DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
• The story goes that Excalibur, the mythical sword of King Arthur, was supposedly thrown into a Cornish lake after his death. So imagine the surprise of seven-year-old Matilda Jones when she stumbled across a sword while paddling in that very lake, Dozmary Pool, last week. And that was despite her dad, Paul, telling her not to be silly and suggesting it was just a bit of fencing. Sadly, it seems the sword is only about 20 or 30 years old and, according to dad, is probably an old film prop. Nevermind.
A recent picture of Palmerston from his official Twitter account.
• There’s long been reports of a rivalry between Larry, the official ‘chief mouser’ of Number 10 Downing Street, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office cat Palmerston but now it seems it’s the latter who has the upper hand. Data released under Freedom of Information laws (yes, you read that right) shows that Palmerston, a black and white moggy named for the twice PM Viscount Palmerston, has killed at least 27 mice since he arrived in Whitehall in April last year (at least 27 because these are the ones witnessed; the actual figure is believed to be much higher). The FOI request also revealed Palmerston is usually fed Whiskas (and that the bill for looking after him was met voluntarily by staff).
• And in some good news, LA’s very short funicular railway, Angels Flight, is once again open to the public after a four year hiatus following a derailment in 2013. The 90 metre long railway up Bunker Hill first opened in 1901 with roundtrips costing a penny (they’re now a $US1). It was closed in 1969 for a building redevelopment and then not reopened until 1996, closed again in 2001, reopened in 2010, and now, following a spruce-up, is back on track. Its recent closure didn’t stop it being featured in the film La La Land when it was ridden by stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
