EUROPE’S biggest pumpkin festival is kicking off in the UK this weekend.
Fans of all things autumn are in for a major treat as the annual event returns for 2026.
Tulleys Farm in West Sussex hosts its epic festival every year, with 100 acres of sprawling pumpkin picking fields, food, rides, entertainment and more on offer.
Tulleys Pumpkin Festival is returning to the farm in a matter of days, as it prepares to open up to the public once again on September 19.
Tickets are available now for the entire seasonal run, which will draw to a close on November 1.
The farm offers both daytime and night sessions, with kids and adult’s tickets both starting from as little as £9.95.
The pumpkin fields have produced over one million pumpkins and gourds for visitors to pick from this autumn, with everything from shiny, round orange ones to knobbly, unique ones planted all over the patch.
Once fans of fall have secured their pumpkin haul, exploring the festival’s attractions, including the new Pumpkin Village is a must.
It’s the perfect place for adorable photo opportunities. Nestled within the “heart of the festival”, you can explore “winding paths, with wooden bridges leading across gentle streams and peaceful ponds”.
Guests can soar to heights of 108 feet during a ride on the observation ferris wheel or enjoy a spin on the Vintage Carousel, before checking out the themed entertainment dotted around the farm.
There’s dressed-up performers, roaming musicians and quirky street theatre to enjoy.
And for those who love nothing more than a tasty festival treat this time of year, there’s no shortage of food and drink offerings.
Grab a boozy beverage at the Cauldron Bar or a cup of something warming at the Coffee House.
Visitors can toast marshmallows and cheese on open fires or indulge in pasta, pizza, foot-long hotdogs, burgers, Greek delights and much more.
Andrii Dodonov/iStock via Getty Images
Fund managers have shifted their primary market worry. Bank of America’s September Global Fund Manager Survey, which polled 170 investors overseeing $470B in assets now ranks a disorderly rise in bond yields as the top tail risk.
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Turn on a radio between 1978 and 1987 and you were sure to hear Journey — any of the more than two dozen sumptuous yet muscular rock hits that shaped young America’s ideas about love, inspiration and wanting it the way you need it. Four decades later, the band’s music is still everywhere, including television, social media and streaming platforms like Spotify, where Journey has more monthly listeners than Bruce Springsteen, U2 or Bob Dylan. Yet Saturday night the group will bring what it’s calling its farewell tour to Crypto.com Arena — a capstone (at least if the band is to be believed) to a long career full of twists and turns.
Indeed, domination was hardly a given when guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Gregg Rolie — both of whom had played with Carlos Santana — formed Journey as a kind of jazzy proto-jam band in San Francisco in 1973. But with the addition a few years later of singer Steve Perry, the group found its gloriously dramatic sound and began racking up hits one after the next (though critics were rarely kind). Perry eventually quit, which took the wind out of Journey’s sails until Schon discovered an uncanny soundalike from the Philippines, Arnel Pineda, on YouTube; he’s helped the band get back into arenas and the occasional stadium even as Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, who replaced Rolie in 1980, have battled each other in court over financial matters.
Got all that? To try to make sense of Journey’s path, I’ve ranked all 25 of the band’s hits that have charted on Billboard’s Hot 100, starting with the worst and ending with the best. Hold onto that feeling — it goes on and on and on and on.
Some are born to sing the blues, as Perry once observed — just not Perry himself, who chews his way through this corny come-on like an overserved uncle at the Hard Rock Cafe. Nice showcase for Rolie’s organ work, though, on one of the last Journey singles he played on before leaving the band.
Rolie and Perry tag-teaming lead vocals is not a form of democracy I’d vote for.
Safe? Sterile? Soulless? Look, the haters can’t always be wrong.
“Before your time has run astray / You’ve got to try to get away.”
After overseeing Queen’s first few albums, producer Roy Thomas Baker turned his attention to Journey (and to the Cars); this midtempo number from the “Infinity” LP offers a credible approximation of Queen’s trademark stacked vocal harmonies.
Three platinum plaques in less than two years — for “Infinity,” “Evolution” and “Departure” — meant that Journey had no choice but to drop a live record, “Captured,” at the top of 1981. (It went platinum by Christmas.) As extra consumer bait, the double album closed with this new studio cut built around a killer Schon lick (and not much else).
Phantom of the roller rink.
Propelled by the success of his debut solo album — not to mention his appearance on the smash all-star “We Are the World” — Perry assumed greater control of Journey’s sound for 1986’s synthed-up “Raised on Radio,” which spawned no fewer than five singles, ending with this slightly lugubrious ballad. Yet the takeover came with a cost: By the end of 1987, the band had entered a hiatus that would last nearly a decade.
Listen to how nimbly Perry maneuvers some very tricky intervals.
Journey reunited for 1996’s “Trial by Fire,” which brought the band its only Grammy nomination (and which might feature the ghastliest album cover in music history). If the members knew that rock had changed dramatically while they were away, they didn’t show it in the LP’s romantic lead single: “When You Love a Woman” — a chart-topper for three weeks on Billboard’s adult contemporary tally — clearly sought to pick up where “Open Arms” and “Faithfully” had left off.
Wonder what Perry and Huey Lewis talked about between takes on “We Are the World.”
“Karate Kid”-core.
More “Karate Kid”-core, in this case released first as a song by Patty Smyth’s band Scandal; Journey’s version later wound up alongside Madonna’s “Crazy for You” on the soundtrack to “Vision Quest.”
Before Perry came aboard in 1977, Journey spent a few months with Robert Fleischman as lead singer — long enough for Fleischman to co-write the group’s first Hot 100 entry, not so long that he got to sing it on the record.
Ooh, baby, hold tight.
Easily Perry’s most unhinged vocal performance.
A luscious and melancholy white-soul song that I’d bet Phil Collins admired back in the day — and that Justin Bieber would probably flip for now.
Inducting Journey into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, Train’s Pat Monahan belted the na-na-na outro of the band’s first Top 40 hit as he made his case for the group’s excellence. “They didn’t even need lyrics — that’s how badass this band is,” he pointed out. Still, let’s not gloss over the appealing perversity of starting a song this horny the way Perry does: “You make me weep and want to die.”
