The event, organised by Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn, will take place on June 13 and marks the 150th anniversary of Mr Thompson’s birth by honouring his legacy of hand-carved oak furniture, each piece distinguished by its trademark mouse motif.

Diane Sinnott, Mouseman specialist at Tennants Auctioneers, said: “Having worked with Mouseman for over thirty years, I am absolutely thrilled to be celebrating this milestone anniversary with what is set to be a landmark sale”.

Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson, English Oak Newel Posts – Estimate; £2,000-3,000 (Image: Tennants)

The auction will feature 300 lots of Mouseman furniture and carvings, drawing from three major private collections as well as additional contributions from other vendors.

Among the items on offer is a rare English oak carving of Fighting Stallions, with an estimated value of £8,000 to £12,000.

The North Yorkshire Collection, assembled over a decade by a dedicated collector, includes several rare pieces, sourced directly from the Mouseman workshop in Kilburn or through auction houses.

Workshop of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson, English Oak ‘Six Mouse’ Bowl – Estimate:£2,000-3,000 (Image: Tennants)

Another standout item is an oak carving of Racing Greyhounds, estimated at £4,000 to £6,000.

Other pieces up for auction include a selection of furniture, monk’s chairs, tables, bookends and a rare steamer deck chair dating back to the 1920s or 1930s.

The auction will also feature items from the former Mouseman-fitted interior of Stone Lodge on Skipton Road in Silsden.

Completed in 1953 and since demolished, the house included oak panelling, a fireplace, doors and newel posts, all crafted by Thompson’s workshop, and will now be offered to collectors and enthusiasts.

Viewing will be held at Tennants Auctioneers on June 11 and June 12.

Robert Thompson (1876-1955) built his workshop in the small North Yorkshire village of Kilburn and embodied the ethos of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Drawing inspiration from medieval craftsmen, Thompson developed a distinctive style rooted in tradition and individuality.

He famously incorporated a carved mouse into every piece, a detail that became his enduring signature.

Mr Thompson described the inspiration behind the motif, saying: “I though how a mouse manages to scrape and chew away the hardest wood with its chisel-like teeth, and it works quietly; nobody takes much notice.

“I thought that was maybe like this workshop hidden away in the Hambleton Hills.

“It is what you might call industry in quiet places, so I put the mouse on all my work”.

Thompson created in a time when mass production threatened to overshadow traditional handcrafting, yet he continued to produce unique furniture using native oak and time-honoured methods.

Each item from his workshop is known for its character and individuality.

The Mouseman sale will take place alongside Tennants’ 20th Century Design Sale and Modern and Contemporary Art Sale on the same day, providing collectors an opportunity to explore a range of distinctive and historical pieces.

A fully illustrated catalogue for the auction is available on the Tennants Auctioneers website.

More information about the sale and the legacy of Mouseman Thompson can be found at www.tennants.co.uk or by contacting their team directly at 01969 623780.

HMRC and Social Security Scotland have confirmed payments due on Monday, May 25 will be paid early on Friday, May 22, with DWP expected to follow the same pattern

Those expecting a State Pension or benefit payment towards the end of this month will receive their money ahead of schedule due to an upcoming bank holiday. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Social Security Scotland have confirmed that certain payments due on Monday, May 25 will be brought forward, with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) expected to follow suit with a similar amended payment schedule.

This is due to DWP offices and phone lines being closed over the bank holiday, as payments are ordinarily processed when all services are fully operational, including webchat and Jobcentre Plus offices.

Payments including State Pension, Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Child Benefits, Adult Disability Payment (ADP) and Attendance Allowance due on Monday, May 25 will land in bank accounts on Friday, May 22.

Below is a full list of DWP, HMRC and Social Security Scotland payments which could be affected by the May bank holidays, reports the Daily Record.

It is worth noting that if your forthcoming payment does not fall on Monday, May 25, it will be issued as normal.

DWP May bank holiday payment date changes

DWP has yet to formally confirm any payment date changes, but is anticipated to follow the same revised schedule as HMRC and Social Security Scotland.

