Central London was gridlocked with traffic yesterday but rather than the beeping of horns there was the bleating of sheep.
Crowds of passers-by flocked to see the unusual spectacle as 20 Suffolk and Texel sheep were herded across London Bridge. The woolly creatures took a trip over the Thames as the Lord Mayor of the City of London exercised his ancient right to drive them across.
Traffic was redirected as Liverymen and Freemen of the City walked the animals across. The event was organised by the Worshipful Company of Woolmen, one of 109 Liveries in the capital, to raise money for the Lord Mayor’s appeal and the company’s own charitable trust. (PA)
Gold and cash found in luggage deposit
Police in Germany issued an unusual plea – after finding a stash of gold bars and a wad of banknotes in the luggage deposit at Cologne’s main railway station.
The stash was found in April in a luggage locker at the station, a major European transport hub and police are now going public after being unable to link the haul to any crime and hearing nothing from any legitimate owner.
The owner should not leave it too long to claim their goods as officers said if nobody comes forward, the stash will be sold. (PA)
Centenarians increase five-fold
There has been a five-fold increase in the number of centenarians over the last three decades, figures show.
In 1981, there were just 2,420 people aged 100 and over living in England and Wales, but by 2012 the figure shot up to 12,320, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. And the ONS estimates that of the latest figure, 610 people are aged 105 or more.
This means that the Queen will be spending more and more time writing birthday cards to centenarians. At present, she sends a personal congratulatory message to anyone in the UK celebrating their 100th birthday, their 105th birthday and each year following their 105th birthday. (PA)
Streep takes on witch role in new film
Meryl Streep, who landed an Oscar for her role as Baroness Thatcher, has shown off her latest spellbinding look – as a witch.
She heads a cast of well known faces such as Johnny Depp and British stars Emily Blunt, Tracey Ullman and James Corden in forthcoming musical Into The Woods.
Streep will play a witch who wants to reverse a curse to enable her beauty to be restored in the film which puts a modern twist on traditional Brothers Grimm fairytales.
The movie weaves together the stories of Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood among others, along with a new story about a baker (Corden) and his wife (Blunt).
Disney’s Into The Woods will hit cinemas at the tail end of next year. (PA)
Bumblebee reintroduced in the UK
A bumblebee reintroduced in the UK after being driven to extinction has nested for the first time in a quarter of a century.
The short-haired bumblebee vanished from the UK in the 1980s, having suffered declines over the previous 60 years as its wildflower-rich grassland habitat was lost, and was officially declared extinct in 2000.
A reintroduction project has brought queen bumblebees from a healthy population in Sweden and after two releases of queens in Kent, offspring worker bees have been recorded at the site for the first time. (AP)