New research by outdoor retailer Millets has ranked the country’s best family-friendly dog walks, with routes in the Peak District, Lancashire and the Lake District all making the national top 10.

The study comes as UK searches for “family hikes” have more than doubled over the past month, increasing by 104 per cent as more people look for outdoor days out.

The highest-ranked nearby route is the Rydal Water and Cave Circular in the Lake District, which was crowned the best family-friendly dog walk in the UK.

(Image: Google Maps)

The 2.7-mile circular walk near Ambleside takes around an hour to an hour and a half to complete and offers lakeside views, a dramatic cave and gentle, well-maintained paths.

Walkers praised the route as “super dog friendly”, highlighting its lack of stiles and accessible terrain, making it suitable for children, dogs and people of all abilities.

Closer to home, the Fairy Glen Circular in Lancashire placed fourth overall.

(Image: Google Maps)

The scenic woodland walk, near Parbold, has built a strong reputation among walkers thanks to its easy-going terrain and picturesque surroundings, making it a popular choice for families wanting a relaxed countryside stroll.

This hidden gem, just half-an-hour away from Bolton, is a haven for walkers and nature lovers, offering a tranquil retreat just a short drive from the hustle and bustle.

Follow the winding path alongside Sprodley Brook, where centuries of flowing water have carved a dramatic sandstone valley.

Here, tiny waterfalls tumble into mossy pools, and rugged cliff faces peek through a canopy of ancient woodland. It’s a scene straight out of a storybook.

The old windmill on Harrock Hill near Parbold. Picture by George Hopkins

Also within easy reach of Bolton, the Dovestone Reservoir Circular in the Peak District was ranked sixth in the UK. It is just an hour away.

(Image: Google Maps)

The route around the reservoir has become a favourite with Greater Manchester walkers thanks to its sweeping moorland scenery, waterside views and relatively straightforward paths.

Millets based its rankings on average user ratings, the number of reviews and overall trail difficulty to identify the UK’s most family and dog-friendly walks.

Emma Johnson, from Dog Owner’s Guide, said owners should always prepare before heading out.

She said: “Check the weather in advance and be prepared to change your route if the temperature or ground gets too hot.

“One of the most common mistakes is not packing enough water or thinking there’ll be somewhere to refill when there isn’t.

“If your dog is slowing down or not enjoying it, it’s okay to turn back or cut the route short.”

With school holidays under way and warmer weather encouraging more people outdoors, the rankings offer Bolton families plenty of inspiration for a day trip without travelling to the other end of the country.

Look closely, and you’ll see we’re in the middle of a Delta Goodrem summer. The Aussie musician, who soared to fame in the early 2000s as the angel-faced, angel-voiced teenager behind such ballads as “Born To Try”, is seemingly everywhere right now: on stage, on tour, on telly.

In May, Goodrem, 41, made her Eurovision debut in style – propelled into the air on a platform that rose out from a golden piano, mid-key change. She has only just finished a set of live UK shows, a prelude to the world tour she will embark on next year in support of her forthcoming eighth album Pure. In a couple of weeks, Goodrem will touch down in London once again to begin rehearsals ahead of her stint on Strictly Come Dancing – though not before she closes out the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow tonight. “I feel it’s one of those years of saying yes to everything. I want to be adventurous. I’m ready for that in my life,” she says now, over video call from Sydney.

Back in Australia, where I grew up, the singer remains a national treasure. To some, particularly those who came of age in the early Noughties, Goodrem is as iconic as Vegemite or the Sydney Opera House, a venue she has played no fewer than five times, the most recent being last year when she sold out two anniversary shows of her 2005 album Mistaken Identity. Goodrem has been less of a constant presence over here, and this second shot at cracking the UK feels only right, given her first was cut short by tragedy.

It was in the same week that her debut album shot to No 2 in the UK charts that she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, forcing her off the promotion circuit and into a hospital bed, and effectively slamming the brakes on a music career that had quite literally just got going. It was 2004 and Goodrem was just 18. The experience was surreal to say the least. “I tried the best I could with the duality of what was happening,” says Goodrem. “Cancer doesn’t discriminate based on what job you’re doing. It says, ‘You have to look after this now.’”

The country rallied around her; by then, she was already known to millions as Nina, the sweet, shy high schooler on Neighbours. Newspapers filled with messages from readers sending their love; Sony, her label at the time, set up a “Get Well Delta” postbox to get a handle on the massive influx of letters from fans. Australia’s prime minister sent his regards. As did Elton John “on behalf of the United Kingdom”.

“The entire press world was sitting outside my door,” recalls Goodrem. “My brother would hand out biscuits to them, that’s one of my strong memories. Our house was like a train station!” Today, the idea of reporters camped outside the home of a teenage star screams invasion of privacy – but that’s not how Goodrem remembers it. “I’m pretty neutral about it,” she says after giving the question a good deal of thought. “There are so many stories in my life that I have to go into the filing cabinet of my mind… but I mean, it was all well wishes coming from them. And I think, as an 18-year-old back then, I was just focused on being with my friends and family.” Outside her bubble, hubbub continued to grow; Innocent Eyes spent a record-breaking 29 weeks at No 1 in Australia.