Dodgers fans can delight in the fact that Perry originally wrote this paean to San Francisco — an anthem taken up at one time or another by every Bay Area pro sports team, including the Giants — about the lights going down and the sun shining on … Los Angeles. (Swap out “the bay” for “L.A.”) Maybe that’s why “Lights” has always felt to me like a precursor to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge.”
[Listens to “Eye of the Tiger” once.]
Shout out to future “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson, who joined Journey for “Raised on Radio” and proceeded to lay down the slinkiest, sultriest, funkiest bass line the band had ever known.
Believin’ in what, exactly? The genius of Journey’s most-streamed track on Spotify (with more than 2.9 billion plays) is its use of concrete images to advance a pretty mysterious narrative. We’ve all stood under a streetlight; we all know the smell of wine and cheap perfume. Yet everybody’s midnight train is going to a different anywhere.
Famously — and fortuitously — rejected by a former bandmate of Cain’s as “sentimental rubbish,” “Open Arms” was perhaps just waiting to be embraced by Perry, who sings it with the wounded gusto of a man well acquainted with regret. In a poetic twist, Journey’s highest-charting hit was blocked from No. 1 by the J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold,” in which the heartbroken narrator goes laughing all the way to his bed.
The first of three Top 10 singles from 1981’s 10-times-platinum “Escape,” this immaculate R&B jam imagines an alternate dimension where Perry and Cain hear Earth, Wind & Fire’s “After the Love Has Gone” and decide to form a new group with David Foster. Except Perry remembers the song as a high point for Schon: “You know the guitar outro from ‘Who’s Crying Now’?” he asked a New York Times reporter in 2003. “I fought for that because I knew no DJ would cut that song off with Neal’s guitar wailing at the end of it. It was too brilliant.”
It wasn’t the first rock ballad about life on the road — and it definitely wasn’t the last — but “Faithfully” might be the most emotionally generous: “Loving a music man ain’t always what it’s supposed to be,” Perry tells his lady, grounding the song in the experience of those who leave and those left behind; later, he envisions their reunion with such tenderness — “I’ll get the joy of rediscovering you” — that you know he’s already decided to take off again.
LAURA Anderson has admitted she felt like the ‘biggest faliure’ after her split from Gary Lucy as she shared an emotional post about being a single mum.
Laura and Gary split not long after they revealed they were having a child together, but later got back together before ultimately calling it quits.
Now, Laura has shared a tender beach clip of her and her daughter playing in the sand, using the moment to open up about how she’s feeling now.
She wrote: “One day you’ll go through a break-up with your child’s father and you’ll think that being a single mum is the biggest failure.
“And then one day, not suddenly, but slowly and surely, you’ll look back and feel so proud of the mother you are and what you have been able to overcome.
“You’ll be proud of how much your child is thriving and how much you’ve achieved by yourself.
“Because the one thing that determines the happiness of a child is the happiness of their mother.
“Her peace within the home and within her mind.
“And the only thing you’ll regret is not realising that sooner.”
Fans flocked to comment and one wrote: “Your an amazing mama to your baby Bonnie.”
Another added: “Absolutely agree.”
While a third stated: “Beautiful.”
Laura and Gary met while looking for love on Celebs Go Dating back in 2022.
Despite it being against the E4 show rules to date fellow celebs, the experts gave the green light after seeing their romantic spark.
During their whirlwind relationship after the cameras stopped rolling, Laura fell pregnant.
But the happy pregnancy news was tinged with sadness because by then the pair had secretly split for the first time.
The couple then split for good shortly before their daughter Bonnie was born in 2023
This sparked the start of one of the most toxic break-ups reality TV has ever seen.
Just this June, Laura took a swipe at Gary with a savage Father’s Day post.
And last month, she took another brutal swipe at Gary and confirmed she’s now single after her split from her footballer boyfriend.
Bradley congratulated the team following a huge win on The Chase (Image: ITV)
The Chase has delivered one of its most unforgettable episodes, with four contestants securing a jaw-dropping prize.
Earlier this week, The Chase returned to ITV with a brand-new series, with returning host Bradley Walsh at the helm, and it was Friday’s episode (September 11) that left viewers on the edge of their seats.
The four contestants competing for a cash prize were Tom, Beth, Rohit, and Chloe, all up against quiz master Paul Sinha, nicknamed The Sinnerman on the show.
Paul, a seasoned quizzer with a background as both a doctor and comedian, gave the game his all but fell short in the final moments.
The contestants began with a 19-point lead after correctly answering a broad range of questions, including naming Laurel and Hardy as the subjects of the film Stan & Ollie, and identifying “running” as the sport associated with the Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers.
Paul was tasked with answering more than 19 questions in two minutes, with the team successfully gaining four out of five pushbacks. The Chaser was eliminated after answering 16 questions before the timer ran out.
As the buzzer sounded, Tom, Beth, Rohit, and Chloe were declared the winners of the £80,000 pot, with each contestant walking away with £20,000.
The team hugged one another as one player could be heard saying, “I can’t believe it,” as Bradley congratulated them. “Well played, £20,000 each, congratulations”, the host added.
Chloe shared her wishes to spend her winnings on equipment for dogs at her local park, while Beth wants to share her cash with her grandparents on “lots of trips”.
Tom, Beth, Rohit, and Chloe’s win now stands as one of the largest in the show’s history. Last year, contestants Karen and Ian won an equal split of £100,000 after Paul failed to catch the players in the final chase.
The Chase saw another record-breaking moment when three contestants split £120,000, each taking home £40,000 after defeating Mark Labbett, also known as The Beast.
In 2018, another memorable wins, including a £100,000 victory in 2018 shared by a team of four consisting of Gayna, Tim, Luca, and Diane.
Meanwhile, Eden, a 20-year-old contestant, holds the record for the largest single-player win, having taken home £75,000 in 2021.
The Chase airs weekdays at 5pm on ITV and ITVX
IF you’re looking forward to the dark autumn nights and epic firework displays – you’ll want to bag tickets to the biggest in the country.
The event also has a huge fairground, live entertainment and monster trucks – tickets go on sale today and are bound to sell out fast.
Held at Abingdon Airfield, the firework display is the biggest in the country and will take place on November 14.
It’s an incredible wraparound display with 270 degrees of fireworks across the airfield’s horizon with flashing lasers and lights all to music.
