Daily Post

The Policeman Didn't Know If the Victim Was a Man or a Woman ; Actor Stephen Tompkinson Talks to Hannah Stephenson About His New Dramatic Challenge

STEPHEN Tompkinson has had some challenging roles in his career,from charismatic priest in Ballykissangel to maverick undercover cop in the BBC crime drama In Deep. But nothing could have prepared him for the eerie sensation he felt when returning to the scene of a horrendous crime which took place in a cemetery in Bakewell, Derbyshire,more than 30 years ago.

Food & Drink: Fun Times with Finger Foods ; Ribs of Beef and Chicken Wings Make a Come-Back

IT IS funny how fads come and go. In bygone times food was always cooked on the bone -fish, ribs of beef for example -nobody seemed to bother about an inch layer of fat on pork, skin on chicken,or whole roast chicken for that matter. Thankfully things are changing. A couple of years ago you could only get skinless, wingless, pre-packed, sterile chicken breasts, and with not much flavour or texture,but now finger food is back.

Country: The Sad Demise of the Sparrow ; Numbers of House Sparrow Have Declined by 62pc

MODERN garden design, unleaded petrol, the loss of winter stubble fields, sparrowhawks, blocked eaves,cats, pesticides,magpies and global warming have all been blamed at one time or another for causing the problem. Garden make over shows on TV often lay waste to bushes and feeding areas, unleaded petrol may damage insect food populations,nesting sites are disappearing,and cats,added to natural predators,account for millions fewer birds each year.

Country: Weekend Walk

LET'Sgo...Starting from the car park between Moel Arthur and Pen- y-Cloddiau (SJ139 669),go through the gate leading into the wood. From here head through the part that has been cleared taking a middle path that leads downward towards the road. Turn right onto the road and there is a path now leading off to the right up a slight slope.

Antiques: Look What's On the Menu Now ; Christopher Proudlove Looks at Col Ourful Reminders of a Bygone Age

IT'S 1947, you're travelling First Class aboard theCunard White Star flagship RMSQueen Elizabethand dinner is served. For starters,it's oysters on the half shell,followed by clear turtle soup, turbot for the fish course and timbaleof ham.

Travel: Resort's Sporting Chance ; John Spencer Plays the Generation Game at a Scottish Activity Weekend

FOR many years I have been in no doubt at all of my sporting talent. Or rather lack of it. My son Tom,on the other hand, although only just having reached double figures in age terms,excels in anything involving a ball,a stick or a combination of the two.

Books: Gregory Peck by Lynn Haney (Robson Books, Pounds 18.99)

WITH some justification, the film actor Gregory Peck was once described as "the handsomest man in the world".He was also a strong, silent type, whose permanent air of earnest introspection became his trademark. This interesting biography lifts some of the veil from the private life of the enigmatic star but at the end of the book he still remains elusive.

Books: Boy by Lindsey Collen (Bloomsbury, Pounds 15.99)

KRISH Burton is always called Boy by his parents and, despite being 17 years old, a boy is what he remains. Living in the shadow of his elder brother's death,Boy is cosseted by his mother, and is driven everywhere by his taxi-driver father. When he fails his high-school examination,his mother sends him to his uncle's in the mountains to buy marijuana for the coming religious festival,and Boy makes a bid for life and freedom.

Books: Assets in the Attic ; Hannah Stephenson Discovers How Lofty Aspirations Could Bring You Money

DO YOU hoard all your old family heirlooms and hand-me-downs in your loft,cramming cardboard boxes full of junk which will probably never see the light of day? But how much of it is really rubbish -and which old artefacts are potential valuables you'recannily keeping safe?

Books: Best Sellers

Fashion: See Dots Before Your Eyes ; Cheryl Burquest Checks Out What the Latest Trend Is in Spring Fashion and Discovers a Spot of Style

AFTER the electric colours of the 80s,and the masculine designs of military influenced fashion, it comes as little surprise that fashion will be veering in an entirely different direction this spring. One of the first trends to emerge from the catwalk to the high street is polkadot spots, and you'll be going dotty this spring with this latest trend.

Gardening: Taste Can Be a Hot Potato ; Know Your Pink Fir Apple From Your Linzer Delikatess

SOMETHING is stirring in sheds, garages and greenhouses all over Britain -the shoots of potato tubers. They have been placed carefully on end in egg boxes and seed trays to "chit" or sprout strong green leaf shoots. Over the next month or so they will be planted in the ground. Different kinds of potato are suitable for different sorts of treatment -mashing, baking, roasting,chipping,etc. They are all delicious but the best, to my taste,are varieties best eaten as "new potatoes" -firm, waxy an...

Gardening: Diary

Sunday,February 29: Friends of Ness Gardens,annual bring and buy marmalade and jam sale,Visitor Centre,Ness Botanic Gardens,South Wirral, 12.30-2pm. Wednesday,March 1:Heswall and District Horticultural Society, talk,Gardens of Wales,by Terry Scheers, Heswall Hall,Telegraph Road, 7.45pm.

Gardening: Plant of the Week: Campanula

OF the hundreds of species of campanula or bellflower, most are hardy but several are more successfully grown for the house,conservatory or patio containers in summer. Now is the time to sow many of them under glass or take cuttings. Most campanulas were originally a delicate blue. One of them,our native harebell, Campanula rotundifolia ,is a good example. But white,pink, lavender,mauve and purple kinds have been discovered or developed.

Homes: Find a Place in the Country ; Farmhouse has Leisure Complex and Cottages

AN exceptional Cheshire country house has attracted a price tag of pounds 3m. The centre point of Burford Lane Farm is the imposing farmhouse, a Gradell listed building, which has been refurbished toahigh standard. Other outstanding features include a further four dwellings, leisure complex with pool,an office and extensive land and stabling.

Interiors: Colour Cures From the Experts to Help the Nervous

MARTIN Ephson is joint owner of Farrow & Ball,producers of paints and papers,and recognises colour phobia. He emphasises: "Treatment is necessary because although neutrals will never lose their popularity,colour has finally come back into fashion and we are noticing it in our paint sales. Last year people were gaining confidence and picking blues or greens but this year green is the favourite."

Interiors: Colours Could Leave You in the Shade ; Gabrielle Fagen On How to Avoid Those Decorating Disasters

YOU should be able to get help for it - the distressing condition that afflicts most people when they enter a paint shop. Dubbed "colour phobia" by top home doctors it means most people are too frightened to choose any colour other than magnolia or neutral shades -and when they do experiment with something alluring like rustic red,overjoyed orange or balmy blue they often get it wrong. A recent survey by B&Q revealed that 60pcof Britons admitted to mistakenly opting for horribly clashing shad...

Interiors: Pots of Paint

Interiors: Are You a Colour Phobic?

Encouraged by glossy home magazines and TVmake-over programmes you'reconvinced you're reborn as a colourholic. You prepare to abandon boring magnolia,beige or some posh- sounding other colour which is in fact a variation on, well, white.

Homes: House Gift Warning

BUSINESS and financial advisers, Grant Thornton, warn that parents who wish to help their children onto the property ladder should think twice before doing so, as current government plans could land them with an income tax bill later on in life. The Government announced its proposals in a consultation paper called "Tax treatment of pre-ownedassets" on December 10, 2003, which included plans to levy income tax on pre-owned assets.