Dateline

Buckingham Palace

Kate’s Dress Draws Record Crowds

THE IVORY AND WHITE wedding dress worn this spring by the Duchess of Cambridge has been on display at Buckingham Palace during the royal home’s summer opening this year. The future queen’s shoes, earrings, veil and the tiara adorned with 900 diamonds that the Queen lent her for the occasion are part of the exhibition as well. Advance ticket sales for the Buckingham Palace tour were up 107 percent, and the attraction is expected to have drawn a record crowd of some 650,000 before the palace doors closed on October 3.

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Smoothing out the royal wrinkles.[/caption]

Down By the Riverside

Waterways Abound in New Wildlife

AN ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY report listing Britain’s most improved waterways indicates that wildlife are returning to our rivers in ways not seen since before Victorian times. Otters, kingfishers and water voles all line our waterways, while the Thames teems with salmon and sea trout. The Mersey, the Dee, the Wear and the Taff are among those rivers cleaner now than they’ve been in more than 100 years.

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Water voles celebrate on the riverbanks.[/caption]

Oh, Mr. Bean!

Comic actor Rowan Atkinson is still on the mend after crashing his McLaren F1 supercar on the A605 near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Traveling a reported 240 mph, the car struck a tree and ploughed into a road sign before bursting into flames.

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Blackadder goes forth too quickly on the A605 in Cambridgeshire.[/caption]

Elf ‘n’ Safety Gone Barmy

The Daily Mail recently released a Top 10 list of Britain’s most infuriating current health and safety bans. Among the winners were the Royal British Legion’s decision not to issue pins with its poppies lest people prick themselves, and a prohibition on Dodgem cars bumping in to each other at Butlins—to prevent whiplash. Sack races on school sports days have been disallowed as well, lest competitors fall and hurt themselves.

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Now, no bumping into people.[/caption]

The Queen Goes Green

Windsor Castle has taken delivery of two giant hydropower turbines. The 40-ton Archimedes Screw turbines have been placed nearby in the River Thames. Palace sources say that by next year the castle will be powered entirely by their green energy.

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Windsor Castle powered by water.[/caption]

Thomas Hardy House in Disarray

There’s a bit of a tiff between the National Trust and the Thomas Hardy Society over the upkeep of the great novelist’s home, Max Gate, in Dorchester. Not only does the Grade I listed property need urgent repairs, but the long-term tenant moved out last year taking most of the period furniture and leaving the place rather bare.

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Max Gate needs some attention.[/caption]

London

Picking Up the Pieces

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Taking to the streets to join the cleanup.[/caption]

EVERYONE SAW THE DEVASTATING images of rioting in London this August, as well as copycat violence in half a dozen English cities. Despite the widespread looting, and property destruction that defined the lawlessness, Londoners and residents of England’s other effected urban centers did not take the random destruction of their streets lying down. In the mornings, crowds of broom-wielding volunteers showed up in practically every impacted neighborhood to clean up the streets and reclaim their communities. In Clapham Junction alone,more than 500 people turned out with brooms and trash bags to aid in the cleanup efforts.

Piccadilly, London

Big Picture at Royal Academy

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The Yorkshire countryside as Hockney saw it in 1997.[/caption]

A MAJOR NEW EXHIBITION, part of London’s “Cultural Olympiad,” opens at the Royal Academy of Arts in January. “David Hockney: A Bigger Picture” is the first major UK exhibition to showcase the acclaimed artist’s landscape paintings, many of them Yorkshire-inspired. A number of the 150 works included in the exhibition are large, multicanvas images Hockney has created specifically for the event—which will run at Burlington House from June 21-April 9, 2012. Check out www.royalacademy.org.uk for details.

Parliament Is Shrinking!

The Boundary Commission has brought back its report reshaping Parliamentary constituencies for the next general election. In the process, 50 MPs will lose their jobs as the House of Commons will be reduced from 650 to 600 members.

Gorillas on the Riverfront

An army of life-sized gorillas have taken up residence on the south bank of the the Thames near City Hall. The display of 20 UK artist-designed models is part of a campaign to recognize how the animals’ habitat is threatened.

