Rutland Living June 2015

Oakham Festival

Summer Health & Beauty

RUTLAND LIVING

Local Art

Fashion The Right Dress for You!

COVERING RUTLAND, MARKET HARBOROUGH & SURROUNDING VILLAGES

Summer of Fun!

Places to go and things to do around the region MEET THE RUTLAND LIVING TEAM AT THE RUTLAND SHOW 31st MAY

JUNE 2015 £1.50 06

9 771741 580014

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GET IN TOUCH

@RutlandLiving 20/05/2015 10:10

Independent Fashion Store For Men & Women

if you can’t get IN get ON @

www.energy-clothing.com LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: energy clothing stamford

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @energyclothing

INSTAGRAM: @energyclothingstamford

ENERGY CLOTHING 9 IRONMONGER STREET STAMFORD Mon - Sat 9:30 - 5:30 • Sun 11:00 - 4:00

MARCIA MAY SHOES 17b Mill Street, Oakham, LE15 6EA Tel: 01572 759313

01780 765633

Is it time to re-discover your hearing?

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Missing the odd word during the conversation?

Having to turn the TV up?

If these situations sound familiar you may benefit from a free hearing assessment.

Healthy Hearing are your local hearing experts. With many years of experience we are dedicated to providing a comprehensive hearing healthcare service and finding the best solutions for your needs.

Call us for: • Free expert hearing advice • Free lifestyle hearing assessments • Free trials of the latest digital hearing aid technology • Home visits available

Call us today for your FREE hearing assessment

01572 759555 Oakham Hearing Centre, 17b Gaol Street, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6AQ

With our help your hearing can only get better.

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RU T L AN D & M A R K E T H A R BO R O U G H L IV ING

June Contents www.rutlandliving.co.uk www.marketharboroughliving.co.uk 4 Editor’s Selection Father’s Day Gift Ideas

6 Fashion

Summer Dresses

11 Health and Beauty Ready, Set, Summer!

S

ummer is upon us and, according to the national press, there are lots of reasons to celebrate living in our corner of the world. Market Harborough was named as one of the best places to live in Britain and more recently Rutland has been named as the best rural place to live: In a survey in The Sunday Times recently, Market Harborough was picked as one of the top 50 towns, villages or suburbs to live. The survey combined data and statistics such as good schools, low crime rates and house prices as well as attractive neighbourhoods.

Rutland came top of the annual Halifax Rural Areas Quality of Life Survey, scoring highly in many categories including climate, employment rate, school results, residents’ good health and life expectancy. According to the survey, inhabitants in Rutland live in relative security with one of the lowest crime rates in the country. There is less rainfall per year than the national average and more weekly sunshine hours, and the Rutland adult population is among the most happy, satisfied and content in Britain!

Don’t forget the 183rd Rutland County Show is on Sunday 31st May in its new location off the bypass in Oakham. Come and find us at our stand for a chat and a piece of cake.

Abigail Late in • 21st June, Wilbarston Open Gardens and Allotments Open 12.00 5.00pm Art Exhibition, Flower Displays in the Church, Adults £3.50 • July 4th, Katie Marshall, 14 year old Classical Soprano, in concert at St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Uppingham to raise funds for the Church, with Organ Solo and accompanist, Ivan Linford. Tickets from Uppingham Sports & Books, on the door or from Richard Harris. Tel: 01572 822428. Adults £10 including wine and nibbles and accompanied children under 16 years are free.

@RutlandLiving INCORPORATING

Village Lifestyle

SoJo Home

Creating beautiful spaces

sojohome.co.uk

14 Health and Beauty Sheeda’s Beauty Clinic

16 What’s on

Oakham Festival is Back!

20 Art and Culture

Local Artists and Galleries

24 Mini Adventures

47 Days Out

28 Food and Drink

49 Out and About

33 Local Businesses

52 Diary Dates

34 National Gardens’ Scheme

55 Shops and Services

36 Local History

58 Shops and Services

41 Shops and Services

61 Local People

Outdoor Activities for this summer The Olive Branch Turns 15

Lamport Hall’s New Exhibition Stanwick’s Lakes

The Marquess of Exeter

What’s on in our region this month

Local Gardens Open this summer

Frances, Countess of Gainsborough…

New Businesses in Rutland and Market Harborough

Rutland Updates

Harborough Happenings Caring in Rutland

62 Profile

45 Local Art

Chris Ashby from ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’

Open Studios

Editor Abigail Richardson 01572 756733 Local Living Ltd, PO Box 208, Stamford PE9 9FY rutlandliving@gmail.com Advertisement Manager, Rutland Tracy Watkinson 01572 813187 rutlandliving@btinternet.com Advertisement Manager, Market Harborough Sosennah Every 07884 124316 sos.every@gmail.com Advertisement Manager, Leicestershire Helen Walton 01780 754801 helen.stamford@btopenworld.com Advertising Copy & Subscriptions Rachel Beecroft 01780 765320 rachel@locallivingdesign.co.uk Head of Design Steven Handley steve@locallivingdesign.co.uk Senior Designer Nik Ellis nik@locallivingdesign.co.uk

Publisher Nicholas Rudd-Jones 01780 765571 nicholas@bestlocalliving.co.uk Printed by Warners of Bourne Rutland Living Cover: Thanks to Keith Simpson from Edith Weston Market Harborough Living Cover: Thanks to Sarah Stillman who is exhibiting at the Victoria Hall Oakham from 29th May -17th June –see page 45.

SUBSCRIBE TO RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING

Subscriptions – annual rate £20 (UK only).

Please write to The Editor, enclosing cheque made payable to Local Living Ltd. Or subscribe online at www.bestlocalliving.co.uk

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Porter &May

RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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ED I T OR’S SE LE CTI O N

Father’s Day Gift Ideas Abigail Richardson suggests some gifts to treat Dad this June

Sure to hit the spot is a father’s day hamper from Otters on Mill Street. Prices from £12.

A more practical gift? Then how about this Paul Smith Mini and Bristol wash bag (£110) or this Paul Smith Mini and Bristol note book at £19.

Both from Cavells?

Head no further than Knights of Oakham for your electrical gadgets – free delivery and competitive prices.

Treat Dad to a tipple from Two Birds Spirits with this bottle of Two Birds Old Tom Gin at £34. Contact: sales@ twobirdsspirits.co.uk or logon to www.twobirdsspirits.co.uk

A Neat freak? – John Lewis stock these ‘Greystone Collection Men’s Shoe Boxes’ £12 each, www.johnlewis.com For the fashion conscious father Cabvells are currently stocking this Barbour International Racing Tee at £29 or Paul Smith striped polo for £68.

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Wine connoisseur?

Bat and Bottle have just acquired a fruity new wine from the Abruzzo: ‘Torre Vinaria’., £10.

Tel: 01572 759735, www.bat wine.co.uk

RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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Vintage | Antique| Home Decor Join us on our Workshops | Contact us for more information Learn a variety of techniques using Authentico Chalk Paint

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F ASHI ON

Say ‘Yes’ to the Dress!

Whether you’re going to a wedding, a summer party, social occasion or a day out, there’s a dress out there that’s perfect for you. We sent Vanessa Hollander to our local boutiques for her pick of the bunch

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HOSE of you who read our regular fashion features will know that I’m a huge fan of the dress! They’re just so easy to wear and able to take you absolutely anywhere. Dresses require little thought yet look effortlessly stylish. Here I’ve chosen dresses that are suitable for any occasion, formal or casual, that can be dressed up or down.

For those of you who hate showing their legs, the maxi is your best friend – always wear with flats though, never heels as this can look very old-fashioned. Dress a maxi down with plimsolls and a denim jacket for a more casual, every day look or dress them up with a statement necklace. Consider also wearing leggings or cropped skinny jeans or jeggings under a shorter, more casual dress.

And if you’re happy with your legs but hate your arms, try adding a fitted, lightweight cardigan over your dress – make it fitted though as a loose cardigan can make you look bigger than you actually are.

Although this sounds obvious, it’s important to choose a dress that flatters your shape – focus on your best asset and find a style that draws attention to that part of your body. And do experiment – try on lots of styles until you find the dress that suits you best.

Floral print dress by Masai, £78 from Fords, Oakham

Floral print maxi dress with necklace by Michael Kors, £180 Navy cap sleeve crop cardigan by D Exterior, £205 Both from Cavells, Oakham

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RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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Turquoise lace shift dress

by Marie Mero £149.95 Turquoise lace bolero jacket

by Marie, Mero , £119.95 Both from Vanilla, Oakham Pale blue hatinator

by Fischers Accessories, £42.99 at Duo, Oakham

Mustard layered and pleated dress

by Weekend by Max Mara, £154 Bead and rope necklace by Weekend

by Max Mara, £75 Both from Cavells, Oakham

Labyrinth dress in stone and white

by D Exterior, £315 Labyrinth crop jacket in stone and white by D Exterior, £329 WITH THANKS TO: Delia, our gorgeous model who braved the wind and the cold, yet still looked amazing!

Our fabulous photographer, Elli Dean, www.ellideanphotography.co.uk Tel: 07932055548

Powder blue jersey dress

by Masai, £68 from Fords, Oakham

STOCKISTS Cavells, Oakham, Tel: 01572 770372, www.cavells.co.uk Duo, 29 High Street, Oakham, Tel: 01572 722116, www.duoboutique.uk Fords of Oakham, Tel: 01572 722654, www.fordsofoakham.co.uk Vanilla, Oakham, Tel: 01572 757577, www.vanillaboutique.co.uk RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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Barnsdale Hall Hotel

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Beautiful setting, so much to do!

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www.knightsofoakham.com 33-37 High Street, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6AH • Tel: (01572) 722240 •

Nr Oakham | Rutland LE15 8AB www.barnsdalehotel.co.uk

Tel: 01572 757901 8

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Beautiful Interiors

Professional Interior Design Service Re-Upholstery and Soft Furnishings Unique and Beautiful Furniture Suppliers of Designers Guild, Zoffany, Colefax and Fowler, Romo and Harlequin

27 Mill Street Oakham Rutland LE15 6EA showroom@elizabethstanhope.co.uk www.elizabethstanhope.co.uk 01572 722 345

6 MARKET PLACE · UPPINGHAM · RUTLAND · LE15 9QH · 01572 823389 www.sarahhardinginteriors.co.uk · info@sarahhardinginteriors.co.uk www.facebook.com/sarahhardinginteriorsltd

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octoberwillis.com

SUMMER HAIR

Perfect Wedding Planning The pressure to plan a wedding can be all consuming, if you are feeling overwhelmed, hire Serenity Weddings to plan your day

At last we can see that summer is on its way. The flowers are opening, the bees are buzzing and the birds are singing, getting ready to nest.

Soon the Bar-B-Q will be in full use and so it is time to think about how to look after your hair and get the best results avoiding any long term damage.

This time of year the sun can really change your hair; whether your hair is natural (uncoloured) or has had some colour treatments, the sun will play a major part in how your hair looks and feels over the next 3-4 months.

Most of our clients ask us whether they should colour their hair before their holiday or wait until they get back. Feeling that if they manage to see the sun on their travels it will affect the outcome of colour work we do.

Others want colour done before they go feeling that the sun will naturally lighten their hair and give them a more sun kissed and natural look.

Both are acceptable interpretations and it may surprise you to know that we will do more colour work in the next 12 weeks than any other 12 week period throughout the year. Below are a few indicators on how to get the most out of your hair and colour this summer.

• When swimming always shower before and after using clean water.

Chlorine free water will coat your hair and allow you to swim with confidence knowing that your hair will not suffer too much damage by all the chemicals or salts in the water.

Laura

Selena

Value for Money – Weddings are our business. By building close relationships and negotiating preferential rates with suppliers and venues, Serenity Weddings can save you money, in most cases the cost of using our services is dramatically reduced or actually covered. We do not take commissions from our suppliers, we negotiate the best price and pass these directly onto our clients.

Giving you Time – We recognise the demands of careers, hectic social lives and family commitments. We will save you valuable time from sourcing venues to arranging and attending supplier meetings, budget and financial planning to guest management. GIving you time to do the things you want.

Reduce Stress – At certain points during the planning process stress levels can rise, we can envisage problems and eliminate. Our priority is for the Bride and Groom to enjoy the planning process, right up to their big day, stress free.

Experience and Advice – As professional Wedding Planners we are there to help you with everything from suppliers to etiquette. Our knowledge and skills, along with our contacts ensures that your day comes together seamlessly.

It’s all in the Detail – “That will do” is not in our vocabulary. We offer meticulous attention to detail and ensure that the smallest element is not overlooked. We can translate your vision or help you create a wedding to ‘wow’.

Flexibility – We can amend our services to suit the individual requirements of clients. By arranging a free of charge, no obligation consultation, we can talk through your requirements.

For more information call us on: Selena 07710 962 964 Laura 07585 122 182

• You may find that you have harder water when you’re away than you are used to at home, so if possible don’t change your washing routine.

• It’s a good idea to leave conditioner on for longer; brush the conditioner through paying particular attention to the mid length and ends and ideally sit in the sun. The natural heat will help absorb the conditioner more beneficially in to the hair shaft and your hair will feel smoother and more manageable than before.

• If you do colour your hair why not go a shade lighter; the sun naturally boosts the colour so your hair would not be the same shade at Christmas as in the summer. In which case why not go a shade or two lighter to give a much more natural look. Fashions will change this season and so will your beauty regime so why not hair as well?

• If you’re traveling a little further abroad remember the voltage in plugs can vary and in many cases is lower than in the UK; so dryers will not get as hot and GHD’s sometimes won’t heat up at all.

So some great suggestions…..

• Why not learn to do a French Plait or Chignon, they are simple and are a really great way to keep your hair healthy on holiday and they look great no matter what your age.

• Why not come and visit us in the Thomas Salon and we can show you the easiest way to do them.

We hope you find these tips useful and we would love you to come and see us soon.

