The National Trust: Spend a penny outdoors

The National Trust is urging its employees to brave the cold this winter and spend a penny outdoors for the sake of its compost – news that may inspire ideas in those with greenhouses.

Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire, which is owned by the trust, has set up a pee bale that measures three metres in length and is designed to absorb the urine of male members of staff.

It will help the estate to reduce its water use and will provide a free source of compost, the trust explained.

To save the blushes of the public, however, the bale is only used out of hours.

Tamzin Phillips, the National Trusts compost doctor, stated: "Whats so great about the pee bale is that its using a natural solution to help the garden while saving flushing the loo for only when its really necessary."

In other National Trust news, the organisation announced last month that outdoors enthusiasts could soon see the reintroduction of a number of rare cultivars after it discovered them growing in some of its gardens.