There will be something for everyone at this year’s Off The Tracks summer festival, taking place from September 2-4.
Visitors to the popular festival, as Donington Park Farmhouse, Isley Walton, near Castle Donington, can enjoy an exciting and diverse range of acts.
Guitarist and vocalist Hugh Cornwell, formerly of The Stranglers, will be performing, as will traditional African sounds from Zimbarambawe. Headliners include Simon Friend’s Seismic Survey, Treacherous Orchestra, the Scottish folk/rock barnstormers, and psychedelic rockers Ozric Tentacles, while Neville Staple, of The Specials, The Rattlers, Panic Room and LilJim and Z Theory will also take to the stage during the three-day event.
Off The Tracks takes pride in its food and drink, plus arts and crafts stalls, activities for children and camping facilities and showers.
For more, visit www.offthetracks.co.uk or see www.facebook.com/offthetracksfestivals
n HolidayLettings.co.uk, a TripAdvisor company, has announced that Off The Tracks has been chosen as one of the top music festivals in its recent blog article 11 Fabulous UK Music Festivals You Might Not Have Heard Of.
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There will be something for everyone at this year’s Off The Tracks summer festival, taking place from September 2-4.


Pace bowler Will Davis and all-rounder Rob Hemmings have signed new two-year contracts with Derbyshire, committing them both to the club until the end of the 2018 season.
The academy graduates have both made their Specsavers County Championship debuts for the county this summer. Davis has made three four-day appearances, claiming 14 wickets at an average of 30, including figures of 7-146, the best by a Derbyshire bowler this year. He is the second youngest player ever to claim seven in an innings for the county.
Hemmings has featured in one first-class fixture this year, making his debut versus Worcestershire in June. The 20-year-old has also impressed for the second XI, earning him his first professional deal.
Head coach John Sadler said: “Will and Rob are promising young players who have both impressed after making their debuts this summer. They will now both benefit greatly from another winter working full time with the first team as they continue their developments.
“We have a good group of talented young players who continue to learn and improve. We hope Will and Rob will be part of a crop of youngsters who will stand up and help contribute regularly to winning games for Derbyshire for years to come.”

New deals for exciting Derbyshire CCC academy prospects


Pace bowler Will Davis and all-rounder Rob Hemmings have signed new two-year contracts with Derbyshire, committing them both to the club until the end of the 2018 season.


American actor Gene Wilder has died at the age of 83.
Famous for his collaborations with actor/comedian Richard Pryor and director Mel Brooks, Wilder was perhaps best known for his performance as the titular character in 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Before that he had starred in Brooks’ Broadway spoof The Producers, for which he was Oscar nominated and went on to become one of the biggest comedy actors of the 70s and 80s.
He worked again with Brooks on the likes of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein - earning another Oscar nod - and teamed up to huge success with Pryor for Silver Streak, Stir Crazy and See No Evil, Hear No Evil.
As tributes from co-stars, celebrity fans and ordinary cinema-goers poured in from around the world, pop culture blog i09 put together this compilation of some of Wilder’s greatest on-screen moments.

LEGEND: Gene Wilder’s greatest on-screen moments


American actor Gene Wilder has died at the age of 83.


After months of rumours, Apple has all but confirmed that the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be officially unveiled on 7 September.
The tech giant has confirmed plans for a major media event in San Francisco next Wednesday where it is expected to take the wraps off the newest version of its groundbreaking mobile.
A second-generation iWatch is also expected to be revealed at the event.
Rumours around the iPhone 7’s specifications have been flying around for months. It is expected to be slimmer and lighter than the current iPhone 6S and there is a suggestion it could be waterproof.
Leaked photos also suggest it could do away completely with a headphone jack, replacing the traditional tangle of white wires with wireless Bluetooth-connected headphones.
There is also speculation that the larger 7 Plus will come with a dual-camera system.
It is likely to get a full HD 1080p edge-to-edge screen and a larger battery to keep users online for longer and address criticisms about the longevity of the iPhone 6.
Speculation about processing power has ranged from a dual-core processor like the 6S up to an unlikely hex-core but RAM is expected to remain at 2GB. Whatever the hardware, it’s likely to come with iOS 10 and the variety of functionality upgrades that brings with it.
Pricing is expected to follow Apple’s trend of keeping the cost of new handsets stable so the iPhone 7 will cost around £539 but that’s likely to come with 32GB of storage, a jump over its predecessor’s 16GB.

iPhone 7 launch date confirmed - and it’s soon


After months of rumours, Apple has all but confirmed that the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be officially unveiled on 7 September.


Wairarapa Midweek 24 August Digital Edition


Do you think it’s okay to allow children to drink some alcohol at home?
A study has found that half of parents with children under the age of 14 allow them to drink alcohol at home.
And, perhaps more worryingly, one in ten respondents to the Churchill Home Insurance survey allow children between the ages of five and seven to drink alcohol.
While it is not illegal for a child between the age of five and 16 to drink alcohol on private premises, it flies in the face of advice from the Chief Medical Officer whose official advice warns: “Children and their parents or carers are advised that an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest and best option. However, if children drink alcohol underage, it should not be until at least the age of 15 years.
“Parents and young people should be aware that drinking, even at age 15 or older, can be hazardous to health and that not drinking is the healthiest option for young people.”
The UK Chief Medical Officer highlights that “drinking, even at age 15 or older, can be hazardous to health and that not drinking is the healthiest option for young people.”


Do you think it’s okay to allow children to drink some alcohol at home?


Hardship in the fells of 1930s County Durham and intrigue at a Second World War munitions factory are just two compelling new books from Quercus this September.
Nobody’s Child by Elizabeth Gill
Two traveller sisters from the wild countryside of County Durham face hardship, hunger and an uncertain future when they lose their parents and their home.
Consumed with grief and surrounded by hostility, can the teenagers survive the tough times ahead in 1930s England and hold tight to the family ties that bind them together?
Elizabeth Gill, author of over 30 books set in and around her native Tyneside, works her storytelling magic in a moving and gritty family saga of adversity and hope and love and loyalty that will delight her army of devoted fans.
On Christmas Day in 1930, Kath and Ella Watson are living with their parents in an empty house close to Castle Bank Colliery on snow-covered Durham Fell tops. They have been forced to take shelter there from their travellers’ wagon because their mother is gravely ill.
Kath is seventeen and her father believes she should have married long ago, particularly as she has been courted by the likes of rich traveller Will Hern. But Kath has seen the chaotic life of traveller women with babies, forced to raise their youngsters inside a cramped wagon.
Their mother Rose wants a better life for her two daughters but when she dies on Christmas Day morning, their father is overcome by grief and sets fire to the family’s wooden wagon, reducing it to a heap of ashes.
When the police arrive to tell them that not only has their father died in an accident after riding off on his horse but also that they must leave the house where they have been sheltering, the two sisters are left bereft and virtually penniless.
With winter closing in around them, and facing the hostility of locals who are suspicious of Gypsies, the girls strike out to find their way in a harsh landscape which sets them on a collision course with the wealthy Banks family of nearby Golden Hill Hall, local farmer Jake Sutherland and Will Hern, the man who would still have Kath as his wife.
Using her trademark warmth, experience and wisdom, Gill captures the essence of the hardy folk of the north-east in a story brimming with drama, romance, rich period detail and vivid characters.
Written from the heart and with a seductive sense of time and place, Nobody’s Child is the perfect read for autumn nights…
(Quercus, hardback, £19.99)
The Factory Girls by Rosie Archer
Friends in need, flying bombs and explosive revelations… it’s time to head back to the adventures and misadventures of Gosport’s ‘canary girls.’
The real-life munitions workers at Priddy’s Hard, the Royal Navy Armament Depot in Hampshire, who helped to arm the Allies’ D-Day invasion fleet, are the inspiration behind this compelling series from Gosport author Rosie Archer.
In the follow-up to The Munitions Girls and The Canary Girls, Archer sweeps us away again to England in 1944 and into the hearts and minds of the women who packed shells and bullets with sulphurous chemicals that made their skin and hair turn yellow.
Archer pays tribute to the dangerous and dirty work undertaken by the 2,500 women at the factory during the Second World War in stories that prove no matter how hard the times, despite bombing, short rations, cruel men and unwanted pregnancy, friendship will pull you through.
In autumn of 1944, V-1 flying bombs, known as doodlebugs, are the latest threat to war-battered Gosport. And at Priddy’s Hard munitions factory, Em Earle is about to suffer a threat to her livelihood that comes from much nearer home.
Meanwhile, local crook and black marketeer Samuel Golden is back and up to his old tricks as he tries to find ways to exploit the hardships of local people for his own gain.
As well as Samuel’s unwanted attentions, Em has to deal with some huge revelations from within her own family. Her daughter Lizzie is pregnant, and a strange woman has turned up on Em’s doorstep claiming to be her sister.
Em is excited but cannot help feeling wary. Could this woman be too good to be true? Once again it will be up to the girls from the bomb factory to rally round and support one of their own.
The triumphs and disasters of this entertaining, close-knit group of friends spring to life in a nostalgic story packed with drama, tension, passion and the grim realities of life in wartime England.
Archer has her finger firmly on the pulse of the munitions workers… their hardships, their struggles and the determination to win wars in both their personal lives and on the bigger stage.
Romance with a gritty edge…
(Quercus, paperback, £6.99)

Book reviews: Cosy up with two family sagas from Quercus Books


Hardship in the fells of 1930s County Durham and intrigue at a Second World War munitions factory are just two compelling new books from Quercus this September.


