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With stone cottages, beautiful countryside and roaring fireplaces, the beautiful UK market town wouldn’t be out of place in the classic Christmas film The Holiday

I’ve always been captivated by the snug atmosphere of the classic Christmas film The Holiday, but I believed it would be nearly impossible to find a place that could mirror Cameron Diaz’s experience.

However, there’s one quaint market town in the UK that fits the bill perfectly. On a recent weekend getaway in the Yorkshire Dales, I visited the idyllic Middleham and was immediately taken aback by its charm.

The main cobbled street is adorned with a diverse array of antique shops, tea rooms and fish and chip shops, not to mention the beautiful stone cottages boasting picture-perfect flower pots and charming trinkets on their porches. Rose Cottage in The Holiday may be fictional (apologies for the spoiler), but the homes in Middleham certainly give it a run for its money.

The entire place feels as though it’s been preserved in time, and I mean that in the best possible way. I made a pit stop at the Castle Keep Tea Rooms where you’ll discover about 6 tables, a crackling fireplace and comfy armchairs.

The menu offered all the traditional breakfast items you could desire, some light sandwiches and some seriously scrumptious cakes baked on-site.

Everything is within walking distance, primarily because it takes about 10 minutes to traverse from one end of the town to the other; although be prepared for the hill!

The town, known as the childhood home of Richard III and the location of the historic Middleham Castle, is steeped in history. I decided to visit the English Heritage site, being the main attraction, and was pleasantly surprised.

The ruins are quite charming and impressive, and it’s easy to imagine how grand the castle must have been in its prime. If you dare to climb the winding staircase to the top, you’ll be rewarded with stunning views of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the town below. (Adult tickets start from £9.50, more information can be found on english-heritage. org.uk). The ruins and the views give you a feeling of being in the Game of Thrones universe; I half expected dragons to fly overhead.

The town’s prime location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park makes it an ideal base for walkers; there are countless footpaths and trails around, and some fantastic pubs with low beams and roaring fires where you can enjoy a pint. (The Dante Arms was a particular favourite).

For families, Lightwater Valley Family Adventure Park is just a half hour’s drive away and offers a plethora of rides, rollercoasters and attractions for children aged 12 and under. We booked a group ticket which worked out at about £15 per person and were extremely impressed by what was included in the ticket.

When it comes to lodging, there’s a vast selection available. I was off to Middleham for a weekend getaway with mates, but since I live a few hours away from Yorkshire, I opted to book a snug cottage on Airbnb for one night to get the travel out of the way and savour the region.

The stone walls, plush furnishings, and delightful decor gave me serious ‘The Holiday’ vibes.

The following day, I made my way just down the road to Middleham House, which was ideal for our group of roughly 24 people. It’s no small task finding a pleasant base for such a large crowd, but the house didn’t disappoint with its massive living room, library, dining room, and roomy ensuite bedrooms. A crackling fireplace was also available, making it hard to pull myself away to actually do some sightseeing! You can learn more and book stays at themiddlehamhouse.com.

TORONTO — The Dodgers played 162 games in 193 days during the regular season. Then they played 10 more times in 18 days in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

It was a grind that gave way to a routine as comfortable as an old shoe.

That routine was upended when the Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series, giving them a week off before the start of the World Series, the team’s longest break since February. And the Dodgers looked anything but rested and refreshed in Friday’s 11-4 shellacking by the Toronto Blue Jays, which left them trailing a postseason series for the first time since last fall’s NLDS.

“I’m pretty sure the guys kind of felt the velocity a little bit more,” said Miguel Rojas, one of just a handful of Dodgers who spoke to the media after the loss. “But there’s nothing that we can do. That’s not going to be an excuse for us to underperform.”

It may not be an excuse. But it could be an omen.

This World Series is the fifth in which a team that swept its best-of-seven LCS, as the Dodgers did, faced a team that needed to go seven games to win its series, as Toronto did. The team that swept and got the break lost each of the four previous World Series, winning just two of 18 games.

Dodger manager Dave Roberts dismissed that history Friday.

“I really don’t think the week layoff had anything to do with tonight,” he said. “We were rested. I thought we were in a good spot. We had a 2-0 lead. So I don’t think that had anything to do with it.”

Blake Snell, the pitcher who gave up that lead, brushed off the break as well.

“There’s no excuses. I need to be better,” said Snell, who went 10 days between starts, his longest break since coming off the injured list in August. “I don’t care if it’s a month off. Find a way to be ready.”

He wasn’t against the Blue Jays. After averaging 16 pitches an inning in 14 previous starts, he needed 29 to get through the first inning Friday. And after giving up two runs and six hits in 21 innings this postseason, he gave up five runs and eight hits in just five-plus innings in Toronto, with two of those runs coming on Dalton Varsho’s fourth-inning home run, the only homer Snell has conceded to a left-handed hitter this year.

Emmet Sheehan, who followed Snell to the mound, hadn’t pitched in two weeks. He had his worst outing of the year, facing four batters and watching three of them score.

“I felt good going into the game. I felt the same as I have been,” he said. “I thought I made some good pitches, and they made some really good swings.

“It’s not a good feeling.”

A prolonged break can affect pitchers more than hitters because after throwing with a slightly fatigued arm all season, they suddenly feel fresh and strong and their pitches lose some of their movement.

“You don’t want to feel too good. You feel too good, you try to throw too hard because you feel good. And it doesn’t go where you want it,” said Will Klein, who mopped up for the Dodgers, pitching a scoreless eighth inning. “[The ball] doesn’t go where you want it to because you’re used to pitching a little down, like 90 or 95%. You’re never really at 100.

‘There’s such a thing [as] too fresh.”

Klein’s last appearance in a big-league game was a month ago; since then he’s been working out at the Dodgers’ facility in Arizona. He said the team tried to keep the rest of their pitchers in their familiar routine with bullpen sessions or simulated games, but it’s not the same as throwing in high-leverage situations against opposing hitters in a World Series game before 44,353 fans, as Snell, Sheehan and Klein had to do Friday.

And the history shows the Dodgers aren’t the first team who have been broken by the break.

But they had less than 24 hours to wait for Game 2, which means they’re back into the comfortable — if exhausting — routine that got them to the World Series in the first place.

“There’s another one tomorrow,” Klein said. “We can’t go and unlose today, as much as we’d like to. Thinking about today isn’t going to help you win tomorrow.”

BUS drivers in London have fumed that their vehicles are becoming riddled with cockroaches.

Shocking snaps appear to show the rodents perched in seat cushions and drink containers.

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As a result, many drivers have flocked to London Bus Forums (LBF), a message board and campaigning organisation, to call on Transport for London to make its vehicles cleaner, The Times reports.

One video uploaded to the forum appears to show one driver get a nasty shock when he notices several cockroaches inside his drink.

“I went to take a sip from my drink and felt something in my mouth,” the driver says in the clip. 

“I spat it out and saw it was a cockroach.

“I felt sick and ended up vomiting.”

Complaints made by drivers are “growing in frequency and urgency”, according to the LBF.

Bus services are run by private companies under contract to Transport for London [TfL].

TfL said extensive daily cleaning took place across the network and the fleet was treated with the same long-term antibacterial products as were used on the Underground.

A TfL spokesman said: “We are committed to working together with operators to provide a clean environment for staff and customers. Most TfL welfare facilities are cleaned multiple times a day, and at a minimum daily, to maintain hygiene and safety standards.