After months of chemotherapy and radiation, Goodrem went into remission before she was given the all-clear. It’s a period she speaks of with grit and grace. “I’ve gone through a lot of different emotions about my changes in trajectory when I first started […] but I’ve since been able to see that hopefully that’s symbolic of being a survivor,” she says. “Being able to give back and make a difference – that’s a gift from that chapter in my life.” In 2020, she established the Delta Goodrem Foundation in partnership with the hospital in Sydney where she was treated.

Goodrem is still the human equivalent of a glowstick: a 1,000-kilowatt smile and the sort of enviable perma-tan that only Australians seem to possess. Certainly, hers is not the hardened exterior you might expect from a woman who was signed to Sony at 14 and came of age in the media hellscape that was the early 2000s. “My journey was positive,” she says simply. “Everyone has a different journey. I really did have great industry mentors, wonderful men and women around me, including my mum who was this fierce woman. It doesn’t mean I didn’t have to fight for myself, of course, but there was enough respect and understanding to have collaboration and conversation.”

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Her parents made sure she maintained a normal life outside of music. “I never felt like I missed out on any childhood,” she says. “Also, I was the driver in my music. It wasn’t my parents. They just guided and protected me.”

Now, two decades later, Goodrem is still in the driver’s seat with an eighth album on the way. Set to be released in November, Pure has been described as “a return to myself” and follows on from her latest single “Hologram” – a big, gleaming gem of disco-pop. Sonically, it’s miles away from the heart-wrenching ballads on which Goodrem made her name, but spiritually it’s more similar than you think. It has that same bright-eyed, bushy-tailed optimism of “Not Me, Not I” – only this time filtered through a woofer-rattling bass.

Before then, though, Strictly… “I love the glamour of it!” Goodrem says of her decision to sign up to the BBC show. “My music has always been very piano-driven so this is my opportunity to learn something new and then I can take it on tour with me.” As for who she would like for a partner, she has just one request for producers. “I’m quite tall, so I’d love to have someone taller than me!” laughs Goodrem, who is just shy of 6ft. “I really don’t want to be the one that has to lift people.”

It’s fair to say that Strictly has been through the wringer recently, with this latest series arriving amid a spate of scandals. But Goodrem knows the game, having spent eight years on The Voice Australia where she was on the other side of things as a coach rather than contestant. “I can safely say that, being on the show for nine years, everyone worked very hard to make sure all the artists were shining on stage and getting to live out their dreams,” she says, “what you do with that moment is up to you. It is a TV show, and you have to create your next moment.”

The show also taught Goodrem the value of holding back sometimes. “I probably gave too much of myself [to the contestants],” she says. “I poured so much into it. I was always on the phone to the artists because I loved sharing; I’m an open book.” It’s her natural disposition, she says. “I’m such a ride-or-die person. When I love someone, I’ll do anything for them. And so when people are loyal to me, I’m so loyal back. Scorpio loyal.” It can come at a cost, though. “The show taught me about my own boundaries and pouring that back into myself and my own artistry.”

Season six of The Voice saw Goodrem become the target of online bullies who questioned the sincerity of her on-air enthusiasm. The earnestness that had once endeared her to audiences suddenly became the very thing they used to dismiss her as fake. Seal, her co-judge at the time, was among those to defend her publicly. “There was so much that I saw change culturally when Twitter came into play, and obviously being the only female coach for a long time, it was a very different dynamic for me,” Goodrem says. “I was 26, but people treated me like I was a lot older because I started so young. So I had to navigate those chapters of intensity under a microscope.” Though, she reminds me, it certainly wasn’t the first time.

Never were more eyes on Goodrem than in the wake of her cancer remission, when her return to public life carried the weighty comeback narrative of a seasoned musician three decades her senior. In 2004, Goodrem released Mistaken Identity. The album had a different thrust: more dark than its predecessor, more grown-up. Whether she intended for it to be or not, Mistaken Identity pushed against the idea of Goodrem as the nation’s most beatific pop sweetheart.

“Heading back into the world was definitely a change of gears,” she says now. “That’s probably when it felt most like going into the washing machine, so to speak – definitely a rougher, more turbulent chapter. Your identity changes after going through something so extreme.” Her parents had divorced, and her body – “my physicality” – was no longer the same. “Everything had changed.” The spotlight turned up some after it was revealed that Goodrem was dating Westlife singer Brian McFadden that same year – it turned up more still after their nasty and very public split in 2011. “Do I wish that it ended earlier? Yes. Do I wish I had the courage to leave earlier? Yes, I do,” she told Vogue in 2012. On the subject of McFadden today, Goodrem is looking on the bright side: “Every single path that’s led me to today and this beautiful relationship I’m in now, I’m grateful for.” (At one point in our conversation, her husband, the guitarist Matthew Copley, pops his head in with a big smile and a glass of water for his wife.)

