Dramatic pictures show huge scale of £460m A417 Missing Link work
Green bridges create a safe crossing point for wildlife and join up habitats, making animal populations more resilient, according to the National Highways website.The project is due to be completed in 2027.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The pretty little villages set to be decimated by Heathrow's plans for a third runway
Three historic villages with listed buildings and residents who have lived there for four generations are set to be decimated by a third Heathrow runway. Sipson, Harmondsworth and Harlington are the pretty little villages that will be destroyed once the government's plans to build a third runway at Heathrow airport begin. Lying stranded in the one mile strip of land between the M4 motorway and Heathrow airport, the chocolate box towns will be mowed down and face constant pollution by yet another flight path encroaching onto their rural communities. Around 750 cherished buildings - including some that were built in the 17th century - will be demolished. Harmondsworth, a tight-knit village with a population in the mere thousands, will be cut in half by the proposed perimeter fence. Any remaining medieval cottages would be in the middle of an airport. Harmondsworth's Grade I listed medieval Great Barn, its 16th century Sun House, and the Grade II listed Harmondsworth Hall will be among the buildings set to be lost to a third runway. Sipson, which has a population of less than 100, could also lose its much-loved 16th century King William IV public house, a Grade II listed building. The history at the heart of Roman village Harlington will also be obliterated by the Heathrow expansion plans, including St Peter and St Paul's Church, which have parts dating back to the 12th century. The long-established residents will also be forced to move out and sell their beloved homes to the government under Compulsory Purchase Orders. Jane Tyler, 69, grew up in Sipson and only left briefly to train as a nurse before she returned home and bought a house just around the corner from her mother, where she still lives today. She told the Standard: 'It is criminal to take away people's homes when we are already in a housing crisis. 'We estimate that up to 17,000 people will be made homeless. 'We used to have beautiful gardens in roads and the houses have been decimated.' Carol Dairiam, 57, and her husband Wolfgang Dahm, 69, have lived in Sipson for 15 years. They are waiting to hear whether their 3 bed semi-detached home will be bulldozed. Carol said: 'This is the worst case scenario. 'If it is, we will have to find somewhere else but there is nowhere within a 20 mile radius where we will be able to afford a house like the one we have now.' Another couple, who moved over to Sipson over a decade ago and have brought up a family in the village, felt politicians pushing expansion had no understanding. 'These politicians don't live in the area, they don't understand what it is like. 'They themselves are sorted, they don't give a toss about us.' The once-quaint villages have constantly been plagued by looming plans of a third runway - but homeowners are now at breaking point as plans that were shelved during the covid-19 pandemic have now been reaffirmed by the government. In January, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed the government's commitment to building a third runway at Heathrow, arguing the project would boost the economy and make Britain 'the world's best-connected place to do business'. Heathrow's Chief Executive Thomas Woldbye then announced funding plans for the expansion, showing the airport's confidence in getting approval for a third runway. Local campaign groups as well as the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, have continued to oppose Heathrow's third runway plans. The once-quaint villages have constantly been plagued by looming plans of a third runway - but homeowners are now at breaking point as plans that were shelved during the covid-19 pandemic have now been reaffirmed by the government Khan said after Reeves' speech in January: 'Let me be quite clear and unambiguous - I remain opposed to a third runway at Heathrow airport. 'We've managed to improve the air in London because of our policies. One of the most polluted parts of our city when it comes to air pollution is around Heathrow, and this will make that worse, not better.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Why moving to France doesn't guarantee the good life
Have you lived abroad as an expat? Whether you stayed or came back to the UK, we'd like to hear about your experience. Email money@ It starts, as dreams often do, with a holiday. Mornings spent savouring strong coffee and still-warm croissants from the boulangerie; evenings drifting from ice-cold rosé aperitifs to long dinners accompanied by a chorus of cicadas. In the haze that follows, a vision takes shape: living la belle vie francaişe – forever. For many looking to move away from Britain, France is a haven where excellent wine is cheap and a charming pied-à-terre awaits anyone handy with a power drill. Despite new layers of Brexit bureaucracy, thousands are still moving to EU countries each year. At the end of 2024, just under a quarter (23pc) of British-based respondents were considering doing so, according to research by Currencies Direct, driven by the cost of living and property at home and better job prospects overseas. But the analysis also suggests that France is losing its allure among British expats. Spain, Italy, Australia, Canada and America rank as more desirable destinations. According to France's interior ministry, an estimated 8,400 first-time residency cards were issued to British citizens at the end of 2024, down some 10pc from the previous year (9,339) and 24pc compared to 2022 (11,174). While there is much to enjoy about emigrating to France – gorgeous landscapes, rich culture and a high quality of life – plenty of expats have experienced the complex reality. 