London 2012 Olympics Top 10 Olympic retreats - Daily Mirror
Lucky enough to have Olympics tickets but don’t fancy staying in the city?
These rural retreats are a quick train ride from the centre of the action...
1. Log House Holidays, Cirencester, Gloucs - 80 minutes (Kemble-Paddington)
It may be more than an hour from London but it’s worth going the distance. Log House Holidays offers six traditional Finnish wooden houses on a beautiful 120-acre lake in the heart of the Cotswolds. They sleep from four to eight people with kitchen/dining areas and open-plan living rooms with wood-burning stoves. But you will probably spend most of your time on the verandah lapping up the magnificent views and relaxing in your own private hot tub, or taking a quick turn round the lake in the house’s own rowing boat.
Book it: Four nights from £800 - available on selected dates from July 29 to August 12.
2. Looking Glass Cottage, Brighton, East Sussex - 50 mins by train (Brighton-Victoria)
Tucked down a quiet lane in Brighton’s South Lanes shopping district, this 16th century cottage is said to be the oldest house in the city. It has serious wow-factor... it’s like walking on to the set of a glam Alice in Wonderland-themed photo shoot, from the playing card wallpaper to the mirrored ceilings. It sleeps up to eight in three double bedrooms plus the leather sofa bed in the lounge.
Book it: Three-night weekend break from £860 on selected dates from July 27 to August 16.
3. Little Paddock near Maldon, Essex - 50 minutes (South Woodham Ferrers-Liverpool Street, change at Shenfield)
This beautiful cottage is set between two rivers in the sleepy village of Purleigh, in the heart of a stunning but little-known part of the Essex countryside. Sleeping up to eight, it is spacious but homely, with vaulted ceilings, walls adorned with artwork and a woodburner in the sitting room, which has double French windows leading on to the garden. The surrounding countryside is ideal for walking, cycling or birdwatching. There is also a vineyard within walking distance which offers wine-tasting – perfect for toasting the medal-winners.
Book it: Four nights from £872 through cottages4you (ref: 26631) - available from July 27 to August 2.
4. Olney Cottage, Olney, Bucks - 50 minutes (Bedford-St Pancras Int)
Bed down in this refurbished stone cottage, perched at the end of the high street in a stylish market town bustling with boutiques, delis, cafés and the market square. The cottage sleeps up to four (one double, one twin), and has a sitting/dining room filled with bright colours and stylish furnishings. It also has a private enclosed garden. After a hard day cheering on the athletes treat yourself to dinner at one of Olney’s many inns and restaurants.
Book it: Seven nights from £692 through Hoseasons (Ref: E4773) - available July 27 and August 10.
5. Eastwell Mews Cottages, Ashford, Kent - 40 minutes (Ashford-St Pancras Int)
The Eastwell Manor Hotel is set on a 3,000 acre estate in Kent’s North Downs. The manor house rooms are stunning but the mews cottages, converted from a former stable block, are perfect for an affordable summer weekend away. With one, two or three bedrooms, they each have a kitchen and living area. Guests can use the manor facilities, including its spa, golf course and tennis court – perfect if you are inspired by the Olympic action.
Book it: Two-night weekend break in a one-bedroom cottage from £360 including breakfast - available on selected dates from July 27 to August 19.
6. Church Farm Oast South, Horsmonden, Kent - One hour (Staplehurst-Charing Cross)
Looking for something a bit different? Check out this newly-converted Grade II-listed oast house with Freedom Holiday Homes. Bright and spacious, it sleeps up to six and has a sitting room in the roundel of the oast (where the hops were dried). There is original art on the walls, antique armchairs and a record player. It also has a kitchen/dining room, but if you’re lucky with the weather dine al fresco on the wraparound balcony, which has magnificent views across rolling farmland.
Book it: Seven nights from £782 - available from July 20 to August 17.
