A very big house in the country: Whitestaunton Manor is a Grade-I listed estate with a very textured history February 19, 2015 Nestled in a quiet country village on the outskirts of Somerset lies a house with architecture so rare the only other place you’ll see anything like it is in the Houses of Parliament. In fact, most of Whitestaunton Manor, listed Grade-I for architectural or historical interest, is older than that venerable institution; it’s even namechecked [...]
Life on the edge: The luxury properties on the outskirts of the City February 19, 2015 Life on the City fringes is set to get a lot more glamorous. Developers are already lining up to capitalise on postcodes in east London that are set to soar once Crossrail arrives in 2018. An area that’s sure to see the benefits is Whitechapel, whose prime addresses will sit 262ft above Aldgate East station. [...]
Home movie cinema: The ultimate addition to the basement of wealthy film buffs February 19, 2015 Home cinemas look deceptively simple. Big screen, carpet and a few plush chairs. What is there to get wrong? In fact, there’s a fine art to designing the perfect media room. Comfort is paramount, but nothing is more effective at dampening the sound of your expensive surround sound system than soft furnishings. And how do [...]
Reasons to whine: After the Bordeaux wine market collapse, optimism is creeping back February 19, 2015 Imagine a financial market where prices have collapsed by more than 30 per cent in the past three years, where a hatful of investment companies have gone to the wall and investors are reportedly nursing losses of more than £100m. It sounds like a full blown crisis, doesn’t it? But this isn’t Chinese equities or [...]
My House: Ricardo Cervera, First Soloist with the Royal Ballet February 19, 2015 Look out of the windows of my flat and you see leaves – it’s almost like living in a treehouse. Five years ago I moved to Canonbury from Westminster. Living in such a central location was convenient because it was so close to Covent Garden where the Royal Ballet practices, but all the concrete and [...]
Chelsea race row fans face jail sentence February 18, 2015 CHELSEA fans who pushed a black man off a Paris Metro train and chanted racist songs could face three years in prison, five-figure fines and bans from football matches if found guilty. French and British police yesterday both launched investigations into the incident, which took place before Chelsea’s Champions League 1-1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain [...]
Clarke banks on feel-good factor in Ryder mission February 18, 2015 OPEN winner Darren Clarke has vowed to place enjoyment at the centre of his strategy for retaining the Ryder Cup after the Northern Irishman was yesterday confirmed as Europe’s captain. Clarke also plans to seek advice from previous skippers before next year’s contest at Hazeltine in the United States, despite a chequered history with his [...]
Ronaldo ends his goal drought as Real power towards last eight February 18, 2015 REIGNING champions Read Madrid took a giant stride towards the Champions League quarter-finals after defeating Schalke 2-0 in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Gelsenkirchen last night. Forward Cristiano Ronaldo had failed to score in his previous three matches but gave Read the lead by heading home Dani Carvajal’s cross in the 26th [...]
Tottenham prepare £350m loan facility for new stadium project February 18, 2015 TOTTENHAM have a £350m loan facility in place for the construction of their new 56,000-seater stadium, it emerged yesterday during a High Court battle over the controversial plans. The bridging loan from HSBC is available to the club in the event of a funding shortfall for the arena, which they hope to open in 2018, [...]
Cricket Comment: England ought to pick Tredwell and Bopara instead of Finn and Ballance February 18, 2015 THERE weren’t a huge amount of positives to take from World Cup defeat to Australia last Saturday. Hopefully the main one will be the realisation that the tactics at the death were wrong and there was too much short bowling. England undoubtedly have some good bowlers but, as I wrote last week, that bowling attack [...]