Eloise Feilden

In 2026, the UK’s coastline is more in the spotlight than it has been in a long, long time. The opening of the long-awaited King Charles III Coastal Path means that the entire coasts of England, Wales and Scotland are now fully walkable – giving you even more of a reason to visit this nation’s extraordinary roster of seaside towns. Of course, being an island nation, the UK has no shortage of coastal spots. Prim, proper, picture-postcard-worthy idylls? Check. Remote, blustery retreats from stormy seas?  Yep, plenty of that. Thrill-packed resort spots with something for everyone? Britain has all of the above and much more. If you’re on the hunt for British seaside towns that are worth checking out right now – the ones that should be on your radar specifically in 2026 – that’s what we’re here for. Time Out assembled our UK travel experts to pick out the country’s most exciting seaside, port, harbour and resort towns to visit this year. RECOMMENDED: 🏖️ The best beaches in the UK (and mapped).📍 The best places to visit in Britain in 2026.🇬🇧 The best new things to do in the UK in 2026.🥾 The greatest walks and hikes in the UK. Time Out’s best seaside towns, mapped Image: Time Out

July 2026: Al fresco weather is fully here, and here are the spots that spring into action when the sun is out. These places are ideal for visiting in your nice new sunglasses while snacking on a salt cod fritter. Grab a sarnie in the sunshine at Dusty Knuckle's Dalston location, trek to Epping Forest for seafood at the Oyster Shack, gorge on BBQ at Cue Point in their massive Notting Hill beer garden, lunch at Hackney hero Lardo, or trot down Regent's Canal to Towpath Cafe. Excellent Indian restaurant Kokum in Dulwich is also doing BBQs every weekend on their terrace until September. The best outdoor restaurants in London at a glance: 🍸 Best in central London: Forza Wine, Soho 🚣‍♂️ Best in east London: Towpath, Haggerston 🏡 Best in north London: Red Lion & Sun, Highgate  💦 Best in west London: Cue Point, Latimer Road 🍃 Best in south London: Italo, Vauxhall When it comes to outdoor dining there are some excellent – and hopefully sun-dappled - options at some of London’s best restaurants. These terraces, canal-side spots, gardens and al fresco restos should make you feel like you’re on a proper holiday in your hometown. Whether you’re in the mood to have spaghetti in the sun or snack on sushi by starlight, our list has you covered. If you don’t mind heights, then check out some of the finest rooftop restaurants with views in London as well. Not all of them are open in the colder months, so do check if you’re booking during a chillier time of year. RECOMMENDED: These are

Ranking the greatest pubs in the UK is, obviously, very tricky business indeed. Pub preference is such an intimate, personal thing – one person’s dream boozer might not remotely appeal to another. That said, when it comes to Britain’s absolute finest pubs there are universal marks of excellence: convivial atmosphere, charming staff, charismatic decor and, above all, a varied selection of well-kept, well-served drinks. Time Out’s 2026 ranking of Britain’s greatest pubs was compiled with the assistance of our UK-wide network of drinking aficionados, and features all kinds of establishments. Pint enclaves built in barren deserts, atop blustery mountains and on isolated beaches. Sturdy booze bastions, age-old no-fuss pubs, innovative craft alehouses and everything in between.  Some of these pubs are old favourites though plenty are more recent obsessions; they’re almost all independent (with a couple of worthy exceptions). Mostly, though, they’re united by one thing: a sense of community. A pub is made by its cast of regulars, and you’ll find quality company in each of the institutions below.  (Oh, and for the most part these pubs are outside London. You can find a list of the capital’s top drinking holes here). RECOMMENDED: The best gastropubs in the UK.  

