A total of 37,500 people flocked to the show today, with 150,000 visiting the event over the four days.

Peter Wright once again made an appearance at the show, and was put to good use inspecting children’s veg box competition entries, before taking part in a talk and a meet and greet for fans.

Peter, star of Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet, admitted that the popular TV show almost didn’t happen after he told producers when it first started, “I don’t think it will work”.

However, 22 series later, he was proven wrong and has claimed “it’s the most unusual but most rewarding job” during a talk on the Ariat GYS stage.

Elsewhere, talking diversification on farm and moorland, Paul Tompkins, deputy president of the National Farmers’ Union said he and the union would “always favour” using good-quality land for food production or sustainability over renewable energy projects.

His comments come after an application was submitted to build 23, 200-metre-high wind turbines on the remote Hope Moor site between Arkengarthdale and Teesdale.

Mr Tompkins, who farms at South Acre Farm in the Vale of York, milking a herd of 400 Holstein cows, said: “Farmers do have to diversify and adjust to the renewable energy game, but it has to be done in the right way.

“Land should be prioritised for food production, and arguments about renewable energy should be balanced with concerns for landscape, tourism and communities.”

He called on farmers, farming groups and the government to have an “open dialogue” when it comes to renewable energy.

Countryside conservation talks included panels discussing how best to restore curlew populations across the uplands; and River Ure supporters explaining why they are passionate about seeing wild Atlantic salmon be a self-sustaining species once more.

Brian Towers, fishing guide on the Castle Bolton estate, said: “There are lots of issues for wild Salmon in the Ure, but one of the main problems is that stock is being decimated by predators and we are not getting the returning salmon to breed after going out to sea.

“We have offered many solutions to the Government and Environment Agency, such as controlling bird populations which eat young salmon and creating hatcheries to support the salmon – but we are not allowed or being listened to.”

The talk heard how the River Ure was historically rich with salmon, but the population has now all but disappeared.

The show continues on Thursday and Friday, with all tickets sold out in advance.

A house has been cordoned off while investigations into the incident continue

Four people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a man turned up at hospital with serious injuries. Dyfed-Powys Police said hospital staff alerted them to the man’s arrival at around 1.20am on Wednesday, July 15.

Police said they suspected the man may have been assaulted at an address in Carmarthen. A police cordon is in place at the scene while investigations continue. Stay in the know by making sure you’re receiving our daily newsletter.

Two men and two women have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. A police statement read: “Dyfed-Powys Police received a report from hospital staff at around 1.20am on Wednesday, July 15, after a man arrived with serious injuries.

“Officers quickly established details and attended an address on Brynmeurig, Carmarthen, where they suspected the man may have been assaulted.

“A police presence remains at the property whilst an investigation is carried out to establish the circumstances surrounding the man’s injuries.

“A 35-year-old man and two women, aged 30 and 49, all from the Carmarthen area, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

“A 40-year-old man from the Ammanford area was also arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. They all remain in police custody.

“The injured man has since been discharged from hospital and the investigation continues.”

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After the fire on the Eleventh Night gutted her family home, Ashleigh said: “I owe my life to that man, he saved my daughter”

A mum from Co Antrim has praised her “hero” neighbour for saving her daughter after a fire on the Eleventh Night gutted their family home.

A row of terraced houses in the Knockleigh Walk area of Greenisland caught fire on the Eleventh Night as a result of the embers from a bonfire lit nearby.

At the height of the operation, the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service had 45 personnel in attendance at the scene, including six pumping appliances, a com­mand sup­port unit, and an aer­ial lad­der. Five fire­fight­ing jets were also in use along­side an aer­ial water tower.

Ashleigh McCleanaghan, 40, was on holiday in Blackpool at the time, while her eldest daughter and son were at home. As embers from the bonfire started moving into their back garden, a refurbished shed her 17-year-old daughter uses as her bedroom caught fire.

Their back garden was completely destroyed, with their oil tank also catching fire, while their kitchen, a bedroom, and their bathroom also suffered damage.

Speaking to Belfast Live, Ashleigh said: “The bonfire was lit on the Eleventh Night. My daughter Alex was in the house watching the bonfire and the embers were covering over above the house. You could clearly see the size of them; she was at the front of the house.

“Our neighbour, Davy, battered the door to say the back garden was on fire and when the both of them went out, Alex turned on the hose and Davy went to soak the place.

“The embers were coming down that quickly, the fire began to spread, and before we knew it the shed was completely up. The two fences either side and the oil tank also went.

