Simply being chopped up and used for firewood is the usual fate of most trees felled on British farmland.

But when a humble oak tree on a Dorset country estate died, the landowners decided to give it a rather grander and more eco-friendly send off.

They invited dozens of craftsmen and artists to strip the 100ft tall tree of timber and create as many handcrafted items as possible.

Creation competition: A year-long project to make as many items as possible out of an old oak tree has finally reached its zenith

The experiment has resulted in an amazing array of more than 65 pieces of furniture and art, ranging in size from a tiny wooden bobbin to a beautiful handcrafted bed.

Every part of the 160-year-old tree, from the huge root ball to the smallest branches have been recycled and put to use, with even the tree’s sawdust being used to smoke mackerel.

The project, named the ‘Rebirth Of A Dorset Oak’, was the brainchild of Andrew Langmead, who owns the 1,800 acre Stock Gaylard Estate in Dorset.

The diseased tree was felled a year ago in front of 500 people at the estate’s annual Oak Fair.

The craftsmen’s handiwork is being exhibited and auctioned at this year’s event which starts tomorrow (Sat), with the proceeds going to charity.

Victoria Wissett-Warner, spokeswoman for the estate, said: ‘The tree had to come down because it had been dead for three years and it was unsafe.

‘But rather than just chop it up for firewood we decided to launch an experiment to try and recycle the whole tree.

From little acorns: This bed is just one of the many items to have been built for the project

‘At last year’s fair a team of axemen spent about three hours chopping the tree down by hand. We brought in a mobile saw mill to cut the tree up into sections.

‘Dozens of craftsmen and furniture makers, both professional and amateur, were here and they took away what they needed. We told them to come back in a year’s time with whatever they had made.

‘The results are fantastic and fascinating. We have sculptures of a human knee and torso and animal sculptures like owls, birds and fish.

‘There are bowls, goblets and boxes and larger items like benches and garden gates, a window frame and a child’s bed. One local furniture maker who wants to make a dining table but hasn’t been able to yet because the timber isn’t dry enough.

Wood you believe it? A chair and a mug tree decorated with hummingbirds are two more of the amazing creations from the ‘Rebirth Of A Dorset Oak’ project

‘Very little is left of the tree now apart from a couple of planks and some of the root ball.’

The items include a beautiful hand-crafted bed, garden benches, chairs, a window frame, a 5ft wide gate, a shingle roof, bee boxes and obelisks.

Schoolchildren have fashioned a totem pole, while a craftsman from the Mary Rose Trust has replicated a backgammon board, stave bucket and linstock cannon lighter from the Tudor warship.

Smaller items include oak bowls, vases, goblets, shaker boxes, candlesticks, pepper mills, lettering, sculptures of birds, fish and parts of the human body.

The crafts are being displayed in order, with items fashioned from the roots of the tree on display at the entrance to the fair and objects made from the branches on show further back.

Mastermind: Andrew Langley of Stock Gaylard estate was the brains behind the scheme, which has produced over 60 items

Cabinet maker Jamie Ross, 28, who fashioned a rustic bed, window frame, garden gate and a key rack from the oak tree, said: ‘I took a piece of wood that was about four cubic feet and was probably about one per cent of the total tree.

‘It took me about a week to make as I had to wait a year for the timber to dry. I think it is a fantastic idea. Normally with a tree you would take the trunk for milling into boards and larger branches to use for firewood.

‘The stump and roots are normally left to rot in the ground or ground down to sawdust. The people who saw it felled last year will now be able to see what has happened to the tree and will be able to appreciate just how big it was.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209735/Artists-turn-dead-wood-100ft-oak-tree-country-estates-crafted-wonders.html

By Jolyon Attwooll

The canal-side redevelopment in Birmingham changed the face of the city Photo: Corbis

The watermill at Sarehole Mill, where Tolkien may have found inspiration Photo: Alamy

Take the Tolkien trail

See where Tolkien found inspiration for the Shire and beyond at the 200 year-old mill at Sarehole, one of two surviving watermills in Birmingham. Only open in the warmer months, the buildings at Sarehole Mill – especially the towering brick chimney – still make quite an impression, and may well have done so on JRR Tolkien, who spent his childhood in the neighbourhood.

0121 777 6612; www.bmag.org.uk/sarehole-mill; free

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

You don’t have to leave the city for the traffic and bustle of the centre to fade. In the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston, visitors can explore a 15-acre oasis of greenery. After this summer’s dry weather the roses in particular are spectacular at the moment. Look out for live musical and theatrical performances throughout the summer.

The gardens are easily accessible from the city centre.

0121 454 1860; www.birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk; adults £7.50, child £4.75 (under-fives free)

Free summer outdoor theatre

Birmingham Hippodrome is putting on live shows on several consecutive Saturdays this summer (until August 28). Varying from tight wire walking acts to clown ensembles, the shows take place on the piazza in front of the theatre in Hurst Street and at other locations including the Arcadian Centre, High Street and Cathedral Gardens.