July 2026: If you’ve had the pleasure of strolling down Exmouth Market recently, you’ll know the historic Clerkenwell strip is the buzziest pedestrianised street in London, full of al-fresco fun, convivial pintspeople and sidewalk tapas as far as the eye can see. Which is pretty much all down to the new Number 1 in our list of the best bars in London. Congratulations are due to Cafe Kick, the breezy Euro-chic sports bar about to celebrate 30 years of tricking your brain into thinking you’re on holiday. The rest of our Top 50 features bars old and new, posh and divey, and cheap and pricey, but all of them with great drinks and an unparalleled vibe. Fancy a drink? You’ve come to the right place. This is Time Out’s list of best bars in London, our curated guide to London’s drinking scene, which features the greatest bars in the capital right now. These are the places we’d recommend to a friend, because we love drinking in them and have done many times over. From classy cocktail counters to delightful dives, sleek hotel bars, rooftop bars and places to sip wine, London’s got them all. You’ll find historic drinking holes here as well as brand new openings. But what makes a truly good bar? Our critieria is simple; a menu of great drinks is important, but so is the overall energy of the place – there’s no point having the perfect paloma if you have to drink it in a bar that smells of bin juice. To make it into our Top 50, a bar has to be fun, friendly, convivial and inclusive, as we

July 2026: Soho remains London’s best place to spend a evening. Soho’s pubs are unmatched and have been around for decades, but the area’s bar scene is a little more dynamic. So as well as old faves such as Bar Termini, The Social, Bar Italia and Garlic & Shots, our list of the area’s best bars includes some newer openings, including chic cocktail bar Three Sheets, Italian hideaway Bar Lina, the ever-entertaining Stormzy's House Party and Below Stone Nest.   For centuries, Soho has been London’s playground: packed with spots for boozing, carousing, and soaking up the best of the city after dark. And even though it’s largely cleaned up its once-sleazy reputation, it’s still packed with fine drinking spots, from moody basements to high-end cocktail bars. Whether you join the crowds hopping up and down its network of streets or settle in for the duration, you’re guaranteed a brilliant, boozy night out in Soho and neighbouring Chinatown. Word to the wise: you might want to line your stomach at one of Soho’s best restaurants. Now head to the heart of the West End to make sure you don’t miss a thing. RECOMMENDED: These are London’s very best bars. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor, and you’ll probably find her at Trisha’s. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

A red sandstone amphitheatre. An ancient woodland on the English coast. A teeny tiny island with a black sand beach. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes – luckily, the world isn’t held to the same rigid beauty standards as humans are – and we’ve curated this list to celebrate that.  It goes without saying that Time Out’s ranking of the world’s most beautiful places is entirely subjective and by no means exhaustive, but what we can guarantee is real-life experience. Every single beach, lake, city and valley on this list has been visited and vetted by our globetrotting network of travel writers. In short, they’re all well worth making the journey to see for yourself (no social media fakery here).We update this list regularly, ensuring we’re including the big-hitters while considering the impact of overtourism and spotlighting lesser-known beauty spots. So here it is: Time Out’s guide to the most beautiful places on planet Earth. Happy travels!Updated March 2026: There are seven new additions to the list this year, including a terracotta-coloured Old Town in Italy, an opulent Renaissance-style library in New York and a compact mountain range in northern Spain.Grace Beard is Time Out’s travel 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. RECOMMENDED:⛰️ The most beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites🗺 The most underrated travel destinations i

There’s a heck of a lot to get excited about in Britain over the next 12 months or so. Between now and 2027 Brits will gobble down platefuls of new restaurants’ grub, slurp tasty bevs in fresh bars, get cultural fixes at museum exhibitions, spectate at globally-renowned sport events and even witness moments of proper historic importance. In 2026 the UK will see the return of the Bayeux Tapestry (not seen on these isles in 900 years) and the completion of the nation-spanning King Charles III Coastal Path. Among the likes of new music festivals and theme parks will be the world’s biggest Irish cultural event, the premiere of one of this century’s most highly anticipated stage musicals and centenery celebrations for a globally-loved children’s character.  And that’s just the stuff that’s planned – who knows what else will define the year? Without further ado, here are the 16 best new things to do in the UK in 2026, chosen by Time Out editors and contributors. RECOMMENDED: 📍 The 14 best places to visit in the UK in 2026.🏛️ The 26 best new things to do in London in 2026.🌍 The best new things to do in the world in 2026.