There’s also an earlier kids singalong fireworks show especially for youngsters – both fireworks displays are followed by the lighting of roaring bonfire.
Throughout the event, families can enjoy the rides at the largest fairground in the south of England.
There are over 100 rides and attractions like the waltzers, ghost houses, mirror houses and bouncy castles – each ride costs £2.
There will also be enormous monster truck rides doing donuts and epic fireball explosions too.
Music and live entertainment will be held throughout the evening including Kerin & Perry which are an act where ‘comedy meets dance nostalgia’.
When it comes to food and drink, there’s a food village with plenty of snacks to pick up, sweet treats, drinks and craft bars.
One visitor who went last year said: “It was an absolutely amazing event! Fireworks were out of this world, the fairground had a huge choice of rides and prizes for all games, food – delicious and not overpriced.”
Another added: “The fireworks are on another level! Each year tops the last; bigger, brighter, and more breathtaking every time. Easily the best we’ve ever seen.”
Another simply said they were “The best fireworks we have seen to date!”
One change for this year is there is less capacity in order to make the event more exclusive and comfortable – but it does mean fewer tickets are on offer.
So if you want to get yourself some, head to their website, here.
Adult tickets start from £20, tickets for children (3-15) start from £15 – those under three go free.
THE UK’s second biggest airport may face even more delays this month as workers are set to strike over pay.
This comes as thousands of planes were grounded yesterday following a nationwide technical glitch.
Around 220 staff members at London Gatwick Airport are set to strike later this month, following a dispute between Unite members and employer Wilson James.
The workers, who provide assisted travel, have been engaged in pay talks since May and previously rejected a two-year offer of a 3.4 per cent salary increase.
The union said it was “not enough to address years of low pay at the firm”.
As a result, Unite regional officer Ben Davis, said that “industrial action will inevitably disrupt services throughout Gatwick” as negotions continue.
Strikes are expected to take place from September 17 to September 21.
Just two days later, another set of strikes will occur from September 23 to September 26.
This will mean passengers who rely on assistened travel will take longer to board and disembark, leading to flight delays across both short-haul and long-haul services to and from Gatwick.
Davis added: “Strikes can be avoided but that requires the company making a significantly improved offer.”
This comes as travellers have already faced extensive delays and cancellations following a major technical issue with the UK’s air traffic control provider yesterday.
The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) suffered an issue with its “flights processing system”, resulting in tens of thousands of passengers stranded in terminals and over 1,000 journeys cancelled.
Although the issue preventing departures was fixed yesterday evening, knock-on delays and cancellations – mainly affecting Heathrow Airport – continue to disrupt passengers today.
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Helsinki has landed the biggest cheque Google has written anywhere in Europe
The company announced on Wednesday that a €13 billion investment will fund data centres and supporting infrastructure across four municipalities, along with clean energy projects and funds dedicated to local biodiversity, education, research and workforce development.
The facilities in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala will power a range of Google services, among them its Gemini chatbot. The company described the decision as “a testament to Finland’s leadership in responsibly building AI infrastructure.”
Construction is expected across 2027 and 2028, and the firm estimates the investment will add €3.6 billion a year to Finland’s GDP while supporting more than 37,000 jobs, roughly 16,000 of them in construction.
Once the building stops, Google projects the sites will sustain around 7,000 jobs annually, spanning technical and facility roles, equipment suppliers, as well as the shops, restaurants and services used by those workers and their families.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo welcomed the announcement in Google’s statement.
“Google’s decision is a clear testament to our strengths. The value of the data economy extends far beyond direct investment into spurring innovation, research and development,” Orpo said, adding that closer collaboration would “deliver lasting benefits for both parties.”
The appeal to invest in Finland is rooted in its cold climate.
Data centres generate enormous heat and consume vast quantities of electricity, and Finland offers a cold climate that reduces cooling costs alongside relatively cheap and stable power from nuclear plants, wind and hydro.
That combination has produced a boom, with dozens of data centres already under construction across the country.
Google’s own presence dates back to 2009, when it bought a disused paper mill in the coastal city of Hamina and converted it, expanding steadily since.
For Orpo’s right-wing government, attracting this kind of investment has also been a priority, especially since Finnish elections will take place in April of next year.
Finland is contending with record unemployment and weak growth, and the data economy has become one of the few sectors offering the prospect of substantial investment and job creation.
Additional sources • AFP
HOLLYWOOD star Zendaya has become the big screen’s hottest heroine after her films raked in some £3billion this year alone at the global box office.
The 30-year-old actress has pulled in £1.8billion with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and £1.2billion with Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey — with Dune: Part Three still to come.
It puts her ahead of every other leading lady in cinema in 2026 — with her annual income from movies alone estimated at tens of millions of pounds.
Zendaya plays MJ in the Spider-Man movies, opposite husband Tom Holland, also 30, in the title role.
The superhero extravaganza has become one of the biggest movies of all time.
She also stars alongside him and an ensemble cast including Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway in The Odyssey.
The swords and sandals epic has itself become a massive summer hit and a box office phenomenon.
It easily grabbed the cinema top spot after its July 17 release, until the latest Spider-Man movie took the crown when it came out two weeks later.
Spidey stayed at No1 on the global box office throughout August — until The Odyssey knocked it off again last weekend, proving the pulling power of newlyweds Zendaya and Tom.
She began the year with her other release, romantic dark comedy The Drama, in which she starred alongside Robert Pattinson.
It made £97million worldwide.
And Zendaya is showing no signs of slowing down, with Dune: Part Three set to debut on December 18 and looking to be another massive hit, possibly grossing another billion dollars (£740million).
Dune: Part Two made a global gross of over £526million in 2024, growing from part one’s £303million in 2021. It is now likely the third instalment will skyrocket way past its prequel.
It all comes as Hollywood’s leading lady just recently celebrated her 30th birthday after becoming one of the most influential young actresses of her time.
A MUCH-LOVED ride has closed at Disneyland Paris ahead of a huge makeover.
Crush’s Coaster at Disney Adventure World is now closed until summer 2027 as it undergoes its biggest upgrade in 20 years.
The coaster, which takes riders through the East Australian Current, will have technical elements replaced as well as sections of the track.
