+ A SOPHIE ALLPORTTEAPOT

27.09.15

Back to the

future

+ ROGER TAYLOR IN CORNWALL

INSIDE:+ HELEN

MIRREN

PLUS:

Victorian style reigns supreme

WIN:

Cover_September27.indd 1 23/09/2015 14:47:32

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MICHAEL SPIERST R U R O P L Y M O U T H E X E T E R T A U N T O N

MS

22 CATHEDRAL YARD, EXETER EX1 1HB TEL : 0 1 392 666590

www.michaelspiers.co.uk

T H E S O U T H W E S T ’ S L E A D I N G R E TA I L E R O F F I N E J E W E L L E RY A N D WATC H E S , I N C L U D I N G :

ANOTHER JEWEL INCATHEDRAL GREEN’S CROWN

Untitled-2 2 23/09/2015 15:15:37

33

6 THE WISHLISTThis week’s pick of lovely things to buy

8 GREEN GODDESSHow to steal Helen Mirren’s style

9 JUST BETWEEN US...Sh! We have the latest gossip!

12 OCEAN ADVENTURESMeet Springwatch’s Maya Plass

16 IT TAKES TWO... The heart-warming befriending scheme

22 ROUGH AND READYCornish beach style with an edge

26 ANNE SWITHINBANK For the very best garden advice

30 VICTORIAN VALUESFashion’s latest look, sorted

35 YOUR WEEK AHEADCassandra Nye looks into the stars

36 BOOST YOUR WELLBEING Great ways to feel your best this week

40 FEELING CHILLI?Top chef Tim Maddams knows how

42 THE ITALIAN JOBWe pick the tastiest places to eat out

46 MAN AND BOYParenting challenges for Phil Goodwin

contents[ [Inside this week...

‘Needless to say, this phone is not up to

scratch when it comes to the requirements of the modern pre-teen’

Gillian Molesworth has an IT crisis, p8

36 TAKE A BREAKHealthy holidays to enjoy

22 ROUGH AND READYCornish beach style gets a manly makeover

HOW TO WEAR ITLuxury textures for autumn32

VICTORIAN VALUESThis autumn’s latest looks30

8 GREEN GODDESS How to steal Helen Mirren’s style

42 THE ITALIAN JOBEat well in the Westcountry

Contents_Sept27.indd 3 23/09/2015 12:31:12

4

[[ [[welcome[ [

hat’s what it’s all about this week in West magazine. First up, do turn to page 16 for a truly heart-warming fea-ture by Catherine Barnes, all about a wonderful new project called Gig Bud-

dies based in Plymouth. It’s a befriending scheme which teams up volun-teers with people who need that extra little bit of help to have a social life.

We meet the most per-fect ambassadors for the scheme, Sarah and Becky (pictured above), who now love going out danc-ing together. What a brilliant idea this is from the organisers at the Plymouth Theatre Royal - we approve. Elsewhere in the magazine, we have a

fabulous look at the new trend for Victoriana in this autumn’s fashion, with some (genuinely) very wearable examples showcased on page 30.

Another source of Westcountry inspiration in this week’s edition is Maya Plass, who you may well

have spotted promoting what she describes as “ocean literacy” on the BBC’s Autumnwatch and Springwatch TV shows. When she’s not in front of the camera, you’ll fi nd Maya in, on and even under the

water in her day job as marine biologist. We fi nd out more on page 12 today. Finally, don’t forget to enter our lovely competition to win a Sophie All-port teapot (opposite).

CONTACT: westmag@westernmorningnews.co.ukTel: 01392 442250 Twitter @wmnwest

@PenleeTheatreOne of our best!

[ [You may well have spotted her on the BBC’s Springwatch

Becky Sheaves, Editor

MEET THE TEAM

Becky Sheaves, Editor Sarah Pitt Kathryn Clarke-McLeod Catherine Barnes Phil Goodwin

Sharing the love...

Tweetof the week

[

BEST OF FRIENDSThe brand new scheme bringing joy in Plymouth16

COVER IMAGE: Pretty Eccentric

12

Interview

13

Fro

m

Min

ing

to

My

ster

y

Tristan Sturrock is on

stage and screen in

Cornwall

Cornish actor

Tristan Sturrock combines

Poldark with du Maurier this

month

S

Words: Vicki Wilson

eptember promises to be something of a busy

time for Cornish actor Tristan Sturrock. Not

only will he star as Maxim De Winter in Knee-

high Theatre’s production of Rebecca at the

Hall for Cornwall, but he is also fi lming the second series

of the new BBC Poldark adaptation, in which he plays

Zaccy Martin, Ross Poldark’s right-hand man at Wheal

Leisure.“Kneehigh is where I grew up as an actor, and I’ll

always feel an incredibly loyalty to them – and this pro-

duction of Rebecca is so well crafted, it is a real pleasure

to be a part of it. But equally, the role in Poldark is im-

portant to me too, so I was very concerned about how the

two were going to marry together. At one point, it seemed

there would be an irreconcilable clash and a very diffi -

cult decision to be made,” Tristan admits.

“I met with writer Debbie Horsfi eld a few months ago,

and discussed the dilemma of me touring around the

country with Rebecca and the fact that Zaccy Martin

plays quite a key part in the developments of the second

Poldark series. Thankfully, we were able to work some-

thing out.” The solution will involve Tristan working

on the various locations of the Poldark sets by day, and

being driven out to the Hall for Cornwall each evening.

Playing both roles will involve a transformation from

salt-of-the-earth mining man Zaccy to the mysterious

estate owner Maxim. “It’s going to be hectic and demand-

ing,” says Tristan, “but equally it is a wonderful chal-

lenge as an actor to play such different roles, both in the

same time period.“They are so very different. Zaccy is a very loyal and

hardworking man from a poor mining family who has

managed to improve his situation having learned to read

T

Letter-1thing_sept27.indd 4 22/09/2015 18:04:41

55

To celebrate their fabulous Open Day, Spillers of Chard have kindly donated a beautiful Sophie Allport teapot and milk jug set to win, worth £43. To be in with a chance of winning, send your name

and contact details to: Spillers of Chard competition, westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk, to arrive by October 9. West magazine will not share your details. Normal terms apply.

If you doone thingthis week...

Pop along to the fabulous Spillers of Chard Open Day, taking place next Saturday, October 3. The top-notch Somerset kitchen � rm will have 15 chefs in action cooking on their state-of-the-art kit, with beautiful kitchens, fabulous cookware and amazing appliances to discover. There will also be a Westcountry food market and hundreds of gadgets for you to try. Best of all, if you visit on the day, you could win a £3,000 Aga Masterchef cooker.For details, visit the websitewww.cookercentre.com or call 01460 67878. Spillers of Chard, Chard Business Park, Somerset, TA20 1FA

Win a cute teapot!

Letter-1thing_sept27.indd 5 23/09/2015 12:49:46

6

the

West’s picks for spending your time and money this week

wishlist

Lisa LangfordLisa, who is pictured with

daughter Ruby, is a 38-year- old housewife who lives in Exeter.

Lisa’s out� t was a bargain of £18 from Matalan and Primark.

Lauren says: “My favourite style icon is Vivienne Westwood, I love all her style. I absolutely

love Cath Kidston. I do most of my shopping online but I am so

pleased that there is a shop in Exeter. It is really nice to go in

there and it is so local.”

Flowery trousers: Matalan £6

Top: Primark £9

Shoes: Primark £3

STREET STYLE STAR

SPO

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BY

: AB

BIE

BR

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AN

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ON

NIE

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PA

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Sparkling eyes palette, £14, Accessorize

Star chandelier earrings, £12, Accessorize

Handmade blue Portuguese glass jug, £44, www.jasmineway.co.uk.

Star look

Pretty pitcher

Fine eyes

Wishlist_Sept27.indd 6 22/09/2015 10:59:00

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Wishlist

This little shop down a side street sells elegant bone china crockery hand-painted by shop owner Sue Pullin with polka dots, hearts and other contemporary designs and � red in kilns in her workshop behind to the shop. Other gi� s include elegant Scandinavian glassware and spools of pretty thread and ribbon. Kiln is at 3 Middle Street, Port Isaac, see www.kilnstudio.com or call 01208 880578.

adoreStore we

Kiln, Port Isaac

Barts Alexia hat with feather band, £44.99, Ann’s Cottage stores around the Cornwall coast and www.annscottage.com

House magazine rack, £18.50, www.redcandy.co.uk

Midnight Bloom plate, £4, Sainsbury’s

Orchid nail polish, £5, Accessorize

fave!Sweet home

Night � yers

Jewel

Pretty pitcher

Wishlist_Sept27.indd 7 22/09/2015 10:59:47

8

talking points

Dame Helen Mirren looked a million dollars in this Dolce & Gabbana green lace dress at the Berlin Film Festival. At £10,000, her stunning dress is a touch on the pricey side for most of us, but you can � nd this pretty shade in more a� ordable places. Team yours, like Dame Helen, with a vibrant red lipstick and you too will be looking fabulous.

GREENgoddess

OPTION BRelaxedEmbellished top £79 East

OPTION APrettyDrape front dress £50 JD Williams

stealherstyle

OR MAKE IT YOUR OWN

Lace dress £179 Pretty Eccentric

ere is my most recent di-lemma: at what point did the job requirement for parenting include being

an IT consultant? No one told me it was on the syllabus.

We have many IT dilemmas in our house. One is the dire quality of our broadband. James and I can eke out what we need to do on our trickle of download speed. But it is not (to the children’s dis-gust) up to streaming music and playing games on Xbox live.

