Off-market property sales account for one in five in London: Is it for you? June 10, 2022 Despite ferocious headwinds, the London property market is fizzing, with estate agents from Wimbledon to Walthamstow seeing homes listed and sold within days. This fierce competition has led to a boom in off-market sales, which hit a new record high this year, according to Hamptons. In the first quarter of 2022 they shot up 23 [...]
Jurassic World: Dominion ends franchise that’s ready for a meteor strike June 10, 2022 The Jurassic World trilogy ends not with a roar but with a squeak. Dominion calls upon the stars of Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park to capitalise on the current trend for legacy sequels (it’s arguable that 2015’s Jurassic World, a movie that was both a remake and reboot, started the fad). But the wholesale shake-up [...]
The Glass Menagerie: Amy Adams plays it straight in underwhelming show June 10, 2022 The Glass Menagerie heralded the arrival of Tennessee Williams. It was the first of his “plastic” memory plays, mining the rich seam of material from his own unhappy adolescence. Over the following two decades he would perfect the formula, creating some of the great American plays, but The Glass Menagerie remains among his best known [...]
Scotch on the blocks: The world’s most expensive whisky auction June 10, 2022 Sotheby’s has partnered with spirits giant Diageo to sell what could be the most expensive casks of Scotch whisky ever sold at auction. The casks in question are two of the rarest single malts in existence, from two of Scotland’s most legendary distilleries; a 1979 Port Ellen, from the island of Islay, and a 1982 [...]
Ollie Phillips: Saracens have the ability to defeat champions Harlequins June 10, 2022 Should Saracens beat defending champions Harlequins in their Premiership semi-final this weekend, they’ll be the first team to reach the showpiece Twickenham final at the first attempt following promotion from the Championship. Mark McCall’s men have come back into the top flight with a vengeance this season. And while they’ll be disappointed to have missed [...]
LIV Golf blasts ‘vindictive’ PGA Tour as £200m series begins to backdrop of bitter row June 9, 2022 LIV Golf accused the PGA Tour of being “vindictive” as the war of words between the two organisations spilled over into the first day of the £200m breakaway circuit. With what appeared to be pointed timing, the PGA Tour announced it had suspended all 17 of its members who have chosen to play the first [...]
Laurel’s review: Partying poolside, I forgot how hungry I was June 9, 2022 It’s long been a trope of the London restaurant scene to deck out pokey shoebox venues – no doubt rented at extortionate cost – as if they are luxurious, hedonistic beach clubs. God knows how many thousands of tonnes of sand is dumped over car parks round the back of the Roundhouse in Camden and [...]
Walking in London: Now is the time to rediscover the capital, by foot June 9, 2022 One of the perverse effects of lockdown was to get people walking more. Public transport was off-limits, but exercise and a change of scenery was necessary to stave off cabin fever, so citizens of the capital found themselves strolling the city streets in a way they hadn’t before, with many taking the opportunity to look [...]
The A-Z of wine: H is for… Hunter Valley June 9, 2022 Our alphabetical tour of the wine world continues with a trip Down Under to find a hidden gem in Hunter Valley What’s this then? A bit of a niche area this week, because it turns out that when you commit to the rigid structure of an alphabet-themed series there’s always one letter that throws a [...]
Ed Warner: Team sportspeople like Gareth Bale are held to double standards over loyalty June 9, 2022 Commentary stat of last weekend for me was that Gareth Bale has spent more time on a football pitch for Wales this season than for Real Madrid. Having run down his lucrative contract with the Spanish club, Bale is now a free agent – the footballing equivalent of the golfers signing up for this week’s [...]