The words icon and iconic tend to be so overused these days as to make them almost worthless.
Yet how else would you describe Blackpool’s grand old lady… that 518ft 9in seaside structure whose first sighting has thrilled generations of visitors whether they arrived by charabanc, excursion steam train or – as is more likely today – by coach or car.
True, its stature – currently ranked the world’s 103rd tallest freestanding structure – might have diminished in the eyes of the record book compilers yet the promenade attraction remains a firm family favourite and seems set to do so for decades to come.
Incredible then to think that Blackpool Tower has been teasing hard-earned cash from the pockets of the resort’s holiday crowds, season in, season out, since 1894.
Inspired by, and modelled on, the much taller Eiffel Tower in Paris, Blackpool’s more down-to-earth version has always sold itself as much on what is on offer below the stunning steelwork as the spectacular views atop.
When it was being built, many people predicted its failure and it did end up costing twice the original £150,000 estimate.
John Bickerstaffe, the driving force behind the Victorian venture, and a key figure in Blackpool’s civic life, almost went bust building the unique attraction.
But his faith in the project was well placed and once the turnstiles started spinning, his company made a profit every single year that the venue existed as an independent public entity.
In this fascinating history, author Peter Walton has definitely reinforced publisher Amberley’s reputation for an entertaining and authoritative take on nostalgia.
There is not a hint of textbook dryness in Walton’s style and his accounts of progress and challenges, notably during the earlier decades, paint as many pictures in the mind’s eye as the 16 pages of sepia photographs in the centre of the book.
And accuracy seems fairly assured in this particular tale well-told as Walton readily acknowledges his debt during research to ‘the stalwarts of Blackpool history’ for their goodwill and active collaboration, including the ready access he was given to the Tower archives.
Anyone who has ever been on the edge of their (restricted legroom!) seat, while hooked on the thrills and spills of the subterranean circus or marvelled at the grace of the dancers swirling across the polished floor of the ornate ballroom housed above, should find plenty to interest them in this ‘bricks and mortar’ account of the iconic – there goes that word again – entertainment emporium.
(Amberley, paperback, £14.99)
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The words icon and iconic tend to be so overused these days as to make them almost worthless.


Book review: Blackpool Tower: A History by Peter Walton


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Remembrance service to be held for bereaved relatives


St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is holding its annual Service of Remembrance for bereaved relatives of patients who were critically ill and cared for on the Intensive Care and High Dependency Units at Whiston Hospital.


Trapped in a marriage to an abusive, violent police officer, battered wife Joanna West has no one to turn to… until a stranger offering help walks into her life.
For the first time in years, Joanna and her young daughter have the chance to flee, but can you ever really escape from a brutal, vengeful husband?
Moved and inspired by the testaments of abused wives, former journalist Tamara Dietrich tackles the scourge of domestic violence head on in a highly original and powerfully imagined debut novel which melds menace with paranormal magic.
The Hummingbird’s Cage, a hard-hitting, page-turning thriller with an intriguingly soft middle, almost defies genre as Dietrich weaves seamlessly between gut-wrenching cruelty and spiritual sublimity in a tale of hope, despair and redemption.
Everyone in Wheeler, New Mexico, thinks that Joanna West leads the perfect life. She is married to Jim, the dashing deputy sheriff of McGill County, and has a beautiful seven-year-old daughter, Laurel.
But the truth is that Joanna is married to a monster who regularly beats her, subjects her to verbal and mental abuse and has isolated her from the people who live around her. Once upon a time she would have challenged him but now every time Joanna cries, ‘more of me washes away.’
Ten years ago, Joanna was swept off her feet by handsome Jim, her head turned by his uniform and ‘bad-boy grin’ but now she is trapped in a violent marriage and, with a young child to care for, escape seems impossible.
But then Bernadette, Jim’s feisty biker chick ex-girlfriend, turns up with an escape route. On the run, Joanna and Laurel stumble upon Morro, a charming and magical village that seems to exist out of time and place.
Farmer Olin Farnsworth and his wife Jessie offer her sanctuary and soon, between the comfort of her new home and blossoming friendships, Joanna’s soul begins to heal, easing the wounds of a decade of abuse.
But her past – and her husband – aren’t so easy to escape. Unwilling to live in fear any longer, Joanna must summon a strength she never knew she had to fight back and forge a new life for her daughter and herself....
Dietrich delivers a clever and compelling first novel, conjuring up a mysterious but idyllic town suspended somewhere between reality and fantasy, and juxtaposing this haven of peace with the terrifying threats that lie behind and beyond.
To read The Hummingbird’s Cage is to experience high emotion and high drama and to understand the visceral realities of domestic violence, but there is also the opportunity to marvel at the power of love and hope, and to rejoice at the human capacity to reach out and find redemption.
A heartbreaking tale written with insight, beauty and honesty…
(Orion, paperback, £7.99)

Book review: The Hummingbird’s Cage by Tamara Dietrich


Trapped in a marriage to an abusive, violent police officer, battered wife Joanna West has no one to turn to… until a stranger offering help walks into her life.


From poet John Keats to Prince Charles, and from life-changing scientists to prize-winning authors, some of the world’s most famous people have relied on ‘bedders’ to see them through their toughest student days at Cambridge.
In her fascinating account of just some of the hundreds of working-class women who have looked after the students of Cambridge University, Catherine Seymour, whose grandmother and great-grandmother were bedders, reveals their secret lives, heartaches and joy.
For centuries, the university’s bedders – the equivalent at Oxford is a ‘scout’ – have cleaned, tidied, made beds, dispensed advice and physical aid, and offered a reassuring maternal presence to generations of nervous, lonely students.
Bedders still look after today’s Cambridge students but the work they do, and the young people they care for, have changed over the last decades.
Until the 1980s, bedders carried buckets of coal up the stairs to light fires in the rooms of the fellows as well as dusting, tidying, taking away rubbish and, in some colleges, making the students’ breakfasts.
It was hard work but it came with privileges and offered an experience unlike other jobs available to working-class women. Some of the bedders had previously worked in shops or as waitresses, cleaners, factory hands and other low-paid manual jobs.
The college offered them family-friendly hours, starting work early but allowing them to get home in time for lunch and to make an evening meal for their children. Often bedders would pay neighbours to look after their pre-school youngsters.
In the first half of the 20th century, some of the upper class (male) students saw their bedders as simply servants but for many others, these women who instructed them on everything from dressing properly to combing their hair, were the only warm, motherly presence in an otherwise cold, paternalistic environment.
In turn, many bedders enjoyed their glimpse into a world they knew little about and during her research Seymour discovered that the women appreciated the genuine return of affection from students who often left gifts for them at Christmas, term ends and after graduation.
And for some of the bedders who got to know their students well, graduation was almost like watching their own children leave home.
In these unique, vivid and often moving stories, inspired by the accounts of bedders from the 1920s to the 1960s, we meet women who endured the Second World War and then had to contend with poverty, ill health and bereavement.
For 16-year-old Joyce, who lived in one of the poorest streets in Cambridge, the college building where she was about to start work represented privilege, wealth, a life she would never live. What she never expected was to find herself mothering, chastising and sometimes even covering up for ‘her boys.’
These hard-working women loved, lost and loved again. But their friendships gave them strength, and their work gave them happiness, and even a lasting connection with their charges, some of whom would go on to run the country.
As much a social history as the individual stories of the bedders, The Staircase Girls is a memorable and eye-opening glimpse into the remarkable lives of a very special group of women.
(Pan, paperback, £7.99)

Book review: The Staircase Girls by Catherine Seymour


From poet John Keats to Prince Charles, and from life-changing scientists to prize-winning authors, some of the world’s most famous people have relied on ‘bedders’ to see them through their toughest student days at Cambridge.


