Celebrating 100 years of filming at the Old Royal Naval College, (such a stunning venue) an evening of unforgettable film music in partnership with Docklands Sinfonia, will be hosted in the stunning Chapel of St Peter & St Paul. The concert, lasting 75 minutes – the bliss – will feature music from Hollywood’s greatest movies, some of which were filmed at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
You will be treated to music by composers such as John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, Ludwig Göransson, and Howard Shore, and of course, because what evening would be complete without – roll of drums – music from Les Misérables, Pirates of the Caribbean, to name just a taste of the treats on offer. (I do hope Bring Him Home is included).This will be a rare and excellent evening filled with unforgettable film music in this iconic venue, performed by Docklands Sinfonia, to celebrate many many wonderful years of filming at the Old Royal Naval College.
ORNC_Cinematic Sounds_Docklands-Sinfonia
Programme
A Tribute to John Williams: Star Wars, Jaws, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T
Jurassic Park
James Bond
Magnificent Seven
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Wicked
Batman: The Dark KnightRises
Schindler’s List
Gladiator
Inception
Interstellar
Les Misérables
Harry Potter
The Greatest Showman
*Programme subject to change
Docklands Sinfonia is a major cultural force in Docklands and beyond, a diverse, dynamic and versatile orchestra working with composers, producers and promoters across film, rock, pop and classical music. Since its formation in 2009 Docklands Sinfonia has enjoyed great success with performances for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace and with Grammy-Award winner Imogen Heap at the Royal Albert Hall.
The evening sounds too tempting to be ingnored. 24th May. Go, bask in the marvellous acoustics of the Chapel, and the beauty of the music. It will evoke memories, and provide new ones.
I’ve been on a decluttering mission recently – removing pots, pans and various weird and wonderful kitchen devices that I’ve never actually used, and many of which I discovered had quietly died some time ago. Now the challenge is to maintain my beautiful zen kitchen, which contains just enough – and where I don’t have to drag hundreds of pieces of pot and plastic out of cupboards every time I need to find a pan.
So I’m seriously excited to discover HokanBowls – Hokan means storage in Japanese. Although a British company, Hokan Bowls have embraced the Japanese values of Shibui – simple, beautiful, unobtrusive. As I look at them I feel a calmness descend, I want to make beautiful food, quietly and slowly, respecting simple nutrition in both the cooking and eating.
The three bowls – small, medium and large all have the same circumference – the size is determined by their height. This means they stack on top of each other, taking up little room in a cupboard or on a work surface, and their lids are interchangeable. The colours are beautiful – I love the new Green Jade. The reactive glaze on the stoneware ceramic pots creates natural variations, meaning each pot is unique. If your kitchen needs a different colour – there’s plenty of other choices too.
But now for the clever bit – they are oven, microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe, so you can prepare a meal in the bowl, cook it, then serve it – or even use the bowl itself to eat from (or the lid, which also doubles up as a small bowl). This is the kind of minimalism I love. Then if you have any left-overs you can keep them, still in the bowl, in the fridge or freezer, then take out and microwave (of course in the same bowl) for a later meal.
The stoneware allows for even heat distribution during cooking and the lids help maintain stable temperatures and retain moisture. Simply remove the lid for an ideal crust or browning.
As a doctor I do worry about all the plastics our bodies are constantly exposed to and I love that Hokan bowls are sustainable and of course BPA-free, unlike many plastic containers.
These lovely bowls are really not expensive, at RRPs of £25, £30 and £35 for the small (440ml), medium (600ml) and large (1000ml) bowls respectively. Available from hokanbowls.com
If you’re trying to declutter your life too, these are a good start on your journey. Good luck.
By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows
Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.
Is there something in the water? I think so. My birthplace, Lanarkshire has produced an impressive number of authors. From Shuggie Bain author Douglas Stuart, and won the Booker Prize, and Elissa Soave, author of Ginger and Me. Elissa sets her books in Lanarkshire. Her brilliant, new, novel, Graffiti Girls, is set in Hamilton. It’s a fantastic book.
Lanarkshire is a historical county in Scotland that includes Glasgow and the surrounding areas. Lanarkshire is the heart of the central lowlands of Scotland. It’s a beautiful place with a lot of culture and music.
