Life!

life!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

T he Gazette

in association with

AN INSPECTOR CALLS – AGAIN

Drama classic returns to The Grand

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INTERVIEW: Page 5

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TRAVEL: Pages 20/21

PLUS: Your complete seven-day TV & radio listings

SEVENDAYS

STAR SMILES:

Your complete guide the week’s televis to ion

Stars come out to play Graham Norton,

Davina McCall,

I

t may be Friday the 13th, but the organisers behind Comic Relief 2009 (BBC1, Friday, 7pm) be hoping will charitable thingthe gremlins do the this event goes and take the day off, so without a hitch.

Yes, it’s that time again, when the biggest stars nation’s come year the fundraiser out to play, and this is bigger than As usual, the ever. channels forget rivalry as everyone their is keen to join ratings fun. in the Slots in the evening-long showcase of comedy will be hosted by the likes of

YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpo

Jonathan Ross

and David Tennant

David Tennant, Britton, Claudia Davina McCall, Fern England football Ross, Alan Carr Winkleman, Jonathan chance to see team. There’s also the thereís a feast and Graham Norton, and the final of Comic Franz Ferdinand, Does The Apprentice, Relief enjoyed too. of one-off specials to be Ruth Jones get while Rob Brydon and and the culmination of to belt out their Relief song, (Barry) Little Britain and Comic Comic Relief. the series Let’s Dance for Ricky Gervais Islands in twice – once their thinking caps have put in the main studiothe Stream Sarah Jane fans on for the in a special, one-off while veteran and comediennes occasion, special adventureget a treat thanks to a edition of Top later Pops.

Saunders have French And of the Who companion, with the former Doctor showcase their chosen this event to Of course, we funnyman Ronnie who is joined by veteran last sketch. won’t be allowed Corbett.

Have the hankies why Brydon and to forget There’s also a at the ready, too, must-see collaboration away the tears so keen to give the rest of the stars were to dab between comedy better known of joy as James Corden – Davina McCall, up their free time, as Miller, and Mitchellduos Armstrong and as – offers a few Gavin & Stacey’s Smithy and Webb.

O’Grady and Lenny Henry, Paul pearls of wisdom Music comes Ant from Britain’s biggest to the from around the & Dec present reports Take That, as band, well as Scottish your money is UK and Africa on why rockers both at home needed to change lives and abroad.

olgazette.co.uk

Saturday, March

7, 2009

life! 25

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,

THEMOVIES

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC (12A)

Based on Sophie Kinsella’s novels. Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) is a 25 year old who lives cheap with her best friend Suze (Krysten Ritter) in a trendy part of town.

Rebecca has low paid job with a financial magazine but an expensive shopping addiction. Her bills are piling up when she discovers a story that she is truly invested in.

Exposing the story gets the attention of a colleague that she hasn't quite figured out yet. Drama ensues as she snags the guy, and she attempts to pay off her evergrowing debt.

Rating: Overdrawn

THE INTERNATIONAL (15)

Clive Owen continues his quest to be the toughest man on the big screen – but comes closer to heading straight to DVD. When a fellow agent is murdered, Euro cop Louis Salinger (Owen) and New York district attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) ignore the fact they are both named after American literary giants and join forces to entrap one of the world’s largest banks. Crossing the globe they learn the full extent of its corruption. These days they’d only need to buy a morning newspaper to find out much the same! Rating: Clive’s credit’s crunched

THE YOUNG VICTORIA (15)

From the makers of Gosford Park and The Departed comes the story of Queen Victoria’s early rise to power.

From an object of a royal power-struggle to her romantic courtship and legendary marriage to Prince Albert, Emily Blunt (Devil Wears Prada) gives an excellent performance as The Young Victoria. Packed with drama, romance, political intrigue, breath-taking cinematography and featuring an outstanding British cast including Jim Broadbent, Mark Strong, Paul Bettany and Miranda Richardson and Rupert Friend (Pride & Prejudice) it’s faithful but lacks excitement.

Rating: Time piece

4

View all the latest movie trailers at www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk

-

GRAN TORINO (15)

BOLT (U)

In probably his final appearance in front of a camera, Clint Eastwood delivers one of his finest performances as a xenophobic war veteran in this timely humanist drama, which he also directs. Haunted by his experiences in the Korean War and consumed by grief over his wife’s death, Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) has become bitter. But when a gang scraps with his neighbour’s son, Walt intervenes and soon warms to them in typical Dirty Harry style.

Rating: Grand swansong

Man’s best friend learns to stand on his own four paws in this computer animated comedy, which pokes fun at our obsession with celebrity. Since he was a pup, Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) has been the star of a popular TV series, in which he plays a genetically engineered canine with superpowers who saves plucky owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) from dastardly Dr Calico (Malcolm McDowell). But once thrust into the real world he embarks on a series of misadventures.

Rating: Hot dog

PUSH (12A)

WATCHMEN (18)

A relatively exciting British action-thriller set in the modernday world of psychic espionage. Nick (Chris Evans) and Cassie (Dakota Fanning) are among a group of unique individuals who have inherited and developed special psychic abilities that originated from human experiments conducted by the Nazi regime during World War II. Unfortunately all previous experiments have ended in tragedy and they find themselves on the run from Carver (Djimon Hounsou) and his troops, part of a clandestine government agency determined to harness their powers for evil. Rating: Some pull

THE UNBORN (15)

We all know that children can quite a handful but the cinema has the notion off to a fine art. From The Children of the Corn to Village of the Damned and Lord of the Flies – beware. So when Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) starts dreaming of a terrifying young child you just know there may be trouble ahead. Her investigations reveal that the twin brother she absorbed when they were in the womb is now a restless demon named a dybbuk and has taken repossession of its mind.

Rating: Omen revisited

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Set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of everyday society. choice Masked vigilante Rorschach uncovers a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers – Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Rating: Watch it

✔ life!

NEW IN TOWN (12A)

Lucy Hill (Renee Zellweger) is a high achiever who takes an assignment to restructure one of her company’s small manufacturing plants in Minnesota.

From Miami’s warm highlife to bitter cold, snow, and icy roads which must be endured to succeed. Lucy is treated as an outsider when she arrives but is a fighter and wants to win. Meeting union representative Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick, Jr.) helps, so when told to close the plant she comes up with an idea to save everybody's job – and, of course, falls in love.

Rating: Renee for President?

STARINTERVIEW

5MINUTES WITH

Russell Howard

British actor Clive Owen reveals how he prepared for the all-action role in his latest movie

R

ussell Howard was born in 1980 in Bristol.

He broke into the comedy mainstream four years ago when he was hired to write and perform on Radio One comedy The Milk Run. Russell was snapped up for TV shows including Would I Lie To You?, Law of the Playground and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and won a new wave of fans as a regular on Mock the Week.

M

aybe it’s the cup of tea in front of him, the way he thoughtfully strokes his chin as he speaks, or the genuine vigour in his voice, but Clive Owen seems surprisingly normal.

The ruggedly good-looking actor has come a long way from his “rough” Coventry childhood, but despite winning over Hollywood, he remains fiercely loyal to the UK and is firmly rooted in London.

“I love living here,’’ he says, leaning forward in his smart black suit.

“I came to London 20 years ago and fell in love with it. My kids are very happy here, they’re very settled at school, all my friends are here, there’s absolutely no reason for me to go anywhere.’’

Clive’s family-centred home life is a world away from the red carpet glamour of Hollywood and you sense that’s just how he likes it.

And when work, like his latest film The International, takes him away from home, he makes sure wife Sarah-Jane Fenton and their daughters, Hannah, 12, and Eve, nine, come too.

“They come to nearly every film I do, they come on location, they meet everybody and they have a great time,’’ the 44-yearold says.

