Annie McNamee

Television has been around for 70 years, but only in the last two decades has it earned true respect as an artistic medium. Up to that point, elitists referred to TV as ‘the idiot box’ or ‘the boob tube,’ and if you worked in it, you were either a hack or an upstart hoping to make the leap into the more dignified world of movies. Was its poor reputation deserved? Sure, there were blips of brilliance between The Ed Sullivan Show and The Sopranos, but by and large, the garbage outweighed the gold. Maybe it’s unfair, but the fact that it was all being beamed directly into our living rooms made the dreck more noticeable.  That’s all changed. Television has nudged film out from the center of popular culture, to the point that some of cinema’s truest believers – Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh – are making movies specifically for the small screen. The shift may have started with HBO and The Sopranos, but the advent of streaming has made it so that hundreds of new shows are now continually flipping the script every few years, if not months. But that doesn’t mean everything before 1999 is pure dross. While this list is dominated by 21st century programs, there are hundreds of shows that deserve credit for pushing TV forward into its current golden age, and chiseling them down to a neat top 100 is difficult. So we elected to leave off talk shows, variety shows and sketch comedy, focusing on scripted, episodic dramas, comedies and miniseries. Even then, it proved to b

This is about the time when the January blues start to hit pretty hard. It’s dark at 4pm, you’ve got no money left after Christmas and winter feels like it’s dragging on forever. But we’re here to tell you that things are looking up, because 2025 is going to be a corker of a year for the UK.  It turns out that 2025 is going to be a bit of a big one, with a number of landmark occasions being celebrated across Britain. There’s Jane Austen’s 250th birthday in Southampton, as well as the art-packed Folkestone Triennial, a celebration of 200 years of the British railway in York and Bradford’s 2025 City of Culture festivities. Then, there are up-and-coming foodie towns in Cornwall, music scenes that are popping off in Cardiff and Belfast, and the reopening of grand cultural insitutions like the Tate Liverpool.  If there’s ever been a good time to book a trip, it’s now (it might even help keep some SAD at bay). There is so much fantastic stuff happening across the country this year, so read our list curated by local experts of the best places to visit in the UK in 2025, and get stuck in.  RECOMMENDED: 🇬🇧 The 25 best new things to do in the UK in 2025📍The 12 most underrated city breaks in the UK 🏨 The UK’s 13 best new hotels opening in 2025👨‍👩‍👧 6 amazing places to stay with Kids in the UK

This bustling coastal city is absolutely steeped in history, maritime heritage, and of course, there's loads to see. It’s roots date back as far as the Stone Age, and it's first ever museum (the Tudor House) remains a top attraction, with gorgeous gardens and guided tours on offer.  There’s plenty of modern-day action too, with a treasured football team, The Saints, and their fans bringing life to the city on match day. Southampton is also only a 20-minute drive away from the New Forest, or a ferry-ride away from the Isle of Wight, there's plenty going on that makes this city worth a visit. Check out our list of top picks for all the best things to do in Southampton.  RECOMMENDED: ⛰️ The best things to in the New Forest🏖️ The best seaside towns in the UK💕 The best things to do in the UK Annie McNamee is a writer at Time Out UK. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

If people make Glasgow, music is what fuels it. The city's music scene was thriving long before the rest of it had caught up, with places like the Barrowlands and the Old Fruit Market offering locals good, cheap live music when general attitudes of Glasgow were, let's just say, less than favourable.  But those days are behind us, and Scotland's biggest city is now known across the UK for its vibrant cultural heritage, nightlife, and, of course, its music scene. Whether you're looking for an arena of people to scream along your favourite songs with, or a small makeshift stage at the back of a bar to find your new favourite band, Glasgow's got you sorted. Fair warning though: crowds here are famously rowdy. They're a lot of fun, but don't be surprised if you end up beer-soaked. Oh, and brush up on our local chants. You don't want to be the only person not shouting along with 'here we, here we, here we f'ing go!'. 

