This week's UK news: 15 October 2015
j0314269
15 October 2015


British people share death with Dr Who

Thousands of years ago, when people died, they liked to be buried with their favourite jewellery and weapons. Now, when people die, it is popular again to put special things in the coffin with the dead person. 

But weapons and jewellery are no longer what people choose to put in coffins. At least one person in the UK had a life-size model of Dr Who actor David Tennant. More common are packets of cigarettes, cans of beer, football scarves and dead pets.

 

Chanel on show in London

The life and work of Coco Chanel, the fashion designer, is on show in London at the Saatchi Gallery. The exhibition includes a film with an actress playing Coco Chanel, talking to Karl Lagerfeld, who is currently Chanel's designer. The exhibition, called Mademoiselle Prive, includes a room of diamond jewellery, a room of evening dresses and a room full of the scents making up the famous perfume, Chanel No 5. 

Victoria Beckham, who started her own fashion company in 2008 after leaving her band The Spice Girls, is on the shortlist for a fashion award in London. She has been nominated for the womenswear designer of the year award. Past winners include John Galliano and Alexander McQueen.

 

Woman finds 16,000 new friends on 100th birthday

When Winnie Blagden was about to celebrate her 100th birthday in May a local radio station asked for people to send her cards. Mrs Blagden was a widow with no family, who lived alone.

In the end, Mrs Blagden got 16,000 cards and some presents from countries including the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, mostly from people who had never met her. 

UK Prime Minister David Cameron and actor Dustin Hoffman were among those who sent cards. The presents sent to Mrs Blagden included 100 pink roses, fish and chips, special perfume and a ride in a limousine, and the radio station took her to Sheffield Town Hall for her birthday. 

Mrs Blagden died this week, only months after her special birthday.

 

New art show grows in London

Tate Modern is an art gallery on the River Thames in London which used to be a power station. It includes a huge hall which has been used for dramatic art exhibitions. The exhibition which has just opened includes 240 boxes full of London soil. It is possible for visitors to throw seeds and bulbs into the boxes, and weeds are already growing there. Nobody knows yet what plants or how many will grow in the boxes before next spring when the exhibition closes. The director of Tate Modern says the exhibition is about "waiting, patience and hope."

The artist, Abraham Cruzvillegas, hopes it will make people think about their place in the world. 

previous entry << >> next entry