Latest news with #Lesley
South Wales Argus
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
Newport pub The Tickled Trout is city's best kept secret
It looks rather unassuming, but upon stepping through the doors I am greeted with warmth from managers Poppy Morgan, 29, and Lesley Davies, 36. The pair took over the pub not too long ago, turning it from a tired Spanish tapas bar to somewhere that you can take part in a leisurely lunch, a drink over a boardgame, or even a 'Taylor Swift cake decorating class' – I'm promised that these themed classes are extremely popular and not as strange as they sound at first. Poppy and Lesley have turned the Tickled Trout into a place for everyone (Image: Supplied) It has a cozy atmosphere and the welcome from the staff on duty is incomparable – it feels like they truly care about this venue and want customers to care too. Strictly speaking, The Tickled Trout is not a really a pub - it's in the no-man's land between restaurant and bar, but this doesn't bother them one bit. The people are Newport are beginning to love the Tickled Trout, as are customers from further afield. Poppy and Lesley detail how just last week they had a customer travel to visit all the way from Oxford, and they couldn't speak highly enough of the relaxed and cosy atmosphere of the pub. With five separate food menus to choose from, there is something on offer for everyone. The Tickled Trout has aimed to redefine traditional Spanish tapas to include flavours from across the globe, changing customers' perceptions on what they already know of the small dish options. The Tickled Trout is redefining traditional tapas (Image: Supplied) The pair are proud of the fact that the basis for every single item on their menu is gluten free, vegan and created using fresh ingredients. It creates an inclusive dining experience and ensures that everyone is catered for with no risk. Lesley said: 'We get a lot of praise for our vegan menu. 'We get the ingredients in fresh every day, and our chefs create the dishes from scratch. Rather than buy pre-made sauce mixes, all our aioli's and anything else we use and serve is made from scratch.' The Tickled Trout creates all their dishes from scratch (Image: Supplied) Alongside their usual menus, they offer a daily bottomless brunch that brings together an extensive cocktail menu full of well-known favourites and their varied tapas dishes. Poppy laughs: 'We get everyone in for bottomless brunch, from the 18-year-olds who drink actual cocktails to the older ladies who usually prefer a glass of prosecco.' Lesley said: 'People usually go to a bottomless brunch and expect either good food, or good cocktails. We're proud that with us you get both.'
Scotsman
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Scotsman Obituaries: Lesley Storm, talented poet who brought neglected writers back into print
Lesley Storm, poet. Died: 28 April 2025 Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Lesley Storm legally changed her name in August 2010 and had gender confirmation surgery in January 2014 in Brighton. She began writing poetry in 2015 and read in public for the first time in almost forty years in the autumn of 2016, after being invited to The Heretics by Richard Munro, whom she said she met quite by chance. This revived poetry and song collective, started in 1970 by Dolina MacLennan, Liz Lochhead, Robert Garioch, John Herdman, Sorley MacLean and others, proved a welcoming launching ground for Lesley as a writer. Her work was always powerful, personal, and as well as occasionally commenting specifically on life as a trans woman the larger part of Lesley's poetry concerned the most human emotions – love, loss, grief, joy. All of these Lesley mastered as a writer and presented memorably in her poetry. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad From this burst of creativity Lesley produced a strong first and only collection, It's About Time, published in 2021, which was likely the first full collection of poetry by a transgender person in Scotland. Lesley Storm was 'fun company, caustic, critical, gentle as well as understanding' Outside of her life as a writer and performer Lesley was committed to addiction and mental health support for others, and known and liked in transgender, queer and LGBT circles. As Lesley approached her sixties, she realised depression and alcohol dependency were leading her to ever darker places and she committed to seeking help. She began attending recovery groups in Edinburgh in 2013 and quickly found a supportive and loving home in the West End. Her personal commitment to recovery was remarkable and, had she lived, she would have celebrated 12 years of sobriety last month, June. More than this personal achievement, however, Lesley threw herself into 'service', the action of passing on the support, guidance and love she had received so freely from fellow alcoholics to suffering 'newcomers'. Hundreds of recovering alcoholics benefitted from her fellowship and probably thousands more from her unseen but untiring commitment to the unglamorous administrative and financial work required for all voluntary organisations. Lesley had many useful hobbies such as carrying out the optical character recognition and reconstruction of out-of-print texts, some of which are now back in the public domain for the first time in machine-readable text. During lockdown, she began making e-book versions of favourite out-of-print books, including the Kindle edition of Poems of the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, early poems by Frances Cornford and a collected Thomas MacDonagh. When she died, Lesley had completed but not published four short editions of rare works by Sydney Goodsir Smith and a popular edition of the complete Robert Fergusson. Her complete Fergusson reflects a solid part of who Lesley was as a book and record collector – a completist. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Lesley was supportive to many writers, and despite lifelong depression was fun company, caustic, critical and gentle, as well as understanding, particularly of those marginalised. She thought Brexit was bollocks and Boris was the anti-Christ. She wrote poetry constantly and collected poetry books, and editions of Graham Greene and Ernest Hemingway, among others, and has left a good amount of unpublished work. Lesley was open about being transgender, and wrote in detail in her book and pamphlets about the social and the medical. She also wrote about the emotions, and the fact of her being trans as a growing social issue, if not one of the main social issues of her time. In It's About Time she responded to gender pronouns, saying: 'This is not a trans right issue. It has nothing to do with trans rights. And I do object to having this seen as something trans people are seeking to impose on others. The vast majority of trans people identify as male or female. I am female – I always was. Most of those who seek to use they/them as singular pronouns are not trans in the sense that I am trans. I welcome them as my fellow citizens in their struggle to assert their right to be recognised for who they are.' Lesley was sexually assaulted twice between 2013 and 2019. She had many medical treatments over the years I knew her, and her attitude to the increasing complexities of life as a transgender person was necessarily complex. She wrote: 'I'm a woman. I support them. I'm bisexual. I support them. I'm a feminist. I support them. I endure regular abuse for being trans. I support them. I am called a 'poof' by the unenlightened. I support them. My name is Lesley, and I'm a woman – that is to say: that I am human, just like you, and you like me.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Lesley's achievement in her few years as a published writer were many, but her aims were discreet, and she loved performing with poets, and getting to know them, usually those local to Leith, at The Alcove, The Heretics, the Summer Anywhere festival, and at fundraisers at The Artisan. Her reputation as a writer reached far beyond the local and she had appeared on Damian Barr's Literary Salon Podcast, and was surprised that even though her poetry was not recognised, the Saltire Society shortlisted her debut collection for its Cover Design of the Year Award, for Ryan McGovern's bold photograph – reproduced here – of Lesley in her favourite café, Marmalade, in Bernard Street in Leith. Lesley's poems did attract much critical praise, although she enjoyed performing so much that she barely ever submitted to magazines. Jane Goldman, reader in Poetics and Creative Writing at Glasgow University, said of Lesley's book: 'These are powerful, moving and accomplished poems that speak to all humanity, written by a certain woman documenting her uncertain becomings over time. Whatever the certainties of those enforcing it or of those of us willingly or unwillingly defined by it, the category 'woman' has always been uncertain. 'One is not born a woman', Simone de Beauvoir observes, 'one becomes one'. But what is it to be deeply certain of an urgent calling to womanhood all of one's life yet violently excluded from such a becoming? What is it to win through?' This powerfully sums up one side of Lesley's life, for these were questions she answered in her work. Lesley will be remembered as more than a writer – most knew her as a performer and a friend, and a support, often an ally. There were many sides to her as well as the writer and the publisher. Lesley died peacefully at home on 28 April. Obituaries
Edinburgh Live
05-07-2025
- Health
- Edinburgh Live
Scottish woman broke back after plummeting 20ft as pals rushed to stop her drowning