Former Guardian journalist, Deborah Orr, who sadly died in twenty nineteen, wrote her acclaimed memoir, Motherwell. It is all about the industrial town she grew up in. The book was a huge hit. I also note that Andrew O’Hagan, author of Sunday Times bestseller, Caledonian Road (set in London) and three times Booker Prize nominee was born in Glasgow.
I grew up in the Scottish Borders and moved back to Lanarkshire as a teen. I spent a lot of my youth in Glasgow, Motherwell, and Strathclyde Park. Lanarkshire is a literary hotspot, churning out fantastic writers. Here is a short list: Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Niall Ferguson, Liz Lochhead, Alasdair Gray, Damian Barr, Graeme Armstrong and Julie Kennedy.
Then there is me. Catherine Yardley, author of Ember and Where The Light is Hottest. Who also writes as Catherine Balavage. Where The Light is Hottest is partly set in Lanarkshire. The county may be cold, but it’s having its time in the sun. I have lived in London most of my adult life and consider myself a Londoner now, but a part of my heart will always belong to Lanarkshire. My family still live there and I visit. I can’t wait for the next author for Lanarkshire to publish their work.
I live in London and I worry about the effect pollution can have on my skin. Some filters and creams I have used can be too harsh. I also worry about indoor pollution. But what to do?
Pollution can significantly affect the skin, leading to both short-term and long-term damage. Pollution can derive from vehicle emissions, urban pollution (cities), factory emissions (when we order new items for the home), cigarette smoke, household chemicals and UV radiation.
Exposure to pollutants like particulate matter (PM) and UV radiation can accelerate skin aging due to increased oxidative stress, which damages collagen and elastin in the skin, leading to wrinkles, fine lines, and sagging.
Pollution can trigger inflammation, leading to conditions like eczema, acne, or rosacea. Pollutants can also irritate sensitive skin, leading to redness and itching. Pollutants such as car exhaust or industrial smoke can increase the production of melanin in the skin, resulting in dark spots or uneven skin tone. The accumulation of dirt and pollutants on the skin’s surface can clog pores and hinder cell turnover, making the skin appear dull, tired, or lackluster. Pollutants like dirt, dust, and chemicals can clog pores and trigger the production of excess sebum (oil), leading to acne and breakouts. Pollution can strip the skin of its natural moisture, leading to dehydration, dry patches, and overall lack of skin vitality.
A moisturing balm that hydrates and soothes damaged and delicate skin. Teoxane Deep Repair Balm contains resilient hyaluronic acid to hydrate the skin and arnica to soothe and calm redness. The intensive treatment may also reduce inflammation or irritation caused by weather conditions. The hydrating formula helps to heal damaged cells and repair the natural barrier of the skin, leaving you feeling more comfortable with a balanced, even complexion. Deep Repair Balm is best suited to dry, sensitive, or irritated skin types and will also help to support skin recovery following a procedure.
VE Day commemorations began today, building towards the 8th May and the Yarnbombers have surprised, comforted and delighted us, as always. We have my lovely pal Jan commemorating the liberation of the Channel Islands, which is where she grew up.
Of course their VE Day was the 9th May as this is when they were liberated. I was so pleased to see it there, as I found the history of the Channel Islands in the war thought provoking (I researched it for Sisters at War by me as Milly Adams).
We have a farmer, nurses, poppies, servicemen, the whole gamut. Please enjoy and join me admiring the Thirsk Yarnbombers, and may we remember all who fought, in their way, and that there was no Victory in Japan until 15th August.
I had a boyfriend whose father was a prisoner of the Japanese. He was never the same again. My first novel had nurses travelling to Singapore, and then it fell. Their imprisonment was bestial and long.
Mum was on a convoy to Singapore to nurse when it fell. Instead she continued to India where she nursed the injured and ill of the Burma Campaign.
After the war I met one of her friends who had been imprisoned by the Japanese. Again, it never left her but one of her most poignant memories is of the Cathedral given over to the injured, where she nursed as the Japanese approached. She remembered the smell of Chrysanthemums but could never decide whether they were actually there, or it was a remembered scent of times before the horror.
