Latest news with #CaptainCook
NDTV
19-05-2025
- NDTV
5 Hidden Villages In The UK That Feel Like A Real-Life Fairy Tale
When people think of the United Kingdom, famous spots usually come to mind - London's lively streets, Edinburgh's old-world charm, or the picture-perfect Cotswolds. But tucked away beyond the usual tourist trails are quiet, lesser-known villages that look like they have been pulled straight from a storybook. Imagine cobbled lanes, thatched cottages, calm harbours, and rolling green hills. These are the spots where time slows, and nature invites you to stop and take it all in. Here are some of the UK's most magical hidden villages, ideal for your next peaceful break. Here Are 5 Secret Villages In The United Kingdom To Add To Your Travel List: 1. Clovelly, Devon Hidden on the North Devon coast, Clovelly is a car-free village that feels like stepping back in time. With steep cobbled streets, whitewashed cottages, and wide sea views, it has charmed visitors for generations. Clovelly's official website ( notes it was once part of William the Conqueror's royal estate and stayed under royal influence until the 13th century. Thanks to its seclusion, it avoided the tourist rush until the mid-1800s, and today it proudly preserves its maritime heritage and timeless feel. This is when flowers bloom, the weather is pleasant, and local festivals bring the village to life. 2. Portloe, Cornwall Known as the jewel of Cornwall's Roseland Peninsula, Portloe is a tiny fishing village tucked into steep valleys that have kept modern development at bay. Its name, from the Cornish Porth Logh meaning "cove pool," reveals its strong sea connection. explains Portloe thrived in the 17th and 18th centuries as a pilchard fishing port, with over 50 boats working from its sheltered cove by the early 1900s. Now, only a handful of boats fish for crab and lobster, keeping the village's authentic charm alive. Best time to visit: May to October Cornwall's mild climate during these months makes it ideal for visiting. 3. Staithes, North Yorkshire Perched on the rugged Yorkshire coast, Staithes is a village full of character. Narrow cobbled streets wind through 18th-century cottages. Once a busy fishing port, it now draws visitors with its fossil-rich beach, scenic cliff walks on the Cleveland Way, and laid-back coastal vibe. shares that Staithes is also a cultural hotspot, with an annual arts festival and links to Captain Cook at the local heritage centre. Whether you love art, history, or nature, Staithes offers a calm and rich escape. Best time to visit: June to September These months bring the best weather for beach walks, fossil hunting, and exploring the Cleveland Way. 4. Castle Combe, Wiltshire Often called "the prettiest village in England," Castle Combe is a perfect Cotswold village just 12 miles from Bath. With honey-coloured stone cottages, a tranquil brook, and a historic Market Cross, it is no surprise that films like 'War Horse' and 'Stardust' were shot here. notes that the village's history goes back to Roman and Norman times, later becoming a wool industry centre. Today, Castle Combe is a protected conservation area, carefully kept to maintain its natural beauty and historic charm. Spring brings blooming gardens and lush countryside, while autumn offers colourful foliage and a peaceful atmosphere. 5. Plockton, Scottish Highlands Called the "Jewel of the Highlands," Plockton is a stunning coastal village on Loch Carron's shores. Its sheltered spot and mild climate allow palm trees to grow in sea-facing gardens - a rare sight in the Highlands. According to The National Trust for Scotland, Plockton was founded in 1801 as a planned fishing village and now thrives with a lively harbour, cosy cafés, and a lively traditional music scene. Highlights include the Open Air Church, built during the 1843 Church of Scotland split, and beautiful walking trails showcasing the village's natural beauty. The weather is nicest for exploring the loch and the nearby walking paths. These hidden gems do not often make it to the typical travel guides, and that is exactly why they are special. They are quieter, less crowded, and full of surprises - perfect for slow travel and road trips. Bookmark these villages to make your UK itinerary even better.