Payments due to be made on Monday, May 25 will be issued on Friday, May 22.

Payments affected:

• Attendance Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Pension Credit
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• State Pension
• Universal Credit

HMRC May bank holiday payment date changes

Payments due to be made on Monday, May 25 will be issued on Friday, May 22.

Payments affected:

• Child Benefit
• Guardian’s Allowance

Social Security Scotland May bank holiday payment date changes

Payments due to be made on Monday, May 25 will be issued on Friday, May 22.

Payments affected:

• Adult Disability Payment
• Child Disability Payment
• Scottish Child Payment
• Carer Support Payment
• Pension Age Disability Payment
• Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance

Social Security Scotland has confirmed Best Start Foods payments will not be affected.

Early local election results are inflicting increased pressure on Sir Keir Starmer with his party losing control of six councils amid a surge in support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.

The prime minister, who was reportedly last night facing calls from former Labour leader Ed Miliband to set out a timetable for his departure, is facing a difficult day with results expected to bring heavy losses for Labour at the 136 councils that held elections.

As dawn broke, it was confirmed that the party, which had already lost control of councils including Redditch and Tameside, had lost control of its seventh local authority; Southampton.

Many pollsters expect Labour to lose more than 1,500 councillors.

Accrording to The Times, Mr Miliband had privately urged the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for his departure after the elections, while Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash, whose wife Pamela Hargreaves lost her seat in Reform’s clean sweep, said Sir Keir should go.

Deputy prime inister David Lammy urged his party not to play “pass the parcel” with the leadership in response to the election results.

Meanwhile, Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has said the early results are exceeding all his expectations, calling it a day of “historic change in British politics”.

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Starmer must go, says Labour MP

A Labour MP who saw his wife lose her council seat as Reform surged in Hartlepool has repeated his call for Sir Keir Starmer to step down amid a “terrible” night for his party.

Jonathan Brash, whose wife Pamela Hargreaves lost to Nigel Farage’s party, said: “I’m looking for change at the top of the Labour Party.

“It’s clear to me that the prime minister should take this opportunity to set out a timetable for his own departure, and then allow for the widest possible leadership election that includes all the talents of our party.

“There should be no blocking of any candidate from coming to the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) if they feel they’ve got something to offer.

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“As you can imagine, I’m really angry about tonight, because Labour politicians are delivering really big things, but we need a leadership of the party that is on the side of the British people.”

He added: “The results are terrible. It’s devastating for Hartlepool. It’s a terrible night.

“I don’t think Keir Starmer should survive these results.”

Alex Ross8 May 2026 06:40

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Breaking: Reform wins first council

Reform UK has gained its first council of this year’s local elections, taking Newcastle-under-Lyme from the Conservatives.

Alex Ross8 May 2026 06:34

Ed Miliband ‘privately urged Starmer to set timeline for departure’

As polls closed last night, and Sir Keir Starmer braced a difficult day ahead, The Times reported that energy secretary and former Labour leader Ed Miliband privately urged him to set out a timetable for his departure after the elections.

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The outlet reported that Mr Miliband was concerned Labour will descend into “a bitter and damaging leadership contest” after the local elections.

But deputy prime minister David Lammy has urged his party not to play “pass the parcel” with the leadership in response to the election results.

He told the BBC there were “questions that we have to answer” but there were “no circumstances in which the answer to the questions that the British people are raising is to change the leader yet again”.

Labour sources also pointed to the heavy defeat suffered by the party in 1999 before Sir Tony Blair went on to win re-election by a landslide in 2001.

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Alex Ross8 May 2026 06:32

Lib Dems hail ‘record-breaking winning streak’ in local elections

The Lib Dems have hailed the party’s results in the local elections so far, with the party’s deputy leader Daisy Cooper claiming they are on a “record-breaking winning streak”.

