Day: May 8, 2024

Man who had one of Britain's largest beer collections has gone from 10,300 to three

By Lauren Beavis

A man has been forced to sell the UK's largest collection of beer cans for £25k - after it got so big he needed an extension.

Nick West, 65, had been gathering an impressive collection of unusual and rare cans for 42 years and had amassed 10,300 of them at his peak.

The father-of-two from North Somerset initially made the “heartfelt” decision to trim down his £25,000 collection - to just 1,500.

But two years ago, the couple moved to Ledbury, Herefordshire from Langford, in North Somerset - having previous lived in Clevedon for 33 years.

Moving to a smaller home meant Nick had to finally sell the remaining 1,497 cans because the couple had 'no space left for them'.

And he has now been left with just THREE in his once booming collection.

He sold the remaining cans to a couple of Italian dealers who travelled all the way from Italy especially to collect his precious collection.

Nick said: "I first started collecting cans in 1976 and was extremely passionate about it - so it was a massive wrench to see the last part of my lifetime’s work disappear out of the door.

"I found it tricky to let them go ."

When Nick had his impressive collection of 10,300 tinnies, he and his wife, Deborah, 64, had to build an extension on a previous home to make space for the cans.

They also later moved into a large five-bedroomed Victorian house so he could have them on display.

Though when they moved to a smaller house, he sold 6,000 of the cans for a sum of £13,500 which is helping to fund his retirement.

A further 1,800 cans were given to local museum Oakham Treasures in Portbury, Bristol - leaving him with just 1,500.

But Nick has since sold the rest of his collection to beer can dealers in Italy - so his special tinnies will find themselves in other collections around the world.

Now he has his favourite three left.

He explained: "We had some negotiations, as you do, and agreed a price - so they travelled over from Italy in a van and spent a few days here.

"We did the deal and they disappeared with the cans!"

Nick could not bear to part with all of his collection, however, so kept a remaining three close to his heart.

He said: "I couldn't let them all go."

Nick describes the three cans he chose to kept and why, as he explains: "The first is a Heineken 275ml (a half pint).

"This was the first can in my collection and dates back to 13 July 1975.

"The second can is again 275ml Hull Brewery Nut Brown Ale: I kept this one because I really like the simplicity of the design - definitely a blast from the past.

"The final can is a 330ml can Nick West Ruby Ale - I designed this myself to celebrate my 40 years of collecting in 2015.

"I commissioned a small run of 50 cans containing a variety of different beers."

Nick, who worked in marketing until retiring in 2017, recalled the start of his beer collecting journey back when he was just a teenager.

He said: “It all started when I was 16 years old - I enjoyed collecting things like stamps but I had just become interested in drinking so married the two past times up.

“I remember at the very beginning Deborah hosted a party when we were at school and everyone thought I was weird because I went around collecting the empty cans for my collection.

“Deborah grew to resent the hobby because I had a small collection when I met her but it’s had a massive impact on our lives.''

The oldest beer can in the collection dated back to 1936.

Now, he has moved back to smaller premises with Deborah, who Nick met when he was just 16 at school.

Deborah bought him a book about beer can collecting which helped invigorate his passion for collecting.

One of the major reasons why Nick was forced to stop collecting was the boom in popularity of craft beer in cans.

For the first 40 years, he was collecting between 150 and 250 cans per year.

But after the rise in craft beers he was collecting up to 650 a year which became too much to handle.

Since then the popularity of canned craft beers has gone through the roof.

Nick estimates that there are over 1,000 new craft cans in the UK every year, making it impossible to keep up and re-affirming his decision to stop when he did.

by Jess Young

"I spent £800 taking my dog on month-long holiday around Italy - it was worth it"

By Ben Barry

A woman who spent £836 taking her dog on a month-long holiday around Italy says it was "totally worth it".

Catherine Sophie, 23, jetted to Rome, Italy, in April 2024 with her pooch Teddy, a three-year-old Maltese, in tow - for a tour of the country.

Due to the nature of her job as an actress, Catherine is often travelling between London and Glasgow and regularly takes Teddy with her.

Catherine says it "wouldn't be fair" to leave Teddy in a kennel or with her family during her month-long break - so decided to take him along for the journey.

The pair flew from Glasgow Airport on April 2 - and to adding Teddy's ticket to her flight set Catherine back £100.

