With warmer weather on the way, many people will be looking for places to take a dip, and you don’t have to go far to get those summer holiday vibes. This UK lido has been compared to Greece thanks to its Mediterranean style

A lido that has often been compared to pools in Greece and the Med will soon be reopening its doors for the summer season in time for warmer weather.

The pool has been beloved by local families since it first opened in 1896, and now also attracts tourists from further afield. It’s not hard to see why. When you look at the lido with its perfectly blue waters, splashpad, and 300 metre-long lazy river, it’s almost as if you’re at a hotel pool overseas.

However, this shimmering blue pool is actually found in Kent, just over an hour from London, and the Strand Lido in Gillingham also has the distinction of being the only riverside saltwater pool in the UK. The pool is fed from the River Medway, then filtered and chlorinated to make it safe for swimmers to splash around.

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The Lido Guide wrote about the Strand: “Nothing about the exterior gives away what lies within. What lies within is a riot of Mediterranean-resort-style colour and fun. Any children in the party will be completely unable to contain their excitement.

“The whole thing is a freeform riot of bright white painted concrete, edged in royal blue, that gives the treated river water that fills the pool a hue that is more reminiscent of Greece than Kent.”

There are six 25-metrer long lanes for swimming, and you’ll also find a paddling pool for toddlers, as well as fun features such as water fountains. Because the pool is unheated, it only opens seasonally, with the opening date for 2026 confirmed as Saturday, May 23.

The pool will then open at weekends, until the school summer holidays, when it opens daily, before closing sometime in September. Tickets can be booked online via the Medway Council website to reserve a slot at this popular pool.

In addition to the pool, the complex has sunbathing and relaxation areas, a café that serves food, although you can bring a picnic and enjoy it in one of the shaded areas of the park, and play areas. There are changing rooms, poolside showers, and a shop selling inflatables, but feel free to bring your own rubber ring.

The Strand Leisure Park has a miniature railway that also opens seasonally, chugging around the park on sunny days, and lots of riverside walks to explore.

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One positive review said: “We travelled from Suffolk and booked the afternoon session. Stopped for some lunch on the way. Lovely day out. Pool has a lazy river, kids pool and adult pool, changing rooms, toilets, café. Lots of space to set up camp for the afternoon but not a lot of shade.”

Another suggested: “Very good few hours. Looks like we are on holiday. Lazy river all around the outside (take a rubber ring). “

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

Chelsea are not planning to sell Joao Pedro in the summer transfer window following interest from Barcelona, according to reports.

Barcelona have made Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez is first-choice attacking target this summer as Robert Lewandowski’s contract is due to expire at the end of the season.

Atletico, however, are in a strong negotiating position as Alvarez still has four years remaining on his contract, which is protected by a €500 million (£431m) release clause.

Barcelona are now working on alternative solutions and Joao Pedro is on their shortlist.

According to ESPN Brasil, Barca have already initiated initial informal contacts for the Brazil international ahead of the summer window.

The move for the Chelsea forward has been approved by both Barcelona’s head coach, Hansi Flick, and Deco, the club’s sporting director.

However, Chelsea are said to have already communicated through third parties that it will not allow a transfer this summer as the club is aware of the difficulties in finding a suitable replacement.

Joao Pedro joined Chelsea in a £60m deal from Brighton last year and has impressed in his first season at Stamford Bridge with 19 goals in all competitions.

The Brazilian also has the chance to win a second trophy with Chelsea after the team’s World Club Cup success this summer as they will play Manchester City in the FA Cup final on May 16.

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We are used to seeing the excellent Adam Scott (Severance, Parks and Recreation) in likeable nice guy roles. In Hokum, however, he plays a curmudgeonly and prickly bestselling novelist called Ohm Bauman. Deliberating over the ending to his series of popular novels, Bauman has decided to take a trip to the rural Irish inn where his parents stayed on their honeymoon, to scatter their ashes.

The remote Bilberry Woods Hotel in the off-season is a fantastically eerie horror location. Irish writer and director Damian McCarthy populates the hotel and its surroundings with excellent, likably eccentric locals who recount the spooky lore of the area to the sceptical writer.

