It is a testament to how long, varied and celebrated a career Dame Maggie Smith enjoyed that it would be insulting to point to any one defining role. In fact, it is reductive even to consider one particular medium.

For film-goers, there’s her Oscar-winning performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969). For those who grew up in the 2000s on Harry Potter, Smith, who has died at the age of 89, will always be Professor Minerva McGonagall.

On the small screen, she glowered through Downton Abbey as the indomitable grandmother to a thousand memes, Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham.

But many will argue that it is in the theatre that this most versatile of performers showed off a complete mastery that had critics and audiences enthralled, playwrights crafting their work specifically for her and male counterparts cowering in the wings.

This versatility led to her winning a small mountain of acting awards, including two Oscars, four Emmys and a Tony — the so-called Triple Crown — as well as Golden Globes and Baftas.

Born in Ilford, Essex in 1934, she was brought up in Oxford where, at the age of 17, she made her stage debut playing Viola in Twelfth Night and her professional debut on Broadway four years later, in 1956.

As Smith herself succinctly put it: “One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, and one’s still acting.” Showing a particular talent for comedy, she appeared in revues and farces, before catching the eye of Sir Laurence Olivier, who recruited her for the National Theatre, where she quickly established herself as his peer, if not his rival.

Her range saw her triumph in plays by Noël Coward while also winning plaudits for the title role in a production of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler directed by Ingmar Bergman. When her Desdemona transferred to the big screen, she received the first of several Academy Award nominations.

Following early screen appearances in The Pumpkin Eater (1964) and The Honey Pot (1967), in 1970 she won her first Oscar, Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and another in 1979 for Best Supporting Actress in California Suite.

Throughout the next decades, she would collaborate with Merchant Ivory, Alan Bennett, Steven Spielberg and Agnieszka Holland on film, as well as appearing in plays by Oscar Wilde, William Congreve and Edward Albee. Peter Shaffer wrote 1987’s Lettice and Lovage specifically for her.

She was married twice, for eight years to actor Sir Robert Stephens — with whom she had two sons, actors Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens — and to playwright Beverley Cross from 1975 until his death in 1998.

In her later years, she never lost touch with her comic roots, appearing in crowd-pleasers such as Sister Act (1992) with Whoopi Goldberg and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), alongside her close contemporary Dame Judi Dench.

After an 11-year break from the stage, she returned in 2019 in Sir Christopher Hampton’s one-woman show A German Life, in which she played a woman looking back on her youth, when she worked as Joseph Goebbels’ secretary.        

Offstage, Smith made for an entertaining raconteuse on talk shows, whether reciting Sir John Betjeman for Sir Michael Parkinson with her frequent stage companion Kenneth Williams, or disparaging her latest manifestation of fame to Graham Norton. When the latter asked if she had ever watched Downton Abbey, she pursed her lips and drolly replied: “I’ve got the box set.”

She could have a spikiness and wit that Dowager Violet would have enjoyed, once saying of Glenn Close: “That’s not an actress, that’s an address.” Her irreverence was proof that no matter how many titles she received — she was made a Dame in 1990 and a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, only the third female actor to receive such an honour, in 2014 — her character and freedom was as immune to praise and respectability as it was to criticism.

Tributes have come in from King Charles III and British political leaders from all parties, as well as co-stars and directors.

Sir Kenneth Branagh called her “unquestionably one of the greats”, going on to say: “It was an honour to work with Maggie Smith. A privilege to watch her. In tragedy, she made you catch your breath while she broke your heart. In comedy, she could get a laugh from a look or a line at any time she wished. She was sharp and prepared at work, exhilarating company away from it.”

AN EXACT word on your 50p coin could make it worth 700 times more as the rare coin sparks a bidding war on eBay.

The unique coin is said to be a must-have for collectors, selling for a whopping hundreds on the online auction site.

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The rare 50p coin was issued in 2005 and features Samuel Johson’s Dictionary which saw its value skyrocket.

The wording on the back of the coin makes it a unique piece of British decimal coinage.

What adds to this coin’s value is its rarity, making it a sought-after item that collectors are eager to obtain.

The auction on eBay revealed that four bidders attempted to snap up the rare coin which eventually sold for a staggering £350.

The seller received 5-star reviews from buyers who left enthusiastic comments praising the rare coin.

