Added whatsnew, and minimal links in other docs sections.

Author: pp-mo

docs/src/userguide/loading_iris_cubes.rst

@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@ Iris will attempt to return **as few cubes as possible**
 by collecting together multiple fields with a shared standard name
 into a single multidimensional cube.
 
+.. hint::
+
+    There are some hints at :class:`iris.CombineOptions` on how Iris works to load
+    fewer and larger cubes, along with user options that can aid in controlling the
+    process.
+
 The :py:func:`iris.load` function automatically recognises the format
 of the given files and attempts to produce Iris Cubes from their contents.
 

docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst

@@ -30,13 +30,30 @@ This document explains the changes made to Iris for this release
 ✨ Features
 ===========
 
-#. N/A
+#. `@pp-mo`_ renamed the :class:`iris.LoadPolicy` as :class:`iris.CombineOptions` and
+   :data:`iris.LOAD_POLICY` as :data:`iris.COMBINE_POLICY`, though the original names
+   remain functional (and refer to the same things) for now.
+   (:issue:`6203`, :pull:`6334`)
+
+#. `@pp-mo`_ added new :meth:`~iris.cube.CubeList.combine` and
+   :meth:`~iris.cube.CubeList.combine_cube` methods of a :class:`~iris.cube.CubeList`
+   as an alternative way of accessing the :func:`~iris.util.combine_cubes` mechanism.
+   (:issue:`6203`, :pull:`6334`)
+
+#. `@pp-mo`_ added a new utility function :func:`~iris.util.combine_cubes`, to give
+   general public access to the combine merge/concatenate mechanism introduced for
+   generalised loading support via :class:`iris.LoadPolicy` in the Iris 3.11 release.
+   (:issue:`6203`, :pull:`6334`)
+
+#. `@pp-mo`_ overhauled the :class:`iris.LoadPolicy` facility by adding a new
+   ``equalise_cubes_kwarg`` keyword, enabling it to call the
+   :func:`~iris.util.equalise_cubes` utility function as one of its processing stages.
+   (:issue:`6203`, :pull:`6334`)
 
 #. `@pp-mo`_ added a new utility function :func:`~iris.util.equalise_cubes`, to help
    with aligning cubes so they can merge / concatenate.
    (:issue:`6248`, :pull:`6257`)
 
-
 #. `@fnattino`_ added the lazy median aggregator :class:`iris.analysis.MEDIAN`
    based on the implementation discussed by `@rcomer`_ and `@stefsmeets`_ in
    :issue:`4039` (:pull:`6167`).

lib/iris/__init__.py

@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
 The :func:`load` function provides a simple way to explore data from
 the interactive Python prompt. It will convert the source data into
 :class:`Cubes <iris.cube.Cube>`, and combine those cubes into
-higher-dimensional cubes where possible.
+higher-dimensional cubes where possible
+(for which, please see :class:`iris.CombineOptions`).
 
 The :func:`load_cube` and :func:`load_cubes` functions are similar to
 :func:`load`, but they raise an exception if the number of cubes is not