We’ve been nagging our pro-vider, and after lots of engineer visits it’s now come down to permission slips to landowners to put new poles across a fi eld, and questionnaires about connectiv-ity. We’ve got enough trouble just trying to manage a complicated schedule of work, school runs and clubs pickups, while in the back-ground manag-ing a few home improvements. When do we have the time (or indeed, the incli-nation) to brush up our electrical engineering?

Our 12-year-old has one of my old phones. Needless to say, this is not up to scratch when it comes to the requirements of a modern pre-teen. I fi red up my old laptop to get the old connection software going: but after all the Windows upgrades (or something) it doesn’t work. That discovery took about an hour and a half of slow, painstaking research on a Sunday night. The fact that it is still performing the basic function of sending and receiving calls did not seem to count.

The kids are now spending their hard-earned allowance on gadgets that prompt a plague of peeves. It’s endless: “Mum, what’s the admin password on the router?” “Mum, can you override the parental controls, it’s for my homework!” “Mum, my Xbox Live membership won’t let me down-load anything and it’s supposed to, I spent all my money on the Gold version!” “Mum, I had to do

‘restore factory set-tings’ on the tablet and now I can’t fi nd Minecraft.” “Mum, I did my school presentation on my Chromebook and it won’t print!”

Those are all real statements, by the way, not random examples.

I remember when digital watches came out, do you? My father was right

on the crest of the wave with his. He never could set his watch, though. I could, easily, aged 11, and it made me laugh to watch my parents’ slow, baffl ed faces as I bleeped through the menu with ease.

Now I feel my face settling into that same pained, sluggish expression, as my children blink through the screens, chattering nineteen to the dozen. Not sure I’m rising to the challenge of parenting in the digital age…

Story of my life...

Gillian Molesworth

Pass the tissues, we have IT issues

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

H

Needless to say, this phone is not

up to scratch when it comes to the requirements

of the modern pre-teen

MoleyGossip_Sept27.indd 8 23/09/2015 13:55:26

9

Justbetween us!Gossip, news, trend setters and more – you

heard all the latest juicy stu here � rst!

27.09.15

REDRUTH

Eve-ryone’s talking about Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood’s new book How Can It Be? It’s his own teenage diary charting life on the road with band The Birds. Ron wrote the diary as a 17-year-old in 1965, before joining Rod Stewart in The Small Faces. Fame didn’t exactly happen over-night: He told Sabotage Times: “It was hard travelling in the early days, going to Redruth in Corn-wall for a tenner to split between the band. We used to write in lipstick on the side of the van so it would look like we were popular and it started a craze.”

‘I’M STAYING NORMAL’She’s gone from cult teen series Skins to stepping into KEIRA KNIGHTLEY’s shoes in the latest Pirates of the Carib-bean movie. But down-to-earth young British actress KAYA SCODELARIO (who also stars in another new movie, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) says she’s readying her-

self for the fame that the Pirates movie will no doubt bring when it’s released in 2017: “You’ve just got to keep yourself grounded. Do the little things that make you feel normal and happy, even if that’s just getting in your pyjamas and watching X Factor at the weekend.” West says: So it’s not just us, then!

CALLING!

DOCTOR’S ORDERS

Trust her, she’s not a doctor. But actress Suranne Jones doesn’t do things by halves: preparing for her new role as a GP in BBC1’s gripping drama Doctor

Foster, the Scott and Bailey star spent time observing a real working GP practice. She reveals: “[I]sat in a corner like some mad actress writing stu£ down, as

people were opening up and having blood tests and doing pee samples. I felt very awkward, but privileged to be in there as well.” And the results have been

nothing short of brilliant, we’re sure you’ll agree.

I felt very

awkward, but

privileged [[

MoleyGossip_Sept27.indd 9 22/09/2015 11:07:48

10

in pictures

Huggable: Honickknowle YMCA held a Pugfest fancy dress event

Doing good: Elburton Methodist church held a table top sale

High five: The King’s

Troop Royal Horse Artillery

enjoyed their annual beach

holiday at Watergate Bay,

Newquay

Cream on top: Emily, Charlotte and Ruby from St Teath went to an MS fundraiser garden party

WIP_TOP10_Sept27.indd 10 22/09/2015 11:17:04

11

Clever

talking points

Iron

Magic

...and ten ways to eat it:

1 Pumpkin seeds 2 Quinoa3 Liver4 Sweet potatoes5 Figs6 Tofu7 Tuna8 Molasses9 Oysters10 Broccoli

Beginnings: Roger Taylor, 66, was born in King’s Lynn and moved to Truro in early childhood with his mother Winifred, father Michael and younger sister Clare.

First: When he was seven years old, Roger and some friends formed his � rst band, the Bubblingover Boys, in which he played the ukulele. He went to Truro Cathedral School, then, at 13, Truro School.

Band: At the age of 15, Roger became a member of The Reaction, a semi-pro rock band. Taylor became the drummer, inspired by Keith Moon of the Who.

Beach: In the summer of 1968 Roger helped to organise a huge live music event on Perranporth beach.

Study: Roger went to London to university. He joined a band called Smile, alongside guitarist Brian May, and the band o� en played back home in Cornwall.

Freddie: In 1969 Roger was working

with Freddie Mercury at Kensington Market. Freddie was a fan of Smile and came to gigs with them in Cornwall.

Genesis: Roger turned down the chance to become drummer for Genesis - Phil Collins joined instead. Instead, Freddie Mercury persuaded

him to start a new band, called Queen. Their � rst gig was in Truro.

Summer: Queen returned to Cornwall in the summer of 1971 and played at venues such as The Dri� wood Spars pub in St Agnes and the Tregye Club in Carnon Downs.

Writer: Roger wrote many of the Queen songs, including Radio Ga Ga and A Kind of Magic.

Singing: Roger sings the high-falsetto vocals on Bohemian Rhapsody, such as the “let me go” lines and the � nal “for me ...”.

Family: Roger has � ve children, and married his third wife, Sarina Potgieter, in 2010.

DID YOU KNOW?

Queen’s � rst ever live gig

was in Truro City Hall back

in 1970

This week:

Famous faces with links to the Westcountry

ONE OF US

Roger Taylor, the drummer in Queen, grew up in Truro, Cornwall

Roger Taylor

The happy list

10 things to make you smile this week1 Celeriac grated with apple

for autumn salads

2 Foraging for mushrooms

3 Birmingham Royal Bal-let Theatre Royal, Plymouth

4 Downton hooray, it’s back

5 Cyclamen in � ower now

6 The Full Monty at Hall For Cornwall - yes!

7 Comedy Andy Parsons in Tiverton, November 8

8 Rowan berries beautiful

9 New tights for cosy calves

10 Dog walking on the beach a� er the summer ban

Famous fairies:

1 Tinkerbell (Peter Pan)

2 Fairy Godmother (Cinderella)

3 Silky (Magic Faraway Tree)

4 Male� cent (Sleeping Beauty, the movie)

5 Titania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

6 Queen Mab (Romeo and Juliet)

7 Holly Short (Artemis Fowl)

8 The Psammead (Five Children and It)

9 Morgan le Fay (Le Morte D’Arthur)

10 The Flower Fairies (by Cicely Mary Barker)

The mothers of invention, and the ten things they pioneered:

1 Letitia Geer medical syringe

2 Florence Parpart electric fridge

3 Ada Lovelace the computer algorithm

4 Josephine Cochrane the dishwasher

5 Caresse Crosby the bra

6 Stephanie Kwolek bullet-proof synthetics

7 Alice Parker central heating

8 Tabitha Babbit circular saw

9 Bessie Nesmith liquid paper

10 Anna Connelly � re escape

WIP_TOP10_Sept27.indd 11 22/09/2015 11:17:32

12

Interview

Marine ecologist Maya Plass

Diver_Sept27.indd 12 22/09/2015 11:35:19

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Makingwaves

Maya plass

[[BBC marine biologist Maya plass tells anna Turns about her latest seaside

exploits and why she wants to make us all more ‘ocean literate’

hat better place to interview a marine ecologist than on a beach, looking out to sea as the waves ebb and flow? Marine ecologist Maya Plass is a woman whose heart be-

longs in, on or even under the sea – and to her there’s nowhere more special than the South Devon coastline she calls home. Here, you will find her kayaking, wild swimming, scuba diving, freediving, snorkelling or teaching on the beach.You may well have seen her in action, convey-ing her passion on the BBC’s Autumnwatch and Springwatch shows.

“I have got a physical and emotional relation-ship with the sea,” she says. “To be away from the ocean for a few days makes me feel a little bit heartbroken – it feels like being away from a lover. It makes me uneasy.” Maya, 37, moved to

the coast on the Wirral when she was nine and ever since then she has lived by the sea and en-joyed a regular connection with it. She now lives with her husband Paul and daughter Niamh close to Bantham in the South Hams. “If I am ever stressed out I head to the coast to watch the waves. This sim-plicity helps me make sense of the world and puts my troubles into perspective.”

She was drawn to study at Plymouth Univer-sity, partly because the city is a hub for marine centres and also because she wanted Devon to become home – and since 1998 it has been just

that. “One of the first things I did when I arrived at university was buy a wetsuit to go snorkelling off Wembury.” Coming from the slightly murkier waters of the River Dee and River Mersey, she

was blown away by the diver-sity along this stretch of coast-line: “Seeing the kelp forests and the colour of marine life here made me realise

it is as lovely here, if not lovelier, than any coral reef I have ever visited abroad.”

And with bluefin tuna recently spotted off Pen-zance and humpack whales passing Dartmouth, there’s always something exciting happening

W

[[ ‘The marine life is lovelier here than any coral reef I

have visited abroad’

Diver_Sept27.indd 13 22/09/2015 11:36:21

14

Interview

along this coast, she says. Just as her own mother has always been a huge

inspiration to her (she bought up Maya and her four brothers single-handedly while juggling a career as a science teacher), so Maya enjoys passing on her enthusiasm for the sea to her own daughter, Niamh, 10. “She took part in a sea swim event in Cornwall with me this summer and she loves snorkelling, too. She has got a little weight belt and she can duck-dive down. The fi rst time I took her snorkelling, I could hear her through her snorkel saying ‘beauti-ful beautiful’ as she looked at everything un-derwater. That memory will last with me for-ever.”

Leading by example, Maya provides an impressively strong role model, doing what she loves the most. “I want to show Niamh that there’s nothing she can’t do. The best advice I can give is that life is short, so do what you love.”

As a teenager, Maya’s careers advisor told her that her dream to be a marine biologist was “crazy” and she should study something more mainstream: “I looked at doing other subjects but I came back to marine biology because I needed to do what I was most passionate about

and to work hard to make damn sure I was going to get a job in that fi eld.”

Maya doesn’t want to force Niamh to follow in her footsteps, but believes the ocean has defi nite-ly infl uenced her daughter. “The sea has been her third parent in some ways. It is constantly teaching us about safety, vulnerability, and all sorts of different things that you don’t necessar-ily learn in other areas. She doesn’t have to be a marine biologist to be infl uenced by the sea.”

In 2008, Maya set up her marine education business, Learn to Sea. Her work is varied but she thrives on this fl exibility. “My whole remit is marine science communication – from presenting Springwatch on TV to writing the RSPB Handbook

of the Seashore. Then there are school work-shops, rockpool rambles and talks about marine science. I love the fact I can reach lots of different audiences through these channels.”

Maya’s career really has been a voyage of dis-covery: “I’m going with the tides week by week. One day I am out to sea diving, the next day I’m washing back to shore doing rockpooling work-shops,” she says.

“I never know where the sea will take me next.

‘It’s all about communication - from appearing on Spring-watch to school workshops’[ [

Maya’s business specialises in marine education for all

Diver_Sept27.indd 14 22/09/2015 11:36:03

15

My work constantly teaches me the ebbs and fl ows of life – when I tune into the ocean, I can fi nd my own pace of life and rhythm.”

Rather than preach, she endeavours to per-suade us to fall in love with the oceans and become inspired to conserve them. “What really struck me from doing my Learn to Sea workshops with children, then communicating to an audi-ence of two million on Springwatch and Autumn-watch, was how I could suddenly engage with so many more people at once,” says Maya. “And it’s so exciting for me when I get feedback via social media and fi nd out that I inspired someone to take their child to the beach that weekend.”

Maya explains that research shows that pres-ence in or near sea water has direct physiologi-cal benefi ts. In hospitals patients recover more quickly from operations if there is a body of water in the ward, and aggression is reduced if there is water fl owing in hospital waiting rooms. Indeed, she adds, half the oxygen we breathe is actually produced by marine plankton.

Every watersport she loves, including her recent venture into freediving, is another way to engage with the sea. “For me, it’s about being able to spend a little more time in the water and be totally mindful of this environment. It allows me to observe marine creatures more, take photos and tell the story more.”

It’s a story that Maya hopes future generations will fi nd just as compelling as she does.

visit www.learntosea.co.uk

Maya’s daughter Niamh is following

in the family tradition

Secret shoresNear yet far

Late September is one of Maya’s favourite times of the year: “The sea is at its warmest, the beaches are empty and quiet,” she says. “I love the invigorating feeling of the sea on my skin.”

She o  en goes by by boat or kayak to access local beaches inaccessible by foot. “I tend to go around the headlands in either direction from Bantham, in south Devon,” she says. “I love seeing everyone else enjoy the ocean too but I want to spend time with it in peace.”

Diver_Sept27.indd 15 22/09/2015 11:36:47

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People

Becky, left and Sarah are looking forward to their next girlie night out

GIGBUDDIES_Sept27.indd 16 22/09/2015 11:46:46

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Friends likethese

GiG Buddies

An innovative social project is opening doors in Plymouth. And you’ll never know who you could meet behind them, as

Catherine Barnes found out

t’s difficult to tell who loves each other the most: 26-year old Sarah Hetherington or West photog-rapher Penny Cross’s camera, but it’s very defi-nitely a relationship that works.

We’re snapping pictures at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth, while a couple of stage hands are at work nearby. And boy, does it bring out Sarah’s infectious sense of humour. She pouts, preens, looks adorably wistful and vulnerable, then gives a saucy shimmy.

“She’s always liked the cameras, ever since she was little,” says her mum Lesley looking on laughing and not in the least surprised. “Sarah, will you stop looking at those men?”

“But I like men!” shoots back her feisty daughter. It’s im-possible not to have fun in her company.

With gorgeous Australian model Madeline Stuart,18, and 30-year old American Horror Story actress Jamie Brewer burning up the catwalk at this year’s New York Fashion Weeks, at last people with Down’s Syndrome are being given a mainstream platform upon which to say Hello, World. And about time, too.

“It’s because we are putting them out there,” says Lesley, 59. “I’m not one to shut Sarah in a box. Not,” she adds, “that she’d let me.”

In slightly lower key, but no less significant way, Sarah, who was also born with Down’s, is out and about within the Plymouth social scene, thanks to a brilliant scheme called Gig Buddies. Launched by the city’s Theatre Royal this year and inspired by The Stay Up Late campaign that’s been a huge success in Brighton, it pairs people with similar out-looks and interests up for nights out together.

Just imagine being in your mid twenties, raring to go, but

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GIGBUDDIES_Sept27.indd 17 22/09/2015 11:47:48

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shut in, because you’re cared for on shift p shut in, because there’s a set time to put you to bed. Gig Buddies gives people with learning dif-ficulties, brain injuries, or other conditions that need a little support, the chance to get out there with the rest of us and party.

That’s how Sarah met teacher Becky Gibbons, 30, for fun nights out involving music (loud), dancing (non-stop) and Vimtos (cheeky).

“We’ve got fairly similar tastes,” says Becky, after Sarah dashes over and envel-ops her in a giant bear hug. “We like rock’n’roll and cheesy things to dance to.”

“I like anything: going out, shopping and I like dancing all the time,” agrees Sarah. “I like Michael Jackson, rock ‘n’ roll, Abba and Frozen.”

They say that opposites attract and Becky’s

laid back and relaxed, while Sarah is efferves-cent and outgoing.

“With Sarah and Becky, there’s a four year age gap, but clearly to look at them, the clothes, the hair and their love of a night out and a drink, it makes them a great match,” says Gig Buddies founder Sara Baldwin.

The pair’s first girly night out was at the Thea-tre Royal’s Funky Llama music and arts festival on Plymouth Hoe this summer. Next up is a club night at city venue Varsity on

October 19. “If I want to go out, I just go out. You don’t

even think about the people that are sat at home and can’t” adds Becky, who’s single.

“I enjoy a good night out and I’d never done

anything like Gig Buddies before. It gives people the chance to stay up late beyond their carers’ hours. Everyone deserves to go out and enjoy themselves. At Varsity,” she laughs, looking con-spiratorially at Sarah, “we can stay up all night, can’t we?”

“I think it’s nice she has her independence and goes out and enjoys herself and makes new friends instead of being tied to her mum’s apron strings,” says mum Lesley, who works as a class-room assistant.

“Yet when she was born, the midwife said she’d never walk, never have a life and that we might as well leave her at the hospital.”

“They said,” adds Sarah’s dad Geoff, a chef, 58, “enjoy her while you’ve got her. Well, here we are 26 years later. And she’s wonderful.”

Indeed, Sarah has packed more into her 26 years than many of us do in a lifetime. She’s learned to rock climb, ride, gone outward-bound-ing and midnight walking on Dartmoor and helped crew a Tall Ship on a week-long voyage.

You’ve heard people claim that they were danc-

‘I like anything: going out,

shopping, and I like

dancing all the time’

GIGBUDDIES_Sept27.indd 18 23/09/2015 13:59:36

19

People

On the town: Sarah Hetherington, centre, with mum Lesley, dad

Geoff and her new friend Becky Gibbons

GIGBUDDIES_Sept27.indd 19 22/09/2015 11:49:06

20

ing before they could walk, but in Sarah’s case it really is true: “She had physio when she was small, but I found dancing was better for her. It was just her and her mum, messing about,” says Lesley. And it worked.

Although chilled-out Becky’s open to giving anything a try, dancing on stage at the Funky Llama fest was a fi rst for her and, she admits, not strictly within her usual comfort zone. Needless to say, it wasn’t her idea.

“It was... fi ne,” she laughs.

“You can’t be shy with Sarah,” says Lesley. “We’ll be at a party and she’ll have you up on the dance fl oor in ten minutes fl at.”

Despite what her Still Looking for My Disney Prince T-shirt proclaims, Sarah’s already met the chap of her dreams. She just has to convince him of her plans.

So who is this mystery man?“Darren Miller,” she blushingly reveals, splut-

tering with laughter. They’ve been an item for

the past 18 months and as far she she’s con-cerned, he’s a keeper.

“They want to get married,” reveals Lesley, “but we haven’t got that far yet. She keeps men-tioning a wedding and he just looks stunned. I’d like to see her get married and settle down, but we’ve told her she’s got to go out and have a good time in the meantime.”

“Yeah,” agrees Becky. “You’ve got years – there’s plenty of time for all that.”

“If I get mar-ried, Becky will be the bridesmaid,” says Sarah, all pink again when grilled about the eye-candy at Funky Llama.

“There was a very nice young man dressed up as Jack Sparrow...” volun-teers Becky.

There’s plenty of room chez Sarah if she does ever decided to marry. She is the fi rst resident in a new assisted living property. Although there is a carer on site round the clock, her time is her own: “I go to bed when I like and do what I like,” she says fi rmly. And with a pal like Becky to paint the town red with, that’s exactly what she’s determined to do.

Paint the townBecome a Gig BuddyPlymouth Theatre Royal is seeking two additional new Gig Buddies to join the fun at its Funky Llama club night at Varsity in Plymouth on October 19. Could it be you? If you feel you could be a great match for someone like-minded who � nds it di� cult to socialise, contact Sara.Baldwin@theatreroyal.com or call 01752 230494.

There’ll be a meet and greet for successful candidates prior to the event and you’ll also have two awareness sessions, just to make sure that everyone will be safe and happy. Hopefuls need to already have had their credentials checked and cleared on the DBS website. All are welcome at the Funky Llama club night - if you become a Gig Buddy, it could be just the start of some amazing nights out – it’s up to you!

‘You can’t be shy with Sarah-

she’ll have you dancing in

ten minutes � at’

People

Laid-back Becky’s a great match for effervescent Sarah

GIGBUDDIES_Sept27.indd 20 22/09/2015 11:50:08

21

interiors22 fashion 30

eat out42 cook40

Untitled-1 21 23/09/2015 14:14:20

22

The yellow an d grey scheme works brilliantly beside the sea

Interiors_Sept27.indd 22 22/09/2015 12:00:18

or Tina Peters, home for the past 30-odd years has been a clifftop chalet which is so exposed that a storm once took her roof clean off. Tina was feeding her second son at the time – “I just heard a loud bang,” she says – but she took it in her stride. That dramatic event, back

in 1990 when her three sons were small, was an opportunity for Tina and her partner to realign the roof rafters, now sheltering a cosy bedroom in the house’s latest incarnation as a smart holiday let.

The house, aptly named Tempest, overlooks the sea near Rame Head in south east Cornwall, an area often known as “the forgotten corner of Cornwall” in guidebooks. It’s a view Tina has enjoyed many an evening from the bath in her bedroom, watching the sun set over the sea. And when she worked with interior designer Paul Hervey in an intensive seven-week revamp of the property this summer, she decided the bath must stay where it was – in the bedroom – so guests could also have a soak with a view.

With their three sons now grown up and flown the nest, Tina and her partner have moved to a terraced house in Millbrook, a few miles inland. It has, she admits, been a bit of a wrench to move out of her home which she originally bought when she was just 22, on her own, with a high in-terest personal loan, because she couldn’t get a mortgage on a house on the edge of a cliff.

“I have lived here for 30 years, so it has been a big change for me,” she says. “There is total freedom up there, it is a totally different way of life– sleeping with the window open and the sea air on your face – here, everything you do, even just getting dressed in the morning, you have to draw your curtains.”

The silver lining, though, has been working with an interior designer to transform Tempest ready for paying guests. “I absolutely adore doing interiors,” she says. She was in the process of redecorating Tempest when Paul Hervey and Unique Home Stays got involved – and admits that his ideas completely turned hers on their head.

F

23

Interiors

Roughing it

by the seaSarah Pitt discovers a clifftop retreat which has been given a makeover

after many years as a family home

Interiors_Sept27.indd 23 22/09/2015 12:00:41

24

“I was painting the walls in a greeny-blue from [upmarket paint company] Little Green for £60 a tin! – but then Paul came along and wanted to paint it in ordinary white emulsion!” she says. “I considered white in the beginning, but I was afraid of it being too cold in the winter. Actually, though, it really works. It is so much nicer now. I’m really pleased with it.”

Paul also suggested using a grey and yellow colour scheme to complement the seascape and wildfl ow-ers on the cliffs outside the window. Again, Tina was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked.

“Paul suggested grey and yellow would be really good beside the sea, and I thought ‘oh no, I don’t want that!’ but in fact, it is abso-lutely lovely, I love it,” she says.

The colours are complemented by the sea holly and other foliage and fl owers she picks to fi ll vases for her guests, and by the use of reclaimed wood to give what Paul calls “a rough luxe” to the inte-rior.

He reused wood from a table battered by the elements outside on the deck to look like slate tiles around the bath. “We were re-placing the tiles around the bath, and were thinking of replacing the marble ones with slate ones,” says Tina. “Then Paul called us and said ‘whatever you do, don’t get rid of the table! It is grey and it has been roughed up by the weather, so it is just perfect. It has worked a treat.”

The dining table, meanwhile, has been put to-gether from an old elm table which Paul had in his storeroom at home on Dartmoor and a glass

top from one the Peters already had. “Tina had a table that, amaz-ingly, was exactly the same size as the old elm one, so we screwed the glass top to it,” says Paul. “It obviously gives you a fl at surface

when you are eating your dinner, and the glass re-fl ects the surface of the wood. I think it looks fan-tastic.”

Paul describes the look as “a soft industrial look, quite utilitarian”. In the second bedroom, under the roof, the walls have been clad in whitewashed reclaimed timber, while vintage packing cases have

been pressed into service as bedside tables. Anoth-er quirky touch are the slatted fruit boxes turned on their sides and used as shelving. “I just think it is nice to reuse things,” he adds.

Reclaimed wood – scaffolding planks – has also been used to make the table and chairs on the deck, “They are from a company called Scaffa and are ab-solutely gorgeous and so tactile and comfortable,” says Tina. “They are the most expensive thing we have bought, but they have been worth every penny.”

‘Tempest’ is available for holidays, visit www.uniquehomestays.com or call 01637 881183.

‘They are the most expensive

thing we bought, but they have

been worth every penny’ [[

Whitewashed wood cladding gives a cosy feel to the loft bedroom

The Scaffa furniture on the deck is owner Tina’s favourite purchase

Interiors

Interiors_Sept27.indd 24 22/09/2015 12:03:39

25

Shopping

GET THELOOK

Partner reclaimed wood and burnished metal with splashes of yellow and grey Reclaimed wood

six drawer chest £548, www.

hampshirefurniture.co.uk

Wood and tubular metal armchair £235,

furnish.co.uk

Tolix metal chair in gunmetal with mango wood seat £175, www.

theorchardhomeandgifts.com

Retro seedhead cushion cover £13.50, www.

andshine.co.uk

Industrial-style French wall

clock £195, www.alexanderandpearl.

co.uk

Industrial desk lamp £50, www.

sweetpeaandwillow.com

Interiors_Sept27.indd 25 22/09/2015 12:20:25

26

ANNE SWITHINBANK

Autumnblues

Gardens

Devon’s Anne Swithinbank, panellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, admires the late season hydrangeas in an iconic Cornish garden

lants whose fl owers fade gracefully are an asset to gardens because their display extends into months rather than days or weeks. Into this category I would put alliums,

sedums and, most certainly, hydrangeas. These moisture-loving plants positively thrive in the South West and we should make the most of them. The commonest sorts are cultivars of Hy-drangea macrophylla, also known as mop-heads,

though some are lace-caps. The colour of their blooms will vary according to the acidity or al-kalinity of soil, how much sunlight they receive and also age. In many ways I almost prefer the fading petals as they turn interesting shades of mauve, turquoise and jade. By winter, they take on ethereal silvery, skeletal outlines.

The place to admire these gorgeous late fl ow-ers is Trebah, the fabulous 25 acre ravine garden running down to the Helford River near Fal-

mouth. There are two acres of mainly blue and white hydrangeas, many of which were planted in the 1950’s. In those days, blooms were cut and sent to Covent Garden where blue hydrangeas were particularly prized. I asked head gardener Darren Dickey whether any particular variety dominates in the planting. Apparently, the dis-play is created by a mass of different sorts, al-though originally there was a lot of ‘Sir Joseph Banks’ used, whose blooms are a true blue on the

P

Gardens_Sept27.indd 26 22/09/2015 12:18:30

I bought a lovely purple-flowered shrubby Salvia called ‘Amstad’ for my containers. It has grown and flowered well but how hardy is it?

I nearly bought one of these too, as this newish salvia is spectacular with large purple flowers protruding from dark purple calyces on plants capable of reaching 1.2m/4ft high. Anyone who visited a show around the country this summer will have seen plenty of it. Information on hardiness is scanty but I suspect it could be left out in well-draining soils where temperatures were not expected to dip below -5C/23F. On heavy soil I doubt it would be more than half hardy (tolerating temperatures down to 0C/32F). I would strike some cuttings and leave them together in their pot in a frost-free place until spring, then pot them up. Prune back, lift and pot the original and keep that frost-free too. Then you could chance some next winter!

27

During the last growing season, did you discover any really good veg that were new to you?

Two. Climbing French bean ‘Jimenez’ was amazing. Generous, stringless red-flecked pods remained tender and succulent even when left to grow quite large on the plants. I’ve blanched and frozen loads but don’t know how these will turn out yet. Potato ‘Sarpo Kifli’ is a good early maincrop to use as a salad potato. This proved to be blight resistant and tasty, with good texture. I’d love to hang on to some tubers next season and try planting them in July for a late crop.

Q

Question time with AnneWest reader queries answered by Anne Swithinbank

Send your questions to Anne at westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk

This week’s gardening tipsAnne’s advice for your garden

Q

• Slide a tile or a wooden board under your precious pumpkins to raise them slightly off the soil. This helps them ripen and saves damage from stones.

