Latest news with #TheCourier
Metro
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Sir Tom Jones update on next show revealed after cancelling gig last-minute
An update has been given on whether Sir Tom Jones' tour will continue as scheduled after he cancelled an appearance yesterday due to health issues. The 85-year-old It's Not Unusual singer told ticket-holders Tuesday he was forced to cancel his gig in Bremen, Germany, due to an upper respiratory infection. In a statement, he said: 'Hello to all the fans in Bremen. Unfortunately, I must postpone my show this evening, as I've contracted an upper respiratory infection that needs treatment and rest. 'I know this is really disappointing and will cause inconvenience to you all, and I'm very sorry about that. But the show will now go ahead on Monday 28th July, so I look forward to seeing you then. All tickets will remain valid for the re-scheduled date.' Sir Tom is set to headline a festival at the Dundee Waterfront this weekend, but many have wondered about the fate of the gig given the icon's illness. However, the organiser of Discovery Festival insisted he will perform as planned on Sunday. — Tom Jones (@RealSirTomJones) July 22, 2025 Discovery Festival organiser Liz Hobbs Group told The Courier: 'We have no concerns ahead of Tom Jones' show on Sunday, July 27.' His Bremen show is now set to take place next Monday, with all tickets to the original show remaining valid for the rescheduled date. We've teamed up with Camp Bestival Dorset to give one lucky Metro reader and their family the chance to win family weekend tickets, worth up to £1,172! Created by families, for families, Camp Bestival combines all the fun of a fantastic family camping holiday with everything you would expect from a perfect and action-packed festival adventure. Headliners include music legend Sir Tom Jones, pop icons Sugababes, plus a carnival-filled live show from electronic music duo Basement Jaxx. Simply enter your details here to be in with a chance of winning four tickets to this epic experience. You have until midnight on 23 July to enter. Good luck! * Open to GB residents (excluding Northern Ireland) aged 18+. Promotion opens at 18:01 on 16/7/25 and closes at 23:59 on 23/7/25. Entrant must submit their first and last name, email address, date of birth and postcode when prompted via the entry form available on (available here). 1 prize available of a family weekend camping ticket, including two (2) adult tickets and up to four (4) child and/or teen tickets in any combination as chosen by the winner to attend Camp Bestival (Lulworth Castle, Dorset) from 31st July 2025 to 3rd August 2025. Maximum 1 entry per person. Attendance is governed by the Camp Bestival Terms and Conditions. Full T&Cs apply, see here. The show was a part of Sir Tom's Defy Explanation tour, which kicked off in June and is set to run until the end of August with dates across the UK and Europe. Taking to the open-air stage at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Saturday, the legendary singer joked: 'Is my voice still working? Yes? So as long as it's here, I'm here.' Sir Tom is known by many as a beloved coach on The Voice, but has also continued to tour relentlessly in recent years with no sign of stopping. Despite his vigour, he has previously admitted he has less control over his voice than he used to, telling Yours magazine in a 2024 interview: 'I can still sing. All you have got to do is push it harder … and I can still do that.' 'My voice is lower now,' the star continued. 'As we get older, our voices drop, and we get more character in them. The older you get, the less control you have over your vocal cords. 'Being older, I feel I've got a point to prove. I can still sing and I can prove it, so here it is.' More Trending Last year, Sir Tom told Metro that the only way he would retire would be if he completely lost his voice. 'I wouldn't like to shortchange an audience,' Sir Tom said at the time. 'Being old, you can't do what you used to do. 'I mean, I can't walk around like I used to but I wouldn't want to now. When you're young you're full of p*** and vinegar and you're giving it plenty. Now I concentrate more on singing than I do anything else.' This isn't the first time Sir Tom has faced health issues in recent years, receiving a second hip operation in late 2022, which caused him to need the assistance of a walking stick as he recovered. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Ikpeazu's Saints future uncertain', says Valakari
Simo Valakari says striker Uche Ikpeazu faces an uncertain future at St Johnstone, despite being under contract until next summer and scoring Saturday's winning goal, as the relegated club's manager does not know if the 30-year-old "will be with us" by the end of the transfer window. (The Courier), externalRead Monday's Scottish Gossip in full.