Thomas

Thomas’ Team; Thomas Potts, Natalie Durrant, Sarah-Jane Thomas, Jemma Wallace, Gemma Frisby, Wayne Groocock, Beth McShane, Rachel Altoft, Joe Hind and Natalie Handford

www.thomashairdressing.co.uk E: selena@serenityholdings.co.uk E: laura@serenityholdings.co.uk W: serenity-weddings.com

16 The Maltings. Oakham. LE15 6EA.

01572 756561

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HE AL T H & B E A U TY

Ready, Set, Summer!

Whilst your annual beach holiday may be fast approaching, it’s not too late to work out, get fit, and tone up to improve your summer body confidence. Catherine Varney looks at the different options for getting into shape…

Titans Gym

If you’re after a hard-core workout session, then the newly opened gym at Oakham Enterprise Park is for you. Titans Gym has an impressive range of free weights as well as a cardio zone with lots of machines to push your body to its limit. But it’s not all hard work here - the relaxed atmosphere and unique ‘chill out’ zone makes it the perfect place to socialise as well, plus it boasts a protein bar where you can enjoy healthy shakes, smoothies, green tea and coffee. If you fancy taking your body overhaul that little bit further, use the tanning room to get a fabulous colour and show your new muscles off to perfection!

Open 7 days a week and until 9pm MondayFriday, there are no contracts and no joining fees plus there’s a ‘pay as you go’ option for complete flexibility.

• Unit 3, Oakham Enterprise Park, Ashwell Road, Oakham, www.titansgymoakham.co.uk

Uppingham Sports Centre

BE Fit

Ben Easson and Rob Willcocks run the BE Fit Personal Training studio in Long Row in Oakham and along with Personal Trainer Emma Rutherford, offer individual personal training sessions to all age groups and abilities.

They told me: “We always start the initial consultation with a lifestyle questionnaire and find out what the client hopes to achieve. This enables us to provide a bespoke programme, specific to their goals; we’re always very realistic with the targets we set to ensure the client stays motivated. On average, our clients will work out with us twice a week but this can depend on their budget and how much time they have available; it’s also possible to split the cost and work out with a friend too.”

Additionally, they offer a membership scheme where clients can choose from 7 classes a week for £25 a month including Body Attack, Bear Camp (circuit training and resistance), Shred 30 and Chiselled. Personal Training costs are individual to each trainer, please contact them for more details.

• Ben Easson Tel: 07795 050865, Rob Willcocks Tel: 07531 047239, Emma Rutherford Tel: 07887 442494, www.beneassonfit.com

Judith Ewing

Local fitness expert Judith Ewing explained the benefits of working out with a personal trainer: “One of the main benefits is that you have a companion; it’s so much easier to stick to an exercise plan if you have an appointment in your diary... there’s literally no excuse not to do it. A personal trainer will always be one step ahead of you and will push you to your highest level at each training session so you will reach your goals far quicker. I train runners for marathons and set them a planned structured running programme which keeps them on track and enables them to see their progress each week. Apart from exercise, a personal trainer can give you guidance of what foods to eat and advise on changes in your eating habits if you wish to lose weight too. My clients have food diaries to keep which I go through with them each week - you are unlikely to have that slab of chocolate cake if you have to write it down for the personal trainer to see!”

• Judith Ewing, Tel: 07771 866123, www.judithewingfitness.com

Get the family involved in getting fit and head to Uppingham Sports Centre where you’ll find a large swimming pool, a spacious fitness studio, 3 squash courts, a gymnasium, 2 dance studios and a 6 court sports hall as well as 12 outdoor tennis courts. The fully air conditioned Fitness Studio contains 50 work stations and a range of cardiovascular and resistance equipment and can be used by members from 14 years and upwards. If exercise classes are more your thing then there’s a huge array to choose from including favourites such as Body Pump and Zumba as well as the more unique options: Love to Dance, Keiser Spin, Hatha Yoga, Express Abs and new for this month, Metafit; a 30 minute metabolic workout that works big muscle groups with high intensity intervals to keep burning fat after you’ve finished your workout.

• Leicester Road, Uppingham, Tel: 01572 820830, www.sportscentre.uppingham.co.uk

BE A BRONZED BEAUTY There’s nothing worse than hitting the beach on the first day of your holiday only to discover that the glare off your pasty white skin has everyone reaching for their sunglasses. A little bit of help in the golden glow department will do wonders for your confidence so book some regular sessions on the sunbeds at Olive Tanning and Beauty before you go. Owner Janine Donlan told me: “We have the only 0.3 sunbeds in Oakham which is recognised as the safest way to tan your skin. A tanning session on these beds delivers a deep, long lasting tan; effectively the same result you’d get from basking in the mid-day Mediterranean sun but without the risk of burning.”

• Olive Tanning and Beauty, 5&6 Crown Walk, Oakham, LE15 6BZ, Tel: 01572 755750 u RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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HE AL T H & B E A U TY The Training Shed

Nervous first-timers looking for a little extra help and reassurance should try out The Training Shed in Market Harborough. Priding themselves on being more than just a gym, they offer top class facilities with personal training and clinic-led facilities such as Physiotherapy, Acupuncture, Sports Massage and Sports Therapy. So if you’re recovering from an injury or don’t know where to start, the highly qualified staff will be able to tailor a programme specifically for you and your needs.

• 75 St Mary’s Road, Market Harborough, Tel: 01858 419268, www.trainingshed.com

Barnsdale Spa & Leisure Centre If you like a lot of variety in your exercise regime, then you can’t beat Barnsdale. In addition to some fantastic outdoor activities including tennis and golf, there’s an impressive 22m swimming pool as well as a diverse range of fitness classes that are free for members. This year, the fully equipped gym has been updated and refurbished with brand new bikes, treadmills and cross trainers. Off peak memberships are great value for money if you’re able to work out during the day; one day leisure passes for adults and children also available.

• Barnsdale Hall Hotel, Nr Oakkam, Tel: 01572 771314, www.barnsdalehotel.co.uk

Oakham Artistic Gymnastics Academy

Body Fitness Personal Training Body Fitness is based in Market Harborough and owned by Stephen Rutherford-Bate who has a holistic approach to weight loss and well-being.

The 16 week programme offers great results and includes a full body fitness assessment, detailed coaching and nutrition plan, one Personal Training session and two group sessions per week, regular measurements and follow up.

• Archway House, Lubenham Hill, Market Harborough, Tel: 01858 410820, www.bodyfitnesspt.com

Catmose Sports Centre Oakham’s popular sporting hub, Catmose Sports Centre run a huge variety of classes 7 days a week as well as offering a fully equipped gym with friendly instructors on hand to help with advice and offer personal training plans. Swimming pool with a programme of events including adult only swim time, ‘party in the pool’ and children’s swimming lessons.

• Huntsmans Drive, Oakham, Tel: 01572 490030, www.catmose-sports.co.uk

TRY OUT A NEW LOOK FOR SUMMER Summer’s the perfect time to experiment with a new, lighter hair colour but if you’re considering a dramatic change, a visit to the professionals is a must. The team at Head Candy hair salon in Market Harborough are Wella colour specialists and regularly attend training sessions with top stylists at the Wella Studios in London so they can offer the most up-to-date services. One of the most frequently requested is the balayage technique; a subtler version of last year’s popular ombre look where the hair is lightened freehand rather than with foils for a natural, sunkissed look. Head Candy owner Leah told me: “It’s important to match the colour to your skin tone to ensure you don’t look washed out; so opt for a blend of golds, caramels and rich browns rather than cold ash colours if you have a yellow-toned or warm complexion.” Hair is split into sections and then painted in a v-shape to mimic the parts of hair that the sun would naturally catch for a beautiful, unstructured look. Better still, the very nature of this technique means there’s no obvious root growth so you can go longer between salon visits!

• Head Candy, 26 Church Street, Market Harborough, Tel: 01858 464395, www.headcandy-mh.com

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Gymnastics is the ideal sport for young children to build confidence, strength, co-ordination, balance, flexibility, discipline and social skills.

These popular classes have recently relocated to Oakham Enterprise Park and cater for walking age up to adults with opportunities to use the bars, beams, do floor work, practice vaulting skills and work with different pieces of hand apparatus such as ribbons, balls, hoops, bean bags and tap sticks etc. Coaches are British Gymnastics trained.

• Sports Hall, Oakham Enterprise Park, Ashwell Road, Oakham, Tel: 01536 772340, www.british-gymnastics.org

CrossFit Oakham

Also based at Oakham Enterprise Park, CrossFit is a functional training programme that can be used by anyone of any fitness level. The workouts consist of cardio, strength and gymnastics and instead of the machines you’ll find in a traditional gym, you’ll use barbells, kettlebells, bodyweight movements, ropes and cardio equipment to achieve your fitness goals. There are different membership schemes depending on how often you want to train and no contracts either, enabling you to choose the option that’s right for you.

• Unit 10, Oakham Enterprise Park, Ashwell Road, Oakham, Tel: 07881 021796, www.crossfitoakham.co.uk

RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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HAIR

Love your colour Visit Rutland’s premier hair salon and meet our team of dedicated colour professionals. Whether you’re looking for the most natural-looking highlights or lowlights, or a complete colour transformation, our colour experts combine creative thinking with expert technical prowess.

To help you maintain your new look for longer, we’ll give you a custom-blended Simon Cawthorne colour shampoo worth £14.95, with our compliments.

23A Mill Street, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6EA

Telephone: 01572 722774

www.simoncawthorne.com

T&Cs: Please mention the offer at time of booking and this ad must be presented and surrendered at time of purchase.

DIETS L ONE ADON’T WORK

5&6 Crown Walk Oakham 2009

Suntana Spray Tans - £12 for the most natural looking healthy tan, available in light to after dark

Vani-T Spray Tans - £18 for a luxurious honey dipped glow

We have the brand new Blue Infinity Twist tubes and Pink Collatan Maxi-Twist tubes on our lie-down and stand-up Sunbeds. All 0.3 compliant for a safer and healthier tan.

Physiotherapy for Mobility Optimise your posture and mobility when living with MS, Brain Injury, Stroke & Parkinson’s Disease.

• Home visits available • Arm Movement Course in Oakham • Therapeutic Pilates coming soon at Ashwell • Clinics at Uppingham Sports Centre

Tanya Riddlesdell BSc(Hons) MSc MCSP - HPC registered

Contact: 07980 239 203 tanya.riddlesdell@sky.com www.physioformobility.weebly.com

Full range of treatments including: waxing, tinting, manicures, pedicures, OPI gels, facials, massage, hot stone, ART DECO make up & cluster lashes. Prices from £6

Find us on facebook. Olive Tanning Studio.

OPEN UN MON-S E & LAT NIGHTS

Tel: 01572 755750 13

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HE AL T H & B E A U TY

Mind, Body, Spirit - Feel better and look better, from the inside out Isabella Hamnett visits Sheeda’s Beauty Clinic to discover if the only Cosmeceuticals Advanced Medical Clinic in Market Haborough can truly transform the way that we approach skincare and beauty

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T is always inspiring to meet someone who is truly passionate about what they do. Harshida Patel is one of those people, with a dedication to her work that really is awe-inspiring. With 26 years’ experience, she has passed on her passion to her daughter Mriesha; the two work together as skin specialists at the clinic.

Housed in the tranquil surroundings of Archway House in Lubenham, the clinic’s treatment rooms are spacious and airy. It is the quality of the treatments that really shines through; Harshida’s vision of combining cosmeceutical skincare with holistic therapy resulting in skincare unlike any that you have tried before.

Every client attends a consultation, whether for a manicure to a massage, to ensure that each and every treatment is bespoke to the individual. It is with excited anticipation therefore that I arrive at Sheeda’s; completely makeup free, I hasten to add, for my facial and makeover.

I am instantly put at ease with Sheeda’s warmth; as she examines my skin under an illuminated magnifier, before competently cleansing it with a Clarisonic electric brush. This cleanses 6 times better than manual cleansing, giving incredible results; softer smoother skin, reduction in the appearance of oily skin, dry patches and blemishes as well as minimising the appearance of pores. I had thought that I had clean skin – how wrong could I be – my skin was literally squeaking and tingling with cleanliness after this cleansing ritual.

This was followed up with a gentle peel, exfoliation and Dermalux Light Therapy treatment. Dermalux is the leading light in LED Therapy. Harnessing the power of pure light to naturally stimulate skin rejuvenation and resolve problem skin conditions. It is targeted and controlled with evidence based red, blue and infra-red wavelengths used at a skin enhancing intensity and dose. It can be used with peels (as I had) or as a standalone treatment, and is both safe and comfortable - a non-invasive treatment for all skin types with absolutely no pain and no downtime.

Struggling with my confidence, my makeup is my mask – or more appropriately – armour; Sheeda takes this on as her mission to help me. She promises me beautiful, glowy, younger skin, that won’t need thick make-up to disguise it, but more importantly, a boost to my self-esteem. This really is a facial with a difference, you will leave feeling at least ten years younger as well as refreshed and emotionally lighter as the holistic therapies revive and restore you. Sheeda assured me that the benefits of the light therapy will carry on for 30 days post facial, as the deeper epidermis is penetrated.

• Sheeda’s Beauty Clinic, The Day Spa @ Archway, Archway House, Lubenham Hill, Market Harborough, LE16 9SZ, Tel: 01858 432168, www.sheedasbeauty.co.uk

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WH AT ’S O N

Oakham Festival

2015

Oakham is set for the 25th Oakham Festival, which will take place between Wednesday 24th and Sunday 28th of June.

With an exciting variety of events including TV comedians, world-renowned opera singers and fantastic live bands there is something for everyone!

T

his long established festival has been taking place in Oakham since 1989 and since then has always aimed to celebrate and promote the enjoyment of all of the arts including music, theatre, art, dance, and comedy within the local community.

This year’s festival will also run in tandem with CAMRA’s Ale Festival and Ale Trail. The main Ale Festival will be held at Rutland County Museum with a wide selection of beers and live music. Many of the town’s pubs will form part of the ‘Ale Trail’ that you can follow around the town to sample the variety of tasty beers on offer.

