tolerate any unlawful behaviour and ask that all residents and visitors to the area respect the naturists and the freedom in which they wish to enjoy life,” Connor added. (ANI)

10yr-old boy fights to save J.R.R. Tolkien hotel, The Three Cups

London, Jun 23 (ANI): A 10-year-old Brit boy has started a campaign to save a seaside hotel in which noted English writer J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a part of ‘The Lord of the Rings’.

The Three Cups Hotel in Lyme Regis, Dorset, has been left in a derelict state, with developers wanting to convert it into flats.

But when Leon Howe discovered that a part of his favourite book had been written there, he was determined to save it.

He turned the campaign into a school project, and, on June 20, staged a protest march through the town, collecting 1,000 signatures on the way.

Howe and other local residents want West Dorset District Council compulsorily to purchase the hotel from Palmer’s Brewery, and sell it to someone who will restore it to its former glory.

His mother Rikey, 41, who owns a teddy bear shop directly opposite the hotel, revealed that her son was very excited to discover that Tolkien had stayed there.

“Leon is a Tolkien fanatic and loves reading The Hobbit so he was very excited when he found out Tolkien spent a lot of time there,” Times Online quoted her as saying.

“We attended a recent public meeting to discuss the hotel and sat at the front. When the open mike came round he put his hand up.

“He said that he felt so strongly that the hotel should be saved that he was going to do a school project on it and he was cheered,” she added.

The little boy even drew and printed 200 leaflets promoting the protest march as part of his project at Mrs Ethelston’s Primary School in Lyme Regis.

“Before this the Three Cups was just a building to me but now it is a really important building,” he explained.

“I don’t think it should be abused like this. I am extremely angry and I don’t want to be my mum’s age and it still be looking like this,” he added.

The Georgian hotel had many illustrious guests before it closed 20 years ago, including Jane Austin, Alfred Tennyson and Dwight D. Eisenhower, the US military commander who led the D-Day landings.

It also featured in the film ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’, starring Jeremy Irons, who is also backing the campaign. (ANI)

‘Bet dieting’ is the latest fad among Brits

London, May 24 (ANI): Brits are increasingly taking to a new method of loosing weight-bet dieting.

This is a trend wherein people join a website, and bet on their own successes in losing certain amounts of weight over definite periods of time.

All weight loss claims are verified by a referee.

Money is withdrawn from the accounts of those failing to meet their targets, and paid to the charities of their choices.

The scheme, which started in the US, presently has over 1,000 followers in the UK.

According to its founders, a particularly effective way to encourage people to lose weight is to get them to nominate a charity with whose views they disagree to receive money should they fail.

“The anti-charity aspect is where we take your money and we send it to an organisation that you oppose should you fail,” the BBC quoted Jordan Goldberg, co-founder of the StickK bet dieting website, as saying.

“We chose some highly contentious issues, for instance global warming, abortion and gay marriage.

“The idea is you choose an organisation whose views are contrary to your own as an added incentive to stay motivated to succeed,” Goldberg added.

The scheme is receiving mixed reactions from people who have been bet dieting.

“I passed the first week, I lost my pound and half. I only lost a pound in the second week and so I failed, so I have given my 3.60 pounds to the charities,” said Robert Carter, an investment analyst from Dorset who has been bet dieting for over a month.

“I think I will lose the weight, it is certainly an incentive. I’m not sure I if have over-gambled, I might end up giving them #3.60 every week, and falling slightly behind.

“But I think it is certainly a good project,” he added.

Professor Richard Ashcroft, of the Centre for the Study of Incentives in Health, remained to be convinced by the long-term effect of the schemes.

“When somebody is in the middle of an incentive scheme they can be quite effective,” he said. .

“People can be quite good at their weight loss programmes, eating less or taking more exercise.

“The problem is once the incentive scheme has finished we don’t know if they carry on being successful after that – we don’t know if people manage to stay with the weight loss or exercise regime once the incentive is taken away,” he added. (ANI)

Queen Mary’s letters to friend to go under the hammer

London, May 14 (ANI): A collection of personal letters and photographs addressed to a friend by Queen Mary have come into the limelight for the first time and are set to go under the hammer.

The collection, spanning half a century, unravels the correspondence between the royal and her friend, Kate Rube, and later Rube’s daughter Elizabeth Gillman.

The set includes details of the birth and christening of Queen Elizabeth II, cheques made out to Queen Mary from her pal, Christmas cards from the Queen, messages of thanks, photographs and telegrams.

And now Rube’s great granddaughter, Ann Wilton, has decided to sell the family treasures.

“I have no idea how my great grandmother became friendly with the Queen. I would really like to know, but the details have been lost in the mists of time,” the Telegraph quoted Ann as saying.

“I know my great grandfather was wealthy and put a lot of money towards building the Royal Albert Hall, so maybe that was how they met. The Queen and my great grandmother remained friends and after she died the Queen continued to correspond with my grandmother,” she added.

