so the boom in muddy heaps is likely a sign of males For the past month I’ve been studying molehills The focus of my investigations has been Sand Field a rough pasture that was once part of a vast medieval deer park just south of the village I’d paused to feel the sun’s weak warmth and heard a rustle in the grass the mole was little more than a glimpsed cylinder of fur and rippling muscle I felt a rush of excitement – it was just the second I’d ever seen I stumbled – literally – on a fresh molehill Instead of waiting a decade to bump into another mole perhaps I should make some effort to understand them ‘Moles raise soil – up to 20 times their own body weight – by shoving it above their heads.’ Photograph: Ollie SouthallThe signs of their business are everywhere displaced soil is eventually pushed to the surface patterns of heaped spoil hint at the winding routes below and I’ve found a tunnel entrance in two of them so these may mark where roving males have emerged my photos capture a major extension of the network: a row of 11 new mounds These are testament to the mole’s extraordinary physical adaptations Moles raise soil – up to 20 times their own body  weight – by shoving it above their heads The muscles in a mole’s chest and shoulders are so big that it has evolved a strengthened and extended sternum to anchor them to the hands that do the lifting and digging they’re largely ignored until they pop up in unwanted places Yet they also connect us to the teeming life beneath our feet the leaves and stolons of creeping buttercup lay delicate traceries Fresher excavations are laced with fine roots I found a queen early bumble bee (Bombus pratorum) she was likely to have been hibernating when the mole’s labours thrust her prematurely into spring Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at guardianbookshop.com and get a 15% discount Gareth Barry joined on an initial loan deal from Manchester City in 2013 before it was made permanent the following summer The former England international is the record appearance holder in the Premier League and at Everton he was widely considered one of the best midfielders in the division Roberto Martinez called him one of England’s best-ever players “I have never seen a player with such an incredible professionalism as Gareth Barry,” Martinez told BBC Sport he is one of the best English players ever He could reach 600 Premier League appearances this season.” is still playing football and Everton fans won’t believe which club he’s playing at Barry joined his local club Hurstpierpoint last summer who reside in the second tier of the Mid Sussex Football League the 53-cap England international will be levels above opposition players ✍️ BARRY IS A BLUEDOG! 🔵🐶We are beyond delighted to announce that former-England international and all-time Premier League record appearance holder, Gareth Barry, has signed for Hurstpierpoint Football Club. pic.twitter.com/cMsrJcmm4o Hurstpierpoint’s chairman and manager Dudley Christensen, speaking to BBC Sport in 2024 said: “He came along to training and loved us “I don’t think he’s going to be around to play every week but he’s a great signing and he’s going to raise our profile but I expect he’ll sit in front of the defence and be a shield.” Hurstpierpoint released a statement when Barry signed and noted that he’d been ‘unreal’ in training with the village team “Gareth has a long-standing association with the village through his good friend Michael Standing; so it seemed an obvious move to get him involved with the football club,” the West Sussex-based side said so we’re all very excited to see him pull on the shirt and grace the Fairfield turf later on this season.” US EditionUK EditionScottish SunIrish SunSearchMy Account Gareth Barry has made a U-turn on his retirement decision to join non-league outfit Hurstpierpoint at the age of 43 The Premier League legend, who won the trophy with Manchester City in 2012, hung up his boots four years ago after his three-year stint at West Brom But Barry who made a record 653 appearances in the Premier League has now come out of retirement to join the 11th-tier outfit Hurstpierpoint shared the news on X where the ex-England international proudly posed with the club shirt A statement read: "We are beyond delighted to announce that former-England international and all-time Premier League record appearance holder has signed for Hurstpierpoint Football Club "Gareth has a long-standing association with the village through his good friend Michael Standing; so it seemed an obvious move to get him involved with the football club so we’re all very excited to see him pull on the shirt and grace the Fairfield turf later on this season Hurstpierpoint currently ply their trade in the Championship division of the Mid Sussex League It will be the first time that Barry, who represented the Three Lions on 53 occasions between 2000-2012, has played below the Championship. He made his senior debut at Aston Villa in 1998 where he scored 52 goals in 441 matches before linking up with the Citizens in 2009 And in his second season at the Etihad he helped the club end their 35-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup The following campaign, he featured in 34 top-flight appearances as Roberto Mancini's men pipped rivals Manchester United to the league title Everton was the next destination for Barry who turned his loan spell into a permanent stay in 2014 - racking up 155 appearances across his