The BMW 3 Series may be the staple of the 1980s but the new model proves it’s slicker than ever September 28, 2015 Back in the 1980s, the BMW 3 Series was the car of choice for up-and-coming types in the City. A 325i was as de rigueur as red braces and a Filofax; if your trades hadn’t quite earned you the hot six-cylinder one, you could have a 316i and take the badges off (a trick so [...]
The British love affair with Bordeaux is here to stay September 26, 2015 The UK has traditionally been a nation of claret-lovers, dating as far back as the 12th century when Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry Plantagenet. Eager to please his French subjects, King Henry II decreed that any ship sailing from Bordeaux would be exempt from export tax. By the 14th century, England, Scotland and Ireland were [...]
Catch some rays in Antigua’s Mercers Creek Bay September 25, 2015 Annabelle Williams swims with stingrays in northern Antigua’s Mercers Creek Bay With their ethereal, otherworldly faces, stingrays could be from another planet. But here I am, standing waist deep in water, surrounded by dozens of these gray, pancake-like fish. In Mercers Creek Bay, northern Antigua, a breed of stingray known as the Southern [...]
Jane Eyre at the National Theatre review September 24, 2015 Jane Eyre Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre Rating: ★★★☆☆ Everyone has their own idea of who Jane Eyre is. To some she’s a 19th century feminist, fighting to make her way in the world. To others she’s a doormat, a person to whom interesting things might happen, but not nearly as interesting as the woman in the [...]
Film review: Captive September 24, 2015 Cert 12A | ★★☆☆☆ Perhaps the strangest detail in the true story of recovering addict Ashley Smith’s seven-hour captivity at the hands of escaped killer Brian Nichols is the moment in which her captor dips into her stash of crystal meth. Captive ends with a snippet from a 2006 interview between Smith and Oprah, [...]
Film review: Life – a snapshot of Hollywood legend James Dean September 24, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★★☆ If you paid to see a biopic, you used to get your money’s worth. But it seems three-hour cradle-to-grave-athons are fast becoming a thing of the past. These days, one defining moment is plucked from a life and examined from all angles to determine what maketh the man. It must have [...]
Theatre review: Hangmen at the Royal Court September 24, 2015 Hangmen Royal Court Rating: ★★★★★ True feelings are throttled and big questions left hanging in Martin McDonagh’s blacker-than-night comedy. The setting is an Oldham pub owned by Harry Wade, the country’s second-best hangman; the date is 1965, the day after the abolition of hanging. At once proud of his work and jealous of his rival Pierrepoint’s [...]
The future’s bright, the future’s lighting: How new technology is brightening up our cities September 24, 2015 New lighting technologies are transforming the way our cities look at night. Alex Dymoke considers what’s in store. II was astonished,” wrote the German diarist Karl Philipp Moritz in 1782, “at the admirable manner in which the streets are lighted up, compared to which our streets in Berlin make a most miserable show.” His [...]
Lessons in wine: A leisurely stroll through the sublime Medoc region September 22, 2015 Those who love Bordeaux will know that the Left Bank is Cabernet Sauvignon territory while the Right Bank is dominated by Merlot. My apologies to readers who are loyal to the wines of the Right, but today I want to delve further into the wines of the Left. The likes of Petrus and Cheval Blanc [...]
Chutney Mary restaurant review September 22, 2015 Chutney Mary 73 St James’s St, SW1A 1PH FOOD ★★★★☆ VALUE ★★☆☆☆ ATMOSPHERE ★★★★☆ Cost for two with wine: £210 All over the country, people are eating. They’re putting food in their mouths and grinding it into a paste for their digestive tracts to deal with at a later date. In lots of cases, they’re not even preparing [...]