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April 2015 | Issue 4 | Priceless

Russell GRANTWhat’s in store in April?

neighbourhoodwatch - metal thieves!

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THIS MONTH..

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april issue 2015

FOOD AND DRINK

14 Brown butter and beer…....braised kale with cranberries and pecans. Don’tbe put off - this is an incredibly healthy dish thatwill pack you full of goodness as well as a greattaste to boot!

HOUSE AND GARDENS

8 Plant of the monthLuscious lavender …. Just the colour is goodenough to eat!

10 Planning MattersCheck out this months round up of planningapplications in and around Gosport.

MOTORING

18 New Nissan Qashqai

Tim takes this Japanese model out for a spin and itlooks like he was pretty sold on it. Read on to findout why…

CHILDREN, PETS & EDUCATION

15 Is there a dog in this book?A lovely book review from the Gosport DiscoveryCentre.

HEALTH, BEAUTY & LIFESTYLE

28 Absolute RunningCheck out this months instalment from the boys atthe Shoe - and get involved!

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL

20 Pay Less to get MoreCheaper holidays perhaps if you follow Martin’sadvice in this monthly article.

COMMUNITY

27 Gosport Gang ShowA feast for the eyes from our local youngsters -book your tickets now!

318Recipes, com

munity,health

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H.. SmSmalal ltalkltalk

BVD Publishing

01329 630630

Joint Editors

Coralie Todd & Sean Middletoneditor@bigvoicedirectories.co.uk

Advertising Sales

sales@bigvoicedirectories.co.uk

Regular Contributors

Martin Lewis, Rob Wood, TimBarnes-Clay, Anne Wilson

Distribution

This Big Voice Bigazine is deliveredto residents and businesses inGosport, Elson and surroundingareas. For distribution enquiries

please give us a call andspeak to Sean.

Four other editions are alsopublished in Alverstoke,

Stubbington & Hill Head, Lee onSolent and Whiteley, Titchfield

Park and Burridge.

Whilst Big Voice Directories aim to provide aquality publication for local reference, it cannotbe held responsible for the services, reputation orcost of any of the advertisers, and content ofadverts or editorial herein. Readers must maketheir own enquiries to establish the credentials ofeach entry. Reproduction in whole or in part isstrictly prohibited without prior writtenpermission from the Publishers. The magazinesare produced on paper sourced from FSCapproved paper mills and printed using vegetablebased inks. They love being recycled but pleasepass to a friend first!

Magazine, adverts, design, layout and content© Copyright BVD Publishing.

Follow us on Twitter@BVDirectories

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“When life getshard and youfeel all alone...

… remember you mean the world tosomebody and that somebody calls youMUM”

It’s true isn’t it (and also for all the Daddies out there too) thateven when you’re having the worst of days, to have a little warmhand squeeze yours, or having your recycling given back to youat the end of a school day reshaped into a ‘train’, warms thecockles of your heart. The joy of being a parent can melt awayany of life's daily stresses (although I’m sure we’d all argue thatthe little blighters normally just add to it a lot of the time!) andthat a grin from your cheeky monster is as good as any glass ofmerlot. Well Ok, maybe not that good but you know what Imean ha, ha!

So with mother’s day not far away let them pamper you by allmeans but have a think of something you can all do together.Why not go for a stomp down to Stokes Bau and collect somepretty shells, or go a littlefurther afield to HundredAcre woods and make a den.It’s nice to escape now andthen, and you never know,you may not have to cleantheir muddy boots when youget back. Well after all, that’swhat Mother’s Day is for,right?!

Much love until next month

Coralie and Sean x

Advertise with us!

Reliably delivered by our local teams, reaching over 25000homes each issue, five editions of Big Voice provide exceptionalmonthly coverage of our area every single month. Call ourfriendly team now on 01329 630630, jump on our website andhave a chat or link up with us on Facebook.

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Have a great time on beautiful Stokes Bay.Solent Springs Adventure Golf is open and fully refurbished! Weather permitting weare open every weekend from 10:30 until 18:00ish. We are open throughout the

school holidays. Tennis courts are also available.Child (up to 15) = £3, Students/OAP = £4, Adults = £5

Family (2 adults/ 2 kids) = £14Please call 07973 309770 to check we are open. Stokes Bay Road, PO12 2QT

Solent SpringsAdventure Golf

OPEN FOR SPRING!First weekend 14th March

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Belonging to the mint family, lavender is apopular choice in many gardens as itprovides a beautiful scent and splash ofcolour to many borders and rockeries alike.