The building which now houses the Fairmont Golden Prague has a less-than-sexy past. Its brutalist bones were built in 1974 during a period of Czech ‘normalisation’, when the USSR was tightening control following a failed attempt by reformists to politically liberalise the country. Like I said: not so sexy. Its present, however, is far more seductive. Bought by the Fairmont Hotel Group in 2020 – owner of swanky global iconics like the Savoy in London, Shanghai’s Peace Hotel and the Makkah Clock Royal Tower in Mecca – it finally opened its shiny sliding doors in April 2025 after a long and expensive refurb. The result? Some seriously glitzy Prague digs which pay a respectful nod to the past (spot the grand, chocolate brown wood pillars salvaged from its former life) while wholeheartedly embracing a far more fancy future (fully decked out spa; custom sculptures by local glass artists; on-site brewery tanks offering Czech beer on tap). What’s the area like around Fairmont Golden Prague? You need only clock the Jimmy Choo store and Dolce & Gabbana boutique across the square to realise which side of Prague you’re in (hint: it’s the bougie side). Nestled on the outskirts of the city's Old Town, Fairmont Golden Prague sits right on the bank of the Vltava River, so views of the water glimmering in the moonlight are a given. What are the rooms like at Fairmont Golden Prague? The nine-storey hotel is home to 320 rooms, suites and serviced residences (yep, you can make like Eloise at the

Brutes is here to quench the thirst of anyone with a penchant for the strong stuff. Stepping inside is like a time machine to old school New York, complete with white-jacketed bartenders and branded mini matchbooks. They deal in martinis, of course. Dry, wet, dirty or brutal, depending on your preference and tolerance. Luckily for those with a weak constitution, your stiff drink comes with a snack. Choices range from gildas and blue cheese olives to Monster Munch (the giant kind) and bumps of caviar served atop a pearl spoon. We are in Mayfair after all, darling.

Sure, they don’t have super strength, infinite stretch or the ability to burst into flames at any given moment, but the Spiteris are basically The Incredibles when it comes to London’s restaurant scene. You might think that for the children of celebrated restaurateurs Jon Spiteri (The French House, St John, Sessions Arts Club) and Melanie Arnold (Rochelle Canteen), the choice to follow in such footsteps risks a life skulking in their parents’ shadows. Not for brothers Fin and Lorcan, who mastered their craft at Islington’s now-shuttered barge-based restaurant Caravel, and sister Molly, who leads business development for Koya. As culinary dynasties go, their powers are immense.  Grilled bream on a bed of fennel is what happens when pub food is done really, really well The latest Spiteri venture sees the two generations join forces. The Latimer is intentionally pub-first, the white tablecloths which hint at its gastro prefix only visible past the stools and steel-topped tables that occupy its main floorspace. Big windows flood the high ceilinged room with light, triggering that irresistible urge to snap a couple of piccies before golden hour fades. Come summer, grabbing a table on its terrace will likely take as much dedication as worming through the crowds to Latimer Road station on Carnival weekend. The Latimer’s menu is best pondered over a Westway cocktail – which tastes like adults-only pink sherbet, because, well, tequila. Masala monkfish with tartare sauce, which featur

Leicester Square’s notorious casino probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind for swanky cocktails, which is exactly how Archive & Myth has managed to retain its air of intrigue. Tucked away beneath the slot machines, green felt tables and waistcoated card dealers of the Hippodrome’s gambling hall, this bar prides itself on being underground in all senses of the word. It might be accessible via the Magic Mike Live entrance, but this subterranean drinking den is better suited to sultry late-night secrets whispered in dark corners than hen parties and body oil.

