Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Man loses Henry V home after divorce TYWYN, Wales, July 25 (UPI) -- The owner of a Tywyn, Wales, estate reputedly won from Britain's King Henry V has said he will soon be forced to give up the home in a costly divorce battle. Advertisement William Williams-Wynne, who said his family has lived at the Peniarth estate since the 15th century, said he can no longer afford to keep the home after a court refused his appeal of his wife's $2.8 million divorce payout, the Telegraph reported Monday. "The estate is held in a family trust and they've increased my rent by 300 percent and I just can't afford it. I'm moving out and I'm going to be homeless. It's absolutely unbelievable," Williams-Wynne said. "We are the oldest family in Wales. The estate dates back to 1412 and we were just coming up to our 600th anniversary. We just haven't quite made it. All my life has gone into building up the estate. My three daughters can't afford to live in the house." Advertisement Jugged hare no longer favorite in Britain LONDON, July 25 (UPI) -- While environmentalists worry about endangered species, no one seems terribly concerned about all the classic foods disappearing in Britain. A survey of changing food tastes has come up with a virtual list of endangered British dishes from pigs' cheeks in brine to boiled calf's foot, London's Guardian newspaper reports. When it comes to food, a distinct generation gap exists with the over-60s well aware of all the dishes that are dying out and the under-25s virtually clueless. Take Bath chaps, for instance. The recipe which appeared in the first English cookbook calls for cooled pigs' cheeks plus half the jawbone and tongue plus breadcrumbs. Only 1 percent of the under-25s had ever heard of the dish. Another example is jugged hare, a dish that was immortalized in Hannah Glasse's 18th century book, "The Art of Cookery." Less than 2 percent of the young people surveyed had heard of jugged hare and 70 percent said they wouldn't eat it even if they had. Experts say prosperity is partly to blame for changing British food tastes along with the success of international cuisine. New York waiting for predatory towing ban Advertisement NEW YORK, July 25 (UPI) -- Long Islanders are waiting for New York lawmakers to pass a law designed to rein in predatory towing practices. A bill to ban aggressive towing practices has passed the New York Senate but is awaiting action in the Assembly, Long Island's Newsday reports. As defined by industry experts, predatory towing includes such practices as luring drivers to forbidden parking areas by not posting adequate signs. Another is using spotters equipped with binoculars and walkie-talkies to summon tow trucks at a moment's notice, the newspaper said. One Long Island man found out about predatory towing the hard way. He returned home late one rainy night and discovered his car was missing from the parking lot. After walking the length of the lot, he found a decrepit sign with a towing company's warning notice, Newsday said. The sponsor of the New York bill, state Sen. Charles Fuschillo, R-Freeport, said he recently witnessed a tow truck operator hook up a car in a restaurant lot just moments after the owner parked it. "The driver ran out and stopped him," Fuschillo told Newsday, adding that the most frightening aspect of the incident was that the car owner had left a young child in the backseat. Advertisement Optical illusion to lower speed on curve CHICAGO, July 25 (UPI) -- Traffic engineers plan to use painted bars to create a low-cost optical illusion to get motorists to slow down on a tricky curve on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive. The 90-degree turn at Oak Street forces many aggressive drivers to slam on their brakes and area residents say the city has not done enough to prevent accidents on the curve. Acting Transportation Commissioner Cheri Heramb tells the Chicago Tribune traffic engineers plan to paint white bars on the pavement 16 feet apart narrowing to 8-feet apart to give drivers the illusion they are speeding up as they approach the curve. Flashing signs will warn: "SLOW 25 MPH." Heramb said the optical illusion system has worked on roads in Virginia, Texas and New York and may be tried at other high-accident locations if it proves successful on the outer drive.