7. Ghyll Cottage, Rusper, West Sussex - 55 minutes (Horsham-Victoria/London Bridge)
Ghyll Cottage is a recently-refurbished 17th century cottage opposite the church in the pretty village of Rusper. Set across two floors, it sleeps up to six with two bedrooms (one double, one twin, plus a sofa bed), as well as a galley-style kitchen, cosy lounge and dining area, all featuring original exposed beams and elegant furnishings. You also have the use of a secluded private garden and tennis courts, set in Ghyll Manor Country House Hotel’s 40 acres of landscaped gardens.
Book it: Four nights from £678 - available from August 5 to 10.
8. The Granary, Blackham, East Sussex - 50 minutes (Ashurst-London Bridge)
Perched on the edge of the Kent and East Sussex borders, with gorgeous views across open countryside, this stylishly-converted granary couldn’t feel further away from the hustle and bustle of London. It sleeps up to four and has a beamed living room with a wood-burning stove and flagstone floor, as well as a dining room – just the spot for a post-Olympics feast. There’s a pub and restaurant half a mile away, too. The next morning, get your boots on for a walk through the surrounding countryside (look out for deer – they like to roam this spot in summer).
Book it: Seven nights from £757 through Cottages4you - available August 4.
9. Westley Mill Barn, Windsor, Berks - 55 minutes (Windsor-Waterloo)
Fancy staying in your own converted barn, set in 11 acres of private grounds? Westley Mill Barn lets you do just that. Sleeping two, it has a galleried feel, with the bedroom overlooking the lounge through a glass balustrade. If you’re feeling athletic, try one of the many walking routes in the area.
Book it: Two nights from £300 through Holiday Lettings (ref: 225856) - available August 6 to 19.
10. Cooters, Petersfield, Hants - One hour (Petersfield-Waterloo)
Perfect for couples looking to combine watching the Olympics with some summer rambling, this cabin-style cottage is set in the grounds of Down Park Farm in the heart of the South Downs. The cottage has been lovingly converted from stables and features an en-suite bedroom plus an open-plan living area with a well-equipped kitchen. Outside there is a seating area overlooking a delightful woodland... perfect for kicking back with a G&T after a long day in the capital.
Book it: Seven nights from £375 through Holiday Lettings (ref: 155683) - available from July 27 to August 19.
***
London 2012: IOC suspends ticket sales for 2014 during investigation - The Guardian
The International Olympic Committee is to suspend the sales process for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games while it investigates allegations that Olympic officials and agents representing 54 countries offered London 2012 tickets on the black market.
In the wake of a Sunday Times investigation that sparked an immediate IOC probe, it is understood that the process of approving the list of Authorised Ticket Resellers contracted by the Sochi organising committee has been suspended until after it reports. The investigation is expected to lead to a shake-up of the way Olympic tickets are allocated ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The London 2012 organising committee chairman, Lord Coe, said the revelations were "deeply depressing", especially after he had warned the Association of National Olympic Committees of the risks of breaking IOC rules on the resale of tickets at their general assembly in Acapulco in 2010.
The Sunday Times, which is expected to hand its dossier of evidence to the IOC this week, alleged that 27 agents representing 54 countries were prepared to sell thousands of tickets for up to £6,000 each.
Spyros Capralos, the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee who was implicated in the illicit sale of tickets to undercover reporters, claimed the allegations were "untrue and misleading".
"The whole process was totally transparent and in accordance with the laws of the Greek state," the HOC said in a statement. "Therefore, there can be no issue on creating a 'black market' by the HOC which did not buy any tickets, whatsoever."
The HOC also claimed that quotes attributed to Capralos were "fragmentary and a patchwork of answers, made in a way that served the authors of the article".
It added: "The journalists of the Sunday Time, violated all principles of journalistic ethics, pretended to be representatives of a ticket selling company, and had even created a fake webpage."
It said that its entire allocation had been signed over to a company controlled by the Ipswich Town owner, Marcus Evans, so it did not have any tickets to sell.
Evans paid €300,000 – 10 times more than the HOC received during the Beijing Games – for the exclusive rights to resell the tickets but it said all the money went towards team preparation.
