At the weekend, I did my best to include the fullest range of eating out experiences possible.

Saturday morning took me to Newcastle University for a game of hockey. The post-match refreshments were tomato soup and a Greggs sandwich platter. Verdict: Soup perfectly acceptable, sandwiches okay, but I was hungry again half an hour later.

Saturday afternoon, and it was back down the A1 for nine holes of golf followed by a buffet tea at Masham Golf Club. Verdict: Absolutely splendid, with masses of different hot and cold options, salads, meats and fish, including a lovely salmon dish that melted in the mouth.

Onto Sunday, and it was a roast chicken dinner courtesy of my mam. Verdict: excellent, as always. Fluffy Yorkshire puds, tasty sage and onion stuffing, and masses of gravy.

Monday morning found me at Caffe Nero in Northallerton for coffee and a pastry (and to make use of the free Wi-Fi while my car was getting its MoT). Verdict: good service and I appreciated the offer to warm up my pain au chocolat.

MoT done, was I ready to retreat home and do some eating in? Not a bit of it. It was onwards to Thirsk to try out a relatively new café which a friend had mentioned was worth a visit.

Peaches Coffee House has been up and running on Millgate, almost in the corner of the Market Place, since February.

Peaches Coffee House, on Millgate, in Thirsk, North Yorkshire (Image: Hannah Chapman)

Millgate is choc-a-block with cafés, but has it reached saturation point? Not if Monday was anything to go by—all were busy with customers, many enjoying the September sunshine on a bustling market day.

Peaches certainly has kerb appeal, because it is so, well, peach, the vibrant colour-scheme standing out from the crowd.

Inside, I got a friendly greeting and sat myself down at the only free table.

At the time I called in (just after 11am) the menu offered various breakfast bowl options, with a plethora of different add-ins, plus flatbreads, bagels, sourdough and croissants, all with choices of a base (avocado, hummus, pesto, chutney, mustard, mayo or butter) and two toppings (five different cheeses, meats, spinach, roasted veg, red onions, sun dried tomatoes etc).

The main counter, meanwhile, offered up a mouth-watering selection of cakes, pastries and bagels.

Cakes and pastries at Peaches Coffee House, on Millgate, in Thirsk, North Yorkshire (Image: Hannah Chapman)

After a run of meals with limited decision-making being required on my part, I was a bit overwhelmed by the choice. Would a pesto base work with pastrami? Would avocado sit well with feta and gherkins?

My powers of reason deserted me, so pretty much at random, I ordered a flatbread with hummus, mozzarella and roasted vegetables (£10.50) to be served hot, and a coffee. Perhaps not traditional late-morning fare but I reasoned that after an early start, it was near enough lunchtime.

The flatbread arrived after a short wait and, piping hot, it was served with fresh spinach and coleslaw. My random topping choices turned out okay—the melted mozzarella combined well with the roasted peppers, onions and courgette, while the generous covering of nutty hummus stopped the whole thing from becoming too dry.

A flatbread with hummus, mozzarella and roasted vegetables at Peaches Coffee House, on Millgate, in Thirsk, North Yorkshire (Image: Hannah Chapman)

Filling, but also quite light, it was truly delicious.

The cake counter called to me as I was leaving, and after a thorough examination of the various traybakes, I decided to stick with the theme of the place and got a peach muffin to take away.

Enjoyed later with a cuppa, the chunks of fruit added a lovely flavour to the plain sponge, while the drizzled icing managed not to detract from the sweetness of the peach.

A peach muffin from Peaches Coffee House, on Millgate, in Thirsk, North Yorkshire (Image: Hannah Chapman)

The total bill came to £19, good value I thought, and the service was spot-on. Everyone got a friendly greeting as they arrived, and many people seemed to be on first name terms with the servers.

I hadn’t noticed a couple of crumbs on my table, but between my coffee arriving and my meal being delivered, the chap looking after me came over to give it an extra wipe clean. Many places might not have bothered.

Back out into busy market place, and it was time for the verdict: Peaches is most certainly bearing fruit for Thirsk‘s thriving café culture.

Peaches Coffee House,

2 Millgate, Thirsk YO7 1AA

Open Monday-Friday, 8am to 4pm, 7.30am to 4pm Saturdays and 8am to 2pm on Sundays.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Peaches-Coffee-House-61584980821099/

Ratings (out of ten): Surroundings 9 Value for money 8 Service 8 Food quality 8

Change of use and Listed Building Consent is being sought for The George Hotel in Yorkersgate, Malton, which has been empty for a number of years.

The plans include the change of use of the building to include a pizza restaurant, licensed bar, takeaway, collection and food delivery.

The application, to North Yorkshire Council, by Ms Mariana Horea, co-owner of Da Elia Pizza & Restaurant in Malton.

Da Elia was recently shortlisted in the Best Restaurant/Food Business category in the UK Small Business Awards.

