A new exhibit featuring some of the world’s most mysterious creatures has opened at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham. Guests sampled jelly-inspired mocktails and sweet treats as the attraction was unveiled to families.

Months in the making, the new ‘Jelly Invaders’ exhibit stars five different jellyfish species from across the globe, from the bizarre freshwater ‘upside down jellyfish’ to the glittering ‘sea nettle’ variety from the Indo-Pacific.

The unique creatures are the true Jekyll and Hydes of the marine world, with their harmless, tranquil appearance belying highly efficient hunting tactics and stingers.

The new experience will allow visitors to get a close encounter to these mystical creatures, with diverse species of jellies in a variety of colourful interactive displays.

Jonny Rudd, curator at the aquarium, said: “The new exhibit lifts the lid on this mysterious species. Jellyfish are actually older than dinosaurs, as it’s believed they first swam in our oceans some 500 million years ago. With more than 350 different species, there’s a lot to uncover!”

Despite their name, jellyfish aren’t actually a type of fish and are instead classed in a group of their own, due to them being unlike any other creature on earth.

“But jellies get a bad press,” explains Jonny.“Most are completely harmless to humans; it’s only a few such as the sea nettle jellyfish that give them a bad name as they can cause a painful sting.

“Jellies remain key to our ecosystem as they feed larger sea creatures, however one of the main fascinations is in their coastline invasions.”

Jellyfish flourish in conditions created by global warming, pollution and overfishing, as evidenced by their invasions onto UK coastlines as recently as last year.

“Jellies are superbly adapted to plug the gaps when other species decline, which is one reason why there have been such huge swarms of jellyfish appearing in recent years.

“Some scientists believe that jellyfish are even poised to take over the oceans one day.”

Jelly Invaders is included with all entry tickets. Guests can delve deeper into the jellyfish life cycle including the aquarium’s breeding programme on a Behind the Scenes Tour (additional charge of £3.50 applies).

The Merlin Entertainments-owned attraction is home to more than 2,000 aquatic inhabitants in over 60 immersive displays, including the UK’s only 360° tropical ocean tunnel.

His Honour Judge James Burbidge QC received the scroll appointing him the first Honorary Recorder of the City of Wolverhampton at an extraordinary meeting of the Full Council yesterday evening (Wednesday).

The Honorary Recorder is a ceremonial role, created to maintain and develop close links between council and the judiciary as well as to encourage an understanding of the judicial system among the community.

Kevin O’Keefe, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Director of Governance, said: “We are delighted to appoint His Honour Judge James Burbidge QC as the first Honorary Recorder of the City of Wolverhampton.

“In his role, he will be an important link between the council, the people and the courts, and will become a familiar face at Civic events around the City.”

The Honorary Recorder will attend ceremonial and civic functions as well as inviting members of the council to attend judicial events. He will also be the most senior Judge to sit at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

In the future, the title will pass automatically to the Senior Resident Judge of Wolverhampton Crown Court upon their appointment by the Lord Chief Justice.

Birmingham’s John Taylor Hospice is calling on former staff and visitors to share their memories of the hospice for a new history archive.

John Taylor has been supporting families in the city since 1910 and is keen to collect people’s recollections of working and visiting the hospice over the past decades.

In a newly launched history section of its website the hospice now features films of two women who worked at John Taylor in the past sharing their memories. Pat Murr, aged 90, of Sutton Coldfield and 79-year-old Pat Seickell of Lichfield were nurses at what was then known as the Taylor Memorial Home.

Pat Murr, who was a staff nurse at the hospice in the 1950s, said: “In those days it was just nursing to make people as comfortable as we could. Visiting was very limited in those days and nobody ever talked about the hospice.”

Pat Seickell, who was a night sister in the 1970s and helped launch the community service in the 1980s, said: “When I joined the hospice in 1975 it was different from how it is now. It was fairly basic with nursing staff, a cook and some cleaners and that was about it.

“My remembrances of the place was that, although it was a place where people came at end of life, on the whole it was a very happy place. I do keep up to date with the hospice and I think the ethos is very much the same – living until you die.”

Founded in Sparkbrook in 1910, John Taylor moved to its current site at The Grange in Grange Road, Erdington, in 1948 as part of the formation of the NHS. In 2011 the hospice left the NHS to become independent. Initially this was as a community enterprise company but this April the hospice has become a charity.

Hospice CEO Penny Venables says: “For more than 100 years John Taylor Hospice has been providing care for families here in Birmingham. Our hospice has changed many times over those years – always to ensure we are meeting the needs of the people we care for.

