Generally, the Latin names of species do little to fire the imagination-Cypripedium calceolus is no substitute for Lady's Slipper, for instance-so Natural England and The Guardian are again running a competition to give interesting names to 10 endangered species.
In 2010, the winning name was Queen's Executioner for a beetle that is only found in Windsor Great Park; other commended names included Sea Piglet and Witches' Whiskers for marine species.
This year's list includes the largest British sea squirt and a bright, shiny wasp. To view the list, visit www.naturalengland.org
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The Henry VII-era house that was dismantled piece by piece and shipped to the USAAgecroft Hall, near Manchester, didn't meet the same miserable end as some of Britain's other country homes. Instead, it was shipped to the USA and repurposed as a museum.
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‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now'Now is the time to firstly, hug a tree, and secondly, plant some more — in increasingly imaginative ways.