The International, as its title suggests, took Clive all over the world – from Berlin to Istanbul, Milan and New York as his character, Interpol agent Louis Salinger, tries to bring down the world’s most corrupt bank.

With the global economy in freefall and bankers swiftly being cast as the new villains, it’s an eerily prescient film.

“It’s amazing to think that Eric (Singer – the screenwriter) started writing it six years ago,’’ Clive says.

“When I read the script, I felt like it was a subject that was worth discussing and talking about now, but no one could have predicted how timely it’s become.

“The whole thing is about pursuing this huge bank that we believe to be totally corrupt and questioning whether they’re using money appropriately and whether they’re sound and trustworthy – it’s become the topic of the moment and it’s not that farfetched.’’

This happy coincidence was not lost on the film’s marketing team, who have written a tagline sure to boost the box office takings: “They control your money. They control your government. They control your life. And everybody pays.’’

But then, as Clive says, Hollywood still has

INTERPOL AGENT: Clive Owen as Louis Salinger in The International

Action man’s a family guy to make money in a recession.

“I don’t think anyone can avoid it really, it reaches everybody and it certainly reaches the film game. Studios are tightening their belt and they’re more careful about the way they spend their money.’’

For his own part, the actor seems to be fairing quite well.

His performance opposite King Kong star Naomi Watts in The International is followed next month by spy caper Duplicity, where Clive teams up with Closer co-star and Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts.

“That script had some of the best dialogue I’ve read in years,’’ he says, green eyes sparkling.

“It’s about a couple of corporate spies who are having an affair and decide to scam the companies they’re working for but don’t trust each other at the same time, so it’s just right for great dialogue scenes with lots of wicked humour.

“It reminded me of old Cary Grant films, like His Girl Friday, because it trips along with great speed and rhythm.’’

Even more appealing for an actor, Clive

FACTFILE ■ Clive loves variety in his work and most recently went from dystopian sci-fi Children Of Men to playing Sir Walter Raleigh in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. ■ Clive has been lined up to star in a sequel to 2006 crime drama Inside Man, alongside Denzel Washington and directed

by Spike Lee. ■ He will return to the big screen later on this year in The Boys Are Back, as a widowed father in Australia who has to bring up his two sons.

HAPPY COUPLE: Owen with wife Sarah-Jane Fenton

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was asked to choose his leading lady.

“It’s so much easier when you’ve worked with somebody and you respect each other, you like each other,’’ Clive says.

“In a movie like this, it’s very much a series of great banter scenes between the two of us, and as the trust thing was taken care of before we began, we got to work much quicker and it was much more playful.’’

The good news for Clive’s children is that Duplicity might be one of the first of daddy’s films they can watch; “apart from Julia and I kissing a little bit!’’ he laughs.

“It’s really beginning to get to them that they can’t see my films,’’ he explains.

“They’re like ‘why can’t we watch it? We know it’s a movie!’ But the idea of them sitting down and watching Closer or [18rated] Shoot ‘Em Up is a big no no. So they are putting serious pressure on me to do a kids’ film.’’

It’s unlikely that The International will be showing in the Owen house any time soon though.

While there’s no onscreen romance between Clive and his co-star Naomi (“it was talked about, but it wasn’t appropriate to the film’’), there is a bloody body count in the main set piece – a breath-taking shootout at New York’s iconic Guggenheim Museum.

Clive’s ascent to Hollywood hero has been a steady one – after winning a place at RADA in the mid-80s he started out on the stage at the Young Vic, playing Romeo to his future wife Sarah’s Juliet.

He took on several TV roles, most notably as a loveable rogue in ITV series Chancer, before his breakout film role in 1998’s Croupier.

■ The International is currently on release in cinemas nationwide

If you had to be stuck in a lift with someone, who would it be?

Stephen Fry, but it depends how long you were going to be stuck in the lift. Also, Katherine Heigl from Knocked Up. What is your biggest fear?

I can’t go to sleep without having a noise, like a DVD or music playing. I went in a flotation tank the other day and it was horrific because you’re just locked in with your mind and it’s like being locked in a room with someone you hate. This brain of yours just bickers and whines and complains about all the things you haven’t done. I’m not really big about being on my own.

Do you have any superstitions?

I’ve got a really embarrassing list of things that I could never tell you. Kind of odd little things that comfort me. If you ever see me turned into the corner of a wall before a gig, don’t go near me.

Pretty weird stuff.

If you could only have one song on your iPod, what would it be?

Poses by Rufus Wainwright. It’s just one of those songs I can listen to over and over again. I find it really beautiful. I really like Ramshackle Day Parade by Joe Strummer. I watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and heard that. It was just unbelievable.

What’s the most expensive item you’ve ever bought, not including property or cars?

A sofa. It’s massive, one of those big L-shaped jobs.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Phil Kaye, who’s an amazing Scottish comedian, gave me a great bit of advice, which was: “When you talk to an audience, always go with the second thought in your mind because the first thought will be the one that everyone else has thought of.’’

When was the last time you cried and why?

There was a film I watched the other day called We Are Together. It was on Channel 4 and about this orphanage in Africa and they were trying to raise money through singing by making a CD. Basically for children whose parents had Aids. It was so unbelievably uplifting.

What’s your indulgence?

I’m big into cereals.

How environmentally friendly are you?

I’m not really at home enough to get into recycling and stuff like that. I’m on tour at the minute. I don’t drive a car, I guess that helps.

How many texts do you send in a day?

About four.

Who is the most famous person whose number you have in your mobile?

Frankie Boyle.

What item could you not live without?

My iPod. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

My attention span. It’s got really bad recently.

Where are you going on holiday?

I’m taking my mum and the rest of my family to Mauritius for her birthday, so we’re going in December.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

life!

5

WHAT’SON

Favourites’ debut date E

AWARD-WINNERS: Elbow are making their first headlining appearance at the Empress Ballroom

lbow, having just enjoyed the most successful year of their long career, are bringing their biggest UK tour to date to Blackpool tonight – their first headlining appearance in Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom.

Having secured the Nationwide Mercury Prize for their current album, The Seldom Seen Kid, and made themselves arguably the most popular winners of the award ever, they went on to be voted the Best British Band in the Brit Awards.

Elbow also recently completed a sell- out UK tour including three incredible nights at London’s Roundhouse and a valedictory double header at their home town’s Manchester Apollo.

The Seldom Seen Kid was proclaimed as one of the albums of 2008 by many critics on its release in March last year and went on to be the band’s most successful album to date.

Lead single, Grounds For Divorce, rapidly became a classic and soundtracked the trailer for current Coen Brothers film, Burn After Reading, whilst second single – One Day Like This – was the musical accompaniment to the Beijing Olympics coverage and Euro 2008.

Big band swing stars HAVING been voted the Best Big Band In the Land for the 11th consecutive year, The Syd Lawrence Orchestra’s popularity continues to go from strength to strength and they will be at Lytham’s Lowther Pavilion tonight from 7.30pm.

Leader Chris Dean packs a punch with this dazzling new show The Best of the Big Bands offering an evening, filled with the most distinctive music ever, seamlessly combined with audience banter, producing an entertaining fusion of music and humour.

Featuring the music of Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Billy May, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and played for you by performers with a real passion for their music, this show is bound to leave you dazzled from the very first number.

The release of their latest album, Strictly Big Band, has been enthusiastically received.

Book at the Lowther Pavilion box office on (01253) 658666 or through the website at www.fylde.gov.uk

ROUND&ABOUT

●

Preston comedian Dan Nightingale will play a Comic Relief special at Stand & Deliver Comedy Club at 53 Degrees on

Friday.

Nightingale is widely regarded as one of the hottest comic talents on the comedy circuit. He delivers quick witted, high octane material with charm and real rapport with the audience.