“All buses are also cleaned every night before entering service, and reports such as these are rare.

“We take any report seriously and are urgently investigating the specific incidents that have been raised.

“As with any reports, we will take appropriate action as part of the investigation, which can include taking buses out of service for inspection, deep cleans and treatment with specialist equipment if necessary.

“We would like to reassure staff that our operators would never take action against people raising concerns about welfare or safety and encourage any driver with concerns to contact their employer, their union, or contact us directly.”

LBF added: “These cockroach reports are not isolated. They reflect a broader failure to maintain safe and sanitary conditions for bus drivers.

“This is a public health issue affecting both staff and passengers.

“That’s why drivers will be marching on November 5 to demand safer working conditions and the adoption of the bus drivers’ bill of rights.”

John Murphy, the regional officer for Unite, the union representing many London bus drivers, fumed that it was “completely unacceptable that London bus drivers are being forced to drive around for hours in vehicles that have cockroach infestations.”

He continued: “TfL and the bus companies need to take action now to rid all buses of infestations and Unite will hold them to account until they do.”

The Sun Online has reached out to Transport for London for comment.

A LOVE Island star opened up about his secret 18-month health battle, saying ‘I felt like my brain was falling out’.

Chris Williamson, 37, featured on the ITV2 dating show’s first series in 2015.

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He entered the villa on Day 1, however, he was ultimately “dumped” on Day 19.

Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, Chris discussed his health with subscribers.

In particular, his experience facing toxic mould exposure, Lyme disease and EBV.

In a clip recorded in September 2024, Chris said: “Struggling, yeah, in the last week.

“Five episodes in three days in New York. Two episodes in two days in Florida, plus travelling. Plus a bunch of meetings.

“It’s felt like my brain is trying to fall out of my ears the entire time.

“Memory is really rough, thoughts are very muddy. Getting confused in the middle of sentences.

“So it’s probably the worst that my mind’s been – just disheartening as I’ve been working on trying to get out of all this.

“Mould, EBV, Lyme, whatever it is, stuff for six months, more.

“It’s disheartening. I’ve no idea how far along I am, it feels like I’m going backward.”

Chris also appeared on dating show Take Me Out and has completely reinvented himself following his reality star days and is now a millionaire.

He earned the bulk of his fortune through his podcast, Modern Wisdom.

Chris does not look back fondly on his time on Love Island, stating in a chat with Sadia Khan he was “pretty bored” and having an ‘”existential crisis” while in the villa. 

He told the BBC: “I was living this persona of the professional party boy – the big name on campus, the guy with the hair out front [of the club], that wanted people to need him, that thought he had found the culture and industry he belonged in.

“Then I got on to Love Island and had nowhere to hide from people who were the person I was pretending to be.

“I was there with people who were genuinely extroverted, outgoing, party people. And I was just playing a role…

“I’d convinced myself [Love Island] was something that made me finally belong. And I didn’t belong.”

Love Island airs on ITV2 and ITVX.

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The United States government has shut down after Democrats voted down a bill that would have cut healthcare funding, saying it would be damaging to the US public.

Republicans say the Democrats are damaging the economy.

President Donald Trump says this is a chance for him to save money by firing federal government workers and cutting spending.

He is targeting what he calls the Democrats’ special projects that include environmental initiatives, housing services and infrastructure.

So are the cuts being made in the public interest?

Who is being worst affected by the shutdown? And what does this all mean for the US economy?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Eric Ham – Political Analyst

Drew Friedman – Reporter at Federal News Network

Rina Shah – Political Strategist

MYLEENE Klass today told a court she felt “sheer terror” after allegedly being targeted by a stalker who sent her gifts.

Peter Windsor is accused of hounding the former popstar and her Classic FM colleague Katie Breathwick over a four-year period.

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The 61-year-old allegedly sent Myleene items with “sexual overtones” – including a Catwoman outfit and set of handcuffs.

He also called her a “naughty vixen” and sent a police uniform to the Classic FM studio, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Giving evidence today, Myleene said she was informed in an email in August last year that an “accumulation” of items had been sent to her.

The 47-year-old became upset when she was asked about being told how Royal Mail had “intercepted” an air pistol addressed to her.

She said “it just felt extreme on every front” after she was shown a list of items and photographs of letters Windsor allegedly sent.

Myleene added: “It was very clear very quickly that it was a highly volatile selection of items.

“It was a huge shock, especially the extent to which it had escalated.

“It was pretty overwhelming when you have the accumulation of a bundle of this information. It’s pretty terrifying.”

The ex-Hear’Say star described the overall context of all the items as “pretty bleak”.

She added: “It’s a huge violation. It’s sheer terror really.”

Myleene told the court how she was informed by police in September last year that an air gun had been intercepted by the Royal Mail.

She continued: “He said to me that whilst the gun wasn’t necessary for a licence in this country, at such close proximity right up to 6ft it could prove fatal and police took it very seriously.

“I was extremely shocked because suddenly it felt extremely real.

“This was very clear what the intention was. There was no grey area here.

“It’s a gun in a box with my name on it.”

The court was told Windsor also stalked Myleene’s Classic FM co-presenter Katie Breathwick.

She is said to have received a stamp collection, bottle of champagne, a will-writing kit and running shoes with spikes on among other bizarre letters and parcels.

Police later arrested Windsor at his home in Birmingham and found a number of items that caused them concern.

They included a map of London where the women worked, a pair of black leather gloves, ladies stockings and a pair of binoculars.

Windsor later told police he sent Klass items as a joke after seeing her in “provocative underwear” in a newspaper.

He denies two counts of stalking and the trial continues.

All Creatures Great and Small’s Siegfried Farnon actor Samuel West has opened up about his role and feeling ‘slightly jealous’ of his co-star

The sixth series of All Creatures Great and Small is set to grace Channel 5 on Thursday 25 September at 9pm.

In anticipation of the new series, Samuel West, who portrays Siegfried Farnon, has shared insights into the upcoming season. The 59 year old actor has been bringing Siegfried to life since 2020.

Siegfried, the quirky proprietor of Skeldale House veterinary practice, shines in Channel 5’s rendition of All Creatures Great and Small.

This beloved family drama is inspired by the treasured writings of Yorkshire vet Alf Wight, who wrote about his experiences as a rural veterinarian under the pen name James Herriot.

The colourful personalities that inhabit the All Creatures books and their screen adaptations are drawn from real people, with Siegfried being based on Alf’s actual employer, Donald Sinclair, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Samuel, the actor behind Siegfried, has divulged details about series six and the animal escapades his character encounters.

He revealed: “We have our first Shire horse. That’s an amazing animal. I don’t know how it took us that long to get round to a Shire, but it was a beautiful, beautiful creature, and very well looked after. I had to get good at pulling up the hoof to look at it from the side.”

Samuel also confessed feeling ‘slightly jealous’ of his fellow cast member Callum Woodhouse, who plays Tristan Farnon.

He confessed: “I wish I had more to do with horses. When they said that Tristan was going to start looking at horses with me, it was the first time I felt slightly jealous.

“‘Let it be me! Siegfried is the one who’s good at horses! I’m the one who they asked for by name!’ But of course, you shouldn’t let me be comfortable in that – there are always new things to learn.”

He went on to say: “And there is such a thing as an aura around people. You meet it, and you can almost see it in people who are very calm or very disturbed – and animals certainly know it. Horses pick up on it immediately.

