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Time Out
8 hours ago
- Time Out
The beachy English seaside town that is getting a new direct train service from London
Soon Londoners will have access to a brand new summer holiday destination, because plans have been revealed for a new train directly linking the capital to a seaside town way up in County Durham. The train, operated by Grand Central, will link King's Cross with Seaham, a seaside town known for its rugged, beautiful beaches and maritime history. The town is also home to a whopping 10 chippies, so come hungry. Beginning from December 2025, this will be Seaham's first ever direct rail connection with the Big Smoke. The Seaham stop will be added to Grand Central's service from King's Cross to Sunderland, which currently goes via Peterborough, York, Thirsk, Northallerton, Eaglescliffe and Hartelpool. The service is one of several new routes recently confirmed on the East Coast Mainline. Some of the top things to do at the harbour town are seeing its sweeping coastline, which is known to be an ideal spot for sea glass hunting, walking the coast path to Nose's Point, and visiting the East Durham Heritage & Lifeboat Centre, or perhaps the Mole Sanctuary, if that's your thing. Grahame Morris, the MP for Easington said: 'I'm delighted to share that the Office of Rail and Road has confirmed that Grand Central Trains will begin stopping at Seaham Station from December 2025 to December 2026. '[There will be] four stopping services per day in each direction.' He added: 'Although the approval is currently for a one-year period using five-car trains, I'm confident that these services will be well-used by residents across our community. 'This means that our constituency will now have direct rail links to York and London, alongside increased capacity to local destinations such as Sunderland and Hartlepool.' The Seaham train is one of a few new rail services that will link London with the north and Scotland coming later this year. Read about the new services arriving at Hull, Newcastle and Glasgow here.
Metro
10 hours ago
- Metro
I had a luxe London trip on discount codes — with £30 theatre and £26 Hawksmoor
London rightly has a reputation as one of the most expensive cities in the world. That's fair enough, particularly when it comes to rent and mortgages. And yes, going out can also make a serious dent to your bank balance. But if you're a money saver, I think living or visiting the capital offers far more potential to cut other costs than anywhere else in the UK. And that doesn't require scrimping or thifting, nor does it mean missing out on some of the nicer things. Don't believe me? Here are some highlights from a few days I've just spent in London. With so many restaurants, there are also many ways to get really good food for less. One I took advantage of was a special menu at steak mini-chain Hawksmoor available at lunch, pre and post-theatre. The Slice is your weekly guide to what's happening in London, so if you're looking for restaurant reviews, drinks deals or just a great new exhibition to visit on a rainy Saturday in the capital, we've got you covered. Click here for this week's edit of the best things to do in town. The Slice newsletter also a brand new look! We'll still be in your inbox every week, bringing you all the very best things to eat, drink and do in the capital. So if you want get the next edition before anyone else, sign up here! If you want to do it all on the cheap, you can also find our latest batch of exclusive hand-picked offers in partnership with Time Out here. The hake and sweet potato main was delicious and sizeable and a happy hour glass of rose hit the spot. Stacking an American Express 10% cashback offer on top of this special menu, I paid just £26 including service. An hour later and the same meal would have set me back £42. Adding extra courses included in the offer would have increased the saving even more, but there wasn't any point spending more when I was full enough. And good news for non-Londoners, it also has locations with the same offer in Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It's no wonder there are frequent op-eds decrying how expensive West End theatre tickets are. The seat I had for matinee performance of the Broadway transfer of the Tony-winning Stereophonic was listed at £150. The row in front was priced at a staggering £250. However, I paid just £30, saving £120. That was thanks to the 'Rush ticket' feature on the app TodayTix. It's effectively a lottery on the day of the performance to fill empty seats. There's no guarantee you'll get a ticket, or that you'll get one of the top priced seats, so I was lucky. And though I don't agree with some of the rave reviews, for £30 it was an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. I managed to see a decent comedy show for just a tenner thanks to Central Tickets. The rules of websites like this are I can't say what I saw, but my seat should have cost £47.90 if I'd gone direct to the box office. I love a good gig, and managed to see two performances on my trip. The biggest bargain was an in-store from all-girl punk group Panic Shack at Rough Trade East, just off Brick Lane. For £16.06 I not only got access to an intimate gig, but also a copy of their new CD. Dates for their tour later this year start at £20 before fees, so throw in the album on top and I think it was at least a 50% saving. This way to save isn't just limited to London, but I used a free ticket to finally see Danny Boyle's latest movie 28 Years Later at the Vue Leicester Square. More Trending There are a few ways I get these, from opening up a Club Lloyds current account to a perk from Vitality health insurance, but this one was actually a freebie given away by my energy provider Octopus earlier in the year. Since weekend showings are often more expensive than others, using this on a Saturday saved me £13.99. Finally, travel. Yep the tube and trains are pricey, especially compared to other metro systems in other countries. The daily cap on card payments will help people moving around a lot, but I managed to beat this on my first day – and that was by adding a Travelcard to my inbound rail ticket. This added £5.60 to my fare, versus a £8.90 limit on Zone 1-2 travel with my debit card. And I knocked another 10% off that thanks to an offer for train ticket seller LNER via my American Express card. Total saving:£203.81. Total spent: £77.10. View More » MORE: Westminster Cathedral turned into drug dealer haven with 'cocaine sold on pews' MORE: Murder manhunt after woman in 20s killed outside Romford care home MORE: 'The worst show on TV' might finally be ending and viewers are surprisingly sad Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
As The Only Way is Essex turns 15 what made it so sucessfull?
