29.03.15

said nextWhat Katie

DON’T MISS:

+ SEAWEED FACIALS

+ HIS N’ HERS SUPERFOOD

Our motormouth speaks her mind

+ £70 FAMILYDAY OUT

WIN:

FINALCOVER_MARCH29.indd 1 25/03/2015 16:50:35

Ads.indd 4 25/03/2015 12:44:26

33

6 THE WISHLISTOur pick of the best Easter treats

7 WIN A FAMILY DAY OUTEaster fun to be won

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

12 NOTHING TO WEAR?Catherine Barnes meets the personal shoppers

16 GIVING HOPEFind out what happened when Hannah from Honiton went to Afghanistan

22 ART AND SOULHow pictures (and stickers and murals) can transform your home

26 ANNE SWITHINBANK Reviving past-it plants

29 SEAWEED, SERIOUSLY?Abbie Bray has a very Cornish facial

30 EASILY SUEDEThis season’s fashion must-have

32 PRETTY PRACTICALWe trial the new utility trend

34 CULTURE VULTUREGreat ideas for things to do, see and read

41 HEALTHY EATING Meet Ally, our new wellbeing columnist

46 A WEEKEND IN... Top tips for fun in Topsham

contents[ [Inside this week...

‘When I � rst espy the casual out� t Di’s

picked out for me, I wonder if Timmy

Mallet is in the house, and try not to weep.’

Catherine Barnes is persuaded to wear

primary colours, page 12

30 EASILY SUEDEThis season’s fashion must-have 38 COOL STUFF

The best of the Westcountry

9 JEN’S FAVOURITESWhat she wears, and why

41 HEALTHY EATINGMeet Ally, our wellbeing guru

46 TOTALLY TOPSHAMA great place for the weekend

HOT OFF THE PRESSThe must-read novel from Pen-zance’s Patrick Gale35

Contents_March29.indd 3 25/03/2015 14:37:12

4

[[ [[welcome[ [

And it’s nearly time to break out the chocolate eggs, organise a proper Sunday lunch and (hope-fully) have a nice four day break. With time off in mind, this week we have a wealth of treats for you to try.

We’ve got some lovely Easter shopping ideas on our Wishlist (page 6-7), plus the chance to win a fun family day out (see opposite).

Then, still on the shopping theme, we’ve got a fun - but seri-ously informative - report back from the realms of the personal shopper on page 12. Would you trust a complete stranger to pick out your ward-robe for you? Catherine Barnes gives it a try in Plymouth’s Debenhams this week and, we think you’ll agree, the results are pretty impressive. Easter is, of course, not just about chocolate

and new frocks, and on page 16 today we meet a woman who is truly inspiring.

Hannah Surowinski from Tiverton works tire-lessly in Afghanistan to help women and children there achieve fi nancial independence. Her story,

by the wonder-ful writer Fran McElhone, is nothing short of remarkable.

And if you do have some time off over Easter, this issue of

West is packed with ideas for great days out. From dog shows to operas with Lesley Gar-

rett, it is all happening here in the Westcountry this Easter.

Oh, and did I mention that we have a fabulous new food columnist starting this week? Turn to page 41 to fi nd a delicious, and healthy, recipe from the lovely Ally Mac.

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

@ella_hunt1

My � rst magazine cover :)

[ [Would you trust a complete stranger to pick out your

wardrobe for you?

Becky Sheaves, Editor

Tweetof the week

MEET THE TEAM

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

Easter’s nearly here!

COVER IMAGE Ian West/PA[[

ART AND SOULSmart ways to bring art into your home

22

West says: We’re sure it won’t be the last!

22.03.15

‘Moviesand me’

plus:+ seafood with

a sea view

+ how to love your lawn

+ jenny agutter on set in cornwall

why exmoor’s ella hunt is one to watch

INsIDE:

43+ new botanics +

cheerful Macs & hi-tech facials

Spring style must-haves

EDSLETTER_1THING.indd 4 25/03/2015 14:44:12

55

COVER IMAGE Ian West/PA

Try an Eggs-travaganza at Crealy!Devon’s Crealy Great Adventure Park is gearing

up for an Eggs-travaganza this Easter with a show stopping line up of events and activities over the

Easter holidays. More than 5000 Easter eggs feature in the park’s much-loved Easter egg hunt from Friday April 3 until Monday April 6. Other highlights include a visit from Titan the Robot on Wednesday April 1

and Peppa Pig will visit on Wednesday April 8.

If youone thing

do

this week...

A family day pass for four peopleto Crealy Devon to be won, worth £67.80, which can also be used at Cornwall’s Crealy, near Newquay. To win,

send your name, address and contact number to: Crealy Competition, westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk to arrive by April 10. Normal terms apply.

Win

EDSLETTER_1THING.indd 5 25/03/2015 15:36:16

6

the

West’s top picks for Easter shopping this week

wishlist

Jar of foil-wrapped chocolate eggs, £12.95, 600g Carluccio’s in Exeter and

www.carluccios.com

Cornish hen oven glove from New-lyn-based designer Betty Boyns,

£13, www.bettyboyns.co.uk

Easter bunny tea towel, £7, www.berryred.co.uk

Easter chicks, £1 for the brood, Poundland

Cheap cheep! Free range

FUNNY BUNNY

Wishlist_March29.indd 6 25/03/2015 12:49:51

7

Wishlist

For fans of fantastic jewellery, this independent shop is a real fi nd. It specialises in contemporary handmade jewellery from renowned designers, with a particular emphasis on going beyond conventional design and techniques to create stunning, original pieces. Staff can give you all the help you need to fi nd the perfect piece for you. Polka Dot Gallery, 12 Martin’s Lane, Exeter (01392 276500) and 11 Riverside Place, Taunton (01823 289489) www.polkadotgallery.com

Store we adorePolka Dot Gallery, Exeter and Taunton

Flensted bunnies mobile, £14.50, www.scandinavianshop.co.uk

Bill Skinner’s March Hare gold plated stud earrings, £45, www.

cotswoldtrading.com

Up in the air Make your own rabbit

kit, £12, www.iwmshop.org.uk

CRAFTY

Here hare here

Wishlist_March29.indd 7 25/03/2015 12:50:14

8

have been well and truly inspired by last week’s feature in the Western Morning News on Sunday about

yoga. It’s been far too long since I did it. Once upon a time, I was bendy, fi rm, and in touch with my chakras. Now I’m the opposite – I’ll let you come up with the anto-nyms.

I fi rst tried yoga in my twenties. Like many, I had preconceptions about what it would be like. I had a rather confused impression of sit-ting in lotus position, listening to whalesong in a candlelit room, at-tempting to reach enlightenment while contorting into unnatural positions.

Luckily, it was nothing like this. It took place in a gym, fi rst of all, which is surely a diffi cult place to reach enlighten-ment of any kind. There were no whales.

What there was was a lot of breath-ing. Breathing is very important to yoga. Most of us take breathing for granted, but there’s ways of doing it, correct and incorrect. I never thought about my lungs and the way they fi lled my ribs before. Yoga started me on the path of lung awareness.

Actually, it seems odd that you can be unaware of your own body and the way it works, es-pecially when you’ve lived in it for decades. But it’s true. “Try straightening your hips,” an in-structor would say to me. “They are straight,” I would say. Gently she would direct my gaze to the mirror. Really not straight – quite

wonky in fact. The instructor would correct the angle and say something like: “Try to lengthen your hamstring while keeping even pressure on your quad. Just be aware of the position of your kneecap. And breathe.”

Kneecap awareness?Awareness is another useful

thing I learned in Yoga. There are lots of things to be aware of. Where you carry your tension,

for instance. Often it’s in your face. Are your eyebrows clenched right now? Your jaw? What about your chin? The chin is a tension heavy-weight, especially when you’re con-centrating. Flex your chin muscles and release the ten-sion. Say it with me: Ohmmm...

For something that happens at such a slow and steady pace, yoga is amazingly challenging. It strains muscles where you didn’t know you had muscles. You can be panting like a dog after twenty minutes.

The last time I did yoga we ended, surprisingly, with a prayer. “Thank you for this time we have spent strengthening our bodies,” our instructor said. “Thank you for our fellow yoga students in the tent. Thank you for our breath-ing.” All together: Ohmmmm…

Story of my life...

Are your eyebrows

clenched right now? Your jaw?

What about your chin - it

can be a tension heavyweight.

Gillian Molesworth

Gillian vows to revisit the yoga class, asap

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

talking points

I

stealherstyle

OR MAKE IT YOUR OWN

JewelledJULIE

OPTION ASweetKaliko dress £149For Fifties flair

OPTION BSmartIsme Dress with coat £120Whatever the weather

Proving that it is possible to upstage the young whippersnappers (they seem to get younger every year, don’t they?) Julie Walters wowed at the Ba� as, resplendent in a dazzling but still age-appropriate gown.The 65-year-old chose a long-sleeved sequin dress from Adrianna Papell, and the great news is you can get the exact same one, because the brand is stocked by John Lewis and Amazon.Stack a couple of sparkly bracelets or bangles on your wrists and add vintage-style drop earrings, to up the glam factor a la Walters.

John Lewis Adrianna Papell dress £149

MOLEY_GOSSIP_March29.indd 8 25/03/2015 11:53:15

9

Justbetween us!

Exeter’s KATIE HOPKINS has sprung to the defence of under-� re Top Gear presenter JEREMY CLARK-

SON. She tweets: “Clarkson suspended by BBC. Don’t care what he said. Clarkson all the way #topblokeShe also told LBC Radio: “The BBC are known for being a bunch of dullards. They are a unionised

workforce. He has previously criticised unionised workers. I think that’s why they are out to get him.”

West says: #that’sallheneeds

Katie backs Clarkson

Gossip, news, trend setters and more - you

heard all the latest juicy stu here � rst!

BRAND NEW!