“I got the first boat back from Blackpool and came up home. The back of our house was destroyed, everything outside in the garden including Alex’s room, and everything in it completely gone. The kitchen was damaged, the boys’ bedroom damaged and the bathroom.”

Ashleigh has praised the quick efforts of her neighbour, David (Davy) Haighton, who rushed to her home to help her children.

“All I was worried about was my daughter. The fact that if it hadn’t had been for Davy next door, it could have been so different. Alex may not be here. I owe my life to that man, he saved my daughter,” she said.

“I told him he was my hero, that man got burnt and there was blood all down his arms from him and Alex trying to put out the fire. He took the hose, he wouldn’t let her do it. He’s lived beside us all for a long time, my children all love him and his wife Esther.”

Amid the blaze, where two houses were gutted and two others were damaged in the terrace, Davy’s house was destroyed, leaving him and his wife with nothing.

Ashleigh said: “We got off lightly with the fire – Davy’s house is completely gutted. All his memories of 50 years living in that house, all his medals from when he was in the Territorial Army (TA).

“I will always be in awe of that man and everytime I see him I tell him he will never know how much it means to us. He keeps playing it down but the other day he said to me if there was anything we needed to let him know.

“He has nothing, we’re going to be able to get back into our house they’re hoping. He has absolutely nothing, but he’s more worried about us and the kids.

“It’s very hard to take in that things could have been a lot worse, and if it wasn’t for him, Alex could be gone. That’s what gets me through what has happened. You’re walking around talking to people at the minute like you’re just numb from everything.”

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said the most probable cause of the fire is thought to be accidental and investigations remain ongoing.

You can donate to a fundraiser set up by Ashleigh’s friend to help the family get back on their feet by clicking here.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Fire engines and specialist wildfire resources have been scrambled to the national park after the blaze broke out on Wednesday afternoon.

Residents in the Highlands have been evacuated after a huge wildfire at Cairngorms National Park. The blaze broke out at the beauty spot on Wednesday afternoon – sending large volumes of smoke towards nearby towns.

Four fire engines and specialist wildfire resources have been scrambled to the incident at Ryvoan Bothy, near Nethy Bridge. There are no reported injuries.

Duncan Ferguson lives in Glenmore, a village near Aviemore. He said police came to his house during the afternoon, telling residents to “leave your pets and go”. Mr Ferguson, who is operations manager at the Spey Fishery Board, said a nearby campsite had not yet been evacuated.

He said the fire could become severe and affect property unless it was contained quickly, telling the Press Association: “It’s going to be bad, it’s going to be major unless they get hold of it. It’s heathland at the minute, but it’s started to burn in the upper area of the regeneration of the Caledonian pine forest.

“Once it comes down into there, it’s dry, dry ground, with a real load to burn. It’s just going to get hotter and hotter.”

Glenmore Lodge, a nearby outdoors centre, said it was within the evacuation zone and advised travellers to avoid the area. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) told residents in Aviemore, Glenmore and the surrounding communities to keep their doors and windows closed.

Group commander Raymond King said: “We are currently in attendance at a large fire in the open near to Ryvoan Bothy within the Cairngorms National Park. Operations control were first alerted at 11.49am and we have mobilised four fire appliances and specialist wildfire resources to the area.

“There are no reported casualties. Due to large volumes of smoke travelling towards populated areas nearby, residents in Aviemore, Glenmore and the surrounding communities should keep their windows and doors closed.

“If you are within this area and can see or smell smoke, please follow the same advice. While we want people to enjoy the good weather, we ask that anyone in the Cairngorms National Park near to Aviemore and Glenmore avoid the area.

“This part of the Cairngorms National Park is popular with hillwalkers, and we ask that people remain vigilant while active firefighting continues.”

A spokesperson for the Cairngorms National Park Authority said: “The ongoing incident near Ryvoan Bothy is deeply concerning, and we are grateful to all those who are working to tackle the fire. We would echo the advice of SFRS to avoid the area while firefighters and partners work to bring this blaze under control.

“This incident – alongside wildfires we are seeing across the UK this week – serves as a stark reminder of the risks that periods of drier, hotter weather can pose.”

Firefighters are also battling a gorse fire at Garry Park Wood at Lochore Meadows Country Park in Fife. Videos seen on social media showed flames and smoke rising from the park.

The SFRS said they were alerted to the blaze at about 3.15pm on Wednesday, and mobilised one appliance to the scene. Parts of Scotland are at very high risk of wildfire over the next few days and the fire service has warned people to “stay vigilant” and act responsibly.

The SFRS, in conjunction with the Scottish Wildfire Forum, had earlier issued wildfire warnings for the central Highlands, southern and eastern Scotland. The alert, warning of a very high risk of wildfire, is in force from Wednesday until Monday.

