Brain Tracer

If you are starting to build your bonfire for next week, please remember NOT to build it on the spot where it will be lit. You’ll need to move it the day you light it, or fence off the building area NOW, to prevent wildlife deaths. A hedgehog who has made it as a nest won’t move if you poke her with a broom, light the bonfire from one side, shine a torch under, or any of the other myths that you have read from well meaning sites. They’ll just stay in a frightened ball and be burnt to death.

We are preparing in advance for Christmas, especially for our Christmas party on the Strand that we hold every year for our homeless and vulnerable community with pet Dogs, any help with our wish list would be greatly appreciative 🎄 🎅 ❄️ 🛷 amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/…

SIR PATRICK STEWART (1940-2026) Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love. We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions. My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in 'Star Trek'. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”. Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes ('X-Men' of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway. America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin. But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire. His farewell performance in 'Avengers: Doomsday' is yet to be seen. Ian McKellen 29 October 2026 Photo: University of Huddersfield

Halloween artificial cobweb material: It may be a bit of fake fun for you, but it's a very real and terrifying death for them. And it's not only birds. Last year I had my first call of the season of a hedgehog trapped in this horrific fake 'cobweb', made especially for gullible halloweeners to spread over their greenery, trapping all unsuspecting birds, insects and mammals, including hedgehogs. The fine synthetic fibers are difficult for animals to see and can quickly wrap around their legs, spines, and neck, leading to severe injuries. When a hedgehog struggles to free herself the web tightens, cutting off circulation and causing deep wounds. These constriction injuries often lead to permanent damage or death. Unfortunately the call was from Manchester, so all I could do was talk them through getting the poor creature to a rescue. Clearly she had been trapped there for at least one night, and her struggles had pulled the strong nylon strands so tightly that one of her toes had been amputated. Can you imagine the pain and the sheer terror? And then seeing dawn approach, while hanging there, tightly bound and helpless. Aside from being stressed, dehydrated, starving and exhausted to the point of near death, she also had horrific bite/peck wounds to her face, where she had been held there, helpless, unable to curl and defend herself, while a predator tried to eat her alive. If you have used this deadly cruel trap to 'decorate' your garden, please take it down now. Please don't be conned by the greedy makers and sellers of this rubbish into hurting defenceless animals.

Here’s the incomparable Dave Allen discussing how to teach your child the time. It’s one of the most perfectly delivered stand up comedy performances of all time. Absolute genius.

UPDATE 25.10.26 7.30am We have currently raised £281.50 can we get to the £500 mark today?🙏

Tomorrow at the 20th Henley Literary Festival we welcome Rachel Parris, Lucian Msamati, Michael Morpurgo @LizPichon Dr Ranj @HelenLederer @jollyolly @RosieisaHolt @Neeneelou & many more!