Thames swimming company blames collapse on river pollution fears
Henley Swim started 21 years ago and involved a variety of open water swims along the Henley Royal Regatta course each year. More than 2,000 swimmers took part last July.
The company said that it had effectively become bankrupt, leaving entrants for this year's events questioning whether they would receive refunds for their entrance fees. Swimmers said that the closure of the events was a 'huge loss'.
• The Times view on saving our rivers: Testing the Waters
'The relentless publicity about the quality of the water in the Thames has put thousands of people off the idea of open water swimming, which has led to an
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Sticky end? The British pudding faces extinction, English Heritage warns
At the end of the 17th century a French travel writer who crossed the Channel was clearly impressed by the sweet, comforting treats offered to him, declaring with relish: 'Ah! What an excellent thing is an English pudding!' More than three centuries on, English Heritage has sounded the alarm that the good old British pudding is facing extinction. Research from the charity suggests two-thirds of households in England, Wales and Scotland make puddings only once a month or less, while a third never bake or boil or steam one. English Heritage warned that if nothing was done to stem the tide, the great British pudding will not exist in 50 years. Dr Andrew Hann, a senior curator of history at English Heritage, said: 'Sweet puddings are closely intertwined with British history and it would be a huge shame for them to die out.' For the purposes of this research, the charity defines puddings as cooked sweet courses that follow a main meal – so not just traditional 'puddings' typically made in mould or basins but also dishes such as apple pies or crumbles. Hann waxed lyrical about the sort of puddings his mother would make. 'She regularly produced a delicious pudding after the main course – things like steamed sponge pudding with coming out of a pudding basin with the syrup dribbling down the side. There was a whole repertoire of delicious puddings. People are not generally making these sort of hot desserts but turning to things like ice-cream, yoghurts or fruit.' English Heritage said recipes for sweetened meat pies from the medieval period had been found and that by the Tudor and Stuart times, puddings sweetened with honey or fruit were common, although many would also have contained meat. Hann said puddings were once a luxury for the well-off but as sugar became more widely available, more people could enjoy them. The 20th century was probably the heyday of the British pudding. 'However, the research shows a clear shift away from the traditional dessert over the past 50 years,' Hann said. 'As more women entered the workforce from the 1970s onwards, households no longer had as much time to cook and started to prioritise convenience. If this decline continues, we can expect the classic great British pud to all but vanish within the next 50 years.' The research, which was carried out by YouGov, found 2% of British households eat a daily homemade pudding. While half of people born before 1970 said their parents made puddings several times a week, that was the case for only 26% of those born in the 1970s. The downward trend has continued since then. In an attempt to reignite Britain's love affair with puddings, English Heritage has introduced two new pudding-inspired ice-cream flavours to its sites: sticky toffee and apple crumble and custard. The charity is also launching The English Heritage Baking Book in early September. It contains recipes for all the nation's favourite puddings but also some of the forgotten ones, accompanied by notes on their history. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Twelfth Night cakeBy the reign of Elizabeth I, Twelfth Night involved a celebratory cake, typically a rich, yeasty fruit bread flavoured with spices, and a token or bean hidden inside. The person who found the bean became the Lord of Misrule or King of the Bean, and would have to organise the evening's revelry. The cake survived the Reformation. People began to use eggs to raise the cake, and as sugar and fruit came down in price, the cake became less of a fruited bread and more like a rich fruit cake. Over time, it was replaced by the Christmas cake. Soul cakeAlso know as a soulmass-cake, they were traditionally given to children or poorer people, known as 'soulers', who would go from door to door singing songs or reciting prayers over Allhallowtide (Halloween, Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day). There are written references to the custom from as far back as 1511. Records from the 19th century show soul cakes as roundels containing flour, butter, sugar, currants, spices and eggs. Cabinet puddingSometimes known as chancellor's pudding, it was very popular in the Georgian era. A traditional bread-and-butter style pudding, it is made with dried fruits and moulded and steamed. Served with custard. Anglo-Saxon cakeA lot of food eaten by Anglo-Saxons is still familiar. This cake was made with honey, butter, oats and dried fruit, and cooked in a heavy iron saucepan with a lid over a fire. Source: English Heritage
North Wales Chronicle
4 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
What can students expect from this year's exam results?
