My favourite ice cream Parlour: Beacon Farm, Sneaton near Whitby Easter treat of make your own sundaes. Wonderful ice cream and excellent value at £5.50 for a two scoop sundae (contains liquorice and blackcurrant, chocolate, salted caramel and cherry ice creabs)

Got to review a great restaurant. Vegan, gluten free and run by a fabulous family who came here as refugees. leedsliving.co.uk/food-drink/c...

Corarima: Vegan, Gluten-free and Delicious | Leeds Living

The Abyssinian food at Corarima in Wakefield is the best food from this region I have ever eaten. Admittedly I've not yet made it to Ethiopea or Eritrea, but I have tried a good spread of restaurants ...

leedsliving.co.uk

Pleased to review Sick, an exhibition by Sarah Roberts at Leeds University. leedsliving.co.uk/art-culture/...

Sick: Sarah Roberts at Leeds University | Leeds Living

Sick is an exhibition born of reflection, imagination and collaboration. In Sick, Sarah Roberts has drawn upon personal experience, archives from across Leeds and worked with a range of professionals ...

leedsliving.co.uk

My first review for Leeds Living at The Art House in Wakefield last week. What a great place, really supportive to artists, refugees abd the local community. Plus some great art. leedsliving.co.uk/art-culture/...

The Art House Wakefield: Two Exhibitions: 'Portraits in Silence – The Symbolism of Identity' and 'Untouchable Utopia' | Leeds Living

The Art House in Wakefield holds attractive and interesting exhibitions. It is also home to many artists, a Gallery and Studio of Sanctuary and serves as a source of creative inspiration to many in th...

leedsliving.co.uk

Beautiful sunny day at RHS Harlow Carr yesterday. Bought a lottery ticket for £2 in the morning and was rewarded by getting entrance for £1 each (offer available until 23rd).l Lottery Week offers free or discounted entrance to lots of sites including National Trust properties with a lottery ticket

This will be a great Women’s Day Event at Bushop Auckland Town Hall. I interviewed Chinwe Russell a few years ago and found her fascinating. bishopaucklandtownhall.org.uk/bishoppost/a...

My Gambian high point: bird watching at Kotu Creek. Easily accessible for tourists and community (rice fields & vegetable patches). In recent weeks a wall has started to be built, any development would be disastrous for wildlife, ecotourism and local people. Tourism ministry email: info@motc.gov.gm

Kotu Creek | Birdingplaces

Within walking distance of the hotels on the Kotu strip, this is an area where a wide variety of birdlife can be found and where you find excellent bird guides..

birdingplaces.eu

Discovered a great gallery space and amazing exhibition. Lives Less Ordinary has gathered art by working class artists from small regional collections and displayed the diverse display in the beautiful surrounding of Two Temple Place. See it if you can. twotempleplace.org/exhibitions/...

Lives Less Ordinary - Two Temple Place

Two Temple Place, one of London’s hidden architectural gems, hosts exhibitions and events and is owned by the charity The Bulldog Trust.

twotempleplace.org

This new restaurant already has a special place in my heart. So pleased to be asked to review it. Bobby Geetha is friendly and a real professional, hope he stays in Leeds.

Kerala Canteen: So good I've already been twice | Leeds Living

Bobby Geetha, the chef behind this new venture, was a quarter-finalist on MasterChef: The Professionals, and has appeared on Great British Menu. Bobby has worked in five-star kitchens and trained unde...

leedsliving.co.uk

This was an unusual assignment for me but I am glad I agreed to review Opera North’s staging of Love Life. leedsliving.co.uk/art-culture/...

Opera North Revives Love Life - Leeds Living Reviews | Leeds Living

Opera North’s revival of Love Life, with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, treated the audience to a reflection on American history and music whilst giving us insight into the develop...

leedsliving.co.uk

Looks like it will be a good year for jazz in Leeds. Pleased to review the first Jazz Leeds event of the year. leedsliving.co.uk/music-dance/...

Rush Hour Jazz launches a great year for Jazz Leeds | Leeds Living

It's Wednesday evening, the working week is more than half over and the weekend is in sight; a good time to kick back and relax. What better way to do it than with some jazz vibes? This was the first ...

leedsliving.co.uk

Very occasionally the last government did something good. A real shame that plans to allow the release of beavers on private land have been blocked. Hope the government will reconsider this. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

No 10 blocks beaver release plan as officials view it as ’Tory legacy’

Exclusive: Natural England furious that years of work has been undone, with minister urged to push policy through

theguardian.com

My recommendation for a northern Day Out in January.

Great Day Out: Bowes and Barnard Castle

tottmagazine.co.uk

UK Rail Sale Starts tomorrow. From 14 to 20 January some fares will go on sale at up to 50% off for travel between 17 January and 31 March. All companies included except except Hull Trains, Lumo, Merseyrail and Translink Northern Ireland but many don’t seem to be promoting the sale.

