west magazine march 26 2016
DESCRIPTION
The lifestyle magazine inside The Western Morning News every SaturdayTRANSCRIPT
26.03.16
Fresh ways to spring clean
your life
16
+ £100 IN SHOPPING VOUCHERS
WIN:
+ STATELY INTERIORS
+ DIY EASTER CHOCOLATE
INSIDE:
Life’s a
‘I moved to Cornwall to live the dream’
beach
- Roo Cross - p12
Cover_March26.indd 1 22/03/2016 13:56:49
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Ads.indd 4 15/03/2016 12:43:20Ads.indd 2 22/03/2016 13:34:47
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6 THE WISHLISTCheck out this week’s objects of desire
9 JUST BETWEEN US...Sh! We have the latest gossip!
12 WIN £50 SHOPPING VOUCHERSTime to get yourself something gorgeous
16 DIY EASTER TREATS Homemade chocolates? Yes, you can!
22 TO THE MANOR BORNStately home style in west Devon
26 ANNE SWITHINBANKPractical advice for Easter gardening
28 SCENTS OF SPRINGThe new season perfumes you’ll adore
30 NAUTICAL BUT NICEHow to wear the latest look for spring
34 CULTURE VULTUREWhat’s on and where to go
36 BOOST YOUR WELLBEING Great ways to feel your best this week
42 SWEET ENOUGH?Wise words on sugar from Tim Maddams
46 FANCY DRESS? NOT AGAIN...Chris McGuire in tights and body paint
contents[ [Inside this week...
40 EAT SMARTCould portion control be the answer?
28SCENTS OF SPRINGThe new season perfumes you’ll adore
SPRING-CLEAN YOUR SOULMindful magic to refresh your life 38
LIFE’S A BEACH Meet Roo Cross, surf retail queen12
36 GET THE BOOSTGreat ways to feel your best, now
44 SECRET PLACESAn insider’s guide to the west
‘People here want to go shopping in February on a Tuesday, just as much
as in high summer. We’re not just for tourists’
Roo Cross on running a beach boutique
in Cornwall, p 12
Contents_March26.indd 3 22/03/2016 11:57:37
Becky Sheaves, Editor Sarah Pitt Kathryn Clarke-McLeod Catherine Barnes Lynne Potter
4
[[ [[welcome[ [
e know, of course, that Easter means so much, in so many different ways. It’s a religious festival, of course, and it also means some extra time off, to spend
with people we love. It’s the end of Lent - how did yours go? - and also a real sign of the turn-ing seasons and the start of spring. But there is no denying that Easter is, for many of us, also very much about chocolate.
With that in mind, this week we paid a visit to the fabulous chocolatier Gill Coates, who lives and works in Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast. If you turn to page 16 today, you’ll see Gill’s superb
recipes for making your own Easter treats. They are a lot of fun and absolutely beautiful too. Spe-cial thanks to the class act performed by Lyme Regis-based photographer Matt Austin, who
really has made Gill’s creations look irresist-ably delicious.
Elsewhere, we meet another really rather inspiring Westcountry woman, Roo Cross of north Cornwall. Roo’s the creative power-
house behind a hugely-admired coastal boutique in Porth, Newquay. Called Roo’s Beach, her busi-ness is currently going from strength to strength as a nationally recognised brand. Find out more (and win shopping vouchers!) on page 12 today.
[ [There’s no denying that Easter is, for many, very
much about chocolate
Becky Sheaves, Editor
Hello and Happy Easter to you!
[
CHOCS AWAY!DIY Easter treats to make16
EDITORIAL: [email protected]: 01392 442250 Twitter @wmnwest
@_Lexi_Styles_Catching up with the
papers, open @WMNNews magazine @WMNWest &
see this... #streetstyle
MEET THE TEAM
Becky Sheaves, Editor Sarah Pitt Kathryn Clarke-McLeod Catherine Barnes Lynne Potter
Tweetof the week
TO ADVERTISE: Contact Lynne Potter: 01752 293027 or 07834 568283, [email protected]
W
COVER IMAGE: Adj Brown
[6
the
Here are West’s top picks for an enjoyable Easterwishlist
STREET
STYLE STAR fave!
Heal’s ink dots jug
£25 www.amara.com
M&S Collection
bright pink slip £22.50
Marks & Spencer
Seasalt Cornwall
caramel sea salt
Easter egg £7.95
or £10 for two www.
seasaltcornwall.co.uk
YUM
Pour!
Pretty
Alex Styles
We spotted Alex Styles, 23, shopping
in Plymouth on an early spring day
just recently. We approve of the way
she keeps warm and cosy, yet gives
her out� t a shot of spring freshness
with her pastel baby-blue coat. And
we love the boots! “Even though I’m
quite tall, I love wearing high-heeled
shoes – I get the chunky kind so I
don’t topple,” she tells us.
Scarf: New Look
Coat: New Look
Polo neck: Peacocks
Gloves: New Look
Jeans: Asos
Boots: New Look
Send your stylish snaps of you or a friend looking fab to
Wishlist_March19.indd 6
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Why not pay a visit to Exeter’s wonderful shopping centre, Princesshay? You could buy some gorgeous spring fashion, such as this lovely dress from Coast, then browse in Karen Millen, Reiss, Hobbs, Debenhams and more. Or how about a meal? We love Carluccio’s, Wagamama and newly-refur-bished Café Rouge. www.princesshay.co.uk
one thingIf you do
this week...
Win We have a £50 Princesshay gi� card to win, to spend in the shopping centre’s stores and restaurants. To enter, send your name and contact details to: Princesshay Competition, [email protected], with the answer to this question: In
which city is Princesshay? Entries to arrive by April 8. Normal terms apply, West magazine will not share your details.
EdsLetter_1thing_March26.indd 5 22/03/2016 12:11:58
6
the
West’s top picks for spending your time and money this week
wishlistSTREET
STYLE STAR
Send your stylish snaps of you or a friend looking fab to [email protected]
Amy Carkett, 17 We spotted Amy, a student, out shopping on a sunny but cold day in Plymouth. Her solution
to the spring chills? A cute woolly hat and not one but two
bright and cosy scarves.
Hat: TopshopScarves: Zara and TopshopJacket: Rihanna at Topshop
Bag: River Island
Flower press £21.95 www.clareloves.co.uk
Gold whisk £18.95 www. mia� eur.com
Super cool pink glass and silicone water bottle £24.95
from Cornwall’s www.roosbeach.co.uk
Felbrigg lantern £32 www.mia� eur.com
Two Dandelions wall sticker from £26.69
www.tenstickers.co.uk
BLOOM
LIGHT
Wishlist_March26.indd 6 21/03/2016 14:38:56
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This boutique sells pre-loved contemporary and vintage clothes. We fell in love with a pair of Celtic & Co boots here in mint condition for under £50. You’ll also � nd pretty gi� ideas
and homeware including initial mugs illustrated with colour plates from the classic Ladybird ABC book.Number 30, East Street, Ashburton, call 07791 102357 or 01626 681423
STORE WE ADORE:
Wishlist
Number 30, Ashburton
adore...Store we
The Fishermen’s Mission gets 50p from each sale of this cute fi sh shoal bag £5 www.seasaltcornwall.co.uk
Pale blue and 9ct gold earrings £180 www.
piajewellery.com
Twist front jersey wrap dress £35 M&Co
Jar of chocolate eggs £12.95, Carluccio’s Exeter
Emma Bridgewater wallfl owers plate £17.95 from
South Molton’s Daisy Park and www.daisypark.co.uk
YES PLEASE
HANDY
It’s a wrap!
Wishlist_March26.indd 7 21/03/2016 14:39:36
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talking points
Bright blue was certainly a nice change for Somerset’s Maisie Williams, compared to her character Arya Stark’s muted wardrobe in TV’s Game of Thrones. At the Screen Actors Guild Awards recently, Maisie wore this striking Er-manno Scervino design. Paired with minimalist accessories and a relaxed looking up-do, she looks both pretty and polished, with a demure, slightly retro style. Doesn’t blue work well with silver-grey shoes, too?
SINGING the blues
OPTION BSmartStripe detail dress £29.99 TK Maxx
OPTION ASweetLinen cut-out dress £129 East
stealherstyle
OR MAKE IT YOUR OWN
Jacquard prom dress £69 Chic by Choice
had a new experience last week – I called 111. I must admit I’ve been baf-fl ed by the point of it. I
get why the NHS did it – too many people calling 999 who had an in-grown toenail or something – but I didn’t see how it could apply to me. Surely you either have a medi-cal emergency or you go to see a GP. It’s not like anyone can do a proper diagnosis over the phone. The poor family that lost their baby to sepsis is tragic testimony to that.
But on Friday night my son Freddy had a nosebleed, the third in 24 hours. I was, I’m afraid to say, rushing out the door. “Here, just pinch it with this, and tell Daddy if it gets really bad,” I said, thrusting a paper towel at him.
Forty minutes later I returned, and Freddy still had a nosebleed, poor kid. Not heavy. But still, you know, bleed-ing. Why does this stuff always happen on a Friday night?
It wasn’t a life or death situation but clearly my home treatment wasn’t working. I dialled 111. The fi rst thing I heard was the: “We are experiencing higher than normal call volume” message – what a surprise. I put the phone on speaker and started emptying the dishwasher.
I had only just done the glasses by the time the line picked up. A woman took my details, includ-ing our surgery. I told her about Freddy’s nosebleeds and she asked some questions. Was he dizzy? Short of breath? Seeing lights? Was his chest hot? Had
he lost more than a half a mug of blood? No, but the bleeding wasn’t stopping.
She patched me through to another woman, presumably with more medical qualifi cations. We went through similar questions. “I think you should get Freddy seen and the closest place that’s open now is Bodmin Minor In-juries Unit, which is three miles from you,” she said.
