Siobhán Norton

“We treat the wine like a baby,” says Jessica, as she fills a glass with precision. “We take care of everything.” Of course, parents can’t have favourites, but as I take a sip, I find myself immediately charmed by the …

The Costa del Sol has the dubious honour of being the location of my first ever teenage package holiday without the parents. Two weeks of lurid-green alcopops, full Englishes, bad karaoke, kissing unsuitable boys and general naffness. I wore too …

When’s the last time you really got away from it all? I wasn’t exactly offline on a visit to Croatia at the weekend, checking emails, posting to Instagram. But I stumbled upon a helpful reminder to unplug. “We don’t take …

We all know the adverts. Woman, usually dressed in cream trousers or tennis whites, looking delighted to leap about the place with a cheesy grin, because “thanks to [sanitary brand], having my period doesn’t mean missing out”. Nice idea, but …

A friend once told me that her birthday treat is a night away in a hotel. “Lovely, so you and your partner can have a little getaway?” I asked. “Oh, no. He’s looking after the kids. I just want to …

It’s all about the long game at Alladale. While the 23,000-acre wilderness reserve looks incredibly wild to my urbanised eye, it’s only a baby as far as the grand plan is concerned. Almost a million trees have been planted here, …

It might surprise people who know me to learn that I’m a lapsed football fan. In school, I shouted for Liverpool and adored Phil Babb, and Jamie Redknapp, and Paul Ince. I even collected the damn Panini stickers. But I …

The stylish polished-wood studio tucked away on a back street in North London seems an unlikely spot for the workout branded among Hollywood’s toughest. There’s no terrifying Crossfit equipment here, no barbells or rigs or treadmills, just some dinky little …

The world of fitness can be an annoyingly chirpy one, increasingly saturated with 20-year-old former reality TV stars offering vague platitudes about “motivation Mondays” and “fitspo” – fitness inspiration. It’s a world Svava Sigbertsdottir has little patience with. “Argh, fitspo,” …

“If there is no challenge, there is no change!” I hear whoops and cheers from the semi-darkness, as 63 pairs of eyes gaze up at the candlelit altar. Everyone who is here is clearly intent on “becoming the change”, and …

When to go December to March is Rio’s high season – prices are at their highest between Christmas and New Year – but prices fall after Easter, the beaches are less crowded and the weather is still hot, if more …

Where I come from, the phrase “you’re looking well” has various meanings as you progress through life. In your teens, it’s the highest of compliments from a bashful beau, blushing to his temples as he stares fiercely at the ground. …

Ryan Riley has a contacts book that most culinary professionals would give their eye teeth for. The 25-year-old rubs shoulders with Nigella Lawson, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver, all of whom are championing his new cookery school. Yet he isn’t …

As I sit cross-legged, eyes closed, I can hear the rain gently falling. I concentrate on my breath – in, out, in, out. It’s not long before my mind wanders – to work, to plans for later, replaying a conversation …

It’s not unusual for a man of the cloth to embark on a pilgrimage. But when Peter Owen Jones embarked on his latest project, to scale the equivalent of Everest without leaving England, it was perhaps more of a spiritual …

“Would you like to walk with us?” Some friendly-looking hikers are adjusting their backpacks and slapping on sun cream. I decline cheerfully, marching off down the path before, minutes later, saluting the group sheepishly as I retrace my steps. It …

If Zeddy Rotich is feeling impatient, she isn’t letting on. It’s Sunday morning, and she’s due at church soon – her neighbour, Esther, is already waiting, dressed in blue with a string of pearls around her neck. Rotich’s children, also …

I must have the best seat in the house. Sitting by the window in Ekeberg restaurant, I can see almost all of Oslo and its inner fjord. Below, the city twinkles serenely. Snow is still frozen hard on the ground, …

An executive at one of the world’s biggest medical cannabis companies has said he will fund treatment for a British child with epilepsy, as the NHS continues to fail to prescribe the potentially life-saving treatment. It comes as parents increasingly …

It’s not long after lunch and the room is busy, filled with people sitting at tables laden with glasses of wine. But there’s no bawdy chat, no laughter or clinking of glasses – almost everyone is silent, tapping away at …