In the second phase of the refurbishment, the coaster will be tested to ensure it functions properly before reopening.
Of course, the upgrade will refresh the ride’s show elements as well, such as repainting and repairs.
Crush’s Coaster was last closed in 2015 for six months but this project will be the biggest in the ride’s history.
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Many people have taken to social media to express their excitement about the upgrade: “I’m happy about the refurb but I’ve booked for November. Massively underrated ride.”
Another person added: “Glad to see this happening.”
There are a number of other closures taking place at the theme park including Peter Pan’s flight, which is closed until September 19.
Pirate’s Beach is currently closed and will be until October 23 for a safety inspection as well as replacement of the ground padding.
Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups will be closed between September 21 and October 2 to repaint the floor.
La Tanière du Dragon will close on October 5 until the middle of the month for servicing.
Worawith Ounpeng/iStock via Getty Images
ACROSS 10 days in September, Brits can enjoy thousands of free events courtesy of Heritage Open Days.
The festival has thousands of free things to do from checking out Silverstone race course to ghost walks and even football tickets are up for grabs.
Between September 11-20, lots of England’s best-known attractions and destinations will open to the public for free.
Events will be held across the country – here are some of the places to explore with Heritage Open Days.
For racing fanatics, book a day out at Silverstone where the collections team take you through its history with a guided tour.
At Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, families can check out the codebreaking trail, try hands-on activities and have a go themselves.
Other spots to explore include the grand Lyme Park in Cheshire, Wightwick Manor and Lyveden.
Transport museums around the country are open with lots of vintage trains and buses for viewing.
This includes Aldridge Transport Museum, Dover Transport Museum and East Anglia Transport Museum.
At the Museum of Transport in Manchester, visitors can ride on its historic buses.
Depending on who you support, some people might be interested to know that you can get free football tickets.
Head into Wigan Athletic Heritage Museum and then enjoy the match as the team plays Wycombe Wanderers (make sure to prebook).
Activities for kids include medieval crafting like decorating shields, crowns, princess hats and horse puppets at The Garage in Norfolk.
Over at Acorn Bank Watermill in Cumbria, see the mill in action and even taste some of baked goods yourself.
In Milton Keynes, head to the Midsummer Place Shopping Centre for the Caribbean carnival village celebrations with hands-on workshops.
At museums across the UK, kids can dress up and see what life was like in different eras – like the 1800s in the National Justice Museum.
Some of the best events take place during twilight hours.
Onboard the Tudor ship, the Golden Hinde, there’s a reconstruction of living, working and sailing.
At the Rosse Observatory, get up close to the impressive telescope itself – and if it’s a clear night, you could even see Saturn or Jupiter.
Or if you’re into ghosts, head to Ripon Market Place in North Yorkshire for some spooky walks.
Make sure to look at activities and events in advance as you may need to pre-book before attending.
For more on attractions – check out all the ones that you pay for once and then return all year for free.
Grace has written a book about her life experiences so far(Image: JAMES RUDLAND)
GK Barry says her decision to speak out on the sexual assaults she experienced as a teen was partly motivated by anger.
When the TV and social media star, real name Grace Keeling, was raped as a 17-year-old during her college work experience placement, she vowed to never tell a soul.
But a decade on, she has written a book about her many and varied life experiences in which she lays out what happened in the hope it will help other young women. And she told the Mirror that it “took a lot” for her to revisit the devastating ordeal.
“He was so confident about what he did, I’m sure I wasn’t the first and won’t have been the last, and maybe I could have stopped him from doing this to another girl,” she explains in the book. “But although I wish now I’d reported it at the time, I also feel really strongly that it’s not women’s f***ing responsibility to stop men raping us.”
Her attacker was her line manager for the week, who was 10 years her senior and had offered to give her a lift to work on her second day. But instead of taking her to the office, he drove her to a deserted park and demanded a sex act. “I didn’t know what else I could do except go along with what he was telling me – resisting or fighting back felt like it might make things worse,” she said. Horribly aware that she needed to finish the work experience in order to pass her college course and get to university, she felt she had to comply. “There was never a moment in my mind where I thought I could say no to what was happening,” she says. “When you’re 17 and scared as f***, thinking logically isn’t an option.”
There was worse to come. On her last day with the company, he took her into a side room with no cameras and asked her to remove her white jeans. “And then he rapes me,” she writes, admitting it took her a many years to accept that’s what it was. Agonisingly, she confesses that one of the reasons she vowed to never speak about what happened was “in case someone confirms my biggest fear that I was to blame”.
But a year on from the assaults, Grace found the courage to tell a teacher after learning that another girl from college was about to do work experience at the same company.
When she finally spoke to the police, she was told by a female officer that, because there was no evidence, it would be her word against his and she was highly unlikely to get a conviction. “At no point did the police officer say to me that what he’d done was wrong,” she reports, saying she was offered no support or counselling at any point.
With statistics showing that 1 in 4 women over 16 experience some form of sexual assault, and six out of seven rapes against women are carried out by someone they know, Grace wishes she’d known then about support group Rape Crisis. “I think people would be more confident coming forward and reporting assaults if we knew that people were on our side and willing to believe us.”
As she lays out what happened in her new book, the podcaster and Loose Women regular, 27, told the Mirror that the secrecy around these sorts of issues needs to stop. “I think it’s something that people don’t speak about. It’s something always kept very hidden. And I don’t think we should be ashamed about it.
“I haven’t put it in just for the sake of it, it took a lot for me to even speak about it,” she says quietly. “I wish I knew that you can say no, that rape can happen whether it’s someone you’re friends with, or close to, or a boss, that it comes in many forms.” And for anyone who has suffered anything similar, she says: “I would like them to know that it wasn’t their fault, because I spent a lot of years thinking it was.”
Grace, who grew up in Newmarket, Suffolk, and is a judge this year on The Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards, is hoping her guide to surviving and thriving will also provide plenty of laughs. “The majority of it is just hilarious stuff that has happened to me,” she says. “I think people reading it can maybe learn from everything that I’ve done wrong.”
The book shows her devotion to footballer girlfriend of two years Ella Rutherford, an attacking midfielder for Millwall. Ella, 26, was her first relationship with a woman and it’s clear she thinks they will be together forever. Calling her the “undisputed love of my life”, Grace says she plans to eventually settle with Ella and their dogs on a farm.
