Giftware

Today’s new ‘beer cafes’ are a far cry from the smokey bars with their nicotine stained walls and Saturday nights down at the social club pint of bitter, mild or lager to block out the noise of the latest ‘turn’. There are those who lament those smokey dens more than I, but times have changed and so has the UK's drinking habits. Of recent years here has been a rise in micro pubs and .....

They look alike, but why is one referred to as Alsatian and the other German Shepherd? I used to have a friend who had a German Shepherd. A fine looking dog but did he get annoyed if I referred to it as an Alsatian! So why are they referred to either as one or the other? In the beginning there was only the German Shepherd. A fine looking dog. Great intelligence and easy to train for .....

Ever since David Cameron promised a referendum on European Union (EU) membership at the 2015 General Election to stop the flow of Tory Eurosceptic MPs to Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party, the UK has been a nation in turmoil. With whole....

The housing market is well known for its ups and downs with a variety of factors coming into play. While the lack of available new housing limits the number of homes coming onto the market, it is one factor that is helping keep the prices of existing.....

She’s more famed for her Royal Corgis, but Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is also the proud owner of a Shih Tzu called Choo Choo. The Queen is not alone in welcoming these cute little dogs into her home. Other high profile people include singer Beyonce who as a Shih Tzu named Munchie. Bill Gates with Ballmer and former Spice Girl’s pet Harry. With their cute expressions and .....

The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be held in Japan and is the first time since New Zealand beat Australia in the first Rugby World Cup in 1987 that it has been held in an Asian country with the opening game at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chofu, Tokyo. Taking part will be twenty of the world’s top international rugby squads divided into ‘pools’ of five teams, The eventual victor will be crowned ......

From movie stars to presidents and royalty to rock stars, the loveable ‘sausage dog’ as been adored by them all. The famous Spanish artist Pablo Picasso had a number of dogs during his lifetime, but it was Lump, a Dachshund owned by his friend and American photographer David Duncan,that Picasso to his heart. The dog lived with Pablo for six years and featured in a .....

For those of us who can remember growing up in the 1960s and 70s Halloween was a time we used to fashion our own spooky costumes and go round peoples houses to greet them with ‘Happy Halloween’. It was a common thing to give kids a few ’coppers’ back then. We didn’t want sweets. You couldn’t buy bangers with sweets. Halloween was always seen as an opportunity to .....

Australia won their very first Test cricket match on English soil way back in 1882. So shocked were the English sporting press that The Sporting Times carried a mock obituary declaring English Cricket was dead and “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”. The now legendary Test series began in earnest with the 1882-1883 series which took part in Australia ......

Mermaid trends seem to come and go. There was a furore of merchandise following the 1983 film Splash, a rom-com starring Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah and John Candy. Where Hank’s character falls for a beautiful young woman with a strange secret. Then there was the oddly entitled 1990 movie, Mermaid’s headed up by Cher and starring Bob Hoskins and Winona Ryder. A film ......