• 0844 338 5000; www.sixsummersaturdays.com

Birmingham’s open-top bus

The guided open-top bus tour is a great introduction to the city when the sun is shining. During the one-hour round trip you discover the commercial heart of the city, the Jewellery Quarter and leafy Edgbaston. It runs on Saturdays from April to September. Tour times 10.30am, 12 noon, 1.30pm and 3pm.

Meeting point: top of Church Street, Colmore Row, next to St Philip’s Cathedral. Tickets can be purchased on the bus or through the Tourist Information Centre in the Rotunda.

• 0121 202 5000; www.birmingham-tours.co.uk; adult £10, child £5

Find the jewel in Birmingham’s crown

A rainy day in the city? Head to the Jewellery Quarter, one of the most interesting historic and cultural enclaves in the Midlands. Dating back 250 years it contains more than 200 listed buildings. Of particular note is The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter (recently voted the third best visitor attraction in Europe by TripAdvisor, after Rome’s Pantheon and the National Gallery in London).

There are also public works of art, building trails, a historic cemetery and ghostly catacombs. Forty percent of all jewellery made in the UK still comes from here and you can browse through over 100 specialist jewellery retailers.

• www.jewelleryquarter.net

Flea markets in the Custard Factory

The five-acre sprawl of riverside factories in Digbeth was built 100 years ago by Sir Alfred Bird – the inventor of custard – and has been spectacularly transformed into a dynamic bohemian community of 500 artists and small creative enterprises.

In the summer months, a weekly flea market takes place, featuring artists, designers, manufacturers and craftspeople who sell direct to the public. Street entertainers, children’s activities, films and food are all part of the ensemble.

• 0121 224 7777; www.custardfactory.co.uk

Take a canal-side stroll

The canal-side development in the centre of Birmingham played a huge role in rejuvenating the city, and now hosts an array of shops, bars, restaurants and galleries, as well as a theatre. Take a summer-time stroll along the canal edge, and see for yourself how the watery arteries of the Midlands city have been brought into the modern era, without losing their sense of history.

This section of Birmingham is also home to the Norman Foster-designed National Sea Life Centre (currently running a children go free offer), and the Ikon Gallery with a pavement art trail. Look out for the luxury cruising restaurant, Away2dine, which takes diners for a three-hour cruise along the city waterways, and The Tap & Spile, particularly good for a canal-side pint.

• 0121 643 6866; www.brindleyplace.com

Go boating in Cannon Hill Park

Take the children to mess around in boats in arguably Birmingham’s most attractive open space this summer. Within the park is a 5-acre woodland and a wildflower meadow, as well as a lake area, where pedal boats are for hire during the summer months.

For some more exotic entertainment, wander into the nearby Birmingham Nature Centre, where residents include Meer cats, lemurs, red pandas and otters (admission adults £3.50, child £1).

• 0121 442 4226; www.birmingham.gov.uk/cannonhillpark

Britain’s oldest working cinema

Let’s face it, Birmingham is not renowned as the sunniest of cities. If your luck runs out in the evening, head to the Electric Cinema, the oldest working cinema in the UK, known for showing good independent films.

You can now take advantage of a text message waiter service – and, if you’re feeling bold, take a swig of Parisian absinthe from a traditional fountain (the cinema is one of only a handful of establishments in the country to serve the potent drink).

• 0121 643 7879; www.theelectric.co.uk

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/citybreaks/7915058/Birmingham-guide-summer-in-the-city.html

Calling all old-school jean lovers: it’s time to rejoice. If you’ve struggled to master the ‘skinny’ and the ‘boyfriend’ style left you looking bedraggled, then take comfort because the future of denim looks flared

Katie Holmes works a checked shirt into her high-waisted flares

Picture: REX

Star of “Mad Men”, actress January Jones, teams her flares with a pair of patent heels for a refreshing take on summer jeans.

Picture: REX

Giving 60s-style bell-bottoms a serious run for their money, the generously proportioned jeans have been spotted swishing along streets Stateside. Model mother Heidi Klum takes hers for a stroll with sporty trainers.

Picture: REX

Not only are ankles free to breathe again, flares are an instant leg-lengthener and create an elongated, flattering silhouette for all shapes, especially for those with vertically-challenged pins. Petite stylist Rachel Zoe shows how to add extra height with a pair of stacked sandals.

Picture: REX

The coveted, low-rise “Marrakesh” style by cult British denim brand MiH are the flares of choice for Katie Holmes (and supermodel Claudia Schiffer, who is famous for her oh-so-stylish school run). Paired with a tucked-in blouse or checked shirt, the effect is playfully retro.

Picture: REX

Those with a long torso can get away with longer, looser tops, as seen on Whitney Port.

Picture: REX

The good news is that the autumn/winter 2010/11 catwalks were awash with a homage to boot cut and flared trousers. Be they snugly-fitting in pinstripe at Balmain….