ANYONE?GARDEN PARTY

JENNIFER ANISTON recently told Closer magazine she’s a big fan of footwear, revealing her favourite pair of shoes are these high, nude strappy heels from Azzedine Alaïa. But she prefers fl ats on a daily basis and uses a garden party as an excuse not to wear stilettos. Sounds like our lovely part of the world could be the perfect stomping ground for her. Better weed the borders just in case!

Meanwhile, there’s growing cam-paign to have a female presenter for Top Gear. And it won’t be the � rst time. How about giving the Westcountry’s ANGELA RIPPON her old job back – Plymouth-born Angela was Top Gear’s � rst pre-senter, a� er all, back in 1977!

Let’s have

ANGELA back.....

MOLEY_GOSSIP_March29.indd 9 25/03/2015 11:53:40

10

in pictures

Aaah: Daffy the orphan lamb is being bottle-fed at the Secret World Animal sanctuary in Somerset

Wow: Surfer Mike Lacey took this stunning photograph from inside a Cornish wave

Natural high: Yoga is now on offer at the Eden Project, in a biome!

Woof: Tegan Stephens, two, met the hounds at the East Cornwall Hunt meet at Pentillie Castle.

TOP10_WIP.indd 10 25/03/2015 12:59:08

11

Old school

talking points

British-grown veg available now

1 Red cabbage

2 Spinach

3 Turnip

4 Kale

5 Chicory

6 Jerusalem artichoke

7 Cauli� ower

8 Celeriac

9 Endive

10 On its way: Asparagus

In season

10 celebrities who used to be teachers

1 Dawn French 2 Sting

3 Bryan Ferry

4 Hugh Jackman

5 Sheryl Crow

6 Katherine Jenkins

7 Gabriel Byrne

8 Brian May

9 Stephen King

10 JK RowlingBirthday: Happy birthday this Thursday to Keren Jane Woodward, born April 2 1961, who found huge pop success with 80s all-female band Bananarama. Today, Keren lives in north Cornwall.

Pop star: Keren’s singer and songwriter with British girl group Bananarama, which was co-founded by her school friend Sara Dallin and Irish musician Siobhan Fahey.

Early days: Keren has known one of her bandmates, Sara Dallin, since she was four, when they met at Bromley Heath primary school. All three are still good friends.

Power couple: She lives in Cornwall with her long-term boyfriend Andrew Ridgeley, the former Wham! vocalist and guitarist. These days, Andrew’s a sur� ng fanatic, o� en to be seen on the Cornish beaches.

Mum: Keren has a son called Thomas (born 1986), from her previous relationship with the model David-Scott Evans.

Home: In the mid-1990s the family moved to Cornwall, to live in a 15th century farmhouse near Wadebridge.

First date: Keren went out with George Michael but there was no chemistry (surprise!). So George set Keren up with Andrew, and the pair have been together ever since.

Low-key: The pair live quietly in Cornwall, but Andrew has been known to turn out and support Cornish-based charity Surfers Against Sewage.

DID YOU KNOW?

Bananarama hold the

Guinness World Record

for the most chart hits

worldwide by an all-female

group.

This week:

Famous faces who live in the Westcountry

ONE OF US

Keren Woodward of 80s band Bananarama lives near Wadebridge in north Cornwall

Keren Woodward

The happy list

10 things to make you smile this week1 Demelza we’re huge fans.

Love the blue silk dress

2 Cricket Somerset batsman Chris Gayle - exciting!

3 Trains looking forward to the new ones, thanks (see 4)

4 Election promises revamp the A303? Yes please

5 Gogglebox we love the Tappers. And Leon

6 Ambridge � ood = riveting

7 Jack Nowell he’s the man

8 Exmoor so beautiful right now - go there!

9 Pride in Falmouth for respecting PC Andy Hocking

10 Violets in the hedges, now

Oldies

10 historic board games found at mastersgames.com:

1 Bagatelle all the rage 300 years ago

2 Surakarta strategy game from Java

3 The Royal Game of Ur discovered in a 5,000 year old tomb

4 Fighting Serpents Indig-enous American game of the Zuni Tribe

5 Duodecim Scripta Ro-man game of twelve lines

6 Lewis Chessman 12th century Norwegian version of the ancient game

7 Fox and Geese medi-eval game of cunning over strength in numbers

8 Asalto Spanish siege game

9 Hounds and Jackals Ancient Egyptian game of the Pharaohs

10 Hnefata� Viking game around 1,200 years old

with her long-term boyfriend Andrew

and guitarist. These days, Andrew’s a

Keren has a son called Thomas

TOP10_WIP.indd 11 25/03/2015 12:59:29

12

hen a woman says she has Nothing To Wear, she means it. Or at least she does if we take the miscellany in my own wardrobe to form the basis of an (admittedly unscientific) case study.

You’ll find a selection of slim-into-them skirts, the designer label piece marked down from a for-tune to a fiver at TK Maxx (looks hideous on, but see what I saved!). The bulk is vintage jumble and sale-rail bargains, which don’t go, match, or suit any activity apart from time-travel back to the mid 1970s.

I spend most of my life in jeans and absolutely adore shopping. Until I have to dress the part. Something hideous happens when you’re on a mission to find a special occasion outfit. A prickly heat quickly becomes boiling sweat after queuing for the changing cubicle and getting tangled up with the security tags and hangers, while trying to tread your trousers off the end of your legs. Plus, your pants are on view through that gap in the changing room curtain.

A hundred shops later, you arrive back where you started, flushed, stressed and desperate. I’m probably not alone in thinking I’ll be saving

real life

if you’ve ever struggled to find the right outfit for you, then

could a personal shopper help? Catherine Barnes heads for Debenhams, and out of her

fashion comfort zone...

To Wear!

Help!i’ve

Nothing

photography: Steve Haywood

with special thanks to: debenHamS PlymoutH

W

got!£&*!

Just go without me!

I look like my mum!

What was I thinking?!

Feature1_PersonalShop_March29.indd 12 25/03/2015 12:30:08

13

money, time and tears of frustration, too, by buying a bargain sale item, but then spend-ing three times as much on accessories that sort-of go.

So, hello, personal shopping - a complete fi rst for me. It’s something I’d always as-sumed was not for me, but turns out it is gratis, obligation-free and an awful lot of fun. Personal shopping is a service that’s been of-fered by department store Debenhams for decades. Di Giles has been steering cus-tomers in the right direc-tion at its Plymouth branch for 14 years and is also the expert-on call for stores throughout the region. Her eye is largely credited for Debenhams Plymouth clocking up the most per-sonal shopper-recommend-ed sales outside of its fl ag-ship Oxford Street store. Quite an achievement.

Queen D and her col-league ‘Little’ Di Mabin don’t earn commis-sion on any sales. And the retailer stresses that the service is an ‘experience’ they’re of-fering, not the hard sell.

“When’s the last time you were measured for a bra?” Di side-mouths in covert tones when we’re introduced.

Could I be wearing the wrong size? A raised eyebrow conveys the affi rmative. Di’s also an expert bra-fi tter and my chunky knitwear does not defl ect her ability to tell a cup-size

at a glance. She not only informs me which size bra I ought to be wearing and why, but correctly guesses the exact size I currently have on.

“I always suggest a bra fi t. You can drop a dress size when you’re properly fi tted,” she explains. “A lady came in yesterday and couldn’t do a size 16 dress up. But with the right bra on, the zip went up easily.”

I’m looking for three out-fi ts; casual, smart and spe-cial occasion. Di quietly sizes the rest of me up and down, doesn’t ask my size, makes a mental note, and heads off on a mission to womenswear.

“Although I will shop for an outfi t in the size the cus-tomer tells me they are, if they ask me to, I’ll also get what I feel is right for them,” she says. “It just comes natu-rally. I’m always right – and they usually love it.”

While Di combs the store for my outfi ts, I get a makeover on the ground fl oor. I’ve plumped for the Dior concession, partly due to the fact that the lady behind it, Pippa, wears it extremely well. She ap-plies a blended foundation to match my skin tone, on top of a correcting base and I get to choose shadow, blush and lipstick from the rainbow of colours on display. The results are far better than I usually achieve for myself and I par-ticularly love the fl awless base. Free

Di quietly sizes me up and

heads o on a mission to the womenswear department [[

The formal choice

My � rst reaction: Can I accessories with a hat? Will these weird abstract print accessories go?

What I learnt: Loved the dress, but leave accessorising to the experts! Also, the entire out� t’s by the same label, so colour-coor-dinating’s been thought through, however random it seems!

My style rating: Dress £110 Debut Shoes £42.50 Debut Handbag

£32 Debut

fave!

Feature1_PersonalShop_March29.indd 13 25/03/2015 12:30:31

14

People

make-overs are also generally on offer, subject t o how busy the concession is.

Face on, it’s upstairs to the mezzanine-level personal shopper salon, a big spacious room with two roomy changing cubicles and sitting-down area complete with swish coffee machine.

When I fi rst espy the casual outfi t Di’s picked out for me, I wonder if Timmy Mallet is in the house, and try not to weep. First-ly, it’s in two of my un-favourite colours; royal blue and lipstick red. Hanging besides a sleeveless top and cropped trousers is what I’d describe as a Hawaiian shirt, but is labelled a Tropical Garden Kimono. Which doesn’t make it any quieter.

“Very often, people will come in and say, I’ve got so many random things, but nothing to wear.

I help them build an outfi t,” explains Di. “Lots of people choose navy blue, black or darks and in-troducing them to colour takes them out of their comfort zone. I’m quite an adventurous dresser and I think that when you are, it comes across in your body language. It’s all down to confi dence. I’m 58 and within reason, will wear anything.”

Against my own better snap-judgement, I try the Timmy Mallet outfi t on and am absolutely gobsmacked – it all works and what’s more, I like it. The smile’s completely genuine. Same goes for the smart pink top, back trousers and fl oral jacket. It’s all very proper, but then, I am 44. Maybe it’s time that my wardrobe grew up.

