TOP 100 ENGLAND SITES
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| Archive film shows first QE liner Pathe archive film captured the moment the then Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Consort, named the first QE liner in 1938, along with the then Princess Elizabeth. bbc.co.uk |
Gipsies 'refuse to be arrested in cheap police cars' Gipsies are more likely to hand themselves in to police who turn up in powerful vehicles because they don't want their friends to see them in a regular patrol car, an officer has claimed. telegraph.co.uk |
Malvern Water to cease production Factory where the Queen's favourite water is bottled is too small to compete, says brand owner Coca-ColaThe water will continue to gush out of the green hills but from next month the bottling of Malvern Water, the Queen's favourite, will cease.Coca-Cola, which has shipped the water out of Worcestershire for more than 20 years, said today that it could not compete with larger plants so its factory would be closed down and houses built on the site.Although local people – and diehard fans – will still be able to head for the hills with bottles and buckets and keep their supplies topped up, there was a sense of loss in Malvern over the drinks giant's decision.Carly Tinkler, the president of the Malvern Spa Association, said: "It is a tragedy for the town. Malvern is known around the world for its water and has turned into the town it is because of the water. It has a long and noble history."Tinkler said it was a blow to the local economy. She said 17 people worked at the plant, making it an important employer in a small town and added that people were worried about the Queen. "Perhaps she'll have to bring her bottles and come and fill up here herself."Paul Tuthill, the chairman of Malvern town council, said: "This is a great shock. What is the Queen going to do about her water because she always drank Malvern Water?"I think Coca-Cola ought to offer it for sale to local entrepreneurs to take it over rather than just sell the site for high-value housing."Malvern Water has been a favourite of the Royal Family for more than 400 years, after Queen Elizabeth I drank it for its purported medicinal value. Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin travelled to the town to drink the water and the present Queen is said to take supplies of bottled Malvern Water with her when she travels abroad.The modern story began in 1851 when Schweppes supplied Malvern Water to the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. Coca-Cola began working with Schweppes in 1987 and took over the brand in 1999.But Coca-Cola says production of Malvern Water at its plant at Colwall will stop at the start of next month.A Coca-Cola spokesperson said: "This has been a very tough decision. We cannot produce enough Malvern Water on the scale it needs to compete in today's bottled water sector. Modern bottled water plants are around 10 times the size of Colwall and can often produce more water in a day than we do in a month. That's why Malvern Water costs more to produce and why a big two-litre bottle of mineral water in the supermarket sells for as little as 68 pence. The size of our site – plus the amount of water we can extract – means Malvern is expensive to produce and cannot compete on price."Malvern has only ever had 1% of total bottled water sales in the UK in the past 10 years. The spokesperson added: "We simply can't change the size of the plant, or extract the volume of water needed, for Malvern to compete."There may be some good news for the Queen. Another company, Holywell Spring Water, is now producing 1,200 bottles a day at Malvern Wells – a small amount compared with the Colwall plant, not to mention Coca-Cola's bigger rivals.Three people work there and it can be bought at three Waitrose supermarkets – but is planning to grow. Production manager Anthony Arnold said he was sad at the news about Malvern Water but added: "We'll be writing to the Queen to see if she wants to try our water."Coca-ColaSteven Morrisguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Man re-tried for 1995 rail murder A 35-year-old man originally cleared of murdering a mother-of-two 15 years ago goes on trial for a second time following the discovery of new DNA evidence. bbc.co.uk |
US energy secretary warns of 'Sputnik moment' in green technology race Steven Chu says US must invest urgently in research and innovation to keep pace with China and other countriesThe United States faces a "Sputnik moment" in the global clean energy race and risks falling far behind advances by China and other countries, the US energy secretary, Steven Chu, warned today.Hours before the opening of the United Nations climate summit in Cancún, Chu said that the US urgently needed to invest in research and innovation – much as it responded to the Soviet Union's launch of the world's first space satellite in 1957 – if it wanted to remain a leader of innovation."We face a choice today. Are we going to continue America's innovation leadership or are we going to fall behind?" Chu said in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington.Chu, a Nobel prize winner in physics, said his own career had been shaped by the orbit of that first space satellite. But, he said, over the last 15 years the US had steadily been losing ground to China and India in research and hi-tech manufacturing.For the first time last year, the majority of US patents were awarded to inventors based outside America.Meanwhile, China had emerged as the world's largest producer of wind and solar power, and was breaking ground on 30 new nuclear reactors. It now has the fastest high-speed trains in operation, with running speeds of 220mph.Gao Guangsheng, a senior Chinese official for climate change policy, told a conference in California this month that China was gearing up for even bigger investment in clean energy technology in its next five-year plan.Gao went on to tell the conference, which was hosted by California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, that China had reached its goal for wind power 10 years ahead of schedule."We set up a concrete conception of low carbon development," he said. But he doubted America could profit from China's example: "I am afraid China's experience of green development may not be useful for the United States because of different domestic situations."Chu, however, in his speech today said the US could recapture its leadership position with investment in research and incentives for clean energy manufacturing."America still has the opportunity to lead in a world that essentially needs a new industrial revolution," he said. "But time is running out."In his two years as energy secretary, Chu has served as Barack Obama's top salesman for clean energy technology, directing some $80bn (£51.3bn) of last year's economic recovery package to investment in advanced batteries, plug-in cars, and the smart grid.He also touted the government's efforts to build research hubs for clean technology. "What I am trying to tell the American public is that this is an economic opportunity," he said. His comments echoed those of David Cameron at the weekend. Writing in the Observer, Cameron said: "I passionately believe that by recasting the argument for action on climate change away from the language of threats and punishments and into positive, profit-making terms, we can have a much wider impact."US domestic policyUnited StatesEnergyEnergyEnergyUnited NationsChinaSuzanne Goldenbergguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |