Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2025 i Saga Magazine

Having recently reopened our Saga HQ in Folkestone, I’ve been given the excuse to combine my longer office commute with my love of motorbikes. So, it was while heading down the M20 on my much-loved BMW bike that I was struck by the similarities between that and the other great passion in my life, Saga – not forgetting my wife and children, of course! You’re probably thinking that I’ve finally lost it, but bear with me. You may have noticed that BMW bike riders tend to be a little more mature (experienced even) than the average rider. It took me a while to realise I was no longer a boy racer and was looking for something a bit more refined, with some extra comforts that mattered less to me in…

Carol Kirkwood ★ The World According To… p129 BBC Breakfast’s weather presenter, 63, maintains a sunny disposition despite her 2.45am alarm. Husband Steve makes her a cuppa before she leaves for work. Tom Kerridge ★ Recipes, p60 The TV chef, Great British Menu judge and Michelin-starred restaurateur, 52, has authored several bestselling cookery books. His latest contains 80 recipes for the barbecue. Emanuel Wiemans ★ Ask Annie, p51 From his home in the Netherlands, the illustrator, animator and storyboard artist uses digital techniques to replicate traditional methods for his vintage-inspired illustrations. Steph Clarkson ★ Fancy a padel?, p44 A freelance journalist and children’s author, she often spends the day dressed up as a big, bad wolf when she visits schools to do fairytale workshops.…

As an improv comedian married to another improv comedian, Suki Webster, and with a show together, is life a laugh a minute? It can be. Sometimes, I do wake up in the morning, draw back the curtains and say something funny about the view from the bedroom window. Then Suki says something about the bloke on the radio and we’re laughing all through breakfast. But a good comic has an inbuilt filter. If Suki’s feeling poorly or she’s on the phone arguing with the builders, I’ll give it a rest. Doing it every minute of every day would be… insanity. Is it true that you proposed to Suki standing next to a Christmas tree? You say that as if I was standing next to a polar bear! Yes, it was…

'As I anxiously fill out an application to cash in an old work pension (worth £1,500) to cover my yawning bank overdraft, a text pings from a friend who’s just booked her third holiday this year. I’m filled with envy – and shame. Her parents died within a year of each other. It was terrible for her, but after their house was sold, she’s inherited a million. She’s in her late 50s and barely needs to work again. Her life is now a whirl of art classes and long lunches. And it’s not the first time family money has helped her out. Her parents inherited legacies from their own parents in their 50s, which helped them pass on ‘living gifts’ to her in their lifetime. They bought her a London…

When Fiona Phillips revealed two years ago that she had been living with young-onset Alzheimer’s since 2022, she sparked a conversation about a form of dementia mired in the misconception that it affects only the very old. The presenter of former ITV breakfast show GMTV was just 61 when she was told she has Alzheimer’s – one of an estimated 70,800 people in the UK diagnosed before the age of 65. Now, with the publication of her deeply personal memoir, Remember When, she is shining a powerful light on the challenges faced by sufferers and how a diagnosis can also become an important, positive turning point. Fiona lost both her parents to Alzheimer’s. Her mother, Amy, died aged 74 in May 2006 and her father, Neville, was diagnosed with the…

That ‘room with a view’ now looks as good inside as it does out, as a new wave of stylish holiday homes to rent hits the market. When it comes to coastal interior design in 2025, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Local traditions, heritage and location all play a part in the design ethos. Gull Cottage (previous page) is a one-bedroom former fisherman’s cottage facing the harbour in Mousehole, west Cornwall. It’s one of several designed by COAL, an architect and interior design practice run by Emily and Joe Reilly. ‘The interiors needed to be robust but, above all, we wanted to create a calming space,’ says Emily. They achieved this with a seamless colour palette of pale blues borrowed from the seascape of Mousehole and St Clement’s Isle beyond.…