Grace’s mother Loretta, and step-dad Andrew, have yet to learn about the many scrapes the TikTok star has had over the years. “My mum’s read the first couple of pages, but she has no idea what’s coming, God bless her,” she says. “I think maybe I won’t be able to look my mum and dad in the eye for a couple of months.”
– GK Barry, It’s Giving Life, EBURY SPOTLIGHT | 3RD SEPTEMBER 2026 | £22.00
EVER wanted to head to a music festival abroad? Well, how about heading to the world’s biggest where most concerts are free?
Found in the capital of Morocco – Rabat – Mawazine isn’t your usual festival.
Instead of lasting the normal three-days, Mawazine goes on for nine days in total.
The festival takes place each June and its attendance always breaks records with 3.75million people visiting in 2025 – making it the largest music festival in the world by attendance.
As for whats on at the festival, around 90 per cent of the concerts are free to attend.
You can expect Moroccan and Arab artists as well as global headliners.
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There are a seven stages in total including OLM Souissi, which is the main stage where international stars such as Rihanna, Beyoncé, Shakira, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake and Maroon 5 have all performed.
You could then go to the Nahda Stage, which is dedicated to Arabic and Oriental music.
And over at Chellah, you’ll find a historic Roman site used for calm with acoustic music.
The festival isn’t just music either – you can expect art exhibitions, workshops and film screenings.
If you want to head to the festival, make sure to book your hotel well ahead.
The city of Rabat is transformed for the nine days as well, with cafes and shops open later.
The city is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site meaning there is plenty to explore including a huge medina, Hassan Tower and Kasbah of the Oudayas – a historic fortress with sea views.
Return flights from the UK to Rabat cost as little as £125 in June.
Since January, the acting Rodríguez government has reformed its energy sector to favor US interests. (ABC)
Caracas, August 28, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – US President Donald Trump has announced a major energy agreement with Venezuela to “more than double US oil reserves.”
“The US has just entered into the biggest oil deal in history with Venezuela,” he wrote on social media. “Working with highly respected [Venezuelan Acting President] Delcy Rodríguez, and through a partnership with private business, [the US] has secured majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan oil reserves.”
Trump added that the purported agreement would lower US fuel prices “long into the future” while setting Venezuela “on a course toward tremendous success and great prosperity.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the reported deal “a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people” and claimed it would bring “nearly US $100 billion in private investment” to the Caribbean nation. Trump and Rubio disclosed no specifics about the arrangement.
Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed the “historic agreement” via a social media message on Friday night.
“I extend my deepest gratitude to Trump, Rubio, and the US government for their support in developing this agreement, which represents a historic milestone in US-Venezuela relations,” she wrote.
Rodríguez stated that the deal will involve private corporations developing 17 “strategic fields” with 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. She echoed Rubio’s $100 billion investment claim and pledged that the projects would yield $209 billion in tax revenues. According to the acting president, the announced agreement “ushers in a new era of growth and prosperity.”
The high-level negotiations were first reported by Axios on Thursday.
The Venezuelan Constitution establishes that all mineral and hydrocarbon resources are “inalienable public domain” goods. Transferring ownership of oil reserves would require a constitutional reform.
According to Reuters, the deal could take the form of a long-term lease, with the Trump administration then auctioning or allocating fields to select corporations. Bloomberg reported that the lease could be as long as 100 years.
The seventeen fields in question are said to include undeveloped extra-heavy crude projects in the Orinoco Oil Belt and mature light crude fields in Lake Maracaibo. The resulting supply would be “guaranteed” for the US as part of efforts to rein in rising fuel costs amid the ongoing standoff with Iran in the Persian Gulf.
Bloomberg additionally reported that Washington’s direct involvement in Venezuela’s oil industry could be conducted by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) in partnership with Venezuelan oil mogul Alejandro Betancourt. The Biden administration created the OSC in 2022 to fund private sector initiatives deemed vital for US national security interests.
Since the January 3 US military strikes and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the acting Rodríguez administration has fast-tracked a diplomatic rapprochement with Washington while also opening the country’s energy and mining sectors to Western companies.
A new Hydrocarbon Law and associated regulations were drafted in consultation with oil executives and US officials. The reform slashed royalties and taxes and ceded control over operations and sales to private firms under joint venture or concession-type models. Caracas also acceded to foreign companies’ demands in allowing for legal disputes to be settled by international arbitration bodies.
The legislative overhaul replaced the 2001 Hydrocarbon Law approved by former President Hugo Chávez and subsequent decrees that established a leading role for the Venezuelan state in the energy sector, which in turn fueled the country’s economic and social progress in the 2000s.
The US Treasury has maintained wide-reaching sanctions in place while issuing licenses to hand-picked companies and barring the participation of enterprises from China, Iran, and Russia. Furthermore, Venezuelan oil revenues are presently deposited in a US Treasury account, with the disbursement timings and amounts left at Trump officials’ discretion.
On Thursday, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) amended eight sanctions waivers concerning oil, mining, and telecommunications. OFAC removed a requirement that contracts signed with Venezuelan state entities be drafted in accordance with US laws or jurisdiction. The agency stated that “investment-related reforms” by the acting Rodríguez government had made the clause unnecessary.
Venezuela’s investor-friendly regulatory environment has led to industry giants, including Chevron, Repsol, and Shell, striking new deals or renegotiating existing ones for crude and natural gas exploration. Companies with no energy track record such as Lionheart Capital and Crossover Energy are likewise set to take control of strategic oilfields.
Oil services company SLB, formerly Schlumberger, recently signed an agreement with PDVSA for reservoir studies and service provision. SLB has set the reactivation of 15 oil rigs in the South American country as a short-term priority.
According to Reuters, the multinational firm will also access prized data on Venezuela’s oilfields, from reservoir characterization to real-time output information. SLB allegedly seeks to “make Venezuela’s oil data reliable again.”
In another indication of Caracas’ dramatic diplomatic realignment with Washington, Venezuelan officials are reportedly mulling the possibility of exiting the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Venezuela played a leading role in the creation of OPEC in 1960 as it sought to bring together Global South oil-producing nations to secure better and more stable oil prices in global markets. Former President Chávez also prioritized revamping OPEC after a prior “Oil Opening” under US-aligned governments had oriented the industry toward US interests and undermined the organization.