Many gardeners can’t resist the romance oflavender - blowing gently in the breeze orcut stems in vases make for a pretty picture.

Lavenders will tolerate many growingconditions and thrives well in warm, well-drained soil and if you can encourage achalky soil you’ll enhance the scent of theplant. Make sure you give them a goodhandful of compost when first planted andlots of water.

Lavender

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P lanning MattersA monthly round up of planning applications submitted since 1 March 2014

GOSPORT COUNCIL

REF LOCATION PROPOSAL STATUS

15/00042/FULL

1A Exmouth Road GosportHampshire PO12 4EX

Erection of two storey rearextension and insertion of firstfloor window to west elevation

Pending Consideration

15/00033/FULL

51 Sedgeley Grove GosportHampshire PO12 4NL

Erection of single storey rearextension

Pending Consideration

15/00058/FULL

12 Newport Road GosportHampshire PO12 3LW

Erection of rear conservatory Pending Consideration

15/00054/HHGDO

154 Albemarle AvenueGosport Hampshire PO12 4HY

Gpdo part 1 notification - erectionof single storey rear extensiondepth of 6.0 metres maximumheight of 3.8 metres height ofeaves 3.0 metres

Pending Consideration

15/00060/FULL

Planet Ice Gosport LeisurePark Forest Way GosportHampshire PO13 0ZX

Installation of solar pv panels onsouth roof slope

Pending Consideration

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I absolutely love kale. It’s packed with flavour and nutrients and it’sincredibly quick and easy to cook. Braising kale in beer and brownbutter gives the finished dish a really nice nutty flavor and the quickmethod of cooking ensures that the kale retains its vibrant greencolour.

1. First prepare the kale by washing it and then cutting out the stem.It is important to cut out the center stem because it can be toughand chewy. Once you have removed the stems, quickly shred thekale by rolling up the leaves into a cylinder and roughly slicing them.Set to one side.

2. In a large frying pan or sauté pan place two tablespoons of butterand cook on a medium heat until starting to turn a light browncolour. At this stage quickly add the beer and chicken stock and turnup the heat to high. Bring to the boil and then add the kale.

3. Cook the kale for approximately 3 minutes until most of themoisture has evaporated and the kale is nicely glazed. Add thechopped pecans and seasoning to taste. Transfer to a serving platterand sprinkle with the dried cranberries.

Chef’s tip:

Make sure that the liquid is boiling and the heat is on high beforeadding the kale, you don’t want to slow cook it because it can loseits vibrant green color if it is stewed for too long.

Ingredients for 42 bunches of kale2 tbsp. unsalted butter120ml beer of your choice60ml chicken stock1tbsp. reduced sugar driedcranberries (this is optional)3 tbsp. roasted chopped pecansSea salt and freshly ground blackpepper to taste

Ryan Turner, real food and low-carbchef - www.thefoodbible.com

Natural ly good...

Brown butter and beerbraised kale with

cranberries and pecans

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Out and aboutGOSPORT ART CLUB ANNUAL EXHIBITIONAt the Explosion Museum9th - 12th April. Free admission.10am - 5pm Thursday - Saturday10am - 4pm SundayLocal Artist’s Exhibiting original work. Different subjects andmediums. Something for everyone.

HOT TOPIC! AT THE ELSON LIBRARY136 Chantry Road, Elson, GosportFriday 24th April10am - 11amCome along to our coffee morning and listen to a guestspeaker at the same time. This month’s guest speaker isCarolyn Barber, who will talk about the Seven Good Habits forGood Mental Health. Enjoy a cup of tea or coffee for just 20p.Free - no need to book, just come along.

SCRAP HAPPY QUILTERSWemeet the 2nd Tuesday of the month at Brodrick Hall,Clayhall Road, Gosport PO12 3BY from 7.30pm to9.30pm. March speaker Julia Gahagan onminiatures. Contact Alison on 01329 663087. Coach trips &workshops also arranged. A sewing evening takes place 4thTuesday of the month 7.30pm to 9.30pm same venue, contactJoan 02392 588728.

Is there a dog inthis book?Book Review

by Viviane SchwarzThis is great fun! Tiny, Moonpie andAndre are scared of dogs so when theysmell something funny – what can it be? It’s not adog is it?Everyone knows that dogs are yappy, smelly andnoisy and that they hate cats!So, they all try and hide from him - behind thecouch, under the piano, in the wardrobe - but whenthe little doggy finally finds them, well, they simplycan't get enough of him! He is really very soft andthey just want to cuddle and play with him.Children will love the humour and the flaps andpop ups. The illustrations are quirky but quitesimple in layout and full of fun.