The pair spent a month visiting Rome, Bari and Civitavecchia - where they visited the Vatican, Colosseum, the beach and Teddy took a ride on a Vespa

Catherine and Teddy headed back to the UK on April 30 - but as the UK doesn't allow dogs to travel in the cabin, Catherine had to fly from Rome to Amsterdam, then on to Dublin, before getting a bus to Belfast - where she got a ferry home.

Catherine, from Glasgow, Scotland, said: "I travel a lot for work and Teddy is a great companion.

"I have been really lucky, he is so well behaved.

"Because I was going by myself, he was great company for me.

"Having a dog with you means that you are getting out every day and exploring some places you might not usually."

On April 2, Catherine flew from Edinburgh Airport to Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport with KLM.

Tickets including pet fee set Catherine back £273 - alongside a passport and rabies vaccine before travel costing £130.

Catherine said: "There are a few airlines that are dog friendly and KLM is one of them.

"It is so much easier to travel with a small dog, Teddy stayed under my seat and he was only an extra £50 to £100.

"It was totally worth it."

Catherine and Teddy then spent a month travelling around Italy - visiting Rome, Bari, and Civitavecchia.

During their month in Italy, the duo stayed in dog friendly Airbnb's and Catherine got a rail card for train travel.

"It was something I have always wanted to do," Catherine said.

"I am trying to learn Italian so I thought it would be a great opportunity.

"I visited my great grandfather's war grave which is something I had always wanted to do."

When the holiday ended and Catherine returned to the UK with Teddy and the pair had a mammoth two day trek.

Catherine said she wasn't able to take Teddy in the cabin with her when she returned to the UK so she opted to take two planes, a bus and a boat back to Scotland.

She said: "We flew from Rome to Amsterdam and from there we went to Dublin.

"We then jumped on a bus from Dublin to Belfast and got a ferry back to Scotland.

"Luckily my mum, picked us up and took us home from there."

The journey home for both Catherine and Teddy set her back £442.

Catherine said the cost was completely worth it as she didn't want to leave Teddy in a kennel or with family members.

She said: "The journey there and back did go a lot smoother than I thought it would.

"My family adore Teddy but because I was going for a month it would be a lot for them to take him.

"He is my dog and my responsibility."

Total cost of travel -
- Edinburgh to Rome - £273
- Rome to Dublin - £356
- Dublin Airport to Belfast - £16
- Belfast to Cairnryan, Scotland - £61
- Pet passport and rabies jab - £130
- Total - £836

ITINERARY
- Rome, visiting the Colosseum, Vatican and sightseeing.
- Bari, where Catherine visited her great grandfather's war grave.
- Civitavecchia, where they spent time relaxing by the beach
- Rome, back to Rome to get the plane home

by Jess Young

Mum designs dress made of 210 fresh flowers!

By Emma Dunn

A mum created a "fairytale" dress - made of more than 200 fresh flowers for her daughter.

Anita Lee-Archer, 48, modelled the dress on her daughter, Bella, 18, and spent around two hours arranging different dahlias - hand-picked from her garden.

The mum-of-five created the outfit as part of her fine art degree at the University of Tasmania.

Anita decided to go back to university five years ago to pursue her dreams after being told as a child she'd never earn a living if she made a career out of art.

Now she combines her love of gardening with art - creating impressive art installations.

Anita, an artist, from Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, said: "I used bird netting and thread the flowers through the holes.

"I had seven buckets of 30 flowers.

"It turned out how I wanted it.

"It's really fun."

Anita says she was discouraged from going down an art route when she finished school and instead worked as a nurse and midwife.

She said: "I have always been a creative.

"When I finished school people always said 'you won't earn any money doing art'."

But Anita never forgot her love and when they moved to Tasmania she asked her husband, Matt, 47, a neurologist, if she could enrol in university.

She started her course in 2020 and has always loved painting flowers in particular.

Anita said: "I went back to university to fulfil my dreams.

"I really want to paint flowers. I breed different varieties and paint them.

"I have always been a gardener.

"It's nice to combine my loves.

"I was told painting flowers was boring and not exciting enough.

"But another lecturer told me 'it's your work, you need to do what you love'."

Anita created the flower dress by using bird netting and fresh flowers.

She said: "One of my dreams is to do a big public installation.

"So I started at home.

"It was really heavy. She could hardly walk.

"Initially it was going to be a strapless dress. I had to fashion straps.

"It was fun to destroy. I made her jump on the trampoline."

Anita also created an installation over her 'apple walk' - by hanging flowers from the arches and dyeing a charity shop wedding dress pink for Bella to model.

She said: "I wanted her to look surreal. It looks like she's out of a fairytale."

