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CONTENTS 06
08 Travel
Wiltshire
10 Recipe
Strawberry Jelly Cake
14 James Blower
07
The Savings Guru
• Sofas, Chairs • Three Piece Suites • Antique Furniture • Caravans / Motorhomes
18 What’s On
When and Where...
21 Julia Lopez
• Bo • Di • Be • He
13 Westbury Farm, St. Mary’s Lane, Upmins
Political Update
22
Upholstery Ser
We repair all makes and m
01708 444125 / 0170
CLLR Clarence Barrett Is Your Council Tax Band Correct?
Copyright 2018. Around Town Upminster is an independent magazine and does not endorse the products or services that appear in the magazine. Opinions expressed in Around Town do not necessarily represent those of the editors of Around Town Magazines. Around Town Magazines are published by Black Square Print Media Ltd produced by Black Square Litho Ltd.
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TRAVEL - WILTSHIRE The
By Tim Saunders – www.travelwriter.biz More of us are holidaying at home and this becomes apparent during a trip to Devizes, which is experiencing a booming tourism trade. “We’ve already beaten last year’s bookings and we’re not even half way through the year,” reveals Michael Messam, volunteer at Kennet & Avon Canal Trust, which has just received the Queen’s Voluntary Award.
operates The Silk Mercer in St John Street. Another business enjoying brisk trade is Jimmy Deane’s Fruit, Veg & Salad shop at 19 The Brittox. Simon Fisher, Deputy Town Clerk at Devizes Town Council concludes: “Devizes is fairly fortunate. It’s a small market town with a good selection of independent traders which, touch wood, have done better than the national chains during recession. Devizes Town Council has a portfolio of properties that it lets out to businesses. We have had high occupancy levels throughout the downturn.”
We board Kenavon Venture, a 30-year-old and 60ft long canal boat - one of four the trust owns. Trust volunteer Jean Cook, one of 450 volunteers, explains about the Flight of Locks, where 29 locks tackle a 367ft drop. These, (as you can see in one of the videos at travelwriter.biz) act a bit like a lift for canal boats to climb sharp inclines. At nearby Etchilhampton, Jon and Judy Nash run Tichborne’s Farm Cottages. “We’ve held our prices so that we remain competitive and this has helped maintain steady numbers of tourists from as far away as Australia,” says Jon. Jon and Judy have lived there since the 1970s. They converted their barns into three luxury self-catering holiday cottages, recently adding a three-bed house for larger families.
There’s so much to do in Devizes that it surprises me that this quaint market town does not even receive a mention in the acclaimed Lonely Planet Great Britain book.
We stay in Kestrel cottage, a cosy two bed property surrounded by 50 acres of countryside. It’s ideal for children or those with disabilities because everything is on one level. Interestingly, all the electricity for these cottages is generated from solar panels while the farm’s water comes from a borehole which provides chemical-free water filtered through the chalk downs of Salisbury Plain.
Not far away in the National Trust owned village of Lacock, Harriett has the ideal opportunity to roam free without the worry of traffic. Lacock is like a living film set where you can walk in the footsteps of the stars (Cranford, Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter). There’s also an excellent second hand bookshop where I picked up a Colin Dexter in perfect condition for just £2.
Two things that immediately strike us about the area are its sheer beauty and how quiet it is. We discover that Wiltshire is famous for its white horses carved in the white chalk. It’s here that the expression ‘chalk and cheese’ originates. This describes the huge contrast between the chalky uplands used for grazing sheep and the lush dairy country beneath used for grazing milk cows. While Devizes is home to Wadworth brewery, which operates
Our holiday ends much too quickly. We all loved it and want to return.
250 pubs in Wiltshire, JD Wetherspoon has proved that there is still room for another pub in the town. It
Recommended places to visit: Kennet & Avon Canal, The Wharf, Devizes. Jazz evenings with professional jazz musician and fish and chips. Lacock Abbey, Fox Talbout Museum and village owned by the National Trust Pop in for a pint and a pie at: The Silk Mercer, St John Street, Devizes. SN10 1BL Tel: 01380 736760 Watch the videos at www.travelwriter.biz
Tim Saunders is an author, journalist and businessman. He meets celebrities, goes on holiday and road tests cars.