In a statement, she continued: “We are heading for our eighth set of local election gains in a row and are on track to beat Labour and the Conservatives once again.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our hardworking teams across the country, who knocked on over three-and-a-half million doors to take the fight to Farage and his politics of division.”

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Ms Cooper added: “We’ve recorded stonking results in Stockport and Portsmouth, taking control of both councils and beating Reform. Many of our best results are still to come in places like Surrey, Sussex, Huntingdonshire, and Southwark.

“While those on the populist extremes of left and right just want to pitch groups against each other, Liberal Democrats have a plan to fix what’s broken and bring our country together.”

Millie Cooke8 May 2026 06:27

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Southampton becomes seventh council Labour has lost

We’ve just reported on Labour losing Wandsworth, and control of its sixth council – well, the party has just losts its seventh with Southampton.

The Labour leader of the council, Alex Winning, has also lost his seat.

The results for the council, where a third of seats were up for election, showed Reform gained seven seats, while Labour lost nine. Greens also won two, and the Lib Dems two also.

Alex Ross8 May 2026 06:15

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Labour has lost Wandsworth Council

Labour has lost Wandsworth Council to no party majority after shedding six seats, leaving it with 28.

The Tories have 29 seats after gaining eight, but failed to retake control of the south London council.

In 2022, Labour caused an upset by winning power from the Conservatives, who had been in control of the council since 1978.

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Alex Ross8 May 2026 06:12

Elections confirm ‘fracturing of British politics’ – John Curtice

So far, Reform has made huge gains in England, taking more than 20 seats so far, while Labour has lost almost 160 and the Tories more than 30.

Pollster John Curtice told the BBC this morning that after Reform, Labour, Lib Dems, Conservatives and Greens were all trailing with just below 20 per cent of the vote share.

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He said: “None of the parties are very big. The fracturing of British politics is underlined by these results and confirmed by them.”

Alex Ross8 May 2026 05:47

Labour defeat may not be as bad as expected, says John Curtice

As we and other outlets have reported, Labour was expected by some pollsters to lose more than 1,500 seats, which would place huge place on Sir Keir Starmer.

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However, despite gains for Reform, pollster John Curtice told the BBC this morning that Labour’s losses may not be as big as expected.

He said: “It may well be now that Labour lose less than the 1,500 seats that perhaps some people said was the tipping point for attempts to unseat Keir Starmer, but only a hird of the seats are declared overnight and they are not all in yet. There is still along way to go.

“The big picture is Reform are ahead, it is clear that Reform are winning most votes in the elections declared so far in much the same way as they were in last year’s council elections.”

Alex Ross8 May 2026 05:42

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The latest this morning as Labour loses seventh council

Dawn is breaking in the UK, and although it’s still very early days in the results for the local elections, we’re starting to get an idea on the early winners, and so far it’s Reform.

The party has gained more than 200 seats in 37 of the 136 councils that have declared to so far, while Labour has lost more than 160, including its traditional northern heartlands.

Crucially, Labour has lost control of seven councils so far.

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In Hartlepool, Reform won all 12 seats on offer, pushing the previously Labour-held council into no overall control, while Labour also lost control of Redditch, Tamworth and Exeter.

In Tameside, a council in Angela Rayner’s Greater Manchester constituency, Labour lost its majority to no overall control as Reform took 18 of the 19 seats up for election.

The party has also lost control of Wandsworth four years on from taking over what had been a long-held Conservative authority.

This morning, Reform leader Nigel Farage heralded a “historic change in British politics,” telling reporters “there is no more left-right” as his outfit was “scoring stunning percentages in traditional old Labour areas”.

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Alex Ross8 May 2026 05:29

Conservative leader in Harlow says Labour and Reform ‘utterly trounced’

Harlow’s Conservative council leader, who led his party to victory in all 11 district council seats up for election in the town, has said a “bold vision” locally was behind his victory.

Asked what the Conservative Party’s future looked like, Dan Swords told the Press Association: “I think what we have shown in Harlow is if you set out a bold vision, you deliver against it and deliver tangible change that people can see, people will come out and vote for it – I think that’s what we need to do nationally.”