“So, working with them, I don’t know… I remember realising that our crew was so concentrated and so still and so talented that if I was doing a two-handed scene with a horse, and it was just me looking at the horse and waiting for a reaction, almost waiting for eye contact, or just sharing something that didn’t take words, I could probably wait there for a minute and nobody would say cut.

“And that’s an extraordinary feeling. It’s really good, because you’re filming something that’s invisible – something that’s happening between an animal that can’t speak and somebody else who is trying to read their thoughts, their feelings.

“But when we get it, we get it. We can see it. It’s like magnetism. It may not be visible, but we can sense that it’s there. I find that really exciting.

“It works with horses mostly, but you also get it with cows and obviously dogs and cats as well – but mostly with the larger animals.”

All Creatures Great and Small returns on Thursday 25 September at 9pm on Channel 5.

Sarah Lim has travelled to 24 countries in Europe and has shared her experiences of the places where she felt the most unsafe, specifically as an Asian female traveller

A seasoned globe-trotter has been using TikTok to document her adventures across 24 European nations. In an unexpected departure from typical travel review, Sarah Lim opted to spotlight five cities in Europe where she experienced feelings of vulnerability, particularly as an Asian female explorer.

“Five cities where i didn’t feel safe in Europe (as an Asian female),” she captioned her post. Sarah added: “I went to several countries in Eastern Europe as well, through both the Baltics and the Balkans and i found Western Europe to be more unsafe unfortunately.”

Here is her list of destinations you might wish to steer clear of.

Paris, France

Describing alarming encounters in the French capital, Sarah revealed: “I was stalked at night alone on my first trip and then chased by a bunch of men when I was with five friends on my last trip.”

She also highlighted the widespread threats such as bag snatchers and pickpockets she came across.

Brussels, Belgium

Whilst she managed to avoid any major incidents in Brussels, Sarah confessed she couldn’t dispel a sense of discomfort, particularly after dark. “There were many groups of men lingering around the city centre at night, very unsettling,” she explained.

Additionally, Sarah referenced an even more troubling incident – a Singaporean exchange student’s stabbing in Brussels, which reinforced all her concerns about the city’s security.

Milan, Italy

Sarah’s Italian escapade kicked off with a near-miss scam at her flat, which she described as “very convincing” due to the fraudster’s numerous “accomplices”.

She also voiced concerns about her safety, stating: “Walking around at night near the residential areas felt quite unsafe – had to call male friends to escort me and my friend back.”

Barcelona, Spain

Next stop, Barcelona. Sarah reported no major issues but remained “very vigilant” due to the city’s notorious pickpockets.

She revealed: “I heard about stabbing and mugging cases from fellow Erasmus students.”

Rome, Italy

In Rome, Sarah experienced more trouble, noting: “It felt the most touristic – hence the number of scammers in the open. Pickpockets and snatch thieves were common here.”

Her TikTok post resonated with many viewers, leading them to share their own travel tales.

One user empathised with her Brussels experience, commenting: “Finally someone mentions Brussels,” and explaining their decision to leave despite a good job because they felt “I lived there for eight months and everybody asked me why I left if the job was so good. I literally always felt so unsafe.”

One user slammed the romantic notion of Paris, stating: “When people call Paris the city of love its hilarious because all I know is stabbings, getting stalked and pickpockets.”

Another shared a similar experience in the French capital: “I was stalked in Paris too when I was out alone in the middle of the day. Belgium was definitely shady at night and we managed to stop a pickpocket.”

Echoing these sentiments, another person said: “Milan and Paris are so real. One of my Paris friend got her bag snatched on the train. And Milan, the pickpockets are everywhere, we literally identified some of them from afar.”

However, not everyone had negative experiences. “I used to live in Paris, and actually felt very safe as long as I wasn’t near the Gare du Nord area!” one person revealed.

“And actually felt so safe in Rome as well. But of course people have different experiences.”

Another added on a positive note: “Lucky to have stayed in Paris for a month and never felt unsafe or threatened!”.

Michael Zervos embarked on a trip around the world, visiting 195 countries in 499 days and asking hundreds of people exactly the same question – what was the happiest day of your life?

A man who has visited every country in the world found two places in particular to be scary and unwelcoming.

Three years ago Michael Zervos embarked on a trip around the world, visiting 195 countries in 499 days and asking hundreds of people exactly the same question – what was the happiest day of your life?

Earlier this year the Greek-American globetrotter returned to Detroit, his goal of reaching all 195 countries in the shortest time ever completed. He stopped the clock at just under 500 days.

The former movie maker was not just motivated by the glory of becoming the speediest nation-visiting completist but also by a desire to understand what makes people tick in different parts of the world. He recently sat down with the Mirror to share some of his insights into what makes people happy in different places.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email [email protected]

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While Michael stresses that his rapid means of travelling meant he only got a quick glimpse into the cultures of the countries he visited, his insights remain fascinating.

As quick as he is to find positives in the destinations he visited, two places stood out to him as unwelcoming and a little unnerving.

“I had a bad experience in Liberia. I took a picture of a government building. There was no sign to say you couldn’t do it. It turned out to be a money-making scheme. I refused to pay, and they took me to jail,” Michael explained.

It wasn’t just the run-in with the authorities that left a bad taste in the mouth in the West African country. He also endured a more general feeling of unease when exploring.

“Some moments felt surreal. I’d enter a street market, and waves of people would turn to you like, ‘You don’t belong on this street, why are you here?’ Thousands of people would turn to you, and they’d stop what they’re doing. There was a sensation in the back of your neck where something was amiss,” Michael continued.

Another place that left Michael a little shaken was Stabroek Market in Guyana’s capital, Georgetown.

“The locals warned me not to go. It is one of those warehouse-style markets. Drugs are traded openly, and there is sex work as well. As soon as I walked in, it was like a horror movie. There was this guy at the end of the aisle. These deep, dark pockets were obscuring his face. He was staring at me, and he was staring at me. I went down the other aisle, and he followed me. My intuition was to go somewhere else,” Michael recalled.

The UK Foreign Office backs up Michael’s intuition, warning tourists from visiting the market.

“Crime levels are high, and police capacity is low. There are frequent armed robberies, hold-ups, carjackings and other violent crimes, often involving two or more attackers. Passers-by can get caught up in gunfire even if they are not targets because police are armed and shoot back,” the government body warns.

“Muggers can attack in broad daylight, often holding their victims at gunpoint or knifepoint. They may target tourists, particularly if those that show obvious signs of wealth.”

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Tiger Bay and Albouystown in Georgetown; Sophia, south Georgetown; Buxton; Agricola and Stabroek Market area are highlighted as areas “where robberies are a daily occurrence”.

Although the experiences unsettled him, Michael is keen to focus on the many positive aspects of the places he visited. One of his favourite countries to visit, and one of the most surprising, was Madagascar.

“The people, food, arts, and geography, everything was just a little outside what you might expect from mainland southern Africa. You’ve got rich biodiversity from having an isolated island where the flora and fauna are pretty different,” Michael explained.

“The faces of the people are extremely interesting, often very authentic smiles and expressions. They are beautiful to photograph. What you see is what you get. They are straightforward and earnest.”

Michael particularly enjoyed asking people in Madagascar what the happiest day of their life is. He has since turned these answers, and those he collected in other countries, into videos posted on his Instagram page.

“It’s like getting life unfiltered there. Even in the city, which isn’t that common, the language is interesting, and the food is unlike anything you’d find in the area. It’s a mix of Indonesian and Indian food, with high levels of spice, fried food, croquettes, and fritters with interesting green, earthy vegetal flavours.”