History has it that Pollokshaws Road was once home to a merry band of Flemish weavers – known as the ‘Queer Folk’ – who were brought over to work in the city during the 19th century by local landowners. These days it’s still a thriving creative hub, threading down Glasgow’s Southside and linking up the districts of Govanhill, Strathbungo and Shawlands. Rows of sandstone tenements loom over traffic separated by wide pavements, behind which stand ornate townhouses designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. There’s a juicy chunk of Pollokshaws Road where bars, cafés and boutiques jostle for space; pick it up from Allison Street and wander down past Queen’s Park. Since it’s a largely residential area, there’s a distinct feel of community – something that’s enhanced by the indie businesses that have popped up over the past few years. In particular it’s a brunch haven, with queues leaking out of living-room-sized cafés come rain or shine. You can also expect to find organic fruit and veg at Stalks & Stems, a fresh produce emporium with a florist next door, and (almost) a different coffee shop for every day of the week. It’s not all hipster territory, though. Punters tired of mustachioed baristas and bar staff will be cheered by the decent selection of old man pubs complete with smoked-glass windows. Recommended: Full guide to the best things to do in Glasgow

How easily could you be persuaded to shave off an eyebrow, or take a shot for every stair you climbed? Perhaps you’d feel more compelled if you were half a bottle of ‘Chicken Wine’ deep, 18, and surrounded by new friends that you were trying to impress? If you attended university in the UK you might have an uncomfortable feeling of deja-vu, perhaps being whisked back to the time you were ‘hazed’ as a first year student. If you didn’t, you’ve likely heard the rumours about former prime ministers getting it on with pigs, or rugby teams shoving carrots in places vegetables should never go. Hazing, or ‘initiation’ as it more commonly goes by this side of the Atlantic, is a practice which usually consists of ritualistically embarrassing rookie members of a given group in order for them to prove themselves. It’s also nothing new. There’s evidence of rowdy schoolboys dating as far back as 420 BCE when Plato recounted ‘practical jokes played by unruly young men’ which left both spectators and haze-ees injured. Somehow, this bizarre custom has survived the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the birth of Jesus Christ, several international plagues and found a home for itself in the modern age on university campuses. But for the past decade or so, hazing’s millenia-long reign has been threatened by a generation who supposedly care more about their physical and mental health than they do about banter and ritual humiliation. Today, hazing has met its match: Generation Z. So what do these

In 2024, what exactly makes a neighbourhood cool? Craft breweries, natty wine bars and street art are well and good, but the world’s best, most exciting and downright fun neighbourhoods are much more than identikit ‘hipster hubs’. They’re places that reflect the very best of their cities – its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink – all condensed in one vibey, walkable district. To create our annual ranking, we went straight to the experts – our global team of on-the-ground writers and editors – and asked them what the coolest neighbourhood in their city is right now, and why. Then we narrowed down the selection and ranked the list using the insight and expertise of Time Out’s global editors, who vetted each neighbourhood against criteria including food, drink, arts, culture, street life, community and one-of-a-kind local flavour. The result? A list that celebrates the most unique and exciting pockets of our cities – and all their quirks. Yes, you’ll find some of those international hallmarks of ‘cool’. But in every neighbourhood on this list there’s something you won’t find anywhere else. Ever been to a photography museum that moonlights as a jazz club? Or a brewery with a library of Russian literature? How about a festival dedicated to fluff? When communities fiercely support and rally around their local businesses, even the most eccentric ideas can become a reality. And that, in our eyes, is what makes a neighbourhood truly cool. From formerly overlooked sub

You might never want to leave Edinburgh, and we get it. The Scottish capital is loved the world over for its culture, restaurants and Fringe Festival (to name a few). But if you limit your time in Scotland to just Edinburgh, trust us, you’re missing out.  Scotland is full of gems, but the best part is a whole lot of them can be reached by train or car in just one day – with enough time left to get back in time for dinner. From hilly hikes to wide-open beaches and from pretty towns to full-blown city breaks, these day trips from Edinburgh are not to be missed. Here are our favourites.  RECOMMENDED:🌤️ The best things to do in Edinburgh 🎨 The best art galleries in Edinburgh🏰 The best attractions in Edinburgh🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Edinburgh This guide was updated by Edinburgh-based Arusa Quereshi, and Time Out editors. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