Edited by Lucas Koerner in Philadelphia, USA.
[Updated on August 28 at 8.30 pm ET following Trump’s announcement.]
US President Donald Trump has claimed the US and Venezuela have reached the ‘biggest oil deal in world history’, which will give the US control over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil. Critics say it’s predatory. Soraya Lennie explains what we know.
Published On 29 Aug 202629 Aug 2026
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US president says deal secures majority US control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela.
Published On 29 Aug 202629 Aug 2026
The United States has struck a deal with Caracas that would give them control of some 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves, President Donald Trump has announced, while reviving the OPEC nation’s battered energy industry.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the “historic transaction more than doubles American oil reserves” and “will substantially lower gas prices for all Americans”.
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“At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority US control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer,” Trump wrote.
![Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez, Caracas, Venezuela, January 30, 2026 [Efrain Gonzalez/AFP]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/AFP__20260131__94MV49Z__v1__HighRes__VenezuelaUsConflictCrisis-1-1769837471.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez welcomed the deal, which is expected to bring about $209bn to the state’s treasury.
The announcement followed weeks of negotiations over an agreement that would give American companies long-term access to a group of Venezuelan oilfields and guarantee the resulting crude supply to the US.
Venezuelan officials are preparing to sign agreements next week granting new oil exploration and production rights to a number of companies, particularly US firms.
Sources previously told Reuters news agency that a lease model was under consideration, with fields potentially auctioned to US producers, but the arrangement could face legal and constitutional challenges in Venezuela, where the state retains control over core oil industry activities.
The new deal would represent a dramatic expansion of Washington’s role in Venezuela’s oil industry as the Trump administration seeks to revive the country’s production and secure more crude for US refineries. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but produces only 1.25 million barrels per day, far below its potential after years of underinvestment, mismanagement and sanctions.
Trump did not disclose the structure of the agreement, the fields or companies involved, nor how the US would exercise majority control over the reserves.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the agreement as a win for both countries, saying on X that it would secure stable, low-cost oil for the US and help lower petrol prices.
For Venezuela, Rubio said the deal would bring nearly $100bn in private investment, support thousands of high-paying jobs and help rebuild the country’s economy.
THE world’s largest airport is set to open by 2032 – and inside passengers can expect forests, waterfalls and super modern technology.
Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) is set to overtake the likes of King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia to become the biggest airport in the world.
Construction of the £25.9billion airport is currently underway and it will eventually have five runways once complete, with 360 flights an hour (200 departures and 160 arrivals).
According to Khaleej Times, the project has been unimpacted by the situation in the Middle East.
In an interview, Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, added that construction has not slowed due to the tensions in the Middle East.
Over the past months the Middle East has faced escalating unrest, due to tensions between the US, Israel and Iran.
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The conflict has seen airspace impacted with major airlines such as British Airways and Lufthansa suspending flights across the Middle East.
Dubai International Airport also saw minor damage in an attack earlier this year.
However, the new airport is set to have capacity for 150million passengers each year within the first decade, before eventually rising to 260million passengers.
This is compared to London Heathrow which has a capacity of 84million a year, although this is set to increase to 150million with the third runway.
Al Maktoum International Airport will have more than 400 gates which will be able to host ‘next-generation’, ultra-wide body planes from Airbus and Boeing.
There will be two terminals and a huge underground baggage system capable of moving 30,000 bags per hour.
Inside the terminals passengers can expect giant halls and open air concourses, as well internal waterfalls and gardens.
And because the airport is so big, passengers can hop on the ‘integrated underground Automated People Mover system’, which includes a multi-track train.
Across the airport, there will be 14 stations in total.
Technology at the airport will also be super modern, with automated travel systems, AI security checks and robot staff.
The robots will be used for various tasks, including baggage handling.
The current title of the largest airport in the world belongs to King Salman International Airport, which is currently being constructed in Saudi Arabia.
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BOOKING is open to secure your 2027 £9.50 holiday before anyone else.
Hundreds of new breaks across £9.50 holiday parks have landed on The Sun’s £9.50 Holidays website – including autumn getaways and dates you can pre-book for 2027.
Haven’t been collecting codes from the paper? Don’t worry – you can instantly unlock the holidays by signing up to Sun Club.
Simply sign up to Sun Club and you will gain access to a special Offers Page, where you can access the new £9.50 holidays instantly.
Sun Club membership costs £1.99 per month (or £12 for the year), and also includes benefits like two-for-one attraction tickets, free darts and horse racing tickets, and freebies like books, skincare kits and more.
We’ve rounded up popular £9.50 holiday parks that have had major glow-ups recently, plus picks like the largest holiday park in the UK and resorts packed with kids’ activities.
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Crowned as the most popular £9.50 holiday park last year, Seal Bay is one of the most action-packed resorts on England‘s south coast.
Its £18 million ‘White Horse‘ complex is home to a large entertainment venue, multi-level soft play, sports courts, an arcade, bowling, an outdoor pool and more rolled into one action-packed zone.
Not to mention this park has its own mile-long stretch of private beach. On a clear day, you can see the Isle of Wight from across the water.
Forget a standard swimming pool – this park boasts a massive indoor water complex complete with a surf simulator, plus an outdoor lido for sunny days.
The park is built like a mini village, with plenty of shops and amenities on each corner, meaning you can easily spend an entire week here without ever needing to leave the gates.
Sitting atop rugged East Yorkshire cliffs, Skirlington Leisure Park offers sweeping sea views and direct access to beautiful beaches.
This park recently received a £10 million cash injection, with a brand new waterpark, lido and activities like axe throwing and a mini bike pump track introduced this year.
The waterpark spans both indoor and outdoor areas, centred around two large swimming pools.
Indoors, kids can splash about under the umbrella-shaped water feature, while grown-ups can unwind in the sauna or hot tub.
The large outdoor lido is the perfect place to cool off on a sunny day, but if the weather does take a turn, it is sheltered by a large yellow-striped roof.
Next to the lido there are plenty of colourful deck chairs, parasols, loungers and even some beach huts that give the area that seaside holiday feel.
