Table of contents for September 2021 in Choice

Sometimes your day can be brightened by the unexpected, and this happened to me recently at a wedding. The ceremony, the venue, the people and excellent food already made it a special day. Then three of the waiters who had earlier been serving champagne came into the room as the wedding breakfast was ending, one armed with a guitar, and announced that in their country it was tradition for waiters to sing a song to the bride and groom. There followed a performance of many songs to many of the principal guests that had everyone in stitches. The songs were all well known and were done with only gentle teasing. The groom’s relatives were Scots, most of them kilted. Rad and his Russian cousins, as he claimed they were, had…

I am responding to your request for favourite sporting moments (Choice, August). On December 28, 1965 my lovely wife Sandra and I were married in Doncaster and moved on the same day to our new house in Horndean, Hampshire, where we still live. Our honeymoon was postponed to the summer of 1966. As it happens, we stayed in a flat in Hamburg, Germany, owned by friends and began to look for a small café to have a meal and to watch live television, for the following Saturday was football’s World Cup Final – England v West Germany from Wembley. We found a café advertising the football match and asked if we could have lunch before we watched the game, to which the immediate answer was “No!” Asking why, the answer…

AFTER 17 months of paused operations, Scenic has resumed its luxury sailings on Portugal’s Douro River. It will operate a combination of eight and 11-day round-trip sailings from Porto on board its boutique Scenic Azure ‘Star-Ship’. The eight-day ‘Delightful Douro’ river cruise takes in Regua, Vega de Terron, Pocinho and Pinhão, with prices starting from £2545 per person, departing November 8, 2021. Highlights include a visit to the Mateus Palace (which graces the label of its famous namesake Rosé), a canoeing excursion on the Pinhão River and a spectacular private evening concert in the São Francisco Church. The 11-day ‘Unforgettable Douro’ river cruise has a gourmet focus, with guests enjoying a wine-tasting at the fairytale Quinta da Aveleda in the famous Vino Verde region. Embark on a guided ‘Tastes of…

Gail Willis is an exponent and teacher of Hatha Yoga. She brings Choice readers a new exercise every month. Gail, who is now a full-time yoga instructor in Kettering, Northamptonshire, has recruited her mother Janet Rogers to help demonstrate the exercises. In each picture Janet now in her 80s illustrates the basic position for each exercise – the easiest one for the beginner. Gail illustrates the maximum position for each exercise. You should start following Janet’s position and try to increase gradually towards Gail’s advanced level. “Only build up to a level that you are comfortable with,” says Gail. “Some exercises you will be able to do the maximum level of stretch. Others you will achieve only the basic move or just a little more. It doesn’t matter because even…

WHEN A large brown stain appeared on an outside wall in our bedroom, we thought it might be damp, even though it didn’t feel or smell damp. I struggled to find any builder to come and look at it; eventually a company recommended to me confirmed that it was indeed damp, but said they couldn’t get up on the roof to investigate the source. They recommended a builder who, despite many promises, has not found time to take a look, still less fix the problem. Several others have failed to respond too. Anew report by The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) perhaps has the explanation. Apparently, there is a nationwide shortage of both skilled and unskilled workers which has particularly impacted small and medium sized companies. The large number of…

How is a joint account treated for probate? Q My wife, my son and I have a three-way account in a building society. My wife and I also have a separate joint account, and a joint bank account. My son has Power of Attorney for both Property and Finance and Health and Welfare and he is also executor of our Wills. Do any of these funds have to be declared for probate or do the funds pass to the survivor or survivors? We also have our house registered as Tenants in Common and have each left our share of the property to our son. With the value of the property approximately £400,000, would there be Inheritance Tax on the first or second deaths? Name and address supplied Michele Wightman, Partner…

Help the grandchildren prepare for school with this pretty pencil case Supplies: ■ Fat-quarter of outer fabric ■ Fat-quarter of lining fabric ■ Fat-quarter of medium fusible interfacing ■ Gemini Alphabet Appliqué dies ■ Small piece of decorative ribbon ■ Stick and Stay for Fabric ■ 10in zip ■ Basic sewing kit Cut: ■ Two 10in x 5.5in panels of outer fabric ■ Two 10in x 5.5in panels of lining fabric ■ Two 10in x 5.5in panels of medium fusible interfacing ■ Two 2.5in x 2.5in squares of outer fabric To create: 1 Adhere the interfacing to the wrong side of the outer fabric panels 2 Using the Gemini Alphabet Appliqué dies, cut out the word PENCILS from the lining fabric. Using Stick and Stay for Fabric, iron the pieces…

