Latest news with #BoatClub
Wales Online
11-07-2025
- Wales Online
Pretty sea view cottage costs £1.4m but there's more than a few reasons why
There are some corners of Wales, especially on the coast with uninterrupted access and views of the sea, that command a property price premium and some of them are obvious, such as Abersoch, Gower Peninsula, Benar Headland. Then there are exclusive streets, leafy residential roads, and private estates in Welsh cities that happily charge a prospective buyer more than the Welsh average, or country estates and former farmhouses in the undulating countryside that can go to market with an asking price of over £1m. But there's one secret and quiet area of Wales whose entry on a recent Sunday Times coolest postcodes in the UK list might come as a surprise to anyone who has never visited, but it's probably not a shock to local residents, where frontline properties have eye-watering price tags. For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here . READ MORE: Inside Wales' most popular houses for sale To be included in the Sunday Times coolest postcodes in the UK list an area has to offer a unique array of activities, destinations, and a vibrant community to call home and the 2025 list of just 11 locations includes just one in Wales; Newport. Tucked away beneath the imposing shadow of Carningli mountain in West Wales, you'll find the idyllic village of Newport Pembrokeshire, a gem within the Pembrokeshire National Park, boasting not just scenic beauty with its mountains, estuary, and twin beaches, but also a thriving high street. The coolest postcodes guide praises Newport for its 'slice of beautiful relaxedness'. It describes the town as having a Cornwall-like atmosphere without the crowds, with picturesque streets featuring pastel-coloured Georgian townhouses and stone cottages that offer stunning views of the blush-pink sunsets over Newport Sands. The village itself, divided by the A487 road to Fishguard port, has two distinct parts: the cluster of shops in the centre around the castle and the church and the original maritime part called the Parrog. Website Newport Pembs states that Parrog and Parrog Beach have a long history within the boating world, originally created to serve as a port, it still has some of its history visible. There is a lime kiln remaining, along with some original quay walls and an old warehouse now houses the Boat Club, a member only club that has changing rooms, shower facilities and a bar. It's along the front walkway right next to the beach that you'll find this pretty and effortlessly charming four bed, two bathroom cottage, just one of a handful of homes nestled within this exclusive spot with direct access onto the beach and boasting, sweeping and mesmerising water, sand and sky panoramic views. It's the rarity of the opportunity as well as the location and the characterful and attractive interior, over 2,000 square feet of space and light and a private garden with enviable parking and something even rarer in the area - a private boat ramp straight into the sea that pushes the price up high. The last of these sea front homes sold for £925,000 back in 2014, according to Rightmove, and it could not boast such an impressive list of rare features. Called Trenydd, the charming cottage is for sale for offers in excess of £1.4m, call Fine & Country West Wales on 01974 299055 to find out more. For more property stories and home content join our Amazing Welsh Homes Facebook group here.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Tourists to enjoy helicopter joyride near Boat Club soon
Nashik: Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) decided to start helicopter joyrides for 15 or 30 minute slots at its Grape Park resort, located near Boat Club on the backwater of Gangapur Dam. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The tourism development corporation took this step to boost tourism and enhance the accessibility of tourist attractions in Nashik. Apart from Boat Club and Grape Park resort, there are two major wineries near the Gangapur Dam that also serve as tourist attractions. Thousands of tourists from Mumbai, Pune, Gujarat, and other parts of the country visit daily. Apart from Nashik city, the helicopter joyride services are to be started at Malshejghat MTDC Resort, Karla, Lonar, Ganpatiphule, and Bhimashankar. MTDC officials said, "We have floated the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the appointment of operators for providing the 'helicopter joyride service' at select locations, including Nashik. The last date for submitting the RFP is June 25. The RFPs are to be opened on June 26." "If the operators are finalised, then the joyride services at Nashik Grape Park resort of the MTDC will start within three months," said the sources from MTDC. Maharashtra's diverse landscape, ranging from the Western Ghats and pristine beaches to UNESCO World Heritage sites, presents significant potential for heli-tourism. The project aligns with the state's vision to elevate its tourism offerings, attract domestic and international tourists, and foster economic development through sustainable and innovative travel solutions, said the MTDC officials.
Telegraph
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
I rowed against ‘C' – the new MI6 chief Blaise Metreweli
The thing about rowing is that you are never really aware of what the people you row with – or against – do when they are not charging up and down the river. I woke up on Monday morning to discover that the new MI6 chief was a woman. 'Great!' I thought. 'And how very James Bond.' It wasn't until I saw pictures of Blaise Metreweli in her Cambridge University Women's Boat Club kit that I realised I had been racing against her for the past few years. While this particular race has only been running for four years, I think she's taken part in at least three of them, for Cambridge. She's really friendly, down-to-earth and very charming. With some of the Cambridge rowers there is still a hint of the old rivalry in relations post race. Obviously when we are out on the river we want to win, and some of them carry that with them afterwards, but not Blaise. Whether they've won or lost, she's always warm and approachable and, I sense, up for a laugh. She's not going to be a stuffy boss – far from it, she'll be a refreshing change. In 2024, we had a historically close race that ended in a dead heat (awarded to us, by one foot). Afterwards, as we had a drink and shared the hoisting of the trophy, I chatted to Blaise about what midlife rowing meant to us. We agreed that the sport was a chance to get away from all the other stresses of midlife and recreate those bonds we had when we were younger. Many of the older rowers have fairly high-powered jobs, and fit in training alongside. Despite that, I'm impressed she has managed to juggle her career in intelligence with such a committed rowing schedule. But it's no surprise to me that a rower has been promoted to such a high-level position. There are certain qualities that rowers possess that make us highly effective people. One is time management (albeit that messing about in boats always takes longer than you think it should). You can't possibly perform at work and on the river unless you strictly timetable your training. Another is determination. In the early Nineties, women's rowing was still very much a second-class sport. While our male counterparts had hundreds of thousands of pounds of sponsorship from the likes of Beefeater Gin, we celebrated when we were given a tiny portion of that for our kit. At Cambridge, Blaise will have experienced something similar. It makes you resolute and determined to overcome gender bias. Now she has. Then there is the determination required to push yourself to the max. That dead heat was such a fantastic example of midlife women refusing to say die, raging against the perception of 40 and 50-something women as irrelevant and invisible. When she takes over her post as 'C' from Sir Richard Moore on October 1, Metreweli, 47, will become the first woman to run MI6 in its 116-year history. As the only named member of the organisation, Britain's foreign intelligence chief has a dual role as an operational leader and a public figurehead. 'The historic appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes at a time when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital,' said Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, adding that he was confident that 'Blaise will continue to provide the excellent leadership needed to defend our country and keep our people safe'. Tall and athletic, with cropped hair and striking blue eyes, Metreweli does not fit the stereotype of an intelligence chief. ' She's almost a female James Bond,' says one source. 'She's action-packed, she's urbane, she's charming, she's the right age. If you were going to cast a female Bond, you could do much worse.' A 'geek' who wanted to be a spy Her appointment marks the culmination of a remarkable ascent. Metreweli joined the service in 1999 after reading Anthropology at Pembroke College. (She is the third 'C' from Pembroke, after Sir Colin Figures and Sir Richard Dearlove). At Cambridge, Metreweli was part of the victorious Cambridge team in the 1997 Boat Race. She initially applied to be a diplomat before moving into the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). She is said to speak excellent Arabic, and spent much of her early career in the Middle East, at a time when Britain was involved militarily in Afghanistan and Iraq. She is currently the director general of the 'Q' section – the gadget shop in James Bond – responsible for technology and innovation, and previously held other senior level director roles in MI5. 'Obviously [her gender] is historically significant, but she is a fantastic appointment in terms of her skill set and her career in SIS,' says Claire Hubbard-Hall, author of Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence. 'She's spent over half her career overseas, some of that time in active war zones. She is an Arabic speaker, she has the tech expertise.' Metreweli has also shown an unusual nous for public relations. In 2021, as 'Director K', MI5's head of hostile states counter-intelligence, she gave an interview to The Telegraph in which she spoke of the need to overhaul the Official Secrets Act, arguing that new laws were needed to 'disrupt what is increasingly damaging activity' from 'malign' foreign powers. 'One of the reasons nobody in the media has ever previously interviewed a Director K is we do our work in secret,' she said. 