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9
RECIPE Strawberry Jelly Cake
Ingredients:
For the filling:
¾ cup all purpose flour
1 cup whipping cream
¼ tsp baking powder
1 cup icing sugar
¼ tsp baking soda
8oz softened cream cheese
Pinch of salt
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
4tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp cold water
½ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp gelatin
1 large egg 6 tbsp milk
For the jelly:
1/8 cup plain Greek yoghurt
1lb fresh strawberries, halved
1tsp vanilla extract
1 packet of jelly mix
Method: 1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6.
7.
8.
Line a 9 inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180oc. Mix the flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl. Melt the butter in a large bowl and set aside to cool. Once done, add the sugar and mix with an electric mixer, then add in the egg, milk, yogurt and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and mix slowly until all combined. Add the batter to the pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool in the pan and then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Sit the cake on a flat plate once cooled and place the ring from a 9inch springform pan around the cake. Dissolve the gelatin in 2tbsp cold water and set aside for a few minutes, then microwave to dissolve completely. Set aside to cool.
9.
Beat the cream cheese until it’s light and fluffy.
10. Do the same with the whipping cream, gradually add the icing sugar and continue to mix until stiff peaks form. 11. Mix in the vanilla and dissolved gelatin, add the cream cheese and mix to combine. 12. Spread gently onto the cooled cake and pop in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. 13. Make up the jelly according to the packet and set aside to cool. 14. Chop the strawberries and use these to line the edge of the cheesecake. 15. Layer the next row of strawberries by gently overlapping them and cover the whole of the cheesecake in this fashion. 16. Pour the jelly over the strawberries once it is starting to set and refrigerate until completely set. Run a thin knife around the edge to remove the pan and serve.
If you would like your recipe to appear in Around Town Magazines then contact our sales team on: 01277 658444 or email: sales@aroundtownmagazines.co.uk
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13
Is Peer to Peer lending an alternative
to a cash ISA? Are interest rates on savings really on the rise? There’s been lots of media commentary this month about savings rates being at the highest level since 2015 and suggestions that this will continue through the year. We had a look back through the best buy tables to see if this is the case – and here are the results:
Product
January May 2018 2018 Change best buy best buy
Instant savings
1.30%
1.30%
0%
1 Year Fixed
1.86%
1.95%
0.09%
2 Year Fixed
2.10%
2.16%
0.06%
3 Year Fixed
2.20%
2.31%
0.11%
5 Year Fixed
2.50%
2.70%
0.20%
As you can see, there’s been limited movement in savings rates with only 5 Year Fixed rates seeing a significant change since the turn of the year. We think this is caused purely by competition in the 5 Year market as we have seen Bank of London & Middle East (BLME), Close Brothers, PCF Bank, Secure Trust and Vanquis vie for position with a number of rate changes coming from this group. This competition has helped drive pricing up.
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There’s been much speculation from commentators in the market that pricing will increase this year because of the end of the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) and Term Funding Scheme. These Schemes allowed banks to borrow money more cheaply than attracting it from savers, reducing their demand for savings and therefore the interest rates they were offering. While we agree the ending of these Schemes will help improve interest rates for savers, we don’t believe savers will see the benefit of this in 2018. We expect that many of the banks using these Schemes have enough money for their 2018 lending plans and will therefore not need to fight for savers money. While we expect to see a continued gradual increase in interest rates, we don’t expect to see dramatic changes in pricing this year. TSB – Truly Shambolic Bank? At the time of writing, many TSB customers had endured 10 days of being unable to access their accounts, after the Bank’s migration to a new IT system. TSB was revived in 2013 after European regulators required this in return for the government bailing out the Lloyds banking group. Despite it being almost
five years since the split from Lloyds, TSB had continued to use Lloyds IT systems until the move on the weekend of 21st and 22nd April to migrate to a new system. Two things have particularly upset customers. Firstly, the length of the outage and secondly the poor response from its chief executive, Paul Pester. UK banking customers are used to outages and system downtime but to be unable to access accounts for 10 days, with no sign of an end to the issues, is beyond the pale for many. The lack of response from the Bank’s CEO irritated further already irate customers struggling to get help in branches, on the telephone or via social media. TSB has been one of the major winners under the current account switching service, which guarantees to move your account in seven working days with all payments, direct debits and standing orders transferred automatically for you. It will be interesting to see if that trend reverses in light of the problems. Customers who want to look at new banks without legacy IT issues may well want to consider switching to newcomers Starling or Monzo, which are built on the latest technology.