What words come to mind when we mention the Olympics? Prestige? Excellence? Medals? Or is it: ‘Grom’?  The Olympic games have been around for nearly three millennia. As the entire planet tunes in to watch as the top sports people compete for those coveted gold medals, there’s some stuff you’ll probably want to get your head around to make the most of your viewing experience: jargon for you normies to weave into your vocab that will have you sounding like proper Olympic pros in no time.  RECOMMENDED:How to watch the Paris 2024 Olympics in the UK for freeHere’s the full schedule and timings for the Summer Games We’ve done some digging and unearthed some 100 percent real words and phrases that will almost certainly be used by professional Olympians and commentators across the next few weeks. What’s more, there’s something inherently funny about words which sound out of place to the average Joe. There’s nothing worth giggling about hearing the word ‘jaeger’ at a bar (especially as it’s usually followed by a friend trying to convince you to neck a shot of sweet battery acid and gone-off liquorice), but watching it earnestly come out of the mouth of a world-class gymnast? Now that’s entertainment. So what are you waiting for? Brush up on your sporty lingo and drop these into convo next time you’re watching the Games to impress your mates. Skateboarding  ‘Goofy stance’: Refers to when a skateboarder has their left foot on the back of the board. Also used in surfing and snowboarding

You remember the days. Assuring your friend that she definitely looks like her older cousin’s co-worker, especially with a ponytail in. Hovering awkwardly around the corner from the off-license as your one 18-year-old pal does God’s work for the rest of you. The pit in your tummy as you recite a fake birthday to the bouncer of a sticky-floored nightclub – remembering your star sign, memorising your imaginary postcode – and the elated relief when he lets you in with a raised eyebrow and a reluctant nod. Finding increasingly inventive ways to get around age-restrictions was half the fun of being 17, but today’s teens seem to be going off going out altogether. ‘You definitely see fake IDs less than you used to,’ says one bouncer at a popular student nightclub in Bristol. When he started working at the venue a decade ago, he’d encounter a load of fakes on any given night – but not so much anymore. ‘The worst one I ever saw had the back on upside down,’ he says. ‘The ones we do see are getting a lot better and it can be harder to catch them. But they’re definitely rarer now.’ Something has certainly shifted. A few weeks ago, as I walked through the Triangle, Bristol’s premier hotspot for stumbling freshers and lovers of three for two Jägerbombs, I noticed that the local Sainsbury’s was busier than all of the clubs combined. Two years ago, dancefloors would’ve been filling up at 11pm on a Monday. This wasn’t a fluke: since that night, two of the clubs in question have closed their

For all of the stick we give the UK – the grey skies, the pigeons, the Greggs sausage roll packets littering the pavements – it’s actually a pretty gorgeous country. In London alone, you can be goggling over the Barbican’s brutalist beauty one moment, the next, you might be basking in the tranquility of Hampstead Ponds. Add the turquoise coasts of Cornwall, the rugged mountains of Snowdonia and the fairytale wonder of Scotland’s highlands and islands to the mix, and you’ve got a country which is as good looking as they come.  When we set about curating this list of the most beautiful places in the UK, we called on our network of expert travel writers. These guys have have personally experienced the pinch-me moment of seeing every place on this list IRL – so we can guarantee you there is no catfishing going on here. Of course, you’ll find the usual suspects – you can’t argue with the magic of the Isle of Skye, after all – but you’ll also find some more surprising beauty spots to add to your travel bucket list. RECOMMENDED:🚂 The UK’s most beautiful train stations🇬🇧 The best things to do in the UK🏝 The most beautiful places in the world🏠 The best Airbnbs in the UK Chiara Wilkinson is Time Out’s UK features editor, based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content

Ever wanted to know what life as student is really like in 2023? We asked 20-year-old student-turned-amateur-anthropologist Annie to tell us her observations about the people, parties and juiciest secrets of the UK’s unis. Here’s her verdict. Universities. National institutions. Places of learning and research, incubators of intellect. Unfortunately, also the land of the ‘student’. Student is a varied species which feeds mainly on pasta and rice. British students can often be found at the nearest Wetherspoons, getting drunk on vanilla flavoured vodka because the regular one is 30p more expensive. They tend to be slightly nocturnal and the males are known for going to extraordinary lengths to attract mates that they will subsequently ‘leave on read’.   Subtypes of ‘student’ vary based on location and each British uni comes with its own set of defining characteristics. So, buckle up: this is an entirely imaginary but 100 percent accurate investigation into the private lives of students in the wild, in their most natural habitat – on what they like to call, ‘a night out’.  Newcastle Image: Genie Espinosa We start in Newcastle and encounter Georgia moments after arriving at Market Shaker, an underground bar. She promptly begins chatting about the time she almost jumped into the Tyne ‘just for laughs’, which seems common for the ‘Geordie’ student species. Other notable characteristics appear to include: studying Geography, being obsessed with the North/South divide, Nike Air Max