Whatever mood you’re in, you’re guaranteed to find a bar in London to suit it. There are swanky hotel bars for when you feel like getting scrubbed up, grungy dive bars for when you’re hankering for a game of pool and a stiff drink, and sultry listening bars for being absorbed in tunes. Then, there are the spots you go to when you want to feel really, really cool. And the place that garnered the top spot on our list of London’s 20 best cocktail bars brings exactly this vibe. We’re talking, of course, about Umbrella Workshop, an intimate 12-seater housed inside a 19th-century atelier. A truly ‘hidden’ gem, it’s tucked down a side alley in Shoreditch, signposted only by three spray-painted symbols: a martini glass, an umbrella (obvs), and an arrow.  Leonie Cooper, Time Out’s London food and drink editor, described Umbrella Workshop as ‘at once dramatic and extremely cosy’, a combo which makes it ‘perfect for an illicit liaison, were you that kind of person’. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Umbrella Project - Shoreditch Cocktail Bar (@umbrellaproject) Plus, it’s the test kitchen for nearby bars Discount Suit Company, The Sun Tavern and Parasol – so if you’re ever wondering who’s inventing the stellar mixed drinks on their menus, now you know. As well as the classics, Umbrella Workshop’s bartenders shake up some truly weird and wonderful creations. The Sweet Child of Brine is a twist on a gin and mezcal martini made with a dash of fish sauce; a

Did you know that the name tiramisu translates to ‘pick me up’ in Italian? Pretty apt for a dessert which lists espresso and coffee liqueur as two of the main ingredients. And soon, Soho will be welcoming a new café dedicated entirely to the Italian sweet treat, offering Londoners a much-needed lunchtime lift when office days feel like they’re dragging. Marrone is set to open its doors on Sherwood Street on August 15. Founded by second-generation Italian Giancarlo Fanigliulo, the debut menu will feature three versions of the dessert: ‘original’, made using Estate Dairy cream and dark roasted espresso; ‘DOP pistachio’, made with Sicilian Bronte pistachios from Mount Etna and topped with pistachio drizzle and a pistachio crumb; and a dark chocolate and Maldon sea salt version using fancy French choc from Valrhona. Is your mouth watering yet? Yep, us too. All the flavours come in alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions for anyone looking to skip the liqueur. Seasonal flavours are also set to feature in the future.  Photograph: MarroneMarrone's DOP Pistachio flavour tiramisu   The dedicated tiramisu joint has taken over the spot previously home to the Old Spike Roastery, which is moving to a yet-unannounced location near London Bridge. Marrone’s new home will be less than a five-minute walk from Piccadilly Circus and within strolling distance of Mayfair, Oxford Street and Chinatown. Photograph: MarroneMarrone's 1972 Piaggio Ape Ahead of the opening, you may also spot a Marrone-

Picture this: you’re on one of London’s most iconic attractions, with sweeping, 360-degree views of the city, taking in everything from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament to the Shard and Tower Bridge. As you gawp, wide-eyed, at the flowing water of the Thames below, the voices of some of the capital’s finest cultural experts are peppering the journey with top tips on where to head for food, drinks and everything in between. Now, we don’t want to come off as big-headed when we say this, but we at Time Out London like to think that we know this city pretty damn well. After all, it’s our job to sniff out the top foodie spots and drinking dens, the inspiring art galleries and toe-tapping theatre shows that the Big Smoke has to offer – and to share all that knowledge with you. We’re also big fans of doing things differently, which is why we’ve teamed up with the London Eye for a game-changing summer partnership. Time Out’s local editors have curated an audio guide which will play throughout each of the pod’s speakers, offering insights into London’s best restaurants, cultural attractions, neighbourhoods, hidden gems, events and unforgettable experiences. Image: Conceived and designed by Marks Barfield Architects. | ©The London Eye 2026, all rights reservedTime Out in the London Eye, summer 2026 As well as inside the pods, you’ll be able to spot bespoke Time Out branding across digital screens and prominent locations around the South Bank. The experience is running from July