Starling offers 0.50% interest on balances up to £2,000 and 0.25% above this, up to £85,000, as well as a contactless Mastercard, real time updates and money management tools to show where you’ve spent your money. It was voted Best Current Account Provider and Best British Bank at the British Bank Awards for 2018. Monzo was set up originally as a prepaid card but now has over 500,000 current account customers who love its built in budgeting, money management tools, no fees to use the card abroad and excellent foreign exchange rates. Monzo has a cult like following from its customers and is regularly praised on social media for its high service levels and communication. Switchers interested in moving to a household name may be attracted by the new switching perks from First Direct, who are offering £150 Expedia voucher, Bose headphones, Fitbits and online courses as incentives to move. This is on top of a £250 interest free overdraft and 5% regular saving account. Castle Trust set to become a bank
James Blower
Investment, mortgage and development finance provider, Castle Trust announced that it is the latest firm seeking authorisation from the Prudential Regulation Authority to become a bank.
Savings Guru Ltd
The firm announced its founder, Sean Oldfield, was stepping down as CEO with the appointment of Martin Bischoff, Santander’s Managing Director of Retail Distribution, as his replacement.
www.thesavings.guru
Castle Trust has come under fire from the Telegraph for marketing its investments as fixed rate bonds, when they are subject to FSCS protection for investments, which protects up to £50,000, rather than as savings, which confers protection up to £85,000. Despite this, the company has attracted over £650m of investments.
Founder
hello@thesavings.guru @SavingsGuruUK
If Castle Trust is successful with its application, it will be interesting to see whether the firm offers both savings accounts and investment bonds, or whether the investment side will be closed off. Savers will be hoping that the interest rates offered on its investment bonds are matched on its savings accounts but we think that is unlikely! As always, we will publish this article on our website, with links to all the providers listed here, to make it easier to find more information. Have a fantastic May everyone.
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17
ACS Dance Centre Ballroom dancing weekly class to learn something new, have fun and get fit! Beginners welcome Fridays 7.30-8.30pm at ACS Dance Club, 66 Albert Road, RM1 2PP. Experienced dancers Tuesdays 8.30pm or Mondays 8.30pm- please Call Diana 01708 783576 for details Basildon & District Rambling Club The group meets every Saturday at 2.00pm. The Saturday walks are 4-5 miles with a rest halfway, we have some longer walks on other days. New members are welcome and membership is only £6 per year which includes all walks. See our website www.basildonanddistrict ramblingclub.btck.co.uk for full details CAP Money Course Due to popular demand, we will be running another CAP Money Course in September, on three consecutive Thursday evenings 13th, 20th and 27th, at 7.30 p.m. in St Luke’s Centre, St Luke’s Church, Front Lane, Cranham. The course is free, and workbooks will be provided. Many thousands of people in this country have found this course helpful in getting control of their money. To register, or for further details www.capmoney.org or e-mail capmoneystlukescranham@gmail.com Chelmsford & District Welsh Society Membership is open to anyone with Welsh origins or connections, or to anyone with an appreciation of Welsh heritage and traditions. Visitors and guests are warmly welcomed to attend our meetings. The Society’s monthly meeting is held in St Cedd’s Hall, Cathedral
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Chapter House, Chelmsford, CM1 1NX, and is usually on the fourth Thursday of every month. Throughout the year there are also fund raising events such as coffee mornings, musical evenings and a Garden Party. For more details please contact Gwenno on 07724144432 www.chelmsfordwelsh.org.uk/ home www.facebook.com/ chelmsfordwelsh Cranham Art Society If you would like to join a friendly Art Club why not give us a try. We meet every Tuesday in Cranham Community Centre in Marlborough Gardens every Tuesday between 10am & noon. Whatever your standard you will be made welcome. Ring Gordon Setter on 01708 225612 for more information. Cranham Over 60s Club Covers Upminster and Cranham Every Thursday 1’00pm ‘till 3.00pm. Cranham Social Centre. Good company, tea and biscuits, entertainment, dancing free raffle, bingo. Car parking at the rear. Access for the disabled. All welcomed. £4.00 each. Just turn up, or ring 0208 5935 625. Deyncourt Ladies’ Probus Club We meet at the Masonic Hall, Deyncourt Gardens on the third Wednesday of each month. We start with a short meeting, have a three course lunch, followed by a talk or some form of entertainment. Throughout the year we have trips out to places of interest and we will shortly be going to a Christmas Concert at the Royal Festival Hall. Contact Janet Garrood 01708 225978