An exotic island lying in the glittering Arabian Sea, spotless white beaches and acres of lush coconut groves…
Sounds like the perfect place for a getaway, but gorgeous Lace Island is awash with dark secrets and lies that bind together two women from two generations, destined to meet on a dramatic and emotional collision course.
Make room in your holiday luggage this summer for Joanna Rees’ sizzling tale of romance, adventure, intrigue and betrayal inspired by a family holiday to Kerala, a state on India’s tropical Malabar Coast, famed for its stunning palm-lined beaches and abundant wildlife.
Brimming with glitz, glamour and some hard-hitting grit, The Girl from Lace Island sweeps readers away to some of the world’s most seductive locations whilst delivering a captivating story about two lives mysteriously linked to a faraway island.
In 1989, fun-loving fourteen-year-old Leila could not be happier. She has grown up on Lace Island, an exotic location which was inherited by her mother Bibi. Leila lives in the old plantation house with her mother and stepfather Chan, and spends her days in the company of local boy Rasa.
Near the beach are Bibi’s luxury bungalows where super-rich, and often famous, guests fly in to spend relaxing, private holidays away from intrusive camera lenses and where no behaviour or demand is deemed too outrageous.
But Leila’s idyllic life comes to an abrupt end when her mother is persuaded by one of her guests to send her daughter away for an education at a cold English boarding school. The teenager feels friendless, bullied and too foreign to ever fit in and soon she’s desperate to get back to her family and her beloved island.
But in her absence, Leila’s paradise has changed beyond all recognition and the life she once adored is now just a memory. Worse still, everyone and everything she loves is in terrible danger.
In 2016, Jess has spent her childhood in orphanages and lives in a depressing tower block in south London. She does kickboxing to channel her inner anger and dreams of far-off places, of white sandy beaches and warm tropical seas.
When Jess gets her longed-for job as airline cabin crew, all those dreams suddenly appear to be coming true, especially when she is swept off her feet by the handsome and charismatic millionaire Blaise who is a first class passenger on a long-haul flight to Miami.
But Jess has a troubled past, and her present is about to become complicated and dangerous when Blaise asks her to marry him.
These two women, both of their lives scarred by disaster and betrayal, will set out on a mission to discover the truth about Lace Island, but will their search for paradise be a price too high to pay?
Rees, a bestselling author who teaches creative writing in schools and libraries, works her trademark escapist magic in this addictive, fast-paced story which is perfectly formed and carefully crafted for sun loungers everywhere.
Sit back and enjoy…
(Pan, paperback, £7.99)

Book review: The Girl from Lace Island by Joanna Rees


An exotic island lying in the glittering Arabian Sea, spotless white beaches and acres of lush coconut groves…


Health officials are attempting to trace the family and friends of a 64-year-old man who died at Whiston Hospital.


Heavy metal group Metallica have announced they are releasing their first album in eight years.
The veteran US rockers, who have won multiple Grammys and sold tens of millions of records around the world, revealed details of Hardwired ... To Self-Destruct, the long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s Death Magnetic.
In a statement on their website, the group said their 11th studio album - which will contain two discs and nearly 80 minutes of music - was “a long time coming” and is set for release on November 18.
The music video for the album’s first track, Hardwired, was also posted on YouTube.
It is the longest period fans have had to wait for a new Metallica album since the group formed in 1981.
The band’s current line-up includes singer-guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.

Re-Enter sandman - Metallica return with new album


Heavy metal group Metallica have announced they are releasing their first album in eight years.


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Can you match these stars to the year they switched on the Blackpool Illuminations?


Showbiz royalty Dame Barbara Windsor has been announced as this year’s guest of honour at the Illuminations Switch-On ceremony.


