Weekly round-up: Five stories you may have missed

Brothers Ian (left) and Stuart Paton have been growing giant pumpkins for 50 years

The world's largest pumpkin, Lord of the Rings filming and school children returning hundreds of pounds they had found were among our most read stories this week.

We have picked five articles from the past seven days in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and Oxfordshire to keep you up to date.

Amazon's Rings of Power filming at scenic coastline

The owners of a coastal cottage have had a glimpse of Hollywood magic and caught on camera filming for the Amazon series, The Rings of Power.

Some of the actors included Robert Aramayo as Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, and Trystan Gravelle in the role of Pharazôn, the last King of Númenor.

The owner of BillWatch Cottage at Portland Bill in Dorset also witnessed a helicopter flying over Pulpit Rock and a local restaurant said some of the film crew had come in for breakfast.

The third season of the drama, which is a prequel to the events in JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was confirmed in February.

'Beautiful moment' as pupils return cash to owner

These schoolboys have been praised for their kindness, after returning a large quantity of cash to the owner.

Crestwood Community School students David, Krish and Danzel were heading to get food in Eastleigh, when they saw a man walk past with AirPods in his ears.

The man, Alex Barter, had some loose notes in his back pocket, which the boys saw fly out and instead of making off with the money they got Mr Barter's attention to give it back.

After returning the money, worth an estimated £250, a grateful Mr Barter offered the boys some cash as a thank you for their honesty, which they turned down.

Twins squash world record for biggest pumpkin

The record-smashing pumpkin, with a small dog for scale

Twin brothers have broken two world records for the world's largest and heaviest pumpkin.

Stuart and Ian Paton, from Lymington in Hampshire, have been growing giant pumpkins for more than 50 years.

They said they had come close to breaking the records several times before - even surpassing them one year - but a small hole in the giant squash led to their disqualification.

However, after their giant fruit weighed in at 2,819lbs (1,278kg) with a circumference of over 21ft (6.4m) at a giant vegetable weigh-off in Reading last weekend, the record was finally theirs.

Tidal sea pool project set to get council support

Isle of Wight Sea Pool has been working on the project since September 2023

A group behind a tidal sea pool on the Isle of Wight coast look set to get support for the project from the council.

Isle of Wight Sea Pool wants to build within the sea defences at Yaverland, Sandown, on a 70m stretch of foreshore owned by Isle of Wight Council between two existing groynes and the sea wall.

The group has asked the council for a Letter of Intent so it can pursue funding for the pool and move the plans to the next stage.

The council's policy, finance and resources committee will make a decision on Thursday.

Oxford tops world university rankings for 10th year

Oxford has topped the rankings for a record 10th year

The University of Oxford has extended its record-breaking run at the top of an international league table to a 10th year.

The university, which is the oldest in the English-speaking world, topped the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026.

It is joined in the top 10 by Cambridge, which has risen to joint third from fifth place in last year's edition, and Imperial College London, which is in eighth.

Overall, 11 UK universities made it into Times Higher Education's top 100 institutions worldwide.