"The whole sum was exclusively allocated to the preparation of Olympic athletes of top level, at a time when, due to difficult economic conditions, the state stopped funding the Olympic preparation," it said. They claimed that the conversation with The Sunday Times journalist referred to the Sochi Games.
The former Olympic swimmer Yoav Bruck, authorised to sell tickets in Israel and Cyprus, also denied allegations that he offered undercover reporters the best seats in the house at the 100m final.
"The report is swamped with untruths, lies and inventions that cries to the heavens," he told Israel's Channel 2 TV. "I am saying that we are clean … we are not selling anything we are not allowed to."
London 2012 organisers will continue to lobby to return any unsold tickets from the 1.1 million allocated overseas to the British public. They claim that more than 50% of unsold tickets have already been re-routed for UK sale, the first time that has happened. But they will not seek to requisition tickets already allocated to the regions implicated, for fear of disadvantaging genuine purchasers in those regions.
Denis Oswald, the head of the IOC's co-ordination commission and a member of the executive board that held an emergency meeting in response to the claims, has said anyone found guilty of breaking IOC rules should be expelled from the Olympic movement.
"If you know you are breaking the rules and still do it, it is unacceptable. It is an attitude which is not acceptable and which is why I am sure the IOC want to take this very seriously and take appropriate sanctions," he said.
The IOC ethics commission is highly unlikely to report before London Games, although interim action could be taken against a handful of individuals in the meantime.
The report was the latest in a string of similar allegations. In May, a top Ukrainian Olympic official resigned following allegations that he offered to sell tickets for the London Games on the black market.
Volodymyr Gerashchenko, secretary general of Ukraine's national Olympic committee, was accused by the BBC of telling an undercover reporter posing as an unauthorised dealer that he was willing to sell up to 100 tickets for cash.
London 2012 Olympics: Scottish fencer Keith Cook to continue fight against Team GB omission - Daily Telegraph
It has, though, also emerged that national fencing coach Ziemek Wojciechowski contacted other members of the British foil team, including fencers ranked lower than Cook, urging them to resubmit their details to performance manager Newton ahead of the deadline.
Leading Scottish sports lawyer Rod Mckenzie, senior partner at Harper Macleod, who acts for the Scottish Premier League and is the legal adviser to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, has taken up Cook's case on a pro bono basis and sent a letter to British Fencing, as well as copying representation to the British Olympic Association.
Cook said: "I feel utterly sickened. To find out they had excluded me from the Olympic selection because of an email address was insane – surreal.
"I am going to fight this injustice tooth and nail – I don't want this happening to any of the amazing young kids I coach. I have taught them that the way to succeed is through hard work and dedication."
British Fencing were unavailable for any immediate response, but have always maintained their selection process is transparent and robust, with several fencers having seen their appeals against non-selection already rejected.
Communications director David King said in a statement last week: "British Fencing strongly denies any bias or inappropriate action in the non-selection of Keith Cook for a discretionary Home Nation place at the London 2012 Olympics.
"Like the other 25 athletes in contention for an Olympic spot, Mr Cook would have been fully aware of what was required to achieve consideration.
"We certainly understand the disappointment that any athlete feels when devoting one's life to training and working to achieve a goal like this and coming short."
Britain's top fencer Richard Kruse, who qualified directed for the London Games, delivered a bronze medal at the European Championships in Italy this weekend.
New buyers may lift London art sales to $1 billion - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - London's art market is attracting the lion's share of business from an emerging class of super-wealthy collectors from Russia, the Middle East and China, and they are likely to be a big factor in a summer season of sales valued at up to $1 billion (638 million pounds).
Christie's, Sotheby's and smaller rivals like Phillips de Pury hold a three-week series of auctions featuring works by artists as diverse as Rembrandt, Renoir and Gerhard Richter.
Euro zone turmoil and slowing Chinese economic growth are giving investors the jitters, yet the high-end art market has defied gravity on a record-breaking streak.