“A+ pristine coin as advertised,” wrote one user.

Another commented: ” Great quality for coin collectors at a great price.”

While a third said: “Beautiful coin.”

It comes after a 50p coin proved to be a “true gem” thanks to its key details.

The loose change rattling around in your pocket could be pieced together to form the Royal Shield of Arms design but it seems many people are unaware of this.

Matthew Dent redesigned the UK’s coins 16 years ago and now those designs are being replaced with the new UK coinage for King Charles III.

It was decided in 2005 that the country’s coinage was due an overhaul and The Royal Mint ran a competition for the public to submit their designs for the new-look coins.

Some 4,000 designs were submitted and The Royal Mint Advisory Committee selected Matthew Dent’s Royal Shield designs as the winner in 2008.

The Royal coat of arms details a shield divided into four quarters representing England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Matthew’s winning design replaced Christopher Ironside’s Britannia depiction originally on the reverse of all 50ps.

Matthew said at the time: “I felt that the solution to The Royal Mint’s brief lay in a united design, united in terms of theme, execution and coverage over the surface of the coins.”

Using all the coins ranging from the 1p to the 50p, they fitted together rather like a jigsaw and formed a complete shield – as could be seen on the £1 coin design issued from 2008 to 2015.

The old round pound was then replaced by the 12-sided Nations of the Crown £1 in 2017 and have now been withdrawn from circulation.

However, the definitive 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p shield coins are still in circulation, which means the Royal Shield can still be collected and completed, Change Checker says.

To help you get started you can obtain your own Royal Shield Collector Pack which comes with the Royal Shield 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p and 20p, so all you need to look for is the 50p in your change in order to complete it.

How to sell a rare coin

If, after checking, you realise you’ve come across a rare coin, there are a number of ways you can sell it.

You can sell it on eBay, through Facebook, or in an auction.

But be wary of the risks.

For example, there are a number of scams targeting sellers on Facebook.

Crooks will say they’re planning to buy the item and ask for money upfront for a courier they’ll be sending around.

But it’s all a ruse to get you to send free cash to them – and they never have any intention of picking your item up.

It’s always best to meet in person when buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace.

Ensure it’s a public meeting spot that’s in a well-lit area.

Avoid payment links and log in directly through the payment method’s website.

Most sellers prefer to deal with cash directly when meeting to ensure it’s legitimate.

The safest way to sell a rare coin is more than likely at auction.

You can organise this with The Royal Mint’s Collectors Service. It has a team of experts who can help you authenticate and value your coin.

You can get in touch via email and a member of the valuation team will get back to you.

You will be charged for the service, though – the cost varies depending on the size of your collection.

Meanwhile, you can sell rare coins on eBay.

But take into account that if you manage to sell your item then eBay will charge you 10% of the money you made – this includes postage and packaging.

Always keep proof of postage to protect yourself from dodgy buyers who may claim they never received the item.

Send the parcel by tracked delivery if you can as this way they can’t claim it never arrived.

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The architect, collector and art patron Luca Bombassei is sitting comfortably on a long, pale sofa in the 15th-century Palazzo Contarini Corfù in Venice, just around the corner from the Accademia art gallery. He is surrounded with art and design, but there is a surprising diversity in his taste. Above him hangs a traditional painting — Canaletto’s “Architectural Capriccio with Classical Ruins” (1723) — and opposite that is a massive contemporary piece, “Life of Forms” (2017) by the American artist Nathlie Provosty.

“The idea was to create a dialogue between the two works, there are so many details in the Canaletto and then the Provosty is just all-black,” he says. Beside him on a table stands a sculpture by Ettore Sottsass of the Memphis Group of postmodern designers.

The place almost dictates the art as much as the owner. In the adjoining library, a wall is covered with Venetian glassworks from the 1920s to the 1960s, displayed on shelving by Italian architect and designer Osvaldo Borsani. “When you live in Venice, you notice the special light that reflects through them,” Bombassei says. “They make me feel more Venetian!”

Bombassei was born in 1966 and lives between his flat in Venice, a masseria (fortified farmhouse) in Nardò, Apulia, and Milan, where his architectural practice specialises in the restoration of historical houses. “In Italy, there is a not a big distinction between architect and interior designer,” he says. “As I am a collector myself, I understand what it means to build a home around art, I have that sensitivity.”

