9 July 2025

This England: White-van Manx

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

Illustration by Marta Signori

A curious cat from the Isle of Man has been on her biggest escapade yet – ending up 400 miles from home after climbing into a van. Dusty, who regularly visits patients at Noble’s Hospital close to her home in Strang, hopped into the back of the vehicle, which then travelled over sea and land to Tavistock in Devon. Owner Liz Skillicorn was contacted via the Facebook page Dusty’s Adventures, which had followed the feline’s jaunts, to confirm the missing cat had been found.
BBC News (Amanda Welles)

So long, suckers

A “Holy Grail” Lego octopus has been found by a stunned beachcomber decades after falling into the sea. The black octopus was one of millions
of items lost on the Tokio Express cargo ship off Land’s End in 1997. A freak wave knocked 62 containers and about 4,200 Lego octopuses into the sea. Only a handful have been found since,
many of which washed up in Cornwall. Jenny Smith, 43, came across the latest one while out on the beach at
Ginst Point. “I squealed with excitement, shouted at my husband, and the kids and sat in complete shock,” she said.
Cornwall Live (Adam Robertson)

Guzzly bears

Two young bears escaped from their Wildwood Trust enclosure in Devon – and devoured a week’s worth of honey. In a tale straight out of Winnie-the-Pooh, Mish and Lucy immediately dashed for the food store during their hour of freedom. Visitors were “promptly escorted to a secure building”.
Sidmouth Herald (Steve Morley)

[See also: Britain is growing old disgracefully]