Friends of Parklands The aim of our “Friends” Group is to maintain Parklands Open Space as a pleasant place to walk and relax, surrounded by a natural environment. We arrange Working Parties to keep Parklands tidy and to help control any excessive overgrowth. The Working Parties meet for a couple of hours, at 10 a.m., on the second Wednesday of every month. If you would like to join us please visit our website, www.friendsofparklands.org.uk, for further information, or email our Working Party Organiser, Andy Brett, at: upminsterbrett@gmail.com Friends Of Upminster Mini Golf Course We are a recently formed group with the aims of promoting the Mini Golf Course in Hall Lane, Upminster and working in partnership with Havering Council to improve amenities and to encourage people of all ages to participate at the course. Find us on Facebook. Why not come and give it a go. Equipment is supplied and the course suits all abilities from novices to experienced golfers looking to improve their short game. More information on the Councils website: www.havering.gov.uk/Pages/ ServiceChild/Hall-Lane-golf-course. Friends of Upminster Park The Friends of Upminster Park is a voluntary group which exists to help maintain and improve the park to a high standard, in liaison with Havering’s Parks Department, for #the benefit of all users. It is a valuable local resource when open green spaces are becoming scarce and we would like it to remain a pleasant environment for local people to enjoy, whether
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to walk or relax in, to play tennis or football or any other leisure pastime (or even just to enjoy passing by the park when shopping). We are however in desperate need of new members, including a Chair Person, without whom the Group could cease to exist with detrimental effect on the park and its users. The Working Parties meet for a couple of hours, at 10 a.m., on the second Wednesday of every month. (Gaynes Road entrance). If you would be interested in joining the Group please contact Brian Flavell, e-mail: brianm1937@yahoo.co.uk Friends of Upminster Windmill Volunteers are sought to help us develop and maintain an attractive garden area around the new visitor centre at Upminster Windmill. Our small friendly group meets on Tuesdays. If you would like to help email charlottethemiller@gmail.com or enquire at the site on a Tuesday. Pilates for a Healthier Spine Experienced Sports & Remedial Massage Therapists Charlene & Neil Carpenter teach traditional Pilates in private sessions and also to small groups in Upminster & Cranham. For further information or to book a course or trial class please visit www. upminstersportsmassage.co.uk or call Charlene on 07411 826721, or email upminstersportsmassage@gmail.com The Rotary club of Havering East We hold our meetings at Upminster Golf Club every Tuesday Evening at 7pm for 7.30 and enjoy an excellent 2 course meal. We are a friendly club our main aim is to help people less fortunate than ourselves. We raise money for charities but also enjoy fellowship and social events. If you are interested in finding out
about Rotary organisation and helping your local community why not come along one evening. Contact: Liz Goodwin on 07967644918 email:liz.goodwn7@ gmail.com. The Rotary Club of Hornchurch and Upminster We attract members from in and around Havering who have a common agenda to help people in need wherever they may be. Our Club prides itself on the closeness and friendship between its members and their partners. We meet most Thursdays at 12.30 for 13.00 at The Railway Hotel in Hornchurch. If you would like to find out more please visit our website www. hornchurchrotary.org or contact Brian Taffs on 01708 250855 or e-mail btaffs@btinternet.com Upminster and District Probus Club Retired with free time during the week - Upminster and District Probus Club. Luncheon club, with talks and outings, for retired men, covering art, crime, gardening, history, music, sport and transport etc. Meet on the last Wednesday of the month at the Cranleigh Restaurant, Hornchurch. Outings planned 2018: Chelmer Cruise, Bressingham Gardens, The Peoples Post and Kentish Curios. Secretary: Barry, on 01708 703783 email secretary@upminsterprobus. com www.upminsterprobus.com and https://www.facebook.com/ upminsterprobus/?ref=bookmarks. Upminster Park Towns Women’s Guild We are a friendly group of
Ladies enjoying a chat over tea and biscuits listening to a good speaker or entertainer. Going on outings/theatre trips and promoting friendship and well being. We meet at St.Lawrence Church, Derham Hall, Upminster on the fourth Wednesday each month at 1.45 - 4pm. For more information contact Deborah Pryor 01708 226127 or Anne Monk 01708 226305 or simply come along. Upminster Royal British Legion Upminster Royal British Legion, 316 St Marys Lane, Upminster. Open Day /Beer Festival on the 19th May 1018, 11am - 4.30pm. Craft beers, food, Afternoon teas, Music, Craft Tombola, Face Painting, Glitter Tattoos, Competitions. The Royal Wedding will be on TV so will the Cup Final. Families welcome. http://http://branches.britishlegion. org.uk/branches/upminster/ news-events or Facebook. Email upminsterandcranham@ btconnect.com, or call 01708 220494 Upminster Wine and Social Club We are a fun group of people with an interest in wine appreciation and enjoying many social events. We hold meetings every month with a variety of speakers and a wine tasting. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 8.00 o’clock in the Cranham Social Hall, Front Lane, Cranham. For more information contact Maureen Jasper on 01708 223956, or simply come along on the night. You would be made most welcome.
