An Irish startup company has developed a fun way to get children and adults outdoors and learning about wildlife and heritage.

Those glued to Escape to the Chateau, (including wedding finale last weekend on Channel 4), may now have a much greater appreciation and understanding of what it takes to make an old house work, writes Rose Martin.

Latest: Four people have died following a mid-air collision between a helicopter and a two-seater plane in Buckinghamshire, Thames Valley Police Superintendent Rebecca Mears has said.

Peter Dowdall meets the top man at one of Britain’s most visited National Trust estates, the sometime TV presenter, Cork’s Alan Power

The National Trust in Britain has reversed a decision to bar volunteers from public-facing duties at a Norfolk stately home if they refuse to wear rainbow sexual equality symbols.

Period dramas have us drooling over English historic houses of a grand and, often, ostentatious type, some lived in by generations of the same family, others conserved by venerable institutions like English Heritage and the National Trust.

Political correctness was developed as a shield against ignorance and boorishness.

Here's your morning bulletin.

Butterflies and bees have struggled in the latest year of a decade of unsettled weather, the National Trust has said.

Don’t fret about how to fill the remainder of the school holidays as there are things to do — and also it’s good for children to experience a bit of boredom now and again, writes Kate O’Reilly.

The Irish Georgian Society has called for urgent State action to save what remains of historic Vernon Mount House in Cork, which was gutted in a suspected arson attack.

Contact with nature can improve mental health and people’s moods, studies are finding. 

USA: A truck driver was caught using a fishing line to flip his licence plate in a bid to avoid paying tolls into New York City.

A transgender carer who suffocated her bedridden father as an “act of mercy” due to his multiple sclerosis has been jailed for at least four years.

Some of the stranger stories from around the world

Glenville Flower and Garden Club will start its winter season with an interesting talk and slide show by Jim Wilson of Bird Watch Ireland on Tuesday September 29 at 8.30pm.

Britain: A man who opened a parcel addressed to his new home was horrified to discover a large and potentially aggressive tarantula inside.

USA: Officials said a 62-year-old man holding a fish he caught on a boat in a San Diego bay was pulled overboard by a sea lion.

Caroline Hennessy makes a quick visit to Belfast to see just how much food she can pack into 24 hours.

USA:

USA: The first 3D printer in space has popped out its first creation — a sample replacement part for itself.

EAT THAT

Clodagh Finn says there is plenty to fuss about in the lakes, mountains and islands of County Fermanagh.

A body has been found by UK police searching for missing teenager Alice Gross, Scotland Yard has said.

You may think being a seabird looks like a laugh. Sitting on the cliffs, cackling away, occasionally flying off to pluck a fish from the sea and appearing on Springwatch.

A precious hoard of Roman and Late Iron Age coins has been discovered in a British cave where they have lain undisturbed for more than 2,000 years.

Kids should be allowed to eat sweets and watch TV — in moderation — according to the UK’s National Centre for Social Research. At long last someone is talking sense, says Suzanne Harrington, who advocates a ‘healthy neglect’ approach to parenting.

A self-portrait of Rembrandt has been verified following eight months of scientific analysis.

USA: US special operations forces may be a few years away from donning a similar suit to the film character Iron Man, one that can monitor the user’s vital signs, give them real-time battlefield information and be bulletproof from head to toe-

USA: A dog that raced a New York commuter train has a new family-

A ceiling collapse at a London West End theatre which injured audience members and forced its closure was caused by “the deterioration” of century-old cloth and plaster ties holding up timber frames, according to Westminster Council.

Jamaica marijuana tours

One of the biggest arms hauls in the North in almost two decades was discovered accidentally by a person using a metal detector.

A major weapons haul recovered during a security alert may help thwart death, injury and misery, police have said today.

The snail, the broken pots and lackadaisical approach suggest a gardener who’s not too worried about keeping up appearances.

1) Fota House & Gardens, Co Cork

There’s no shortage of big names participating but Kinsale itself is the heart and soul of this summer’s arts festival, new director Marie McPartlin tells Jo Kerrigan.

Tommy Barker heads east and uncovers a turn-key property dating to the late 1880s, but extended and renovated

An ancient gold ring which is believed to have inspired JRR Tolkien to write The Hobbit is to have its own exhibition for the first time.

A judge today gave the all clear for work to begin on a controversial £100m golf course development near the famous Giant’s Causeway on Ulster’s north coast.