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The real life Aladdin's cave in Manchester repairing the world's brass instrumentsFrom trampled trombones to bruised bugles, the four-strong team at McQueen's can fix them all — and they have the royal seal of approval, writes Lotte Brundle.
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It’s a race to the auction house — Steve McQueen’s most storied watch is up for grabs at Sotheby'sBidders, start your engines. The Heuer Monaco watch worn by the effortlessly cool actor in the 1971 film ‘Le Mans’ is about to go on sale.
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The eclectic New York townhouse that Lily Allen sings about in her new, headline-making album has been sold381, Union Street has sold. It went on the market just days after the singer’s latest album that details the alleged infidelity in her marriage was released.
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‘He approached death as the next part he was going to play’: Gregory Doran on life after the death of his husbandThe former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare company set out on a worldwide search for all of Shakespeare’s first folios after his husband died four years ago. Lotte Brundle pulls up the curtain on his consuming passions.
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The theatrical-inspired London hotel suite that I would break a leg to stay in againThe Oliver Messel Terrace Suite at The Dorchester was originally dreamt up by the eponymous stage designer. Lotte Brundle stays the night.
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‘Vandalised, disembowelled and dismembered’: Artist Jack Milroy gives books a brutal treatment with beautiful resultsThe artist, now 87, once ate tinned sardines for 100 lunches in a row for his craft. He speaks to Lotte Brundle ahead of a new London exhibition.
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‘I have no concept of anyone who's like me. Now, that's either because I'm such an egomaniac that I am sort of completely self obsessed, or … because I haven’t watched enough films’: Monty Don’s consuming passionsMonty Don swerves questions with the abundant charisma that made him a ‘Gardener’s World’ darling.
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‘I try to offset that sense of boring normality by playing bass in a punk rock band with Robert Peston and Ed Balls’: John Wilson’s consuming passionsBest known for BBC Radio 4’s ‘This Cultural Life’, John Wilson is used to asking celebrities about their cultural inspirations. Lotte Brundle turns the tables.
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All hail the egg! The most innovative eggs in London — and how to make some of them at home this EasterForget the chocolate eggs, Lotte Brundle traipses around London, at her stomach's expense, to bring you a cracking guide to the most interesting eggs in the capital.
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‘Being a jeweller, you have to keep on top of the news, because you're affected so much by the price of gold': Sheherazade Goldsmith’s consuming passionsThe founder of Loquet on her fashion house inspirations, taking a sabbatical to study investigative journalism, and the trinkets she holds dear.
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White diamonds are believed to wield spiritual power. Today, the largest one to appear on the UK market in more than a decade goes under the hammerThe last time a similar stone was sold was in 2017, when a ring purchased at a car boot sale for £10 sold for £656,750.
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Sarah Raven: ‘I find nature very inspiring and reassuring, when things are feeling a bit dire in the world and we have world wars’The gardener and writer on her love of Cretan wild flowers, why she quit her job as a doctor, her husband’s grandmother Vita Sackville-West — and her consuming passions.
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Eve Myles: ‘You wouldn't believe how many Emily Blunt pictures get sent to me to sign’The Torchwood actor on meeting Linda Hamilton, being the 'best-kep secret in Wales', the book that inspired her to get into acting — and her consuming passions.
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'My husband gave me a pendant full of melted snow from the top of Everest': Bridgerton's Julia Quinn on romantic gestures and her consuming passionsThe author on series four of the Netflix smash hit, why she feels the need to speak out about America’s politics and meeting Dame Jilly Cooper.
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The life of a BAFTA begins in an industrial estate in BraintreeLotte Brundle travels to Essex to meet the family-owned foundry that makes the UK's most iconic award.
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'I do write in and say they should have more about farming': Zandra Rhodes on The Archers, getting arrested and making clothes for Freddie MercuryLotte Brundle meets the 85-year-old fashion designer in her vibrant apartment above the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.
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Amanda Seyfried's new film answers the question: Where did the viral Instagram Shaker kitchen come from — and how is it linked to Quakerism?'The Testament of Ann Lee' follows the founder of Shakerism. But how did a devotional sect come to influence a major kitchen interior design trend?
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‘I’m like: “Give me those tights, let me show you”: Ballet superstar Carlos Acosta’s consuming passionsBorn one of 11 children in a Cuban slum, it’s been 36 years since Carlos Acosta’s career as an internationally famous dancer formally began. Lotte Brundle meets him at the Birmingham Royal Ballet, where he is the director.
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Is this London’s sexiest hotel room?Suite Sloane comes with a bathtub for two and its own ‘mistress door’. For our new series where we hunt for the best hotel rooms in the UK, Lotte Brundle checks in to ...At Sloane just before Valentine’s Day.
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Who is your Wildlife Photographer of the Year? Cast your vote nowFrom a flock of flamingos to a couple of play-fighting bear cubs, there truly are some stunning photographs in the shortlist for this year's People's Choice award.
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'It’s harder with someone who says yes to everything’: What it's like having a bespoke scent made by one of London's oldest perfumersScent is the most romantic of the senses, some say. Lotte Brundle heads to Floris in London, ahead of Valentine’s Day, to have a bespoke perfume made for her.
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‘I don't consider myself to be a nepo baby at all’: Caroline Avedon on preserving her grandfather's legacy — and her consuming passionsCaroline initially wanted to be a lawyer, but now that she works for Richard Avedon’s foundation, she can’t imagine doing anything else, finds Lotte Brundle.
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The world’s heaviest flying bird flaps on to pastures new but remains endangered, says expertYou might think it a great time for the great bustards, who have been found breeding in a new location, but there is a wider problem facing the UK’s ‘big bird’, an expert says.
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'The Taylor Swift effect? We've never experienced anything like it': Jeweller Cece Fein-Hughes' consuming passionsCece Jewellery's signature signet rings are beloved by the famous and fabulous — including Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi and Taylor Swift. Lotte Brundle meets the woman behind the jewellery.
