Cathedral Gardens in Manchester is going to be transformed into a glorious Ice Village this Christmas.
The festive village is going to be filled with ‘breathtaking ice attractions’, including an ice bar and an ice cave with a frozen toy factory and Santa’s grotto hidden inside.
The ice attractions will be hand-carved by the world’s best ice artists from Hamilton Ice Sculptors, the company behind the Magical Ice Kingdom, a centrepiece of Winter Wonderland in London, who have already got to work on hundreds of sculptures.
They say this Ice Village is going to be the ‘most ambitious undertaking to date’.
Absolutely everything you will see will be made from 250 tonnes of solid ice – all of which will be kept at -10 degrees in a massive freezer installed on site before it opens.
There’s going to be a steam train crafted entirely from ice alongside ice sculptures of elves, enchanted toys and arctic animals set against a factory backdrop of ice cogs and pistons to pay tribute to Manchester’s industrial heritage.
(Picture: Hamilton Ice Sculptors/MEN MEDIA)
There will also be ice sculptures referencing famous local figures from history, including a female train driver with a ‘Votes For Women’ badge as a nod to suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.
The Ice Village will be an addition to Manchester’s Christmas Markets and will include an ice rink, as well as its own stage, with a daily programme of free festive activities and entertainment for all the family, ranging from craft sessions for kids to live performances by local Christmas choirs.
There’ll also be lots of ice-themed games, which will take place under snow covered trees and fairy lights.
And of course, there’ll be festive food and drink offerings – including hot chocolates and mulled wine, which can be enjoyed on rustic log benches.
Councillor Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson, said: ‘The capital of Christmas just raised the festive bar once again.
(Picture: Hamilton Ice Sculptors/MEN MEDIA)
‘The Ice Village is the first of its kind attraction in the UK that will transform our family-friendly area in Cathedral Gardens.
‘The Ice Village will complement our world-famous Christmas Markets that will see more than 300 stalls spread across the city centre squares, bringing the festive season to life in Manchester.
‘We’ve been waiting months to announce this incredible event and I can’t wait to be transported to a magical land of ice when it opens in November.’
Though the Ice Village is totally free to enter, visitors will need to pay for the ice cave ice sculpture exhibition, for Santa’s grotto and for the ice skating rink.
It’s set to open on 9 November to 5 January – except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day – from 11am to 9pm daily.
Though prices are yet to be confirmed, you’ll be able to buy tickets here from 27 September.
Forget the perfume you liberally spritz yourself with before a night out – it’s your natural, fertile BO that’s going to get you laid.
New research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that women are at their most attractive to male partners when they’re at their most fertile time of the month.
During this period, a special scent is released thanks to the hormone oestradiol. Women’s oestradiol levels are at their highest during ovulation.
The 28 women who took part in the study were kept on a strict diet and asked to sleep with cotton wool pads under their arms at the most fertile point of their menstruation cycle, in order to soak up the sweet, sweet smell of fertile-lady.
The pads were then frozen, defrosted and offered to 57 men, who sniffed them and gave each pad a rating depending on how attractive they found the smell.
The results of the sniff-test were cross referenced with saliva samples taken from the women.
It quickly became clear that the higher the level of oestradiol in the pads and the lower the level of progesterone, the more attractive the women smelled to the men involved in the study.
Lead author Daria Knoch, form the University of Bern, wrote in the study: ‘I believe we all find it very interesting to find out what makes us attractive.
‘Chemical communication of sex and reproductive stage are ubiquitous in the animal kingdom.
‘Our results provide strong evidence that humans also use chemical signals to communicate their reproductive potential.’
Connections between fertility and how attractive women are deemed by men have been made before.
In 2007, Geoffrey Miller conducted a study of lap dancers where he calculated their nightly tips against their menstruation cycle, finding that the dancers were getting bigger financial rewards when they were at the peak of their fertility.
Autism is often talked of as a label but for me it is a way of being.
It means seeing the world in a very intense and colourful way. Yet, at the same time, being autistic can also be extremely challenging; seeing, feeling and experiencing life with such intensity can be completely overwhelming.
That sensation that most of us get when we scrape our fingers down the blackboard is what I feel in abundance a lot of the time – especially when I’m travelling on public transport, when I’m in large crowds and in social situations.
This is because I can’t process information with a lot of people interacting at the same time. So what happens is I just shut down.
Last year I turned 50 and it marked 10 years since I was diagnosed as being autistic. The diagnosis changed my life radically.
Up until that time I was unconsciously overcompensating for something I could never give a name to.
Chris was diagnosed at 40 (Photographer: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)
This was physically, mentally and psychologically overwhelming for me, so much so that all my life up until the time I was diagnosed with autism, I suffered severe bouts of depression and anxiety, even spending time in hospital.
It is quite ironic that what I regarded as one of my greatest achievement — my adaptive skills — became my greatest impediment and barrier to being diagnosed and getting the help I so desperately needed.
Every autistic person is different but my story is not unique.
When my autobiography was published in 2009, many autistic people contacted me to say that my struggle mirrored theirs. That they too had lived a provisional existence living in a cloud of unknowing that they were autistic.
Receiving an official diagnosis of autism was not a distressing experience for me; it was living in the unknowing that had been so distressing.
But in this context ‘diagnosis’ is too clinical a wordto describe a moment in which my humanity was so deeply affirmed and understood.
A new world opened before my eyes and with it a very new opportunity to live on life’s terms and not the superimposed life I was forcing upon myself before diagnosis.
Perhaps it is true to say that my experience of being autistic has four chapters. The first chapter, which I call denial, was all about running away from the overwhelming suffering resulting from being humiliated for being different.
Chris did not find his diagnosis distressing, but affirming (Photographer: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)
The second chapter, over-identification, was when — during the formal diagnosis of autism — I just stopped running and did a complete U-turn. I became totally absorbed in what I had been running away from.
The third chapter, which I call embodying and integrating, is all about holding and entering into a loving dialogue with those parts of myself that I had unconsciously hidden away and deemed unacceptable.
The fourth chapter is grieving. This stage is very much an ongoing process for me as life’s events, together with the passing of time, continue to evoke feelings of intense and overwhelming sadness.
I am learning that the extent to which I can hold tenderly all my life experiences, becomes the extent to which I can start to move through them and then beyond them.
One of the many challenges I faced after being diagnosed was to integrate this understanding of autism into my life. Spirituality has really helped with this.
Spirituality for me has little to do with beliefs. It’s about living simply and faithfully within the mystery of what it means to be most human.
My Quaker faith inspires me in this regard as Quakers embrace simplicity as a means of eliminating the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
However, living simply also offers me a very practical way to ‘be’ more in the world and less overwhelmed by it.
Today I can say that whilst autism is not who I am, it is an integral part of my human experience. For me there is no stigma in being labelled autistic, there is only celebration. Celebration for the courageous life I have lived.
Labels is an exclusive series that hears from individuals who have been labelled – whether that be by society, a job title, or a diagnosis. Throughout the project, writers will share how having these words ascribed to them shaped their identity — positively or negatively — and what the label means to them.
The prefect Christmas gift – search your feelings, you know it to be true
Star Wars fan had better rewrite their Christmas lists, as Lego has just released another monster-sized set based on The Empire Strikes Back.
Betrayal At Cloud City is a huge 22” round playset that recreates all the major scenes from Bespin’s Cloud City, including Han Solo being place in carbonite, the pivotal lightsabre battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett’s escape in his ship Slave I, the dining room scene, C-3PO’s near death experience in the furnace room and, err… Han Solo on a torture rack.
The carbon freezing chamber actually works, with a little bit of Lego trickery that makes it look like Han is being turned into a (Lego) brick, and there’s a swing-out gantry for Luke to make his big sacrifice following Vader’s spoilerific revelations.
A city in the clouds… on your coffee table
The only downside, as usual, is how much it costs but while £299.99 is not cheap, you do get 2,812 Lego bricks and several exclusive figures.
There’s also two vehicles included, with a Twin-Pod Cloud Car (including pilots) and a mid-sized version of Slave I, but the most important feature is the chance to show off to your friends – who will then pretend you’re just being childish while secretly being deeply envious.
The set is available from today if you sign up (for free) to be a Lego VIP or it’ll go on general sale from October 1 from the Lego online store.
It is useless to resist
Betrayal at Cloud City is the first of a new range of sets classified as the ‘Master Builder Series’, as opposed to the Ultimate Collectors Series that includes the very most expensive sets like the giant-sized Millennium Falcon.
Master Builder Series are described as large playsets that prioritise interior details and lots of minifigures. It’s not clear what other sets will be released in the range, but they’re not likely to be just limited to Star Wars.
Whatever else is to come though Lego now seem to have announced most of their new sets for this year, with a number of them clearly also aimed at adult collectors, such as Lego Hogwarts Castle and James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5.
Rumours for next year though include sets based on video game Overwatch, which Lego themselves have already started hinting at, and less substantiated talk of a deal with Nintendo for The Legend Of Zelda.
Q. How did Darth Vader know what he was getting for Christmas? A. He felt his presents
You could take on Willy Wonka or Charlie Bucket costumes today (Picture: Getty Images)
13 September is Roald Dahl Day, and this year it would have been the author’s 102nd birthday.
The hugely popular writer produced all-time classics such as Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the BFG, amongst many more.
Today, his incredible range of characters are celebrated as schoolchildren across the country dress up as their favourite one.
Here are a few fancy dress ideas if you are struggling to put your costume together…
Roald Dahl is celebrated on his birthday (Picture: Getty Images)
For this costume just make sure you have some kind of girly smock dress complete with the troublesome red bow and plenty of books.
You could go all the way and fill a classic pull cart with books.
Also dressing up as Bruce Bogtrotter is a winner because it immediately implies you have to eat a copious amount of cake to get into character – Go Brucey!
The key ingredient in this costume is the Golden Ticket and the overall look of happiness and gratefulness.
Just wear some clothes that have probably seen better days and you’re off to see Mr. Wonka.
If being a pleasant child isn’t your thing you could equally dress up as some of the other eclectic characters such as Violet Beauregarde (remember just a big blueberry), Veruca Salt, Augustus Gloop, or Mike TV.
Pairing a fox mask with any kind of aristocratic outfit and a tail is a winner for this costume.
Other animals and beasts in Dahl’s books you could dress up as include The Enormous Crocodile, The Roly-Poly Bird, Muggle-Wump, Miss Spider or Ladybird.
Maybe rein in your kids with this costume because if they are going to look anything like the actual Witches they are going to be severely creepy and will infect all our dreams just like the book did.
A sassy little witch costume will get you on the right track.
This one is sure to divide the audience, go as the Gene Wilder version of Mr Wonka or the Johnny Depp version Roald Dahl would just prefer if you actually read the book and went as the version you create in your head.
Some kind of an impressively colourful suit, coat tails, top hat and cane, and you may as well be a Quentin Blake illustration.
Possibly the funniest and most liberating to dress up as is Mrs Twit or Mr Twit because you can just look like a wreck for the day and give out to everyone.
If you are going as Mr Twit make sure to dip your beard in cornflakes first, we are striving for authenticity here.
Yummy Yellow – Roald Dahl’s favourite colour
Of course if you are coming to the party late you can always wear yellow to honour the great man himself.
Join in the Dahlicious Dress Up Day by covering yourself in the colour Mr Dahl loves the most and celebrate his greatness.
A seal laughs at your life choices (Picture: Amy Kennedy / CWPA / Barcroft Media)
There’s really no need to intellectualise this.
Animals are great. When they make certain faces or get caught in certain poses, it’s a delight.
Remember that seal making a glorious WTF face? That was wonderful.
So we need everyone to take a pause, let your stresses fade into the background, and give into the pure joy of the finalists from this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
Out of thousands of entries, 41 have made the cut. Take a look at some of our favourite below, and put your bets in now on who’s going to take the grand prize.