He was brought up surrounded by art; his parents, the majority shareholders in the brake-disc company Brembo and collectors of traditional Italian art, still have an apartment in the neo-Gothic Casa dei Tre Oci on the island of Giudecca in Venice. As a young man he had to go through the cultural institute it housed at the time to get home in the evening. “My friends thought it was just incredible to live above a museum,” he laughs.

Bombassei’s Venetian home reflects the diversity of his taste, and he says he likes changing his mind and experimenting so that he can become “a better interior designer”. Along with the Canaletto and the Provosty, there is a portrait by Alex Katz (“East Interior”, 1979), an untitled Anish Kapoor wall sculpture from 1999 and Jenny Holzer’s 1987 LED piece “Laments: I am a man . . . ” which stands almost three metres tall, with red and yellow diodes spelling out the title. In his all-grey bedroom are a Sottsass Totem, a colourful stack of bulbous shapes, and a mushroom-like Gae Aulenti lamp. It is all shifted around regularly: “I always have a hammer and nails on me!”

Bombassei’s first love is Sottsass, of whom he has considerable holdings — from objects and furniture to limited editions. The designer, who experimented with colour, patterns and shapes and made furniture, glass and ceramic objects, was also an architect who worked in Milan. “He and his [Memphis] Group represented a period of innovation and they changed the way we think about design, bringing an artistic vision to design.” Together with Milan and Memphis, “Sottsass is my triangle of love.”

In Milan, Bombassei’s office is lined with wood panelling by Piero Fornasetti, a recreation of the decor originally in the Milanese apartment La Casa di Fantasia, designed by Gio Ponti for the Lucano family in 1952. In trompe l’oeil they show books, postcards and medallions on a floral background. The ensemble was bought at auction at Phillips in London in 2019 for £225,000.

And then there is his home in Nardò, which he says gives him the space to commission large-scale works of art — not least an enormous yellow-and-blue work by the Swiss artist Olivier Mosset (“Wall Painting”, 2019), covering the roof. “When you walk on the roof you feel you are inside the work and at the same time you can see a 15th-century tower in the distance.”#

As well as overseeing his practice, Bombassei presides over the Venice International Foundation, which both helps safeguard the artistic heritage of Venice and promotes contemporary art. I am rather surprised by this — we meet during the Biennale, when the city is awash with contemporary art — but he explains that most Venetian foundations focus on what he calls the past-past. “We support the near-past, for example by sponsoring [this year’s Francesco] Vezzoli exhibition in the Museo Correr. Most people don’t see the wonderful Carlo Scarpa installations on the upper floor, so this encourages them to go up to see them as well as the Vezzoli,” he says.

What are his plans for the future? He looks a bit baffled, admitting that he hasn’t really thought about this. “I am so curious, I fall in love with new places and things all the time,” he says, so for the moment, he continues to plan, design and buy. As he says, “Collecting is a sort of addiction.”

lucabombassei.com

A MUCH-LOVED bargain shop chain is pulling the shutters down on one of its stores in just a few hours.

The Original Factory Shop confirmed the closure of another location in Kent.

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The discounter, known for its bargain prices, is closing its branch in Deal today, Saturday 28.

TOFS said the site, labelled “brilliant” by shoppers, will be shutting at the end of September.

The retailer thanked local shoppers for their support over the years.

A spokesperson from The Original Factory Shop said: “After the landlord informed us that they were redeveloping our Deal store, we were unable to renew the lease.

“We want to remain in town and our property team would consider any alternative suitable sites. We are working hard to support all of those colleagues that will be affected and seeking to redeploy them across our business.”

The shock closure has left several local customers devastated, although the trader maintains around 190 branches nationwide.

One Facebook user said: “Such a terrible end to such a popular store.

“Obviously, this has not been a business decision as business was good, but another sign of the times.”

A second wrote: “Another piece of history and friendly staff gone.”

A third commented: “I love this shop. I go to Deal, from Dover, regularly the main reason being the factory shop.

“Don’t think I will be shopping at Deal much after it closes.”

Another posted: “Oh no another brilliant shop closing but why? Love that shop.”

While a fifth said: “Such a shame. It was affordable and you could always get something good.

“Now probably destined for townhouses and artisanal deli’s selling £4 sourdough bread.”

“That’s awful news,” another declared.