DVDs The Story of Film: An Odyssey (Network) Blu-ray This remarkable series, originally screened in 2011, told the story of cinema through the eyes of film-maker Mark Cousins, picking on key figures and works to present a thematic as opposed to chronological history. Originally shown on television in15 hour-long episodes, now presented on Blu-ray as five three-hour documentaries, the series sometimes meanders a little, but the breadth and scope is breath-taking, encompassing cinema from all over the world and directors famous and obscure, all unified by Cousins’ singular vision and strangely soothing and therapeutic narration. An unashamed love letter to cinema, the series is both masterclass and celebration, something all cineastes will savour. Children’s Film Foundation Bumper Box Volume 3 (BFI) Saturday morning pictures weren’t all about Flash Gordon and…

HISTORIAN AND broadcaster Francis Pryor takes a journey through Britain’s ancient landscape in Scenes From Prehistoric Life (Apollo, £25), vividly relating what life was like in pre-Roman Britain, and in Class of’37 (Metro, £16.99) Hester Barron and Claire Langhamer look at working-class life in Thirties Britain through the eyes of girls who were at a school in Bolton at the time. Continuing his excellent series of books on modern Britain between 1945 and 1979, David Kynaston’s On The Cusp (Bloomsbury, £18.99) looks at the months from June to October 1962, when the nation stood on the brink of the ‘real’ Sixties, a moment heralded by Love Me Do and the first Bond film. In Behold The Dark Gray Man (Biteback, £20) Katharine Campbell writes powerfully of the toll that post-traumatic…

Many of us who have lost the first flush of youth have their enjoyment of television programmes spoiled by the inability of interviewers and actors to speak properly. Well, that’s my story. A hearing test would reveal that the fault is at my end of proceedings. The subtitle service on my telly saves the day, and maintains marital bliss, when the characters on the screen appear to be talking with their mouths full of gobstoppers but, mentioning the sound problem to someone with a technical bent, I discovered that there might bea remedy. My instructions were to locate the ‘auto-volume levelling’ and the ‘volume stabilisation’ and set the system up to bring up unclear voices and dampen down the noisier ones. Fine. But where does a technical duffer like me…

Ever noticed how, when money moves, it sometimes goes one way at breakneck speed but limps along in the other direction? Example: I order some goods via an internet supplier and, as soon as the last digit of my card number is tapped in, the lolly flies out of my account. Instant... Then, a month later, when there has been no delivery owing to difficulties in supply, I cancel my order and ask the trader to return my card payment to my account, nothing happens. Three days later, an email arrives saying that my wishes have now been noted and that the money I paid would be returned but (please note) “this process might take seven days.”…

When news reporter Wendy James left Australia bound for Swinging Sixties London, she was planning to continue her newspaper career in Fleet Street. But while male Aussies and New Zealanders found it easy to get jobs in the Street, it was much tougher for women, so eventually Wendy found work in magazines and started a successful career during the golden age of magazine publication. Growing up in a small town in Australia, she could hardly have imagined she would have worked on many leading magazines and been involved in launching others and pioneering the cause of women in work and society through those pages. She probably wouldn’t have dreamed of editing Choice either, but in 1989 she took over and, with a small team based in Clerkenwell, relaunched the magazine…

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) Background music – a response Following Jillian Chave's letter about background noise on certain television programmes, we were contacted by many Choice readers who agree with Jillian. We sent the letters and emails to the various television companies asking them for a response. So far the only company to reply is ITV. Here is its response: I am sorry to hear your readers have found the background music intrusive in some programmes. To explain, all programme makers are required to work within certain parameters set out in technical documents which specify the standards expected, as well as…

