There’s something special about finding a home-from-home that lets you unwind without the having to travel too far

If you’re looking to switch up your usual holiday plans, staying in the UK is proving to be just as rewarding as going abroad.

Staying in a Welsh cottage can allow you to experience beautiful coastlines or peaceful countryside escapes, there’s something special about finding a home-from-home that lets you unwind without the having to travel too far. A secluded cottage near coastal areas are quickly becoming some of the most sought-after stays for 2026.

One standout property is Hen Efail, a beautifully presented holiday home tucked away in the village of Talgarreg near New Quay on the West Wales coast. Recognised by Wales Cottage Holidays as one of the best places to stay in 2026, it’s easy to see why this peaceful retreat has become such a popular choice on holidaycottages.co.uk.

Hen Efail is set in a secluded and tranquil location and offers the perfect balance of countryside peace and coastal beauty. Sleeping up to six guests and welcoming two dogs, it’s ideal for families or groups of friends looking to spend quality time together. Despite its quiet location, you’re just a short drive from the stunning West Wales coastline, with charming seaside spots like New Quay within easy reach.

Hen Efail offers a laid-back, memorable escape that keeps people coming back which is exactly why it’s already proving to be such a popular booking.

The cottage description:

• 3 bedrooms – 2 king-size, 1 twin
• 2 bathrooms – downstairs shower room and WC, family bathroom with bath and separate shower
• Wood burner (logs provided), underfloor heating on ground floor
• Smart TV in the living room and TVs in all 3 bedrooms
• Enclosed patio area with dining furniture and charcoal BBQ, firepit, large lawned garden area
• Wood-fired hot tub-requires attention to lit and warm up- approximately 1-2 hours to reach temperature
• Garden games cabin with pool table, table tennis and dartboard
• Private parking for 4 cars
• Local pub 0.5 miles, shops and beach 8 miles

One stayer of the Hen Efail has said: “Beautiful house in a beautiful setting. Would definitely recommend a visit. I can only imagine how gorgeous this place would be in the summer months!”

However, one thought: “Lovely peaceful cottage nothing really around, need to drive for amenities shop/ pub ect. Beds so comfortable, cottage very clean. Cottage and gardens beautiful.”

Stayers have spoken highly of their time in the Hen Efail, another said: “A lovely cottage in a fantastic location. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.

For those looking for a romantic getaway for two, Sykes Cottages has awarded the The Kites Nest in Ceredigion the Gold award for ‘Best for Couples’ category in the Sykes Holiday Cottages Gem awards.

For those willing to travel, the Thompson Rigg Barn in the North York Moors National Park has also been recognised by Sykes Cottages as a great stay for couples.

Households across the country will see changes to the costs of their energy bills from April onwards

UK households are set to be hit with changes to their energy bills from next month. Energy regulator Ofgem confirmed that the energy price cap – which determines the maximum amount people can be charged per unit of gas and electricity on a standard tariff – will be reduced by 6.7 per cent for the average household from April.

A typical household will save £117 a year on their energy bills from April 1, 2026, saving around £10 each month. The price cap will fall to £1,641 a year for dual-fuel customers paying by Direct Debit, making bills 11 per cent, or £208, lower than for the same period in 2025.

The reduction comes after a difficult year for households. Between April and June 2025, the price cap rose to £1,849 a year following a six per cent increase of £111 that affected around 11 million customers on default tariffs.

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The rise was driven by an 11 per cent jump in wholesale energy costs, adding £86 to the average bill. It marked the third consecutive quarterly increase, with bills soaring nine per cent higher than the previous year.

But while the new price cap will be “welcome relief” for many households, bills remain significantly higher than pre-crisis levels, says Shay Ramani from Free Price Compare, a UK-based comparison service.

“The £117 saving works out at just over £10 a month, which barely scratches the surface for the estimated six million households still in fuel poverty,” Mr Ramani said. “Families should use this window to review their energy usage, consider switching tariffs if better deals emerge, and ensure they’re claiming all available support.”

