313

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What a busy few weeks I’ve had!
First up was Yours Live! at
Gunton Hall, Lowestoft. Spending
time with readers is always such a joy and
with all the Christmas activities on offer
I left feeling full of festive cheer. To find
out about more about what fun we had
turn to p78 now.
Afterwards I hopped on a train to whisk
my husband
away to Paris
for his birthday. It’s only the second time
we’ve been on holiday, just the two of
us, in the last 20 years and we had a
wonderful time. We walked for miles
(28 in three days!) and then refuelled
with crêpes and croissants.
Now we’re back and Christmas is upon
us and it’s a mad rush to get everything done.
However you’re planning to spend the festive
season I hope you have a very happy, relaxing
and peaceful time.
…only when
you subscribe
See page 38
Get in
touch
See you next year…!
Write to
Yours magazine, Media House,
Peterborough Business Park,
Peterborough PE2 6EA
Sharon Reid, Editor
editor’s choice
Let’s see a festive show…
Leeds Playhouse’s
production of A
Christmas Carol
promises to be
a treat. Booking
now until Jan 19.
Tickets from £14
leedsplayhouse.org.uk
0113 213 7700
Email
yours@
bauermedia.
co.uk
Whistlestop
weekend: first
Lowestoft,
then Paris!
Enjoy Raymond
Briggs’ story The
Snowman as a
spectacular stage
show at Birmingham
Rep, Jan 16-26.
Tickets from £15
birmingham-rep.co.uk
0121 236 4455
Facebook
facebook.com/
Yoursmagazine
My all-time
favourite stage
musical Wicked
tells the story of the
witches of Oz.
Now at The Apollo
Victoria Theatre,
London.
Tickets from £22
wickedthemusical.co.uk
call 0844 871 3001
For our round up of the best shows to book in 2019, turn to page 129
Join us online…
yours.co.uk
Inside this issue…
Real life
6 2018 in pictures
25
16 ‘Our choir gave us a
voice again’
21 For the love of animals
22 ‘Lord Whisky taught
us so much’
25 An amazing year of Yours!
30 Sharing love over dinner
33 ‘I hope Mum’s poems
inspire others’
18
Star chat
12 Cover Meryl Streep: ‘We
all need magic in our lives’
18 Life lessons with
Engelbert Humperdinck
26 Anita Dobson: ‘The story
that’s still so inspiring’
34 Cover Sheridan Smith
36 We say goodbye to…
126 Our pick of the best TV!
Your best life now!
45
41 Cover Bedtime best buys
42 Cover Winter warmers
45 Youth-boosting festive foods
46 Cover Home-grown
beauty heroes
48 Spread some happiness
Good to know
54 Cover The secret to shopping
the sales…
57 Reclaim money from
your energy bill
58
58 Cover Keep calm and
carry on!
Nostalgia
82 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
88 Our first dolls!
73
Leisure time
65 Cover Mary Berry’s
fuss-free classics
70 Useful crafty makes
73 Crochet a cushion cover
104 Cover Holiday like a queen!
Your favourites
8 Meeting Place WIN
76 Short story cleaning
93 Roy Hudd
products!
95 Free for every
p118
reader offer
97 Friends of Yours
107 Carers in touch
113 Puzzles to test you &
prizes to win
130 Horoscopes and
what’s in our next issue!

