BBC plays down Zoe Ball rumours

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) insists it has still not chosen a new host for The Radio 2 Breakfast Show, despite press speculation that Zoe Ball is set to take over the biggest programme in UK radio.

Chris Evans announced this month that he was leaving the programme for Virgin Radio. This prompted speculation over who would inherit the slot, which reaches more than nine million listeners a week.

Ball, a former host of the show who presents a weekend show on the station, has been linked to the job. On Monday, the Sun reported that she was in advanced negotiations to take over the programme but no contract had been signed. The newspaper said a key concern was how she would handle her family commitments in Brighton, where she lives and has two sons with her former husband Norman Cook.

“We are considering and talking to a number of people,” a BBC spokesperson said. Sara Cox, a longtime friend of Ball’s and a former host of the show, has also been linked to the job. She currently presents a late night show on Radio 2.

The station is under pressure to appoint a woman to the job, which has only ever been held by men.

Cook was coincidentally being interviewed on Monday morning’s Radio 2 breakfast show by Evans, who said: “I’m going to ask you a question, then you’re going to say: ‘I’m sworn to secrecy’, and then we’re going to move on. So, what do you know of this front-page story in the Sun today about Zoe being offered this show come 2019?”

Cook replied: “I couldn’t possibly comment on that, Christopher.”

Discount for over-60s unfair?

More than three-quarters of museums, galleries and other attractions in the UK are giving £65m of ticket-price concessions to the over-60s every year, while in many cases young people are charged full-price tickets, according to a study.

People over 60 are offered concessions regardless of their ability to pay and even when they are below the state pension age, according to the Intergenerational Foundation (IF), a charity that researched 35 of the UK’s leading attractions’ ticketing policies.

The giveaway to older people is expected to fuel concerns that Britain has failed to adjust to growing pensioner incomes and wealth. With millions of pensioners boasting incomes above the average wage, the IF said it was concerned that charging policies developed in previous decades were out of date. While they all offer the over-60s senior discounts apart from RHS organisations, only four — Chester zoo, Stonehenge, Canterbury Cathedral and Bristol zoo gardens — have raised the ticket-price concession threshold in line with the state pension age (SPA) of 65.

Only one out of the 35 organisations offers a young person discount — the Royal Shakespeare and Swan theatres in Stratford-upon-Avon — although 27 offer student discounts.

Among the worst offenders are Scottish attractions Edinburgh Castle, the National War Museum in Edinburgh, Stirling Castle and Urquhart Castle, all of which offer an over-60s concession but no student or young person’s discount.

Likely birthplace of Henry VII found

Archaeologists believe they have identified the exact site of Henry VII’s birth in 1457 after excavations in the grounds of Pembroke Castle in Wales uncovered the remains of a massive medieval mansion worthy of one of the most famous kings of England. Just days into an initial dig, archaeologists have uncovered up to half a metre of the building’s walls — and they are yet to reach the main floor levels. One wall is a metre thick.

They have also unearthed so many slates and tiles that they are concluding it had a slate roof. Green-glazed ridge tiles have also been found, which suggest a particularly imposing building, while other finds include a curving stair from a spiral staircase. James Meek, who is heading the excavation for the Dyfed Archaeological Trust, said such finds suggest “a fairly showy building” inside of the outer walls of the castle. It is about the size of two tennis courts, while the scale of the walls suggests a structure of a considerable height.

Pembroke Castle dates back to the 11th century. Henry VII was believed to have been born in its 13th-century tower, which is named after him.