• Continue to plant spring flowering bulbs, from small crocus corms and chionodoxa bulbs up to massive Fritillaria imperialis into prepared soil in beds and borders. Remember to

cover the bulbs by twice their own depth.

• Start a new strawberry bed as soon as you can, otherwise there will not be time for plants to settle and put down new roots. Come spring, you’ll have to decide whether they are big enough to carry a crop or whether they’d be better de-flowered to push energy into growth and a bumper crop the year after.

Continueto dead-head dahlias because if we have good autumn weather, they’ll bloom on until the first frosts.

Lookaround for, or order young plants of hardy winter salads (rocket, land cress, winter purslane, hardy lettuce, mizuna, chard etc) and spring cabbage. It is too late to sow now but not too late to plant.

rich, acidic soil found at Trebah. Over the years, this has crossed with pinkish ‘Ayesha’ to form at-tractive, open-headed plants. Quite a lot of ‘Gen-erale Vicomtesse de Vibraye’ was added for pale blue notes, while an interesting recent addition would be ‘Zorro’ whose blue flowers held in a lace-cap pattern contrast with black stems.

Most gardeners know that dead flower heads are removed in spring by trimming them just above the topmost pair of fat buds on the stem. Less is said about thinning out one third of the older stems each year to keep plants rejuvenat-ed. These are generally cut out low down in the plant, or back to healthy side shoots from which the plant will put up replacement stems. Failure to do this can lead to tall, floppy plants or a thick-et of old stems producing small flower heads.

The biggest requirement for hydrangeas is a moist, humus-rich soil and in this, they’ll thrive in sun or shade. If soil is on the dry side, I would opt for shade and, although they love moisture, hydrangeas are not fond of bogs, so avoid water-logging. Should plants lack zest, by all means treat them to a slow-release tree and shrub fer-tilizer in spring but at Trebah Darren says his hydrangeas grow so well he daren’t.

We can’t let feeding pass without the men-tion of rusty nails, as it is erroneously believed

that iron will help hydrangeas turn blue. In fact it is aluminium sulphate (often sold as a blue-ing formula) watered onto the roots that will do this, though an iron-rich feed can help yellowing plants green up again on alkaline soils.

There are many other sorts of hydrangea and one of Darren’s favourites is H.aspera Vil-losa Group. These make impressive shrubs to 3m/10ft with large, softly hairy leaves. Gener-ous 20cm/8in wide heads are packed with small mauve fertile flowers and decorated by large white sterile florets. There are big banks of these at Trebah and insects love them.

Hydrangea paniculata makes a good wood-land shrub and though it can grow tall, there is a secret to controlling height at the same time as ensuring the biggest tapering flower heads. All you do is prune all of the previous year’s stems hard back to within a few buds of the woody framework every spring, much as you would stool back a dogwood. Don’t forget to compensate by watering, feeding and a mulch of well-rotted compost spread over the roots. H.arborescens ‘Annabelle’ packs a pretty big punch, by opening domed creamy flower heads 20cm/8in across in summer.Trebah (01326 252200 www.trebahgarden.co.uk) is open every day, all year round.

Gardens_Sept27.indd 27 22/09/2015 12:21:05

28

Beauty

Tried& tested

We present the beauty treats and cheats of the week, picked by West magazine’s Catherine Barnes, with help from daughter Tilly, 18

Tried

Preserve your summer tan. Give yourself an autumn glow with this cute bronzer (£7) from Accessorize

Create some drama with this Illamasqua Broken Gold liner (£18.50) for dazzle with

staying power. Available to buy from October 15: www.illamasqua.com.

This Models Own chrome eyeshadow palette (£5.99) takes the metallic trend to new heights, with six molten cream colours. www.modelsownit.com

GOLDEN GIRL

GLOW

EYES RIGHT

SCRUMMY

Be seen: Burberry’s limited edition Runway Palette (£50) of moody hues works particularly well with brown and hazel eyes.

www.burberry.com

METAL GURU

Beauty_Sep27.indd 28 22/09/2015 12:30:49

29

the review

Want a review? Send your request to westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk

REVITALISE

Recharge your skin while you sleep: this M&S serum (£15) has been formulated to

revitalise dull skin.

Mascara magicThis week we try:

Are expensive mascaras always better? Katie Wright tries the latest premium picks

So� ly so� ly

This mascara promises volume, length and curl within seconds - and it doesn’t disappoint. The tiny wand makes it easy to reach every lash incredibly quickly, and al-though I didn’t notice a curl, they de� nitely looked longer. It lasts all day without too much panda eye - I’d de� nitely buy it again.MAC Upward Lash Mascara, £19 (www.maccosmetics.co.uk)

4/5

SCRUMMYJust yum. Bee Good’s new autumn lip balm (£4.75) is

white chocolate and raspberry ­ avoured - a sweet � x without the

calories. http://beegood.co.uk

How to look purrfect: this kitty makeup purse from Primark’s

adorable and only £3

SO CUTE

The so� , spiky teeth of this clever mascara wand do exactly what they

promise, gently pulling my lashes sky-ward, opening up my eyes and provid-

ing excellent separation and delivering just the right amount of mascara - no

second coat and no lash comb required.Nars Audacious Mascara, £24

(www.narscosmetics.co.uk)

5/5

Spectacular

Initially, I thought this applicator was too big for my � ne lashes, but once I’d mastered the brush � rst, comb second technique, using the two sides of the wand, I had much better results. The dark brown shade is more subtle than my usual black and my lashes were nicely separated.Perricone MD No Mascara Mascara, £25 (www.perriconemd.co.uk)

3.5/5

Subtle

Beauty_Sep27.indd 29 22/09/2015 12:31:13

30

Fashion

Mini top hat with veil £145 by Pretty Eccen-

tric, Lana dress in forest green lace £179 by

Pretty Eccentric

Star brooch£10 Accessorize

Fashion_Sep27.indd 30 23/09/2015 14:18:25

31

f you want to be totally a la mode this autumn, you need to get back to the 50s. The 1850s. Yes, Victorian values are very much on trend right

now. Think pie frill collars, ornate lace detail-ing, elaborate jewellery and - if you want to go the whole hog - how about this adorable little hat, complete with a veil, from Pretty Eccen-tric? Keen to channel Queen Vic? Remember: skirt lengths are long, patterns are intricate and if you get the chance to wear a little (faux) fur stole, grab it!

I

1850style

Velvet shoes£89 Pretty Eccentric

Lace top£35 M&Co

Blouse£70 Wallis

Navy cape£79 Kaliko

Bracelet £10 M&Co

Samode print dress,

£129 East

Ring£15 Accessorize

Blouse£10 Primark

Fashion_Sep27.indd 31 23/09/2015 14:00:49

ho doesn’t love a warm, fuzzy feel-ing? AW15 fashion has an obses-sion with all things fl uffy and furry. From luxe shearling at Lanvin to oversized fake furs at Stella McCa-

rtney, there is no shortage of texture on offer. Stella’s inclusion of luxurious texture in her

collection is especially telling. The vegetarian designer has, up until now, stood fi rm in the face of pressure to use furs or leather in her work, but found herself an artistic loophole by using what she has dubbed ‘fur-free-fur’. Apparently Mc-Cartney’s version is indiscernible from the real thing, to the point that she has had to label the inner cuffs to prevent wearers being pelted with paint.

Anything that is cruelty-free and adds glamorous softness gets the thumbs up in my book. This trend is warm, ideal for layering, and can add a new di-mension to the most familiar of favourite outfi ts. The good news is twofold. You only need a single piece to get the look, and not only is it perfectly acceptable to wear it every day, it is actually the epitome of cool to do just that. Especially if we are talking a classic shearling lined jacket. This fabulous shaggy gilet is another example of something you can wear from Monday to Monday again, with no fear of reprisal from the fashion police.

Here are my top ways to wear your choice of fl eecy number, without looking like a style sheep. Add it to your go-to outfi t, you know, the one you grab when you miss your alarm and have no time to agonise over the day’s ensem-ble. In my case this is black skinnies, a simple tee in a neutral colour and my favourite camel ankle boots. Classic and timeless gets an in-stant upgrade to seventies bombshell with the

addition of this waterfall waistcoat.Wear it with a hat. But, beware, people may

stop you and ask for an autograph. A fl uffy cropped coat, with a button-up blouse and a dashing fedora is very, very Fashion Week.

Your nod to wilder textures doesn’t need to be a garment. I have spotted clutches that could be mistaken for a lustrous Persian cat, and the cutest of ankle boots with a wee shearling trim.

Belt it. This particular gilet will look fan-tastic cinched in with a belt. I’ll wear it over

a navy roll neck jumper with a leather mid-length skirt and black ankle boots.

To the shops! You can max out your credit card on a McCartney Fur Free Fur (a mere £2,580) or snag this beauty from Next for a sweet £30 with change left over for a new bag perhaps. Now that’s my kind of warm and fuzzy feeling.