“I always say never say never, to trying some-thing on,” says Di, triumphantly. “I think I look at people very differently and they think they’d never wear what I’ll put them in. Another saying of mine is that you’ll always have what you’ve always had, unless you change it. All I want is for the customer to feel happy. Once they’re taken out of their comfort zone and can see the reasoning, they’re really happy.”

As well as outfi t-building for customers without a clue, Di also helps customers pick out some-thing to wear for special oc-casions. It’s a unisex service and many wives are happy to take a back seat and let Di dress their husbands. At this time of year though, De-benham’s Quiz concession is thronging with teenage prom princesses.“Although proms aren’t till June and July, all the girls are coming in al-ready,” she says.

I love the glam apricot evening gown she chooses

for me and am quite amazed that the vivid pat-terned shoes and clutch co-ordinate so well with the frock. I’m a wee bit less enamoured by a Mar-

‘Very o� en people will

come in and say, I’ve got so many random things

but nothing I want to wear’ [[

Everyday casual

My � rst reaction: Hawaii oh-no! I wouldn’t have picked any of this lot

What I learnt: Fashion is supposed to be fun - and stepping out of your comfort zone can freshen up your look

My style rating:

Cropped jeans £22, blue cami £14, Kimono £22, shoes £20 all Red Her-ring at DebenhamsHandbag £39 Principles

Grown up gorgeous!

Feature1_PersonalShop_March29.indd 14 25/03/2015 12:32:15

15

Day into evening

My � rst reaction: Like the black trousers, but am I ready for the rest?

What I learnt: Build around classic wardrobe staples with

a� ordable colour picks such as this £16 top to ring the changes

My style rating:

Your top fashion � xes

ibou stole and a hat I insisted on trying, which, combined,

look a bit fancy-dress. “I have made mistakes of

my own in my time,” admits the lady who very rarely gets it

wrong. “I fell in love with a Jane Norman dress I wore for my fi f-

tieth birthday. But it wasn’t me at all. It was one of very few things I’ve ever worn, where nobody said: oooh, I like what you’re wearing. There was no reaction, so I just knew. It was horrible.”

But that’s also the beauty of personal shopping. If you don’t like something, it’s no problem. They’ll bring you something else. No sweat. Literally. I’ve never been this cucumber-cool in a changing cubicle before - this is a stress-free experi-ence that every girl should try for size at least once in her life.It’s best to book the personal shopping at Debenhams Plymouth, although Di and her team are available to

advise customers throughout the week. Call 01752 275079 or visit

www.debenhams.com.

Personal shopper Di Giles, right, with colleague Di Mabin

Shoes £29.50 Red Herringtop £16 Red Herring

Floral jacket £60 Star by Julien McDonald

Black trousers £38 Star by Julien McDonald

Bag £15 Red Herring

1. Wear a properly � tted bra - it could help you drop a dress size

2. Invest in a pair of coloured jeans - they’re great for build-ing a look around

3. Tailored trou-sers are a must: They’ll take you through from o� ce to evening out

4. Control pants or seam free undies are es-sential: they won’t ruin an out� t with vis-ible lines

5. A little black dress is still an es-sential in every wardrobe

6. Layer: experiment with build-ing your look

7. Have con� -dence: feel fabulous and you’ll look it. too

8. There are no age limits: if you’ve the legs for over-the-knee, go for it! Have faith in your body shape.

9. Be bold and trust in sizes. Skinny jeans come in sizes

eight to 18 - if they didn’t think people would wear them, why would they sell them?

Rule number one: Wear a

properly � tted bra - it can help

you drop a whole dress size [[

Personal shopper Di Giles has the answers

Feature1_PersonalShop_March29.indd 15 25/03/2015 12:32:41

16

Afgan_Mar29.indd 16 25/03/2015 10:44:22

17

People

a futureHoping for

fghanistan gets under your skin,” says Hannah Surowinski reflective-ly. “I went out there and just fell in love with the place. It’s a beautiful country geographically, but also

the people are so wonderful. Despite everything they’ve gone through.

“But what shocked me was the level of poverty. You see women begging, lying on the road. That really got to me.”

Hannah’s been up since 3am checking her emails. She arrived back home in Tiverton after an 11 hour flight the day before, so her body clock is all out of sync. Plus she’s had a lot of emails to catch up on, and when I leave, she’ll be back on them – one of the most war-torn corners of the

world needs her help.The 31-year-old doesn’t look jet-lagged though,

she’s all smiley and relaxed, even though she can’t remember when she and partner Pen Far-thing (also a seriously inspirational character, and founder of animal rescue charity Nowzad Dogs) last had a day off.

The pair have just got back from a three-week visit to the States, securing funds for Pen’s char-ity Nowzad. They will be back there again in April. Then it’s Afghanistan, on-and-off, until the end of the year.

Just under two years ago, Hannah was manag-ing quarries in Wales and the South West for Ag-gregate Industries, a pretty young woman boss-ing all the boys about. She giggles at this thought

A

Women and children in Afghanistan live desperate and difficult lives. Fran McElhone meets the woman from Tiverton who is doing her best to change women’s chances in this most damaged of countries.

“

Afgan_Mar29.indd 17 25/03/2015 10:44:36

18

but says she “absolutely loved it”, though strug-gles to remember her fi nal job title.

Then she met former Royal Marine Pen Far-thing when she was trekking in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. They fell for each other, he told her about Nowzad, the charity named after the belov-ed pet he rescued from a dog fi ghting ring during his military tour of duty of Afghanistan.

It wasn’t long before Hannah made her fi rst trip to Afghanistan and the life of the girl who grew up in Honiton, east Devon, did an about turn. Today, her life is intertwined with the hopes of many Afghans thousands of miles away.

“Pen invited me to spend Christmas in Kabul with him,” she continues. “I told my parents I was going to Dubai because I didn’t want to ruin their Christmas,” she laughs sheepishly.

“I got back and I remember sitting at my desk and I had all these calls about asphalt complaints. And I just didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to make a difference and bring back good news sto-ries about Afghanistan, the stories no one gets to hear about.”

Within two months Hannah handed in her notice and started working for PARSA (Physio-therapy and Rehabilitation Services for Afghani-stan) as its development manager. The charity’s projects include the training of women - often

widows who are the main breadwinners - in handicrafts, as well as establishing a worldwide market for them to sell their wares.

“If it wasn’t for PARSA, these women wouldn’t have anywhere safe to work,” Hannah explains. “They’d be confi ned to their homes and have no income, and then it’s a short slippery slope to becoming that woman lying down begging in the road.”

The former Honiton Community College

student works on groundroots projects in and around Kabul. The aim is to liberate women from a poverty “only fathomable if you’ve seen it with your own eyes”, she explains. She also works with orphans, rescuing them from lives on the street, in danger of drug addiction or falling into the hands of the Taliban.

Suffi ce to say Pen and Hannah are a busy pair. Pen’s charity Nowzad reunites war strays with their soldier companions and drives a vital vet-erinary, neutering and rabies vaccination pro-

gramme in Afghanistan. The two work closely together, and are based at Marastoon (a word meaning place of safety). This is a settlement owned by Red Crescent, the Afghan equivalent of the Red Cross. It is, says Hannah, “technically” a safe haven from the Taliban.

Hannah says she never fails to be moved by the people she has met in Afghanistan. “The major-ity of the women are widows, or their husbands have been incapacitated because of the war.”

But they are survivors. She tells me about one woman she works closely with, called Palwasha: “She’s amazing. She started working for PARSA about 13 years ago but was caught by the Taliban and imprisoned for two years. When she was released she fl ed to Pakistan, but despite everything that happened, she came back to work for PARSA again. Today, she runs our textile-

making project.“These days, I am always learning,” she says.

“Last time I was out there we were helping women to grow potatoes and other produce, not only so they can be self-suffi cient, but so they can sell them too. I learnt that if you grow marigolds next to he potatoes, it keeps the aphids away.”

Hannah, who now speaks the local language of Dari, assures me she feels safe in Afghanistan. But she is acutely aware of the round-the-clock risk of insurgent attacks. On one occasion last

[[‘I told my parents I was going to Dubai - I didn’t want to

ruin their Christmas’

Hannah with partner Pen Farthing

MA

IN P

ICT

UR

E: M

AT

T A

US

TIN

Afgan_Mar29.indd 18 25/03/2015 10:45:11

19

People

With orphans in Afghanistan

An agriculture project in action

Afgan_Mar29.indd 19 25/03/2015 10:47:05

20

year her fl ight circled Kabul Airport for three hours before diverting back to Dubai via Paki-stan until the next day, because the airport was under attack from the Taliban.

Today, PARSA - and Hannah - are committed to empowering Afghanistan’s next generation. The charity runs the Afghan Scout movement, which was founded in 1931 but vanished with the start of the Soviet invasion in 1978. There are now 1,500 Afghan scouts, 90 per cent of whom are orphans.

“That is 1,500 fewer kids on the streets, or fall-ing into the hands of the Taliban,” says Hannah. “This has to be the most important scout move-ment in the world. These children would literally have nothing without it.”

It is clear, as we chat, that Hannah is commit-ted to helping a country, and its people, heal from its brutal recent history. “Afghanistan is associ-ated with the Taliban, but the majority of people don’t want to live under their rule,” she contin-ues. “And the men want their wives to work and their daughters to go to school.

“It’s a place that is full of surprises, and there is so much to be optimistic about. As a woman, I get to see the glamour underneath the burkas. There are beauty salons all over the place now and the men’s grooming parlours have photos of the footballer Ronaldo in the window because all the men want to look like him.”

As for Hannah: “I realise what’s important in life now,” she affi rms. “And I know not to take things for granted, even something as simple as the freedom to wear shorts and T-shirts. I fi nd myself thinking how frivolous people in this

country can be with their money, and how such small sums could make such a difference to so many people.”• For more details about Hannah’s work, visit www.afghanistan-parsa.org

Hannah with her friend and co-worker Palwasha

‘I know what is important in life

now - and I know not to take things

for granted’ [[Sorting mulberries for sale

An amazing lifeHannah’s life today never fails to amaze her, she says. “I once had a meeting to go to in a place called Panjshir, a � ve hour drive from Kabul. When I went through one of the check points on the way the police were trying to bar the way to Westerners because it was so dangerous. They even took the details of my next-of-kin in case something happened to me.