Anita graduates from her course at the end of this year and wants to continue creating flower-themed art.

She said: "My garden has been my solace.

"It means a lot to me being in the garden.

"I want to paint things that are beautiful."

by Jess Young

"I've modelled for Vogue and acted in Hollywood - now I'm 'coming out' as deaf"

By Hannah Van De Peer

A model who appeared in Vogue is “coming out” as deaf - after 12 years of pretending not to be.

Georgia Meacham, 30, was born “moderately” deaf and started using hearing aids on both ears at 17 months old.

Despite a happy childhood, she says she spent her entire adult life "ashamed" of her disability.

After receiving a modelling contract aged 18, she didn’t want to tell anyone she was deaf - and managed to keep the facade up for over a decade.

She even starred in major Hollywood blockbusters by lipreading her cues.

Now Georgia wants to restart her career as a role model for deaf people - and says “coming out” as disabled has been one of the best things she’s ever done.

Georgia, from Camden, west London, said: “Hiding my disability has been one of the most draining things I’ve ever done - but I’m so excited to start my new life.

“People probably look at me and think ‘tall blonde model who doesn’t have any struggles’ - but I want to show people that disability doesn’t have a certain look.

“23 per cent of women in the UK are disabled, according to the Women’s Budget Group - we need more representation in the media.

“I look at celebrities like Tasha Ghouri and Rose Ayling-Ellis and I feel like I want to be as confident as them.”

Georgia’s deafness was always accepted when she was a child.

She was so confident she even wore pink, sparkly hearing aids to school every day.

Under uniform regulations, she had to wear her hair up - which she says helped her confidence.

“When I was going through school, I was very confident,” she said.

“I was never bullied for my deafness.

“I didn’t have a chance to hide it, either, because I had to wear my hair up.

“I might’ve wanted to hide them if things had been different - but I didn’t have much choice.”

Georgia started at Queen Mary University of London in September 2011 - which is when she began to feel embarrassed of her hearing aids.

She wore her hair down to fit in with her other classmates and avoided the subject altogether when meeting new people.

“I hated the thought of mentioning my deafness,” she said.

“I didn’t know how to discuss it with new people.

“I felt like I’d disassociated myself with being deaf.”

She was scouted by a modelling agency within her first year and signed her first contract at 18.

Her career took her all over the world and she modelled for brands such as Stella McCartney, Karen Millen and Ted Baker.

Artists like Tinie Tempah, Cheryl and One Direction even snapped her up to be in their videos.

But the entire time, she was lipreading cues from photographers and directors - often having to guess what they were telling her - and keeping her disability a secret.

She said: “Modelling became a fresh chapter in my life - I wanted to re-identify myself.

“I thought hiding my hearing aids would make me a more successful model.

“I’d go to castings with my hair down - because I never saw any models with hearing aids.

“On shoots, I’d quickly take my hearing aids out and chuck them in my bag - I absolutely hated them.

“And I was just in complete denial, really. I had to guess what was being said on set all the time.”

Five years into her modelling career, Georgia began auditioning for acting roles.

She has since featured in films including ‘Bridget Jones’ Baby’ and ‘Wonder Woman: 1984’ - but says she was lipreading instructions from directors the whole time.

The long days, demanding schedules and constantly guessing what people were saying to her, gave Georgia “deafness fatigue” - and she decided she couldn’t keep it up anymore.

She said: “It was incredibly mentally exhausting, lipreading the whole time.

“Deaf people already suffer from something called ‘deafness fatigue’ - because it takes more brain power for us to hear what people are saying.

“I was working myself into the ground, trying to hide this secret of mine.”

Georgia credits deaf celebs like Rose Ayling-Ellis and Tasha Ghouri for her “awakening”.

Watching them on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and ‘Love Island’ made her want to begin embracing her deafness again.

She started therapy in June 2023, and has her first British Sign Language (BSL) class booked for this month.

The model hasn’t done any public photoshoots since deciding to “come out” as deaf - but she’s looking forward to embracing her hearing aids from now on.

She said: “I feel really determined now - to use this position to speak about deaf representation in my industries.

“There needs to be that accessibility on set - I would’ve loved an extra person with me to take notes on my cues and directions.

“When you’re casting for a TV show - don’t just have one disabled person as a tick-box exercise.

“There needs to be more of a spotlight shone on hidden disabilities, too.

“I’m so proud to reintroduce myself as a model with hearing aids.

“I feel so excited to start this new chapter as someone who embraces my disability.”

by Jess Young