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The latest Nissan Qashqai, whichwent on sale in January 2014, isavailable in four time-honouredgrades: Visia, Acenta, AcentaPremium and Tekna.

The model tested here comes inflagship Tekna trim. But we’ll cometo that in a bit.

Firstly, here’s some background.

The second generation, familyoriented car is now longer, lowerand wider, giving it a more imposingstance while maintaining a raiseddriving position. The vehicle underreview is front-wheel drive, the set-up which Nissan says will account for

most sales, but all-wheel drive isavailable too.

The Qashqai's exterior looksmodern and there’s a betterquality feel to the cabin - perfectfor many years of hardcorefamily use. The range-toppingTekna model features an arrayof technologies that highlightthe Japanese motormanufacturer’s lead in thecrossover market.

But hang on, what is a crossovervehicle? Well, it’s a motor builton a car platform, combiningcharacters of a Sport UtilityVehicle (SUV) with elementsfrom an estate or a hatchback.The crossover mixes SUV designcues such as tall interiorpackaging, lofty seating, highcentre of gravity and elevatedground-clearance with car-likehandling and good fueleconomy.

Anyway, back to the Tekna trimQashqai under review. The

Nissan benefits from darknesspiercing Bi-LED headlamps and itexcels when it comes to kit. The carcomes equipped with 19-inch alloywheels, roof rails, part-leather seats,a large glass roof, heated seats, andfront and rear parking sensors.There’s also a seven-inchtouchscreen display, DAB digitalradio, and smartphone connectivity.

The Qashqai is available with apetrol or diesel engine; the reviewcar came with turbocharged petrolpower. But it turns out that theNissan doesn’t need anything hugeunder the bonnet to deliver a first-rate drive.Motoring through a six-speedmanual transmission, the 1.2-litre

engine packs a punch, offeringsharper acceleration andgreater flexibility than thefirst generation Qashqai’s 1.6-litre unit.

Despite its modest size, theengine’s low weight and morefuel-efficient operation alsomean it’s cleaner and moreeconomical than the model itreplaces. The 1.2 engine emitsjust 129g/km of CO₂ (15g/kmless than the outgoing 1.6-litre petrol unit), and has anaverage fuel consumptionfigure of 50.4mpg.

Being a family car, you’dexpect safety to be a priorityfor the Qashqai – and you’dbe right. The Nissan features a hostof innovative safety features whichhelped it confidently pass all EuroNCAP's tests to record the maximumfive-star rating.

Engineered to offer the best possiblelevels of protection for children, thefresh Qashqai particularly shone inthe Child Occupant tests. Based onreadings from the dummies used intests, the Qashqai scored maximumpoints for its protection of an 18-month old infant.On that basis alone, I’m sold on thecar – but then I do have an 18 monthold and two other small children totake to school. I can definitely seethe appeal – and so, it seems, doother parents.

Yep, buy this car and your offspringwill be safe from harm – even if itmeans you lose all individualitywhen you merge into the vast sea ofother Nissan Qashqais parkedoutside the school gates.

New Nissan Qashqai

FAST FACTS

Max speed: 115mph

0-62 mph: 10.9 secs

Combined mpg: 50.4

Engine: 1197cc 4 cylinder 16 valvepetrol turbo

Max. power (bhp): 113 at 4500 rpm

Max. torque (Ib/ft): 140 at 2000rpm

CO2: 129g/km

Price: £23,800 on the road

PROS ‘N’ CONSSafety √

Economy √

Driving Position √

Kit √

Space √

Individuality X

Auto biographies

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By Tim Barnes-Clay, MotoringWriter

www.carwriteups.co.uk @carwriteups

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Pay Less to get More

@MoneySavingExpertMartin Lewis

These cold dark days of winter leave manydreaming of summer. Yet don’t let travel lustdestroy your wallet. Most people bookholidays in the early months of the year, so ifyou’re jet set on tripping abroad this year,here’s my top tips on how to use the web topay less to get more.

Slash flight costs using the RIGHTcomparison. Unlike package holidays withscheduled flights, leaving it until the lastminute means prices rocket. So make sureyou’re booking in advance and use the rightsite for the job.

- Cheapest price on normal flights: Here, justuse a flight comparison site. I likewww.kayak.co.uk (forgizmos), www.skyscanner.net (for ease), andwww.travelsupermarket.com (for breadth).