If you would like to promote your club or event for May/June then please email a maximum of 70 words to:
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Britain prospers on our new path outside the EU. It was with this goal in mind that I put myself forward for parliament’s International Trade Select Committee, and I have written in a previous column about the visit of Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, to Upminster where I showed him the increasing importance of the Eastern London/Essex region as a logistics and trading hub.
Julia Lopez
Member of Parliament For Hornchurch and Upminster Havering was one of the most pro-Brexit areas of the country during the 2016 referendum, so I have always been anxious not just to help deliver on the referendum’s result but to ensure that
However, with Brexit negotiations entering a critical phase, there are still plenty of questions over the likely character of our future relationship with the EU and I wanted to give residents an opportunity to raise any concerns about the negotiation process at a high level. As such, I invited prominent Leave campaigner and Public Administration Committee Chairman, Bernard Jenkin MP, to Upminster for the evening to speak to local people about the ins and outs of the negotiation and the impact of the parliamentary dynamics on the final deal. With representatives from the police, schools, businesses and local churches in attendance, we were also able
to cover a much broader range of topics including education funding and the impact of London’s growth on local communities. I see part of my role as your MP as being a bridge between Upminster and Westminster. In bringing parliamentarians to local people and encouraging discussion and debate, I hope the community will feel more engaged with the important issues affecting us all and, most importantly, play a role in writing our nation’s next chapter. I hope to arrange more such events over the course of the next four years, so do look out for opportunities to engage. As ever, if you have a problem you think my team and I can help you with, please drop us a line! Or if you would like to come and have a look around parliament, we can book you in for a complimentary tour. Julia.Lopez.MP@parliament.uk 0207 219 2631 www.julialopez.co.uk Twitter: @julialopezmp
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yourself and it is also free! There are also fraudsters who may call you declaring you are due a refund and request your bank details – don’t believe them, they are simply looking to defraud you. Don’t be an Idler!
Is Your Council Tax Band Correct? Every property in Havering has a Council Tax Band which determines how much Council Tax you pay. The bands range from A to H, with the average Band being D (all the Bands can be seen at havering,gov.uk).But is your Council Tax Band correct? Here are some simple steps to check if you may have a case and potentially be due a refund: 1. What Band are your neighbours in? Just visit the Valuation Office website at http://cti.voa.gov.uk/cti/InitS.asp?lcn=0 , type in your postcode and the bandings of all properties in that vicinity will appear. 2. If you think that your property is out of kilter with your neighbours, you can appeal directly to the Valuation Office and request a reassessment at https:// www.gov.uk/challenge-council-taxband or call 03000 501 501. It is worth bearing in mind that when a property is improved/extended, it may be reassessed for rating purposes. Also, an appeal can mean the banding valuation can go up as well as down. Watch out for cold callers who offer to provide this service for a fee – it’s easy to do by
Leaving an engine running unnecessarily while a vehicle is stationary pollutes the air we breathe, causes unnecessary noise and costs drivers money. Switching off your engine is an easy way to help improve air quality and the health of people in the area. By turning off the engine when stationary, it will help to: • reduce pollution - turning off and restarting an engine causes less pollution than keeping the engine running • protect health - turning off the engine can help to reduce asthma, heart disease and lung cancer • save money - idling wastes fuel and money • protect your car - idling can increase wear and tear on the engine If a driver is asked to turn their engine off by an authorised officer and refuses, they can be issued with an £80 Penalty Charge Notice. As with some other boroughs, we are keen to introduce an ‘Air Quality Marshall’ scheme which would see dedicated officers employed to tackle hot-spots (eg outside schools), give advice and, where necessary, issue £80 fines.
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