Eddy's Good News: Lego like seawall and 1000-year-old UK tree given donations to survive

Virgin Radio

14 Apr 2023, 10:47

Every day during his show on Virgin Radio, Eddy Temple-Morris brings you Good News stories from around the world, to help inject a bit of positivity into your day!Be sure to listen each day between 10am and 1pm (Monday - Friday) to hear Eddy's Good News stories (amongst the finest music of course), but if you miss any of them you can catch up on the transcripts of Eddy's most recent stories below:

Monday 14th April 2023

Inspiring news from the Netherlands where a new type of seawall looks like giant lego and provides an ecosystem for hundreds of species of marine life.

Say hi to the port of Rotterdam who have a new marine defence that’s unlike any of its predecessors. We all know how good reefs are for everyone and everything, they break up waves and protect the land, and they offer shelter for a whole ecosystem of animals from apex predators to the smallest invertebrates.

Traditional sea walls are badly designed in that they let waves bounce back and be absorbed by the incoming wave to make it bigger and more damaging, they also offer nothing for animals, but these new giant Lego type blocks have portholes to allow water through, and diffuse the waves energy, also allowing marine life to make homes there. The surface is rippled to allow oysters and mussels to cling to it and over time the wall will become a giant ecosystem, just like a thriving reef.

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org

Historical and heart warming news from here in the UK as one of our greatest trees gets a financial boost from its local community to make sure it survives.

Say hello to The Capon Tree, a thousand year old sessile oak from Jedburgh in Scotland, that’s just been given £7,000 to help support it, literally, because oaks that grow along tend to spread out more and this old fella saw it’s main limb collapse under its own weight, so, like that famous tree in Japan it’s now - thanks to this generous donation - got support struts to hold it up.

The Capon Tree is recognized by The Tree Council as one of Britain’s 50 greatest trees whose tales go back to at least the time of Henry The 8th, where the tree is referred to as a meeting place for ‘Border Reivers’, brigands who would raid across the border into England. The Capon was even used as a makeshift outdoor courtroom for community members to gather to resolve disputes. A magnificent organism of national importance, preserved and treasured for generations to come.

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org