We drove to Bodmin Minor Injuries and gave our name to the nurse. Within ten minutes she admit-ted us and – this is the impressive part, I thought – the 111 service had alerted her that we were on our way, and sent her the case notes. Mirabile dictu!
The nurse said that we hadn’t
pinched his nose long enough – you have to do it for 20 minutes without letting up, apparently. She sent us home with a nose-bleed leafl et. The whole experi-ence lasted about an hour and a half.
So yes, the 111 service did just refer us on, but it was effi cient. And, in the interim, it also kept me from freaking out, which was valuable. Maybe that should be its new tagline: “NHS 111. Keeps you from freaking out.”
Story of my life...
Gillian Molesworth
When good advice is just a phone call away
Gillian Molesworth is a journalist and mum-of-two who grew up in the USA and moved to north Cornwall when she met her husband
I
The � rst thing I heard was the: ‘We are
experiencing higher than normal call
volume’ message – what a surprise
THE FLAT?
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Vicky Pattison may have had a stream of red carpet invitations since being crowned queen of the I’m a Celebrity jungle, but the she’s on a mission to curb the party-girl lifestyle that launched her TV career.“The reason I’ve decided to curb my drinking and nights out is because I want to achieve everything I want to achieve,” says the 28-year-old Newcastle lass, who came to fame on reality series Geordie Shore .“I’ve � nally got to a place where the things I’ve always wanted are actu-ally a possibility rather than a far-o� dream, and I don’t want to look back in years to come and think, ‘You ruined it through going out too much and not being able to say no’.” Canny lass.
VICKY: ‘FOR ME, THE
PARTY’S OVER!’
9
Justbetween us!Gossip, news, trend setters and more – you
heard all the latest juicy stu here � rst!
26.03.16
Actor Neil Morrissey has said he’d love to revive hit 90s comedy series Men Behaving Badly, despite calling his character in it a “misogynist loser”. Although his co-star Martin Clunes has poured cold water on the idea, Neil says he would love to appear again as Tony Smart in the beer-soaked � atshare comedy. The 53-year-old says: “I would
love to. I’d love to explore the fact that these two people now would be a couple of old dinosaurs probably still living in the same � at.” But we say – what about the girls? It wouldn’t be the same without Leslie Ash and Devon’s own Caroline Quentin. Although we suspect Deborah and long-su� ering Dorothy may have moved on to better things!
Former Spice Girl Geri Horner says learning to make cakes for The Great Sport Relief Bake O� helped her to overcome her eating disorder.
The former Spice Girl, who is mum to nine-year-old Bluebell, said the show was a “landmark” in her battle against the eating disorder bulimia, which she
experienced throughout her 20s. “Even when I’d recovered from it, I had a distant relationship with food. But to bake properly and celebrate cake rather
than run from it was such a landmark for me.” Geri, 43, was crowned Star Baker on the charity edition of the show when it was � lmed last September. She says: “The creativity of baking something is
like writing a song; it’s a mood-changer.”
‘Winning Bake-O�
helped me to love
food – at last’ [[
BAKING HELPED GERI
BACK TO
THE FLAT?
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10
in pictures
Well done: The Men’s Walk in Exeter raised money for Hospiscare
Jump to it: The netball match between Plymouth Pilgrims and Plymouth University was hard-fought
Superhero: There was
a sci-fi convention in
Plymouth
Cuddles: Duchy College
at Stoke Climsland
held a family open day
to celebrate spring
WIP_Top10_March26.indd 10 21/03/2016 14:41:23
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Hot dates
talking points
Untrendy
Calendar
10 once-popular baby names falling out of vogue, according to Bounty.com
1 Terry2 Derek 3 Helen4 Clare5 Ian6 Darren7 Graham8 Karen9 Janet
10 Joanne
DID YOU KNOW?
This week:
Famous faces with links to the Westcountry
ONE OF US
The writer John Le Carre, 84, lives in west Cornwall
John le Carre
The happy list
10 things to make you smile this week1 Gin with tonic, very nice
2 Priscilla the musical, Torquay April 11-16
3 Easter eggs still time
4 Broad beans ready now
5 Monday o� yes!
6 Roast lamb with mint
7 Lent last day, well done
8 Boconnoc spring � ower festival, April 2-3
9 The Jungle Book North-cott, Exeter, April 26-30
10 Clocks going forward at last
Songs with months in their title
1 January Disclosure
2 End of May Michael Buble
3 November Rain Guns ‘n’ Roses
4 My December Linkin Park
5 July, July! The Decemberists
6 December Song George Michael
7 Fourth of July Fall Out Boy
8 September Earth, Wind and Fire
9 January Sales The Singing Postman
10 April Fools Rufus Wainwright
Celebrities with memorable birthdays:
1 Philip Scho� eld April 1
2 Neil Morrissey July 4
3 Simon Pegg February 14
4 Johnny Marr October 31
5 Annie Lennox December 25
6 Alexa Chung November 5
7 Jeremy Irvine January 1
8 Ja Rule February 29
9 Jorgie Porter December 25
10 Tilda Swinton November 5
Cornwall: John le Carre is the pen name of David Cornwell, who has lived near St Buryan in the far west of Cornwall for more than 40 years. “I live on a Cornish cli� and hate cities. I write and walk and swim and drink.”
Name change: During the 1950s and the 1960s, David Cornwell worked for the Security Service and the Secret Intelligence Service, and began writing novels under the name John Le Carre.
Success: He is one of the country’s most successful writers. An adaptation of his novel The Night Manager is currently on BBC1.
Fame: When his third novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) became an international bestseller, he le¡ MI6 to become a full-time author.
Awards: In 2008, The Times ranked John le Carre 22nd on its list of “The
50 greatest British writers since 1945”.
Family: His father Ronnie was an associate of the London criminals the Kray twins and was a con¤ dence
trickster who spent time in prison. “I don’t know how many times the baili� s called... You have no idea how humiliating it was.” When Ronnie died in 1975, he paid for a memorial funeral service but did not attend.
Spy: When he studied at Oxford in the 1950s,
David Cornwell worked covertly for MI5, spying on far-le¡ groups in case of Soviet in¤ ltration.
Philby: His cover as an intelligence o§ cer was ended by the betrayal of British agents to the KGB by Kim Philby, a British double agent, in 1964.
Marriage: He married wife Valerie Jane in 1972 and he has four sons. His youngest son writes fantasy novels under the pen name Nick Harkaway.
Competition winners:
Congratulations to the winners of two family day passes to the National Trust property of their choice in Devon or Cornwall: Karen Holland from Millbrook and Steve Buckley, from Braunton
John le Carre owns a mile
of cli op near Land’s
End
WIP_Top10_March26.indd 11 21/03/2016 14:41:53
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People
By Becky Sheaves
ife’s a beach for Roo Cross, quite lit-erally. She runs a shop on the north coast of Cornwall that is called Roo’s Beach. And when it comes to
showcasing the unique and oh-so-cool Cornish surf style, Roo’s beach-side boutique certainly punches well above its weight.
The reason being, that Roo herself – a busy mum of three – is passionately devoted to having the most covetable, must-have treats in the shop, gathered by her from all over the world. The shop – and new online boutique – perfectly embodies Cornwall’s laid-back, coastal vibe.
With swimwear from Australia, sunglasses from France, handbags from Los Angeles and beach towels Roo designed herself, the shop is al-ready the winner of a prestigious national award from industry bible Drapers, for the best store design makeover in the country in 2015.
“My passion is to offer women a fresh, luxu-rious alternative to beachwear. Curating and collecting products from around the globe, com-bining pattern with originality, our collection is perfectly suited to coastal living and stylish pur-suits,” Roo explains.
LIFE’S A BEACHFor Roo Cross, a move to Cornwall led to a whole new life - not to mention a brand new business, too...
L
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Roo’s story starts back in 2002 when she and her husband Ian bought a small bungalow in the coastal village of Mawgan Porth, near Newquay, as a weekend getaway. “At the time, we were living in Winchester. But we soon found our-selves spending every possible moment in Corn-wall. My husband Ian is a keen surfer and we just loved the lifestyle down here.”
Back then, Ian was working as an architect and Roo was running her own landscape garden-ing business. By 2011, the family was desperate to live in Cornwall full time – but could they make it work? “Our eldest son, Archie, was just choosing his GCSE options and we knew that, if we did not make the move then, we would never be able to,” remembers Roo. “So we took the plunge – and it was the best decision we ever made.”
Fast-forward fi ve years and Archie is now 19, Molly is 17 and Betsy is 13. “All three of our chil-dren have so enjoyed growing up in Cornwall and get so much out of the rural, coastal lifestyle,” says Roo. “They love surfi ng and are very much part of the wonderful community here.”
And that same lifestyle has transformed Roo’s career, too, in a quite unexpected way. “Ian now
‘My passion is to o� er
women a fresh, luxurious
alternative to beachwear,
perfectly suited to coastal living’
Roo Cross in the beach-side boutique she runs in Cornwall
Roo’s beautiful store won a national award
for design last year
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People
mostly works from home, making trips back up to his offi ce in Winchester once or twice a month,” she explains. “For my part, I was expect-ing to carry on with my landscape gardening in Cornwall – but then Roo’s Beach happened.”
The decision to open a shop was born, Roo explains, out of a sense of frustration: “I loved the style of the women here, which is very dif-ferent to what I was used to in Winchester. Yes, people still like to wear lovely clothes but their lifestyle is outdoorsy and beachy, so everything has to refl ect that too. It’s not about high heels or dry-clean-only fabrics. Clothes have to be beach-proof. But they can still be unusual and really cool, too.
“The trouble was, I just couldn’t shop for what I wanted! There really wasn’t the sort of boutique I wanted to browse in, anywhere around here.”