Programme highlights of this year’s festival include: Thursday 25th of June Comedy @ The Grainstore The Grainstore hold a special Funhouse Comedy night featuring comedian Gary Delaney, a regular on ‘Mock the Week’ and husband to female TV comedian Sarah Millican. He will be supported by comedians Wayne Deakin and Larry Dean.

Thurs 25th of June Big Band Concert Doncaster Close, Oakham School. £15 Don’t miss this magical evening of music performed by Oakham School’s top jazz musicians. With classic jazz, salsa, soul and pop, there is something for everyone, and the band never fails to impress!

Friday 26th of June – Hip H’Opera (Oakham Castle) Oakham Castle will be the venue for this unique new show, which mixes elements of opera with hip hop street dance. This original production features Rutland’s own talented dancer/ choreographer Sarah Bell and opera singer Caroline Trutz. This is one not to be missed!

Saturday 27th of June – Sheelanagig (Grainstore) This 5 piece Balkan folk, gypsy and jazz band will be travelling straight back from Glastonbury Festival to perform at The Grainstore.

They have performed at many of the UK’s leading venues and festivals and their virtuosic and energetic show is guaranteed to make you want to dance your socks off!

Saturday 27th of June – Proms in the Park (Cutts Close) Following the success of last year’s concert, Rutland Concert Band will present an evening performance of popular classics on the bandstand in Cutts Close. Admission is free with collections in aid of the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance.

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Wed 24th to Fri 26th of June - Lunchtime Concerts (All Saints Church) There will be a series of lunchtime concerts from 24th to 26th of June at 1.30pm in All Saints Church featuring young performers.

Wednesday 24th features Oakham School Chamber Choir, Thursday 25th is harpist, Imogen Fell, and Friday 26th is soprano, Katie Marshall. Admission is free.

Saturday 27th of June will form the main ‘Festival Day’ with many events taking place in the town centre from street entertainers in and around the market place to stalls in Church Street to a Family Day in Cutts Close with stalls and a free BBQ hosted by The Lions Club, who celebrate their 40th Anniversary this year.

There will also be arts and crafts workshops for children, theatre workshop, ghost walk and even a Tai Chi workout in Cutts Close on the Sunday morning.

So whatever takes your fancy, save the date and here’s to supporting Oakham Festival 2015.

• FESTIVAL BOX OFFICES: Music and More, Melton Road, Oakham Everlasting Now, Church Street, Oakham • Website: www.oakhamfestival.co.uk • Twitter: twitter.com/oakhamfestival • www.facebook.com/oakhamfestival

Sunday 28th of June – Afternoon Concert with John Graham Hall - From Britten to Bernstein (Oakham School Chapel) The closing performance of the festival will be a recital from worldrenowned tenor John Graham Hall in a programme that will include opera and songs from musicals as well as Victorian songs, Gilbert & Sullivan, Ivor Novello and Roger Quilter. This one hour concert will start at 4pm and will be followed by Pimms on the lawn.

Gary Delaney

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AR T & C UL T U R E

Local Artists and Galleries

Nicola Hardy asked some of our local galleries and artists to choose works of art that they feel passionate about.

The results are eclectic, exciting and diverse:

ALAN OLIVER WWW.ALAN-OLIVER.CO.UK Our very own local treasure, Alan Oliver, is well known for his lively local scenes, pastels and landscapes. He is showing his new work at Old House Gallery, Market Place, Oakham LE15 6QQ. ITCH GALLERY - 17A MILL STREET, OAKHAM, LE15 6EA TEL: 01572 755333 - WWW.ITCHGALLERY.CO.UK Itch Gallery is a vibrant little gallery recently relocated to Mill Street in Oakham, run by award winning business and ceramicist, Jenny Creasey. The gallery and shop are full of art and handmade jewellery by local and British makers with prices to suit all budgets. Jenny choose ‘Dorothy’, which is an original etching by Alison Read. “Alison is a prolific artist who we have been stocking since I bought the gallery in 2012. A metal plate has been hand engraved to produce the design and then hand inked and hand printed for each edition in the series. Though the design is a limited edition of 100, each print will be slightly different, due to the hand inking and printing. Read is a very talented printmaker and includes Screen-printing, Etchings, Linocuts and Woodcuts among her repertoire.

The subject matter is quirky, fun and mainly animal humour, but always different. This has mainly been inspired by her farm upbringing where she was literally surrounded by cows, cats, dogs or chickens. Getting to know the characters of these individuals has led to the humanising of the subject, creating very quirky and fun prints.”

Jenny also chose ‘Woodland Nesting Dolls’ by Alice Darkling which have been hand painted onto hand-turned wooden bases. Says Jenny, “We take commissions at the gallery for customised sets as lots of people want personalised sets of their families or sets depicting rare bird species etc for example. Personalised sets start at £64.99 for a set of 3 going up to £139.99 for a set of 7.

Woodland sets are £95.”

‘Dorothy’ by Alison Read, Woodland October creatures

by Alice Darkling

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TRENT GALLERIES 11 MILL STREET, OAKHAM, LE15 6EA TEL: 01572 722790 WWW.TRENTGALLERIES.CO.UK Trent Galleries is a new addition to Mill St in Oakham. Tracey and Stuart Morris have owned art galleries for 20 years and are proud to represent some of the world’s most highly acclaimed artists. “Our prices range from affordable gift ideas through to key pieces for the discerning collector, so join us at the gallery and indulge yourself in the ever changing portfolio of original paintings and limited editions from award winning artists such as Fabian Perez, Sherree Valentine Daines, Doug Hyde and Gary Benfield. We also offer our Bespoke Framing Service, with a wide range of mouldings to choose from at very competitive prices! If you are planning your Big Day, and would like to find that perfect gift to mark your special occasion, why not come and see us about our online wedding gift service?”

Tracey chose Sherree Valentine Daines whom has been at the forefront of British Art for 35 Years. She has been described as ‘Face of the British Impressionism’, ‘The Artist to the Stars’ and ‘Finest Figurative Artist in the UK’. Says Tracey, “Her exquisite paintings have been exhibited at such prestigious venues as the Tate Gallery, The Barbican, with many celebrity collectors including members of the British Royal Family, and Former Prime Minister Sir John Major. She is the Critics and the people’s choice, winning high profile awards, frequently featured on TV and is regularly commissioned to paint portraits of the great and good including Sebastian Coe. So when she chooses to release a new collection, everyone sits up and takes notice!”

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PLEASE SHUT THE GATE Artisan Printmaker Nicola Elstone opens her studio in Braunston every June to visitors to co-inside with the Rutland Open Studio event; visitors have a chance to see her working on her 19th century letterpress as well as see work by four other local artists and makers. Nicola Elstone produces hand printed textiles for the home as well as fashion accessories from her printing studio in Braunston. Each piece is a unique work of art, printed on her 19th century letterpress and then hand finished. For more information visit Facebook: Please Shut The Gate or www.pleaseshuttheagate.co.uk.

MADE GALLERY - 14A ORANGE STREET, UPPINGHAM, RUTLAND LE15 9SQ - TEL: 01572 822002 WWW.MADEGALLERY.CO.UK Made is a small independent gallery based in Uppingham that sells beautiful, handmade jewellery, ceramics, leather goods, glassware, art, textiles and cards.

Made is owned by Julia Groundsell who believes passionately in preserving the art of designing and making things by hand rather than outsourcing these methods to overseas factories.

She is focused on sourcing work from artists who design and make their own work in their workshops or homes.

Made offers something unique for the individual who loves great design and isn’t scared of a little edginess.

WOODBINE CONTEMPORARY ARTS www.woodbinecontemporaryarts.co.uk Woodbine chose Chris Mills and Stephen Lennon, new artists currently on display at Woodbine Gallery: Chris Mills Texture and colour predominate in the latest work of Chris Mills, whose paintings will be shown at Woodbine from May onwards. A Liverpool Fine Art graduate, who lives and works in the East Midlands, previously worked as a digital artist but has returned to traditional painting techniques where surface values contribute in a way impossible in digital media.

His work combines an interest in abstract expressionism and ancient Etruscan Art. He merges these inspirations within physically charged textural paintings of graceful animal forms, echoes of time worn frescos Chris has seen throughout many Mediterranean and Aegean travels.

Stephen Lennon Yorkshire based Stephen Lennon has shown regularly with Woodbine in the past but his new, mainly large landscapes worked in acrylic on board, although echoing the flowing quality of his earlier work and smaller watercolours, are more complex and layered.

He captures the spirit of the fells and dales of Yorkshire and Cumbria with light and sure strokes that can now include texture on occasion, as the watercolours could not; texture that evokes, sparely and perfectly, snow on a hill top and the weatherworn surface of rock.

OPEN DOOR GALLERY Janet from Open Door Gallery is currently showing an exciting exhibition called ‘On Paper’ as well as playing host to some amazing Equestrian Bronze Resin Sculptures - both of them life size!

She is looking forward to an exhibition in July featuring the work of Loughborough College graduates.

Janet also runs workshops from her gallery: Oil painting for beginners - Jane French, Life drawing - Scott Bridgwood, Ceramic War Horse workshop - Jennie McCall and Collage - Julia Milner. Check out the Facebook page for more information: www.facebook.com/opendoorgallerymh.

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Exhibition

New Artists showcasing at Made Gallery May 7th - August 6th Phiona Richards

contemporary handmade jewellery and gifts

Cari-Jane Hakes

Amanda Cobbett

Kaz Robertson

Barbara Yarde

Made, 14a Orange Street, Uppingham, Rutland, LE15 9SQ Tel 01572 822002 www.madegallery.co.uk

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GE T AC T I VE

Outdoors stuff to do this summer

Diving

Up in the Trees

Although you may not believe it, you can actually learn how to dive just outside of Peterborough at Gildenburgh Water or their other site at Dosthill Quarry which is near Tamworth. They offer a full range of PADI programmes for everyone from beginners to experienced divers. I know you will be thinking ‘Brrr are you having a laugh it’s a bit blinking chilly for diving in this country’ but if you think about it, you can always learn here in the UK and then when you do go somewhere exotic you will be ready to jump straight in and explore instead of wasting several days of your holiday learning! If you visit the company’s website: www. divein.co.uk they also offer diving holidays and rental equipment.

We have two Go Ape courses not too far away.

The first being at Woburn Safari Park, which offers a great day out as you can have a look around the safari then pretend you are a monkey and swing through the trees. You can also visit Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire and pretend you are Robin Hood chasing after the Sheriff’s men whilst running across a rope ladder at dizzy heights. Prices are in the range of £30 for adults (that’s over 16 years) and Children (10-15 years) it is around £25 but you must be over 1.4 metres I’m afraid! Visit www.goape.co.uk for more detail and booking options.

Zorbing, Football Now, you may be aware that everyone got a bit carried away with zorbing and suddenly anyone with a field was having a laugh putting someone in an inflated plastic ball and rolling them down a hill for a bit of extra cash, absolutely brilliant business.

Now, Birmingham (other destinations are available) has put a futuristic twist on the marvellous creation of putting oneself into a plastic ball and they have basically just chopped the bottom off so that you can use your legs and then introduced another ball, two goals and called it….wait for it….

Bubbleballerz Bubble Football – it’s edgy to say the least. A local group of lads went there on a stag do and have told me that no matter what football skills you have, these will not help you as your ‘friends’ will just bounce you out of the way if you look threatening. It sounds like a good combination of skills, aggression and hilarious bounces around the court as you rebound off each other. An excellent idea for group activities, visit the website: www. bubbleballerz. co.uk

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Georgie Fenn tried out all sorts of familiar and unfamiliar activities so that you can take your pick for the summer

Sailing Why go further than Rutland Water, and join Rutland Sailing Club, when they have superb facilities for sailing.

It offers everything that you could need to either learn, practise or just take the old girl out for a spin. You don’t have to join to just have a lesson; it is £125 for a 3hr lesson for two people: Call 01780 720292. It would be extremely biased of me to not mention the other options so a bit further out is Grafham Water sailing club which is also very impressive, offering expert instruction amongst other things including racing. Also within easy reach is Northampton Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir in Brixworth, who also offer RYA trained instructors for sailing, windsurfing and powerboat and rescue instruction.

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Skydiving, Sibson No doubt you have driven up the A1 and spotted all of the colourful parachutes in the sky one fine evening and thought ‘One day I will give it a go’ or maybe not….seems silly not to when Sibson Aerodrome is so close by.

You can have a go as a Tandem from only £199, visit their website: www.skydivesibson.co.uk

Wake Boarding, Tallington I managed to escape from work one afternoon and have a go at Wake Boarding for very important research purposes for this article….

I took my friend along, Ted, who knows what he is doing and made it look really easy, so I was feeling a bit under pressure when it came to my turn. James and Chaz were really laid back about it which helped and they gave me lots of instruction and explained that it takes a while to get the hang of it so not to worry if I didn’t get it first time. I have to say, on the bar I thought I was incredible so after a few trips up and down the lake I got a bit full of myself and asked to go on the rope….which wasn’t so easy and after a couple of belly flops I decided to stick to the bar until next time.

This summer I think Tallington is going to be buzzing, it is so much fun there and you can chill out in the hot tub afterwards (and warm up) and get a beer from the bar! Not only do they offer Wakeboarding coaching but they also provide lessons and facilities for: Climbing, Waterskiing, Jet Skiing, Sailing, Inflatables, Windsurfing, Canoeing, Kayaking, Paddle Boarding, Raft Building, Water Zorbing and Fishing… I also spied a banana boat if you’re into that. Who needs Ibiza! At only £25 for a go it makes a really good day out! To book visit www.tallington.com and if you’re at work make sure your laptop is on mute.

