THE BIG QUESTIONS
One thing we aren’t short of in this country is water but how many lochs are there? – T
Scotland has something like 30,000 freshwater lochs, ranging from small lochans to our five largest lochs, Awe, Lomond, Morar, Ness and Shiel.
Around 90% of the standing fresh water volume of Great Britain lies within Scotland.
Loch Ness contains almost double the amount of water held in all of England and Wales’ lakes combined.
I was very sorry to hear of the death of one of my heroes, Michael Collins this week. He flew to the moon but never set foot on the surface – how many others did the same? – B
Twelve astronauts flew to the moon over nine Apollo missions without reaching the lunar surface.
During the half-dozen missions with landings, the command module pilot remained in lunar orbit.
The two three-man crews of Apollo 8 and Apollo 10 also entered lunar orbit. Of these, four would never walk on the moon including 8’s Jim Lovell, who was also part of Apollo 13, which looped around the moon without landing. His two Apollo 13 crew-mates also never set foot on the moon.
My neighbour tells me he owns a Penny Black stamp he was given as a child but he reckons it’s not worth very much. Can that be true? –J
Yes, actually, as they can be worth as little as £15 or so if not in good condition. A Penny Black in mint condition sold for £45,000 a few years ago.
The most expensive stamp ever was a British Guiana 1 cent Magenta of 1856, sold at auction in 2014 for £6.8 million. It is up for sale again soon and could hit £10m.