Your home is more than simply the place you live; it can have a direct impact on the way you think, feel, and move through daily life. It can lift your spirits and support your needs or drain you the moment you walk through the door. Sometimes, different areas in your home can affect you in different ways.

We tell ourselves, “Once I’ve got through this, I’ll have more time for myself." Whether it’s a work deadline, a busy family week, or the next medical appointment, we keep telling ourselves that. If we’re not careful, it’s so easy to keep saying that, and when you finally look up, weeks, months or even years have passed.

The welcome days of floor-to-ceiling sunshine have also come with its downfalls. The soaring temperatures brought families outdoors, and who could blame them? But there were consequences with the dangers of sunburn and the temptations of the refreshing cold waters of lakes and other waterways.

Group Editor Andrew Palmer talks to the Michelin-starred chef ahead of his live show in York. There is a particular kind of restlessness that overtakes a chef when the kitchen is no longer enough — when the story of how the food got onto the plate begins to feel as urgent as the food itself. Tommy Banks has reached that point.

As temperatures rise across Europe and the UK braces for more hot weather, consumers are being warned that heatwaves can quietly take a serious toll on household budgets as well as personal wellbeing.

When the Golf GTI was launched in 1976, no one could have guessed that the 108bhp Volkswagen, with its red grille surround, black wheel arch extensions and golf ball gear knob, would soon become the world’s most successful compact sports car. Only 5,000 units were planned, but in the first year alone dealers sold 10 times as many.

Sarah Earnshaw makes no secret of the fact that she “loves her food” “I love to go out to dinner and try dishes from different countries around the world” says Sarah, who is currently playing Tanya in the UK tour of Mamma Mia.

As regular readers will be aware, our household’s biggest festival of the year is Eurovision, so as a half-term treat I headed to the National Science and Media Museum with Calum and Skye to explore the new temporary exhibition, Setting the Stage: 70 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest. And honestly? Before we’d even stepped through the doors, we were already buzzing.

I am sitting at my desk, looking at the bright blue sky and dazzling sunshine, dreaming of the days ahead. The weather forecaster announced last week that temperatures would rise dramatically, and by the time you read this article, we should have been experiencing a full week of glorious sunshine, with temperatures soaring into the high 20s.

When a young journalist was invited on a press trip to northern Italy and handed the keys — metaphorically speaking — to a vintage Bentley, he had no idea the experience would stay with him for the rest of his life. Andrew Palmer revisits a journey through Trentino and the Veneto that captured something rare: the Italy that tourism forgot.

To read Bill Manhire’s poetry is to be lulled, with an ironic lack of effort, into a landscape that is loaded with sense and meaning for the poet’s narrator(s), but perceived as gently out-of-kilter by the charmed observer.

Going into residential care is far from inevitable – statistics show that only 10.8% of those aged 85 or over live in a residential care setting*. For some it is a freely made choice to enter a residential care setting, bringing peace of mind and a respite from housebound isolation. For others it will be a traumatic experience, imposed upon them through the lack of any viable alternative.

Jess Evans had hoped to have a homebirth. What happened next led her on a journey that is now transforming how expectant mothers across the region approach labour — and the results are remarkable. When Jess Evans was pregnant with her first daughter in 2019, she had a plan. She wanted a homebirth — calm, familiar, on her own terms.

This was the moment our tiny visitor decided he needed a human name if he was going to observe Earth mostly unnoticed. Naturally, he chose Dudley. More details about Karen (and Dudley) can be found here www.karenveramcmillan.com

Dry eye disease is one of the most common conditions seen in eye clinics, yet it's also one of the most misunderstood. There is a difference between the occasional dry eyes and chronic dry eye disease – the first will go away after a break from screens and a good night's sleep, the latter can severely impact your quality of life.

Ramside Hall Hotel and Resort is built on a site that can trace its history back centuries. With Medieval origins, the land originally belonged to a monastic establishment and was known as Ramside Grange, but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the site passed to numerous wealthy families over the ensuing centuries.

There is a distinct moment on Mother Of Pearl where it becomes impossible to think of Freya Ridings as anything other than a fully realised artist. Not simply a remarkable vocalist or gifted pianist, but a songwriter with the confidence to expose every bruise, every fracture, and every hard-earned revelation without softening the edges. This is, unquestionably, her finest record to date.

Samuel Barber's Vanessa is not an opera one stumbles upon every season, and that is precisely why this gripping new recording from Gianandrea Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra demands attention. Captured live in concert in 2025, it makes the most persuasive case I have heard for a work that ought to occupy a far more secure place in the affections of opera-goers. If the piece is unfamiliar to you — and for many listeners it will be — then this recording is the disc to put that right.

England Athletics announces new partnership with Parkinson’s UK which aims to empower ‘people affected by Parkinson’s to stay active, connected and confident through inclusive running opportunities.’ The new partnership will bring together RunTogether, England Athletics’ nationwide social running programme, with Parkinson’s UK’s specialist knowledge to create ‘welcoming and supportive ph…

Violet Grohl Be Sweet To Me Tracks: THUM; 595; Bug In The Cake; Last Day I Loved You; Big Memory; Mobile Star; Often Others; Applefish; Cool Buzz; Pool Of My Dreams; Plastic Couch Label: Republic Records There is something immediately compelling about Violet Grohl’s presence.