A squirrel want you to question whether what you’re doing is a good idea (Picture: Mary McGowan / CWPA / Barcroft Media)
Some intimidating skimmer birds stare down the photographer (Picture: Ke Qiang Ruan / CWPA / Barcroft Media)
A polar bear tries to remain patient while teaching its pal some basic dance moves (Picture: Luca Venturi / CWPA / Barcroft Media)
A pair of lions making some, um, interesting facial expressions (Picture: Muriel Vekemans / CWPA / Barcroft Images)
Two komodo dragons embrace despite their natural awkwardness (Picture: Sergey Savvi / CWPA / Barcroft Media)
A rabbit just cannot deal anymore (Picture: Dan Friend / CWPA / Barcroft Media)
When cooking for a group of friends, steak can be a pricey option.
It’s not that you don’t want to treat your friends, but who can afford prime cuts in this economy?
Lidl’s new deal, however, is giving you the option to be bougie on a budget, with steak and sides for five and award-winning wines for only £3.40 per person.
(Picture: Giphy)
Their Ultimate British Night In package is designed to be shared between five, and consists of everything you need to be get the meat sweats and red-wine teeth:
Birchwood Farm XXL British Beef Rump Steaks (£9.99 for a pack of five)
A bag of Oaklands Wild Rocket (39p, 70g)
A bag of Harvest Basket Potato Wedges (65p, 750g)
Two bottles of award-winning Cimarosa South African Pinotage (£2.99 per bottle, 750ml)
Okay, so you do officially need to have four other friends to get the saving. Or you could just neck the wine and eat the steaks yourself; no judgement here.
The wine itself is down from £3.89 down to £2.99, and last year was awarded a Silver IWSC award and a Bronze Decanter World Wine Award. It’s also valued at £4.99 according to wine connoisseur apps.
Tell that to your wannabe sommelier mates.
The deal is available in stores this weekend (15 and 16 September) until stocks last.
I was picked on for being different, hardworking and weird.
My bisexuality bothered people. I was regularly showered with homophobic slurs, spat on and had chewing gum put in my hair.
Sadly, the effects of peer to peer bullying don’t magically disappear once you leave school.
They can continue well into your 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond.
Bullying shattered my self-confidence. Constantly being told how ugly and unlikeable I was made me think I didn’t deserve to be treated well by anyone, particularly romantic partners.
I’d keep going back to people who hurt me, convinced that I didn’t warrant anything better.
I don’t want the cruelties of other kids – the majority of whom won’t even remember me from school – to define the rest of my life.
But I’d be foolish not to acknowledge that it’s had an impact.
Research from the British Medical Journal and Duke University Medical Centre demonstrates that far from being a harmless, character-building experience, bullying increases the risk of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression later in life.
A study from King’s College London that spanned five decades also found that people who had experienced severe bullying as children were more likely to smoke, drop out of college, be socially isolated and report low levels of life satisfaction.
We spoke to people who experienced bullying at school to find out what impact this had on later life.
Kirsten, 35
I was bullied in primary and secondary school, which had a massive impact on my self-esteem.
It was verbal taunting with the odd shove. I’m an introvert and was very shy and a total daydreamer so I would stare off into space in class and sometimes the teacher would shout at me in front of everyone, which was hugely embarrassing for someone who hates being the centre of attention.
I got called ‘dopey’ and ‘daydreamer’, and taunted about being stupid, which really affected my confidence and stopped me going for things I wanted.
It took me years to realise I was actually pretty smart and was just distracted easily by what was going on in my own head.
I’m incredibly imaginative and by early new year will have four business books and two novels released, and have ran my own business for five years.
But it took a long time to get here – I’m 36 next month.
In my 20s, I felt like I wanted to do something to prove I was interesting or brave or smart so I had this big bucket list of things to tick off. My motivation for doing these things has completely changed now – I just did a shark dive a couple of weeks ago conquering a huge fear of mine.
Patrick, 34
During my early school days, I remember being bullied. I was sensitive and cried easily, and for a little boy, I was a perfect target.
I remember a teacher taking a disliking to me at age eight, and punishing me in a humiliating way. I was devastated and my parents had to move me to another school.
I coped with my feelings by becoming a bully myself and picking on another pupil at age nine.
I paid the price by losing all the friends I’d made by moving to a new school, and by the time I’d started middle school, I was being bullied again – by both boys and girls.
At home, my older brother was cruel and violent. I didn’t get any support. Being bullied at school without stability at home is very difficult to swallow.
I now suffer with chronic low self-esteem and I’ve been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Carly, 29
I was bullied at school but it made me tough and not care about what other people think of me.
I have health problems so I’m overweight, and I pretty much always have been.
One girl in particular used to blow her cheeks out like a puffer fish and make fat remarks, and it started getting worse.
I didn’t want to go to school so I was moved schools by my parents.
When I got to the new school everyone was so nice that it made me realise being fat didn’t make me a bad or horrible person, and that the bully from my old school had her own problems or insecurities.
After moving to Cardiff years later, I found the Prince’s Trust and started my own business. I now have three businesses and have been shortlisted for a number of awards.
Sophie, 23
When my best friend in Year 5 decided she wanted to be friends with the more popular girls, she told them all the secrets I’d trusted her with.
She even took my diary from my bag once and read pages out loud to people in my year.
I’d written some things about a boy I liked. During breaks and lunch, it felt like everyone was calling me out, saying how could any guy ever like me and the boy who was the subject told me how gross it was that I liked him.
People started rumours about me and my small group of friends suddenly didn’t want to hang around with me anymore.
I began lying to my parents about feeling ill so I wouldn’t have to go into school, or if I ever tried to eat before going to school my stomach would have such bad butterflies from being nervous I would end up being sick.
It finally got bad enough that the school involved our parents, and the girl who started it all was asked to leave the school.
But it didn’t solve things, as I got blamed by the popular group for getting her effectively expelled.
From that point on, everyone treated me like a disease. Any chance they got they would comment about how they thought I wasn’t pretty, or that I was too weird and awkward.
When I did try to make friends with new kids at the beginning of the year, they would be warned off me and be told to tell me that they didn’t want to be seen with someone like me.
