Bringing a little colour to your life each day - with six things that delight, inform and entertain.
Great stately homes in Britain generally have impressive gardens around them. Alnwick Castle, seat of the Duke of Northumberland, between Newcastle and the Scottish Border, has something distinctively extra in that regard - a poison garden, dedicated entirely to flora which are deadly and/or narcotic.
The Giant's Causeway is the name given to the unusual formation of about 40,000 interlocking hexagonal basalt columns - the result of an ancient volcanicfissure eruption - in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is a significant tourist attraction, and also features in Northern Irish mythology.
In 1826, John Walker, a chemist from Stockton, County Durham, finally solved the age-old problem of producing reliable and safe fire starters. Several chemical mixtures were already known which would ignite by a sudden explosion, but there was an obvious need for something a bit less tempestuous.
Charles Pears was a British painter, illustrator and artist, born in Pontefract, Yorkshire in 1873, whose work was widely used to promote British destinations and events, including the art competitions at the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics. He is currently the subject of an exhibition at Pontefract Museum.
The jackdaw is Britain's smallest crow, with a distinctive silvery sheen to the back of its head. It is a bird of woodland, parkland, coasts and urban areas, with a reputation for being curious, adaptable and a good survivor.
Chiswick House is a Palladian villa in Chiswick, West London. It has been described as a 'glorious' example of eighteenth-century Italian-inspired Neo-Palladian architecture, and was designed by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington. It was completed in 1729.
Six things to delight and entertain you every day.