New York has long been considered the global capital of the auction world -- most recent records have been set there, including the $120 million paid for Edvard Munch's "The Scream" at a Sotheby's sale in May.
London, a more natural fit for Russian tycoons who have homes in the city and Middle Eastern buyers just a mid-haul flight away, may be closing that gap.
Sotheby's has calculated that, while the number of lots sold to buyers from "new" markets has risen in both cities so far this year, the increase has been far more marked in London (33 percent) than New York (six percent).
"Particularly the Russians feel very comfortable bidding in the London sales as many of them have second homes and are very active here," said Helena Newman, chairman of Sotheby's impressionist and modern art department in Europe.
"I think that because of our geographic situation, we are the gateway to the East ... Central Asia, the Middle East and the East," she told Reuters at the company's London headquarters where star lots from the upcoming sales were on display.
"We definitely see that in the sales of recent years. It is a growing trend."
BILLION-DOLLAR BONANZA?
Beyond bragging rights, auctioneers are not overly concerned with who buys what where. Key lots for sale in London come from the United States, for example, and the market overall has become more globalised.
One of the prize lots of the season is English artist John Constable's "The Lock", being offered by Christie's for 20-25 million pounds and the only one of a series of six important landscapes by the painter to be in private hands.
It goes under the hammer on July 3 and should eclipse the 10.8 million pounds raised when it was sold in 1990 - a British painting record it held for 16 years.
On the same night, Rembrandt's "A Man in a Gorget and Cap" is on course to raise 8-12 million pounds.
On Wednesday, a Renoir nude is set to fetch 12-18 million pounds and the next week the same auctioneer offers Yves Klein's "Le Rose du Bleu", estimated at 17-20 million pounds and Francis Bacon's "Study For Self-Portrait" (1964) (15-20 million).
Christie's, the world's largest auction house, expects to raise at least 310 million pounds from its sales of impressionist, modern, contemporary art as well as those of British paintings and Old Masters.
The upper estimate is closer to 500 million pounds, and combined with Sotheby's low target of 210 million pounds, a billion-dollar art bonanza looks within reach.
"The four week summer season of major international auctions at Christie's ... is set to become one of the richest and most valuable series of auctions in company history," said Jussi Pylkkanen, head of Christie's Europe.
MIRO RECORD IN SIGHT
At Sotheby's, the top work of the season could be Joan Miro's "Peinture (Etoile Bleue), valued at 15-20 million pounds and in sight of the artist record set this year of 16.8 million.
Its appearance so soon after the February record is no coincidence -- auction houses tailor sales to reflect the latest tastes, and the Miro, along with works by Henry Moore and Surrealist Paul Delvaux, all follow recent auction highs.
The prominence of large, colourful, figurative works at Sotheby's, including Kees van Dongen's "Lailla", Marc Chagall's "L'Arbre de Jesse" and Delvaux's "Deux Femmes couchees", also reflects emerging market tastes.
Soaring prices for coveted works of art at a time of global economic uncertainty have long prompted warnings of a sharp correction and even collapse, but time and again in the last three years the market has defied the gloomiest predictions.
There has been weakening in Chinese demand and tastes can be fickle, but the very best works of art have generally risen in value since a sharp but brief drop in auction turnover in 2009.
The contraction was as much a reflection of sellers backing away as of falling demand, experts say, and auction houses believe they are back in a "virtuous cycle" of rising prices in turn attracting the very best works on to the market.
Institutional acquisitions have also played a key role in the recovery, with Qatar emerging as one of the biggest buyers of art in recent years as it fills a growing network of museums.
Widespread reports said the Gulf state paid $250 million for Paul Cezanne's "The Card Players" in a private deal, believed to be the highest price ever paid for a work of art. (Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
London 2012: Olympic Games portal opens on Facebook - BBC News
Facebook has announced a dedicated portal for London 2012 to allow fans to "connect with their favourite Olympians" at the Games.
The section features dedicated pages for athletes and sports, including a complete timeline history of the competition since the 1800s.