Goodrem might just be one of pop’s most resilient stars. The cancer wasn’t even her last major health scare. In 2018, she had a salivary gland removed after which she woke up from the surgery to find her speech altered; a nerve in her tongue was paralysed. Goodrem couldn’t speak, let alone sing. “The lesson that came out of that experience was sometimes you have to surrender and listen,” she says. “It wasn’t about talking or doing. It was a real reset. It is something you cannot rush.” In the end, it took over a year for Goodrem to regain her voice. She’s certainly putting it to good use now, with her year of saying yes.

‘Pure’ is out via Universal Records on 6 November, with ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ set to launch in September

The Sunday Mail today names senior figures who must testify about botched handling of tragic Emma Caldwell’s murder to avoid yet another cover-up.

The Sunday Mail is today naming the senior police and prosecutors who must give evidence to a public inquiry into the murder of Emma Caldwell.

It comes amid fears the probe will become “part of the cover-up” by failing to examine the years killer Iain Packer walked free while overwhelming evidence of his guilt was suppressed at the highest level.

Emma’s body was discovered in woods outside of Glasgow in May 2005 but it took another 19 years for Packer to finally be convicted – during which time he continued to rape and abuse women.

Even after we published his picture on the front page in 2015 branding him the “Forgotten Suspect”, senior officers launched an illegal molehunt for our sources rather than pursue the killer.

A public inquiry was ordered after Packer’s eventual conviction in 2024, but its terms of reference suggest it will only investigate the actions of Strathclyde Police during an initial botched investigation into four innocent Turkish men which collapsed in 2008.

Emma’s mum Margaret has now joined forces with former Sunday Mail editor Jim Wilson, her lawyer Aamer Anwar and MSP Pauline McNeil to demand inquiry chair Lord Scott take urgent action to avoid the probe becoming an expensive whitewash.

In a letter to Scott, Wilson said: “Packer had not, of course, been forgotten by detectives but concealed. Strathclyde Police effectively closed the case in 2008 after the prosecution of Turkish suspects collapsed.

“The refusal to return to the inquiry, despite senior officers knowing the strength of the evidence against Packer, only hardened after the new national force was established in 2013.

“It should be noted that several former Strathclyde officers were promoted to the most senior ranks of Police Scotland after being directly involved in the first murder inquiry.

“The murder investigation in 2015 was eventually reopened after the Mail’s reports after the intervention of a Lord Advocate exasperated by police inaction but that second inquiry moved at glacial pace taking six years to go precisely nowhere.

“Many critics believe its protracted, torturous progress can only be explained by an official reluctance to allow its conclusion.

“The first murder inquiry was sabotaged by professional hubris and incompetence. To most impartial observers, what happened – or did not happen – next is far more worthy of the Inquiry’s interest.

“The crux of this scandal is not a botched police investigation, it is official cover-up and concealment, a family lied to, police officers and prosecutors circling the wagons because it was too professionally embarrassing not to, and our investigating and prosecuting authorities allowing one of Scotland’s most dangerous men to walk free for almost two decades to attack countless women.

“If restricted to examination of the initial murder investigation and not the subsequent years of cover-up, concealment and apparent corruption, your inquiry will, I’m afraid, risk becoming part of that cover-up.”

Packer was finally jailed for 36 years – the second longest sentence ever in Scotland – in February 2024 after being convicted of Emma’s murder and 32 other charges, including 11 rapes, involving 22 other women.

He was first spoken to by police in June 2005 before admitting in subsequent interviews taking a prostitute to woods outside Glasgow. In March 2007 Packer gave a fifth statement and even took police to Limefield Woods where Emma’s body had been found.

Despite this he appears to have been dismissed and four Turkish men were instead pursued with a massive surveillance operation and charged, before the case later collapsed in July 2008.

It then took another 16 years for Packer to be convicted.

We are today naming senior police figures including former Police Scotland Chief Constable Stephen House, former head of CID Ruaraidh Nicolson, former counter corruption unit boss Neil Richardson, and former superintendents David McLaren and Bobby Hendren as men who must be called to give evidence spanning the entire 19 year scandal.

At Crown Office former Lord Advocates Frank Mulholland, James Wolffe and Dorothy Bain must all also be called before the inquiry.

These are some of the people who can shine a light on what went wrong. There is no suggestion they have personally done anything criminal.

Emma’s mum Margaret said: “I do not want to be insulted or patronised further, I have had to fight not just for my daughter Emma, but Packer’s many other victims.

“I will fight until my very last breath for the truth. I believe that those officers who sabotaged the investigation into Packer have for far too long remained in the shadows, but if you stop this Inquiry at 2013, those corrupt officers will always remain hidden rather than answer for their betrayal.

“I plead directly now to the First Minister John Swinney and Lord Scott – we want the truth I have fought too long for the cover up to continue.”

Solicitor Aamer Anwar said: “Maragaret did not spend 20 years fighting for the truth, to now see Police Scotland excluded from investigation by this Inquiry, that would be a travesty of justice and a further betrayal of Emma and the many women who suffered at the hands of Packer.

“If this Inquiry is truly determined to follow the evidence, then it must look at the period after Strathclyde Police became Police Scotland.