SBS Australia
15-05-2025
- Sport
- SBS Australia
NITV News: May 15, 2025
A big fine imposed as a mining company pleads guilty to damaging a sacred site. After numerous vandalism attacks, a Melbourne council votes to remove a Captain Cook memorial. And - a leading AFL coach fears a star player may walk away from the game due to persistant racial abuse.
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
City of Yarra in Melbourne to remove Catptain Cook statue after repeat vandalism
A Melbourne council will permanently remove a Captain Cook memorial from a public park. Yarra City Council announced on Wednesday it would not restore the bronze and granite monument to avoid further repair costs caused by repeat vandalism at the site. The statue has been missing from Fitzroy's Edinburgh Gardens since January 2024, when it was last vandalised. It was toppled and graffitied on the Australia Day long weekend, and is currently in council storage, The Guardian reported. It would cost $15,000 to repair the memorial and put it back on site, according to a costing report. The council said this cost was not justifiable. More than $100,000 has been spent over the past 25 years to maintain the statue. The report described the statue as of 'little or no significance'. It stated the site was 'contentious within the community and Cook is a contested figure in relation to First Peoples'. Speaking on Wednesday, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she was 'disappointed' the City of Yarra had been forced to make the decision. 'I think we have seen enough … we have seen enough division,' Ms Allan said. 'It is disappointing if Yarra have made the decision based on those reasons (Cook being a contentious figure). 'When times are tough … we have an obligation to work harder to bring people together, not use platforms like this to divide, but to use them to make sure we are building social cohesion.' Yarra City Council Mayor Stephen Jolly labelled the decision a 'boring economic issue' and denied caving to vandals. 'I'm not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones, but don't think if we put it back up, it wouldn't just be damaged again,' he said. 'It would be ongoing … how can we justify that?' The memorial has been vandalised several times since 2018. In 2020 it was spray-painted with 'shame' and 'remove this'. A similar statue of Captain Cook was hacked off in St Kilda last year. The council will explore an 'appropriate institution to take ownership' of the monument.
BreakingNews.ie
14-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Captain Cook monument removed from Melbourne park after repeated vandalism
An Australian local government has decided against repairing an often-vandalised monument to renowned British explorer Captain James Cook because it would be destroyed again. But the mayor rejected accusations that the vandals have won. Advertisement Statues and monuments to the 18th century naval officer are common in Australia and are often defaced by opponents of Britain's settlement of the country without a treaty with its indigenous people. A person jogs near a traffic cone where a monument of British explorer Captain James Cook once stood in Melbourne, Australia (Rod McGuirk/AP) In 1770, then-Lieutenant Cook charted the Australian east coast where Sydney would become the first British colony on the continent. The granite and bronze monument to the master navigator and cartographer in an inner-city Melbourne park was vandalised days after the anniversary of the first British settlers' arrival at Sydney Cove was commemorated on January 26. Opponents of Australia Day celebrations denounce the public holiday as 'Invasion Day'. Advertisement There are growing calls for the country to find a less divisive national day. The monument in Melbourne's Edinburgh Gardens was snapped at its base and spray-painted with the words 'cook the colony'. Mayor Stephen Jolly, head of the Yarra City Council, which is a municipality near the heart of Melbourne, said his fellow councillors had voted unanimously on Tuesday night against spending 15,000 Australian dollars (£7,285) on repairing the monument, which remains in storage. Mr Jolly said the decision to permanently remove the monument, which included an image of Cook's face cast in bronze, was about economics rather than taking a position in Australia's culture wars. Advertisement 'It's about being economically rational. It's 15,000 dollars a pop every time we have to repair it and it's persistently getting either demolished or vandalised or tagged,' Mr Jolly told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 'It's just a waste of ratepayers' money. We can't afford to do that,' he added. But Victoria state's Melbourne-based conservative opposition leader Brad Battin condemned removing such memorials as surrendering to vandals. 