'We were caught out by French tax, but still want to stay' Andrew and Caroline Lewis, both 60, had always adored the south of France. They both spent holidays there as teenagers. Fast forward a decade, and with six sons in tow, they continued to take trips across the Channel. 'We couldn't afford hotels, so we'd drive the car down with everything we owned strapped to the roof for two weeks' camping,' Andrew says. Alongside Andrew's construction business, they bought and sold houses in London, always hoping there would be enough left over to buy somewhere in France – but paying for the children's schooling got in the way. When their youngest finished his studies, they finally had the funds to start searching. They viewed 250 properties over the next few years. Nothing felt right, until they found an 18th century farmhouse in Quissac, a village in Occitanie. It was 'a pile of stones': no windows, no doors, half the roof gone, and reeking of the 5,000 hunting pheasants living on the land. A week later, they spotted a cock pheasant in their Wimbledon garden and took it as a sign. After lengthy negotiations with the owner's children – under France's strict inheritance laws, all heirs must agree to a property's sale – they bought the 32-bedroom property, La Deveze, and its surrounding 200 acres. The renovation took three years while they commuted between Quissac and London. They moved full-time in 2018 although it was far from finished. 'We lived with holes in the floor, bats everywhere, and no heating,' Caroline says. 'I remember watching Downton Abbey in the dark, freezing, thinking: this is the life!' They worked with French builders on major jobs but handled the finishes themselves, including replacing the roof with 22,000 Roman-style tiles. Then Covid hit, halting Andrew's business and forcing them to sell their London flat. As newly classified French tax residents post-Brexit, they were hit with capital gains tax in the UK – since it wasn't their main home – and again in France, with no allowance or taper relief. 'We'd only owned La Deveze for two years, so the French tax was high,' Andrew says. 'On top of the money pit that we were still trying to make liveable, it really caught us out.' Despite setbacks, the Lewises have found their rhythm. They have transformed the property from hosting holiday rentals and yoga retreats into a bespoke wedding venue, with 28 bookings lined up for the next calendar year. A return to the UK looks unlikely – especially with a new dream project in the Côté d'Azur. 'It's been abandoned for nine years, with a view straight over the Bay of Cannes,' Andrew says. 'Maybe we're being stupid, but it would be the perfect bolthole for us to relax in between weddings.' 'Making friends with the French was tough' The French countryside has been luring Britons for years, with TV shows like Peter Mayle's series A Year in Provence and Channel 4's Escape to the Chateau capturing the hearts and minds of expats looking to leave behind their daily grind. The result is that parts of rural France have quietly become 'Franglo-Saxon'. According to Insee, France's national statistics agency, the top three regions with the highest British presence – Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, and Île-de-France (which includes Paris) – are home to around 78,000 British expats, roughly the population of Shrewsbury. In many cases, their arrival is slowing rural decline and boosting local economies. But for anyone keener on authenticity, the sudden appearance of fish and chip restaurants and corner shops peddling PG Tips and Marmite could feel they're trading one British bubble for another. Ann Tams, 74, and her husband Chris, 72, experienced this first-hand after buying a riverside townhouse in Couiza, just under an hour's drive from Carcassonne, in 2006. 'Properties in France were still relatively cheap – we paid £80,000 and used it as a holiday home,' she says. Their summers were spent hiking and playing tennis; winters meant trips to small, nearby ski resorts. But it was moving to Algiers for three years for Chris's job that piqued their appetite for adventure. By 2011, fluent in French and ready for a change, the couple made the leap and moved to France full-time. Looking for more space and a bigger garden, they sold the house in Couiza and relocated to Ginoles, a small spa village just outside Quillan, near the Pyrenees. That, Ann says, was their first mistake. 'It was much harder to integrate as it was full of Brits who just wanted to stay British; not speaking French and sticking to their own groups, which wasn't what we came for.' The couple threw themselves into village life – attending fêtes, sports clubs, and community events – but deeper friendships remained tricky. 