five years And he then linked up with West Brom in 2017 where he was unable to help them beat relegation in his opening term before staying with them in the Championship for the next years But after deciding to call time on his lengthy career in 2020 where he will be hoping to help Hurstpierpoint to improve on their sixth-placed position from last season Former West Brom and Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry is back in football four years after retiring from the professional game who has the most Premier League appearances playing 653 times over a career spanning more than two decades play in the Mid Sussex Football League and have secured the services of the former England midfielder The former Villa man joined Man City in 2009 for £12 million before moving to Everton and eventually ending up with the Baggies bringing down the curtain on a fabulous career Barry's last professional game was in the FA Cup as he was part of a West Brom side that lost 3-2 at home to Newcastle United in March 2020 Barry joins the side thanks to his relationship with his former agent Michael Standing his new side were absolutely delighted with their most recent arrival A statement on X said: "We are beyond delighted to announce that former England international and all-time Premier League record appearance holder Gareth Barry has signed for Hurstpierpoint Football Club "Gareth has a long-standing association with the village through his good friend So it seemed an obvious move to get him involved with the football club so we’re all very excited to see him pull on the shirt and grace the Fairfield turf later on this season." Barry won 53 international caps for England and managed to score three goals Most of his Premier League appearances came during his time at Villa He made 353 starts in claret and blue while coming off the bench 12 times He won the Premier League with Manchester City in the 2011-12 season Former England international Gareth Barry has come out of retirement after four years away to sign for an 11th tier English club Enter a location to help give the most relevant search result for you Clear Uniqueness:Does the establishment stand out in the context of the local area Warmth:How warm is the service and the hospitality in general Strength of recommendation:How enthusiastically and widely would you recommend the establishment Pretty Hurstpierpoint on the edge of the South Downs National Park has been home to James and Jodie Dearden's restaurant since 2016 and if all looks charmingly traditional from the outside James' cooking brings things right up to date six courses (seven if you add a plate of British cheeses) with choice offered only at lunch (from a fixed-price carte) Regional produce plays its part across the board and things get going with some genuinely contemporary amuse-bouches – tandoori monkfish taco There's classical good sense in combinations such as fresh crab with lemon and dill or the scent of truffle cutting through a quail dish with celeriac A vegetarian tasting menu is packed with flavour too perhaps fiery horseradish with beetroot and celeriac or tender leeks in crispy puff pastry while rhubarb and custard makes a comforting finale English sparkling wine gets its due on the drinks list where the Coravin preservation system ensures plenty of cut-above offerings by the glass 120 High StreetHurstpierpointWest Sussex BN6 9PXGB Chester brings a distinctive flair to the dining scene in Cheshire with a growing number of restaurants that balance creativity From bold Mediterranean flavours to plant-led plates and modern British cooking Ahead of the next instalment of our Claridge’s Supper Series we caught up with Elly Wentworth from The Angel The South Hams boasts some of the most beautiful stretches of the English coastline with fertile farmland stretching from sea-sprayed headlands to steep rolling pasture and cool It’s home to a fiercely local food and drink scene and .. Samantha Miller and Jane Baxter’s eccentrically located restaurant  brings people together in a shared table format Here’s a light summer recipe to bring to your dining table Have we seen the last gasp of late night London Critic and Good Food Guide columnist Jimi Famurewa doesn't think so Some of the best restaurants in the city will still seat you come 10pm Bangkok Diners Club began life as District a Thai fusion tasting menu restaurant on nearby Oldham Street that attracted plaudits from local and national press before closing in 2022 due to financial difficulties.  few things are as uncomfortable as having to hurriedly recalibrate opinions about a formerly wholehearted recommendation I excitedly dragged my wife along for a very late Restaurant Index Our website uses cookies to improve your experience and personalise content. Cookies are small files placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They are widely used to improve your experience of a website, gather reporting information and show relevant advertising. You can allow all cookies or manage them for yourself. You can find out more on our cookies page any time These cookies are needed for essential functions such as signing in and making payments These cookies help us optimise our website based on data Using these cookies we will know which web pages customers enjoy reading most and what products are most popular Sport in rude health among both boys and girls at school The explosion in girls' cricket over the past decade