One thing led to another and, in the spring of 2013, Roo took on a tiny gift shop in the village of Mawgan Porth which had come up for rent. “It was fun, and worked really well, but space was very constrained so we could not offer the range of products that I wanted,” Roo remembers. Within a year, she and Ian had taken on a much larger premises nearby, right on the beach at Porth. This is now home to a much larger Roo’s Beach boutique, as well as a coffee shop, Pilates studio and an ice-cream hut.
The business is run in a way that really shows Roo’s commitment to the community in and around the Cornish north coast. “We are open all year round. I think that is so important,” she
Roo’s boutique in the Cornish coastal
village of Porth
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‘People here want to go shopping in February on a Tuesday, just as much as in
high summer. We’re not just for tourists’
Win!
We have a £50 voucher to spend instore or at www.roosbeach.co.uk. For your chance to win, send us your name, address and contact details to: Roo’s Beach competition, [email protected], together with the answer to this question: In which village is the Roo’s Beach boutique?
Entries must arrive by April 8. Normal terms apply, West magazine will not share your details.
£50 to spend at Roo’s Beach
says. “People here deserve to be able to go shop-ping in February on a Tuesday, just as much as in high summer. Roo’s Beach is not just for tourists, we’re part of everyday life.
“We also sell at a wide range of price points. Yes, we do have some expensive brands, which are unique and special. But I don’t want anyone to feel that they can’t afford to come in here. We also stock gorgeous and affordable things, from cute cards to surfers’ nail varnish designed to stand up to the sea and sunshine. There is some-thing for everyone.”
The next adventure on Roo’s horizon is to take the Roo’s Beach brand further afi eld. To this end, she is busy growing her online business, selling the products she loves nationwide. “It’s great for people who may have spotted us on holiday or who live far away. Online retail is a really excit-ing prospect for us.”
Roo is also planning a pop-up store to be found at the ultra-chic Port Eliot Festival in south east Cornwall this summer. “We’ve just heard that we’ve been given a stand there, which is fabu-lous news as it is very competitive.” She and her team will be putting on quite a show there, she explains: “We’re currently transforming a retro caravan by decorating it with one of the designs for our beach towels. We’ll be there in force, showing off the Roo’s Beach ethos to as many people as possible. It’s going to be so much fun.”
Another iron in the fi re is a collaboration with the nationally-renowned Watergate Bay hotel, she explains. “We have designed one of our trademark fringed beach towels especially for Watergate Bay. It’s a great partnership for our brand.”
Indeed, Roo is so busy that one wonders wheth-er she ever has time to enjoy the chilled-out Cor-nish lifestyle herself ? “Life’s a bit hectic, I must admit,” she laughs. “But when your daily com-mute is along the Cornish clifftops, watching the surf rolling in, then it’s no hardship. After all, I love what I do.” And, happily for Roo, her cus-tomers also really love what she does, too.For details visit www.roosbeach.co.uk
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Easter treats
aster, of course, is prime time for chocolate, as Gill Coates of Lyme Regis knows only too well. Chocolate has become both a passion and
a career for Gill, who makes bespoke chocolate creations from her home in the Dorset town, as well as running hugely popular chocolate-making courses across the Westcountry.
“I’m so busy at the moment,” says Gill, 58. “I’m running back-to-back chocolate courses and of course making all sorts of Easter-themed creations. Luckily, I absolutely love what I do.”
It’s been a mid-life career change for Gill, who spent many years sailing a 65ft yacht around the world in her younger years. “I ran sailing courses, taking people for legs of the round-the-world journey and teaching them to sail,” she explains. “Then I decided I wanted to live on dry land, and so teaching chocolate making instead became my new career.”
These days, Gill and her husband Peter, a successful artist, are a very creative couple. Peter sells his paintings in the town of Lyme Regis and across the country, while Gill runs courses for groups of friends, hen nights and children’s birthday parties. “People have a lovely time, becoming thoroughly absorbed in making chocolate, and of course make plenty of lovely things to take home and enjoy,” she explains.
Gill herself trained at the world-renowned chocolatiers Valrhona in France. “I went on a course just for fun but it was unexpectedly life-changing,” she remembers.
And this time of year is especially busy, she says. “Easter is real chocolate time, we associate it with treats and fun.” And it will be a family time for Gill, too. “Our fi ve grandchildren are all coming to stay with us at Easter with their parents. I will be making chocolates with them, and also they will be having an Easter Egg hunt in the garden. All handmade, of course.”See over for Gill’s chocolate recipes and visit www.chocolateamour.co.uk
E
This weekend is prime time for chocolate lovers - and what could be nicer than handmade Easter eggs? Top chocolatier Gill Coates from Lyme Regis explains the easy way to make your very own...
By Becky Sheaves
Enjoy
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EastEr BrEakfast Eggs IngrEdIEnts: 100g good quality dark or milk chocolate20g dark or milk chocolate, chopped in a food processor until it resembles a fine gravel but not powder50g dark or milk chocolate2 teaspoons strawberry powder70g white chocolate1 shot glass of double creamEaster egg mould the size of a real egg
MEthod: 1. Melt the dark or milk chocolate until it reaches
45-50C. Take it away from the heat and add the chopped dark or milk chocolate. Stir slowly until the ‘seeds’ of chocolate have melted.
2. Spoon the melted chocolate into the moulds and swirl or brush to cover the mould cups completely. Tip out the excess onto greaseproof paper and transfer it back into the melted chocolate. Keep this chocolate warm to prevent it from setting.
3. When the first coating has set, repeat the process with a further 2 or 3 layers until you have a half egg with a shell at least 2mm thick.
4. Leave to set for a few hours.5. Once set, carefully ease the eggs out of the moulds
and leave to stand somewhere cool.6. To make the filling, heat the white chocolate over
steam or in the microwave, stirring continuously, until it is just runny.
7. Take it off the heat and add the cream. Stir until the cream has disappeared. Add to this the strawberry powder and stir well.
8. Spoon the mixture into a disposable piping bag, cut the end to produce a hole about 3 mm.
9. Pipe the filling into the egg halves until it is about 1–2 mm from the top.
10. Leave to set in a cool place.11. Once the filling is fairly solid, heat a palette knife
and gently press it to the top edge of the egg – do 2 halves at a time. Immediately press the 2 halves together so that they stick – you may need to hold the egg for a few seconds with cold hands, so that it sticks well.
12. Once all the egg halves are stuck together, melt 50grs of dark or milk chocolate until just melted, leave to cool until it feels cold to the touch but not yet setting. One egg at a time, brush with the melted chocolate where you would like to stick decorations. Place the silver balls, sprinkles or pink sugar crystals onto the melted chocolate and place into an egg cup to set.
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Enjoy
Nests aNd eggsINgredIeNts: Several mini eggs, decorated (see recipe, above)100g milk chocolate30g double cream
Method: 1. Melt the milk chocolate in a bain marie or
microwave, stirring continuously. Do not overheat.
2. Add the double cream and stir until it has mixed well.
3. Spoon into a disposable piping bag and cut a small hole in the end about 2mm..
4. Pipe the mixture around the sides and across the base of a petit four paper case, making the sides higher than the middle.
5. Pipe just above the rim of the petit four case. Place one or more eggs into the piped ‘nest’.
6. Allow to set in a cool area.
sMall ChoColate eggs aNd MINI ChoColate eggsINgredIeNts: 100g milk or dark chocolate30g chopped chocolate seedsSmall egg mouldDecorations for the eggs, e.g. edible gold powder, sprinkles, silver balls, coloured sugar crystals.
Method: 1. Melt 100g of chocolate in a bain marie or
microwave, stirring continuously until the temperature reaches 45–50C.
2. Add the chopped chocolate seeds.3. Stir until the seeds have melted and the chocolate
feels cool.4. Pour into the egg mould using a teaspoon. Be
careful not to overfill the moulds, if you do, scrape the excess away with a palette knife so that you have a flat, even surface.
5. Leave to set about 20 minutes in the fridge or a cool room. When set, unmould the egg halves. Heat a palette knife and hold it against the flat side of an egg half and again repeat with another egg half, immediately hold them together so that they form a whole egg.
6. Wipe any excess chocolate from the ‘join’ with your finger.
7. Decorate by brushing with melted chocolate and rolling in your chosen decoration and leave to set.
Chocolate_March26.indd 19 22/03/2016 14:26:32
20
Enjoy
EASTER FLORENTINESINGREDIENTS: 2 tablespoons melted cocoa butter1.5 dessertspoons cocoa powder1–1.5 dessertspoons agave syrup (according to taste)Cupcake cupsNuts and dried fruit
METHOD: 1. Mix well cocoa butter and cocoa powder until smooth.
Add agave syrup, heated until lukewarm. Mix well again and pour into cupcake cups to a height of 1cm. Decorate while still molten with nuts & dried fruit. Leave to set in the fridge then peel the paper cup away. These chocolates can be stored in the fridge.
2. They can also be decorated with mini chocolate eggs rolled in edible gold powder and dipped in milk chocolate and dark chocolate on either end.
EGGS ON STICKSINGREDIENTS: 100g milk or dark chocolate30g double cream70g milk or dark chocolate for dippingDecorations
METHOD: 1. Melt the chocolate in a bain marie or microwave,
stirring constantly until the chocolate has just melted.2. Remove it from the heat.3. Add the double cream and stir until all the cream is
mixed into the chocolate – this will make a ‘ganache’.4. Pipe onto a sheet of greaseproof paper in � at ‘sausage’
shapes.5. Leave to set in the fridge for 20 mins.6. Take out of the fridge and cut a section of the
chocolate, and shape into a small egg. Make sure that there are no air pockets inside the eggs.
7. Leave on a piece of greaseproof paper to set for 5 minutes while you roll and shape the rest of the ganache.
8. Once set, you can re-roll the eggs to a better shape. Push a lolly stick into the base of the egg, about 2/3 of the way up into the egg.