'Making friends with the French was tough, as they're not unfriendly, just very private,' she says. 'It took us five years to be invited to our neighbour's house across the road, even though we'd invited them numerous times.' Disillusioned by the isolation and climate-related decline in ski conditions – and pulled home by the desire to spend time with ageing family members – they put the house on the market in 2016. It wasn't a speedy French exit however, as the property took three years to sell. 'We hit a slump in the market and lost money, eventually selling it to another British couple,' she says, adding that she was grateful they had kept hold of their home in West Sussex. Now the couple are preparing to move to Dumfries and Galloway, not far from their daughter in Glasgow – 'our 10-year itch,' as Ann puts it. They haven't returned to France since selling the house. 'August in Ginoles was unbearable, and winters were freezing, so we're enjoying a more temperate climate now,' she adds. 'Living elsewhere makes you appreciate the UK, even the weather!' Endless admin kills the joie de vivre For all its pastoral promise and slower pace of life, France isn't always the sun-drenched paradise it is imagined to be. And time spent in the country doesn't necessarily make its foibles easier to ignore. For Roy Carpenter, 59, the has rose tint faded the longer he has stayed. Carpenter has lived in Lyon for almost 30 years. He is originally from the US and works as a professor of American civilisation at the Université Grenoble Alpes. He came to France for love, married a French woman and stayed after the divorce. He is now married to Shona, 63, a Scot. Even with a level of French far above the average Anglophone, he was treated as an outsider to start with. 'The best thing was when they would say 'gosh, you're alright for an American',' he laughs. He's long been intrigued by the British – and to some extent, American – love affair with France. 'After two weeks in the sun, everyone wants to move here,' he says. But behind the joie de vivre lies endless admin and a frustrating aversion to queuing, according to Carpenter. Beyond the clichés, he finds France to be far more conservative than many outsiders realise. 'In the States, people think it's socialist and liberal, but it's not,' he says. 'Even the Left-wing parties, until Macron, were more conservative than the Conservatives.' Change, he adds, comes slowly, if at all: budgets don't add up, protests are constant, and even teenagers take to the streets over pensions. The national mindset, he believes, is summed up in a phrase: ' Oui, mais pas comme ça' – yes, but not like that. 'They want change, just never the way it's proposed.' Carpenter sees France as fiscally cautious to the core. 'They don't want you to take on debt,' he says, recalling how even a simple student loan for his son came wrapped in layers of red tape – insurance, insurance to insure the insurance, and invasive financial questions. 'As his guarantor, they asked why I'd spent €300 the previous February. I thought, why do you care?' He also notes that debit cards are king, and mortgage lending is approached with extreme caution, with terms rarely over 10 years. After a long-standing health issue, he was repeatedly refused a loan for his own house. With retirement on the horizon, the couple plan to swap France for Scotland or America, although they worry about the financial leap they'd need to make and missing out on decent healthcare as they age. Their mixed feelings are a reminder that for many expats, moving to France – despite the gastronomy, the sun and the fêtes – is no guarantee of the good life.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
I'm a psychotherapist, this is the scientific reason why pampered celebrities like glamorous millionaire Molly-Mae Hague are NEVER happy... they're addicted to moaning
From the outside, celebrities often seem to have it all: Stunning looks, wealth, a gorgeous partner, an army of fans, an enviable wardrobe, beautiful homes, a dedicated glam squad... so why do so many also have a penchant for complaining? A mental health expert told the Daily Mail that MOANING is addictive, and even the rich and famous can struggle to free themselves from its clutches. Debbie Keenan, a BACP senior accredited psychotherapist, explained that it's human nature to focus on the negatives. This is because our brains have evolved to stay alert for potential dangers and threats—but while they once would have looked like a sabre-toothed tiger or landslide, now we often get worked up about relatively minor inconveniences. Ms Keenan said: 'This is called negative bias, and unfortunately it is more powerful than positive bias. 'Imagine a net, which is your mind, and as your thoughts pass through, only the bad ones get caught, sticking like velcro. 'Thoughts are not facts, we have about 60,000 of them a day and we hang on to the negative ones, we let all the positive ones go! 