Darwin, Shakespeare, Nelson, Churchill, Newton… Bale.

It’s not every day that someone new earns their place in the pantheon of all-time Great British Heroes. But that is exactly what Mary Bale (spinster, 45) did yesterday when this moment of selfless bravery came to light:

You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by such heroism.

Come on, Your Majesty: a damehood is surely in order.