9. Heat until JUST melted the dipping chocolate and place into a small, deep bowl.
10. One at a time dip an egg into the dipping chocolate and once coated, li� out and drain it .
11. Place into a potato or similar so that it stands upright on the stick.
12. Repeat with all the eggs.13. Decorate with silver balls, sprinkles etc.
Chocolate_March26.indd 20 22/03/2016 14:27:44
21
interiors22 fashion30
living38 explore44
Intro_March26.indd 21 22/03/2016 11:51:02
22
Use of white paint and light wood makes the open-plan kitchen bright and welcoming
ccording to local legend, Boring-don takes its name from the Saxon phrase, Burth-Y-Don, which means “enchanted place on the hill”.
It’s a sentiment that Gayle Net-tleton says the place still evokes, every time that she turns into the drive of Boringdon Hall and glimpses the centuries-old manor house, now a hotel, cresting the hill.
“It’s such a stunning building and set in such peaceful surroundings,” she says. “I never tire of seeing it.”
Boringdon Hall, in Plympton on the outskirts of Plymouth, has become a family love affair for Gayle, 45, her brother James and late father’s wife Diane, since they bought the hotel in 2011.
Before long, they had announced plans to de-velop a £5 million luxury health retreat in the grounds. Now there’s just weeks to wait until Boringdon’s much anticipated Gaia Spa is un-veiled.
In the meantime, it was Gayle’s job to refresh and upgrade the decor and bring new life to its 40 bedrooms and bathrooms, some of which, along with its Great Hall, are located in the original Tudor part of the building.
The work has been an ongoing process, which began with the bathrooms being re-tiled, re-plumbed and refi tted. The bedrooms were re-decorated, using wallpaper and fabrics from a company called Harlequin, Gayle tells me. Royal purple accents bring impact to the colour scheme of the house’s oldest bedrooms, which also boast romantic four-poster beds.
A
GranddesignThis historic Devon manor house has just had a serious makeover, transforming it into a super-chic boutique hotel and spa. Catherine Barnes visits Boringdon Hall, Plympton, to � nd out more
Interiors_March26.indd 22 21/03/2016 14:52:54
23
Interiors
Interiors_March26.indd 23 21/03/2016 14:53:15
24
Gayle, who has three sons aged 11, eight and four, had already overseen the interiors of other properties owned by her family business, Fistral Beach Hotel and The Esplanade Hotel, both in Newquay, where she lives.
“I’ve always enjoyed interiors and have fol-lowed decor trends since my teens, from rear-ranging the furniture in my bedroom to rag-rolling the walls,” she laughs. “I’ve always loved making spaces look and feel beautiful.”
When the family bought Boringdon Hall, they acquired a stately hotel with a Grade I listed heritage. Indeed, during Tudor times, Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I stayed at the manor as guests. Its magnifi cent carved oak four-poster beds were already in situ in the bedrooms when the Nettletons acquired the hotel.
“I’ve been told at least one of them is an origi-nal and they are pretty spectacular,” says Gayle. “Just imagine! You might just be spending the
night in the very same bed as Queen Elizabeth I.”
When considering how to add contemporary touches and bring comfort and warmth to Boring-don’s dramatic Great Hall, Gayle was mindful of its pedigree.Once the h a u n t of royal
visitors, she wanted contem-porary guests to feel completely at ease and cosy in the imposing room, which has a huge stone fi replace dominated by a coat of arms frieze, not to mention a minstrel’s gallery (now a won-derful dining space) and a lofty double height ceiling.
“I wanted to make it feel warm, inviting and relaxed, even though it’s very, very grand,” she explains.
The Great Hall’s latticed windows run virtu-ally fl oor to ceiling, fl ooding the room with light, so Gayle kept the walls neutral, bringing accents of colour – purple, sky blue and green-gold – to play in the furnishings.
“All the colours I used are favourites of mine and we made them work together, so it’s not too bold,” she explains. “I love the huge green-gold
curtains and sourced the fabric from a West York-shire company, Skopos Fabrics. The curtains are each cut from one piece. We bought a really huge roll and had wait until all the residents went to bed to run it out across the ballroom fl oor.
“A very talented local lady, Niki Solomon, based near Plympton, made them for me. We worked through the night until six o’clock in
the morning to get them hung and they were up, just before the fi rst guests came down for breakfast.”
Gayle went with a traditional hunting lodge theme for Boring-don’s Remy bar, with features including an antler chandelier (from www.davidhuntlight-ing.co.uk), hide footstools and button-back leather sofas. Its two feature walls are papered in Deer Damask Claret by Barneby Gates (£81 per roll). “Being so close to both town and country, I wanted to be sympathetic to the hotels heritage, yet create an
aesthetic that’s contemporary,” Gayle explains.Gayle lives in Newquay but loves the chance to
cosy up at Boringdon Hall. Only last week, she and her sons stayed over, after a trip to see Billy Elliot at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal: “I love to stay over when there’s space. I’d absolutely describe it as that enchanted place on the hill.”www.boringdonhall.co.uk
‘I wanted to make the Great Hall feel
warm, inviting and relaxed, even
though it’s very, very grand’ [[Gayle, who has three sons aged 11, eight and
night in the very same bed as Queen Elizabeth I.”
to add contemporary touches and bring comfort and warmth to Boring-don’s dramatic Great Hall, Gayle was mindful of its pedigree.Once the h a u n t
visitors, she wanted contem-porary guests to feel completely
Interiors
Interiors_March26.indd 24 21/03/2016 14:53:43
25
GET THELOOK
A modern twist on hunting lodge style with leather, hide and metal
Antler chandelier £798 www.
sweetpeaandwillow.com
Normann Copenhagen Heima cast iron
candleholder £49 www.black-by-design.co.uk
Metal hammered wall mirror £49.99 Argos
Oxford vintage brown leather armchair £1,497
www.artisanti.com
Portrait of Godfrey £129 www.
frenchbedroomcompany.co.uk
Cowhide ottoman £549 www.
sweetpeaandwillow.com
Interiors_March26.indd 25 21/03/2016 14:54:10
o fl ights of fancy this week, be-cause the long Easter break means time to focus on practical work in the garden. Some of our borders
have not been tidied since last year and work-ing through them to remove leaves, dead stems and weeds brings me up close and personal with the plants. In the woodland borders, leaves on Daphne odora are looking slightly yellowed, so this hard-working evergreen with deliciously fragrant fl ow-ers will be given a dose of iron sequestrene plus a mulch of well-rotted garden compost.
Where soil is still wet, place small wooden boards between plants to spread your weight. If there is any danger of trampling the emerging shoots on young hardy geraniums or delphini-ums, cover them with upturned pots before venturing on. Re-member where perennial weeds like ground elder and bindweed have been a problem and winkle their roots out before they start growing.
The wet winter appears to have rotted a lot of my Stipa tenuissima grasses, so I comb through them with my hands to remove dead tufts, as the remainder plus unaffected seedlings will grow on and can be moved about later, in April. Some herbaceous perennials including herbs like mar-joram and lemon balm have spread and lost their vigour. Lift these, divide using two forks back to back (or cut with an old kitchen knife), tidy into neat portions about 13cm/5in across and replant into reconditioned soil.
Look at established clumps for new shoots to
26
ANNE SWITHINBANK
Your Easterto-do list
Gardens
Devon’s Anne Swithinbank, panellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, is focusing on practical plans for her garden right now
take as basal cuttings. This has the double ben-efi t of thinning them down, so the remainder are stronger and fl ower better. Root them in seed trays or pots of gritty compost (50:50 soilless and sharp sand or grit) covered with polythene and stood out of full sun. Once rooted, move singly to 9cm/3.5in pots and then into 15cm/6in pots or nursery rows to grow on. In our garden, herba-ceous perennials need to go in at a decent size in order to fend for themselves.
I’ve taken to pruning my shrub roses in
autumn but they still need weeding, feeding and mulching. Tidy up winter-fl owering honeysuckle and viburnum now they’ve fi nished. You might thin out some older stems by cutting deep into the plant or to a healthy side shoot. Up to one third can be removed like this but avoid trimming all the shoots around the outside, or you’ll end up with rounded shrubs of unnatural shape and hardly any fl ower.
Some late blooming shrubs can be pruned almost to the ground. We do this to our smoke
N
The weather may still be
chilly, so delay direct sowings of
veg and hardy annuals until
soil temperature has risen [[
Gardening_March26.indd 26 21/03/2016 14:57:37
We have neglected our garden but now want to bring it back under control. There is so much to do I am put off by not knowing where to start. What is most important?
I have some sage advice often imparted by my late father to cover a variety of jobs. ‘Take care of the edges’, he said ‘and the middle will take care of itself’. Mow the lawns (if dry enough), trim and recut turf edges, weed and clear along pathways (great because if the soil is still wet you won’t need to stand on it) and the garden will be transformed. Where lawns have grown long, raise the height of cut on the mower and bring them down gradually to avoid ‘scalping’. Regu-lar weekly mowing will then improve the turf. Go through borders targeting first the thuggish weeds like brambles, nettles and ivy. Cover thick weedy growth with black polythene, old carpets or even cardboard and soil to exclude light and smother weeds.
27
While weeding an overgrown border, I accidentally ripped the stems from a clematis planted last year. Will it survive and is there anything I can do to help it?
We’ve all done this and hated ourselves after-wards. Clematis stems look so dead at this time of the year, it is easy to grab them along with debris. Next time, wrap fleece around the stems so you can see them. This works when you have build-ers in too, as bulkier-looking objects tend to earn more respect. Newly-planted clematis should be sunk by 5-8cm/2-3in in the ground and pruned after planting, so they start with multiple stems and the ability to come back from below ground. Having firmed the plant back in and mulched over the roots, keep slugs off and it might sprout. Late flowering clematis need a hard prune now anyway.
