Sunday Mercury

Messing About On Water ; the Floodwaters Have Receded and the Lake District Is, by and Large, Back in Business. Judith Phillips Takes a Weekend Break to Rekindle Childhood Memories of the Area.

THE last time I visited the southern end of the Lake District I was a 12 year-old schoolgirl on holiday with her parents. So I was anxious to see whether this beautiful corner of England had changed in the many intervening years.

Inside

Castle in the Blair ; the Hogmanay Celebrations Are Just Over, so Now's the Time to Be Planning Your Scottish Holiday. Aranda Rahbarkouhi Stays in a Family Lodge Within the Grounds of a Famous Castle.

IT COULD have been the perfect romantic, Scottish honeymoon in an enchanting and heavenly holiday cabin. But for the sake of family unity, my new husband Hossein and I opted to take my teenage son - and cousin Esi, too.

Life in the Slow Lane ; Life's Tough in Credit Crunch Britain, so When It Comes to Holidays Debra Greenhouse Lives to Unwind and Relax - and Where Better Than in Cornwall?

IT was Auntie Eileen who woke me from my reverie. "There's a man in that tree, with an Egyptian hat on."

The Grand Old Sights of Yorkshire ; It's Famous for Strong Tea and Rural Soap Shenanigans. But There's More to Yorkshire Than That, As Francesca Craggs Discovers.

IF there are two great loves in a girl's life, they have to be shopping and food. With some of the UK's finest restaurants and a city where you can shop till you drop, where better to get a fix of both than Yorkshire? So with sports car and friend at the ready, we set off on a girly weekend to discover if there was more to the county than tea and Emmerdale.

Wave Riders ; While You're Surfing the Net, Why Not Consider Surfing for Real? Katy Simpson Hits the Beaches of North Devon.

WHEN you live in the land- H locked Midlands, the sea has a great pull on holidaymakers. Little wonder, then, that Devon is a firm favourite with families from the heart of England.

Out with a Bang ; 7heaven Treat of the Week

FOR the final time on Channel 4, a group of celebrities and a few names we have barely heard of will be locked up in a house for our entertainment. The last-ever series of Celebrity Big Brother promises to be the best yet, as the franchise aims to go out with a bang.

Pick of the Flicks 7 to Watch

SUNDAY: The Simpsons Movie (Channel 4, 7.15pm). This is the network premiere of a film which is best viewed on TV, as it's really just a good episode stretched out to 88 minutes. Homer gets a pig as a pet and President Arnold Schwarzenegger seals in Springfield in a giant dome. MONDAY: Death Defying Acts (BBC2, 8.30pm). Escapologist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) arrives in Scotland in 1926 offering pounds 10,000 to whoever can put him in touch with his dear departed mother. Psychic con woman Cat...

Keeping Mum

Toughest Show

In at Deep End

Get Your Skates On

TALK about milking it! ITV discovered that stretching the X Factor over three hours or more of TV on Saturday and Sunday nights did wonders for ratings and advertising revenues. So now they hope to do the same with the new series of Dancing On Ice. Not content with the normal Sunday show, they're also introducing a new Friday night programme.

Sport 7 to Watch

SUNDAY: Live Darts (Sky Sports 1, 7pm). Alexandra Palace in London provides the setting for one remaining night of drama in the 2010 PDC World Championship by means of the thirdplace play-off and the final. MONDAY: Live Test Cricket (Sky Sports 1, 8am). South Africa and England contest the second day of the Third Test, held at Newlands in Cape Town. England's last match here five years ago resulted in a convincing defeat but they are on much better form now.

Drama 7 to Watch

ABOVE SUSPICION, ITV1, Monday to Wednesday, 9pm: Lynda La Plante's detective drama returns for another three-part case, reuniting DC Anna Travis (Kelly Reilly) with her boss, DCI James Langton (Ciaran Hinds). It's her most challenging case yet as the body of a young woman is discovered by the Thames, mutilated and drained of blood - seemingly a chilling re-enactment of the infamous unsolved murder from 1940s Los Angeles dubbed The Black Dahlia. AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT, ITV1, Sunday, 8pm: Wit...

Norse Code for Top Drama

7 Things You Never Knew About ...

1 Born Kenneth Charles Branagh on December 10 1960 in Belfast, his family - his father was a joiner - moved to Reading when he was nine to escape The Troubles. 2 He soon adopted an English accent to avoid being bullied, but c had to revert back to his native Irish for his big TV break, as Billy in three BBC Plays For Today set in Belfast. At 23 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and became the youngest actor in RSC history to play Henry V. Then he formed his own troupe, the Renaissance T...

Cat Got Cream

Anna's Diet Bid

F for Fabulous

F FOR FABULOUS IT'S much shows. GORDON Ramsay takes over TV this week, with the two semi-finals and final of his F Word contest to find the Best Local Restaurant. Midlanders should be rooting for Birmingham's Lasan indian restaurant and chef Aktar Islam, who we think could do well.

Eastenders

SHE was last seen disappearing under the wheels of a lorry as DCI Grace Barraclough in Emmerdale, but now Glynis Barber joins the cast of EastEnders - as Ronnie and Roxy's mum. She is Archie's ex, Glenda (does she insist on having names beginning with G?) but hasn't seen her girls since they were teenagers. She turns up with the shocking news that she was still married to Archie when he died. Which means his mar-r riage to Peggy is void and the Mitchells might not be able to get the Vic back....