Reading isn’t boring this summer with an exciting collection of children’s books to suit every age and every taste.
Age 10 plus:
Rose in the Blitz by Rebecca Stevens
London in the midst of the terrifying Blitz bombing raids must be an unimaginable place for a generation of children so removed from the war years.
But in a moving, atmospheric and heartbreaking story, set in the war-ravaged capital, acclaimed author Rebecca Stevens sweeps youngsters away to the sights, sounds and ever-present dangers of life in 1940s England.
Rose in the Blitz stars the same time-travelling teenager whose First World War adventures in Stevens’ novel Valentine Joe won the hearts and minds of readers and critics last year. In this engrossing sequel, inspired by the author’s own family history, Rose faces fresh perils and a desperate race against time to save a precious life.In present day London, it’s the night
before Rose’s mum re-marries. Rose can’t sleep for worrying and nor can her confused and elderly great-aunt Rosemary, known to one and all as Aunt Cosy. Rose sees the old lady leaving the house still in her dressing-gown and follows her through the darkness to the London Underground and on to an old, musty-smelling empty train.
Their train stops at her home station, Clapham South, but this isn’t the world as Rosie knows it, it’s the world as Aunty Cosy knew it… war-torn London in 1940, full of strangers and broken by the Blitz. Catapulted down Aunt Cosy’s memory lane and into the past, Rose witnesses a great romance and a heartfelt sacrifice, but a terrible tragedy is about to unfold… unless she can change what happens next.
Exciting, poignant, rich in colour and period detail, Rose in the Blitz combines a thrilling, fast-paced time-slip story with a thought-provoking exploration of family, the power of love and the importance of shared memories.
(Chicken House, paperback, £6.99)
Young Adult:
Eden Summer by Liz Flanagan
Prepare to shed tears as Liz Flanagan plays a blinder in this stunning debut novel set amidst the rolling hills and valleys of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.
Inspired by her own experiences of loss, Flanagan weaves a beautiful, heart-rending tale about a teenage girl whose friend goes missing, forcing her to look back over the events, secrets and traumas that have brought her to this hard place.
‘My mind will not accept the possibility that Eden could be dead, now or ever. The end. Nothing. No. My best friend is too alive. Too everything. She can’t just disappear… What the hell happens to me, without her?’
It starts like any other day for Goth girl Jess… get up, plaster on black eyeliner, cover up tattoos and head to school. But soon it’s clear this is going to be no ordinary day because Jess’s best friend, the beautiful, popular Eden, isn’t at school. Eden has gone missing.
Jess knows she has to do everything in her power to try to find Eden before the unthinkable happens. So she starts to retrace their steps, looking back over the summer she and Eden have just spent together. She starts to notice new things. She starts to question hidden truths and everything she thought Eden’s summer had been about...
The rugged, awe-inspiring countryside of West Yorkshire plays a starring role in this tense, highly-charged journey through adolescent friendship, loss, betrayal, bullying, tragedy and self-discovery.
A powerful, gripping debut from a talented new author…
(David Fickling Books, hardback, £10.99)
Age 10 plus:
Black Powder by Ally Sherrick
Guy Fawkes, a country awash with religious strife, a plot to assassinate King James I of England… no youngster will be able to resist this rip-roaring adventure, packed full of explosive action, real history, and barrels of gunpowder!
Debut author Ally Sherrick blends fact and fiction to brilliant effect in an enthralling tale which delivers an edge-of-the seat thriller as well as recreating real events leading up to the infamous 17th century Gunpowder Plot, still remembered every year on Bonfire Night.
It’s England in 1605 and 12-year-old Catholic boy Tom Garnett must use all his wits and his courage to save his father from hanging. He falls in with a mysterious stranger, known as the Falcon, who promises to help him in exchange for his service. But on the long journey to London, Tom discovers the Falcon’s true mission… a plot to blow up Parliament with barrels of black powder. Tom faces a terrible decision. Should he secure his father’s release, or stop the assassination of the king?
Sherrick’s exciting novel provides a fascinating English history lesson while exploring important themes like faith, family, loyalty and trust in times of persecution and suffering.
A brilliant adventure guaranteed to set alight young imaginations…
(Chicken House, paperback, £6.99)
Age 10 plus:
The Secret Cooking Club by Laurel Remington
What do you get when you mix three cups of friendship, a spoonful of toe-curling mum and a sprinkle of first love? A deliciously warm and appetising debut novel cooked up by lawyer-cum-author Laurel Remington!
Tickle your taste buds for the new TV series of The Great British Bake Off, starting on August 24, with a very modern and very satisfying tale of a one girl’s journey to find happiness.
Twelve-year-old Scarlett is the star and victim of her mum’s popular blog and as the butt of many school jokes, she is always eager to stay firmly out of the spotlight. But one evening, she finds a gorgeous kitchen in the house next door, left empty by an elderly neighbour who has had to go into hospital.
As Scarlett bakes behind the kitchen’s closed door, she starts to transform her life, discovering new friends and forming the Secret Cooking Club. But can she fix her family problems, seal her friendships and find the mysterious secret ingredient?
Brimming with warmth, humanity and the magic ingredient of love, this is a beautiful and sensitively written novel, perfect for aspiring young cooks and readers from the internet generation.
(Chicken House, paperback, £6.99)
Age 8 plus:
The Apprentice Witch by James Nicol
There’s magic aplenty in this sparkling novel featuring a trainee witch whose failed ‘spelling’ tests leave her lost for words… and without the bright silver star of a successful apprentice.
Packed with warmth and humanity, and starring a bewitching young witch called Arianwyn, James Nicol’s fantasy adventure is a joy to read and perfect for all Harry Potter fans.
When 15-year-old trainee witch Arianwyn fluffs her final assessment, she is awarded only the dull bronze disc of an apprentice… to the glee of her arch-rival Gimma. Informed by the Civil Witchcraft Authority that she has not yet reached the full maturity of her powers, Arianwyn is sent to protect the remote, dreary town of Lull. But her new life proves far from boring.
It turns out that Gimma is the pompous mayor’s favourite niece and, worse, she opens a magical rift in the nearby forest. As Arianwyn struggles with her spells and a mysterious darkness starts to cast a shadow, it’s soon clear there is much more than her pride at stake... it’s up to Arianwyn to save the town!
Nicol handles serious themes like low self-esteem and discovering self-belief with the lightest of touches in a clever, wise and timeless tale which speaks loudly to children of all ages.
(Chicken House, paperback, £6.99)
Age 7-11:
It’s Not Fine to Sit on a Porcupine by Neal Zetter
‘Here comes a man
With a pen in his hand
Rhythms and rhymes at his command
To build a sandcastle
You need sand
But who’d you need to write a poem?
Mister Poetry Man’
Enjoy the rhythm and the rhyme with ‘Mister Poetry Man’ Neal Zetter in this wacky, wonderful collection of funny, quirky poems.
London-based comedy performance poet Zetter is well known for using poetry writing and performance to develop literacy, confidence, self-expression, creativity and presentation skills in three to 103-year-olds, regularly entertaining audiences in schools, comedy clubs, theatres, pubs and music venues.
And he certainly works his rappy, happy poetic magic here with nearly fifty comical poems, all designed to be read aloud and shared, and brought to life by Rory Walker’s hilarious black and white cartoons.
Youngsters will be joining in to the mood music as they meet everything from robot teachers, aliens, shoelaces and orangutans to a bungee-jumping grandad, a killer dog, soap and even the zany letter Z.
Take pity on a bored superhero, take off with an angry shopping trolley, marvel at a mammoth on the underground and crack out laughing at the world’s worst toilet.
Perfect for entertaining school classes or to be enjoyed by all the family at home…
(Troika Books, paperback, £6.99)
Age 5 plus:
Furry Friends: Sophie’s Squeaky Surprise by Holly Webb
Young readers will be dancing for joy when they meet the cutest, cuddliest ballet dancer on the block… a tutu-wearing guinea pig!
Madcap little Josephine is the shining star of Furry Friends, a gorgeous, warm-hearted new series from the animal magician of children’s books, Holly Webb, and talented illustrator Clare Elsom.
Poor Sophie isn’t happy about moving to a strange new country and starting at a new school where she can’t seem to make any real friends. She’s lonely in Paris and missing her cat
Oscar who has been left behind with Grandma. But then she meets Josephine, a macaroon-eating, tutu-wearing guinea pig who lives with her furry friends and family underneath the city’s famous Sacré Coeur church.
Their existence is a big secret and one that Sophie must keep as she discovers that Josephine is the best friend she has been looking for. Soon Josephine is showing Sophie that living in a new place is exciting and being friends with a guinea pig is the best adventure of all.
Comical, reassuring and packed with high-energy fun and action, Sophie and Josephine’s extravagant exploits look set to run and run…
(Scholastic, paperback, £4.99)
Age 3 plus:
Bocchi & Pocchi’s Big Surprise by Noriko Matsubara
Bocchi and Pocchi, two close-knit sock friends, have become a shoo-in success for inventive picture book author and illustrator Noriko Matsubara.
This is the third outing for the woolly playmates whose footloose adventures were inspired by Matsubara’s childhood in Japan when she would sit and watch her grandmother darn socks and make up stories.
Here we find Bocchi and Pocchi more than a little surprised to find a caterpillar on their table one morning… and enjoying a cabbage for breakfast! They try to persuade Caterpillar that sandwiches or ice cream would be far tastier but he assures them he’s happy to eat cabbage for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Very soon the three of them are firm friends so when Caterpillar disappears one morning Bocchi and Pocchi are very worried. Grandma Mouse reassures them that all will be well and sure enough Caterpillar reappears with yet another surprise for his friends… he’s a butterfly!
Matsubara’s delightful story, packed with her colourful, eye-catching illustrations, includes a charming little musical sing-along celebration of Twirly Socks at the end of the book.
You can bet your boots that this lovable pair of socks will be back…
(Troika Books, paperback, £6.99)
Age 2 plus:
How to Find a Friend by Maria S. Costa
Friendship is all mapped out in this enchanting debut picture book story which shows two ways of looking at the world.
Little ones will delight in author and illustrator Maria S. Costa’s ingenious visual dual narrative which features two woodland animals looking for a new friend… in all the wrong places.
When Rabbit moves into his new burrow and Squirrel moves into her new treehouse, they would both love to bump into a friend. But will that ever happen when they are too busy to notice what is just above or beneath them? Are they destined to keep on missing each other by a whisker?
Children can follow Rabbit and Squirrel’s hit-and-miss search for friendship on a special story map at the front and back of the book and along the way enjoy all the excitement of those ‘it’s behind you’ pantomime moments as they head off on a comical crash course with the help of two little bugs.
Costa’s funny, tender story features her distinctive linocut illustrations which use a limited palette of bright Mediterranean colours and mix digital and traditional techniques.
Fun, friendship… and a first lesson in irony!
(Oxford University Press, paperback, £6.99)
Age 2 plus:
The Way to Outer Space by Jay Eunji Lee
Young imaginations can take flight in this inspirational and creative picture book from author and illustrator Jay Eunji Lee.
Committed to producing books which include activities to inspire creative play, Lee’s quirky space travel extravaganza provides lots of ideas, illustrations and templates to build a model rocket, draw alien friends and make beautiful origami stars.
Feeling bored at home one evening, Em receives a mysterious parcel with instructions for building her very own space rocket. By harnessing the power of her imagination (and with the help of two loo rolls and some sticky-back plastic), she builds a magnificent rocket. After climbing aboard with her pet cat as her trusty sidekick, Em zooms off through the solar system to a mysterious faraway planet where the inhabitants desperately need her help to survive.
The Way to Outer Space, with its exciting story and simple craft activities, is the perfect way to inspire your child’s imagination and send their creative powers into orbit.
The sky’s the limit for your budding artists and aspiring little space travellers!
(Oxford University Press, paperback, £6.99)
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Reading isn’t boring this summer with an exciting collection of children’s books to suit every age and every taste.


Book review: Wartime drama, a gunpowder plot and a trainee witch


Millions of people are looking forward to the return of BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing - especially actor Carley Stenson.
The star, who grew up in Billinge, will be supporting her fiance Danny Mac, who has been named as one of the competitors in this year’s show.
On social networking website Twitter, she posted: “Well looks like me and the mother in law will have to go shopping #Strictly any excuse eh!! #fashion #whattowear eek!!”
The couple have been dating for five years and announced their engagement earlier this year.
They have both starred in Channel Four soap Hollyoaks, with Danny playing Dodger Savage and Carley portraying Steph Cunningham.
Danny has already started preparing for the challenge.
He shared a photograph online showing him wearing a sequined top and tweeted: “It’s all kicking off & It’s safe to say i’m jumping in head, chest & sequins first! @bbcstrictly…”
He will strut his stuff in the popular dance competition alongside well-known faces including Olympic long jumper Greg Rutherford, actor Lesley Joseph, former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and singers Will Young and Anastacia.
The launch show will be on BBC1 on Saturday, September 3 when the 15 celebrity contestants will discover which professional dancer they will be paired with.
They will dance throughout the series for a panel of judges and members of the public can take part in a phone vote.
Carley was in Hollyoaks for 10 years before her character Steph Cunningham was killed off in a fire in 2010.
She has since had lead roles in West End musicals Legally Blonde, Shrek and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
This summer she starred in Some Girl(s) at the Park Theatre in London and in BBC1’s Holby City.
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Millions of people are looking forward to the return of BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing - especially actor Carley Stenson.