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Colorful primates seek attention.[/caption]

Jalfreezi Crowned Britain’s Curry Favorite

After remaining an also-ran for years, the jalfrezi has topped the masala as Britain’s favorite curry. A poll by the British Curry Club has the madras in second place among curry lovers. With the masala sinking to eighth spot in the league tables, the conclusion is that British diners have an increasing taste for hotter, spicier dishes.

Newport, Wales

“Lost City of the Legion” Excavated

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The Roman port on the Usk is imagined thus.[/caption]

ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN SOUTH WALES have unearthed the remains of a Roman port on the River Usk just north of Newport. Only the second such port to be found in Britain, the complex would have served the Second Augustan Legion headquartered in nearby Caerleon. Peter Guest of Cardiff University, leading the excavation team, effused: “What we have found exceeds all expectations. The port or harbor is a major addition to the archaeology of Roman Britain.”

Edinburgh

Just Another Royal Wedding

THE QUEEN’S GRAND-DAUGHTER, Zara Phillips, daughter of Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, was wed on July 30 to English rugby captain Mike Tindall at 17th-century Canongate Kirk on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Her Majesty and the rest of the royal family joined sporting and media celebrities in a congregation of 400 at what was billed as a “private wedding for friends.”

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Zara made a radiant royal bride.[/caption]

Portsmouth

Dragon Roars to Life

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Sea trials lie ahead for the new destroyer.[/caption]

THE ROYAL NAVY’S latest and most technologically advanced warship has been delivered to the navy and sailed into its new home base of Portsmouth. HMS Dragon is a Type-45 destroyer—at 7,500 tons and armed with a highly sophisticated Sea Viper missile system, Dragon is the largest and most powerful air defense destroyer ever built for the Royal Navy.

Glasgow

Come Blow Your Pipes!

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It takes seven years and seven generations.[/caption]

MORE THAN 8,000 PIPERS and drummers from 16 countries descended on Glasgow in August to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships at Glasgow Green. In addition to some 200 pipes bands providing background music, spectators could also take in the Highland Dancing Competition and the Glasgow World Highland Games. A noisy time was had by all.

London Olympic Countdown

Entering the final year countdown to the London 2012 Olympics was marked this summer by unveiling the medals to be awarded at the London Games. After years of planning and building, venues and infrastructure for the massive event proceeds on schedule.

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Medals up for winning in London.[/caption]

The Edinburgh Fringe Funniest Joke

This year’s award for the best joke of the Edinburgh Fringe went to comedian Nick Helms. His winning quip:
“I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

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There’s always fun at the Fringe.[/caption]

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Supersized for the Olympics

It’s not without some weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. The world’s largest McDonalds—two floors and half the size of an American football field—will be open in the London’s Olympic Park by next summer. It will employ a staff of 470 and expects to serve 100,000 portions of fries during the games.

Just a Bit Chilly

Met Office statistics indicate that much of Britain suffered its coldest summer in years. The UK’s average temperature of 57F from June through August was the lowest in 13 years. Central England’s average of 59F made the coolest summer since 1993.

Good News for Booze

One bright spot in the current economic malaise is good old Scotch whisky. Drinks conglomerate Diageo is investing £20 million in its 17 Speyside distilleries over the next few years, hoping to boost production by several million gallons a year. Consumers in Russia, China and Latin America are creating the demand.

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Bottoms up in Asia and Latin America.[/caption]

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Watering the billboard? [/caption]

London

World’s First Living Billboard

IT TOOK TWO MONTHS to grow the 800 British wildflowers of 14 species in what has been dubbed the world’s first living billboard at West London’s Westfield shopping center. The floral picture depicts wine being poured from a bottle. Workers spent 12 hours assembling the display, and through its two-week “run” late this summer, gardeners tended it daily to keep the flora looking sharp. Another English gardening first.

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R.I.P. Lucian Freud

GREAT BRITAIN JOINS the art world in mourning the passing of Lucian Freud, universally acknowledged as one of the great painters of the 20th century. A colossus of that art world for half a century, Freud died peacefully aged 88. Grandson of famed psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, Lucian fled Berlin with his family as a boy and took British citizenship in 1939. Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, evaluated his influence: “The vitality of his nudes, the intensity of his still lifes and the presence of his portraits of family and friends guarantee Lucian Freud a unique place in the pantheon of late 20th-century art.”