'If someone said one criticism about you, and 20 other people said positive things, it would be the negative criticism you'd be thinking about tonight.' Last month, former Love Island winner Molly-Mae Hague was blasted by fans for 'always moaning'. The mother-of-one, 26, raised eyebrows when told fans she's 'not done one fun thing all summer' despite glamorous holidays in Dubai, France and Spain, plus a staycation at Center Parcs. She also vented about a disappointing family trip to the Isle of Man with her partner Tommy Fury and their daughter Bambi, 2. It was their first trip out in Tommy's new £86,000 motorhome; but Molly-Mae used the video to complain about the traffic and having to change her daughter's routine—leaving fans shaking their heads in dismay. And there were more moans to come. Speaking in a vlog posted to her 2million YouTube followers, she said: 'I said to a friend the other day, that I'm going to make it to the end of summer having not done one fun thing.' Ms Keenan understands that people naturally become frustrated, but there's a time and a place to let it out—and it's not on social media. She said: 'If you want to vent, social media probably is not the healthiest place to do it. 'When celebrities with millions and millions of followers—from all walks of life, who follow them for escapism—start moaning, it's like they're a standing on a pedestal in a pair of Louboutin heels complaining that their feet hurt while everyone walks around on the pavement barefoot. 'People look up to them, and they're moaning and groaning about things that may be minor. 'They're complaining about their holiday to Dubai and a luxury lifestyle most people can never access, while their fans are struggling to make ends meet. 'It comes kind of from a place of privilege and entitlement and it's kind of a slap in the face for their followers who are struggling. 'You can't help but think, "What's the intent? Why are they doing it? Is it for attention? Is it for validation? Is it self esteem, or is it something deeper?" 'It's quite sad, really.' When Ms Keenan works with clients who are caught up in negative thought loops, she teaches them cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques to help nip them in the bud. 'If you're constantly offloading and moaning, it can become a vicious cycle until you don't even know you're doing it any more,' she said. But when it comes to influencers, the nature of the industry means they are often surrounded by hangers-on and yes men who enable their behaviour, plus adoring fans who validate their every word. Furthermore, moaning can be good for business: so when their monetised videos are clocking up millions of views and generating thousands of pounds, there can be little incentive to change tact. She said: 'They're often surrounded by people pleasers who don't want to call them out on their behaviour. It becomes rooted and ingrained. It becomes a behaviour whih can be quite toxic. 'Because it's not challenged, they're going to do it more and more. 'And when it comes to social media, they're going to do it even more the next day, because people are sympathising and validating what they're saying. 'And even if they're not sympathetic or in agreement with the content, people are commenting and interacting, they are still giving it their attention. 'It can quickly snowball.' Working as an accredited BCAAP therapist, Ms Keenan often deals with clients who can't shake themselves out of a glass half empty mindset, even if they're not diagnosed with depression or another mental health condition. 'The reasons for negative thinking can deep rooted; it might be related to low self esteem or low self worth,' she said. 'They might have learned in childhood that moaning was the only way to get attention, to get validation, to get their voice heard. 'Maybe moaning and complaining was the only way they could get people to listen to them. 'It can be also be a sign of unmet emotional needs. Someone who is constantly moaning may have deeper issues, perhaps they're lonely, or they're isolated.' As the old adage goes, misery loves company—but ironically, incessant moaning can leave you isolated because people can quickly get fed up of making an effort with persistent doom-mongers. 'You could be moaning for decades, and you might find that people stop listening to you,' she said. But, worryingly, things can go the other way. Ms Keenan said: 'Happiness is infectious, but so is negativity—if it's left unchecked, it spreads like water.' Molly-Mae also came under fire for griping to her sister Zoe—who left fans reeling after moaning that her 5* trip to Bali wasn't luxurious as she expected and she was leaving the Indonesian island for the more familiar climes of Dubai—that she had had a rotten summer. Molly-Mae said: 'Zoe, I haven't socialised once. I'm going to get to the end of this summer having not done one social fun thing. 'I haven't a life. That's not good is it. Summer will end and I've not done one fun social thing.' It left some fans open-mouthed as they called out how she failed to acknowledge the three holidays she's already been on this year not to mention a glamorous trip to watch the tennis at Wimbledon while wearing a pricey designer outfit. Ms Keenan said that one of the best ways to combat negativity in ourselves is to face it head on. 'Write down the negative thought, evidence for, evidence against—not your opinion, just the facts. 'Start to learn to be grateful, write down what you have in your life and what's going well, because it won't all be negative, unless you're really in a in bad way. 'When you have a negative thought, take a breath. You don't have to accept it, thoughts are not facts.'
