Dark skies inspired ex-astronaut Tim Peake's space wonder
Former UK astronaut Tim Peake has been describing how his childhood growing up in West Sussex inspired him to travel into space. Peake was the first British astronaut to set foot on the International Space Station and the first to conduct a spacewalk during his six-month mission in 2015 and 2016.The former Army helicopter pilot stepped down permanently from his role as a European astronaut in 2023, taking up a full-time ambassadorial position for science and space. He told BBC Radio Sussex: "I went to the cadets at Chichester High School and carried on with that adventurous streak which ultimately led me to the army and to space."
Speaking about growing up in West Sussex, Peake said: "I had such a very safe, very secure childhood."Living in Westbourne it has quite dark skies and I remember thinking 'I wonder what's out there?'."Mr Peake said he was inspired by his school physics teacher Mike Gouldstone.He said: "He was amazing. My teachers made their lessons so exciting and as relevant as they could. "That ingrained a passion for science which has never left me."
Peake joined the European Space Agency in 2009 after an 18-year career in the army.He was announced in 2024 as part of a team that will launch the first all-British crewed mission into space.He said: "I love the way space has the ability to inspire people."When you get the chance to talk to school kids about how your dreams can become a reality it is always an amazing experience."Everyone looks up at the stars and has that moment of awe and wonder."
In his new theatre tour Peake will "share the remarkable stories of some of his fellow astronauts and explore the spectacular evolution of space travel".He said: "Being able to tour the country where I can share just a small taste of what I experienced as an astronaut, reliving my own journey and sharing stories from those groundbreaking moments in space exploration, is absolutely fantastic."I hope the stories I share will give people a special insight into the magic of space and continue to inspire generations of future space explorers."Astronauts: The Quest To Explore Space is coming to Guildford, Eastbourne, Tunbridge Wells and Worthing in September and October.
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BBC News
26 minutes ago
- BBC News
From Orkney to Amity Island: Jaws star Robert Shaw's Stromness childhood
For film fans across the world, the English actor Robert Shaw will always be Quint. The hard-bitten, shark-hunting, salty sea dog from Steven Spielberg's 1975 summer blockbuster Jaws was a defining role for the distinguished stage and screen star, the more so since it came just three years before his sudden death at the age of has seen a surge of events and media coverage marking the 50th anniversary of the film, now firmly established as a much-loved and lauded less well-known is that Shaw's path to stardom and success included five years as a child in Orkney, a period which would have a huge effect on the rest of his life. Speaking on a US chat show more than more than 30 years after leaving Orkney, Shaw spoke movingly of the influence the islands had on him and his family."My father killed himself when I was 12," he said. "He was an extraordinary man, a marvellous man and he was a doctor in the Orkney Islands, which is right at the top of Scotland. Those terrible islands where there's wind and sea and you get a hundred-mile-an-hour gales."He was the lighthouse doctor and he used to keep a medical bag on each island and when you couldn't get in because the sea was so rough, my father would go out... and jump off and swim ashore."And there would be his medical bag and then he'd deliver whatever baby was to be delivered." That story perfectly summed up the mixture of romance, nostalgia and pain which Shaw carried with him from his Orkney childhood. Robert Shaw was born in Lancashire in 1927 and lived there until the age of seven, when his father Thomas took over a GP practice in Stromness, Orkney's second-largest town. The new doctor and his wife moved there with their five children. The couple were Cornish, though both had Scottish ancestry. They may have felt a connection with their new home at the other end of the British Isles, but they undoubtedly stood apart from their new Shaw Myers is Robert Shaw's nephew. His mother, Joanna, was the actor's younger sister. His new book - Robert Shaw: An Actor's Life on the Set of Jaws and Beyond - explores the period in struck by a class photograph which shows a young Robert Shaw standing by himself on the back row, distinctly separated from his classmates."Isn't it unusual? Or interesting, I should say. How Robert is standing apart and rigidly at attention and very much looks the outsider," he says. "By that point he was six or seven years old, he had an English accent and accents are really important, especially with children. They define if you're part of a group or an outsider. The Shaws were outsiders."Speaking