We’d decided to take a day trip by coach to Brighton, attracted by the £12 return fare for seniors and the convenient pick-up in our Bedfordshire town.

We didn’t realise, and we suspect nor did the coach company, that the day selected of Saturday August 4th was the day of the Gay Pride celebrations in Brighton. With all the traffic log-jams the 3.5 hour journey took 4.5 hours and the road closures meant our coach had to drop us off a good 15 minute walk in the heat from the town, and we had to be back there 4.5 hours later for the run home. Continue reading →

An anti-abortion group, Life, was kicked out of the Lambeth Country Show last month after a few of the 150,000 visitors complained that their stall was “inappropriate”.

The stall featured plastic models of foetuses at various stages of development laid on a time-line, and this was deemed upsetting by organisers Lambeth Council to visitors who had had abortions. A teacher visiting, Katie Stacey, 26, said that abortion was a “perfectly legal medical procedure” and that women attending a family event “should not feel attacked for their right to choose it.”

Life say they are considering legal action against what they see as censorship. Question is, for all of our thinking teachers of the young out there, does being “perfectly legal” make it right?

A fit and healthy mother died last August after eating “bloody” chicken infected with E.coli in a hotel buffet restaurant in Corfu.

Natalie Rawnsley, 37, died in a Corfu hospital 36 hours after swallowing a few bites of the chicken.

The name of the hotel has not been released.

The Shangri-La Hotel, which occupies floors 34-52 of the Shard has lost more than £60 million since it opened four years ago.

The five-star hotel offers spectacular views over the Capital as well as marble bathrooms, an infinity pool 600 feet off the ground and a standard room rate of £399.

Reasons for the losses have been rocketing costs and a very competitive hotel landscape in London, where 5,000 new rooms were added in 2016.

Olympia Exhibition and Conference Centre is to get a £1 billion refurbishment under plans drawn up by its new owners, Yoo Capital. (Evening Standard)

These include a new 1,500 seat theatre, another performing arts centre, a cinema, two hotels and a number of new restaurants. The exhibition halls are having mezzanine floors put in to increase floor space for exhibitions, the main delivery hub is to be moved underground and Yoo Capital has launched a campaign to get the Tube service from Earl’s Court to Olympia reinstated, a move that will be much appreciated by the all-important visitors.

To a tasting of Vinho Verde wines from quintas (farms) in North-West Portugal and available in the UK.

The wines are increasingly popular in the UK as the demand for light, fresh wines with low alcohol and calories grows – apparently last year we necked more than 1.5 million litres with a value of 3.4 million euros.

The big grape variety, and getting bigger is Alvarinho and this was the grape used for one of our high-scorers, the Casa Do Capitao – Mor Reserva 2016 from the Quinta de Pacos which delivered a fruity vanilla and lychee hit. (Importer Casa Leal) Also excellent was the Alvarinho Deu La Deu Premium 2015 from the Adega Dde Moncao with lots of fresh citrus. (Importer Clarke Foyster) However our top favourites were a very fruity white from Arinto grapes and an equally fruity rose from Espadeiro e Tintas grapes, both from 2017 bottlings by the Quinta de Linhares. (Importer Lisbon Wines Ltd)