The lido and outdoor waterpark sit in the Festival Gardens area, a brand new section of the holiday park which is filled with brightly-coloured decorations and pretty fairy lights.
Following a major £10 million refurbishment, Unity Beach now has a new lido, waterpark and festival gardens.
There’s also plans to upgrade the site’s entertainment complex with a new showbar that will seat over 1,000, so securing your £9.50 holiday for next year now gives you the best chances of seeing all these new upgrades in-person.
The site’s waterpark pairs indoor and outdoor splash zones with high-speed flumes and rubber-ring rides.
Just next door, guests can access Brean Theme Park, which is the UK’s largest free-to-enter theme park. It packs in over 40 rides, ranging from white-knuckle rollercoasters to classic bumper cars.
Best of all, seven miles of open sand at Brean Sands sit directly opposite the resort grounds.
There are FIVE ways to book our Hols From £9.50:
Sprawling across 235 acres of lakes and countryside in Northamptonshire, Billing Aquadrome is designed to keep even hard-to-please teenagers off their phones.
Where else can kids feed alpacas, ride on a BMX pump track, learn TikTok dances, and ride a miniature railway all in one afternoon?
Kids can go full Total Wipeout on the lake’s massive inflatable obstacle course, while younger ones get stuck into slime-making and outdoor survival workshops.
When the sun goes down, the outdoor cinema becomes a popular spot with its open-air cinema screenings, plus there’s also silent discos and live shows in a giant outdoor amphitheatre.
Refuelling the family is easy thanks to loaded burgers at Smash’d Town and sweet snacks from the Bak’D & Swirls dessert shop.
To top it all off, you can fall asleep right on the water’s edge by booking a stay in a cosy lakeside pod.
As the UK’s biggest holiday park – and one of the largest in Europe – Trecco Bay is a colossal coastal playground.
Sitting in the seaside town of Porthcawl, here you’ve got a classic promenade, a seaside funfair, and a choice of stunning Blue Flag beaches right on your doorstep.
But there’s no need to leave site when you’ve got a NERF gun battlefield, bumper zorbing, pirate-themed crazy golf, and a Make a Bear station and more to pick from.
Plus the pool complex has high-powered aqua jets that twist you through the water, as well as inflatable jet skis and mini aqua paddler boats for little ones.
Even the pickiest of eaters can find something here, with top-tier high-street brands like Burger King, Papa Johns, Thunderbird Fried Chicken, and Costa Coffee ready to refuel the whole family.
Golden Sands Holiday Park in the seaside town of Rhyl is the ideal base to explore North Wales.
This park puts you within short driving distance of legendary castles such as Gwyrch and Bodelwyddan, plus there’s beautiful nature spots like Dyserth Waterfall on your doorstep.
When you aren’t out exploring, on-site there’s a heated indoor pool, arcades, a sports court, plus a soft play area.
Plus there’s plenty of activities that kids will love such as slime workshops and NERF gun battles.
Grab some dinner from the site’s traditional fish and chip shop before settling down to watch the live entertainment kick off in the evening.
The fantastic evening entertainment includes family-friendly live shows, glow parties, bingo nights and mini discos.
Newquay Bay is one of the fancier holiday parks available with Hols from £9.50, and feels more like an expensive coastal retreat.
Take a dip in its serene indoor and outdoor heated pools, or take lessons with the on-site surf school, prepping you to hit the waves at nearby Porth beach.
If you fancy a pamper, there’s a hair and beauty salon, alongside a sauna and steam room to truly unwind.
You can even walk across the beach’s narrow footbridge to Porth Island to explore an ancient Iron Age fort, before grabbing a pint at The Mermaid Inn, which sits directly on the beach.
As the sports economy grows, insurers rush to cover risks from World Cup disruptions to NIL liabilities.
This article appears in the September issue of Global Finance Magazine.
On 104 separate occasions in June and July, World Cup organizers tried something new. They held games at 16 venues across Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. More games in more locations increased the risk of cancellation due to threats of terrorism, fire, and climate-related catastrophes, as well as cyber incidents and other disruptions.
Long before players took the field, a small army of insurance professionals analyzed risks, negotiated policies, and drafted contracts to help ensure FIFA would not suffer crippling financial losses if an event was canceled. FIFA carried about $1 billion in event-cancellation coverage for this year’s tournament, up from an estimated $900 million for Qatar in 2022, according to Mario De Cicco, vice president of Morningstar DBRS’s Global Insurance & Pension Ratings group.
FIFA is just one component of the mammoth worldwide sports industry, which the World Economic Forum estimates generated $2.3 trillion in revenue in 2025.
“It’s not only the large events like the World Cup which are becoming more frequent and more complex,” said De Cicco. “There is also growing participation at every level, from amateurs to professionals. So there are more potential financial losses, and that creates higher demand for insurance protection.”
The magnitude of the money isn’t the only thing that’s changed; the risks CFOs must insure against are also evolving. A decade ago, sports insurance meant stadiums, workers’ comp, and injured players. Today it means ransomware, brand damage, NIL (name, image, and likeness) contracts, and even sports-betting integrations with little or no actuarial history, forcing carriers and brokers to build coverage from scratch in real time for risks that may not have existed five years ago.
Burgeoning demand has transformed a specialty market into a profit center for insurers, according to De Cicco. Large carriers such as Zurich, Munich Re, Swiss Re, and Allianz dominate the top end, he noted, while niche players like American Specialty Insurance and Berkley Insurance add depth. Often, the largest sports insurance contracts are underwritten by a syndicate, using a risk-sharing structure to mitigate catastrophic losses.
College sports illustrate what can happen when rapid growth hits an area with little or no actuarial history. Much of the growth comes from NIL compensation and the revenue-sharing framework established by the landmark 2025 House v. NCAA decision, which turned university athletic departments in the U.S. into direct payers of athlete compensation — and bearers of financial risk when a star gets hurt.
Zurich entered the market in August 2025 with the sports-data firm Players Health, after about 15 years of providing coverage to schools and sports organizations. They built a product that reimburses institutions for NIL value when an athlete misses at least 40% of a season, up to policy limits of $2 million. However, for the new line, Zurich had no direct actuarial history.