He is now on his first national tour. When he last performed at 53 Degrees he was completely sold out.

Group booking is available at all Stand & Deliver

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shows. To get reserved priority seating and discounts for groups of eight or more contact comedy@53degrees.net Doors 8pm, advanced tickets NUS £6 / Public £8.

18+.

Tickets available from Students’ Union Reception, Fylde Road, Preston (01772 893 000); Action Records, Church Street, Preston (01772 258 809); online from www.53degrees.net; 24 Hour Credit Card Hotline (0871) 220 0260 and

DUKE’S DIARY

Top talent in opera fairytale

TONIGHT sees the return of North Star Opera to Lytham.

Their new production of Hansel and Gretel is being taken on tour around the North West, with the first production being at The White Church, Fairhaven, starting at 7.30pm

This new production of a timeless classic fairytale by artistic director Michael Boe draws on the talent of singers who themselves have had the benefit of training at some of the top music colleges in the country.

Michael, the brother of international tenor Alfie Boe, says: “I am delighted to be able

CRIME PROBE: A scene from An Inspector Calls

Tickets are priced at £10 and £8 concessions and are available from (01772) 323766 or from tickets@northstaropera.co.uk

Classic thriller reborn

J

B Priestley’s thrilling An Inspector Calls directed

by Stephen Daldry (The Hours, Billy Elliot and this year’s Oscar nominated The Reader) is at Blackpool Grand Theatre from Tuesday to Saturday.

Daldry was Oscar-nominated for Best Director for the film The Reader starring eventual Oscar winner Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes.

His celebrated production of JB Priestley’s gripping thriller An Inspector Calls has become the most successful revival of a play in British history.

Epic staging, raw emotion and a sweeping score are just some of the ingredients that have made this exciting adaptation a smashhit all over the world, winning more awards than any other play in history.

When Inspector Goole arrives unexpectedly at the prosperous

●

Laughter addicts are in for another treat when two of the hottest comedy talents in the UK – Josie Long and Sarah Millican – perform together for the first time at Lancaster Library’s Laugh Out Loud In Libraries on Sunday as part of Lancashire County Council’s laughter fest.

Tickets are £9 and are available now from Lancaster Library and www.seetickets.com – details (01524) 580712.

Preserve this piece of heritage

to present this new and exciting fully staged production in a way which should appeal to the whole family.”

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Indie rock legends The Bluetones head to Lancaster Sugarhouse tomorrow as part of a four date UK tour. Tickets are priced at £14.

Doors 7pm. Tickets are on sale now through the 24-hour hotline – 08444 775 775 or online @ www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ www/goldenvoice.co.uk Limehouse Lizzy continue to keep the spirit of Celtic rock icon Philip Lynott and his band Thin

●

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Birling family home, their peaceful dinner party is shattered by his investigations into the death of a young woman. His startling revelations shake the very foundations of their lives and challenge us all to examine our consciences.

JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls is being performed on Tuesday at 8pm, then Wednesday to Saturday at 7.30pm, plus Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2pm. Tickets from £11.50. Group rates and concessions available. Schools and students £10 all shows.

Book your seats now by calling the Grand Theatre box office on (01253) 290190, online at www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk or at the new Grand Theatre information sales point in the Houndshill Shopping Centre.

Lizzy alive. They play The Dome, Marine Road, Morecambe on Friday. Call the venue box office on (01524) 582803 for further details.

The Dukes in Lancaster presents the genre challenging signature sound of Dose tonight. Tickets for the 8.15pm show cost £9 and £6 (concessions) and are available from The Dukes box office on (01524) 598500 or www.dukes-lancaster.org

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I

well remember when Blackpool Council were narrowly talked round from approving the demolition of the Grand Theatre because the site would make a lovely car park. Equally I recall when First Leisure very nearly trashed the wonderful Tower Circus and replaced it with a hideous “animatronic” attraction. I hope I don’t have to soon start campaigning to save the Winter Gardens complex.

I only mention this because a couple of weeks ago I was sitting in the unique and under-rated Galleon Bar in the Winter Gardens talking to some visiting Americans. They were here for the Blackpool Magicians’ Club annual convention and they were – as ever – amazed by what they were surrounded by.

The biggest convention of its kind in the world was housed in one building and under one roof where its delegates and visitors could eat, drink and be very merry indeed – uninterrupted by the world outside.

These weren’t soft-centred politicians looking for mass media coverage and getting city centre withdrawal symptoms. No, these were ordinary – and in some cases extraordinary people – who travel to Blackpool every year because of what it is: a British seaside town with all that that entails.

And, coincidentally, because they love the Winter Gardens.

And so they should. For all its faults – most of which are due to the neglect of successive owners and possibly a hidden agenda of deliberately running parts of the place down – one of the most intact and unique entertainment complexes in the British Isles.

It is – to employ that overused term – iconic.

Under the Winter Gardens’ one roof is the Opera House (one of the biggest theatres in the country), the Winter Gardens Pavilion (spoilt but still intact), the Empress Ballroom (magnificent and atmospheric), the Spanish Hall (uniquely amusing), the Baronial Hall (decidedly different), the Galleon and Theatre Bars (both under-rated and under marketed) plus the Arena, the Horseshoe area, the Olympia and much more.

So why the worry? Well, you may have noticed that less and less is actually happening under that one roof. The occasional rock concert and one night stand blurs the edges, the few remaining major conferences and dance festivals attracted here do their best. But like so much else in Blackpool it is relying on its past reputation.

My worry is that after October this year when the cash subsidy agreement of around £1m a year from the council dries up, there will be even less incentive to bring things to town.

The Winter Gardens isn’t just iconic, it’s a prime site. The Olympia’s right next to the new Houndshill – why not merge them? All those offices on Church Street – a lovely site for another budget hotel. The Opera House? It missed out on casino plans but isn’t bingo making a comeback?

Anyway it’s too big. Lock the doors, let it crumble for few years. Then seeing as we never got that Grand Theatre car park why not make one there?

A Grade II listed one maybe? robin.duke@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

Saturday, March 7, 2009

life!

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FOOD&DRINK LIQUIDNEWS

Cheerful drink banishes blues SAINSBURY’S Taste The Difference Grape, Pomegranate & Rose Presse (£1.45 for 750ml) is a cheerful drink that’s perfect for banishing the winter blues. It’s made from English grapes pressed at the Three Choirs Vineyard in Gloucestershire, which are then blended with pomegranate juice and rose petal extract. It’s the colour of good rose and has a sherbety flavour without being too sweet or overly perfumed.

Sainsbury’s also do a good line in posh lemonade – Taste The Difference Sicilian Lemonade (£1.45 for 750mls) is made from Italian lemons and (in the tradition of all good lemonades) rather a lot of sugar. This is like an old-fashioned lemon drop in liquid form – fizzy on the tongue and a good tangy aftertaste.

●

Drink Me Chai, available at most major supermarkets, is pretty much what it says on the tin.

It’s a blend of sweetened tea, milk and spices that you add to freshly boiled water or milk (or a mix of both) for a 99 per cent caffeine free treat. It’s a little thin with water, so try hot milk for a creamier flavour. Costs £2.29 for 250g.

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Purists will be whipping out their credit cards to invest in Beefeater 24, a new super-premium London gin created by world renowned master distiller Desmond Payne. Beefeater 24 is made using 12 handselected botanicals and rare teas. It’s a complex, full-flavoured spirit, with a smooth finish. RRP £26.50.

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A

variation on chicken liver pate using some local delicacies and served with soda bread from Phil’s Bakery in Lytham. Soda bread has a texture more like a savoury scone than bread.