Jerry (David Wilmot) lives in the woods, tinkers with moonshine and psychedelics and says he sees ghosts. Bellboy Alby (Will O’Connell) is a starstruck wannabe author treated with disdain by his hero. Fiona (Florence Ordesh) is the bartender whose disappearance motivates Bauman’s exploration of the twisty hotel and its grounds.

“Hokum,” says Bauman dismissively when he is told about the witch who supposedly haunts the honeymoon suite where his parents stayed. The film performs the neat trick of making us warm to this horribly flawed and unlikeable character as he is inevitably proven wrong.

A film with a fiction writer protagonist set in a haunted hotel inevitably suggests the influence of Stephen King, not just via The Shining but the short story 1408, made into a memorable film starring John Cusack in 2007. That story similarly features a sceptical writer staying in a supposedly haunted guest house who, like Hokum’s Bauman, experiences disturbing visions from his past. Hokum also recalls horror impresario Ti West’s brilliantly eerie New England-set The Innkeepers (2011), with which this film shares the atmosphere of an off-season haunted guesthouse.

Hokum is, at its core, a classic ghost story in the mode of English writer MR James. But it throws a lot of extra horror elements into the pot at the risk of becoming unwieldy and bloated.

McCarthy’s ambiguous film has a witch, a ghost or two, a missing woman, flashbacks of Bauman’s traumatic past and, in the weirdest and scariest scene, a nightmarish televised vision of a half-bunny, half-person creature. With so much in the mix, this could be a formless mess, so it is surprising that Hokum holds together as well as it does. With one or two stumbles where things get a touch convoluted, this is an enormously effective, well-crafted and proudly old-fashioned gothic chiller.

With a focus on character and mood, Hokum is an intelligent and, by the end, emotionally satisfying film. The strength of the film is not in its originality but in the execution of familiar conventions and plot points. How much you will enjoy the film depends on your tolerance and enthusiasm for old fashioned jump scares. An overused device in modern horror that can signal a sub-par film, it is hard here not to admire McCarthy’s commitment to making his audience gasp.

McCarthy’s talent is in building the hotel’s atmosphere of mystery with carefully placed light from lamps and candles that cast long shadows before leading to controlled scares carried out with technical skill and pinpoint timing. Strongly recalling the well-executed horror trickery of the now-classic stage adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel The Woman in Black, shocks are strongly telegraphed and built towards with inevitability. The director is telling the audience clearly what’s about to happen at every turn, but the film is no less effective for it.

The film was made in West Cork, and the Irish countryside is a beautiful, eerie backdrop for the maze-like guesthouse. Nevertheless, there is little in the film’s depiction of ghosts and witches in the Irish woodland that relies on culturally specific mythology or history.

Hokum is Irish writer and director Damian McCarthy’s third horror film after the critically acclaimed low-budget ghost stories Caveat (2020) and Oddity (2024). Those first two films were shown at film festivals before being released on horror streaming channel Shudder. This is McCarthy’s first full cinema release. Each of his films is better than the last, with the filmmaker sharpening his writing and directing a little more each time. Here he is aided considerably by the consistently brilliant Adam Scott.

Hokum is a horror film made by a director working to carry out horror conventions as well as he possibly can. The film is full of tongue-in-cheek, knowing nods to the genre. It doesn’t matter that all the major late-film plot reveals are telegraphed to the audience with a nod and a wink early in the film. Hokum has fun telling you what it’s going to do well ahead of time and remains scary and entertaining regardless.

With Capcom frequently bringing back older franchises from their back catalogue, a reader hopes to see the return of Ghosts ‘N Goblins spin-off Maximo.

With all the doom and gloom around gaming lately it’s been so good to see everyone cheering on Capcom for the achievement of… releasing a load of really good games. They’ve been on a roll for years now but this year they’ve already had Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata and they’ve got a new Onimusha on the way too.

They’ve always been one of my favourite publishers, probably my favourite that isn’t Nintendo, but ever since Resident Evil 7 they’ve barely put a step wrong. That’s great and a thing we should congratulate them on, in my opinion.

One of the best things is that unlike almost any other publisher Capcom actually reinvests the money they make into taking risks with new IP, like Pragmata, and bringing back old franchises that aren’t a guaranteed hit, like Onimusha.

