Little ships set to sail for Dunkirk commemoration from Ramsgate
The little ships are due to sail from Ramsgate Royal Harbour at 06:00 BST on Wednesday and arrive at Dunkirk at 16:00 BST, depending on weather and sea conditions.The organisation, set up in 1966 to preserve the vessels, added this was the first time they have made the crossing since 2015. The ADLS organises a crossing every five years, but the expedition was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. The ships will be escorted by the Royal Navy and the RNLI, with a spectator fleet of modern craft present in Ramsgate and Dunkirk.The little ships made their first return to the French port in 1965. The idea came from former Second World War Spitfire pilot, Raymond Baxter OBE, who later became a presenter for BBC's Tomorrow's World programme.
Dubbed the "Miracle of Dunkirk" by wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the evacuation is seen as one of the outstanding moments of fortitude and perseverance during the Second World War.The rescue was overseen by Admiral Bertram Ramsay, who also played a pivotal role in masterminding the Normandy Landings in 1944. The operation has also inspired films, and Christopher Nolan's 2017 Dunkirk featured several original little ships, and their owners and crew members made guest appearances.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
44 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘As if we're real guests': the startup selling strangers invitations to weddings
When Jennifer, an actor, visited a Paris wedding fair with her future husband as they planned their big day, she noticed a company offering something that seemed bizarre. A Paris startup was proposing couples sell tickets to their wedding to a handful of strangers via an app in order to help pay their costs. In return, the paying ticket-holders, who may not otherwise be invited to many weddings, could mingle with other guests and enjoy somebody's happy day. 'I thought: 'woah, that's quite something', having people you don't know at your wedding,' said Jennifer. 'But we took the flyer, went away to think about it and decided why not? If we can see the profiles beforehand on the app and choose who to accept, it could be something quite original to do.' Jennifer, 48, and her husband, Paulo, 50, who met on a dating app during the pandemic and have an 18-month-old son, will marry later this month at a country manor an hour east of Paris. Theirs is the first wedding to have paying guests. Their friends and family will number 80 adults and 15 children, some travelling from England, Germany and Portugal. But alongside those loved ones, there will be five paying strangers who have bought tickets. The ticket-holders will be present for the whole day, from the afternoon wedding ceremony and vows in the garden, to outdoor drinks on the lawn with live music, then a sit-down dinner in a vast dining room, with a choice of fish or vegetarian options – no meat because the bride is vegetarian. Then there will be the traditional partying on the dancefloor. The paying guests have to abide by the dress-code – defined on the wedding invitations as 'chic and elegant' – and Jennifer and Paolo vetted their profiles before choosing who will attend. 'It's not only about the money, which is a drop on a hot stone in terms of the overall wedding cost,' said Jennifer, 'although it will help a bit in terms of the cost of things like decoration and the dress. It's also because we thought it could be fun and we're extrovert and open to sharing things.' Jennifer, who acts on stage and TV, and Paulo, a former athlete who works in the building trade, also thought that the five paying strangers – one couple and three single men – could be a boost for their other guests. 'We have a lot more single women friends coming to our wedding than single men, so we thought this could balance things out a bit,' Jennifer said. Laurène, 29, a toymaker living in the Paris area, and her husband, a landscape gardener, will be among the handful of strangers paying to attend. 'I thought selling tickets to your wedding to strangers sounded interesting,' Laurène said. 'I don't have a big family so I don't get to go to lots of weddings, it's great to be able to experience a wedding and different traditions, even if it's strangers. I'm keen to check out the decoration and music, and we'll be partying on the dancefloor.' Katia Lekarski, who founded Invitin earlier this year to match wedding couples with paying guests, said six marriages so far were due to take part, mainly in the Paris area. 