It wasn’t all bad

Lockdown has put a strain on a lot of families, but according to a new study, a quarter of parents say their relationship with their children has improved in the past three months – and less than 5% say it has got worse. Previous studies from the Understanding Society Covid-19 Survey found that women have taken on a disproportionate amount of the childcare burden during lockdown. But slightly more women than men said they were getting on better with their children.

A slice of land on the White Cliffs of Dover that had been farmed so intensively it was almost devoid of flora and fauna three years ago is now bursting with poppies, oxeye daisies and buttercups – and ringing to the sound of skylarks, meadow pipits and corn buntings. There are also peregrine falcons, attracted by the profusion of wild pigeons. The fields were bought by the National Trust following a £1m fundraising campaign backed by Dame Vera Lynn. To return them to their natural state, the Trust planted them with barley to remove excess nutrients, then seeded them with a wildflower and grass mix.

A cat called Mite that lived more than 700 years ago has been identified as the first named pet to have been documented in the UK. A drawing of the cat, which lived at Beaulieu Abbey in the late 13th century, is featured in an illuminated manuscript from that time, and its name is written above it in Latin. The first named cat lived in Ancient Egypt in around 1500BC. Its name, Nedjem, meaning “Sweetie”, was carved on the wall of a tomb. The first named dog – Abuwtiyuw – was also Egyptian. Probably a guard dog, he died before 2280BC.