I think they deserve a ton of recognition for this in particular and I’m so glad that Pragmata has been a hit and they’ve been rewarded for taking a risk. I bought it and I think it’s great and I’m very happy to have supported them.

The longer their hot streak lasts the more obscure the games are that they bring back, at least potentially, and while most people seem to want to revive Dino Crisis, I have a different request: Maximo.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love a Dino Crisis remake or new game but I don’t feel Maximo ever gets talked about. For those that don’t know, Maximo: Ghosts To Glory is a PlayStation 2 game from 2001 that is a spin-off from Ghosts ‘N Goblins. It has the same music, and some of the same enemies, but you’re a Roman soldier, for some reason, instead of King Arthur.

It’s a 3D platformer with quite a bit of combat, that I feel worked really well but seemed to get very quickly forgotten at the time. But it had good action, nice cartoony graphics, and for a PlayStation 2 game the camera worked really well.

Unfortunately though, there was only ever one sequel, also only on PlayStation 2. And then that was it, the series never made it off the PlayStation 2 or into the next generation and I’ve literally never heard anyone speak about it since.

I assume that, despite the sequel, that means it didn’t sell that well and it seems obvious to me why: it was stupidly hard. Now I love the game, or I wouldn’t be typing this now, but it is unnecessarily difficult and I don’t know why.

Or at least I didn’t at the time, in later years I looked into the whole Ghosts ‘N Goblins angle, which was a bit before my time, and it seems they were super hard as well and so are the modern games, right up to Ghosts ‘N Goblins Resurrection.

I really don’t know why this is, as all games were super difficult back in the day and it’s not like something like Mario didn’t adapt with the times and try and keep everyone on board.

The difficulty was always the worst thing about Maximo, as far as I’m concerned, so why they think that’s the most important thing to keep in all these games I don’t know. Is anyone really going to complain that it’s too easy? Couldn’t they just have a hard mode instead? I’m not sure why a cartoon platformer game about a guy in his boxer shorts is making Dark Souls look like a kid’s game.

So that’s my hope of what Capcom do next. I don’t think it’s very likely, but I don’t think it’s impossible either, because they do occasionally try to bring Ghosts ‘N Goblins back, just not the version of it I like best.

By reader Terry Gold

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

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

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

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The comedian was just 45 minutes into his performance at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham when it was abruptly cut short

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The Utilita Arena has released a statement following the incident at this evening’s Peter Kay concert.

Peter Kay was “bundled off stage” during a show in Birmingham, with police evacuating the venue — which holds up to 15,800 people — after a “suspicious bag” was discovered. The comedian was just 45 minutes into his set at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena when it was brought to an abrupt halt, reports the Mirror..

West Midlands Police confirmed that a 19 year old man has been arrested and the surrounding area is being searched as a precaution.

Audience members reported that no explanation was given at the time of the evacuation. A member of the production team reportedly took to the stage at around 8.45pm to inform the crowd that the show would not be going ahead.

A Utilita Arena spokesperson said: “Utilita Arena Birmingham has been evacuated as a precaution on the advice of West Midlands Police after a potential suspicious bag was found nearby.”

“The safety and security of our customers and colleagues is our highest priority. We can confirm that everyone was safely evacuated and that the venue is secure. Ticket holders will be contacted directly in due course.”

The latest statement from West Midlands Police reads: “We are assisting with an evacuation at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham after a potential suspicious bag was found. A 19-year-old man is in custody and as a precaution the site is currently subject of a search. We will provide further updates when we can.”

Earlier on Friday, Scotch Whisky Association head of strategy and communications Graeme Littlejohn said the tariffs announcement was the result of “months and months of work”, adding: “The King was the royal sparkle at the end of a lot of work to get a deal over the line here, this doesn’t happen overnight.”

It was so much easier than other options.

With summer just around the corner, countless Britons are eagerly counting down until their holidays. Yet, before stepping onto planes, ferries or the Eurostar, carrying out a thorough passport check is essential.

When planning my own summer getaway, I discovered my passport needed renewing ahead of the trip. Since Brexit, entry requirements for countries throughout Europe have undergone significant changes.

Many travellers are caught off guard by the regulations, and for those heading to Europe and Schengen countries, passports must have been issued less than 10 years before your departure date and remain valid for at least three months after your intended return date.

