You could easily walk past and just think it was a normal terraced home

Cambridge is one of Britain’s tourist hotspot, with lots of different places for people to visit. The university colleges are a top choice, but there are also a wide range of museums.

These attractions are not hard to miss, but there is one Cambridge attraction that’s hidden in plain sight. Walking down Gwydir Street, people will be faced with terraced houses.

What some people might not know is there is a museum hidden with one of these terraced houses. This is the David Parr House.

This “ordinary Cambridge terraced house” was home to Victorian working class artist David Parr and his family for more than 125 years. The house is a “rare survival of arts and crafts workmanship in a modest domestic setting, layered with 20th century social history”, as stated on the David Parr website.

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David Parr worked for a Cambridge firm of artworkers known as F.R. Leach & Sons. He hand-painted houses and churches.

In 1886, he bought 186 Gwydir Street and decorated the home over the next 40 years. He decorated it by lamps and candlelight in the style of grand interiors he decorated through work.

When he died in 1927, his home was passed down to his granddaughter Elsie Palmer. She lived in it for over 85 years. Today, the house is open to the public for people to visit.

There are a range of guided tours, workshops and events held at the house. If people want to visit, it costs £15 for people to visit without a guided tour, and £20 with a guided tour.

The house is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10am until 5pm.

Beyond Brighton pier, several dinghies were having a glorious day, scudding over the waves.

Things were a touch bumpy, too, inside the grim concrete conference centre where the Lib Dems had gathered. The head of Devon County Council gave his opinion of party leader Sir Ed Davey – and it was not pretty.

Sir Ed had ‘allowed other parties to go steaming past us,’ griped Devon’s Julian Brazil. ‘We seem to be peripheral. We’re lacking ambition, we’re lacking courage, we’re not saying things that people can relate to.’

Welcome to conference!

Have the ineffably patient Lib Dems finally twigged that 60-year-old Sir Ed is a bit of a fool?

After the conference’s three-hour lunch interval – three hours, and they don’t even drink – Sir Ed did a question-and-answer session chaired by former Radio 4 journalist Carolyn Quinn. She raised Mr Brazil’s fears that the party was ‘sleep-walking into irrelevance’ under him.

Sleep-walking into inaudibility, too. Sir Ed’s microphone was not working properly.

A tech bod had to creep on stage to pass him a hand-held mic which didn’t pop.

Once Sir Ed could be heard, he replied that he had known Mr Brazil for years, the unspoken suggestion being that Mr Brazil had always been a difficult beggar. Davey called him ‘a good local councillor’.

Translation: Stick to Devon issues, matey, or I’ll encourage your local colleagues to boot you out of your job. This was heard in silence by a hall that was not full.

Guest interviewers at party conferences are not expected to be especially rigorous, but Quinn did not give Sir Ed an easy time. She brought up Labour’s rumoured plan to impose the mansion tax on houses worth a mere £1.5million and noted that Sir Ed’s constituents in prosperous Kingston upon Thames would be ‘very interested’ in that.

Sir Ed, whose whole strategy is built on sucking up to Labour in the hope that he might become deputy prime minister in a future coalition, did not particularly want to slag off the Government. He therefore resorted to moaning about Brexit. That drew, as it always does from Lib Dems, a few warbly cheers.

Quinn upbraided Sir Ed for retreating into comfort territory and instead asked him if he wanted to keep the pensions triple lock. He did, but an apparent majority of hands in the hall did not agree with him. Oops. This was becoming awkward.

Sir Ed, pain corrugating his forehead, said it was plainly a ‘controversial matter’. You could sense the snowy ancients in the hall thinking: ‘He’s a stodgy bore and not even a stodgy bore who agrees with us. Councillor Brazil has a point.’

Other Lib Dem grandees, if one can use that noun, had sniffed this simmering dissent.

