Secrets of the Blue Zones

“Live to 100. Secrets of the Blue Zones” is Dan Buettner’s Netflix series which explores communities which have significant populations of people who age gracefully and reach their century.
The Blue Zones regions are where a higher than usual number of people live much longer than the average…

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Fans

My first experience of going to a professional football match was on a cold afternoon at Boothferry Park, home to Hull City, to see a dismal, nil, nil draw. My dad and I cycled there and after chaining our bikes to a lamppost, joined my uncle and cousin on the terraces. No seating, just a rail to lean on, or swing from. This was…

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How to Guide: Later-life planning and care

It’s tempting to think of retirement as one long long holiday where we kick back after years of hard work and indulge in hobbies and interests. As a vision that’s appealing, but it fails to take into account that ageing is not a choice it’s inevitable. This is fine to a point, but a more realistic view is to think of retirement as a series of phases during which lifestyle wishes and healthcare needs can change dramatically over decades. The good news is that planning for later-life financial security IS achievable if you are proactive now. To help you along the way, we’ve compiled this baby boomer’s roadmap.

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HOW TO GUIDESClaire Witz
Blackberry and Apple

What ever happened to the Blackberry? I have a friend, a banker who runs the IT team, and who still has one in daily use. Swears by it. Mind you, he has a vintage Jaguar also in daily use, which says something about him. Launched in 1999, it…

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Pier into the Future

Piers, it seems, are making something of a comeback with today’s younger generation enjoying them as much as we did as children. As a child I was occasionally taken to Blackpool. If it was summer then it was buckets and spades, donkey rides and ice cream, whilst in the winter it was the…

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From Obscurity to Premier Cru

Wine drinking was a habit only for the elite in Britain, but an everyday necessity for our French and European cousins. 

In the sixties, cheap, semi-sweet drinks such as ‘Babycham’ and ‘Cherry B’ took over from sherry and eventually Portuguese ‘Mateus Rose’. So exotic was this wine considered that…

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Norwegian Odyssey

The Beatles song Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) was about an extramarital affair that John Lennon was involved in. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said:

"I was trying to write about an affair without letting my wife know I was having one…

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Return to Base

Eighteen months ago, I posted a piece called The Great De-Cluttering Dilemma, as we moved out of our house following an underfloor leak. This week we are moving back in to the house, complete with all our goods and chattels…

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