The April 2026 price drop is partly caused by changes to how environmental and social schemes are funded. The UK government announced this will be done by ending funding for the Energy Company Obligation scheme, as well as removing 75 per cent of costs for the Renewables Obligation scheme from people’s energy bills, saving customers an average of £150.

A further £38 reduction comes from falling global wholesale energy prices, according to Ofgem data.

Under the new cap, electricity will cost 24.67 pence per kilowatt hour for customers on standard variable tariffs paying by Direct Debit, with a daily standing charge of 57.21 pence. Gas will be charged at 5.74 pence per kilowatt hour, with a standing charge of 29.09 pence per day. These rates represent averages across England, Scotland and Wales, including five per cent VAT.

The reduction will be automatically applied to your bill from 1 April onwards. The exact amount each household saves will depend on how much energy is used and the type of tariff:

Standard variable tariff

For energy used after 1 April, the savings will be applied to your unit rate for gas and electricity. Your energy supplier will contact you to confirm the details of your new rates.

Fixed price tariff

Suppliers have confirmed that the savings will be passed on in full to customers on fixed price tariffs. This means if you are already on a fixed price tariff on 1 April, your tariff will be amended so that savings are applied to your unit rates going forward.

Your energy supplier will contact you to confirm your new rates. For anyone signing a new fixed price tariff after 1 April, we expect the savings to be taken into account.

Pre-payment meter

If you are on a smart pre-payment meter, your energy supplier will automatically apply the savings to any energy used from 1 April. If you are on a traditional pre-payment meter – such as those which use a key or card, you will benefit from the savings the first time you top up your key or card after 1 April.

Other types of tariffs

Some examples of these include:

• Tracker tariffs, where unit costs for gas and electricity fluctuate daily to reflect live wholesale prices
• Time-of-use tariffs, where the unit cost for electricity changes depending on the time of day, with cheaper rates offered during off-peak times like overnight

Where a tariff includes costs associated with either the Energy Company Obligation or Renewable Obligation schemes, the savings will be passed on from April.

How you receive the savings will depend on the specific tariff you are on. For example, the impact may vary across different times of day or pricing periods.

Your energy supplier will provide you with more information on how these changes will work.

Castlegate, off Tower Street and Castle car park, closed at 8am on Monday morning (March 23) and will remain so until 5pm on Friday (March 27).

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It comes after City of York Council announced that water works were taking place along the road – two months after the road was closed and dug up for gas works.

Castlegate has been closed for essential works for five days (Image: Newsquest)

Castlegate is home to Fairfax House and St Mary’s Church, close to Castle Museum and JORVIK Viking Centre.

It is closed between its junction with Friargate and number 28 Castlegate.

Traffic signs are in place to designate this area but no diversion signs are in place, the council said.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia could become the first state to require every student to be checked for weapons when arriving at a public school each day.

A bill is nearing passage that would require weapons detection systems in a further reaction to a 2024 school shooting that killed four.

“That rifle would have never reached our hallways,” said Daria Lezczynska, a junior at Apalachee High School in Winder, where the shooting took place. “Lives would have been saved. Families would not be grieving, Students like me would not be carrying this trauma.”

Some schools have long used metal detectors or required students to carry clear backpacks to cut down on weapons. But a new generation of technology marries computer analysis with cameras or the same electromagnetic fields as metal detectors to detect knives and guns. The systems have spread rapidly through schools, arenas, stadiums and hospitals.

“It’s very commonplace for me to walk through a weapons detection system when I enter into a courthouse,” said Chuck Efstration, the bill’s sponsor and Republican house majority leader who represents the Apalachee campus. “Georgia’s students and educators deserve similar security with weapons detection systems inside of every Georgia public school.”

There’s little rigorous research nationwide proving that weapons detectors prevent school shootings. In Georgia, there are questions about who will pay what can be $10,000 or more per system. School employees must staff checkpoints and search bags. And even supporters of the systems say searchers can become dulled by a multitude of false alarms and miss the few actual weapons. Some question whether weapons detectors are necessary in elementary schools, as Efstration’s bill mandates. And those who find Georgia’s gun laws too permissive say installing weapons detectors everywhere is a form of surrender, accepting that society will be awash in guns and violence.