presents welcome challenges for cricketing schools Hurstpierpoint College are lucky to have eight cricket grounds to call on – six with grass squares and a new one top-dressed this summer – to allow for cricket on Wednesdays once a professional with Warwickshire and Sussex said: "We’ve crunched the numbers and we were up 20 per cent in participation in 2023 Cricket is going from strength to strength We have seven girls' teams in the senior school "The school had a decent season – our 1st XI reached the final of our local cup competition and the under-14s reached the County Cup final "Now we’ve entered winter training: no one wants to stop playing cricket these days a fast bowler who played the bulk of his county cricket in the County Championship is keen to ensure that young bowlers aren’t sent down the route of containment early on "We play 50-over or timed games on Wednesdays You want to see bowlers tested with the prospect of trying to bowl a side out which means thinking about putting slips in It’s a completely different mindset to T20 cricket." Hurstpierpoint has a fine track record of producing cricketers and the next could be opening batter Henry Rogers Rogers celebrated 166 for the English Schools Cricket Association at Lord’s and a fifty for England Under-19s against Ireland Both Rogers and Anyon play for Cuckfield CC in the Sussex Premier League Anyon was forced to retire at just 32 in 2016 with an inflammatory problem related to rheumatoid arthritis but he can still play on a Saturday afternoon I only played two games for the 1st XI this summer," said Anyon "They were top of the league and when school holidays kicked in I didn't want to burgle a spot from someone else I have to bowl my 10 overs off the reel these days because as soon as I stop I can’t come back." Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport The aviation-themed cinema room is not the only stand-out feature of this £3.5m property We lift the lid on why Northbrooks is a house that ‘screams fun’ If you like somewhere with an atmosphere to watch the latest blockbuster you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unique setting than this: the cinema room at this Sussex mansion has been fashioned out of the entire upper class desk of a Virgin Atlantic plane the carcass of the plane has been neatly installed to fit the space The aviation-themed room has also been kitted out with a high-end Dolby Atmos cinema system for a truly cinematic experience but no doubt you could also programme such a high-end system to recreate the low-level thrumming of jet engines the random coughing of fellow passengers and the clatter of bottles being wheeled past on a Duty Free trolley the plane is thought to be one of Richard Branson’s first from the 1980s you’ll find its old bar at this contemporary home too The sprawling eight-bedroom Northbrooks is on the market for £3,500,000, and it's full of quirky elements It's a property which — according to the selling agent — ‘is a house that screams fun’ There’s more to Northbrooks’ aviation links than just its cinema room an RAF reconnaissance photographer fell in love with this corner of West Sussex he returned to the area and bought a parcel of land to build a house on Many of the rooms on the ground floor have bi-fold doors that open out onto a large patio that wraps around much of the house The 30ft kitchen is at the heart of the house and features a huge central island and AGA cooker There’s a games room to one side of the kitchen integrated bar and an adjoining sitting room with a log burner and the cinema room complete the ground floor dressing rooms and ensuite bathrooms galore You can banish any thoughts of a tired granny flat though This two-storey annexe includes a bedroom with bi-fold doors that bring the outside in you won’t be surprised to discover that there are luxurious features outside too: an outdoor heated swimming pool pool house with a sauna and open-plan dining room and kitchen The south-facing garden comprises rolling lawn and boasts far-reaching views across the South Downs National Park including a detached barn and oak-framed open garage for six cars with electric charging points A further seven acres with two homes are available by separate negotiation Northbrooks sits on the edge of Hurstpierpoint village and is surrounded by greenbelt countryside It’s close to popular Sussex schools including Brighton College and Hurstpierpoint College The A23/M23 offers good access to Brighton and nearby Hassocks station offers regular train services into London says: ‘Northbrooks offers the most breathtaking 180-degree view of the South Downs It comes complete with versatile accommodation that offers superb entertaining space for a family along with an internal annexe which would be ideal for multi-generational living or a family that requires staff ‘This is a house that screams fun – providing all the toys a family could need with a heated swimming pool Northbrooks is currently on the market via Hamptons for £3,500,000 — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details. An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for Forget a house with detached garage and parking — this timber-built home in East Sussex has its own airfield One of the most beautiful properties in Sussex has come to the market this summer: the sublime Findon Place Errant peacocks and playful gargoyles are just some of the former inhabitants of seven-bedroom Folkington Manor