The IOC said the portal would create a "social media stadium".
However, restrictions on what athletes can or cannot post will restrict some content from being published.
Participants are subject to tight guidelines over content posted on Facebook and Twitter, particularly in relation to brands and broadcasting deals.
It restricts the posting of any video from within an Olympic venue.
'Ambush'Mark Adams, from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that while visitors to the Games would be able to post videos and stills, athletes' activities would be curbed.
“Start Quote
End Quote Boris BeckerIt's impossible to think all day and all night about the next match, interacting with fans is a good thing”
"It depends on where they are," he said.
"If they're in a stadium, they can't. We have a relationship with various broadcasters around the world which provides the funding [for the Games]."
In addition, he said, the IOC would be watching for any attempted "ambush" marketing.
"It's something we always have to keep in our mind," he said.
"It does take away money from the Olympic movement. It's something that we have to protect."
Facebook, which announced the portal at its central London offices, said it hoped the portal would mean Olympics fans could interact with athletes in a way that had not been possible in previous Games.
Alex Balfour, from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) said there was now a "perfect storm" of technology to allow a "really rich experience" wherever fans were in the world.
"We want make sure our Games is available to that new audience of digital consumers," he added.
Facebook said it would allow fans to use the network to discover footage of their favourite athletes - but some content would be geo-targeted, meaning certain footage might not be available in certain regions of the world.
Mr Adams admitted that the IOC had been slow to adopt social networking, but was now ready to embrace it for London 2012.
"The way I like to think about the IOC and our relationship with social media is that the Olympics is one of the oldest social networks that has ever been.
"Everyone has an experience and shares that experience with their friends and their family - everyone has an emotional attachment to the Games. We're just digitising that experience."
Hot waterFormer world tennis number one and Olympic gold medallist Boris Becker told the BBC that using social media could help athletes prepare.
"It's very positive. It gives athletes the chance to get real opinions and real questions and to answer back.
"It's fun - everyone's online anyway. It's impossible to think all day and all night about the next match, interacting with fans is a good thing."
However, he warned that it was inevitable that some athletes might not think before they tweeted and so land themselves in hot water during the Games.
"The world and people are not perfect," he said.
"There will always be athletes who will take it out of line, but that doesn't mean that the platform is wrong."
Facebook's Explore London 2012: Get Social With The Summer Games - PC Advisor
Facebook is getting into the Olympic spirit with Explore London 2012 on Facebook, a portal where you can find and get Facebook updates from your favorite athletes, national teams, and individual sports during the Olympic Games in London.
Facebook says it intends to add national Olympics broadcasters such as NBC and Olympic sponsors to the London 2012 portal in the coming weeks.
The Facebook portal is the first of several efforts from the International Olympics Committee to get social during London 2012. The IOC also plans to launch London 2012-themed pages on Twitter, Tumblr, and Google+, as well as a partnership with Foursquare.
How To Like London 2012
To get Olympic updates on Facebook, all you have to do is “like” the pages for your favorite athletes, sports, or national teams via the Explore London 2012 portal. Then updates from that person's or sport's page, including personal status updates, medal standings, and photos, are pushed to your news feed. It's a simple way to keep up with personal updates from athletes such as swimmer Ryan Lochte or all the latest news from Team USA.
Explore London 2012
Facebook's London 2012 portal is well organized with a cover photo at the top, and then two profile photos for the Olympic Games and London 2012. Below that is a section of highlighted Olympic athletes, including LeBron James, swimmers Dara Torres and Michael Phelps, beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor, and U.K. soccer star David Beckham. The site features about 200 of the several thousands of Olympic athletes competing in the games.
Below the athletes section are links to the Olympic national teams, and then to specific Olympic sports such as boxing, gymnastics, tennis, triathlon, and volleyball. Thirty-six sports are represented at London 2012, but the portal currently has links to 25.