All fashion in these pictures is from Princesshay Shopping Centre, Exeter, www.princesshay.co.uk

32

Trend

Not only is it perfectly acceptable

to wear it every day, it

is actually the epitome of cool

to do just that

Kathryn Clarke-Mcleod takes a walk on the wild side

HOW TO WEAR IT:

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Jeans, Next, Princesshay, £20

T-shirt, Next, Princesshay, £8.50

Necklace, Next, Princesshay, £10

Gillet, Next, Princesshay, £30

Boots, Next, Princesshay, £52

Bag, Next, Princesshay, £34

Flu� & faux fur

TREND_Sept27.indd 32 23/09/2015 15:44:44

33

GET THE

lookMISS SELFRIDGE

suede shearling gilet £175

PHASE EIGHT, DEBENHAMS Zola

faux fur jacket £140

DEBENHAMS Preen Edition jacket £120

MONSOON Chilcott ankle boots £69

NEW LOOK cropped fur gilet £24.99

NEW LOOK suede high knee boots with

wool lining £49.99

NEW LOOK shearling gloves £7.99

DOROTHY PERKINS bag £65

TREND_Sept27.indd 33 23/09/2015 12:07:46

34

+

£28 Next

£75 Dune

£65 Marks & Spencer

£22 New Look

£32 Look Again

The editYour straight line to style: sweater chic for the new season

£15 BHS

+

£89.95 Moda in Pelle

+ + +

+

£40 Next

Fashion

£27 M&Co

Grid_Stars_Sep27.indd 34 22/09/2015 12:58:03

3535

Stars

Your starsby Cassandra Nye

SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22)There seems to be some confusion over what you want and what you really

need. A swift decision is possible when you check out your fi nances. Tempted to cut your losses and run? Maybe, but that isn’t really you, is it? The ideal answer could easily come at the weekend. Bide your time and stay sharp.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21)What you consider to be adequate qual-ity time may not be enough for a loved

one. Something you don’t understand about your partner could become clear this weekend. Be fl exible in your mind. Realise that what you have already might not need changing.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20)Ask the right questions this week and get some straight answers. Take what

you hear, and work with what you have. There are situations and people who would distract you from what is most important. Cash fl ow seems to be like an ever-running stream. Is it time to build a dam?

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19)Romantic promises sometimes come to nothing. Even so, don’t give up. Where

others have problems making decisions now, their attitudes will change. In the mean-time, get out and about and keep your mind busy. Your work may not be the most important priority to you overall. However, it can be the

steadying infl uence you need.

PISCES (February 20 - March 20)Have you at last found the thing you have been looking for? Possibly. However, are

you still looking for perfection? To avoid being dis-appointed this weekend, be practical. If your ideal hero or heroine really did ride into your life today, where would they keep their horse?

ARIES (March 21 - April 20)A dynamic aspect to this week fi nds you making changes. These may be subtle

but have a big impact. Has it been some time since you decided to change your hair or style? There is plenty of choice around, so have fun mixing things up. Eating habits may be under the spotlight but there’s no need to stop having everything you enjoy.

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21)Where others see a situation that is stressful, you see another challenge.

There is a great deal of satisfaction to be had this week by solving a puzzle. Clearly some-one sees you as their hero. Do they see you as more than that? Sometimes friendship can turn to something quite different. Are you ready for a declaration?

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)In a busy week you need to be choosy about who you spend time with. Some

social calls can be dealt with at the

weekend rather than taking time out of your daily schedule. Someone important to your career is paying attention. Be at your best, but avoid exaggeration.

CANCER (June 22 - July 22)Are you still trying to get the attention of someone who attracts you? Why are

they not responding? Finding out more about them could give you a clue. Perhaps this is a good situation to use a go-between? Finances need your attention to keep them balanced. Cutting back now can make up for extra summer spending.

LEO (July 23 - August 23)Sit back this week and take a good hard look over your future plans. The

chances are that some small matters are out of step. Either cut them out or rearrange them. A close link between work and home could mean you are trying to please everyone. This is not possible in the longer term with-out compromise.

VIRGO (August 24 - September 23)Stay sharp right through to mid-week.

It is then that an opportunity will come your way. Be sure to see it. By having more confi dence in yourself you will realise you are the best person for this challenge. Put lots of energy into everything now. There will be plenty of time to relax next weekend.

Lauren Pope

This week’s sign: Happy birthday to...The people born under the Sign Libra are kind, gentle and lovers of beauty and harmony. However, in their e� ort to keep everyone happy, they � nd it di� cult to say ‘no’ to anyone, and as a result, they can end up getting stressed. Their ruling planet is Venus, and they are extremely romantic by nature. What-ever they do in life is driven by feelings of love.

born September 29, 1983She found fame as an Only Way Is Essex girl, but reality star, DJ and beauty brand entrepre-neur Lauren grew up in Devon and attended Torquay Community College. Lauren, who’s also a fashion designer, was a lads’ mag pinup in her teens and early twenties, but admits to being a tomboy growing up. Lauren’s a Libra and those born under this sign are romantics at heart, who make a big e� ort to keep everyone happy, although they can � nd being the peace-maker stressful at times!

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23)This week you will be fi nding the usual, but look out for the unusual too. What

will come along and stimulate your imagi-nation? Keep an open mind to make the most of an intriguing situation. Make this a week when you ask a lot of questions - and expect some direct answers. An old friend lightens the atmos-phere at the weekend. Being a little bit cheeky and entirely charming will get you everywhere!

Grid_Stars_Sep27.indd 35 22/09/2015 12:58:27

36

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

CLEAN IT UP!

Fresh � sh is a tremendous source of vitamin D, protein,B vitamins,

selenium and omega-3 fatty acids. Get inspiration for adding more � sh

to your diet at the Plymouth Seafood Festival today - head for the city’s harbourside and join the celebra-

tions.

When it comes to A-list beauty role models, Scarlett Johansson has the most perfect complexion according to a new survey.

Emma Watson was voted the second most � awless, with Megan Fox coming third in the poll conducted by skincare brand Artistry. Refreshingly it found that most of us believe that natural healthy

skin is a key to feeling more attractive and con� dent, as opposed to arti� cial � xes!

PERFECT SKIN

HEALTH FOOD Could your carpet have a yeast infection? Yucky as it

sounds, bacteria, moulds and yeasts can cling to the

dust and debris found in carpets and rugs and could

trigger respiratory illnesses, according to tests led by

hygiene expert Dr Lisa Ackerley for vaccuum-people

Bosch. And apparently that pales in comparison to what

lurks beneath the average teenager’s bed! Her advice?

Get moving the furniture! And follow granny’s lead by

opening the windows for an old-fashioned airing.

Wellbeing_Sep27.indd 36 22/09/2015 13:03:20

A diary date for next Sunday that looks awesome and entertaining

in equal measure: Totnes Rotary Club’s River Dart Struggle. This

14km ra� race begins as Buckfastleigh’s Dart Meadow and teams are

encouraged to be inventive when it comes to building their rides. Well

worth a watch, even if you can’t muster up a sponsored team. Visit

www.totnesra� race.co.uk for full details.

37

What’s coming up? Tweet us your wellbeing diary dates @WMNWest or email westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk

IT’S TIME TO

TAKE A BREAK

Haircare brand Paul Mitchell’s supporting breast cancer charity CoppaFeel with the sale of three Pink Out Loud grooming products; a detangling sculpting brush, paddle brush and super skinny hair serum. And £2 from the sale of every Blow

Out Cancer gi� set (£40) will make its way to the awareness charity - www.paul-mitchell.co.uk

Take a holiday! A survey by Bideford based Holidaycottages.co.uk suggests that 44% of us return from a break with lifestyle boost plans that we stick to - and the e� ects leave us still feeling peppy up to a month later. Those post-break good vibes run deep in many of us, leaving us feeling more motivated to begin a fresh start than we do come January 1.

BRUSHup

FRESH AIR... & EXERCISE!

Did you know the way you commute could enhance your wellbeing? Over half of people who cycle to work say they arrive feeling positive, while walking was also cited as a mood enhancer in a study into the nation’s journeys by Aviva. Those who journey in by bus, car or train feel signi� cantly less upbeat or motivated, according to the report. A brisk half hour walk can burn around 90 calories so it’s a great way to incorporate regular� tness into your daily routine.

Feel good

Wellbeing_Sep27.indd 37 22/09/2015 13:04:15

Wellbeing

I seem to sweat a lot and find it terribly embar-rassing - I can’t wear

certain tops because of it, and it gets worse in winter when I wear

warmer clothes. Is there anything I can do? YD, Barnstaple

Medical aesthetician Dr Pradnya Apte says: Exces-sive sweating is medically known as Hyperhid-rosis, and is a surprisingly common condition.

The sweating may affect the whole of your body or only certain areas. Commonly affected areas are armpits, palms of your hands, soles of feet and your face. Both sides of the body are usually affected and it can be both embarrassing and distressing.

Causes for this condition are thought to be a result of a prob-lem with a part of the nervous system that controls sweating. This is known as primary hy-perhidrosis.

Hyperhidrosis that does have an identifiable cause is known as secondary hyperhidrosis. This can have many different triggers including pregnancy, anxiety, certain medications, low blood sugar and an overac-tive thyroid gland.

It can be treated in a number of different ways. Powerful antiperspirants can help. Try antiper-

Q

spirants containing aluminium chloride, as they work by plugging the sweat glands.

Lifestyle changes include wearing loose and light clothes, avoiding trig-gers like spicy foods and alco-hol that could make sweating worse. Wearing white or black clothing can also help mini-mise the signs of sweating.

There are other treatments that are available to treat this condition. These include an-ticholinergics, which work by blocking the affects of a chemi-cal called acetylcholine, which the nervous system uses to ac-tivate the sweat glands.

A treatment called Ionto-phoresis may help if you have excessive sweating that affects

your hands and feet. It can also be used to treat the armpits (although this is usually less effec-tive). It involves treating affected areas of skin

38

with a weak electric current, to help block the sweat glands.