INGREDIENTS

(Serves 12) 250g Goosnargh duck livers 150g butter 200g Garstang Blue 50g Goosnargh duck breast 1 small onion-chopped 1 bay leaf 1 tablespoon brandy salt and pepper to season

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EATINGIN with Paul Rowley of the Lindum Hotel, St Annes

DUCKLIVERAND CHEESEPARFAIT METHOD

1) Sauté the onion in the butter until the onion starts to glaze (do not let it start to brown).

2) Add all the other ingredients and cook

until there is no blood left in the livers.

3) Remove the bay leaf and emulsify in a blender till smooth.

4) Pour into a greased mould/loaf tin, approx 700g.

5) Leave to cool before refrigerating to set.

6) Once chilled, turn out, slice and serve with a chutney of your choice and Phil’s artisan soda bread In the picture we use caramelised onion chutney To follow: Fillet steak in a sticky teriyaki style honey, orange and soya sauce glaze.

To finish: Classic lemon tart with a caramelised sugar topping and fresh mango.

To drink: An oaky Rioja (red). If you can get one with vanilla and peppery overtones it will suit the dish well.

FOOD&DRINK

EATINGOUT

WINECORNER

The Villa, Wrea Green

TASTE OF TRADITION: The Villa is an elegant former gentleman’s residence

R

OAST beef and Yorkshire pudding always reminds me of the Sundays of my childhood. In the morning, my sister and I helped to peel the potatoes and prepare the vegetables – she made a face if they included sprouts, but knew she had to eat at least one.

Children weren’t allowed to be fussy eaters in those days.

But things were very different then – father carved the joint and sat at the head of the table at mealtimes, no-one ate with plates balanced on their knees while watching TV, and manners were all important. You didn’t see people munching sandwiches or pies in the street.

On my recent visit to The Villa in Wrea Green, it was snowing outside but the warm welcome, cosy little snug next to a glowing coal fire and delight at spotting roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on the menu made a pleasant start to this relaxing lunchtime experience.

The award-winning Villa was formerly a 19th century gentleman’s residence, but its elegant charm and character has endured the transition to country house.

We admired the wonderful old fireplaces, panelled walls and endearing mix of mismatched dining chairs.

Our table by the window enabled a pictureperfect view of the sweeping drive and frost-covered trees and shrubs.

To start with I selected the poached local salmon terrine with potato and chive salad and dressed leaves (£4).

This looked appealing and tasted good but I sneaked a little taste of the smooth chicken liver pate with Cumberland sauce and melba toast (£3) across the table and must admit I wished I’d chosen that myself. Isn’t is amazing how often that happens?

The paté was rich, soft and so flavoursome, and the Cumberland sauce an artistic necklace of rose-coloured droplets.

The restaurant was busy, so although we had to wait a while for our main courses to

FACTFILE Address: Moss Side Lane, Wrea Green, near Kirkham.

PR4 2PE Telephone: 01772 684347 Booking: Advisable Parking: Own large car park Vegetarian options: Yes Credit cards: Yes Opening: Monday to Saturday 12pm-1.45pm and 6pm-9pm; Sunday 12pm to 8pm Special deals: two courses £10; three courses £15 (Monday to Friday lunchtime and Monday to Thursday between 6pm and 7pm) Children: Well behaved ones welcome!

Value for money: 8/10 LIfe! rating: 8/10 arrive, it was well worth it.

They were served on piping hot plates and accompanied by a separate selection of fresh, expertly prepared vegetables, which included cauliflower au gratin, baton carrots and broccoli.

The topside of roast beef with traditional garnish and natural pan jus (£9.50) was just how I wished it would be – tender and tasty, served with a light and fluffy Yorkshire pudding plus perfect roast potatoes.

My companion chose the oven-cooked supreme of chicken breast in a woodland mushroom and thyme sauce served with smooth mashed potatoes (£9.50), and declared it to be superb.

Portions were generous, so I don’t know how we managed to squeeze in a dessert, but we did.

I opted for the apricot and orange crumble

YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

(£3) but with cream rather than custard, which always reminds me of school dinners.

The pudding was deliciously fruity, tart yet sweet, and a little touch of cream turned heaven into paradise – I think the expression on my face told the story.

Our other choice was the lemon cheesecake on a biscuit base, served with raspberries and a swirl of lemon cheese (£3.50).

Of course, I sampled a mouthful of this as well and both of us agreed that it was utterly delightful.

But we really couldn’t manage coffee or anything else for some time afterwards.

Our bill came to £42.25, which included two glasses of white wine and soda, a half of lager and a lemonade.

Marion Ainge

by Jacqueline Morley

S

ix of the best! As a big fan of Portuguese wines, whether the deep gutsy reds, great with hearty stews, and bean soups, or the young green wines, fabulous aperitifs, it’s great news to hear that all six members of the Independent Winegrowers’ Association of Portugal had one of their wines chosen by the esteemed Jamie Goode for his 50 Great Portuguese Wines tasting event earlier this year.

You have to be pretty special to make the cut for such an event, which celebrates the variety and quality of wines that Portugal, still a bit of Cinderella in international winemaking terms, can offer. Generally the penny only drops after a personal visit, exploring the various regions, with climates going from mild and damp in the north west (not unlike our own!) to semi-tropical, and the very different characteristics of each, in wine terms.

What’s even better news for wine tasters north of Watford Gap is that the annual event, hosted by Viniportugal, is going on tour for the first time – with a tasting in this region, at Manchester, on April 28. Most wines travel well – but sometimes agents and buyers need to make more of an effort – so let’s hope the vendors get the recognition, and the stockists, they (and we!) deserve. So here’s to hearing more from Quinta do Ameal’s Escolha ’07, a crisp and characterful white, and five luscious reds, Casa de Cello’s Quinta da Vegia Reserva ’05 (ww.lescaves.co.uk, pictured), Alves de Sousa’s Quinta Da Gaivos Vinha de Lorelo ’05 (www.topselection.co.uk), my favourite, lovely Luis Pato’s Quinta Do Ribeirinho Pe Franco ’05 and Quinta dos Roques Flor Das Mas Tinto ’05 (both stocked by www.raymondreynolds.co.uk) . Nuno Araújo , the IWA spokesman, knows his grapes too, as Quinta de Covela owner his Covela Escolha Tinto ’05 is up there with the six of the best.

PRICE PLEASERS: Here’s are some pop corking price pleasers – Somerfield has Jacquart Brut Champagne at £13.99, £10 cheaper, from Wednesday to April 7. Aromas of toasted brioche, dry and fruity flavours with hints of apple, pear and lemon. Can be served as an aperitif or is delicious served with seafood and grilled fish or light dishes such as poultry. Also visit Tesco for half price offers on Calloway Crossing Rose, and Hardy’s Crest Sparkling Brut and Sparkling Rose, until March 22, at £3.99 and £5.99 respectively.

ONLINE WINE: One favourite online, www.fromvineyardsdirect, offers affordable but quality wines from some of the best European vineyards, direct to your wedding reception, and with big savings (around 20 per cent) on usual merchant prices as standards. A bespoke wine service can tailor wines to tastes, menus, and budgets. More than 60 wines can be viewed online, inlcuding Premier and Grand Cru from Bordeaux and Burgundy, classic and cult Italians, Spanish and German wines and other gems unavailable elsewhere in the UK. Delivery is free to UK mainland and wines arrive promptly. The company also offers a sale or return policy for larger orders if customers wish to return any unopened bottles. As if...!

Don’t forget to send your booze news, clubs, favourite finds, swigs and tips to jacqui.morley@blackpoolgazette. co.uk

Saturday, March 7, 2009

life!

9

TIMEOUT

BOOKS

NEW FICTION BLOOD MONEY Tom Bradby

This feisty, pacey thriller by TV news reporter turned writer Tom Bradby has it all: nervy gangsters, crooked politicians, gutsy cops and a sexy moll. It is also blessed with excellent timing.

