Neolithic halls unearthed at Scottish school are older than Stonehenge
The discovery of the hall — which is older than Stonehenge — and a smaller companion building is 'exceptional'. The site, at Carnoustie High School, Angus, is being investigated by Guard Archaeology. The larger hall is the biggest found in Scotland.
Finds included a gold-decorated Celtic spearhead and a sword with what is possibly the best-preserved late Bronze Age wood-and-leather scabbard in Britain.
A report said the halls probably drew farmers from across a wide area for feasts and celebrations. Finds included artefacts from Arran and the Highlands.
Alan Hunter Blair, who directed the fieldwork, said: 'The Carnoustie excavation produced exceptional results, the traces of the largest early Neolithic timber hall ever discovered in Scotland dating from near 4,000BC.
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BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Aberdeen woman discovers hundreds of bats living in her home
A woman has been forced to sleep in her car after discovering hundreds of bats roosting in her home - and being told there is nothing she can do to remove Murchie says she is "living in fear every day" after discovering a colony of more than 500 of the protected animals in the walls and roof of her house in Aberdeen. She first heard flapping noises in the walls and later discovered a bat hiding in her toilet roll holder. She has since found more in the living room and NatureScot agency says it cannot remove bats from homes and has advised Ms Murchie that the animals will leave of their own accord at the end of the "maternity season" in August or September. That has been of no comfort to Ms Murchie, who says her anxiety is "through the roof" from the sound of the bats' constant movement. She told BBC Scotland News: "They're above the spotlights in the kitchen and they've popped them out a few times as well."I'm scared to come in the house. Sometimes I actually sleep outside in the car. I'm just petrified."The noise is horrendous, it's like running water. But I think it's all the wings going together, like flapping."It never stops. They get louder at about five or six at night and then when they come in at five in the morning. But they're constantly making noise. I wonder if they sleep."The bats colonising Ms Murchie's home are soprano pipistrelles, which are among the most common and widespread of British bat species. They are known to form colonies well in excess of 200 adult animals - plus their said these bats are usually seasonal visitors to houses and are present for four or five months of the form maternity colonies in May and June and leave in August and early September, once the young bats are bat workers can collect information and advise homeowners on problems they have with the it says they "cannot carry out any works to your building or exclude/take away the bats".The agency's Kevin Giles told BBC Scotland News: ''With regard to what you can do with them, actually nothing, because they are a protected species under European protection laws and Scottish and UK laws."So the bats themselves can't be touched, nor can the roosts.'' Ms Murchie first became concerned about a constant noise in her house a few months ago and believed it must be down to a wasps' a pest control officer told her it was actually bats after looking at doorbell camera footage and seeing them outside."We found out they were protected so we went through the proper channels and called Nature Scotland," Ms Murchie said."They then came out with thermal cameras and that gave them an idea of how many bats there are and all the entry points in the house."It was about 500 bats at least and about 200 to 300 babies. But now we've found another site so they're coming back next week to see how many are there."It's absolutely awful. I actually moved out because I couldn't bear to live in the house. You can't come in or out at certain times because there's hundreds of them." Ms Murchie returned to her house after a few weeks in the hope that the bats had left."I thought, they're definitely not in the house," she said "but then I got up one night and went to the loo."Half asleep, I grabbed the toilet roll holder and one came out and held on to my hand. I just flipped."She added: "I phoned Nature Scotland and they came straight out. She (the bat expert) took her outside and put it back up beside the roost so she could go back up to her home."Ms Murchie, who is a taxi driver, says she now spends as much time as possible working in her car to get away from the sights, sounds and smells in her house."The smell comes through the fan. It's like a musty, dirty smell."It's sad that you can't do anything about it in your own home."I feel like the rules should change a bit. Surely someone can come in that's licensed and take them away to somewhere humanely?" Licence to seal NatureScot has told Ms Murchie an officer will return to her house next week to update the said: "Once they've checked that the bats are gone, I can get a special licence and it's confirmation that I can seal up all the potential entry points. So that when they come back next year they won't be able to get in."NatureScot says people affected can call its Bats in Houses helpline on 01463 725 165 or email batsinhouses@ who finds a grounded bat in their property can also call either the Bat Conservation Trust Bat Helpline (0345 1300 228) or the SSPCA Animal Helpline (03000 999 999) for advice on how to best handle and remove the bat.