Daisy Cooper MP gave the morning’s main speech and she was dementedly energetic, throwing her arms around, striding about the stage, flashing her gnashers, bouncing up and down, shaking her shoulders as if at a disco, and more.

It was not so much a political speech as a Zumba routine. Has gabble-prone Cooper, who radiates all the gravity of a TV gameshow’s scoreboard operator, worked out that a leadership election may soon arise?

Little Josh Babarinde MP, the party’s president, was also making himself very obvious, striding about the conference centre with a floppy-haired assistant in tow.

Wasp-waisted Mr Babarinde came over all macho and said: ‘We’ve got to flip the table over and rise up!’

My, my, such bar-brawl talk from one so weedy. He looks as if he could barely flip a beer mat.

Ms Cooper, like Sir Ed, kept talking about dismantling Brexit. It’s their go-to response when they have nothing else to say.

She managed to get through her ‘keynote’ speech on the economy without mentioning welfare spending or defence budgets.

Instead, she bellowed about reducing regulation on businesses. That would be a splendid idea, no doubt, but the Lib Dems have seldom seen a regulation they did not like.

Two stars from Call the Midwife and House of the Dragon are partnering up on the stage for a lavish new production at The Lowry theatre of a classic musical that’s been hailed as a ‘cocktail of romance and charm’.

Fresh from a record-breaking summer season at London’s Barbican Theatre, High Society has been hailed as a ‘glittering’ new take on the popular 1956 film of the same name, originally starring Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly.

The musical follows an Oyster Bay socialite who plans to wed a pretentious executive when her ex-husband returns onto the scene. It will star Helen George, who plays Trixie Franklin in Call The Midwife, and Freddie Fox, who currently stars as Gwayne Hightower in Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, in the lead roles.

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The musical, which features classic Cole Porter songs including Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Let’s Misbehave, and You’re Sensational, will be performed at The Lowry on a two-week run from September 22 to October 3 (tickets here), and Helen and Freddie both say taking part in the show is a moment they’ve both been longing for.

“I grew up listening to all the greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra singing those wonderful Cole Porter melodies,” Helen explains. “Doing this show is really special for me because this is the music that I grew up with and sang along to.”

“I’ve been building up to this since the age of four when I saw my first musical at the National Theatre,” Freddie says as he recalls seeing Guys and Dolls on the stage at a young age. “I absolutely loved it, I learned all the words to all the songs and I sang them to anyone who would listen for a good few years afterwards.

“It’s what started my obsession with musicals and I later became besotted with Cabaret and The Producers, so finally getting to star in one now on stage is the realisation of a boyhood fantasy.”

In the production, Helen, who previously appeared on Strictly Come Dancing back in 2015, takes on the role of Tracy Lord, who the actress describes as being a bit of a ‘White Lotus’ level of appeal to her.

“She’s a very interesting character,” she explains. “One of my first questions was ‘Why would we care about her?’, because on paper she’s got it all. She lives in this fantastic house and there’s so much wealth behind her, but ultimately it’s a story about human relations and Tracy is trying to control her life in the best way that she can.

“It’s a bit like The White Lotus because everybody’s in this world of wealth and fabulousness, and how can we relate to that? But actually we can’t take our eyes off them and there are really relatable themes about love and pain amidst all the fun and fantastic songs.”

Helen adds: “I think what’s interesting about her is that she’s a divorced woman in 1951, which is rare and actually quite brave. It’s interesting to explore the fact that she’s free and independent and only needs a man for love, not money.”

Freddie, meanwhile, will play the sharp-eyed tabloid reporter Mike Connor, who is constantly hunting for scandal and heads to the Oyster Bay house for hopes of his next big scoop. “He’d like to think of himself as a socialist, but he’s probably more of a champagne socialist, to be honest,” Fox laughs.

“He’s a sort of middle-class intellectual and a very good writer, but he has only ever written one book that nobody read, so he has to make money as a journalist – which is something that he hates doing but it pays the bills.