Originally set up as a food van the business moved to Castlegate in April 2024.

The restaurant has since introduced dine-in, takeaway, and delivery services.

The former George Hotel, a Grade II Listed building, is owned by the Fitzwilliam (Malton) Estate which has previously said it intended to undertake a number of works to the property prior to the start of a new lease.

Marketed by agents Fleurets as a ‘substantial three-storey mid terraced property’ the pub has been extended to the rear with a two storey and single storey sections of mixed construction.

Fleurets said: “The business is ideally suited to a variety of operational styles benefitting from its central location within the town and easy access from public car parks, bus and railway stations. Likely to be a wet focussed operation it has a lot of accommodation above that would be suited to hotel rooms or Air BnB accommodation.

“The ground floor is partly open plan with a “U” shaped bar in three areas all connected to a large servery to one side. Ladies & Gents customer toilets and a small domestic grade kitchen.

“On the first floor are four en-suite letting bedrooms. The second floor has three-bedroom private accommodation.

“In the basement there is a beer store with ground level access from the rear and three store rooms. The annex has three en-suite letting bedrooms accessed from a public car park. At the rear there is a small car park and garden area.”

Fleurets said: “The Landlord intends to undertake a number of works to the property prior to commencement of the lease. These include external repairs including an upgrade of the frontage and ensuring the property is compliant – gas, electricity, fire alarms, emergency lighting and asbestos management.”

Two objections have currently been received for the application which is expected to be decided at officer level.

The world convened this week to scan a horizon bleaker and darker than any we have known for nearly a century.

Economic turmoil. War and rumours of war. Grim intimations of humanity’s erasure at the robotic hands of artificial intelligence.

These were the challenges which pre-occupied the leaders who gathered for the United Nations General Assembly over the past five days.

And our own Prime Minister? Well, Andy Burnham offered his – very personal – view of how to break free from history’s constraints and reshape embattled Britain this week. By announcing he wanted to bring back boozing on football terraces.

Given all the inequalities and injustices scarring our world, the PM had lighted on the one scandal that required action this day. He could down a pint while watching rugby league in the stands at Everton’s Hill Dickinson stadium but not when the round ball game was on.

But he would bring back hope, one glass of Boddingtons at a time.

Martin Luther King marched on Washington because he had a dream of a future free of prejudice. Ronald Reagan went to Berlin and pledged to tear down that wall. Margaret Thatcher emerged from the wreckage of the Brighton bombing to affirm that democracy would never bend to terror. And Andy Burnham returned from the UN determined to get one in for the lads.

It is hard to overstate how serious are the crises facing our country – and the world. And even harder to credit how inadequate the British Government’s response appears to be.

The country’s vital national interests – our prosperity and security – are engaged and threatened by wars in Europe and the Middle East. Our economy is in intensive care, with our debt problems metastasising. Growth is anaemic and almost all the vital signs are negative. We are haemorrhaging tax income as the wealthy flee and the talented look elsewhere.

The country they leave behind is increasingly polarised, with masked mobs on extreme Left and Right inciting violence while a toxic identity politics spreads online targeting Jews and questioning the patriotism of past prime ministers based on their skin colour.

Artificial intelligence is ushering in changes to how we live, work and perhaps even endure, more momentous than any previous industrial revolution. Scientists call it a Cambrian moment, recalling the geological age when the globe was convulsed, species became extinct and a new world emerged.

Faced with these swirling, accumulating, dangerously connected crises, our Government meets in Liverpool this weekend for the Labour Party conference proclaiming ‘Hope Again’ – but their programme is a confection of irrelevant trivialities and counter-productive nostalgia, without either the intellectual depth or moral grit to meet this moment.

When we faced our Darkest Hour in 1940, Churchill promised we would get through it with blood, sweat and tears. Labour are now offering us fluff, hype and beers.

In his first few weeks in power, Andy Burnham sought to offer balm for our economic pain – capped bus fares, a few quid off the gas and leccy bills, better terms on our Netflix deal. But these interventions do not begin to address, indeed they even seem to belittle, the scale of the storm our finances face.

As a country we owe our debtors £3 trillion, almost equivalent to everything – everything – our country produces in one year. That is £100,000 per household.

The amount we pay just to service that debt is £100 billion every year. That means for every £100 you pay in tax, £10 goes to international financiers with no benefit to Britain at all.

Money that could be spent on health, education or defence only going to make investment institutions richer. And that amount is rising – as the price we pay to service that debt is going up, because those financiers feel our Government is fundamentally unserious about addressing that burden by bringing spending down.

The moment of truth will come at the Budget, fixed for just over a month’s time. So far remarkably little has leaked about the Government’s proposals for that reckoning with fiscal reality.

But that is not because there is Fort Knox-like security over the Chancellor’s masterly planning. It’s because there is no plan. And therefore nothing to leak.