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A Scottish woman suffered a broken back after a terrifying 20-foot fall from a coastal path, with her quick-thinking companions saving her from potentially drowning. Lesley Nicol, 50, recounted the traumatic incident that occurred while she was out for a stroll along the Fife Coastal Path with her husband, father, and a friend on March 9 last year. Suddenly, the ground crumbled beneath her, causing her to plummet down the cliff onto rocky terrain below. Reliving the distressing event, Lesley explained: "I can remember looking up and trying to grab hold of something – the next thing I felt was landing feet first on the rocks, falling backwards and hitting my head. And then a lot of pain." After the fall, she found herself with a fractured spine, a smashed foot, and a head wound. Her husband, father, and friend, defying their initial instincts, were compelled to move her due to the rising tide threatening her position. (Image: SCAA) Despite being in intense agony, Lesley remembered: "They had no choice. I had obviously done some serious damage, but they couldn't leave me lying where I was, or I would have drowned.", reports the Daily Record. To summon help, Lesley's father and husband took separate paths to find a mobile signal in the secluded spot, eventually managing to reach emergency services. She went on to describe how they managed the situation: "We staunched the bleed from my head wound with tissues I had in my bag and I tried to keep calm. Dad's friend kept talking to me to keep me awake but I was in so much pain in my foot and lower back. "I almost lost consciousness a couple of times and it seemed forever before the men came back and said help was on its way. I just had to hang on." (Image: SCAA) A rescue helicopter from Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) was dispatched to the scene from Perth due to the difficulty in obtaining a phone signal, the remote location and nature of the fall. The emergency services received an only approximate location, leading SCAA to search the coastline before locating the family amidst the rocks. Lesley recounted: "They were first on scene, landing nearby on a grassy bank, and I've never been so relieved to see anyone. It was a cold, windy day and they immediately erected a shelter around me to protect me as they administered pain relief. "SCAA's paramedics were just amazing – so calm and so reassuring. I had been frantic with pain and worry that no one would come to help and suddenly these guys were by my side, taking control of everything and comforting and calming me. They are very special people." With the arrival of Coastguard reinforcement, assistance was provided to stretcher Lesley to the awaiting helicopter. Reflecting on her experience, she expressed: "The crew re-arranged things on board to ensure my husband could fly with me. It was good to have him there and I'm so grateful to the crew for making that possible." In little over five minutes, Lesley was airlifted to the Major Trauma Centre at Dundee. She was promptly taken into A&E upon her arrival. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. X-rays and a CT scan revealed that she had suffered a broken back and her heel was shattered in three places, necessitating extensive surgery to fit metal rods and pins to stabilise the joint. Reflecting on her ordeal, she expressed her gratitude: "I spent more than two weeks in hospital and I never stopped thanking my lucky stars that SCAA was there for me that day. It would have been really difficult for a land ambulance to reach me and the journey out over bumpy ground would have been horrendous." She praised the air ambulance service, saying: "SCAA landed beside me and immediately took the pain away. They flew me quickly and comfortably to advanced care with my husband by my side and I will be eternally grateful to them." Emphasising the importance of the service, she added: "SCAA is an invaluable service in Scotland. You never think you will ever need them but trust me, when things do go wrong, this is the team you want to see. They're just amazing."
Express Tribune
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
David Beador spotted with wife Lesley just a day after filing a restraining order against her
David Beador was spotted with his estranged wife, Lesley Beador, just days after filing a restraining order against her. The couple, who have been facing significant relationship issues, were photographed together on Wednesday at the Montage Big Sky Resort in Montana. In the images, David, 60, was seen sitting next to Lesley with a drink in hand, while Lesley scrolled through her phone, dressed in a black top, polka dot headband, and gold jewelry. -Instagram. Interestingly, Lesley shared Instagram photos from the same day, including a selfie with their 4-year-old daughter, Anna, but did not include David in the shots. She also posted pictures of the resort, captioning one, 'Big Sky,' and sharing more vacation moments with the message, 'Montana, you have my heart.' This sighting comes just one day after it was revealed that David filed for a restraining order against Lesley on June 17, claiming she physically assaulted him. According to court documents, David accused Lesley of gouging his arm and slapping him in the face during an incident on June 11. He also called her a 'pathological liar' and alleged she married him for his money, while making claims about his sexuality. The restraining order mandates that Lesley vacate their home in Newport Beach, California, and stay 100 yards away from David, his home, and his workplace, except for custody exchanges. A court hearing is set for Tuesday to determine whether the restraining order will become permanent. David and Lesley have been married since October 2020. They previously filed for divorce in 2022, after a turbulent period in their relationship, which also included a restraining order filed by Lesley against David.