It did get to the point where I felt so ostracized and alone that I started self-harming.
It was hard to see a future where I wasn’t looked down on or spoken about behind my back.
In Year 12 I started hanging out with one guy in my year and we became more than friends.
I also started to meet his friends, one of whom showed an interest in me, making the original guy jealous. He lied that I was his ‘sloppy seconds’ and said we’d slept together. This led to a whole bunch of people in my year shaming me and calling me a slut, which went on until the end of sixth form.
By the time I got to university, social situations with people I didn’t know terrified me, I had almost no self-confidence and suffered from anxiety attacks. I found it difficult to trust people and struggled to make friends. This is something that still affects me.
I now work in PR, which involves a lot of talking to people and attending events, and this has helped me a lot with my anxiety.
Peer-to-peer bullying at school can affect the way you make friends in adulthood. (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)
I still struggle with my self-image, but my fiancé – who has confidence to spare – has taught me a lot about learning to accept compliments. I still find it hard to make friends, but the ones I do have are the most important people to me and have proven to me I can trust them.
A lot of advice you receive from teachers or friends when you’re being bullied tends to be ‘it won’t matter in a couple of years’.
People don’t understand that what happens in school can affect someone for the rest of their life. You never just forget, I still have scars that remind me of what they used to say every time I look at them.
Yasmin, 28
I received a bit of teasing in primary school, but in high school it was more emotional, psychological bullying because I was one of the ‘try hards’ who was aiming for Oxbridge.
I was in a very good school, which was ultra-competitive so it wasn’t as though they weren’t trying, but I was at the more extreme end.
The bullying came under the guise of being told I thought I was ‘better than other people’, and it’s definitely contributed to my sense of imposter syndrome.
Now, I massively shy away from making a song and dance about any of my achievements, whether they’re academic, at work or to do with my hobbies, unless it’s with a small select group of people I know and trust won’t cut me down.
Sadie, 27
I got bullied a lot because I was into different things like video games, anime, superheroes and heavy metal.
I also got bullied a lot because of my weight. People used to call me the ‘beached whale’.
I think that this was what made my depression and anxiety so bad.
I self-harmed a lot and purposely avoided social situations which is a behaviour that had stuck with me into adulthood.
I ended up feeling like an outsider, avoiding social situations and generally hating other people.
I’ve got a good group of people around me now who I fit in with, but I still struggle when it comes to new people outside of my friendship circle.
Adam, 25
I was bullied both physically (pushed downstairs for looking different, for being lonely and having no friends) and was verbally abused throughout my school years.
I was called a ‘freak’, ‘bastard’ and all manner of other names because I was the odd one out.
I was later diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome but continued to suffer the bullying. Kids would wait outside the gates for me at the end of school and abuse me on my way home. I stayed late to avoid them and caught lifts and taxis home.
I now have a diagnosis of depression, and have battled with this and mental health problems for years – despite running my own successful business now. I even got an award from the Queen (Queens Young Leader award) in 2016 for my work speaking out about this ordeal and autism.
(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co,uk)
A spokesperson from the anti-bullying charity Kidscape told Metro.co.uk: ‘Bullying is most likely to happen in your school years, but the effects can stay with you for life.
‘For some people, childhood bullying experiences can have a lasting impact on mental health and cause difficulty trusting other people.’
It’s simplistic and untrue to assume that once the bullying is no longer occurring, the experience of being harassed, excluded or generally made to feel worthless will affect you no further.
Bullying is a traumatic thing to experience. Prolonged traumatic experiences in childhood have been proven to alter the brain structure because the brain is registering prolonged levels of danger and stress.
Bullying stimulates the release of the stress hormone cortisol, but long-term abuse blunts this response, meaning that less and less is released as traumatic situations become normalised.
Over time, this interferes with the production of seratonin, the brain’s ‘happy’ neurotransmitter, leading to problems with mood regulation and depression.
By considering these neurological implications, we can begin to understand why the effects of bullying don’t just go away once you move schools, go on to university or enter the workplace.
It makes the fact that so many people succeed in their lives despite suffering years of abuse at the hands of peers, even more commendable.
If you do manage to transform your experiences of bullying at school into motivation to achieve good things and get the most out of life, that’s absolutely wonderful.
However, if you’d rather not use your trauma as any kind of motivation at all, that’s fine too.
People deal with trauma in different ways, but it’s not appropriate to tell anyone to just move on and forget about childhood or teenage experiences of bullying.
Real healing might take time to arrive and it could mean seeking professional help to deal with issues around body image, self-harm, depression and anxiety.
Making an appointment with your GP is a good first step.
If you still feel adversely affected by experiences of bullying when you were younger, it’s absolutely normal. There’s no shame in not being ‘over it’.
Roald Dahl and some of his famous creations (Picture: Metro/Quentin Blake)
Few authors have created as many hugely popular and enduring characters as Roald Dahl, and today we celebrate what would have been his 102nd birthday.
Every 13 September is Roald Dahl Day when fans of his work are encouraged to read his books and schoolchildren dress up as one of his characters.
Not only did Roald create some of the most memorable children’s books of all time, he also led a pretty incredible life.
Here are some interesting facts about the great man and some fantastic quotes from his timeless classics…
(Picture: Corbis)
Roald Dahl Facts
Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, in Cardiff, Wales, in 1916
When at home with his family, Roald Dahl spoke Norwegian as his parents, Harald and Sofie Magdalene, were from Norway
Roald Dahl was named after Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen
Over his career, Dahl invented more than 500 new words and character names
Roald Dahl answers a telephone while filming an episode of the science fiction show ‘Way Out’ (Picture: Getty Images)
Roald Dahl fought in World War II as a pilot officer in the RAF, seeing action in Africa and Greece.
After leaving the war effort due to injury, he worked in espionage for Britain in Washington.
‘My job was to try to help Winston to get on with FDR, and tell Winston what was in the old boy’s mind’, said Dahl of his role in the US
Dahl wrote 48 books in his lifetime, including 17 children’s novels and 20 other children books. This doesn’t include screenplays.