BOREDOM MAY have been a significant problem for many of us during lockdown, but the additional time spent at home also provided opportunities, not least for acquiring new skills and learning for pleasure. And it seems many older people used their time productively. Distance learning provider Open Study College (www.openstudycollege.com), for example, reported a 39 per cent increase in new student enrolments from those aged 60 and over, while the Open University had a fourfold increase in over60s signing up to its free Open Learn courses during the Covid lockdown. The CEO of Open Study College, Samantha Rutter, told Choice. “Learning new skills shouldn’t stop when retirement starts. It’s interesting to see how life-changing events such as the global pandemic can contribute to how people choose to spend their free…

IT CAN feel as if everything starts to slow down in September – birds calls peter out, bugs lose their buzz and the days get shorter and shorter. But finding ways to survive the colder months takes a lot of time and energy so, if you look in the right places, September can be a proper bustle of activity. Migrating over continents In September many of our fair-weather feathered visitors start to make their way back to their winter homes. This means saying goodbye to the swallow’s tittering call from a telephone pole, the screaming parties of swifts as they careen around rooftops, the chiff-chaffs’ sweet onomatopoetic call from behind a hedge, and many others. In fact, about half of the UK’s bird species migrate, many to sub-Saharan Africa, over…

There were 334,600 US troops in Vietnam on December 31,1970. By December 311971, this had been reduced to 156,800. During 1971,2357 were killed in action compared with 6081 in 1970 and 11,616 in 1969, when there were 549,500 US troops in the country at the start of the year. The death toll was the worst in 1968, at 16,899. The figures are staggering. About 2.7 million US servicemen and women served in Vietnam; 58,148 were killed – 61 per cent were under 21 years of age. More than 150,000 were wounded. The death toll among the Vietnamese was huge – close to half a million North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong died. The civilian casualties on both sides ran into millions if you add in those who perished in Laos…

Brown Sugar Spiced Apple Cake FOR THE CAKE: ■ 200g almond flour ■ 3 tbsp buckwheat flour ■ 250ml plant milk ■ 125ml maple syrup ■ 125ml melted coconut oil ■ 1tsp baking powder ■ ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) ■ 1 vanilla pod (bean), split and the seeds scraped out, or 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract ■ pinch of pink Himalayan salt FOR THE TOPPING: ■ 2 tbsp brown sugar ■ 2 tbsp ground cinnamon ■ 4 apples, unpeeled and cored, then quartered and sliced into thin half-moons TO SERVE ■ Plant-based vanilla custard 1 Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/gas 4). Line a 20cm (8in) cake pan with baking parchment or use a good quality silicone mould. Add all the cake ingredients to a food…

TELEVISION CAN reveal much about a nation’s character and in The Magic Box (Faber, £20) Rob Young follows on from Electric Eden, his excellent study of British folk music, in exploring how British film and TV from the Fifties to the Eighties, be it science-fiction, horror, period drama or even comedy, unearthed hidden stories of our national life buried in the furrows of myth and legend. What if The Beatles hadn’t broken up in 1970? What if they had gone on to make another album together? Daniel Rachel considers these and other questions in Like Some Forgotten Dream (Octopus, £20), looking at the circumstances of the split and, if it hadn’t happened, what might have made up one last collaborative masterpiece, while Ever Fallen In Love: The Lost Buzzcocks Tapes…

Bridge BY HEATHER DHONDY Before reading on, cover the East and West hands on the deal below. GAME ALL; DEALER NORTH This was an exciting deal from the latter stages of a major teams event. North opened one spade and East overcalled three hearts. South now bid four diamonds, and North rebid four spades. What call do you make with the South hand? Keycard Blackwood with spades agreed is a practical approach, even though you do not intend to end up in a spade contract. When partner shows three, you might decide to have a go at seven diamonds, since this could represent better chances than seven notrumps if, for example, you needed to ruff a spade in order to establish them. However, when East doubles this, you should retreat…

When you’re facing dementia, life can feel overwhelming, as Colin knows only too well. His wife, Trixie, had symptoms of dementia for three years before she was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. “Her condition was deteriorating, and I felt alone, confused and anxious,” Colin remembers. “We were both struggling to cope.” In these difficult days, dementia specialist Admiral Nurse Loraine was a lifeline. “She helped with the practical challenges of caring for someone with dementia, and helped me deal with my own emotions,” says Colin. “I can’t express the difference it made knowing there was someone to call on who understood what I was going through.” Dementia UK’s Admiral Nurses have the time to listen and the experience to solve problems. Their support can be life-changing. But with 850,000 people…