Q
Question time with AnneWest reader queries answered by Anne Swithinbank
Send your questions to Anne at [email protected]
This week in the kitchen gardenAnne’s advice for your garden
Q
• Feed grape vines returning to growth. Give a well-balanced fertilizer initially (ours is in a pot and will have some controlled release fertilizer). Later, a switch to high potash will help a good set of fruit and ripen the wood.
• Continue to plant first early potatoes 10cm/4in deep 30cm/12in apart in rows 60cm/24in apart. I generally plant a few rows every few days into April, switching to second earlies as I go.
• Harvest leaves from hardy over-wintered salads such as land
cress, rocket and claytonia as they make a burst of growth now.
• Transplant lettuce seedlings sown earlier, setting two per 9cm pot or larger module. They won’t mind being separated later as long as you don’t allow them to become pot bound and entangled.
• Protect brassicas such as kales and sprouting broccoli as well as young plants of summer cabbage and calabrese hardening off ready for planting. They need some netting or mesh to keep hungry pigeons off.
Weedaround the bases of apple trees trained as cordons or espaliers and then mulch over their roots with a generous layer of well-rotted compost or manure.
bush Cotinus ‘Grace’, Caryopteris x clandonen-sis.and hardy fuchsias. Be sure not to touch the likes of weigela, philadelphus or deutzia or you’ll have no flowers this year.
The weather may still be chilly, so delay direct sowings of veg and hardy annuals until you can see weed seedlings germinating – they are your indicator that soil temperature has risen suffi-ciently.
Sometimes I can’t wait, though, so I have just sown hardy annual Poppy ‘Angel’s Choir’ in modules under glass. There’s still plenty of time to germinate bedding plants such as cleome, gazania and tobacco in warm propagating cases or windowsills and those started earlier will need transplanting to trays, pots or modules. Fork border gaps where they will later be planted and add soil conditioner so this has a chance to inte-grate ready for planting out in late May.
As soon as exotic potted plants like Strelitzia (bird of paradise) or agapanthus start growing actively, they’ll need repotting or feeding. Here, piggy back plants (Tolmeia menzeisii ‘Taff’s Gold’) in a container look miserable after a long wet winter outdoors and may well have some vine weevil larvae in their roots. Taking the healthy shoots as cuttings will leave all the old compost and pests behind.
Most important of all, your gardening muscles need time to wake up, so take it easy and stop the
minute you feel a twinge. Alternate bending jobs like weeding with standing ones such as tying in stems of climbing roses. There’s a long season ahead, after all.
Gardening_March26.indd 27 21/03/2016 14:58:04
28
Beauty
Expert advice from beauty guru Abbie Bray of Newton Abbot
Beauty box
Abbie’s
Lighter nights and warmer weather can only mean one thing, spring is finally here! It is definitely the season of change (and that is not a bad thing). Now is the time to put your winter coats and boots back in the wardrobe, along with your plum and nude lipsticks.
It is also the time to think about spring beauty must-haves and what better way to start than looking at some of the newest fragrances on the high street? Fragrance is a very personal choice and one scent that suits one person might not suit another – it depends on how it works on your skin. Don’t panic if a certain scent smells better on your friend than it does on you – you just need to find the right one for you. This week I have tried and tested some of the best fragrances out there from light and floral to sweet and fruity. Which will you choose?
FreshElie Saab - L’Eau Couture EDT
(John Lewis £31 30ml)A delicately green-coloured perfume combining green almond and orange blossom on a vanilla base – gorgeous!
So sweetJo Malone Nectarine Blossom Honey
Cologne (£85 100ml)My mum loves this fragrance. It is sweet
but subtle, with notes of peach, cassis and honey.
Going coco
Feminine
Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude (Debenhams, £37 30ml)If you like the scent of coconuts you will love this, I know I do!
D & G L’imperatrice no.3 (Boots, £43 100ml)
This sophisticated and stylish scent features notes of water-
melon, kiwi, pink cyclamen and musk. I liked it a lot.
FloralChloé - Love Story (Boots, £65 50ml)This is my favourite spring fragrance. It is light and � oral, but lasts on the skin all day.
fave!
Beauty
I have tried and tested some
of the best fragrances out
there from light and � oral to
sweet and fruity [[
Beauty_March26.indd 28 21/03/2016 15:02:29
29
Shop
+
Dress £30 JD William
Pumps £48 Office
Pineapple bag £19.99 New Look
Raquel dress £55 JD Williams
Dorah bag £75 Dune
The editYour straight line to style: this week we choose fresh yellows for spring
Clutch £129 Radley
+
Slipper pumps £150 Chatelles
+ + +
+
Flare dress £55 M&Co
Pumps £27.50 White Stuff
Beauty_March26.indd 29 22/03/2016 13:46:11
30
Cute culottes
hoy there, me hearties! Looking for a fresh new trend for spring? Step forward, then, culottes. They’re a real presence in the shops right
now and, handled right, are a great way of getting out of your winter cover-ups and into something a little more summery. We really like these long denim culottes from the French online retailer La Redoute (www.laredoute.co.uk), far right. And in a nod to this garment’s nautical origins, we think they look good with a Breton stripe top and in fresh shades of seaside blue. Dancing the hornpipe in them, though, is strictly optional.
A
Merino wool striped jumper £89
www.thenauticalcompany.com
Spotty clutch £55 www.daisypark.co.uk
Seaside mac £35 Sailor culottes £16 Tu at Sains-bury’s
Diva lapis cuff £10 Miss Selfridge
Fashion_Mar26.indd 30 22/03/2016 13:40:11
31
Fashion
Stripey top £25 www.lookagain.co.uk
Su Owen Design silk clutch bag £49
www.amara.com
Leather culottes
£298 Jigsaw
Breton top £35
Tangles
Wide leg culottes £50 www.yumi.co.uk
Molony sandal £79 Dune
Denim culottes £29 La
Redoute
Fashion_Mar26.indd 31 21/03/2016 15:00:15
ark, moody and dramatic. Sounds like every guy I dated in my teens. This combination is rarely a good thing, with the exception of this season’s take on fl orals. Season
after season I resist the obligatory fl owery trend but this year’s incarnation has a steely edge and broodiness I just can’t keep away from.
I have to credit Joan Smalls with the inspiration for this particular shopping trip. She looked fantastic at the Paper Towns premiere in a jewel-toned inky-hued Balmain skirt with a black turtleneck. In 2013, Smalls was ranked in the top 10 on Forbes magazine’s World’s Highest-Paid Models list. In a nutshell, it’s fair to say her budget is a smidge higher than mine. However the high street does a pretty sterling job of mirroring the higher end of the spectrum. So it was with a hopeful heart that I set out.
When I sat sipping my latte afterwards, bags around my feet I could only think only one thing. “It is about time I bought shares in River Island.” I genuinely can’t control myself when I am in there. I try very hard. I even had a list. 1 x fl oral skirt. 1 x fi tted black jumper. I didn’t plan well enough though, because when I was at the counter paying I found I had a orange drape front top, two pairs of Molly jeans, a monochrome peplum vest, as well as the outfi t I am wearing for these pictures.
My biggest mistake? Shopping with our Beauty Editor, Abbie Bray. She is tiny but what she lacks in stature she makes up for in retail enthusiasm. We took turns showing off our picks in the changerooms and I knew I was in trouble when I opened the changing room door time and time again to her big wide eyes and fervent “That is incredible!/You look amazing/you HAVE to get that, you just HAVE to.” I get carried away very easily and tend to suffer from a case of short
pockets long arms in situations like those. I am sure the staff were around the corner rubbing their hands in glee.
If you’re on the fence about these moodier fl orals then let me help push you over. Firstly, they’re age-proof. Traditional fl orals have that annoying habit of looking Lolita-young on someone in their early twenties and a bit unimaginative on anyone over 35. Just by dialling up the dark, these take on the sort of universal sophistication that can only happen when edge meets elegance.
They involve black, and black is our friend. I
have had two hot cross buns today already so I have no immediate plans to wear white.
If you are someone who isn’t sure about including graphics and patterns, these will act as grown-up and stylish introduction to the fun that can be had when you step out of your comfort zone.
Overall, it is a trend that works well with others, your mother will approve and it will celebrate your femininity. Heavens, where was it during my misguided teens?All fashion in these pictures is from Princesshay Shopping Centre, Exeter, www.princesshay.co.uk
32
Trend
It’s time to park the pastels, says Kathryn Clarke-Mcleod
HOW TO WEAR IT:
D
MA
IN P
HO
TO
HA
IR: L
ILY
AT
SA
KS,
EX
ET
ER
MA
KE
-UP
: CL
AR
INS,
DE
BE
NH
AM
S (B
OT
H P
RIN
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SS
HA
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HO
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GR
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: ST
EV
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AY
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OD
Skirt, River Island, Princesshay, £30
Kintwear, River Island, Princesshay, £26
Shoes, Next, Princesshay, £30
Bag, Next, Princesshay, £34
These take on the sort
of universal sophistication that can only
happen when edge meets
elegance
Dark � orals
Have you got a fashion question or a trend you’d like to see
tackled? @KathrynCMcleod
DarkFlorals_March26.indd 32 22/03/2016 11:32:53
33
GET THE
look
Red Herring floral dress £30
DEBENHAMS
Dress £55 MISS SELFRIDGE
Faith printed wedge £45 DEBENHAMS
Trousers £32 MISS SELFRIDGE
Black floral maxi skirt £26.99 NEW LOOK
Bag £35 MISS SELFRIDGE
Dress £89 MISS SELFRIDGE
fave!
DarkFlorals_March26.indd 33 22/03/2016 11:33:35
34
Share a couple of hours in the company of the hilarious Gyles Brandreth, who is heading to The Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton on July 8, with his show Word Power. The former MP and star of Just a Minute, The One Show, QI, Have I Got News For You and Room 101 is a word fanatic, and this, his latest sell-out show, takes his audience on a rollercoaster ride around the amazing world of the English language. He also weaves stories from his life in theatre and politics into the mix. Tickets are now on sale for the July 8 date, the only one in the region.