'Necessarily – it's really sensitive work. But one of the reasons I am talking to you now is we need a whole of society effort.' The National Security Act 2023 that ensued has proved to be a useful tool for security forces. In 2022, under the pseudonym 'Ada', Metreweli gave another interview to the Financial Times in which she revealed that she was a 'geek' who had only ever wanted to be a spy. She recalled growing up abroad commandeering an Usborne spycraft manual from an older brother, learning to write in code. As a handler for field agents, she had to get to grips with nuclear technology as well as managing 'incredibly close relationships with a number of different agents who were risking their lives to be able to share secrets with us'. 'No man's land' Being a woman in a man's world had advantages as well as disadvantages. 'In the moments where you're deciding to become an agent, you're having to make thousands of risk-based calculations, but you're not quite sure how to respond emotionally,' she said. 'There's no etiquette. Ironically, it becomes a bit of a no man's land.' In that space, being a woman could make it easier to break down boundaries. 'I have done some extraordinary things in extraordinary places,' she said. 'And I've had some difficult experiences, both professional and personal. I've had times of trauma and come through the other side, with immense support from the service.' Where previous chiefs have come from diplomatic roles, Metreweli is more of an insider. 'Anyone in the service is going to be very pleased that an insider has been chosen,' says one senior source. 'She's very highly regarded. It's a welcome appointment. She comes across very well. She's very accessible, and importantly for someone in that job, very empathetic.' If there is a question mark over Metreweli, it may be her age. At 47, she is almost a decade younger than her predecessor was when he took on the role. 'She is rather young for the appointment,' says Sir Richard Dearlove, who was MI6 chief from 1999-2004. 'I don't know much about her personally. She is a forceful presence, however. She might turn out to be rather good.' The nation will hope so. When she takes up her new job she will have an unenviable inbox. There are threats from Russia, China and Iran, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, ever more sophisticated cyberattacks, the endless threat of terrorism. Then there is how to handle the USA, which is an increasingly unpredictable intelligence partner with Donald Trump as president.
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
MTDC plans to install EV charging points across state
The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), in order to support tourism and encourage the use of electric vehicles, is installing EV charging stations at its Boat Club and Grape Park resorts, both situated on the Gangapur dam backwaters near Nashik. These two locations are part of a larger initiative to establish charging facilities at 49 MTDC resorts across Maharashtra. The MTDC plans to lease out the space to contractors who will be responsible for setting up, managing, operating, and maintaining these EV charging stations. The corporation has already sought Expressions of Interest (EoI) from interested firms for this project. According to an MTDC official, there will be two charging stations at one location with the capacity to charge four vehicles at a time. The MTDC took this decision considering the rise in EV vehicles and to facilitate tourists coming to their properties. The MTDC will lease out its spaces, around 50 square metres, to the contractors for a period of 10 years, which will later be extended for another 10 years. In the Nashik region, the charging stations are to be set up at four locations, including two each in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts. In Ahilyanagar, the EV charging stations are to be set up at the MTDC resorts in Bhandardara and Shirdi. The maximum number of EV charging stations will be set up at 13 locations in the Nagpur region, followed by 10 locations in Ratnagiri/Sindhudurg, nine in Pune, seven in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and six in the Mumbai region. The last date for filing EoIs is June 4.
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
MTDC plans to install EV charging points across state
Nashik: The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), in order to support tourism and encourage the use of electric vehicles, is installing EV charging stations at its Boat Club and Grape Park resorts, both situated on the Gangapur dam backwaters near Nashik. These two locations are part of a larger initiative to establish charging facilities at 49 MTDC resorts across Maharashtra. The MTDC plans to lease out the space to contractors who will be responsible for setting up, managing, operating, and maintaining these EV charging stations. The corporation has already sought Expressions of Interest (EoI) from interested firms for this project. According to an MTDC official, there will be two charging stations at one location with the capacity to charge four vehicles at a time. The MTDC took this decision considering the rise in EV vehicles and to facilitate tourists coming to their properties. The MTDC will lease out its spaces, around 50 square metres, to the contractors for a period of 10 years, which will later be extended for another 10 years. In the Nashik region, the charging stations are to be set up at four locations, including two each in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts. In Ahilyanagar, the EV charging stations are to be set up at the MTDC resorts in Bhandardara and Shirdi. The maximum number of EV charging stations will be set up at 13 locations in the Nagpur region, followed by 10 locations in Ratnagiri/Sindhudurg, nine in Pune, seven in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and six in the Mumbai region. The last date for filing EoIs is June 4.
