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ONE of Britain’s oldest people has turned 110, saying her long life is thanks to friends...and onions. Daisy Bastin puts her longevity down to the combination, saying: “I am very lucky in my life to have had such loyal friends and to still be in good health.” She added home cooking with fresh onions had helped too. She said: “They keep me going. They’re good for the skin too.” Mrs Bastin, of Glastonbury, Somerset, was born on May 3, 1908, in Devon as one of seven children. She met her husband Alf in 1933 and they were happily married for...

Glastonbury Festival has started off with hours of queuing as festival-goers face tightened security measures in the wake of three terrorist attacks in the past month in the UK. Organisers advised ticket-holders to "pack light" for this year's event in light of extra searches before people were let onto the site. Punters were forced to join queues half a mile long within an hour of the gates opening at 7am on Wednesday – an hour earlier than planned – with reports from seasoned attendees saying they had "never seen" queues like it.

HARTFORD— — A judge on Friday allowed two Glastonbury men, accused two years ago of sexually assaulting two of their nine adopted boys, to withdraw their no-contest pleas and take their cases to trial. The unusual action came during what was to be a sentencing hearing for George Harasz and Douglas Wirth, who entered pleas in January to one felony count each of risk of injury to a minor. They agreed to suspended prison sentences. The only issue for Friday's hearing was to be whether each would be required to register as sex offenders. But a new allegation of sexual...

"Standing proudly on the side of an English hill, its religious roots go back 2,000 years. But a single night of vandalism has left an ancient site of pilgrimage in splinters. The Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury has been chopped down in what is being seen by some as a deliberately anti-Christian act. A feature of the skyline surrounding the Somerset town, the tree has been visited by thousands retracing the steps said to have been taken by Joseph of Arimathea, who some say was Jesus’ great uncle. Legend says it sprang from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, the...

2,000-year-old Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury is cut down Vandals have destroyed one of the most celebrated Christian pilgrimage sites in Britain and chopped down a tree said to have sprouted from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea 2,000 years ago. The Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury, Somerset, is visited by thousands every year to pay homage and leave tokens of worship. Those visiting today were moved to tears on finding the tree cut to a stump. The sacred tree is unique in that it blossoms twice a year - at Christmas and Easter - and sprigs taken from the...

Thunderstorms and torrential rain were today threatening to turn this year’s Glastonbury Festival into a wash-out. Thousands of music fans arriving at the Worthy Farm site in Somerset last night were greeted with heavy downpours and even lightning as the glorious sunshine came to an abrupt end. Weather forecasters have warned an expected crowd of around 150,000 to prepare for a mud bath – as rain threatens to waterlog the site and turn camp sites into bogs. Festival organiser Michael Eavis said he was keeping his fingers crossed that there would be no repeat of the infamous mudfest of 1997....

A SERMON PREACHED ON CHRISTMAS EVE, 1995 IN ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, BY THE RECTOR, THE REV. DR. LEANDER S. HARDING This night I would like to tell you a story. This story is not from Scripture but from the folk ways of our Anglican Tradition. It is one those stories that is impossible to verify. It is not, as they say, one of those things necessary to salvation. But it is a story that has warmed the hearts of the faithful for generations and I want to share it with you. It is a story about someone...

Almost 25,000 people had sex at this year's Glastonbury Festival. A survey by music weekly NME found 22% of the 112,000 attendance had sex. Of those, 56% did it on Friday night - and were too tired to do it the next day when just 6% romped. Many couples couldn't wait until the official opening day of the three-day event, with 17% having sex on the Thursday, says The Sun. Sunday saw 13% get saucy and 8% had post-festival sex on the Monday. The magazine says 71,000 festival-goers saw others naked at the Somerset site - and 65,000 admitted taking...