When it comes to European countries that particularly stood out, Liechtenstein was a surprise hit.

“People call it really boring, but I found it lovely. It’s a city-state nestled in the Alps. When I arrived, they were celebrating the beginning of Lent, a madigra-type thing. There were bands dressed in blue all over the place, playing music late into the night. People were offering me beers. I went to a local theatre and watched a film festival about extreme sports,” Michael said.

Residents in the nearby fishing town of Grindavik and guests at a luxury geothermal spa resort are evacuated.

The Sundhnukur volcano has erupted near Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, the 12th volcanic eruption in the North Atlantic island nation since 2021, the Icelandic Meteorological Office says.

The agency said in a statement on Wednesday morning that an eruptive fissure in southwestern Iceland is 700 to 1,000 metres (765 to 1,095 yards) long.

“Lava is mostly flowing to the southeast and is not approaching any infrastructure,” it added. “Based on GPS measurements and deformation signals, it is likely that this was a relatively small eruption.”

Live images showed flows of lava and smoke being belched into the sky.

People were evacuated from the Blue Lagoon, a luxury geothermal spa resort, and the nearby fishing town of Grindavik, according to the public broadcaster RUV, which quoted police.

Rather than flowing from a central crater, lava from fissure eruptions like Wednesday’s appears from long cracks in the Earth’s crust.

Iceland, which is often referred to as a land of ice and fire, has now recorded a dozen volcanic eruptions since geological systems on its Reykjanes Peninsula reactivated four years ago.

The Reykjanes eruptions have so far neither posed a threat to nearby Reykjavik nor have they caused air traffic disruptions, unlike the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which grounded planes across Northern Europe for almost a week.

Grindavik was home to almost 4,000 people before an evacuation order was issued in 2023. Now, it is mainly deserted because of the threat of lava flows and related earthquakes.

In early April, a volcanic eruption penetrated protective barriers close to Grindavik, and the emergency services evacuated its residents and those staying at the Blue Lagoon spa.

Experts have said eruptions on the peninsula could continue for decades.

Every year, Iceland, which has a population of nearly 400,000 people, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to explore its volcanic landscape.

In 2024, almost 2.3 million foreigners travelled to the island, according to its tourist board.

Christina Finn and her family were flying back to Dublin from London Stansted with Ryanair on Sunday evening when they were refused boarding on their flight

A family from Ireland has spoken out after they claimed Ryanair refused to let them board a flight from London to Dublin, erroneously informing them they needed a visa to travel from the UK to Ireland. Christina Finn and her husband, Cameron, were forced to miss their return trip to Dublin following a CBeebies event in London with their infant son when they were turned away by the budget carrier at Stansted Airport.

The pair had travelled trouble-free to London from Belfast on Friday but encountered issues when attempting to return home.

Christian said: “We had flown to London on Friday morning from Belfast for a meeting with the BBC, and we were to fly home from London to Dublin and then get the bus up to Belfast as that was the cheapest option, and it is something we would do all the time.”

The couple’s journey hit a hitch when they struggled to check-in online due to technical issues which Christina initially thought were caused by her mobile phone, reports the Irish Mirror.

Stranded with their ill five-month-old baby who requires regular medication, Christina emphasised the urgency of their need to return home.

Christina said: “When we went to check in on the app, it wouldn’t let me click through to our booking at all and I thought the issue was with my phone so when we got to the airport, we had to check in at the desk where we then had to pay a fine for not checking in online.”

Following the unexpected check-in fee at the airport, Christina explained that the Ryanair representative asked to see their passports, despite having used their driving licences for the outbound easyJet flight, and offered their slightly expired passports as identification.

“My husband has an Irish passport and I have a British one, which have both recently expired. With the baby due, we were waiting until he was born to renew them so that we could just do it at the same time.

“We informed the staff that we had flown over on our driving licences so he took them away and came back with a man who told us that because my husband has an expired Irish passport, he would be allowed on the flight to Dublin but as my passport was a British one they couldn’t let me on the plane.

“The staff informed me that as a UK citizen I would need a visa to travel to Ireland as it is in the EU and I tried to explain to them that that wouldn’t apply due to the Common Travel Area.

“I told him that we lived in Northern Ireland and he then questioned how I had a British passport and couldn’t seem to understand that it was a pretty common thing for people to fly to Dublin then travel on to Belfast. He also said that we would need to have evidence that we had booked onward travel from Dublin to Belfast.

“As I questioned it, he said that he was speaking to someone on the phone who told him that if they let us on the plane and if we arrived in Dublin we would be stopped at passport control and the airline would be fined between £500 and £1000 for allowing me on the plane without a valid passport.”

Christina revealed that the staff member advised the only solution to their problem would be to book a new direct flight to Belfast, which would cost them €580 (£554).

In a frustrating situation, Christina had to turn to her mother for help with the flight costs. While sorting things out, her mother checked the official government website and found something that surprised them both.

“We had to borrow the money from my mum for the flights and while I was on the phone to her she looked up the Government website which stated that you did not need a passport or visa to travel between the UK and Ireland.

“She sent me a screenshot of this which I showed to the man and he said he would look into it then he walked away.”

Determined to get to the bottom of the issue, Christina phoned the British embassy in Dublin who referred her to their Irish counterparts in London.

She said: “I decided to ring the British embassy in Dublin who directed me to call the Irish embassy in London and the woman on the phone was horrified.

“She said that there was no requirement for people to have a passport for travelling between the UK and Ireland and that there was also no need for a visa.”

However, to her dismay, she discovered that Ryanair’s own rules played a significant role in her travel woes. “However, she explained that Ryanair could have its own policy requiring travellers to have a passport.”

Feeling mistreated, Christina recounted how the incident left her feeling less than respected. A Ryanair spokesperson defended the airline’s position, emphasising their policy and the customers’ agreement to it.

“In accordance with Ryanair’s TandC’s, which these passengers agreed to at the time of booking, these passengers failed to check-in online before arriving at London Stansted Airport (5 June).

“Therefore, these passengers were correctly asked to pay the required airport check-in fee (£55 per passenger), however refused to do so, and became aggressive towards the agents at the check in desk at London Stansted Airport.”

They further reiterated the importance of abiding by their procedures. “All passengers travelling with Ryanair agree to check-in online before arriving at their departure airport and all passengers are sent an email reminding them to do so 24hrs before departure.

“These passengers were subsequently correctly denied boarding to this flight from London Stansted to Dublin (5 June) as these passengers’ passports did not meet the requirements for travel as both passports had expired in 2024.

“It is each passenger’s responsibility to ensure that their passport is valid for travel in line with the relevant State requirements at the time of travel. These requirements are clearly set out on Ryanair.com, and passengers are reminded with pop-up messages during booking.

“Passengers travelling between Ireland and the UK are required to carry a valid passport for travel. Therefore, as these passengers did not present a valid passport for this flight from London Stansted to Dublin Airport, they were correctly denied boarding.”

BANISHING mould from your home can feel like a never-ending chore.

From constant bleaching to pricey products that don’t work, there’s loads of stuff out there, but more often than not the mould returns.

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That was cleaning whizz Nicola’s experience until she discovered a product that actually works and stops mould from coming back.

Taking to Instagram, Nicole explained how the Mould Magic gel worked wonders in her new home.

“If you haven’t seen this before you need to get some, it works on so many different surfaces but I used it mainly on grout in the bathroom,” Nicola explained.