La Famiglia Rana Basil Pesto 140g, £2.25 Not particularly appetising to look at but tasted divine. Perhaps a little on the salty side for some but the basil, cheese and good quality olive oil blended wonderfully with all the tastes coming through. This contained nearly twice as many pine nuts as the others, yet they were finely ground so were barely detectable until their flavour hit the palate. Delicious! Rating: 8/10 Asda Extra Special Basil Pesto 130g, £2.75 A superb-looking pesto with large pine nuts and substantial oil for pesto pasta. Disappointingly it didn’t taste as good as it looked. The Sicilian lemon was sharp and a little overpowering and despite their nice appearance, the pine nuts lacked flavour, and we could not taste the pecorino cheese. Rating: 6/10 Tesco…

Recently, I was chatting to a friend on the phone about her husband’s unbearable snoring habit when she suddenly said, in a slightly outraged tone, ‘Are you brushing your teeth while talking to me?’ Reader, I totally was. But I wasn’t about to let a small detail like the truth stand in the way of my dignity. ‘Absolutely not!’ I insisted. Mercifully, I remembered the mute function, which allowed me to continue doing all manner of things during that call, entirely free from judgement. Technology has let me turn multitasking into an Olympic sport: I’ve googled ‘why is shih-tzu sulking with me?’ while participating in a Zoom panel discussion on being present in the moment; I’ve offered relationship advice to a friend while downloading bank statements for my accountant; and…

As a child, teen and even well into my adult life, I loved sleeping. I was known as the ‘dormouse’ of my family and would regularly get a good nine hours’ slumber a night. So when, last year, in my mid-50s, I started to experience chronic insomnia for the first time in my life, it came as a huge shock. Several life changes coalesced to keep me awake: leaving a secure job to go freelance, worries about elderly parents, pining for my daughters as a new empty-nester, plus the odd niggle in my hips after running marathons. Night after night I found myself in a pattern of going to sleep about 11pm only to wake up between 2am and 3am, unable to drop back off until about 6.30am. I fell…

Ask someone in Costa Rica how they are, and they’ll probably answer ‘pura vida’. Translating to ‘pure life’, it sums up the country’s positive, carefree outlook, as well as referring to its very existence. Life here is pure; as one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, it’s home to around half a million different species, which thrive on its incredible, fertile terrain – that’s 5% of all the species on Earth. This is largely thanks to Costa Rica’s 12 ecosystems, spanning from the oceans to the mountains, and ranging from tropical and cloud forest to mangroves and coral reefs. In addition, its climate is a mix of wet and dry seasons, which helps support the flora and fauna that have evolved here. Volcanic soil in turn contributes to…

FESTIVAL Edinburgh Festival Fringe EDINBURGH 1-25 August edfringe.com The annual festival returns to Scotland, featuring up-and-comers rubbing shoulders with celebrities. This year, 3,352 shows play across 265 venues: 321 are free while a further 529 are ‘pay what you can’. If you’re looking for big names, catch Bill Bailey performing his show Thoughtifier, fresh from the West End, or Miriam Margolyes honouring the characters of Charles Dickens. Elsewhere, Tales From Your Queer Elder invites you to join a ‘plus-sized, 72-year-old lesbian’ sharing intimate stories, while The Nature of Forgetting follows Tom, who prepares for his 55th birthday while living with early-onset dementia. Twenty-five miles to the east in North Berwick, Fringe By The Sea promises more than 250 events held across 10 days (fringebythesea.com; 1-10 August) with the likes of…

TURNING 50 Casey Affleck actor Charlize Theron actor, right Dan Hipgrave musician (Toploader) Sheree Murphy actor Taika Waititi filmmaker TURNING 60 Adam Afriyie politician Viola Davis actor Kevin Dillon actor Kyra Sedgwick actor Sir Sam Mendes director, above right Shania Twain singer/songwriter TURNING 70 Billy Bob Thornton actor Ed Moses athlete Mike Huckabee US politician Paul Greengrass film director Gillian Taylforth actor, above right Baroness Patricia Scotland barrister and politician TURNING 80 Ian Gillan musician (Deep Purple) Itzhak Perlman violinist Posy Simmonds cartoonist Steve Martin actor and comedian Sir Van Morrison singer/songwriter, above right Wim Wenders director TURNING 90 Jim Dale actor and singer/songwriter, right Sir Michael Holroyd writer Annie Proulx writer…

