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
FIGHTING BABOONS
THEIR gnarling teeth at the ready, these two baboons fight it out for the last piece of fruit .
RIVET-ING ALL WOOD TOWER
WELCOME to what could be the world's tallest TOTALLY wooden construction .
EUROSTAR-BUCKS
THIS ONE of a kind experience brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'a coffee to go' .
INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF INDIANS
An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .
REAL LIFE ANIME GIRL
Meet the real life anime girl who looks like a living cartoon character despite never going under the knife .
ZANZIBAR FISHERMEN RISK THEIR LIVES FOR FOOD
VENTURING into the ocean with self-made spears and nets, the fishermen of Zanzibar put their lives on the line when they catch food for their families .
CANCER DRUG FIGHT DAD DIES, EVEN AFTER LYING TO GET TREATMENT
A former soldier who bravely took on penny-pinching NHS bosses in his fight against terminal cancer has died, aged 37 .
ADORABLE STOAT HUNTS IN THE SNOW
DASHING through the snow, this little stoat is on the lookout for a Christmas feast .
THIRSTY SQUIRREL TAKES A BREAK
DIPPING his head into the vase of water, this little squirrel takes a refreshing break from an afternoon of eating .
NEW FLEECE OF LIFE FOR WHEEL CHAIR SHEEP
A disabled sheep is enjoying a new fleece of life after receiving a specially-designed wheelchair .
GREAT-GRANDMA SPLASHES £48K ON FAKE BABY COLLECTION
A retired foster carer has spent a whopping £48k on her brood of lifelike dolls .
10 YEAR OLD GIRL REINVENTS HER IDENTITY THROUGH COSPLAY
From foster care to the MAGICAL world of cosplay, a young girl’s dreams become reality after being adopted by a photography loving couple .