Dear Readers . . .

Welcome to our last Special of 2021! As we prepare to see out the old year and welcome in the new, we have lots of great reading to entertain and inspire you, with 14 seasonal short stories and a gripping eight-page crime mystery by Alison Carter.

Neil McAllister explores the history of the UK’s new towns, while Lorna Cowan discovers the delights of a much older city – Gdansk in Poland. Polly Pullar writes in praise of the often misunderstood badger, and Sarah Muir finds out about the Queen’s Green Canopy, an initiative to create a living legacy for future generations.

We’ve an easy craft project to upcycle furniture, recipes for a menu to serve just two and a nostalgic look back at the golden days of Saturday cinema, too.