our pick A NEIGHBOUR’S GUIDE TO MURDER Louise Candlish Gwen Healy, divorcee and a self-described ‘ancient crone’, is proud of her flat in the desirable Columbia Mansions that she shares with her freeloading son, Dan. She likes to be, if not down with the kids, at least au courant, and when an appealing young woman named Pixie rents a room from her neighbour, Alec, Gwen is gratified by her friendship. However, when Pixie reveals the sordid details of the rental arrangement, and Gwen weighs in, it comes with deadly consequences. She is being played – but by whom exactly? This is a pitch-perfect narrative, deftly plotted to keep us all guessing. ISABELLA’S NOT DEAD Beth Morrey Here’s another Gwen, this time a middle-aged, married mother – and, thank goodness, no…

More puzzles! There are loads more puzzles on the Saga Magazine app. Download from your app store today! £250 prize PRIZE CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Partition that divides the nostrils (6) 5 Biblical play from 1891 by Oscar Wilde (6) 10 Alternative Latin name for the ancient city of Troy (5) 11 Australian 2003 Man Booker Prize winner for Vernon God Little (1,1,1,6) 12 The art and science of time measurement (8) 13 French region with Strasbourg as its capital city (6) 15 Iran’s currency unit (4) 16 Home ground of the football team Bristol City (6,4) 18 Scottish designer of Pulteney Bridge, finished in 1774 (6,4) 20 Mineral rated softest on Moh’s hardness scale (4) 23 Earlier name for the River Cam at Cambridge (6) 24 Mercury sulphide, often used as pigment in lacquerware (8) 26 RAF’s aerobatics display team (3,6) 27 Tributary…

1 Which footballer, now actor, in a fax to ask his manager for a transfer in 1992, wrote: ‘The salmon that idles its way downstream will never leap the waterfall’? 2 Samuel Johnson’s dictionary had 42,773 definitions, but none starting with which letter of the alphabet? 3 Between 1981 and 1991, who won 21 women’s doubles titles at Grand Slam tournaments, almost all of them partnering Martina Navratilova? She then spent six years married to a former James Bond. 4 If you ‘cc’ someone on a letter or an email, indicating that they are to be copied in on it too, what does ‘cc’ stand for? 5 Which 80s band took its name from an old US newspaper headline announcing that a well-known singer was embarking on an acting career?…

‘It’s totally pants!’, a friend of mine exclaimed recently when her day had taken a decided turn for the worse. I hadn’t heard that expression in years, and it took me right back to the 1990s when ‘pants’ was the latest addition to our lexicon for complete rubbish, joining stalwarts like ‘balderdash’, ‘poppycock’, ‘codswallop’ and others too rude to mention. The problem with being a word nerd is that one’s mind immediately runs off in other directions, and my woebegone friend’s remark had me thinking about ‘pants’ themselves and their unlikely beginnings on the stage. In 16th-century Italy, the commedia dell’arte was the improvised popular comedy played in theatres in which actors represented stock characters. One of these was Pantalone, a Venetian character who symbolised the older generation and who…

Win A RIVER CRUISE FOR TWO ON BOARD OUR NEW SHIP WORTH OVER £5,000 7 nights in a French balcony cabin, departing 10 November 2025 Saga’s new ship, Spirit of the Moselle, has been christened by her Godmother, Saga Magazine’s Editorial Director Louise Robinson – and we’re giving you the chance to experience life on board with an all-inclusive cruise through Germany. Join the ship in Mainz and begin your journey to Miltenberg, where you can enjoy an afternoon exploring the city’s cobblestone streets and half-timbered houses, nestled within ancient walls. Then, continue to the medieval town of Wertheim, and sail on to Würzburg, known for its lavish baroque and rococo architecture. Spend an afternoon in the Bavarian city of Schweinfurt and a full day in Bamberg, before finishing in…