You’ve been here before. Almost.  With a clientele which would be perfect for a Love Island spin-off featuring exclusively people with ‘entrepreneur’ in their bios and a healthy amount of exposed pipework, The Counter is what those in the know would probably call ‘trendy’. Its dim lights, small plate selection, and strategically chipped brick feature wall put it on the verge of parodically hip, but a glance at its menu and a quick chat with any member of its team reveal it to be much more down to Earth than some of its equally Instagrammable peers. If you close your eyes you can almost feel the Istanbuli breeze flowing through your hair The sense of deja-vu you feel may not be coming solely from its open-plan bar though. Chef Kemal Demirasal’s first UK venture, opened up two years ago in Notting Hill to much success. Originally from Turkey, he’s taken much of the charm of the original joint (as well as its most popular recipes and excellent cocktails) and transported it to Kingly Street – and combined it with a series of fresh ideas and a lot of seafood. Fresh is definitely the operative word. The cocktails are infused with real fruit. The tomatoes have been imported from Turkey. There’s sort-of-caviar sprinkled on avocado-topped fish. If you close your eyes and just bite, you can almost feel the Istanbuli breeze flowing through your hair. A series of enthusiastic staff members recommended a variety of dishes to us. Some, like the tomato salad or prawns, were familiar classi

Enjoy an evening of modern classical music composed by Black artists whose work did not get the spotlight that it deserved in its time at this Southbank Centre concert. The night will involve three different pieces from three different composers, performed by up and coming American violinist Randall Goosby, who made his debut with the Jacksonville Symphony orchestra at just nine, and award-winning Chinese pianist Zhu Wang. 

We don’t see the sunshine enough in the UK, so when we do it’s a pretty big deal; something to be cherished. Why, then, has the UK government put millions of pounds into ‘dimming’ the sun? And what does that even actually mean? First of all, don’t worry. Although the headline conjures images of a bunch of civil servants donning their spacesuits and taking hosepipes to the great ball of fire, in reality it’s a much more mundane process known scientifically as ‘Solar Radiation Modification’ (SRM). The main goal is to reduce overall global temperatures, which will in turn help global warming and slow down climate change. However, it’s proving controversial, even amongst scientists. It’s also important to remember that this is all still theoretical, as no large-scale SRM schemes have been implemented yet, in the UK or abroad. With that said, here’s everything you need to know about SRM, including why ‘dimming the sun’ isn’t as terrifying as it sounds. How are scientists planning to dim the sun? The process is still in its experimental phase, and different researchers have developed different methods which they believe could lower the temperature on Earth by a couple of degrees. The foremost method, and the one which the UK government is likely to try first, is Marine Cloud Brightening. This involves spraying a mist of natural sea water into the sky from a boat in an effort to make the clouds more reflective. Another funded method, Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, would send a wea

If trees could talk, what would they say? Apparently they’re more likely to say ‘I need water’ and ‘the air pollution here is getting bad’ than the ancient wisdom we’d all hoped for. It’s thanks to designers Tom Massey and Je Ahn that we’ve got the above answer. They’ve been working on pioneering ‘talking trees’, which use AI to communicate trees’ needs to horticulturalists, hopefully allowing them to live longer, healthier lives. The technology will make its world debut next week at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which runs between May 20-25. With this new ‘TreeTalk’ system, developed in collaboration with tech consultants Avanade, gardeners will be able to directly ask the trees how they are feeling, and if they need anything in particular. Gone are the days when striking up a conversation with a tree would get you a few sideways looks and a concerned call from your mum – now it’s actively helpful to find out what’s going on behind the bark. After the Chelsea Flower Show, TreeTalk will be installed as part of a major expansion at Mayfield Park in Manchester, which one expert described as the ‘park of the future’. It’s the first park to be built in the centre of Manchester in over a century, so it makes sense that it’s the first to welcome this new, experimental technology. Danny Williams, who is the Estates Manager at Mayfield, has said that the park is ‘proud to be at the forefront of innovation’, and that ‘this collaboration with Avanade marks an exciting step… allowing us