“When he arrives at this fancy-schmancy house in Oyster Bay he’s thinking ‘These people are going to be completely ghastly’ and decides that he wants to hate them all on principle, but then he gets lured by the high society spell.”

Asked if he has any comparable features to the role of Mike, Freddie laughs again as he says: “Well, apart from being slightly left-wing and liking champagne, not really!”

The show comes at a special time of year for Helen, who would normally be on set filming Call The Midwife. However, following its recent 15th series, bosses of the popular BBC show confirmed it was on a hiatus but reassured fans it had not been cancelled. Helen says she is sure she will be back on the show soon enough.

“It’s weird not seeing my friends in the cast [right now],” the actress explains. “Call the Midwife is always going to be a part of me and I hope in my future as well. I’m hoping that my time as Trixie hasn’t come to an end just yet.”

Both Freddie and Helen say the fact that High Society is touring the country following its run in London is essential for audiences across the country to be able to get the same offering and level of shows as those living in the capital.

“Without getting on my soapbox, I think touring productions are so important,” she stresses. “I grew up in Birmingham and I saw so many wonderful touring shows, and that’s what made me want to do what I do now.”

Freddie adds: “Taking a show out of London is what it’s all about for me. Theatre should be for absolutely everybody and I think now more than ever – as we face a kind of technological revolution, the effects of which we can’t quite predict, what with AI and the like – theatre is more important to us than perhaps it ever has been in our history.

“Taking a show on tour and giving people a great night out is just one brick in that enormous wall.”

With a book by Arthur Kopit, High Society will feature a multi award-winning creative team behind it, including renowned director Rachel Kavanaugh and Mamma Mia! choreographer Anthony Van Laast. It will also feature gorgeous costumes designed by Jon Morrell, which is something Freddie is especially excited about.

“The costumes are extraordinary and audiences will leave the theatre feeling like no expense has been spared on making it a truly massive musical extravaganza,” he states.

Both performers say they are excited to get onto the Salford Quays stage for the adaptation of High Society, and say they expect it to be a real slice of very-much-needed escapism for audiences right now.

Helen said: “I come out of the theatre, then I listen to the news and think ‘Oh God, I’m so glad that I’m doing High Society, not something that’s sad or political in any way’.

“This is exactly the sort of show that we need right now, and I think that theatre really comes into its prime when the world feels uncertain – especially with a musical that’s as much fun and as lively and joyful as this one.”

High Society will be at The Lowry from September 22 to October 3. Helen George will not appear in the September 25 and 26 shows. Tickets here.

Carrick, who is feeling the heat after a winless run of four games, welcomed back Luke Shaw from injury at left-back after the England international’s spell out with a thigh problem, while summer signing Carlos Baleba was amongst the substitutes for the first time since his move from Brighton, having arrived at Old Trafford with a pre-existing ankle issue.

Indonesia is home to about 36 per cent of the world’s tropical peatlands, and the degradation and draining of these landscapes has worsened the situation. When parched, the peatlands can burn for weeks, releasing more toxic fine particulate matter and carbon than tropical forest fires. 

The El Niño, which typically brings hotter, drier weather to Southeast Asia, has exacerbated the situation. 

“Indonesia is only about three weeks into its fire season, but we’re seeing fire activity track sharply upward, similar to 2015,” Robert Field, a Columbia University researcher, told NASA Earth Observatory. “The strong El Niño is making the dry season drier over the fire-prone parts of the country and exacerbating burning.”

On Thursday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned there was almost a 100 per cent chance the weather phenomenon will continue through to February – the strongest level of certainty it has ever given in an El Nino/La Nina update. 

“If this trajectory continues, it may be stronger than anything since our monitoring began – so literally off the charts we have used for the past four decades,” Celeste Saulo, the WMO Secretary-General, told reporters in Geneva. 

Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security

Associate Editor Tom Bryant falls in love with the charismatic five new Strictly professionals – who reveal all about joining the biggest show on TV

Following the biggest shake-up of Strictly’s professional line-up in years, five new dancers have been thrust into the limelight. And after spending time with all of them, I suspect that winning over viewers will be the easiest routine they learn all year.

There is 22-year-old Ukrainian Aleksandra Isaeva – a hilarious force of nature who her new colleagues describe as “a firework”. Then there is fiercely bright South African Lethabo Monametsi, 23, deep-thinking Italian Cristian Priori, 34, and laid-back Canadian Mark Karmalita, 23, whose new colleagues already predict will become something of a Strictly heartthrob.

And for 21-year-old Brit dancer Maddie Ingoldsby, who is paired with Love Island’s Cach Mercer, joining the show is a lovely full-circle moment.

“Shirley [Ballas] used to actually be my teacher,” Maddie laughs. “It’ll be like going back to when I was younger.”

Head judge Shirley has coached many of the pros over the years, and Maddie knows from experience exactly how demanding she can be. “She’s like my strict dance mum… I’ll just be trying to get it perfect for her,” she admits.

Viewers will instantly warm to Maddie. But the Bournemouth dancer still seems slightly bemused that any of this is actually happening – and reveals that she initially ignored the email from producers asking to meet her.

“I thought it was spam… I didn’t think it was real,” she smiles. “It’s very weird. I don’t believe it’s real right now. “I’m, like, ‘Oh, am I really going to be on TV tomorrow night?’”

Maddie’s CV suggests she has little reason to be daunted. She is a UK National Ballroom Champion and eight-time Amateur 10-Dance World Champion who has also been crowned World Rising Star and Under-21 World Ballroom Champion. The others arrive with equally formidable dance backgrounds.

Aleksandra is a multiple Ukrainian National Latin Champion, and is ranked among the world’s top 21 Latin dancers. Her dance partner Cristian is a four-time Italian Latin Champion, while Canadian Mark is a two-time National Latin Champion.

Lethabo, meanwhile, is an undefeated South African Latin Champion – and also has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Law major from the University of the Witwatersrand. “She is super smart… any interview with her should be at least three hours long as she is so knowledgeable,” Aleksandra says.

Lethabo also says that when she got the call from Strictly, she had to swear her family to secrecy and “there were tears, including from myself”. She first fell in love with dance after watching the South African version of Strictly Come Dancing.

Lethabo says: “My dance journey started because of Strictly, and then to come all these years later and find myself entering Strictly, it was just… ‘I can’t believe this is happening’.”

Cristian and Aleksandra both teach at a dance studio in Italy and had to sneakily arrange replacements without telling their students where they were going. Cristian says: “We had to keep it secret from them ‘til the last moment before we did a call with everyone. They were delighted for us, and gave us a cake with our picture and Strictly on. It was very moving.”

Mark had been teaching in Toronto and found himself having similarly mysterious conversations. “I had to keep it, like, ‘Guys, I have to leave, but I can’t tell you where and why’,” he says. “Everyone was trying to guess. Then when the news came out, it all made sense.”

There is one thing Mark’s fellow newcomers think he may be rather less prepared for, though. “When we go to Blackpool, all the girls will be screaming his name,” Aleksandra laughs, calling him “the cutest boy”. And Cristian agrees, joking: “I think he will steal the hearts not just of teenagers, but also all the mums of England.”

Mark, who is paired with Olympian Tabby Stoecker, is rather more bashful about the prospect of becoming a sex symbol, though. “I don’t want to say that’s going to happen,” he laughs.

“I appreciate the compliment, but I don’t know. I’m just going to try to be the best version of myself. Whatever happens, happens.”

The five newbies have already had their first taste of the showbiz world, joining the rest of the Strictly cast at the National Television Awards as the show picked up another prize. But anyone thinking they stayed up celebrating into the wee small hours would be mistaken.

“We didn’t join the party because the day after it was a very early morning call at the studios and we had to record,” Cristian says.