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Mr Swords earlier said: “This is a local election, it’s about local issues and it’s about us finishing what we’re doing, and I’m pleased that residents have voted for that.

“I would certainly find it interesting if I were either a Labour or a Reform campaigner now trying to defend the fact they’ve just been utterly trounced but, you know, we just get on with what we’re doing.”

Mr Swords told PA: “I think it’s an incredibly hard night. You know, I know hundreds of councillors, Conservative councillors, up and down the country and they are truly the most dedicated, caring, loyal people who want nothing more than to improve the area they live in.

“And I think in nearly every single scenario, they will have lost because of the national picture.

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“I don’t think many people have voted this evening because they think that Reform or whomever else will do a better job of running their council, I think they’re voting because they want change and that’s clear for everyone to see.

“And I hope that they will all be back very soon, following Harlow’s lead.”

Adam Withnall8 May 2026 05:09

“I have concerns of the Mayor’s show coming up and we want the place spick and span and not have rats everywhere.”

A Lisburn councillor has raised concerns of rats disrupting a community event this weekend.

Thousands of people are expected to attend the annual family event centred in Wallace Park this Saturday, May 9.

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s environment committee this week heard public safety concerns over rodents seen on site, but Mayor Amanda Grehan says she has “full faith” in pest control.

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In chambers, SDLP councillor Pat Catney said: “It has been brought to my attention today that there are rats at the vicinity of the railway banks at Wallace Park.

“There are funfair rides already being put in place in the park for the Mayor’s Carnival Parade this weekend. Could we have a look at this?”

A council officer confirmed they had noted the elected member’s concerns.

Speaking to the the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Councillor Catney said: “I have a had a number of constituents who reported rats around the railway embankment area saying the rats just stopped and stared at them without fear.

“I have concerns of the Mayor’s show coming up and we want the place spick and span and not have rats everywhere.

“In light of what we are hearing on the news about the virus on the cruise ship in the Atlantic, we need to be careful.

“The bottom line is this is a public health issue and it needs flagging up. A child could pick up a football with rat’s pee on it, so it is a real danger.”

Cruise ship, the MV Hondius, which set sail from Argentina a month ago, is now sailing towards the Canary Islands after being anchored for three days near Cape Verde over a rare virus outbreak linked to rodents.

According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) the risk of transmission to the wider public of the ‘Hantavirus’ is low.

UK passengers make up the highest nationality on board.

Councillor Catney added: “It might be eradicated by the weekend, but it needs to be done.

“I’m not in the Lagan Valley chamber to be popular, I’m there to raise concerns on behalf the people of the district and that is what I am doing.”

The council website describes the event as the “city’s largest community street arts party” with the parade beginning at the Lagan Valley Island civic centre from 1pm.

It further states, Wallace Park will closed at 9pm on Thursday 7 May and will not reopen to the public until 12noon on Saturday 9 May when the Family Fun Day event begins. There will be no access to the park for the public during this time.

The LDRS contacted Mayor Grehan, who said: “As soon the complaint of rats came in our officers were on this and they are doing a great job and doing the best they can.

“I want everyone to come along to the Mayor’s Carnival and have a fabulous day. Our pest control are well on top of it. I have full faith in our officers to to do a fantastic job.”

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

The former Liverpool played revealed how one major factor played a part in his career trajectory

Former Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles previously maintained he didn’t want to leave Liverpool for Chelsea in 2011. Yet the Blues’ hiring of Andre Villas-Boas as boss altered everything.

Liverpool will host Chelsea at Anfield on Saturday, with the two sides frequently locking horns in the transfer market through the years as well as on the field. One notable example revolved around Meireles.

Meireles signed for the Reds, then managed by Roy Hodgson, from Porto in August 2010 for £11.5million. The Portuguese midfielder featured 44 times for Liverpool, netting five goals.