In the viral clip she showed what the bathroom looked like when she first moved in, and sure enough the walls were covered in mould.

The formula is especially easy to apply because it comes in a tube with a nozzle designed to get into those hard to reach places.

Not only that, but according to Nicola the formula is also non-drip, so you don’t have to worry about it slipping and sliding away.

After a couple of hours the product can then be wiped away, leaving your bathroom mould free.

“The mould never comes back,” the cleaning whizz added.

Unsurprisingly, fellow cleaning fans were wowed by the before and after snaps of the bathroom.

One commented on the clip: “It’s brilliant for washing machines too.”

“Oo, thanks I’ll be getting this,” another said.

“Omg we recently got mould in out shower and it’s right in the grout so this will be great,” a third chimed in.

Meanwhile, others wanted to know if the product would work on painted walls and Nicola revealed she’d tried Mould Magic there too and was impressed with the results.

The product can be bought online for as little as £9.95 too, so it won’t break the bank.

More mould cleaning tips and tricks

Use household items

If it’s too late, and any condensation has had a chance to flourish and turn into mould, you can start removing it for nothing.

Natalie, from Which?, said: “A few drops of washing up liquid mixed with warm water can work on smaller areas of mould on hard surfaces like walls or floors.

“Use a sponge, cloth, or brush to work the soapy solution in small circular motions over the mould.

“If you’re trying to remove particularly stubborn mould, try a 1:1 solution of white vinegar and warm water and pour it into a spray bottle to target the affected area.”

If you’ve got a bit more in your budget, you can try buying mould or mildew remover from your nearest supermarket or retailer.

You can get it as cheap as £1.20 from B&M or £2.50 from Dunelm, at the time of writing.

Call in the professionals

You can usually treat smaller patches of mould yourself, but if the problem has gotten out of hand, you might need to call someone in.

Natalie said: “If you find new mould growing quickly in other areas of your home, or the affected area becomes too large to handle, it may be time to get professional help.”

Checkatrade says it costs £25-£35 per hour or £200-£400 per room to call someone in for mould removal.

Meanwhile if you want a specialist to come and take a look to inspect for any mould, that will cost you around £50-£300.

Golden hour in Italy’s Dolomites

After a gruelling journey from the UK, arriving at Alpe di Siusi during golden hour felt like stepping into a dream. Farmers turned hay in some of Europe’s highest alpine meadows, framed by jagged Dolomite peaks glowing in soft evening light. We can recommend staying at the Hotel Schmung, a family-run gem with delicious northern Italian food and direct access to scenic hikes. Rifugios provide great lunch stops along the trails. The peaceful setting, breathtaking views and freedom to explore on foot without needing a car make this a perfect base for the Dolomites.
Louise

Panoramic meals in eastern France

The Vosges mountains in Alsace offer relatively gentle walking with fantastic way-marking (shown on IGN maps, the French equivalent of the Ordnance Survey Explorer maps). Panoramic views punctuate the walking through a mixture of pine woods and open pastures. Most Brits seem to keep to the valleys and the beautiful villages and towns but among my highlights of the area is the opportunity to compare the fare at the various fermes auberges that are scattered over the hills. Sharing a table with French and German visitors and locals, the short menus offer food that has to be mainly grown by the farmer/owner. Glasborn-Linge in Soultzeren has a four-course hearty lunch at just €27.
Tony Eginton

Donkey trails up Corsica’s highest peak

A spectacular train ride from Corsica’s seaport of Bastia to the small mountain town of Ponte Leccia provides access to the island’s highest peak, 2,706-metre (8,878ft) Mount Cinto. It can be approached from the dramatic Asco Gorge. For hikers, a network of donkey trails reveals arresting views, river pools and lost worlds, such as the abandoned village of Sepula. There are a couple of remote campsites off the gorge. There’s a ski resort halfway up Mount Cinto where the more challenging cross-island GR20 mountain hiking path can be joined. Late spring is the most enchanting time to visit.
Didier

A perfect chalet in heavenly Montenegro

We spent a heavenly week in Gornja Brezna, Montenegro, a peaceful village 1,000 metres above sea level, surrounded by mountains and with a turquoise river canyon (the Piva) to explore. Days were warm and nights cool. We pootled about on rusty bikes, got coffee at the Etno village restaurant, befriended local dogs, went on herb walks and ran about naked in the birch woods, as well as making bigger excursions to Durmitor national park. We stayed at Nikola’s beautiful Brezan Lug chalet, in its own private woodland, with hot tub, barbecue, fire pit and all mod cons.
Beth

High campiing in northern Albania

My partner and I had a magical time in the northern Albanian mountains. From Shkodër, we made our way to the Valbona valley national park via a two-night stay on (and boat across) Lake Koman. Once in Valbona, we camped with permission on the grounds of Hotel Rilindja, where the owner offered a wealth of hiking tips. From our base, we embarked on a series of spectacular hikes, including a three-day circular to Çerem. The first two days we saw no one apart from shepherds (and a few vipers, which were given a wide berth) before hitting a slightly more travelled section, where we encountered a handful of fellow hikers. The views were breathtaking; the hospitality, affordable and welcoming; and the experience, incomparable.
Alex

Mountain cabins on Sweden’s King’s trail

The mountains and glaciers surrounding the mountain hut at Nallo in north-west Sweden were so spectacular last year that I’m returning to stay for longer in July. It’s roughly seven miles off the popular Kungsleden trail (King’s trail) that winds its way through Lapland. There’s no mobile phone reception, or food, so bring your own supplies. These can be bought at the trailheads, three days’ walk away, or at other mountain huts along the way. What you find at Nallo is a welcoming cabin with a host (£32 for a bunk bed), cozy bunk beds and peace.
Catherine

Across the solar system in Switzerland

This exhilarating four-mile stroll across our solar system starts, appropriately, at an enormous sundial next to the Observatoire François-Xavier Bagnoud at Tignousa in the Val d’Anniviers. As you walk away from the sundial, the planets are revealed sequentially in large metal sculptures, informative panels and a hand-cranked audio track. Each one appears at its proportionate distance and size from the sun, so Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter are soon ticked off on a shallow climb. Twenty minutes later, a striking silver-ringed Saturn overlooks magnificent views of the valley and down to the Rhône a kilometre below. Uranus presages a refreshing paddle in a mountain stream, good preparation for a steeper, but manageable, 30-minute scramble to Neptune and lunch at 2,300 metres, distracted by panoramic views of the Swiss Alps from the deck of the 19th-century Hotel Weisshorn.
Bryan Conway

Rare flowers high in Italy’s Apennines

I hiked through the Maiella national park in Abruzzo, just two hours east of Rome, where marsican brown bears, Abruzzo chamois and wolves roam while griffon vultures soar above. The drought-tolerant vegetation and steep-sided valleys conceal caves that were once inhabited by hermits – it was amazing to imagine what it must have been like living there. Flowering plants galore, with rarities such as the Apennine edelweiss, Apennine gentian, Alpine aster and dryas (a glacial relic) on the high peaks. Exploring ancient pathways and clambering up rocky slopes rewarded me with far-reaching views over the Adriatic Sea.
Monique Gadella

Risqué mountain, Germany

Rather than ascend the expensive and crowded Zugspitze (Germany’s highest mountain at 2,962 metres), during a summer visit to Garmisch-Partenkirchen we instead opted for a cable car up the magnificently named Mount Wank (1,780 metres). We were rewarded with lush mountain meadows, superb views of the valley below and peace and quiet. A cold beer on the sun terrace at the Sonnenalm restaurant is a must. If you have the energy, you can walk the well-marked trail back to the town or head down on the Wankbahn.
Travis Roberts

Winning tip: Going with the flow in Spain’s Sierra Nevada

Walking the acequias of the Alpujarras in the southern Sierra Nevada, following 1,200-year-old irrigation systems built by the Moors while the snow-capped peaks above soar to almost 3,500 metres. Acequia Baja from the forest track above Capileira, curves round into the Poqueira valley, into a basin below the three highest peaks in mainland Spain while booted eagles ride the thermals. There are views across the Mediterranean to the Rif mountains in Morocco in clear conditions, framed by the deep valleys funnelling year-round snowmelt waters down steep gorges, yet the walk along the acequia is quite easy-going given the altitude.
Jeremy

AS Andrew Drury made his way through a Syrian camp looking for notorious ISIS bride Shamima Begum, his mind began to race.