'I was renting my house in south-eastern France to some people who were attending a wedding, and my five-year-old daughter asked: 'Why aren't we also invited to weddings?' I thought: what if we could pay for tickets to a wedding and help the couple getting married in that way?' Lekarski's view was that with so many apps proposing meeting up with strangers – from tour-guides to dating or dinners with groups of new people – why not add weddings into the mix. In India, the company, Join My Wedding, already connects foreign tourists with couples having traditional weddings, as a cultural experience under the line: 'You haven't been to India until you've been to an Indian wedding'. In France, the idea was for local people to attend a wedding as a day out and shared experience, with Invitin taking a commission. Lekarski, a former fashion model who previously ran an online platform selling and distributing interior design goods for children, described the project as at a very early stage and said her biggest challenge was finding couples and guests to take part. Couples who have shown interest in opening up their wedding to paid ticket-holders have been mostly between 25 and 35, Lekarski said, but there was one much older couple preparing to renew their vows. Only a small number of paid guests would attend – five to 10, each paying an average of €100 to €150, but tickets can be higher depending on the venue. They would have to sign up to strict rules including dressing appropriately, arriving on time, drinking with moderation, and not publishing or sharing photos without authorisation. The wedding couple, who usually have so many of their own guests to talk to, aren't obliged to meet the paying guests and chat to them. 'A wedding has its own ecosystem where guests get chatting to each other of their own accord,' Lekarski said. The paying guests Laurène and her husband, who got married themselves a month ago at a historic farm building south of Paris, are taking it very seriously. 'We're going to go about it as if we're real guests, we'll dress up nicely and bring a little gift.' Laurène's grandparents met at a wedding in Dijon and she thinks weddings are the ultimate social feelgood event. 'Everyone is in a kind and happy mood, dressed up and celebrating love. This is not something you can do too often as tickets are quite expensive, but it's a great opportunity.' The only thing they're not sure about is whether they'll be in the wedding pictures. 'We'd love to be in the group photo, but I'm not sure how that will work, it is a bit bizarre after all.'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Couple selling £130 tickets to their Parisian wedding explain why having strangers on the guest list 'could be fun'
A French couple are among the first to try out an unusual app that allows strangers to pay them for an invitation to their wedding - with the soon-to-be newlyweds charging £130 for tickets. Jennifer, 48, and her husband Paulo, 50, are selling tickets to their Parisian wedding via Invitin, a France-based app that lets paying guests attend a wedding of their choice, The Guardian reported. It's no secret that weddings cost an arm and a leg, so when Jennifer, an actress, and her ex-athlete husband stumbled upon the invention at a wedding fair in Paris, they welcomed the opportunity to recoup their costs. For those wincing at the thought of allowing intruders access to the most intimate moment of their lives, Jennifer said the app uses a filtering process to ensure paying guests meet certain standards. 'I thought: "Woah, that's quite something", having people you don't know at your wedding,' she recalled her first thought when she discovered Invitin. 'But we took the flyer, went away to think about it and decided why not? If we can see the profiles beforehand on the app and choose who to accept, it could be something quite original to do'. Five paying guests have purchased tickets to Jennifer and Paulo's wedding through the fledgling app and will join the soon-to-be bride and groom's friends and family - including their 18-month-old son - at their French nuptials, taking the total number of guests to 100. Ticket holders will be permitted to enjoy the full day of festivities, including a posh dinner, drinks, live music. and the wedding ceremony itself. They will also adhere to the event's 'chic and elegant' dress code - something the couple made sure of while vetting profiles. Jennifer - who met Paulo on a dating app during the pandemic - added that the unconventional guest list is about much more than just making money, as the couple intends to utilise it as a matchmaking project for their friends. 'We have a lot more single women friends coming to our wedding than single men, so we thought this could balance things out a bit,' she told the newspaper. 