looking good
Eat
yourself
beautiful
Munch on these top five Christmas foods
and you’ll look and feel fantastic, says
Beauty Editor Michelle Nightingale
pics: jump photo, alamy stock photo, shutterstock
1
Let’s talk turkey
The star of the show, turkey, is packed with protein,
which is essential for our general wellbeing
and is a vital beauty booster, too. Collagen
is a structural protein that acts like
building blocks in our skin, giving it
strength and bounce. Collagen
production declines as we get
older and, as a result, the skin
loses some of its ability to
spring back and so wrinkles
start to form. Turkey is
also a source of iron –
essential for shiny locks
– and zinc, which keeps
nails and hair strong.
3 Not just
for reindeers
Go nuts
2If you’re a vegetarian, opting for
a nut roast means you’ll be enjoying lots
of amazing skin-boosting benefits. Nuts are
packed full of essential fatty acids, copper, zinc
and Vitamins A, C and E. Combined, these work
together to protect and nourish your skin, as well
as delivering a youthful glow-boost! Walnuts,
pecans, hazelnuts, cashews and Brazil nuts are
all good choices. Brazil nuts, in particular,
are an excellent source of selenium. This
important mineral helps fight ageing
free radicals – making it an
anti-ageing hero!
Skin-loving
stocking staples
Aldi might just be on to
Find this yummy fruit in
something with its Kevin
your Christmas stocking
the Carrot Christmas
and you can say goodbye
ads, because he really
to lacklustre skin and hello to
is a hero of the veg
4
I should cocoa
youthful radiance! Rich in essential
world. Carrots are
For beauty benefits you can see,
nutrients including Vitamins C and
packed with healthboosting
nutrients
antioxidants that increase blood
against damage, but they also help remove
munch on dark chocolate. Full of E, these clever antioxidants not only protect
and are a great source flow and promote glowing skin, they
toxins for skin that’s healthier and looks
of beta carotene.
also help your skin fight off ageing
clearer. They even help boost collagen
Beta carotene,
free radicals and protect against
production and reduce the appearance
which converts
UV damage. This feel-good treat
of age spots and pigmentation. Plus,
into Vitamin A or
can also help lower stress levels
a high-water content means that
retinol, encourages by boosting mood-enhancing
clementines hydrate you from
firmer, plumper skin. neurotransmitters. Buy chocolate
the inside out and will help plump
Research shows that with at least 70 per cent cocoa
the skin, reducing the
the important nutrients to really reap the rewards.
appearance of wrinkles.
found in carrots help
protect the skin from
45 UV damage.
545
YOURS n EVERY FORTNIGHT

From weather extremes to Harry
and Meghan’s beautiful wedding,
we take a look back in photos at
some of the most momentous
moments from 2018
What a
n With snow drifts and plummeting temperatures, we all
felt the big freeze when the Beast from the East caused
chaos in February and March (above). In contrast, the
summer brought some of the hottest temperatures for
decades, which saw fields so parched, the outlines of many
forgotten ancient and historic ruins were revealed (below)
DID YOU KNOW The summer of 2018 saw
a six-week spell from the end of June
to the second week of August when
daytime temperatures in parts of the
country consistently topped 30°C (86°F)
n With World Cup fever in the
air this summer, we all fell in
love with the England manager
Gareth Southgate and his
fetching collection of waistcoats
6
YOURS n EVERY FORTNIGHT

a year…
in the picture
n Moving tributes
helped to mark
the centenary of
Armistice Day,
from the cascading
poppies of the
Imperial War
Museum, London
(left) to the amazing
portraits of soldiers
drawn on beaches
around the country
(above), created
by the filmmaker
Danny Boyle
n From Harry and
Meghan’s magical
May wedding (left)
to Prince Charles’
70th birthday
(marked with a
lovely photo shoot
above), it’s been
an exciting year
for the royals, who
also welcomed little
Prince Louis into the
family this April
n It was congratulations
to Sir Cliff Richard who,
after an incredibly
difficult few years,
marked 60 years in
showbusiness with a new
album and tour. Pictured
right, Sir Cliff in 1958.
n It was a thrilling moment (captured
above) as NASA announced their
robotic spacecraft had touched down
on Mars this November 26. It’s now
exploring the secrets of the red planet
YOURS n EVERY FORTNIGHT
7
PICs: HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND, ALAMY STOCK PHOTO, GETTY
IMAGES, CHRIS JACKSON/AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK, CAMERA PRESS/ED/CE