If you’ve been into town recently, you know what’s up. You’ve seen the boarded up windows, you’ve noticed your usual haunts disappearing, you’ve benefited from an ‘everything must go – half off!’ sale once or twice. You can see that it’s a shop-ageddon out there on UK high streets, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. In 2023, we lost Wilko, and then in 2024 we got it back. Then we said goodbye to a bunch of Marks and Spencers, some Boots, a few Body Shops, and plenty more. In fact, some studies have estimated that Britain lost up to 37 shops a day in 2024. Although we all hoped that the new year would bring good news for our high streets, it’s looking like 2025 might just be more of the same. It’s not all doom and gloom, but it’s useful to know exactly what’s coming and going so that you don’t plan an entire shopping day around a store which has closed its doors for the last time. Here’s an exhaustive list of all the big places shutting up shop this year across the country. All the UK high street closures in 2025 Iceland Iceland will close two supermarkets this summer. Those are:  Margate, College Square – June 21 Inverness, Rose Street – July 12 Find out more about the two closures here. Morrisons Supermarket chain Morrisons is shutting dozens of Morrisons Daily convenience stores and Morrisons Cafés, as well as Market Kitchens, florists, meat counters, fish counters and pharmacies. Here are the store and café closures, and you can find the full list (including Mark

Usually gigs take place in venues like concert halls, stadiums, or festival fields. Rarely, if ever, are they set against the backdrop of a barren, deserted beach. That’s where Bombay Bicycle Club are forging their own path… literally. The indie band, whose music soundtracked many a millennial’s university life, will need to don their walking boots for their upcoming concert on a remote north Welsh beach. The exact location is still a secret, and those with tickets will be sent exact coordinates on the morning of the event – all of which really adds to the whole off-grid adventure vibe. There will be limited phone signal at the venue, if you can call it a venue, which is intentional on the part of the organisers. The goal is ‘to get people to ditch their phones, vibe with the music, and soak in nature as they hit up the secret off-grid gig for a chill lunch break’. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon, eh? The concert is part of the Columbia Hike Society’s HikeFest 2025, which is aiming to provide ‘free, inclusive hikes in stunning landscapes.’ There are several free events planned across the UK – and beyond – in the coming weeks, which you can learn more about here. There are several hikes available to get to the secret location, each which vary in difficulty and length, but the only tickets still available are for the mega 18.72-mile advanced walk, which will take over 6 hours to complete. If you still fancy a gig at the end of that, you’ll definitely have earned you

In wake of the UK’s recent spurt of sunshine, it’s an excellent time to plan a seaside trip here on our home shores. While we have some cracking beaches in Britain, we also have some which are more mulch than sand, or have views of shipyards rather than the sun glistening on the horizon. To make sure you’re not wasting your time with any substandard sands, the Independent and its team of in-the-know travel writers has crafted a list of its 13 favourite beaches in the UK. The team’s top pick is not, as you might expect, down in Cornwall, in fact it’s right on the other end of the country. Instead, Bamburgh Beach in Northumberland, known for scenic castle views, sand dunes, and proximity to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, came out on top. The Independent says that the magic of Bamburgh lies in the impressive views from its miles-long shore, and the nearby cafés which offer some much needed respite after a long day of walking. The cherry on top is the free to borrow all-terrain wheelchairs offered by the council so that everyone can enjoy the beach equally. In second place was Lyme Regis, all the way down in Dorset. The Independent’s Ted Thornhill describes it as ‘a perfectly formed arc of golden sand that nestles amid cute, multi-coloured beach huts and food stalls that deploy the freshest seafood’. As if that wasn’t enough, it’s also right on the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage site – it’s no wonder locals know it as the ‘pearl of Dorset’. Photograph: Shutterstock Ta