The collection of more than 50 items of correspondence is expected to fetch more than 1,000 pounds at the auction at Duke’s of Dorchester in Dorset on May 30.

Deborah Doyle from Duke’s, said: “This amazing collection of Queen Mary ephemera must be one of the largest and varied important collections to come onto the open market. The collection is sure to appeal to many collectors.” (ANI)

Sisters tie the knot with brothers on the same day

London, May 5 (ANI): Two sisters tied the knot with two brothers on the same day at St Christopher’s Church in Winfrith, Dorset.

Kerry Hamilton, 27, and Sonny Mabey, 30, met 10 years ago on a night out and subsequently introduced their younger siblings Laura, 24 and Wayne, 27, to each other.

Both the couples live under the same roof and decided to have the same wedding day.

“We have always got on so well and a joint wedding seemed like a natural choice,” the Telegraph quoted Kerry as saying.

“No one has fallen out or disagreed with anything to do with the wedding. We have not had one quibble,” she added.

The four are now headed to Scotland for their honeymoon. (ANI)

The miracle cream that banishes wrinkles flies off the shelves

London, May 1 (ANI): A wonder cream that sends wrinkles packing has been flying off shelves at a rate of two bottles every second at its recent launch.

Women rushed to the stores and logged on to Boots’ website to grab their hands on No7 Protect and Perfect Intense Beauty Serum after a year-long study by University of Manchester researchers found the serum reduced wrinkles in some users.

A store outlet in London’s Liverpool Street shifted 400 bottles of the latest anti-ageing lotion, priced at 19.75 pounds, within 90 minutes of opening up.

“Our latest research on beauty spending and the recession shows women are investing in skincare, whether employed or not, and a product with ‘proof’ of results has a strong chance for success,” the Daily Express quoted Nica Lewis, head beauty innovation consultant at analysts Mintel.atherine Foster, 27, PR executive, from Bath, said: “Having heard that this serum is one of the best, I was desperate to get my hands on some. For the price tag it’s not a lot of money to shed.”

Air hostess Rebecca Sheppard, 28, from Dorset, added: “I’ve wasted ridiculous amounts of money on products for years. I hope this might be a cheaper option.”

The study was published on the British Journal of Dermatology website. (ANI)

Wills, Harry get ‘saucy map with naughty nicknames’ to navigate Britain

London, April 16 (ANI): Pilots-to-be William and Harry have been handed a raunchy Royal Air Force map with naughty nicknames to help them find their way around the British territories, according to sources.

Top Guns were said to have dubbed the landmarks with saucy titles, some of which include Sally’s T*ts, which were the two rounded Clee Hills near Ludlow, Shrops, and Biggus Dickus, the Cerne Giant carved into a Dorset hillside.

The Royals could also look up Donkey’s D**k off the Welsh coast, along with Stars Wars Valley and Harry Potter Viaduct in Scotland.

Another North Wales building was labelled P*** Off Biggles after a farmer, tired of the loud jets, painted the words on his barn roof.

“Training involves recognising landmarks,” the Sun quoted a source as saying.

Both the heirs have been trying to hone their flying skills since January.

While William has been eyeing a career as a search and rescue helicopter pilot with the RAF, Harry has set his sights on piloting the meanest machine in the British Army, the Apache. (ANI)

Meet the dog that ate clothes enough to fill a washing line

London, Apr 13 (ANI): Vets who operated on a dog, named Bailey, were in for a surprise, for what they thought was a tumour turned out to be clothes in the pet’s stomach.

The vets pulled out two golf gloves, two rugby gloves, one mitten, one stocking and nine socks from the golden retriever’s stomach.

The dog had been taking the garment diet for years and the vet, who pulled out the items, said that it was like performing a magic trick.ailey’s owner Nicola Perrett had taken her pet to the vet for his annual check-up, but was later called up to be informed of a suspected tumour.

However, later in the day she was told that what was thought to be a tumour was actually an assortment of 17 objects, including a piece of towel.

Perrett’s son Jack said that his rugby gloves had been missing for at least two years and the family had not noticed the other things go missing.

Bailey, 7, has made a full recovery, and Perrett, 44, is happy that her kids- Jack, 15, and daughter Laura, 18- have there dog back.

“We’ve had Bailey for seven years since he was a puppy and he always go for his annual check,” the Telegraph quoted her as saying.

She added: “This year he had lost a bit of weight and the vet must have been able to feel a lump. They phoned me to say they thought he had a tumour and I cried all morning at work.”

“It is amazing that he was not more unwell or sick but was still eating his food. This huge mass in his abdomen was picked up on a routine check-up for his epilepsy,” vet Keith Moore from the Hillside Veterinary Centre in Corfe Mullen, Dorset, said.