- Check cheap charter flights comparisonstoo: If you’re flying to a traditional packageholiday destination, like Majorca, you shouldalso check for spare capacity being sold ontour operators' own flights. The comparisonsthat include these ‘charter flights’ arewww.travelsupermarket.com,www.avro.co.uk and www.flightsdirect.com.

- Find the perfect time to book: Use the FlightInsight tab on comparison sitewww.momondo.co.uk, eg, on average 59days ahead is the perfect time to book, but itvaries by destination, so worth a check.

Flight booking - the clever stuff to cut costs.Once you've found the cheapest price via acomparison, if you want to push harder, youneed to get clever.

- Book the wrong date trick. Easyjet'sFlexifares let you switch dates by a fewweeks without paying more. So bag cheapterm-time flights, then swap for your chosenschool holiday dates. One of my users saved£700 on her family's break, yet there arepros and cons. Full step-by-step inwww.mse.me/easyjet.

- The codeshare trick. Sometimes two ormore airlines sell the same flights andbooking via one partner is cheaper, eg, aUnited flight from Birmingham to New Yorkcan be cheaper via Lufthansa.

- Ethnic travel agents trick. If you're goingsomewhere with a big UK ethnic orimmigrant community, check out nichetravel agents catering to them. Eg, London'sShepherd's Bush has some Caribbeanspecialists, or the Jewish Chronicle advertisescheap flights to Israel.

- The credit card flight freebie trick. You canget a 'free' Flybe flight anywhere or a BAEuropean flight (you pay taxes) just bysigning up to a fee-free credit card, anddoing normal spending on it. For a full list offreebies see www.mse.me/ccfreebies.

Cut the price for your hotel room. Forget thestar system. There's no world standard andit's often about facilities, not quality. To findthe hotel you want to stay at read reviews onthe ubiquitous www.tripadvisor.co.uk, butalways ignore the best and worst 10%. Checkcomparison sites, both www.trivago.co.ukand www.travelsupermarket.com allow youto see who's selling your hotel room for less.

Then also be aware there are commonlypromo codes available for the big hotelbooking sites which can cut your costs by afurther 15% for a full list of current ones seewww.mse.me/hotelsales.

Tricks to uncover 5-star hotels at 3-starprices. If you've time to play and want thereally big discounts, then there are twonaughty (but legal) routes.

- Uncover secrethotels. www.lastminute.com sells secrethotels at big discounts, where you know thestar rating, description and rough location,but aren't told the name till you've paid. Yetby cutting and pasting key words into googlethen matching up the ‘ratings’ you canuncover them before you book – full step bystep in www.mse.me/secrethotels.

- HUGE discounts with the Priceline biddingloophole. www.priceline.com is a huge USbooking site (it works for some Europeancities too). The trick is fiddly, butdevastatingly lucrative as forumite5*dealhunter found: "Got the 5*Renaissance Barcelona Hotel for £59 a nightfor 3 nights instead of £310 - a saving of81%." If you’ve got 30 minutes to try it seemy instructions at www.mse.me/priceline.Package holidays can undercut DIY webbookings... especially for 7, 10 or 14 days in atraditional resort like Majorca, Mykonos orMalia (and some that don't start with anM). In brief...

When to book?Massive savings are possiblein the late market, where deals are donewithin eight weeks of travel, yet of coursethere's restricted choice and you may needto be flexible. So if you need special facilities(eg, for families) you need to book now andtry to cut prices down.

How to cut prices? Remember tour operators

make holidays, travel agents sell them. Soone operator's holiday may be on sale atmany travel agents - the aim is to find who'llsell it cheapest. Either scan for discounts, oroften more lucratively, but more timeconsuming, is to haggle.

To do this first find the trip you want, thenwrite down all details, then take it to thetravel agents who advertise on places likewww.teletext.co.uk to see if they will sell youthe same holiday for less. Go to a few to findthe best price, but to be fair if one has spenta lot of time helping you, always give themthe last chance to match it.

How to get package holiday protection.Package holidays have long been protectedunder the ATOL scheme, so if somethinggoes wrong you get your money back (orhelp coming home).

Yet book a flight plus separate hotel or carhire together (or within 24 hours) from thesame travel (not airline) website, and since2012 you've also got ATOL protection, justlike with a package.

So check if it's not much more expensivecompared to booking the cheapest flight andhotel separately. Also bear in mindwww.expedia.co.uk, www.travelocity.co.uk,www.ebookers.com andwww.lastminute.com often give extradiscounts for flights and hotels bookedtogether.