“Sir Stephen House, Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police from 2007, became Chief Constable of Police Scotland. The detectives, responsible for ‘wrongfully’ arresting four Turkish men then became senior officers at Police Scotland, under the leadership of House who only resigned in November 2015.

“The Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC in March 2024 told Emma’s family that as senior crown lawyer in 2008, she actually instructed the bogus case against the Turkish men be dropped, and for a team of new detectives to pursue Iain Packer as a prime suspect, whilst former detectives should have been investigated over their conduct.

“Yet it never happened, several months after she left, the case was marked ‘closed and protected’ and paperwork disappeared – that could only have been instructed at the highest levels in the Police and Crown Office.

“Jim Wilson more than any other journalist fought to expose the truth and of course it’s why Police Scotland’s carried out unlawful surveillance of the Sunday Mail and honest police officers in 2015.

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“Margaret believes that Police Scotland sabotaged the case against Packer until they no longer could.

“If an arbitrary line is drawn at 2013 to leave out Police Scotland from the inquiry’s terms of reference will be seen as a further act of betrayal and cover up by the Caldwell family as well as many of the survivors we represent.”

Labour MSP Pauline Mcneil added: “The Emma Caldwell scandal exposed serious failings in Scotland’s criminal justice system.

“If the pubic inquiry is restricted to avoid examining every aspect of those failings, no matter how uncomfortable that may be for some, lessons will not be learned and more families will be let down.

“I fully support efforts to make sure the public inquiry uncovers every aspect of this scandal so that it can hopefully never happen again.”

Eleven questions for Police Scotland

• Why did it take Police Scotland 19 years to put Iain Packer in the dock?

• How many senior Strathclyde Police detectives leading the first Emma Caldwell murder investigation were promoted after Police Scotland was launched in 2013?

• Did any seek to investigate Iain Packer before The Sunday Mail exposed him as the forgotten suspect in April 2015?

• Did any discourage or delay a new investigation into Packer or assist and encourage a cover-up of his involvement?

• Why did Police Scotland immediately order an unlawful inquiry into the Mail’s sources two days after Packer was exposed and who ordered it?

• Why was invented intelligence and fake claims the murder investigation was live used to justify that molehunt?

• Why did it take the direct intervention of the Lord Advocate to reopen the inquiry?

• Why did that second inquiry take nine years to get to court when there was only one suspect?

• Why did it spend years analysing the evidence against Turkish suspects already cleared when Packer was obviously the prime suspect?

• Was that inquiry prioritised and properly resourced as a live investigation while Packer, a prime suspect in an unsolved murder, remained free?

• Did Police Scotland allow a suspected murderer, one of Scotland’s most dangerous men, to remain free for almost 20 years because it was too embarrassing to admit its serial failures?

Five questions for the Crown Office

• Why was Police Scotland not instructed to investigate Iain Packer until May 2015, eight years after the Crown Office had been given his six statements to murder squad detectives?

• Why did the investigation reopened under Crown Office direction go nowhere for six years?

• Did the Crown Office instruct detectives to spend those years reviewing and analysing all the evidence from the initial inquiry despite Packer being the only suspect? If so, why?

• Was that inquiry properly directed or needlessly delayed by the Crown Office while Packer, a suspected murderer and one of Scotland’s most dangerous men, remained free?

• Did prosecutors allow a suspected murderer to remain free for almost 20 years because it was too embarrassing to admit it prosecuted the wrong men despite knowing the evidence against him?

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He was Roger McKechnie, who also made Tudor crisps worth climbing a mountain for.

He was born in Darlington in 1941, where his father, Harry, was a bank manager. He went to the private school of Wrekin College in Shropshire and then studied economics at Newcastle university.

Roger McKechnie at The Samling in Ambleside, a luxury hotel he created out of an 18th Century mansion called Doves Nest, which overlooks Lake Windermere

After a spell in marketing with Proctor & Gamble, he returned to the North East to take charge of marketing with Tudor Crisps, a brand started in Newcastle in 1947 which, in 1962, was the first to trial the salt and vinegar flavour.

In McKechnie’s time, Tudor became renowned for its slogans – “a canny bag o’Tudor” – and its TV adverts which featured pronounced North East accents. One featured a paperboy who was faced by the prospect of delivering to the top floor of the 280ft Derwent Tower, nicknamed the Dulston Rocket, without a lift and with only a bag of crisps as a reward.

He says happily: “For Tudor, I’d climb a mountain.”

The advert finished with: “A crisp that’s really worth its salt.”

A still from the early 1970s advert for Tudor crisps

From marketing, McKechnie rose to become managing director of Tudor, but when, in the early 1980s, the parent company, Associated Biscuits, wanted him to move south to promote Smiths Crisps, he jumped ship and set up Derwent Valley Foods at Consett.

The town had just lost its defining steelworks, but McKechnie’s company made its base in Medomsley Road a key part of its identity, because from Medomsley Road you could taste the world.

