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19 June 2024

This England: Prize barrow

This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain – has run in the NS since 1934.

By New Statesman

Dylan Phillips, 38, has just set a Guinness World Record for the fastest wheelbarrow after clocking speeds of 52mph during Straightliners Speed Week 2024 at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire. He built the motorised contraption in his shed in Crymych, Pembrokeshire, and, when push came to shovel, smashed the previous record of 46mph.
The Pembrokeshire Herald (Steve Morley)

You may miss the bride

A daughter flew 1,700 miles to get to the church in time for her dad’s wedding only to discover she had arrived a year early. Llarissa Pye, who lives in Lanzarote, was delighted to learn her dad and his partner of three years were to wed. But confusion reigned when she misheard him during a phone call, thinking the nuptials would take place the following Saturday. She hastily booked a £200 one-way flight to London to join the happy couple. Her family only realised her mistake by the time she was at the airport and her phone was on airplane mode.
Metro (Michael Meadowcroft)

Taking the biscuit

A creative designer from London has won the first National Dunking Championship for National Biscuit Day. Simon Girma, 35, dunked a Chocolate Hobnob to victory against seven others. McVitie’s award one point for every second a biscuit is immersed in a hot drink. Dr Helen Pilcher, McVitie’s chief dunking officer, said: “Being the judge felt like the perfect evolution of my role.”
Wales Online (Daragh Brady)

[See also: This England: Don’t be cruel]

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This article appears in the 19 Jun 2024 issue of the New Statesman, How to Fix a Nation