on BBC Radio Orkney in 2018, Christopher's mother Joanne offered some insight into what isolated her family from others."I just remember what a unit we were, because for various reasons mother wouldn't have other children over after school," she the "various reasons" other children weren't allowed to play at the Shaw house was the doctor's increasingly out of control around six years in Stromness their mother left him and took the children south, to England. Eventually he followed and the family was briefly reunited. But after years of struggling with his addiction, Thomas took his own life. Robert would go on to enjoy some success as a novelist as well as an actor, and Christopher believes much of his Orkney childhood can be found in his two published works The Hiding Place, and The Sun former includes descriptions of landscapes clearly inspired by the shipwrecks in Scapa Flow. And there are emotional resonances too."He was pulling from his Orkney experiences as a child for much of what's in The Hiding Place. And then in The Sun Doctor, I think he went a step further than that. "The father is an alcoholic who didn't kill himself but died and the mother was blamed," he says."And that was something that my grandmother always had to deal with. That some people blamed her for the death of her husband. Whether she had killed him directly or drove him to drink." After a short spell as a teacher, Robert trained as an actor and spent much of the 1950s building up his career on stage and screen. He was the star of the popular TV drama The Buccaneers but his film breakthrough came in 1963 as a villainous heavy with the rather Scottish name of Donald Grant in the second Bond film From Russia With Love. That same year he returned to his former home in Stromness. He was on honeymoon with his second wife, the actress Mary Ure. They stayed at the Stromness Hotel and while there were talked into helping out with a fundraising event to raise the cash for a swimming pool for the town. A photograph taken at the event shows the couple posing with the band and the winner of the 'Miss Swimming Pool Stromness' beauty contest, Irene Irene Linklater, she fondly remembers that night, 62 years on."That was a big surprise. I never really got over it," she says."[I] Knew who they were but I had never seen them before and I hadn't still seen a film that they were in but I knew of them." A week after Shaw's death in 1978, BBC Radio Orkney broadcast a tribute. It was presented by Archie Bevan, a local teacher and author who was one of the founders of the islands' St Magnus Bevan, who died in 2015, described that 1963 visit and spoke warmly of Shaw's 1963 visit."I remember that my first meeting with Robert Shaw that year was on the Stromness golf course. He was playing in a foursome with some members of the local club. "His dark hair had been bleached to a startling, Aryan blonde, a memento of his starring role as a villain in From Russia With Love, which he'd just finished shooting".Local artist and author Bryce Wilson has written a history of Stromness. "He loved to go playing golf with some of his pals who were still around. I remember him coming with Mary Ure. That was the talk of the town," he career brought him great acclaim and riches, with an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Henry VIII in A Man For All Seasons and starring roles in enduring classics such as Battle of The Bulge, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and The Sting. But he was a troubled man. Like his father, he struggled with alcohol. It impacted upon his work and home life. He was married three times and had 10 children. After years of mental health and addictions issues, Mary Ure died of an accidental overdose of alcohol and prescription medicine in 1975, just two months before the release of three years later Shaw, by then remarried and living by a lake in rural Ireland, died suddenly of a heart attack. He was is probably the film he is most remembered for. It changed the way Hollywood released summer movies, creating the modern blockbuster. It confirmed 28-year-old Steven Spielberg as the biggest director of his generation and is today regarded as one of the greatest American films. Shaw's Quint steals the film and screenwriter Carl Gottlieb credits the actor with writing the character's chilling monologue about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in World War film's 50th anniversary has brought festivals, films showings and tributes across the in Orkney, many are remembering Robert Shaw as one of their own. For Bryce Wilson, it all comes back to that childhood in Stromness and the sea."Robert Shaw served his apprenticeship for Jaws by mucking about in a boat in the harbour. All the young folk were in dinghies mucking about," he says."So that's what we put it down to. It's where he learned to work his passage in Jaws".You can hear more on Robert Shaw's childhood in Orkney on The Sunday Show on BBC Radio Scotland from 10:00 on Sunday 22 June.
