George Phillips

The Campaign for Real Ale has announced the winners of its prestigious Pub Design Awards, which recognise the very best standards of architecture in the refurbishment and conservation of UK pubs. Judged by a panel of design experts, three winning pubs from up and down the country have been chosen and five others were either commended or highly commended. RECOMMENDED:The 24 best pubs in the UKThe 50 best pubs in London Us Brits love a good old pub and there’s nothing worse than a local watering hole falling into disrepair – so it’s great to see the efforts to conserve and renovate some of these community classics celebrated. Check out the winners below. Photograph: Courtesy of The Vines The Vines, Liverpool The Vines is one of Liverpool’s most historic pubs, built in 1907 to replace a pub that dated back to 1867. Affectionately known as ‘The Big House’ by locals, the Grade II star listed Edwardian building stands proudly on the corner of Lime Street in the city centre and was recently refurbished in 2023. Now it boasts a stunning skylight and loads of original panelling; tired booth seating areas have been redone with smart leather and there’s even a huge stag head popping out of the wall. Photograph: Courtesy of Hall & Woodhouse, Taplow Hall & Woodhouse Taplow, Buckinghamshire Hall & Woodhouse’s new pub sits right on the banks of the Thames near the historic sites of Cliveden House and Windsor Castle. The slick two-storey building takes inspiration from riverside archite

Forget faddish art spaces filled with smoky laser rooms and crummy van Gogh projections: immersive museums can be really fascinating places. The OG immersive museums are living, walk-through educational spaces. They’re designed to plonk you in the middle of another time and place – and give you an engaging, multisensory way to learn. And the UK has long been spoilt with proper, good old-fashioned immersive museums. Filled with artefacts and inhabited by energetic actors, they’re ideal for getting to grips with everything from industry in the Black Country and Victorian high streets to Anglo-Saxon village life. Want to see history come to life before your eyes? Head this way: here are the nine best living museums in the UK to visit right now. RECOMMENDED:🎨 The most colourful places in the UK🏰 The best castles in the UK💜 The best lavender fields in the UK🏘️ The best places to visit in the UK

Fancy lounging around the same place that Vincent Van Gogh used to take drawing classes? Now’s your chance. A property in south London once part of an art school attended by the one-eared Dutch painter has just gone on the market.  Called Studio One, the Grade II*-listed property was once a part of The Lambeth School of Art. Van Gogh is thought to have attended the school as a young man in the 1870s. The historic art school was converted into residences in the 1980s by celebrated British architect Tony Fretton, and now it’s up for sale with Harris Le Beau estate agents for £3 million. Harris Le BeauPhotograph: St Oswalds Place Studio One is spread over two floors and stands in a secluded spot with a cobbled courtyard. There’s no need to worry about banging your head with both the reception room and master bedroom enjoying soaring high 14 ft ceilings. The three-bedroom home also boasts a bespoke hand-made kitchen and two bathrooms.  Harris Le BeauPhotograph: St Oswalds Place ‘This elegant residence combines classic architecture with modern comforts, offering a unique blend of luxury and sophistication’ says Joe Le Beau from Harris Le Beau. Some of the decorations include carved statues from the nearby church and a big wooden table originally from a cloister. These pieces are mixed in with contemporary furniture and stand on the school’s original classroom floors. Just think: one of history’s most famous artists might have once walked on those same floors.  Harris Le Beau

Denmark is known for having some best food on the planet. The Scandinavian country is a hotbed for high-end dining – Copenhagen recently ranked as one of the best cities in the world for food for its New Nordic dining scene and delicious local specialties like smørrebrød.  But one thing Danish cuisine isn’t known for is spice. And now, in a move that has led social media users to joke that the Danes are ‘never beating the can’t take spice allegations’, Denmark’s food agency has recalled several flavours of South Korea’s popular instant noodle brand, simply for being too spicy. They’ve warned consumers that the ultra-spicy ramen might give consumers ‘acute poisoning’. The banned products are three varieties of the hot chicken noodles made by the popular Korean brand, Samyang. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration has emphasised that these instant noodles pack a very high dose of capsaicin – the active component of chilli peppers that give them their spicy kick. Danish officials have warned of the risk the super spicy noodles can pose to children after many young consumers in Denmark dared each other to eat the noodles in a TikTok spice challenge trend. The makers maintain that there’s no issue with the quality of the product and suggest that it’s just the spiciness that the Danes can’t handle. Burn. Did you see that Parisians are planning to poop in the Seine? Plus: This European city has been named the best in the world for food. Stay in the loop: sign up to our fre

