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The Crown, Arford: ‘Everything one might want’ – restaurant review
Sun, 23 Mar 2025 06:00:12 GMT
The presenter and comedian (and her gang of weary woodcutters) enjoy a perfect Sunday lunch at a local inn…
The Crown, Arford Road, Headley, Bordon GU35 8BT (01428 288090; thecrownarford.com). Small plates from £4.50; large plates £18-£29; desserts £9; and wines from £36
I feel I shouldn’t be writing at all because I am so full and so happy. I have just had the meal of meals – a Sunday lunch of such perfection that really my next move should have been to lie down. I live in an ancient part of Britain, where once upon a time if you wanted to pick sides, it was between Wessex and Mercia. Of course, in the ninth century the pesky Vikings turned up and imposed Danelaw. Being Danish myself I now realise that the locals missed a trick in defending themselves. Instead of battling or giving in they should simply have served the naughty Norsemen a perfect plate of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, buttered greens and gravy and the invading hordes would have been putty in their hands.
Continue reading...Met Office warns of flooding, as parts of country sees torrential rain after warmest spring equinox in more than 50 years
Heavy showers, hail and thunder are forecast to hit the UK days after the warmest spring equinox in more than 50 years.
There was torrential rain in some parts on Saturday afternoon and National Highways said parts of the M18 in Yorkshire were closed while specialists worked to clear flood water.
It is expected to be a cloudy start to Sunday with rain in the north and east and sunny spells in the north-west and south-east followed by showers, the Met Office said. There will be above average temperatures for most parts of the UK topping 15C in London, 12C in Birmingham and 11C in Manchester.
The Met Office said: “Heavy showers have developed across eastern parts of England this afternoon, with some hail and thunder mixed in. Heavy, thundery showers continue in parts of London and the East Midlands, with some areas seeing 10-15mm of rain in less than an hour.”
The UK experienced its warmest spring equinox day since 1972 on Thursday with 21.3C recorded in Northolt, west London, and Chertsey, Surrey.
Jonathan Vautrey, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “For this time in the year, it is rarer to have such intense storms. This is happening because we have had a lot of warm weather of late and temperatures are notably above average for the time of year.
“We’ve had highs reaching over 20C over the last few days, and we were up to 18.5C as the high today as well, where we should be more around 10 or 11C.
“That sort of heat that we’ve got around at the moment has really helped to spark off some of these thunderstorms, and a lot of moisture being drawn in with this sort of low-pressure system that’s been arriving across the UK.”
Vautrey added that climate crisis is pushing temperature extremes to new levels. “We’re constantly seeing warmer temperatures at earlier points of the year compared to where they normally are.
“These sort of intense summer storms are then increasingly going to happen at more points in the year because we’re getting those temperatures in there to really allow them to start developing.”
Flood alerts from the Environment Agency remain in place for 20 parts of the country including Henley, Salisbury and Hertfordshire.
The Met Office told travellers to “take care” as “there could be some localised flooding in places”.
Miliband said he wanted ‘to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure’
Willie Walsh, the International Air Transport Association’s director general, criticised Heathrow airport in as a result of the disruption, reports the PA news agency.
“This is yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travellers and airlines,” he said. Walsh added:
From that arises the question of who bears the costs of taking care of disrupted travellers.
We must find a fairer allocation of passenger care costs than airlines alone picking up the tab when infrastructure fails. Until that happens, Heathrow has very little incentive to improve.”
I’d like to stress that this has been an incident of major severity. It’s not a small fire.
We have lost power equal to that of a mid-sized city and our backup systems have been working as they should but they are not sized to run the entire airport.”
You can say that but of course contingencies of certain sizes we cannot guard ourselves against 100% and this is one of them.
This has been a major incident. I mean, short of anybody getting hurt, this is as big as it gets for our airport and we are actually coming back quite fast I would say, when you consider the amount of systems that we have to shut down then bring back up and make sure that they’re safe.”
This is unprecedented. It’s never happened before and that’s why I’m saying it has been a major incident.”
Continue reading...Government says lessons need to be learned after the substation fire that caused chaos for 300,000 passengers
The government has launched an urgent investigation into the power shutdown that crippled Heathrow airport, with experts warning it was a “wake-up call” about vulnerabilities in the nation’s critical infrastructure.
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has commissioned the independent National Energy System Operator (Neso) to investigate the incident and assess the UK’s energy resilience. The regulator Ofgem warned it would “not hesitate” to take action if there were any breaches of standards or licence obligations.
Continue reading...Amid angst over the technology, a consensus is emerging about its capabilities – but there is an elephant in the room
In early March, a job advert was doing the rounds among sports journalists. It was for an “AI-assisted sports reporter” at USA Today’s publisher, Gannett. It was billed as a role at the “forefront of a new era in journalism”, but came with a caveat: “This is not a beat-reporting position and does not require travel or face-to-face interviews.” The dark humour was summed up by football commentator, Gary Taphouse: “It was fun while it lasted.”
