Rescue is best

RESCUE IS BEST We have teamed up with Battersea Dog and Cats home - Brands Hatch to bring you regular listings of animals requiring rehoming.

Name: Jack; Breed: Parson Russell Terrier; Sex: Male; Age: 9 years 12 months; Centre: Brands Hatch; Reference: 385734

Meet our sweet Jack! Although he is already 9 years old, he has the energy and spirit of a youngster. He is a lovely boy who instantly makes friends with everyone he greets. Jack has got a sensitive side as well and he will need a lot of patience and understanding to help him settle into a new home. He can be worried around household appliances and can be vocal and destructive too. His new family will need to offer him a lot love and reassurance to help building his confidence around the household and teach him some good manners via positive training. Jack also is very fond of his toys and he doesn’t always like sharing them, especially with other dogs, so his new owners will need to be mindful of that and learn how to manage the behaviour at home and when out and about. Jack loves his food and he is a quick learner. With his sweet and lively nature will never be bored again!

Battersea has introduced a new rehoming process to take into account social distancing rules. As a result, the charity is prioritising existing rehoming applications and those who have a home set up that enables safe and social distancing delivery.

For more information, please visit www.battersea.org.uk

SPORTING ROUNDUP

Leeds United is back in the Premier League for the first time since 2004, confirming their promotion to England’s top flight next season with two games to spare. Leeds are one of England’s biggest clubs, with their legion of fanatical fans following them around the country and regularly attracting home crowds of over 30,000 despite years of underachievement. Their manager, Marcelo Bielsa, has earned iconic status in west Yorkshire after the Leeds boss finally put his club back on the football map. Now they can look forward to renewing old rivalries with Manchester United and Chelsea next season.

The Ballon d’Or for the world’s best players will not be awarded in 2020 because of a “lack of sufficient fair conditions” created by the coronavirus pandemic. The prize has been awarded by France Football every year since 1956. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi won the men’s prize last year, with USA forward Megan Rapinoe claiming the women’s trophy. England’s Stanley Matthews was the first winner of the award when it was the European Footballer of the Year. Upcoming events in August include:

1: Football - FA Cup final, Wembley Stadium 1: Cricket - County season to start 3: Tennis - WTA tour set to resume 5-9: Cricket - England v Pakistan 1st Test, Old Trafford 6-9: Golf - US PGA Championship, TPC Harding Park, San Francisco 7-9: Formula 1 - 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, Silverstone 13-17: Cricket - England v Pakistan 2nd Test, Ageas Bowl, Southampton 14: Rugby Union - Premierships season resumes with Harlequins v Sale 14: Athletics - Diamond League, Monaco 14-16: Formula 1 - Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Barcelona 18-19: Football - Champions League semi-finals, Lisbon 21: Football - Europa League final, Cologne 21-25: Cricket - England v Pakistan 3rd Test, Ageas Bowl, Southampton 22: Boxing - Dillian Whyte defends his WBC interim heavyweight world title against Alexander Povetkin 23: Football - Champions League final, Lisbon 28-30: Formula 1 - Belgian Grand Prix, SpaFrancorchamps 29 Aug-20 Sept: Cycling - Tour de France 31 Aug-13 Sept: Tennis - US Open, New York 41

WWW.JUST-EAT.CO.UK/RESTAURANTS-THECHURCHYARD-TEA-ROOM-NEW-DARTFORD

ONLINE THEATRE ROUNDUP

By Liz Dyer

Sad as it is that we’re now into our fourth month without any live theatre, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon! Last month the government announced that open air performances could resume, and we can only hope that indoor theatres will soon be able to follow. At the time of going to press, there’s no news of any events scheduled at Dartford’s open air theatre, but do keep an eye on the Dartford Council website and Dartford Living’s social media feeds, in case of any updates in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, while several of the online theatre programmes we’ve been enjoying during lockdown are starting to come to an end, there’s still plenty of great online content to check out. Southwark Playhouse has four shows online to watch for free, and has promised to keep them there until the theatre can reopen. The BBC’s Culture in Quarantine continues to offer a varied programme of theatre, dance, music and much more via iPlayer and BBC Sounds - visit bbc.co.uk/arts for details. The Old Vic will be streaming Jekyll and Hyde, a new dance thriller devised, directed and choreographed by Olivier Award winner Drew McOnie, for a week from 5th August.

Leicester Curve are offering three productions to watch for free through The Show Must Go Online, and the Barn in Cirencester have shared their production of Henry V - Live! on YouTube. So if nothing else, lockdown is a great opportunity to check out some of the UK’s other fantastic regional theatres. Finally, if you enjoy a good musical, there’s lots of great free content available on YouTube from the recent Virtual West End Live event. Usually this two-day festival celebrating the best of the West End takes place in Trafalgar Square every June, but this year it was recorded and put online - and it’s well worth a browse… The big theatre event of the last few weeks, without a doubt, is the release on Disney+ of the smash hit musical Hamilton. The original Broadway production of this incredible show is a must-watch for anyone who loves musicals, or hip hop, or American history, or - well, just anyone really. Because it’s on Disney it’s not free, but a subscription only costs £6 a month, which is a bargain and much (much) cheaper than paying to see the show live. (More leg room, too.)

Watching at home may not be quite the same, but for now it’s all we have. So let’s make the most of it, and hopefully there’ll be some live performances to look forward to very soon.