Winchester Cathedral is to broadcast BBC1’s Easter Service this year, followed by recordings of two programmes for Songs of Praise on Easter Monday.
 
Christmas being well and truly behind us, Winchester Cathedral is readying itself for Easter, but before that comes Lent, traditionally a time of prayer and reflection before Holy Week, when Christians throughout the world recollect the suffering and death of Jesus, and his resurrection on Easter Day.
 
Ash Wednesday this year is on 17th February and there will be a Sung Eucharist at 5.30pm - this will be the first appearance of the Cathedral’s new Chamber Choir.. As Lent continues, there will be a sequence of lectures in the Undercroft (10A, Inner Close) on Thursdays at 7pm from 25th February to 25th March, giving an opportunity to find ways of deepening and refreshing how we pray using creative imagination. Full details are on the Cathedral’s website: www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk and there is a listing below.
 
Other activities include a Christian Basics course on Tuesdays from 23rd February to 30th March, again in the Undercroft, when the Cathedral’s Canon Missioner, Steve Pittis, will explore aspects of the Christian faith and on Saturday 13th March Canon Roly Riem, Canon Chancellor, will lead a study day on The Drama of the Eucharist, the Christian church’s central act of worship. Concerts by Southern Voices (6th March, 7.30pm) and The Waynflete Singers (20th March) complement the worship which will be led by the Cathedral Choir throughout Lent and Holy Week.
 
The climax begins with the Palm Sunday procession on Sunday 28th March when, at 10am, the Cathedral engages in a re-enactment of Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem. On Maundy Thursday, 1st April, at 7pm, the focus tightens with the celebration of the Last Supper and the next day, Good Friday, there is a three hour service of meditation and worship marking his death on the cross; then to Easter Day.
 
The Cathedral is delighted to be welcoming the BBC to Winchester this Easter, firstly for the broadcast of its main Easter Day service, and then for Songs of Praise, last taken from Winchester Cathedral in 1998. The Cathedral Choir regularly broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 – including a service of Choral Evensong for Easter in 2008 – but more rarely on television, and with preparations well under way already, it will be an exciting addition to their schedule this year.
 
All are welcome to the live broadcast of the service on Easter Day, and free tickets for the Songs of Praise recordings are available from This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or by post to Songs of Praise (Winchester), Room 5012, BBC, Oxford Road, Manchester M60 1SJ by 15th March, which are to be broadcast in June this year and January 2011. You can also find out more at www.bbc.co.uk/songsofpraise
 

Visitors to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth will have the chance to come face to face with some of the marine world’s most disgusting characters throughout the Half Term holidays (February 13th – 21st).
 
UGH! WEEK highlights a selection of gross behaviour ranging from starfish that throw up their own stomachs to fish that eat poo!
 
Discover more about the smelliest, squidgiest and slimiest marine animals and why their disgusting habits are essential for surviving in the depths.
 
Blue Reef’s Jenna MacFarlane said: “We’ve noticed that many of our visitors, particularly the younger ones, are fascinated by the more unsavoury elements of the underwater world. “With this in mind we’ve decided to dedicate the entire half term holiday period to all the things that make you go ugh!
 
“Our aquarists have really enjoyed coming up with a selection of disgusting demonstrations and offensive experiments.
 
“As well as hands-on activities and workshops we’ve also put together a trail through the aquarium highlighting our most hideous residents and their awful attributes.
 
“There’s everything from ugly eels and spitting sea cucumbers to fish slime, cannibalism and much more,” she added.
 
Special features will include Ugh Trails, feely boxes, rockpool encounters and the chance to get up close with some of the fishes favourite food (yuk!).
 
Events include make your own slime workshops and the chance to get ‘hands on’ with everything from locusts and mealworms to lobster shells, shark jaws and giant crab claws.
 
Ugh-themed talks and feeding demonstrations will also be taking place daily throughout the holiday period.
 
Blue Reef Aquarium, Clarence Esplanade, Southsea. Open daily from 10am. Visit www.bluereefaquarium.co.uk or call 02392 875222 for latest news on forthcoming events, admission prices and directions.

The snow may have left us (for a few weeks at least!) but two new residents at Marwell Wildlife may not be as happy about that as the rest of us. Indeever and Irina, a pair of beautiful snow leopards have recently arrived at the zoological park as part of a European Breeding Programme for the species. Marwell has a very successful big cat track record and keepers have high hopes this new pair will form a strong bond to last for many years to come.  
 
Snow leopards have thick smoky-grey fur which is patterned with dark grey markings, making them practically invisible as they blend perfectly in with the mountains of Central Asia. They can grow up to 50 inches but that’s just their body - their thick furry tails can be just as long again! The tail helps balance the cats as they hunt prey along rocky slopes, and wrapped around the face it is a prefect buffer against the bitter cold.
 
The last snow leopard cub born at the zoological park was during 2005 and was the seventeenth snow leopard from Marwell to join the European Breeding Programme. Carnivores Section Manager, Phil Hindmarsh added: “Both snow leopards have settled in well and Indeever in particular is quietly confidently and likes to sit outside surveying his new territory. Our breeding programme for this species has been very successful and we very much hope that this new pair will raise cubs of their own during the next few years.”  
 
Researchers estimate that there are between 3,500 and 7,000 snow leopards left in the wild. However, no-one really knows for sure as they are very elusive creatures and live in very remote habitats, so tracking them is very difficult. Most researchers rely on evidence, such as scrapes in soil, scent marks and droppings to record their presence.
 
The snow leopards range covers 12 countries, including China, Afghanistan and Nepal, across the mountains of Central Asia. An individual snow leopard range inhabits a defined area which can overlap several of these international borders. This can give them some protect as these sensitive areas are often closed to public access, although it can also add to the difficulty of studying them.
 
The main threat to their survival comes from human activities: they are hunted for their beautiful pelts which are made into coats, their bones are in demand for traditional Asian medicine, and live cats are also captured for the illegal trade market. As people move into their territory with livestock, they are also increasingly suffering from loss of habitat and decline in available prey.
 
An adult snow leopard can weigh between 60-120 lb (27-55kg), which is about seven times the weight of a housecat, and one-seventh the weight of a tiger. They hunt a variety of wildlife, including blue sheep known as bharal in the Himalayas, ibex (a wild goat) and wild argali sheep in the Altai Mountains. They will also take small prey like marmots, hares and birds. They are also opportunistic hunters and will attack livestock, which can cause herders to retaliate by trapping, poisoning or shooting them.