He introduced a line of snacks that explorer Phileas Fogg had apparently tasted on his journey around the world: Tortilla Chips, Punjab Puri and Mignon Morceaux. In the 1980s, the extravagant tastes – Mignon Morceaux were intense garlic butter bread sticks – were all anyone wanted to snack on.

The company employed more than 300 people in a town that had been economically devastated a decade earlier, and McKechnie was awarded an MBE.

In 1993, he and his three business partners sold out to United Biscuits for £24m.

He invested his millions in many schemes, creating the Look What We’ve Found brand of gourmet ready-meals and converting an 18th Century mansion overlooking Lake Windermere into a luxurious hotel called The Smaling, which Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise visited.

He also used the word “smaling”, which is Norse for “gathering”, for his philanthropic projects around Hexham and Corbridge, where he lived, which promoted the arts and artists.

He married Eileen in 1966, had six children and adopted three more, and he died in the Tyne Valley on April 24. We are grateful to Rodney Wildsmith for pointing his obituary which appeared in the Daily Telegraph this week.

Sprawling on the floor of a lift looking hot and bothered, Sir Rod Stewart is clearly having one of those up-and-down days.

The star was getting some retail therapy at Prada with his son Alastair, 20, and Alastair’s girlfriend Mell Ratto, when the trio found themselves trapped in the store elevator – and clearly wishing they’d taken the stairs.

Despite the Maggie May singer being one of the world’s biggest music stars – having sold more than 100 million records and earned two inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – help was not immediately at hand.

Eventually, the trio gave up waiting, sat down on the floor and got in touch with Prada via Instagram with the understated plea: ‘Can someone help get us out of the elevator?’

While being trapped in a lift is a nightmare for many, Sir Rod, 81, and company appeared more bored than panicked as they waited to be rescued during the drama last week.

Perhaps they were thinking of ways to describe their plight by reimagining some of the star’s lyrics – Wake up Prada I think I got something to say to you (for instance).

It’s the latest in a string of minor setbacks for the singer. In June, he was forced to use an oxygen tank during a concert in West Valley City, Utah, after almost fainting on stage, taking breaths from the apparatus throughout the remainder of the performance.

The drama came just a week after he cancelled a concert in California citing health concerns, only to fly by private jet to Boston 24 hours later to watch Scotland take on Haiti in the World Cup.

The decision did not sit well with fans who had been expecting to see him perform.

Suki rocks the glam look at Lollapalooza

Most people would be happy to succeed in one career – but not Suki Waterhouse. Not only is she a supermodel, but she’s also an in-demand singer, appearing on Friday at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago in a Seventies rock-inspired outfit of tiny hotpants and pink, ruffled cape.

She has revealed several tracks on her third album, Loveland, were inspired by her Hollywood actor fiance Robert Pattinson – including Notting Hill, about the boujie flat where the couple fell in love, and one about missing the Batman star while he was travelling, called Weirdo. Now that’s a pet name if ever there was one!

Suki Waterhouse performed during the 2026 Lollapalooza Festival at Grant Park on July 31

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Dua is a Tua star

Forfet Dua Lipa… meet Tua Lipa. That’s the nickname given to the star after her insistence on having tulips at her wedding in June.

The tulip season runs from March to May but that didn’t deter Dua, 30, who held a huge wedding party in Sicily with actor hubby Callum Turner, 36.

‘The flowers had to be imported at vast expense,’ my source says. ‘The wedding florists are calling her Tua Lipa.

Dua Lipa and Callum Turner celebrated their wedding in Palazzo Valguarnera Gangi in Italy

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Lila’s solo

Lila Moss looked every inch like her supermodel mother Kate in Ibiza last week, trying on feather mini-shorts and bejewelled corsets at trendy clothes shop Annie’s Ibiza.

But my spies tell me Lila, 23, was without one usual accessory… her on-and-off boyfriend Yoni Helbitz.

‘Lila has outgrown him,’ my source tells me. The pair have already broken up and got back together once this year, but my source confirms: ‘This time, it’s for real.’

Lila Moss and Yoni Helbitz attended Wimbledon Tennis Championships on day seven on July 9

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Do all wizards look the same? Fans often mix up Gandalf actor Sir Ian McKellen and the late Michael Gambon as Dumbledore.

Sir Ian recalls Gambon once admitting that: ‘They hand over their wretched 8×10 [photos] of you and I just sign your name.’

Ian McKellen, pictured playing Gandalf on the left, is being mixed up with Michael Gambon, who plays Dumbledore in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Congratulations to David Linley’s daughter Margarita Armstrong-Jones, 24, who has won a coveted spot at Mayfair’s Dover Street Market exhibition.

Princess Margaret’s granddaughter, who makes Matita Jewellery, has finished a tough course in her craft at Alchimia, in Florence.

Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones attended Tatler’s Little Black Book Party in November 2023

Crews in Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, London, North Wales, Yorkshire, Co Durham and Darlington, Berkshire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Greater Manchester, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Humberside, Dorset and Wiltshire, Devon and Somerset, Nottinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Kent, Merseyside, West Sussex, Surrey, and Norfolk have all reported dealing with fires in the open.