A Senate committee on Monday passed an amended version of Efstration’s bill, meaning it needs final votes in the Senate and House in the closing days of Georgia’s 2026 legislative session before reaching Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature or veto.

Few schools traditionally required weapons checks

It’s unclear how many schools nationwide use weapons detectors. A U.S. Department of Education survey found that in the 2021-2022 school year, 6.2% of all schools and 14.2% of high schools nationwide required random metal detector checks. Only 2.4% of all schools and 6.2% of high schools required daily metal detector checks. More schools required clear bookbags or banned bookbags than required daily metal detector checks. Checks were more likely to be required when a school was in a city, when the majority of students were nonwhite, and when large majorities of students were poor.

Atlanta’s school district spent more than $4 million to roll out new systems in 2021 in middle and high schools, replacing old-style metal detectors. District Police Chief Ronald Applin said officials wanted something that students could move through more quickly, saying traditional detectors were “too cumbersome.”

Applin said guns found at Atlanta schools fell from 32 the year before the new system to four so far this year.

The 1,700 students at Midtown High School typically hold their laptops in the air as they pass through detection gates, with a computer screen telling employees whether a bag needs a secondary search.

“It’s not real adversarial at the metal detector,” said School Resource Officer Meredith Littles. “A lot of people get worried about the dynamics of what that looks like. But it’s very non-intrusive.”

False alarms can dull vigilance

One key question is how sensitive to make the system, said Nikita Ermolaev, a research engineer at IPVM, which tests and researches security technology. Too sensitive, and alarms go off for everything. Not sensitive enough, and weapons slip through. And trying to maintain vigilance is a challenge.

“You have 100 alarms and the first 99 of them are false alarms on laptops or binders, right? You’re naturally going to assume that the 100th alarm is also going to be on something benign,” Ermolaev said. “And that’s how sometimes weapons such as guns or knives can go through the system.”

Then there’s the cost. Georgia gives each public school campus $50,000 a year for school safety, but many districts are already using that money to pay on-campus officers. House budget writers have proposed borrowing an additional $50 million for grants to districts.

“While we absolutely think weapons detection is imperative, it can only be made possible with appropriate funding,” said Gretchen Walton, an assistant superintendent in Cobb County, which with 103,000 students is Georgia’s second-largest school system.

Others, including some Democrats, see the focus on weapons detection as misplaced. They say Georgia should be looking to limit children’s access to guns.

“We have allowed guns and weapons of war to become more available than a pack of gum in this state, then act confused when people keep dying,” said Democratic state Rep. Bryce Berry, a public school teacher who voted against the bill in the House. “Let’s stop hiding behind procedure and politics and pretending that the threat our children face is some vague, mysterious force.”

Jennie Sutton is an award-winning divorce coach and founder of Untying the Knot. Here’s how to spot the signs your marriage is struggling – and some unexpected ways to heal

When I got married I was 24, it was a traditional church ceremony, I was in love and hopeful and excited about a long, happy future together. However, like many couples, the reality was very different to what I had imagined. As the years passed, I doubted myself more and more. As a lifelong people-pleaser, I did what many women do: I adapted, I rationalised and I tried “harder”.

My self-worth quietly deteriorated, and I learned to numb the discomfort through drinking a glass or two more than usual, rather than question what I was experiencing. But one night, as I was wiping down the kitchen surfaces a quiet inner voice said, “If you’re staying for others, it’ll slowly erode your wellbeing”. That was the moment that the penny dropped. Love, I learned, is not always enough to sustain a marriage and unhappiness on its own is a valid reason to leave.

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It’s something that Zoe Ball reflected on in the latest episode of her podcast with Jo Whiley, Dig it, in response to a listener’s question. Discussing the agonising period before she and her husband Norman Cook ended their marriage after 18 years, Zoe said, “You try everything and you think this is not working and then the anticipation of coming out with it and saying to your partner ‘this is the time’ is so scary because it’s overwhelming on all fronts.

“You’re worrying about your kids, you’re worrying about your partner and you’re worrying about you and how it will all work out. Something I can tell you from personal experience is that, yes, it is a lot to go through but you will come out the other side of it – and the fact that you know you need to do this you will all be better in the end. The kids will be fine, it’s amazing how resilient kids can be.”