The closure is down to the building being redeveloped and the chain being unable to renew the lease.

After the Deal store closes, three of The Original Factory Shops will remain in Kent: Tenterden, Biggin Hill and Headcorn.

Other The Original Factory Shop closures

The Deal store closure is not the only one to be announced by The Original Factory Shop this year either.

It has already pulled the shutters down on seven stores in recent months:

• Brightlingsea, Essex
• Bodmin, Cornwall
• Chepstow, Wales
• Fakenham, Norfolk
• Harwich, Essex
• Mildenhall, Suffolk
• Padiham, Lancashire
• Taunton, Somerset

It comes after the retailer, known for selling everything from clothing to homeware and stationery, shut a number of branches last year.

But it’s not all bad news, as it has been opening stores across the UK too, as it shakes up its presence on the high street.

The full list of stores that have opened since August 2023 includes:

• Kirkintilloch – opened August 24
• Stonehaven – opened August 31
• Blandford Forum – opened August 31
• Haddington – opened September 7
• Wetherby – opened September 7
• Nairn – opened September 14
• Ashbourne – opened September 14
• Castle Douglas – opened September 21
• Penrith – opened September 21
• Inverness – opened September 28
• Attleborough – opened September 28
• Ayr – opened October 5
• Ringwood – opened October 5
• Perth – opened October 12
• Lanark – opened October 19
• Peterhead – opened October 26

Retail woes

Other retailers, such as Homebase, Boots, and Clarks, have been reducing the number of their high-street branches.

Rising rents, energy bills, and the cost of living have also caused many retailers to fail.

Several big retailers have fallen into administration in the past year, including Wilko, Paperchase, and most recently, The Body Shop and Ted Baker.

The Body Shop collapsed into administration on February 13, putting its almost 198 branches at risk of closure.

Since then, it has closed down 82 locations.

However, it’s not all bad news for the high street, as several other retailers and hospitality venues have plans to expand.

Beer giant Heineken announced plans to invest £39million to help reopen 62 previously shuttered British pubs.

Aldi has announced that it will open 35 new UK stores.

The openings form part of Aldi‘s long-term target of 1,500 stores in the UK.

The supermarket is set to invest £550million in expanding its UK footprint this year alone.

Aldi said each new store opening will create around 40 new jobs on average.

In recent months, Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores as it seeks to rival major players Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

B&M plans to open “not less than” 45 brand new stores across the UK in each of the next two consecutive years.

Purepay Retail Limited, the parent company of Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM), and Peacocks, has said it wants to open 100 new high-street stores over the next 18 months.

It has yet to give the exact locations where it will open the 100 stores or when they will open.

One of the UK’s favourite bakery chains, Greggs, has exclusively revealed to The Sun plans to open more outlet branches by the end of 2025.

Home Bargains, which was running just under 600 branches as of last June, has said it wants to “eventually have between 800 and 1,000 retail outlets open”.

The major discounter has stopped short of saying when it wants to reach the 1,000 store target, however.

Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.

Screwfix is set to open 40 new stores nationwide as its owner, Kingfisher, seeks to expand the DIY brand’s national presence.

The brand opened two new stores in March, and a further three new shops will open this month.

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A TINY English island has a hotel that you can only visit at certain times of the day.

Located on a tidal island, Burgh Island Hotel is cut off twice a day by the tide – although the times can vary. 

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Tides at Burgh Island change daily and can vary based on the weather conditions and tide height. 

But the tide meets and parts roughly every six hours. 

For example, on Friday 13th September, high tide was at 1:02 am and 13:53 pm, while low tide was at 7:27am and 8:34pm.

You can check the tide times on the Devon Tides website.

When it’s low tide, visitors can reach the island by foot. During high tide, there’s the Burgh Island Sea Tractor – a hydraulics tractor that’s able to drive through the sea. 

Members of the public can catch a ride on the tractor to the island from Bigbury-on-Sea and it costs £2 each way. 

Hotel guests, who the sea tractor is primarily used for, do not have to pay to ride it. 

The tractor operates 24 hours a day, Monday through to Saturday and Sunday, so hotel guests who don’t fancy walking during low tide can still hitch a ride. 

Despite the unusual way of getting there, some very famous people are said to have stayed there.

Noel Coward, Winston Churchill, and The Beatles have all enjoyed a stay at the 3* star hotel in times gone by. 