If you’ve been itching for a couple of days away from the stress of everyday city life, we’d recommend a gander at Time Out’s list of the best cabins for a cosy retreat. Here, you’ll find a selection of the top places to rest and recharge, where you can switch off for a couple of days and have a welcome break from screens and stressful emails. Topping our list is Unplugged, an off-grid experience offering a three-night digital detox in snug wooden cabins in a secluded countryside setting. You’ll find a padlocked box to put your phone, maps and compasses to help you get around without GPS, and even a film pack to use in a Polaroid camera. A hot shower and soft bed are there to make going cold turkey without your smartphone a little easier. Plus, for the foodies among us, Unplugged’s offering just got even better. That’s because the digital detox cabin company has launched a culinary-focused experience with outdoor cooking and local food experiences. Photograph: Rebecca Hope / UnpluggedBed in Unplugged detox cabin Called Archie, the new cabin is a collab with cooking brand Big Green Egg. It’s kitted out with a ceramic BBQ so you can grill, roast, smoke, bake and slow-cook to your heart’s content. There’s even pizza-making equipment and rotisserie accessories so you can really cook up a storm. The new Archie cabins are located on an estate in the Vale of Belvoir in Leicestershire, and each one is within walking distance from Belvoir Castle Farm Shop, which sells local ingredi

Londoners have been swiping Oysters on the city’s big red buses far less often than we were pre-pandemic, and it’s led Transport for London (TfL) to rethink some of the city’s routes. In January, we reported on a series of proposals to axe, cut short or re-route six popular London bus routes. Then, in March, another 13 got reduced to ‘better reflect current traffic levels’. Now, the Big Smoke’s transport provider is making more changes, withdrawing one of north London’s major buses altogether. TfL’s latest proposal, will look to ‘change the routeing of bus route 149 and to withdraw route 67’, it said in a statement.  Here’s everything you need to know about the potential changes. Route 67 The 67 bus currently operates between Wood Green and Dalston Junction. If TfL’s proposed plans go ahead, the route will be completely withdrawn and replaced with the 149 bus, whose route is in consultation.  If the plans go ahead, the 149 would stop at all of the same stops as the 67, apart from Stop N in Dalston Junction Bus Station, but passengers would be able to use Stop C on Kingsland Road instead. Route 149 The 149 bus currently operates between Edmonton Green and London Bridge, but TfL wants to change the northern part of its route to begin in Wood Green instead. This would mean the bus would no longer pass the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or travel through Bruce Grove, Seven Sisters and South Tottenham. Instead, its new route would stop at Turnpike Lane, West Green Road, La Rose Lane an

Brighton Pride turns 35 this year, and there’s only one thing for it: a big celebration of all things LGBTQ+, complete with iconic performances, a huge festival and a street party blasting the tunes until well after the sun goes down.  Exactly what we can expect from this weekend. On Saturday August 1 and Sunday August 2, Brighton Pride will be taking over the city once more to fly the rainbow flag. The 2026 Brighton Pride theme ‘The Power of Love’, while the Pride in the Park lineup features the likes of Diana Ross, RAYE, Five and Jessie J. Here’s everything you need to know about the event.  SKIP TO:🗓️ Date🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Parade route📍 Route map🎤 Stages and performers🚆 Transport Brighton Pride 2026 date Brighton Pride 2026 takes place on Saturday August 1 and Sunday August 2. Brighton Pride parade route 2026 The 2026 parade will be on Saturday August 1. If you attended the parade last year, you’ll be familiar with the route, which begins on the waterfront at Hove Lawns before travelling east along King’s Road, then up through the city centre via Gloucester Place, London Road and Preston Road. The parade will finish on the southern corner of Preston Park, where there’ll be more festivities.     Photograph: eyematter / Shutterstock.comBrighton Pride Timings of the Brighton Pride parade 2026 Those participating in the parade will head off from the start point in Hove Lawns at 11am on Saturday August 1. The march itself usually finishes around 3pm, but people can take part