We’ve all been enjoying the sun for the past few weeks, but as us Brits know all too well, you can’t get used to nice weather in this country. For some unlucky folks, an imminent thunderstorm could put an end to BBQs and tinnies in the park – at least for today. The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning for a significant chunk of the south of England and almost all of Wales for later on today (May 12). It will likely hit early in the afternoon, but it won’t last long, and there is a small chance that these storms will cause disruption to your day. Regardless, if you are in the yellow-zone pay close attention to the weather forecast and look out for updates throughout the day. Here’s everything you need to know about the thunderstorms due to hit the UK today. Full list of areas with a yellow thunderstorm warning The Met’s yellow warning extends all the way from the North of Wales to central Cornwall at its southernmost, and Kent at its furthest East. This means that London is in the potential danger zone. Other major cities likely to be hit include Cardiff, Swansea, Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, Oxford, Bristol, and Bath. The Black Country, Gloucestershire, and Wales seem to be at the centre of the warning. Here’s the complete list of areas affected: East Midlands Northamptonshire East of England Central Bedfordshire Essex Hertfordshire Luton Thurrock London & South East England Bracknell Forest Buckinghamshire Greater London Hampshire Kent Medway Milton Keynes

Airports are generally stressful places to be, so you want the process of getting there to be as painless as possible. Travelling to Heathrow, for instance, you’re spoiled for choice: hop on the Elizabeth or Piccadilly line, get the Heathrow Express, or save some cash and get a coach. Other London airports, however, have fewer options. The bus company Flibco was founded for precisely this reason. Originally operating as a shuttle service between Frankfurt and Frankfurt-Hahn airport (which is actually 70 miles away from the city), the operator has brought its bright green coaches to the UK and launched a shuttle service between London Liverpool Street station and Stansted airport. Flibco joins National Express and First Essex in offering a bus service to the northeast-of-London airport, and, according to research from London blogger Diamond Geezer, it’s officially the cheapest way to get from the centre of the capital to Stansted. The lime-green buses go through Bishopsgate and Stratford, and take a total of 90 minutes to get from Liverpool Street to the airport coach station. They are also conveniently timed, running every half hour for 24 hours a day. A return ticket is around £19, without luggage – you’ll be charged extra if you bring a suitcase or two onboard. Even with that extra fee, however, Flibco is still cheaper than its competitors. You can book your journey with Flibco from their website here. How can I get from central London to Stansted Airport? The fastest way t

Airports are stressful at the best of times, but they can be even more daunting if you have specific accessibility requirements. Whether you’re in a wheelchair, have small children in a buggy, or just require some kind of mobility aid, some airports are harder to navigate than others. So it’s good news that a recent study by mobility equipment company Halton Stairlifts of the most accessible airports in the world features three right here in the UK. But how do you measure accessibility? Halton Stairlifts’ method involved analysing over 50,000 reviews, across Google and TripAdvisor, in terms of what customers had to say about a range of criteria including mobility services, staff support, how clear the signage was, and the accessibility of facilities like toilets and shuttle bus stations. From there, the report gave each terminus a score out of 100. The best airport in the world for accessibility was Singapore with a score of 96, with Halton Stairlifts praising the southeast Asian hub for its excellent support services.  The highest-placing UK airport was Manchester, which came fourth overall and received a score of 91. Although Manchester was recently named among the worst hubs in the country for delays, it seems to be succeeding in providing for those with extra accessibility needs due to recent investment into assistance technology. Also appearing in the top 10 was Edinburgh in seventh. Scotland’s largest airport got 87 out of 100 thanks to its short distances between gates

Since opening in Covent Garden in 2010, Dishoom has become one of the most successful Indian food chains in the country. It’s not hard to see why – the combo of good vibes and delicious food is hard to beat. Last month Dishoom announced that it would be opening a café in Glasgow, and now there’s even more news of expansion from the chain. Leeds could be the next major UK city set to get a Dishoom, according to the Caterer. The hospitality publication reports that planning permission to turn 68-78 Vicar Lane, near the city centre, into a Dishoom restaurant was received by Leeds City Council in March. Investment company Town Centre Securities (TCS) owns the space.  If the planning application is successful, the building is set to be ‘sympathetically transformed to align with Dishoom’s distinctive design style’, according to TCS. It’s expected to feature much of the same rustic, Bombay Irani café stylings that feature in other Dishooms. A spokesperson for TCS said that the company is ‘thrilled at the opportunity to bring Dishoom to Leeds and be able to provide such an iconic space in the heart of the city. ‘Dishoom is a brand that has redefined dining experiences in the UK, and their decision to come to Leeds – and specifically to this key location, is a strong vote of confidence in the city’s continued growth as a regional destination for food, retail and culture.’ Where are Dishoom’s current locations, and where is it expanding to? There are currently 10 Dishoom branches in t