BBC News
16 hours ago
- BBC News
Man captured on CCTV defends taking his lamb on a train
A former Royal Marine who was spotted with a lamb on a lead at a railway station in Renfrewshire has told the BBC: "It may be odd but it's not wrong."Jai Gibson was captured on CCTV walking the sheep at Paisley Gilmour Street station on Monday image sparked a number of commuters to publish on social media about their encounters with the 61-year-old and his woolly said there is nothing to say sheep are not allowed on trains and the animal complied with its rules that pets should be on a lead. Mr Gibson said the lamb, whom he calls NJ, was the latest of many pet sheep he has cared for over the said it began about 10 years ago when he discovered a lamb in distress as he walked through a field in rural Gibson said he carried the animal for several miles to the farmer, the late Hugh Caldwell, and asked him what he should Caldwell, from East Mitchelton Farm near Kilbarchan, told him he would have to look after the lamb as it would now have become attached to ex-Marine, who has served in the Falklands, Northern Ireland and Iraq, says he and the farmer struck an agreement where he would care for orphaned lambs in exchange for him staying on his then Mr Gibson says he has cared for almost 200 orphaned lambs and admits it is an "addiction". He says he has been travelling by train with his pet lamb because he cannot drive due to suffering from black-outs."People were walking dogs into town, I would take the sheep down to the pub," he Gibson said he struggles around people and caring for the lambs gives him a focus and said NJ would now have to stay at the farm after people have complained about his train journeys but he will still be feeding her so she does not feel Robertson told the BBC she had to do a "double-take" after she saw Mr Gibson on the train with the 38-year-old, from Glasgow, was returning from a family outing to the beach at Largs on Sunday afternoon, one of the hottest days of the year, when she encountered the said: "As it was so hot, I thought my mind was playing tricks, and I initially thought, 'What kind of dog is this?' before realising it was a lamb. Mrs Robertson, who is originally from Canada, said her one-year-old son Montgomery and other children on-board the busy carriage petted the animal which she said was calm with a good young traveller who was taken aback by the unusual sight of a lamb on a lead was eight-year-old Ava Templeton, from Airdrie, who was travelling with her father, said the lamb was "trying to nibble my hat," but the animal was soft to the touch, and "felt like a pillow".Scotrail saw the funny side and put a post on X of a CCTV image of Mr Gibson strolling along the platform at Paisley Gilmour rail operator said in a statement, "Monday evening brought one of the more ewe-nique sights on Scotland's Railway."We're used to livestock on the line causing disruption, but thankfully, this visitor at Paisley Gilmour Street was on a lead and well baa-haved."Scotrail's policy on animals on onboard trains states domestic pets are welcome and that includes dogs, cats or tortoises – but they must be on a lead or in a travel cage.
Telegraph
18 hours ago
- Telegraph
Telegraph style book: Ss
S Saakashvili, Mikheil safe haven is a tautology Sainsbury's Saint Laurent, Yves Saint-Saëns, Camille (note umlaut) St Andrews (Scotland); St Andrew's (Birmingham City stadium) St Bartholomew's Hospital: May be shortened to Barts but never St Barts or St Bart's St James's Palace St John Ambulance St John's wort St Thomas' Hospital Sana'a: The capital of Yemen Santa: We prefer Father Christmas Sarkozy, Nicolas Satan: Cap S but satanic is lower case satnav Sats: Not Sats tests Savile: For Lord, Row, Club, Jimmy, Saville Theatre and Inquiry Scalextric Schiffer, Claudia schoolboy, schoolgirl: But school-leaver Schumacher, Michael Schwarzenegger, Arnold Scorsese, Martin Scotch: Used for whisky, pies, pines, mists and wool shops. Scots or Scottish preferred in other contexts Scots Porage Oats: Prisoners do porridge Scott Thomas, Kristin Scouts: Not Boy Scouts. Scout leaders: Not Scoutmasters Sea Lords: They used to work at the Admiralty seasons: Are all lower case: spring, summer, autumn, winter seasonable: Appropriate for the time of year, opportune. Its opposite us unseasonable for weather that is unexpected seasonal: Occurring regularly at a particular season (see spring). Sebag Montefiore, Simon. His wife is Santa Montefiore second home owners (three words) Seinfeld, Jerry Selfridges selfie: Not 'selfie' senior and junior: After American names should be Sr and Jr Services. The Services takes the cap S, servicemen/women do not sewerage/sewage: Sewerage is the pipes, sewage the stuff Sharia law is a tautology: Islamic law is not shear: Something is shorn off, or shears off: it never sheers off sheikh, sheikhdom Shepherd's Bush shih-tzu Shia: Not Shi'ite ship: Uses 'she' as a pronoun: 'The Princess Louise is a ship. She is a beautiful ship' Sikora, Karol: Cancer expert Sikorsky (helicopters), Sikorski (Polish politician) silicon: The element from which chips are made: silicone is a sealant and is used to make cooking utensils Sindy doll Sinn Fein: No accents ski, skier, skied, skiing Sky News, Sky Sports smelt: Not smelled Snowdonia: Not Eryri. Snowdon: Not Yr Wyddfa somebody, someone Sotheby's: With apostrophe sound bite Speaker of the House of Commons: Always capped. specialty: The specific discipline of a doctor speciality: Something that is particular to a certain person, business or institution spelt not spelled Spielberg, Steven spilt: Not spilled spin doctor: Best used only ironically, ditto the verb to spin in this context spoilt: But despoiled spokesman: Not spokeswoman, spokesperson stadiums: not stadia Starmer, Sir Keir: Not Kier Start-up state: Lower case except when part of a title (State President, Council of State, but state-owned) stationary: not moving stationery: writing paper stiletto: The plural is stilettos Stratford upon Avon strike: Not strike action strangle: If someone has been strangled they are dead; if they are alive they have been throttled. However, there is a criminal offence of strangulation in which the victim is living suicide: Do not say 'commit suicide', but that a person took their own life. The coroner records a verdict of suicide. sun: Cap only in (rare) references to it as a star. The sun is out, our sun is one of many suns, the distance between the Sun and Alpha Major is... Sunni swap: Preferred to swop swashbuckler: Not a daredevil but a swaggering bully swath: Noun, a strip swathe: The verb
