THE Daily Mirror salutes great-grandmother June Evans, from Great Barr in the West Midlands, who at the age of 75, has finally passed her driving test – more than half a century after taking her first lesson.
She started learning in 1967 but gave up after four lessons to focus on raising her two sons.
June decided to try again last year after her 83 year old husband Brian quit driving because of his age.
He taught June in the couple’s BMW 5 Series and after failing her test three times, she passed on her fourth try on the day of their 57th wedding anniversary.
We Brits are a generous lot, according to new data, says the Daily Express.
Britons bequeathed a record breaking £2.85bn to charity in their wills last year.
The Remember A Charity consortium found that health and cancer charities received the largest legacy income, with Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and the British Heart Foundation amongst the top five.
Rob Cope, the director of Remember A Charity, said: “It’s incredibly encouraging to see the collective amount gifted to charities in wills rise, as it genuinely has a huge impact – for example, legacies fund six in 10 lifeboat launches and two in three guide dogs.”
The names Bronagh, Kevin or Idris could become very unpopular if we have a stormy winter.
The BBC says they are included in the 21 storm names announced for the 2018/19 season by the Met Office and Met Éireann.
The names are chosen by the public in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and are aimed at raising awareness of severe weather.
“Naming storms has been proved to raise awareness of severe weather in the UK and Ireland, providing a consistent message to the public and crucially prompting people to take action to prevent harm to themselves or to their property” said Derrick Ryall from the Met Office.
The latest list of endangered buildings in the UK has been revealed by The Guardian including a much-loved seafront “people’s palace” that was transported by barge around the south coast of England more than a century ago without, it is said, a single pane of glass breaking.
The Winter Gardens in Great Yarmouth has over the years been a ballroom, a roller-skating rink, an amusement arcade and a German beer garden but today it lies empty and unused.
It appears on this year’s annual top 10 of endangered Victorian and Edwardian buildings compiled by the Victorian Society.
Christopher Costelloe, the architectural charity’s president, said: “Each building tells its own story of neglect, but there’s no denying they all have fantastic potential to be regenerated and reused for the benefit of the community.”
Apparently the hit TV series Game of Thrones has contributed to a rise in the sale of mead.
The Daily Express says that sales of the drink, made by combining honey and water and said to date back as far as 9000BC, are up by a third with many people influenced by seeing mead being drunk in banquet scenes.
James Lambert, of Lyme Bay Winery in Axminster, Devon – an award-winning producer of the beverage – said the show has “undoubtedly” boosted sales.
Reference list:
The Express (www.express.co.uk)
The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk)
Daily Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)
BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)