From icons of the screen
to music legends, we
remember, with a heavy
heart, the famous faces we’ve
sadly parted with this year
We said goo
Soul queen
Aretha Franklin
and preacher
Billy Graham
Fenella Fielding
By Katharine Wootton
I
Say a Little Prayer was the
incredible song Aretha Franklin
gave the world and when she sadly
passed away on August 16. And
that’s exactly what thousands of
mourning fans did: say a little prayer for
a lady who was known as the Queen of
Soul. Having faced a brave battle with
pancreatic cancer, Aretha left behind
not only legendary tunes sung in her
formidable voice, including Respect,
A Natural Woman and Think, but also
a legacy of civil rights activism.
Another American icon we
lost was the Reverend Billy
Graham at the age of 99 on
February 21. From his early life on
a dairy farm in Carolina, Billy grew
up to be one of the world’s most
influential preachers, counselling
every US president from Harry
Truman to Barack Obama. He also
had close relationships with the
likes of Sir Winston Churchill and
the Queen.
Over in the world of TV, in
September we parted with Fenella
Fielding, the
Carry On
actress who
never failed
to make
us giggle.
Having started out in Shakespeare and
Ibsen, she soon discovered a knack
for comedy to play Valeria, the camp
vamp star of Carry On Screaming, who,
with her huge wig, claw-like lashes and
Morticia Addams look, became the
ultimate Sixties femme fatale.
And who can forget Sir Ken Dodd
who passed away in March? From the
Diddy Men to his famously lengthy
shows that went on well into the night,
how tickled we were by the boy from
Knotty Ash who had one of the longest
careers in comedy.
One comedy actress with a
tragically all-too-short career was
Emma Chambers, best known for
playing ditsy Alice Tinker in The Vicar
of Dibley, who passed away aged just
53 from natural causes in February.
Whether she was preparing her
Tellytubby-themed wedding or left
bewildered by Geraldine’s jokes, she
made us laugh until our bellies hurt.
Meanwhile, John Mahoney, the
Blackpool-born actor best known
for his part in the US sitcom Frasier
passed away on February 4 at the age
of 77. Having emigrated to the United
States at the age of 18, we loved him
as Frasier’s beloved dad Martin Crane,
who stayed with the show for its entire
11-year run.
Talking of loveable characters, we
were so sad to hear that Bill Maynard,
PICs: rex shutterstock, alamy stock photo, getty images, bbc
36
YOURS n EVERY FORTNIGHT
From left: Vicar of Dibley actress Emma
Chambers, Sir Ken Dodd, film heartthrob Burt
Reynolds and Frasier actor John Mahoney

we remember
odbye to…
better known as Greengrass from the
Sixties nostalgia drama Heartbeat, had
died at the age of 89 this March.
Bill started life as one of the first
ever British stand-up comics, before
switching to acting later, playing Alf
Garnett’s neighbour in Till Death Us
Do Part and in six of the later Carry On
films.
In the world of children’s
television, we lost Geoffrey
Hayes, the ever-cheerful
host of Rainbow who was in
charge of keeping the likes of
his friends Zippy, Bungle and
George in line.
Over 20 years and almost
1,000 episodes, he made
the lunchtime TV show,
created as a British version of
Sesame Street, a must-watch
for millions of
pre-schoolers.
On the silver screen,
Hollywood heartthrob Burt
Reynolds died in September
aged 82. He shot to fame
in 1972’s Deliverance, becoming a
Hollywood legend with his roles
in Smokey and the Bandit, The
Cannonball Run and Boogie Nights.
Actress Margot Kidder, who played
go-getting reporter Lois Lane in
Superman films, died aged 69 in May.
As Lois, she was smart and sassy, not
Bill Maynard
Katie Boyle
suffering fools and, when she
got together with Christopher
Reeve’s Superman, it was movie
magic, especially at the end when
Superman sacrificed his powers
to live with her as a mortal.
From the superhuman to
the super-glamorous, we said
goodbye to the evervivacious
Katie Boyle
in March. While best
known as the compere
of the Eurovision Song
Contest, she was also
a successful model for
among others, Camay
soap commercials, a
game show regular and
agony aunt, in between
her animal rights
activism, appearing
everywhere on TV and
radio at her peak.
And an icon of the
Fifties and Sixties Babs
Beverley, one third of
the sister group the
Beverley Sisters, passed away this
November. Famous for dressing in
identical clothes, they gave us the
likes of Little Drummer Boy and I Saw
Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, making
the Guinness Book of Records in 2002
as the world’s longest surviving vocal
group without a line-up change.
Rainbow presenter
Geoffrey Hayes
Margot Kidder as Lois Lane
with Superman actor, the
late Christopher Reeve
And not
forgetting…
n TV presenter
Dale Winton
n Physicist Professor
Stephen Hawking
n Sir Roger Bannister
n Singer Charles Aznavour
n Writer Denis Norden
n Peggy Sue actress
Barbara Harris
n Clangers creator
Peter Firmin
n Bay City Roller
Alan Longmuir
n Jason King actor Peter
Wyngarde
n Blake’s 7 actress
Jacqueline Pearce
n Eunice Gayson, the
first ever Bond girl
n Chas Hodges, from
Chas and Dave
n Bullseye host Jim Bowen
n Barry Chuckle, of the
Chuckle Brothers
n Little House on the
Prairie actress Katherine
MacGregor (Mrs Oleson)
n Steptoe and Son writer
Ray Galton
n Buzzcocks singer
Pete Shelley
Babs, one third of the famous singing
Beverley Sisters, sadly passed away
in November, aged 91
YOURS n EVERY FORTNIGHT
37