Due to these requirements, my passport was deemed expired, prompting me to apply for a new one. Previously, I had renewed my passport using a paper form at the Post Office.

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This time, however, I opted to complete the entire process online, which proved to be both more affordable and straightforward. Renewing or replacing your passport currently costs £102 when submitting forms online.

By contrast, the paper route will set you back £115.50. Another part that has streamlined the process is that passport photo booths now offer digital copies of your photograph alongside the traditional printed version.

This means you receive a digital code linked to your image, which you simply enter to upload directly to the gov.uk website.

Once you have entered your details and uploaded your photograph on the UK Government website, you must return your old passport. Simply post it to the address provided and wait for your new one to arrive.

The Passport Office states that the process typically takes three weeks to receive your new passport.

They begin processing your new one as soon as your documents are received, so it is essential to send off your old passport as soon as possible.

Surprisingly, the new passport arrived in just one week after posting the old one. The entire process proved simpler and quicker than I expected.

The Passport Office does usually caution that during peak periods, it may take longer to receive your passport.

It added: “It may take longer than three weeks if we need more information, or we need to interview you. We’ll tell you this within 3 weeks.”

But, based on my personal experience, there were no complications whatsoever, and renewing a passport online would certainly be the preferred option in future, both as a time and money-saving measure.

Renewing my passport was so much easier by picking a different option

Summer is almost here, with many Brits counting down to their holidays. However, before boarding planes, hopping on ferries or getting on the Eurostar, it is vital to do a passport check.

I recently planned my summer holiday, but realised my passport needed renewing before the trip. Since the UK left the European Union, entry rules to countries across Europe have changed.

Many holidaymakers get caught out by the rules, and if you are heading to Europe and Schengen countries, the passport must be issued less than 10 years before your departure date and be valid for at least three months after your planned return date.

Due to these rules, my passport was classed as out of date, and so I set out to get a new one. In previous years, I chose to renew my passport through a paper form at the Post Office.

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However, this time I decided to do it all online, which turned out to be cheaper and easier. It currently costs £102 to renew or replace your passport if you submit the forms online.

Otherwise, it costs £115.50 if you do it by paper. Another change that has made the process easier and faster is that passport photo booths now provide digital copies of your photo as well as a physical printout.

It means you get a digital code that links to your photo, so you simply enter it to upload it to the gov.uk website.

Once you have filled in your details and uploaded your photo on the UK Government website, you must return your old passport. I simply posted it to the address provided and waited for my new one to arrive.

The Passport Office says it typically takes three weeks to get your new passport.

They start working on your new one as soon as they receive your documents, so it is important to get your old passport sent off as soon as you can.

To my surprise, my new passport arrived in just one week after posting out my old one. The process was much easier and faster than I had expected.

Typically, the Passport Office warns that it could take longer to receive your passport in peak seasons.

It added: “It may take longer than three weeks if we need more information, or we need to interview you. We’ll tell you this within 3 weeks.”

However, from my own experience, I had no issues and would certainly choose to get my passport online in the future to save time and money.

A reader explains why there’s at least 20 other games this year that he cares about more than Rockstar Games’ blockbuster-in-waiting GTA 6.

If it doesn’t get delayed again, GTA 6 is going to be out on November 19 and as lots of people are pointing out at the moment, it is going to be everywhere. It’s going to be all anyone talks about for months and I literally don’t know if the world is ever going to be the same again. Which is a real shame because I don’t care about it, and I feel I’m missing out.

I haven’t got anything against GTA. I’ve played most of them, and Red Dead Redemption, but I find them very overhyped and with poor gameplay. The open worlds are impressive, no doubt, but I find them a bit aimless and overdone.

I know that as far as the majority are concerned I’m wrong but since I’m not trying to spoil anyone else’s fun I hope you’ll let me be. I’m not here to attack GTA 6 and instead I will list all the games coming out this year that I’m more interested in. Obviously, I won’t be able to get them all, or at least not straight away, but I will before I ever get GTA 6.

1. Forza Horizon 6

OK, I’m probably going to get some details wrong with this lot, because obviously I’ve not played any of them, but you can’t go wrong with a new Forza Horizon. The Japanese setting sounds great, the only problem is I can’t play it till it comes out on PlayStation 5, which is after the Xbox.