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Daily Record
Golf course dubbed 'Scotland's Augusta' lays abandoned with iconic building overcome by nature
Letham Grange in Angus, once regarded as one of the most picturesque golf courses in Scotland, continues to lie in ruins after plans to revive the site were dropped With the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in full swing, another legendary UK course sadly lies derelict. Letham Grange in Angus, north of Arbroath, was once dubbed 'Scotland's Augusta' for its picturesque beauty and likeness to the legendary Masters venue. Designed by Archibald Simpson, the mansion on the site was first built in the 1820s. It was converted into a hotel late in the 20th century. The legendary Henry Cotton attended its opening as a golf club in 1987. It featured two courses, the Old Course and the Glens Course, and quickly gained a lofty reputation for its beauty. However, the club folded in 2019. Since then, plans have been submitted to build 250 new homes, which would have funded the reopening of the course. However, those plans were dropped after opposition from locals, reported The Courier in August 2024. The Taiwanese Liu family, which owns the site, said ploughing a million pounds into a planning application was an 'unsustainable risk' they could not take. The site, which has also hosted curling, remains largely untouched, with windows boarded up and large parts overgrown with weeds. In 2023, a former club member took some pictures of what was left of the site while out cycling. Sharing the images in the Scotland from the Roadside Facebook group, Bob Durnan wrote: "While out cycling today I stopped at my old golf club. It's very sad to see this stunning building falling into disrepair. "I was a member of the golf club for 10 years back in the late 90s, the building was stunning and the course got the nickname 'Scotland's Augusta'. "The curling rink (complete with chandeliers) was used for international events and was the home ground of one of Scotland's curling champions Kelly Wood (Schafer), and in the summer the ice was melted and the room was used as a wedding venue (hence the chandeliers). "We had Christmas parties in the hotel and a friend was married there, oh and the bedrooms were enormous. The victim of an ownership dispute for the past 15 years the building has been left empty and is literally falling to bits. So sad." Fellow group members were also sad to see the site in such a state. One wrote: "Fond memories of this fantastic course. Just waiting for someone to bring it to life again." A second added: "Sad, it was an impressive place to visit and a great golf course." Another said: "Played golf there many a time in the 1980's. So sad to see the state of it now." A fourth added: "Just devastating to look at these pictures! You can tell it must have been beautiful at one time!" Listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
The Courier
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Courier
Brian Cox: 'I was transfixed by actress's stockings and called 'darling' on my Dundee Rep debut'
Brian Cox has recalled being 'transfixed' as he watched an actress's stockings slide down her leg during his first-ever stage appearance at the old Dundee Rep Theatre. As the Emmy-winning Dundee born and bred star of Succession returns to his theatrical roots in Make It Happen, he's spoken with warmth and candour about his formative years as a teenager at the theatre, dating back to the early 1960s. 'The first thing I ever did was a play called The Dover Road,' Brian recalled in an interview with The Courier. 'I was just a wee boy – maybe 15 or 16 – and I was playing a servant. 'I was standing behind a girl, a bona fide actress, and I remember her stockings hadn't been done up properly. 'Slowly, they just came down her leg. I was transfixed!' he laughed. Cox, now 79, is back on the modern day South Tay Street stage more than 60 years after first setting foot in the Rep's original venue on Nicoll Street. That theatre – which tragically burned down on Cox's 17th birthday, June 1 1963 – holds a sacred place in his heart. 'The Rep was my salvation,' he said. 'I left school at 15. My school was a disaster – St Michael's Junior Secondary – designed to send me into the building trade. 'I was meant to be a brickie. But I wanted something different. I wanted to be in the theatre.' It was in the old Nicoll Street building that Cox found not only his craft but his sense of belonging. 'I remember coming into the front of the theatre and this wifie in the box office said, 'You cannae get to the front fae the front, son – you've got tae go tae the back,'' he chuckled. 'So I did. And as I came in the back, I walked into a row between two actors. 'One of them was Nicol Williamson – a big name back then – and they were knocking hell out of each other. I just wanted to get past them and upstairs.' Another unexpected moment was waiting at the top of the stairs. 'There was this guy, just smoking away, and he looked at me and said, 'Are you alright, darling?' 'I thought, bloody hell, this is the place for me. Chaos downstairs, affection upstairs. That contrast – it stayed with me.' During his two years at the Rep, Cox immersed himself in all aspects of theatre life. 'I lived there,' he said. 'I used to sleep under the stage. Never went home to my mum in Tullideph Road. 'I hated where we'd moved to on Brown Constable Street, so I stayed in the theatre.' Those early performances weren't without hiccups. 'One time I had to serve food on stage,' he recalled. 'I got white sauce on my sleeve and leaned across the lead actor – splashed it all over him. 'Another time I dropped a bit of fish on the floor and thought, 'Nobody's looking' – there's a full audience in – and I slapped it back on the plate!' he laughed. The old Dundee Rep may have burned down in 1963, but the fire it lit in Cox never dimmed. After stints performing in temporary venues, he left Dundee to attend drama school in London. It was the beginning of an illustrious journey that would eventually see him become a star of stage and screen, win a Golden Globe and command stages from Broadway to the West End. Cox has returned to Dundee Rep several times since, notably in 1994 with The Master Builder and a special 'Evening With' event. He's now proud to be a patron of the theatre that launched his life. 'Yes, the Rep was great for me. It was my home,' he said. 'When it burned down, I was heartbroken. Theatre has given me everything.' His latest return to the Rep – starring in Make It Happen as the spirit of Scottish economist Adam Smith, a powerful new production celebrating resilience and creativity – feels like a full-circle moment for the veteran actor. 'I just fell in love with the job,' he said. 'That was my vocation. And I was so lucky to be welcomed here – to be part of something. I've never forgotten that.' Brian Cox, who recently called on Dundee's city father to 'sort the f***ing High Street out' in a Courier interview, appears in Make It Happen at Dundee Rep from July 18 to July 26. Dundee Rep artistic director Andrew Panton confirmed that Cox has been living up to his 'sweary reputation' in the rehearsal room. Brian is also set to host another special one-man Evening With Brian Cox' event at the Caird Hall this October. After Dundee Rep, Make It Happen, a co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland, runs at the Edinburgh International Festival.
The Herald Scotland
6 days ago
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Health minister confident in NHS Fife amid Sandie Peggie row
Ms Peggie also faced four allegations of gross misconduct, including two alleged failures of patient care, but she was cleared on Monday after NHS Fife admitted there was insufficient evidence. Read More: Health secretary Neil Gray was questioned about the ongoing tribunal on a visit to Glenrothes. The tribunal is in its 13th day, with Friday's witnesses including Dr Elspeth Pitt, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, and Louise Curran, Senior Charge Nurse. Asked by The Courier if he still had confidence in NHS Fife, Mr Gray replied: "Of course I do. 'NHS Fife has got an important role to play in ensuring they are delivering NHS service to the people of Fife. 'I have confidence in their ability to do so. "I've got no further comment to make on an ongoing employment tribunal process. 'That needs to be respected and allow the process to take its course.'
