Stephanie Smith casts her eye over who is moving up and moving down

Moving up...

Jessica Ennis-Hill

“One of the greatest moments of my career — right up there with London,” said Yorkshire’s own Jessica Ennis-Hill, following her gold medal triumph in the heptathlon at the World Championships in Beijing, 13 months after giving birth to her son. A worthy role model and an inspiration to exhausted women of all ages.

G

etting in a pickle

pickling is suddenly super-hot with sales of Kilner jars, pans and preserving spoons at Lakeland up by 400 per cent in the past year and trendy restaurants bringing out the pickled samphire, cucumber and kimchi (Korean spice cabbage) as interesting accompaniments. What we’re wondering is, can you pickle sprouts?

Moving down...

Weather talk

The Met Office has lost its BBC weather forecasting contract after the corporation said it was required to secure best value for money. The good news is that there should be no significant changes to the presenting team, which includes the wonderful Carol Kirkwood (and we’ll be seeing lots more of her Strictly too – it starts on Saturday, September 5).

Cost of school uniforms

As feverish back-to-school preparations begin, parents are having to fork out an average of £236 to kit out each child for the new year with uniform, sports gear, books, stationery and technology, according to research by Santander. That’s down from last year’s figure of £240, although parents are paying an average of £52 a week for extra activities. Still, roll on the new term, we say.