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Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS (born 1 May 1946) is a British actress, voice over artist, model and author.

Lumley’s prolific and varied TV career has seen her play roles including Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous and parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire and Steel and Sensitive Skin. She has also lent her distinctive voice to many animated characters, film narration and ad campaigns.

In recent years she has spoken out as a human rights activist, notably the Gurkha Justice Campaign. As a result of this, she is not only a national treasure in Britain but held in high regard in Nepal.

Lumley also works with Survival International and is patron of many charities and animal welfare groups.

Image credit:lwpkommunikacio

On this day in 1948, the NHS was founded. Health secretary Aneurin Bevan opened Park Hospital in Manchester as the climax of a hugely ambitious plan to bring good healthcare to all.

It was the first time that hospitals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, opticians and dentists were brought together to provide these services for free, for all.

Duerr’s is proud to support the tireless work of the NHS, in particular University Hospital South Manchester. Located just metres from the famous Manchester hospital Duerr’s support the hospital as part of their commitment to invest in the local community.

Duerr’s annual balls have raised £42,000 for the hospital’s Maternity unit. In 2011 Duerr’s opened a brand new postnatal day room, and in 2012 they have supported the neo-natal unit.

MD Mark Duerr’s own children were born at the hospital, and he explains: “We’ve been making jams and marmalades for 130 years, and generations of people who’ve worked in the company have had their children at Wythenshawe hospital.Who knows, maybe our support will even inspire the jam makers of the future.”

This summer, a group of protesters camped for 17 days on a roundabout in Leek resisting the council’s plans to replace it with a set of traffic lights. The group fought to save the landmark, which was given iconic status by the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society in May 2011, until they were issued with a possession order this week.

The group encapsulate the British love of the roundabout; a truly British concept, the 10,000 roundabouts in the UK are not only an essential traffic management system but provide a space for gardening, sponsorship and sculpture. They become town landmarks and one protester commented that the Leek roundabout in question is a “real work of art.”

While roundabouts are a common sight in many European and former Commonwealth countries, they are much less common in the United States. Americans are known to be wary of them – remember National Lampoon’s European Vacation featuring Lambeth Bridge roundabout?

Origins of the roundabout are unclear, with Letchworth Garden City claiming to be the owners of Britain’s first roundabout, dating from 1905.

Image credit: ZapTheDingbat

From her launch by Pedigree Dolls and Toys in 1963, until she was retired from British shelves in 2009, Sindy was the staple of British little girls’ toyboxes.

A UK best seller in 1968 and 1970, Sindy was a British counterpart to Barbie whose appeal was her wholesome good looks. Sindy’s clothing reflected the fashion in the UK at that time; at the height of Beatlemania she even had a boyfriend named Paul and in the 80s she sported puffballs and evening dresses created by the Emanuels, Princess Diana’s wedding dress designers.

Now, as she approaches her 50^th birthday, Pedigree are looking for a buyer to revive the Sindy brand. They are planning to relaunch with a 50th anniversary range; priced at about £15, Sindy will have eyelash extensions, purple hair and light-blue legwarmers and will be aimed at pre-school aged girls.

Image credit: libertygracy0

We’re not including this just because we make great jam, we truly love the lunchbox and picnic essential: The jam sandwich!

Where would schoolboys and schoolgirls of years gone-by be without the packed-lunch staple? Mums and dads have relied for years on the fruity spread, which, when teamed with white bread, makes a humble but tasty snack for any time of the day.

Our one question is why we stop eating jam sandwiches at school? Let us know in the comments section below whether you have ever eaten a jam sandwich (or maybe a peanut butter and jam sandwich) as an adult?

Image credit: flickr; hiwarz

 

 

 

I was in Tescos and I saw this man and woman wrapped in a barcode.

I said, “Are you two an item?”

Image credit: Peter Alfred Hess