Aaron Copland's Third Symphony is one of those works that seems to contain an entire continent within its bars. Composed in the dying days of the Second World War, it reaches towards the horizon with the confidence of a nation steeling itself for brighter times, its vast sonic landscapes shaped by a mind equally at home in the concert hall and on the open plains. Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra bring it to life here with a performance that is, in every sense, the real thing.

Three giant otter pups have started learning how to swim at Chester Zoo. Born to first-time parents Bonita and Manu, the adorable triplets have remained tucked away in their den for the first few weeks of life. Now, at 15 weeks old, the youngsters have had an unforgettable introduction to life in the water as they experience their very first swimming lessons.

Most people who represent themselves at financial remedy hearings do so not because they want to, but because they have looked at solicitors' fees and decided they have no choice. Under the direct access scheme, you can instruct a barrister to advise you, prepare your case, or represent you in court without a solicitor acting as an intermediary.

The sun's out, the garden's waking up, and so are the weeds. As part of its Make It Bloom campaign, British Garden Centres is on hand to help gardeners get on top of weeds before they get out of hand. Whether you've just planted your first flower bed or you're a seasoned grower, a bit of effort now will save a lot of hard work later in the summer.

From fresh uniforms to packed lunch essentials, the back-to-school shop can quickly add up and leave parents hundreds of pounds out of pocket before the term has even started. To help families manage the costs, GroceryAid is bringing back its popular School Essentials Grant with £1 million available in total – and best of all, it’s free cash so doesn’t have to be paid back.

The Chartered Governance Institute (CGI) has stated that BP’s handling of its chair's removal suggests internal governance processes may have functioned exactly as intended under significant pressure. Speculation continues around the sudden departure, with reports in the Financial Times indicating that serious concerns were raised and crystallised at board level before the decision was made.

A new evidence-based health app designed to help people understand and manage physical ageing has officially launched in the UK. Developed by Sheffield-based ADL Smartcare, The LifeCurve app translates more than 30 years of research into a digital tool that helps people identify early signs of decline and take action to maintain independence.

Giving a sporting chance to children is the aim of the Play it Forward Fund – and it’s back for a fourth year with £50,000 on offer to grassroots clubs in Cumbria. Run by Fibrus Broadband, the initiative aims to encourage youngsters to switch off their devices, go outdoors and get active to boost their health and wellbeing.

The fashion for turning eighties films into stage productions continues with this version of the popular movie The Karate Kid. On one of the hottest nights of this spring so far, the prospect of sitting through a story in Leeds’ Grand Theatre that I was unfamiliar with wasn't an enticing prospect – how wrong my assertion turned out to be.

Things you didn’t know about blood cancer:1.Blood cancers are the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK. 2.At any one time there are around 2,000 people in the UK in need of a stem cell transplant.

A new nationwide heart health check programme launches today, aiming to testup to 100,000 workers for risk indicators of cardiovascular disease, with follow-up information and supportprovided by Pharmacy2U, the UK’s largest online pharmacy. The first-of-its-kind initiative by an online pharmacy aims to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease inthe workplace.

Doctor Ross was one of the most distinctive figures - and is still one of the most underrated - in post-war American blues and rock’n’ roll. There is always something compelling about the one-man-band, not least Jesse Fuller and Don Partridge, but Ross operated on another level entirely. He did not simply perform: he generated momentum like a force of nature.

I attended the launch of Kia’s PV5 van just before Christmas, and I was able to try it in both commercial and passenger guises. I came away impressed, not just by the way it drove, but also by the affordable pricing for a fully electric van. Keen to try one for an extended period, I have just enjoyed a week behind the wheel of a top-spec passenger PV5 Plus and can now report further.

There was really only ever one piece that could mark this orchestra’s connection to one of our county’s most celebrated composers in the year that marks 50 years since his death – Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, written for the consecration of the newly rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, and premiered there by the CBSO in 1962, when the memories of war were still frighteningly real.

It never ceases to amaze me how many posts I come across on social media debating the best way to make a horse’s bed! There are dozens of comparisons, debates and even full-blown arguments from ‘horsey’ people who all think they know better than each other.

What an enjoyable album this is. More than easy listening, Celtic Nocturne is melodic and lyrical, played from the heart and communicating a warmth through sensitive, thoughtful pianism. Every track tells a story, and every story is told with beauty.

Set in 38 acres of gardens and wooded parkland, fringing the banks of the River Weaver, Rookery Hall and Spa in Worleston near Nantwich enjoys complete tranquillity and the atmosphere of a bygone age. The Hall can trace its history back to 1816 when it was known as The Rookery, Worleston.

There is much to contemplate on this absorbing Delphian release, where time seems to stand still and the listener is drawn into a sequence of unhurried, inward-facing reflections. Look How Brightly offers a portrait of Alex Mill's music from the past decade: ten works, many closely linked to moments of change, loss, ritual, and renewal, together telling what feels like an intimate, personal story—almost, as Nico Muhly writes in the booklet, "a sequence of musical diary entries."