Support 100 years of independent journalism.

  1. World
  2. UK
22 June 2022

This England: Hot-hoofing it

This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain – has run in the NS since 1934.

By New Statesman

The winner of the gruelling Man versus Horse Marathon has revealed he had been awake for 29 hours before the event after flying from Tenerife to Powys, Wales, to claim victory.

Trail runner Ricky Lightfoot became only the third person to win the race since it started in 1980. Crossing the line, the 6ft 4in athlete discovered he’d won against 1,000 runners and 50 horses, with a time of two hours, 22 minutes and 23 seconds.

He took home £3,500 after beating the first horse by more than two minutes on the 22.5-mile course. The 37-year-old Cumbrian said winning was “pretty good, like”.
BBC Wales (Daragh Brady)

[See also: This England: Story of my life]

Nose for trouble

A thief stole three bottles of perfume after stopping in the town of Cockermouth, west Cumbria, because he “found the name funny”, a Workington magistrates’ court heard. 
The Cumberland News (Janet Mansfield)

Select and enter your email address Quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team. The New Statesman’s global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday. Your new guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture each weekend - from the New Statesman. A weekly newsletter helping you fit together the pieces of the global economic slowdown. A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. The New Statesman’s weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates.
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

[See also: This England: Better late than never]

Content from our partners
Supporting customers through the cost of living crisis
Data on cloud will change the way you interact with the government
Defining a Kodak culture for the future

A lucrative cut

An Oasis fan is in line for a payout after blades of grass he collected from a Liam Gallagher gig attracted bids of more than £65,000 on eBay.

David Watson, 35, put the listing up as a joke while hungover following the rock star’s show at Knebworth House. But the lot has reached an eye-watering sum after more than 100 bids were submitted.

The designer, from the West Midlands, hopes to buy a bouncy-castle business if the winner pays out, but admitted: “It might be people having a wind-up.”
Metro (Jenny Woodhouse)

Each printed entry receives a £5 book token. Entries to comp@newstatesman.co.uk or on a postcard to This England.

[See also: What is “Britishness” – and does it still matter? With Gary Younge, Jeremy Deller and Jason Cowley]

This article appears in the 22 Jun 2022 issue of the New Statesman, Britain isn’t working