Birmingham Post

Honey, I'm Home

G Going Out with a Real Buzz ; with More People Keeping Bees and Chickens, Interest in the Last Royal Show Is Booming. Jo Ind Reports

Just when the decision has been made to no longer hold a Royal Show, what happens? Advanced ticket sales are up by 55 per cent on this time last year. In a classic case of "you don't know what you've got till it's gone," more than 100,000 visitors are expected at the show organised by the Royal Agricultural Society of England and held at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire.

A Bit of Posh and Malbecs ; Clive Platman Swots Up On South American Grapes at Birmingham's Wine School: With Wine- Loverlooking for Value, James Tanner, Managing Director of Shrewsbury Wine Merchants Tanners, Selects Some Stunners...

It is reasonable to assume that anyone reading this column will enjoy a glass, or two, of wine. How much more, though, would that experience be enhanced by a little education? It needn't be boring and shouldn't be intimidating, but what it must be is stimulating and fun.

It's Batter These Devils Do Know

THE PLACE Great British Eatery, 13 Broadway Plaza, Francis Road. T: 0121 456 5955. WHY GO? Chips cooked in beef dripping. Need another reason? Oh, and they're fab. THE PRICE: In my books, cheap as chips means tasty as tat. You pays your money ... and so it proves at the Great British Eatery. Conrad Brunton and Andrew Insley use fresh fish, not grey, waterclogged frozen fodder, and their batter mix and frying times are nigh on perfect. So there's a price premium: a cod or haddock meal is pound...

Scout Brings New Look to Fabia Range

Skoda has added a new Scout model to its range of Fabia Estate cars. It is based on the Fabia Estate 2 model and comes with a choice of one petrol engine and two diesel options.

Mean Machine ; Subaru's Impreza Sti Is a Car That Delivers, Says Edward Stephens

You don't have to be a car enthusiast to realise that Subaru's Impreza STI is not aimed at the motorist who is just looking for something to do the weekly shopping in or take the kids to school. The huge air scoop in the bonnet, the deep front valance, the large spoiler over the rear window and the side skirts let you know this is a mean machine.

Special Edition Bmw Hangs Low

A special version of the high performance BMW M3 coupe is being launched priced from pounds 53,435. The Edition model costs some pounds 2,000 more than the regular M3 coupe but features lowered suspension, extra body kit and interior changes.

Qashqai Cashes in On Satisfaction

Nissan's compact crossover Qashqai has been rated 11th overall in the JD Power/What Car? 2009 UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study of 101 models - its first appearance in the survey. With a rating of 81.4 per cent, the Sunderland-built Qashqai polled higher than the Honda Civic, VW Golf, Audi A3, Ford Focus, Mazda 3, Vauxhall Astra and Renault Megane.

Mother's Pride ; Weddings Can Be Fraught with Anxiety. Anuji Varma Looks at What to Wear - for the Mother of the Bride

Being mother of the bride is a stressful enough experience without even thinking about what you will wear on the big day. So in order to help alleviate some of this stress, Pavilions shopping centre located in Birmingham city centre have put together a guide packed full with outfit ideas to make you look and feel gorgeous, leaving you with one less thing to worry about.

Prizes for Best Buddies at Book Launch

Okay, kids - have you got a best buddy in the world? Would you like the chance to win a special treat for him or her? Then wing your way to Waterstone's in Birmingham for the UK's first ever National Best Friends Day tomorrow. The booksellers are celebrating the publication of Coventry-born author Cathy Cassidy's Angel Cake (Puffin pounds 10.99) with their National Best Friends Day, a friendship festival thought-up by Cathy.

Generations Unravel

In The Falling Snow by Caryl Phillips (Harvill Secker, priced pounds 17.99) From his one-bedroom flat in London, middle-aged Keith Gordon is watching his life unravel. His teenage son is involved with a local gang and Keith is struggling to look out for him without the support of his estranged wife.

Master of Illusion ; Angus Mcbean Was the Doyen of Theatrical Photographers. Richard Edmonds Focuses On a New Book About Him

The Photographs of Angus McBean from the Stage to the Surreal. By Fredric Woodbridge Wilson and Richard Traubner (Thames and Hudson: pounds 22.50) Angus McBean was the doyen of theatre photographers during the 1950s, when the old Stratford Memorial Theatre was buzzing with great names and magnificent productions. McBean was there on stage photographing Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Charles Laughton, Emlyn Williams (whose shylock still stands as a monument to any interpretation of the part b...

Jurassic Larks ; New Films Reviewed by Graham Young and Roz Laws

With Ice Age 3 ICE AGE DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS Cert U, 93 mins Britain's under-fire education system won't be done any favours by this new animation sequel.

Unfinished Symphony ; Christopher Morley On the Delayed Premiere of a Work by Arnold Bax

Though not in fact quite as common as popular conception would have us believe, the idea of composers being inspired by their special muse has some roots in reality. Off the top of my head, Beethoven, Verdi, Puccini and Debussy come to mind as having their muse-ical moments. Berlioz, Schumann, Chopin, Wagner, Mahler, Elgar and Britten (let's not underestimate his devotion to Peter Pears) were more permanently smitten. And Arnold Bax had a passionate relationship with the pianist Harriet Cohen.

Independent Film Exhibition

A new exhibition called Participation: The Film & Video Workshop Movement 1979 - 1991 documents for the first time a network of independent film in Birmingham. Presented in two parts, the works react to and document the rise of Thatcherism and the social and cultural events the period from 1979 engendered: inner city disturbances, the miners' strike, and increasing social disparity.

Exhibition of Work by Local Artists

Bottom and Co Steal the Show ; Review

A Midsummer Night's Dream Longborough Festival Opera, near Moreton-in-Marsh Woodland magic finds its natural home at Longborough, where recent years have brought a wonderful Cunning Little Vixen and an equally wonderful Hansel and Gretel.

Collecting Diary

Tomorrow The popular antiques and collectibles fair at Fentham Hall Hampton-in-Arden, near Solihull, 9am-4pm. For details, call Midland Fairs 0121 7841581. Prestige Midland Ceramics fair at Burford School, Burford, Oxfordshire, 11am-4.40pm. For further information, call 07940 282324. A flea and collectors' market will be held at the town hall, Bishop's Castle, 9am-4.30pm. For further details call 01588 630009. Vintage clothes fair at the Hare and Hounds, High Street, Kings Heath, Birmingha...

Time for Flea ; Sally Hoban On a Type of Fair Which Does Not Get the Credit It Deserves

With the summer weather now hopefully getting better, I'm planning some trips to my favourite type of antique fair - the flea market. Although traditionally looked down upon in the hierarchy of fairs, flea markets today are big business, especially in these leaner times when more of the public are looking for a bargain. Whereas at traditional antique fairs you are more likely to find pieces priced according to their value, at a flea fair you stand a good chance of finding some unrecognised ba...

Love and Espionage ; Chris Upton Discovers a Bizarre Case of Industrial Spying During the Days of Matthew Boulton

Spying is something we would normally associate with the Cold War - clandestine activity involving miniature cameras, invisible ink and poisonous umbrellas. But espionage has a wider and a longer history than that. If the stakes had not been so high, and the proceeds so vast, we would probably have called it theft. The period of the Industrial Revolution - the late 18th to early 19th century - was rife with what was called "industrial espionage". The ploy was to steal ideas, designs or even w...