Kite Surfing, Hunstanton Kite Surfing is a big up-and-coming sport and something you should definitely be trying this summer. We are only around an hour and a half away from Hunstanton where the conditions are perfect to give it a go. Hunstanton Watersports are one of the most active BKSA kite surfing schools in the country offering a range of kite surfing lessons. Visit their website: www. hunstantonwatersports.com

Flyboarding, Tattershall Lake, Lincolnshire

It will take you around an hour to get to Tattershall Lakes (it’s the other side of Sleaford), then you can try flyboarding and look super awesome and probably take it up as a full-time hobby. You may have seen flyboarding on the TV and wondered, ‘Is that real’ because it’s a rather incredible spectacle. 158 Performance at Tattershall Lake have brought it to the UK and offer a 30 minute flight session for only £95. Call: 01778 341144

Segway, Huntingdon Segways are remarkably unsteady, wobbly, independent machines. I am almost 100% sure they think for themselves after having a go – mine decided to take me over a tree root and buck me off, I wasn’t really sure whether to get back on but you know what they say about getting back on the horse. Suffice to say I survived to tell the tale and now it’s your turn….if you dare. You can have a go pretty much anywhere these days and there are vouchers all over the internet for family outing or individual experiences…I recommend starting close to home at Grafham Water, Call 08453 193747.

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B RI N GI N G L O CA L FO O D TO LI FE

How ‘Britain’s Best Pub’ was built In 1999, The Olive Branch was boarded-up; 15 years later it was named ‘Britain’s Best Pub’. Matt Wright tells its story…

The Olive Branch’s pretty terrace and front garden is one of its major assets The Olive Branch

W

ourselves at about the same time,” recalls Ben. hat’s your favourite pub? For “I’d just opened Hart’s as general manager many in the East Midlands – and and had really enjoyed the experience. It gave further afield – the answer has me the confidence that I could launch my own remained the same for several place, so in 1999 I handed in my notice after years: The Olive Branch in Clipsham, Rutland. several enjoyable years working for Mr Hart.”

The Good Pub Guide agrees. Fifteen years after Sean Hope watched his colleague depart its owners bought and revived the country pub, with interest, sensing change in the air. And the book named The Olive Branch UK Pub of sure enough, soon after Ben left, a new door the Year, proving it is still up there with Britain’s opened. best and continuing to push itself to “While looking for a property greater things.

I came across The Olive Back in October 1999, Branch in Clipsham,” says however, the experienceBen. “It seemed very ometer was back at small, had been shut zero. The Olive Branch for a while and felt – Clipsham’s only pub a bit off the beaten – had been closed path, but Sean for two years and had grown up in the three friends Clipsham and his about to buy it first job was as a had no idea they pot washer at The were jumping onto Olive Branch. I went a rollercoaster to see Sean to get that would see their Dishes like this mini toad-in-the-hole his thoughts: had it business become are on The Olive Branch’s menu today. been a good pub and one of the first pubs in Photograph by Robin Stewart would he be interested in Britain to win a Michelin a partnership? He said it had Star, an accolade it would been very popular in its day and hold for 11 years. he was on board.” Marcus threw his Two of the trio – Ben Jones and hat into the ring too and the three friends put Sean Hope – were at the time working for one in a bid. To their terror and astonishment, the of the region’s most successful restaurateurs, offer was accepted.

Tim Hart. Ben had just overseen the opening of “That’s when we had to find the money!”

Hart’s in Nottingham after a stint at his boss’s says Ben. “We spoke to friends and family and Hambleton Hall, and Sean was second chef booked a meeting with the bank, which agreed at Hambleton. The third protagonist – Marcus to lend us half. Then we applied for an alcohol Welford – had roots in Rutland but was selling licence because the old one had lapsed. But we wine in Bath. still didn’t have enough cash.”

“We all wanted to go into business for

28

Cropwell Bishop Stilton beignets with apple sauce and crispy bacon.

Photograph by Robin Stewart Nevertheless the trio registered their new business with Companies House – The Rutland Inn Company – and a sign went up outside The Olive Branch in October 1999 advertising their alcohol licence application. Then Ben got a phone call.

“Clipsham resident Colin Ashpole had found our phone number,” says Ben. “He called up and I explained the situation. He invited us to a meeting where he told us that if we needed more money then a few villagers were interested. That allowed us to raise the remaining capital.”

The new team spent four weeks refurbishing the building and received lots of help from locals excited to be getting their pub back.

A bonfire party was planned in the paddock opposite and all the detritus from the gutted pub went up in smoke. Villagers, friends and family then helped with painting, floor-stripping and finishing.

“The pub cost £140,000 to buy in 1999 and we spent £60,000 refurbishing it, which left £40,000 for working capital,” recalls Ben. “The shareholders were very good because there were no promises of big dividends.”

Talking to locals, the history of The Olive Branch came to light. The tale goes that the pub was created from three farm labourers’

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cottages and a cow shed in the second half of the 19th century. Before that there was a village ale house near Clipsham Hall, but it was closed down by the lord of the manor, possibly because he got sick of his beered-up workers turning up late, or noise, or both. The closure caused uproar, so the lord decided to convert three labourers’ cottages – located a suitable distance from his home – into a pub.

It was named The Olive Branch because it was a peace offering to the village. As Ben says, “the name wasn’t a foodie reference – few pubs served olives in the 19th century!”

After the refurb, Marcus took up position behind the bar, Sean put on his chef’s whites and Ben handled front of house. Their business plan was designed so that if necessary the trio could survive with no extra staff. But they needn’t have worried – the pub’s millennium village Christmas party was a big success and The Olive Branch has thrived ever since.

“We had an incredibly good first year,” remembers Ben. “So we employed more staff and grew from there.” What was their secret?

Ben says: “There were hardly any places at the time where you could enjoy really good food in a relaxed setting. Generally speaking, you either had to dress up for a formal restaurant, or go to the other extreme and have chicken in a basket in the boozer. Few pubs offered relaxed, high quality dining and those that tried didn’t – for us at least – quite hit the spot, so we thought there was a gap in the market.

“The whole concept from the beginning was to have one menu throughout the pub that listed everything from sandwiches to seabass, and for people to be able to come in and sit wherever they wanted and eat whatever they wanted.”

The first of many awards that The Olive Branch was to win over its life to date came in 2002 – a Michelin Star. “It was out of the blue – we had no idea,” says Ben. “Someone phoned Sean and asked if he’d seen the new Michelin book. We had no inclination its inspectors had visited us.”

There were celebrations of course, but a

The Olive Branch, Clipsham – major awards

• Good Pub Guide Pub of the Year 2014 • Past winner of Good Hotel Guide • Cesar Award for Best Restaurant With Rooms • Past winner of Michelin Pub of the Year • Holder of a Michelin Star for 11 years (2002 to 2013)

The Red Lion Inn at Stathern

Michelin Star is a double-edged sword, as Ben explains: “In some ways we’d left our previous roles to get away from the pressure of producing what people expected. Diners have certain expectations of Michelin Star venues, so it can be constrictive. The phone started ringing much more – which, naturally, was very welcome – but it went from the one extreme of people being really pleased for us, to the other of visitors being shocked that a laidback pub like ours could ever be Michelin Star material.”

However, most diners were pleased for The Olive Branch, which retained its Michelin Star until 2013, and it was clear that the three new publicans had created something special.

Sean’s cooking, Ben’s professional but relaxed hospitality, and Marcus’s wine knowledge – all assisted by a high quality, growing team – proved a winning formula. The business flourished and expanded when the trio purchased the Red Lion Inn at Stathern – Good Pub Guide Leicestershire Dining Pub of the Year 2015 and a past AA Pub of the Year – in 2002. Two years later they bought Beech House, a private dwelling opposite The Olive Branch, and converted it into accommodation with six luxurious bedrooms. In 2012 Beech House won a prestigious Good Hotel Guide César Award. Over the years The Olive Branch and Red Lion Inn have fed Rowan Atkinson, Pierre Koffmann, Heston Blumenthal, Tom Kerridge, the entire England cricket team and many other famous names, not to mention a host of regulars who love these unique pubs.

As Ben says: “There’s something special about The Olive Branch’s location and character. Each step of the route towards the pub seems to relax you. After the A1 you reach a lovely tree-lined Sean Hope (second from left) and Marcus Welford (centre) avenue, then you park up and with The Hairy Bikers at The Red Lion Inn, Stathern walk through a tranquil, pretty,

traditionally English front garden. By the time you reach the bar you’re completely serene.”

But a nice building and setting isn’t the • Good Pub Guide whole story by • Leicestershire Dining a long stretch.

Pub of the Year 2015 It’s people, their • Past winner of AA attitude and work Pub of the Year ethic that make a great pub, and Ben, Sean and Marcus (who left the business in 2012) – plus their loyal team – succeeded in creating two of Britain’s best. “A belief in what we’re doing has been crucial,” says Ben. “We set out to do something we love doing and we’ve just carried on. We’re passionate about pubs, good food, good beer, good wine and hospitality. We just do what we enjoy.”

The Red Lion Inn, Stathern – major awards

Who are the region’s best food & drink independents?

Vote now at www.greatfoodclub.co.uk/awards Closing date: May 31, 2015 About the writer Matt Wright founded and runs Greatfoodmag.co.uk and Greatfoodclub.co.uk, two Leicestershire-based websites that celebrate and promote local food and drink. His Great Food Club Handbook 2013/14 is out now.

Join Matt’s food club – Great Food Club – free of charge and discover the very best local food and drink.

Members can enjoy special offers at around 100 handpicked independent pubs, restaurants, producers and farm shops www.greatfooodclub.co.uk/join RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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MEMORABLE CUISINE FOR YOUR PERFECT DAY

Country Inn and Restaurant A warm welcome is assured at our quintessential old English county pub, bringing you the best of British home cooked meals and a choice of well kept Real Ales.

DELICIOUS FOOD BEAUTIFULLY SERVED

Why not join us for Sunday Lunch?

“In control and totally flexible. Food was utterly delicious, staff charming, no hesitation in recommending you ” Ali Crossley

Choice of 3 roasts all served with the traditional trimmings £9.95 for one course up to £15.95 for three courses Set 3 course menu £15.95 a head Served Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 5.30pm.

Curry Night

1st Thursday of every month. Two course menu with selection of starters, followed by three homemade curries £10.95 a head

Friday Lunchtime Special

2 Portions of Cod, Chips and Mushy Peas for £10 Tue, Wed, Thur 12pm – 11pm (Food 12pm – 2.30pm/6.30pm – 9.30pm) Fri, Sat 12pm – 12am (Food 12pm – 2.30pm/6.30pm – 9.30pm) Sun 12pm – 6pm (Food 12.30pm – 3pm).Closed Mondays LAST ORDERS WILL BE TAKEN 30 MINUTES BEFORE FOOD IS STOPPED SERVING

14 Arnhill Road, Gretton | Northants, NN17 3DN

Tel: 01536 770268 www.thehattonarms.com

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1981 - 34 Years

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• Fully tailor-made and refined menu • Advance menu tasting • Fixed price quotation • Site visit included • Pay bar and Bar staff available • Supply your own wine – no corkage charges

Call Sarah on 01572 747909 or 07970 576882 The Firs, 5 Barrowden Road, Morcott, Rutland, LE15 9DQ e-mail sarah@rutlandgourmet.co.uk

Bespoke and Handmade Kitchens

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• Over 30 room settings on display including the latest finishes • Contemporary, modern, traditional & handmade bespoke kitchens • Special discounts and unrivalled service

The areas Largest Independent Kitchen Showroom The Maltings, Barnack Road, Stamford, PE9 2NA T: 01780 756514 or 755855 E: sales@qksstamford.co.uk www.qksstamford.co.uk 30

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We bake a selection of delicious breads, savouries, cakes & desserts.

Using traditional techniques and the finest ingredients we develop the real taste of our products, full of flavour with no preservatives or enhancers.

Shops: Exton Bakery, Market Harborough, Oakham, Stamford & West Bridgford

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Our rattan furniture will transform any outdoor space into a harmonious haven which will be the envy of your friends and family

Tel: 01664 565656 www.redtownfurniture.co.uk 32

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HO M E & GAR D E N

The Marquess of Exeter – A Family Affair B

Abigail Richardson talks to Brian Baker, his family and staff about their ever growing enterprise

rian is very well known to us Rutlanders – not just because he was Elton’s chef, but because of his reputation from The Fox and Hounds and now an astoundingly successful few years in Lyddington. A family business, Brian has most of his clan on board these days with his nephews serving out front with one living in, a sister who does the book keeping and a mother who is clearly very hands on - “She is an excellent cook”, says Brian and does all of my flowers including tending to the glorious orchids which are displayed in abundance.

The Marquess, though, is so much more than a pub – it is also a 4 star AA hotel, with 17 en-suite bedrooms ranging from singles, twins and doubles to four posters, as well as family suites and the luxurious Bridal Suite with Jacuzzi bath. Wedding receptions are popular and Brian and team can also organise photography, flowers, music etc if required.

The Marquess has always been a popular destination for lunch and dinner with its continuously changing menu designed around local produce. 75% of the menu changes on a weekly basis and sometime a daily one, depending on what the fish man brings that morning! Brian also breeds his own pigs and chickens, which enhance the menu, seasonally.

The successful ‘Deli Shed’, run by the Marquess chefs, resides at the back of the Marquess. It opened in August 2014 and has been offering villagers a chance to shop locally and well as organically. Opening times are 11- 4pm and stock includes vegetables, free range eggs, Belvoir cordials and their own home-made products such as oils, jams, chutney, mustards quiches et al. Meats and cheeses are also available but to be ordered for delivery the next day.

Brian also offers an outside catering service from office lunches and canapés, paella parties and buffets through to large private or corporate events.

Never one to neglect his regulars, Brian is known to take coach loads of ladies on days out – I recently joined a party to The Melton Road in Leicester where Brian took us shopping for saris (looking splendid himself in an embroidered silk tunic), spices and cooking utensils. We lunched at Bobby’s restaurant on Belgrave Road, famous for its vegetarian food and Indian sweets. What a treat! He has also been known to lead ski parties and hosts regular cookery demonstrations as well! See on line for future events.

• Contact: Marquess of Exeter, 52 Main St, Lyddington, Rutland LE15 9LT, Tel: 01572 822477 www.marquessexeter.co.uk Many thanks to: Georgi Mabee Photography, Email: info@georgimabee.com, www. georgimabee.com, Tel: 07738 053068 or follow Georgi on Facebook and Twitter.

