Rock stars: the summer soltice at Averbury, Wiltshire

This weekend marks the celebrations for this year's summer solstice – but forget visiting Stonehenge. Hugh Thomson prefers the wonders of its nearby rival, the largest stone circle in England

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Jockeys at Great Yarmouth yesterday hold a minute’s silence in memory of Sir Henry Ceci

Sir Henry Cecil's yard chases memorial win

Five Warren Place horses run on Thursday, with Frankel's half-brother Morpheus in a maiden at Nottingham

Wizard from Oz: Ricky Ponting is more than happy with his new life at Surrey

Ricky Ponting is just like his old self with century against Derbyshire

Derbyshire 452 Surrey 362-4 (Surrey trail by 90 runs)

<b>John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, exhibited 1831, oil on canvas 151.8 x 189.9 mm.</b>
<p>Purchased by Tate with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Manton Foundation the Art Fund and Tate Members in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales, Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service, National Galleries of Scotland; and Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.</p>

John Constable’s cathedral masterpiece saved for the nation after £23m Tate deal

One of the great masterpieces of British art will remain in Britain and be displayed in five galleries across the country after the Tate secured Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows in a £23.1m deal.

Richard Hughes riding Sky Lantern celebrates winning The Qipco 1000 Guineas Stakes from Just The Judge, in red cap

Hughes and Sky Lantern put smiles back into Turf

Jockey's first British Classic win in 1,000 Guineas as Hot Snap fails to last the pace

Glenda Jackson MP speaking during a tribute to Baroness Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons, London.

And you thought your family politics were bad... what’s it like to be the child of a politician?

It can inspire you to follow in your parents’ footsteps – or embarrass you to death, discovers Simon Usborne

A passage from India: Anneika Rose and Ray Panthaki in rehearsals for Tanika Gupta’s play, ‘The Empress’

The Empress at the Swan Theatre: People's play tells a tale of pride and prejudice

Tanika Gupta reveals how she gave the Indians of Victorian London a voice

Waitrose climbs on board 'drive through' grocery bandwagon

Waitrose is ramping up its "click and collect" operation for online groceries with its first drive-through service in car parks from next month, as part of a multimillion-pound investment.

Earl of Cardigan acquitted of assault

A Wiltshire aristocrat has been acquitted of assaulting one of his family estate's trustees.

Rose Hudson-Wilkin: Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the 51-year-old has been widely tipped to become the first female Church of England bishop

Clergy demand women bishops ahead of General Synod

More than 1,000 clergy and senior laity back the historic move in an open letter to The Independent

Martin Hardy: Cost of a two-week trial: £1,000. Saving the dream: Priceless

Life Beyond the Premier League

Babies to be routinely offered rotavirus vaccine from next September

A vaccine against a bug that causes diarrhoea in hundreds of thousands of  babies each year is to be introduced from next September, the Department of Health has announced.

Havana Gold, Richard Hannon's first string at Newmarket today

Hannon follows traditional route to put Havana Gold's mettle to test

Newmarket regulars still struggling to adjust to its new autumn schedule must rely on the exposed horizons of the Rowley Mile to retrieve their bearings. Tomorrow they have a Group One for juvenile fillies, transferred from Ascot in contentious horse-trading between the two courses a couple of years ago, but the three-day meeting opens with a race that preserves the vulnerable traditions of the sport's headquarters in the best possible spirit.

George Osborne in Sunderland yesterday; the local Conservative club in his constituency may close

Now the Tories can't balance the books in George Osborne's back yard

Chancellor's local Conservative Club calls crisis meeting over threats to shut it down

Study finds rise in proportion of income taxed

A study of 50 cities showing the proportion of their populations' total income taken in income tax shows that some are paying up to 31 per cent more since the start of the financial crisis.

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'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

The true effect of the badger cull

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

Steve Tongue

Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over
Hannah England: I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess

Hannah England: Keeping Track

I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess
Beards, brawn and body art

Beards, brawn and body art

Meet London’s new batch of male models
Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

British love of shows such as The Bridge, Borgen and The Killing shows no sign of fading
Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?

The Great Green Wall of Africa,

Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?
Laughter Inc: the cheering growth of the chuckle industry

Laughter Inc

The cheering growth of the chuckle industry
The bad science scandal: how fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research

The bad science scandal

How fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research
To the manor born: The female aristocrats battling to inherit the title

Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title

A passionate protest is gathering pace among the women of Britain's aristocracy, who believe that men should no longer automatically inherit the family pile and title.
Love struck: Photographs of JFK's visit to Berlin 50 years ago reveal a nation instantly smitten

In pictures: JFK's visit to Berlin in 1963

Photographer Ulrich Mack accompanied Kennedy on the entire trip. The results are an astonishing record of a watershed moment.
Eat shoots and leaves: Mark Hix gets creative with fresh peas, mangetouts and sugar snaps

Mark Hix gets creative with English peas

English peas and their offsprings, such as mangetouts and sugar snaps, are great tossed into a salad, says our chef.
Ceviche with a smile: Chef Martin Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends

Chef Martin Morales: Ceviche with a smile

Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends