Choice -julkaisun May 2022 -irtonumeron sisällysluettelo

The M4 in South Wales was almost empty, the weather good, no road works, three lanes, yet the speed limit was only 50mph for quite a long section. Puzzled, I soon came upon a notice saying the speed reduction was to improve air quality. Then I noticed that I was driving past the vast industrial complex containing the Port Talbot steelworks. The two Bessemer Convertors and various chimneys and cooling towers were belching out smoke and steam creating a haze across the site. Forgive me for wondering if that would be the best place to start on air quality rather than slowing down the national transport system. I expect there is a scientific answer somewhere to prove that slowing everything down is vital – there was another 50 mph stretch…

FOR NEARLY half a century Delia Smith was the nation’s cookery teacher. From a TV studio, or her own kitchen deep in the Suffolk countryside, she taught us the best way to boil an egg, make an omelette or prepare a simple dinner party. Her TV shows and multi-million-selling books were, Delia says, “an attempt to teach a generation the basics of cooking”. And, mild-mannered, unfussy, and refreshingly ordinary, she was the antithesis of the modern-day celebrity chef, which is partly why she finally called time on television (but not cooking) nearly ten years ago. During lockdown Delia – who turned 80 last year – spent her time working on a book about another subject that has long been close to her heart, spirituality. And this finally bore fruit with…

THE HEARING condition tinnitus affects many people’s daily lives daily, with many struggling to cope with its effects. During the initial stages of the pandemic, reports of tinnitus rose, especially in people with Covid-19, with a study published in the International Journal of Audiology estimating that as many as one in six individuals with Covid-19 had tinnitus, most often during the early stages of the virus. Here Katie Ogden, the Health and Care Professions Council registered hearing aid dispenser and Training Manager for ReSound North-West Europe, offers some expert advice on tinnitus. How to tell if you’re suffering from tinnitus? There is no clear definition of what tinnitus is and there are quite a few subtypes of the condition, all needing different treatments. Tinnitus occurs only when you can hear…

Shine on We tend to think that if a shampoo doesn’t produce a mass of bubbles it’s not working, but you can get the luxury foaming feel without damaging your hair with sulphate agents that dull the surface. QVC’s best-selling SBC Collagen collection features hair products that contain volume boosting collagen extracts as well as nourishing natural ingredients to keep hair soft and shiny. Try the SBC Hydra Collagen Boost Shampoo and Super Shine Conditioner, both £18.50, (sbcskincare.co.uk). Just a teaspoon is needed to produce cleansing bubbles. Or try celebrity stylist Lisa Shepherd’s The Hair Boss purifying The Micellar Shampoo that’s great for coloured hair, £7.99 at Superdrug. Spring showers If you shower once or more a day it’s important to look for gently cleansing products that produce bubbles but…

Your guide to the best financial advice I’M THE first to admit that I am not a techie! I can persuade my computer to do what I need, but I am under no illusion that I am exploiting its full potential, something my adult sons constantly tease me about. However, I am now the proud owner of a spanking new state-of-the art iPhone, thanks to my generous husband who bought it as a present for my recent birthday. I had been using an old model (c.2014) passed down to me by my younger son, which had definitely seen better days. I am now like a teenager, spending far too much time on my phone, checking e-mails, the latest news, weather, and downloading useful apps as well as communicating with friends…

How do we organise a street party? Q I live in a street of mainly elderly residents and we would like to organise a street party for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. You have published features on the rules and regulations in the past. Please can you let me know, in brief, what I would need to do? I assume I would have to contact our local council, but do we need insurance? It is a cul-desac so we could close the end of the road off, but would we need to get permission to do this? Name and address supplied Teri Harman, editor YM&YR replies: A The main events to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee are due to take place between June 2 and 5. Organising a street party just…

