It's partly to break that spell, and partly because there comes a point in any spiral of decline when a line has to be drawn, that 25 of the country's leading wildlife and conservation groups have decided to pool the misery and publish a single, shocking stock-take of the British Countryside.

BBC: Stark warning over the state of nature

The risk is this: millions of home-owners who are already financially stretched will be pushed to breaking point once their mortgage resets, triggering another spiral of defaults, repossessions, write-downs, implosions and lay-offs.

BBC: City Diaries: 4 June

After climbing five spiral staircases to reach the top of the tower - the highest point visitors can reach - Mr Price had a further 56m to climb.

BBC: Salisbury Cathedral spire to get digital anemometer