It wasn’t all bad

Last year was a bumper year for castles, as record numbers flocked to visit them across England. According to English Heritage, which looks after more than 400 sites, monuments and buildings, ten of its attractions drew their highest numbers of visitors since records began, and a further six reported their highest numbers in more than a decade. Yarmouth Castle on the Isle of Wight reported a 28% increase, while Clifford’s Tower in York, the last remaining part of York Castle, was up 31%.

A missing dog has been found safe and sound after going on a 100-mile round trip to Manchester Airport. Ralph, a three-year-old cavapoo, ran off on Monday while on an early walk in Wrexham with his owner. He then jumped into a taxi that was waiting to drive a family to Manchester Airport. Since Ralph had no means of identification and the passengers had a plane to catch, the dog went with them. By the time the driver had returned home, however, word had got out on social media about Ralph’s disappearance, and he was reunited with his owner, Georgia Crewe, by 10am. “He got back home, had a big breakfast and has slept most of the day,” said Crewe.

Three amateur codebreakers have deciphered a trove of longlost letters by Mary, Queen of Scots. The trio – a German pianist, an Israeli computer scientist and a Japanese physicist – are members of the Decrypt Project, which deciphers historical codes. They worked on 57 coded letters, held in France’s National Library, wrongly categorised as Italian texts. As they cracked the cipher, they were amazed to realise that they were written by Mary from 1578 to 1584, while she was held in prison; they discuss her hopes and fears.