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The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Starmer hints Lionesses will be honoured after Euro 2025 triumph
Sir Keir Starmer has suggested England's Lionesses will receive honours after their dramatic Euro 2025 victory, declaring: 'Recognition is coming.' The Lionesses became back-to-back European champions after beating Spain in a penalty shoot-out in Basel last Sunday – the first senior England side to lift a major trophy overseas. The Prime Minister praised the players for inspiring a generation, including his own daughter, and for representing 'decency, fairness and respect'. Among those tipped for recognition are Chloe Kelly, who scored the decisive penalty in the final, and goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, who saved two Spanish spot-kicks. Head coach Sarina Wiegman, who led England to the win, could be made an honorary dame. The Cabinet Office oversees the honours process and recipients are not confirmed until they are officially announced, but sporting heroes have often been rewarded. After the Lionesses' 2022 win, captain Leah Williamson was made an OBE, while Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and Ellen White received MBEs. Sir Keir said the Lionesses' success was about 'more than football', citing their resilience in coming from behind against Sweden, Italy and Spain, and their stand against racist abuse during the tournament. Writing in The Sun on Sunday, he said: 'When the Lionesses put that England shirt on, they stand for what we stand for together: England, in all its glory, with our shared history and values. 'The pride, resilience and unity that define this team define the very best of who we are.' He added: 'What Sarina and our Lionesses have achieved is nothing short of remarkable. So recognition is coming – and it will be worthy of their historic success.' The Government, he said, was committed to delivering a legacy of 'equal access to all sport for girls and boys' in schools – a key demand from the squad after their 2022 triumph. 'The Lionesses have made an entire nation proud,' he said. 'We're determined to deliver a legacy they can be proud of too.'
BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
The Swansea terraced house that looks like a stately home
From the outside, this three-bedroom house on the outskirts of Swansea looks like an ordinary terraced home. But step inside and it reveals a remarkable work of art - a beautifully decorated neo-classical interior inspired by 18th Century Royston Jones, 77, originally from Ceredigion, inherited the house after his father passed away. Over the past five years he and his partner Fiona Gray have transformed it room by room using their own plasterwork and decorative Jones said his love of art and interior design was shaped by his experiences growing up as a foster child, and by visits to grand estates across west Wales and to Heveningham Hall in Suffolk. Mr Jones didn't learn about his past until he was 18 when he discovered relatives in Newquay who had never known of his existence, as his unmarried mother had kept his birth a by various foster families, including the Honourable Lady Aitken, he said he encountered "some really interesting" and "well-connected" individuals who left a lasting impact on his life and artistic Lady Aitken he was introduced to the Van Eyck family of Heveningham Hall, which he described as the "finest neo classical interior in Europe" and his "spiritual home".Mr Jones explained: "It's enormously grand. "It's longer than Buckingham Palace and it stands in the middle of the countryside with a great lake in the valley."His visits sparked a lifelong fascination with King George III's favourite architect James Wyatt, who designed the hall's interiors, and he has since built up an archive of the inside of the the government purchased it in 1970, Mr Jones spent significant time researching and photographing Heveningham Hall - and the entrance hall in his Swansea home is now modelled on its entrance hall. After studying art at Lowestoft in East Suffolk, Mr Jones went on to attend London College of Fashion. However, a serious illness forced him to pause his studies. During his long recovery he turned to academic research on architecture and began crafting his first neo classical models."I just find it incredibly beautiful," he said. "It's almost too delicate to survive - and yet it does. It's everywhere."It was during this period that he met Ms Gray. The two began working together, with their first paid commission in 1985 where Ms Gray assisted him. Since then they have spent the past 50 years creating intricate one-eighth scale models of neo classical interiors, focusing on the period between 1760 and work has been commissioned by a number of high-profile people and has earned them numerous awards. These include models of both Sledmere House's drawing room in Yorkshire and the Painted Room from Spencer House. The latter