“I was meeting women who were growing and drying mulberries that they made into candy – we’re helping them market and develop their business to give them much-needed � nancial independence.

“They’d never seen a Westerner before and all they wanted to talk about was whether I had babies and about my ‘husband’. When I told them I didn’t have any babies they were so sorry for me. I just thought, here are these women, who have barely stepped outside their village, and they are feeling sorry for me.”

Afgan_Mar29.indd 20 25/03/2015 10:47:28

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22

In the pictureGabrielle Fagan investigates some fresh (and o� en inexpensive) ways to put a little art and soul into your home decor this springtime

Landscape murals, from £232, Pixers (www.pixercise.com)

Interiors_Mar29.indd 22 25/03/2015 11:35:20

Interiors

A single piece of art, beautifully framed, in the middle of a blank wall can have an enormous impacton the whole room

STYLE TIP:

t could be argued that we’re all art-ists these days, snapping away with our mobiles and generally enjoy-ing a more visual world, but all too often the images we create end up

unseen.Photographs of family, friends and holidays

are commonly left lingering on laptops and phones. But what could be easier than dressing your walls with personal photos and artwork for an instant injection of personality?

“Even a single piece of art, beautifully framed, in the middle of a blank wall can have an enor-mous impact, especially if the piece is particu-larly small or large,” says Luci Noel, director of the Affordable Art Fair, which comes to Bristol in September.

“Art creates a real focal point for a room, and symmetry of furniture or furnishings around the piece can also help to draw the eye to it. Con-versely, a cluster - known as a ‘salon hang’ - can vary from a few pieces up to an entire wall fi lled with a collection. Be as creative as you want to be, even hanging objects or mirrors within the cluster to fi ll a space.”

If you’re bewildered by the vast array of art on offer, or struggle to identify which photos to include in your home ‘gallery’, she advises fol-

23

Ilowing your heart.

“It’s all about browsing at art fairs and visit-ing galleries to discover what resonates with you. Maybe print off a selection of your photo prints, so over time you can narrow down your choice,” she says.

“Art should be an emotional experience - buy only what you love and what you want to live with and will enjoy every day. It’s all about personalis-ing your space and making it unique to you.”

Traditionally, the walls of ancestral homes were hung with grand oil paintings of the family; the modern, affordable equivalent is photograph-ic family portraits.

“We fi nd scaled-up individual portraits and group family member portraits are the most pop-

ular styles for wall art,” says Richard Mayfi eld, creative director for family photography special-ists Venture Photography.

“There are lots of ways to display photograph-ic wall art. Individual shots can be blown up into high-impact images and displayed as a focal point. Another successful approach is for each family member to be shot separately rather than as a group, which captures the personality of the various individuals, then each can be framed and the prints grouped together on a wall.”

Another option is to get an enlarged sepia-tint-ed print of a favourite holiday snap, with the nos-talgic vibe of a vintage railway poster; The Drift-ing Bear Company can provide one from £29.

It’s generally agreed that the centre point of

Family portrait, Venture Photography

Interiors_Mar29.indd 23 25/03/2015 11:38:21

24

Wall stickers and murals can be a simple, effective and inexpensive way to create a striking effect in a room

STYLE TIP:

Another option for a striking feature, this time not in a frame, is a wall sticker, currently an on-trend way to make an impression.

A wall sticker depicting a masterpiece by UK street graffi ti Banksy would give

any room an edgy feel. One of his classics, Maid Sweeping, £24.99, from In Spaces (www.in-spac-es.com), shows a girl in an apron hiding rubbish by lifting wallpaper to reveal a brick wall.

Another of In Spaces’ stickers, the life-size British Deer (pictured), £39.99, is a really strik-ing addition. All in all, there are plenty of ways to make

your rooms a work of art, often at a reasonable price, too.

a piece of art should be at eye height, although there may have to be a compromise if you or your partner are considerably different heights!” says Luci Noel. “A midpoint of 60-65 inches above the fl oor is usually comfortable for most people.”

Wall murals, once considered the height of naff-ness, have won back their style credentials. Pixers (www.pixercise.com) has a vast mural li-brary with foreign landscapes, feature shots and famous views from the Pyramids to the Eiffel Tower. Alternatively, opt for a gentle, bucolic effect with its watercolour landscape, such as its mural called Near the River Bank (pictured overleaf), costing from £32.

And you don’t even have to put paintings on your walls - you can make a display from any image you love, whatever its source.

“Artwork - and that’s such a broad term, it can cover everything from wall stickers through to a collection of framed favourite magazine covers - is such an easy way to add visual impact in any space,” says Claire Hornby, creative stylist at Barker & Stonehouse (www.barkerand-stonehouse.co.uk).

“A vibrant or quirky piece of artwork adds a splash of personality in an instant. If hanging prints isn’t quite your thing, consider utilising shelv-ing space and carefully display framed artwork on it, or simply put prints on the fl oor and lean against a wall. For an inexpen-sive, imaginative touch, use your children’s artwork - the more abstract and playful the pictures, the more striking the display will be.”

Don’t be afraid to put a larger picture next to a smaller one, but perhaps balance it by having two or three small pictures taking up the same space as the larger one, suggests Luci Noel.

“A series of different sized pieces can look striking when carefully spaced and hung at the same mid-point, but allow each one enough room to breathe. Don’t be tempted to hang paint-ings or prints too close together.”

‘Allow each piece room to breathe, don’t be tempted

to crowd the artworks too

closely together’ [[

InteriorsDeer sticker £39.99, Inspace

Ostrich canvas £183 www.frenchbedroomcompany.co.uk

Banksy wall sticker, £24.99, www.in-spaces.com

Interiors_Mar29.indd 24 25/03/2015 11:38:42

25

Shopping

LOOKArt can be used in so many ways to add drama and interest to your decor

GET THE

Nine comic books £160 www.bombus.co.uk

Paint Your Dreams by Dganit Blachner£3,550 from the Linda Blackstone Gallery

Personalised vintage travel poster from £29 www.thedriftingbear.com

Young & Battaglia handpainted three drawer cabinet £350 www.alexanderandpearl.co.uk

Black picture print club chair, £752, www.artisanti.com

Interiors_Mar29.indd 25 25/03/2015 11:39:05

Mother’s Day – the

a� ermath

he end of March is such an exciting time of the year, garden-wise. For a start, we have Easter looming next weekend, when even self-styled non-gardeners feel obliged to go outside

and do their bit. The Vernal Equinox was on 20th, marking the

offi cial start of spring (hooray, there’s more light than dark again) and overnight, the clocks have gone forward and British Summer Time means another hour in the evenings to spend outdoors.

Two weeks ago, it was Mothering Sunday, with Mums up and down the country being celebrated, spoiled and gifted with presents, often including plants. Now the euphoria has worn off and you are looking at baskets crammed with spring fl owers (slightly going off), miniature potted roses, pastel hydrangeas or strange, science fi ction-like bromeliads chosen by your offspring, what are you to do with them all?

Most popular in the gift stakes is probably the spring fl ower arrangement, typically including narcissus, hyacinth, grape hyacinth (muscari), primrose and ivy. Hopefully you placed this in a cool, bright position indoors, so the fl owers kept for as long as possible.

Cut away the hyacinth fl ower stem when the blooms fade and taken on that nasty, mouldering fl annel smell and take off narcissus stems as they go over. By now, it could be time for the whole lot to go outside. To begin with, stand out by day and back in at night to acclimatise plants to colder weather, then empty the container and carefully separate the plants. Fork up soil and using a trowel, plant the bulbs out, so hyacinth and daff bulbs lie about 10cm/4in deep and grape hyacinth 8cm/3in, then allow their foliage to die down naturally. I fi nd hybrid primroses a bit garish

for our garden and they tend not to thrive well outdoors here, so I prefer to pot them separately and continue to enjoy their cheerful blooms in a porch, greenhouse or cool windowsill. Ivies can make handsome house plants, or use them in outdoor containers.

The best bulb treat I saw on sale for Mother’s Day was a generous bowl of Fritillaria meleagris. The snake’s head fritillary grows to about 30cm/12in high and bears fabulous, nodding, chequered, bell-shaped fl owers of purple or

occasionally white. In the wild, they colonise water meadows and, with luck, you can plant them out in borders or turf, where they’ll come up year after year as a lovely reminder of the original gift.

Miniature roses in pots are not easy to keep alive indoors and prefer to be treated like full sized rose bushes. When they’ve fi nished fl owering, cut them back by half, place them outdoors, wait for them to start sprouting and then plant them to the front of a patio border or into a larger container

26

ANNE SWITHINBANK

Gardens

T

Devon’s Anne Swithinbank, panellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, on how to make your plant gi� s last longer

Gardens_Mar29.indd 26 25/03/2015 11:09:31

27

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

This week’s gardening tips

• Go shopping for composts, pots, seed trays, seeds, onions sets and young plants. Make sure your tools are sorted and at the ready for the upcoming Easter weekend.

• Sow beetroot straight into soil if this is dry enough to rake at the surface. If not, sow a couple of seeds (actually seed clusters) into each cell of a set of modules under glass. They are later planted out as small clumps but roots

have space to swell outwards.

• There’s still plenty of time to sow tomato seeds in warmth, or wait and buy plants later. Begin to organise their space in the greenhouse in pots, growing bags or borders

• Sow Brussels sprouts into modules under glass or a seed bed outside to be transplanted into permanent positions when large enough. Start leeks from seed.

Anne’s advice for your garden

A plum tree we planted several years ago has side branches growing from low down on the main stem that look different to the

top. Could they be suckers, should I cut them off and when?

They probably are suckers or just unwanted lower shoots. Wait until summer to cut them off your plum and cherry trees, to reduce the risk of infection by a fungal disease known as silver leaf. This can gain entry via wounds and is spread by air currents and on infected tools.