'We need to stand strong and remember the fact that this is part of our history,' Mr Battin told reporters. Advertisement 'If you start to remove the history of our state and our country because of activists, then you're actually giving in to those that are campaigning against it,' he added. Mr Jolly disagreed that his council had given the vandals what they wanted. 'No, I think they would've loved for us to put it back up and then they could've just tagged it again or destroyed it again and just had this ongoing sort of little war going on in Edinburgh Gardens,' he said. 'I think they're probably the most disappointed people that it's not going to be there anymore,' Mr Jolly added. Advertisement A traffic cone sits where a monument of British explorer Captain James Cook once stood (Rod McGuirk/AP) The base of the monument remained at the entrance of the park on Wednesday with a traffic cone attached to warn cyclists, joggers and pedestrians of the trip hazard it presents. Someone has scrawled a smiling face and a torso on the cone in an apparent reference to the memorial that had once stood in its place. Mr Jolly said a local branch of the Captain Cook Society, an international group that celebrates the explorer, has offered to preserve the bronze plaques. Melbourne-based society member Bill Lang said discussions were under way to find a short-term home for the monument, such as a museum. Mr Lang said the council's decision not to repair the monument was disheartening. 'It's very disappointing for every open-minded Australian that believes that there are lots of things that we can learn about and learn from our history that we should celebrate,' he said.
The Advertiser
14-05-2025
- The Advertiser
'How can we justify that?' Captain Cook memorial axed over expensive repairs
Repeated vandalism of a Captain Cook memorial has prompted a local council to scrap the granite monument as repair costs escalate. "If you had a $28,000 car and you were spending $15,000 every time you had to repair it, you'd probably get rid of the car," he said at a council meeting on May 13. Faced with repair costs that were more than half the value of the memorial, the City of Yarra voted unanimously not to reinstate the statue. READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator The granite monument was toppled and graffitied over the Australia Day long weekend and is currently in council storage. The council heard that the plaque was the target of "sustained, ongoing, annual" vandalism, with more than $100,000 already spent on repairs over 25 years. "I think we have to separate the interesting, fascinating actually, debate out there in the community about Captain Cook," Mr Jolly said. The mayor said that while he was "not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones", he said he supported the right of peaceful protest "to try and generate a debate about it". "But here at council, it's much more boring than that. We have to deal with a bog-standard boring economic issue that it's $15,000 to repair, plus all the other expenses," he said. "I don't think if we put it back up, it would be just damaged one more time, it would be ongoing, ongoing and ongoing." Premier Jacinta Allan described the continued vandalism of monuments as "deeply disrespectful" and called for community division to end. In 2020, the memorial's plaque featuring Cook's face was spray-painted over, with the words "shame" and "remove this" scrawled beneath. A statue of Captain Cook was hacked off at the ankles in St Kilda, and another statue of Queen Victoria near the city's Botanic Gardens was splattered with red paint last year on the eve of Australia Day. The bronze plaques, which belong to the memorial, are expected to be given to the Captain Cook Society, which celebrates the British explorer. With AAP. Repeated vandalism of a Captain Cook memorial has prompted a local council to scrap the granite monument as repair costs escalate. "If you had a $28,000 car and you were spending $15,000 every time you had to repair it, you'd probably get rid of the car," he said at a council meeting on May 13. Faced with repair costs that were more than half the value of the memorial, the City of Yarra voted unanimously not to reinstate the statue. READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator The granite monument was toppled and graffitied over the Australia Day long weekend and is currently in council storage. The council heard that the plaque was the target of "sustained, ongoing, annual" vandalism, with more than $100,000 already spent on repairs over 25 years. "I think we have to separate the interesting, fascinating actually, debate out there in the community about Captain Cook," Mr Jolly said. The mayor said that while he was "not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones", he said he supported the right of peaceful protest "to try and generate a debate about it". "But here at council, it's much more boring than that. We have to deal with a bog-standard boring economic issue that it's $15,000 to repair, plus all the other expenses," he said. "I don't think if we put it back up, it would be just damaged one more time, it would be ongoing, ongoing and ongoing." Premier Jacinta Allan described the continued vandalism of monuments as "deeply disrespectful" and called for community division to end. In 2020, the memorial's plaque featuring Cook's face was spray-painted over, with the words "shame" and "remove this" scrawled beneath. A statue of Captain Cook was hacked off at the ankles in St Kilda, and another statue of Queen Victoria near the city's Botanic Gardens was splattered with red paint last year on the eve of Australia Day. The bronze plaques, which belong to the memorial, are expected to be given to the Captain Cook Society, which celebrates the British explorer. With AAP. Repeated vandalism of a Captain Cook memorial has prompted a local council to scrap the granite monument as repair costs escalate. "If you had a $28,000 car and you were spending $15,000 every time you had to repair it, you'd probably get rid of the car," he said at a council meeting on May 13. Faced with repair costs that were more than half the value of the memorial, the City of Yarra voted unanimously not to reinstate the statue. READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator The granite monument was toppled and graffitied over the Australia Day long weekend and is currently in council storage. The council heard that the plaque was the target of "sustained, ongoing, annual" vandalism, with more than $100,000 already spent on repairs over 25 years. "I think we have to separate the interesting, fascinating actually, debate out there in the community about Captain Cook," Mr Jolly said. The mayor said that while he was "not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones", he said he supported the right of peaceful protest "to try and generate a debate about it". "But here at council, it's much more boring than that. We have to deal with a bog-standard boring economic issue that it's $15,000 to repair, plus all the other expenses," he said. "I don't think if we put it back up, it would be just damaged one more time, it would be ongoing, ongoing and ongoing." Premier Jacinta Allan described the continued vandalism of monuments as "deeply disrespectful" and called for community division to end. In 2020, the memorial's plaque featuring Cook's face was spray-painted over, with the words "shame" and "remove this" scrawled beneath. A statue of Captain Cook was hacked off at the ankles in St Kilda, and another statue of Queen Victoria near the city's Botanic Gardens was splattered with red paint last year on the eve of Australia Day. The bronze plaques, which belong to the memorial, are expected to be given to the Captain Cook Society, which celebrates the British explorer. With AAP. Repeated vandalism of a Captain Cook memorial has prompted a local council to scrap the granite monument as repair costs escalate. "If you had a $28,000 car and you were spending $15,000 every time you had to repair it, you'd probably get rid of the car," he said at a council meeting on May 13. Faced with repair costs that were more than half the value of the memorial, the City of Yarra voted unanimously not to reinstate the statue. READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator The granite monument was toppled and graffitied over the Australia Day long weekend and is currently in council storage. The council heard that the plaque was the target of "sustained, ongoing, annual" vandalism, with more than $100,000 already spent on repairs over 25 years. "I think we have to separate the interesting, fascinating actually, debate out there in the community about Captain Cook," Mr Jolly said. The mayor said that while he was "not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones", he said he supported the right of peaceful protest "to try and generate a debate about it". "But here at council, it's much more boring than that. We have to deal with a bog-standard boring economic issue that it's $15,000 to repair, plus all the other expenses," he said. "I don't think if we put it back up, it would be just damaged one more time, it would be ongoing, ongoing and ongoing." Premier Jacinta Allan described the continued vandalism of monuments as "deeply disrespectful" and called for community division to end. In 2020, the memorial's plaque featuring Cook's face was spray-painted over, with the words "shame" and "remove this" scrawled beneath. A statue of Captain Cook was hacked off at the ankles in St Kilda, and another statue of Queen Victoria near the city's Botanic Gardens was splattered with red paint last year on the eve of Australia Day. The bronze plaques, which belong to the memorial, are expected to be given to the Captain Cook Society, which celebrates the British explorer. With AAP.