It follows days of hot and dry weather in many parts of the country. The fire service said anyone who sees a large outdoor fire should call 999 immediately, giving the location and any other relevant information.

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A prolific TV starlet of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s emerged on a rare public outing in Los Angeles over the weekend.

Instead of her recognizable auburn hair, the 83-year-old is now rocking short gray hair. 

She first appeared on television in 1966 with a role in a popular Western series after years of theater work.

She went on to land countless guest-starring roles on hit shows like Gunsmoke and Hawaii Five-O.

Along with her TV success, the actress nabbed major film roles that saw her star alongside Hollywood greats such as Dean Martin and Peter Falk.

Can you guess who she is? 

Instead of her recognizable auburn hair, the 83-year-old is now rocking cropped gray hair

The mystery star is Katherine Justice.

The actress was spotted stocking up on essentials at a local Costco store last Friday.

She was dressed comfortably in a white linen shirt layered over a navy blue graphic tee and tan work pants.

Amid the scorching heatwave in Southern California, Justice sported a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses as she strolled through the store’s parking lot with her cart.

She is a recognizable face to many as she appeared in over 60 TV shows and movies over the course of her 50-year career.

Born and raised in Ohio, Justice began pursuing acting while earning a degree from Carnegie Tech Drama School.

After her 1964 graduation, Justice quickly immersed herself in the world of theater.

In 1965, she joined a touring company performing Nobody Loves an Albatross after starring in several productions at Front Street Theater in Memphis, Tennessee and Arena Stage in Washington, DC.

The mystery star is Katherine Justice

She is a recognizable face to many, as she appeared in more than 60 TV shows and movies over the course of her 50-year career. Above, with Dean Martin in 5 Card Stud (1968)

The actress was spotted stocking up on essentials at a local Costco store last Friday

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Amid the scorching heatwave in Southern California, Justice sported a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses

Justice made the move to television in 1966 when she got a guest role on the hit ABC Western series The Big Valley. 

This helped kick her Hollywood career into high gear.

Shortly after nabbing The Big Valley, she was offered a part in the 1967 film The Way West, which saw her act alongside Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Sally Field.

Her first major leading film role was in the popular made-for-TV film Prescription: Murder.

She played the glamorous Joan Hudson opposite Columbo icon Peter Falk.

The film, released in 1968, spawned the long-running Columbo TV series.

Justice’s other notable film roles include the Western flick 5 Card Stud, which saw her reunite with Mitchum and work with icon Dean Martin in 1968.

She also appeared in ABC’s made-for-TV movie Dead Man on the Run with Peter Graves in 1975.

Justice (center) in 5 Card Stud (1968)

Justice in the 1967 TV film The Way West

While Justice’s film resume is impressive, her biggest claim to fame is her memorable guest roles, which she continued to book until she retired from acting in 2015. Above, in 1967

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She notably worked with four-time Golden Globe nominee Sally Struthers in the 1981 made-for-TV thriller A Gun in the House on CBS.

While Justice’s movie resume is impressive, her biggest claims to fame are her TV guest roles, which she continued to book until she retired from acting over a decade ago.

She has starred on Days of Our Lives, Dallas, Alien Nation, TJ Hooker, Falcon Crest, and Quincy, ME, among other major shows from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Justice last acted in the web-based TV series The Nevermore Chronicles in 2015.

Police appeal for witnesses after the horrific attack in a seaside town

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Police are on the hunt for a man who ‘punched’ a seagull for stealing his food. The bird was also grabbed and ‘stuffed through a fence’ leaving it with broken wings.

The horrifying attack happened by the harbour in Porthleven, Cornwall on Monday afternoon (July 13). CornwallLive reports a witness on social media alleged that a man attacked a seagull at the Harbour View Café after it tried to steal his food.

He is then said to have “stuffed it through a fence”, where it was left with broken wings.

The witness said: “This man brutally and repeatedly smashed a seagull against the wall of the Harbour View Café because it tried to steal some food. He then stuffed the seagull through the fence onto the road, where it floundered with two broken wings.

“This was in front of numerous people and children who were hugely upset.”

Police are now investigating the incident and are appealing for anyone with relevant footage or information to come forward.

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “We have been made aware following a report of a seagull being injured by a man by the harbour in Porthleven on the afternoon of Monday, July 13.

“It was reported the suspect grabbed and punched the seagull leaving it injured. Enquiries into the matter are ongoing.

“Anybody with any relevant footage or information is asked to call 101 or visit our website quoting 50260183379.”