Each Olympic sport is linked to the page for that sport's official international body. For example, liking aquatics will give you Facebook updates from Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), the world governing body for swimming. Liking Tennis means you'll get updates from the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
A Facebook spokesperson says the company will add more sports and athlete pages to its portal before the Games begin.
Effective Use of London 2012
Facebook's portal is a handy way to find your favorite parts of the Olympics, but you might want to check out each individual page before liking to make sure you'll get updates during the games.
In my perusal of some of the top athletes' pages, most are maintaining their official pages with regular updates. But some weren't particularly active. That may change once the Olympics kicks into gear, but just be aware that some pages may not be as active as you'd like.
The Summer Olympic Games begin Friday, July 27 in London.
Connect with Ian Paul (@ianpaul) on Twitter and Google+, and with Today@PCWorld on Twitter for the latest tech news and analysis.
London athletes get top healthcare - Yahoo! Eurosport
'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"us"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"2142181228","ps":"LREC","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'521ad1dc-61c2-33f3-8ce7-e86a08518a07\' sensitivity=\'0\' ccc=\'\' csect=\'\' ctopid=\'2212000;1638500\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000004M8zTAAS\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}'),"em_orig":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'521ad1dc-61c2-33f3-8ce7-e86a08518a07\' sensitivity=\'0\' ccc=\'\' csect=\'\' ctopid=\'2212000;1638500\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000004M8zTAAS\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}')}}};var _createNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);var nodeHTML;if(center && !node){nodeHTML=_conf.nodes[nId];center.insert(nodeHTML);};};};var _prepareNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-ad-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);if(center && node){center.set("innerHTML","");center.insert(node);node.setStyle("display","block");};};};var _darla;var _config=function(){if(YAHOO.ads.darla){_darla = YAHOO.ads.darla;_createNodes();};};var _fetch=function(spaceid,adssa){if(typeof spaceid != "undefined") _conf.events.fetch.sp=spaceid;adssa = (typeof adssa != "undefined" && adssa != null) ? escape(adssa.replace(/\"/g, "'")) : "";_conf.events.fetch.em=_conf.events.fetch.em_orig.replace("ADSSA", adssa);if(_darla){_prepareNodes();_darla.setConfig(_conf);_darla.event("fetch");};};Y.on("domready", function(){_config();});;var that={"fetch":_fetch,"getNodes":_conf.nodes};return that;}();/* Backwards compatibility - Assigning the latest instance to the main fetch function */YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.fetch=YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.photoslightboxdarla.fetch; }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.Media.Editorial.LiveEvent.init(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.BListMixedInplaceRefresh({"xhr_base":"\/_xhr\/temp\/mediablistmixednewsforyouca\/?list_source=MediaBListMixedNewsForYouCA&mod_id=mediablistmixednewsforyoucatemp&list_id=4454ea04-abff-11df-8418-00505604e304&list_style=disc&apply_filter=&filters=%5B%5D&show_author=0&show_date=0&show_popup=0&template=title&title_length=100&show_provider=0&content_id=521ad1dc-61c2-33f3-8ce7-e86a08518a07&desc_length=&popup_desc_length=&cache_ttl=TTL_LEVEL_30&instanceUuid=bc95bbdf-ddc7-3f36-83bd-5eefa2fefd32","spaceid":"2142181228","list_count":"8","list_start":"1","mod_id":"mediablistmixednewsforyoucatemp","total":100,"show_more_link":"0","auto_rotate_duration":"7","total_override":""}); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(typeof YUI.AdsDarla === "undefined")YUI.AdsDarla={};YUI.AdsDarla.darla_lrec=function(){var _conf={"callFrame":"yom-ad-darla-callframe-darla_lrec","callScript":"/darla/fc.php","rotation":5000,"autoRotation":false,"beaconsDisabled":false,"property":"media","destinationMap":{"LREC":"yom-ad-LREC-iframe","N":"yom-ad-N-iframe","NT1":"yom-ad-NT1-iframe"},"nodeIds":["yom-ad-LREC","yom-ad-N","yom-ad-NT1"],"nodes":{"yom-ad-LREC":'',"yom-ad-N":'',"yom-ad-NT1":''},"templates":{"LREC":'
Great News For Vauxhall In Britain - PRLog (free press release)
Vauxhall dealer group – Northern Motors – with branches located in Harrow, Ruislip and Watford are delighted with Vauxhall’s recent announcement that the next-generation Astra compact car will continue to be built at the manufacturing plant, Ellesmere Port, in Cheshire. In future, Ellesmere Port will be the lead plant of only two in Europe building the new model.