Although the intrepid filmmaker had been in far more perilous situations – his nerves started to get the better of him.

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But when he was introduced to Begum – who left the UK aged 15 to join ISIS a decade ago in 2015 – he was taken aback.

“She was very shaky, very nervous, very shut, emotional, tearful,” Andrew told The Sun.

Father-of-four Andrew met Begum, who grew up in East London, for the first of six times at the Al-Roj camp in Syria in June 2021 while filming for a documentary, Danger Zone.

He initially felt sorry for Begum, then 21, and became a close confidant of the Jihadi bride – even securing a Bafta-nominated live interview with her for Good Morning Britain.

In less than two years his view of Begum – accused of serving in the feared IS “morality police” and helping make suicide vests – completely changed, however.

He saw a colder side when she talked about how the death of her three children no longer upset her and even expressed support of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi.

Extreme adventurer Andrew, who has made treacherous journeys to North Korea and Iraq, said at first Begum was a “thin, ill-looking, sad character” who was “very apologetic”.

“We took a long walk around the camp, She started to relax, and she said she used to take this regular walk right around the perimeter of the camp to clear her head,” he said.

“After the interview finished, we walked back to the room. Normally she’d go off to a tent, but she wanted to come back to the room to get a cold drink.

“Then I didn’t want to insult her at that point, I wanted to say goodbye – I thought I’d never see her again.

“I said, ‘Can I shake your hand?’ and she asked for a hug.

“So she gave me a hug and started to cry.”

Andrew, from Surrey, said he felt they had formed a connection and believed she regretted turning her back on Western society to join the murderous death cult.

“At that point I kind of believed that she was sincere,” he said.

I actually don’t think the death of her children actually bothered her in the slightest. She was not at all affected by it

Andrew Drury

“I kind of felt sorry for her. I thought at that point she’d been radicalised online, sent out as a prescribed bridge to somebody.

“She said she’d made a real bad mistake and really regretted what she’d done.

“She owned up to being this person that everybody hates in the UK.

“And I felt sorry for her, I’ve got young daughters, not a lot of difference in age, so I thought people do make mistakes, and I should give her a chance.”

Andrew – whose book Trip Hazard details his experience in dangerous areas – returned to the camp months later after GMB asked for his help to get an interview with Begum.

The author, who has exchanged hundreds of messages with Begum, said he noticed a “subtle change” in the former Brit.

Begum, who was stripped of her British citizenship in 2019, appeared to have undergone a more “Western” makeover – ditching her hijab and abaya.

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“She had changed as a character,” Andrew said.

“She was more short. She wasn’t this nervous-cry sort of character.

“She looked assured, and she didn’t seem such a waif character, and she seemed to be in control of herself and her emotions.”

Andrew told how Begum spent the night before the live interview “rehearsing” with three of her friends In the camp, which is controlled by armed guards.

He added: “Her friends said they’d had their music playing and they were tutoring Shamima what to say.

“They seemed pretty together about what she should say, and they were schooling her.”

Begum married an IS fighter soon after arriving in Syria and went on to have three children, none of whom survived.

Andrew – who said he had formed a “bond” with Begum – told how after the interview, Shamima opened her purse and showed him photos of her children.

The tragic loss of his own brother Robert as a child made him sympathise with Shamima’s plight.

“One of them was a scene where the child must have been eight, nine months old, had chocolate around his face,” he recalled.

“I said, ‘What’s that?’ and she said, ‘Oh we used to like baking cakes’.

“And it actually makes me quite sad. It was really quite sad knowing the child had died.

“She made it sound like an honour that she had shared these pictures with me, which I guess it probably was, because she hadn’t shared them before she said.”

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But it was Begum’s attitude after Andrew returned to the UK that shocked him – and began to shatter their relationship.

“I said to her, ‘Those pictures you showed me really upset me, I hope you’re okay’,” he said.

“She messaged back and said, ‘Oh, they don’t bother me anymore. That doesn’t make me sad’.

“I thought, was that because she’s been traumatised so badly?

“But I think she is that hard. I think she’s calculated.

“I actually don’t think the death of her children actually bothered her in the slightest. She was not at all affected by it.”

After meeting Andrew a couple of times, Begum started asking him to bring stuff into the camp for her – including clothes.

The dad said he felt “at a crossroads” about whether to take what she wanted.

“I felt bad and guilty that I’d be taking somebody that carried out what could have been some atrocities, clothes,” he said.

“But then, probably on the soft side of me, and the fact is, she was a young girl, so I was playing with these emotions, but I took her the clothes from Primark.

“We had a bundle of stuff, we took some toys for the children because it’s not their fault.”

But then Begum’s requests started turning into demands, Andrew said.

“The messages continued,” he added.

Camps breeding next ISIS generation

Exclusive by Henry Holloway, Deputy Foreign Editor and Alan Duncan

A CHILD no older than eight draws his hand across his neck in a chilling throat-slitting gesture – the message is clear, “You are not welcome here”.

Other kids hurl stones, shout and scream – while one exasperated camp official shows us CCTV of two youngsters hurling a firebomb.

Welcome to camps al-Hol and al-Roj in northern Syria – the fates of which remain uncertain after the fall of tyrant Bashar al-Assad.

It is warned these stark detention centres are now the breeding ground for the next generation of the bloodthirsty cult.

And much of this new wave of radicalisation is feared to be coming from the mothers inside the camps.

Senior camp official Rashid Omer said: “The reality is – they are not changing. This is not a normal camp – this a bomb.”

He went on: “They are saying it was ISIS who ‘liberated’ Damascus – and soon they will be coming here.”

“And then they want to spread to Europe, to Africa, and then to everywhere.”

The two sprawling sites hold a total of nearly 60,000 including ISIS fighters, families and children.

At least 6,000 Westerners are still held among them – including infamous jihadi bride Shamima Begum, the 25-year-old from London.

READ MORE HERE

“This time they became slightly more angry, slightly more direct.”

Before he planned to return to Syria again, Begum told him she wanted two books – Guantanamo Bay Diaries and Sea Prayer – which is inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis.

Andrew said she was also being schooled by her lawyer about her media presence.

He added: “What she declared by then is that she was hostage in a prison camp – where they were legally held.

“That’s how she started to see herself. All apologies had gone.

“She’d done a documentary with the BBC and was on the front of The Times magazine.

“She’d become a celebrity and was loving all the attention. She’d read all the newspaper articles.”

Andrew – who returned to the camp with a friend and no crew – took some clothes for Begum with him.