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Peter Wright, star of Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet, told a packed audience at the Great Yorkshire Show that he was unsure about the programme’s potential when it was first pitched to him.

He said: “I didn’t think it would work at first, but has been the most unusual but most rewarding job.”

Mr Wright explained he eventually agreed to take part after realising the series could shine a light on real farm work, the challenges facing rural communities and the bond between people and animals.

Now in its 22nd series, the show has become a staple of British television, following vets as they treat pets, livestock and wildlife across North Yorkshire and beyond.

He was speaking on the Ariat GYS stage on the second day of the 167th annual Great Yorkshire Show, where he inspected entries in a children’s vegetable box competition before hosting a meet‑and‑greet with fans.

Crowds gathered early around the stage, with families and viewers queuing for photos and autographs and many telling him they had watched the series since it first aired.

The event continues to draw huge numbers, with 37,500 people attending on Wednesday and a total of 150,000 expected over the four days.

Organisers say tickets for Thursday and Friday sold out in advance, as visitors flock to see livestock classes, machinery displays and celebrity appearances.

Elsewhere at the show, conversations turned to the future of farming and the growing pressures to balance food production with environmental and energy demands.

Paul Tompkins, deputy president of the National Farmers’ Union, emphasised the union’s position that high‑quality farmland should remain focused on food rather than being diverted to large‑scale renewable energy schemes.

Mr Tompkins said: “Farmers do have to diversify and adjust to the renewable energy game, but it has to be done in the right way.

“Land should be prioritised for food production, and arguments about renewable energy should be balanced with concerns for landscape, tourism and communities.”

He called on farmers, farming groups and the government to have an “open dialogue” when it comes to renewable energy and land use, warning that decisions taken now will shape the countryside for decades to come.

As The Yorkshire Vet continues to celebrate the everyday stories of rural life, show leaders said debates over food, energy and the environment will be central to the future of the farms and animals that viewers see on screen.

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with offences linked to “extreme right-wing terrorism” in connection with an alleged plan to target two mosques in Sutton, south London, the Metropolitan Police said.

The child was initially arrested on suspicion of criminal damage to a vehicle. Officers searching an address then found “a number of documents of concern”, a Met spokesperson said.

He has also been charged with damaging property belonging to another without lawful excuse, intending to damage such property, namely a car window. The offence was racially aggravated, the force added.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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Universal Studios will have high hopes for the film at the box office, after Oppenheimer took $975m (£723m) globally.

However, Oppenheimer enjoyed a huge audience boost from the Barbenheimer phenomenon, the 2023 viral trend that prompted movie fans to buy tickets to see Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day.

The Odyssey is a film with “thrilling ambition, boldness, seriousness, generosity and flair”, wrote the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, external, awarding five stars

“There are some broad-brush moments in the dialogue, yes, but even these are applied with a muscular flourish,” he added.

The Odyssey is “the definition of epic”, according to Empire’s John Nugent,, external in another five-star review.

“The scale and scope here is, frankly, jaw-detaching,” he said. “It is filmmaking at a magnitude few modern directors could ever realistically imagine, demand, or execute.”

The UK Space Agency and space startup Vast just signed an agreement to send Paralympic sprinter and below-knee amputee John McFall into orbit as early as 2027. Most coverage framed it as a victory for inclusion. As a space health researcher, I think something far more interesting happened.

For 70 years, spaceflight has assumed a rigid archetype: a healthy white man with a military background. The assumption was that physical uniformity minimised risk. As we prepare for Mars, the evidence increasingly suggests the opposite.

Star Trek understood this decades ago: exploration rewards difference. The further you travel into uncertainty, the more kinds of human experience you need. It debuted in 1966 with a Black female communications officer, a Japanese helmsman, a Russian navigator, a biracial Vulcan, and a captain who made mistakes and felt his humanity down to the last drop.

What strikes me now as a scientist is not how idealistic that vision was, but how practical. Despite decades of spaceflight, we still cannot reliably predict how one person’s health will change in space. Consider Mars 500, a 520-day simulated isolation mission between 2007 and 2011 where six male crew members in identical conditions diverged dramatically in psychological resilience. Two participants remained stable; three developed severe sleep disturbances; and one suffered persistent depression.

Additionally, around 17% of astronauts experience significant physical deterioration in spaceflight despite following identical exercise regimes. Disability does not necessarily introduce uncertainty into spaceflight; uncertainty is already the norm.

Who performs best in space?