Q

Question time with AnneWest reader queries answered by Anne Swithinbank

Zinniasare a tribe of showy daisy-like plants prized by flower arrangers. Green-flowered Zinnia ‘Envy’ and ‘Purple Prince’ are particularly good. Sow seed individually to modules as seedlings resent disturbance. They can be potted on or planted straight out later.

where they won’t be forgotten, or swamped by weeds. Fed and watered, they’ll surprise you with lots of flowers. Prune in late summer as for ordinary roses.

Potted hydrangeas are gorgeous, with their heads of soft blue, white or pink flowers. However, they’ve been specially chosen for indoor work and raised carefully under glass – their natural flowering time is late summer. After flowering, prune away the dead heads and some of the stem, above a pair of buds. In most regions of the South West, we can get away with planting these out in semi shade and a moist, humus-rich yet well-drained soil.

What about those crazy bromeliads? They are descended from plants native to warm, shaded jungly places where they grow epiphytically - in the branches of trees rather than in the ground and are good choices for normal house rooms. Many are known as urn plants because in the wild, they collect drips and rotting matter in the vases made by their leaves. At flowering time, the mature rosettes flush lovely colours which last some time before they slowly die away to be replaced by offsets. Be patient, one day the offsets will, in their turn reach flowering size – like so much in the garden, all they need is some patient mothering.

We were given a large columnar cactus 1m/3ft tall that used to live in a friend’s house. It has smooth, blue-green skin and

long ridges with spikes. We’ve kept it in a frost free porch with no water all winter but an area near the top has gone soft and yellow as if rotting inside. It looks as though it has been topped with builders sand, could this be the problem?

Builder’s sand should never be used for plants because it can be salty, or contain lime. It also has fine particle size that tends to clump together and block air spaces in compost. Use horticultural sharp sand or potting grit for mixing into compost and a coarse grit or shingle for topping the compost surface. Replace the builder’s sand as soon as possible. I think your cactus is what we’ve always called Cereus peruvianus though there is some botanical confusion over the name. Just frost free is a little chilly for this plant, especially when porch doors open to admit blasts of icy air and the plant might have been better in a cool, bright room indoors. If the top rots, there are only two plans I can think of. A is to cut the whole plant down to near the base and hope it sprouts. B is to cut horizontally through healthy tissue below the rot and then find the severed top of another cactus (it can be a different type) with the same diameter. Sit the top on the base with as close a fit as possible, tie over the top to keep it stable and sometimes, a graft will take!

Q

Gardens_Mar29.indd 27 25/03/2015 11:11:03

28

Beauty

Tried& tested

We present the beauty treats and cheats of the week, all trialled by West magazine’s Catherine Barnes, with help from daughter Tilly, 17.

Tried

Spring greens and Devon violets are among the fresh colour combos available in Body Shop’s Shimmer Cube palettes, costing £16 each.

RENEW

Springperfect

Nailed

This skin renewal serum (£32) is new from Origins this month and contains

Willowherb to remedy stressed skin that’s lost

its bloom. Find it at Debenhams Mani experts Ciate have spring nailed with their

Liquid Chalk matte varnishes in four colourways, each utterly appealing. They’re £9 each or come as a £15 duo at www.ciatelondon.com

Color Wow’s Pop & Lock serum got a big thumbs up from us - now introducing its sulfate-free, shampoo

and conditioner. It locks in colour and contains proteins which strengthen hair. £16.50 each at

colorwowhair.com

GOOD HAIR, EVERYDAY

Beauty_March29.indd 28 25/03/2015 11:46:58

29

the review

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

eaweed is funny stuff and I wouldn’t naturally consider slapping it all over my face. However, it is rich in nutri-ents, and we certainly have

an abundance of it in this part of the world.

The St Enodoc Hotel overlooks the Camel Estuary at Rock in north Cornwall, and has a view that takes your breath away. It certainly is the perfect setting for any spa day.

My therapist, Hannah Richards, has worked at the spa for two years and thinks organic products are the way forward. She asked me a few brief questions about my skin type and if I have any major concerns before she started the treat-ment. I think generally as women we can all pick fault with our skin - I ex-plained that I hate how uneven my skin tone is.

The Detoxifying Seaweed Facial was an hour long but it seemed to take far less time - I could feel myself drifting off to sleep on many occasions throughout the treatment.

I have had many facials over the years, but this has to be one of my all-time fa-vourites. The steamer, in particular, was one of the best parts of the process, and something I had not experienced before. It felt like a sauna for the face, there

was something very relaxing about it. Throughout the facial, Hannah paid par-ticular attention to the pressure points on my face and head - this was particularly relaxing as I can suffer with headaches.

The seaweed for the products is all sourced from Cornwall, which I think makes the experience all the more special as you get that little taste of the Cornish coast. Hannah explained that seaweed

is good for cleansing and soothing the skin, and is suitable for all skin types including sensitive skin. It is also packed full of vitamins and said to help collagen production.

The smell of the prod-ucts was fresh and clean – none of your tideline odours! - and my favourite part was the seaweed clay mask that dried onto my face (it actually felt like I couldn’t move my face), along with the eye masks

that looked like dried leaves before they softened in water to form a relaxing and cooling eye treatment.

My skin has been left feeling calm and relaxed and looks both smooth and radi-ant. I think it is safe to say seaweed is now my new “must have” best friend.The detoxifying seaweed facial at the St Enodoc Hotel Spa in Rock, north Cornwall costs £65 for 60 minutes. Visit www.enodoc-hotel.co.uk or call 01208 862858 for details

S

Beauty from the OceanAbbie Bray has a Seaweed Facial in north Cornwall

‘Cornish seaweed is packed full of vitamins

and is said to help collagen production’ [[

This week we try

Indulge your weaknesses: Philosophy’s new fragrance evokes whipped cream, almond blossom and vanilla. Sweet.Philosophy Fresh Cream, £34, www.philosophy.co.uk

A good base will make your foundation work twice as hard and Truly Organics’ Face Base balm is moisturising, too: Pea extract is among the   ower and fruits in the formula.£25 to buy online at yourstrulyorganics.com

STRAWBERRIES OPTIONAL...

Back to basics

Beauty_March29.indd 29 25/03/2015 11:45:19

30

Miss Selfridge Pleat mini skirt

£35Look Again

Laura Scott suede bag £59

Miss Selfridge pink suede

dress £xx

Dune sandals £85

Look Again boots £59

New Look jacket £34.99

Fashion_March29.indd 30 25/03/2015 14:51:22

31

So� , touchable suede is simply everywhere this season...

right days, chilly evenings and the prom-ise of a bracing breeze at any moment. Dressing for early spring is never simple, but this season there is a solution. Suede

has been bubbling under the fashion radar for a while now and has long been a go-to choice for bags and boots. But this spring, it’s to be found pretty much eve-rywhere, in skirts, dresses and jackets too.

It’s in part due to the 70s vibe taking fashion by storm right now, but also quite simply because suede is lovely to wear. Suede’s low maintenance, fun to wear and lends an air of touchable softness. There’s plenty of suede in the disco-era look that’s hot right now, but suede can also do smart, hence this chic green hand-bag from Dorothy Perkins, and these lovely burnt orange fl ats from Dune. Something for everyone.

Easily suede

B

Fashion

Dune loafers £79

Dorothy Perkins bag £32

Le Redoute jacket £199

Accessorize fringed backpack

£49

Fashion_March29.indd 31 25/03/2015 14:51:49

love pockets. There, I said it. But who doesn’t? Is there anything better than fi nding a coat or dress that is cuter than cute, and then

fi nding that is has the most generous spaces in which to plunge your hands, keys, phone or any-thing else your heart desires. Surely not.

I’d go so far as to say, it is largely my love of on-person storage that has endeared me to this sea-sons utility look. Large fl apped pockets cropped up again and again during the SS15 shows, with Coach and VB being standouts.

The look is not quite safari, rather a more urban warrior vibe. Mrs Beckham did a particu-larly fantastic stone dress with shoulder cut-outs and extra large pocket details up front. Just an-other reason to long for warmer weather.

But in these awkward in-between months, this trend lends itself beautifully to layering. Pop on a tailored crisp white shirt (you can’t have too many of these, they go with absolutely eve-rything), any pair of fi tted trousers, and throw on a functional yet stylish cover-up like this gem from River Island. You’re looking for a balance between function and fashion, so don’t lean too much towards the former. My friend Kara and her boyfriend Andy recently climbed to Everest base camp. An amazing feat and one they will look back on until they are old and grey. For the trip they bought functional cloth-ing, especially designed to make expeditions like this one easier, keep you the right temperature, and riddled with pockets for things like altitude sickness pills.

Problem is, some outfi ts should stay on the mountain. Still exuberant from the achievement, it seems this hasn’t quite sunk in. Kara sent Andy around to a friend’s house in London to drop something off recently and received a text shortly afterwards saying: “Andy was just here. Why is he dressed like someone from Jurassic Park?”

She showed me the message, gig-gling at his attachment to his trekking gear. I didn’t have the heart to point out that the protruding neck of her Everest-ready thermal quilted body

warmer was somewhat ruining the line of her pastel collarless coat.

Lovers of function will especially enjoy that the backpack is now ‘a thing’. These aren’t the type of backpacks that need a Sherpa. They’re smaller, sleeker and far more stylish. Before you dismiss it as the domain of the student, try it. I felt more than a little liberated having both hands free. And the plethora of pockets on my

coat meant I still had easy access to my phone and keys.

If you’ve even been shopping and felt the frus-tration that comes from having a swinging hand-bag on one side and your new purchases weigh-ing down the other, you’ll appreciate the joy this could bring.

This trend gets my full seal of approval. It is school run, offi ce, lunch date and even sightsee-ing friendly. So versatile, I bet you’d even look good running from a velociraptor.