I could see things in her I didn’t like. I didn’t trust her. Her behaviour was poor. She was angry and aggressive

Andrew Drury

But it was his decision not to take the books she had demanded that revealed her true colours.

“I did go back again, but my feelings were already changing towards her,” Andrew said.

“It was a little boy’s birthday, and I felt so sorry for him.

“He wanted a Superman outfit, so I would have gone just for that, because I spend a lot of time in refugee camps. It’s not fair for these kids.

“I didn’t take the books Shamima wanted because I didn’t want to. I didn’t want her to have that opportunity to what I saw as studying how to be a victim.

“She opened the clothes, said she didn’t like them. I mean, this is a girl in a prison camp.

“She said, ‘I didn’t really care about the clothes, it was the books I wanted’. So she became quite aggressive in her nature.”

Who is Shamima Begum?

ISIS bride Shamima Begum, who was born in Britain, was stripped of her British citizenship on February 20, 2019.

Begum’s attitude then worsened when Andrew became interested in another girl’s story.

It was one of the final nails in the coffin in the bond Andrew believed they had initially formed.

“Shamima had a tantrum that the attention had been taken away from her,” he said.

“She was like a child that was pretending they were ill.

“So during this period of time I was beginning to feel like the connection was gone.

“It was broken, and I was beginning not to like her.

“I could see things in her I didn’t like. I didn’t trust her. Her behaviour was poor. She was angry and aggressive.

“I had found out from other girls what she was accused of, and they told me the same thing that I had heard before, like sewing suicide vests

“Things were ringing in my head like she said early on that the Manchester bombing was legitimate because of what happened in Iraq and Syria.

“So I didn’t trust her.”

Andrew’s last contact with Begum was around two years ago in a fiery text exchange.

She accused Andrew of “selling her out”, to which he shot back: “You’ve sold your country out.”

Begum last year lost her final appeal challenging the removal of her British citizenship.

She can now no longer fight to overturn the revocation of her citizenship within the UK legal system.

Andrew said: “I think she’s a danger for what she stood for, and I don’t think she could ever come back.

“I think she needs to go on trial in Syria for the crimes she committed against the Syrian people.”

Far-right anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, was asked to leave a London restaurant after the business said guests and staff felt uncomfortable.

The 42-year-old said he and four others were told to leave the Hawksmoor steakhouse, near Piccadilly Circus, on Thursday.

Yaxley-Lennon has accused the restaurant of “discriminatory behaviour” due to his political beliefs.

Hawksmoor, which did not name Yaxley-Lennon in its statement, said the group left the restaurant “politely”, adding that its decision was “not about politics or belief” and it was “not trying to engage in a public debate”.

The restaurant chain has been contacted for further comment.

Video footage, posted on X by a member of Yaxley-Lennon’s group, shows a member of staff telling them that his colleagues felt “uncomfortable serving” them.

The staff member is then heard saying that he had a “duty of care”, adding that he would waive the bill for their drinks and apologising for the inconvenience.

Posting on X, Yaxley-Lennon said: “Restaurants and businesses should not be political. We weren’t loud, aggressive or inappropriate, so this can only be my politics.”

Tripadvisor has temporarily suspended reviews on some Hawksmoor restaurants due to an influx of reviews “that do not describe a first-hand experience”.

It comes after Yaxley-Lennon called for a boycott of the restaurant and for his followers on X to leave reviews.

The steakhouse chain has seven restaurants in London, with branches in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Manchester and abroad.

In a statement Hawksmoor said: “On Thursday, a public figure was asked to leave one of our restaurants because guests and staff felt uncomfortable and had complained.

“The party left peacefully and politely on request.”

It added it wanted to welcome guests “regardless of background or views” and its team had to deal with a “huge amount of fallout… some of which is quite concerning”.

BBC News has contacted the steakhouse chain’s CEO for comment.

It comes after Yaxley-Lennon pleaded not guilty to two charges of harassing two Daily Mail journalists on Thursday.

Yaxley-Lennon founded the far-right English Defence League, known for its protests against what it calls “radical Islam”. He stepped down in 2013.

A Football Association report into the circumstances surrounding the death of former Sheffield United player Maddy Cusack found several players “did not feel supported and felt unable to raise concerns” at the club.

The FA commissioned the report in early 2024, following the midfielder’s death, aged 27, in September 2023, and it has not yet been published.

A hearing on Tuesday at Chesterfield Coroners’ Court was told the copy of the report that had been shared with the family and others was “provisional”, and would only be finalised at the conclusion of the inquest.

However, Dean Armstrong KC – representing the Cusack family – quoted excerpts from it, including that “most [players] particularly did not feel supported and felt unable to raise complaints against their manager and others”.

He also read another part of the report that stated “the investigation has shed light on the resourcing issues particularly acute in the women’s game and the related welfare and safeguarding issues that might arise”.

Nottingham-born Cusack was the first player to reach 100 appearances for Sheffield United, having started her career at Aston Villa and had spells at Birmingham and Leicester City.

Ex-Blades manager Jonathan Morgan, who was appearing via video link, accused Cusack’s family of “manipulating information” and fuelling a “narrative” in the 18 months since she died.

He said witnesses put forward by the family were “very one-sided” and there was “no-one to challenge the credibility of those individuals”.

Morgan added people who did not “echo” the views of the family had been “cast aside”, and requested that he be permitted to put forward witnesses.

Journalist Adam Maidment felt like a “daylight robber” after ignoring warnings and ordering a €1 beer in Benidorm but the cut-price pint turned out to be far better than expected

While researching his trip to Benidorm, journalist Adam Maidment came across cautionary advice urging tourists to steer clear of the famously cheap drinks.

Many claimed these €1 offers at the popular Spanish resort were best avoided, describing them as subpar or suspiciously watered down.

Benidorm, with its beachside bars, themed pubs and sprawling expat scene, is a well-oiled machine when it comes to luring in tourists. More than 830,000 British tourists visit Benidorm each year, with many attracted by the number of sports bars, Irish pubs, and other themed venues offering lucrative deals.

However, many warn that the bargain booze may not be all it’s cracked up to be. In one popular TikTok video, viewed more than 450,000 times, creator Frank the Stag Man bluntly told 227,000 followers: “You get what you pay for”, labelling the drinks “absolute rubbish”.

READ MORE: ‘Lowest priced’ Sky TV and broadband package returns

Still, not everyone heeded Frank’s warning. Adam, though, a true professional, decided to fall at the first hurdle in the name of journalism. In an article penned for the Manchester Evening News, Adam wrote: “I practically fell at the first hurdle and ignored all warnings after a very sunny afternoon stroll through Levante Beach, it’s perhaps the very exact reason why these bars have beer at such a ridiculous price point in the first place.”

Hoping to head into the Old Town, Adam spotted a venue advertising a too-tempting deal. “I spotted the La Parada lounge bar, which offered both €1 beer and even €1 Pintxos dishes. Whilst not feeling brave enough to try my chances with the culinary options, I was prepared to give the very cheap beer a go – all in the name of journalism, of course.”

The bar, located just up from the beachfront near Tiki Town Beach Club, was in a shaded spot and not too crowded. A scattering of locals were inside enjoying the calm. Adam said: “The very lovely server was happy to take my order for a €1 beer and, not quite knowing what I had set myself in for, I contemplated what would be arriving at my table and whether it would be as watered down or ominous as social media had suggested it would be.”