Supplies: ■ Fat quarter of red fabric ■ Fat quarter of green fabric ■ Fat quarter of Bond-a-web or equivalent product ■ Fat quarter of fusible wadding ■ 0.5 metres of co-ordinating ribbon ■ Threaders heat erasable pen ■ Basic sewing kit To create: 1 Draw strawberry and leaf shapes to the size you wish to make your coasters. Remember to add 1/4 inch all the way round for the seam allowance 2 Cut out two strawberry shapes and one leaf shape for each coaster. Adhere the fusible wadding to the wrong side of one of the strawberry pieces and iron the Bond-a-web to the wrong side of the leaf section 3 Place the two strawberry pieces wrong sides together and stitch all the way round using a1/4 inch seam…

WE ALL tend to have a favourite type of wine, and many people will profess to have a favourite wine-producing country. Unsurprisingly, since its emergence in the Eighties as a significant global wine presence, Australia is the darling of many. And what a darling it is… According to latest data from the 2020/21 harvest, Australia produced 165 million cases of 12 x 75cl bottles of wine. Red wines accounted for 95 million cases (58 per cent of production) and white/rosé wines 70 million cases (42 per cent). During this bumper year for production, Australia became the fifth largest wine producer in the world. In the early days of exporting to the UK in the Eighties, the joke in Australia was that Britain was a good place to dump (sorry, I…

THROUGHOUT THE turbulent events of the past 70 years Queen Elizabeth II has been a constant, stoic, reassuring presence, and Queen of Our Times, by Robert Hardman (Macmillan, £20), draws back the curtain on someone who has, at once, embodied the essential mystery of the monarchy while retaining the love, affection and deep respect of her subjects. It’s respectful, well-researched and in-depth but also chatty and full of insightful anecdotes. Fledgling, by Hannah Bourne-Taylor (Aurum, £16.99), tells how the author, struggling with a new life in rural Ghana, rescued, hand-raised and released a swift and finch back into the wild, and Patrick Galbraith goes In Search of One Last Song (HarperCollins, £18.99), searching out ten of Britain’s most endangered birds, and the people determined to save them from extinction. From…

Bridge Before reading on, cover the East and West hands on the deal below. GAME ALL; DEALER EAST Playing teams, East opens a weak two in hearts, and as South you overcall two spades. On finding you with all the missing keycards, your optimistic partner decides to have a go at seven spades. The lead is the nine of hearts. How do you plan the play? On the surface of it, the contract appears to depend on the diamond finesse, but are there any alternatives? When you start by drawing trumps, you discover that East began with just one. Discard one diamond and one heart from dummy. East discards two hearts and one diamond. Next you should attempt to discover the full distribution by cashing three rounds of clubs, ending…

Another quiz to test your memory of people, places and events. The answers are over the page. 1 In which country did Tony Hancock die? 2 What was the name of the TV series in which John Alderton played a newly-qualified teacher? 3 In 1965 a batsman playing for Nottinghamshire sensationally hit a record six sixes in succession. Who was he? 4 Which Bryan Adams track spent the longest at No 1 in the Nineties. 5 In a speech, the Queen said that the past year had been an ‘Annus Horribilis’. Which year? 6 What was Tony Bullimore trying to do when he had to be rescued, in 1997? 7 Name the sheep which was the first to be cloned from an adult cell. 8 Can you name both Two…

We’ve all grown familiar over the years with the idea of Britain as a nation that increasingly looks outwards for resources and skills that were once part of our daily life. One of the products that used to be home produced was bricks. I know this because all around me here in Cambridgeshire, and throughout the land, are homes and offices built with bricks that were made just miles away. In 1930 the brickyards were making a billion bricks a year. Fletton bricks, as they are called, were made a stone’s throw from me from 1889. I also know about British brickmaking because as a lad doing short-term labouring for a small-time builder, I’d sometimes go with him to a local brickworks to stock up for a building job. There…

WE ALL know how music can positively impact our physical and mental well-being –helping stimulate memory function, easing pain, and reducing fatigue. Music is an essential part of many of our lives, and from our very early years we are introduced to beats and rhythm. But how important is music for supporting our physical and mental health as we age? As memory deteriorates, music can help support memory loss. But it is the act of creating music, rather than just listening, that can also help improve the lives of people with dementia. A recent study of people with dementia found enriched gardens, which included outdoor musical instruments, can help in terms of stimulating memory, helping regulation of the emotions, and managing anxiety levels. Enriched gardens provide interactions with nature and…