As The Spectator’s Political Editor Tim Shipman revealed this week in a brilliant inside report, Treasury civil servants have been given next to nothing to work with by their political masters to deal with our crises. Instead of the Chancellor pulling rabbits from his hat on Budget day, he is the rabbit – frozen in the headlights of the oncoming debt juggernaut.

One of the biggest weaknesses in our faltering economy is the high level of energy prices. They spiked after the war in Ukraine ended access to cheap Russian oil and gas for Europe. And now oil and gas supplies from the Middle East are choked off as the Islamist ideologues in Iran and their Houthi allies have their bloody grip on vital waterways in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.

Our position was already perilous: thanks to Ed Miliband’s policies, in Britain we have the highest business energy costs of any developed economy. That is the main cause of manufacturing decline in contemporary Britain. And a daily undermining of Andy Burnham’s nostalgic dream of re-industrialising the country.

But there is some relief visible on the horizon. I can see it from the bedroom of my mother’s home in my native Aberdeen. Thanks to North sea oil and gas, Britain used to be a net energy exporter.

Millions of barrels of both oil and gas are potentially extractable from the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields in Scottish waters. Ed Miliband has, in the past, set his face against any use of those riches because of net zero fundamentalism. Andy Burnham may have moved Miliband from the energy department but he has not moved an inch towards liberating those resources.

Smoke billows above the city after Russia struck Kyiv, Ukraine, in a renewed attack on petrol stations, shipping and railways which left at least two dead on September 23

A decision on both fields has been delayed, yet again, for fear of offending north Londoners who might vote for Zack Polanski in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election because Andy Burnham isn’t Lefty enough.

When Margaret Thatcher was doing what was unpopular, but right for the economy and country, in the early 1980s, she wasn’t deterred by by-election losses: the Lady was not for Turning. Andy Burnham is not so much turning as burning through any credentials for strong leadership he once had.

Because it’s not just on energy that he has put placating the Left ahead of what is right for the nation. The ill-judged sanctions he and Ed Miliband have imposed on Israel may have pleased the Guardian newspaper but they have profoundly disheartened the guardians of our security.

As the Chief Rabbi warned, they have been welcomed by Islamist fanatics. Earlier this week I was in Manchester, speaking to a Jewish community still mourning those killed by terrorist violence at Heaton Park synagogue a year ago.

As we gathered, news had broken of another planned massacre of Jewish citizens in Manchester which had just been averted by swift police action. The third such terrorist atrocity planned against that population in as many years.

It is terrible beyond words that the Government, even as its foreign policy is cheered by Hamas, has to spend millions more on higher walls and more policing to protect our Jewish neighbours.

But none of us are immune from escalating risk. As Tim Shipman also reported, in another chilling dispatch for The Spectator, security chiefs and even diplomats have warned ministers that these sanctions undermine the security and defence co-operation which we and our Gulf allies need in ever more dangerous times. Hamas exultant, Iran defiant, Houthis rampant – but our Government more concerned that it is getting favourable social media clicks from Corbynites. TikToking our way to oblivion.

The security situation we face is not an easily containable single threat which can be massaged away by the new ‘disinformation unit’ the PM announced this week as our contribution to protecting the West.

Both the Polish and French Presidents warned their peoples this week of accumulating dangers from Russia – now locked in an alliance of subversion with Iran and North Korea and bankrolled by totalitarian China.

It was revealed on Thursday that Russia has been preparing the capability to launch drone strikes against France, Italy and Spain from the ships of its ‘shadow fleet’ – an armada of tankers and other vessels which it operates under foreign flags of convenience. The Russian shadow fleet is bigger than any nation’s navy. And it operates by stealth and subterfuge across the globe. Russia is also paying for organised crime groups to conduct sabotage across the West while vital infrastructure – from Germany’s airports to our own cyber network – comes under assault.

This week Sky TV has been screening an exercise – the Wargame – in which I and other ex-politicians run through the options available to this country in the face of Russian escalation.

The most chilling moment was the bald revelation from General Sir Richard Barrons – the man this Government asked to lead a review of our defences – that we have at best two weeks’ fighting capability in our armed forces.

Ukraine has now been under attack from Russia for more than four years. We can only defend ourselves for 14 days. The need to rebuild our defence and security structures has never been more vital than at any time since 1938. But the money we need just isn’t there – when debt is ballooning – without steep spending cuts.

Kemi Badenoch has argued, rightly, that means reining back welfare so we can keep our country safe. But Andy Burnham has said he will not cut social security to fund national security. He will carry on paying general personal independence payments to people who choose not to work while the independence of our nation itself is increasingly put at risk.

And this blind attachment to high state spending, endorsed by union cheers and hard-Left applause, is a descent into socialist nostalgia just as the foundations upon which our economy and societies have been built are being re-modelled at warp speed.