Another solution is a course of botulinum toxin (Botox) injections into the armpits, which I have found very effective for clients at my clinic in Exeter and I offer at a cost of £400. Per-spiration normally diminishes within 48 hours and effects last for approximately six months. The treatment is then repeated at this stage.

It is also possible to sever/clip the nerves that control sweating. This is normally per-formed under general anaesthetic and carries a higher risk of complications.

Above all, don’t despair - you are not alone. Hyperhidrosis is estimated to affect between 1-3 people every 100 in the UK. It is embarrass-ing, but the good news is that there are a number of treatments available to help sufferers of this condition.

Dr Pradnya Apte runs Revitalise-Rejuvenate Mediclinic in Exeter’s Southernhay, www.revitalise-rejuvenate.co.uk 01392 426285.

No sweat!

Don’t despair - you are

not alone. Hyperhidrosis

affects 1-3 people in every

100 in the UK [[Here’s how to tackle an embarrassing but all-too-common problem

Wellbeing_Ally_Sep27.indd 38 23/09/2015 14:03:20

39

Eat

Method:

Natural food expert Ally Mac lives and cooks in South Devon. Ally specialises in devising good-for-you recipes that are easy to prepare at home. She also sells several of her own delicious healthy products online at www.allyskitchenstories.co.uk

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion, garlic and celery until lightly browned. Add the courgette and broccoli and cook for fi ve minutes. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for fi ve minutes then add the green beans, peas, asparagus, spinach and mint. Continue to simmer for a further fi ve minutes or so, until the vegetables are tender. Season well with coarsely ground black pepper For an extra zingy taste, serve with a little sprin-kling of sprouted seeds.

This is an amazingly healthy soup which will leave you feeling really full and good about your-self after you’ve eaten it all up!

You will need: 60ml (2 fl oz) olive oil1 onion, fi nely chopped2 garlic cloves, crushed1 celery stick, chopped1 courgette, chopped1 head of broccoli, chopped1.5 litres vegetable stock (I use Kallo veg stock)150g (5 1/2 oz) green beans, trimmed and chopped150g (5 1/2 oz) asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1cm (1/2 inch) pieces85g (3oz) baby spinach leaves, torn into piecesA handful of mint leaves

ally mac’s

@AKitchenStories@allyskitchenstories

Super Food Green SoupAlly says: This is one amazing soup. The celery alone reduces acidity, which is bene� cial in cases of arthritis, gout and stomach acidity. It’s also a natural diuretic, helping to reduce � uid retention as well as balancing pH levels. And once you add the onion, broccoli, courgette, garlic, green beans, peas, asparagus and spinach, you have the ultimate power soup, which helps feed every cell in the body and � ush out the waste. How good is that! Get cooking, Popeyes!

Wellbeing_Ally_Sep27.indd 39 22/09/2015 13:09:31

40

Eat

Tim Maddams is a Devon chef and author of Game: River Cottage Handbook no. 15 (Bloomsbury £14.99)

o you like chilli? The popularity of this little capsicum has grown immensely in recent years. When I was lad (if I wasn’t busy up a chimney or down a coal mine)

then I was likely to be found examining the spice rack. This is a very grand term for what amounted to six very old, very dry Schwartz jars on a dusty shelf. One of the delights within was a bottle of chilli powder. My mum would carefully (I’m surprised there weren’t gloves and goggles involved) take it down from the shelf and rigorously measure out a nano-teaspoonful for the latest addition to the household repeater menu, chilli con carne.

These days however if you know your con carne then nothing but smoked or sweet chipotle chilli paste will do, maybe a little of both to get a good fl avour balance and

challenge the diners. We know now that chilli con carne is supposed to be hot, balanced with fl avour and richness and set up against a background of aromatics, like cinnamon, cumin and star anise. Honestly, what were we

thinking?To dry fresh chillies, try

stringing them together and hanging them up above the stove. They will dry quickly and be to hand when you need them. It’s not just in more exotic dishes that chilli fi nds a home in my kitchen. It is to be found in everything from stews and pastas to soups (at this time of year a roasted pumpkin and chilli soup works a treat). Even the odd dessert gets the chilli effect. It works very well with chocolate, and sticky toffee pudding is improved by a little

judicial chilli along with the allspice, lifting the spicy notes up on the palate and lessening the sweetness to make the pudding sing.

DHome made harissaSome of my fresh chillies will make it to heaven in the form of home made harissa paste. I roast red peppers and chillies in the same way as ever. The garlic gets a longer roast, wrapped in foil to caramelise it. I then skin and seed the peppers and chillies and pop them in a blender. Squeeze all the good stuff out of the garlic and add this. Blend with olive oil, plenty of salt and I often add smoked paprika too.

@TimGreenSauce

Ingredient of the Week

Chillieswith Tim Maddams

It works very well with

chocolate. Sticky to ee pudding is improved by a little judicial

chilli, too [[Tim_Beer_Sep27.indd 40 22/09/2015 13:48:27

Drink

The Victoria Inn, Salcombe, a St Austell pub, has been named partnership pub of the year at the Sky Great British Pub Awards. The pub o� ers regular guest beers and its own St Austell house brew, Salcombe Best.

cover story Look very closely at the new Good Beer Guide and you may think that hostelry looks familiar. Yes, this year’s GBG cover star is the Blisand Inn on Bodmin Moor, home to thousands of guest beers over the years and CAMRA national pub of the year, in 2001.

SALCOMBE AWARD WINNER

41

Darren Norburytalks beer

ontrary to the picture that adorns this page, I currently have a beard. I draw back from using the phrase hipster beard, it’s more Jeremy

Corbyn really. Whether it’s here to stay or not, well, the jury’s out, but if one fi rm I’ve come across in the course of beery enquiries this week had anything to do with it, it would be coming off (unless, possibly, I cared to wax my moustache).

The Bluebeards Revenge is a shaving and grooming com-pany aimed squarely at “manly men”. Its products are “not for girls”, although use of them may see you fi ghting the ladies off, apparently. To raise their profi le even fur-ther they’ve taken the step of teaming up with Devon’s Hunter’s Brewery to create a new beer, The Ultimate Pale Ale.

Set to arrive in local pubs and bars about now, the beer is made with Citra and East Kent Gold-ings hops combined with other fi ne British in-

gredients. It is bottle-conditioned, unpasteurised and unfi ltered, with a strong, “uncompromising” fl avour. David Hildrew, managing director and

founder of The Bluebeards Re-venge, says: “It would have been easy to get a white-label brewer to smack a few Bluebeards labels onto an existing brew, but that is not our style. We wanted our very own, unique beer, made by a brewery with excellent creden-tials and with a route to market, so that our beer could be on sale in pubs and supermarkets across the land.

“We have struck gold with Hunter’s Brewery here in deep-est Devon. They’ve done an ex-cellent job at making our vision

a reality, and the result is very pleasing indeed.” Paul Walker, of Hunter’s, adds: “I must admit,

I was a little thrown when The Bluebeards Re-venge fi rst came to me with their idea, but it quickly became apparent that it was a golden op-portunity.”

@beertoday

C

Hanlons Brewery, just outside Exeter, is celebrating a class

bronze medal for its Port Stout (4.7% ABV) in the champion

beer of Britain competition. As I write, autumnal storms are rattling the windows, which

makes it very much Port Stout weather. Co� ee, chocolate and

warming port are the dominant � avours in a brew that is one those I’ve recommended to

wine drinkers who “don’t like beer”.

Beer of the week

It apiendaeped quam que

molupid iantiis velecepe nesti quam restrum

hitatec torrovid [[Tim_Beer_Sep27.indd 41 22/09/2015 13:48:58

42

Eat/Drink

REstauRant REviEw

the Curator Kitchen

he best restaurants do so much more than just give you excellent food. At The Curator Kitchen in Totnes, owner Matteo Lamara has hit on a winning formula – and there

isn’t a celebrity chef in sight.Matteo, 41, has created a little bit of his native

Italy – and then improved on it. He and head chef Jimmy Stewart have unpicked and re-woven the flavours of rural Italy for today’s more stream-lined palate.

The restaurant sits above Matteo’s origi-nal Curator Café on the Plains in the centre of Totnes in Devon. It is tiny – just 24 covers – but the tables are just far enough apart to ignore your neighbour. More importantly, they are just close enough to chat. We got along so well with our neighbours that they joined us later for a nightcap in a riverside bar across the road.

Our waiter, John, talked knowledgeably about every dish on the menu, and advised about wine with the confidence of a seasoned sommelier.

In the Italian style, the menu has four courses: antipasti, primi, secondi (contorni are veg-etable side dishes), and dolce, which needs no introduction. Dishes are individually priced, or £29.50 for the full board.

The Curator menu offers little choice, which I find is a good sign – just two options for all but the starter.

Sarah’s antipasti was deli-cious pigeon agrodolce, a sweet and sour dish with the sweet-ness provided by raisins. My seabass crudo – slices of cured seabass – had a gentle acidity which set me up nicely for the primi: duck ragu fettucini.

Sarah then had a rotolo with spinach ricotta and mushrooms, and a simple butter and sage sauce, crisped in a frying pan and poured over

the top – as much a feast for the eyes as for the tastebuds. There are not many main course veg-etarian options in Italy, but The Curator Kitchen has to bend to the veggie-loving Totnes will.

On the night we were there, the vegetarian main option was roast beetroot with goats curd and hazelnuts, and deserves a mention, even though we only saw it bringing colour to a neigh-bouring table. Next, we both opted for tagliata with rocket and parmesan – thinly sliced beef, lightly cooked. The meat melted on the tongue.

The beef comes from a farm at nearby Lod-diswell, via local butcher Christopher McCabe.