In the final, chaotic months of the Second World War, a young German soldier pits himself against the remnants of the brutal SS in a bid to save the woman he loves.
But it’s a race against time as the merciless Soviet army is closing in with only one single-minded aim… to wreak revenge on their despised German enemy.
Irish-born William Ryan, author of a string of crime novels set in 1930s Stalinist Russia, moves out of what has become his ‘home’ territory and into the dying days of the Second World War in a thrilling, beautifully written and breathtakingly powerful story of evil, inhumanity, love, hope and redemption.
One man’s crusade to right the wrongs of his countrymen and repay a haunting personal debt becomes a gripping battle for survival in an Upper Silesian village in central Europe where he grew up.
In 1944, Paul Brandt, a soldier in the German army, returns wounded and consumed with guilt from the bloody chaos of the Eastern front to his village home in Silesia, annexed from Poland by the Germans.
Brandt’s face is badly disfigured by a Soviet explosion during the retreat from Russia and he has lost both an arm and his enthusiasm for life. But, deeply ashamed of his enforced military service with the Wehrmacht and haunted by an event at the start of the war, he is determined to make amends.
Much has changed in his village where the residents live in the dark shadow of an SS rest hut, a luxurious retreat for the Nazis who manage the nearby concentration camps. Modelled to look like a pre-war holiday camp, the rest accommodation is run by a small group of female prisoners who, against all odds, have so far survived the war.
When, by chance, Brandt glimpses one of these prisoners, he realises that she is a face from his guilty past and he knows he must find a way to access the hut. His fate has been tied to Agneta Gruber since their arrest five years before and now he must do all he can to protect her.
As a wounded German hero, Brandt secures a job as the rest hut’s steward but, with the Russian offensive moving ever closer, the days of the Nazi ‘holiday camp’ and its SS inhabitants are numbered.
And while hope for Brandt and the female prisoners grows tantalisingly close, the danger is also now greater than ever. Because in a forest just to the east, a young female Soviet tank driver awaits her orders to advance…
Ryan moves up a gear in this brilliant, emotionally-charged story which combines a poignant romance with an edge-of-the-seat thriller. But what impresses most is the author’s powerful writing which blends taut action sequences with passages of soaring literary beauty.
Inspired to write the novel by photographs of some of the worst perpetrators of the Holocaust relaxing and enjoying themselves at the real-life Silesian rest hut at a time when Auschwitz was at its most lethal, Ryan wrote this story from the heart.
And Brandt’s one-man mission, set amidst the terror, uncertainty and turmoil of the disintegrating Nazi machine, is certainly portrayed with mesmerising atmosphere and shocking veracity.
The dark and ever present threat of the ruthless SS masters and the approaching menace of the Soviet army are thrown into stark relief by the quiet power and unquenchable flame of enduring love.
A modern classic from a master storyteller…
(Mantle, hardback, £16.99)

Book reviews: The Constant Soldier by William Ryan


In the final, chaotic months of the Second World War, a young German soldier pits himself against the remnants of the brutal SS in a bid to save the woman he loves.


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A teenaged boy hit by a car on the M6 yesterday is in a critical condition.
Police said the boy appeared to run onto the carriageway on the Southbound M6 at Charnock Richard services at 1.45pm, and was involved in a collision with a Jaguar XF.
Traffic backed up near the scene of the incident
He suffered serious injuries and was taken by air ambulance to Alder Hey Hospital where his condition is described as critical.
His family are being supported.
The motorway was closed for about four hours yesterday (Tuesday).
Sgt Lee Campbell, of the Road Policing Unit, said: “This was a serious collision which has left a boy with life threatening injuries. I would appeal for anyone who saw what happened, and who hasn’t already spoken to the police, to get in touch with us.”
Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting log number 0776 of Tuesday, August 30th.
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A teenaged boy hit by a car on the M6 yesterday is in a critical condition.


Teenager fighting for life after M6 collision


It’s almost a year since eight-year-old Abbey Gleason disappeared in woodland one sunny, summer afternoon, and the police inquiry has gone cold.
Only one young woman can help to solve the mystery… but is she willing to use the psychic powers that she knows are destroying her own life?
Welcome to back to The Hollows, a sinister little town in New York State where strange things happen to unsuspecting visitors, where the line between reality and the paranormal becomes blurred, and where death and tragedy are only ever a heartbeat away.
It’s easy to see why American author Lisa Unger has become the thriller queen of psychological suspense. With more than 1.7 million books sold in more than thirty countries, and a string of atmospheric, high-tension stories brimming with menace, mystery and spine-tingling supernatural, there is so much to savour.
And Unger is on top form in Ink and Bone, delivering a clever, complex story, an intriguing new heroine with a troubled past and present, and an atmosphere brimming with tension.
Twenty-year-old Finley Montgomery has always been different. She sees the world differently and has never been able to control the sights and sounds that haunt her everyday life – not even the pain of a new tattoo or the roar of her motorcycle can drown out the chaos.
Finley, bone thin and addicted to ‘ink,’ did not grow up in The Hollows in upstate New York but the rather creepy little place still has its tendrils firmly wrapped around her head. Her grandmother Eloise is the town’s psychic and Finley, who has inherited her gifts, is moving into her house in the hope of making a fresh start.
Every day is a battle for Finley to stay in her own body and her own life because she is haunted by the souls of the dead and, recently, a mysterious ‘squeak-clink’ noise that constantly invades her days and nights.
When local private investigator Jones Cooper turns up at the house, he tells Finley he knows about her psychic talents and wants her help. Abbey Gleason has been missing since her parents rented a cabin in the nearby woods last summer and her mother is desperate to unearth the truth.
But time is running out and Finley must first come to terms with the powers that she fears are wrecking her life. Can she find answers before it’s too late?
Unger’s haunting new mystery, packed with gut-wrenching emotion and small town drama, is a gripping page-turner. Mesmerising storytelling skills combined with a breathless race-against-time plot and dark, seductive paranormal overtones make this a thrilling reading journey for fans both new and old.
(Simon & Schuster, paperback, £7.99)
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It’s almost a year since eight-year-old Abbey Gleason disappeared in woodland one sunny, summer afternoon, and the police inquiry has gone cold.


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Motorists are being warned to expect delays at the junction of Rainford Road and Dentons Green Lane– and Kiln Lane and Greenfield Road from Friday, September 2.


It was the battle of the conservationists. In the red corner English Heritage proudly prepared its frontlines ready for the onslaught of the mighty National Trust limbering up in the purple corner.
So who would win this mighty fight? My two little soldiers , Ruaridh (9) and Flora (6) weighed up their options and after due consideration (as they tucked into an afternoon tea of scones and clotted cream), they declared it a draw.
English Heritage's majestic Homesteads Fort
They will no doubt make good politicians in the future, but for now they were concentrating on letting their young minds absorb as much culture and information as their mother (that’s me!) could persuade them to as we enjoyed a trip to see the historical gems on offer in the North East.
As parents we often find it hard to entertain the children during the long summer holidays, but these days there is so much to see and do, you just have to jump on board and have some fun.
And English Heritage and the National Trust have embraced this philosophy and these days their once stuffy (well that’s what we thought as children!) properties are now child friendly and laid out in such a way that the whole family really can have a good time together.
The North East of England has its fair share of places to visit and with such lovely rolling countryside and a short drive from Lancashire, it’s the perfect place to spend a few days exploring.
The National Trust's Wallington. Photo by John Millar
Ruaridh and Flora had enjoyed a taste of English Heritage’s Hadrian’s Wall trail last year and enjoyed it so much, they wanted to go back for more.
This time we headed for Homesteads Roman Fort, perched high on the hills above Haydon Bridge. The fort was built in Roman times as a blueprint for similar forts around the world so that everything would be set out in the same way at each site to make it easier for soldiers when they were sent around the world.
Homesteads is a fine example of a fort and after a short walk up the hill you find yourself in the visitor centre where an exhibition is dedicated to the fort and the items found over the years. Felix the soldier provides information for the youngsters on the same interpretation boards as the adults read. And its fascinating stuff, with Ruaridh and Flora’s minds in overdrive as they looked at the artefacts, such as tools and jewellery left by the soldiers and discovered by archaeologists over the years.
Outside you can look round the remains of the fort which sits proudly infront of Hadrian’s Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We had great fun pretending we were standing in the soldiers’ barracks, commander’s living quarters and looking at the hospital and granaries.
From here we took a short hop to Birdoswald, neighbouring Cumbria’s Roman fort and also where the longest section of Hadrian’s Wall can be seen (or walked if you can persuade the children!).
A product of 1,800 years of occupation, this fort is different in that it stands just infront of a mock medieval farmhouse built in 1858. With stunning landscape surrounding it, it really is a lovely spot to visit.
After all that history, we were in need of some fun by the seaside (but with a spot of culture thrown in too) and so we headed to Tynemouth, a great wee spot with old-fashioned entertainment on offer. After a bracing walk on the beach we headed for the imposing priory and castle which dominates the town.
It was once the most fortified place in England and dates back 2,000 years. Its well spread out, so we all got to stretch our limbs as we headed back in history and took in all the fascinating parts from the beautiful and tranquil 13th century chapel to the restored gun battery and cannons. And some fantastic views of the North Sea to boot.
As with all the English Heritage sites over the summer, there are some great activities on offer from clash of the knights contests to kite flying.
And working just as hard as English Heritage to bring our history to life are the people working for The National Trust.
The North East has some great examples of this work and we headed for two of them. Our first stop was Seaton Delaval Hall at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland. This wonderful property was designed by architect Sir John Vanbrugh and home to the party loving Delaval family. It is of Georgian style, but with a mischievious past.
The Delaval’s were known for their high spirited and flamboyant lifestyle and everyone wanted to go to their parties. They loved to play pranks, some guests woke up to find their furniture stuck to the ceiling!
The hall has survived a fire and houses some lovely rooms and furniture for you to look round and the gardens are amazing, literally with a box hedge maze for the children to enjoy as you take in the gorgeous scents of the flowers.
From here we headed for our final stop of our adventure, Wallington, once home to the Trevelyan family.
Just outside Morpeth, this 13,000 acre estate is a joy to visit. Gifted to the National Trust by Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, a controversial socialist MP, it is a wonderful place.
Another unconventional family, the Trevelyan’s home boasts huge pre-Raphaelite paintings telling the history of Northumberland and beautiful furniture and treasured collections in the rooms.
The house has a remarkable collection of dolls houses and some fabulous old children’s games to have a go at. Outside is a landscape of lawns, lakes, woodlands, parklands and farmland and a magical walled garden where you can relax and let your mind re-live all those adventures you have just enjoyed – long may English Heritage and The National Trust reign!
Fact file:
We are lucky in the Northern part of Great Britain to have so many national treasures on our doorstep. Throughout the summer both English Heritage and The National Trust have special events on to keep all the family entertained as you learn about the nation’s history.
For more information, log onto www.english-heritage.org.uk and www.nationaltrust.org.uk
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It was the battle of the conservationists. In the red corner English Heritage proudly prepared its frontlines ready for the onslaught of the mighty National Trust limbering up in the purple corner.


