The hackneyed adage “money can’t buy taste” comes to mind. Some of Sandbanks’ new-builds, alas, look like they were designed by AI. I pop into local firm TRA Architects to find out what’s going on. “AI would probably have done a better job,” agrees architect Tom Reynolds, who had nothing to do with the properties...
Tag: Standard
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Watch: Fireball erupts from oil tanker after Houthi strike
Three fires blazed on a Greek-flagged oil tanker in the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Friday, one day after rescuers evacuated its crew in the wake of an assault by Yemeni Houthi militants. The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous regions, said on Thursday that they had attacked the...
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The 10 prettiest villages in Surrey
It’s well worth the drive up to this pretty village in the beautiful Surrey Hills. It is often dubbed Little Switzerland because of the way its prestigious houses are dotted on the slopes of Holmbury Hill. Some farmhouses date back to the 1600s. The village has the usual attributes – a green, the huge bell-ringing...
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Revealed: Hamas plot to dig up war graves of British veterans
Mark Urban, the former Newsnight diplomatic and defence editor, is among many Britons alive today who have relatives buried in Gaza. His great uncle, Lance Sergeant Walter Holmes, was killed in the Second Battle of Gaza on April 19, 1917, when he was 18 years old. His battalion, the Isle of Wight Rifles, launched its...
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The most at-risk destinations for Spain-style ‘anti-tourism’ – including one in the UK
Athens’ mayor Haris Doukas shares their frustrations. In June, he claimed that each tourist brings just €0.40 to the city’s coffers (a figure that presumably overlooks indirect revenues), potentially opening the door to a new tourist tax. On the Greek islands, patience is wearing similarly thin. Home to just 16,000 residents, the volcanic island of Santorini is...
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Rachel Reeves warns of tax rises despite best growth in G7
Ms Reeves has already warned of “tough decisions” in her maiden Budget this autumn, including on welfare. “If you can work, you should work,” she said after official figures showed worklessness in Britain rose to its highest level in more than a decade. The country’s strong economic performance was achieved despite the economy flatlining in...
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The 10 prettiest villages in Kent
Numbering just 748 residents, Sissinghurst is among the smallest of these villages, but it’s also the most famous. Set in the lush Weald of Kent, it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it line of whitewashed, old brick and clapboard houses with a post office, a pub, a church and a village chippy. It’s very pretty, but what really makes...
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10 wonderful British stays for railway lovers
8. The Old Station, Allerston, North Yorkshire It was 1950 when the last passenger boarded a train at Ebberston station, actually at Allerston, just five miles from Pickering and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Set in two acres, three imaginatively converted carriages sleeping four to six people, and the Ticket Office with two double bedrooms...
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‘This luxurious Highlands hotel is genuinely sublime’
The next day I took an e-bike over the Tongue Causeway, along the coast to Skinnet Beach. I cycled through clouds, then sat drenched on a bench looking down at the sand and water below, in the direction of the Faroe Islands. Here is a dramatic, painterly landscape that reminds you the Scottish Highlands have...
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How ‘God’s waiting room’ Eastbourne got a new lease of life
Rebecca Maer, who runs the Eastbourne Reporter, says the town is a great place to live, but has its challenges. “It is, unfortunately, highly car dependent for a town just five miles across, with parking permitted almost everywhere and few bus lanes. Extraordinarily, cycling is still banned along much of the seafront,” she says. “With...
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The EU is about to stamp out visa-free travel
The introduction of ETIAS will have the greatest impact on British travellers, because we are the most frequent visitors to the Schengen Zone. And it has come about because, although the last UK government negotiated post-Brexit “visa-free” visits for holidaymakers from this country, it also insisted that we were treated like all other third countries...
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The families quitting Britain to live as digital nomads
Like Obanye, poor interactions with Britain’s public services were a major push factor for Mike Cave. Following a series of horrific experiences in the NHS system, in 2022, Mike, his wife Frances and their eight-year-old son swapped London for Lisbon. Enticed by the outdoorsy, spontaneous lifestyle and choosing to settle in the Portuguese town of Oeiras,...