Spotlight

Think your village or town is the best place to live?Prove it! Take a photo of your local area for Instagram to win a family portrait shoot with award-winning Lifestyle & Location Portrait Photographer of the Year Paul Wilkinson.
Watch these this week! 8 new TV shows and filmsFrom psychological thrillers to cosy wildlife docs, there's something for everyone in this week's Muddy TV guide. Nab the best spot on the sofa and settle in.
Is it time to start your own business?2020 has forced many of us to radically rethink our careers, goals and dreams. Muddy meets four inspiring women who took control and started their own businesses during Covid. Are you ready to take the leap, too?
Caffeine boost! 40 of the best indie coffee roastersCan't function without your morning brew? Try one of these delicious artisan blends, from indie coffee roasters across the Muddy counties, to kickstart your day with a caffeine boost.
Sofa surfer! 7 new TV shows and filmsAnyone up for movie night? Here are six new feature-length flicks landing on the box this week, as well as a brand new Netflix mini-series you'll love.

Well, hello!

I'm Hero, founder of Muddy Stilettos, here to bring you the quirky, cool and downright unmissable across the counties.

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Gotta Have It

Add these feel-good limited edition buys to your basket ASAP to look gorgeous and support breast cancer charities this October. Two birds, one stone - yes please.

The insider’s guide to the Top 200 places to live outside London

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EatView more

Caffeine boost! 40 of the best indie coffee roasters

Can’t function without your morning brew? Try one of these delicious artisan blends, from indie coffee roasters across the Muddy counties, to kickstart your day with a caffeine boost.
- Ding dong! A cracking roast at the Five Bells
  
  With mega-fresh food and cosy country interiors, The Five Bells at Wickham, West Berks, is a classic British pub through and through.
- Stroll and scoff: 11 Autumn walks with pubs
  
  Is there anything better than a beautiful Autumnal walk that ends in a pub lunch? (spoiler alert: NO). Here's my starter for 10 across Bucks & Oxon.
- What to drink when you’re over rosé
  
  New season shopping? Step away from your Zara basket, we're talking autumn wines. Ditch the rosé and tickle your tastebuds with some foxy reds and whites.
- Autumn roasts with the most
  
  Can’t be bothered to baste potatoes with goose fat? I hear you. Instead grab your gang and head to one of these local gastropubs that do roasts with the most.

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Arts & CultureView more

Boo! 14 Halloween films for kids

Halloween films that will scare not scar your kids for life, including brand new release The Witches, starring Anne Hathaway – available to stream right now.
- Fright night FOMO? Here’s 25 Halloween films
  
  Halloween parties are off, but don’t let that stop you from embracing fright night with a movie marathon that’ll require popcorn, a stiff drink, and a pillow to hide behind.
- 15 cool things about 2021’s Coventry City of Culture
  
  ...including The Turner Prize, a weekend of Home Session gigs curated by Terry Hall, a major new theatre commission with the RSC so much more. Seriously, it will be amazzzing.
- Sofa surfer! 7 new TV shows and films
  
  Anyone up for movie night? Here are six new feature-length flicks landing on the box this week, as well as a brand new Netflix mini-series you'll love.
- And now, something to cheer us all up…
  
  In need of a little light relief? Lordy, aren't we all? Here are three 'celebrity' Instagram accounts that have been making us laugh this week that we think might tickle your fancy too.

HomeView more

- Think your village or town is the best place to live?
  
  Prove it! Take a photo of your local area for Instagram to win a family portrait shoot with award-winning Lifestyle & Location Portrait Photographer of the Year Paul Wilkinson.
- The Big Breakfast house is for sale!!
  
  Talk about a piece of iconic pop culture! The chaotic, flirty, naughty Nineties home of breakfast telly can be yours for a cool £5.75m. Shall we have a nose around?
Wellbeing
- J’adore / J’abhor – Daylight Saving Hours
  
  The clocks went back this week and the nights truly are closing in. Two Muddy staffers battle out the pros and the cons.
- Today’s Muddy motivation: This girl can!
  
  Juggling motherhood, jiggly bits and the barriers to exercising, This Girl Can is back with its brand new campaign for National Fitness Day and we LOVE it! Take a look at the latest ad here...

TravelView more

Holiday in the hills: Muddy reviews Barnett Hill

As holidays abroad are seemingly off the agenda – a staycation has never looked so good. And this country house hotel in the gorgeous Surrey Hills is the perfect getaway for couples and families.
- Muddy reviews One Aldwych: London
  
  Overnighter in the Big Smoke or planning a post-pandemic theatre jaunt? Treat yourself with a stay at this stunning, super-luxe hotel, just a stone's throw from the West End.
- Is this the ultimate family escape?
  
  A five star hotel so fabulous you and your kids will never want to leave. Pack your bags, Coworth Park is calling for fresh air, great food and fun on tap.

WorkView more

- Is it time to start your own business?
  
  2020 has forced us to radically rethink our careers, goals and dreams. Muddy meets four women who made the leap and started their own businesses during Covid. Is it time we joined them?
- J’adore/ J’abhor: daily video calls
  
  Are you a FaceTime fanatic or a Skype cynic? After months of video call catch-ups, two Muddy editors battle it out over the digital face-to-face. Unmute and prepare to take sides!
Kids
- 10 of the best subscription boxes for kids
  
  Running on empty when it comes to entertaining the kids? Royal Mail comes up trumps with these brilliant subscription boxes – time to sit with a gin and wait for the postman.
- Kingham Hill School, North Oxon
  
  An idyllically placed co-ed, non-selective secondary school with a Christian ethos and strong academic results, set in 100 acres of Cotswolds countryside.

FashionView more

Designer vs dead ringer: the leather edit

Leather is top of the trends this season but the real deal can be a *leetle* unfriendly when it comes to your credit card. Cue our edit of the best dupes for the hottest designer pieces.
- Sustainable fashion gets sexy
  
  Ethical, eco and everywhere - with the likes of Selfridges now pushing a new sustainable outlook, here's where you can rewear, repair and renew your wardrobe in style.
- New season fashion trends: A/W 2020
  
  The fashion mavens spoken and, yes please, we'll take that excuse for new clothes and run with it! Here are the five top trends to help you nail autumn/ winter style this year.

BeautyView more

- New nail polish colours for Autumn
  
  Ditch the neon brights and pretty pastels and get dark and daring for the change in season. Here are the brand new nail polishes we'll be picking up for our at-home mani.
- The essential no make-up make-up kit
  
  It’s a trend that’s not going away anytime soon; make-up so subtle that it just makes you look like a brighter and better version of yourself. Here’s the Muddy guide.

People

What’s cooking? Calum Franklin, The Pie Room

Fresh from the launch of his mouth-watering new cookbook, we caught up with the London Pie King himself to talk Scotch eggs, the Breville toastie masker and cooking for Axl Rose.
- Yes, people, this is Meg Mathews!
  
  Primrose Hill party queen turned wellness guru? Stranger things have happened! Muddy chats to the always glamorous Meg Mathews about her new book, self-care and, er, vagina facials.
- Why Stephen Fry calls Norfolk home
  
  From sea and sky views to antique bookshops and country pubs, the legendary actor and author lets us in on the secret places he most loves in the county.