A TARGETED new drug for a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer will be fast-tracked to eligible patients within weeks, following a deal brokered by NHS England. Patients in England will be the first in Europe to access Mobocertinib – the only precision drug available to patients with a mutation-driven, advanced form of lung cancer, who have already received chemotherapy. The treatment will be available to around 100 eligible patients a year with the rare form of cancer that cannot be removed by surgery, which mainly affects younger people and non-smokers. Mobocertinib, taken as a tablet, specifically targets the mutation to slow the growth of cancer cells, with manageable side effects. Trials show that some patients who have taken mobocertinib have lived for two years after being treated with…

EUROPE’S BIGGEST travel agent TUI says the UK is driving a summer holiday boom, with bookings up a fifth on pre-pandemic levels. However, the company warns that demand is pushing up prices – and summer breaks abroad will be 22 per cent more expensive than two years ago. However, prices for holidays in the UK have shot up too, as owners seek to make up for revenue lost during closures. The tiny holiday cottage for two that we rented in Northumberland for a week in summer 2020 cost £523; this year the equivalent week is £888, an increase of70 per cent. Across the board, UK holiday prices have increased significantly in the past year, with hotspots like Cornwall seeing price increases of 30 per cent or more. According to a…

Porotos a la chacarera by Patricia Alvarez My mum had a small stall in a market in Chile but her dream was to have a shop, so I have done that here in Bristol with La Ruca. I have a cafe upstairs with a photo of me and my mum, to remember that it was always her dream. This dish is something we always ate in Chile in the summertime. It always reminds me of home. Preparation time: eight hours Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes ■ 500g dried pinto beans ■ 2 tbsp olive oil ■ 1 large onion ■ 1 red pepper ■ 2-3 cloves of garlic ■ 3 tsp smoked paprika ■ 1 tsp chilli powder ■ 1 tsp oregano ■ 2 courgettes ■ 2 sweet potatoes…

DVDS Play For Today Volume 3 (BFI) Few series evoke the golden age of television quite like Play For Today, an often hard-hitting, uncompromising drama strand that would struggle to get past today’s BBC box-tickers. As the title suggests, the series, which ran from 1970 to 1984, owed a strong debt to theatre, as did much television at the time, with programmes still often studio-based and static, using actors who had often learnt their trade in repertory theatre, and were more used to projecting to the 15th row rather than someone watching from the intimacy of their front room. But while sophisticated modern viewers may be surprised at the comparatively primitive production values, and occasionally overblown performances, the quality of the drama itself is rarely in doubt, and that goes…

This is the Night They Come For You by Robert Goddard Published by Bantam Press Price £20 Pages 416 ISBN 9781787635081 Based on actual events in Paris in 1961, and Algeria’s long and painful road to independence, this first-rate, well researched thriller, set in Algiers, France and Hampshire, has a complex and compelling plot in which ghosts from the past continue to haunt the present. In Algiers, Police Superintendent Mouloud Taleb is drafted to work with Intelligence Agent Souad Hidouchi to unravel a tangled web of deception. Their investigations connect Stephen Gray in rural England and Suzette Fontaine in France with double-crossing embezzlers, past and present. Fast-paced, beautifully crafted and with some excellently drawn characters, it engages from start to finish. HARDBACK BOOK OF THE MONTH Hardbacks FICTION The Birdcage…

A Daughter’s Hope is the third book in the dramatic and heart-warming Yorkshire Blitz series, from Sunday Time t bestselling author Donna Douglas, set in Yorkshire during the Second World War. Autumn, 1942. The Blitz has come to an end, but for many families, it’s not over yet. As the residents of Jubilee Row begin to rebuild their lives, twins Sybil and Maudie Maguire decide to go off and do their bit by joining the WAAFs. But what starts off as a great adventure soon forces the girls to grow up as they are confronted with the harsh realities of war. Will they stick together, or will their experiences drive them apart? Back in Hull, their older sister Ada faces struggles of her own as she nurses the war wounded.…

