Gloucestershire in Pictures: RIAT, 2000trees and penguins
Heat haze: It was a hot weekend for all the music fans who headed to Upcote Farm in Cheltenham for the 2000trees festival.
To the horizon: Weather watcher 'Stormin' took this photograph, which has a mystical feel, on an early morning trip out in Colesbourne.
To the skies: The Royal International Air Tattoo is taking place this weekend at RAF Fairford. The event is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year - and the Red Arrows will be flying each day this weekend.
Festival time: Gloucestershire took on Sussex Sharks at the College Ground in Cheltenham on Thursday as the county cricket side made its annual pilgrimage to the area, whose name it bears.
Welcome aboard: Four new Humboldt penguin chicks at Birdland have entered an exciting new phase, as they have begun exploring their surroundings and meeting the rest of the colony at the park in Bourton-on-the-Water.
Look at that view: A walk up Crickley Hill at Birdlip was rewarded with views for miles on a clear, sunny day.
Shop till you drop: A brand new outlet centre has opened in Tewkesbury this week just off Junction 9 of the M5. They started building the Cotswold Design Outlet in 2023 - and it has now opened to the public.
All things bright and beautiful: This was too good to miss off the list of highlights this week. The colourful image of a bee enjoying a visit to a bloom was taken in Framilode by weather watcher 'Spacewalker'.
Crisp views: Weather watcher 'Andy B' took this image of a sunny morning with great views in Cam.
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Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Ellen DeGeneres confirms she left the US because of President Trump and declares she and wife Portia de Rossi are 'staying in the UK' for good
Ellen DeGeneres has confirmed she left the US because of President Trump in a candid new interview. The comedian and presenter, 67, now lives in the Cotswolds with her wife Portia de Rossi, 52, and told how they are 'staying here' for good now. This weekend she spoke with broadcaster Richard Bacon at the Everyman theatre in Cheltenham where she opened up about the huge life changes. She also said she and Portia - who first wed in 2008 - were considering tying the knot again in the UK after some moves in the US to reverse the right to gay marriage. Ellen said during the conversation: 'We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, 'He got in'.' 'And we're like, 'We're staying here'.' Speaking of her love for the UK she added: 'It's absolutely beautiful. We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture - everything you see is charming and it's just a simpler way of life. 'It's clean. Everything here is just better - the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here. 'We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks.' Ellen also spoke about the increasing threats to same sex marriage in the US during the conversation. She said: 'The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage. 'They're trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we're going to get married here. 'I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences. 'So until we're there, I think there's a hard place to say we have huge progress.' Ellen often shares a look at her idyllic country lifestyle in the Cotswolds to her social media. Speaking of her love for the UK she said: 'It's absolutely beautiful. We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty' (her previous home in the Cotswolds is pictured) Recently she snapped a photo while standing behind Portia as they looked out at the scenic view of the countryside and a double rainbow following a rainfall. '3 things that make me happy: My Wife A Rainbow And my wife taking a photograph of a Rainbow,' she wrote. Back in 2020, Ellen was embroiled in controversy after being accused of creating a toxic work environment - and later issued an apology. After nearly two decades of being on the air, The Ellen Degeneres Show also came to an end just two years later in 2022. She previously told The Hollywood Reporter, 'I have to just trust that whatever happened during that time, which was obviously very, very difficult, happened for a reason. 'I think that I learned a lot, and there were some things that came up that I was shocked and surprised by. It was eye-opening, but I just trust that that had to happen.' She stepped in front of the camera once again for her 2024 Netflix special titled Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval. However upon its release, the project garnered mainly mixed to negative reviews and garnered a score of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes.
BBC News
13 hours ago
- BBC News
Ellen DeGeneres: I moved to the UK because of Donald Trump
US TV star Ellen DeGeneres has made her first public appearance since moving to the UK, saying she decided to settle in England the day after Donald Trump was re-elected US comedian and host told a crowd in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, that life "is just better" in the said she and wife Portia de Rossi were considering getting married again in England after some moves in the US to reverse the right to gay marriage, and that America can still be "scary for people to be who they are".She also addressed allegations of a toxic workplace that led to the end of her long-running chat show in 2022, admitting she could be "very blunt", but dismissed the stories as "clickbait". 'We're staying here' Ellen was one of the biggest names on US TV for 30 years, thanks to her daytime chat show, as well as her self-titled 1990s sitcom, for hosting the Oscars, Grammys and Emmys, and for voicing Dory in Finding her talk show was cancelled and a "final stand-up tour", she bought a house in the Cotswolds, a historic and picturesque area mainly spanning parts of Gloucestershire and Sunday at the Everyman theatre in nearby Cheltenham, she was in conversation with broadcaster Richard Bacon, who asked whether reports that she moved because of Donald Trump were correct. "Yes," she 67-year-old said she and De Rossi had initially planned to spend three or four months a year in the UK and bought what they thought would be "a part-time house"."We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, 'He got in'," she said. "And we're like, 'We're staying here'." Ellen has been giving glimpses of her new rural life on social media, in videos showing her farm animals including sheep - although they have now been sold after they kept escaping."It's absolutely beautiful," she said. "We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture - everything you see is charming and it's just a simpler way of life."It's clean. Everything here is just better - the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here."We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks." Being gay in Hollywood 'is still a problem' On her last tour, she joked that she had been "kicked out of show business twice" - the first being when she came out as gay in effectively led to the end of her sitcom after advertisers pulled out and the network stopped promoting it, she told the Cheltenham crowd on asked whether her visibility had encouraged other people to come out. "I would say no," she replied. "I imagined a lot of people coming out like meerkats poking out of a hole and going back in again. 