Some of Roald Dahl’s characters appear in more than one story: both Muggle-Wump the Monkey and The Roly Poly Bird are in The Enormous Crocodile and The Twits, and Roly Poly also appeas in Dirty Beasts
The inspiration for Fantastic Mr Fox was a tree that grew outside Roald Dahl’s home in Great Missenden
The BFG and Sophie (Picture: Quentin Blake)
The following data was compiled in a survey by Wordery which show just how popular Roald Dahl is in the UK.
One in 10 Brits cite Roald Dahl as one of their favourite authors of all time
Women prefer Roald Dahl to men; with 15.9% of women choosing Dahl as one of their favourite authors compared to 7.9% of men
Roald Dahl is most popular with those aged between 16-24 (21.3%)
The South West like Roald Dahl the most (19%), with Bristol the city that love Dahl the most (20.3%). Brighton comes fifth (13.3%)
Matilda is the most searched for Roald Dahl book in the UK receiving almost 35,000 searches per year, compared to the USA who favour The Witches
Matilda also takes the top spot as the most popular Roald Dahl book in the world according to search volumes
Roald Dahl wrote a lot of his famous stories in this shed in Buckinghamshire (Picture: PA)
Roald Dahl quotes
‘I understand what you’re saying, and your comments are valuable, but I’m gonna ignore your advice.’ – Fantastic Mr Fox
‘Don’t gobblefunk around with words.’ – The BFG
‘Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog.’ – Matilda
‘A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.’ – The Twits
‘It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.’ – The Witches
Sir Quentin Blake, the renowned illustrator for Dahl’s books (Picture: Getty Images)
‘A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men.’ – Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
‘And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikley of places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.’ – The Minpins
‘It’s impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren’t feeling twinkly yourself.’ – Danny, the champion of the world
‘So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall…’ – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Never let people’s comments on your body stop you following your dreams.
Amy Marie is a 32-year-old dancer and model from California. She’s been dancing since she was three years old, but was almost thrown off her passion entirely by cruel comments when she was 10.
As a child Amy was regularly cast as the ‘bigger’ characters in productions, such as the horse in The Nutcracker, and had to put up with specially made costumes that weren’t as fancy as the other dancers’.
She battled constant criticism – from other children who told her she was ‘too big’ to be a ballerina and from her dance instructor, who told her she needed to shed two stone.
Amy always dreamed of being a ballerina (Picture: Amy Marie / MDWfeatures)
At ten, Amy’s confidence was so shredded that she quit dancing entirely, giving up on her dreams thanks to people’s comments on her body.
‘I have been big my whole life, growing up I was taller than all the boys and wider than all the girls,’ said Amy.
‘In school when they asked what everyone wanted to be when they grow up, I would always say a ballerina.
‘Ironically, I didn’t realise I was fat until I was in my ballet class when I was about 10 and a classmate pointed out my thighs. We were all kneeling on the ground and one girl pointed to me and said, “why does your leg look like that?”
‘I remember thinking is there something wrong with me and my legs? I began looking in the mirror and obsessively trying to make my thighs and stomach smaller.
The model was told she was ‘too big’ to be a ballerina (Picture: Amy Marie / MDWfeatures)
‘I loved ballet and I loved dancing. I remember how amazing it made me feel and still does. But I stopped doing ballet for a few years after that.
‘I was tired of the whispers and giggles that other dancers directed towards me when I undressed in our dressing room.
‘Three years in a row, I had to be a horse in our annual show of The Nutcracker because that’s the only costume that would fit me. I gave up wanting to be a ballerina because I was told I was never going to look like one.’
Amy tried to put her passion into sports such as basketball, but nothing gave her the joy of ballet.
Amy had to endure regular rude comments and fat-shaming from her peers (Picture: Amy Marie / MDWfeatures)
When she went to university she returned to dancing, but continued to struggle with feeling shamed for her body.
‘I was so excited to be learning about something I was so passionate about,’ said Amy. ‘I was doing over 20 hours a week of classes, rehearsals and shows, but I was still having issues with being fat shamed.
‘In productions, nothing ever fit me. I always had to have special orders or custom pieces, and I felt guilty about it. I often stood out because my costume would be a different shade or different fabric so that it could fit me.
She now works as a model and shares her dancing online (Picture: Amy Marie / MDWfeatures)
‘I continued to get other girls whispering and rolling their eyes at me.’
Each time Amy danced, the people who’d bashed her were shocked at her talent. Amy realised that the best way to fight back at the bullies wasn’t to quit and hide away, but to prove them wrong by following her dancing dreams.
When her boyfriend cheated on her, Amy used dance to work through the emotions, heading to the gym at midnight to practice so she wouldn’t have to deal with people’s judgement.
It’s taken a lot of physical and emotional work, but Amy is now at a place where she feels comfortable doing the dance she’s always loved.
She now works as a plus-size model, and shares her dancing journey on Instagram, proving wrong all the people that said her body would prevent her from being a dancer.
She’s proven the bullies wrong (Picture: Amy Marie / MDWfeatures)
‘To get myself through it all I just danced. I would write in my journal and then turn that journal entry into dance choreography,’ said Amy.
‘In every performance I would break down and sob and yell and work through my emotions for a whole year. It was the best thing I’ve ever done for myself.
‘I’ve learnt that I can’t control how other people view me. There are plenty of reasons for people to fat shame but that doesn’t matter to me anymore.
‘I used to ask myself why me? Why do they hate me? But ultimately that isn’t my problem nor my fault. My energy and focus are better when it’s directed towards myself.
‘If there is something that brings you joy, pursue it.
‘People might try to stop you or shame you, but if you are passionate about something it shows. People will notice and eventually you will find your community of support that will encourage you to pursue it.’
Kate was diagnosed with leukaemia aged 32 (Photo: Kate Stallard)
Months before my diagnosis, I started to feel very tired, and although I was exercising a lot and running at least once a week, my fitness levels were not improving; in fact, I was getting worse.
I felt exhausted constantly and walking upstairs made me breathless. Exercising left me feeling like I would faint. I saw a nutritionist after thinking it was a poor diet, and a dentist for my painful gums and mouth ulcers.