Artificial intelligence, as I said, is a technology whose progress is accelerating beyond the control and understanding of even the most brilliant Silicon Valley sages.

Again this week, the Australian Government found it had been hacked by rogue technology created by Sam Altman’s OpenAI lab without any human either authorising, or being aware, of what was going on before it was too late.

This is only the latest break-out by AI agents, after the infamous recent Hugging Face hack, which has generated understandable fears of a technology we have created becoming not a powerful tool for progress but a force that will humble us all.

The parallels with the ‘gain of function’ research into viruses in Wuhan labs which prefaced the Covid pandemic should give us all reason to question whether we can truly control what science can unleash. The finest minds in the tech world are almost at one in arguing that we need guidance and guard-rails across nations to ensure that this amazing computational power can be a force for good – solving problems, curing diseases, improving productivity – rather than a scourge.

Even as they accumulate huge wealth and power themselves, they fear for the future. With Trump apparently heedless of the risks, and China’s Xi determined that his nation should not fall behind in any tech race, the risks are enormous. But here in Britain, Andy Burnham’s first act was to dismantle the government department charged with shaping our response to this challenge and leave it all to one junior minister.

A previous Labour leader, Michael Foot, made his journalistic and political reputation during World War 2 when he authored a furious polemic – The Guilty Men – naming and shaming those who had failed to prepare Britain for the horror and bloodshed of global conflict.

Now our current Labour leadership risk becoming the Guilty Men of their time. Like the hollow politicians of the Thirties, they allow economic whirlwinds to blow while pouring themselves another comforting drink, they fear to rouse us to resolute action because the political time is not yet ripe, they prioritise the appearance of relatability over the substance of hard decision-making.

In the words of one of the few politicians in the Thirties equal to its dangers, Winston Churchill, this Government is ‘in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent’.

Coleen Rooney has been in the public eye for over 20 years due to her romance with husband Wayne

Coleen Rooney opened up about the importance of staying grounded after her relationship with husband Wayne was thrust into the spotlight. The reality TV star and the Manchester United icon met as schoolkids before beginning their 24-year romance at 16.

It didn’t take long for the duo to be pushed into the limelight, as Wayne established himself as one of the brightest young talents in England during his time with Everton. The former England captain was just 18 when he secured a £27million transfer to Manchester United in 2004, with Coleen by his side every step of the way.

Like most couples, the pair have had their trials and tribulations and have come out stronger despite them. Ahead of the premiere of their upcoming Disney+ docu-series The Real Rooneys, they’ve opened up about their life being played out in public for more than two decades.

Coleen was at the forefront of the significant media attention on the WAGs in the United Kingdom during Rooney’s time at Old Trafford. Dealing with the tabloid press became a regular occurrence for the mother of four, who cited her time knowing Wayne before he reached superstardom as a key aspect of their relationship standing the test of time.

In an interview with the Guardian, she was asked what advice she’d offer to someone who was starting a romance with a famous footballer, to which she answered: “Well, the bonus for us was that we knew each other before Wayne was a footballer.

FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! Latest United news and more on our dedicated Facebook page

“The biggest thing for us was to stay grounded, and we’ve had really good support around us. The people you have around you are really important because the media can destroy young people.”

Coleen offered insight into Wayne’s character, admitting that the football icon can be too quick to anger. She explained: “Wayne is funny and laid-back. He can be a charmer, but can have a short temper.”

Advertisement

Coleen shot to fame five days before her 17th birthday, when Wayne scored his famous late winner against Arsenal to become the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history.

She suddenly found herself stalked by paparazzi while going to school, and when recounting the experience, she said: “It is strange to think that I was literally walking to school. But that shows you how the media were then. Who takes pictures of a kid going to school? It was very intrusive.”

The family’s new show will offer fans a deep look into the home life of Wayne, Coleen and their four sons – Kai, Klay, Kit and Cass.

The Real Rooneys (Episodes 1–8) launches on Disney+ on September 24.

As a student in the 1960s, Zandra Rhodes would often visit the costume court of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to study the Elizabethan doublets. She went on to incorporate elements of Tudor costume into many of her couture collections.

Now things have come full circle. As an icon of British fashion – and a dame – Rhodes’ collections are providing inspiration for a new generation of students. Upon receiving her honorary doctorate of the arts from De Montfort University (DMU) in 2023, Rhodes announced her decision to donate her archive to the university.

These remarkable archives are at the heart of a major new public exhibition across the DMU campus. The University Gallery will explore Rhodes’ creative process and design collaborations with brands such as Ikea, Marks & Spencers and TopShop.

The University Museum will also present an in-depth study of her autumn/winter 1983 Medieval Collection. Together, these displays draw on material from the Zandra Rhodes Foundation’s donation to reveal both the breadth of the designer’s career and the rich educational potential of her archive.

