WHOOPS!
The BBC reports on how a group of diners at Hawksmoor Restaurant in Manchester, who had ordered a £260 bottle of red wine, were accidentally given a £4,500 bottle of the same vintage.
They had ordered a 2001 Chateau Pichon Longueville Contesse de Lalande, but instead enjoyed a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol.
Apparently the “mortified” staff member who made the error has been urged to keep their “chin up” as “one-off mistakes happen”.
Hawksmoor founder Will Beckett said a manager from another branch had been helping out and offered to find the wine for a waitress, but picked up the wrong bottle.
He added that said the staff member involved was “brilliant, and we know she is brilliant” so there was no point criticising her for a one-off mistake.
“I am going to tease her for this when she stops being so mortified,” he commented.
The Daily Mail provides handy guidance for those interested in sampling some of England’s best beaches.
They carry a story which features the 71 beaches which have been awarded Blue Flag status – up from 65 last year.
The Blue Flag is a guarantee to visitors that the beach has excellent facilities, is litter free and has achieved a high standard of water quality.
Well-known beaches retaining their Blue Flags for another year include Cromer in Norfolk, Thorpe Bay in Southend-on-Sea, Tynemouth Sands in North Tyneside, Margate, West Wittering, Sandbanks in Poole and Westward Ho! in Devon.
Making it onto the list after missing out last year are Cleethorpes, Westbrook Bay in Margate, Bournemouth Manor Steps, Exmouth, Croyde Bay, Teignmouth Town, Broadsands, Preston Sands and Torre Abbey Sands.
The Guardian tells us that cubs and scouts are marching back into inner cities:1,280 new packs, troops and colonies have been formed in the most deprived parts of Britain over the past five years.
New sections have opened on estates such as Byker in Newcastle and Wythenshawe in south Manchester, and also in non-urban areas of deprivation such as Jaywick, an Essex seaside town named among the poorest in Britain.
UK scientists are investigating the remains of up to 18 Anglo-Saxon kings and queens to try to determine their identities.
The Independent says that these potentially including the pivotal figure of Queen Emma of Normandy who was the wife of two kings and the mother of two others, and one of the most significant figures of late Anglo-Saxon England.
Around 1,300 royal and other high status bones have been kept in wooden caskets in Winchester.,
It was thought hat the bones belonged to just 11 individuals – six Anglo-Saxon kings, an Anglo-Saxon queen, an Anglo-Norman king, an Anglo-Danish king and two Anglo-Saxon Bishops but new scientific research, led by University of Bristol osteologists, Dr Heidi Dawson-Hobbis and Professor Kate Robson Brown on behalf of the Dean and Chapter of Winchester Cathedral, has revealed that they are the partial remains of at least 23 people.
Calling all James Bonds fans…if you have enough cash you can live out your fantasy of driving 007’s iconic Aston Martin DB5 car, complete with Q-branch gadgetry including revolving number plates, rear smokescreen and simulated twin machine guns concealed in the headlights.
The Guardian reports that Aston Martin has announced that it is producing 25 new Goldfinger DB5s, which will also feature battering rams, retractable bulletproof glass and the ability to produce oil slicks to foil chasing vehicles.
And although they will cost 2.75m (before tax), the company, based in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, is understood to have taken orders for 20 of the cars.
An Aston Martin spokesman said: “There was a goal to include all the gadgets in the Goldfinger film,and apart from the ejector seat, we’ve managed it.”
Reference list
- BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
- The Guardian
- The Independent
- The Daily Mail