HIGH FLIGHT
Is there anything you’re yearning to know? Send your questions, on any subject, to the contacts given below, and we will do our best to answer them...
QAMrs A Crockford, Tonbridge, Kent
It is estimated one-in-10 of the population is left-handed. A study published in the journal Brain found a link to “lefties” and better verbal skills and a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.
There was also a significant correlation between mental health, things such as sensitivity, having “fed-up feelings” and being a “worrier”.
It runs in families and males are 23 per cent more likely to be left-handed.
Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and Leonardo daVinci were all left-handed, as are Sir Paul McCartney, Barack Obama and Prince William. The Prince’s children, George and Charlotte, are reported to take after him.
Our brains are cross-wired, meaning the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and vice-versa.
The left hemisphere also controls speech, language, writing, logic, maths and science, while the right controls music, art, creativity and emotions.
So left-handers are more likely to be creative and visual thinkers. But it does cause problems in a world heavily geared to righthanders, from difficulty using scissors to getting to grips with handwriting.
An independent shop in Worcester, Left ’n’ Write, sells things such as left-handed pens, secateurs, mugs and can openers. It is campaigning for greater support for left-handed children in the school classroom.
QAPatricia Bowen, Forest Row, East Sussex
Colonel John By was born in Lambeth in 1779 into a family of Thames watermen. He became one of Canada’s greatest early engineers but his reputation would suffer a hammering and he died a broken man. He was attached to the Royal Engineers in Canada for a decade, working on the fortification of Quebec City. He served in the NapoleonicWars and returned to Canada in 1826 to lead construction of the 123-mile Rideau Canal.This military route was an incredible feat of engineering, digging and clearing through the wilderness to create 46 locks, 16 lakes, two rivers and a dam. His first job was building a town to house workers, which was named Bytown and became Ottawa, Canada’s capital.
Around 1,000 men died but By was praised as having “moral courage and undaunted spirit”.
But costs spiralled from £170,000 to £800,000 and he was investigated for overspending.
Despite getting the all-clear, the damage was done and he died shortly afterwards in 1836. He is buried in Frant in East Sussex.
By’s Rideau Canal, connecting Ottawa to Kingston, is the oldest continuously operating canal system in North America and is registered as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Canada has honoured him with a statue, left.
QABill Elbourne, Bebington, Wirral
Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, Greater London’s police force, which is the largest force in England with more than 30,000 officers.
It is responsible for 32 boroughs and has national duties too, such as leading counter-terrorism operations and protecting Royals.
The Met was founded in 1829 by then home secretary Robert Peel – which is where the term bobbies comes from.
Its original base was 4Whitehall Place, which backed on to a court called Great Scotland Yard.
The site was used as a kind of Scottish embassy before the union, a grand place where Scottish kings and ambassadors would stay.
Later residents included architect Sir ChristopherWren and poet John Milton.
The Met’s current HQ is New Scotland Yard, located on Victoria Embankment.
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● Unfortunately we cannot reply individually, but we will feature the best questions on this page. John Gillespie Magee Jr (1922–41)
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds, – and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark nor ever eagle flew –
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
If you can’t remember the words to a favourite verse or song from yesteryear, send us a snippet and we’ll do our best to find all the wonderful words.