Never mind the exhibits, what about the gift shop?
The Museum and Heritage awards shortlist was released this week, celebrating the best museums around the country in all sorts of categories, from ‘visitor welcome’ category to sustainability, innovation and more. All very good, but we couldn’t but help take a second look at the award celebrating the one bit of every museum that every visitor sees: the all-important gift shop. Here are the nominees; winners will be announced on May 15.
• Dundee Contemporary Arts — DCA Shop
• Portsmouth City Council’s The D-Day Story — D-Day 80 Shop Refit
• The National Gallery, London — Bicentenary Year Retail
• National Football Museum, Manchester — Shop of the Year
• The Real Mary King’s Close, Edinburgh — Gift shop
The curious incident of the Beech in winter
Beech trees, like most of Britain's deciduous trees, lose almost all their leaves in the winter. Yet the beech has a curious twist on this behaviour: train it in to a hedge and it hangs on to many of its leaves until the replacements come through in Spring. This and more you'll learn in our complete guide to beech trees.
A rail replacement service you won’t mind getting
The Great Central Railway — stretching across Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, and connecting Sheffield to London — originally opened in 1899, only to be closed less than 70 years later in the reforms of the 1960s. In the decades since then it’s become a popular heritage railway, with one problem: a 500-metre stretch between the two sections of track was demolished after the line was closed.
The Great Central Railway ran for less than 70 years
Efforts to rebuild the missing section have been ongoing for a while, and to help raise funds a ‘reunification’ weekend special will run on April 5 and 6, with vintage 1960s buses on hand to bridge the missing section of rail for the two days. Finally a bus replacement service that you won’t mind getting; tickets are on sale at tickets.gcrailway.co.uk.
'It's everything we need for hurleys'
Ash tree dieback has exacted an awful toll on the landscape of Britain. Over in Ireland it’s been just as devastating, but as well as ridding the land of many trees it’s also threatened one of the Emerald Isle’s most popular sports: hurling. The sticks used — called hurleys — have long been made from ash since, as hurley maker Richard McCarthy explains, it’s ‘strong, flexible and lightweight — everything we need for hurleys’.
Hurleys have long been made by hand, from ash.
Help is at hand for McCarthy and his fellow makers thanks to the Blenheim Estate, which is supplying around 1,000 ash tree ‘butts’ harvested from the Estate as part of the programme to manage dying trees while looking to preserve all those that are showing signs of natural resistance to ash dieback. ‘Whilst the majority of the timber will go for firewood, it’s great to see some value being realised,’ says James Hunter, Blenheim’s Rural Property Manager.
We might be nearing the point where the only sane reaction is to throw your hands up in the air and wonder out loud where it will all end
Back in the 1990s, when IBM’s supercomputer first beat Garry Kasparov at chess, writers breathed a sigh of relief and gave thanks that while a terrifyingly powerful mathematical algorithm might be able to master a game with strict rules and tactics, at least those machines would never surpass human creativity. Seems like that confidence might have been misplaced, as ChatGPT is now writing fiction... and is apparently worryingly good at it, as our colleagues over at TechRadar report.
He shoots, he misses
Country Life's James Fisher went to Cheltenham on Wednesday; so did Getty photographer Chris Jackson. Poor old Chris seemingly missed the chance to get a picture of James, and instead had to console himself with capturing this familiar-looking lady in the crowd...
That's it for this week — Dawn Chorus will be back on Monday
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The otterhound — the story behind Britain's rarest breed of dogBred for centuries to hunt otters in icy rivers, these shaggy, web-footed hounds were once favoured by royalty. Today, fewer than 1,000 survive worldwide.
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Five magnificent homes for sale, from Highland escape to a 17th century school, as seen in Country LifeWe take a look at some of the best homes to come to the market via Country Life.
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The otterhound — the story behind Britain's rarest breed of dog
Bred for centuries to hunt otters in icy rivers, these shaggy, web-footed hounds were once favoured by royalty. Today, fewer than 1,000 survive worldwide.
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One by one: The lone wolves of the animal kingdomMankind may be tribal and sociable by nature, yet the ‘bliss of solitude’ — a state previously reserved for hermits — is the key to achieving inner peace, says Laura Parker
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If there's no fish, there's no fishing, with Robin PhilpottThe CEO of Farlows joins the Country Life Podcast.
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Pugs in pearls: Nine times dogs stole the show on publishing’s most famous pageEvery Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
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What everyone is talking about this week: The problem(s) with cyclistsWeek in, week out, Will Hosie rounds up the hottest topics on everyone's lips, in London and beyond.
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The smooth collie: A working breed with beauty and brainsOnce the go-to Scottish herding dog, the smooth collie is as elegant as it is dependable — a working breed with beauty and brains.
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A new gilded age: Sir David Attenborough christens a rare golden eagletThe first golden eagle to fledge from the nest of a translocated bird has been rewarded with a name selected by Sir David Attenborough.
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How Sir Walter Scott made the Dandie Dinmont terrier a legendThis week marked Sir Walter Scott’s birthday — and so it seemed the right moment to celebrate the terrier that owes its fame, and its name, to his pen.
