UK News
The most Instagrammed activities across Great Britain revealed
The UK's largest coach operator, National Express has revealed the most Instagrammed activities and trending attractions across Great Britain.
The UK’s largest coach operator, National Express has revealed the most Instagrammed activities and trending attractions across Great Britain.
The research analysed popular hashtags and trending topics from Instagram and uncovered the rising stars of Instagram fame in different regions and locations across Great Britain.
- Glasgow is the top hotspot for foodies, with 22% more Instagram food related posts than any other location in Great Britain
- Manchester is revealed as the number one city for photography with 99,000 related posts
- Bristol is a top hotspot for art lovers, with close to 100,000 Instagram posts using the hashtag of ‘Bristol art’
Glaswegians leading the ‘Insta-foodie’ trend and Bristol top art hotspot
According to the data, foodie content tops the trending topics chart. Glasgow takes the crown for the top foodie city, with 300,000 posts relating to ‘food’ and ‘foodie’, a figure that’s 22% higher than anywhere else across Great Britain.
When it comes to photography and blogging, two other top trending topics, Manchester leads the way with over 235,000 posts. At county level however, Cornwall and Norfolk are the most prominent for photography and blogging posts, respectively.
The most Instagrammable hotspot for art looks to be Bristol with nearly 100,000 posts under art related hashtags. The city is also leading the flower trend, with over 24,000 ‘florist’ related Instagram posts coming from Bristolians.
Outdoors and home crafting on the rise
With many activities paused due to lockdown restrictions, it is revealed that activities to do outdoors, such as coastline walking or stargazing, are frequently cropping up. These outdoor related hashtags are popular in several locations with ‘coast’ trending in Yorkshire, ‘walks’ in Lancashire, ‘skies’ in Suffolk, ‘coast path’ in South Wales, and ‘scenery’ in Devon, most likely down to the fact we’ve all been spending extra time outdoors!
Home crafting activities such as handicrafts and pottery, beer brewing or baking are also gaining Instagram fame with residents in regions including Staffordshire, Birmingham and Cambridgeshire jumping on the trend.
When it comes to London, even Instagram data reveals a North vs. South divide. Surprisingly, even in recent months ‘pubs’ has remained a popular hashtag with over 4,000 Instagram posts in North London – they really must have been pining for a pint! Whereas ‘yoga’ is clearly South Londoners’ top trending pastime, with close to 5,000 Instagram posts.
For more information on the top trending Instagrammable activities in every region, please visit: https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/blog/fame-factors
UK News
Wigan Warriors make history with first-ever Women’s Challenge Cup win
Danny Jones
Wigan Warriors have done it: they’ve officially lifted the 2025 Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup for the first time in their history following an emphatic victory over serial champions, St Helens.
The Greater Manchester club managed not only to finally win the tournament but also to put a stop to St Helens’ hugely successful streak and what would have been five consecutive wins.
Spurred on by some smart tactics from club legend and boss, Dennis Betts – who won the competition seven times with Wigan as a player himself – the Warriors put in an imperious performance, leading by 18 at half time. Now that’s how you start a match.
Here’s the moment they finally got their hands on it:
Not only was the first-ever Challenge Cup win for Wigan Warriors Women, but it also ended a fairly significant silverware drought that has felt even longer for the supporters.
The last time a female Wigan Warriors squad won a major trophy was in the Super League back in 2018, when they also managed to win a maiden Grand Final against Leeds Rhinos by just 18-16.
Cut to this weekend, and the team fielded was much more impressive, not just when it comes to taking an early lead but by stretching and consolidating it to continue controlling the game.
In fact, Wigan were up by 24 before the opposition coaching duo Derek Hardman and Craig Richards’ side even got points on the board.
Full-back Grace Banks pipped her teammates to the Player of the Match award, but there were star showings all over the pitch, including a prolific Isabel Rowe and a wonderful run from Eva Hunter.
They were never in doubt.
Truth be told, it was a bit of a thrashing and one of their best scorelines of the season – kind of them to save it for an epic conclusion at Wembley Stadium.
As for Salford-born Betts, who was once a prospect at Manchester United, playing with the B team alongside the likes of Mark Robins and Clayton Blackmore, this was his first trophy in charge of the women’s team in what has already been a remarkable career.
What a success story his sporting switch turned out to be
Congratulations to a local club with a very bright future ahead.
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Featured Images — BBC Sport/Wigan Warriors (screenshots via X/IG)
UK News
Hawksmoor issues statement after ‘kicking out’ Tommy Robinson from one of its restaurants
Daisy Jackson
Hawksmoor has issued a statement after a viral video captured far-right activist Tommy Robinson being asked to leave one of its restaurants.
In the video, staff at the acclaimed British steak house told Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – that he would have to go because members of staff feel uncomfortable serving you’.
The supervisor then politely told the party not to worry about the drinks and that they had been paid for, also handing over a business card for Hawksmoor CEO Will Beckett in case they wanted to discuss the matter further.
Robinson was dining in one of the group’s London restaurants with former prominent EDL member Guramit Singh Kalirai who challenged the staff and asked: “Is it because of the colour of my skin?”
The supervisor responded: “No, no, no. We have a duty of care to our members of staff. We like to look after our people, as I’m sure you can understand.”
After the video went viral on X, Hawksmoor went on to share a statement in response, saying that guests and staff ‘felt uncomfortable and complained’.
The statement, signed by CEO Will Beckett, added that the Hawksmoor team has faced ‘a huge amount’ of ‘quite concerning’ fallout from the Tommy Robinson incident.
He added that ‘this was not about politics or beliefs’.
Hawksmoor’s statement reads: “Our focus is always to give the best restaurant experience to the most people possible.
“On Thursday, a public figure was asked to leave one of our restaurants because guests and staff felt uncomfortable and had complained. The party left peacefully and politely on request.
“This was not about politics or beliefs. Hawksmoor is not a political organisation; we’re a group of restaurants. We want to welcome as many people as possible, regardless of background or views, to our teams or as our guests.
“We’re not trying to engage in a public debate. The team has had to deal with a huge amount of fallout from this, some of which is quite concerning. We would like to get back to focussing on looking after those people, and our guests. Thank you to them, and the many of you who have been so supportive.”
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Featured image: The Manc Group