Latest news with #Chichester
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Small and 'picturesque' Sussex spot named among the UK's best for a short break
A small and "picturesque" city in Sussex has been named among the best places in the country for a short break. Which? has revealed the best city breaks in the UK for 2025. Following its latest survey of almost 4,000 Which? members, it narrowed down the best large UK cities for a short break. The survey also named the best medium-sized and best small UK cities for a short break. In April 2024, Which? asked 3,967 members to rate UK cities and towns they'd visited for leisure purposes and stayed in for at least one night in the past two years. Making the list of best small UK cities for a short break was Chichester, in West Sussex. The city earned a 69% on its customer score, which is based on a combination of overall satisfaction and how likely people are to recommend the city as a holiday destination to a friend. Each city was also ranked based on its average hotel price, food and drink, accommodation, cultural sights, shopping, ease of getting around, lack of crowds, parking and value for money. Wells, just below Bath in Somerset, got the highest customer score of anywhere in the survey with 86% and was the number one small UK cities for a short break. It was not the only spot in Sussex to be recognised. Brighton and Hove was named on the list of the best large UK cities for a short break. Chichester was recently named one of Britain's happiest places to live. On Chichester, the list by The Guardian said: "Bounded by the South Downs and the sea, Chichester's medieval graces have escaped the commuter belt blight because the 90-minute train journey puts it just out of range of London. "Dominating the city centre is the 11th-century cathedral with world-class choristers and art by Marc Chagall, John Piper and Elizabeth Frink mingling with Anglo-Saxon reliefs and medieval vaulting." It adds: "However you like to spend your spare time, you will find something to do in Chichester. There's a weekly street market in the city centre selling local produce and crafts, which is a happy place to potter. "Chichester Festival Theatre launches new works into the West End and beyond and has a stream of plays, comedy and family entertainment. And you have the great outdoors on your doorstep." Regarding things to do in the city, Visit Chichester lists recommends places such as the City Walls, Priory Park, Novium Museum and Chichester Art Trail. Recommended reading: This Sussex spot has been named one of the friendliest places in the UK Sussex seaside town that 'doesn't get love it deserves' crowned one of UK's best Why Sussex spot is among UK's best staycations (and how to spend a day here) If you are looking for things to do around Chichester too, the South Downs National Park is hugely popular and full of trails, walking routes and more to visit. Visit Chichester adds: "Further afield, there's no better place to make the most of the great outdoors than the Witterings. The pretty market towns of Midhurst and Petworth and the seaside town of Selsey are not far away and well worth a visit whilst you're in the area."
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Alarm raised over slow pace of payouts to UK veterans fired over sexuality
An MP has raised alarm at the slow pace of a scheme to compensate LGBT service personnel dismissed or discharged from the forces because of their sexuality, saying that at the current rate it could take more than a decade to complete the process. Jess Brown-Fuller, the Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester, said she began examining the LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme, formally launched in December, due to the experiences of a constituent, who is one of just 69 people to have been compensated, of more than 1,200 who have applied. Liz Stead, who was discharged from the RAF in 1969 after letters between her and her girlfriend were discovered by military police, said her case had been given priority because she has a rare lung condition. While she received compensation last month for being discharged, she is still awaiting news of a possible separate payout over how she was treated while in service. Stead, 77, who was a radar operator, spent six months in what she calls 'limbo' after the letters were discovered, which put her at the mercy of a ban on gay people serving in the UK military in place from 1967 to 2000. Stead had served for three years when she met her girlfriend, who was also a radar operator at RAF Boulmer in Northumberland, in 1968. When Stead was moved to a posting near London the pair wrote to each other. In July that year the couple had arranged to meet up in person. Stead explained: 'She didn't turn up. The military police had arrested her and searched her belongings, and got hold of my letters. 'They got a statement from her, and asked me to do a statement – well, they coerced and bullied me to admit my sexuality. They arrested me, then searched my accommodation so they could get hold of her letters. And then for six months, I was left in limbo because we were seen as a security risk. They then made a decision, and gave us a week's notice we were being discharged.' Stead was also given a criminal conviction for 'same-sex sexual activity' – but was never told about it. She only discovered this after she applied to the LGBT scheme and was granted a pardon, as well as given compensation. Stead, who later worked as a business manager for a council, said she believed the conviction might have been the reason why she had once been turned down for a job with a government department. She said: 'When I found out about the conviction I just thought – what? My wife said to me: 'Are you sure you didn't do anything else?' I said: 'No, absolutely not. I would remember that.'' Brown-Fuller used a parliamentary question on Thursday to highlight Stead's case and to push the government to make sure claims were processed more quickly. She cited statistics from mid-June showing that of 1,289 applications, 44 have been completed, a timetable which if maintained would take about 14 years to clear the backlog. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said later the total was now 69. 'It will take years to settle all of these applications, and veterans in their 60s, 70s and 80s potentially don't have years for those payments to be settled,' Brown-Fuller said. 'My frustration is shared by the LGBTQ+ veterans, because they're angry, they're frustrated and they're disappointed that they're still experiencing these delays. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'I think the government is totally aware of the issue, because there is cross-party support for this scheme. What it is not fully grasping is that the minister needs to get a handle on how quickly those payments are going out and the process.' Stead, who lives in Chichester, is still in touch with her former girlfriend, who is in London, and has helped her complete an application to the compensation scheme. Stead says that last time she heard, her ex-girlfriend was still waiting for compensation. An MoD spokesperson said: 'We deeply regret the treatment of LGBT serving personnel between 1967 and 2000 which was wholly unacceptable. 'While we don't hold comprehensive records of personnel discharged due to sexuality, we're working with organisations like Fighting with Pride to ensure that we reach as many LGBT veterans who may have been affected. 'We also encourage anyone who may think that they're affected to contact us so that we can see if we can help, and the Home Office also runs the disregards and pardons scheme for people wishing to have historic 'offences' wiped from their records.'