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The M6 southbound was blocked heading into Wigan this afternoon after a “serious” traffic accident in which a person was hit by a vehicle.
The North West air ambulance was called to the scene between junction 28 at Leyland and junction 27 at Standish.
Police have closed all three lanes.
The road was blocked and queuing traffic was reported at 2pm.
Motorists have been warned to expect delays on the M6 and on surrounding routes.
Police said this afternoon the motorway would remain closed for “several hours”.
The northbound carriageway was briefly closed but was reopened about 2.30pm.
Police said: “The M6 has been closed southbound at J28 following an incident.
“We are advising motorists to avoid the area and use alternative routes.”
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The M6 southbound was blocked heading into Wigan this afternoon after a “serious” traffic accident in which a person was hit by a vehicle.


Police are appealing for help to find a missing man.
Darren Hillman, who is originally from Wigan, but now lives in St Helens was last seen at around 9am this morning, Friday, on Peasley Cross Lane at the address he was staying at and has not been seen or heard from since.
Darren Hillman
Extensive enquiries have been ongoing by Merseyside Police to locate the 27-year-old.
He is described as white, 5ft 10in tall, with brown hair and of medium build. He also has a scar to the left side of his head. He was wearing a dark T-shirt and dark jeans and trainers when he was last seen.
Members of the public are advised not to approach Darren, but to contact police if they see him.
Police officers are making extensive efforts to find him and return him home safely and would urge Darren, anyone who knows his whereabouts, or who has seen a male resembling him, to call 101.
Alternatively information can be left with the independent charity Missing People by calling 116 000 or by emailing 116000@missingpeople.org.uk.

Public warned not to approach missing man


Police are appealing for help to find a missing man.


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Can you get 10/10 in our retro games quiz?


I’ve only just got back from my summer holidays, but it seems autumn is already here. Soon we will not be able to walk along a pavement without having to battle our way through a pile of mouldy old leaves, hoping something nasty isn’t hidden beneath.
How do we know this? By watching TV. The signs the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness has arrived are there. The X Factor ‘X’ is upon us, like some civilisation-ending asteroid of hyperbole about to create a crater of mediocrity on the national psyche.
Strictly Come Dancing’s annual sequinathon is also about to start, the celebs and Ed Balls already practising their rictus grins and desperate, ‘vote for me’ hand signals.
And the main TV channels are all pushing the new series of returning favourites and hoped-for hits, all of which we are expected to embrace as televisual hot water bottles as the nights draw in.
The BBC is first out of the blocks, with August not yet over. The first of their ‘major new dramas’ – all the BBC’s new dramas are major, it seems – is One of Us (BBC1, Tuesdays, 9pm).
At first glance, this is not comforting autumn viewing. A young pair of newlyweds, expecting their first child, are murdered, the families left to deal with the emotional fallout.
Then the killer pitches up in their hometown, a remote Highland fastness, and after a conveniently wild and stormy night, ends up dead in a barn.
It’s aiming for gritty and modern, there’s snot involved when people cry – which they do, a lot, and the famously mucus-y Juliet Stevenson stars – but by the end, when we’re left with a kind of locked room mystery, no shortage of suspects, and the police on their way, it’s all got a bit Agatha Christie, and what could be more comforting than that?
Well, the Great British Bake-Off (BBC1, Wednesdays, 8pm), that’s what. If you want something warm and snuggly this autumn, climb under the John Lewis 24-tog paisley comfort blanket of the Bake-Off with Mel, Sue, Paul, Mary and the 11 remaining contestants, and don’t get out until Christmas.
Play Mel and Sue innuendo bingo, guess whose Genoese sponge will collapse and marvel at Candice’s purple lipstick.
It’s what autumn nights were made for.


I’ve only just got back from my summer holidays, but it seems autumn is already here. Soon we will not be able to walk along a pavement without having to battle our way through a pile of mouldy old leaves, hoping something nasty isn’t hidden beneath.


A young man who was left for dead after a deliberate hit-and-run smash today said he could finally re-build his life after his ambushers were jailed.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Owen Williams was lured into a potentially deadly trap by a Wigan girl he had met on Facebook.
Owen Williams
Abby Liptrot persuaded the 23-year-old sales executive into the middle of a road only for her friend Robert Taylor then to run him down in his car, inflicting terrible injuries.
Mr Williams, who is still suffering physical and mental repercussions from the crash, today said he felt justice had been done.
Six months later he is still attending hospital appointments and suffering mentally and physically.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the 23-year-old had been in contact with Abbey-lee Liptrot by mobile phone and text messages during the course of the night and repeatedly invited her to a “lock-in” at his local pub.
The two of you made a deliberate decision to go to the location of Mr Williams even though he had made it clear that if you, Liptrot, was with male company that was likely to cause problems Judge Denis Watson QC
He told 18-year-old Liptrot, whom he had never met, that she could bring her female friend along but that no men were welcome.
She was in the front seat of a Ford Fiesta being driven around by Robert Taylor, whom she had also met via Facebook, and her friend was in the back seat, said Catherine Ellis, prosecuting.
While they were driving around in the early hours of February 2 this year, Liptrot and Mr Williams were in touch and it became apparent she was in the car with Mr Taylor and the two men argued over the phone and Mr Williams sent him an abusive text.
Shortly before 4am they arrived in Wargrave Road, Newton-le-Willows, by the Sunbeam pub and Liptrot sent him messages saying the car was outside and to walk towards it.
Robert Taylor
“The prosecution case is that he was brought into the roadway so that something could be done to him,” said Miss Ellis.
Once he was outside the Fiesta left its parked position and 20-year-old Taylor drove it, on his admission, at 30mph along the road, which had cars parked on both sides. “It struck Mr Williams and threw him in the air and left him with a number of serious injuries.”
He suffered four fractured ribs, a fractured and dislocated left shoulder, a small cut to his liver, bleeding in both sides of the chest and bruising to his right lung. He also suffered cuts to his forehead which have left him scarred.
The Fiesta sped off and Taylor considered torching it but instead decided to hide it and told his insurance company it had been vandalised. Taylor and Liptrot were arrested later that day and the car was recovered.
When interviewed they suggested the victim had dived in front of the vehicle. “The prosecution do not accept that account,” said Miss Ellis.
Mr Williams’s friend told how he had “no chance” of getting out of the way and text messages between the defendants showed “no remorse whatsoever”.
Taylor said he had just driven to the pub to see if “it was real” and to see what was going on but got bored and moved off.
Jailing Taylor for 32 months and Liptrot, for 22 weeks, Judge Denis Watson, QC said, “Neither of you showed any remorse at all.”
He told them: “The two of you made a deliberate decision to go to the location of Mr Williams even though he had made it clear that if you, Liptrot, was with male company that was likely to cause problems.”
Liptrot messaged him that she was not prepared to walk down the road and that she was with a woman friend Taylor Whalley. The clear impression of her messages was to persuade him out of the pub and once he came out Robert Taylor drove at speed and he was hit.
The victim’s life has been “turned upside down” and he is self-conscious of the scarring to his forehead, he said.
Taylor, of Bickershaw Lane, Abram, admitted dangerous driving causing serious injury and Liptrot, of Belvoir Street, Scholes, admitted dangerous driving.
Judge Watson told Taylor: “This was a very serious piece of driving indeed. You knew perfectly well that he was being effectively brought out that pub to facilitate your intention to drive with the purpose of scaring him or terrifying him and you caused those serious injuries.”
Taylor was banned from driving for four years four months and Liptrot for two years and are both banned from contacting Mr Williams for five years and an order was made depriving Taylor of his car.
Defence barrister Tom Watson described Liptrot, who was due to start a hair and beauty college course tomorrow, as an immature person and immature mother. She has a young child who she has access to twice a week, he said.
It had been claimed she had been “laughing and smirking” during her last court appearance but Mr Watson said it was naievety and stupidity on her part and the recognition of her behaviour that night was slowly dawning on her.
After the hearing, sales executive Mr Williams told the Wigan Evening Post: “I am happy because this draws a line under the whole affair. Abby had been boasting on social media that she wasn’t going to prison so justice has been done and both have restraining orders.
“It means I can get on with my life. The sentences are a massive relief.”
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A young man who was left for dead after a deliberate hit-and-run smash today said he could finally re-build his life after his ambushers were jailed.