But Mark adds: “I actually got to meet Gordon Ramsay. I thought that was really epic.” And for Aleksandra, Strictly also gives her a platform to talk about where she comes from. She says: “Ukraine is everything to me: it’s my identity, my blood, my DNA. For four years, we haven’t had much good news, but I’m so grateful to be able to share my love for dance while also sharing the Ukrainian roots and the place I come from.”

All five dancers are also prepared for the inevitable moment Craig Revel Horwood delivers one of his less-than-complimentary verdicts.

“The competitive dance world can be cutthroat,” Lethabo says. “You get accustomed to learning to take criticism and learning to take any form of feedback and understanding that it’s not personal.”

Maddie agrees. “I’ll always take it…even if it’s grumpy and grouchy, and Craig saying, ‘That was awful, darling’.”

And if viewers want an idea of quite how excited the newcomers are, Aleksandra probably sums it up best. “Imagine how planet Earth was created,” she said. “This is bigger.”

Set against the backdrop of Pendle Hill, the route takes visitors through the village landscapes linked to one of England’s most infamous witch trials, allowing walkers to follow in the footsteps of people whose names are still remembered more than 400 years later.

The Pendle witches story dates back to 1612, when 12 people from the area around Pendle Hill were accused of witchcraft. Most were connected to two rival families, the Demdikes and the Chattoxes, whose long-running feud became caught up in a wider investigation.

The accused were eventually tried at Lancaster Castle, with 10 people executed after being found guilty.

Today, their story has become one of Lancashire’s most famous pieces of folklore and heritage.

The walking route explores many of the places connected to the trials, beginning in and around the villages beneath Pendle Hill before passing through countryside that has changed little since the 17th century.

One of the most popular sections starts in Barley, a village often used as a gateway to Pendle Hill. From there, walkers can explore the surrounding area, including Newchurch-in-Pendle, where visitors can find the so-called “witches’ grave” bearing the Nutter name, a reference linked to one of the accused, Alice Nutter.

The route also takes in sites associated with stories from the trials, including locations where some of the accused were said to have lived or met, as well as viewpoints across the landscape that became forever linked with the events of 1612.

While the history attracts visitors from around the world, the scenery is equally impressive. The route passes beneath Pendle Hill, which rises to 557 metres and dominates the skyline across much of East Lancashire.

Pendle Hill has been named among the most scary walking routes in the UK (Image: Getty)

Walkers are rewarded with sweeping views over the Ribble Valley, Burnley and the surrounding countryside.

For those wanting a longer challenge, Lancashire is also home to the Pendle Witches Walking Trail, a route based on part of the journey taken when the accused witches were marched to trial at Lancaster in 1612.

The trail begins at the Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford.

More than four centuries after the trials, the Pendle witches remain woven into the identity of the area.

From statues and heritage attractions to walking routes and annual events, their story continues to draw thousands of visitors to East Lancashire every year.

For walkers looking to combine a countryside hike with a fascinating piece of Lancashire history, few routes are quite as memorable as the Pendle Witch Walk.

By ROBERT FOLKER, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 19:58 BST, 20 September 2026 | Updated: 20:12 BST, 20 September 2026

By ELEANOR MANN

Published: 19:09 BST, 20 September 2026 | Updated: 19:45 BST, 20 September 2026

Mia Tindall followed in her mother’s equestrian footsteps at the weekend – and was the spitting image of Zara competing around the same age.

The 12-year-old took the reins for the team show jumping competition at the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials in Oxfordshire on Sunday.

Wearing traditional uniform as she rode her pony Bunny Two Twirls, Mia looked very much like Zara did when she took part in an Animal Fun Day charity event at Ascot Racecourse in 1992 aged 11. 

Her mother beamed as she watched her daughter, having competed at Blenheim herself earlier this weekend on her horse Classicals Euro Star, affectionately known as Casper. 