Here is your guide to this summer's exam results: – Who will receive their exam results ? Schools and college leavers will receive their A-level and AS grades, as well as results for vocational technical qualifications (VTQs) at Level 3, on Thursday. Students in England will also receive their results for T-levels – which were launched to provide high-quality technical alternatives to A-levels. – What can students expect? Last year, more than one in four (27.8%) of UK A-level entries were awarded an A or A* grade – up from 27.2% in 2023. It was the highest proportion of entries scoring top grades outside the pandemic-affected years of 2020-22. In 2019, the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic, 25.4% of entries were awarded A or A* grades. The Covid-19 pandemic led to an increase in top A-level and GCSE grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams. – How does the situation differ in the devolved nations? In 2023, GCSEs and A-levels returned to pre-pandemic grading arrangements in England. In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam regulators returned to pre-pandemic grading last summer – a year later than in England. Scotland has a different qualification system and students received their results on Tuesday last week. Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) showed that 78.4% of those sitting National 5 exams passed with grades A to C – up from 77.2% last year. For Highers, 75.9% passed with the top bands, up from 74.9% last year, and for Advanced Highers 76.7% of students achieved A to C grades, up from 75.3% last year. – Will it be tougher to get university places? A record number of 18-year-olds are likely to be successful in securing their first choice of university this A-level results day – even if they narrowly miss their grades, the head of Ucas told the PA news agency. Jo Saxton, chief executive of the university admissions service, said it was a 'good year to be a UK-domiciled 18-year-old' that wants to go to university. She has suggested that British universities are keen to recruit UK school and college leavers because there is more 'uncertainty' around the international market and which overseas students are going to turn up. More than 22,500 courses with vacancies for undergraduate students living in England were available on the Ucas clearing site as of Wednesday afternoon, a PA analysis of 129 of the UK's largest higher education providers showed. Eighteen of the 24 elite Russell Group universities had nearly 3,500 courses with vacancies for English residents on clearing the day before results day. – What can students do if they do not get their first-choice university? Clearing is available to students who do not meet the conditions of their offer on A-level results day, as well as those who did not receive any offers. Students who have changed their mind about what or where they wish to study, and also those who have applied outside the normal application window, can also use the clearing process through Ucas. Applicants will be able to add a clearing choice from 1pm on results day. In England, if a student is unhappy with their grade they can ask their school or college to request that the exam board review the marking. If there are still concerns, the student can ask their school or college to appeal against the result.
South Wales Guardian
4 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
What can students expect from this year's exam results?
Here is your guide to this summer's exam results: – Who will receive their exam results ? Schools and college leavers will receive their A-level and AS grades, as well as results for vocational technical qualifications (VTQs) at Level 3, on Thursday. Students in England will also receive their results for T-levels – which were launched to provide high-quality technical alternatives to A-levels. – What can students expect? Last year, more than one in four (27.8%) of UK A-level entries were awarded an A or A* grade – up from 27.2% in 2023. It was the highest proportion of entries scoring top grades outside the pandemic-affected years of 2020-22. In 2019, the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic, 25.4% of entries were awarded A or A* grades. The Covid-19 pandemic led to an increase in top A-level and GCSE grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams. – How does the situation differ in the devolved nations? In 2023, GCSEs and A-levels returned to pre-pandemic grading arrangements in England. In Wales and Northern Ireland, exam regulators returned to pre-pandemic grading last summer – a year later than in England. Scotland has a different qualification system and students received their results on Tuesday last week. Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) showed that 78.4% of those sitting National 5 exams passed with grades A to C – up from 77.2% last year. For Highers, 75.9% passed with the top bands, up from 74.9% last year, and for Advanced Highers 76.7% of students achieved A to C grades, up from 75.3% last year. – Will it be tougher to get university places? A record number of 18-year-olds are likely to be successful in securing their first choice of university this A-level results day – even if they narrowly miss their grades, the head of Ucas told the PA news agency. Jo Saxton, chief executive of the university admissions service, said it was a 'good year to be a UK-domiciled 18-year-old' that wants to go to university. She has suggested that British universities are keen to recruit UK school and college leavers because there is more 'uncertainty' around the international market and which overseas students are going to turn up. More than 22,500 courses with vacancies for undergraduate students living in England were available on the Ucas clearing site as of Wednesday afternoon, a PA analysis of 129 of the UK's largest higher education providers showed. Eighteen of the 24 elite Russell Group universities had nearly 3,500 courses with vacancies for English residents on clearing the day before results day. – What can students do if they do not get their first-choice university? Clearing is available to students who do not meet the conditions of their offer on A-level results day, as well as those who did not receive any offers. Students who have changed their mind about what or where they wish to study, and also those who have applied outside the normal application window, can also use the clearing process through Ucas. Applicants will be able to add a clearing choice from 1pm on results day. In England, if a student is unhappy with their grade they can ask their school or college to request that the exam board review the marking. If there are still concerns, the student can ask their school or college to appeal against the result.