Here at Time Out, there are few things we enjoy more than a perfectly-poured pint at a properly good boozer. Which is why, this year, we took on the challenge of finding the best pubs these fair British Isles have to offer. Enlisting the help of our national pool of drinks experts, our editors sniffed out and hunted down the nation’s finest boozers for Time Out’s Best Pubs in the UK 2026. While the full list reveals the impressive calibre of pubs found from tip to toe of the UK, from Manchester’s Peveril of the Peak (the top pub in the list) to London’s highest-ranking establishment the Old Nun’s Head, there was one city which contained more acclaimed pubs than anywhere else.  The finest city in the land for high-quality pubs is, drumroll please... Glasgow. Three pubs in Scotland’s biggest metropolis made our 2026 list of the best in the UK – more than any other part of the country.  Photograph: Stephanie GibsonThe Doublet, Glasgow The Doublet, a staple of the city’s West End since the 1960s, scored third place on our list. Its wood-pannelled interiors and stony facade might give the place a somewhat medieval vibe, but its ever-evolving programme of live music and its wide selection of brews make it anything but archaic.  Ed Cunningham, Time Out UK’s news and features editor, had this to say about the Doublet: ‘Since the 1960s (and even after changing ownership a decade ago) it’s remained a constant amid an ever-changing West End, best-loved for its Scottish-brewed ale and

All aboard, because we’re tracing a path to each of the best cultural institutions around the UK, and our next stop is a spot entirely dedicated to locomotive history. In May, Time Out released a list of the 20 best UK museums to visit in 2026. Topping the list was the seaside treasure trove of clawed curios that is Margate’s Crab Museum, with Stoke-on-Trent’s Gladstone Pottery Museum and Tring’s Natural History Museum also making the ranking. We’re spotlighting every museum in the list, and for number 13 we’re heading to the National Railway Museum. Based in York, the NRM is a gold mine for anyone looking to nerd out about the history of railroad transportation. It’s got plenty of actual trains to gawp at, including some you can even step inside. Mallard, the world’s fastest steam locomotive, the Japanese shinkansen (bullet train), and the Intercity 125 all feature among its exhibits.  Image: National Railway MuseumThe main hall of the National Railway Museum Plus, if you can believe it, the museum is set to get even better thanks to a years-long, multi million pound refurb. Work to transform its Station Hall into an immersive space was completed last year and cost a whopping £11 million. Fresh details include retro packaging and vintage signage dotted around the hall, as well as artifacts like a completely restored 1921 WH Smith bookstall that originally lived in Waterloo station.  Now, the makeover is focused around a new central hall. Inspired by the ‘roundhouses’ of by

If you hadn’t already heard, London is pretty damn gorg. A recent study reckoned that the Big Smoke is home to the UK’s finest view, and now one of the capital’s architectural masterpieces has been ranked among the most beautiful places in the world.  The accolade went to the Barbican Estate, which ranked second on Time Out’s list of the world’s 26 most beautiful buildings to see in 2026. The Barbican was a new entry in the guide for 2026, and placed second only to the mighty Taj Mahal. Built between 1965 and 1976, the brutalist structure might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of stunning architecture, but the striking uniformity of its terraces paired with the rippling serenity of the lake and ponds below are a feast for the eyes, whatever your personal taste.   Claudio Divizia/Shutterstock.comBarbican Centre   The Barbican project, which was granted Grade II-listed status in 2001, beat other jaw-dropping edifices including Iceland’s rocket-shaped Hallgrimskirkja church and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, which is still being built 140 years after construction began. Plus, London’s labyrinthine icon is also undergoing a revamp which will see the beautiful structure made more accessible. The £240 million redesign, which will begin in 2027 and is expected to be complete by 2030, includes a new ‘wayfinding system’ to help visitors find their way around. The most beautiful buildings in the world, according to Time Out. Did you see that Tate Mod

