Portland Stone became the building block of London, but does it have a place in modern British architecture? January 7, 2019 There are certain things you stop noticing after a few years in London. The first thing is how busy it is; crowds become the norm. The abominable air quality only becomes apparent when you leave. Another thing is Portland Stone. Chances are, you don’t even know you’re looking at it, but there aren’t many streets [...]
The age old problem: When buying spirits you shouldn’t rely on age as a sign of quality January 7, 2019 If you’re a rum distiller, you need to watch out for those pesky angels. You see, the tropical climates in which rum tends to be made accelerates the aging process: while in Scotland the angels’ share of whisky – that which is lost through evaporation – might be one to three per cent a year, [...]
Porsche 911 GT2 RS review: Ahead of the new model’s arrival, we bid auf wiedersehen to the fastest road-legal Porsche ever January 7, 2019 As you read this, the first examples of the new Porsche 911 are en route to the UK. The eighth-generation 911 (codenamed 992) is the most hotly anticipated sports car of 2019 and, rest assured, you’ll read about it here soon. However, before the ship docks at Dover, disgorging 992s onto every side street in [...]
Bumblebee film review: After the nightmare of Michael Bay, the Transformers franchise has finally come good January 7, 2019 It’s difficult to think of a franchise with a more wretched legacy than Transformers. Despite five films filled with puerile humour, sexism and disinterested performances, the robots in disguise have been a hit with audiences, grossing over $4bn in box office, providing all the motivation needed for continuation. So, we come to Bumblebee, a prequel/soft [...]
Mary Poppins Returns review: Disney hits gold with this unlikely crowd-pleasing sequel January 7, 2019 Disney’s raid on its own back catalogue continues with this sequel to 1964’s Mary Poppins. Emily Blunt steps into the blue overcoat as Mary, who appears from the clouds to come to the aid of the now grown Banks children Michael and Jane (Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer) to care for Michael’s own offspring following [...]
My House: Kristian Robson, the man behind Chelsea tailoring brand Oliver Brown tells us how he built his Notting Hill house on top of a duck pond January 7, 2019 The owner of men’s tailor Oliver Brown on his charming mews house in Notting Hill. As told to Melissa York. "When I first moved into my house, one of the neighbours told me it was built on top of a duck pond that was filled in with concrete in the 1960s. So that was interesting [...]
A stay at Valsana Hotel in Switzerland, the geothermally powered Alpine retreat January 4, 2019 These days, a sense of wellbeing isn’t just about body and spirit but also about leaving a lighter carbon footprint. Which is why the new, eco-friendly Valsana Hotel is the perfect place to spend an Alpine spa weekend without feeling that you’ve given Mother Nature a battering. The Valsana is Switzerland’s first hotel to be [...]
Desert X is Coachella’s lesser known contemporary art festival and it’s drawing 200,000 art lovers to the area January 4, 2019 The locals were… curious. For the past few weeks, as they’d gone about their business around the nine cities that make up Greater Palm Springs, or hiking in the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains, strange things were afoot. A deep hole was being dug into the desert floor close to the small resort town [...]
From Veganuary to Dryathlons, so begins the month of self-inflicted misery… January 4, 2019 The first few weeks of the year are when the office mood is at its glummest. Blue Monday, a concept created in 2005 (albeit by a holiday company trying to get people to book), and billed as “the most depressing day of the year” falls soon. No one agrees if it’s the second or third [...]
From sugar to saving, this government is treating us like a nation of children January 4, 2019 The morning I turned eight, I woke up and told my father that I was “halfway there”. This, in my home state of Connecticut, was in reference to getting my driving licence, a process I could start on my sixteenth birthday. As a kid, this was the milestone that I was most excited to reach, [...]