The Irish Sun
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Mums need to stop wearing leggings, there is nothing sexy about them and they are ruining your confidence, stylist says
IT'S an outfit donned by mums worldwide on a daily basis. But according to one stylist, there's "nothing sexy" about leggings and a jumper - and "nothing about the look that makes you feel good about yourself" either. 4 Personal stylist Clodagh has urged mums over 40 to stop wearing leggings Credit: Youtube/The Clo's Show 4 She insisted there are equally stylish outfits that are just as comfortable Credit: Youtube/The Clo's Show 4 And mum-of-three Lesley was stunned when Clo put together some stylish outfits from her wardrobe Credit: Youtube/The Clo's Show 4 This orange jumper worked well with a mustard leather look jacket Credit: Youtube/The Clo's Show Clodagh is a personal stylist, who helps "empower" women through their wardrobe choices, and documents the journey in videos on her In a recent episode of The Clo's Show, she met up with mum-of-three Lesley, to help her get out of her style rut, and express herself with her outfits. "I'm a stylist and I work with women every single day that suffer with their style confidence because they have been wearing this uniform of leggings," she began. "Are you over 40, feeling meh and still stuck in leggings?" Clo wrote over the top Read more Style stories "Watch Lesley ditch her leggings and get her confidence back!" Lesley admitted she was "so stuck in the mindset of the leggings" that she just stuck them on in the morning before the school run. But when Clo started to show her some other wardrobe options, she began to realise that she would be a lot more confident wearing something else. And as an added bonus, Lesley already had all the clothes she needed in her wardrobe. Most read in Fabulous In the first outfit, she wore a pair of wide-legged black trousers and white slogan T-shirt, as she said: "I feel great. I feel very comfortable. "It's actually nice to be out of the leggings!" My favourite outfit has been labelled 'frumpy & ageing' by cruel fashionistas, but screw them… I'll be buried wearing it "So what would stop you in the morning from not wearing this to drop the kids off or go to work in?" Clo asked Lesley. "Look how happy Lesley was by just getting out of those leggings and putting on a plain pair of black wide leg pants that she bought in Tesco," she added. "Look at the difference they make for her confidence!" "The beauty of this is not only did Lesley not spend a penny, but her confidence has been elevated through the roof and she now understands how easy it is to put fab outfits together and how easy it is to mix and match her stuff," Clo added in the description for the YouTube video. People were quick to comment on the video, with many agreeing with Clo's fashion analysis. "I refuse to have leggings, tracksuits, baggy tops in my wardrobe," one wrote. Styling tips for women 50+ Our Fabulous Fashion Editor Clemmie Fieldsend shares her top tips... GET A BRA FIT : Underwear is the foundation to every single outfit, so make sure your bra is the correct fit. If you're off to a good start you'll finish with a great outfits. EMBRACE COLOUR : Bright colours will lift your skin tone and will give you glowing skin. INVEST IN GOOD BASICS : You'll need your essentials like a good pair of straight leg jeans, white shirt, white t-shirt, black blazer and well made black shoe. You can't go wrong with rotating them when you don't know what to wear. AVOID SHAPELESS : Hiding your figure under shapeless silhouettes is doing to date you and make you look frumpy. Try fitted clothes that aren't figure hugging - you need to be able to breathe. EXPERIMENT : Try different items you wouldn't usually go for and mix them with what you already have. The results can mean a better dressed and more confident you. "I love to wear nice clothes daily - and it's cheaper than people think." "Yes!!!" another said. "It's all about how you feel and being in an outfit that makes your feel put together regardless of what you're doing." "I'm 43 and I stopped wearing leggings a few weeks now," a third commented. "I've a bit of a belly and skinny legs so I looked like Mr Tayto, so stopped wearing them as I felt leggings made my stomach look bigger."