Skipper Gav Rees and his crew came second in an 11-month round-the-world Clipper race

A Welsh sailor is back from the voyage of a lifetime after 11-months at sea braving 70mph winds, 15 metre waves, sharks and medical emergencies navigating the globe.

Gav Rees, from Abergavenny, was skipper for a crew which changed along the route for The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and included some who had never sailed before ranging in age from 18 to 75.

Racing on the the 70ft yacht, The London Business School, they took second place in the legendary Clipper race, the only round the world race which admits people who have never sailed before. Sign up for our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.

Gav, a father-of-two, skippered the boat, competing against nine other identical racers. He was also acting chief medical officer and engineer – all on no more than four hours sleep a night and no showers for the entirety of the near year-long voyage.

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“I was acting doctor, engineer, meteorologist and skipper,” says Gav, who left his job with a pharmaceutical company to take part in the race, sometimes dubbed the toughest endurance challenge of its kind.

The crew crossed oceans from Europe, to Africa, Australia, Asia and America, skirting the Southern Ocean near Antarctica and in near tropical conditions around the Philippines.

Covering 45,000 nautical miles, equivalent to more than 50,000 land miles, they faced down raging storms, waves the height of houses, broken sails and a first mate with a broken leg.

Magical moments included pods of whales filling the Southern Ocean near Antarctica at sunset, a flock of 10 booby birds joining the vessel for a stretch and seeing dolphins and albatross as they headed through some of the most remote waters on the planet.

Christmas dinner on the waves was cooked on a four ring hob in a galley kitchen the size of a phone box but was complete with turkey, ham, roasties and gravy.

It was harder for Gav to keep track of the Welsh rugby and World Cup football scores with satellite Wi-Fi covering just one email and phone for the vessel.

The Clipper Round the World yacht Race is the only event of its kind that trains everyday people to sail around the world on 10 identical racing yachts. The race is split into eight legs, with race crew choosing to take on one, multiple or all eight of the legs.

Lou Boorman, from Haverfordwest, who now lives in Malta, skippered for rival Team Tongyeong in the race.

For most of the challenge Gav and his crew fed on easy-to-store dried food like pasta while in cold conditions it was safe to keep nets of fruit and veg bought on the brief stops as they raced on.

The vessel, built for speed not comfort, only had enough bunks for the crew to take turns sleeping and a bucket and sponge did for washing. Swimming was banned as it could slow them and be risky while the boat sped on.

There was just one toilet, without a seat, for all 16. Staying on the toilet as the yacht surfed over house-high waves and lurched from side to side was not always easy, so the crew had to pick their moments for comfort breaks.

“Sleep is a privilege rather than a right and the toilet, flushed through with sea water by pump, can be an adventurous place to be on a boat being thrown around,” said Gav.

“We take the seat off because it could be dangerous. There was no shower, just a bucket and sponge and wet wipes.”

The unique sights as they crossed the Atlantic, the Southern Ocean and the Pacific made it all worthwhile, says the former officer cadet in the Royal Regiment of Wales, now the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

Gav’s crew was made up 16 at a time from a 55-person squad, some of whom were on-board for the whole 11-months and some for as little as a week. The longest leg at sea was five weeks before they hit land.

All this was only possible with the strong bonding, daily crew meeting and joint ambition to have the experience of their lives whilst staying safe, says Gav.

Staying safe was at times easier than others, he admits.

The worst moment came when his first mate Zoe Longley broke her leg in several places a week’s voyage from Cape Town a few months into the race when a sail fell on her in October 2025.

“There’s no real text book for these things,” admits Gav as he describes how the main sail had then swung to one side in strong winds making the boat go backwards instead of forwards. For an hour there was a huge task righting the boat all whilst getting Zoe to safety.

Gav has high level first aid training and a vet was also on board and they made the decision to keep Zoe comfortable while they made it to a hospital in Cape Town, rather than have her helicoptered off.

While other boats could be contacted none nearby had any better kit to help.

“We set up sleeping bags on the floor next to her bunk, immobilised her and gave her pain relief. She had dislocated her ankle and her tibia and fibia were fractured in three places but she only had paracetamol and ibuprofen.

“It was significant and not pleasant and the boat was precarious as the sails were on the wrong side leaning the wrong way,” recalls Gav.

Less than four months later Zoe was out of hospital and re-joined the boat as it neared the Philippines in January 2026.

To get to this point the crew had to sail through “huge breaking waves” going from Cape Town to Australia near Antarctica.

“The Southern Sea is cold and grey but a very special place,” says Gav. “The wildlife was incredible with huge pods of whales. One evening there was a flat sea and pilot whales everywhere surfacing and blowing. It was magical.

“We also saw albatross, which are only unlucky if you kill or injure them, and lots of dolphins on the race.

“We saw sharks and turtles and in the Pacific booby birds took up residence on the boat. We didn’t feed them and I don’t know why they stayed, maybe for a rest. They weren’t bothered by us, they were just remarkably comfortable with 10 on one night.”

The race, which started in August 2025 in Portsmouth, took a route via Spain to Uruguay, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Japan and South Korea.