Rhodes originally studied printed textile design at the Royal College of Art in London. After graduating in 1964, she became frustrated with clothing manufacturers who considered her textile patterns too outlandish to use on their garments, so she decided to move into fashion design.

Rhodes ensured that each garment she designed would perfectly showcase her own textile prints. Her trademark diaphanous dresses have been worn by royalty and celebrities, from Princess Diana to Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Harry. Rhodes herself embodies a flamboyant personal style and is famed for her bright pink hair, theatrical make-up and bold costume jewellery.

Fashion and textiles have been taught at DMU for over 150 years, from corsetry and footwear to knitwear and textile design. The university’s special collections hold numerous archives which reflect this background in fashion and textiles teaching.

Rhodes’ archive collection spans 1964 to 2021, and provides a wealth of useful material including: samples of mock-ups and final garments from ready-to-wear collections; documents that chart the development of a design from initial sketches through to fabric sampling, patterning, costing and marketing; press cuttings; photographs; and audio-visual recordings.

Exploring the creative process

Rhodes was very specific that her collection was to be used for teaching the next generation of fashion designers. We have been delighted to incorporate it into a wide range of teaching activities.

Beyond vague ideas about “vintage style”, few students will have considered using heritage or historic costume as inspiration for their own work, even though this approach is increasingly championed by the wider fashion industry.

The scope of Rhodes’ collection allows us to trace the development of a garment from initial conception to finished product, following the chain of design, production and marketing. Reviewing the methods and practices of a globally successful designer is invaluable to students who are at the very start of their own careers.

It demonstrates for them first-hand how much trial and error, collaboration and sheer effort goes into the creative process, and how the path from concept to completion is strewn with mistakes and revisions. That is a powerful lesson for students, who may mistake difficulties in their own work for a lack of talent. The archive shows instead that uncertainty and imperfection are normal parts of the creative process.

The value of hands-on learning

During archive sessions, we take an object-based learning approach. Students are encouraged to get hands-on with the garments and other items in the collection, analysing their cut, construction, materials, techniques, patterning, embellishment and visual impact. This champions the value of materiality in a digital, AI-driven age where many students experience fashion primarily through a screen.

We have also developed creative approaches to lessons that allow the students to engage with the archive in a stimulating way. Sketching from the archive helps build confidence in drawing, supported by seeing real examples of how vital drawing is to Rhodes’ practice.

In another exercise, students analyse the wide range of influences that inspire Rhodes’ pattern designs, from nature and landscapes to urban cityscapes, found objects and folk art. They then find and photograph their own inspirations and create their own Rhodes-inspired patterns.

Adapting the Rhodes signature style

Academic staff collaborating with special collections have designed an increasing number of module assessments that require students to use the archive as direct inspiration for their own designed collections. This has expanded to include numerous design and creative subjects.

Footwear students have made Zandra Rhodes-inspired collections, while fashion marketing students have designed and promoted collaborations between existing brands and the designer. Elsewhere, students of the interior design theatre module have created stage sets drawing on her work on opera costuming, and museum design students have prepared proposals for exhibitions showcasing the archive collection.

Our work shows that there is significant benefit to students when they gain an understanding of creative processes and methods through hands-on handling of heritage collections and archival papers.

The excitement of our students when they encounter the Rhodes’ collection is palpable, and we have noted improvements to their work once they have been immersed in the archive.

One described experiencing the archive first-hand as a “really special moment. It was actually really moving being able to dive into someone’s work and life – it felt very personal.”

It is clear that having access to a rich and comprehensive fashion archive from a top British designer has the capacity to engage and inspire the upcoming designers of the future.

Zandra Rhodes: Archive Unfolded will be on show at De Montfort University, Leicester until January 16 2027

Marks and Spencer’s new autumnal range features some cosy, chic and country-core styles that we think Celebrity Traitors icon Claudia Winkleman would be proud of says senior fashion writer Eve Rowlands

I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait for the new series of Celebrity Traitors to return to our screens next week after a monumental first series in 2025 – with our favourite TV host, Claudia Winkleman, at the helm, no less. While I’m absolutely buzzing for the new twists and turns, drama and gasps of the new series, I am also chomping at the bit for the reveal of the show’s host’s enviable designer-country-core-gothic-inspired wardrobe (see here for my roundup of her looks from The Traitors season 4).

The new series is set to begin on October 1 (8 pm, BBC One), making it the perfect way to settle into the cooler autumnal evenings. With a new season – weather-wise and on telly – in full swing, the high street is currently overflowing with cosy jumpers, chunky boots, plaid, and more that we think our Claud would be all over. In particular, at Marks and Spencer.

So, inspired by past looks of the 54-year-old on the mystery show, I went to my local M&S to challenge myself to create some looks that would receive the seal of approval from the Celebrity Traitors host and her long-time stylist, Sinead McKeefry. It was a success, if I do say so myself – and the ensembles are all under £100.