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

32

Trend

Mrs Beckham did a particularly

fantastic stone dress with extra

large pocket details up front

Fashion gets functional this season, � nds Kathryn Clarke-Mcleod

HOW TO WEAR IT:

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Utility

Grey Jeans, River Island, Princesshay, £40

White Shirt, River Island, Princesshay, £25

Coat, River Island, Princesshay, £69

Bag, River Island, Princesshay, £28

TrendUtility_March29.indd 32 25/03/2015 15:06:56

33

GET THE

look

DEBENHAMS Star by Julien

Macdonald £32

NEW LOOK grey ribbed high neck

crew £4.99

MISS SELFRIDGE black ripped

skinny jean £40

DEBENHAMS RJR. John Rocha

Jacket £75

NEXT biker jacket £60

NEW LOOK trench jacket

£32.99

NEW LOOK extreme rip white

jeans £24.99

RIVER ISLAND boots £55

TrendUtility_March29.indd 33 25/03/2015 15:07:30

34

Discover

culturevulture

The superb new guide to the arts scene in the South West by our woman-in-the-know, Sarah Pitt

Bestselling author Patrick Gale lives in the far west of Cornwall where he and his husband Aidan Hicks raise beef cattle. Patrick’s latest novel is out now, entitled A Place Called Winter. It’s a poignant story of love and secrets among emigrant farmers on the Canadian plains more than a century ago. Patrick, whose most famous novel Notes from an Exhibition is set in Cornwall, was inspired to write his latest story by the discovery of an old notebook revealing his ancestor Harry Cane’s own story as a pioneer in Canada. You can meet Patrick at the Falmouth Bookseller at 1pm on April 1, Waterstones Truro on April 1 at 7pm (tickets £2), The Exchange, Penzance at 7pm on April 2 (free, RSVP to the Edge of the World bookshop on 01736 365607), Waterstones on the Cathedral Green, Exeter on April 3 at 7pm (tickets £3, 01392 218392); and at Sterts near Liskeard on April 4 (tickets £7.50, 01579 342112).

Must-read of the week

North Devon sculptor Elizabeth Spiers creates ceramic sculptures inspired by figures from mythology which she arranges in everyday

situations and poses. Her minotaur – the half-bull half-man of Greek myth – sits casually on a wall, for all the world like a builder taking a tea break. Their

appeal is heightened by the glazes Elizabeth uses in her studio at home in Great Torrington which give them a ‘just excavated’ look which emphasises the humour. Her work can be seen, alongside abstract

paintings by Karen McEndoo, in a current exhibition at The Plough, also in Great Torrington, until April 25. Entry is free. Visit www.theploughartscentre.org.uk.

Hey, Mr Minotaur...

Playing the bluesThere’s a treat for fans of the blues next month. One of the world’s finest slide guitarists, Michael Messer, joins forces with Manish Pingle, a rising star of Hindustani slide guitar, who hails from Mumbai. See them play together at the Broomhill Sculpture Hotel, Barnstaple on Wednesday, April 1 (tickets £7.50 on 01271 850262); and at The Bridge Inn in Topsham on Thursday, April 9 (£12 on 01392 873862).

CV_EVENTS_MARCH29.indd 34 25/03/2015 15:05:55

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optional final rental £7,413. 35 monthly rentals payable. 6,000 miles per annum. Excess mileage charges may apply. If you choose to pay the optional final rental, you can pay an annual rental equivalent to one of your monthly rentals but will not own the car. Ownership is possible with Passport – ask us for details. Offer available on cars ordered by 31/03/15. Calls may be recorded for training purposes. Information correct at time of going to press.

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36

Magic comes the stage at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth this week with the Welsh National Opera’s annual visit to the Westcountry, complete with soprano Lesley Garrett. As the stars unpack their cases and launch into song, Diane Parkes takes a peek behind

the scenes of a world-renowned costume department

alking into the costume department at Welsh National Opera is like en-tering a child’s fantasy world of dressing up.

Boxes are piled onto every shelf with labels promising a whole range of make-be-lieve from military belts to gilt buttons and gold braid to feather boas.

At one table a woman holds a black jacket to the light and stitches carefully, at another a colleague is humming along to the sewing machine. In a little room to the side the milliner is piling up towers of multi-coloured hats which sprout lace, ribbons and bows.

Tailor’s dummies stand at intervals throughout the room, some wearing fab-ulous costumes covered with pearlised beading, glittering gemstones and scin-tillating sequins. On the floor are piled military boots in a range of different sizes and shades.

And all their colourful characters are dressed by head of costume Siân Price and her team.

Siân joined the opera company straight from college as a costume maker in 1979, then became a cutter and gradually worked her way through the ranks. It is a job she adores.

“I love putting costumes on stage and seeing how the audience responds to them,” she says.

That moment in the spotlight may only be fleet-ing but every costume has to be perfect and will have taken hours of work.

And the task is immense. Depending on the show, Siân and her team could be dressing more than 50 people in the cast.

“And of course it’s more than that because they could be wearing two or even more costumes in each show. And for the principals we could have a number of casts.”

Because WNO is constantly creating new work, the costume team has to think laterally about what they can recycle from previous productions.

“We’ve got a costume from our recent Così Fan

Tutte which started life as a Flora dress in La Traviata way back in the 1980s… a basic piece of costume can just go round and round,” says Siân.

The company is bringing three shows to Ply-mouth this week - Mozart’s Magic Flute, Hump-erdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and the opera great-est hits show Chorus!

“I really love our production of Hansel and Gretel. It’s designed by John Macfarlane and when the chefs come out and bring out all these silver salvers and they open them in time to the music - the first time you see that it’s absolutely amazing,” says Siân.

The Magic Flute costumes include Pamina, whose white dress is decorated with rich beads and glistening rhinestones.

Starring Lesley Garrett, WNO’s new pro-duction of Chorus! is inspired by the 1950s, says Siân. “There is some fun in store, as we

are all guessing which one of our chorus men will want the Superman costume or if they all want to be Elvis!”

Welsh National Opera performs Chorus! at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth on March 31, The Magic Flute on April 1-2, Hansel and Gretel on April 4, www.theatreroyal.com

Costume drama

‘When the chefs all come out and open their silver

salvers in time to the music, it’s absolutely amazing’[ [

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Costumes_Opera.indd 36 25/03/2015 13:12:25

37

Discover

Costume expert Sian Price (above right) created the outfits for the Plymouth operas

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38

My Secret Westcountry

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones

My favourite...

Walk: I love the woods at Witherden, a not too large area of woodland about fi ve miles from my farm. There’s something to enjoy at any time of year but somehow in the winter months it epitomises the season. Dark, damp and mossy and like a horror fi lm location. Then on a sunny day it is transformed into a fairy playground as shards of sunlight cut through the trees to sparkle on the wet or icy ground.

Festival: The Padstow May Day festival, defi nitely! Thousands of people cram into that tiny town to see the Obby Oss and create the most extraordinary atmosphere. What I love is that it’s a local festival for local people - and I’m told that old Padstonians from all over the world come back to celebrate the occasion. It is vibrant, loud and fun.

Beach: Widemouth Bay. Ever since I bought

Entrepreneur Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones introduced chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Antony Worrall-Thompson and James Martin to TV in his role as a television producer, before taking up farming just on the Devon border near Launceston and launching his own food company, The Black Farmer.

Padstow’s May Day fun

MyWestcountry_Mar29.indd 38 25/03/2015 11:42:04

39

my farm I’ve visited Widemouth Bay - either to don wetsuits for a bit of bodyboarding, or simply to walk along the coast on a blustery day and blow away the cobwebs. At this time of the year it can seem a bit bleak and grey, but as a keen photographer I fi nd the light can create some amazing shots. Whatever the weather the surfers are out in numbers. I defi nitely couldn’t go in the water in the winter, though: I’m a fair weather dipper!

Food: It has to be the traditional Cornish pasty. The pasty is a local treasure and, made well to a traditional recipe, you can’t beat it as a meal on the hoof.

Tipple: I don’t drink a huge amount of alcohol but I do enjoy the odd Plymouth Gin and tonic. I fi nd the balance of botanicals gives Plymouth Gin a very distinctive fl avour. The distillery is well worth a visit, too: so much history and tradition packed into a relatively small distillery. I also really enjoy Luscombe Sicilian Lemonade from Devon. Really thirst quenching on a hot day.

Pub: A recent discovery is The Springer Spaniel at Treburley which has managed to keep the feeling of a reasonably low key country pub restaurant but serves exceptionally good food. The menu is seasonal and local. It always offers something new and interesting but not over fussy. A bit of a family favourite I must say.

Shop: A couple of young guys have recently

opened a shop in Launceston, called Elkerton-Smith. It specialises in antiques and gold and silver jewellery, and they are very skilled at renovation and repairs. It’s so refreshing to see young people getting involved in this type of work - and I know that someone might easily fi nd something I would like in there!

Treat: Another new little treasure in Launceston (I know, it’s all happening here!) is The Little Bakehouse. They make and sell lots of different types of delicious sourdough bread and other little titbits. You can sit at a communal table and enjoy a generous bowl of soup and bread and it’s fun and interesting to chat to other people or the owners who obviously are very happy in their work. Or a regular favourite is the cafe at Cowslip Workshops, the craft centre in a farm near Launceston. I love the informality and friendly atmosphere and all the food is freshly prepared and organic. In fact the vegetables and salad are grown right outside the door. The cafe also has a stunning view of Launceston Castle.

People

Four Crows Gallery Widemouth Bay

The Black Farmer range of gluten free products includes sausages, chipolatas, bacon, burgers, meatballs, chicken, cheese and eggs. www.theblackfarmer.comThe menu is seasonal and local. It always offers

something new and interesting but not over fussy. A bit of a family favourite I must say.

