Blurs

For most of the year, there is little evidence that a village once stood beneath the waters of Ladybower Reservoir. The reservoir occupies a broad valley in the Peak District of Derbyshire. Its waters provide drinking water for communities across the East Midlands, while the surrounding landscape has become one of the most recognisable parts of the Peak District. But beneath the surface lies a different landscape. There were once houses here. There was a church. There was a school. There were farms, roads, trees and a community that had existed for generations. The villages of Derwent and Ashopton were deliberately abandoned in the 1940s before the valleys were flooded to create the Ladybower Reservoir. Today, most of that landscape is hidden. Occasionally, however, falling water levels reveal fragments of what was lost. And when they do, thousands of people are reminded that the reservoir isn't simply a landscape feature. It is also a submerged piece of Derbyshire history. Two Vil...

For generations, Lough Neagh was simply part of the landscape of Northern Ireland: a vast freshwater lake supporting fishing, farming, wildlife, recreation and communities around its shores. Then, in the summer of 2023, something became impossible to ignore. Large areas of the lake turned green. Thick surface scums accumulated around marinas, jetties and lock gates. Images of vivid green water spread rapidly, and what might once have been regarded as an occasional natural phenomenon became a national environmental story. But the colour was only the visible part of a much larger problem. Beneath the surface was a lake receiving enormous quantities of nutrients, experiencing warmer conditions, containing an invasive species capable of altering its food web — and accumulating pollutants from a catchment covering thousands of square kilometres. The phenomenon did not end in 2023. A significant bloom returned in 2025. As of 2026, scientists and government agencies are still trying to determ...

For more than two decades, a small stone-lined grave on the Isles of Scilly posed an unusual archaeological puzzle. Inside were the possessions of someone who appeared to occupy two very different worlds. There was a sword and shield, objects strongly associated with warfare and traditionally linked to male burials. But there was also a beautifully made bronze mirror, an object much more commonly found in Iron Age graves associated with women. Only one person had been buried there. So who was this mysterious individual? When the grave was discovered on the island of Bryher in 1999, archaeologists could not answer the question. It would take more than 20 years — and a sophisticated scientific technique — to finally reveal the identity of the person buried there. A Discovery in a Cornish Field The discovery happened almost by accident. In 1999, archaeological investigations began after a farmer uncovered an Iron Age sword while working at Hillside Farm on Bryher. The excavation revealed ...

When you read a news story online, it can feel as though you are encountering an individual journalist making an individual editorial decision. But what happens when the same corporate group owns more than 120 news, entertainment and specialist brands? What happens when that company has national newspapers, regional newspapers, websites, magazines, social-media accounts, video teams, newsletters and subscription products — all operating within the same corporate structure? And what happens when that company openly describes its strategy in terms of audience reach, engagement, technology, artificial intelligence, video, subscriptions and distribution? This is the world of Reach plc. Reach is the company behind some of Britain's best-known newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star and Daily Record.  It also owns a huge regional network including Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, Birmingham Mail, WalesOnline, MyLondon, BelfastLive and numerous other titl...