The beer arrived in minutes. “The dinky little glass of beer was pretty much as expected: certainly not a pint, and perhaps not even a half (maybe more of a third). But it was a freshly-poured serving of Amstel, so it certainly wasn’t the worst choice of beer.”

Most importantly, it tasted fine. “It was ice cold and it tasted normal – I didn’t get the impression it was watered down.”

And the price? Almost laughably low. Adam said: “Most impressively, it was an absolute bargain of a drink for what was the equivalent of essentially just 84p – a price that nowhere in Manchester [or anywhere in the UK] would ever consider charging.”

Curious how the economics worked, Adam asked the server why they bothered offering such a low price. Her response was basic marketing: “It gets people in.” Once through the door, people then order food and smoothies or become repeat customers.

The bar’s menu and signage promoted other items, like €3 hotdogs and €5 smoothies, far more than the beer, but perhaps what keeps the tills ringing.

After sipping his drink in a relaxed atmosphere, Adam faced a very first world problem. He said: “Then came the moral dilemma that has been playing in my mind ever since: how do you pay for an 84p beer without feeling like you’ve just committed daylight robbery?”

He considered ghosting the bar with a euro left behind. He said: “I considered leaving the euro on the table and just making a dash for it in order to avoid having to make any pleasantries, but that just felt rude.”

He even thought about tipping. “I also contemplated tipping an extra euro in order to lessen the guilt I felt, which I appreciate is the very epitome of a first-world problem.” In the end, instead of dashing, Adam used his cool logic to reason. He reflected: “It was their offer, they chose to sell it, and they decided to promote it to get punters in – and it certainly worked, even if I didn’t stay to branch out into €5 smoothie territory.”

While he said he wouldn’t recommend spending an entire day bouncing between €1 beer bars, he gave La Parada credit for being a calm and pleasant place to sit and sip. “Whilst I definitely wouldn’t want to spend a whole afternoon stocking up on €1 beers, my time at La Parada was good. It certainly wasn’t one of the rowdier venues in the town; it was chilled and quiet, so I am sure there might be other popular options for people when it comes to going cheap on the beer.”

But he added a word of caution. “Of course, I cannot vouch for €1 beers at the other bars, and I’m sure there are some which warrant the level of caution.”

Adam also rightly pointed out: “It also goes without saying that it is always important to drink responsibly too, whether you are in Benidorm drinking €1 beer or not.”

READ MORE: I’ve tested nearly 100 face SPFs and this tinted primer-like one is the only sunscreen I’ll wear

On this date in history:

In 1790, President George Washington signed a bill creating the first U.S. copyright law.

In 1859, construction concluded and bells rang out for the first time from London’s Big Ben clock tower.

In 1889, a flood in Johnstown, Pa., left more than 2,200 people dead.

In 1902, Britain and South Africa signed a peace treaty ending the Boer War.

In 1916, the Battle of Verdun passed the 100-day mark. It would continue for another 200 days, amassing a casualty list of an estimated 800,000 soldiers dead, injured or missing.

In 1921, the Tulsa race massacre was set off when a mob of White residents attacked the Black residents and businesses in the Greenwood District. The total number of those killed in the violence is unknown, with an Oklahoma commission established in 2001 estimating between 75 to 100 people dead. The number of displaced Black residents was far greater.

In 1940, a thick fog hanging over the English Channel prevented the German Luftwaffe from flying missions against evacuating Allied troops from Dunkirk.

Troops evacuated from Dunkirk on a destroyer about to berth at Dover, England, on May 31, 1940. File Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museum

In 1985, seven federally insured banks in Arkansas, Minnesota, Nebraska and Oregon were closed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It was a single-day record for closings since the FDIC was founded in 1934.

In 1996, Israeli voters elected opposition Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister.

In 2003, Eric Robert Rudolph, the long-sought fugitive in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing and attacks on abortion clinics and a gay nightclub, was arrested while rummaging through a dumpster in North Carolina. Rudolph, whose bombings killed two people and injured many others, was sentenced to four life terms in prison.

In 2005, Mark Felt admitted that, while No. 2 man in the FBI, he was “Deep Throat,” the shadowy contact whose help to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein on the 1972 Watergate break-in led to U.S. President Richard Nixon’s resignation.

File Photo by Alexis C. Glenn/UPI

In 2012, John Edwards of North Carolina, former U.S. senator and presidential candidate, was acquitted on a charge of taking illegal campaign contributions, and a judge declared a mistrial on five other charges against him.

In 2014, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 28, captured in Afghanistan nearly five years earlier, was released by the Taliban in exchange for five detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. In March 2015, the Army announced that Bergdahl had been charged with desertion.

In 2019, a shooting a a Virginia Beach, Va., municipal center left 12 victims and the shooter — a disgruntled former employee — dead.

In 2021, China announced plans to allow couples to have a third child, scrapping its controversial two-child policy amid a slumping birth rate and aging population.

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IF ONE person knows where you can find the best beaches in the UK, it’s Quintin Lake.

For his new book The Perimeter, Quintin travelled for five years around the entire coastline of mainland Britain which covered 6800 miles and he was armed with nothing but hiking gear and a camera.

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Photographer Quintin travelled through Wales, up to Scotland and across England, finding beautiful coastal spots and he took 1,300 pictures.

Along the way, Quintin saw all sorts, including beaches that you wouldn’t believe were in the UK – and one that looked like it was in the Caribbean, was actually in Scotland.

Quintin told Sun Travel: “Achmelvich Bay in Scotland literally looks like it belongs being in the Bahamas because the sand is white.

“The sea looks turquoise, which you’ll see in the book. The water is a beautiful greeny blue – it doesn’t look like it belongs in this country at all.

“When I went, it was a sunny day and there were maybe six people there so it was heaven. I couldn’t believe it.

“All the northwestern and Sutherland beaches have white sand, and if you go off the beaten path you can easily find a hidden bay that you’ll have all to yourself.”

Quintin isn’t the only one to recognise Achmelvich Bay for its tropical beauty, in 2023, the beach was recognised as being one of the World’s Best Beaches.

It came in at number 45, and is the only UK beach to ever be placed in the top 50.

Scotland doesn’t just have beautiful beaches, it’s also known for its very striking landscape.

“Faraid Head in Scotland is beautiful too, especially with the dramatic cliffs that come down to the sea.”

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He continued: “Then on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula in Scotland there’s a single road where you’ll come to a volcano from thousands of years ago.

“The top has blown off and you wouldn’t even believe it’s in Britain, the beach is so remote and eagles fly overhead – it’s very dramatic.”

Quintin added: “I mean in northwest Scotland, it’s really easy to find a beach where there’s no one there for days on end.”

Applecross Beach in Scotland is a remote sandy stretch that visitors have sometimes referred to as being the ‘edge of the world’.

The area is known for its wild and untamed landscape, with rugged mountains, lochs, and beaches.

A recommendation from Quintin for any holidaymakers who want to avoid beach crowds this summer is Three Cliffs Bay in Wales.

The beach is on the Gower Peninsula and spans for 0.6 miles in low tide. In 2023, Three Cliffs Bay came ninth in Big Seven Travel‘s 50 Most Beautiful Places in the UK.

Quintin added: “It’s just beautiful, I mean, if you’re from Wales, it’s probably quite well-known but that beach was magical and it’s huge.

“It would be great for families because it’s not one of those places where everyone’s on top of each other all the time.”

Quintin’s book, The Perimeter is out now and available to buy here.

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