Good buy to Berlin gets blogger back to Brentwood

Blogger Jordan Cox has made national news through his discovery that it was cheaper to travel from Sheffield to Brentwood via Berlin, rather than take the direct train from Sheffield to Essex. Cox, 18, had been attending a lecture in Sheffield when he made the discovery for the Money Saving Expert website. Jordan took a train from Sheffield to Derby then a flight from East Midlands airport to Berlin and back again to Stansted. This only cost him £44 as compared to the £47 train fare. While in Berlin he took in the Brandenberg Gate, a free tour of the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie and Postdamer Platz and had a currywurst lunch. All that culture sounds almost as good as Brentwood's sights of the Thomas 'a Becket Chapel, Konch's Kafe and Sugar Hut. Perhaps not the most eco-friendly way to travel from Sheffield to Brentwood, but another triumph for Essex initiative.

Hammer hits the wall in Hornchurch

Essex, footballer, fast car and garden wall meet with damaging results. There's a full-page in the Evening Standard on West Ham's Diafra Sakho crashing his Lamborghini through a garden wall in Hornchurch, after colliding with another car and spinning off the road. The accident happened 500 yards from Sakho's home. Thankfully no-one was hurt, though Diafra's motor is badly damaged. And it turns out the garden wall he crashed into was at the home of a West Ham fan, who immediately recognised him. Not often your heroes arrive through the garden wall. Sakho has promised to pay for the damage and has tweeted that he is safe and unharmed.

Rocket Ronnie tells it like it is at the Masters

Another sporting triumph for Essex with Ronnie O'Sullivan winning the Masters, beating Barry Hawkins at Ally Pally. There's something very Essex about the Chigwell-born O'Sullivan's plain speaking. He confessed to being "embarrassed" by the way he won the semi-final and then admitted that he was "stressed" pursuing his sixth Masters win. No PR spin from Ronnie. The 'Essex Exocet' continued: "I've taken up smoking again, just because of this tournament. I've been getting lazy. I've been eating like a pig and haven't run for two weeks." A friend of mine met him at an airport in Australia once, without knowing who he was, and had a long chat with him, confirming he seemed a genuinely nice chap. Now at 40, O'Sullivan, one of sport's great characters, is pursuing yet more success and some think he may be the greatest snooker player of all-time.