Friday 1st April 2011 ‘Sex change’ chicken stops laying eggs
Gertie, one of a pair of hens owned by Jeanette Howard of Huntingdon
in Cambridgeshire, seems to be having trouble with her sexual
identity. The hen stopped laying eggs, grew chin wattles and began to
crow like a cockerel. Experts think fungus in stored food could have
the effect of synthetic hormones. Mrs Howard said: "I'm not really
sure whether Gertie has actually changed sex, but to all intents and
purposes she's now a cockerel." Cambridgeshire

Tuesday 29th March 2011 RSPB leads attempt to regenerate the Fens
The RSPB is taking a lead role in a project designed to regenerate the
Fens in Eastern England. The Futurescape project hopes to replace
vital habitats lost to years of intensive farming and drainage. 97% of
the original wetlands have been lost since the Fens were first drained
in the 1600s. The pockets of remaining wetland are home to important
and often threatened species such as rare birds, otters, water voles,
aquatic plants and insects. The RSPB fears that without significant
investment these remaining pockets of wetland will also be lost. Cambridgeshire

Monday 22nd November 2010 ‘Extinct spider seen in Cambridgeshire
A Rosser's sac spider, previously feared extinct in the UK, has been
discovered at Chippenham Fen in Cambridgeshire. The species of spider,
which had not been seen for 10 years, has been photographed after a
new colony of the species was found. The spider lives in wetland areas
and previously only been found at Lakenheath Fen in Suffolk. Draining
of the fens and changing farming practices since the World War II had
put it under threat and it had been thought to have died out in the
UK. One was then discovered in September at the Cambridgeshire site,
and 10 more were found during a search in October. Spider enthusiast
Ian Dawson, who made the initial find, said: "I was extremely
surprised to find the first one and then when we went back a month
later it was great to find more of them. If we've managed to find 10
of them, I think there must be quite a sizeable population of Rosser’s
at that particular site.” Cambridgeshire

Wednesday 13th October 2010 Cambridgeshire phone box to become art gallery
A Cambridgeshire village has turned a disused phone box in into a
community art gallery. The villager council of Prickwillow, Ely,
bought a disused traditional phone box in BT for £1 on the condition
it could not be moved. The purchase came after local graphic designer
Nick Edell had an idea to transform it into a space to display art.
Volunteers from the village have completed restoring the box ready for
its first exhibition, a display of steel fairies and mushrooms made by
sculptor Pete Baker. Mr Edell said: "We are hoping that this phone box
- an iconic English space - will capture community imagination. Our
aim is provide an open art space for local artists, craftspeople,
galleries and school children as well as contemporary artists and
photographers from further afield.” Cambridgeshire

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Tapir calf thriving in Cambridgeshire zoo
A rare tapir calf born at the beginning of June has been introduced to
its mother at a zoo in Cambridgeshire. The new Brazilian tapir calf is
part of a European breeding programme to which adults Shannon and
Tanya at Linton Zoo have so far added 10 other offspring. Tapirs are
normally residents of the rain forest but are extinct in much of their
natural habitat because of illegal hunting and forest destruction.
"The tapir is a shy creature taking to water when threatened where it
is able to stay submerged for hours using its long nose to snorkel
until such time it feels it is safe to surface," a zoo spokeswoman
said. "They feed on roots and vegetation but never strip a bush bare
of its leaves, zigzagging their way through the undergrowth,
conserving the habitat. You may be forgiven for thinking that the
tapir is some kind of cross between a pig and an elephant but in fact
its closest relatives are horses, zebras and rhinos." Cambridgeshire

Monday 12th July 2010 Ely hosts pea shooting championship
The 40th World Pea Shooting Championships in Cambridgeshire saw more
than 100 competitors take part. Held at Witcham, near Ely, since 1971,
the event raises money for village groups. It was originally created
by local teacher John Tyson, who was inspired by the peas and shooters
he confiscated from his mischievous pupils. Local man Ian Ashmeade won
Saturday's competition, he was also last year's runner-up. Tracy
Robinson, landlady of the White Horse pub in the village, said: "In
the 2009 contest Ian only picked up a pea shooter for the first time
the night before. This year he admitted he has done a bit of
practising because he was determined to come first." Cambridgeshire

Friday 9th April 2010 First edition of Jungle Book belonged to Kilping’s daughter
A rare first edition of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book has been
discovered complete with a hand written dedication to the author’s
daughter Josephine. The book was discovered by librarians at the
National Trust's Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire, once the residence to
Josephine’s sister Elsie Kipling.

The book features a touching inscription to Elsie, who died aged only
six, which reads: "This book belongs to Josephine Kipling for whom it
was written by her father, May 1894."

Mark Purcell, the Trust's libraries curator said: "There are nearly
7,000 books in the Wimpole library and this has been a big project to
catalogue them all properly, but as one of the nation's favourite
children's books of all time, this first edition of the Jungle Book
with its rare inscription is very special." Cambridgeshire

Friday 8th January 2010 Cambridge University raises funds with bonds issue
The prestigious Cambridge University is reported to be considering
issuing up to £300 million in bonds to raise money for building works.
The cash boost from the bonds would be used to finance a staff and
student accommodation in north-west Cambridge as well as to pay for
the redevelopment of two sites the university owns in the city centre.

A bond is effectively an IOU repayable, with interest, to the bearer
after a specified period of time. The debt is guaranteed at a fixed
maturity value by the issuers, and usually underwritten by a third
party securities syndicate. This gives the investor a much higher
degree of financial security than with shares. Cambridgeshire

Friday 13th November 2009 Trust Hay Bale soaked in a golden stream
The National Trust have come up with a unique way of helping the
garden grow at their Wimpole Hall property. The estate’s head gardener
Philip Whaites has asked his male colleagues to pee on a specially
prepared bale of straw to aid composting.

Mr Whaites explained the thinking behind the pee bale: "For eight
weeks now, male members of our garden and estate teams have been using
the outdoor straw bale when nature calls. The pee bale is excellent
matter to add to our compost heap to stimulate the composting process;
and with over 400 acres of gardens and parkland to utilise compost, we
need all the help we can get.”

When asked why only the male members of the gardening team were being
encouraged to use the bale he said: "There are obvious logistical
benefits to limiting it to male members of the team, but also male pee
is preferable to women's, as the male stuff is apparently less
acidic." Cambridgeshire

Thursday 1st October 2009 Top Gear caravan stunt ends in crash landing
The popular BBC television series Top Gear got into hot water when a stunt went wrong in Cambridgeshire this week. Presenter James May escaped unhurt when an attempt to land an airship carrying a caravan got blown off course by strong winds. The plan to land the caravan on a cricket pitch didn’t happen and instead the presenter ended up crash landing in a farmers field in Cambridgeshire.

The BBC later said that emergency services were on standby but were not needed, even after the caravan landed on its side near the busy A428 trunk road. A spokeswoman for Top Gear confirmed May was uninjured in the stunt and added: “Viewers will have to wait until the next series to find out what happens.” Cambridgeshire