The Sun
31 minutes ago
- The Sun
Shaughna Phillips shows off her incredible six stone weight loss as Love Island star strips down to underwear
LOVE Island star Shaughna Phillips stripped to her underwear as she revealed her incredible six-stone weight loss. The mum of one - who has repeatedly clapped back at suggestions she's used fat jabs to achieve her new figure - opened up on "dropping a few dress sizes." 6 6 6 The TV star, 31, featured in Love Island 's sixth season and has transformed her look since her ITV2 show fame. Shaughna took to her Instagram grid to show off her latest results, uploading a before and after comparison. On the left, she posed in a white bra and briefs prior to starting her fitness re-vamp, posting the words: "Day one" and "97kg." On the right-hand-side, she gave a glimpse at her current look with washboard abs and muscular thighs, wearing a similar lingerie set. She then posted the words: "Month 14," and "61 kg." In a more detailed caption, she joked about her choice of garments and wrote: "Let the record reflect, although I've dropped a few dress sizes, I will ALWAYS love a high waisted full brief." One fan was quick to remark on her weight loss achievement and wrote: "Well done." A second put: "Incredible!!!" as a third wrote: "Beautiful either way… what makes you happy." One then posted: "You look happy with your new body that's all that matters lovely." Shaughna then went on to promote her own Shred It weight loss and nutrition plan, and a current discount. Love Island's Shaughna Phillips shows off toned tummy after weight loss transformation - but has to apologise for messy room in pics She then told fans: "Your summer shred starts now." The Love Island alum previously as she tried on outfits from her 2020 series. CLAP BACK Shaughna has repeatedly been accused of using fat loss jab Ozempic. She has spoken out numerous times after followers were quick to suggest she'd had a bit of help from the controversial medication. EVERY year Love Island opens its doors to more sexy Islanders who are hoping for a holiday romance that could turn into more. Here we take you through all of the Love Island winners so far and what their relationship statuses are now: 2025 - The second series of All Stars saw Gabby Allen and Case O'Gorman scoop the crown. STATUS: Still together. 2024 - The summer Love Island saw Mimii Ngulube and Josh Oyinsan were crowned the winners. STATUS: Broken up. 2024 - The first ever All stars spin off show was won by Molly Smith and Tom Clare. STATUS: Still together. 2023 - Jess Harding and Sammy Root took home the 50k, and won the summer 2023 Love Island. STATUS: Broken up. 2023 - The first series of 2023 saw Sanam Harrinanan and Kai Fagan crowned Love Island winners in South Africa. STATUS: Still together. 2022 - Davide Sanclimenti and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu's time in the villa was anything but a smooth ride, but they managed to win the public's hearts - and the ITV2 reality show. STATUS: Broken up. 2021 - Liam Reardon and Millie Court were announced winners of Love Island 2021. STATUS: Still together. 2020 - The first ever winter Love Island saw Paige Turley and Finn Tapp crowned winners after falling in love on the show. STATUS: Broken up. 2019 - Series 5 saw Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague runners up to winners Greg O'Shea and Amber Gill, who met in the last few days of the series. STATUS: Broken up. 2018 - It wasn't surprising fan favourites Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer won the show, as they were strong throughout. But sadly things didn't last. STATUS: Broken up. 2017 - Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies had lots of ups and downs in the villa but went on to win. STATUS: Broken up. 2016 - Nathan Massey and Cara De La Hoyde were together from the start of the series, and since they won the show they've had two kids and are married. STATUS: Still together. 2015 - Despite poor Jess Hayes being Max Morley's second choice on the show, they did win - but they didn't last as a couple. STATUS: Broken up. Hitting back at the haters previously, she wrote: "NO-zempic here guys! Just an incredible eating and exercise plan. "And it didn't happen that quickly either. It actually took me over a year to lose 5 and a half Stone. And I did NOT do it alone - I had great help. But not from any kind of weight loss injection or pill. "Sad that you can't lose weight naturally now without people saying that btw. "So I do understand why there are comments saying that and I would never knock anyone for taking them but it's just not how I've chosen to do this." Popular with many Hollywood stars, Ozempic is actually a treatment for type 2 diabetes. It increases the levels of incretins – a hormone – which helps your body to produce more insulin when needed and supresses the amount of glucose produced by the liver. The jab also suppresses users' appetite - mimicking a naturally occurring hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1, which is usually released after eating. As a result patients have less of an appetite, and reduce the number of calories they eat. She has opened up on using her own plan instead and continued: "The game changer for me was the nutrition plan. I get to eat MORE now – I often used to go all day without eating and then eat crap in the evenings. "Now I'm eating throughout the day. Also instead of doing an hour's workout and thinking that will fix my disordered eating – I just do short 12 minute workouts. "And yes I have loose skin - but who wouldn't after losing 5 and a half stone and giving birth to an 8lb 8 ounce baby! "But I'm fitter than I've ever been." 6 6 6
Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Elizabeth Hurley, 60, puts on a loved-up display with boyfriend Billy Ray Cyrus, 63, in Covent Garden as they support his daughter Miley
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