…or loose and woollen at Chloe, one thing is for certain: the future looks flared.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/7926779/The-future-looks-flared.html

By Tom Kelly

They are images that epitomise the golden age of seaside holidays. Saucy postcards featuring heaving bosoms, henpecked husbands, miserable wives and captions loaded with double entendres were as much part of the fun as candy floss and donkey rides.

But more than 50 years ago, prudish officials deemed these bawdy cartoons unfit for public consumption and had them banned.

Now a museum is putting on show all 21 of the comic cards by prolific artist Donald McGill that the censors suppressed.

Too saucy for some: McGill’s cartoons were full of double entendres

McGill produced 12,000 designs over nearly six decades and sold more than 200million cards in small shops in British seaside towns.

But in the early 1950s local councils organised a mass clean-up at resorts across the country, and in 1954 McGill was charged with publishing obscene images. He pleaded guilty. Four of his cards were immediately banned and 17 withdrawn from sale.
James Bissell-Thomas, owner of the Donald McGill Postcard Museum in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, which is showing the cards, said: ‘What is startling is how innocent the majority of these “obscene” cards were.

Guilty: McGill admitted in court that his illustrations broke the 1857 Obscene Publications Act

‘It seemed to be a bit of a witch-hunt. Many of the images had been on display in the 1930s and 1940s but they were suddenly seen as a threat to society. It has to be the worst example of a nanny state curtailing the lives of the public.

‘McGill’s work was enjoyed by millions during his lifetime, but he remained a modest man and, in my opinion, never really received the recognition he deserved.’

McGill lost around £100,000 of revenue, by today’s value, as a result of the censorship.

Banned: Not everyone saw the funny side of the cartoons, as the censors’ official stamp on one of the postcards above proves

Self portrait: McGill by McGill

DONALD McGILL, THE ACCIDENTIAL ARTIST

Donald McGill began his career by accident aged 30 in 1904 when he sent a cartoon to a nephew in hospital showing a man up to his neck in a frozen pond with the caption: ‘Hope you get out!’

It was forwarded to a publisher who commissioned his work. He went on to sell more than 200million cards with at least 12,000 designs over almost six decades.

He lived in a suburban home in Blackheath, South-East London, with his wife and children, and was described as looking like a bank clerk.

Yet by 1941 he was singled out by George Orwell as ‘the most prolific and by far the best of contemporary postcard artists’.

His work was popular but also notorious and led to the 1954 show trial at Lincoln Assizes over the postcards pictured here and others.

The artist, who was 79 by then, admitted breaking the 1857 Obscene Publications Act but claimed in mitigation: ‘I had no intention of a “double meaning” and, in fact, a double meaning was in some cases later pointed out to me.’

He died in 1962, aged 87.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1300763/Just-saucy-The-bawdy-seaside-postcards-censors-banned-50-years-ago.html

A sun-kissed Alexa Chung attended the Mulberry dinner at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood. Clutching the British luxury brand’s current bestselling satchel, (which bears her name, no less) the model turned TV presenter was there to celebrate the launch of Mulberry’s autumn/winter 2010 collection, which has just landed in stores.

A smiling Kate Bosworth, who is a firm fan of Mulberry, accessorised with the ‘Margaret’ leopard-print calfskin bag…

.. she was joined by Cat Deeley, who looked glamorous in a sparkling little black dress

The new autumn/winter collection comprises a leopard-print theme, worked into colourful prints. Kelly Osbourne took a walk on the wild side in the ‘Loopy Leopard’ purple biker jacket in suede

American actress Shenae Grimes, star of TV series 90210, wore a chain-detail dress from the new collection

The glittering leopards, which featured at Mulberry’s catwalk show in New York, provided a playful backdrop for the celebrations. Actress Jessica Stroup cosied up to one wearing an embellished skirt by Mulberry

The celebrity-studded dinner was hosted by Mulberry’s creative director Emma Hill (left). She invited actress Molly Sims, who sported a floral-print look from the new collection

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys also joined in the fun, as mojitos were served around the pool

Dinner was followed by dancing at hot spot Bungalow 8. Alexa Chung hit the decks, and caught up with Kate Bosworth

Brits Kelly Osbourne and Alexa Chung were spotted hanging out together

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/fashionpicturegalleries/7904102/Mulberry-celebrates-autumnwinter-201011-launch-with-a-celebrity-dinner-in-Hollywood.html

Celebrities currently at the prime age of 31 include TV presenter Christine Bleakley Photo: GETTY

Women in their late 20s and early 30s are considered more attractive than fresh-faced eighteen and nineteen year olds, researchers found.

The findings, from a survey of the opinions of over 2,000 men and women, found that beauty was as much rooted in personality as appearance.

Celebrities currently at the prime age of 31 include TV presenter Christine Bleakley, Strictly Come Dancing judge Alesha Dixon and Danielle Lineker.

The average British woman is already married with children by her thirties.

When asked when women are at their most attractive, more people picked 31 than any other age.

Beauty was defined as being confident by 70 per cent of respondents, having good looks by 67 per cent and being stylish by 47 per cent.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/women_shealth/7897060/Women-are-at-their-most-beautiful-at-31.html