Rachel Cooke traces the long history of the UK’s resorts through nostalgia, deprivation and revival
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Anyone who has read him will know that the historian Nikolas Pevsner was not a man much given to excessive praise. But even he was inclined to sigh at the sight of the Grand Hotel in Scarborough. In his series of architectural guides, The Buildings of England, he describes the hotel, which was completed in 1867, as wondrous, a “High Victorian gesture of assertion and confidence”. Believing no other building in Britain had as much to say about a certain kind of 19th-century ambition, in his perambulation of the Yorkshire town, he instructed readers on no account to miss the magnificent view of the hotel from the harbour.
And it’s true. Stand on the beach below and look up – perhaps while eating a choc ice – and the Grand really does look marvellous: a gigantic confection of towers and balconies that recalls a French chateau. From this vantage point, it isn’t hard to imagine the poet Edith Sitwell drinking cocktails in its ballroom (the Sitwells owned a holiday villa in Scarborough); to picture Winston Churchill, who once stayed in one of its suites, lighting a cigar at the bar.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
06/23/2024 - 02:00
06/22/2024 - 19:00
The volunteer environment network says lack of money is stifling the growth of local groups despite an increase in interest on the ground
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Lyn Heenan’s involvement with Landcare began almost 40 years ago, when her late father, Paul, joined the new movement in the 1980s to get rid of rabbits that had been eating their way through the Pyrenees region in western Victoria.
It was shortly after then conservation minister Joan Kirner had launched the initiative alongside the Victorian Farmers Federation at the tiny locality of Winjallock in 1986.
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06/22/2024 - 15:31
Water companies have logged five sewage spills a day, every day, for a decade, analysis by the Observer shows
Water companies in England and Wales have averaged five serious sewage spills into rivers or seas every day over the past decade, the Observer can reveal.
Analysis of Environment Agency data has found that the 10 firms recorded 19,484 category 1-3 pollution incidents between 2013 and 2022, the most recent year recorded, an average of one every four and a half hours.
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06/22/2024 - 15:00
Coalition proposal would cost a minimum $116bn – the same as Labor’s plan for almost 100% renewables grid by 2050, industry organisation says
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The Coalition’s pledge to build seven nuclear reactors as part of its controversial energy plan could cost taxpayers as much as $600bn while supplying just 3.7% of Australia’s energy mix by 2050, according to the Smart Energy Council.
The analysis found the plan would cost a minimum of $116bn – the same cost as delivering the Albanese government’s plan for 82% renewables by 2030, and an almost 100% renewable energy mix by 2050.
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06/22/2024 - 15:00
Communities in the Latrobe Valley – and those in six other locations around Australia – are on a new energy frontline. On Wednesday, the Coalition promised that, if elected to government, a part of the Loy Yang power station would be one of seven sites to host a nuclear reactor. But what do residents think of Peter Dutton's nuclear plan for their area? The Coalition's decision seems to have split opinions
Confusion reigns about the Coalition’s nuclear proposal. Here’s how the rhetoric has shifted
There is no shortage of Coalition U-turns on nuclear. But this Aukus example might be the most remarkable
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06/22/2024 - 15:00
Exclusive: State department official urges politicians to do ‘the right thing’, citing ‘collective responsibility’
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A senior US official has urged Australia and other countries not to back away from their 2030 climate commitments, insisting that “we all have a collective responsibility for the planet we live in”.
The message from Australia’s top security ally contrasts with rhetoric from the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, who claimed on Saturday the Labor government was “appeasing the international climate lobby” and “global climate activists”.
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06/22/2024 - 10:38
Protest features 350 environmental groups demanding more robust action on UK wildlife loss
Thousands of people marched through central London to urge political leaders to take more decisive action in tackling the UK’s wildlife crisis.
The protest on Saturday culminated in a rally outside Parliament Square with speeches from prominent figures including the naturalists Chris Packham and Steve Backshall, and poetry readings and performances from Billy Bragg and Feargal Sharkey.
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06/22/2024 - 10:01
Costly new vehicles, limited choice and scarce charging points are holding back a switch to electric by businesses
Carbon emissions from vans in the UK have risen by 63% since 1990, new analysis shows, as cars are getting cleaner.
While more people are opting to drive electric or plug-in hybrid cars, van drivers still prefer diesel because electric vans are much more expensive with little choice of models.
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06/22/2024 - 08:00
Study suggests exposure to chemicals manufactured to resist water and heat likely to affect health of offspring
New research has found for the first time that PFAS “forever chemicals” accumulate in the testes, and the exposure probably affects children’s health.
The toxic chemicals can damage sperm during a sensitive developmental period, potentially leading to liver disease and higher cholesterol, especially in male offspring, the paper, which looked at the chemicals in mice, noted.
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06/22/2024 - 01:35
Opposition leader tells Liberal party officials that state premiers ‘won’t stop us’ and labels Anthony Albanese a ‘child in a man’s body’
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Peter Dutton has vowed a Coalition government would override the states’ legislated ban on nuclear power, telling party officials on Saturday that state premiers “won’t stop us”.
The opposition leader made the comments in an address to the federal Liberal party council in Sydney, where he escalated his attacks on Anthony Albanese. He called the prime minister a “fraud” and a “child in a man’s body” that is “still captured in his university years”.
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