READ MORE:

Working with what was in stock at my local store, I came up with about four looks that made me feel cosy and weather-appropriate, and that oozed the androgynous style the TV star is so famous for. Expect checks and plaid, cosy, textured jumpers, wax car coats, ruffles, and more – devastatingly, though, I couldn’t find a mallard-decorated knit (if you know, you know).

This jumper screamed out to me when I was wandering around my local M&S and reminded me of the famous Yeti coat look (from designer Raey) mixed with the sheep-ish £1,290 designer Isabel Marant Moka Sweater. Costing £55 from the brand’s Per Una range, the Fringe Detail Relaxed Jumper with Wool comes in XS to XL, and features fringe tassels all over the body and arms – both front and back – and has a lovely relaxed fit, ideal for layering. Personally, I would have liked it a little longer to cover the tops of my legs.

It is cut with a crew neckline and comfy long sleeves, which is ideal for slotting something like this Pure Cotton Checked Shirt, £24, underneath, buttoned up with the collar poking over the top (very Claudia, if you ask us) for a little pizzazz.

For anyone who’d rather have something with a little more neck protection – a la Claudia – this Lipsy Cream All Over Fringe Knitted Jumper from Next, £54, has a similar style with all over fringe and a turtle neck design.

As she’s known for her love of Spanx leggings (£80) and chunky Dr Martens 2976 Chelsea or Bottega Venetta boots, (£1,080), the alternatives I found in store were these Jersey Slim Fit Ankle Grazer Trousers, £19.50, which did the job nicely, alongside the Cowboy Block Heel Knee High Boots, £60. The boots were so comfortable, with my only gripe being that they weren’t very large-calf-friendly; they were quite tight on my calves and had limited stretch.

When teaming this look with the brand’s Cotton Rich Waxed Tie Neck Car Coat, £90, it’s an ideal breakfast greeting and first-challenge fit, wouldn’t you say?

Advertisement

Leaning into the country-core style we often see during the course of the show, this Nobody’s Child V-Neck Longline Jumper with Wool, £69, layered over the Nobody’s Child Checked Collared Shirt, £65, is a great casual look that instantly looks put together when buttoning up the shirt to the top.

The woolly texture of the jumper neatly complements the soft checks of the shirt, which is loose and long enough to be worn confidently with leggings and boots. Adding a wool coat, like this Checked Double Breasted Longline Coat (£90), with its brown flecks, adds a cosy touch that would be topped off with a thick woven hat (like this from Etsy, £51.27) and some fingerless gloves.

Swapping out the trousers for a Checked Midi Circle skirt pays homage to the kilt-style skirts Claudia has worn on the show. While the checks are small and not quite as prominent as what the TV star has previously worn, the skirt’s shape has the same elegant swish and subtlety that makes it work with other patterns – like in the shirt worn here. For anyone wanting more of a tartan-style print, this ASOS DESIGN tailored midi kilt in brown check with a button detail (£35) is a great option, featuring traditional pleats and a side zip fastening.

Stumbling on this gorgeous M&S £36 Wool Blend Cable Knit Jumper, I was instantly reminded of the Mr Mittens knitted red oversized jumper Claudia wore in Series 2, Episode 9. While I didn’t have an equally chunky olive scarf (this Regatta Women’s Aleena Shawl Scarf | Khaki Green, £28, is a great alternative that’s just as cosy), the Cotton Rich Waxed Tie Neck Car Coat echoed the original look’s green hues and helped me complete a look worthy of the Queen of TV.

For something worthy of her roundtable looks, which often feature ruffles, lace, statement silk, or a power suit, I found this gorgeous Lace Collared Ruffle Shirt, £55, which ticked several boxes. With a feminine button-through front that’s covered in romantic ruffles, it has a sheer, lace design (and comes with an under-vest) and long, cuffed sleeves. We can see it pairing nicely with an emerald-green or purple velvet suit and loafers.

Shildon’s Anthony Gillan and his partner attended the celebration on April 15, 2023, where they enjoyed a night of drinking.

But Durham Crown Court was told the mood changed when they returned to the woman’s home.

Andrew Espley, prosecuting, told the court: “He suddenly flipped, punching and slapping her and stamping on her head, before pushing her into a bed frame.”

Gillan also grabbed her by the neck, pulled out her hair extensions and punched her again when she tried to flee, before throwing her out of her own home.

In clear distress, she rang a friend and reported the attack.

Police found her crying, suffering several injuries, which they photographed.

In the days that followed, Gillan sent her deeply offensive and degrading messages.

After his arrest, he tried to explain the injuries by claiming his partner liked rough sex, including being strangled by him.

He denied committing any offences, but changed his pleas on the day of his recent trial, admitting intentional strangulation and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Gillan, 39, of Redworth Road, was said to have 12 convictions for 21 offences, including battery on a former partner, in 2020.