Sometimes those excluded perform better. In 1961, several female pilots outperformed the men of Mercury 7 programme, the first US astronauts. Jerrie Cobb scored in the top 2% of all candidates ever assessed by NASA. Several of the women outperformed the men on cardiovascular endurance. And the late Wally Funk remained in an isolation tank for over ten hours while the male Mercury astronaut record was just over three. But the women never flew. NASA insisted on military jet pilot experience as an entry requirement, while simultaneously barring women from flying military jets.

About a decade earlier, NASA recruited eleven deaf men to study motion sickness, a condition affecting 60 to 80% of astronauts in their first days of weightlessness. Motion sickness happens when conflicting inner-ear signals cause nausea and disorientation severe enough to impair performance. Most of the eleven men had lost vestibular function (the inner-ear balance system) following childhood meningitis. In rotating rooms and on rough seas, as experienced test pilots were sick around them, the deaf participants played cards. The trait that excluded them from military careers made them unusually tolerant of the environments that undid everyone else.

Researchers are finally investigating this issue: like asking whether amputees, who carry less mass and respond differently to microgravity, offer advantages in space. People with lower-limb mobility impairments or vascular differences may be naturally adapted to the headward fluid shifts of weightlessness that cause brain swelling and vision changes in around 70% of astronauts.

When a cooling leak filled Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano’s helmet with water during a 2013 spacewalk, it left him nearly blind and deaf to mission control. He survived by navigating back to the airlock using touch alone. On Mars where dust storms reduce vision to near-zero, blind people would have an advantage here as they are dependent on other senses.

There is no perfect astronaut

The myth of the perfect astronaut has always been just that – a myth. Chuck Yeager, celebrated as the gold standard of what an astronaut should be, broke two ribs the night before he broke the sound barrier in 1947. He concealed the injury, improvised a way to seal his cockpit door using a broom handle, and flew anyway. The right stuff was never about physical perfection. It was about adaptation.

In 1985, Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh manually docked with the dead and uncontrolled Salyut 7 station and spent a week manually rewiring it in freezing pitch-black conditions to bring it back to life. For many people in the disability community, navigating broken infrastructure, sensory issues and isolation is an everyday reality. Disabled people spend their lives adapting to environments designed for somebody else. That makes us experts at navigating the unknown.

The real “right stuff” is interdependence: being creative together with your crew when a plan fails. When Apollo 13’s oxygen tank exploded in 1970, the crew came home not because of perfect engineering, but because people depended on each other under pressure. A Mars mission, years from home and communication delays of 20 minutes each way, will demand it. Astronauts will face problems nobody could anticipate, because that is the nature of exploration.

Disability is an extreme environment

Every person who lives long enough will experience disability at some point. It is my normal. In my research career, I have improvised creative solutions to inaccessible equipment, and learned to pace my energy carefully. Even getting into the building or having access to a bathroom could be my engineering problem for the day.

I’ve been told using a mobility aid is unprofessional and for years, even doctors dismissed my symptoms. When they finally had an answer, it came with a caveat: there is no cure and no treatment pathway. The medical system had reached its limit. I had not. These experiences forced me to monitor my own health, adapt and advocate for myself. On a Mars mission, millions of miles from the nearest specialist, every astronaut will need exactly that skill.

Perhaps the most undervalued asset the disability community brings to space is its relationship with joy. Disabled people do not survive extreme environments through stoicism alone. They survive through humour, putting flowers on their wheelchairs (like mine), and deeply loving communities. On a three-year Mars mission, that may be the most critical thing of all.

Design can be better too. Deaf pilot Sheila Xu described in June 2026 at the United Nations how she designed a colour-changing light signal system to use instead of auditory cues during parabolic flights, aircraft that fly a steep arc to produce brief periods of weightlessness, used in astronaut training. It improved safety for everyone on board, deaf or not, when engine roar made verbal commands impossible. This is the “curb cut effect”: solve for the margins, and you make the system better for everyone.

The good news is we are seeing a paradigm shift. In 2021, Hayley Arceneaux spent three days in orbit on SpaceX’s Inspiration4, becoming the first person with a prosthetic bone to reach space. In 2025, ESA engineer Michaela Benthaus became the first wheelchair user on a suborbital commercial flight. McFall’s selection marks the first time a major space agency has cleared a disabled astronaut for long-duration scientific work in orbit.

Progress does not come from excluding each other, but from discovering what becomes possible when the universe’s criteria finally replace our own.

The goal, then, should not be simply to send one disabled astronaut to space and call it progress. It is to involve disabled thinkers, engineers, and designers at every stage of mission planning. The systems they would help build would be demonstrably better for it.

Adaptation, more than perfection, may turn out to be what matters most.