Our August picks…

How would you react if your son or daughter told you the name of your new grandchild was… Honeybee? Or Rainbow? How about Genesis, Teal, Meadow or Kiwi? These are all names chosen by young relatives or friends of Saga customers, revealed in our survey of 1,800. The reactions to those particular names were not recorded – just as well, as an older relative’s negative response to a baby name is a big cause of upset to new parents, says SJ Strum, author of new guide Baby Name Envy (Vermilion, £16.99). ‘I understand grandparents’ concerns over names they are not familiar with,’ she says. ‘Names have really changed. There used to be a much smaller pool: if you were a John or a Linda you were one of many –…

A beating of wings, a bystander’s shriek… there go your chips, snatched from your grasp by an airborne pirate. You look up to see the perpetrator wheeling over the promenade, your lunch clutched in its sharp yellow beak. Does this sound familiar? If you haven’t been a victim, you may have been a witness, especially if you live on the coast. Either way, you’ll doubtless have heard of the seagull ‘problem’ currently afflicting seaside towns for residents and holidaymakers alike. Today, the problem appears to be escalating. My hometown of Brighton now has the highest incidence of conflict nationwide, according to a 2024 WhichBingo study, with more than 20% of respondents saying they’d experienced some kind of attack. ‘Unfortunately, nothing discourages them, and they seem to be getting bolder,’ said…

Friday, 6am in Epsom, Surrey. Retired local council officer Sandie Barker, 72, has already logged on to her local tennis club’s website. But Sandie’s not looking to play tennis, she is one of thousands of converts to hot new racket sport padel. ‘It’s a case of snooze and lose when booking padel courts because it’s so popular now,’ she says. ‘I book first thing then immediately alert the WhatsApp group. Moments later, the replies ping in and my friends and I are on court by 10am.’ Sandie took up padel three years ago. ‘I’ve always been active and used to play tennis, but in my early sixties I developed pain in my neck and shoulder and had to stop,’ she says. ‘Every other sport I tried exacerbated the problem. ‘I’d…

The announcement that the 1978 Football World Cup would be staged in Argentina divided international opinion. And that’s putting it mildly. South Americans were, in the main, delighted: football was about to be celebrated in a part of the world where it was played with the most dazzling stylistic brilliance. But even the most passionate supporters of the beautiful game were compelled to admit there was one major difficulty in according Argentina this acclaim: the country’s politics were messy, to say the least. Argentina had been run by a military dictatorship since 1976, notorious for its brutality. Jorge Videla tolerated no dissent and opponents of the regime were made to disappear, sent into exile, not to be heard of again. The case for the ‘disappeared’ – the desaparecidos – was…

For him great value For her Cruise chic We love…

Do remember that I am available to Saga readers as a sort of wine ‘agony uncle’, a safe space for wine enquiries, if you like. One reader recently asked me which wines were best for the summer spritzers loved by her girlfriends. ‘Maybe the answer is none,’ she wrote. ‘And then… what about adding some ice?’ It’s hard to know where our wariness about mixing wine with water, or ice with wine, came from. The food writer Elizabeth David described ‘the violent hostility to the idea of iced wines and water for a long time expressed’ by the French. Maybe that’s the reason we’re not sure if it’s OK. In fact, wine was normally mixed with water by the ancient Greeks and Romans; Renaissance Florentines were among the first to…

Increase dairy intake All dairy products contain a protein that helps the body excrete uric acid. Consumption of dairy products was associated with a lower risk of gout in a data analysis study at Yale School of Medicine. Skimmed milk/low fat dairy in particular seems to lead to a reduction in blood urate levels. Take vitamin C supplements A 20-year study by Canadian scientists involving 47,000 men found those taking a vitamin C supplement of 1,500mg a day had a 45% lower risk of gout than those who didn’t take any. The vitamin is thought to help the kidneys excrete uric acid. Drink more coffee A study in Japan found uric acid levels in the blood decreased with increasing coffee intake – thought to be due to a polyphenol abundant…