PPuuzzzle Answezle Answersrs

CROSSWORD

April 2015

WORDSEARCH

HONEYCOMB

KIDS PAGE

WORDSEARCH

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WHAT’S ON AT THE DISCOVERY CENTRE, GOSPORTHigh Street, Gosport, PO12 1BT

Discovery Centre9am to 7pm except:Saturday:9am to 5pmSunday: closed

Gosport Gallery10am to 5pmSunday: closed.Closed on public holidays

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ABSOLUTERUNNING

At Absolute Running we areproud of our town. In fact, welove it. There is so much goodstuff going on that doesn't getheralded and sometimes ourlocal community believes some ofthe negative comments bandiedabout by those not lucky enoughto live in GosVegas.

Keeping to a sporting theme, youonly have to look at how ourcommunity is bursting at theseams with sporting success,from promotion winning GosportBorough FC to thriving rugby,hockey, netball and hockey clubsto name a few.

Absolute Running startedpromoting open water swimmingat Stokes Bay two summers ago.We simply advertised the factthat we would keep a watchfuleye on swimmers with our smallflotilla of volunteer kayakers and

the number of swimmers grew toover 130. More of that in a lateredition.

The point is, whatever your sport,there is something for you inGosport. If you belong to a groupor team and want to tell us, weand Big Voice will compile adirectory of activities and how tojoin.

At Absolute Running, our mainfocus not surprisingly, is runningand we want to see as many ofyou having a go as possible butparticularly the youngsters.

The new national runningsensation 'parkrun UK' hasencouraged so many families tohave a go in a fun, free andfriendly environment and we aredelighted that we could helpvolunteers put the buildingblocks in place for Gosport & Lee

on the Solent to have its veryown parkrun which will launchsoon at Marine Parade followinga hugely successful trial lastmonth. Check out parkrun UK'swebsite and have a go.

Our own attempt to get the yoofinvolved is by way of our awardwinning Gosport's Golden Milewhich takes place every summerat Stokes Bay seafront. It is a chiptimed Mile long dash along thetraffic free promenade sponsoredby Bayside Cabin and localbusinesses with great cash prizes.

Such was the success of our firstrace in 2013, we introduced ourJunior Golden Mile the followingyear and 250 boys and girls underthe age of 15 competed forindividual and school team prizeswith a local lady putting up £300cash to the winning school.

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CrosswordAcross1 Providing employees (8)5 Hunting expedition (6)9 An orientation or philosophy (8)10 What movies are projected onto (6)12 One who studies the past (9)13 Avoid (5)14 Highly excited (4)16 Left out (7)19 Actress/singer Judy _______ (7)21 Crimp or bend (4)24 Memos (5)25 Unshaken (9)27 In a crooked line (6)28 Trachea (8)29 Not dots (6)30 Contracts to lease transportation (8)

Down1 A metalshop (6)2 Discrimination against the elderly (6)3 A printed leaf or page (5)4 Shrewish (7)6 Accumulation (9)7 Sufficient (8)8 Insinuation (8)11 Pearly-shelled mussel (4)15 Crystal (9)17 Suffered pain or anguish (8)18 People who are mentored (8)20 Beat thoroughly in a competition (4)21 A Jewish prayer of mourning (7)22 Pace (6)23 Bovine mammary glands (6)26 Beneath (5)

This year, we want to see evenmore local schools challengingfor the Absolute Running InterSchool Challenge Cup so why notget involved?

One local lady who teaches atRedlands Junior School haspersuaded over 52 pupils andtheir families to sign up.Amazing!

Wave 105 Radio will be presentthis year with DJ and local chapRick Jackson running himself andwe've also a few internationalathletes from Kenya looking totry and break our course recordwhich currently stands at 4

minutes & 16 seconds.

More exciting still, we are hopingto stage the first ever WheelchairGolden Mile along Stokes BayRoad with support coming fromnone other than GB ParalympianDavid Weir and his racingacademy.

So you see, it all happens in ourtown. Lots of people doing lots ofamazing things.We believe that it's all aboutcommunity and getting involved.

Let us and Big Voice know whatyou do and let us all help. Thedoor is always open at Absolute

Running in Stoke Road and thekettle is usually on so don't beshy, come and say 'Hi'.

Follow the shoe...Because welove running 2.

Nick Carter. Founder/Director /Marketing & Outside events

manager.Absolute Running Ltd

www.absolute-running.co.uk

WWhhateateveverr you do...you do...FolloFollow thw the shoe shoe.e.

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