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AC T I VI T I E S

National Gardens Scheme

Hundreds of private gardens open up to the public this year, from village cottages to stately homes, as part of the NGS. It’s a lovely way to have a peek at people’s plants while also raising money for charity.

Alysia Anderson picks a bunch of gardens opening this month within easy reach of Stamford

THE ROOTS OF THE NGS The National Gardens Scheme’s history is closely connected with nursing, hence its support for charities such as Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, the Carers Trust and Hospices UK. In 1859, a Liverpool merchant, William Rathbone, employed a nurse to care for his wife at home and, after her death, kept her on to care for poor people locally. He later raised funds to train and employ nurses to work in deprived areas. With the help of Queen Victoria and Florence Nightingale, this movement became a national voluntary organisation for District nursing. When its patron Queen Alexandra died in 1926, a fund was set up in her memory. A council member, Elsie Wagg, suggested raising money through the nation’s obsession with gardening by asking people to open their gardens for a modest entry fee. Thus the NGS was founded in 1927, with 609 gardens opening at ‘a shilling a head’. A year later, the district nursing organisation was officially named the Queen’s Nursing Institute, a name it retains today. Today, the NGS has donated over £45 million to nursing, caring and garden charities and features an annual ‘guest’ charity chosen from recommendations provided by NGS volunteers. In 2015, 3800 gardens will open to the public across the UK, with charges ranging from £2 to £8. Children usually go free and many gardens can be visited on alternative dates by arrangement with the owners.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP “Gardens don’t need to be elaborate or large to be enjoyable and interesting for visitors” said Sally Grant, Lincolnshire County Organiser, who opens her own garden at Holly House near Boston. “As long as a garden is attractive, has character and is well-maintained, a small town garden can be as alluring for visitors as a big country one. It is helpful if garden owners are happy to offer refreshments (at a small charge if required) and to talk about their garden if asked. Gardens need only open once or twice a year and owners can also accept visits by direct arrangement, for individuals or groups, if desired”. Other ways you can support the NGS are by joining a county organising team, making a general donation or purchasing the NGS Yellow Book, published each February and featuring all the gardens opening that year. To find gardens close to Stamford, separate county leaflets for Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire are available free from the tourist office in Stamford Arts Centre or you can check online at www.ngs.org.uk

PRIVATE PLANTINGS Opening in Thurlby on 13 June from 11-5pm is Roy Grundy’s garden at The Old Vicarage. Roy’s talented late wife Sue designed the garden but sadly did not see it completed. However, Roy dedicated himself to creating this attractive mix of yew hedges, wildlife and formal ponds, wildflowers and herbaceous beds, alongside a beautifully planted courtyard and herb garden. Over in Southorpe, Carl and Vanessa Brown open their two-acre garden surrounding Abbot’s Barn on 20 and 21 June from 2-5.30pm. The Browns maintain the garden using organic methods, providing a rich wildlife habitat. Join the resident Pekin bantams for free range of the wildflower meadow, orchard, wildlife pond, cutting flower garden, woodland, decked beach garden and courtyard garden with its croquet lawn. New to the NGS this year is the cottage garden of The Old Black Horse at Tansor. Here, roses ramble over arches and arbours alongside flowering shrubs and a vegetable potager. It opens on 14 June from 1-5pm or by arrangement for groups of more than ten until August. In nearby Oundle, Foxtail Lilly is a colourful informal garden with plenty of flowers for cutting and a barn shop.

It opens on 21 June from 10.30am-5.30pm or by arrangement until July for groups of up to 40. Combine this with a visit on the same day to Jericho in Oundle’s marketplace. Inspired by Vita Sackville-West, the Aris family’s 100-metre walled garden is divided into a series of secret spaces, home to more than 50 species of roses, lavender, a chamomile lawn and a massive hornbeam hedge. Visits are also possible by

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EWG PHOTOS: FRED CHOLMELEY

Easton Walled Gardens

Easton Walled Gardens

Easton Walled Gardens arrangement. Also open on Midsummer’s Day, from 2-6pm, are two large gardens in Braunston belonging to keen gardeners with different styles. Hill Top Farm has wonderful country views, a hazel walk and new wildlife pond while medieval Quaintree Hall is more formal, with a box parterre, walled garden and conservatory.

CREAM TEAS AND BEES Tim and Stefa Hart, owners of Hambleton Hall, open their own garden at The Old Hall in Market Overton on 14 June between 2 and 6pm or by arrangement on weekdays until September. Light lunches or teas are served using Hambleton Bakery produce, although pre-booking is required.

Set on a southerly ridge overlooking Catmose Vale, the garden is on four levels with areas enclosed by stone walls and yew hedges. Stroll along the mown paths of the shrubbery and drink in the views from the terrace with your cuppa. In the same village, on Thistleton Road, a group of gardens open on 20 June from 1.30-5pm. These range from tiny gardens overlooking the cricket green to the Stewarts’ wonderful ‘bee-friendly’ creation at number 59. “Over our 1.8 acres we have an orchard of apple, pear and soft fruit trees, a little arboretum, an ornamental shrubbery, beds full of perennials, a pond and beehives,” explained Andrew Stewart. On the Hambleton peninsula, Richard and Celia Foulkes open their lovely garden overlooking Rutland Water, with its Japanese garden and newly planted orchard, on 5 July from 2-5pm. Horticultural delights in spades are also found at the Old Vicarage in Burley, open on 25 June from 6-9pm or by

Easton Walled Gardens arrangement for groups. These include a walled garden with a vine house, two orchards, a lime walk, rose gardens and a wisteria avenue with a rill. In Empingham, the former summer palace of the Bishop of Lincoln opens its gardens on 28 June from 2-5.50pm. Prebendal House, beside the church, has four acres of mature gardens with topiary, extensive herbaceous borders and a water garden. In contrast, the tiny garden of Lavandar Cottage in nearby Nook Lane has a charming series of ‘rooms’ linked by rose and honeysuckle arches. Each is filled with scent and colour from lavender, clematis, alliums and roses. From June to August by arrangement, or on 12 July for the NGS between 11-5pm, Acre End in North Luffenham will make garden-lovers go green with envy. Jim and Mima Bolton have created an imaginative, organic garden with an Oriental courtyard, woodland garden, fruit, herbs and veg growing in abundance and many unusual trees and shrubs. Directions and contact details for all these gardens are in the relevant county leaflets or on the NGS website.

HALLS AND HOUSES The garden at Witham Hall School near Bourne, formerly a private home, was one of the first to open in 1927 for the NGS. This year it opens from 2-4pm on 21 June. Herbaceous borders, an ornamental pond, a paved rose-walk and a pupils’ wilderness area are surrounded by mature cedar parkland and sports fields. A few miles away, Grimsthorpe Castle (www. grimsthorpe.co.uk) holds its NGS day on 10 June from 11-5pm. Open to the public from Sunday to Thursday until the end of September, this baronial home of the Willoughby de Eresby family boasts 15 acres of formal and woodland gardens, a wildflower meadow, topiary and ornamental walled kitchen garden. Cycle hire, a café and a woodland playground provide plenty to amuse the whole family. Other stately homes that open to the public and are involved in the NGS include Deene Park (www.deenepark.com) and Boughton House (www.boughtonhouse.co.uk). The former runs evening group tours of the gardens, including supper, throughout June while Boughton has added a new 21st-century garden to its magnificent 18th-century landscaped grounds.

Also enticing for the green-fingered are Easton Walled Gardens (www.eastonwalledgardens. co.uk) with their 12 acres of parkland and ‘forgotten’ gardens dating back four centuries.

Meticulously restored by Ursula Cholmeley for over a decade, highlights here include a yew tunnel, David Austin roses, around 100 varieties of sweet peas, a decorative vegetable garden and a woodland walk. A special Sweet Pea week runs from 5-12 July.

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L OC AL HI ST O R Y

Frances, Countess of Gainsborough… and her Family O

n 27th June 1850 Queen Victoria decided to take a drive in Hyde Park.

Crowds gathered to see her carriage and as she entered the narrow Piccadilly entrance to the Park she was in touching distance of her excited subjects. Suddenly a man stepped out of the mob and struck her a violent blow on the head with his stick. Her bonnet was crushed and her forehead badly bruised but she quickly recovered herself, telling the stunned onlookers that she was ‘not hurt’. That evening she made a point of going to the opera to show herself off in a public display of royal defiance.

Now you may wonder where this is going – and the answer is to Rutland and Essex! Sharing the Queen’s carriage that day was a new Lady of the Bedchamber and she was none other than Frances, Countess of Gainsborough of Exton Hall, near Oakham. Shocked as she was, the Countess quickly informed the Queen that the attacker, one Robert Pate, had been arrested.

Fanny Gainsborough was the fourth wife of the first Earl of Gainsborough. That title had died out in the 18th century and been recreated for a second time in 1841. She was deeply religious woman and her son, christened with the impressive name Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel, (sixteen when Pate tried to ‘do in’ the monarch!), grew up to be a poet. Not a great poet to be truthful but not a bad one either. He married a girl called Alice de Broe whom he had met on his travels in the East, the daughter of the Swiss Director of the Ottoman Bank in Beirut. Roden and Alice often overwintered abroad leaving their children in Granny Fanny’s care at Exton and one of those children grew up to be a most controversial character.

Conrad le Despenser Roden Noel was born at Kew in 1869. A bright boy, he nonetheless got kicked out of Corpus Christi College due to outlandish behaviour and never took his degree. But he did hear Annie Besant speak. Besant was a fiery socialist whose trenchant views struck a chord with Conrad. He felt called to the priesthood, indeed spent some time working in the slums of Portsmouth with Father Robert Dolling as a curate, but his strongly expressed socialist views alienated people. He married in 1894 and moved to Floweryfield, Cheshire, another curacy. But he gave Sunday Lectures on socialism and the outraged Bishop of Chester was not amused! He refused to ordain him as a full priest, forcing him to resign. Ultimately a highly placed relative wangled the now cash-strapped curate a job in Salford in 1897……where he continued to

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preach socialism! He was finally ordained in 1898.

For Conrad Noel things finally came together in 1910.

Champagne Socialist Daisy, Countess of Warwick, a former squeeze of King Edward VII, had several church livings in her gift and she offered Noel, a top drawer socialist who embodied her own ideals, Thaxted in Essex. Sleepy Thaxted lies between Saffron Walden and Great Dunmow of Flitch fame and was destined to be sleepy no more! This whirlwind of a cleric whipped up the parish into a whirlpool of cultural and political activity, causing more than a few headaches to the locals in the process! In 1911 he became a founding member of the British Socialist party and his most inflammatory act (the repercussions of which lasted for years) was to hang the Red Flag and the Sinn Fein tricolour in the aisle of his church – beside the red cross of St. George!

What happened next has gone down in history as ‘The Battle of the Flags’: protesters and students descended on Thaxted to rip down those flags. A big local demo in 1919 was followed by a huge student protest in 1921 and on Empire Day 1922 Thaxted was invaded by a Union Jack-waving mob. The church was invaded, fist fights broke out and the church authorities finally had enough. Ordered to remove the flags Conrad Noel reluctantly gave in and was dubbed ‘The Red Vicar’ by the national press.

Thaxted became a mecca for musicians and artists too: Gustav Holst lived in the village for a time and composed the hymn ‘Tomorrow will be my dancing day’ for Noel. He penned his famous Planets Suite there too.

Blinded by diabetes, Conrad Noel died in 1942. He lies in Thaxted churchyard and his bronze bust is in the church. His epitaph? - ‘He loved justice and hated oppression’. A fair summing up of the Red Vicar of Thaxted.

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Gretton Garden Services Reliable landscape gardener located in the Gretton area and offering a range of gardening services including: • Grass Cutting • Hedge Cutting • Fencing • Decking • Patios

• Driveways • Turfing • Weed Spraying • Scarification • Pressure Washing

At Rutland Garden Centre

Call Chris Stubbs to see how his practical knowledge can turn your dreams into reality

Mob. 07976 286664/Home. 01536 772434 email chrisstubbs57@hotmail.com

Call James on 01780 752119 info@marramgardens.co.uk www.marramgardens.co.uk

Garden Design & Construction

KEN RAWSON

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with design problems, hot, dry or shady places, screening issues or just with that idea

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Rutland Living Do you enjoy walking and want to earn some extra money each month?

Distributors required to deliver Rutland Living Please contact Bob on

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or email bobwillars@sky.com Applicants must be 13 years old or over.

Rutland Garden Classics are suppliers of architectural garden structures, urns, planters, stone troughs, wrought iron benches, statues, straddle stones, chimney pots and reclaimed artefacts.

We buy and sell all garden antiques, reclaimed, distressed, unusual, anything considered, instant cash decision.

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Chris Hamilton: mobile 07850 999 999522, office 01572 723 720070 mobile 522, office 583 E: info@rutlandgardenclassics.co.uk Join us at: facebook.com/gardenclassics

Rutland Garden Classics at Rutland Garden Centre Rutland Village Ashwell Road, Oakham, Rutland , LE15 7QN 37

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www.harborough-stone.com

Louvred and Solid Window Shutters

Harborough Lights Lighting Design Consultancy

OUTDOOR LIGHTING NOW ON DISPLAY, FROM HIGH QUALITY TRADITIONAL LANTERNS TO ULTRA MODERN LED

David Letts Displaying the very best 13 Manor Walk, in British and European Market Harborough, decorative lighting and the Leicestershire. LE16 9BP latest in LED technology.

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Open 9am until 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday.

Appointments and home visits available.

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Your local specialist bespoke builder and developer with a passion and reputation for building exceptional homes.

Visit to see our portfolio & current jobs

The Old Pump House, Manton Road, Edith Weston, Rutland, LE15 8HB

T: 01780 729027

E: Richard@brownandjones.co.uk www.brownandjones.co.uk

Room to Live Quality bespoke Orangeries & Garden Rooms designed to your specification

Tel: 01780 756666 www.qks-ltd.co.uk

Showroom: Cherryholt Road, Stamford, PE9 2EQ

Opening hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm Sat 10am - 3pm

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OPEN WEEKEND 6th & 7th June 10am - 3pm Your private retreat is only a 2 hour* drive from Central London.