Gyles Brandreth is at the Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton on July 8. Tickets £19, 01823 283244.
In Charlotte Keates’ surprising paintings, stairs climb the space where the walls ought to be, with mountains as a backdrop and trees weaving up like structural elements of the building. “What is outside and surrounding us, I � nd exhilarating and inspiring; a beautiful location, or setting, becomes the focus of the painting,” she says. Still only in her mid-20s, Charlotte has a � rst class honours degree in � ne art from Falmouth University. Now living in Chelsea, London, she uses restrained colour and delicate drawn elements to explore how space works. Her new paintings are now on show at the Porthminster Gallery in St Ives alongside work by three ceramicists, Regina Heinz, Somerset-based Keith Varney and London-based Korean potter Sun Kim.The Geometry of Space is at the Porthminster Gallery in St Ives until April 23, admission free, www.porthminstergallery.co.uk
Bringing the outdoors inWord play with Gyles
culturevulture
Our guide to what’s on in the South West by woman-in-the-
know Sarah Pitt
Chicago-raised musician Sarah McQuaid has a fantastic voice, likened by one critic to ‘thrice-distilled Irish whiskey’ and a way with words, blending folk and jazz in her music. She spent a number of years in Ireland, absorbing the traditional folk scene and now lives in Penzance. Critically acclaimed as a folk artist, she linked her American heritage and her adopted home when she recording her album Walking In White in the small town of Cornwall, New York last year. She’s currently on tour with her acoustic guitar, and you can see her at The Acorn in Penzance on April 14, Bodmin Folk Club on April 15, Hope Hall in Exeter on April 16 and The Plough Arts Centre in Great Torrington on April 17. See www.sarahmcquaid.com
Whisky-rich vocals
MA
IN P
ICT
UR
E: P
HIL
NIC
HO
LL
S
CV_Stars_March26.indd 34 21/03/2016 17:19:11
35
Enjoy
Your starsby Cassandra Nye
TAURUS (April 21 - May 21)The freedom you crave is most likely to be found at home and within your
social scene. Workloads can be heavy and not very inspiring. Still, the more you put in, the better it will be in the future. Someone who has been attracted to you in the past may seek another chance to impress.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)Being fl exible this week means the difference between frustration and
acceptance. Take on board the fact you cannot please everyone and immediately the pressure is off ! Suggestions from your partner are inspiring and remind you of past enthusi-asms. Use your imagination and knowledge of your partner. What would they really fi nd exciting?
CANCER (June 22 - July 22)A combination of Chinese whispers and intuition leads you in a new direc-
tion. Midweek could see you overhear-ing a conversation and getting completely the wrong message. Putting your practical hat on saves cash and tempers when someone becomes too ambitious.
LEO (July 23 - August 23)There are many questions to be asked this week and you shouldn’t hesitate
to ask them. Although no one is keen
to show lack of knowledge, asking for help is better than crashing blindly ahead. A loved one has the answer to a question. Please don’t underestimate or take anyone for granted right now.
VIRGO (August 24 - September 23)Be fully prepared to move along with
those who have the best chance of suc-cess. Understand that although others may have more knowledge, you have a practical approach. Little do others realise how much thought goes into your decisions! Seemingly smooth-running, your life is not often so.
LIBRA (September 24 - October 23)Showing knowledge and professional-
ism comes naturally to you. An awkward day ahead? Rely on a combination of charm and practical advice. Letting romance take a back seat is all very well for a while. You, however, need love and a good partner at your side. Plan and plot this week to get just that.
SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22)Romantic and far-reaching decisions come easily to you this week. The key
is never to use fear as an excuse for not going after your dreams. Regret is a bitter pill. Have you ever thought ‘what if’? You could be thinking this again if you deny your own needs now. Faint heart never won fair lady – or any-thing else for that matter!
SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21)The more people you meet and chat to this week, the better. Someone special
is coming your way so you have to be in the right place. That is somewhere entirely new, which may well be out of your comfort zone. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20)Being out to impress and bring some fun to others is a great attitude to have.
This week it really pays dividends. You are in a lucky phase. Although not everything can go your way, quite a lot will!
AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19)Secrets, especially at work, can be an-noying. The trick is in not giving too
much away while gaining support. You fi nd intrigue exciting but only in small doses. What you want a practical and quick solution to this week needs more effort. Are you speaking to the right person to get a decision?
PISCES (February 20 - March 20)Investments and a new romance seem to be closely linked this week. Will the person
who offers advice also offer something more per-sonal? Those who have a partner may encounter jealousy. This can be frustrating when you are so busy. Why not take the weekend off for something a little lighter?
Keira Knightley
This week’s sign: Happy birthday to...Those born under the sign of Aries are independent spirits and born leaders. They love to follow a dream and have the charisma to inspire others and sweep them along with them. They are more than happy to take a gamble on a wild idea which captures their imagination. although if a scheme does not pay o� quickly they are likely to get bored and move on. As friends, they are generous and caring but they do expect to get their own way most of the time.
born 26th March 1985It is a signi� cant birthday for actress Keira Knightley, who turns 30 today. London-born Keira has starred in numerous Hollywood movies, including the 2005 � lm Pride and Prejudice and BAFTA-award-winning Atone-ment. She also appeared in The Pirates of the Caribbean alongside Johnny Depp. No doubt Keira will be celebrating her birthday with husband, musician James Righton and their baby daughter Edie. As an Aries, Keira is an independent spirit who knows what she wants out of life.
ARIES (March 21 - April 20)Wearing your heart on your sleeve could give the wrong message this
week. Think about being less obvious and more mysterious. Romance is in the air but use it at the right time – and in the right place. Pace yourself during the week and save that burst of energy for the weekend. Remember, people value things more if they are hard won. Financial incentives are useful.
CV_Stars_March26.indd 35 22/03/2016 11:53:46
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Award-winning Somerset herb grower Jekka McVicar has said a key feature in her Chelsea Flower show display this year will be rosemary. She says the easy-to-grow herb is a kitchen garden essential, explaining: “It’s just been proven that rosemary is as good as ginkgo for the memory. Drinking rosemary tea in the morning really clears your head and settles your stomach.” Jekka’s Chelsea garden will be transferred to London hospice St John’s, a� er the Chelsea show this May.
HERBS FORHEALTH
Wellbeing
the boost
Life just got better. We’ve handpicked the latest wellness trends,
best-body secrets and expert advice to help you be your
best self, everyday
Keep it real“Diet is such a negative concept. It causes this cycle of, I’m not good enough, I’m a failure and I can’t do this – and now I weigh more than I did before,” says healthy-eating guru Calgary Avansino, who has launched a new cookbook Keep It Real (Yellow Kite, £25). “Especial-ly with women, there’s this mentality where if I eat something naughty for breakfast then I think, ‘Oh well, this day is shot, I might as well eat rubbish all day’. But think of every meal as a fresh start. Don’t ever beat yourself up about something you ate before – just move on.” Calgary has brought her own children up to eat and enjoy all foods, including treats, in moderation. And that sounds like good advice for us all.
Worth its saltInitially a foodie fad, Himalayan salts have hit the beauty counters. Aro-matherapy Associates’ vetiver and chamomile scented Deep Relax Hima-layan Bath Salts (£42) contain 84 different min-erals plus essential oils, to leave skin soft, muscles relaxed and mind calm. www.aromatherapyasso-ciates.com
TheBoost_Mar26.indd 36 21/03/2016 15:06:21
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Baby lessonsBaby lessons
Spa bliss in Cornwall
From the tragedy of a stillbirth and the heartache of a miscarriage to the joys brought by two healthy children, Marina Fogle has experienced both the highs and lows of motherhood. Together with her sister, mother-of-two Dr Chiara Hunt, Marina, (who is married to TV presenter Ben Fogle) runs the hugely popular London-based
antenatal sessions called the Bump Class. Now they have written a book of the same name (Vermilion, £18.99) so mums-to-be from further a� eld don’t miss out. Marina says: “The birth is the easy bit – it’s what comes a� er, looking a� er this most precious thing in the world and being responsible for it, that’s really tricky!”
Remember the days when Olivia Newton John got Physical and leg-warmers were de riguer at keep fi t classes? We love the sound of Retro Aerobics at Hayle’s V-Fit Centre on Thursday evenings. Work out with
Jane Fonda moves to a mix of mix of 80s and 90s unforgettable tunes. Ses-sions cost £5 and sound like a serious giggle as well as a great way to get in
shape.www.vfi tcornwall.co.uk
Get retro t!
The Bedruthan Hotel in north Cornwall has created a gorgeous new sensory spa garden, which sounds amaz-ing. The outdoor space, overlooking the sea, has been designed to invigorate all your senses in a one-hour experience inspired by fi re, earth, water, air and space. You can try the seven-stage drench, soak, scrub and detox session from April 11-30 for just £35. After that, the garden forms part of the Mawgan Porth hotel’s Day Spa Packages, starting from £55. Find out more at www.bedruthan.com
What’s coming up? Tweet us your wellbeing diary dates @WMNWest or email [email protected]
River retreatBecome at one with yourself – and nature – at an outdoor mindfulness retreat in the grounds of Shar-pham House beside the River Dart near Totnes. The retreats begin next month and run until August, with a three night full board retreat staying in a furnished bell tent costing from £295. As well as time away from the frantic pace of everyday life, there’ll be medicine walks, foraging and feasting on wild food. www.shar-phamtrust.org
TheBoost_Mar26.indd 37 21/03/2016 15:06:56
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Wellbeing
Balance it outSpring-cleaning season is upon us but it’s not just your home that could benefit from a good dust-down. Kate Whiting rounds up some simple solutions for sprucing up your mental wellbeing
ou might have the feather dust-ers ready, now that spring is just around the corner but have you thought about giving your mind a bit of a clear-out too?