Set in New York on the eve of the Wall Street crash, a banker plummets from the top of a skyscraper. A rookie detective, Joe Quinn, takes the call and refuses to buy what looks like a cover-up. He’s soon on the trail of money, crooked share tipsters, and a pile of bodies.

Bradby delivers plenty of colour to set the scene without slowing things down in what ends up as a top notch piece of crime writing.

Bantam Press, £12.99

A VERY PERSISTENT ILLUSION LC Tyler

Classic sports car fan Chris Sorensen is surprisingly easy to like.

Having spent his adult years cultivating the delusion that reality doesn’t exist, he finds the death of his girlfriend’s father worryingly life-like.

However Chris has a few secrets, and these past events cmake his fear of matrimony - and a tragic interest in girls in their early 20s - rather less pathetic.

This is a warm, intelligent and beautifully observed diversion.

Macmillan New Writing, £14.99

NEW NON-FICTION ASSASSINS Steven Parissien

If you want a coffee table book to keep the most fidgety of guests entertained, this could be for you.

Steven Parissien whips through more than two centuries of history and 50 of the world’s most headline-grabbing murders. They range from Julius Caesar’s stabbing in 44BC and the 1192 attack on Conrad of Montferrat by two members of the Arab sect that gave assassins their name, to dissident Alexander Litvinenko’s poisoning in London in 2006.

Each killing gets a couple of pages, with a handy historical panel to break up the non-stop death. A tempting taster.

Quercus, £15

YOURVIEW

CHILDREN’S CHOICE FEN RUNNERS John Gordon

This vivid supernatural thriller is John Gordon’s first children’s book in a decade. The author, who moved to East Anglia when he was 12, brings the gothic atmosphere of these marshy, foggy, wetlands to life.

Young Kit and Joe are drawn together when they both see a dark shadowy ghost following them.

With the help of an old man, they are forced to adopt the habits of their ancestors, and take to the ice.

Filled with examples of authentic local language (a patten is a skate blade) Gordon transforms this rural landscape into a mythical battle field.But with the snow coming down, and creatures threatening to burst through the ice, can Kit and Joe beat shadowy their demons?

Guaranteed to keep children, and adults, on the edge of their beds.

11 plus years.

Orion Books, £8.99

PAPERBACK CHOICE MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU Darin Strauss

Brilliant and bitter, Strauss’s harrowing tale about family life is set in American middle-class surburia. When mother, Dori Goldin, is suspected of having Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a disorder in which a parent harms a child in order to attract attention, her life, and that of her family, is taken away and destroyed.

Atlantic Books, £12.99

NEWDVDs BRIDESHEAD REVISITED

A

rmy officer Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) reminisces about his turbulent past at Oxford University, where, as a shy, middle-class student, he meets Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw).

Charles accepts an invitation to join the aristocrat’s inner circle, forging an intimate bond with the fey, fragile student, who describes himself as “the family shadow’’.

Sebastian invites his new friend to the childhood estate, Brideshead, where Charles meets the formidable Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson) and Sebastian’s sister Julia (Hayley Atwell).

The two young men grow close, culminating in a brief kiss, but a trip to Italy to visit Sebastian and Julia’s father, Lord Marchmain (Michael Gambon), and his mistress (Greta Scacchi) kindles a betrayal that will drive apart Charles and the prodigal Flyte son forever.

Brideshead Revisited never escapes the shadow of ITV’s lavish 1981 mini-series, condensing Evelyn Waugh’s text into a simplistic menage a trois, riven by Catholic guilt.

Goode is too restrained as the tragically naive interloper, internalising Charles’s anguish so deeply it barely registers.

In contrast, Whishaw is terrific, powerfully conveying the

Classic is a visual triumph TALE OF BETRAYAL: Hayley Atwell as Julia Flyte, Ben Whishaw as Sebastian Flyte and Matthew Goode as Charles Ryder emotional devastation as Sebastian succumbs to alcoholism and self-loathing.

Thompson imposes herself upon the role of Lady Marchmain, walking a fine line between icy and resolute as her matriarch sacrifices the children at the altar

MUSIC

of her faith. Visually, at least, this Brideshead Revisited takes the breath away. Alas, the script barely makes our hearts flutter let alone skip a beat.

(Cert 12, 127 mins, 2entertain, Drama/Romance, DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

BOOKCLUB CHOICE DAPHNE Justine Picardie

It is 1957. As Daphne de Maurier wanders alone through her remote mansion on the Cornish coast, she is haunted by thoughts of her failing marriage and the heroine of her most famous story Rebecca. This love story and literary mystery, asks who was the real Daphne de Maurier?

Bloomsbury, £7.99

THE LAST BOOK I READ

Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews, which was pretty weird. It’s actually a five-book series but I’m having a break before I read the next one because they’re quite heavy going – student Kay Taylor from Preston Tell us about your favourite book or DVD. e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

10 life! LOGON www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk

FARYL

Faryl Smith

My how they grow. Remember the waif-like little girl who should have won Britain’s Got Talent?

Well, now she’s a glammy groomed teenage record breaking signing (we’re talking £2.3m) and about to become the latest mezzo soprano singing sensation. As Ave Maria revealed on the TV talent search, she has a voice pure enough to bring a tear to a glass eye and capitalises on that gift on each of the 12 tracks here – a mixed bag of classics, hymns and easy listening pop.

UCJ/Decca

POLLY SCATTERGOOD

Buy this album or she’ll come choice round and get you. That’s the image this 21-year-old scary Colchester singer gives out on her debut collection of odd rock. Vocally she’s somewhere between Kate Bush and the woefully overlooked Jane Siberry. She’s a wonderfully unsettling alternative to the pretty pop wave of Myspacers – try the single Other Too Endless before heading to the darker recesses of Bunny Club or Unforgiving Arms.

Mute

✔ life!

BEYOND THE WIZARD’S SLEEVE: RE-ANIMATIONS VOL 1 Various

Erol Alkan and Richard Norris don’t do re-mixes, they do reanimations. Well, that’s their term for their manhandling of other peoples’ tunes and it has to be admitted they make rather a good job of it. Franz Ferdinand’s Ulysses is given the full on electro pop treatment and even the mixmaster Chemical Brothers find themselves cut and pasted with an excellent version of Battle Scars.

New State Music

TIMEOUT

GAMESGEAR

THE DVD RENTAL TOP 10 1 (-) Saw V 2 (-) Ghost Town 3 (-) Eden Lake (DVD) 4 (1) Taken (2008) 5 (2) You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (DVD) 6 (3) Tropic Thunder 7 (-) 88 Minutes 8 (5) RocknRolla (DVD) 9 (9) Dark Knight, The 10 (-) Step Brothers (DVD) ■ Chart supplied by www.block buster.co.uk

CATHOLIC GUILT: A scene from Brideshead Revisited

OTHERDVDS SAW V (EXTREME EDITION)

Diabolical killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) continues his bloodthirsty reign of terror in the fifth instalment of the horror franchise, full of more devilish booby traps and gruesome deaths worthy of that 18 certificate.

With Saw VI unfathomably in pre-production, this fifth installment isn’t the last after all, although it does neatly tie up

Jigsaw’s back story via a patchwork of flashbacks that revisit key scenes from other sequels. As with earlier films, nothing is quite what it seems, and somebody has a final ace up their sleeve to ensure Saw V ends with an almighty... whimper.

(Cert 18, 91 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, Horror/Thriller, DVD £19.99/Saw DVD Gorology £44.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS

Based on the best-selling novel

by John Boyne, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas refracts the unimaginable suffering and tragedy of the Holocaust through the prism of one family’s experiences.