As the truly scrumptious 1968 film
celebrates its 50th anniversary,
Katharine Wootton uncovers the
surprising ‘fantasmagorical’ facts
behind the much-loved movie musical
Julie Andrews was the
first choice for Truly
Scrumptious but she turned
the role down, saying it
was too close to her Mary
Poppins character so instead, they
cast Sally Ann Howes, who had
previously replaced Julie Andrews
in the Broadway production of My
Fair Lady
Dick Van Dyke repeatedly
refused to join the cast, too,
believing the script had too many
holes and unanswered questions,
but a big salary eventually made
him say yes on the stipulation
he didn’t have to reprise the
questionable English accent he’d
grappled with in Mary Poppins!
The production team agreed and
the character of Caractacus Potts
was transformed into an eccentric
American inventor
As for Grandpa Potts, loveable
Lionel Jeffries was the obvious
choice, although being a year
younger than his onscreen son,
Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang…
we love you
3 weeks, 38 dancers, 40
singers, 85 musicians and
100 dogs – that’s what it
took to film the musical
number Toot Sweets!
PICS: warfield/united artists/kobal/rex/shutterstock, alamy stock photo
82
Dick Van Dyke, the production
team had to apply prosthetic makeup
to make him look older!
Dick Van Dyke insisted
Benny Hill should join
the cast as toymaker.
He also asked Benny
to make some rewrites
to the script, although
Benny was never
credited for them.
Professor of nonsense
language and comedian,
Stanley Unwin, starred in Chitty as
the Chancellor of Vulgaria.
YOURS n EVERY FORTNIGHT
Backstage secrets
Chitty was the place where two icons of the screen, Dick Van
Dyke and Benny Hill, would form a lasting friendship. During
down-time, the two could always be found embroiled in lengthy
conversations about their favourite actors, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and
Hardy. Dick reportedly didn’t get on with the director Ken Hughes, who
was more similar to the Child Catcher in personality and would shout and
curse in front of the child actors, which Dick would yell at him for.