We’re often guilty of wandering down the same old negative paths in our heads – think-ing you’re not good enough for that promo-tion, for example, or staying stuck in a rut that you know is making you unhappy. But it might be easier than you think to turn those thoughts and habits into positive ones.
Here are nine ways to take a feather duster to your mind...
Sort it out A tidy living space equals a tidy mind. First World problem it may be but I feel like a new woman now we’ve got a new dishwasher and there are no longer dishes on every available kitchen surface – they’re not weighing on my mind. The same is true for any living area – and your desk at work.
Live in the present “If you are feeling anxiety, you are living in the future. If you are sad, you are living in the past,” says life coach Carole Ann Rice (www.realcoachingco.com). “Keep your mind in the present, where all possibilities can occur. Recalibrate your thoughts.”
Y
SPRINGCLEANMIND_MARCH26.indd 38 22/03/2016 12:08:34
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Take your timeFind a course near you
1 MeditateGaia House in Ogwell, Newton Abbot runs regular Buddhism-based meditation courses. The centre is running a two-day residential meditation retreat from Thursday June 4 to Saturday June 6 2016, entitled A Path of Freedom. The standard cost is £120, for more details visit www.gaiahouse.co.uk
2 De-stressJoin an eight-week Stress Reduction course on Tuesday mornings at The Centre, Chywoone Hill, Newlyn from May 10-June 28 from 10am-12.15pm. There is a free orientation session on Tuesday, May 3, to see if the course would suit you. The same course runs on Wednesday a� ernoons in Penryn, from May 11, at The Zed Shed on Jubilee Wharf. The cost, which includes a full day retreat between weeks six and seven, is £200. For details email [email protected] or call 07582 892434.
3 RetreatLee Abbey is a Christian community that hosts retreats in a former stately home on the north Devon coast. Most weekends they run a Renew Refresh Resource residential two-day retreat here, costing from £136, as well as many other courses during the week. For details visit www.leeabbey.org.uk
4 YogaBonhays Farm in Whitchurch Canonicorum, west Dorset, runs regular yoga retreats. From April 15-17 they are running a three-day yoga retreat based on Qi Gong, run by Sophie Johnson, o� ering the chance to come away � tter, looser and restored both physically and energetically. The course and stay costs £300, visit www.bonhays.co.uk for details.
Flip your script Carole Ann suggests: “Write out all your negative thoughts and anxieties, but write them with a positive spin on it. For exam-ple; ‘Why is it me my boss gives all the tough jobs to?’ You could rewrite it as: ‘I am a safe pair of hands, people trust me to deliver and I always excel’.”
Write on One of the best ways to see your prob-lems for what they are – and address or let go of them – is to talk them through with someone else. But if they’re not the kind of things you feel able to discuss, the next best thing is to get them down on paper and help them shrink a little in your mind.
Breathe it up Not just outside your front door but that’ll do if it’s your only option. Get out into the country, head for the hills, take a trip to the seaside – and let the most natural thing on Earth blow away the cobwebs. Re-searchers at the University of Rochester in the US found that spending time in fresh air, sur-rounded by nature, increases energy in 90% of people. And it’s better for you than that choco-late bar...
Forget frenemies Remember the ‘jellyfi sh’ bit in Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason – where she gets stung by the negative friend? Yeah. Don’t see those people.
Conquer fear Baz Luhrmann’s Nineties hit song Sunscreen includes the line: ‘Do one thing every day that scares you’. And Susan Jeffers’ seminal Eighties self-help book was called Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway. Who wants to live their entire life being held back by fear?
Start something new Not convinced by the colouring-in for grown-ups trend, but you always fancied get-ting into woodwork and making your own bench? Block out a weekend in your diary, book
yourself on a course, or set aside some money to buy the kit, and let your creative juices fl ow.
Catch up with old friends Over to Baz Luhr-mann again: “Understand that friends come and go. But with a precious few, hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle. For the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.”
Get out into the country,
head for the hills,
or take a trip to the seaside
Gaia House
SPRINGCLEANMIND_MARCH26.indd 39 22/03/2016 12:08:58
Wellbeing
I don’t really believe in diets. Usually, when I need to shed a few pounds, I’ll limit my treats and stick to three meals a day. It’s worked for
me since I was in my early 20s, but this time around (I’m now 47) the few pounds I gained over Christmas don’t seem to be shifting. Help! NB, Crediton
Weightloss expert Dr Sally Norton says: It could be down to your portion sizes. Research shows
that our portion sizes are 50% bigger than they were just 20 years ago.
That’s a scary statistic in its own right and scarier still when you imagine the size of an aver-age plateful in 2036. So be honest. Do you pile your plate high – or go for modest helpings? Clear your plate clean afterwards – or leave just a little to show you’ve had your fill?
The fact is that most of us today are eating a
Qgreat deal more than our parents or grandpar-ents ever did. And, a new study by Exeter Univer-sity using computer modelling has found there seems to be no evolutionary mechanism to help us resist the lure of sweet, fatty and unhealthy food or prevent us piling on the weight.
That’s because in the past, being overweight did not pose a big threat to survival, compared to the dangers of being under-weight.
So our subconscious controls against becoming overweight are weak and easily overcome by the immediate rewards of tasty food – particularly in the winter when food in the natural world is scarce. Bad news for those New Year diets!
The more we overeat, the more our bodies expect as our stomach stretches to accom-modate these mega-portions of
food. So if we don’t watch it, bigger and bigger portions become the norm.
40
Food for thought
Could portion control be the key to mid-life weight loss?But the good news is that by reducing your por-
tion size you can shrink the size of your stomach to some degree – and train yourself to expect and want less food.
One way is to trick yourself into taking small-er portions. More than 50 academic studies have tested the effect of eating from smaller plates on food consumption – but though some suggested benefits, there was still surprisingly little con-sensus. However, researchers recently collated all these studies and concluded that halving plate size does indeed lead to a 30% reduction in the average amount of food consumed.
Of course shrinking your crockery isn’t the whole answer – sadly, there’s no such thing as weight loss on a plate! But if you’re trying to shed the pounds (or to avoid putting them on) it could be reason enough to splash out on a new set of dinner plates.
And if you combine this with other techniques to develop healthier food habits, you’ll be well on your way to managing your weight without re-sorting to fad diets that don’t work.Dr Sally is the founder of healthy eating and living website www.vavistalife.com
The good news is that by reducing your portion size
you can shrink the size of your
stomach and train yourself to
want less food [[WellbeingQandA_Mar26.indd 40 21/03/2016 16:43:24
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42
Tim Maddams is a Devon chef and author of Game: River Cottage Handbook no. 15 (Bloomsbury £14.99)
iven the recent press about the evils of sugar – as if that’s somehow a new story – I thought it would be a good time to give this everyday in-gredient a little attention.
The fi rst thing to note about sugar is that, in common with salt, it is all about your personal level as far as what amount of sugar you are used to. For example, if you take two sugars in your tea you may well think that tea with only one sugar in it is a bit bitter. Where-as someone who takes no sugar at all will think the same cup un-bearably sweet. It’s all about the way you tune your palate.
From the point of view of health, I really think it’s worth-while for everyone to consider this, and if you do take sugar in your tea or coffee, start to reduce it. It’s an amazing weaning proc-ess and once you signifi cantly reduce your sugar ‘standard level’, which takes only about a fortnight you will start to notice how sweet lots of other things are – such as cheap chocolate, processed cakes etc.
Then you start to notice something else, the different tastes of the different sugars. I’m not talking here about the stark difference between
say muscovado sugar and regular granulated but the more subtle differences between refi ned and unrefi ned caster sugar, and what impact that will have on the fl avour of your cooking and baking.
The reason that this is in my mind is that, for some time, I have been eschewing sugar as much as possible, preferring natural sweetness. Yes, I know sugar is a natural product but it also
masks a lot of the natural fl a-vour and more subtle sweetness of other ingredients – of say yo-ghurt and fruit or dried fruit. The fi rst and most obvious step is to use honey, however it’s a tricky blighter to use. Not only is it wonderfully sweet but it tastes, unsurprisingly, of honey too. Same is true for maple syrup – not to mention that it’s somewhat tricky to come by lo-cally. Though if you try hard you might get some good birch sap syrup. And actually maple syrup is fi ne as it is imported slowly by boat and represents a natural harvest, so long as you
get the good stuff which is not bulked out with, you guessed it, sugar.
So, that brings us back to sugar and there are lots of different types from UK grown beet sugar to imported cane sugar, palm sugar and a whole
G
Hey sugar sugar
with Tim Maddams
Sugar is a natural product but it also masks a lot of the
natural avour and more subtle
sweetness of other ingredients [[
Eat
Sugar rushI have just discovered organic coconut palm sugar and it is the bee’s knees as far as I am concerned. It’s weirdly bitter, a dark brown colour, amazingly caramel-like and totally not too sweet. Yet when you cook with it, it opens up, it’s warm, deep and seriously good. But it’s seriously pricey too so you won’t want to use it everywhere, but if you are making ice cream, sweetening a curry or making a crumble topping you would be well advised to consider it.
@TimGreenSauce
host of things in between. Reducing the amount of sugar you use everyday will focus your atten-tion on the different possibilities out there.
In the meantime, and to keep you sweet, try a little experiment. Pop to the store cupboard and take out all the different sugars you have in there. Taste a small amount of each and think about them. Just a bit. Go on, in the long run it will be worth it.
Tim_Beer_Mar26.indd 42 22/03/2016 13:41:59
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Drink
Hear, hear for the beerThe British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has held an inaugural South West and Wessex Parliamentary reception, hosted by Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset. The event gave some 20 MPs the opportunity to hear about the rich tradition of brewing in the region, and sample many of its famous beers. Lucky them!
Darren Norbury
talks beerchange.
