Ananova:
Pub landlord in the pink

The landlord of a historic Herefordshire pub woke up to find someone had given it an overnight makeover.

Pub scene /PA pics

Pranksters turned up in the dead of night and painted the Prince of Wales, which was built in 1540, reports the Daily Mirror.

Now the traditional black and white inn, part of a row of historic Tudor buildings, is a vivid pink.

Landlord Les Smith, 52, said: “I haven’t a clue who would do this or why. We closed the pub after midnight. Then I came round at about half eight in the morning and it was pink.”

Mr Smith said the cleaner arrived for work at 7am and saw two men in overalls packing up their rollers but assumed they were working to order.

And he had to admit they had done a professional job – and had even submitted an invoice for their work.

He said: “I’m annoyed and it’s inconvenient but they’ve done a proper job. They even slipped a bill under the door. But there’s no figures, no address, nothing. Some of the regulars have said Mr Blobby or the Pink Panther have stitched me up.”

One regular at the pub in Ledbury, near Hereford, said the culprits may have had a brush with the landlord.

“The landlord has a strict no-swearing policy and some people have been banned for breaking the rules. Maybe someone decided to take revenge,” he guessed.

A West Mercia Police spokesman said: “We are looking at CCTV footage.”
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A jam maker has marked its 125th anniversary by producing the world’s most expensive marmalade.

F Duerr & Son’s Fine Cut Seville Orange Marmalade with Whisky, Champagne and Gold costs £5,000 a jar.

That means it would cost an estimated £76 to spread on just one slice of toast, reports the Telegraph.

It contains finest Seville fruit with vintage Dalmore 62 whisky from Whyte & Mackay, valued at £32,000 per bottle, Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1996 vintage champagne and flakes of 24-carat gold leaf.

The Manchester-based firm’s special marmalade is encased in a custom-made crystal jar valued at £1,100.

Managing director Mark Duerr said: “It’s unbelievably good – we tasted it at a board meeting last week for the first time, and were amazed. The whisky comes through immediately. The champagne’s more subtle.”

The initial plan was to make the exclusive preserve a one-off production, with the one-kilo jar being auctioned on eBay to raise money for the Manchester Kids charity.

However, Duerr’s has been so impressed by the taste that it is considering making a more affordable version as a normal product.

Man Spends 50 years In A Tree After Row!

An Indian octogenarian has reportedly spent half a century living in a tree after a tiff with his wife.

Gayadhar Parida took to staying in a mango tree after a quarrel over a ‘tiny issue’ with his wife 50 years ago, reports Mumbai Mirror

He moved trees when his first tree house was destroyed in a storm but he has never moved back into his home in Kuligaon, Orissa.

Mr Parida, 83,said: “I had come to stay after disturbances with my wife. But after some days, I felt spiritualism had developed within my body.”

The paper said he spends most of his time in the company of poisonous snakes and comes down only to drink water from a pool.

Mr Parida accepts food offered to him by family members but no amount of coaxing has convinced him to leave his tree house.

His son Babula, 55, said: “I have gone to the garden several times to woo him back but he vehemently refused to return. Hurt and dejected, I had to come back home.”

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Hotel bans kids, welcomes dogs

An Austrian hotel owner has banned children – but says pet dogs will always be welcome.

Hotel Cortisen turned away a German family with two young boys when they turned up for a holiday in the Alpine village of St Wolfgang.

Owner Roland Ballner, 38, said: “I have just had the hotel redecorated for more than two million euros – kids will put their dirty paw-prints on the white walls, stand on the white leather sofas in their dirty shoes, and scream and run around and disturb other guests.

“I have decided to make a stand and I am sure others will follow suit and say no to kids. From today, children are no longer welcome – and I plan to advertise it as I am sure it will attract guests.”

But he added: “I don’t have a problem with dogs… dogs are always welcome in my hotel.”

He claimed his customers had welcomed the move to ban all children.

He said: “My guests have a right to quiet and relaxation without the noise of children. Parents seem to feel they are here to relax and wash their hands of their children’s bad behaviour.”

The Deputy Governor of Upper Austria, Franz Hiesl, said it was “outrageous” that families were being turned away.

(quirkies from www.ananova.com)