“We weren’t pricing it blind,” said Marty Banaszek, head of Group Accident at Zurich North America; Players Health’s underlying injury data across sport and position helped to make the risk underwritable. Premiums run roughly 6% to 12% of contract value, weighted toward the highest-exposure positions: “starting quarterbacks, starting running backs,” Banaszek said.
Tate Gillespie, vice president of NIL Strategy & Partnerships at Players Health, helped build the product with Zurich. His “aha” moment came while working in sports at the University of Kansas, when the team’s starting quarterback, a player earning significant NIL money, was injured. A friend and eventual Players Health co-founder asked what the university’s risk management plan was, assuming there wasn’t one.
“You realize that’s not how the National Football League does it,” his friend said, pointing out that pro teams had been insuring against this kind of loss for years, but nothing like it existed in college sports.
The combined NIL and revenue-share market is approaching $3 billion today, Gillespie estimates, and he projects it will reach $4 billion to $5 billion in a year, with 30% to 40% annual growth. Banaszek frames buying behavior in financial terms: “These organizations really need to think of this spend as an investment portfolio, not dissimilar [to] how insurance or other financial institutions make investment decisions.”
That’s already the case, said Rory Lough, senior vice president at global brokerage Gallagher, who pointed out that NIL has broadened exposure well beyond the training room. It now includes athlete protection, contractual and business liability for collectives, and institutional compliance risk related to Title IX and employment classification.
“Stakeholders are no longer looking at insurance as simply protection against injury,” she said. That newly intangible category of risk — brand, data, governance — runs through nearly every exposure. Cyber touches it all, from contract records and fan payment data to medical files, compliance documentation, and more.
Cybercriminals target major sporting events for their high visibility, said Jeffrey Lang, senior vice president and California Platform Leader at brokerage Trucordia. However, the risk is particularly hard to price because of its relative newness and the perpetrators’ adaptability. A game-day ransomware attack on a stadium operator can simultaneously bring down payment systems, digital ticketing, security access, and broadcast feeds. Risk rises with AI deepfakes and misinformation that can derail a team’s reputation.
“How do you put a precise dollar figure on lost brand trust or broken sponsor confidence?” Lang asked. “You can measure the cost of rebuilding a damaged wall, but calculating the financial damage of a ruined reputation is much harder.”
Ten years ago, he said, he would talk with prospects about insuring their stadium against fire or property damage, covering concourse slip-and-falls, buying workers’ comp for staff, and securing basic coverage for player injuries or weather-related cancellations. If something broke or someone got hurt, the carrier absorbed the financial hit. That playbook, Lang said, no longer applies.
Much of the sports insurance build-out can be ascribed to the growth of major sports franchises, some of which have become multifaceted corporations, worth more than many Fortune 500 companies. They run real estate portfolios, media companies, and massive data operations.
But the nature of the insured is different too.
“The big difference between a sports franchise and a typical corporate entity is visibility,” Lang added. “If a corporate server goes down quietly, it’s an internal headache. If a stadium’s entry system fails live on international TV and in front of 70,000 fans, it’s global news instantly.”
Weld Royal is a contributing writer based in the U.S.
THERE aren’t many places where you can watch the Grand Prix then have a round of golf before relaxing in a spa.
But at the Whittlebury Park Hotel — just a stone’s throw from Silverstone — you can do all that and much more.
The privately owned 4* hotel in Nottinghamshire boasts one of the UK’s largest spas, while its championship golf course has played host to some of the world’s top golfers.
And better still, it is just a ten-minute drive from the mecca of motorsport and its brilliant museum.
In fact, it’s so close to Silverstone you can hear the cars bombing round the track while you enjoy a clotted cream tea overlooking the 300-acre estate.
The central courtyard is a great spot in the summer, thanks to the buckets of games for kids — including a pickleball court I struggled to tear my seven-year-old away from.
It also has two fantastic games rooms stuffed with table tennis, air hockey, darts, a giant KerPlunk set, PlayStation 5, and loads more.
And next-door, a movie room is set up with dozens of films, bean bags and complimentary popcorn.
You could easily spend a day just chilling there.
But my kids don’t chill and they are up at daybreak — which is when the early opening time (6.30am) at the swimming pool came in handy.
We left the kids splashing about to indulge in some much-needed quiet time in the sauna and steam room.
Budding golfers, on the other hand, will want to get themselves out on the championship course to practise their swing.
And if that’s not enough, the hotel is also home to a driving range, simulators, PGA professional coaches and an award-winning clubhouse.
If you’re a mega fan, make sure to book a room overlooking the course.
Our lovely family room had great views of the green so I could watch people putt while the kids tucked in to the welcome hamper full of sweeties and biscuits.
Aside from the golf and kid-friendly fun, one of the best things about Whittlebury is its location.
Silverstone Museum is just five minutes away in the car, with tonnes of interactive stuff.
This includes a state-of-the-art immersive VR experience called Black Cats and Chequered Flags where visitors can try out life in the pit lane before taking to the track alongside F1 legend Alberto Ascari.
There is also an incredible collection of classic racing cars and bikes.
And most days there is real-life action taking place on the circuit.
Guests can wander down to stand next to the Wellington straight and Luffield corner as the cars scream by.
When the kids tire of the car gimmicks, Warwick Castle is around an hour’s drive away.
STAYING THERE: An overnight Summer Family Break costs from £370 based on a family of four sharing two double rooms, arriving on September 1.
The package includes full access to Leisure Club facilities, a three-course dinner and hot and cold breakfast buffet.
See whittlebury.com.
The place tends to be heaving on Fridays in the school summer holidays (we learned the hard way) but the scale of the old fortress is certainly breathtaking — literally, that is, if you want to climb to the top of the tower and along the ramparts.
Its main hall is bursting with a staggering collection of weapons and chivalric suits of armour.
But the star attraction is the medieval jousting contest, set in a brilliant historical recreation of the War of the Roses.
There’s also a falconry show, archery and a terrifying dungeon experience (for kids aged ten and over).
Little ones don’t need to miss out, either, with Zog’s play area and a Horrible History maze.
At the end of our two-night stay, our very active children had barely had a moment’s downtime — racing round the attractions like the cars at the Silverstone race track.
So start your engines. You’re in for a great ride at Whittlebury.