It seemed Liverpool had discovered something of a midfield anchor, with the player adding intelligent play and goals to the side’s central areas. That remained the case until Chelsea, newly under the guidance of Villas Boas, who had collaborated with Meireles at Porto, opted to pounce for the player on summer deadline day of 2011 for £12m.

The switch drew uncomfortable comparisons with Fernando Torres’ £50m transfer to Chelsea, which had taken place six months prior, with Liverpool having confirmed in both instances that a transfer request had been lodged.

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However, Meireles was insistent there was no animosity involved this time around and that it was simply down to the opportunity to reunite with Villas-Boas. Speaking following his switch to Stamford Bridge, he said: “When I was in Porto, I knew that I wanted to go and the club wanted to sell me, and I only had to wait for the right choice.

“I made the right choice last year to come to England and to come to Liverpool and this year was different because I knew that I didn’t want to leave Liverpool. I felt that the new owners didn’t want to sell me, but when I knew that Chelsea and Andre wanted me, it convinced me.

“It was strange, because I knew of the interest of Chelsea, and the interest of the coach, and it was a pleasure to come to this club but it was strange because it was on the last day. The people think that I wanted to leave and it is only because Chelsea wanted me. For Andre to want me, that is why I wanted to go.

“I have a lot of friends here, Portuguese players that I know from Porto and the national team, and Jose Bosingwa helped me a lot in these first days. I know that Chelsea is a great club, one of the best clubs in the world, and it is not too difficult to convince me to come.”

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Much like Torres, Meireles joined Chelsea having regularly troubled them over the years. He netted against them in a Champions League encounter while at Porto and played a key part as Liverpool completed the league double over the west Londoners the previous season, scoring the decisive goal at Stamford Bridge.

Meireles tasted glory at Chelsea, claiming both the FA Cup and Champions League with the Blues. However, he was offloaded to Turkish outfit Fenerbahce for £8m in September 2012, following Villas-Boas’s dismissal by the Chelsea board several months prior.

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Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

In the latest in our series on unsolved gangland murders the Daily Record examines the fatal stabbing of drugs suspect Martin Toner 22 years ago and how his death remains a mystery to this day

It was early in the morning and a farmer was collecting hay bales when he spotted the body of a man concealed under a hedge.

He called the police who discovered the man had been stabbed several times and his throat slashed.

It also looked like he victim had been killed elsewhere and his body dumped in the field, near the Renfrewshire village of Langbank.

Detectives quickly identified the victim as 34 year old father-of-two Martin Toner from the south side of Glasgow.

He had been reported missing by his wife two weeks earlier and was due to appear in court on cocaine smuggling charges.

Toner, who ran a bin cleaning company, was last seen around 3pm on June 29, 2004, in Langbank’s Main Street and at the Key To Life gym in the Pollokshaws area of Glasgow earlier in the day.

At the time he went missing, almost 22 years ago, police assumed he had gone on the run because of his forthcoming trial. But his family were always convinced he’d been murdered and would never leave his children behind.

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As with all murders with a gangland connection police quickly met a wall of silence and struggled to find an obvious motive.

They believed Toner had been lured to his death on the day of his disappearance perhaps by someone he knew and trusted. Appeals for information by the police and family members elicited little response, despite the offer of a £3000 reward.

One senior officer said at the time: “Mr Toner’s alleged involvement in criminality has been widely reported and may be one of the reasons why there is a reluctance on the part of some people to speak to the police.”

The victim’s distinctive Berghaus sports hold-all and mobile phone were also never found.

Eventually the case was wound down and officers moved to other duties until a dramatic development a decade later In 2014 former police officer Douglas Fleming, then 50, was charged with Martin Toner’s murder and stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow the following March.

Now a property developer Fleming was alleged to have killed Toner in the grounds of Gleddoch Estate, Langbank, ten years earlier, before dumping the body in the farmers field.

Fleming, who had served as a Constable with Central Scotland Police for three years in the 1980’s, had become a suspect after admitting giving the murder victim a lift to Langbank on the day he went missing.