Mr Espley said the victim of these offences had no desire to move and chose not to make an impact statement.

Robert Mochrie, in mitigation, said Gillan eventually pleaded guilty, “albeit with some reluctance”, after his trial began.

“He’s struggled with his memory of that night due to the amount of alcohol consumed by both parties during the day after the wedding.”

Mr Mochrie said a long time had passed since the offence and Gillan is now in good employment, leading a four-strong team of gas engineers working in London.

He added: “In his absence all of those men would lose their employment.”

Judge Nathan Adams told Gillan: “You subject her (his then partner) to a horrendous and prolonged assault in her own home.

“She was beaten repeatedly, punched, kicked, stamped upon and dragged by the hair.”

The judge said Gillan subjected her to, “a torrent of abusive, degrading messages” over the following days.

Judge Adams said Gillan appeared to minimise his actions when interviewed by the Probation Service after changing his pleas on the day of trial.

“Despite your claims, you were quite clearly the aggressor that night.

Read next … more court stories from The Northern Echo, by clicking here

“It was a serious and sustained attack in a domestic situation in the victim’s own home.”

Judge Adams sentenced Gillan to 22 months in prison and issued a restraining order.

It prohibits him from approaching or contacting the victim for ten years.

He addressed more than 120 degree and higher-level students from York College & University Centre at their graduation ceremony at York Minster.

In his speech, Mr McClaren quoted his former mentor Sir Alex Ferguson, who once told him: “Top players, top people and successful people only need two words – well done.”

Mr McClaren said: “So, to every student, along with your families, friends and teachers, I’d like to say to you all – well done.”

He also spoke about growing up in York and riding his bike past the Minster on his way to school, recalling stories from his father who worked on the cathedral’s roof and walls, and reflecting on his own son’s graduation at the same venue.

The ceremony celebrated students from a wide range of courses, including those from the York School of Art and Institute of Technology, as well as programmes in business, teacher training, hair and beauty, construction, early years, esports and engineering.

Ken Merry, principal and chief executive of York College & University Centre, commended the graduates for their hard work and resilience.

Mr Merry said: “Education can be life-changing, it can be life-defining.

“I would not be where I am today if it was not for a strong education and the opportunities that this has presented to me.”

From left-to-right: George Garside, Grace Marris, Daniel Ellwood, Abi Horton, Jack Somerville and Robyn Bradley with their York College & University Centre Graduation awards and certificates in York Minster (Image: Supplied)

He encouraged graduates to continue pursuing learning, quoting Dr Seuss: “The more that you read, the more things that you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

The ceremony also included a procession from the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, led by York Town Crier Ben Fry.

Special awards were presented to six graduates for outstanding achievement.

Abi Horton, who studied media make-up, special effects and hair design, received the Principal’s Prize.

Robyn Bradley was awarded the Governors’ Award for her achievements as an HNC Engineering for England student.

Other winners included Grace Marris, who received the York School of Art Outstanding Achievement Award, and Daniel Ellwood, who received the Professional Studies Outstanding Achievement Award.

George Garside won the Progression Outstanding Achievement Award, and Jack Somerville was honoured with the Institute of Technology Outstanding Achievement Award.

Mr Merry urged graduates to approach the future with the same commitment they showed in their studies.

He said: “If you do that, there will be no end to the remarkable things you can achieve in your life and career.”

President Donald Trump poked fun at Iran with a photo of the ‘Trump Strait’ shortly after rejecting a seven-day ceasefire and telling aides that he expects to continue bombing the country after the midterms in November.

Trump turned down a proposal that included Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming nuclear talks, according to the Wall Street Journal.

About half an hour after the news broke, Trump took to Truth Social with a picture of the ‘Trump Strait,’ evoking shades of how he used his presidential power to rename the Gulf of America and Lake America.

In return, the US would have lifted its blockade of Iranian ports, which is hurting the country’s economy. Trump does not intend to end the maritime blockade.

Trump is skeptical about Iran meeting his demands and has reportedly told staff that another bombing campaign is likely slated for after the midterm elections, the outlet reported. 

The nature of the renewed strikes on Iran remains unknown, with the US’ diminishing reserve munitions being taken into consideration after months of war in Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that that the initial steps in the proposal would take about four to five days to complete, per the Associated Press.

On Tuesday, Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly and warned that he may ‘annihilate’ Iran if a deal was not reached to end the war.

The proposal turned down by Trump included Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz as part of a weeklong process

Advertisement

Around a fifth of the world’s traded oil flowed through the strait, which is a narrow passage of water between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, every day prior to the Iran war. 

Araghchi said a deal ‘would be much better if it is done before the midterm election,’ CNBC reported. 

‘But it depends on the US administration to decide,’ he added. ‘We are not in a hurry.’