2. Lego Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight

I always find Lego games to be something fun I can play with my wife and this one has the benefit of apparently being quite a bit like the Arkham games, so that’s a definite bonus.

3. 007 First Light

Will still be waiting for the reviews for this one but all the positive previews have made very interested. I always like Bond and I also like the fact that this is obviously not a cash-in or a copy of GoldenEye 007.

4. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls

I admit, I’d rather this was Marvel Vs. Capcom 4 but I’ll take it anyway. I like that they’ve used a Japanese developer and the designs actually show that, especially in the Gundam style Iron Man.

5. Phantom Blade 0

I’m not sure how much this is on other people’s radar, but I really like the look of this and the previews have all been very positive. Apparently it’s more like Devil May Cry than a Soulslike, despite what it looks like, but I’m still interested in it.

6. Star Wars: Galactic Racer

A new sequel to Star Wars Episode I: Racer is not something I expected to see this year, but I am absolutely here for it, especially as it’s by a bunch of UK developers that worked on Need For Speed and Burnout.

7. Marvel’s Wolverine

One of the big no-brainers of the year. The Spider-Man games have been pretty much perfect in my view and I have no doubt they’ll do just as good a job with Wolvie, who is a character I already like a lot more anyway.

8. Beast Of Reincarnation

Another not-so-obvious choice but this is the action role-player by Pokémon developer Game Freak and I really like the look of it. I’m a sucker for a good Soulslike, which I assume is what it basically is, and I like the Princess Mononoke vibe too.

9. Ace Combat 8: Wings Of Theve

Get the soundtrack of the year award ready because there’s a new Ace Combat out this year! I’m slightly surprised, because I never get the impression these sell all that well, but I love the games and their crazy plots.

10. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse

So this isn’t the big budget Castlevania revamp that everyone wants, and I really don’t know why Konami doesn’t make one, but I’ll take it anyway because it’s a 2D game by the team that did Dead Cells.

11. Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival

Perhaps I’m being a bit optimistic here, because it’s a Saber Interactive game and they’re a bit hit and miss. But I like how hardcore this seems to be in terms of both sex and violence, which will hopefully give Silent Hill a run for its money.

12. Silent Hill: Townfall

Speaking of which, Hellraiser may have its work cut out because the last two Silent Hill games have been fantastic, if you ask me, and this looks like it could continue the streak. Plus, it’s set in Scotland!

13. The Duskbloods

I’m cheating a bit with this one because I don’t have a Switch 2 (so there may be other Nintendo games on the way that I don’t know about) but if this is as good as From’s other stuff it could be the game that makes me buy one.

14. Fable

I don’t have an Xbox either but thanks to everything being multiformat nowadays I’ll be able to get this on the PlayStation 5. It depends on the reviews, but I still maintain I’m more interested in this than GTA 6.

15. Halo: Campaign Evolved

Although I’ve been a PlayStation owner most of my life, like most people I know I did have an Xbox 360 back in the day so I’m curious to see this and Gears Of War come back and be on Sony’s console. Even if I think it’s probably the wrong decision for Microsoft.

16. Gears Of War: E-Day

Personally, I always preferred Gears Of War to Halo but I understand this is a prequel, which suits me because I didn’t play the last two games. I hope it manages to have the same over-the-top feel as the old games, because the co-op in that was great.

17. Metro 2039

I was a big fan of Metro Exodus so it’s nice to see a new game. I have no idea if and when I’m going to have the time to play any of these games, because I’m sure this’ll be another massive one, but it’s definitely on my radar.

18. Mina The Hollower

This is the only indie game on my list, not because I don’t like them but because you never seem to hear about them until they’re out. This is the new one from the makers of Shovel Knight, so I’m very much looking forward to it.

19. Onimusha: Way Of The Sword

Capcom has been red hot all year and I don’t see any reason to expect this won’t be good too. Yes, we’d all prefer Dino Crisis but supernatural samurai horror is still very welcome in my book.

20. Star Wars Zero Company

As a big fan of XCOM I’m looking forward to this, even though I’ve never really liked the whole Clone Wars era. Anything that promotes big budget strategy games is fine by me though, especially turn-based.

By reader Futterman

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

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

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

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