THE BIG QUESTIONS
I was delighted to look out into my garden to see three types of pigeon feeding. How many species are there? – G
Pigeons and doves are of the same family, and the UK has five species, the wood pigeon, collared dove, rock dove, stock dove and turtle dove.
The most common is the rock dove, the species we see most in town and city centres, searching for crumbs and titbits.
The largest is the wood pigeon, which can weigh up to 400g (13oz).
I’ve just seen the film Ben-Hur. Not the original starring Charlton Heston, but a more recent version with Jack Huston in the title role. Was Ben-Hur a real person? – S
The 2016 movie is actually the fifth movie to tell the story of Judah BenHur, a Jewish prince from Jerusalem who is enslaved by the Romans after being betrayed by his adoptive brother Massala, a Roman officer.
The original story appeared in an 1880 novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ, and all five films have been at least partly based on the work of fiction so, no, Ben-Hur was not a real person.
Heston’s 1959 classic version won an astonishing 11 Academy Awards.
I’ve long wondered who the Lords that Lords Cricket Ground is named after? – S
The Lord in question was Thomas Lord, who was not a peer.
Lord first established a cricket ground in Marylebone, near Oxford Street, London, in 1787.
After a move to a temporary site from 181113, Lords was built on its present site in St John’s Wood. It is home to the game’s governing body, the International Cricket Council.