Ambush victim’s terror as he was mown down and left for dead


American rapper RZA elegantly sums up the fleeting nature of fame during his cameo appearance in Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone’s musical mockumentary.
“The higher you get, the harder you fall. Ask any coconut,” sermonizes the hip-hop superstar.
These words of wisdom are aimed at sweet, yet corruptible, Conner Friel (Andy Samberg), who sells out his childhood pals to land a solo record deal and secure his moment in the social media spotlight.
Part cautionary tale, part buddy comedy, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping gleefully lampoons music documentaries, including Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, by offering a fly-on-the-wall glimpse into the life of an icon as he prepares to launch his second album.
Schaffer and Taccone festoon their tongue-in-cheek expose with real-life music industry figures, plus colourful supporting performances including Justin Timberlake as a singing chef, who juliennes carrots with pride.
Thus Simon Cowell offers his glowing assessment of Conner - “I think he’s incredible. He’s the real deal!” - and the likes of Mariah Carey, Usher, Carrie Underwood and 50 Cent wax lyrical about his impact on their careers.
Andy Samberg as Conner4Real
For the first 40 minutes, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is hysterical, but then like the preened and polished subject, the film loses its way.
Conner and childhood buddies Lawrence Dunn (Schaffer) and Owen Bouchard (Taccone) achieved considerable success as the trio The Style Boyz.
However, it was clear to everyone in the cutthroat music business that Conner was the glittering star in the firmament.
He went solo and The Style Boyz disbanded.
Lawrence turned his back on celebrity to settle on a farm in Big Timber, Colorado, while Owen remained in the background as Conner’s DJ.
Following the rousing success of Conner’s debut LP entitled Thriller, Also, a documentary film crew shadows the pop icon in the days leading up to the release of the follow-up album, ConnQuest.
Flanked by an entourage including his manager Harry Duggins (Tim Meadows), acid-tongued publicist Paula Klein (Sarah Silverman) and “a guy who kicks him in the nuts so he remembers where he came from”, Conner feebly shoulders the mounting pressure flanked by actress girlfriend, Ashley Wednesday (Imogen Poots).
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is half of one of the best comedies of the year.
Opening scenes are a hoot.
“It’s like a tricycle. When you take away one of the wheels, what have you got?” scoffs Lawrence when someone suggests The Style Boyz could fracture.
Note-perfect music videos include Equal Rights featuring P!nk, which promotes same sex relationships, while Conner punctuates each line of the chorus with a defiant, “I’m not gay”.
Sadly, the filmmakers run out of ideas for a lacklustre second half and introduce outlandish new characters to sustain our interest.
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American rapper RZA elegantly sums up the fleeting nature of fame during his cameo appearance in Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone’s musical mockumentary.


Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping - Half of one of the best comedies of the year


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Car ploughs into front of St Helens bookies


Three people were hurt after a car they were travelling in crashed into the front of a betting shop in St Helens.


This week, F1’s 2016 Limited Edition hits pole position on Xbox One, Tropico 5’s Complete Collection is let loose on PS4 and Overcooked sizzles on Xbox One.
Elsewhere, Reigns and Midnight Star Renegade land on smartphone and tablet
F1s 2016 Limited Edition
GAME OF THE WEEK:
Title: F1 2016 Limited Edition
Platform: Xbox One
Genre: Racing
F1s 2016 Limited Edition
Price: £41.99
ASIN: B01GCBP6MW
Startlingly real racing action
Yet again, Lewis Hamilton is leading the way again in the F1 stakes this year, and now you can step onto the virtual circuits in F1 2016, putting you in control of his high-speed destiny or, indeed, any of the other drivers on this year’s racing roster. This annual racing release has been tweaked and tinkered with to pull further away from the competition, delivering an excellent racing experience that handles just as brilliantly as it looks. We’ve got the introduction of the safety car and virtual safety car this year, as well as the Baku circuit in Azerbaijan and the new Haas F1 team, while under the hood there’s the usual ultra-realistic career mode for players to tackle, as you, your agent, engineer and team search for the perfect recipe for success. It’s perhaps one for seasoned drivers, offering the most intense on-track action, and will no doubt lead to a few race-ending crashes, realised in superb 1080p high definition. F1 gaming continues to feel fresh, and this 2016 iteration will give you renewed vigour to step into the pits and find your own high-speed path to glory.
89%
Title: Tropico 5 Complete Collection
Platform: PS4
Genre: Strategy
Price: £31.99
ASIN: B01H39NXPE
An awesome island adventure
Packed with a host of new gameplay features and new artwork designed from scratch, Tropico 5 has taken the series in a new direction - dynasties! You, as El Presidente, must first take control of the infamous island of Tropico during early colonial times and then guide it through the centuries as the world changes and moves ever forward. You’ll need to tackle the changing needs of your people, as well as opposing governments and factions, all the while laying the foundations for your own dynasty. Can you survive both World Wars, prosper through the Great Depression, rule as an iron-fisted dictator through the Cold War and advance your country to modern times and beyond? From advanced trading mechanics and technology, to scientific research trees and island exploration, Tropico 5 is a fabulous tycoon experience, which sticks to the series’ well worn path with the addition of some excellent add-on packs in this PS4 Complete Collection. Whether you’re forging your own way in the ultra-liberating sandbox mode or tackling the challenges together with pals online, this is an island adventure you can’t refuse.
85%
Title: Overcooked
Platform: Xbox One
Genre: Arcade
Price: £12.79
ASIN: N/A - Download from Xbox Store
You’ll be desperate for seconds
Overcooked is a chaotic co-op cooking game that charges you to work as a team as you and your fellow chefs prepare, cook and serve up a variety of tasty orders before the baying customers storm out in a huff. In single player mode, you’ll toggle between two chefs, carefully maximising your time for all the tasks you need to complete to get your dishes prepped. You have the option of controlling both with the two controller sticks, but this is pretty tough to wrap your head around. Your cooking environments don’t make it any easier, too, as you might be slinging ingredients from one fast moving truck to another or even slipping around in an icy arctic location. The co-op local multiplayer is where the action becomes totally crazy, and you’ll need well-planned teamwork to progress through each increasingly difficult scenario. The pursuit of culinary perfection and deep strategic elements complement the fun cartoon visuals perfectly, and this is a game that’ll keep you hungry for more.
85%
Title: Reigns
Platform: iPhone/iPad
Genre: Strategy
Price: £2.29
ASIN: N/A
A strategy card game that proves it’s tough at the top
Reigns is an interesting little app concept. Essentially a leadership simulator, in your position of power you are constantly approached by people “cards” from your kingdom and must take decisions for each differing request that maintain a balance of respect from the church, the community and the army, as well as keeping your bank balance healthy. You’ll generally find your finger swiping left to answer negatively to a request and right for positive. You can also hold your swipe to see more details about what you’re about to say. Random events and special cards will also throw some tasty challenges into the mix, and as you build harmony across the board, your score (or years in charge as ruler) increases. Get it wrong, and your castle will be stormed and you’ll be killed, only to start again from scratch as a brand new leader. It’s an interesting premise with slick, simple controls that will present all sorts of dilemmas for you to deal with before you get off the bus for work!
80%
Title: Midnight Star Renegade
Platform: iPhone/iPad
Genre: Shooter
Price: Free (with in-app purchases)
ASIN: N/A
On-rails shooter star struggles to shine
The original Midnight Star has been crunched and compressed in Renegade to try to recreate the high-energy on-rails shooter experience that worked so well first time out. Alien annihilation is the name of the game as you move through each set-piece, tapping on the screen to shoot, pinching to zoom and using other buttons on-screen to shift your viewpoint or throw grenades. Renegade forces more control upon your character by making your swipe to move as well as all the above, and it does make the action overwhelming at times. Rather than becoming fantastically frenetic, it actually makes the whole experience of bit of frustrating mess. And, with stripped back game modes, repetitive level designs and similar enemies, the boiling down of Midnight Star results in a title that may be fun for an hour or two, but quickly loses its lustre.
62%
WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT?
As gamers’ Pokemon Go creature collections have probably swelled significantly over the mobile app’s first few weeks of launch, the coffers of developers Niantic have become similarly stuffed. Estimates from Sensor Tower suggest that global revenues for the game have surpassed 200 million dollars in the app’s first month of availability. This commercial performance eclipses that of Clash Royale, another highly successful gaming app with in-app purchases, which registered 120 million dollars of revenue in the same time frame.
Meanwhile, in the charts this week, No Man’s Sky stormed enjoyed intergalactic sales success, debuting at the number one and nudging GTA V down to second, while Uncharted 4 also toppled down from two to five.
GAME CHART ALL FORMATS FULL PRICE
1. No Man’s Sky
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Overwatch
4. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
5. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
6. Rocket League
7. FIFA 16
8. Doom
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
10. Minecraft: Xbox Edition
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (c) 2016 UKIE Ltd

Games Central: Startlingly real racing action in F1’s 2016 Limited Edition


This week, F1’s 2016 Limited Edition hits pole position on Xbox One, Tropico 5’s Complete Collection is let loose on PS4 and Overcooked sizzles on Xbox One.


