Kim

My TL;DR:

• Yellow weather warning for rain on Friday between 2am and 9am. Covers the central, Tayside & Fife, south-west Scotland, Lothian Borders and Strathclyde areas.
• Yellow weather warning for snow on Friday from the early hours until 9am covering central, Tayside & Fife, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar and Strathclyde.
• Yellow weather warning for wind in western areas, including parts of Scotland and Wales, and the north-west and south-west of England from 8am to 10pm on Saturday.
• The Environment Agency had 12 flood warnings and 93 flood alerts in place in England on Thursday morning, largely in southern areas.

My TL;DR:

Last weekend the conservation park, in North Anston, near Sheffield, celebrated its 30th birthday.

The centre was built to create an accessible energy-efficient and ecologically friendly environment to house butterflies and tropical plants with the support of the RDPE Growth Development Fund. The final phase of the project will see a new bug house open this year.

The park is committed to conservation efforts and plays an active role in breeding and conservation programmes aimed at protecting native species closer to home.

There are more than 450 bird boxes across the three sites which each attract a variety of native birds including one of the largest populations of tree sparrows in the UK.

Large herds of red deer, barn owls, grass snakes and an abundance of native butterflies have also been recorded.

The park’s most famous resident is Odin the Raven, who is well known for her artistic ability with a paintbrush. Odin, who prefers a black and red palette, even painted a special 30th birthday masterpiece which was auctioned last weekend with all proceeds donated to the RSPB.

On first impressions, the pub might look like your classic East End neighbourhood boozer. Wood-panelled l-shaped bar? Check. Floral-patterned red carpet? Check. Dartboard? Check. But as well as the main bar, there’s another room that the pub often rents out for no cost – it’s used for a regular children’s stay and play sessions hosted by a local provider, English lessons for refugees and meetings for charities. While the pub doesn’t do food, it hosts pop-ups with Plateful Cafe, a community organisation that trains and employs refugee chefs.

At The Old Forge, the committee regularly asks locals what they think about the pub, whether that’s what’s on the menu or the events programme – live music nights with local musicians have been a huge hit. Spendley says that being able to adapt in response to the community’s feedback is what makes these places so successful. “Member control and input ensures the business is continually adapting and serving the needs of its members and wider community – that’s what gives community-owned pubs such longevity.”