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The Big Question: What is the Royal Show, and why is it coming to an end after 170 years?

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

That Summer: Why some years are unforgettable

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:34 GMT

We have time machines and they take us to places which are broken. There is such a time machine in our nose. It can be triggered by anything, and sends us the ghosts of scents so powerful that we can shed tears for everything that changes and is gone. But sometimes it's not gone; sometimes it's we who have gone, changed into an uncertain future.

Zoo forced to shut as 30 chimps escape

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Chester Zoo was evacuated this afternoon after 30 chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure. The animals found their way into a keeper area where their food is prepared at 12.40pm. More than 5,000 visitors were asked to leave the 110-acre zoo shortly afterwards, as keepers rounded up the chimps. There were no injuries to members of the public or staff and the decision was taken purely as a precautionary measure, the zoo said in a statement. "We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused to our visitors and would thank them for their full co-operation and patience," the statement said. The zoo has more than 1.3 million visitors a year and has been named by Forbes as one of the best 15 zoos in the world.

Minor British Institutions: Izal toilet paper

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

It is a discomfiting thing to learn that Izal loo roll is still available. Not as discomfiting as it used to be, in the days when this slightly abrasive product was routinely found in school toilets and public conveniences, the harsh price of spending a penny away from home. Today it is not – quite – so harsh.

US Declaration print found at archives

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

A rare and valuable copy of the US Declaration of Independence has been discovered in the National Archives.

On hold in Oldham: Soulja Boy's wrong number

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:49:30 GMT

It seems unlikely that platinum-selling rap artist Soulja Boy has ever even heard of let alone visited Grotton. But for one family in this quiet suburb of Oldham, the singer's latest hit has bequeathed an unwanted legacy.

Morris dancers barred over blackened faces

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:08:15 GMT

A troupe of morris dancers were prevented from performing at a school because they blacken their faces, they said today.

Northampton: Britain's capital of negative equity

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The glossy advertising hoardings stationed on the hill overlooking the Upton Square development on the outskirts of Northampton are not short on hyperbole. Its slogans promise residents "future proof" eco-homes and the chance to enjoy "tomorrow's living today."

Britain 'knows little about Bible'

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The public is widely ignorant of the stories and people who provide the basis of Christianity, a survey has found, despite 75 per cent of respondents owning a copy of the Bible.

The IoS Pink List 2009

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:01:45 GMT

Before we started work on the 10th annual Independent on Sunday Pink List, we asked ourselves again whether we should be doing it at all. After all, in 2009, equal rights are enshrined in law and there are ‘out’ gay men and women at the top of every profession - or rather, they might argue, just men and women at the top of their professions. So, is the list anachronistic? Is it patronising to gay people? We feared it might be - and went in search of a leading gay or lesbian figure to say so. None of those we contacted wanted to. Their verdict? The Pink List remains indispensable, a celebration of a community that is integral to the British way of life.

The Pink List 2009

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:01:45 GMT

Minor British Institutions: UKIP

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Politics, as we've seen recently, is a volatile business, but so long as the United Kingdom remains a member of the European Union, the United Kingdom Independence Party will continue to play its small and colourful role in our national life.

The pensioner on the front line

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

After a hyperactive career as a First World War officer, a South African rugby international and a big game hunter, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Scott might have retired from combat when he turned 62 in 1939.

The weapon Britain hoped would defeat the Nazis...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Tipped with a sewing machine needle and finished with a tail made from a drinking straw, they looked more like a schoolboy's toy than a terrifying weapon. For Britain's wartime scientists, however, these tiny projectiles were the sharp end of a chilling project to secure victory over the Nazis by bombarding German troops with poisoned darts.

Oliver Wright: How would Gandhi destroy your luggage?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:50:18 GMT

Service announcements on the London Underground are now to include the words of great thinkers such as Gandhi, Albert Einstein and Jean-Paul Sartre.

The Big Question: What would have happened if Henry VIII had obtained his divorce?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The Prince of Wales: A new expenses scandal?

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Prince Charles faced renewed calls yesterday to make a full disclosure of his financial accounts after it emerged that his public costs had risen by nearly a quarter in the last year while his tax bill had fallen.

Kids prefer bedtime stories read to them by Dad

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:02:04 GMT

A new poll from Silentnight has found that children prefer their Father's to read to them at bedtime. 76 per cent of children surveyed said that they prefered their dad's funny interpretations of bedtime stories, as opposed to the strict rules their mothers' impose on bedtime reading.

For the love of Leicester, it's time to cherish our tarnished urban jewels

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

With its identikit retailers from Laura Ashley to KFC and acres of grey granite paving, Leicester High Street might not be an obvious choice as one of England's architectural jewels. But thanks to the creeping evils of plastic windows and neon lighting it seems this unsung beauty spot – along with 726 others – is at serious risk of losing its urban "charm".

Fans on Murray Mountain are older and wiser – but their hopes are high

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The steep, spectator-filled embankment east of Centre Court had a slightly different look to it this year. Formerly known as Henman Hill, fans of Andy Murray, the Great British hope, had turned up in force. But this year, the screaming teenagers on Murray Mountain, as it has been dubbed, have been replaced by mature Murray maniacs – and Scottish female ones in particular. Murray's absence from yesterday's schedule of play did little to dissuade his loyal countrywomen from turning out in force.

Europe's tallest structure to be cut down to size

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

It is more than 1,000ft high, but so unobtrusive that most people in the UK never even realised it existed, let alone that it held a European record. Now, Belmont Transmitting Station, one mile west of the quiet village of Donington on Bain, is about to divest itself of the only thing that made it notable.

Shelved, the book that outraged the Orkneys

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

It was supposed to be a clean break from their humdrum existence in a dingy Manchester flat. But all Max Scratchmann and his partner, Chancery, did when they moved to the Orkney Islands was replace one vision of hell with another.

Wimbledon wins reprieve for happy campers

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

As Wimbledon mania began to sweep the leafy streets of London SW19 yesterday, it emerged that the local council has been trying to stop tennis fans from camping out overnight on the pavement outside the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Minor British Institutions: The British Interplanetary Society

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Anyone driving around Vauxhall will have been struck by an otherwise-nondescript building emblazoned with the words "British Interplanetary Society" in big letters. It looks like the HQ of some eccentric sect dedicated to making friends with alien races, and comes from the exciting time when we could still dream of travelling to the moon, but just before we realised that, actually, space is a bit boring because there aren't any aliens out there, after all.

Capital collaboration: Pride London and Visit London are joining forces in the five-yearly global festival

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

"WorldPride 2012 is going to be a unique occasion in a uniquely vibrant city, and I don't suppose we'll ever see its like again," says Paul Birrell, chairman of Pride London, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender lobbying group, which opens the 2009 event this weekend.