Rod Taylor

It’s a pretty safe bet that most people, even many Australians, can count the number of male actors from the world’s smallest continent who have made it big in Hollywood on two hands. So it’d come as no surprise that on the 89th anniversary of his birth not many people are talking about one of…

Ink Brighton into the calendar

Stigmatophiles from all corners of the UK will converge on Brighton next month when 300 of the world’s top tattooists will be giving it the needle for the 12th year in a row. From its humble beginnings at Brighton Race Course in 2007, the Brighton Tattoo Convention has grown year on year into a major…

Festival set for final date with Norwich

The medieval British city of Norwich plays host to the Great British Beer Festival Winter for its third and final year next month. Having hosted the winter festival from 2017, it will move on to a different CAMRA location in 2020. Taking place from 19-23 February at The Halls, the festival will include a vast…

Newbury racing a good bet

The first race-day of the year gets under starter’s orders at Newbury Racecourse a week today with a six-race card over the fences. Gates open on Wednesday, 16 January, at 11am, with the first race off at 1.10pm. An exciting card features the Betfred Mobile Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase won last year by subsequent Grade…

Winter warmers coming to Derby

Serving more than 400 cask ales, ciders, perries, bottled world beers, craft keg beers and meads, Derby Winter Ale Festival 2019 is an ale enthusiasts heaven. Organised by Derby CAMRA, the event takes place from 20-23 February at the stunning Roundhouse at Derby College, near Pride Park. Celebrating its 15th year, there will be a…

Winterfest on Salisbury horizon

The Salisbury branch of CAMRA is holding its 22nd annual Winterfest on 25-26 January 2019, featuring 24 real ales and three ciders. The event takes place at the Royal British Legion Club in Endless Street, with tickets priced at £6, including a glass and souvenir programme. Card-carrying CAMRA members get a free half pint. There’s…

Bowie: Man who revered ‘the King’

If you’re the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ you’re bound to have inspired a few people with your music, but to shape-shifting British rock icon David Bowie, Elvis Presley meant a whole lot more. The pair were both Capricorns, born 12 years apart on 8 January. If they were still with us Bowie would be…

Have you seen Elvis in Porthcawl?

It’s a far cry from Graceland but the 84th anniversary of his birth is as good a time as any to get the first mention of the year in about the Porthcawl Elvis Festival, which descends on the South Wales seaside resort every September for a weekend of tributes to the “King of Rock and…

Thrill-filled show of shocky horrors

When it started back in Glastonbury in 1995, people thought it wouldn’t run for 25 weeks let alone 25 years, but a quarter of a century later the Circus of Horrors is still running amok around the globe. An amazing amalgamation of bizarre and breathtaking circus acts, the “shocky horror” show pulls together a series…

The big one zero for Ffos Las

This year the only National Hunt racecourse built in the UK in the last 90 years celebrates its 10th anniversary, with an evening meeting on 20 June that promises to be a memorable occasion for the West Wales venue. But the first meeting of 2019 at Ffos Las Racecourse takes place next week when a…