(Cert 12, 90 mins, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Drama, also available to buy DVD £17.99/DVD Gift Pack £20.99)

KILLZONE 2 PS3

Is February too early to start talking about game of the year. Probably a touch, bearing in mind the goodies to choice come for all gamers during the latter part of 2009, but there’s no doubt that Killzone 2 will be in the mix for all awards, after providing a peerless demonstration of how a first person shooter can triumph in both single player and multiplayer modes. Graphics that give a true sense of what the PS3 boasts under the bonnet coupled with the creation of a science-fiction world that is believable from the first second to the last ensure that this is likely to be the only title on gamers’ lips through their bluetooth headsets. Four years in the making, the hype and anticipation has grown with every month, and it’s a tribute to the Guerilla development team to say that it delivers in every sense of the word. 5/5 £44.99

✔ life!

SILENT HILL: HOMECOMING Xbox 360

In Silent Hill’s first outing on Xbox 360, the series follows Alex Shepherd, returning to his hometown of Shepherd’s Glen to investigate the sudden disappearance of his brother. Cue the familiar grim setting for more survival horror action, with some notably improved combat attacks and defensive options, making those freakish fiends you’ll come up against not quite so creepy to dispose of. The atmospheric graphics and sound are perfectly in keeping with what’s gone before, and Homecoming certainly makes its mark as an excellent next generation effort for the Silent Hill crew. Perplexing puzzles, eerie enemies and another spine-chilling storyline all points towards a 360 hit for 2009. 4/5 £49.99

SHELLSHOCK 2: BLOOD TRAILS PS3

QUIET PLEASE – THE BEST OF Nick Lowe

By choice this musical veteran has always seemed to be rock’s bridesmaid and rarely its bride.

There have been hits along the way but generally he’d dipped in and out of the limelight leaving other people to have their hits with and be influenced by his creations. The double set dates back to his Brinsley Schwarz days with (What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (later revived by Elvis Costello) through to his 2007 album At My Age. Proper Records

LONELY LETTERS

80S NITECLUB

Switzerland is famous for clocks, cheese, chocolate and in the very near future something not beginning with the letter “c.” This four piece group from the land with no navy are being tipped in all the right places and look certain to make a mark with this debut collection of near perfect crossover pop/rock. Their main selling point is pin-up frontwoman Jaël (pronounced Yile) – a Debbie Harry for the new generation. Try the broody single Everybody Knows – get hooked on hooks.

Fod Records

Subtitled “Big Hits From the 80s – In The Mix” this triple CD collection still somehow manages to open with a Queen track – namely Another One Bites The Dust. Things improve after that with a mostly British trip down memory lane courtesy of the likes of Belouis Some, King, Hipsway in the “lest we forget” corner and David Bowie, New Order, The Cure and Tears For Fears in the “as if we could” one. TV’s revival of Ghostbusters has slipped in and there’s Tom Tom Club and Lipps Inc etc for Stateside fans.

UMTV

Lunik

YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

Various

Using next-generation powers of suggestion, Shellshock 2: Blood Trails planned to carefully execute the implications of horrifying acts without going gung-ho on the blood and gore. What it actually succeeds in doing is giving gamers a full frontal, in-your-face expose on how not to do first person shooters. The franchise has never really stuck in

WEBSITE

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Killzone 2 gamers’ minds and this latest effort will unlikely cause cries for a third installment.

2/5 £49.99

MY PET SHOP Nintendo DS

A new career as a pet shop owner awaits, as you and your mum settle down in town to serve all the inhabitants’ pet-related needs. And who’d have guessed, every blighter in town wants a new cat or dog, or their pooch needs some serious shampooing, a loving brush or clothing makeover. Played out in a kind of turn-based role-playing way, you can hunt down animals in the woods outside the town and entice them into your clan or accessorise them with ribbons, hats and bonnets. It’s all played out through straightforward navigation and cutesy cartoon graphics, which all adds up to a winner of a game for youngsters. 4/5 £19.99

METAL SLUG 7 Nintendo DS

Metal Slug does action shoot ‘em ups better than anyone, staying true to its original format and dishing out round after round of intense button-mashing battling with a peerless heritage behind it.

Metal Slug 7 offers up seven brand new missions for the corking six playable characters to conquer.

Even more weapons to wield and bosses so big it’s a wonder they manage to squeeze them into the diddy DS ensures that this addictive run’n’gunning at its best.

Perhaps only comparable with Contra 4, the only thing really lacking is the two-player mode that hardcore Slug fans must be crying out for. 4/5 £29.99

The Animal Review (animalreview.wordpress.com) is one of the funniest things on the internet right now. It’s pretty simple: objective reviews of, well, animals. The common garden snail is “terrestrial mollusk that never really figured out how to get positive results from Evolution” and scores a pathetic D. The swordfish, however, is “a really impressive animal ... because it is a giant, fast fish that, in lieu of a nose, has a sword coming off its face.”

BROWSING AROUND

■ Strange Maps: the weird and wonderful strangemaps.wordpress.com ■ Super slow-motion water droplet hitting sand www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPGIHqd8BUQ

Saturday, March 7, 2009

life! 11

WELLBEING

Boost the feelgood factor with Gabriella Fagan’s guide to getting the most out of life STRETCHING WELL

At this time of year, when we’re still waiting for Spring and brighter days, it’s all too common to feel sluggish. But forget sweating it out in an expensive gym, simple stretching is all you need.

For starters, it’s free and you can start whenever and wherever the mood takes you, plus the health benefits are bountiful.

It’s also a great way of achieving a sexy, svelte and supple body, need I say more?

If you’re still feeling doubtful, it could be an encouragement to know that perfect posture can make you look pounds lighter in an instant and the key to perfect posture is stretching.

“When you stretch you’re helping your body to remain young as it boosts the circulation of lubricating fluid and blood to vital areas so they stay supple and strong,’’ points out Jacqueline Lysycia, a yoga, Pilates and fitness trainer and author of Super Stretch.

“The misconception is you just need to elongate the muscle fibre but if you do you’ll only ever be able to improve the flexibility by a very small amount. Stretches should also target the connective tissues, which can often be dry and rigid.’’

Another plus is the feel-good factor.

“Stretching stimulates the brain to release the hormone seratonin, which is a natural mood lifter. This in turn increases your selfesteem,’’ points out Jacqueline.

“Stretching refreshes your body and energises your mind, which will help you to look alert and glowing.’’

Stretching well and regularly could also help offset all the damage we do daily by hunching over a desk and lugging heavy handbags around, which can weaken muscles and allow them to stiffen and lose their suppleness.

Only five to 10 minutes of stretching every day improves circulation, flexibility and skin tone, ideally done in the late afternoon or early evening.

Jacqueline says: “The body is warmer and more supple than earlier in the day. But I always suggest you begin with a few gentle warm-up stretches to make the most of your stretching session.’’

Try these few easy stretches.

■ Standing Side Bend: Lengthens your spine and waist and relaxes your shoulders: Place your left hand on your left hip. Cross your right foot over your left foot. Lengthen your tailbone as you inhale and stretch your right arm up.

Exhale and lean into your left left hip. Hold for 4-5 breath cycles.

Repeat on the other side. Repeat the exercise 10 times.

■ Arm Release Swing: Eases tension in your shoulders and neck that can lead to headaches Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Inhale and extend both arms above your head.

Keep your tailbone long and your abdomen empty as you exhale. Your knees should be slightly soft and your elbows loose.

Cross your wrists above your head.

Inhale and exhale as you

GOOD ADVICE: Yoga teacher Jacqueline Lysycia

Stretch for the perfect posture

celebrate International Women’s Day, and take stock and have a new approach.

This year the IWD organisers have put together seven tips For Creating More Time To Do The Things You Want, whether its changing career, painting the spare room, finding Mr Right or just having a couple hours fun.