My period was extremely heavy. I was bleeding through clothes, changing nearly every two hours. It wouldn’t stop.
My head throbbed with a headache where I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.
My shoulders and neck were achy down my left-hand side, and I had purple spots on my jaw.
I was covered in unexplained bruises.
The night sweats were awful, too.
I had been experiencing some of the symptoms for a few months and put it down to stress as I was going through a divorce. I never thought it could be cancer.
I visited my GP who dismissed my symptoms as stress related and suggested eating iron-rich food. My bruises were unchecked, temperature not taken and I was told it was ‘just a heavy period’.
I did ask for a blood test and was told I could book in for a non-urgent one in a week’s time.
Just two days later I was referred to the out-of-hours GP at the hospital. She checked my bruises, took my bloods and did a urine test. She thought I was seriously ill.
I drove myself home and at 3:30am she called to say my blood test was severely abnormal.
Eight hours later in A&E, I was told I had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). I was told I needed urgent chemotherapy and wouldn’t be leaving the hospital for weeks.
Kate has since had a stem cell transplant (Photo: Kate Stallard)
Two days later, I was told I actually had acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) which was ‘better’ as it’s more treatable.
I knew that chemotherapy meant that my chances of having my own children would be wiped out. I begged to have my eggs frozen before starting, but there was not enough time.
I was told by doctors that if I delayed the start of my treatment, I would be dead within two days.
I spent the next six weeks on the ward. My lovely blonde hair fell out in clumps. I sobbed as I pulled it out.
After three rounds of chemo, everything seemed to be going to plan and I was in remission. Then I fell quite ill again with high temperatures and double vision. My right eye started to turn inwards.
When I went to see my consultant, I was in the room on my own expecting good news. However, he told me the results showed the cancer had come back with a vengeance.
I was devastated. My world fell apart yet again. Consultants said I would need a stem cell transplant in order to survive.
The day of transplant came. It took two days in total and the stem cells had a distinctive aroma and taste of sweetcorn. I haven’t been able to touch the stuff since.
During recovery, I was placed in isolation again and rapidly went downhill. I couldn’t eat and ended up on morphine for the pain. I felt very low and wondered if I would ever recover again.
However, and here’s the hard bit for me to write, the transplant hasn’t grafted properly.
Ten months post-transplant and I am still struggling to function normally.
There have been discussions about a further stem cell transplant, but it has been deemed unnecessary at this point. So, I have to hope that my bone marrow will start to regenerate normally in the future, or maybe this is as good as it gets. Who knows.
I do know for certain that I am in medical menopause and starting HRT soon. This for me has been one of the hardest elements of the whole process.
But I am still here. Without all of this treatment I wouldn’t be here at all, for certain.
I am eternally grateful to all the nurses, doctors and hospital staff who have kept me alive. I am in remission now. I am trying to keep my mind and body active and I volunteer at Malvern Hospital looking after their raised beds garden, which helps me while I try to build up my strength and hopefully brightens the patients and staff’s day.
I hope the Spot Leukaemia campaign will raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of leukaemia for both patients and healthcare professionals. I would urge anyone who has these symptoms to seek urgent medical help and demand an urgent blood test.
I would also hope that on seeing this campaign GPs request blood tests for a patients presenting with these symptoms.
Leukaemia Care, a national blood cancer charity, are raising awareness of blood cancer during September through their #SpotLeukaemia campaign.
Leukaemia Facts
Leukaemia is a blood cancer. It affects people of all ages
Almost 10,000 people are diagnosed in the UK each year
The most common symptoms of leukaemia are fatigue, feeling weak or breathless, fever or night sweats, easily bruising or bleeding, pain in bones or joints and frequent infections.
OK, not quite – but with beauty advent calendars popping up on every corner, we’re starting to feel the festive vibe (even if it’s only mid-September).
The release of the beauty calendar calendar, named ‘All I Want’, is a first for the brand.
It features more than just make-up and creams; to spice things up, they’ve included a small Yankee Candle jar, though it’s not specified which scent you’ll score.
While you bathe in the candlelight, you can also look forward to other highlights such as the Nars Velvet Lip Guide, HUDA Beauty Winter Solstice Palette and Eyeko Fat Eye Stick.
There are body products too, such as the Charles Worthington Volume & Bounce Body Booster Mousse, Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater & Pink Peppercorn Hand Therapy and Phillip Kingsley Body Building Conditioner.
The calendar contains 16 full-size products and nine sample sizes, and is worth a total value of £300.
What can you find in the Glossybox advent calendar?
NARS
Velvet Lip Glide
Nip & Fab
Dragons Blood Fix Plumping Serum
Yankee Candle
Small Jar
Philip Kingsley
Body Building Conditioner
MDM
Great Than – Mascara
3ina
The Lip Primer
Patisserie de Bain
Strawberry Cupcake Body Wash
Real Techniques
Expert Face Brush
Charles Worthington
Volume & Bounce Body Booster Mousse
Crabtree & Evelyn
Rosewater & Pink Peppercorn Hand Therapy
Steve Laurent
Lipgloss
Pixi by Petra
Fresh Face Blush
Zelens
Transformer Instant Renewal Mask
Eyeko
Fat Eye Stick
Mitchell & Peach
Flora No.1 Fine Radiance Oil
‘We’re very excited to announce our first-ever advent calendar,’ said Andy Wood, head of Glossybox in the UK and Ireland.
‘We’ve produced a limited number to ensure high quality of product and we’re delighted to deliver a mix of major trend-leading brands, alongside new discoveries in typical Glossybox fashion.’
Glossybox subscribers get first dibs, and can pre-order from 10th September for £75.
Meanwhile, lowly non-subcribers will have to wait until 15th October and cough up £99.
High costs of living, unstable jobs, the stress of figuring out which thing to kill next, and, of course, the big challenge: the plight of avocado hand.
Thankfully there’s now a solution that doesn’t involve buying every gimmicky gadget under the sun.
Tesco is launching a type of avocado that easily pulls away from the skin once it’s cut in half, meaning you don’t have to mess around with slicing and scooping.