etro favourites
Fine, four-fendered
friend...
The car may have been the
star, coining her name from
the sound she makes, but what
you saw on screen was actually
seven different Chittys.
One had wings, one had a
hovercraft, one was the ‘junk’
version from the scrapyard
and just one was a fullyfunctional
roadworthy model
which Dick Van Dyke claimed,
“was difficult to manoeuvre,
with the turning radius of a
battleship”. After the movie,
Pierre Picton, Dick Van Dyke’s
stand-in driver for the film,
bought two Chittys and over
the years had countless offers
to buy them, including one
from Michael Jackson, but in
the end he sold one to Lord
of the Rings director Sir Peter
Jackson who still uses the car
for charity drives.
The colours of Chitty’s
inflatable cushion when she
floats – purple, green and
white – were the colours of
the suffrage movement
Where was it filmed?
The Potts’ Windmill was filmed at Cobstone mill in Ibstone (below
left), Buckinghamshire. The windmill hadn’t worked since the First
World War but was fitted with mock sails and a fantail for the film.
The scenes where Caractacus and the children drive Chitty through
a village were also filmed in Buckinghamshire, handily near Roald
Dahl’s home. The beach scenes where
Chitty takes to the water were shot in
Saint-Tropez, France. Baron Bomburst’s
Castle is actually Neuschwanstein Castle
(below centre), originally built for ‘The
Mad King of Bavaria’ in the late 1800s.
This castle was also the inspiration for
Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle
in Disneyland. Scrumptious Sweet Co.
factory was filmed in Kempton Waterworks in Hanworth (below right)
which now houses the Kempton Steam Museum.
Don’t miss...
Read more about the making of Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang and other classic movie
motor cars in the latest issue of Yours Retro.
Plus discover the stories behind Natalie
Wood’s troubled childhood and Elvis’s close
bond with his mother, or remember Britain’s
own rock ’n’ roll star, Billy Fury and the cult
TV show The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
While Bond author
Ian Fleming wrote
the book for Chitty,
Roald Dahl wrote the
screenplay, adding in
Baron Bomburst and
the Child Catcher
Out now!
YOURS n EVERY FORTNIGHT
The making of a
Child Catcher
World-famous dancer
Robert Helpmann made
his character the Child
Catcher look even more
terrifying (it was the stuff
of childhood nightmares)
by taking out his false
teeth to make his face
look gaunt and pinched.
The good news, though,
is that he was reportedly
nothing like his character
in real life as Heather
Ripley, who played
Jemima once said, “Robert
was the least scary person
I have ever met. He was
a sweet and charming
gentleman.”
EXTRA FOR YOU
n Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang: The
50th Anniversary
is out now on DVD
and Blu-Ray and we
have five DVDs to
give away. To stand
a chance of winning,
send a postcard
marked Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang DVD to
Box 57, Coates PE7
2FF by January 4.
If you don’t wish
to receive further
information from
Yours, write
No Further Contact
on your card
83

feeling great
Bottom’s up
Enjoy a drink or two this Christmas without worrying that you’ve drunk too
much – simply tot up your units with our handy cut-out-and-keep guide
A
quick sherry to celebrate
the season of good
cheer, a glass of bubbly
to ring in the New Year or
an after-dinner Irish cream,
whatever your drink of choice
we all indulge more at this time
of year than any other. While
a few drinks every now and
then are unlikely to do you any
lasting damage, we all know
that drinking too much too
often could increase your risk
of health problems such as high
blood pressure, heart disease,
diabetes and liver problems. So
how much is too much?
The UK’s chief medical officer
recently changed the low risk
drinking guidelines based
on the latest research into
how alcohol affects our
long-term health. It’s now
recommended that both
men and women drink
no more than 14 units a
week – but what exactly
does 14 units look like and
how many units are in your
favourite drink?
Here’s how some of our favourites measure up…
A small
(125ml) glass
of wine
(13% alcohol)
A medium
(175ml) glass
of wine
(13% alcohol)
What does
14 units
a week look
like?
A large
(250ml) glass
of wine
(13% alcohol)
6 pints of 4% beer
6 medium glasses
of 13% wine
A glass
(125ml) of
sparkling wine
(12% alcohol)
1.6 units 2.3 units 3.2 units 1.5 units
A glass (50ml)
of sherry
(17% alcohol
Top tip
It’s easy to drink more
than you mean to when
pouring drinks at home.
Decanting it into a
measuring jug first will
help you stay on top
of your units
A pint (568ml)
of beer
(4% alcohol)
A small bottle
(330ml) of beer
(5% alcohol)
A pint (568ml)
of cider
(4.5% alcohol)
0.9 units 2.3 units 1.6 units 2.6 units
A measure (25ml) of
rum, gin or vodka
(40% alcohol)
A glass (50ml)
of whiskey
(40% alcohol)
1 unit 2 units
Irish cream
liqueur (50ml)
(17% alcohol)
0.8 units
14x25ml
measures of
a 40% spirit
Have a day off
If you need to cut down on your
drinking, try to have several
alcohol-free days a week
50
YOURS n EVERY FORTNIGHT
pic: shutterstock