'How's she doing? OK, no, no.'"But it is "a really hard decision" that doesn't suit everyone, she continued, and that things are better today "in some ways"."If it was [better], all these other people that are actors and actresses that I know they're gay, they'd be out, but they're not, because it's still a problem. People are still scared." Ellen also referenced a recent move by the Southern Baptist Convention to endorse the reversal of a Supreme Court case allowing same-sex marriage. At least nine state legislatures have introduced bills to do the same."The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage," she said. "They're trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. And Portia and I are already looking into it. And if they do that, we're going to get married here."Later, in response to an audience question, she added: "I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences."So until we're there, I think there's a hard place to say we have huge progress."However, the younger generation are "more comfortable with it" and are "just kind of fluid", she added. "So I think the younger generation is going to show us the way." 'Does being blunt mean I'm mean?' After some former workers on her talk show made allegations of a toxic workplace culture, the star - who ended every episode by telling viewers to "be kind to one another" - was dubbed as "mean" in the the scandal three producers were sacked amid allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment, and the final season of the show opened with DeGeneres giving an on-air addressed that in her 2024 tour and the accompanying Netflix stand-up special."No matter what, any article that came up, it was like, 'She's mean', and it's like, how do I deal with this without sounding like a victim or 'poor me' or complaining? But I wanted to address it."It's as simple as, I'm a direct person, and I'm very blunt, and I guess sometimes that means that... I'm mean?" She also said it was "kind of crazy" that saying someone is mean "can be the worst thing that you say about a woman"."How dare us have any kind of mood, or you can't be anything other than nice and sweet and kind and submissive and complacent?"She added: "I don't think I can say anything that's ever going to get rid of that [reputation] or dispel it, which is hurtful to me. I hate it. I hate that people think that I'm that because I know who I am and I know that I'm an empathetic, compassionate person."It was "certainly an unpleasant way to end" her talk show, she said. Would 'love' a British talk show Ellen said she misses "a lot" about her show, but doesn't think a similar format would work any more. "I mean, I wish it did, because I would do the same thing here. I would love to do that again, but I just feel like people are watching on their phones, or people aren't really paying attention as much to televisions, because we're so inundated with with information and entertainment."She said she didn't know what she would do in the future, but would pick her next move "very carefully"."I just don't know what that is yet," she said. "I want to have fun, I want to do something. I do like my chickens but I'm a little bit bored."
The Independent
16 hours ago
- The Independent
Gardeners quitting King's Highgrove amid demands
Gardeners are leaving their jobs at the King's Highgrove Gardens amid low pay and Charles's demands, according to a report. The King oversees the gardens at his Gloucestershire retreat, which he has transformed and nurtured over the past 45 years, and, according to The Sunday Times, has lost 11 of 12 gardeners since 2022. The newspaper reported that Charles visits the gardens regularly and, after walking the series of interlinked gardens, sends notes to garden staff who are expected to act on his requests before his next visit. According to the report, the King asked that staff move a single ragwort from the perimeter of his swimming pool, and said gardeners' failure to cultivate his delphiniums had caused him great disappointment. The newspaper said staff have complained of poor conditions, including pay as low as minimum wage. It has been reported that Charles knew of staff shortages at Highgrove, and after the invasion of Ukraine wrote a note proposing war refugees could be recruited to help. Near the Cotswolds town of Tetbury, the nine-bedroom house and estate was set to become William's when the King acceded to the throne in September 2022 as it is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. But Charles now rents the house from the Duchy, for a reported £340,000-a-year, and continues to use it as a country residence, where he spends time with the Queen and he rested there after time in hospital for side effects of his cancer treatment earlier this year. The Sunday Times reported that of the 11 gardeners who have left, two were heads of gardens and one had served the King for many years. Another failed his probation after it emerged he had a lack of knowledge about a particular flower, the newspaper said. The King reportedly said of him 'don't put that man in front of me again'. Charles's charity The King's Foundation, which is the custodian of Highgrove Gardens, runs education workshops on site for traditional and endangered crafts such as millinery, embroidery and woodworking. It also oversees public access to Highgrove through its ticketed garden tours, which attract more than 40,000 visitors every year. The Sunday Times reported that in late 2023 one member of staff at Highgrove complained about the gardens' management, saying the team was overwhelmed, under-resourced and struggling to fulfil the King's requests. In turn, The King's Foundation commissioned an external investigation and, according to the report, it found evidence of 'staff shortages' and 'poor' management practices and said that remuneration was an 'issue for recruitment and retention'. It recommended 'management training for all managers', 'mental health support and counselling' and a pay review, the Sunday Times said. Staff at the gardens have received pay rises each year since 2022 totalling between 15% and 19% cumulatively, it is understood. The newspaper also reported that in August 2023, a senior gardener complained that he was 'shouted at' by Constantine Innemee, then the Highgrove director for The King's Foundation. According to the Sunday Times, The King's Foundation requested an investigation and did not uphold the complaint about Mr Innemee. A King's Foundation spokeswoman said: 'At The King's Foundation, we take staff welfare extremely seriously and strive to be an exemplary employer. We are proud to regularly report very high satisfaction rates in our annual staff survey. 'Our staff turnover is well below the national average, as is the number of formal grievances raised. For the gardening team at Highgrove specifically, we regularly review guidance from the Professional Gardeners Guild for pay benchmarking. 'Highgrove has also seen many positive developments since The King's Foundation became the charitable custodian of the gardens. Since 2022, the operating profit has more than doubled, a new education facility teaching traditional heritage skills to hundreds of students has been established, and visitor numbers continue to reach over 40,000 annually.'