The decision follows the conclusion of a groundbreaking new labour agreement recently approved by the Vauxhall workforce. The agreement comes into force in 2013 and runs through the life of the next-generation Astra – into the early 2020’s. As part of the agreement, the plant will implement a number of creative operating solutions to improve flexibility, reduce fixed-costs and significantly improve its competitiveness. Ellesmere Port plant will become one of the most competitive plants in the Vauxhall/Opel manufacturing network.
In addition to creation of 700 plus jobs, Vauxhall will create investment locally via use of local suppliers and in the UK overall.
Vauxhall Chairman and Managing Director, Duncan Aldred, said: “This is great news for the Ellesmere Port plant, our employees, the local community, our suppliers, the Vauxhall brand and the UK. We have been able to develop a responsible labour agreement that secures the plant’s future.
With Ellesmere Port’s proven build quality and a new agreement that ensures excellent cost competitiveness, this facility will provide additional employment and, as the lead plant for the next-generation Astra, will be one of the cornerstones of our European manufacturing footprint.”
In 2007, Ellesmere Port became the first UK manufacturing plant to receive the Energy Efficiency Accreditation and in 2010 became the first European manufacturing plant to achieve the Wildlife Habitat Accreditation.
For further information, visit www.northernmotors.co.uk, www.facebook.com/
Andy White, Sales Manager at Northern Motors Watford, tel: 01923 813000
Derek Williams, Sales Manager at Northern Motors Harrow, tel: 0208 427 4444.
VAUXHALL ICON TAKES VICTORY AT CHOLMONDLEY - 3d-car-shows.com
- 86-year old OE-type 30-98 wins Cholmondley’s Coup d’Honneur Trophy
- While 2012 VXR Maloo keeps pace with the world’s fastest supercars
Cholmondley/Luton – Vauxhall Motors’ debut at the Cholmondley Pageant of Power resulted in an overall win in the Classic Pre-War Cars regularity class for its 1926 OE-type 30-98 Velox Tourer, and a supercar-matching time for the 2012 VXR Maloo pick-up, which ran in the Autocar Super Car Class.
The 30-98 achieved the result on Saturday, when it set track times of 127.96 and 127.77 in the regularity run, both within 0.13 of a second of the bogey time of 127.83 set in practice. Despite wet conditions, the 30-98 – which is owned and maintained by Vauxhall’s Luton-based Heritage Centre – performed impeccably and demonstrated why it’s still regarded as one of the fastest road cars of itstime.
In stark contrast, Vauxhall fielded the latest version of the VXR Maloo pick-up in the Autocar Super Car Class. Competing for the fastest time on track, the 431PS V8 rear-wheel drive Maloo was up against stiff competition from the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini. But it still managed a fastest time of just 72.82 seconds on the notoriously tricky 1.2-mile sprint course, beating the more expensive and powerful Noble M600, as well as the Lexus LFA and Chevrolet Corvette.
‘Cholmondley Pageant of Power was a great way for Vauxhall to demonstrate the breadth of its heritage and new-car range,’ said Vauxhall’s PR Manager, Simon Hucknall, who drove both cars at the event. ‘The 30-98 is one of 70 cars that Vauxhall owns and maintains at its Heritage Centre in Luton, and it didn’t miss a beat, despite being driven harder than normal. The Maloo also raised a few eyebrows, its best time within a second of the Mercedes SLS-AMG.’