was originally intended as a gift for Diana, Princess of Wales and was described at the time by Lord Rothschild, who had restored Spencer House, as "a masterpiece, a work of genius".Mr Jones has held major exhibitions in Bond Street, created artwork for Russian palaces, and completed plasterwork in a grand Robert Adam mansion in Portland Square, pair's decades of working together has led to their long-term project; their home in Swansea. Built in 1910, the house on Llangyfelach Road in Treboeth is a two-storey brick property with a low-pitched slate Jones said his father moved from Newquay in Ceredigion after the war and settled in Treboeth with his stepmother, later leaving the house to him and Ms Gray "unexpectedly".The pair moved in from Norwich and began transforming the Jones said: "I thought we were living in this plain old box, and I wanted to bring some beauty into it."He added the house looked "very different" before they took it over as his father and his wife were "very conventional"."I'm sure he'd be amazed if he saw all this now." The pair transformed it room by room, so far decorating six rooms with only one at the back still Jones explained that "hand by hand" they designed every ornament, created the moulds, and cast each piece said the simple ceilings took up to four weeks to complete, while more intricate features like the staircase took much to him, visitors "can't believe it" when they step inside."They all gasp as they come in," Mr Jones said."They call it a Tardis, because on the outside it just looks like nothing and then they walk through the door and they are shocked." Although Mr Jones and Ms Gray are content with life in Swansea, calling it a "lovely place" where "people are so nice", they are considering a move."We're looking for somewhere quieter with bigger rooms, so we can really go wild with even more plasterwork," Mr Jones ahead, they hope to find "someone sympathetic" to buy their home - "someone who truly appreciates what we've done, so it isn't gutted or ripped out."
Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Coronation Street legend Catherine Tyldesley 'will FINALLY return to the cobbles' seven years after quitting
Catherine Tyldesley will reportedly finally make a return to Coronation Street seven years after quitting the coblbes. The actress, 41, became a household name when she was first cast as glamorous barmaid Eva Price on the ITV soap in 2011. She was the on-screen daughter of Stella Price, played by EastEnders star Michelle Collins, who was also the long-lost mother of Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson). But Catherine quit the cobbles in 2018, and producers are said to have been trying to entice her back for years, and she will finally begin filming again this summer. It is believed that after some persuading by soap bosses, Eva is going to take over the Rovers Return Inn as will be the brand new landlady, according to The Sun. A source told the publication: 'It's one of the biggest jobs in soap, the landlady of the Rovers Return pub. 'Bosses were desperate to get Cath back, they came up with the perfect storyline with her being unveiled as the new landlady of the Rovers.' Daily Mail has contacted ITV and Catherine's representatives for comment. During her time on the serial, Eva famously had a relationship with Aidan Connor (Shayne Ward) but he had an affair with Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon). As an act of revenge when she found out, Eva faked a pregnancy and spent Aidan's savings on a pink Range Rover. The pair later become engaged but Maria burst into the wedding to expose the truth about the fake pregnancy. A short time later, Eva discovered that she was actually pregnant with Aidan's baby but agreed to give the child to her half-sister Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor). Soon after that, Aidan took his own life in 2017, and Eva became attached to baby Susie and left the cobbles in the back of a taxi with her. Catherine then starred in the short-lived sitcom Scarborough and played a leading role in Bonnie & Clyde: The Musical, but it was cancelled halfway through the tour amid poor ticket sales. The soap star reunited with her Corrie on-screen boyfriend, X Factor winner Shayne, on The Good Ship Murder, which began airing its second series in January. There was also another Weatherfield reunion when Catherine starred alongside her former co-star Michelle Keegan once again earlier this year. Catherine took on a guest starring role on Michelle's comedy series Brassic, with the pair sharing photographs from set during filming. News of Catherine's comeback comes shortly after she admitted she would 'never say never' to returning to Corrie. She told Prima magazine: ' Coronation Street feels like forever ago, but I always look back with such great fondness 'But if they approached me with an amazing storyline and the time was right, of course, I'd go back. So it's always a case of never say never.'