: A couple of young guys have recently

and eggs. www.theblackfarmer.com

Cowslip Cafe

MyWestcountry_Mar29.indd 39 25/03/2015 11:42:32

#3

#4

#2

#1

40

Enjoy

1. It’s ova there!Ottery St Mary, until April 12Collect a clue sheet from the kiosk at the Escot estate and see if you can find the eggs hidden around the park. There’s a chocolate prize and certificate for every com-pleted clue sheet and you decorate paper eggs to take home. Entry to Escot costs £9.50 adults, £33 family, plus £1 per egg hunt, paper eggs cost 50p www.escot-devon.co.uk

2. Adventures with Alice Helston, March 30 to April 8Helston Museum’s celebrating the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with lots of free and fun activities. Find your way out of a maze, design your own Mad Hatter’s hat and help The White Rabbit avoid being late! Fun games and cake at the Mad Hatter’s afternoon tea party on April 8 (tick-ets, £3). Don’t forget to send a postcard: Royal Mail has issued these fabulous commemorative edition Wonderland stamps. www.helstonmuseum.co.uk

3. Horse WatchMoretonhampstead, on Wednesday and April 18, from 9.15 amSpend the day with Marie Franco and her horses at the Horse & Heart Holistic Learning Centre on Dartmoor and find out more about the animals’ behaviour, social structure, habits and how they communicate. Suitable for ages 13 and up; horsey background not essential! Places cost £50 (adults) and £40 for children, book at www.horse-and-heart.com, where you’ll also find a list of things you need to bring.

Best in ShowPlymouth, Saturday from 11amPet rescue centre Gables Farm is holding an Easter fair with stalls and a dog show with categories including the pooch with the waggiest tail. They’ll also crown a best- in-show champion, who’ll win a professional posing session with Farlap-photog-raphy.com’s Sam Clark. She’s behind the adorable portraits of Gables residents including Dita, pictured here, seeking happy Forever homes. See more at www.gablesfarm.org.uk Entry to Easter fair £1 per adult, children go free.

There’s plenty to do right now in the Westcountry, from horse-watching to Mad Hatter tea parties

the hotlist

WEEKENDIN_ALLYMAC.indd 40 25/03/2015 14:17:54

Ally says: These little pots are packed with goodness, and here’s why: Chia seeds are a South American superfood and are packed with antioxidants, yet have very few calories. You can � nd them these days in supermarkets, as well as in health food stores and online. Almond milk is creamy, delicious and naturally high in zinc, iron and magnesium. It’s low calorie, low fat and has lots of Vitamin E which is (hooray!) anti-ageing. Aim for making your own, or buy unsweetened versions. Goji berries are another superfood, with real A list status thanks to their vitamin content. They are best soaked in water � rst. Finally, cocoa nibs (part of the roasted cocoa bean) are a crunchy, tasty raw alternative to processed chocolate that’s blissfully free of sugar.

Banana ’n’ Date Chia Puddings

ally mac’s

41

Enjoy

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

1. Blend the banana and dates in your blender until silky smooth. Pour into the bottom of a cup or jar. In a small bowl mix together the chia seeds and milk then pour carefully on top of the banana.

2. Place in the fridge for an hour or so for it to

set then look out, you now have an addiction! Top with gojis and cocoa nibs.

3. The fi nal product is a glorious treasure that you and your hubba can share. For best re-sults, enjoy on the weekend in bed!

You will need:Ingredients make two pots 2 Bananas4 Medjool dates, pitted4 tbsp chia seeds1/2 cup coconut, cashew or almond milk (home-made)A topping of goji berries and cocoa nibs

WEEKENDIN_ALLYMAC.indd 41 25/03/2015 14:17:31

Tim Maddams is a Devon chef and writer who o� en appears on the River Cottage TV series

42

atercress may be one of those in-gredients that you are familiar with but with which you have a stunted relationship. A little like a distant cousin. You meet occasionally, get

on, remember how much you liked them the last time you saw them and leave each other’s com-pany fully intending to keep in-touch and looking forward to the next meeting. Only to drift away and fail to do so until the next unfortunate family get-together reminds you how churlish you’ve been.

But of course, being such a decent chap, the cousin completely understands how busy you are and makes allowances. Still with me? Watercress is a bit like that. It tends to turn up on a menu from time to time, often as a soup or a garnish for smoked fi sh or grilled steaks. And that’s it. You think, mmm, that’s nice. Then never think about it again until the next time it appears, almost apologetically, on your plate.

That is unless you are a veg box recipient. Whether you go for the full-on organic-only option or the locally grown or at the very least UK produced veg box I can highly recommend the system. For a start you never know quite what’s going to crop up and that’s good for the creativity. And it is always cheaper and better quality than shopping at the local supermarket.

If you are a vegbox convert already than the like-lihood is that you have seen a fair amount of wa-tercress of late. Veg box packers are desperately seeking some greenery in season now.

I love watercress. It’s like an old fashioned English version of rocket. You can pick it your-self from the wild and it is just about getting going around now (do be cautious of liver fl uke though, and cook it or wash it scrupulously before eating). But a good bag of watercress isn’t hard to come by at the greengrocer or farm shop, so pick some up and give it a chance.

A word of warning though, look after your wa-tercress or it won’t thank you. Un-bundle it from its elastic band and place it in a good sealed tub on a damp piece of kitchen paper and it will keep happily for days.

If you just open the pack, tear a bit off and shove the whole show haphazardly into the salad drawer you will be amazed how quickly it wilts, goes mushy and has to be wasted.

Enjoy your watercress and do give a veg box a go. One of the leading national providers is Devon-based Riverford. Now I feel I must men-tion Roots and Fruits of Chard in Somerset to even the balance. And now I feel bad for all the other little veg providers out there. Ask around and fi nd one near you!

Oh, and do write to that cousin of yours...

Ingredient of the Week

Watercresswith Tim Maddams

Fresh ways with watercress

With bacon: I really like watercress in a good bacon sandwich. It makes you feel a little better about all that fat and salt and stands up well to both, bringing a fresh and zingy fi nish to the whole indulgence.

As a pesto: A great trick with watercress is a simple pesto made with even quantities of wild garlic and watercress, chucked in the blender with some good cheddar and lashings of rapeseed oil and a handful of toasted hazelnuts.

This will happily keep in a tub in the fridge for a week or more and is a delight on pasta or used as a garnish for meats and roasted veg, particularly beetroot.

W

@TimGreenSauce

Tim_Beer_March29.indd 42 25/03/2015 12:34:44

at The Driftwood Spars, St Agnes, so much that for the past couple of years they have made it a key element in their fi rst beer festival of the year. I spent a happy afternoon there on the north Cornwall coast recently, taking guidance from head brewer Pete Martin and warming to such delights as a collaboration between BrewDog, of

Scotland, and the Welsh Celt Expe-rience brewery. Home of the Fruit-cakes (6% ABV) is bright orange/amber in colour, with a zingy, re-freshing, sour fruitbowl taste, remi-niscent of a penny Fruit Salad chew of my childhood, with strawberry and orange notes, as well as a bit of sherbet.

Why go to Belgium for a saison when there are joys like this avail-able in the UK? Well, of course, you still want to try Belgian saisons if you can. But Saison Dupont, for in-stance, is widely available in bottle shops here and a good introduction

to the style. However, many British versions are by no means second best. British brewers these days can turn their hand to saisons, Pilsners, lambics, Marzens and American pale ales, to name just a very short list, showing just how far the industry has come in the past few years.Darren Norbury is editor of beertoday.co.uk

@beertoday

Drink

hen I’m toiling over a hot keyboard at beertoday.co.uk I make a point of concentrating on the British beer scene. I do this because I’ve chosen

to mine a niche rather than take in beers from around the world (which are already more than adequately covered elsewhere). However, it’s almost as though I need not have worried about my niche. Slowly, Britain is turning into a microcosm of the global brewing scene.

Where once British brewers were happy to turn out a small range of styles such as bitter, porter, stout and barley wine, now they are having a crack at styles which have been popu-lar internationally for many years – as well as some which didn’t exist until recently.

Take saison, for instance. Saison – the French word for season – is a traditional Belgian style of light, well hopped, fruity beer which was made in spring to be laid down and opened in summer by toiling farm workers and the like. They’re gener-ally strong enough to sustain storage for a few months – 5 to 6 per cent ABV is common – but hoppy and light in body to be thirst quenching.

It’s a style which intrigues the brewing team

Darren Norbury

talks beerW

What a great time for beer. According to new � gures from industry body the British Beer and Pub Association, beer sales increased in the past year even though overall alcohol sales were down. Beer now has 36 per cent of the drinks market, says the BBPA, with wine on 33 per cent.

Manifesto for beerThe Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has launched a Manifesto for British Beer which it is asking Parliamentary candidates in the forthcoming general election to adopt. SIBA’s manifesto sets out four key areas: supporting local brewers; backing community pubs; making beer tax work; and maintaining and extending small breweries’ relief. Candidates can sign the manifesto at www.siba.co.uk/manifesto2015.

ENJOYING OUR NATIONAL DRINK

43

Beer of the weekI’ll stick to this week’s theme of saisons and choose Wild

Goose Chase gooseberry saison (4.5% ABV), from the

Wild Beer Co in Somerset. The Wild boys use wild

yeast for their distinctive, really � avoursome beers

and this stand-out was fruity and vivacious, with

tart gooseberry ramped up just enough to be slightly

mouth puckering but not eye watering. Delicious!

Beer at the Driftwood Spars

festival

It was bright orange/amber,

with a zingy taste reminis-

cent of a penny Fruit Salad chew of my childhood [[

Tim_Beer_March29.indd 43 25/03/2015 15:41:22

44

Living

ou know a manufacture has something to shout about when its UK TV advert budget goes from around £6 million to £20 million – and that something is the Mitsubishi

Outlander PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle).

Why is Mitsubishi shouting from the roof-tops about the PHEV? Well, because this is a medium size 4x4 that is tax free and can do (so they claim) 148mpg, and costs the same as a normal diesel-powered Outlander.

How does it all work? The Outlander PHEV has two electric motors one on each axle – and a 2.0-litre petrol engine under the bonnet which can drive the front wheels or charge the batteries.

As the rear electric motor doesn’t get any help

stations take that down to around three hours, or you can get an 80% charge in 30 minutes from a fast-charger.