More and more American words have become part of the common lingo in Britain in recent years. See how clued-up you are with terms used on each side of the Atlantic, then check the answers over the page. 1 Who might carry a nightstick, and what’s the UK equivalent? 2 What would an American expect to receive if we offered a plate of chips? 3 What’s the English name for what is known in the US as a vest? 4 What’s our name for what’s called a thumbtack ‘over there’? 5 What do Americans step on to go faster? 6 What’s our name for ‘cotton candy’? 7 Where do Americans stick a pacifier? 8 Why doesn’t American jelly wobble? 9 What’s the American equivalent of a primary school? 10 What…

Just a reminder… …that in this month, in 1951, the German company Deutsche Grammophon launched the first 33rpm record, soon to be known as ‘long-playing’ …in 1981, in an amazing spell of middle-distance running, Sebastian Coe recaptured the world mile record from Steve Ovett, days after Coe had clipped a fraction of a second off Ovett’s record, and Ovett had responded by trimming even more off the time …and that also in this month, in 1987, the government was considering tightening the gun laws after the 16th victim of the Hungerford massacre died. Seniors have swapped slippers for trainers Many will remember when retirement from work was seen not so much as a winding-down time as the beginning of the end, the start of a decline that the retiree could…

The CDs are: Moments of the Heart music for the soul – Various Artists. From the soothing melodies of Peaceful Lament and Confidence of Hope to the haunting ambiance of Natural Elements and Awakenings, Moments of the Heart music for the soul is the perfect ‘friend’ to have by your side, to help ease away the hustle, bustle, and stresses of the day. Spiritual Incantations – Stephen Rhodes. Stephen Rhodes is a genius of his craft returning with an outstanding new album, the best part of an hour of serene and relaxing music. With tracks such as Peaceful Lament, Seedsof Empathy, Eternal Compassion and Softly Speak, Spiritual Incantations is an album full of hope, charm, and sensitivity. selection two – Terra del Sol. Alberto Hauss, the master of Chill-out, has…

The trips featured here form part of a new set of travel experiences launched by the National Churches Trust in Wales. The charity, which is dedicated to supporting the UK’s places of worship by promoting church visits and tourism, as well as providing grants for repairs and maintenance, has unveiled a series of bespoke tours combining Wales’ sacred places and beauty spots as part of its ‘Exploring Sacred Wales’ programme. They include kayaking along the Pembrokeshire coast, cycling through Anglesey, churchyard stargazing and willow weaving workshops. The National Churches Trust is working with a number of local partners, businesses and experts in the region, including Visit Wales, the Church in Wales, Addoldai Cymru and Cadw, to develop original tours and experiences that reveal the best of Wales’ rich culture, history,…

‘SKIN SNAPS’ and rapid tests for same day diagnosis are among a package of measures to get more people checked for cancer. ‘Teledermatology’ is being used to diagnose skin cancer faster, with pictures taken by a medical photographer sent to hospitals so diagnosis and treatment can happen quickly. The technology has already been used in Leeds, York and Mid-Yorkshire – with a doctor reviewing an image of the patient’s skin for diagnosis. New efforts to speed up diagnosis for prostate cancer are also seeing patients referred directly for an MRI scan by nurses, rather than having to wait for an appointment with a consultant. This has reduced multiple visits to a single visit, with all diagnostic tests carried out on the same day. The NHS Long Term Plan has committed…

WHEN ALLYSON Kent was diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer last summer she decided that getting fit in preparation for surgery would give her the best outcome physically and emotionally. The 58-year-old nurse was admitted into hospital with bloating a year to the day after being told that she had breast cancer, and admits that being told that she had cancer for the second time was devastating. Setting herself a fitness target helped. “It gave me something positive to focus on, and was a welcome distraction from the concerns that I had around this new cancer diagnosis,” says the mother of one, who lives in Driffield, East Yorkshire with her husband Garry. After completing chemotherapy, in preparation for surgery, Allyson set herself the challenge of walking 1000 miles – 2.7…