Burgh Island itself is a popular destination for tourists who want to enjoy its views and wildlife, as well as its golden sand beach for swimming, sunbathing, and fishing. 

Day visitors are welcome, with a visit to the Pilchard Inn pub recommended for lunch or dinner (reservations are required). 

There are also vineyards on Burgh Island, such as Sandridge Barton, which offers tours, tasting and wine shopping. 

The island also plays host to regular events, including murder mysteries, island artist experiences, a Christmas and New Year party and a summer ball. 

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The cost to stay at Burgh Island Hotel varies depending on the dates and offers available. 

A one-night stay for two adults on October 10, 2024, starts at £427.99, including taxes and fees. 

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Pension savings are more likely to end up in Rachel Reeves’ crosshairs in the upcoming Budget if the UK chancellor waters down plans to end non-dom tax perks, industry observers have warned, as the government signalled a possible overhaul of the scheme.

Reeves had been targeting around £1bn a year by shaking up the tax regime for wealthy foreigners living in the UK but domiciled overseas, a move that some advisers have warned could backfire and lead to an exodus of wealth creators from the economy as they ditch the UK for more favourable tax jurisdictions. But on Thursday government officials signalled that the chancellor could reconsider the plan if the financial advantages were negated.

The shift means the chancellor — who has already ruled out rises in income tax and national insurance to fill the £22bn fiscal black hole Labour says it inherited from the previous government — could target other areas to raise funds, particularly pensions, industry observers say.

Capital gains tax and inheritance tax changes were already on the table, said Tom McPhail, a pensions specialist at consultancy Lang Cat, but in the event the government abandons planned changes to non-dom tax rules, “there’s an increased likelihood they’ll do more on pensions”, he said. 

Rumours had already been circulating that the chancellor was planning to target pensions to replenish Treasury coffers. “I think death taxes on pensions look an absolute shoo-in,” McPhail said. Inherited pension wealth has hitherto been largely shielded from IHT.

David Brooks, head of policy and Broadstone, a pensions and employee benefits consultancy, agreed that tightening inheritance tax rules around pensions was “the most likely of all the levers Rachel Reeves has available”. 

“If she is in need of further revenues,” he added, “it may tip the balance on making changes to pensions tax relief.”

I think death taxes on pensions look an absolute shoo-in

The government uses tax relief to incentivise pension saving but is an area long viewed as ripe for reform as the bulk of relief ends of going to higher-rate taxpayers. One possible reform keenly watched by pension specialists is the introduction of a flat rate of relief of, say, 30 per cent, that will target higher-rate taxpayers but benefit those who pay the basic rate. Meanwhile many investors have been rushing to max out pension tax benefits ahead of any possible changes in the October 30 Budget, according to platform providers. 

Nick Nesbitt, partner at Forvis Mazars, said he expected the government might revisit rules on how much most people can save into a pension tax-free each year. In 2023, the Conservative government lifted the standard “annual allowance” to £60,000 from £40,000. “One option for Labour would be to reduce this to £40,000 or even lower,” Nesbitt said. “Doing this, however, will impact doctors and higher paid civil servants as they will see old tax problems resurface, something I imagine Labour will want to avoid.”

Others believe the panic around pensions is overblown. Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter, pointed out that the non-dom changes were only set to raise a relatively modest sum and targeting pension tax relief would be complex for the government to enact. “Implementing a flat-rate of relief on pensions would take significant time and lead to burdensome administration for pension schemes, HMRC and taxpayers,” he said. 

The blowback from the government’s planned cuts to the winter fuel allowance would also make them think twice about targeting pensioners, Greer said. “Any further changes affecting pensioners are likely to reinforce the belief that the government is targeting them excessively.”

An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “We do not comment on speculation around tax changes outside of fiscal events.”

The government’s bleak economic outlook given in the run-up to the Budget “suggests a lack of foresight in expecting people not to take pre-emptive actions that might harm their long-term financial health”, Greer said. 

Broadstone’s Brooks cautioned pension savers against making any “knee-jerk” moves in anticipation of any changes and that for most working-age people pensions would remain “a hugely tax-efficient vehicle for saving towards later-life”.

“We strongly hope that any changes will not deter savers from making adequate financial contributions to support their retirement.”

Additional reporting by Emma Agyemang