As the relentless march of artificial intelligence continues, newsrooms are wrestling with the threats and opportunities the technology creates. Just in the past few weeks, one media outlet’s AI project was accused of softening the image of the Ku Klux Klan. AI is also playing a part in some British journalists recording more than 100 bylines in a day. Amid the angst over the technology, however, a broad consensus is beginning to emerge about what the technology is currently capable of doing accurately.
Continue reading...Westerners increasingly hesitant to travel to US out of fear of arrests and detentions as Trump enforces crackdown
A string of high-profile arrests and detentions of travellers is likely to cause a major downturn in tourism to the US, with latest figures already showing a serious drop-off, tourist experts said.
Several western travellers have recently been rejected at the US border on increasingly flimsy grounds under Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, some of them shackled and held in detention centers in poor conditions for weeks.
Continue reading...Boat carrying 13 people capsizes in rough seas while travelling to island of Nusa Penida
A snorkelling boat carrying 13 people, including 11 Australian tourists, capsized in rough seas off Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Friday, killing a woman and injuring two others, police said.
The Sea Dragon boat was on its way from a port in Bali to Nusa Penida, a popular tiny island near Bali, when it was overwhelmed by high waves, local police spokesperson Agus Widiono said.
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Continue reading...Travel advice updated amid reports of ordeals at US border after Trump said country would only recognise two genders
Denmark and Finland have updated their US travel advice for transgender people, joining the handful of European countries that have sought to caution US-bound travellers in recent weeks as reports emerge of ordeals at the American border.
Denmark said this week it had begun advising transgender travellers to contact the US embassy in Copenhagen before departure to ensure there would be no issues with travel documents.
Continue reading...Our beauty expert’s top space-saving travel minis and pots for decanting and reusing, from perfumes and SPFs to shampoos
• Refillable beauty is the future. Here are my favourite products
Holidays are approaching and, naturally, we want to feel as good as we can and take all our favourite beauty products with us. But who can – and wants to – lug around all that weight? Enter travel minis and decanting your full-size products into bag-friendly pots.
Whether you want to pack light to make room for holiday shopping, or you have luggage restrictions, getting your beauty bag whittled down to a good size is a fine art. One tip is to pack products that have several uses, such as a cleansing balm that removes makeup; and a makeup setting mist that also works as a hairspray.
Continue reading...Peter Reynolds, 79, and wife, Barbie, 75, expected to appear in Kabul on Thursday after detention last month
A British couple in their 70s imprisoned by the Taliban are due in court in Kabul on Thursday but have not been informed of the charges, their family has said.
Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province.
Continue reading...The arrest of a midwife for allegedly providing illegal abortions is the latest attack on reproductive care.
The post Texas Starts Arresting Abortion Providers appeared first on The Intercept.
National Park Service workers who care for the White House were exempt from a wave of mass firings that gutted the agency.
The post Trump Fired Park Rangers — But Not the Ones Who Tend to the White House appeared first on The Intercept.
Peter Reynolds, who runs a business in Afghanistan, was held along with his wife last month and needs heart pills, says his daughter
The life of a 79-year-old British man imprisoned along with his wife by the Taliban is in serious danger, his family have warned.
Peter Reynolds and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province.
Continue reading...We would like to hear from parents about their children’s experiences of getting NHS dental treatment
According to a government report, nearly 50,000 tooth extractions took place last year in NHS hospitals in England for 0 to 19-year-olds, with 62% of those having a primary diagnosis of tooth decay.
We would like to hear from parents in England about their experiences of accessing NHS dental services for their children. Were you able to find somewhere locally or do you have to travel further afield? How easy have you found it to access care? We’re also interested in hearing from those whose children have had hospital tooth extractions recently.
Continue reading...
Video:
00:06:40
A group of volunteers is spending two months lying in bed—with their feet up and one shoulder always touching the mattress—even while eating, showering, and using the toilet. But why? This extreme bedrest study is helping scientists understand how space travel affects the human body and how to keep astronauts healthy on long missions.
Microgravity causes muscle and bone loss, fluid shifts, and other physiological changes similar to those experienced by bedridden patients on Earth. By studying volunteers here on Earth, researchers can develop better countermeasures for astronauts and even improve treatments for medical conditions like osteoporosis.
In this study, participants are divided into three groups: one stays in bed with no exercise, another cycles in bed to mimic astronaut workouts, and a third cycles while being spun in a centrifuge to simulate artificial gravity. Scientists hope artificial gravity could become a key tool in protecting astronauts during deep-space missions.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.
You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
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