TIME PLUS PLAN

Make a plan: being clear about goals makes it easier to prioritise how you spend your day.

Prioritise: ask yourself whether an activity takes you either closer to or away from your goals.

Begin small: take small steps towards goals – no need to abandon your day job or family – just start doing something towards your targets in the amount of time you can spare.

Stay realistic: concentrate on one or two goals rather than trying to tackle too many and failing to finish.

Be disciplined: avoid interruptions to your day and find ways to make time later for problems or delegate more.

Take control: of your time and become aware of how other people can easily waste it.

Stop, breathe, think: on nightmare days simply use this technique for a couple of minutes to help calm you and give you back control.

BEING WELL

swing your arms down and behind you.

Repeat the swing down and up 15 times.

Maintain control and keep your spine and pelvis in alignment.

■ Spine Roll: Releases tension in the spine and lengthens the hamstrings.

Stand with your feet hip width apart with a slight bend in the knee and your arms hanging by the sides of your body. Inhale and then as you exhale, slowly begin to curl towards the floor.

Pause when you run out of breath, breathe in and continue to roll down as you exhale.

When you reach as far as you can, hang in this position for a few breath cycles.

■ Head to Knee Hug: Releases tightness in your hips and legs, increases circulation and improves posture and balance.

Stand on your right leg and balance carefully. Inhale and raise your left knee towards your chest. Exhale and lengthen your abdomen to support your spine.

Lengthen your tailbone and bow your head

12 life! LOGON www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk

towards your knee. Hold the stretch for three breath cycles. Repeat 10 times and then repeat with other leg.

REMEMBER: Don’t push your body to the threshold of serious discomfort and pain. If you start to shake, you’ve taken the stretch too far. Try not to control your breath in any way. Unlike yoga and Pilates, which require specific breathing, when stretching your breathing can be easy and natural.

■ Super Stretch by Jacqueline Lysycia (Hamlyn, £9.99)

TIMING WELL

Join the club if you feel that the year’s rushing by but you haven’t fulfilled those New Year resolutions to start improving activities, or even found more space for relaxing “me time”.

Hectic lifestyles make finding time for everything tricky but instead of just giving up the struggle you could take positive action.

Pencil a date in the diary, March 9, to

Angela Rippon, BBC1’s Cash In The Attic presenter who will appear on Let’s Dance For Comic Relief tonight as part of this year’s Red Nose Day campaign, shares her wellbeing secrets: She says: “I’ve always been an active person, from dancing with Morecambe and Wise to high adrenalin activities for the BBC Holiday programme.

“Now, though, I have to take a lot more care to keep myself in shape and supple so that I can keep up with working and enjoying life. I find if my mind and body is active I enjoy a general feeling of wellbeing.’’

Angela, 64, who also presents Sun Sea And Bargain Spotting (BBC1), always starts her day with 10 minutes stretching.

“I don’t feel ready for the day unless I do. I usually do a few simple yoga moves, try to breathe deeply, and then finish with a glass of hot water and lemon to cleanse my system before breakfast.’’

Falls from her horse during her days as a keen rider, have left her with a damaged spine and during the last 18 months she’s taken up Pilates to improve her core strength and back muscles.

“That exercise has virtually got rid of the niggling pain that I used to suffer from. I also try play tennis twice a week.’’

Her remedy: She takes a natural joint care supplement, Osteo Bi-Flex, containing Glucosamine Hydrochloride, which may help build joint tissue.

“It really helps to stop feelings of stiffness and aching after exercise,’’ she says.

■ Osteo Bi-Flex is £9.99 for a pack of 30 tables, and is widely available from chemists such as Boots, supermarkets and health food stores. For information on joint health: www.osteobiflex.com or www.osteobiflex. co.uk.

in association with Soul Hair

Bonus buys

SHAPINGUP

Emma Harris, Gazette health writer and qualified gym instructor, with her weekly look at staying healthy

G

et set for a new season makeover and bag a freebie on the way! Here are some great ideas to help you slip beautifully into spring – and a couple of buys have fabulous free bonus gifts.

Star style: Coleen Rooney’s back on the box with her new series of Real Women. If you want to update your look it might be worth a trip to Superdrug between March 18 and April 14 when you’ll be able to grab a copy of her book Coleen’s Real Style free, when you buy a 100ml edt (while stocks last). Since its launch her vibrant, young signature scent has refused to be toppled from the top spot.

Brushing up: New hairstyles need new hairbrushes, whether you want sleek or tousled there’s something to suit in the Tigi Hardcore Ceramic Barrel Brushes range, from £7.50 (0870 330 0955/tigi.co.uk).

EXPERTVIEW BEAUTY TIP

Eat healthily, as erratic eating patterns can show on your complexion and cause your energy to flag – Blackpool-based beauty expert Sue Simpson Let us have your beauty tip. e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

HEALTH&BEAUTY

THE BIG QUESTION IS stretching really that important after a workout? And what sort of stretching do you need to do?

Body buff: Buff your body for spring with Elemis’ new Pro-Collagen Body Serum Intensive Lift (right, top ), £45 (www.timetospa.co.uk).

Citrus serum: With a delicious smell of mandarin oranges, Soap & Glory Make Yourself Youthful Super Rejuvenating Face Serum 50ml (right, below), £12.71 (Boots.com) slides on easily and delivers good results. You’ll wake up with noticeably softer skin!

Designer freebie: It Bag envy? Get your own designer slice of heaven for free. Yes, you heard right. This patent Ralph Lauren bag (below) can be in your clutches when you buy a Ralph Lauren Notorious 50ml or 75ml EDP fragrance, from £44.53, from The Perfume Shop. Be quick though, this black beauty is only available while stocks last. Offer ends March 25 (0845 601 1950/www.theperfumeshop.com).

In a word the answer is yes! It is important. You do need to stretch at the end of a workout. It returns the muscles to their lengthened position, as they will have become shortened during the workout while you have been exercising.

It can help eliminate or reduce delayed onset muscle soreness.

Our everyday life means our muscles are often in a shortened position – for example, hamstrings often tend to be shortened because we spend most of our time sitting down at desks and so on.

So stretching at the end of a workout helps to increase and improve flexibility. This gives the advantage of ensuring muscles move through their full range of movement.

This is important for everyday life, for posture and keeping things working how they should be.

As for the types of stretches, they should involve all the major muscle groups worked, be static and passive – that is no bouncing, just ease into the stretch until you can feel the tension, hold still and release after eight to 10 seconds.

SLEEPY GENE

Scientists have identified a gene variant that may be linked to excessive daytime sleepiness, muscle weakness and impaired vision.

The condition occurs in one in 2,500 people in the US and Europe, but it’s at least four times more frequent in Japan.

Tokyo researchers analysed people with and without narcolepsy to discover the gene variant that causes it.

GOJI BERRIES

Widely available from supermarkets and health food stores, the goji berry is produced by an evergreen shrub found in China, Mongolia and Tibet.

It has been favoured by herbalists for over 6,000 years for its rich anti-oxidant content. It is said to improve fertility and sexual performance, as well as benefiting liver function and circulation.

HELPING HYPNOSIS

New research has found that hypnosis could be helpful for people suffering from dementia, like Alzheimer’s.

A study found that weekly hypnosis made sufferers more social and less inclined to become depressed and also led to improvements in concentration and memory.

Dementia affects around 750,000 people in the UK.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

life! 13

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FASHION&STYLE

Think PINK

H

ot pink made headlines in the style stakes at the music world’s biggest night of the year ... The Brits.

It was Lady Gaga’s colour of choice (main picture), Kylie put purple into the mix, while fuchsia gave a feminine touch to Katy Perry’s black bondage-style outfit.

