The iconic Buxton International Festival returns
This summer, the internationally renowned BIF returns to the peaks for another stellar year. For almost 50 years, BIF has brought world class performances to Buxton, including opera, music, literature and jazz. It's a unique chance to get out of the city and into the stunning scenery of the high peak for a cultural summer escape. Eat, drink, watch and be merry, then hop on the train back to Sheffield.
This year's programme includes La traviata, The Merry Widow, The Hallé and an appearance from Guardian columnists John Crace. With 160 events from 9th to 26th July, you're bound to find something you'll love. To see the full line up, click below.
Katie Shipley, 53, has lived in her charming, four-bedroom home on Barkers Road in Nether Edge for 20 years. So, when she got a letter last year from a company called Tixerbon offering to sell her the freehold for £2,500, she ignored it. Then, a few weeks ago, in early March, she got another, this time asking for £3,500. This letter was hand-delivered, but Katie didn’t see the person who dropped it through her letterbox.
Upon opening her front door, she saw something that gave her a shock: a large “FOR SALE” sign thrust into the flower bed in her front garden. “I was furious,” she recalls.
It wasn’t just Katie Shipley who received a letter. Tanya Saunders, 50, who lives just a few doors further down Barkers Road, also received a letter around the same time, although no for sale sign ever appeared. Tanya’s letter, dated 5 March, was from a firm called Watt & Sorensen, and contained a questionnaire asking for all kinds of detailed information about her house. It requested the house’s insurance documents, its Environmental Performance Certificate (EPC) and Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) information. They also wanted to know when the outside of the house was last painted, and whether the house or garden had been changed in any way.
Most worryingly, the letter said a “compliance inspection” would need to be carried out. This inspection was to check that no unauthorised alterations had been made, that fire safety requirements were being met, that no “hazardous conditions” existed and that the property was being maintained in a good condition. “Inspections usually take 15-20 minutes and are non-intrusive,” the letter continued. “Inspectors will not move personal belongings or access private non-relevant areas.” After owning a house for well over a decade, Tanya says the prospect of someone coming in to check that they were maintaining it was a surprise to say the least. “It felt intimidating,” she says. “I was really concerned they were going to try to get into my home.”
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