WITH YEARS of hard work under your belt, you may be looking towards your fifties and sixties as a chance to start winding down, spending less time at work and more time on hobbies and relaxing. But from what we are seeing, for many women, this is a stereotype that is quickly becoming outdated. In fact, we’re seeing many women over 50 starting anew chapter in their working lives. Indeed, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the employment rate for women aged between 50 and 64 had risen to 68 per cent in 2019, up from 53 per cent in 2000. Factors such as the changes to the State pension age and the gender pensions gap may mean that many older women will be working out of…

Hello and welcome to my Craft Corner! Every month I share two new projects with Choice readers – one for those who enjoy hobbies such as papercrafting, upcycling and decoupage, and one for those who are fond of sewing and needlecraft, where I focus on simple, everyday stitched fabric accessories. I’ve lived and breathed crafting for as long as I can remember. I have very fond memories of cake decorating, cross-stitching and candle-making with my mum, and in my late teens I discovered the joy of cardmaking. I was fortunate enough to turn my favourite pastimes into my career by setting up Crafter’s Companion out of my university bedroom, and it’s been an amazing journey seeing my business develop into what it is today. I love experimenting and using our…

News of the best in the entertainment world this month Graham Sherwood Tall, slim, elegantly attractive and singing barefoot, my all-time Sixties female singer is Sandie Shaw. I can’t really say that I was in love with her but she had a captivating presence that demanded my admiration as a young teenager. Brought up in Dagenham, Essex, Sandra Ann Goodrich, eventually to become known as Sandie Shaw, left school to work (as most school-leavers did) in the local Ford factory, whilst doing some part-time modelling in her spare time. She also entered local talent contests as a singer and came runner-up in one, her prize being an appearance in a charity concert in London. Fortunately, at this event, she was spotted by none other than the singer Adam Faith, who…

Red Traitor by Owen Matthews Published by Bantam Press Price £16.99 Pages 314 ISBN 9781787634961 HARDBACK BOOK OF THE MONTH Based on the Cuba missile crisis of 1962, and the arrest of Oleg Penkovsky, who spied for America and Britain, Owen Matthews’ excellent Cold War thriller is a mix of historical fact and intriguing fiction. He writes knowledgably about Moscow in Soviet times, the deadly rivalry between the KGB and GRU security services and the lengths both will go to in achieving their goals. The tension is real aboard the submarines, each carrying a nuclear warhead, while the decisions his main characters have to make are based on memoirs and eyewitness accounts of the time. It’s a terrific read. Pick of the paperbacks Unpresidented by Jon Sopel The BBC North…

Our impersonal age is killing human contact AT A certain age, we tend to look back more often, re-living pleasurable times. Looking forward is a different matter. What’s behind us is done and dusted, but who doesn’t feel more than a little anxious about what the future might bring? My worry lately is that part of that future will involve less and less face-to-face human contact (I don’t mean faces on Skype). Real human connection seems to be well down the list of our priorities as we reshape our world and abandon older ways. New technology is so beguiling that we don’t seem to notice that there’s a down side. People need people. Seeing folk on screen, or hearing them on the phone, is not the real thing – no…

Reading that many gardeners now are using spent teabags, as they help to retain moisture in pots, deter some insects and even help with nutrition, I harked back to childhood and recalled what I was sure was another use for tea dregs. It seemed unlikely but when I was small, I’d once seen an old family member ritually scattering damp tea from the pot onto the carpet before giving it a fierce brushing. It turns out this wasn’t something I’d dreamed up. When I checked, I found that at one time, spent tea leaves were commonly used for refreshing carpets (just the sort of practice you’d find in those old-fashioned books with titles like 100 Handy Wrinkles For The Busy Housewife). When confirming that tea leaves had indeed served as…

AFTER MANY years of enjoying an active lifestyle, John Sanderson found himself struggling to walk due to his severely arthritic ankle. It became so bad he was forced to stop playing his beloved game of cricket. Pain literally stopped him in his tracks as his left ankle had deteriorated to the point it was causing bone to rub on bone. After undergoing a total ankle replacement at Spire Leeds Hospital, John was able to return to the cricket pitch and today he continues to enjoy the game. What’s more remarkable, the 81-year-old grandfather of four and former PE teacher has since climbed the equivalent of the world’s highest mountain. During lockdown, self-isolating with his wife Ruth and keen to build his fitness levels, he set himself a challenge. He exercised…