Based on an article in Rolling Stone magazine and a subsequent book, War Dogs heavily dramatizes the true story of two enterprising twentysomethings, who became multi-millionaires as arms dealers to the US military.
Director Todd Phillips, mastermind of The Hangover films, and co-writer Jason Smilovic don’t let the truth get in the way of spinning an entertaining yarn.
They embellish the jaw-dropping rags-to-riches narrative with a hare-brained chase through the notorious Triangle of Death to the south of Baghdad, and some fizzing one-liners, which are used as chapter headings to bookmark each stage of the journey.
Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, who garnered numerous awards for their eye-catching work in Whiplash and The Wolf Of Wall Street respectively, are an incendiary double-act.
They clamber over various obstacles thrown in their characters’ paths and brazenly wisecrack in the face of death.
Phillips’ film opens with TV news footage from the war in Iraq in 2008.
Miles Teller as David Packouz
“I see 17,000 dollars,” explains massage therapist David Packouz (Teller). “That’s what it costs to outfit an American soldier.”
Narrating his own extraordinary story, David introduces us to his wife Iz (Ana de Armas), with whom he hopes to raise a family by selling bed sheets to local care homes.
His get-rich-quick scheme flops and David is reluctant to tell his spouse that the boxes of bedding cluttering up their apartment are not their golden ticket to a brighter future.
At this low ebb, David meets his friend Efraim Diveroli (Hill), who has discovered a website which lists contracts that the US military needs to be fulfilled.
Jonah Hill as Efraim Diveroli
“When life kicked me, I stayed down. But Efraim? He kicked back,” gushes David, who agrees to become a partner in this shadowy yet highly lucrative business.
The buddies tender for a massive munitions contract with the help of infamous dealer Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper) and underbid by 53 million dollars.
David travels to Albania to fulfil the contract, aided by his driver Bashkim (JB Blanc), who knows which palms to grease.
When David questions the morality of the business, which he keeps secret from Iz, Efraim immediately hits back.
“This isn’t about being pro-war,” he counsels David. “It’s about being pro-money.”
Bolstered by strong performances from the two leads, War Dogs is an engrossing and frequently uproarious comedy of errors.
Phillips and Smilovic’s script short changes the supporting characters: Iz exists solely to prick David’s conscience with her fleeting words of wisdom.
However, they do they craft some big laughs like when the buddies visit a weapons expo in Las Vegas and David pithily describes the event as “Comic-Con with grenades”.
War - what is it good for?
It’s very good for lining the pockets of the greedy and the enterprising.
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Based on an article in Rolling Stone magazine and a subsequent book, War Dogs heavily dramatizes the true story of two enterprising twentysomethings, who became multi-millionaires as arms dealers to the US military.


War Dogs: An engrossing and frequently uproarious comedy of errors


The English Beat - starring original songwriter and lead-singer of The Beat, Dave Wakeling - have announced their UK tour heading to 53 Degrees in Preston on Thursday September 22nd.
Dave Wakeling – the songwriter and lead-singer of The Beat - returns to the UK this September for a full UK tour, where he will be showcasing new material due for release in 2017.
The singer, songwriter and guitarist behind the biggest 1980’s 2-Tone Band, The Beat, known in the US as The English Beat, Dave Wakeling is the consummate showman, touring the world with an all-star line-up, performing all the hits of The Beat, General Public and a host of new songs.
The English Beat will play an extensive run of UK dates including shows in Liverpool, Newcastle, Cardiff, and London, and Dave’s hometown and the birthplace of many Beat lyrics and classics, Birmingham.
The band has been busy in the studio working on their first new album in 30 years, due for release in February 2017, titled ‘Here We Go Love’.
With a unique energy, pure melody, passion and politics, it’s impossible to forget the genius of UK Top 10 singles, ‘Mirror in the Bathroom’, ‘Hands Off She’s Mine’ and ‘Too Nice To Talk To’, before The Beat disbanded in 1983.
“I am very excited to be coming back to the UK to play shows and to get to introduce the songs from our upcoming new album. We have been in summer training, with shows with ub40, b52’s, culture club and train, and the band is in tip top form and ready to rock, steady!” Dave Wakeling.
SEPTEMBER TOUR DATES:
Friday 16th September – Concorde 2, Brighton
Saturday 17th September – Skabour Festival, Folkstone
Sunday 18th September – The Forum, Tunbridge Wells www.twforum.co.uk
Tuesday 20th September – Fibbers, York
Wednesday 21st September – The Magnet, Liverpool
Thursday 22nd September – 53 Degrees, Preston
Friday 23rd September – Robin 2, Wolverhampton
Saturday 24th September – The Windsor, Fife
Sunday 25th September – Volunteer Hall, Galashiels
Tuesday 27th September – Think Tank, Newcastle
Wednesday 28th September – Trades Club, Hebden Bridge http://thetradesclub.com
Thursday 29th September – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Friday 30th September – Crauford Arms, Milton Keynes
OCTOBER TOUR DATES:
Saturday 1st October – Birmingham O2 Institute, Birmingham
Monday 3rd October – Ruby Lounge, Manchester
Tuesday 4th October – Komedia, Bath
Wednesday 5th October – Rescue Room, Nottingham
Friday 7th October – The Zone Night Club, Redruth http://broadbeat.co.uk
Saturday 8th October – The Garage, London

Dave Wakeling’s The English Beat skanking their way to 53 Degrees


The English Beat - starring original songwriter and lead-singer of The Beat, Dave Wakeling - have announced their UK tour heading to 53 Degrees in Preston on Thursday September 22nd.


As the pound continues to go in the dollars favour 42% of Americans say they are more likely to visit the UK for a holiday, according to new data* from Hotels.com™.
London topped the list of destinations Americans would most like to visit (88%), with Cambridge (41%) and Liverpool (39%) closely vying for second place for statesiders looking for a cultural fix. The unexpected winner, however, was Grimsby with more respondents keen on visiting the northern fishing town than the majestic Snowdonia.
The Royal Family still has huge appeal for visitors from the States with Buckingham Palace the attraction they'd most like to visit (76%) with the home of the crown jewels (the Tower of London, 65%) and royal wedding venue, Westminster Abbey, (52%) also in the top five attractions. Finishing off the royal fever, Kate Middleton was the number one celebrity Americans would most like to meet, closely followed by Her Majesty the Queen. In a girl power worthy line up, the top five famous faces respondents would most like to meet were all women:
1.Kate Middleton (46%)
2.The Queen (45%)
3.JK Rowling (31%)
4.Adele (30%)
5.Kate Winslet (27%)
It seems Britain's culinary kudos isn't as poor as it once was with 68% of Americans keen to try the cornerstone British cuisine – the humble fish and chips. However, sweet treats rounded out the top five with apple crumble (44%), cream tea (43%) and a traditional afternoon tea (39%) just behind a full English (48%).
When quizzed on their perceptions of Britain as a nation many stereotypes rung true with a third of Americans believing Brits loved their pubs and that it always rains (only during a great British summer of course). Yet it seems Americans love our chit chat, as almost three quarters state their favourite thing about Brits is our accents and over a third love our sense of humour.
Simon Matthews, Senior PR Manager of Hotels.com Brand comments, “The fact that some Americans want to visit Grimsby on their next trip proves they must be really savvy about where to get the best British grub, as we all know Grimsby is famous for its Fish and Chips! The rising interest from our American cousins is likely more to do with the strong dollar than the draw of our culinary delights, however it would be a welcome boom for the UK travel industry.”
*2,000 adults from the U.S. were polled by One Poll, commissioned by Hotels.com in July 2016

Americans flock to the UK thanks to Kate Middleton and Fish & Chips


As the pound continues to go in the dollars favour 42% of Americans say they are more likely to visit the UK for a holiday, according to new data* from Hotels.com™.


Theo Fages and Shannon McDonnell back for Hull FC clash


Saints have named their 19-man squad for Friday’s First Utility Super League Super 8s clash with Hull FC at Langtree Park.