Sharp’s has obviously been on the biggest journey. The brewery started out in founder Bill Sharp’s garage before moving to a single indus-trial unit at Pityme, near Rock. A client list in Cornwall started small, with a record of sales charted on a four foot or so square board, fi lled in by pencil. In 2016, Sharp’s, now part of the global Molson Coors empire, will brew more than 60 million pints, most of which will be Doom Bar, now the most popular cask ale brand in the UK.
The company took a battering last year when it was revealed that bottled Doom Bar was not only being packaged at Molson Coors in Burton-on-Trent but also brewed there, too. Logistical necessity has forced Sharp’s to be very clear about its next move this year, which will see all of its bottled brands brewed out of county, at an-other MC-owned brewery at Burtonwood, Chesh-ire. All cask beer will continue to be brewed in Cornwall, though, and new head brewer Andrew Madden has some new brews in the offi ng, some trialled on a new fi ve-barrel pilot plant.
Skinner’s, in Truro, is expanding too, albeit not at quite the same rate. It does, though, now have its own bottling plant, close to the brewery, which will be in operation any day now.
But its big news is a refresh, not a rebrand, as Steve Skinner puts it, of the brewery’s pump-clips and bottle labels. Six local artists have been drafted in to create attractive, eye-catching new designs which really do have strong bar pres-ence. Steve says: “It’s been a big investment but
the main thing is, the beer is the same,” although there is one small change – Heligan Honey has been renamed Hops ‘n’ Honey. Still tasting great, though.With both of these breweries, quality re-mains at the heart of their ethos and, as Steve Skinner says: “We never forget where we come from.” It will be interesting to see where some of today’s ‘new guys’ are in 20 years’ time.Darren Norbury is editor of beertoday.co.uk @beertoday
I’ve had a sneak preview of Harbour Brewing Company’s new o� ering, Little Rock IPA (5.5% ABV) and it tastes like a
winner. Owner Eddie Lo� house seemed to think I’d hit the nail on the head when I described it as a mid-Atlantic IPA – well
hopped, but not in a crazy, bitter way, with a smooth malt balance. Coming soon to a
bar near you.
Beer of the week
never had the impression that es-tablished brewers feel a need to keep up with the new boys, just that they’ve got to where they are by deliberately deciding not to stand
still. Tastes seem to keep changing in beer but the savvy brewers who have been there, seen it, done it, are always evolving, rather than just re-acting to trends.
Let’s take two of Cornwall’s well-established players, Sharp’s and Skinner’s, for instance. Set up within three years of each (1994 and 1997 re-spectively) each business is very different now to how it was back then. Yet each has core values which have remained true and some elements of each business which it would be sacrilege to
I
The Government has announced a £3.6m Community Pub Business
Support Programme, which aims to help communities that want to run their own pubs. A number of pubs have been
successfully revived by local people when business operators have declared
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Tim_Beer_Mar26.indd 43 21/03/2016 15:51:24
4444
Je Tam products
Food at Wildebeest Cafe
My Secret Westcountry
Tam Schallhorn GarroodTam Schallhorn Garrood is a pioneer of ‘clean’ food in Cornwall.Her company ‘Je Tam’ creates a range of raw desserts, tru� es and protein bars all of which are free from gluten, sugar and dairy as well as vegetarian and vegan. She lives in St Ives with her husband Jon and their six-month-old daughter Silver, and runs Je Tam in Hayle with her mum, Monika.
My favourite:
Walk: My favourite at this time of year is along the coast from St Ives to Lelant and back. I try and do this walk every week at least with my daughter Silver and the dogs. It’s a beautiful walk that keeps revealing new views and sights around every corner. Seeing all the fl owers start to come out and the leaves on the trees makes me think of new beginnings and possibilities.
Beach: Porthminster Beach in St Ives. Pre-baby, I used to go down here for sunrise swims and runs. It’s magical watching the sun come up over Hayle Towans and being the only one on the beach. Silver is only six months old, so I can’t quite get out for those morning runs and swims yet, so until then I love nothing more than wandering down there for a stroll, before having a coffee at Porthminster Beach Café.
Festival: The September Music Festival in St Ives is always fantastic with a large array of art-ists from all over the world. Not to be missed.
MSW_Mar26.indd 44 21/03/2016 15:52:35
4545
Activity: I’ve lived in St Ives a long time but I only started to surf the summer before last. I only went out about fi ve times, but got pretty keen on it. Pregnancy put paid to surfi ng last year, so that is the activity I’m looking forward to taking up again this year.
Food: There’s nothing better than going out in a boat and catching your own mackerel for dinner. Serve simply, grilled with a big old beet-root, cucumber and rocket salad, some Himalay-an salt and freshly-ground black pepper – and a big wedge of lemon. Perfect.
Tipple: This has to be something from Polgoon Vineyard and Cider Orchard on the edge of Pen-zance. From their juices to the ciders to spar-kling wines, I’ve tried them all and am totally in love with the freshness of their fl avours.
Pub: The Halsetown Inn a mile or two out of St Ives. It’s the perfect destination for a big country
www.jetam.co.uk
Forest Holidays
The St Ives coastline
Tam, right, with her mother, Monika
stomp over the fi elds to get your appetite up for one of their amazing Sunday roasts or just to hide away in a dark corner and nurse a glass of red from their wine list.
Restaurant: Wildebeest Café in Falmouth. The menu here is amazing. I’ve taken many a sceptic and everyone has fallen in love with their tasty and creative all-vegan menu. The dishes are so well thought out.
Way to relax: For me, relaxing is being out in nature, breathing in the fresh air and running around with my family. Whether that means stand-up paddleboarding down at Carbis Bay Beach, a walk along the cliffs or just having a picnic on Clodgy Point in St Ives – as long as we’re all together outside then I’m happy and relaxed.
Weekend away: We often go and stay in the woods at Herodsfoot near Liskeard with Forest Holidays. There’s no phone or internet reception so it’s time to get back to basics – reading, play-ing games and really connecting together away from the stresses of the outside world. Plenty of good walks and food also make this a great weekend away.
Shop: The Allotment Deli on Fore Street in St Ives is a must. Fresh vegetables, Vicky’s Bread, fresh green juices, olives, our own Je Tam good-ies, fab gift ideas and curries bubbling away, this is my idea of heaven. Plus the girls there are always friendly and love a good chat too.
Treat: I make chocolate but, as with all food, it always tastes better if you don’t have to make it for yourself. Food of the Gods (based in St Just) raw chocolate is delicious and it’s such a treat for me to have raw treats made by someone else’s hand. My favourite, without doubt, is their Mulberry chocolate.
People
MSW_Mar26.indd 45 21/03/2016 15:53:07
46
What a Week
Fancy that...
My life
’ve thought about boarding up our letterbox. Nothing good ever comes through it. Recently we saw the least welcome arrival yet.
An invite to a Fancy Dress Party!My girlfriend and I had an impromptu council
of war. “Will it be Fancy Dress or
FANCY DRESS?” I muttered.The former is a party where
you turn up in normal clothes but take a token prop – hold a wand and proclaim you’re Harry Potter. I can (just about) cope with these occasions. The latter is FANCY DRESS where you’ve let the side down if you don’t need a team of dressers to squeeze you into your custom-made outfit.
“I think it’ll be FANCY DRESS,” my girlfriend mur-mured.
I agreed. Our host wasn’t the type of person to do things by halves. I died a little inside.
“Can’t we just say no?” I reasoned. The look I received told me this was out of
the question. My fate was sealed. I would be at-tending the party dressed as The Jolly Green Giant’while my girlfriend would go as Bagpuss. Don’t ask.
When the big night arrived, my girlfriend ut-tered the words every reluctant Fancy Dresser dreads:
“I’m feeling ill. I think I should stay at home. You should go, though. It’ll be rude if we both miss it.”
Cursing Bagpuss under my breath, I walked to the venue. It was a cold Westcountry evening and I was scantily clad. My skin was smeared in a green body-paint that was becoming really quite itchy. To top it all off, my green tights were too small – meaning I was struggling not to have the gusset drop down to around my knees.
“Look it’s Kermit the Frog,” shouted someone. I decided to ignore this modern Oscar Wilde, comforting myself that I’d soon be amongst a throng of equally stupidly dressed people.
So, wrestling with my unwilling hosiery, I wad-dled to my friend’s door and knocked. My heart sank when the door opened to reveal a partygoer
dressed in civvies. Frantically, I looked beyond them and saw a whole room filled with conventionally dressed people.
“Didn’t you get the email?” laughed my host, seemingly una-ware I was, at that moment, planning his long and pain-ful demise. “We scrapped the Fancy Dress. Jenny didn’t fancy it, she
doesn’t like looking stupid.”
I had no idea who Jenny was but I wasn’t warming to her.
I found myself po-sitioned in the corner of the room where my green body-paint was least likely to damage the furniture. It seemed I had become the entertain-ment, rather than a guest. After half an hour sulking and reluctantly posing for self-ies with a succession of guf-fawing strangers, I came upon a plan. I was going to eat my host out of house and home. That would show him! I was halfway through my
I
Chris McGuire on the joys of dressing up as the Jolly Green Giant
‘I found myself positioned in
the corner of the room where my
green body-paint was least
likely to damage the furniture’ [[
third visit to the buffet when I spotted a comrade in arms. A woman arrived, dressed head to toe in yellow, with lots of feathers. I bounded over to her. “At last,” I gasped, “someone else who didn’t get the email! Great costume. I love Big Bird.”
She scowled at me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. This is vintage.”
I left soon after that, once I’d finished the crisps.
So, this week I learned two things: 1: I really don’t do Fancy Dress. 2: With hosiery, always go a size bigger than you think you’ll need.Chris McGuire is a writer. He’s
currently negotiating to appear on Dragons’ Den with his range of
man-sized party tights@ McGuireski
NEXT WEEK: Phil Goodwin on love, life and parenthood in the South West
ChrisM_March26.indd 46 21/03/2016 16:45:29
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