REAL LIFE VICTORIAN
A woman has taken her house back in time - by spending £10,000 to transform it into her Victorian dream home. Quirky spinster Julia Wood, 42, lives her life like a 19th century lady and can often be seen leaving her terraced house wearing ankle length velvet and carrying a parasol. The self confessed "eccentric" has transformed all five rooms of her property in Leicester with late 19th or early 20th century decor. Her lounge, bathroom, bedroom and kitchen are filled with antique furniture, fireplaces and artefacts and even nude portraits complete with lighting from the period. She has a large mahogany mantle piece in her lounge and sips tea from an 1890s crockery set she says she bought for just £10. Her kitchen, which also acts a sitting room, includes an Edwardian day bed, wood burning stove, antique tub chair, pine table and even a black fridge. The author and writer, who has lived in the home for two years, is an avid Oscar Wilde fan and says she lives her life like a character from one of this plays. She said: "I must have a Victorian or Edwardian aura. I was just born in the wrong era. But Downton Abbey has changed things lately. Sales of long gloves have gone up hugely, I understand. All of a sudden I'm in fashion.
Other great stories
ANOREXIC DENTAL NURSE WHO SHRUNK TO UNDER FOUR STONE WINS HER NHS FIGHT FOR MORE TREATMENT
AN ANOREXIC dental nurse whose weight plummeted to less than four stone has won her NHS fight for more treatment .
ABANDONED HOBBIT HOUSE
IN THE not so MISTY MOUNTAINS of Wiltshire, there lies an abandoned hobbit house .
RAINBOW CAVES
WELCOME to the 750-foot deep rainbow cave that leaves visitors bewildered by its multi-coloured mood lighting .
NEW FLEECE OF LIFE FOR WHEEL CHAIR SHEEP
A disabled sheep is enjoying a new fleece of life after receiving a specially-designed wheelchair .
NOT FIT FOR DOGS - RSPCA RESCUERS FIND ANIMALS IN SHOCKING FILTH
It's incredible to think anyone could live in such horrendous squalor - yet two men have been prosecuted for keeping their homes in such revolting conditions that it was no longer fit for their animals .
MANDELA MEMORIAL
Thousands of people are gathering at a stadium in Johannesburg for a memorial service for Nelson Mandela .
WOMAN SHEDS 15ST AFTER BEATING CHEESE ADDICTION
A woman has lost a massive 15st after beating her addiction to cheese .
HONEYMOON BRIDE DIED OF HEROIN OVERDOSE
A coroner stunned an inquest into a honeymooner who died abroad today by asking her husband if he was involved in her drugs death .
I GAVE UP MY LADETTE LIFESTYLE – AND LOST OVER 6ST
A reformed boozer, who spent nine months partying in Magaluf, has shed over 6 stone after ditching her ladette lifestyle to become a fitness fanatic .
N-ICE DAY FOR A WHITE WEDDING: COUPLE WED ON GLACIER
When couples talk about wanting a white wedding, few will be referring to getting hitched on a glacier sat on top of an active volcano .
LOOK, NO HANDS! MAN CONTROLS VEHICLE USING HIS BRAIN
A Birmingham man inspired by sci-fi film Wall-E, has created a one- wheeled vehicle, controlled by signals from his BRAIN .
PUPPY RUN OVER BY TRAIN GIVEN NEW LEASH OF LIFE
A tiny puppy who lost his front legs after being hit by a train has been given and new LEASH of life with a set of wheels .