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BBC News
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Scarborough's Victorian cliff lift celebrates 150th birthday
One of Britain's oldest funicular railways is celebrating a major milestone this weekend with a series of family-friendly events. Built in 1875, Scarborough Spa Cliff Lift is marking its 150th mark the occasion, North Yorkshire Council and Scarborough Spa are hosting live performances, activities and heritage exhibitions at the spa and lift James, Scarborough Spa and cliff lift manager, said many generations of visitors shared fond memories of riding in the carriages up the cliffside. "There are a lot of people who have grown up and come to Scarborough with their grandparents or their parents and now they're bringing their children back to the lift," he said."It's a 40-second journey but it just seems to be quite memorable - it's that nostalgia as well."The Spa Cliff Lift was heralded as "a marvel of Victorian engineering" and used to transport passengers between the hotels on the Esplanade and the cost £8,000 to build and was originally powered by water and gas engines until it was converted to run on electricity in the 1950s. Alan Wilson, the lift's longest-serving supervisor, said he has "no plans to retire just yet"."I've worked on the lift for 23 years, and I still love it," he said."The best part is seeing visitors come back year after year. Everyone has a story to tell about the lift – it's part of what makes Scarborough so special."The weekend celebrations will include a live brass band, and Scarborough-based arts group Animated Objects will display working models of the commissioned in honour of the anniversary can also be viewed in the recently redeveloped South Cliff Gardens. Artist Adrian Lewis and poet Charlotte Riley collaborated to create the piece, which captures people's memories of both the lift and the gardens as "micro-poems".These are displayed on small metal plaques, designed to look like Victorian lift Riley said: "It's about people condensing down their treasured memories in very few words - they're very personal snippets of stories but quite a lot of them have really universal appeal."The programme of entertainment events for the Spa Cliff Lift anniversary will run from 11:00 BST to 17:00 BST between 5-6 July. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Photos show costly 'myth' for Aussie homeowners often not realised 'until it's too late'
Aussie homeowners are being reminded not to fall for a common "myth" that could cost them thousands of dollars in damage and repair bills. And often you won't realise until it's "too late". The typical home insurance in Australia won't cover homeowners for one seriously big risk – termites. But even for houses primarily made of brick, there is no reason to be complacent when it comes to looking out for the destructive invader. A pest control company in Ipswich, Queensland, urged locals this week not to fall for the "myth" that they're safe from the threat just because they're have brick walls. The company shared photos showing termite tracks, commonly referred to as tunnels, burrowing through a brick home. "My house is a brick block house, it can't get termites… "Oh if I had a dollar for every time I have been told that and other termite myths," the company wrote. Speaking to Yahoo News, pest controller Christopher James warned that "nobody's immune to termite damage". "When you've got a brick home, a double brick home, it doesn't really matter too much," the Sydney-based exterminator said. "A brick home still has a timber structure roof. It still have doorways, windowsills, eave that can still be eaten. "Because they are a subterranean species, they can come in from underground undetected. They can travel over brick, through brick, wherever they need to go to get to the next piece of timber." Hidden out of sight, he warned they can do enough damage to "destroy a whole house" in less than 12 months. "You don't really see the damage or know they're there until it's too late," he told Yahoo. "They could be eating half the house but it looks good to the average eye." According to the Australian Museum, termite colonies are formed during warm, humid weather, typically in spring and autumn. While there are over 200 species of termites in Australia, only a few are of concern to humans. With unusually wet weather in recent months, some parts of the country have been more prone to termite activity, with one pest control company on the south coast of NSW telling Yahoo in December the pests had been "on the move". "Termites are pretty rampant, w'ere doing about five or six calls out every week ... We're always finding lots of termites," Chris said. Many exterminators these days take to social media to share their disturbing discoveries and share tips for homeowners on the signs to look out for. Those in the industry almost unanimously urge homeowners to get termite inspections every year or two, typically costing a few hundred dollars. If treatments is required, however, that can range from between $2,000 to $8,000. 🏠 Homeowners warned over invasive bugs in roof insulation 📚Woman's disastrous find in bookshelf: 'I felt physically sick' 🚘 Sinister discovery above garage door prompts warning According to Jhy Carroll from pest control company EBS Queensland, there are two main ways to prevent termites, one is with a chemical barrier and the other is an in-ground baiting system. "Chemical barrier treatment consists of digging a trench around the external perimeter of the home and chemically treating the soil area," he previously told Yahoo. While in-ground systems are also installed around the external perimeter of the house, they include a bait that the termites feed on to "eliminate the colony". Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Aussie pest controller's shocking find 'coming out of roof insulation'
A pest controller is highlighting the surprising way unwanted bug infestations can make it into your home after receiving multiple call outs to eventually discover outbreaks hiding in a very common material in the roof cavity of Aussie homes. On a number of occasions recently, he's discovered suspected drugstore beetles that have seemingly come from contaminated roofing insulation. "It's a bit of a common problem with new builds, for people who are getting fresh insulation installed. Sometimes it's tainted from the warehouse, but there's a range of reasons," pest controller Christopher James told Yahoo News Australia. If you don't find the source, "they'll run rampant through the house," the self-described 'Roach Sniper' said. "I've seen jobs where it's been going on for years, that's a long time to have beetles falling through your down lights ... and constantly finding dead beetles in the house." Related: Harvey Norman bed discovered riddled with invasive bug from China On Thursday, he shared a video to his TikTok page, showing an infestation of suspected drugstore beetles inside the roof of a Sydney home. "They're coming out of the insulation ... Sometimes these insulation packages are coming from places we're they're tainted," he said in the video. Speaking to Yahoo, he said the agricultural pest is "pretty widespread" and is often found in pantry items like grains and oats and "wherever there is going to be stored food products" and produce larvae. "But it's the second or third job where it's led me back to the insulation". According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries, the drugstore beetle and the closely related tobacco or cigarette beetle "typically lay 100 eggs over their lifespan of, on average, 25 days". "Signs of these pesky insects include irregular holes in foodstuff and packaging. Infested material becomes contaminated with pupal cocoons and dead bodies of the short-lived adults," the DPI says. "Drugstore beetles are commonly found infesting a range of stored products including dried herbs and spices. In addition, as the name suggests, the Cigarette beetle is a pest of cured tobacco." Whether it's ants, booklice, bed bugs, soldier beetles, cockroaches or the dreaded termite, Australians are no stranger to pests becoming unwanted house guests. While it's hard to pin down the exact cost, exterminators and pest experts say bugs and invasive infestations cost Australian homeowners more than $600 million in damage and repairs each year with that number much higher when termite destruction is fully accounted for. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