Meeting my husband Steve [Randall] was fate. We were at a function neither of us wanted to go to. It was a Sliding Doors moment – if I hadn’t gone, we would never have met. We chatted, he gave me his number, and ages later, we met for coffee. He was only a friend before we became involved. I wasn’t looking for a romance; I was happy being single. After a 25-year marriage, I needed to find myself. I’d gone from being one of eight children in Scotland, where my parents ran a hotel, to university, then living with family members and into a marriage at 23. I’d never lived on my own. I had to mature and learn to stand on my own two feet. ‘On our wedding day,…

Hello everyone. I hope you’re all enjoying a wonderful, relaxed summer. I’m still on cloud nine after becoming Godmother to Saga’s beautiful boutique river ship, Spirit of the Moselle. The naming ceremony was in Amsterdam on a gloriously sunny day, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling of joy and relief when the Champagne bottle smashed spectacularly against the hull. I now join Queen Camilla, Dame Jenni Murray and Commodore Inga Kennedy in the very exclusive Saga Godmothers’ Club – and I couldn’t be more thrilled. To celebrate, we’re offering you the chance to win a river cruise through Germany (see opposite) on what I’ll always consider to be ‘my ship’. The winners have a treat in store. On the subject of treats, there are plenty to be…

It’s become something of a habit of mine to make a close examination of the list of names of people who are to receive an honour from the monarch and see which I think deserve it and which I’m not so sure about. Do I think David Beckham deserves a knighthood for services to sport and to charity? Why not? Football never excited me, but Sir Goldenballs seems a decent enough lad. Roger Daltrey, on the other hand. No doubts there. Oh, the memories of wild nights in my twenties to the tunes of The Who and Daltrey, ‘the god of rock and roll’. Of the dames, Pat Barker was top of my list of approval for the absorbing novels with which she frequently kept me up all night; Emma…

Dame Joanna Lumley has been playing a certain type of character recently. ‘There’s a lot of evil,’ she notes. ‘Evil aunts, grannies, mothers-in-law, stepmothers – always suspect characters. It’s really quite grim, but also divine and such good fun as they always write the best stuff for the bad hats.’ It’s hard to take that evil vibe seriously when these words are delivered with Joanna’s trademark dazzling, life-couldn’t-be-lovelier smile. Yet, having become a star in the 1970s as Purdey in The New Avengers, then Sapphire in Sapphire & Steel (‘both good people on the side of good’), before entrancing the next generation as ‘off the rails insane and dreadful’ Patsy Stone in the classic 90s sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, at the age of 79, she is now captivating global audiences with…

It’s a hot Saturday night at the circus. A man wearing fuchsia braces climbs a rope, a woman with long pink hair sinks into the splits. There’s a trapeze quartet, a synchronised Hula Hoop routine. Throughout there are gasps, then ready applause. Impressive? Yes. But even more so when you learn that all 12 performers are aged between 52 and 77. That woman beaming in the splits? She’s 69 and waiting for a new hip. The man in braces who looks quite at home suspended at 25ft? He’s 58 and a year ago had never even been to the circus. ‘We wanted to prove that absolutely anyone can join a circus,’ says Emma Taylor, 53, who directed the show. Last year, she co-founded Generation Circus, a non-profit community group in…

Padel is played in doubles with scoring as in tennis. But there are key differences and it’s best to join a coaching or group session so you are clear on the rules. Play begins with an underarm serve from behind the service line into the opposite service box. The ball must bounce – only once – before you return it. Each shot must clear the net and bounce in the court before hitting the wall or cage to be considered in. Serves can bounce and hit the glass wall, but not the metal cage. During play, you can use the glass walls to your advantage, either letting the ball bounce and hit the wall before hitting it back, or hitting the ball against the wall to try to land it…

Mackerel niçoise salad Elevate your outdoor feast with this fresh and flavour-packed salad. Mackerel – with its irresistibly smoky, crispy skin and flavourful flesh – is paired with a vibrant niçoise-inspired salad, then drizzled with a simple, zesty dressing. This texturally varied salad is a celebration of familiar and much-loved flavours. Serves 2 YOU WILL NEED 4 mackerel fillets, skin on (about 150g each), pin-boned 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 250g Jersey Royal (or Pink Fir) potatoes 2 large free range eggs 80g green beans, trimmed and halved 1 L ittle Gem lettuce, trimmed and leaves separated ½ radicchio, leaves separated and roughly torn 8 cherry tomatoes, halved 8 Kalamata olives, pitted salt and freshly ground black pepper For the dressing ½ tsp wholegrain mustard ½ tsp Dijon mustard…

