#england

You Can Apply to be a Landlord-King of The English Island of PielLooking to be a landowner? Or perhaps, royalty? How about both, for a whole island?The Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council has opened applications for the next landlord of Piel Island. On April 2022, the winning applicant will be given a 10-year lease to this 50 acres of land—with wildlife, a fortress and an historic pub—half a mile off of northwest England.As part of the deal, the landlord, also crowned as 'King of Piel', will run The Ship Inn pub and maintain parts of the island. According to the tradition of the king and knights of Piel, each new landlord is crowned “King of Piel” in a ceremony (of uncertain origin), where they sit in an ancient chair wearing a helmet and holding a sword while someone pours alcohol over their head.If you fancy a visit instead, a ferry runs from Roa Island between April and September. Its interesting history from centuries past, as well as its local environment, is worth a trip!#PielIsland #king #monarchy #pub #England #landlord

How a Con Artist Named Gregor MacGregor Sold the Fake Country of Poyais to Investors ... and Got Away With it!This man pulled one of the biggest scams in history and did not get any jail time at all? The absolute audacity of fate to not give him the punishment he deserves!Meet Gregor MacGregor, a man who took advantage of the investing hype of the 1820s in England by creating a false country to pitch to rich people. The socialite/con artist created the independent country of Poyais. He advertised and marketed the land as a new country that “would rapidly advance in prosperity and civilization.” People were convinced of his scam, believing that they were the ones responsible for building a developing country, and set sail for the fictional country.Of course, at some point, people discovered all of his lies. Two expeditions left to set sail for Poyais, hoping to get better opportunities and all of their money’s worth. Unfortunately, that was not the case. All they got was sickness, death, and the fact that they wasted their money on a country that never existed.... hundreds of British had fallen for the marketing hype, exchanging their life savings for Poyaisian money and land grants. The first ~70 settlers left from England in fall 1822 on the Honduras Packet. Another ~180 set sail from Scotland in January 1823 on the Kennersley Castle. [...]After the beautiful view from the ship, Hastie and the others believed they would find St. Joseph, a European-style capital city outfitted with a government center and a theater. Strangely, the new arrivals didn’t see any dwellings or buildings. The only signs of life were the remaining passengers from the Honduras Packet, holed up in bamboo huts, and 2 eccentric Americans who had been living off the land for years.There was no property to be assigned to the landowners. No banks for depositing and withdrawing Poyaisian money. No easy access to wild game. Over the next couple months, the Poyais newcomers felt the consequences of the punishing heat and humidity, withering away from hunger, exhaustion, and malaria as they rationed provisions from the ship.MacGregor fled to France to escape prosecution – which he successfully did, as the survivors of the expedition who came back to England did not blame him. They even petitioned the London government and signed an affidavit that this man was a victim as well. Lucky bastard. Image credit: George Watson/National Gallery of Scotland/Wikipedia; PGM#ConArtist #Poyais #GregorMacGregor #history #scam #England #Honduras

Tree Chopped in Half in Show of "Traditional British Pettiness"An argument between neighbors in South Yorkshire, England, over birds nesting in a tree led to this poor conifer's buzzcut. The pic has since gone viral:A tree cleaved in half has become an attraction in a residential part of South Yorkshire after a dispute between neighbours.Bharat Mistry said he and his family were “gutted” when their next-door neighbours asked tree surgeons to cut down half the branches of a 5 metre conifer tree that had stood in his garden in the Sheffield suburb of Waterthorpe for 25 years.He said: “We were absolutely distraught. We pleaded and pleaded with them not to do it, but their mind was made up. That tree was coming down.”...The picture went viral after it was anonymously sent in to Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 TV show, and it has been turned into memes on social media, prompting visits from curious people.Mistry’s daughter said the family had become “Instagram famous without meaning to”.Image: Bharat Mistry/Matthew Lofthouse/SWNS#tree #neighborlydispute #England