Grammar: Dangling Modifiers 4

Dangling modifiers don't quite convey your intended meaning.

By trimming weeds on the sides of the pond you can sit on the benches and enjoy watching ducks. (Via Twitter The weeds have already been trimmed by the gardeners.)

Although owned by popes and princes alike, the programme focuses on the stunning embroideries produced for the Catholic Church, as these have survived in greater numbers. (V&A website. The embroideries, not the programme, were owned by popes and princes.)

Lined with plush carpets and velvet upholstery, Carolyn has peppered the property with feminine touches. (Daily Mail. The property, not Carolyn - you get the idea.)

Equipped with a surviving 13th century dungeon, the castle is a place any child would love to grow up in. (Not a dangler, more of a non sequitur. Unless as a four-year-old you just longed to be cast into a dungeon.)

The Croydon Architecture Tour takes place again this Saturday. Supported by The National Trust, we'll be delving into the contemporary heritage of Croydon and shine a spotlight on the borough. (...Saturday, supported by the National Trust. We’ll...)

Despite being a raging reformer, she’s my favourite Tudor. Poor Anne. (Francesca Stavrakopoulou)

Ramshackle and creaky, director Wendy Toye further enhances the discord by using canted angles and personalised framing.

It was left behind from director Cecil B DeMille's 1923 blockbuster The Ten Commandments. One of the most expensive films ever made at the time, a team of 1,600 artisans built an Egyptian city amid the sand dunes close to the Pacific Ocean. (Daily Express Jan 2018)

The deteriorating political climate between Britain and Germany led to a late switch to Britain instead at the age of six, ending up at Bedales School. (Wikipedia entry on Elizabeth Ferrars. She, not the political climate, went to Bedales.)

Now quite weather-beaten and worn, the internet was surprised to discover a few years ago that the bodies of the Rapa Nui statues were covered with tattoo-like designs. (digventures.com)

Fanned by strong winds and burning for more than a week, Californian firefighters are still struggling to get wildfires under control. (BBC)

A two-hander, Anne-Marie Duff stars alongside Kenneth Cranham as eventual lovers and beginning strangers.

Untouched by spade or trowel for centuries, will we be able to uncover its secrets? (Time Team)

Little Collingwood Street, Bethnal Green. Almost unbelievably narrow, residents faced each other across a 9ft gap. (The Ripper ‏@The_East_End)

Off-limits and full of venomous pit vipers, Snake Island's nickname is frighteningly apt.

Named after a very fine lady from North Wales, I am eating plum crumble with custard. (LC)

At over 700 years old, I'm standing outside one of the oldest universities in the world.

Built nearly 700 years ago, lose yourself in the romantic moated manor house. (National Trust)

After eventually breaking free and calling emergency services, the snake was removed.

Beautifully preserved by the anaerobic Thames mud, I pulled this leather shoe out of the foreshore between Christmas and NY. (Mudlarks Facebook group)

Made up of shell and V stitches, you will be warm and feel wonderful in this shawl.

Built over centuries, medieval masons never saw their cathedrals finished. (@greg_jenner)


The Lord Chancellor sits on the Woolsack, stuffed with wool.

Some years ago I had great fun researching this hitherto unregarded portrait of Elizabeth I with David Starkey. (Dr Bendor Grosvenor ‏@arthistorynews)

The art of fishing for shrimp on horseback.

Penelope watched the horses as they galloped through the telescope.

Visited the magisterial minster church at Stow, Lincs. today with @dr_duncanwright, a true hidden masterpiece of Saxon & Normal architecture. (@Hugh_Willmott)

Shoppers “have more than £9bn worth of clothes they don’t wear in their wardrobes”.

A necklace of red thread was tied round children's necks and never removed until it rotted away naturally in Warwickshire. (Hannah Spencer‏ @hspencer339)

Now at Penn Station a man is on the steps as hundreds of people pass smoking marijuana. (Via Twitter)

Cure for mumps: meet a man riding a white horse accidentally.

While the humans did not initially gain any kind of benefit from this process, over time they would have developed some kind of symbiotic relationship with these animals, eventually evolving into the dogs we see today.

More here, and links to the rest.