The petrol engine comes in the form of a 119bhp 2.0-litre, four cylinder – but when combined with the electric motors gives you a total output of 200bhp. Mitsubishi claims a range of around 32 miles on pure electric power and around 500 miles on the dirty stuff.

Now that doesn’t sound very far on battery power, but the thinking behind the Outlander is you only use the electric motors in and around town. So, say your commute is from Exeter to Plymouth, you would use electric mode from your house to the A38, when you would switch to petrol or as you reach 70mph it kicks in anyway as at that speed the petrol engine is more efficient.

from the petrol engine, unlike the front one, it has a little more torque at 144lb ft compared with 101lb ft for the front motor. Both the motors are fed by a 12kWh battery which is mounted in the middle of the floor.

The battery can be charged by the petrol engine like a generator while you are driving or you can plug it in to your socket at home or a public charging station. The car also has regenerative braking, which charges the battery by using engine braking to slow the car down without the need for the brakes. You have five settings for this – one to five, with five being the most aggressive and being able to almost bring the PHEV to a complete stop.

Charging at your home from a standard socket takes around six hours while public charging

Car guru Scott Squires of Plymouth road-tests the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

Not so thirsty workMOtOrS

Y

44_45Todays_Gadgets_Mar29.indd 44 25/03/2015 13:26:24

45

gadget notebook

29 March 2015

TECH TIPS: BACK-UP STORAGE

Feel like ringing the changes? Make your landline a feature, with our pick of the best retro-inspired telephones around

At a glance

Price: £34,999 (incl. £5,000 Plug-In Car Grant)Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl petrol plus electric motorCO2/tax: 44g/km/£0

Then when you reach Plymouth and turn off the A38 you switch back to electric mode for the remainder of your trip to your offi ce. You may think that this all sounds a bit complicated, switching from one mode to another and back again – but don’t worry as the Outlander takes care of it all for you and it will always choose the most effi cient way of driving.

On my commute to the offi ce, which is all town driving I achieved 97.9mpg. Yep, and in a big 4x4, that’s not bad. In my week commuting in the Outlander I don’t think I once used anything other than electric power. So I’m not sure how it works out the mpg fi gure, as in my head I’ve done precisely no miles to the gallon.

Enough of the technical stuff – what’s the rest of the car like? On the outside it’s very Range Roveresque, but the inside is where I think Mitsubishi has missed a trick, as the quality of some of the material and switch gear on the inside are on the cheap side, which is a shame. If the company charged a little more and put a better interior in, I think they would be on to a surefi re winner.

You have a choice of three trim levels: GX3h, GX4h and GX4hs. All are well equipped, with standard kit including dual-zone climate control, cruise control, electric windows, remote central locking, Bluetooth connectivity, a USB port, a six-speaker stereo, electric heated mirrors, automatic lights and rear parking sensors.

When it comes to driving the one thing you have to get used to is the silence when you start it up as, unless it’s cold, the engine just doesn’t come on. You don’t have to worry about running on electric power and holding up traffi c like the old milk fl oats though. The thing with electric motors is that all the power is on tap as soon as you touch the throttle, so pulling away from the lights you leave most things in your clean air.

If you really push your foot down for a rapid get away then the petrol engine kicks in to help out. The same goes for when the Outlander needs more power than the electric motors can dish out.

The Outlander handles like any other big 4x4 on the road, but you can feel the extra weight of the batteries if you push on through a corner. Luckily they are mounted in the fl oor so the centre of gravity is as low as possible and body roll is kept to a minimum.

One advantage the Outlander PHEV has over its competition is its off-road capabilities. You have Mitsubishi’s knowledge of off-road vehicles and the fact that the electric motors with their silky smooth power delivery, with no gears, give it a very tractable power delivery, great for slippery surfaces.

While I never achieved the claimed 148mpg, I think the 97mpg I did achieve was fantastic. What other big 4x4 could you do that it?

Groovy, baby

‘Ello, ‘elloWell, this is all very Dixon of

Dock Green, isn’t it? This phone has a traditional rotary dial, but

with a contemporary number template to ensure it’s compatible

with services such as telephone banking. Has a proper ring-ring

bell, too.£90 at www.astellahrela.com

This Trim Phone’s based on the original model which launched in

1965 and became hugely trendy in the 70s. Available in a range of colours

with push button technology and modern functions including call waiting.£40 from www.berryred.co.uk

This 1960s-style desk phone by Wild and Wolf has modern push button numbers secreted in the dial and comes in a range of colourways that evoke the décor of the period.£39 at www.redcandy.co.uk

Red alert

Inspired by the traditional, but with an uber contemporary twist, the ePure Dect TAM by Swiss Voice is cordless and even has a hands-free mode, with a myriad functions including remote-access answering machine£74.95 from www.cuckooland.com

Call home

44_45Todays_Gadgets_Mar29.indd 45 25/03/2015 13:27:17

46

he pretty little town of Topsham on the banks of the river Exe is a won-derful place to spend a relaxed few days. Once a bustling port which traded with Holland, it has wonder-

ful Flemish-style architecture. The shops in the town offer nautical fashion in upmarket bou-tiques as well as a proper chandlery. There are also plenty of pubs, cafes and restaurants where you can sit and watch the world go by.

Stay: The former 17th century Salutation Inn has recently been refurbished while The Globe, equally historic, also has rooms. Bed and break-fasts (see www.topsham.org.uk) include Reka Dom, a restored merchants’ house. For self-cater-ing, try the Topsham Lock Cottage, over the river by foot ferry.

Eat: Try the Avocet Café for homemade cakes, and platters of local charcuterie. At the Georgian Tea Room even the jam is homemade. For a fi ne dining with local fi sh try La Petite Maison and

T

TopshamA WEEKEND IN...

dining with local fi sh try La Petite Maison and

The Galley. Overlooking the town’s other river, the Clyst, the historic Bridge Inn serves real ales in cosy bars and snugs. Close by, Darts Farm is a foodie’s shopping paradise, including excellent local fi sh and chips in the Fish Shed.

Do: Twitchers from far and wide make a pilgrim-age to the RSPB reserve here on the mudfl ats to see rare feathered visitors. Cycling is another way to enjoy the river; hire bikes from the Route 2 café and head off seawards towards Exmouth on the cycle path. There are bird watching cruises on the river during the winter.

Try: Wine tasting evenings organised by Peb-blebed Vineyard, which grows and makes wine nearby, are a convivial way to spend an evening, held in their wine cellar on Ferry Road.

Topsham is right on the

River Exe

Pebblebed wine

Discover

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WEEKENDIN_ALLYMAC.indd 42 25/03/2015 15:43:39

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50 Strutt & Parker offices nationwide | 950 Christie’s offices worldwide

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

We know you can’t possibly cram anything else into your Saturdays.Life just gets in the way. So drop in to chat all things property

on Sunday from 10 till 2.

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

24 Southernhay West, Exeter EX1 1PR01392 215631 | struttandparker.com

50 Strutt & Parker offices nationwide | 950 Christie’s offices worldwide

That’swhywe’reopenSundays.

Weknowyoucan’tpossiblycramanythingelseintoyourSaturdays.Lifejustgetsintheway.Sodropintochatallthingsproperty

onSundayfrom10till2.

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

24SouthernhayWest,ExeterEX11PR01392215631|struttandparker.com

50Strutt&Parkerofficesnationwide|950Christie’sofficesworldwide

That’swhywe’reopenSundays.

Weknowyoucan’tpossiblycramanythingelseintoyourSaturdays.Lifejustgetsintheway.Sodropintochatallthingsproperty

onSundayfrom10till2.

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

24SouthernhayWest,ExeterEX11PR01392215631|struttandparker.com

50Strutt&Parkerofficesnationwide|950Christie’sofficesworldwide

That’swhywe’reopenSundays.

Weknowyoucan’tpossiblycramanythingelseintoyourSaturdays.Lifejustgetsintheway.Sodropintochatallthingsproperty

onSundayfrom10till2.

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

24SouthernhayWest,ExeterEX11PR01392215631|struttandparker.com

50Strutt&Parkerofficesnationwide|950Christie’sofficesworldwide

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

We know you can’t possibly cram anything else into your Saturdays.Life just gets in the way. So drop in to chat all things property

on Sunday from 10 till 2.

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

24 Southernhay West, Exeter EX1 1PR01392 215631 | struttandparker.com

50 Strutt & Parker offices nationwide | 950 Christie’s offices worldwide

That’swhywe’reopenSundays.

Weknowyoucan’tpossiblycramanythingelseintoyourSaturdays.Lifejustgetsintheway.Sodropintochatallthingsproperty

onSundayfrom10till2.

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

24SouthernhayWest,ExeterEX11PR01392215631|struttandparker.com

50Strutt&Parkerofficesnationwide|950Christie’sofficesworldwide

That’swhywe’reopenSundays.

Weknowyoucan’tpossiblycramanythingelseintoyourSaturdays.Lifejustgetsintheway.Sodropintochatallthingsproperty

onSundayfrom10till2.

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

24SouthernhayWest,ExeterEX11PR01392215631|struttandparker.com

50Strutt&Parkerofficesnationwide|950Christie’sofficesworldwide

That’swhywe’reopenSundays.

Weknowyoucan’tpossiblycramanythingelseintoyourSaturdays.Lifejustgetsintheway.Sodropintochatallthingsproperty

onSundayfrom10till2.

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

24SouthernhayWest,ExeterEX11PR01392215631|struttandparker.com

50Strutt&Parkerofficesnationwide|950Christie’sofficesworldwide

That’swhywe’reopenSundays.

Weknowyoucan’tpossiblycramanythingelseintoyourSaturdays.Lifejustgetsintheway.Sodropintochatallthingsproperty

onSundayfrom10till2.

That’s why we’re open Sundays.

24SouthernhayWest,ExeterEX11PR01392215631|struttandparker.com

50Strutt&Parkerofficesnationwide|950Christie’sofficesworldwide

Ads.indd 5 25/03/2015 12:45:11