My father was in the Battle of Britain, and could never watch or attend a Remembrance Service because he had to live with the fact that as well as fighting himself, he had to send up his young men, very young men. It was almost more than he could bear, as most did not survive. That generation was the best of the best.
Adrian Muller, Dame Mary Perkins, Donna Moore – Image courtesy of Adam Stratmann
The awards began 17 years ago when CrimeFest launched in 2008; they honour the best crime fiction and non-fiction books released in the UK in the last year. 2025 will be the final awards as organisers announced this year CrimeFest will come to an end. The awards feature the hotly-contended Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award, which offers a £1,000 cash prize.
Authors in contention for the £1k prize are Tom Baragwanath for his New Zealand small-town mystery Paper Cage, Cosmo’s Thriller of the Year Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell, and the cosy crime caper The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder, by C.L. Miller. Also making the Specsavers shortlist are Akira Otani with the gripping Japanese cult thriller The Night of Baba Yaga, Tracey Sierra’s Richard and Judy Book Club pick, Nightwatching, and Scotland’s Claire Wilson with her debut, Five by Five.
Adrian Muller, Co-host of CrimeFest, said: “The Specsavers Debut Novel Award has become one of the most highly anticipated awards of the genre over the years, and we’d like to thank Specsavers for their on-going support in celebrating new talent.”
The shortlist for the CrimeFest H.R.F. Keating Award for the best biographical or critical book features icon of the genre Lynda La Plante with her memoir, Getting Away with Murder.
The category also includes an exploration of Agatha Christie, with Mark Aldridge’s Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness, Female Detectives in Early Crime Fiction 1841-1920 by Ashley Bowden, and Sara Lodge’s The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Detective. Jem Bloomfield is also in contention for Allusion in Detective Fiction, as are Dan Coxon and Richard V Hirst for Writing the Murder: Essays on Crafting Crime Fiction.
CrimeFest’s Last Laugh Award for best humorous crime novel sees returning favourites authors Mike Ripley, Orlando Murrin, and Antti Tuomainen. It also welcomes Cathy Ace with The Case of the Secretive Secretary, Bella Mackie for What a Way to Go, and DG Coutinho for The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin.
DG Coutinho received the 2025 bursary for a crime fiction writer of colour to attend and feature on a panel at the final CrimeFest for their first novel, a darkly comic thriller set in a toxic office culture.
Bella Mackie is also nominated for the best crime fiction e-book published in 2024; What a Way to Go is shortlisted for the E-Dunnit Award. She’s up against stalwart of the genre Martin Edwards with Hemlock Bay, Laurie R. King for The Lantern’s Dance, the American novelist and playwright Jean Hanff Korelitz with The Sequel, Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods and Peter Swanson’s A Talent for Murder.
The nominees for the CrimeFest Best Crime Novel for Children (aged 8 – 12) include Sufiya Ahmed for her World War Two adventure set in Cairo, Rosie Raja: Undercover Codebreaker, M. G. Leonard for Feather (The Twitchers) from the bestselling birdwatching detective series, and the magical murder mystery, The Floating Witch Mystery by Nicki Thornton. They’re joined by fellow children’s authors Natasha Farrant, A.M. Howell, and Beth Lincoln.
Adrian Muller said: “We are proud to be one of the few genre awards that recognise and celebrate children, and young adult crime fiction. This category has really boomed in recent years. It’s a fitting legacy that over the years we’ve gifted thousands of free children’s and young adult books to inner city schools in Bristol as part of our outreach and charitable work. The genre is a fantastic gateway into reading, so the hope these books have inspired new generations of readers and writers.”
Leading British crime fiction reviewers and reviewers of fiction for children and young adults, alongside the members of the School Library Association (SLA), form the CrimeFest judging panels.
The Best Crime Fiction for Young Adults (aged 12-16) features H.F Askwith’s A Cruel Twist of Fate, Denise Brown’s It All Started with A Lie, and A.J Clack’s dark reality-TV based Young Adult thriller, Lie or Die. Also in contention are the razor-sharp romantasy All The Hidden Monsters by Annie Jordan, the sequel to the Waterstone’s prize winning Thieves’ Gambit, Heist Royale by Kayvion Lewis and Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus.