Like Zoe, I’m now on the other side and in the past seven years since my marriage came to an end, I’ve created a new, single life for myself. And I’m now a divorce coach, using my experiences to help other women who’ve lost themselves in marriage. I help them recognise when their union is over and I also help guide them to get the help they need if their relationship can be revived. Here’s how to spot the signs your marriage is struggling – and some unexpected ways to heal and spark new life.

You feel lonelier with them than on your own

Loneliness in a marriage feels like a room stripped bare – the walls are still there but the warmth, colour and vitality have faded. To reconnect with each other, discover each other’s love languages. This means that you might need physical touch to feel love, but your spouse might prefer words of affirmation (praise), or acts of service (a cup of tea in the morning).

How to heal: Even small, regular gestures, such as making a coffee the way your partner likes it, leaving a short note of appreciation, or taking five minutes to really listen, can restore intimacy. Over time, these micro-moments add up, transforming isolation into connection.

You can’t wait to spend time away from them

If being away without your spouse feels like a reset button for your nervous system and a few hours of pure “you”, this is a hint that both of you might need to rediscover your independence.

How to heal: See alone time as a break from the stresses and strains that you carry together. And when you’re back together, share your solo experiences together. Start to discover each other as two full people, not two halves who might be suffocating each other.

You miss who you used to be

You may find that somewhere along the way, ‘you’ disappeared into ‘us’ along with your passions and solo adventures. But don’t forget that relationships thrive when both partners feel alive individually.

How to heal: Embrace your old passions, and find some new ones, whether it’s painting, acting, singing, reading, hiking or salsa dancing. Not only will you feel more alive, but your partner gets to see you as the whole person you’ve always been.

You avoid talking about them with other people

When friends and family ask how your partner is, do you dodge the question? This might be because you’ve subconsciously deleted them from the conversation, sometimes out of fear, frustration or embarrassment. This habit can erode connection.

How to heal: Consider seeing a third party such as a coach, therapist or even a trusted friend who can try and understand why you’re doing this.

‘Fine’ is the answer to every question

Does your partner reply to every question about how they are with, ‘fine’? That word can mean an awful lot more than first appears including fear, boredom or disconnection.

How to heal: Tell your partner how it makes you feel: “When you say ‘fine’, I feel shut out. I want to know how you really are.” Use open questions such as, “what was the highlight of your day?” This gives your partner a chance to re-engage and is a reminder to both of you that communication is a shared responsibility.

You already know how arguments will go

Arguments can fall into a familiar pattern where you speak, they deflect and you shrink. It can feel like the same old sequence, replayed like a scratched vinyl record.

How to heal: Break this cycle by creating a daily rewind – allow yourselves to have 15 minutes to chat about what went well, what could’ve gone better, and if you could have the row again, what would you change? Interactions like this increase connection. Over time, you might start to notice subtle shifts, for example, more willingness to explore each other’s perspective, and a sense that your partner is on the same page.

Your body always feels tense

Perhaps you always seem to have tight shoulders, clenched jaws and restless legs? These physical signs can often mirror tension in your relationship.

How to heal: Take a physical approach with your partner – try touching each other, shared movement or even breathing in sync, all of which can release stress. Take time together, have a walk after dinner or even hold hands while listening to music. Small gestures like these can reset not only your body but also your emotional rhythm.

Your social world has reduced

Over the years, friends may fade and social circles tighten but don’t forget that fresh perspectives invigorate relationships. Consider encouraging new experiences, meeting new people and sharing what you learn, as they all add fuel to your relational fire.

How to heal: Attend a workshop, join a local club, or even host a dinner with a mix of old and new friends. You’ll find that different conversation with new ideas, fun debates and shared laughter can all inspire your relationship.

*Jennie Sutton is an award-winning divorce coach and founder of Untying the Knot (untyingtheknot.me). She’s also a contributor to Emotional Alchemy: The True Stories of Turning Breakup and Divorce Pain into Power by Sara Davison, available at amazon.co.uk

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