Come and discover this great location in Rutland, LE15 8AH. Sailing, fishing, cycling Concierge service Private & gated Hotel conveniences 40

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SH OP S & SE R V I CE S

New Businesses in Oakham Independent businesses are at the very core of Oakham’s retail offering – Amander Meade finds out how some of the newest start-ups are faring

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LBAR’S Den – The Gift Emporium will be celebrating one year in business during May so look out for lots of special offers, promotions and discounts this month. The shop has become a firm favourite with Rutland shoppers and visitors alike. “I try and source unusual yet affordable ranges,” commented owner, Helen.

“Customers can find something really unique for a special present and our jewellery ranges are priced from £6 so are great for youngsters to find a gift for friends.” Faux flowers, leather hand bags for the new season and home fragrance are all recommended.

New to Mill Street and adding a touch of artistic flair is Trent Galleries, representing some of the country’s most popular artists.

Trent represents Doug Hyde, Rebecca Lardner and Henderson Cisz to name just a few and also offer other gallery services such as framing and wedding gift services. Frequent changes of display keep the stock looking really fresh and there is no need to feel intimidated by the staff here either – they pride themselves on creating a very friendly environment and if you call in on a Saturday the chances are they will pop a glass of fizz into your hand to celebrate the weekend.

Darren Haughton heads up an expert team at Osprey Lettings and along with Isobel Goodwin have over thirty years’ local property experience between them. The eight strong team in Rutland specialise in lettings and can source or let any kind of property from a first time flat to a large country residence. Isobel recommends using an agent whether you are a rental client or a landlord – “It really is the best way to avoid pitfalls like unregistered deposits and we also ensure property standards are regulated as well as scrutinising the credit of potential tenants on behalf of landlords. A letting agent protects both parties and disputes are avoided or minimised if they should occur.”

Recently voted one of the best rural locations, Rutland’s letting market is booming at the moment. “At Osprey Lettings, our priority is to provide a superb service to both landlord and tenant, which is why we are quickly gaining a reputation for being the best choice of letting specialist in Oakham, Stamford, Kettering and the surrounding areas,” comments Darren.

Opening last October, Everlasting Now on Church Street can report a very successful few months’ trading according to co-owner Anne Stringer. Described as a treasure trove of ideas, Everlasting Now stocks a large range of stylish products that are either upcycled or original vintage pieces given a modern twist. There’s a new range of plants as well as a host of unusual lamps, pictures and decorative art. Here’s the place to find genuine vintage accessories to make the most of the boho fashion trend this summer. Don’t forget to sample Anne’s locally

roasted artisan coffee, teas and homemade cakes which you can enjoy in the new outdoor seating area.

One of the biggest local success stories of recent years is audiologist, Healthy Hearing, now open on Gaol Street in Oakham and the fifth branch of its kind. The team offer a full audiology service including hearing tests, advice on the right hearing support or even just a new battery for your existing device. Friendly, expert staff and lovely relaxing new premises.

Duo on Oakham’s High Street was created by friends Pam Giblin and Gail Neville who have very high standards when it comes to customer service. “We feel every lady should feel good about themselves no matter their size, shape or budget so we aim to make your shopping experience as friendly and relaxed as possible. We want you to be really happy with your purchases to make sure you come back!”

Brands available at Duo include Postcard from Brighton, Ruby & Ed, Treaty and Fransa and if you are planning an outfit for a formal event this summer, head straight to Duo’s new hat studio where you can find all kinds of gorgeous headwear.

DIRECTORY: Albar’s Den – The Gift Emporium, Tel: 07977 002260 Duo Tel: 01572 722116 www.duoboutique.co.uk Everlasting Now Tel: 01572 723827 Healthy Hearing Tel: 0800 2987261 Osprey Lettings Tel: 01572 756675 www.ospreylettings.co.uk Trent Galleries Tel: 01572 722790 www.trentgalleries.co.uk

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SH OP S & SE R V I CE S

New Businesses in Market Harborough

This month Isabella Hamnett visits the exciting influx of new businesses in and around the thriving town of Market Harborough THE BEAUTY MANOR

SIMPSON AND PARTNERS ESTATE AGENTS The local property market has certainly boomed since this friendly independent estate agency opened in March. Partners Andrew Simpson and Aidan Tooms have an exceptional knowledge of the local area and a dedicated approach, giving both buyers and sellers great confidence. Backed up by highly experienced sales and lettings managers, the business, which was established in 1998, is thriving based on an already glowing reputation for an honest, professional service. The agency is unusual in the fact that it is open 7 days a week, meaning that customers can view properties with the agents on those all-important weekends.

• Simpson and Partners, 2 Adam & Eve Street, Market Harborough, LE16 7LT, Tel: 01858 410302, www.simpsonandpartners.co.uk MINT & GINGER COFFEEHOUSE / BUNNY & CLARKE Mint & Ginger: From the evercreative founders of Bunny & Clarke, this new rural coffee house is a real destination spot.

Originally a little corner within the Bunny & Clarke shop itself, the coffee house has expanded and relocated to the barn conversion opposite.

A rare commodity in the countryside, Mint & Ginger offer a mouthwatering menu of homemade delights. From breakfasts, fresh salads and platters at lunch and divine afternoon teas - just try and resist! Perhaps best yet, the ‘Homework Hour’ (3.30-4.30pm) gives kids a mini-milkshake and tray bake goodie, whilst Mums can catch up over a delicious coffee.

Bunny & Clarke: Treat yourself to a visit to this delightful lifestyle emporium opposite the coffee house, run by the effervescent mother and daughter team that is Anelli and Ainsley Clarke. The story behind this gem of a shop is absolutely delightful – originally set up 9 years ago in a disused indoor swimming pool, it was originally named ‘Inside Out.’ Anneli and Ainsling wanted to combine their love of

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shopping, interiors and art, with a practical business enterprise, and have now evolved into a fullyfledged lifestyle store, supporting local artists.

• Bunny & Clarke, The Manor, Main Street, Tur Langton, Leicestershire, LE8 0PJ, Tel: 01858 540424, www.bunnyandclarke.com THE BEAUTY MANOR Housed within an incredibly elegant townhouse, this multi-award winning salon occupies the spacious, light-filled first floor. A recent refurbishment has resulted in luxuriously glamorous treatment rooms with some of the deepest pile carpet you may ever experience! The highly experienced team of eight therapists receive ongoing training to ensure that the salon moves with developing technologies. Working alongside premium brands including Espa, Decleor, HD Brows, Image and Jessica, the full range of their products are stocked, and the therapists work closely with the brand representatives, holding regular events and masterclasses. Everything is covered in this tranquil salon, from laser, electrolysis and facials to full body massages, nails and eyelash tinting. I couldn’t come away without booking in for an introductory facial with their exceptionally knowledgeable Salon Director Kara!

• The Beauty Manor, High Street, Market Harborough LE16 7NL, Tel: 0844 999 4365, www.thebeautymanor.co.uk JOSIAH HINCKS SOLICITORS Although Josiah Hincks has been established in Leicestershire for over 87 years, it is a newcomer to the High Street in Market Harborough. Taking residence at the top of High Street, where Strutt & Parker were previously locate; the Market Harborough office is the fifth branch for this successful law firm. Josiah Hincks Solicitors has a longstanding connection with the South of the County, having previously been based in Market Harborough. Josiah Hincks himself lives in the nearby town of Fleckney and holds consultations in the village.

The firm recognised a need to provide legal services to clients across the County and Market Harborough was an area in which it already had a number of loyal clients. The firm offers a comprehensive range of expert legal services for individuals and businesses in the area.

• Josiah Hincks, 41 High Street, Market Harborough, LE16 7NL, Tel: 01858 462462, www.josiahhincks.co.uk HARBOROUGH LIGHTS This dazzling shop represents owner Dave’s overwhelming passion for lights. Working within the industry from the age of eighteen, he has been involved in both domestic and commercial installations, as well as many hospitality and leisure projects. The exceptional design and quality of the lights and fittings here is immediately evident, and ranges from all over the globe are stocked.

One off pieces can be commissioned, whether you are looking for a single light fitting or multiple, Dave can arrange the installation, using his highly experienced team of engineers.

• Harborough Lights, 13 Manor Walk, Market Harborough, LE16 9DP, Tel: 01858 467716, www.harboroughlights.co.uk

RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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AR T & C UL T U R E

Open Studios Art in the Making Over 30 Rutland Open Studio artists are getting together for a two day festival of Art in the Making again this year – following the success of last year, Holly and Stuart East will play host again, at the White Hart at Lyddington, to the festival which hopes to be bigger and better than before with more artists demonstrating their skills including raku firing, singing workshops, local musicians and an Art Exhibition; there will be a beer tent, Hog Roast and BBQ, served over the two days from the fine kitchens of the White Hart.

Sarah Stillman

Rutland County College Students Perform West End Show

Angela Harding

Josette Carroll Gillian Durno

Join the fun for all ages on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st May from 10am – 4pm and help kick start this year’s Rutland Open Studios June Art Trail. Entry is free.

Barbara Taylor- Harris

An Arty Affair at Victoria Hall

As part of Open Studios, five Professional Artists are joining together at the Victoria Hall Oakham from 29th May -17th June where an exciting and varied selection of artwork will be exhibited.

• Barbara Taylor- Harris is a painter and Sculptor. She is a mixed media artist and paints in many different styles. Barbara is a Professional Associate for The Society of All Artists and gives workshops and Individual Tuition days.

• Liz Emery felts wool and silk fibres together to create pictures that have the feel of a painting whilst retaining the quality of textiles.

• Vilma Nyss works primarily with acrylics, but is inspired by the use of different media and techniques, including monoprinting and collargraphy. Her work covers a variety of subjects using many different styles to create innovative, representational and contemporary artwork.

• Josette Carroll’s work involves transforming discarded cardboard fruit boxes into 3D Abstract forms. She also incorporates honeycomb cardboard and other waste products to create collages.

• Sarah Stillman paints from a love of nature and plants. A dynamic and colourful array of paintings and prints with a bold Mediterranean

Vilma Nyss

Liz Emery

feel. Sarah paints in watercolour, acrylics and gouache and uses pastels and crayon. Sarah holds monthly art classes from her home overlooking The Welland Valley.

• The Arty Affair Art exhibition will be open for viewing 29th May -17th June 2015 10.00 am -4.00 pm Daily. Free Entrance – commissions undertaken. For any further information for these five artists contact: Sarah Stillman on Tel: 01572 868314

Please Shut The Gate Artisan Printmaker Nicola Elstone opens her studio in Braunston to visitors to co-inside with the Rutland Open Studios. For more information see page 21 or logon to: www. pleaseshuttheagate.co.uk.

Angela Harding

Mainly working as a printmaker in block print and silk screen, the main theme of Angela’s work, who was artist in residence at Uppingham School and whom exhibits nationally, is British birds and animals combined with the British countryside. Her studio will be open in Wing during the weekends of the event.

The Hand Stitched Theatre Company, a local theatre company who also double as a BTEC theatre group, will be performing ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ on June 18th at 7pm at the Rutland College in Barleythorpe.

‘The Play That Goes Wrong’, literally goes wrong. A tale of mishap, idiocy and ineptitude. The Hand Stitched Theatre Company play the Cornley Polytechnic Society, who will for one night only attempt to put on ‘The Murder at Haversham Manor’, badly.

• Tickets are free! Call Tel: 07859027341 for further information.

Gillian Durno

Gillian Durno will be launching a selection of new paintings at her Open Studios from her Ketton home garden studio and also at Art in the Heart, Peterborough as part of Peterborough Open Studios.

Gillian’s Open Studios event is always popular with clients returning year after year, many setting her new commissions or simply coming to have a chat with her over a glass of Pimms! Gillian supplies galleries in Oakham, Cambridge, Lincoln, Peterborough and Stamford and has recently been launched as a new artist in Artko’s Spring/Summer 2015 catalogue – one of the leading publisher of wall art in the UK. Open Studio at Lavender Cottage, 8 Redmiles lane, Ketton PE9 3RG are June 6/7, 13/14 and 28th 11-4pm.

Limited edition giclee prints start at £80.00; Originals start from £350.00.

• For more information: www.gilliandurno. co.uk Mobile Tel: 07961 608172 gilliandurno-paintings • For more information about the festival or if you are interested in participating contact:rutlandopenstudios@yahoo.co.uk or visit www.rutlandopenstudios.co.uk RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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DAYS OUT

New Exhibition Remembers the Age of the Working Horse

L

This summer sees the launch of a new exhibition at Lamport Hall to honour the contribution made by working horses to the nation

AMPORT Hall in Northamptonshire has set aside part of its Edwardian stable block to house the collection of horserelated memorabilia, which includes an array of antiquarian vets’ equipment and farriers’ tools.

The collection has been donated to Lamport Hall by a lifelong heavy horse enthusiast Bryan Holden, who remembers these magnificent beasts as part of daily life in his youth: “In my childhood cart horses and van horses were still everyday sights, in our towns and cities.

Most door-to-door deliveries were made by horse-drawn vehicles. Horses were also the mainstay on our farms, and I have very happy memories of sitting on a horse and cart when I helped with the harvest on one farm in the summer of 1939, just as the War broke out. Horses were vital too on the canals, at hundreds of collieries and in railway shunting yards.

The coming of the motor lorry and the farm tractor changed everything, and by the 1950s the end of the working horse was in sight. Now they are just a distant memory and the debt that previous generations owed to the working horse deserves to be remembered while there are still a few people of my generation around with our first-hand memories”.

Bryan’s collection now has a permanent home at Lamport Hall, where it is on display in a splendid Edwardian saddle room whenever the hall and gardens are open to the public. In other parts of the stables visitors are also treated to interpretation panels about the many other uses to which horses have been put down the centuries, from hunting to racing, as well as the vital role that horses played in the two world wars.