If you’re familiar with Georgia O’Keeffe, it’s probably for her iconic paintings of magnified flowers spanning vast, colourful canvases. A trailblazing artist and pioneer of twentieth-century painting, one of O’Keeffe’s works – Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 1932 – remains one of the most expensive paintings by a female artist ever sold at auction, having fetched US$44.4 million in 2014. Over her seven-decade career, O’Keeffe also turned her paintbrush to other subjects, most notably animal skulls and New Mexico’s desert landscapes, and the latter will be the focus of a new show coming to London next year. In October 2027, Somerset House’s Courtauld Gallery will host almost two dozen O’Keeffe works, most of which have never been displayed before in the UK.  Named Georgia O’Keeffe: Ghost Ranch, the show will be a deep dive into the artist’s New Mexico home and its role in shaping her life and work.  Courtesy of Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Photo: Tim Nighswander/IMAGING4ARTGeorgia O’Keeffe Untitled (Red and Yellow Cliffs), 1940 Oil on canvas, 24 × 36 inches ‘As soon as I saw it, that was my country,’ the artist once said of the ranch, according to the Guardian. ‘I’d never seen anything like it before, but it fitted to me exactly.’ O’Keeffe first moved to Ghost Ranch in 1934 and initially rented a room in the property, which formed part of a 21,000-acre estate. She later bought the place and made it her permanent home. Shrouded in mystery, the ranch is rumoured to have been the s

UPDATE July 27 – After only being open for a few weeks, No.74 Chapel Market has closed. A statement on July 14 said: ‘Unfortunately, due to some issues out of our control, we are no longer able to keep on trading’. Alongside Sunday roasts, fish ’n’ chips and fry-ups, London’s classic food scene is built on classic cockney pie and mash. Juicy meat enveloped in flaky pastry, a plate piled high with pillowy mash, lashings and lashings of liquor – what’s not to love? So when M Manze, an icon of jellied eels, meat pies and mashed potatoes, closed its doors on Islington’s Chapel Market, it was a sad day for trad British chow.  M Manze first opened its branch on the market in 1911 and served traditional cockney fare for more than 100 years. But rising rents and business rates forced it to shutter in 2019. Fans of its food – some who’d been eating there since childhood – flocked in their hundreds to wave goodbye to the famous pie shop. RECOMMENDED: The best pie and mash shops in London. Now, seven years after its closure, the seductive smell of parsley liquor will be wafting through its doors once again. That’s because the historic site has reopened as No.74 Chapel Market, serving up the same classic dishes it was originally famed for. Yep, business partners Martin Savage and John Gordon have decided to restore the Chapel Market site to its former glory. Thanks to the Grade II-listed status of the building, the iconic M Manze shopfront sign, tiled walls and wooden tables will all re

When you think of Wiltshire, prehistoric sites or sweeping downlands probably come to mind. The ceremonial county is home to iconic landmarks like Stonehenge and the Westbury White Horse, a vast white figure carved into the chalk slope of an Iron Age hillfort. But did you know that this area of southwest England is also home to some properly gorgeous old towns? And two of them could be about to get much easier for Londoners to visit. Local campaigners have called for direct rail links from the capital to Trowbridge and Bradford-on-Avon to be reinstated. Routes which previously connected the towns to London Waterloo were axed in 2021 and passengers now need to change trains at either Salisbury or Southampton to reach them, with journey times lasting around two hours. South Western Railway (SWR) has now launched a consultation asking passengers what they would like to see changed about current services – a development that has stirred campaigners into action.  The local West Wiltshire Rail User Group is pushing to have two SWR services – one that runs from Bradford-on-Avon and Trowbridge to Salisbury and one connecting Salisbury with London Waterloo – to be joined up. Its members argue that there would be no large costs associated with getting the direct service up and running again. Photograph: ShutterstockBradford on Avon in Wiltshire Wiltshire Council said it would ‘strongly welcome’ the direct train service, which would provide local commuters with easy access to the capi