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Month: May 2008

How dangerous are Magnets in Toys?

How dangerous are Magnets in Toys?

Since the autumn of 2007 there have been very quick moves by the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic towards greater control of magnets in toys. This has been matched, it seems to me, by a very evident alarm amongst toy-buyers as to the safety of magnets in any form. A programme screened in December 2007 on Channel 4 – equally contentious for its scaremongering on the one hand and the pathetic attempt at defence of the toy industry…

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Happy Birthday Mulberry Bush

Happy Birthday Mulberry Bush

We didn’t realise it but it turns out we’re celebrating our 400th anniversary this year, in a here-we-go-round-the-mulberry-bush sort of way. Today’s Times carries a fascinating letter – if slightly arcane – from the Master of the Garden of the Inner Temple, London (no less) explaining the provenance of the two mulberry trees that grow there. It emerges that the mulberry was introduced into England exactly 400 years ago, in 1608, by James I in an attempt to build a…

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