Choice Magazine

My colleagues at Choice gave me a very special birthday present recently. As well as a 2022 shiny copy of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack they managed to track down a copy of the 1952 edition – the year of my birth. They may live to regret it, as I shall

Editor Norman Wright Sub Editor/Writer Simon Evans Office Manager Caroline Kingdom Your Money and Your Rights Teri Harman Design Kirsty Craner, AT Graphics, Peterborough Publisher Clive Nicholls Manager Jayne Cureton ■

Write to Your views, Choice, 4 Milnyard Square, Orton Southgate, Peterborough PE2 6GX, or email us at: (editorial@choicemag.co.uk). (Views expressed are those of the individual correspondent and not necessarily those of the magazine) That was a sad p

Soothing, relaxing and stress reducing, these CDs from GAP MuSic and it’s sister label Tantajo Records are a great addition to any music collection. Checkout the GAP website: (www.gapmusic.co.uk) for more wonderful music for relaxation and wellbeing.

Email your poems to: (editorial@choicemag.co.uk) or post to Your Poetry, Choice, 4 Milnyard Square, Orton Southgate, Peterborough PE2 6GX I remember the tree from my youth,the way its leaves hissed in stormsweeping tears in driving rainand casting a

PETS PLAY a large part in their owner’s lives and more than half of UK adults own a pet, providing a host of wellbeing benefits. Playing with a pet gives us all an outlet to express ourselves and can help strengthen our social and problem-solving ski

If you are an animal lover a great way to earn some extra cash, and enjoy the company of someone else’s pets, is to petsit. Brian and Barbara Kennedy took early retirement when they were 50 and 52 respectively, and have been homesitting, and petsitti

THERE ARE more than 1800 locks on the 2000-plus miles of navigable waterways in England and Wales, all enabling boats to travel up and down hills. Some locks are operated by boaters, others by lock keepers. There’s no mystery to using locks – just a

Great Yarmouth has launched anew mini-golf event across nine of the resort’s courses. Running all summer until September 21, The Big Mini Golf Tour offers participants of this ever-popular holiday pastime the chance to be in with a chance of winning

THE SOUNDS of thousands of heartbeats are being collected in the hope that artificial intelligence will be able to diagnose heart valve disease earlier and potentially save lives. Valvular heart disease (VHD) affects almost two million people in the

Now’s the time to get a haircut and top up your colour. Celebrity stylist Lisa Shepherd says: “Taking off the ends of hair will give it a style refresh, making it easier to manage on holiday.” Going blonde? Try a shade or two darker than usual as the

Gail Willis is an exponent and teacher of Hatha Yoga. She brings Choice readers a new exercise every month. Gail, who is a full-time yoga instructor in Kettering, Northamptonshire, has recruited her mother Janet Rogers to help demonstrate the exercis

I HAVE mentioned before that I am often sent research into our changing lives. This month experts at mobility specialist Middletons apparently crunched the numbers on life expectancy and retirement, the average age people buy a house, pay off a mortg

WE HAVE a right to expect, when paying for goods or services, or usingtaxpayer-funded services such as the NHS, that the experience is satisfactory at the very least. Often, however, we are left feeling unhappy and let down or, worse still, that we h

FEW THINGS in life are more essential than our water and sewerage services, and yet it can be easy to take them for granted – until something goes wrong. One of the things the past two years have taught us is that our lives can change unexpectedly, a

Q I own a house with my son as tenants in common, 50 per cent each, owned outright. We started renting it out last year, and the rental income goes to a joint account. I am retired and don’t need the money and would like to split the profit (income m

John Thompson is the chair of the u3a Stour Valley Kayak and Canoeing group, which operates on Ardleigh Reservoir and Manningtree. He says: “There are so many benefits. Firstly, it gets you into the outside world. It’s a very social activity. “Being

THERE’S NO shortage of wildlife in July. Bats are on the wing, toadlets and baby lizards are taking their first steps, and roe deer are charging into their breeding season. But we’ve decided to home in on our local insects and birds, and how we can h

Finches Friend bird feeders have been created to stop the spread of fatal avian diseases in garden birds. These easy to clean feeders are designed to specifically reduce the transmission of deadly diseases, such as Passerine Salmonellosis and Trichon

Our local birds may need some help staying cool and hydrated this time of year, so putting out some water in a bird bath, or even a plant saucer or an upturned bin lid, will do wonders. Just remember to add some gravel or stones to the bottom of the

This week is a pure celebration of dragonflies – no surveying required. Run from July 16 to 24 by the British Dragonfly Society, all it asks is that you celebrate dragonflies in all their glory. This incredible creature was one of the first types of

Apple Music, 98 songs 5 hrs 2 mins If you have a busy Saturday morning doing jobs around the house, this playlist is a perfect background and will also jog memories of some great moments on the big screen and some great artists of a remarkable decade

(Network, Blu-ray) Unseen for decades and highly sought after, these early Sixties TV specials showcase two Hollywood stars travelling through and reflecting upon the cities they love. Elizabeth Taylor was born in London and lived there as a child. I

IN The Greatest Escape (Macmillan, £20), Neil Churches tells the story of his father, Ralph, an Australian prisoner-of-war, who helped lead the break-out of 106 Allied POWs from a camp in what is now Slovenia, and Jonathan Freedland tells the astonis

TAKING THE form of a diary covering the years 2016-2021, Old Rage, by Sheila Hancock (Bloomsbury, £18.99) finds the actress raging against the dying of the light as she faces up to Brexit, bereavement, a challenging diagnosis and family illness, but

Would It Surprise You To Know…? by Ronnie Archer-Morgan Published by Century Price £16.99 Pages 320 ISBN 9781529135879 One of the most popular experts on the Antiques Roadshow, Ronnie Archer-Morgan’s life has been complicated, often painful. Brought

Before reading on, cover the East and West hands on the deal below. NORTH-SOUTH GAME; DEALER SOUTH Playing teams, South reaches three notrumps after the auction one notrump, three notrumps. West leads the king of hearts. How do you plan the play? If

The older generation (that is, people like me) have always counselled young people to look after their eyes, believing without any scientific evidence that overworking them by peering at screens for hours on end would do harm. Well, maybe the theory

“YOU DON’T know what’s good for you!” Granddad said as he prised off another slice of raw Spanish onion with his penknife. He popped it into his mouth and chomped it, with not so much as a grimace, let alone a tear. Nothing better, he said, as we – f

Gents, do you find it difficult to buy a birthday gift for the lady in your life, something that is so appropriate it endows you with Brownie points galore? When I was faced with the challenge recently, scanning newspapers and magazines for ideas, I

How’s your general knowledge? Here’s a chance to test it out. (The answers are over the page.) 1 What was the nickname of the famous Fifties tennis player Gussie Moran? 2 Name the fashion designer who opened her first shop, called Let It Rock, in the

The common claim that nowadays some people will steal anything if it isn’t nailed down is turning out to be true. The latest proof comes in reports of thieves not just stealing mail but scarpering with the mailbox itself… The target seems to be old ‘

… that in the summer of 1972, the England and Stoke City goalkeeper Gordon Banks was considering his future after his eyesight was damaged in a car crash … in July 1978, an explosion at a campsite in Spain killed 200 people, including British tourist

Property purchasing specialist, House Buyer Bureau has revealed the main problems facing Britain’s home sellers when it comes to tackling the property market, even in a period of unprecedented buyer demand. The YouGov survey commissioned by House Buy