Showcasing its very latest technology, Vauxhall’s Andrew Duerden demonstrated the European Car of the Year-winning Ampera on the race track during lunch on each day of the event, providing crowds with a taste of how quickly and silently an electric vehicle can perform.
'Deadly game of cat and mouse': Teenage cyclist 'killed by driver racing his girlfriend at 80mph' - Daily Mirror
A teenage cyclist was killed when she was hit by a motorist racing his girlfriend at speed, a court heard today.
Amy Hofmeister, 13, died when she and her friend were both struck by a Vauxhall Vectra driven by Leonard Jones, 42.
Jones - who eyewitnesses described as driving at 80mph - was racing his girlfriend Leanne Burnell, 21, through the streets of Taunton.
He had just overtaken Burnell's Ford Focus when he lost control, overturned and hit Amy and her friend, who were riding along a nearby cycle path.
The schoolgirl died and her friend was injured in the crash, which happened on the evening of June 15 last year on Blackbrook Way.
Prosecutors allege Burnell was "egging on" her boyfriend by playing a dangerous game of high-speed "cat and mouse" and using their cars as "toys" and the roads as a "playground".
The details came during the first day of Burnell's trial at Taunton Crown Court, where she is accused of causing death by dangerous driving.
Jones, of Mulberry Close, Taunton, has already admitted the same charge and awaits sentence.
Prosecutor William Hunter told the jury of seven men and five women that Burnell was jointly responsibility for the crash.
"Leonard Jones was driving far too fast because, the prosecution say, he was playing a high speed game of chase or racing with another car," he said.
"He was winning that game. The prosecution case is that as a result of game playing - this high speed and dangerous game - on a road in built up area with a speed limit of 30mph, Amy Hofmeister was killed.
"This defendant was playing games with Leonard Jones and as a result was jointly responsible for her death."
Mr Hunter told the court that the chase began when Burnell sped off from a Harvester pub where she had been drinking with Jones and friends.
Witnesses said that they had each had a pint of Strongbow cider.
Jurors watched a four-minute compilation of CCTV footage showing Jones chasing the speeding Burnell through the town, including turning down a no-car bus lane.
Burnell's Ford Focus was leading but Jones caught her up and overtook her at around 80mph - despite Jones's front seat passenger Larry Grant telling him to slow down.
One motorist who witnessed Burnell's high speed driving described seeing her laughing at her boyfriend, who is known as Nitty.
"She saw the defendant turn around towards the other car and smile and smirk," Mr Hunter said.
"The prosecution say they were clearly playing games with each other."
Other witnesses described seeing Burnell's car get "faster and faster".
"The car seemed like it was being driven at full throttle," Mr Hunter said.
"Five to six seconds later the witness says he saw a Vauxhall Vectra following the Ford Focus and almost losing control around the bend.
"They thought the Vectra was trying to catch up with the other car. He says they were driving dangerously and they went through the bus lane as if they were taking a short cut.
"They ignored the 'bus and cycle only' sign which perhaps shows their attitude to the rules and laws of the road."
Police crash investigators calculated Burnell's average speed as around 65mph while Jones was doing nearly 81mph.
When Burnell was arrested she denied racing her boyfriend and said she was driving between 20mph and 25mph.
She also maintained that she had never driven down the bus lane.
"The defendant has lied when she said she was driving at 20mph to 25mph and she lied about the route she took," Mr Hunter told jurors.
"There is clear evidence that she is driving at high speed.
"By the manner and actions of her driving she was encouraging Leonard Jones to drive dangerously. She was in effect egging him on.
"A car is not a toy and the road is not a playground.
"The prosecution's case is that she has used her car as a toy and the road as a playground.
"Call it chase, call it racing, call it cat and mouse. It is as a result of using the road a playground that Amy Hofmeister lost her life."
Burnell, of Bishop's Hull, Taunton, denies a single charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
The trial was adjourned until tomorrow.
0 Responses to "London 2012 Olympics Top 10 Olympic retreats - Daily Mirror"
Post a Comment