Removal companies london

The subterranean secrets of London’s super-rich are revealed in a study of 4,650 basements granted planning permission in some of the capital’s most affluent neighbourhoods, with hundreds of swimming pools and cinemas in the most luxurious developments. Almost 1,000 gyms, 376 pools, 456 cinemas, 381 wine stores and cellars and 115 staff rooms, including bedrooms for nannies and au pairs, were found in the plans for the basements approved by seven London boroughs between 2008 and 2017. The data, collected by Newcastle University’s global urban research unit from planning applications, identified two basements with more than one pool, including one with an artificial beach. The study, Mapping Subterranean London: the Hidden Geography of Residential Basement Developments, maps their proliferation in Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Camden, Islington and Wandsworth. The researchers calculated that the combined depth of all of the … [Read more...] about What lies beneath: the subterranean secrets of London’s super-rich

A burglar snatched paintings by Rembrandt worth up to £100million from a historic art gallery. But he abandoned the two 17th century masterpieces after being challenged by police as he escaped. The intruder struck just before midnight on Wednesday at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in south-east London. As he grabbed the two works from a major exhibition of 35 paintings, drawings and etchings by the Dutch master, he set off an alarm. Police were scrambled to Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London (pictured this evening) at around 11.30pm last night where they found the masked intruder had forced his way in The gallery was closed today and will remain shut tomorrow while officers carry out their investigation (pictured), a security guard said at the scene. No arrests have been made. Dulwich bosses this evening refused to reveal which two paintings were taken and quickly recovered, but they are likely worth £100,000 combined (pictured, police at the scene) Police were seen on … [Read more...] about Masked art thief tries to steal two Rembrandts worth £100m in foiled heist at suburban gallery but hides the 17th century masterpieces in shrubbery following police chase

Rhod Gilbert Gilded Balloon As ever on the fringe, a handful of big hitters return to reconnect to their standup roots. The pick of this year’s crop – which includes Marcus Brigstocke, Nina Conti, David O’Doherty and Reg Hunter – must be Rhod Gilbert, who made his name (and narrowly missed out on a Perrier award) with his volcanically exasperated fringe shows in the mid-noughties. Now he’s back, for just a short run, performing his first live comedy in six years. Sunshine Boy Dance Base The programme at Dance Base features work from 11 countries and includes the Grassmarket venue’s first full-scale ballet, Giselle by Ballet Ireland. But the eye-catcher on this year’s lineup is Sunshine Boy, Andy Howitt’s tribute to the extravagantly lipsticked Leigh Bowery – performance artist, designer, sitter for Lucian Freud, Clothes Show star and legend of London’s club world, whose signature act involved giving birth to his partner on … [Read more...] about 50 shows to see at the Edinburgh fringe 2018

From the outside, the house that stands at 121 Mortimer Road in Hackney, east London, looks no different to the thousands of other decrepit old buildings scattered across the country. The roof has caved in. Three of the windows are boarded up and cracked paint peels from the wrinkled walls. But this is no ordinary house. Since the early 1960s, the man who owns and lives inside the £1m Victorian property has been digging. No one knows how far the the network of burrows underneath 75-year-old William Lyttle's house stretch. But according to the council, which used ultrasound scanners to ascertain the extent of the problem, almost half a century of nibbling dirt with a shovel and homemade pulley has hollowed out a web of tunnels and caverns, some 8m (26ft) deep, spreading up to 20m in every direction from his house. Their surveyors estimate that the resident known locally as the Mole Man has scooped 100 cubic metres of earth from beneath the roads and houses that surround his 20-room … [Read more...] about After 40 years’ burrowing, Mole Man of Hackney is ordered to stop

Plans to shift Europe’s coal plants, including the giant Drax complex in North Yorkshire, to burn wood pellets instead could accelerate rather than combat climate crisis and lay waste to forests equal to half the size of Germany’s Black Forest per year, according to campaigners. Climate thinktank Sandbag said the heavily subsidised plans to cut carbon emissions will result in a “staggering” amount of tree cutting, potentially destroying forests faster than they can regrow. Sandbag found that Europe’s 10 largest biomass conversion projects will alone require 36m tonnes of wood pellets every year, equal to the entire current global wood pellet production. This would require forests covering 2,700 sq km to be cut down every year, the equivalent of half the Black Forest in Germany. The majority of wood pellets to be used at Drax, and much of the plants in the rest of Europe are imported from the US and Canada, “meaning that there’s a huge added … [Read more...] about Converting coal plants to biomass could fuel climate crisis, scientists warn