Drifting into a cashless society… HAVE A look in your purse or wallet. What you’ll find there possibly is a glimpse of the future. Because I bet you a pound to a penny – remember pennies? – that some banknotes you find have been there a while, even though you’ve been spending. Fact is, cash is yesterday’s way of spending. Folding dosh looks to be doomed – and coinage as the world has known it since people jingled shekels 5000 years ago is on the way out. Many believe we really are sleepwalking into a cashless society – and they may be right. Sweden, where even the homeless have a cash-free existence, using their smartphones when they have anything to spend, has nearly reached that point. Like me, you may…

Email your poems to: (editorial@choicemag.co.uk) or post to Your Poetry, Choice, 4 Milnyard Square, Orton Southgate, Peterborough PE2 6GX When I’m gone (but haven’t left) I see you all, sitting there in rows.Singing hymns, as your tears do flow. But please don’t cry, not for me.For I’m looking down on thee.For in the skies, at peace I be. I’m not in this coffin, at all you see.For my spirit now, flies so free. I see your thoughts, as I hear you pray.But do not grieve, not for me today.For it’s my body, that’s only sailed away. And when the pipes, does play my song.My spirit walks beside you, all day long. So in those moments, when you think of me.I’m by your side, and will always be... So please don’t…

Gail Willis is an exponent and teacher of Hatha Yoga. She brings Choice readers a new exercise every month. Gail, who is a full-time yoga instructor in Kettering, Northamptonshire, has recruited her mother Janet Rogers to help demonstrate the exercises. In each picture Janet now in her 80s illustrates the basic position for each exercise – the easiest one for the beginner. Gail illustrates the maximum position for each exercise. You should start following Janet’s position and try to increase gradually towards Gail’s advanced level. “Only build up to a level that you are comfortable with,” says Gail. “Some exercises you will be able to do the maximum level of stretch. Others you will achieve only the basic move or just a little more. It doesn’t matter because even the…

Finally, in case, like me, you’re thinking this all sounds very much like Integrative Medicine, it seems that Functional Medicine is indeed similar, but may take things further. Says the London clinic: “The spirit and philosophy of Functional Medicine have a lot of overlap with those of Integrative Medicine. Primarily, they share the idea that you must treat the individual and not a specific illness and they both use a personal, patient-centred approach. “Integrative Medicine looks at how and what but Functional Medicine also asks why? Research into the patient’s background takes priority and it also digs deeper by including an analysis of their genetic makeup.”…

1 Turn down your heating This might not be practical if it would affect your health, but if you can turn your heating down by just one degree, it can make a huge difference, as it will significantly reduce the amount of energy your home is using each month. According to data from Uswitch, you’ll be able to save around £128 a year by doing this alone. ■ Average monthly saving: £10.66 2 Be more thoughtful with your food shop If you find yourself going to the supermarket several times a week, it’s likely that you’re going to be picking up extra things you don’t actually need. By planning out your meals and doing one large food shop each week, you’ll be more likely to stay on budget. Additionally, if…

Vellum garden party invite Hello and welcome to my Craft Corner! Every month I share two new projects with Choice readers – one for those who enjoy hobbies such as papercrafting, upcycling and decoupage, and one for those who are fond of sewing and needlecraft, where I focus on simple, everyday stitched fabric accessories. I’ve lived and breathed crafting for as long as I can remember. I have very fond memories of cake decorating, cross-stitching and candle-making with my mum, and in my late teens I discovered the joy of cardmaking. I was fortunate enough to turn my favourite pastimes into my career by setting up Crafter’s Companion out of my university bedroom, and it’s been an amazing journey seeing my business develop into what it is today. I love…

MAY IS a great time to look out for some latecomers to the Spring party. You may start to spot poppies blooming, for example, opening their four bright red petals wide to attract pollinators. While poppies don’t have nectar, various pollinators, from bees to hoverflies, will be attracted to their pollen-laden stamens (the female part of the flower). Birds and wood mice* will also eat the seeds – plus, they’re also really nice to look at! If you’d like to see them in your outdoor space, all you need is a sunny spot and some seeds (they’re often included in ‘cornfield annual seed mixes’). To get the most out of your poppies and other wildflowers you can take part in No Mow May. This campaign simply asks you to leave…