The French are famously good at protesting – and it looks like they might be staging a more, er, unusual protest in Paris this summer. Locals are clearly not too pleased about the government’s €1.4 billion scheme to clean up the River Seine for the 2024 Olympics. In fact, the French are so unhappy with this plan that they’re threatening to defecate into the iconic river.  Officials are intending to use the Seine for the Olympics, with triathlon and open-water swimming events planned to take place in the river. However, there are widespread concerns that the river is not safe to swim in due to contaminated water. Recent tests have found that samples of water from the Seine still contain E.coli. Swimming in the Seine has been illegal since 1923, though it seems things are changing with French President, Emmanuel Macron, and Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, promising to dive in before the Games this summer. News that their President will be taking a dip in the Seine has prompted the French to devise a plan to protest against what they see as wasteful spending on the cleaning scheme. The #JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin hashtag, which translates to ‘I poop in the Seine on June 23’, has been trending on social media. If it goes ahead, protestors plan to defecate in the river before the politicians and Olympians venture in.  It’s fair to say the sentiment of locals towards the upcoming Olympic Games is mixed. Many Parisians are planning to leave the city, and news last year that the Seine’s f

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced a shortlist of six leading artists to create a memorial in London to the victims of transatlantic slavery. The selected work will be installed in West India Quay in London Docklands, a site historically tied to the slave trade. The memorial will acknowledge London’s role in supporting slavery internationally and is designed to commemorate the millions of people who were enslaved. Sadiq Khan said that a ‘lasting memorial to the victims of transatlantic slavery is long overdue’.  The Mayor has pledged £500,000 towards funding the memorial. This is part of the Mayor’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm which is aimed towards the ‘better representation of the breadth and diversity of the capital’s population and history’. A learning programme will support the memorial and underline London’s role in the slave trade.  Here are the six shortlisted works, including a bit of detail about each one.  The six shortlisted works for London’s Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery   Alberta WhittleConcept for Alberta Whittle's 'Echoes from beneath the deep and in between the canes' Alberta Whittle, ‘Echoes from beneath the deep and in between the canes’ Alberta Whittle’s concept includes a Caribbean-style pavilion in a sugarcane field and cowrie shells. The artist hopes to offer ‘a space for people to gather, mourn, reflect and find connection’.  Grada KilombaConcept for Grada Kilomba's 'Archaeology of Contemplation' Grada K

In recent weeks you might’ve noticed a giant metallic intestinal tract erupting from Liverpool Street’s Elizabeth line entrance. That’s actually the work of Japan’s polka-dot queen Yayoi Kusama. Yep, really.  The sculpture translates the Japanese artist’s iconic polka-dot theme into an engaging three-dimensional mass. Commuters and visitors can weave through the winding steel structure, which reflects the area’s surrounding towers. The installation was apparently designed in dialogue with Liverpool Street’s local architecture, urging passersby to ‘look up and respond to the urban environment in a new way’. Entitled ‘Infinite Accumulation’, the sculpture is Kusama’s first permanent public UK installation. This work is the latest addition to the Crossrail Art programme, following Conrad Shawcross’s spiralling bronze sculpture unveiled in summer 2023 by Moorgate’s Lizzy line entrance.  The ‘Infinite Accumulation’ installation won’t be Kusama’s only permanent UK installation for long, as one of her monumental spotted pumpkins will go on show in Kensington Gardens from July 9. It’s really a summer of Kusama in London: in September the Japanese artist will get a free-to-enter solo exhibition at Victoria Miro Gallery. Want more? Here are the top 10 exhibitions in London.  Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.