It’s called the EasyAvo.
The EasyAvo is a hybrid breed grown in South Africa and has been around for a while, but this is the first time it’ll be available in the UK. It’s different to your standard avocado as the skin is thicker, making it easier to separate from the flesh of the fruit, but taste-wise it’ll still do the trick mashed up on toast or turned into a nice guac.
You’ll be able to buy the EasyAvo from today, 13 September, at selected Tesco stores, for £1.95. They’re a limited edition offering, so act fast.
Tesco avocado buyer Laura Marsden Payne said: ‘Last year customers bought nearly 60 million avocados from us, so we’re sure that this fantastic avocado will minimalise fuss and make life a little bit easier.’
Well, thanks, pals. We can’t wait to spend all our savings on avocado toast without the fear of nearly slicing off our thumbs.
The fashion world tends to show us one rigid definition of beauty: thin, white, abled women.
Thankfully brands are moving towards being more inclusive.
New York Fashion Week has embraced diversity as the annual event included a model with Down’s Syndrome, one of the first to walk on a major runway show.
Marian Avila walked the catwalk wearing sparkling gowns made by designer Talisha White.
The 21-year-old model said it was her lifelong dream to be able to appear at the show and prove that there isn’t just one type of beautiful.
Marian, originally from Benidorm, Spain, told press, after walking in the show at midtown Manhattan that there are no barriers to beauty.
Designer Talisha, who creates glamorous evening wear, first heard about Marian through another model online.
Marian became a natural choice for Tasha’s line as the designer prioritises inclusivity. The show also featured Tae McKenzie, a model who uses a wheelchair.
Talisha said she felt proud of Marian for breaking boundaries in the industry.
‘Marian’s been a busy supermodel, meeting with all types of people,’ said Talisha.
‘I’m very glad for her. She’s been meeting with Vogue. She’s been meeting with Harper’s Bazaar. She’s been meeting in different showrooms, different modeling agencies.
‘I wanted to show not just one type of girl is beautiful. I like to showcase all types of girls, from pageant girls to models in wheelchairs, models with Down Syndrome, models who are four feet and told they can never be a model. They are my “it” girl.’
Other brands at this season’s Fashion Week also picked more diverse models.
Chromat featured breast cancer survivor Ericka Hart who unzipped her swimming costume to show her scars to the audience. The swimwear company also had plus-size women, women of colour, and older women.
With her massive fan following and knack for making items worn on the show sell out, it’s no surprise that M&S has snapped up Holly for her own collection with the brand.
The line, called Holly’s Must-Haves, won’t be available to buy until later this month, but M&S revealed all the bits that’ll be on offer at a launch event this week.
The range focuses on staples that can be mixed, matched, and worn again and again, including a chunky knit jumper, a leopard print dress, a faux leather jacket, and a pink coat.
They’re all reasonably priced too. We don’t yet know the cost of each item, but the leopard print shirt dress Holly wore to the event is £49.50. Not bad.
People who have lived to be older than most are often asked about the secret to a long life.
Brenda Osborne, 105 years old, likes to surprise people with her answer. The centenarian from Mansfield, Nottingham, says the secret to a long life is to stay single.
The retired nurse stunned care workers when they asked for tips on how to live to a ripe old age.
She said she attributes her longevity to avoiding men and fresh air after spending half the year living at a caravan park after her retirement.
(Picture: SWNS)
Brenda was born in 1913 – the same year as the first ever Chelsea Flower Show in London and when 439 miners died in the Senghenydd Colliery Disaster.
She spent the vast majority of her life in her childhood home, for 93 years, before she moved into a nursing home.
‘I would put my good health down to hard work and avoiding men,’ she said.
‘I loved celebrating my birthday although I was disappointed the Queen didn’t come. I received my letter from her but I thought an appearance was the least she could do.’
Carers at the Brookholme Croft Nursing Home in Hasland threw Brenda a party (Picture: SWNS)
Brenda first began work at Victoria Hospital in 1940, nursing Dunkirk veterans, becoming a senior nurse in 1953.
Impressively, Brenda even received an award for only having one day off sick in 33 years.
Marie Pollard, Brenda’s great-niece said she wasn’t surprised to hear that avoiding men was her secret.
‘My auntie living for over a century is no surprise to me as she’s always been fiercely independent,’ she said.
‘She only moved into the care home last year and jokes her secret to long life is avoiding men – as they aren’t worth the hassle.’
Brenda has lived through two world wars, the crowning of three monarchs, 24 changes of prime minister and England winning the World Cup in 1966.
Sigmund Freud has got a lot to answer for, particularly when it comes to how we think about our parents.
While academics have proven time and time again that we learn our behaviour from our parents, it’s still a sore spot for people who don’t have great familial relationships to know that it could affect everything from personal finance to dating.
The term ‘daddy issues’ has come up in pop culture more times than can be counted, usually referring to women who are ‘damaged’ and might be easy to sleep with.
A number of men’s rights activists have spoken about the benefits and drawbacks of dating women with daddy issues, with these tweets recently going viral on the issue:
Here’s how:
Tell a story about something you and your father did.
I always talked about how I raced go karts and that brought my pops and I closer together.
There are plenty of people out there who believe long term relationships are doomed to fail if you and your father didn’t get on, and it all dates back to Freud’s father complex (although he believed it was primarily a male issue).
Jung later developed theory that women could also be influenced by an absent or distant father, and would potentially try to overcompensate for that to try to gain affection or mistrust men as a result.
Nowadays, the stereotype of a woman with daddy issues continues. ‘Manosphere’ site Return of Kings said that a woman with these problems can be ‘modest, docile dynamo-in-the-sack who’ll come over to your house on short notice to have rough sex and bake cookies for you afterward.’
Or, ‘it can signal that you’re about to embark on a clusterfuck rollercoaster ride with a head case — that’ll likely end with the cops coming to your house, you having to repaint your car, or having to call Verizon Wireless to block a number.’