It went through the Caribbean to the USA and out through the Panama Canal. From there the route went across the Atlantic to Oban in Scotland and back to Portsmouth where the race ended and Gav and his crew came in second on July 25.

Back on dry land Gav is now wondering what to do next.

“People were selfless when conditions were awful and I was proud we had a really strong bond,” he says. “We enjoyed each other’s company and there was unity.

“These boats are designed for racing and surf up and down the waves which can be quite fun. Our top speed was 30 knots.”

It is the first time that Gav, a lifelong sailor, has done the Clipper Race, let alone skippered for it.

“It is a lot of responsibility and I wanted to bring everyone back safe. I have always had a passion for team work since being an officer cadet in the Royal Regiment of Wales.”

This week Gav is glad to be back home with wife Vicky and daughters Mollie, 16 and Bethan, 10 and plans to take it easy before planning his next adventure.

“I am taking a lie down in a darkened room for now,” he jokes.

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It was owned by an Oxford university college for over 700 years

Across Cambridgeshire, there is history right on peoples’ doorstep, with many parts of the county dating back to ancient periods. Many of the buildings that stand in the county today are hundreds, or even thousands, of years old.

However, there are natural sights that are even older. One woodland that dates back thousands of years is the ancient Gamlingay Woods.

The 48 hectare woodland is at least 1,000 years old. The Wildlife Trust, which oversees the woods, describes it as “magical” woodland that is “atmospheric at any time of year”.

The woodland has played an important role over time for the local community. It was useful as it was used as a source for building materials and firewood. There are conifers planted across the woods that were first planted during the Second World War. However, the Wildlife Trust is gradually removing these.

An array of wildlife inhabits the woodland, including a myriad insects like the speckled wood and purple hairstreak butterflies, longhorn beetles and different species of dragonfly.

A Wildlife Trust spokesperson said: “Along the grassy rides and paths, clouds of butterflies rise up from the flowers, then, as dusk gathers, bats hawk along the rides to take advantage of the abundance of moths. Birds are active year-round, whether trilling warblers, tapping woodpeckers or hooting owls.”

Despite being in Cambridgeshire, part of the woodlands were once owned by the University of Oxford. From 1268 to 1959, parts of the woods were owned by Merton College.

The reserve is a popular site for people to visit. There are numerous pathways for people to enjoy a walk around including the 3km Rippengal’s walk, named after Robert Rippengal, who was an archeologist. He founded and directed a Cambridge-based company selling wood-fuelled renewable heating systems. Robert enjoyed walking through the woods. After he died, his family and friends felt naming a walk after him would be a fitting tribute.

It’s worth bearing in mind that there is no dedicated parking when planning a visit to Gamlingay Woods. The nearest parking is 200m away to the west of allotments on Church End Road.

Traders from across the North East spent the day dishing out everything from sweet treats to salty snacks and handmade artisan products.

Meanwhile, visitors soaked up the atmosphere and stocked up on goodies to take home.

At some stalls, children begged their parents to let them buy brownies, cakes and more, including fresh takes on the normal baked fayre like ‘cookie pizzas’.

Others dined on paellas packed with flavour and Yorkshire pudding wraps stuffed with meat and roasties.

Elsewhere, focaccias with every topping you could want, mac and cheese, foot-long Geordie Banger sausages, and warming build-your-own crumbles were on offer.

Some knocked back a tipple while others relaxed on sunloungers sipping from hollowed-out pineapples.

At the TV cookery stage, returnee Chris Bavin once again hosted events and welcomed demonstrations from celebrity chefs including Masterchef 2012 winner Shelina Permalloo and Indian chef Cyrus Todiwala.

The festival continues on Sunday (August 2) from 10am til 4pm, with more traders, live music and attractions set to draw crowds back for a second day.

Here are 47 pictures from the opening day of Seaham Food Festival 2026 – can you spot yourself in the crowds?:

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Celebrity cook Shelina Permaloo and host Chris Bavin. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Macaroons on offer. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Celebrity cook Shelina Permaloo and host Chris Bavin. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Macaroons on offer. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Celebrity cook Cherish Finden, weekend host Chris Bavin, and celebrity cooks Cyrus Todiwala and Shelina Permaloo. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Celebrity cook Cherish Finden, weekend host Chris Bavin, and celebrity cooks Cyrus Todiwala and Shelina Permaloo. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Bell & Bullock present ‘The Garden Show’. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Celebrity cook Cherish Finden, weekend host Chris Bavin, and celebrity cooks Cyrus Todiwala and Shelina Permaloo. (Image: Chris Booth)

The festival continues tomorrow (August 2) from 10.00am to 4.00pm, with more traders, live

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Bell & Bullock present ‘The Garden Show’. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Bell & Bullock present ‘The Garden Show’. (Image: Chris Booth)

For more information about tomorrow’s schedule, visit: Seaham Food Festival Schedules –

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Singer Mcxxne entertains. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Singer Mcxxne entertains. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Singer Mcxxne entertains. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Celebrity cook Cyrus Todiwala and host Chris Bavin. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Celebrity cook Cyrus Todiwala. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Celebrity cook Cyrus Todiwala. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Singer Mcxxne entertains. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Bell & Bullock present ‘The Garden Show’. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. Bell & Bullock present ‘The Garden Show’. (Image: Chris Booth)

Seaham Food Festival takes place in the town. (Image: Chris Booth)

There are reportedly fears within Shane Richie‘s circle over his ‘gruelling schedule’ and ‘nineties drinking buddies’ amid claims his wife has walked away from their business together.