Eighty years ago tomorrow (May 8), German troops surrendered to the Allied forces, marking the end to World War II. Six years of fighting, millions of lives lost, and entire cities levelled to the ground were finally in the past. Naturally, this was cause for celebration. VE Day, short for Victory in Europe Day, is being celebrated across the country with a variety of events, parades, and installations this week, including the 30,000 ceramic poppies which have been placed outside of the Tower of London. You can see a complete list of the London landmarks that were lit up to mark the occasion yesterday (May 6) here. It’s easy for us to think of WWII as a dark moment from a distant past you learn about at school, but it was less than a lifetime ago. In fact, your grandparents were probably alive during it. Looking at photographs from the period can really put into perspective just how recent it was, and Historic England has just revealed a rare collection of photographs from Pinewood Studios which bring attention to the ‘pioneering’ work done by women filmmakers during WWII. Pinewood Studios was where the Government kept its film units during the war. According to Historic England, it was here that ‘time-critical newsreels and coverage of key events in the war were created, including the D-Day landings’. The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) worked at the studio, providing vital support to wartime photography and filmmaking. One particular woman, Knicky (pronounced Nicky) Chap

Thinking about booking a holiday? Act soon, and you could bag yourself a serious deal. British Airways (BA) has a massive sale on, and if you book before May 20 you could be in for some proper bargains. BA has dubbed its current batch of deals ‘The Original Sale’, and the UK’s national carrier is offering hundreds of pounds off flights across the world throughout 2025 and 2026. Whether you’re after a simple return journey or the full flight/hotel/bags package, the airline has got you covered. All flights included in the deals depart from London Heathrow or Gatwick and, according to BA, some of the airline’s most popular routes are currently on sale. Destinations include St Lucia from £520 per person for a return flight this November, and seven nights in Tenerife for £359 per person in November. The only catch is that each deal is only available for specific dates, which vary between destinations, so make sure you read the small print when you make your booking. The best BA sale deals in The Original Sale 2025 For the ultimate city break, you could go to New York for three nights next January (2026), staying at a 3* hotel from £579pp. That doesn’t include any food but it does account for one 23kg checked bag each. Alternatively, for something more beachy, try seven nights in Orlando for £569pp, also in January 2026. If you don’t fancy a long-haul flight, don’t fret – does seven nights in a four star hotel in Halkidiki, Greece for less than £350pp sound nice? Of course it does

Sometimes it really is the journey that counts, not the destination. For instance, one Scottish train journey, dubbed the nation’s most remote trainline, is the sort of journey you don’t want to nap through. The four and a half hour journey is about as stunning as they get. Wick is a town which is home to the northernmost train station in the country, and around 6,900 people. It’s not much on its own (sorry, Wick), but it is the start and end-point for the most scenic train route in the country. The trip from here to the nearest city, Inverness, goes through miles of bogs, which might not sound that exciting on paper, but hear us out. The Flowlands, Europe’s largest bog, is a UNESCO world heritage site, and it was also just named one of the greatest places to visit in the world by Time Magazine. Viewing it by train means you can enjoy the scenery without needing to get your wellies on. If that wasn’t enough, you’ll also pass by several old Scottish castles – these things are straight out of Macbeth. One in particular, Dunrobin Castle, even offers discounted entry with your train ticket. You can also expect to see loads of sheep, and maybe even a Highland cow or two if you’re lucky. They really do have it all. The line is also set to get an £11.5 million investment from Network Rail this summer, going towards replacing an old section of track. This will mean that for a period of time services will stop at Dingwall, so make sure to double check before you make your way to the v