'Although it will help a bit in terms of the cost of things like decoration and the dress. It's also because we thought it could be fun and we're extroverts and open to sharing things'. Invitin is a start-up project that was founded in France by Katia Lekarski in April 2025. It allows users to simply browse weddings and book a seat, allowing thrillseekers to 'discover different cultures and venues' through the institution of marriage. She revealed to the publication that so far six marriages in Paris were due to make use of Invitin by inviting unknown guests to their ceremonies. The topic itself is a polarising one, with one bride-to-be being labelled 'tacky' for wanting to charge guests $50 per person to attend her wedding. Perhaps invitees took it personally as they weren't strangers but rather friends and family of the bride that she had personally invited to the ceremony. 'We all know weddings are very expensive,' the woman said in an online group. 'What do you think about charging guests $50 to come?' The bride thought that making people pay was a bright idea that would cut down on food costs - without limiting the guest list. 'RSVP with your $50...I don't think it's tacky. It's practical and good business,' she said. People were quick to slam the bride and vented their outrage online - with many calling it 'ridiculous' and 'cheap' to expect guests to foot the bill. 'Wow. Yes, we know you don't think it's tacky - you just want to be told you're right. And you are not' one woman said. 'This is tacky AF. Can't afford it, don't do it!' another agreed. 'Here's my thought: Have the wedding you can actually afford!' a third chimed in. Others suggested that an attendance fee for a wedding simply wasn't good value for money. 'Girl, I don't even go to bars with a cover charge,' one woman said. 'I can get better food and entertainment for my $50 a head,' another added. One man was appalled at the American woman for thinking that a wedding was meant to be 'good business' - and not a celebration of love. Another person said that the 'entitled' bride didn't understand the meaning of the word guest. A New York couple who insisted on marrying in style had 80 per cent of their guests RSVP 'unable to attend', after they attempted to charge them $333 each. Nova and Reemo Styles had their hearts set on a wedding in the city's famed St Patrick's Cathedral - but discovered that the church alone would cost $150,000. The couple decided to think outside of the box and came up with the idea of getting their guests to cover the cost for them. 'Let's put the stress on the guests, and let's sell tickets for a wedding', Nova said. Thousands of people were shocked over the influencer couple's 'entitled' behaviour. 'Talk about TACKY!' one man wrote. 'I would never think of making someone pay to come to my wedding! That is just ridiculous'. 'These people are cheapskates! They want the bling, but are too cheap to pay for it' another added.
Times
19 hours ago
- Times
The Times Saturday Quiz: August 2, 2025
1 According to the saying, 'the early bird catches the …' what? 2 Which day happens every four years because of a mismatch between the calendar year and Earth's orbit? 3 Made with steamed milk, a cortado is a Spanish type of which hot drink? 4 In 1974, the meteorologist Barbara Edwards became the BBC's first female what? 5 The Reason Why (1953) is Cecil Woodham-Smith's study of which 1854 military disaster? 6 The chattel form of which practice means that one person has total ownership of another? 7 Born at Wantage in around 849, who is the only English monarch known as 'the Great'? 8 What was the two-word nickname of the legendary Wild West frontierswoman Martha Jane Canary? 9 In November 1978, Blondie became the first cover stars of which British pop music magazine? 10 What shape is something described as 'lachrymiform'? 11 In 2018, Radiohead sued Lana Del Rey over similarities between her song Get Free and which 1992 single? 12 Which French theme park features the rollercoasters Pégase Express, Goudurix and Toutatis? 13 At 852 feet above sea level, Coombe Hill is the highest point in which English hills? 14 Act III of which comic opera by Donizetti features the servants' chorus? 15 Which 1973 Alan Bennett play was first staged with Alec Guinness in the role of GP Arthur Wicksteed? 16 Founder of the Manhattan nightclub Arthur, which Welsh actress was Richard Burton's first wife? 17 Which US filmmaker wrote All Fours (2024), 'the first great perimenopause novel'? 18 In 1955, who set his first world water speed record on Ullswater? 19 Which US footballer gained a world record 354th and final cap against Mexico in a 2010 World Cup qualifier? 20 Which row of three chalk stacks is pictured? Scroll down for answers Answers 1 Worm 2 Leap day or February 29 3 Coffee 4 Television weather presenter or weather forecaster 5 Charge of the Light Brigade 6 Slavery 7 Alfred the Great 8 Calamity Jane 9 Smash Hits 10 Teardrop or tear-shaped 11 Creep 12 Parc Astérix 13 Chilterns 14 Don Pasquale 15 Habeas Corpus 16 Sybil Christopher 17 Miranda July 18 Donald Campbell, with the hydroplane Bluebird K7 19 Kristine Lilly 20 The Needles, Isle of Wight