“Vets obviously do a fair number of foreign object removals but I doubt I will ever see anything like this again in my career. Even for us, from a vet’s point of view, it was pretty amazing. It was ike doing a magic trick. We were just pulling out one sock after another,” Moore added. (ANI)

97-year-old daredevil skydives from plane at 10,000ft!

London, April 5 (ANI): A 97-year-old man braved a hair-raising jump from a plane at 10,000 feet to raise money for the Royal National Life-Boat Institution.

Pensioner George Moyse, Bournemouth, Dorset, succeeded his first skydive with Instructor Mike Jeng at Netheravon Airfield in Wiltshire.

“It was lovely, I really enjoyed it, I wasn’t frightened at all. It was the first time but it won’t be the last,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

George thanked his stars for letting his health and mobility to allow him to be a daredevil.

He said: “I do not sit around. I get about, I go for a walk every day and I do my own cooking, washing, ironing, everything. I have just been lucky to be so agile.”

His 43-year-old grandson Edward Brewer also took the parachute plunge with another trainer to help the Royal Air Forces Association.
He said: “This is all my grandfather’s idea. He has supported the RNLI all his life so they were the obvious beneficiaries when he decided he really wanted to do the jump.

“Both the volunteer lifeboat crew and lifeguards do a fantastic job to keep us safe on and in the water and as a charity they receive no government funding at all so to be able to do something so amazing and raise money for them is something my grandfather really wanted to do and if he can do it, so can I.” (ANI)

Lewis Hamilton splashes out on 5m pounds yacht

London, Mar 6 (ANI): F1 champ Lewis Hamilton has bought a 90-ft yacht worth 5million pounds.

The 23-year-old star’s new boat named Sunseeker 90 has eight bedrooms including a master suite, VIP suite and two twin guest cabins.

It also has a luxury lounge, plasma TVs and hi-fi system.

He has also painted it silver and black like his McLaren racing car.

Hamilton plans to place his yacht in Monaco, where he can soak up the sun with Pussycat Doll girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, 29.

It is being finished at Sunseeker’s yard in Portland, Dorset, before being transported to Monte Carlo.

“Lewis will be very impressed with it,” the Sun quoted a worker as saying. (ANI)

Now, a two-year course for students to learn how to ride waves

London, Feb 26 (ANI): Just imagine-a school on the beach that awards degrees. Well, that’s what a new surf course is offering students who love riding the waves.

Costing a good 100,000 pounds, the course will require students to spend much of their “study” time on the beach and to go on numerous residential trips to top surfing locations like Cornwall, Devon and possibly abroad.

And after completing the two-year course, the students will be awarded a BTEC National Certificate in Sport, equivalent to two A Levels.

The training, described by critics as a “Mickey Mouse” course that will be a waste of time and money, will cost 4,012 pounds per student.

The Surf Academy will open in September at the Bournemouth and Poole College in Dorset and will coincide with the completion of Europe’s first artificial surf reef in Boscombe, Bournemouth.

Two tutors, who would supervise the course, will help students hone their surfing technique under the guidance of experts.

They will also take theory lessons in sports science, contest tactics, coaching and other aspects of the surf industry.

“The managers looked at the new surf reef which is to be built in Bournemouth, and realised they could capitalise on it,” The Telegraph quoted Gary Hart, who will be teaching the course, as saying.

He added: “Surfing is a growing industry and there are a lot of opportunities out there. Students could go on to be surfing instructors, work in retail or go onto higher education – there are surf science courses at universities like Plymouth.”

The taxpayer will be funding the further education course via the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).
The course will provide students with a chance to obtain a beach lifeguard and an instructor’s qualification.

Terry Crump, 30, chairman of Wessex Surf Club and four times south coast champion, will be teaching the practical part of the course.

Crump said: “I think the course is a brilliant idea. Surfing is a growing industry and it’s always good to see youngsters getting enthusiastic about it. You have to be at a certain level to be able to teach, so for a beginner this course would be ideal.” (ANI)

Christian Bale needs help, says siste

London, Feb 08 (ANI): Sister of Christian Bale has said that the actor needs help, following his expletive-laden rant, which had been aimed at the director of photography of his film ‘Terminator Salvation’.

His sister, Sharon, says she is worried about the 35-year-old Hollywood actor, who starred as Batman in The Dark Knight.
“It’s terribly sad. I feel for him. He seems to be incredibly stressed and angry at the moment. This sort of behaviour is totally out of character and I think he might need help,” the Telegraph quoted her, as saying from her house in Dorset.

Last summer, Bale was arrested and interrogated for several hours after an alleged assault on Sharon and their mum, Jenny.

Later, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that he would not face any charges due to insufficient evidence.

His mother says: “People might now realise that is his temper: they might understand a bit more. I wish he hadn’t carried this on so long or so fiercely. It was upsetting to hear him.”

Sharon adds: “He’s normally a placid guy, but he has done film after film. He just needs time out.”

Bale has apologized for his ‘inexcusable’ rant. (ANI)