They had met earlier at the gym in Pollokshields at around 2.30pm. Fleming then dropped Toner close to the railway station in Langbank and said that was the last he saw him.

At the end of the trial Fleming was cleared after the jury found the murder charge not proven.

A murder charge against a second man was dropped earlier in the trial.

Fleming had been previously cleared in 2008 of conspiracy to import cocaine to Scotland from Colombia, also on a not proven verdict.

Toner had been due to stand trial with Fleming on the same charges.

The day he vanished was the day before their pre-trial hearing.

Both men had been accused of trafficking millions of pounds’ worth of cocaine from Colombia to Antwerp, Belgium.

A trial was told that plain-clothes officers from the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency trailed Fleming to Antigua, in the West Indies, where he met Martin Toner.

Fleming admitted knowing Toner but denied having anything to do with drugs.

To this day it is not clear why he was murdered

One theory was that certain major underworld figures were worried that he might give evidence against them at his forthcoming drugs trial and expose their activities.

Two years before his murder Toner had been involved in a dispute with two brothers from the Glasgow area said at the rime to control the cocaine trade in Scotland.

In 2002, one of them had allegedly gone to Toner’s house and tried to shoot him but the gun jammed and then he tried to stab him.

However Toner who was a martial arts expert was able to overpower his assailant and fend him off.

The two brothers are said to have relocated to Portugal and then Brazil from where they ran their criminal empires.

Nothing has been heard from them for more than six years and they are now feared dead.

It’s not known why Toner went to Langbank on the day of the murder.

It has been suggested he was there to collect £100,000 he had secretly hidden away.

The Toner family have always insisted he was not a big time gangster.

In a 2015 interview his brother James said :”When I think gangster’, I think Al Capone. Martin was not Al Capone.

“He was a family man, who was dedicated to his wife and his two kids. “Everything he did, he did to provide for them.”

Graeme Pearson, former Director General of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) said the Martin Toner case reflected the growing international element to drug dealing at the time.

He says criminals of that era from both Glasgow and North Lanarkshire were making contacts abroad and running shoplifting teams in places like Paris and Amsterdam using football matches as a cover.

Around this time the name of the agency changed from the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency to the SCDEA in recognition of the growth of organised crime linked to the drugs trade and money laundering.

Mr Pearson added:”When we got to the late 1990s and the early 2000’s that was when things really began to expand.

“Martin Toner was well known at the time.

“But he wasn’t one on the first tier in terms of paying attention to him.

“You had a whole panoply of people who were travelling abroad and making links with European criminals and sharing phone numbers and emails and building up trust.

“During these early days some of the so called trustworthy people were not so trustworthy.

“So at the Scottish end people did get ripped off and grassed up and that is where a lot of these violent crimes emanated from.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “The murder of Martin Toner remains unresolved. Unresolved murders are cases that are never closed and Police Scotland is fully committed to identifying those people responsible for all such cases.

“Police Scotland works closely with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and meets regularly to review outstanding unresolved murders from across the country. Working collaboratively, the potential for new investigative opportunities are regularly assessed to maximise the ability to deliver justice for grieving families, irrespective of the passage of time.

“As with any unresolved murder case, we would review any new information provided to police and investigate further if appropriate.”

Cambridge residents had plenty of positive and negatives to say about life in the city

Cambridge was recently named one of the best places to live in Britain by the Sunday Times alongside areas like Skipton, Richmond and Norwich, which came in first place. While it is loved by many people for its green spaces and rich history, other residents point out some of the city’s negative sides such as public transport and potholes.

When asked what they think about Cambridge being named one of the best places to live, a few residents were not surprised. Polina Poganovska, a photographer working in Cambridge, said: “It is not surprising. Cambridge has a good pace to it and living here allows you to appreciate life in the slow moments and the busy ones. It might seem that the city is too small to be a city, but I like the cosiness of it.”

