Birmingham Post

Plenty of Character

Spotlight On Solihull

A New Home Delivery

and ended up giving birth in the bathroom." When heavily pregnant Sonia Williams moved to her new home at Windsor Heights in Redditch she wasn't predicting that her bundle of joy would be so keen to be in his new surroundings as she didn't even have time to get to the hospital!

The Downsizing Pension Pot

Downsizing a home is growing in popularity be the solution to retirement dreams. many people are still pinning their hopes on using property to generate their retirement income, favouring this asset class over savings accounts and pensions. analysis of the property market to calculate how much retirement income downsizing your main home could generate. "However, our analysis shows many people need a reality check to get their long- Andrew Tully, Senior Pensions Policy Manager, Standard Life s...

Hidden Features That Tick All Boxes ; Annie Roberts Explores a Newly-Built Family House in Earlswood and Discovers a Wealth of 'Must Have' Features for a Modern, 21st Century Home, All Finished to an Exceptionally High Level of Quality

A home called 'Hidden' is unlikely to show off all it has to offer. This newly built home in Springbrook Lane at Earlswood near Solihull is no exception.

Everything You Need in the Smaller Dwelling ; a Dream Home Need Not Be a Country Mansion but a Perfectly Compact Property That Meets All the Needs of an Individual or Couple. Annie Roberts Puts Together a Selection of Options with Two Bedrooms That Offer the Opportunities to Enjoy Life in the City or Escape to the Country

The Bothy, Church Farms Barns, Churchill Guide price: pounds 299,950 Agents: The Lee, Shaw Partnership. Telephone: 01562 888111 A refurbishment project has ensured that this cottage still has buckets of charm and the most is made of its space. One of the bedrooms, with fantastic views over the countryside, has a cupboard that is currently an en suite that boasts a freestanding bath.

Know Where You Stand ; Property Expert Leaseholders Who Manage Their Own Property Could Be Breaking the Law, Says Bob Simonds of Curry & Partners

Tens of thousands of leaseholders who selfmanage their own property, or control it through a residents' management company, could unknowingly be breaking the law. Leasees have to recognise that service charge monies they pay as part of the terms of their lease are trust funds under landlord and tenant legislation and must be held in a 'ring-fenced' bank account.

Last Chance to Buy a Home at Willowmead

Noisy Neighbours

Noise from neighbours affects thousands of people each day - it could be a barking dog, DIY, intruding alarms or loud music pounding through the walls. Now charity Environmental Protection UK has relaunched its website to advise people how to have quieter homes. The website, www.quieterhomes.

Another String to Cath's Bow ; to Help Her Live Out Her Passion, Writes Christopher Morley

When I was a young music student best part of 50 years ago at the University of Birmingham we had things so easy - local authority grants, money from parents, vacation jobs to see us through, plus I was fortunate enough to be on a lucrative scholarship - compared with what they have to go through nowadays. Time for practice, concert-going and just relaxing seem at a premium, as they juggle tuition fees, council tax bills (if they're not full-time students), and generally try to scrape a livin...

Being Brigit ; Diane Parkes Speaks to a Star of Stage and Screen

When actress Brigit Forsyth was a girl growing up in Edinburgh she used to queue for autographs so it came as quite a surprise to her when people starting asking her to scribble her name on pieces of paper. In the 1970s Brigit was one of the best known faces on television, recognised the country over as Thelma in the much-loved programme Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? The show was so popular that 27 million people watched it - half of the country at the time. So it is no surprise that ...

Permanent Reminder of Bantock's Brilliance ; Cdreview

Granville Bantock: A Pageant of Human Life - Saint Louis Chamber Chorus It's ironic that these quintessentially English choral pieces should have to look across the Atlantic Ocean for the premiere recordings of several of them, especially as their composer, Granville Bantock, was such a major figure in English music during the first half of the 20th century - not least as Principal of the Birmingham School of Music, and as Elgar's successor as Peyton Professor of Music at Birmingham Universit...

Sub Drama Serves Up Moral Dilemma ; Theatrereviews

Kursk Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry Named after the greatest tank battle in military history but capable of delivering more destructive power than was unleashed in the entire Second World War, the Russian submarine Kursk sank during an exercise in the Barents Sea in 2000. This uniquely atmospheric show by Sound & Fury effectively places the audience on board a British submarine which it is suggested was spying at close quarters on the Russians at the time.

Love Amid the Darkness ; Clal Ssa Icalreviews

English Serenata with Members of the RSC - Love Letters New Guesten Hall, Bromsgrove This Bromsgrove Festival premiere was the latest in a long line of musical entertainments devised by Gabrielle Byam-Grounds, flautist with English Serenata, joined here by the actor Jeffrey Dench and other members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is based on recently found correspondence between two lovers, one in Stourbridge, the other in Coventry, before the time of the Coventry blitz in November 1940.

Talent Worthy of Trumpeting ; Jazzdiary

He might be playing with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, he may have the Town Hall gospel choir singing with him, but Hugh Masekela, the legendary South African trumpeter has jazz in the very core of his DNA. When he takes the stage at Symphony Hall tomorrow night (Friday), have no mistake, this will be a jazz gig. It will also be a night of joy, of heartbreak, of struggle and, ultimately, of triumph.

Times May Be Changing but That Festival Spirit Lives On ; Jazzreview

Cheltenham Jazz Festival Various venues The big change this year was the lamented absence of the Everyman Theatre as a venue. So, I restricted my visit mainly to the Town Hall itself and its two rooms. The small Pillar Room has built a much-deserved reputation for strong performances in intimate surroundings.

Inspirational Tale in Overcoming Fear of the Bogeyman ; Children's Book

Trolls' Treasure. Grim Gruesome, Viking Villain by Rosalind Kerven Talking Stone, pounds 5.99 The bogeyman exists in a myriad guises and has done so in for hundreds of years in all cultures. Here, Rosalind Kerven takes us back to Viking times and gives us Grim Gruesome, a hideous shapeshifter who terrorises the North Lands. But this is no imaginary monster: this creature is real and has sworn to harm as many children as he can. In Trolls' Treasure - the third book in e the Grim Gruesome serie...

Proper English ; Richard Edmonds Examines Two Works Which Extol the Virtues of a Language Steeped in History

A Little Book of Language by David Crystal (Yale: 14.99) The Book in the Renaissance by Andrew Pettegree (Yale: 30) With more than half a million words, English is the world's greatest language. It is the staple of diplomatic debate, conferences and teaching and it is the chosen second language in many countries. I taught it myself in Saudi Arabia when it was always welcomed and used with delight by the students.

Thursday's Tv

Friday's Tv