More than 20 bands have already entered a contest to find Shropshire’s best unsigned talent in a bid to win a slot in front of up to 10,000 fans on the Shrewsbury Fields Forever festival.

There are only 128 days to go until the curtain rises on Shrewsbury Fields Forever, Shropshire’s multi-arena festival for indie, rock, alternative, electronic and dance music. And the first band taking to the stage could be. . . yours, or your mate’s, or the band you saw at your local pub.

It started when Linda Robinson’s daughter was small. If she found a dead insect, or if a pet died, the creature would be wrapped in an old jumper, or piece of material, so that it would be snug and warm.

Simple, unsophisticated and easy-to-please. That, according to historian Dominic Sandbrook, pretty much sums up the dim-witted folk who blazed a trail of home ownership, cheap foreign holidays and new wave fashions during the 1970s.

The search is on to find the best gardeners in Shropshire and Mid Wales in a new-look competition.

It is the setting for the summer’s biggest sporting drama – but Andy Richardson got a chance to cross the Olympic finishing line first.

Rating: *** It’s been some years since I last enjoyed the food of Steve and Kerry Houlker. The proprietors of the Upper Rectory, at Berriew, writes Andy Richardson.

Rating: **** Rewind 12 months. On the increasingly-frenetic Shrewsbury dining scene, things were getting hot in the kitchen, writes Andy Richardson.

The life story of Shropshire’s former Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite has gone straight into the top 10 of a book chart after being released by one of the UK’s biggest publishers.

The knives weren’t out when I visited the Good Life Coffee Shop and Restaurant this morning, writes Andy Richardson.

Without cracking a smile, presenter Cherry Healey asked the million dollar question: “Why do baked beans make us fart?” John Humphrys must have been quaking over his evening cocoa.

Rating: *** “People must really hate you,” said my dining companion, as we visited The Coach at Horses, in Shrewsbury for a light lunch, writes Andy Richardson.

Whether Royalist or Republican, none would doubt the incredible life of our reigning monarch.

Rating: *** The Castle Tea Room, in Ludlow, has the most impressive setting of any of Shropshire’s eateries, writes Andy Richardson.

Rating **** Andy Richardson goes for a curry and finds the converstaion is saucy and spicy too!

Andy Richardson reviews Wild At Heart, a show that manages to be both commercially successful and critically acclaimed.

Rating: **** There were three ingredients that came for free when my friend and I visited Dorrington Old Hall Persian Cuisine: simplicity, sophistication and flavour, writes Andy Richardson.

Emmerdale star James Sutton had too much energy to burn, writes Andy Richardson. His mother, Jeanette, put him on the path to a life on the stage.

Rating: ***** It was heartening to see the inclusion of The Checkers in the newest Michelin Guide, writes Andy Richardson.

Rating: ***** There is probably not a restaurant in Shropshire that does clean, unpretentious food as well as this, writes Andy Richardson.

The idea came to him when he was just a boy. Ray Hulse was sitting in the dining room at boarding school, eating a sandwich, when he marvelled at the magic of Christmas. “I remember thinking it was a special time,” he says. “I wanted it to last forever.”

Rating: ***** As shocks go, the removal of Ludlow restaurant La Becasse from the Michelin Guide measured 10/10 on the Richter Scale, writes Andy Richardson.

Rating: *** Andy Richardson helps Sheraz Tandoori and Balti restaurant in Shrewsbury celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Rating: **** British classics are a firm focus of this newly-named hotel restaurant, writes Andy Richardson.

Rating: *** Andy Richardson visits Chang Thai, a Thai restaurant in Ludlow that has served the town well in recent years.

Rating: *** The Jolly Frog, at Leintwardine, now under new ownership is a restaurant that divides opinion like few others in Shropshire, writes Andy Richardson.

Rating: **** The restaurant at Lake Vyrnwy is over-looked, under-rated and off-the-beaten path – and it’s a real treat, writes Andy Richardson.

Rating: *** Andy Richardson loves the setting at Drapers Hall Restaurant but says it’s a case of ‘must try harder’ to impress fully.

Rating: **** There’s something to be said for being boring, as our food reviewer Andy Richardson found out at Eurasia Tandoori.

Rating: ** When you’re foraging for food on the way home, something’s gone terribly wrong, writes Andy Richardson.