The Daily: July 8
'Essence of Australia' wins Best Show Garden at Hampton Court
The annual RHS Hampton Court Flower Show is underway, and as of yesterday the highly anticipated Best Show Garden was announced. The award went to Jim Fogarty, who created 'Essence of Australia', a garden evoking the natural Australian landscape with a strong flavour of the indigenous Aboriginal culture. Fogarty won gold at Chelsea in 2011, and the choice to include the red gravelly sand bears a similarity to the Chelsea 2011 garden. The combination of the Eucaplytus gunnii and timber panelling recreates the scenery of the Northern Territory in Australia. Meanwhile at Hampton Court, Britain in Bloom celebrate their 50th anniversary, and will take pride of place at the show, which as ever is open to UK towns, cities and villages.
'Cats' to have a West End revival
The 80s musical Cats is to have a West End revival this December, after having closed more than a decade ago. The award winning production which picked up Olivier awards, Tonys and Grammys is one of Lord Lloyd Webber's most successful shows. Lord Lloyd Webber's latest musical Stephen Ward lasted only four months, and in an interview he exclaimed that this may have been due to it coming out 'at the wrong time'. Much of the original creative team will come together again, with Director Trevor Nunn and Choreographer Gillian Lynne, but the show will run for only 12 weeks from early December at the London Palladium. The musical is to have a 'rap twist' with character Rum Tum Tugger taking on the persona of a 'rapping street cat'.
Gandhi statue to appear in Parliament Square
In an announcement made by the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a trip to Delhi, a statue of the Indian civil rights activist Mahatma Gandhi is to be erected in Parliament Square, London. The statue will be the 11th in the square, and will stand alongside statues such as Sir Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela. The statue will not only commemorate Gandhi's visions and work, but also the centenary of Gandhi's return to India from South Africa to start a struggle for self rule, which lead to Indian independence in 1947. The Chancellor said 'as the father of the largest democracy in the world, it's time for Gandhi to take his place in front of the mother of Parliaments. He is a figure of inspiration, not just in Britain and India, but around the world'.
No travel to the US with a flat battery phone
Both Heathrow and Manchester airports have followed through with a directive given by Secretary Johnson from Homeland Security in the US. A new rule states that if a 'device doesn't switch on, you won't be allowed to bring it on to the aircraft'. In an aim to step up airport security, various analysts have suggested that the change could potentially be a response to efforts by Islamic militants to create explosives that evade airport security. However, the change does not suggest that passengers would not be allowed on the flight, rather they would be directed to a nearby recharging point to increase the battery of their phone, or that passengers use a service called MailandFly, which ships goods on to a destination or stores the goods at a warehouse for up to 42 days.
French historian discovers letter about Edward the Black Prince
Dr Guilhem Pepin has made a remarkable discovery after finding a letter written by Edward the Black Prince to Lord Gaston Febus soon after the sack of Limoges in a Spanish archive. Edward has had a reputation of a nasty, murderous and militant prince, but the letter suggests he may have not been as brutal as some historians argue, or as the chronicler Jean Froissart thought. Froissart, a medieval French author, working and living in the 14th century, claimed that at the infamous sack of Limoges a massacre occurred where 'upwards of 3,000 men, women and children were put to death'. However, Dr Pepin's discovery may alter what we think of Edward the Black Prince, as in the letter Edward wrote that only 200 knights and men-at-arms were taken as prisoner. So, after all, Edward the Black Prince may not deserve as 'evil' a reputation as the one that is held to his name.
The annual RHS Hampton Court Flower Show is underway, and as of yesterday the highly anticipated Best Show Garden was announced. The award went to Jim Fogarty, who created 'Essence of Australia', a garden evoking the natural Australian landscape with a strong flavour of the indigenous Aboriginal culture. Fogarty won gold at Chelsea in 2011, and the choice to include the red gravelly sand bears a similarity to the Chelsea 2011 garden. The combination of the Eucaplytus gunnii and timber panelling recreates the scenery of the Northern Territory in Australia. Meanwhile at Hampton Court, Britain in Bloom celebrate their 50th anniversary, and will take pride of place at the show, which as ever is open to UK towns, cities and villages.
'Cats' to have a West End revival
The 80s musical Cats is to have a West End revival this December, after having closed more than a decade ago. The award winning production which picked up Olivier awards, Tonys and Grammys is one of Lord Lloyd Webber's most successful shows. Lord Lloyd Webber's latest musical Stephen Ward lasted only four months, and in an interview he exclaimed that this may have been due to it coming out 'at the wrong time'. Much of the original creative team will come together again, with Director Trevor Nunn and Choreographer Gillian Lynne, but the show will run for only 12 weeks from early December at the London Palladium. The musical is to have a 'rap twist' with character Rum Tum Tugger taking on the persona of a 'rapping street cat'.
Gandhi statue to appear in Parliament Square
In an announcement made by the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a trip to Delhi, a statue of the Indian civil rights activist Mahatma Gandhi is to be erected in Parliament Square, London. The statue will be the 11th in the square, and will stand alongside statues such as Sir Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela. The statue will not only commemorate Gandhi's visions and work, but also the centenary of Gandhi's return to India from South Africa to start a struggle for self rule, which lead to Indian independence in 1947. The Chancellor said 'as the father of the largest democracy in the world, it's time for Gandhi to take his place in front of the mother of Parliaments. He is a figure of inspiration, not just in Britain and India, but around the world'.
No travel to the US with a flat battery phone
Both Heathrow and Manchester airports have followed through with a directive given by Secretary Johnson from Homeland Security in the US. A new rule states that if a 'device doesn't switch on, you won't be allowed to bring it on to the aircraft'. In an aim to step up airport security, various analysts have suggested that the change could potentially be a response to efforts by Islamic militants to create explosives that evade airport security. However, the change does not suggest that passengers would not be allowed on the flight, rather they would be directed to a nearby recharging point to increase the battery of their phone, or that passengers use a service called MailandFly, which ships goods on to a destination or stores the goods at a warehouse for up to 42 days.
French historian discovers letter about Edward the Black Prince
Dr Guilhem Pepin has made a remarkable discovery after finding a letter written by Edward the Black Prince to Lord Gaston Febus soon after the sack of Limoges in a Spanish archive. Edward has had a reputation of a nasty, murderous and militant prince, but the letter suggests he may have not been as brutal as some historians argue, or as the chronicler Jean Froissart thought. Froissart, a medieval French author, working and living in the 14th century, claimed that at the infamous sack of Limoges a massacre occurred where 'upwards of 3,000 men, women and children were put to death'. However, Dr Pepin's discovery may alter what we think of Edward the Black Prince, as in the letter Edward wrote that only 200 knights and men-at-arms were taken as prisoner. So, after all, Edward the Black Prince may not deserve as 'evil' a reputation as the one that is held to his name.