With its cast of glamorous 20-somethings who introduced the world to vajazzles and the Sugar Hut, The Only Way is Essex (Towie) was an instant hit with British viewers when it came to screens in attracted an international fanbase, and even a few A-list followers along the way, the show is about to return for its 36th series, marking its 15th it or hate it, there is no denying that the show thrust Essex into the spotlight. But what made it so successful? 'Confusing concept' TV critic Emma Bullimore says Towie paved the way in the "constructed reality" genre on British television, building on the success of The Hills, a reality show set in Los Angeles that aired its final episode earlier in 2010."It was a confusing concept," she says."These were real people, living real lives and conducting genuine relationships, but the directors of the show would give ideas for 'scenes', or steer the contributors in particular directions to create drama."Bullimore recalls going to the press launch for the first series at a cocktail bar with loud music, a far cry from most premieres held in a theatre or screening room."There was a real buzz and a feeling that this show would change the TV landscape, which indeed it did."She puts its success down to the show's portrayal of Essex stereotypes - full of glitzy outfits, fake tans and big hair - a method which "inspired countless copycat versions set in different parts of the UK" like Made in Chelsea and Geordie Shore. 'Boosted economy' Essex is a large county sharing borders with London, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and fans of the show who are unfamiliar with the area would be forgiven for thinking there is no life outside of towns like Loughton, Buckhurst Hill and, in particular, Brentwood - widely considered as the home of town had been dubbed by the media as England's most boring town back in the 90s, but with venues like the Sugar Hut nightclub playing a pivotal role in the show, it was quickly thrust into the Kendall, a Brentwood borough councillor, said not everyone was a fan of how their local area had been the show's peak, fans from as far as Australia flocked to Brentwood to rub shoulders with their favourite stars, many of whom had opened businesses in the town centre after finding said the show brought thousands of visitors to the town."They stayed in hotels, they shopped, it certainly boosted our local economy," the Lib Dem councillor added. Victoria Cleaves, from Rhode Island in the US, started watching the show with her husband, Taylor, after hearing about it from her cousin who lives in Essex."I got hooked on some of the main characters like Billie and Sam Faiers, Joey Essex and Mark Wright," the 36-year-old says."It was interesting to see their lives and how different they are to my own. It's very different to American life."The term "Essex girl" was dropped from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary after a lengthy campaign by women who wanted to challenge the Victoria, who is speaking to the BBC while visiting family in Colchester, about 40 miles (64km) away from Brentwood, thinks the show's portrayal of Essex people is spot on."I've seen a lot of women who I thought could be on Towie - they look similar and seem to be acting similar," she said. Elaina Johnson, from Florida, stumbled across the show while scrolling through the American streaming platform Hulu about 10 years ago and was hooked within the first 15 minutes."You think that because we speak the same language, I wouldn't need subtitles, but I do," the 42-year-old jokes."When they would talk in the early seasons about wanting to be a little orange with their tan… in Florida, if you were orange, that's just a faux pas of tanning. That was something I got such a huge kick out of." 'Relatable' Saffron Lempriere, who joined the show in 2018, puts the show's ongoing success down to the storylines it covers."Fifteen years ago, Towie was about breakups, glam, white stilettos, Sugar Hut," she says."It was the nostalgia, but now we have grown, and society has changed, and we talk about very relatable things. We are all real people."Jordan [Brook]'s going through a fertility journey with Sophie [Kasaei] - the show has been amazing at covering that. Junaid [Ahmed] is gay and muslim - the first UK reality TV star to be able to share that. I had a recent loss - we spoke about grief."I think the viewers are so invested in our lives at the minute and the stories." The Only Way is Essex returns on Sunday at 21:00 BST on ITV2 and ITVX. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
