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
MY 20 YEAR SECRET - IT'S NOT ALOPECIA OR CANCER, I HAVE TRICHOTILLOMANIA

A mum who has hid behind the hair loss condition alopecia for the last 20 years has bravely revealed a secret compulsion to tear out her own hair that has tormented her since she was a child .

UNUSUAL PUB AND BARBERS

A unique business in Birkenhead, Merseyside is sure to leave you HALF-CUT with its unusual pub and barbers combination .

TRANS WOMAN'S £100K TRANSFORMATION FUNDED BY ONLINE FANS

A transgender woman has revealed how she was able to fund her transformation using £100K gifted to her by online admirers .

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE BUG KIND

THIS alien-like bug would look more at home in outer-space but it can actually be found wriggling around here on Earth .

CHEATING COPPERS CAUGHT RED HANDED AT AIRPORT BY SCORNED MISSUS

A scorned woman sparked a punch-up in an airport after she caught her copper boyfriend returning from a romantic holiday with a female police officer .

ADORABLE OWLS CUDDLE UP FOR THE CAMERA

HUDDLED together on a branch, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls soak up the sun .

GRAVEYARDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

From the tails of fighter planes to black and white checked buildings, graveyards take different and unusual forms around the world .

HORSE BEFRIENDS ADOPTED CAT

Going for long rides through vast fields together, this twosome share an unbreakable bond .

FIGHTING FOX IS BEATEN BY EAGLES

A fox takes a tumble and lands on his head when he tries to fend off a pair of eagles in Japan .

TINY CHRISTMAS ANGEL, SIX, IS SIZE OF TWO YEAR OLD

Pint- size Maci Winters only has one wish this Christmas - to be as tall as the other boys and girls on the school playground .

CALAMITY AIRSTRIP 15 YEARS ON

FIFTEEEN years after it was closed pictures by a British teacher show the calamity Hong Kong airport that was closed for being too dangerous .

HIDDEN HIMALAYAN FESTIVAL

A quiet Himalayan mountain village springs to life for a colourful Buddhist festival designed to expel evil spirits and bring happiness .