Lamport Hall was the home of the Isham family from 1560 until 1976, when the 12th baronet Sir Gyles Isham gifted the house and surrounding estate to a charitable trust. Parts of the Lamport stables date back to the Elizabethan era, but most of the block was built in 1907 by a fox hunting fanatic. The young poet Siegfried Sassoon quartered his horse here at the end of a hunt in the spring of 1914, and all the horse stalls are still intact to this day, together with the names of horses stabled there down the years.

The hall is surrounded by ten acres of gardens, and famous across the world across the globe as the home of the world’s oldest garden gnome. In the second half of the nineteenth century Sir Charles Isham imported some terracotta figures from Germany and decided to put them in the garden rockery. By the late 1800s the rockery and its curious inhabitants were achieving national acclaim, but legend has it that the daughters of Sir Charles assassinated the gnomes upon his death in 1903! One lucky chap survived - Lampy, the world’s oldest garden gnome, now enjoys pride of place in the hall.

Lamport is one of the region’s lucky survivors. So many country houses were demolished after the last War, and Lamport itself suffered badly after troops and then POWs were stationed there.

Visitors can see pictures of sixteen other local houses that were flattened by the bulldozer in the Fifties, a grim reminder of how tough things were in the post-war era.

• Lamport Hall is open to the public every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon between Easter and mid-October, as well as Bank Holiday Sundays and Mondays. Logo to www.lamporthall.co.uk for further information.

RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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AC T I VI T I E S

Learn traditional skills at Stanwick Lakes

It is best known as a great day out for families, but Stanwick Lakes, near Rushden, is also helping to keep important traditional countryside skills alive. Fiona Cumberpatch reports

I

F you have children, the chances are you will have visited Stanwick Lakes to enjoy the wonderful assault course and adventure playground, to picnic by the water’s edge or cycle the gentle paths and enjoy the wide open spaces. But as well as being a popular local attraction and a bird sanctuary, the park has an important part to play in the local community. Run by Rockingham Forest Trust, which is a social enterprise, it serves as a training ground for young unemployed people and is now offering a range of traditional crafts courses to the general public too.

Forgotten skills such as basket weaving, shoe making, dry stone walling, green woodworking and blacksmithing are offered as a way of celebrating heritage and introducing them to new generations. “Stanwick Lakes is run by a charity and all our profits are reinvested,” explains Alyson Allfree, director of Rockingham Forest Trust. A Heritage Lottery Fund grant enabled the Trust to introduce the Trading Places scheme, aimed at breathing new life into the heritage skills and crafts of the Nene valley.

The scheme is already proving very successful for young unemployed people who are introduced to six skills over a period of six weeks. To date, two have obtained apprenticeships in shoe making and bricklaying and others have gone on to further education and employment.

“For many young people, it will be the first time that they have experienced anything like

this,” says Alyson, as we watch three students working together at the glowing forge in the park’s newly built green oak barn. “They will try all six skills, and at the end of the second or third day here, they will have made something to take home with them. Some really thrive on it, and they have a sense of pride and achievement.”

Stuart Taylor, Trading Places Project Manager says: “The students are learning transferrable skills, but they are also gaining experience which they can add to their cv. It really helps with interviews, job applications and personal statements.”

The scheme has attracted so much attention from visitors to the park, that the craft courses are now being opened up to the general public as a pilot scheme. From March - September there is a wide programme of workshops taught by skilled craftspeople from the area. A competitive charge is made for courses which include a three day shoe making course, in which participants will learn how to make a pair of unlined leather lace up boots, cutting out and hand stitching the leather, working with shoe lasts and attaching heels and soles.

Other courses include a one day blacksmithing course, in which participants can make hooks and candlesticks and the chance to learn how to build a dry stone wall.

“It’s a beautiful place to come and work,” says Alyson. “This is a site of Special Scientific Interest and lies at the heart of the Nene valley Special Protection Area which is on the same level as The Camargue in France.”

Learn a traditional skill The courses have a limited number of places, and cost from £55 (for the dry stone walling course) to £270 (for the three day shoe making course, including all materials, lunch, and unlimited tea and coffee). For details of the courses and prices, call 01933 460985 and talk to Mark or Stuart, or email info@rftrust.org.uk

About Stanwick Lakes Stanwick Lakes was a working quarry until quite recently. In 2004 the last load of gravel was extracted and work began to create a place for people and wildlife to enjoy. The area has been very thoughtfully constructed, encouraging families to have fun, but also to appreciate the nature and heritage around them. Even the indoor soft play centre has an educational theme of above and below the waterline, and there are craft classes for pre-schoolers as well as facilities for school parties, together with a large café serving food and drinks. Find out what is going on at www.stanwicklakes.org.uk A car parking fee applies.

RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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Consultant Care in Uppingham The Woodland Hospital is providing a NEW outpatient clinic at Uppingham Surgery This service allows GP’s to refer their patients, whether insured, self-paying or NHS funded to Mr Sanjay Chaudhri, a Consultant General Surgeon for colorectal, hernia and gall bladder treatment, lower gastrointestinal endoscopy and inflammatory bowel disease, without the need to visit a Hospital.

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10-18th July 2015

A professional music festival featuring an eclectic mix of traditional, international & classical repertoire.

www.oundlefestival.org.uk

or call 01832 274734

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DI ARY DAT E S

WHAT’S ON Amander Meade selects some of the best entertainment in the region this month Saturday 13 June, gates from 5.30pm, concert 7.30pm EVENT: Music in the Park Annual charity concert.

Bring a picnic and enjoy a concert including the award winning Hathern Brass Band. Fabulous fireworks provide the grand finale. All proceeds to LOROS and Leicestershire Charity Link.

Wistow Hall Adults £15, 10-16 years £5, under 10 years free. Free parking. All information at www.wistow.com Saturday 13 June, 7.30pm MUSIC: The Elias String Quartet for Music in Lyddington This concert will feature a delightful programme of music by Haydn, Schumann and Beethoven.

St Andrew’s Church, Lyddington Tickets £15 (students £3) available from Music & More, Uppingham Theatre and Uppingham Sports & Books Wednesday 17 June, 7.30pm COMEDY: Reginald D Hunter - The Man Who Attempted To Do As Much As Such Reginald has been in the UK for just under two decades and in that time he has become one of the UK Comedy industry’s best-known performers for his distinctive take on all kinds of subjects. His work can be brutally honest and is often considered

to be controversial but it is always meticulously thought out and he has never been afraid to face challenging issues head on, even when the focus is on his own principles or beliefs.

De Montfort Hall, Leicester Tickets £24 Tel: 0116 233 3111 or www.demontforthall.co.uk Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June, 1pm to 6pm EVENT: Open Gardens, Art and Flowers at South Luffenham Several village gardens will be open with a plant stall, train rides, croquet and ice creams.

An Exhibition of Art by local artists and a Flower Festival depicting ‘The 1960s’will be held in the Church. Teas and stalls including homemade cakes and preserves, tombola and Grand Draw.

Entrance £5 (children free) Saturday 20 June, 2pm EVENT: Harringworth Village Fete A traditional village fete with games, stalls, plants and refreshments.

Seaton Road, Harringworth Sunday 21 June, 12 – 4pm EVENT: Ashwell Village Fete Games, stalls, refreshments and fun for all the family.

Ashwell Grange, Whissendine Road Adults £2, children admitted free, parking is free. Proceeds to St Mary’s Church and a donation to the Nottingham Hospital Helipad fund.

TWO EVENTS ON 12 AND 14 JUNE FOR MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH… Much-loved Rutlander Martin Lawrence sadly lost his life to Motor Neurone Disease last October and his wife, Tricia, has launched The Martin Lawrence Trust in his memory. The Trust aims to give young people in Africa and the UK a better chance in life through learning, education and sport.

Friday 12 June 6.30pm to 8pm - EVENT: Garden Safari Supper - Raising funds for the Martin Lawrence Memorial Trust Prosecco and canapés, a hog roast then puddings and coffee – three courses in three different gardens in Priory Road, Manton. Raffle and entertainment.

Tickets £45 Tel: 01572 737125. Safari style dress.

Sunday 14 June 2pm to 6pm EVENT: Garden Party Homemade teas, games and raffle. Entrance £1 to include quiz sheet, children enter free. Proceeds towards your local MND Support group.

Fryer’s Cottage, Priory Road, Manton

Wednesday 24 June, 10.30am to 4.30pm COURSE: Growing Exotic Vegetables This course is aimed at more adventurous gardeners, and covers a wide range of edible plants you may not have thought possible to grow in the UK such as chickpeas, soya beans, tomatillos, sweet potatoes, pepino and Chinese keys. Recipe suggestions and a list of seed and plant suppliers provided.

Barnsdale Gardens Cost is £74, and includes lunch and entry to the Gardens for the rest of the day. Pre-booking essential www.barnsdalegardens. co.uk or Tel: 01572 813200

Sunday 28 June EVENT: Blaston & District Agricultural Show A brilliantly organised show with plenty to keep everyone entertained for the full day. Expect terrier racing, parades of classic and vintage tractors and show jumping. The many other attractions across the Showground will include children’s fair rides, trade stands, rural crafts, tug of war, a licensed bar and food outlets, a modern farming display, dog showing and hound showing. There will be many equine and a full range of cattle and sheep showing classes.

Blaston Road showground, near Slawston,

Leicestershire. £15 per car For full information about class bookings and the show, visit www. blastonshow.co.uk Tuesday 30 June, 6.30pm for 7pm EVENT: Talk and Summer Drinks Party Mark Glatman Theatre, Uppingham School The WaterAid Rutland Group is celebrating ten years of successful fundraising with an entertaining talk by Lars Tharp, the well-known Antiques Roadshow expert, followed by a drinks party.

All WaterAid Rutland supporters are invited.

Tickets £20 Tel: 01572 747044.

We buy...Antiques / Jewellery / Watches

(all types of Gold & Silver, from antique to modern day times) FREE APPRAISAL SERVICE AT YOUR HOME To book an appointment please call Nick on 07823 886848 or Helen on 07795 196296 Barrowden Antiques, Main St, Barrowden, Rutland, LE15 8EQ (nickbettles@aol.co.uk) 52

RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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Flexicruise would like to invite you and your friends to join us at a Scenic and Emerald exclusive information session to be held at: The William Cecil Hotel, Stamford on Tuesday 30 June 2015 at 2pm If you would like to learn more about river cruising and would like to join us, please call our Cruise Expert Jo Rigby on 01780 729069 for a ticket Numbers are limited so don’t delay.

flexicruise.com

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D IS C O U

NT! AT THE G PRODUCATE WHEN ING THIS ADVERT

Sunday 28th June 2015

10am–5pm

Classes start from 8.30am

The Showground, Blaston Road, Slawston, Nr Market Harborough, Leics. LE16 7UD

An unmissable day out for the whole family promoting rural life in the Welland Valley and raising money for local charities Main ring display includes: • Horse and pony classes • Fancy dress competition • Parade of Hounds • Classic Car Judging • Terrier Racing • Dancing Diggers display

Around the Show throughout the day: • Dog classes • Cattle and sheep judging • Modern machinery display • Trade Stand and food stalls, including the WI tent

Entry: £15 per car including occupants www.blastonshow.co.uk

MHRL

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S H OP S & SE R V I C E S

UPDATES Sports Bash S

ports Bash is returning for the 4th consecutive year with a Matt Hampson XI against the newly formed Help For Heroes XI on July 23rd followed by England Masters XI vs Local Legends XI on July 24th. Both are T20 matches. There will be many famous sports stars playing, including Mark Ramprakash, Matthew Hoggard, Rory Underwood and Lewis Moody.

Last year’s event raised £31,500 for charity

which went to the Thorpe Hall Hospice Appeal and Matt Hampson Foundation, who donated monies raised for them to Seb Goold, the Stamford Junior School boy who is now recovering from his ordeal of last year.

This year’s event will see climbing wall, a golf challenge, 45m inflatable assault course, giant slide, gladiator challenge, bungee run and a little ones bouncy castle. All of which is inclusive in the ticket price. The usual beer tent, Pimms

bar and food stalls will be available on the day.

• Tickets are on sale at www.sportbash.co.uk, advanced discounted tickets: adult (aged 12+) from £10 and child (11-6) from £7.50 with under 5s free of charge (ticket still required).

Howarth Timber & Building Supplies T

he Corby branch of Howarth Timber & Building Supplies are celebrating their brand new kitchen showroom with an Open Week, running from the Monday 1st June to Saturday 6th June.

Currently celebrating their 175th anniversary, Howarth Timber & Building Supplies has invested in adding a brand new Kitchen showroom, the tenth across its branches, to demonstrate the wide variety of quality kitchen furnishings and expertise available, spearheaded by newly appointed Showroom Manager Sue Crewe.

Howarth Timber & Building Supplies has a well-deserved reputation for providing high quality kitchens and now Howarth Timber Corby invite public and trade alike down for a week-long opening event, where you’ll be able to browse the latest kitchens, enter a fantastic competition to

win £1,000 in kitchen vouchers, meet suppliers and even grab a free breakfast.

Branch manager Michael Brambini welcomes the new development and the opportunity to increase the product offering at Corby. “This is a fantastic development for us here at the Corby branch. Howarth Timber & Building Supplies have a hard-earned reputation as reliable and comprehensive Kitchen supplier. We’re extremely proud of this, and we look forward to bringing the quality and value our customers have come to expect.”

With a large number of inspiring kitchen displays available to view at leisure, Howarth Timber Corby is set to be a one-stop-shop for kitchens and kitchen appliances.

Rutland’s Mary Combines Travel with Fitness

MARY HARDWICK

D

o you like the sound of an exclusive Mediterranean cruise with luxurious accommodation and delicious food? Of course you do. Do you also like the idea of keeping active in great company and not entirely abandoning your hard won fitness by the side of the sun lounger? Well now there is a holiday company that combines a passion for fitness and travel run by American born Cynthia Paulauskas. Mediterranean Delights Fitness Voyages combines the skills of a group of friends who have synchronised their small businesses to offer clients the very best, exclusive travel for those who like a little more ‘go’ when they go away.

“We organise holidays for discerning travellers on board a beautiful private boat crewed by a talented team of local travel experts who help you get the most out of your Mediterranean adventures. You’ll be royally treated to locally sourced and inspired meals created by a private chef on board using wholesome ingredients with traditional cooking methods. Part of your experience will include hiking excursions so while on board, guests benefit from working out with fitness experts to help build strength, muscle-recovery stretching and yoga.” The fitness program on board is suitable for all levels with Rutland’s own favourite coach Mary Hardwick joining the crew as fitness consultant this September (2015).

• Small groups, incredible venues, luxurious surroundings, inspirational fitness coaching - Mediterranean Fitness Voyages promise to exceed your dreams of personalised, thoughtful travel – find out more at www.mdfvoyage.com RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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S HOP S & SE R V I CE S

UPDATES Young Musicians and Singers Learn from the Pros Y

oung musicians in the Rutland area will have a golden opportunity this summer to learn stage craft from those who make their living in concert halls and professional theatre. The sixth annual NB Music Course takes place at Oakham School from the 10th to the 14th August and there are just a few places remaining for both the Musical Theatre and the orchestral aspects of the course.

Rachel Branston, the course organiser, said, “We bring in first class performers from London to coach youngsters to make the most of their instruments and singing. It’s all about building confidence, whatever their musical ability.”

Instrumentalists will have expert coaching from Rob Wallace, an exceptional trumpeter and teacher, James Godfrey, an Associated Board examiner and percussionist, offering performances and teaching all over the world, Victoria Mavromoustaki, an internationally renowned violinist and teacher and Oliver Buxton, bassoonist and bass guitarist.

At the end of the week all the performers will come together for a concert for parents and friends that shows off their talents in four extracts from Musical Theatre shows.

The course is sponsored by the Nicholas Branston Foundation in memory of the young Rutland musician

who died in a road accident seven years ago and the teachers are all Nic’s friends.

• For further information contact: Paul or Rachel Branston on Tel: 01480 300039 or Tel: 07912 499433, www.nbmusiccourses.org.

Peter’s Back by Popular Demand…

Traditional Restoration

L

T

overs of beautifully designed hand-made jewellery will be delighted to hear that Peter Keightley, formerly of Rubinstein Keightley in Uppingham, has re-opened a workshop and is once again taking private commissions. Back in collaboration with Krzys, the outstanding goldsmith who has worked alongside Peter for many years, Rutland Goldsmiths specialise in one-off, hand-made commissions in gold or platinum with diamonds and precious stones.

Former customers will know the bespoke nature of Peter’s approach – he devotes a lot of time to understanding the specific requirements of each commission before producing beautifully drawn and coloured designs for approval. Remodelling your unworn jewellery or reusing the gold for the new piece, as well as restoration and repairs, are also part of their service.

• Peter meets clients by appointment only and can be contacted on Tel: 07793 651599. For more information on Rutland Goldsmiths and a gallery of images visit: www. rutlandgoldsmiths.co.uk

56

he weather has started to warm up at last! Now is the time to check that your windows are working properly.

Many people decide to have their external woodwork repainted over the summer months, and this is advisable to keep it in good condition. However, before you do that, check your windows. Can you open them? Often wooden windows become painted shut over time. This does not mean they are no longer able to be used. They can usually be returned to full working order. James from Traditional Restoration will strip the paint from them if required to enable him to get them working again. If you have sash windows that have not been opening correctly for as long as you can remember, (and believe us when we say this is all too common!) James can soon rectify this. He will remove the sashes from existing box frame. The sashes are then weighed and weight can be added if necessary to balance sashes correctly. Any old sash cord is replaced with new wax coated sash cord, and the sashes can then be rehung. Sometimes James can come across some unexpected rot whilst completing the overhaul work. This is not a problem as he can repair this using Repaircare resin and timber. He will discuss any additional work with you, should this happen.

• If you would like to talk to James about external timber repairs, replacement glass for your windows, or any aspect of your wooden windows and doors, please do not hesitate to contact him Tel: 01572 720524 or 07841 527855.

RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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G ar ift de s f n or an H d om Lif e es , ty le

G

Your local paint suppliers is now open We’ve got everything you need for decorating this summer, inside and out...

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STONE FLOOR CLEANING • I wish my stone floor could be cleaned • I wish the grout could be restored • I wish the natural stone could be sealed We will grant your three wishes and give you a 10% discount on production of this Rutland Living advert.

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OFFER ENDS 31ST JULY 2015

WEAVING MAGIC 57

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EV EN T S & SE R V I C E S MA R K E T H A RB O R O U G H

HARBOROUGH HAPPENINGS What’s new in Market Harborough?

An Evening of Music C

‘Nordic Walk it!’ in and around Harborough What is Nordic Walking?

Nordic Walking uses specially designed poles to enhance the body’s natural walking style. The technique is similar to the upper body action of cross country skiing. Nordic Walking is a whole body exercise that can be enjoyed at many levels, from walking for health to athletic Nordic Walking challenges. More than 10 million people globally enjoy this outdoor activity all year round – you don’t need snow. In fact, you need very little.

How will it benefit my body?

Nordic Walking combines the simplicity and accessibility of walking with simultaneous core and upper body conditioning similar to Nordic skiing. The result is a full body workout, which

means that you: · burn up to 40% more calories compared to walking without poles · release tension in the neck and shoulders · improve your posture, gait and fitness · strengthen your back and abdominal muscles · reduce the impact on the joints And because Nordic Walking doesn’t feel like hard work you’ll be surprised to find that you walk further and for longer.

Is it for me?

Nordic Walking is a very accessible activity and something that can be enjoyed by people of all different fitness levels and abilities. It’s an ideal activity for people who haven’t exercised for a while or who dislike traditional sports or gym activities. An injured person can use the poles to support and guide, working to improve fitness as part of their rehabilitation. Athletes can use Nordic Walking for cross training and take part in timed Challenges. Community groups find it a sociable way to keep fit. If you’d like to shed a few pounds, improve your posture, improve flexibility and fitness, then Nordic Walking is an enjoyable way to do this. Whatever your age from 8 to 80+, you’ll probably enjoy discovering the benefits of Nordic Walking that improve your quality of life.

What equipment do I need?

Outdoor clothing to suit the weather. Layers are best so that they can be removed a little

58

lassical guitarists Paul Martin and Richard James return to Market Harborough to present an evening of music at the Congregational Church on Saturday 20th June.

Following on from their sell out concert at the Harborough Theatre last year, the duo’s evening promises a wide range of music from the Renaissance to the present day including pieces by Bach, Mozart, Lawes, Carulli and Sor amongst others, both as duets and solo performances.

• Tickets are priced at: £10 each for adults and £5 for children (under 16).

Available from MH Music, St Mary’s Road, Market Harborough, Tel: 01858 463144.

For more information please contact either Paul, info@pauljohnmartin.co.uk or Richard, rdjamesguitar@gmail.com

at a time. A good, comfortable pair of walking boots or walking shoes is a must. A hat, a thin pair of gloves and waterproofs are helpful in very cold and wet weather. The instructors will provide the specialised poles.

How much does it cost?

Classes to learn the technique are an hour in length and it will take 4-6 hours to learn, depending on your goal. Four week classes (4 hours) will cost £40 but if you do the first lesson and decide it is not for you, then you have the choice of stopping there and paying nothing.

Once you have learned the technique you can walk by yourself or opt to walk on one of the scheduled walks to suit your needs.

The ‘Nordic Walk it!’ group run regular walking groups that visit a different area each week.

Our qualified walk leaders are there to guide and support you every step of the way.

Book your FREE session • If you are interested in booking on the introductory session or finding out more about Nordic walking in Harborough, whatever your goal, from fun events to serious challenges, then visit www. nordicwalkit.co.uk, call Tel: 0794 93 92 018 or email igniteability@icloud.com 2nd June free introductory session at 12 noon in Hallaton.

RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

58 HH MAY.indd 1

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Entries invited For our next Fine art & antiques Sale Contact: Mark Gilding Telephone: 01858 410414 Email: sales@gildings.co.uk

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59

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• RMHL June.indd 46

20/05/2015 16:17

L OC AL P EOPLE

Marie Curie – Caring in Rutland When Alison Tully lost her dear Dad, Martin, she was inspired to spearhead a new branch of Marie Curie Care, here in Rutland in his memory. Alison tells Amander Meade all about the work of the charity and why she is determined to help others achieve their end of life wishes Background

Founded by ground breaking medical women, a public appeal raised the necessary funds to open a hospital for the ‘Radiological treatment of women suffering from cancer and allied diseases’. Marie Curie, the scientist who discovered polonium and radium in 1898, was most interested in the project and allowed her name to be given to the hospital.

Staffed entirely by women, the first Marie Curie hospital opened in London in 1929.

And today….

Working closely with the NHS, local independent hospices and other charities, Marie Curie Care develop services designed around people’s needs and successfully help terminally ill people to remain in their homes.

What exactly do Marie Curie nurses do?

There are lots of charities doing great work providing advice and support for families affected by terminal illness but we are the only charity funded hands-on nursing care providers.

We offer free nursing care as well as supporting family and friends. Our nurses provide one-to-one care during the day and overnight at home as well as care at very short notice in a crisis.

Why is it so important to provide care at home?

Given the choice, most of us want to die at home, surrounded by the people and things we cherish. Marie Curie Care makes this possible.

We allow families to make the most of the precious time they have left together.

But the sad fact is, every five minutes someone in the UK dies without care at home at the end of their life. That’s why we urgently need to reach more people.

What goes on in Rutland on behalf of Marie Curie?

We are a brand new branch only launched last year so we are a very new group. Working under the umbrella of the national charity, all funds raised in the county are spent in the county.

In the past, Rutlanders have had to rely on resources pulled from Leicestershire or Lincolnshire but now we have a chance to establish our own ‘pot’ of funds to help people here in Rutland, making it much easier to access care.

How are funds raised?

Our biggest fundraiser is the annual Daffodil Appeal that people will recognise. We had our first Rutland collection in March which raised £1,366.91. A nurse for a nine hour night time shift costs £180 or £20 an hour which means some Rutland families will benefit from some much needed respite. The more money we raise, the more nursing time we can fund.

Do your nurses just care for those affected by cancer?

Absolutely not. The charity is undertaking a rebrand for that very reason. We are now known as Marie Curie Care as we provide nurses for all kinds of end of life situations as well as cancer - Parkinson’s disease, Motor Neurone Disease, heart failure, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease among others.

What are your plans for fundraising this year?

We are very fortunate to be the recipient of various donations from local efforts including concert funds from Oakham School pupils and a charity swimathon at Catmose Pool. Look out for us at the Rutland Show and for details of our jumble sale in July. There is also a huge tea party planned for June.

How can our readers help?

We really need people to help us by volunteering – either to join our small and very friendly committee or to go on our list of helpers for shaking tins or donating a few hours of their time at a fundraising event. It would also be brilliant if people want to do a sponsored event for us. We are so grateful for any assistance in the form of time or ideas. Everyone is welcome and it’s so great to know that we are helping Rutland people at the time they need it the most.

• Contact Alison, Chair of Marie Curie Rutland Fundraising Group, Tel: 07747 620780 or email: atully@hotmail.co.uk RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH LIVING JUNE 2015

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P ROF I L E

Curve Debut for Chris Ashby The National Theatre’s multi award-winning production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, adapted from Mark Haddon’s best-selling book, is making its Leicester debut at Curve from 9-13 June. The production is the only show to run simultaneously on Broadway, in the West end and on tour.

Directed by Marianne Elliott, who co-directed the National Theatre’s hugely successful production of War Horse, the play stars Leicester actor Chris Ashby – Amander Meade asks him about playing the role of central character, Christopher Boone How did you begin acting?

I certainly wasn’t a ‘stage school kid’, in fact I came quite late to acting. I was a very average student but had an early mid-life crisis aged sixteen! My heart wasn’t in my A levels so I took a year out of study to think about what to do next. I went to an open audition at Leicester’s Little Theatre and landed a role in that year’s pantomime. I absolutely loved it and from there on I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Following a BTEC in Performing Arts at Brooksby College in Melton, I was lucky enough to win a scholarship to drama school and after graduation, the hard work of trying to make a career began.

You have made a really impressive start to your CV with roles in Doc Martin, Holby City, Skins, New Tricks and the film, Fallen – Why did you want to tour with this production?

I have been lucky and had some fantastic early success but in between, the classic months of taking casual work to pay the bills too. Taking this part was an absolute no brainer; after the first audition I saw the West End production and it remains the best thing I have ever seen.

I went all out for the part after that and was thrilled to find I had won the role of Christopher, the central character in the play. It is a fantastic opportunity as there are very few high profile parts for actors my age.

College and has performed at the Little Theatre and Concordia Theatre in Hinckley.)

How does it feel to be performing on home turf?

I am so excited to bring the production home to Leicester but also absolutely terrified. This is where I am from and where my family all still live.

It all started for me in Leicester and I feel I have a lot to prove but can’t wait to get in front of a home crowd.

What’s next?

I am touring with the show until November when the film I made comes out. (The Fallen is on general worldwide release in Autumn 2015). Other than having a holiday and enjoying Christmas, I have no plans but hope that this role will stand me in good stead and provide a good platform for things to come.

• Tickets for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time are £32.50 concessions available for groups and different age groups. Call the Curve box office Tel: 01162 423583 or buy at www.curveonline.co.uk

A story about a murdered pet and a teenager ill-equipped to deal with every day life doesn’t sound as though it ought to be a big draw…. What is the magic formula do you think?

Lots of elements make the magic but the play is essentially about family. Everyone can relate to the family aspect of the show which is fundamentally about a young boy trying to find his way in the world.

What’s the best part of the role for you?

It’s a dream role. It marries so many parts of theatre – drama and comedy as well as some big physical moments. Curve is an incredible technical theatre and the audience reaction to the sound and lighting effects is always amazing.

You are from Leicester (Chris studied at Lutterworth College and Brooksby Melton

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