Apple Music, 97 tracks, 5 hrs 53 mins In 1970 the Syd Lawrence Orchestra came to the cinema/theatre in the small Northamptonshire town where I had just started as a junior reporter. A colleague in the newspaper office was a fan of big bands and persuaded a few of us underground rock lovers to take advantage of the generous Ritz manager’s offer of press tickets. I was amazed. The auditorium, much bigger than the town appeared to justify, was packed. That night Syd and his band, formed in 1967, were covering the music of the greats of the swing era, most of whom feature on this playlist. Swing had its heyday from 1936 to the end of the Second World War, as out and out jazz began to transition into,…

ACCOMPANYING A new BBC TV series, Commando, by Monty Halls (BBC, £20) is the inside story of Britain’s Royal Marines, telling stories of remarkable heroism and shedding new light on this notoriously secretive military unit. Award-winning veterinarian and naturalist Dr Sean Wesley suggests how we can all help make life better for animals in Through A Vet’s Eyes (Gaia, £20), and in The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 19 ½ Front Gardens (Mitchell Beazley, £16.99), Ben Dark reveals the remarkable secrets of 20 commonly found plants, spotted in the front gardens of a typical London street over the course of a year. Circus of Dreams, by John Walsh (Constable, £25), documents the remarkable revolution that took place in the British literary novel in the Eighties, spearheaded by such figures as…

A range of commemorative products featuring the official Platinum Jubilee emblem has been produced by Royal Collection Trust to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen. The official Platinum Jubilee emblem was designed by 19-year-old graphic design student, Edward Roberts, from Nottinghamshire. His design was the winning entry in Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Emblem Competition, run by the Victoria & Albert Museum in conjunction with Buckingham Palace. The design is a continuous line drawing, symbolising Her Majesty’s long reign. The range includes a fine bone English china coffee mug (£15), a tea-towel (£8.95) a reusable water bottle (£9.95), a keyring (£4.95), an umbrella (£12.95) and a shopping bag made from recycled plastic bottles (£8.95). ■ Products can be purchased online from (www.rct.uk/shop) and will be sold…

Regular readers will know that I love an allotment. My lifelong fondness for growing my own not only led to countless hours of outdoor pleasure, abundant fruit and veg, and a permanently aching back. Oh, yes, and even my first novel (about a young man’s sanity being restored by embracing Mother Earth). No surprise, then, at my smug pleasure in learning that allotments – those suburban acres that helped us get through the Second World War – still have massive potential to provide tons of wonderful fresh produce. It turns out that, inch for inch, allotments can produce as much food as farms. This cheering news comes from the result of a university study that monitored 30 ‘urban growers’ in Brighton. It was found that each square metre of their…

Our town centres are less crowded than ever, and more and more shop units are boarded up. Covid killed off many retail businesses that were hanging on in the face of competition from the internet. Now, typically, the butcher has taken his hook, the baker moved on when he couldn’t make a crust and the (scented) candle-maker’s future flickered and was then extinguished by high overheads and falling footfall. But every coin has a reverse, and one line of business seems to be flourishing despite constraints imposed by Covid. Well, can you guess what’s still hot on the high street? It’s coffee outlets. Whereas once we Brits wouldn’t have dreamed of walking around nursing a coffee, and in cafés would almost automatically ordered Rosie Lee, now we’re positively awash with…

Just a reminder… …that in May 1955, Stirling Moss crossed the finishing line after completing the fearsome Thousand Mile (Mille Miglia) race in Brescia, to become the first Briton to win the event. He averaged 97mph for the ten hours, seven minutes of the race …in this month in 1988, the White House admitted that the First Lady, Nancy Reagan, had used fortune-telling in scheduling the President’s diary. In his biography, President Reagan admitted the couple were obsessed with astrology …and in May 1993, an estimated 93 million people tuned in to NBC TV for the final episode of Cheers, the comedy series set in a Boston bar. Gazing at the biggest questions on earth Unlike Dominic Cummings, who famously went to Barnard Castle to check that his eyesight was…