Emily, a resident who has lived here her whole life, also mentioned liking how small the city is. She said: “You can get from one side of Cambridge to the other by bike quite quickly. I cycled here and it took me less than 20 minutes and to get to the other side of Cambridge from here, it would also take less than 20 minutes.”

She continued by mentioning a few of the services you can find in the city such as the “good state schools” and Addenbrooke’s Hospital. She added: “The city has lots of nice cafés. I like a good little café. Lots of cute little restaurants as well. The university is very pretty. I think it’s a very nice place to live. It’s quite pretty and it’s usually quite clean. I’ve lived here my whole life so I don’t really have anything to compare it to but I do quite like it.”

Faith Disch, who works at Homerton College, loves how different Cambridge is throughout the seasons and enjoys the “many local pubs” in the city. She added: “Spring is especially beautiful and provides an opportunity to see the curated gardens of the different Cambridge colleges. In and around Cambridge, there are beautiful walking paths which display rolling meadows, weeping willow trees, and sometimes cows. The pubs and restaurants here are fantastic, and offer delicious seasonal dishes.”

The range of green spaces were also brought up by John, who is originally from America. He said: “There are lots of things I love about Cambridge. There’s a lot of green space and it’s a good walkable city. I like the river and there’s lots of places to take walks outside. If you live within the city, you don’t need a car. I love how there are a lot of things in a very short distance so you can get from place to place quickly.”

He went on to mention that he has a lot of frustrations when it comes to living in Cambridge such as how expensive it is to live there and the public transport. He said: “The transportation inside Cambridge is terrible. I feel like this would be a great place to have a tram, for example. The centre of the town is so congested with cars. People wait for 40 minutes for a bus so I think public transportation needs to be improved. It’s frustrating because it could be such a great city. There are so many things that need to be improved that could be done.”

Emily has had her bus service into the city centre cut from every 10 minutes to now every 15 minutes but said it comes “more like once every 20 minutes, which is such a pain”. Faith would also make some changes to the public transport in the city.

She said: “Many people I know also do not enjoy spending time in the infamous Cambridge traffic. It is quite a compact city, so double decker buses here are not always the most practical. I think that a tram of some kind could be a more efficient way of transporting people in and around Cambridge. The Netherlands makes effective use of trams, and Amsterdam and Utrecht are cities that share similarities with Cambridge with narrow streets, historical buildings, and waterways.”

Faith also acknowledge how expensive it is to live in Cambridge, which has pushed many people to live in villages around the city causing commutes to be “crowded”. She added: “Cambridge is rapidly expanding, and space is truly at a premium here. The price of living in central Cambridge is high, which means that people are living further away from Cambridge to find affordable housing.”

Whether or not you love living in Cambridge, it is definitely a popular place to be for both tourists and those looking for a quieter city to live in. But the city does have a few issues that many residents agree on.

Now, Takaichi says this framework no longer reflects reality. Geographically, Japan sits in a challenging neighbourhood with an assertive China, an unpredictable North Korea, and Russia nearby. And the United States, its closest ally, has been encouraging Tokyo to play a more active security role.

Big Bear Bikes has been named the first-ever winner of the national Local Bike Shop Week Award, which celebrates independent stores that prioritise in-person service over online sales.

The result was decided by a public vote, with Big Bear Bikes securing 42 per cent of the total.

David Beeley, founder and managing director of Big Bear Bikes, said: “Big Bear Bikes is thrilled to win the Local Bike Shop Week Award.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to all the team at BBB and our satellite shop, Dalby Forest Cycle Hub, and especially to all our customers for their support.”

Mr Beeley added that keen cyclists make up the team at Big Bear Bikes, saying: “We believe the best place to buy and have your bike looked after is a good quality, local bike shop at the heart of its community.

“We are very proud to be delivering that in the Pickering and Dalby Forest area.”

The shop offers a selection of around 150 bikes, a full workshop, a bike fit studio, and a parts department, along with brands such as Trek, Santa Cruz, Orbea, and Raleigh.