The Sun
25-06-2025
- The Sun
Pretty historic city near two popular beaches is just 90 minutes from London
A ROMAN city in the UK is often named one of the best places to live in the country and its really easy to get to. The city of Chichester is the only city in West Sussex, and once was a huge Roman market town with baths and amphitheaters. 5 5 Now, the harbour city is often named one of the best places to live, most recently in 2023 by The Times, and happiest places to live by The Guardian earlier this year. The main attraction is the 900-year-old Chichester Cathedral, the only medieval cathedral in England that can be seen from the sea. There is also Fishbourne Roman Palace, the biggest Roman houses in the UK, as well as the open-air Weald and Download Living Museum. Yet thousands of car enthusiasts visit the city every year to go to Goodwood Festival of Speed, an annual motoring festival. Taking place from July 10-13, this year it celebrates 75 years of the F1 Championship and 125 years of motorsport history. Here is everything you need to know about it. But if you want some beach time, one of the nearest is West Wittering Beach, often named one of the best in the UK. Bognor Regis is also just as close, if you wanted somewhere slightly busier. To get there, the city has its own Chichester Railway Station that has direct trains to London Victoria taking around 90 minutes. You have eyes of a hawk if you can find the hidden beach ball on this busy summer scene in less than three seconds_1 5 5 Trains also operate to Gatwick Airport, as well as Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton. While you can opt for a budget-friendly Premier Inn or Travelodge, there is also the fancy Grade-II listed Harbour Hotel Also in Chichester is Bosham, a tiny village compared to Venice which is home to England's best B&B. It is even in the famous Bayeux Tapestry, as it was where King Harold lived. One local SussexLive: "It looks completely unspoiled […] like an old fishing village you might find in Devon or Cornwall. It's still very quaint and old-fashioned." Or there is Concierge Camping, a five-star camping ground in Chichester named one of the best in the UK that even is compared to a fancy hotel. We've also rounded up the best things to do in Sussex.
BBC News
23-06-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Forty lost children reports at crowded West Wittering beach
Parents are being warned to "remain vigilant" after a coastguard team received more than 40 reports of children missing in a single day at a crowded beach in West Coastguard Rescue Team urged families to stay together when visiting West Wittering beach after receiving a high number of emergency callouts on in Chichester said there had been "multiple reports" of lost children during the weekend heatwave, all of which "required a large number of resources to assist them in being reunited". HM Coastguard confirmed all the children had been found safe and well. The Chichester beach's managers had advised people not to turn up without a pre-booked ticket on Saturday, as car parking spaces were already at coastguard rescue team said it was "an exceptionally busy day".It added it also had to deal with several other incidents, such as helping people who had got into difficulty in the water, administering "medical assistance" and "setting up a helicopter landing site in Chichester".A spokesperson for the team advised parents to ensure their child is wearing a wristband with contact information written on it, which can be obtained for free from lifeguard suggestion was for parents to take a selfie with their children upon arrival, so search teams can see what they are wearing should they go is also useful to pick out an easily recognisable meeting point in case families become separated, the spokesperson added.
Spectator
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Will Emily Maitlis now apologise to Rupert Lowe?
The News Agents podcasters appear increasingly less focused on facts and more on taking a pop at people who hold different views to them. Ex-Reform man Rupert Lowe was a recent casualty. He was invited onto the podcast to speak to Maitlis – who wasted no time in tearing into him, going so far as to suggest the independent parliamentarian was 'racist' after he spoke about Pakistani grooming gangs. But after the publication of Baroness Casey's review this week, it would appear Maitlis is due a rather large slice of humble pie… On the episode, Maitlis asked Lowe quizzically: 'Why do you only talk about Pakistani grooming gangs? There are ten times as many white grooming gang suspects.' She then added: 'You are focusing on Pakistani grooming gangs because, probably, you're racist.' Er, right. Mr S wonders what exactly Maitlis made of Casey's review this week, then. It suggests that, where ethnicity data was logged (in around a third of the cases of group-based child sexual exploitation) there was an overrepresentation of Asian and Pakistani men. And, as Mr S has written before, Pakistani men are up to five times as likely to be responsible for child sex grooming offences than the general population, according to figures from the Hydrant Programme, which investigates child sex abuse. Around one in 73 Muslim men over 16 have been prosecuted for 'group-localised child sexual exploitation' in Rotherham, research by academics from the universities of Reading and Chichester has revealed. How very interesting… So will Maitlis now apologise to Lowe over her attack? Don't hold your breath…