Great to see Bradford being recognised for its great culture. The opening event looked amazing despite the cold. But shocked by the negative, racist comments on other social media, including some fake child abuse posts.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2y ago

‘The scale is blowing my mind’: Bradford ready to shift perceptions as city of culture

👏 Heroes with ladles: the chefs of Gaza risking death to save lives Amid the rubble and chaos, Gaza’s volunteers, medics, and teachers are risking everything to feed, heal, and educate a besieged people By David Goff @tubbyewe.bsky.social

Heroes with ladles: the chefs of Gaza risking death to save lives

Amid the rubble and chaos, Gaza’s volunteers, medics, and teachers are risking everything to feed, heal, and educate a besieged people

yorkshirebylines.co.uk

The Gambia Great trip, but we were the only guests in 2 places, at another, the only other guests were friends and family of the owner. A few tourist hotels were busy but tourist numbers were clearly down. Wondering why and what this means for a country that depends so heavily on tourism.

Pleased to visit the Gambia’s first Children’s Library yesterday. Set up by Emily Joof and the Mbife Foundation this is a pleasant space in the grounds of the Fajara Garden Restaurant. It was lovely to meet librarian Mariana Loum and to be able to donate some books.

Impressed to find a library in The Gambia providing an inclusive space for teenagers and young adults. Happy to meet Ben Camara who started the project through crowd funding, the help of volunteers and savings. theorangelibrary.org

Staying at the Rooftop Boutique Hotel in Gambia. A truly unique hotel with a wonderful roof terrace but sadly we are the only guests at the moment. Sad that so many people on the plane opted for a package holiday. www.rooftopgambia.com

Leeds Bradford airport is the UK’s highest so the staff will probably do more de-icing than other airports. Swissport workers are being forced to strike as payments for de-icing are being removed but continue to be paid elsewhere.

Local To Ossett@localtoossett.bsky.social · 2y ago

Christmas and New Year flights from Leeds-Bradford airport under threat as Swissport workers strike over pay #LocalToOssett #westyorkshire

Christmas has started! Made my annual pilgrimage to Craig’s Bakery in Marske next to Sea for their special Christmas hot chocolate. Cherry flavoured and topped with toasted Italian meringue.

Great to see the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds and Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield working together to bring interesting exhibitions. Great to be part of a press trip to see both. Here is my review. leedsliving.co.uk/art-culture/...

100 Years of Surrealism are Being Celebrated in Yorkshire | Leeds Living

In 1924 French poet André Breton, in reaction to the brutality of the First World War, wrote his, Surrealist Manifesto. Only “the omnipotence of dreams,” he said, could liberate humanity. The passion ...

leedsliving.co.uk

The changes to agricultural land inheritance tax have been poorly explained by HMRC, and the confusion has been exacerbated by abysmal reporting, even by the BBC. Geoff Thompson digs a little deeper ...

Whose land? Tax avoidance and the broken economics of British farming

Noise in the billionaire press about inheritance tax changes hides a basic fact: the non-farming rich own too much land

yorkshirebylines.co.uk

Power cuts make you reassess the value of possessions. This candle holder from Wold Pottery in Loftus spent years sat on a windowsill holding a key. Last night it saved the day,candlelit dinner and enough light to read a novel.

The support today has been off the scale. Too many to many but thank you thank you @lemnsissay @MichaelRosenYes, Grayson Perry, Rosie Boycott and all the hooting drivers of the 390 bus 🚌 💪🙏

Today Guardian and Observer journalists are on strike over plans to sell the Observer to a loss-making digital start up and put its journalism behind a paywall. 🧵 How can you support us? SHARE our posts WRITE to guardian.readers@theguardian.com JOIN US - there's cake!

What a lot of talent we have in Leeds. Thanks for the invite to your press night Kuill. leedsliving.co.uk/music-dance/...

Kuill : at Leeds Conservatoire on 30 November - a Joyful Celebration | Leeds Living

It's been a busy year for Kuill. Appearances on The Voice, singing the national anthem at Twickenham and producing a new album have been just some of his achievements. Fragile Creatures, Kuill’s secon...

leedsliving.co.uk

I recommend Afternoon Tea at Blue Pavillion if you are in Leeds. leedsliving.co.uk/food-drink/b...

Blue Pavilion: Culinary Theatre - Offering Delightful Food | Leeds Living

I had been putting off visiting Blue Pavilion, thinking that the restaurant might be a case of style over substance. Yes, it is stylish, but it also serves well executed, delightful dishes. Two trips ...

leedsliving.co.uk

Toxic will be touring again in the new year. Look out for performances, an engaging play about make mental health that hopefully will encourage conversations. leedsliving.co.uk/art-culture/...

Toxic: at Carriageworks Theatre on 20 November | Leeds Living

Toxic came to Leeds Carriageworks for one night to shine a light on issues around male suicide. Presented by Divided Culture Co. the all-male cast of Northern actors presented an absorbing play of sig...

leedsliving.co.uk