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The mother and daughter daughter were pictured chatting and smiling in jodhpurs this morning, both looking in their element as they prepared to saddle up. 

Later on in the day, Zara was spotted helping Mia prepare to compete, watching her do a practice round of the jumps and feeding Mia’s pony. 

The young royal looked confident as she cleared the jumps, competing in the showjumping section of the trials as part of her team Minchinhampton Pony Club, which is based near Stroud, Gloucestershire. 

Mia looked grown up and smart in her traditional riding uniform, donning black polished riding boots, a fitted competition jacket, and her hair swept back into a low bun beneath a black helmet. 

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Experienced equestrian Zara cheered her daughter Mia (pictured on her horse, Bunny Two Twirls) on at Blenheim Palace this weekend 

The royal watched from the sidelines as her daughter cleared the jumps on a grey gelding pony

Zara had competed herself two days earlier at the same event on her horse Classicals Euro Star 

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Mia had been spotted grooming her mother’s horse at Blenheim on Saturday before competing herself the next day. 

Zara, who is married to former England rugby player Mike Tindall and is the King’s niece, was dressed casually in white skinny jeans on Saturday and a navy blue jacket, as she cheered Mia on. 

The royal completed her equestrian look with her hair tied back in a low bun and a pair of stylish sunglasses. 

Zara, who won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics and was once voted BBC Sports Personality Of The Year, proudly supported her eldest daughter at the junior event. 

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It is perhaps no surprise that the young royal has inherited her family’s love of horses. Her grandparents, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, both competed at the Olympics in horsing events. 

Zara and her daughter looked right at home in matching jodhpurs as they attended the event together this weekend

Queen Elizabeth II, meanwhile, rode as a small child up until a few weeks before her death aged 96 in 2022.

In a 2019 interview, Zara revealed that both her daughters, Mia and Lena, had taken to riding at a young age, adding: ‘They both ride. Lena is in a little basket on the saddle, purely a passenger. But we just bought Mia a new pony called Magic.’ 

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The Blenheim Palace Horse Trials, which take place at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, ran from Friday to Sunday, with the Dressage phase running from Thursday to Friday, while the Cross-country phase began on Saturday. 

Zara has competed at the prestigious equestrian event several times – and in 2005 won individual and team gold on Toytown during the European Championships. 

The legendary BBC host left Strictly in 2025 along with Tess Daly

Strictly Come Dancing legend Claudia Winkleman has given her verdict on replacement host, Emma Willis.

The new presenter – who’s fronting the BBC One flagship show alongside Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe – made her debut last night, Spetember 19.

Willis – like hosting team before her, Winkleman and Tess Daly, shared her outfit of the week on her Instagram, showcasing the stylish, rose gold-coloured sparkly dress for week one.

Her comment section was awash with compliments from celebs including Claudia herself. The Traitors host simply wrote “knockout” in her verdict on Willis’ look. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter.

Alison Hammond also commented saying “stunning” as did fashion guru, Gok Wan.

It was announced last year that hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman would be stepping down from their hosting duties after an incredible run. Tess, 57, had hosted the BBC One dance series since the very start in 2004 while Claudia, 54, had joined in 2010.

After months of anticipation and speculation, Tess and Claudia’s replacements were finally revealed as Josh Widdicombe, Emma Willis and pro dancer Johannes Radebe. Incredibly, Emma, 50, will be hosting the pre-recorded The Voice UK at the same time as live Strictly Come Dancing.

Talking about becoming hosts and hitting back at any backlash, the trio opened up in an exclusive interview with Radio Times. “You can’t please everyone and everyone has an opinion about Strictly. Some people won’t be happy that it’s us presenting, but there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m not here for negativity.” Josh, 43, shrugged, according to the publication. “What can you do? It’s a joyful show. I never read that kind of stuff before and I’m not going to start now.”

Strictly Come Dancing’s live shows start on September 26 on BBC One.