ADVERTISEMENT We are very fortunate to have beautiful and natural countryside on our doorstep in the North East. Whilst my friends were stuck in airport security queues last weekend my partner and I were rediscovering the delights of Teesdale. We decided to stay at the newly refurbished High Force Hotel whichContinue Reading
ADVERTISEMENT For the first time ever in the UK Parliament, on 19 May the F word (“fascism”) was debated in a speech by the Scottish MP Mhari Black. The speech went viral almost immediately. On Sunday 29 May in Brighton, I attended a Festival of Europe debate entitled Democracy underContinue Reading
ADVERTISEMENT Office Suite is a double bill of comic masterpieces from the pen of national treasure, Alan Bennett. In A Visit from Miss Prothero, the devious Miss P upsets the blissful retirement of her former boss with the latest workplace gossip. In Green Forms, Doris and Doreen are happy doingContinue Reading
ADVERTISEMENT Today I crashed my big fast car into a big brick wall, rebounded into a crowd of folk and managed to kill them all. But I once read the highway code and I’d checked my reversing light so I’ve written to the Met to say I got the bigContinue Reading
ADVERTISEMENT Boris Johnson announced last week his intention to revive the use of imperial measurements as part of a way to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Now the government has launched a public consultation to find out the views of consumers and businesses on this subject. The UK currently usesContinue Reading
ADVERTISEMENT The Secular Republic of Turkey, where I am this jubilee weekend, is far away from Her Majesty’s Realm but there are some similarities. In Selcuk, where I’m on holiday, the Temple of Artemis competes with the Cathedral Church of St. John, the Isabey Mosque and the Virgin Mary’s (last)Continue Reading
ADVERTISEMENT The historical nature of the land marked by the North East rivers, Tyne, Wear and Tees catalogues a struggle for supremacy, the right to be overlord from a time in prehistory when families sought supremacy in the North. They did not write their history, the remnants of their gravesContinue Reading
ADVERTISEMENT Absolute Cabaret have been sharing their talents and love for dance and song at care homes in the Sunderland area and beyond as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Venues Absolute Cabaret gave performances at Sunderland Care and Support Headquarters in Leechmere, Farmborough Court Intermediate Care Centre in SunderlandContinue Reading
ADVERTISEMENT Sandra Standbridge/Shutterstock Gareth Griffith, Aberystwyth University Alongside the worrying current fad for plastic grass, a growing number of people are choosing to let their lawns grow wild in order to encourage a more diverse range of plants and insects to live in them. You may not be convinced ofContinue Reading
ADVERTISEMENT City of Durham Labour MP, Mary Kelly Foy, has launched an online survey, which asks members of the public what they think about Durham City Centre. As part of her ‘Healthy High Streets’ campaign, Ms Foy is seeking the views of residents on the future of the city centre, andContinue Reading