“When we left the NHS in 2011 becoming a community enterprise company was the right decision. Four years ago we achieved charitable status and now is the right time for us to move the entire organisation from social enterprise to charity.

“This will enable us to continue to develop new services and meet the ever-changing needs of local families. And we also hope it will put us in a stronger position to attract fundraising income which will ensure we can extend our care still further and reach more people.”

And she added: “This is the latest stage in our rich history and to celebrate our special status as the longest-standing hospice in the region we want to ensure we are capturing stories from our past. We would love to hear from anyone who has worked here, visited or had other links which they would like to share – and we are particularly keen to collect memories as far back as possible.”

Become a pirate, crew a canal boat, learn the boating lingo, watch wildlife and discover the amazing places to visit on the nation's beautiful waterways for FREE. On Sunday 15 April 2018, 11am to 4pm, Drifters Waterway Holidays and the Canal & River Trust are offering people the chance to try canal boating for free at 19 locations across England and Wales.

The taster sessions will include free trips on skippered narrowboats, as well as boat tours and holiday discounts. No advance booking or experience is required, with people of all ages encouraged to just turn up.

Gareth Stephens, National Boating Manager at the Canal & River Trust, said: “We believe that waterways have the power to make a real difference to people's lives and that spending time by water makes us all healthier and happier. Thousands of people already enjoy boating holidays on our beautiful 2,000-mile network of inland waterways, and these free canal boat taster sessions are a great way to know that this sort of holiday is for you, before committing to a weekend or longer break.”

Tim Parker, chairman of Drifters Waterway Holidays, explains: “Last year, over 3,800 people got afloat at our one of our open day events and we look forward to welcoming thousands more visitors this year, to discover why canal boat holidays are so special.”

Staff from a leading Black Country law firm have pledged their support to help Birmingham Children’s Hospital carry out its life-saving care.

Talbots Law named the UK’s leading specialist paediatric centre as its ‘Charity of the Year’ and has already presented it with a £10,000 donation to help it deliver treatments, complex surgical procedures and cutting-edge research to young people up to the age of 16.

Employees from across the company’s seven offices were invited to nominate their preferred good causes and, following much deliberation, the three most popular choices were put forward for a final vote that was made at the business’ annual party.

“There was a lot of personal stories of families and friends that have been helped and supported by Birmingham Children’s Hospital so the decision was a comprehensive one in the end,” explained Mary Mocklow, Chief Executive of Talbots Law.

“We always kick-start the year of fundraising by donating an initial sum and then we hope to build on this through a host of different activities that will be organised by the firm and our employees. The emphasis is on getting as many people involved as possible.”

“Ian Bond and I visited Eloise Davidson and Paul Moore at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity to present the cheque and find out a little bit more about the amazing care they provide every day of the week, every week of the year.”

Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital, which was rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the CCQ in February 2017, looks after 90,000 children and young people from across the country every year.

It operates a national liver and small bowel transplant centre and is a global centre of excellence for complex heart conditions, the treatment of burns, cancer, liver and kidney disease.

Talbots staff have already taken part in the ‘Big Bandage Day’ and are looking forward to embarking on a London to Paris bike ride and a daunting Snowdon Challenge.

Eloise Davidson, Corporate Fundraising Manager at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “We are truly thankful for all of the hard work Talbots Law has put into raising such a fantastic amount of money for our patients.

“The funds they have raised will go a long way to making a huge difference to the lives of our brave children and their families as we continue our plans to improve our facilities – enabling us to treat even more children from Birmingham, the West Midlands and around the country.”

Tiny tots are getting ready to take on muddy puddles at a special Peppa Pig sponsored walk next month.

The children at Smarty Pants Nursery based at Lightwoods House in Bearwood will be taking part in the Muddy Puddle Walk in aid of Save The Children at Lightwoods Park on 23 April.

The children will be doing a circuit of the park helped by Peppa Pig characters along the way - before a splash in muddy puddles outside the nursery and some stories.

The little ones have also been learning about the plants and herbs in Shakespeare Garden at the house - which features plants and shrubs all mentioned in the playwright's work.

Nursery owner and manager Lydia Browning said: "Now the spring is here it's lovely for the children to get out in the garden a bit more. They're all very excited for the Muddy Puddle Walk and seeing the Peppa Pig characters and we're hoping to raise some money for a good cause while we have some fun."

Lightwoods House opened in January 2018 having been extensively restored thanks to a £5.2million project funded by the council, Big Lottery fund (BIG) and Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The nursery opened last September in a brand new building next to the house, designed to look like the old stables.

To find out more about Lightwoods House and Park, go to the website www.lightwoodsparkandhouse.co.uk