(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)
Dating expert James Preece says that in his experience, ‘women who are close to their fathers are often more confident with men than those closer to their mothers. They don’t spend their lives seeking approval from men as they have such a strong man in their life already.’
But what if you simply didn’t get on with your dad? How do you ensure that the prophecy doesn’t fulfil itself?
Child psychotherapist Dr. Fran Walfish says, ‘Truth be told, we can’t help the family histories we come from. Nor can we deny that people tend to categorise even when they are open minded and fair folks. We all need to do our best at constantly looking within and being accountable for our own ideas, thoughts, judgments, actions, and words.’
Self-reflection is as the heart of her strategy – both as parents or grown-up children – and she says that recognising what type of father you have is key, as ‘the way in which a girl’s father relates to her becomes her familiar baseline for how she expects and accepts treatment from men in her romantic relationships.’
Dr. Walfish's types of fathers
Healthy attachment – Dad is interested and well-engaged.
Detached father – Father is not there.
Unavailable father – Dad is there but focused on other things.
Sports dad – Father is intensely into sports and can only relate to his child on an athletic level, both as spectator and active participant.
Disciplinarian father – This dad has entered into a usually unspoken agreement that mum is the nurturer while Dad is positioned in the family as the disciplinarian.
‘Psychotherapy and high levels of motivation’ are Walfish’s recommendation for breaking the cycle of daddy issues, and making sure that not only do you avoid toxic relationships, but you avoid passing on these traits to any of your own children.
Walfish says: ‘If a parent thinks their parenting style falls into one of the less desirable categories, they need to take a painful, honest look within and become more self-aware.
‘Consulting with a child development or parenting specialist or a therapist can be very useful because hearing our own voice speak the truth out loud make feelings a reality or bring the unconscious to our awareness.’
(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)
In terms of dating specifically, try to stay away from partners who may be considered as having the same flaws as your father. Just because you lived a certain way as a child, doesn’t mean you need to experience it over and over.
Men can be trustworthy, attentive, and caring – even if that isn’t something you’ve been brought up with.
But, on that note, stay away from trying to seek affection at your own detriment. When you find someone that works with you to break the cycle of damaged familial relationships, you’ll understand that love is a two-way street.
If you’re worried that issues with your parents are affecting your relationships, speaking to an impartial professional is an important step in working through it.
You’d be forgiven for thinking London’s turned into a bit of a safari as of late, but animal prints are having a moment.
Particularly this year’s biggest trend – leopard.
And it’s only going to intensify next week, as fashionistas from all over the globe get ready to pounce during London Fashion Week, which runs from next Thursday 20th September until 23rd September.
Although you might see the occasional tiger and zebra too, fashion designers like Proenza Schouler, Valentino and Roberto Cavalli, along with every high street brand in the UK, are championing the leopard print.
You can find it in anything from stilettos at Selfridges to handbags at Anthropologie, but the only item you really need in your wardrobe is the leopard skirt.
So, here are nine of the best ones to buy right now.
Never Fully Dressed, £59
(Picture: Never Fully Dressed)
First up is the sassy midi skirt that just keeps selling out.
Creators Never Fully Dressed said the dress ‘sold out in 48 hours’.
If you’re taking a stroll along London’s south bank this weekend, you’ll likely spot something: a giant head poking up out of the water.
Don’t be alarmed, we’re not facing invasion from giants.
From 15 September to 23 September London’s south bank will feature a huge interactive head designed by British Designer Steuart Padwick, as part of the London Design Festival.
That head is a structure called Head Above Water, an installation designed to get us talking about mental health.
Head Above Water has been created in support of Time to Change, and is intended as a symbol of the hope and bravery of those going through mental health issues and those who support them.
It’s deliberately free of any gender, ethnicity, and age, as mental illness can happen to anyone.
Standing at nine metres tall and sitting right at Queen’s Stone Jetty (also known as Gabriel’s Pier), the head will light up with different colours responding to a Twitter feed, where people can share how they’re feeling in real time.
(Picture: Time to Change)
The designer and sculptor behind the head, Steuart Padwick, said: ‘Head Above Water is a symbol of hope. It needed to be big, powerful and prominent… a beacon of humanity caring for others.
‘This is not my head or about my battles. This is for those who have or have had mental health issues. I want anybody and everybody to relate to it.’
Jo Loughran, director of Time to Change, hopes the piece will spark conversations about mental health and challenge any lingering misconceptions about mental illness.
‘Sadly mental health problems are often confined to hushed conversations in quiet corners so we’re excited to support this project which proudly brings it into the light,’ she said.
Keep an eye out for the installation next week, and do use it as a starting point for conversations around mental wellbeing. Ask your pal how they’re doing before you snap a picture of the pretty lights for your ‘Gram. Easy.
This poor South Korean pup was found in a trash can behind a meat farm with her legs bound tightly, after she was abandoned for not being considered good enough to eat.
The flesh in her legs was necrotising, and unfortunately none could be saved and she had to have a quadruple amputation.
Chi Chi was rescued and given prosthetics in South Korea, but they didn’t fit, so when she went to her forever home in America her new owners saved up thousands of dollars to get her comfortable ones.
(Picture: Elizabeth Howell/SWNS.COM)
Her story has clearly touched the nation, as Chi Chi is now up for a bravery award.
Owner Elizabeth Howell, 46, had started an Instagram to document Chi’s recovery and life, and a follower took notice, nominating her for the American Humane Society’s annual Hero Dog Awards.
The incredible Golden Retriever has now reached the final, and is hoping to take the crown at the ceremony on 29 September.
(Picture: Elizabeth Howell/SWNS.COM)
Elizabeth says of the nomination, ‘She’s so inspiring and she has touched a lot of hearts…
‘It was amazing to me that even though she was so horribly treated, she still had that fighting spirit.
‘Chi Chi’s never give up attitude has had a huge impact on all of our lives.
‘We’re going to a special gala at the end of the month in Los Angeles and we think she is so deserving of the Hero Dog award.”
All seven finalists get to attend the gala which will be broadcast on the Hallmark Channel over in America.
Voting is already closed on who wins, but we have our paws crossed for Chi Chi.