This year also features the Thalia Proctor Memorial Award for Best Adapted TV Crime Drama, which celebrate dramas based on a book screened in 2024 Eligible titles were collated from the Radio Times and CrimeFest readers established the shortlist and the winning title. The award is named in honour of Thalia, who worked with many crime writers in publishing and was a much-loved and valued member of the CrimeFest team.
Shortlisted shows include Apple TV’s Bad Monkey, based on the book by Carl Hiaasen, P.D. James Dalgliesh (Channel 5, series 3), Laura Lippman’s Lady in the Lake adapted by Apple TV, Moonflower Murders on the BBC based on the books by Anthony Horowitz, Apple TV’s Slow Horses (series 4) from Mick Herron’s Slough House books and the BBC’s The Turkish Detective based on the Inspector Ikmen books by Barbara Nadel.
The winners of the 2025 CrimeFest Awards will be announced at a gala dinner hosted during CrimeFest on Saturday 17 May at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel, compered by the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) chair and author, Vaseem Khan.
Hosted in Bristol, CrimeFest is the biggest crime fiction convention in the UK, and one of the most popular dates in the international crime fiction calendar, with circa 60 panel events and 150 authors attending over four days, from 15-18 May. 2025’s CrimeFest promises to be bigger than ever as long-standing friends of the event gather for a celebratory finale, including blockbuster author, Lee Child who will be attending with his brother and co-Reacher author, Andrew Child.
CrimeFest was created following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left Coast Crime convention. Established in 2008, it follows the egalitarian format of most US conventions, making it open to all commercially published authors and readers alike. All category winners will receive a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award. Eligible titles were submitted by publishers, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.
Formula One World Championship Hungary-Williams-Racing
The thrill of speed at Beaulieu as Icons of Formula 1 take to the National Motor Museum stage: from the 24th May until 2nd November 2025 a new special display at the Museum will mark 75 years since the inaugural Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship in 1950. The temporary exhibition will bring together nine iconic Formula 1 racing cars, including cars from World Championship winning teams such as BRM, Lotus, Williams and Ferrari. Each vehicle represents a decade of technical and sporting development in Formula 1’s illustrious history – as well as some of its most legendary drivers.
The Museum’s celebration of this motorsport anniversary isn’t just offering visitors the rare chance to see all the cars together but also experience the thrill of driving the powerful machines with an immersive adrenaline-fuelled Formula 1 simulator experience. The state-of-the art simulator sessions will give the rush of sitting in the cockpit of an F1 car, just like a real racing drive. The sim racing experiences will be available as an addition to the Beaulieu attraction ticket, and visitors will get the opportunity to compete for a monthly Champagne prize for the best lap time around the realistic circuit.
Jon Murden, Chief Executive says, “We can’t wait to share this display of the Icons of Formula 1. The National Motor Museum is renowned for our collection of motoring history, so what better place to showcase the development of motorsport and mark 75 years of the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. We’ve collaborated with some of the world’s leading teams and private collectors to bring this collection of iconic cars together and brought one of the best Formula 1 simulators to Beaulieu to offer the experience of the performance and thrill of real racing.”
The Icons of Formula 1 display headline sponsor is logistics company Indigo-Blue who work with the National Motor Museum to transport historic cars to events across Britain.
Entry to the display in the Museum is included in the Beaulieu ticket, and simulator experience add-on tickets can be booked and purchased on the day – the supplementary price starts at £15 for a 15 minutes sim experience.
About the Formula 1 simulator The Formula One simulator provides an immersive experience into the world of racing. Large screens and an advanced motion system with reactive belts heighten the experience. Developed in Italy by Wave Italy the simulator is aimed at racing enthusiasts and professional drivers. It uses a sophisticated vibrating system that faithfully reproduces the roughness of the track and curbs. The sim promises to give an ultra-realistic and unforgettable adrenaline rush driving experience.
Bookings can be made at the reception desk in the National Motor Museum. Timed slotsare allocated daily on a first-come, first-served basis, and are 15 minutes from 10:30am until 5pm. Height and weight limits apply and the simulators is designed for use by adults; it is a professional-grade racing simulator and a step-up from traditional console racing games. As such, young people and children may find the complexity of the simulator challenging.