T‘In Italian style,

the menu has four courses and just two options

for all but the starter - a good

sign’ [[By Keith Rossiter

RestaurantReview_Sep27.indd 42 22/09/2015 12:36:29

43

4 of the bestItalian restaurants

1 Fresco, Teignmouth Marco and Cherry Tavoso run this charming restaurant, with Italian Marco cooking and Teignmouth local Cherry front-of-house. Choose from a classic Italian menu or go for pizza.Dish of the day: Risotto alla Milanese, risotto cooked with sa� ron and a rich vegetable stock, � nished with parmesanPrices: Four course dinner from £40 Contact: 01626 777181

2 The Italian Kitchen, Bideford A new pizzeria getting good reviews for its wood-� red pizzas and fresh ingredients.Dish of the day: Penne Calabrese spicy special Price: Mains around £8-£9Contact: 01237 478623

3 Mangia, FalmouthInformal Italian bistro on The Moor serving homemade produce using local ingredients.Dish of the day: Beef Saltimbocca - thin slices of beef, topped with parma ham and marsala wine saucePrice: Starters around £6.25. Mains £11-£14Contact: 01326 312320

4 Il Capriccio, PlymouthA hidden gem in the less than glamorous setting of Plymouth’s Frankfort Gate.Dish of the day: Italian sausage pizza biancaPrice: Mains around £10Contact: 01752 941502

How they scored...

Food

Atmosphere

Service

Price Dinner for two £83

Jimmy says the secret is to cook it at a high tem-perature, and leave it to rest for ten minutes af-terwards.

John, our waiter, recommended the simplest vegetable side dishes on the menu: crushed po-tatoes with thyme and caramelised onions, along with peas, green beans and prosciutto and honey.

We could have opted instead for courgette and aubergine fritto, or fennel, orange and pangrat-tato.

Our wine, Rosso Conero primo di Tre 2012, an intense and fruity ruby red, with a luxurious bouquet, comes from the Camerano district of central Italy.

There was a certain tristesse in fi nishing the beef, but the pudding provided some consolation. Mine was semifreddo affogato, a chilled pudding made with ice cream “drowned” in coffee. Sarah went for bitter-sweet prosecco jelly with blueber-ries and strawberries.

Matteo grew up in Ancona, a small town in the Marche region of central Italy. His tastes – and recipes – are also infl uenced by the Puglia region in southern Italy, where his father was born.

“It’s part of my family and in our blood, he says. “We love anything that comes out of the sea. I grew up eating raw mussels, sea urchins and so on.” He met his English wife, Sarah, in Romania, where they were both working as volunteers.

Three years ago he was approached by Nick Clements, fashion photographer and founder of Men’s File magazine, to start The Curator café.

Nick, who owns the building, designed the look of the café. Eight months ago, encouraged by his landlord (who again did the design work), Matteo added The Curator Kitchen restaurant.

“The concept has developed quite a lot with the infl uence of the slow food movement. It’s all about seasonal, local, good quality,” says Matteo.

All the team here are encouraged to be pas-sionate about food. When I visited, one of the kitchen porters had scrubbed up and was helping to prepare a duck carcass.

“It’s not a very easy industry to work in, but we all care,” head chef Jimmy says. “Matteo looks after us and we are all friends.” And, after my visit, I’d say that goes for the customers, too. The Curator Kitchen, Totnes. 01803 865570 www.facebook.com/TheCuratorCafe

RestaurantReview_Sep27.indd 43 22/09/2015 12:36:56

My favourite...

Walk: I never tire of the National Trust wood-land walks at Trelissick, all year round. The view from down Carrick Roads to Falmouth and the open sea is one of the fi nest in the county and ever-changing. I sometimes take my grandchildren on the walk from there to Roundwood Quay to play and climb trees in the woods.

Beach: Porthluney, on the south coast of Cornwall, below Caerhays Castle. For families it has all the essential requirements for beach fun. There’s good sand for building sandcas-tles, rock pools to investigate, a nicely shelving beach which is safe for little people to venture in gently and lovely clean water for swimming. Perfect!

Arts event: I really enjoy the Port Eliot Festival and take my three grandchildren there in my campervan. It is friendly, safe and quite beautiful. I’m also a great fan of the amazing Kneehigh Theatre and have hardly missed a show since they started performing in 1980. Rogue Theatre also create special magic down in Tehidy woods near Camborne – both theatre companies tap into all I love about Cornwall, with its wildness and free spirit.

Pat Smith Pat Smith owns Bosinver Farm Cottages, a collection of 20 unique award-winning cottages in a valley near St Austell. She lives nearby and has four grandchildren, who she entertains as the adventure-loving @ActionNan

My Secret Westcountry

Roundwood Quay

44

MSW_Sept27.indd 44 23/09/2015 14:04:31

45

Activity: Nordic walking. This is a fairly new hobby for me but I must admit to being hooked. It beats being in a gym and you can chat as you walk and do it anywhere. I belong to a group called Walk Kernow.

Food: It has to be Rodda’s clotted cream. A cream tea is always a special treat and we are lucky to have some marvellous quirky places near me, often with views to die for – like Halwyn Tea Rooms on the River Fal.

Tipple: Apple juice from Kerenza Aval (www.applevalley.co.uk). Frankie and Tony Lister produce a range of apple juices and cider vinegar on their organic farm in the Lynher valley. The apples are all old Cornish varieties

and the orchards are grazed with sheep, hens and cows. The juice is pure, with nothing added and no sprays used. Just lovely.

Pub: The Polgooth Inn is my local pub. It dates back to the 16th century and was a count house in the mining heyday of the mid 1800s, when Polgooth was one of the largest mining com-munities in Cornwall. The pub is sat the heart of our community, popular with visitors and locals alike. It serves excellent food and local ales with occasional live music. There’s always

Follow Pat on Twitter @ActionNan www.bosinver.co.uk

a warm welcome.

Restaurant: Hidden Hut - I love this quirky little place on the coast path at Porthcurnick beach near Portscatho.

Weekend away: Treloan Coastal Holiday’s camp site. I have been many times with my grandchildren in the campervan. It’s in a spec-tacular location with views over Gerrans Bay. We are made to feel like part of the family.

Shop: Illustrated Living in Truro’s Lemon Street Market is one of my favourite shops for buying special gifts for friends, as well as unusual items for decorating and furnishing my holiday cottages. It is always service with a smile and a friendly chat, so I look forward to popping in even if I don’t buy anything (which doesn’t happen often!).

Treat: A Spa Day at The Scarlet hotel on Cornwall’s north coast is the ultimate in spoil-ing yourself alone or with a group of friends. A lovely thing to do is try their clifftop hot tub – soaking in a wooden tub of warm bub-bling water, gazing out over the Atlantic – then returning to the relaxation room for some idle contemplation in one of their hammock pods. Bliss.

The Scarlet spa

Porthluney Beach

Polgooth Inn

Illustrated Living

45

People

MSW_Sept27.indd 45 23/09/2015 14:04:57

46

man and boy

brokensleep [[

my life

recently aired my grumbles about returning to work at the end of the summer, after weeks of bliss-ful holiday, much of it spent in

warmer climes. Conscious that, for the most part, people tend not to pick up a Sunday mag-azine in search of tales of woe, I had intended to strike a more optimistic note this week.

But, as Harold Macmillan once said of his greatest fear: “Events, dear boy, events”. Yes, events went and got in the way.

First my beloved Liverpool FC crashed to another appalling defeat. And then this hap-pened the following day: I was on the way to the pick up a pizza with James when I detected the powerful aroma of sulphur. They do say the appearance of demons is associated with this infernal reek – something to do with Satan being cast into a lake of the stuff, I recall – so I checked over my shoulder, just to be sure Old Nick hadn’t materialised in the back of the car.

Seeing the coast was clear, I guessed the source was more earthly. “Have you let one go?” I inquired of my only passenger, who was playing with a Lego man in his booster seat. He vehemently denied polluting the atmos-phere – believably, actually, and it stands out a mile when he tries to fib – but then, after a long pause, he admitted he had quietly burped. Uh-oh, I thought. That usually meant only one thing – the dreaded stomach bug.

Still, he swore he felt absolutely fine so when

we got home I had no choice but to let him gobble up two slices of pepperoni feast and guzzle down a glass of juice. Later, we both fell asleep during story time but before I could put him to bed I was awoken by a small splut-ter. Realising what was going on I jumped up, picked him up and made off towards the bath-room, him half-conscious with a sleepy head on my shoulder. You know what’s coming, right? Oh yes. Before we got half way across the room, he went all Exorcist on me. Projec-tile-like. Down my back and all over the floor boards.

My dear wife, who was still awake but work-ing on the thesis downstairs, dashed upstairs to find the pair of us in a right state. We had to strip down and shower, then set up the sofa bed in the lounge. The sleepy boy insisted on a second story to get him off to sleep and finally he drifted off. I lay there for a while, fearful of another eruption – his grandfather was stay-ing in the spare room and we had run out of beds. An hour passed peacefully. Nothing.

All the time I heard scrubbing upstairs as my wife tried to clean up. She is not what you might call strong of stomach. Eventually I fell asleep. The next day, the lad was right as rain but school regulations forbid attendance within 24 hours of any vomiting. So he got a day off. He was elated. The two of us were just knackered. Things can only get better, right?

He swore he felt absolutely fine so I let him have two

slices of pepperoni feast and a glass of juice[ [

I

Phil Goodwin and son James, five, have an exhausting night

ManandBoy_Sept27.indd 46 23/09/2015 13:18:55

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