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Take your partner for Mr Beveridge’s Maggot! The boom in regency balls

Take your partner for Mr Beveridge’s Maggot! The boom in regency balls

Fans of Jane Austen and Bridgerton delight in recreating historical dances – but how do they learn the right moves? Inside the high-arched lobby of the Bank of England Museum, lines of women in flowing satin dresses twirl around men wearing stiff collars and black tailcoats. The room is filled with the sound of violins and conversation. The feathers and flowers on dancers’ heads sway as they laugh and chatter. This Jane Austen-themed ball, in celebration of the author’s 250th anniversary, is one of many held by historical dance societies across the country. Enthusiasts of the Regency period, including fans of Netflix’s Bridgerton , come together to learn and perform the dances enjoyed by Austen and her contemporaries. Continue reading...

FA Cup third round: 10 talking points from the weekend’s football

FA Cup third round: 10 talking points from the weekend’s football

Crystal Palace’s stars wilt, Manchester City’s youngsters shine, and Liam Rosenior starts in stylish fashion Playing against lower-league opposition as a top-flight side in the FA Cup is like batting on the first morning of a Test match – you cannot really win and failure can prompt humiliation and reputational damage. To that end, some members of the Crystal Palace side deservedly beaten by Macclesfield perhaps learned a valuable lesson at Moss Rose. Marc Guéhi and Adam Wharton are linked regularly with big moves away from Palace, but part of succeeding at elite clubs – the pair are admired by Manchester City and Manchester United respectively – is coping with being overwhelming favourites. Oliver Glasner, too, may have designs on bigger things, with United again a possible destination, but to see his side schooled by part-timers was a blow to his burgeoning reputation. Glasner slammed his players after the defeat but the Austrian must take a portion of the blame. They must all do better. Dominic Booth Report: Macclesfield 2-1 Crystal Palace Report: Manchester City 10-1 Exeter Report: Manchester United 1-2 Brighton Report: Derby 1-3 Leeds Continue reading...

I’m sick of avocado toast – I just want to keep my local, untrendy cafe | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

I’m sick of avocado toast – I just want to keep my local, untrendy cafe | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

With its pasties, decent brews and staff who are happy to chat, it’s a vital community space. So why are its days numbered? What do James McAvoy and my three-year-old son have in common? Very little, you might think, notwithstanding their shared awareness of the book The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet. Yet their lives overlap in a more tangible way, because they, along with Benedict Cumberbatch, patronise the same cafes on Hampstead Heath. Both actors have signed a petition protesting against the takeover of four family-owned north London cafes by the Australian-inspired chain Daisy Green. It’s a move that has dismayed the local community, leading to protests, and threats of legal action against the landowner, the City of London Corporation, whose new funding model for green spaces prioritises “income generation”. You’re probably wondering why you should care, either about what Hollywood actors think, or about this notoriously chi-chi part of London. And yet, like them, and like me, you probably have a favourite cafe, one that feels very special. So please indulge me in describing mine: the Parliament Hill cafe, which has been run by the D’Auria family for more than 40 years. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

England’s Ashes has been a disaster but touring Australia with a disability has been ‘too easy’

England’s Ashes has been a disaster but touring Australia with a disability has been ‘too easy’

Going to Australia as a freelance journalist with a form of muscular dystrophy was not without trepidation but an away Ashes was too good to pass up “Australia is not for weak men.” Had I heard Ben Stokes’s words in Brisbane earlier perhaps I wouldn’t have decided to cover the Ashes series as a freelancer. Had I known how England were going to play, I almost certainly wouldn’t. My attendance was not in any way predicated on how well England might do in the series – making decisions based on the potential success of the English cricket team can only lead to madness. But having been born with a form of muscular dystrophy, the physical requirements of an eight-week tour to Australia were more of a consideration. Continue reading...