Like any red-blooded male, the Fred Flintstone gene in me loves a barbecue. I much prefer to be outside eating a semi-incinerated sausage that’s marinated in charcoal smoke to enjoying a perfectly grilled or fried one cooked in the boring old kitchen. Putting food to the fire outside is ever more popular, too. According to the organisers of National Barbecue Week in May (who may admittedly be biased), sales of ‘grills’ – as barbie aficionados prefer to call them – are up 46% on last year; accessories by 24%. But I do have a few problems with them. I’m never confident of getting the charcoal alight, and even less sure I can get it to glow evenly; I hate using starter bricks because I’m suspicious, albeit without evidence, that they…

Mow… your meadow Wildflower areas, meadows and unmown grass, left to grow long after No Mow May, are ready to be cut by early August, as pollinator-friendly flowers – such as knapweed, scabious and bugle – are going over and setting seed. Removing this encourages more flowers next year, whereas leaving it to die off stimulates grass and weed production. First checking thoroughly for wildlife, such as hedgehogs and toads, use a strimmer to cut it down, or a heavy-duty mower with blades set high. Leave the cut material in place over a few days for seed to drop to the ground before removing to compost. Keep mowing until late autumn, to reduce soil fertility, removing perennial weeds by hand. Watch… for blight Summer storms and higher humidity increase the…

case study I woke up in the middle of the night in agony, with my big toe throbbing. Even the sheet touching my foot caused incredible pain – it felt like somebody had hit it with a hammer 50 times. I had no idea what had caused it and presumed I must have stubbed it without realising. When I hobbled down to breakfast in the hotel my partner and I were staying at with friends in Georgia, USA, one of them asked what I’d eaten the night before. After hearing I’d had a mountain of crab meat and asparagus, he suggested I had gout. I didn’t even know what gout was, but a visit to a local health clinic confirmed my friend’s suspicions. The doctor agreed seafood had triggered it…

Allowance reinstated Everyone living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland born on 21 September 1959 or earlier will get the Winter Fuel Payment. It will be £200 for those aged 66-79 and £300 for over-80s. It is paid per household and will normally be split half each between couples who qualify. People in care homes who do not receive a means-tested benefit will get half those amounts. However, anyone with a taxable income in 2025/26 over £35,000 will have their payment clawed back from April, normally through PAYE. No one will have to register for self-assessment to pay it back. In Scotland it will be called Pension Age Winter Heating Payment and will be £203.40 or £305.10. The same £35,000 income limit applies. Full details of the clawback are awaited.…

PODCAST Where There’s a Will There’s a Wake A funeral-themed podcast might not sound like a barrel of laughs, but listening to celebrities discussing their final supper, preferred manner of death and last words is surprisingly fun. And while this podcast is essentially a reworking of the celebrity chat show format, its weightier topic also makes it more profound. In the latest series, comedian Mel Giedroyc has taken over as host from actor Kathy Burke. One of her first guests was writer and actor Meera Syal, who confessed her sins – stealing from her mum’s purse – and revealed that she would like a sea burial accompanied by wild dolphins. Surely not much to ask. If you prefer the caustic wit and general sweariness of Burke, there’s a delightful back…

Age discrimination I was hugely disappointed to be excluded from the RSV vaccination. I missed it by being three months ‘too old’. Us over-80s are a relatively small group and should be offered the jab. It would save money for the NHS as it would reduce the cost of expensive stays in hospital as well as boost health. I urge the government to provide the vaccine to us and stop age discrimination in the NHS. Rita Davies Chigwell, Essex No proof I am a fit 84-year-old – I still play golf three times a week. I was disappointed and disgusted that the decision not to vaccinate the over-80s was taken without proof that it is ineffective for this age group. I feel sure it would take only a few people…