As households face another rise in energy prices, our consumer expert, Jane Hawkes, who runs the consumer advice website www.ladyjaney.co.uk, shares her ten checks everyone should be making to help keep their bills down. The changes coming into force on 1st October make now the right time to give your energy account a five-minute MOT.

And just like that, we are into autumn. This year has gone quickly, and while we have managed to get a lot done on the smallholding, I am not sure I am ready for winter just yet. Like most of the UK, I am enjoying the last of the late sunshine and dry days.

Northern Gas Networks is encouraging university students kick-starting their new term and student life in rented homes to carry out two potentially lifesaving checks.

As Sober October approaches, Ruth Allonby, Chief Executive of Mount Carmel Rehab offers practical tips and advice on how to take a break from alcohol and how to spot if you have a problem with alcohol misuse. This month, many people consider taking a break from alcohol to reset habits, improve health, and gain clarity.

Estate planning is often associated with people who have partners and families. But with around four in 10 of people aged 65 and over in the UK single, it’s an increasingly important topic for singletons. In fact, an increasing number of people are spending their twilight years living alone.

Although living in the countryside, surrounded by acres of fields, wide open spaces and nature, is indeed wonderful, it unfortunately has a few drawbacks. Neighbours can be far and few between, and for those living in isolated rural areas, there is little chance of a catch-up over the garden fence.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates around there were around 4.2 million incidents of fraud in the year ending March 2025, an increase of 31% from the previous year. With increased use of internet banking and apps, as well as AI providing virtually instant information to scammers from around the world, it’s never been more important to be ultra vigilant. And one of the growing ways scammers are trying to defraud people of their money is through pretending to be legitimate customer service departments.

When the Queen set off on the 1953 Commonwealth Tour, tucked among her wardrobe were dresses made not by a Parisian couturier but by a cotton firm from Preston. That Horrockses Fashions could occupy that position — dressing royalty while staying within reach of ordinary women — is the fascinating story now being told at The Harris as its major new exhibition opens its doors this weekend.

Kendal Leisure Centre is inviting the local community to celebrate Grandparents’ Day with a free Age-Friendly Festival on Sunday 4 October, from 11am to 2.30pm.

Donkeys communicate with humans and with each other in a variety of ways, including body language, touch and, of course, vocalisations. It is always worth taking the time to notice what a donkey is trying to communicate, and such an assessment process can be done by looking for signs of anger, pain, annoyance, or happiness.

We can no longer ignore how we’re spending our time. It causes us to stop and think about where our energy goes. We book the trip, meet that friend, start the crafting project. Personally, I’ve read so many stories over the years of people who’ve made changes in their lives, big and small, because of something traumatic that has happened to them or someone they know.

Our mortgage expert Sam Fox, founder of UKMC, explains why first-time buyers should look beyond their existing bank when searching for a mortgage. First-time buyers could be missing out on mortgages better suited to their circumstances by limiting their search to their existing bank.

Sonya Venugopal considers herself a foodie. “My family all love food, and we have a group family chat called Foodies, where we tend to share recipes.

Luxury speciality coffee company, Cupper’s Journey, has strengthened its credentials with chefs, restaurants and hospitality operators after its Rwamatamu Rwanda coffee was awarded a 1-Star Great Taste Award 2026.

As Yorkshire’s first whisky distillery celebrates a decade of distilling with a series of events and anniversary bottlings, it has announced another first.

Hawkshead Relish and The Lake District Tea Co. among the county's finest as national judges name their finalists for this year's awards, Andrew Palmer reports Cumbria's food and drink producers are celebrating a strong showing in the Great British Food Awards 2026, with Hawkshead Relish and The Lake District Tea Co.

Sourcing the right smallholding can be a nightmare. Anyone who has ever been house hunting will know that what looks ideal on paper rarely proves so in reality. When you are looking for more than a house, in the form of a smallholding that might be needed to start a business, keep animals, and maybe grow crops, the problems intensify, and the search can sometimes seem impossible.

If you want to spend more time crafting this summer, portable crafts are a great way to do just that. Of course, portable crafts work well all year round, but for this particular season where you can be out of routine, not at home, trying to grab opportunities where you can, they can be particularly effective.

Mâcon-Igé Blanc François Carillon 2022. White Burgundy has long been the benchmark for Chardonnay. At its best, it combines ripe fruit with bright acidity and the unmistakable mineral character that comes from Burgundy's limestone soils.

Mortgage holidays can offer valuable breathing space, but those taking one need to understand the true cost, a leading mortgage expert has warned. A mortgage holiday can be a genuinely useful tool for the right circumstances, so long as borrowers go in with a clear picture of how the debt, and the interest it accrues, will be repaid afterwards.

With the hot weather of recent weeks, we have been inundated with ticks in the paddocks. It hardly seems like a day goes by without us extracting a tick from one of our four dogs after they have been out for most of the day.

Luke Baker sees food as more than something to fuel your body with – in fact, it's true to say that Luke loves everything to do with food. The actor, singer and musical theatre star, playing the marathon role of Frankie Valli in the 20th anniversary tour of Jersey Boys, traces his love of “all things food” back to his childhood.

Birth Trauma Awareness Week rightly encourages important conversations about difficult births and traumatic deliveries, but as both a midwife and a neurodivergent woman, I believe we also need to pay greater attention to what happens long before labour begins.

There is a particular kind of restaurant snobbery reserved for buildings. We are trained, whether we admit it or not, to expect that good food arrives behind good glass—that the promise of the meal should be legible in the frontage before a single poppadom has been ordered.