You read it here second - today’s offering comes to you from the pages of last Friday’s Daily Mail – the Richard Kay page to be precise.
On his page, Mr Kay offers us a small article which alludes to a certain Rio Ferdinand, footballer of this parish. Those of you unfamiliar with Mr Ferdinand may wish to follow that link. If you can’t be bothered, let me tell you that he is a Premiership footballer and multi-millionaire who has played for Manchester United for almost ten years.
This is what Richard Kay has to say:-
“He earns £120,000 a week, lives in a £5 million home and has a taste for flashy cars – but one thing apparently lacking in footballer Rio Ferdinand’s life is nature. For the Manchester United player has, I learn, asked for plans to be drawn up to build a large, barn-style home on an ecological reserve in the Cotswolds which is home to more than 4,000 rare species and just a corner kick from Prince Charles’s Highgrove estate.
‘Rio wanted somewhere secluded and away from the paparazzi, but it’s the rare creatures that live on the reserve that have been the real draw for him,’ says a friend. ‘He is particularly excited by the beaver colony which has lived there since 2005.’
In fact, a key feature of the 5-bedroom house, designed by architect John Pardey, will allow the soccer star to do just that – an elevated hide and jetty on the 80-acre lake have been designed so Ferdinand can happily observe the beavers in their natural habitat.”
Now I don't know about you, but I was comforted to realise that some of our high-earning (and utterly deserving) footballers have an interest in rare wildlife. Who would have thought it would be beavers?