Under the suggested proposal, the strait would open on the sixth day. Talks with the US would resume on the final day of the deal. 

Trump said Tuesday that he believed a deal would be struck ‘right after the election because it doesn’t make sense for them not to.’ 

‘They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election,’ Trump said. ‘What they don’t realize is that I’m not running.’

Disruptions on the strait as a result of the Iran war have pushed up crude prices worldwide. 

That has made gasoline more expensive for customers, which has become a talking point ahead of the midterms.

Trump warned that he may ‘annihilate’ Iran if a deal was not reached to end the war during his UN General Assembly speech earlier this week

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that striking a deal ‘would be much better if it is done before the midterm election’

Trump also mused at the UN that he had a ‘big decision to make’ with regards to the Middle Eastern country’s future. 

‘Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world?’ Trump said. 

‘Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?’ he continued.

The President previously said that the US would not ‘rush into a deal in that time is on our side.’

‘Both sides must take their time and get it right,’ he posted on Truth Social in May. ‘There can be no mistakes!’ 

The war in Iran has raged since February 28 after joint US-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump has not used his presidential power to rename the Strait of Hormuz as the ‘Trump Strait’ despite his Friday night post. 

In late August, he signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America. 

That came after Trump also signed an executive order on January 20, 2025, during his second inauguration as president, to effectively rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment. 

This is a breaking news story. More to come. 

Despite a mixed reception critically, and amongst fans, a reader insists that Marvel’s Wolverine is the best new game he’s played in 2026, in terms of both story and gameplay.

I saw this week that Marvel’s Wolverine was confirmed not to be a flop and had in fact sold almost 2 million copies in just three days. I am very glad, because not only have I really enjoyed the game but I have been upset to see it turned into a punching bag over the last month or so, with all sorts of complaints aimed at it that are just as true for almost any other big budget game, including all of developer Insomniac’s previous games.

It all seems to have got mixed up with the well-deserved hate over Sony’s no disc policy and some poorly chosen gameplay clips that made it look like a barely interactive showreel, where you just press ‘A’ to win. But it’s not like that at all. It’s not Devil May Cry either but believe it or not some people don’t enjoy learning long combos or having to take a night course in the game’s combat before being any good at it.

But once the internet sees blood in the water that’s the end of it and somehow everyone has very strong opinions about a game that’s not even out yet and which afterwards earned a Metacritic of 76 (I just went and checked and apparently the Deadpool & Wolverine movie that everyone claims to love got 56).

I don’t buy a lot of new games every year. They’re expensive and I haven’t got time to play most of them, but I’m a fan of Wolverine and I like the two Spider-Man games that Insomniac made. So I was pretty much sold the minute they announced the game.

Of course, I was disappointed when the previews came out but when all the memes and unfair complaints started I realised it was getting out of hand. And then, when I bought the game and played it, I didn’t agree with them at all. The combat is definitely not complicated but it’s not easy or especially repetitive either. There are plenty of different enemy types and I felt that I was always under threat and had to really think about what I was doing or I’d get overwhelmed.

Now, the boss battles have got a lot of complaints but I would say, as GC point out in their review, that it’s only the first two that are bad and while I won’t defend them there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the other ones. In fact, I’d say the last few are really good, with a neat multi-stage finale that brings everything together.

I also liked the nightmare doors, especially the survival challenges, which I found very difficult but enjoyed beating and getting the highest score on. There’s lots of good unlockables too, in terms of skins and the extra abilities and moves, which I’d argue add a lot to the combat. Including the extra ones you get after beating the game.

If that was all the game was though, I admit the game would seem a bit empty. But it’s not. The story and characters are a huge part of the whole experience, and I think they work great. In fact, I’d say that the story was a lot better than Spider-Man 1 and 2, which were kind of all over the place and hand the problem that Peter and Miles weren’t really conflicted about anything, except for the 10 minutes Peter was wearing the black suit.

In Wolverine everyone is a lot more complicated and the majority of characters are what most people know as villains. I thought Mystique was great in particular, far better than the movies and with a great ending that suited what she had done in the game.

The best character though is Jean Grey who is also done much better than the movies and the relationship between her and Wolverine is done really well. It is a love story but it’s not an easy relationship and you’re kept guessing how it will turn out for the whole game. I really liked it and it felt real to me, even though they’re crazy superhero characters.

It’s definitely the best new game I’ve bought this year, but I admit I haven’t bought that many, so I guess I’m not the best judge of that. But it’s what I’ve played and enjoyed and the reputation it’s earned seems very unfair to me. I hope it doesn’t stop the chances of a sequel.

By reader Kubrick

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

MORE: The six best and least realistic ninja video games of the 80s – Reader’s Feature

MORE: Video games should be more like Blood Of Dawnwalker and less like Wolverine – Reader’s Feature

MORE: 15 video game franchises that need to end – Reader’s Feature