It emerged on Friday the EastEnders star has been charged with drink-driving after police were called following a row with petrol station staff.

Richie, 62, who plays Alfie Moon on the BBC soap, was challenged after he was seen vaping at the Tesco petrol station in Harlow, Essex.

Footage of the incident, which unfolded just after 11pm on Wednesday, saw Richie tell staff ‘I don’t give a f***’ when warned about the dangers of using any kind of smoking device around petrol. 

Now a new report in The Sun has claimed those close to Shane think he could be ‘spiralling’ and could end up being let go from the soap.

A source told the publication: ‘This has been a long time coming. Shane has been struggling to keep up with the demands of his workload and it appears it has all got a bit much. Everyone is so concerned about him.

It emerged on Friday that the EastEnders star has been charged with drink-driving after police were called following a row with petrol station staff

‘Since his character Alfie took over as landlord of the Queen Vic, he has been filming all the time because he is at the centre of the show.’

‘It is a pretty gruelling schedule. Plus he’s got a big tour in September which he has been rehearsing for. When Shane gets stressed he does like a drink, he has made no secret of that.’

The source went on to claim that BBC bosses ‘won’t take the incident lightly’, adding: ‘It wouldn’t be a surprise if they suspended him.’

Next month Shane is due to perform in nationwide theatre tour Prat Pack alongside Bradley Walsh, Brian Conley and Joe Pasquale but the publication claims there are fears he will be away with his ‘drinking buddies from the nineties’ for a whole month.

There are now also reported questions over his marriage to actress Christie Goddard who he wed in 2007. They have three children together.

The publication claims that Christie was terminated as director of their joint company Bluebelle Skye Productions in June so now has no control over the business empire they have run together since 2017.

A representative for Shane has been contacted by The Daily Mail for comment. 

The row at the petrol station this week began after Richie, real name Shane Roche, drove his white Hyundai onto the forecourt seemingly with a flat tyre.

After exiting his vehicle and being spotted with a large vape by staff, the actor was told he could not smoke at the station.

Brandishing the vape, Richie replied: ‘It’s not smoking.’ Upon realising he was being filmed, the EastEnders star then claimed: ‘This is not a vape.’

It has been claimed that his wife Christie was terminated as director of their joint company Bluebelle Skye Productions in June so now has no control over the business empire they have run together since 2017

He was previously married to Loose Women star Coleen Nolan from 1990-1999. They share son Shane, 37. Shane was unfaithful to Coleen during the marriage

After staff told him the vape ‘is a risk’, the actor, while reaching back inside his car and with his back to the employee, said: ‘I don’t give a f***.’

As the manager of the petrol station phoned police, claiming Richie was being ‘aggressive,’ he told the man filming: ‘Someone’s coming to change my tyre.’

Police were later seen arriving at the forecourt.

Richie was arrested and later charged with drink-driving. He is set to appear in court next month.

It is a criminal offence to smoke a cigarette at a petrol station due to the danger posed by sparks in the proximity of fuel, which is highly flammable.

It is not a specific offence to vape on forecourts, but firms strictly prohibit it over concerns about the same risk. 

A spokesman for Essex Police said: ‘Officers were called to reports of a suspected drink-driver in Church Langley Way, Harlow, shortly before 11.20pm on Wednesday July 29.

‘On arrival, officers arrested a man. A charge of drink-driving has subsequently been authorised against Shane Roche, 62, of Surrey.

‘He is due to appear at magistrates’ court on Wednesday, September 9.’

Richie is best known for his EastEnders role, having appeared on the soap for multiple stints since 2002, and his character has currently been part of the line-up since 2022.

He portrayed Alfie Moon again in a six-part spin-off Redwater in 2017.

A representative for Richie was contacted for comment on Saturday morning.

Shane has had a complicated past with his relationships and was previously married to Loose Women star Coleen Nolan from 1990-1999. They share son Shane, 37.

Shane was unfaithful to Coleen during the marriage.

‘He was so brilliant at convincing me I was wrong,’ Coleen said in 2017.

‘He would look me right in the eyes and convince me I was wrong,’ she said. ‘He made me feel paranoid.

‘I remember that feeling of elation when I found out [he was having an affair] I went ‘Yes! I knew it.’

‘It was a feeling of euphoria before the absolute devastation hit me – he still convinced me to stay.’ 

In 1996 Shane had an affair with dancer Claire Tyler while married to Coleen, and admitted his deception in his 2003 autobiography Rags to Richie: The Story So Far.  

Shane once confessed: ‘I lost my first wife through my drinking. A bottle of Jack Daniel’s and I was off.’