Katherine Jenkins and Alesha Dixon followed in their footsteps – stepping out in hot pink heels!

Don’t drag behind... be prepared and think pink for spring.

Dressing up: The Fusion hot pink sunshine dress (below) will give you superstar style. From Monsoon £48.

YUMMY MUMMY: Mum-to-be Holly Willoughby sparked a stampede when she stepped out in style in a £35 purple dress at The Brits. Other ladies-inwaiting desperate to get their hands on the dress she designed for Littlewoods Direct led the company to take pre-orders. The dress is on sale from April.

(Littlewoods Direct 08448 222321 www. littlewoodsdirect.com)

GOODBUYS

Enjoy window shopping with life! in our weekly guide to tempting offers

Belt up: Just add a subtle hint of pink to an outfit with this belt, £20, from Jane Norman.

Shoe shuffle: Step out in style in these pretty ballerina pumps, around £45, from Moda in Pelle.

Cotton on: Gorgeous special occasion dress with frill sleeves from French Connection, £95.

YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

Spring pink: This pretty pink bow top is worth waiting for. £9.50 from Marks & Spencer from May.

Cardi cutie: Get the look now with this gorgeous pink cardi from Littlewoods Direct, £15.

BAG THAT: Ever wondered what to do with all those carrier bags?

You could try wearing them.

When your credit cards are maxxed to the hilt, make a frock. Take inspiration from this creative number paraded on the the red carpet at the UK premiere of Confessions of a Shopaholic at The Empire, Leicester Square, London.

JAGGED NAILS: Jade Jagger was Miss Behavin’ at the recent Brit Awards. Leighton Denny gave the socialite a pre-party manicure before she stepped out on the red carpet using his brand new collection, The Brit Pack. Of the three new nail colours available, Jade plumped for the sparkling midnight blue Miss Behavin’ on her talons before partying the night away. The Leighton Denny Brit Pack collection, £25, is now available exclusively online at www. leightondenny.com.

JUST DOTTY: Fashion designer Henry Holland has helped make polka dots the must-have print for this season. If you can’t afford his clobber (as worn by model pal Agyness Deyn), go for a designer print dongle. O2 has teamed up with Henry to create a limited edition House of Holland mobile broadband dongle in monochrome dots.

The Pay & Go stick is available now at O2 stores and online at www.O2.co.uk.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

life! 15

FAMILIES TRIPTIPS

Insight into fashion’s links with sport

Fancy making your mum a lady of the Manor? ● This Mothering Sunday, Tatton Park offers a unique opportunity for you to treat her to an

LIVERPOOL’s Walker Art Gallery is hosting a stylish exhibition on tour from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, exploring the relationship between contemporary fashion and global sportswear brands over the last 20 years.

Staged until May 31, Fashion V Sport allows visitors to look at the creative connections between the two industries that so affect the way we dress today.

Divided into four sections, Dare, Display, Play and Desire, the exhibition guides the visitor through a range of styles, outfits and objects to reveal the factors which interlink fashion and sport.

For your week ahead exclusive afternoon tea and a gardens visit.

A table will be reserved for you and your guests in a room of the mansion not usually open to the public, Lord Egerton's apartment, which has stunning views over the Italian Terrace and Parkland. You will be able to enjoy an afternoon tea of sandwiches, freshly baked scones and cakes with tea or coffee, and are welcome to stroll around the award-winning gardens at your leisure.

This impressive historic estate receives in the region of 750,000 visitors every year, all of whom come to enjoy its Georgian Mansion, Tudor Old Hall, award-winning gardens and 1930s rare breeds farm. The 1,000 acre deer park is home to red and fallow deer and the estate also boasts speciality shops, adventure playground, restaurant and year-round events programme.

The Mothering Sunday package, for March 22, must be booked in advance on 01625 374405. £18 per person, including: afternoon tea, gardens visit and car entry. More details www.tattonpark.org.uk

Displaying around 50 outfits and 120 objects including contemporary sportswear, streetwear, accessories and shoes, the exhibition aims to reflect the convergence of fashion and sport, showing the extent to which designers take inspiration from each other to score hits on the both the catwalks and the sports fields.

Designers such as Stella McCartney collaborating with well-known sports brands like Adidas, illustrate sportswear’s popularity as a fashion statement. Fashion V Sport shows how designers such as Dries Van Noten and Vivienne Westwood

have reworked original sportswear staples such as the grey jersey tracksuit.

The exhibition also uncovers the world of sportswear obsessives, from collectors who own hundreds of pairs of trainers, to the Japanese fashion designer Hirofumi Kiyonaga who has created a brand named after his virtual football team ‘Football Club Real Bristol’, for which he designs two fashion collections each year.

Admission to the Walker Art Gallery in William Brown Street, Liverpool is free. ● Open 10am-5pm every day ● Information 0151 478 4199 ● liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker

Open and ready to welcome visitors for the ● 2009 season is the National Wildflower Centre in Liverpool. The National Wildflower

Centre is a visitor attraction on Court Hey Park, Roby Road, Liverpool - only minutes from the M62 and is open to the public each day until August 31, from 10am to 5pm (last admission 4pm). A comprehensive 2009 Events Guide is free, available now, please ring 0151 738 1913 for a copy, or email info@nwc.org.uk for further information. You can also download an Events Guide from www.nwc.org.uk TABLE tennis fans will be hoping England bats ● to victory in a crunch clash in Preston.

The Guild Hall is hosting an international match between England and India on Saturday, May 16, the final match in a best-of-three series. Tickets cost £5 for adults and £2.50 for children. Call 01772 258858 for full details.

FREEFUN

Wellington weekend, a special event dedicated to some of the most exciting stories from the great battle at Waterloo, takes place at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, next weekend.

There will be themed activities, talks and seminars as well as a 95th Rifles re-enactment group providing living history, handling and cannon firing on both Saturday and Sunday. Admission to the museum is free. However, there may be a small charge for some special events. Open all year daily, 10am-5pm. Information Line: 08700 344 344 Website: www.royalarmouries.org

YOURVIEW

MY FAVOURITE DAY OUT The Lake District. The Drunken Duck at Ambleside serves beautiful food and the view from outside is stunning – Mary Whatmough, 60, who lives in Blackpool Let us have your top day out destination. e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

INSIDE STORY: Historic Samlesbury Hall is one of the homes featured in the guide

Handbook up for grabs A

‘bible’ for families looking for a great day out is Hudson’s Historic Houses & Gardens 2009 – and you can win a prize copy!

This good-looking guidebook has over 2,000 profiles of castles and stately homes worth visiting the length and breadth of Britain.

It is fully comprehensive with details of special events and more than 1,500 sumptuous photographs.

There are more than 20 pages of North West entries from Cholmondeley Castle gardens in Cheshire to Levens Hall in the Lake District - and much closer to home, Hoghton Tower and Samlesbury Hall, Preston.

Interesting and informative articles include a fascinating history and insight into windmills and watermills; and special features on Dumfries House only opened to the public in June last year by Prince Charles, and The Alnwick Garden which was discovered in 1997 and brought back

16 life! LOGON www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk

DAYOUT to life by the Duchess of Northumberland.

Learn about the many historic portraits linked with controversy, mystery and romance in the many glorious historic properties of Scotland; and discover how many of the properties in Wales are helping people become time detectives, letting visitors touch and explore, and bringing history and Wales’ built heritage to life.

Hudson’s provides alphabetical listings of properties featured as well as those that offer accommodation, those that are open all year and, for the keen gardener, those that sell plants.

Add to this a listing of special events that are held at the properties throughout the year and there really is something for

everybody, including clear and precise maps to help journey planning. ● Hudson’s Historic Houses & Gardens 2009, priced £14.95 (published by Heritage House Group) ISBN: 9780851018867 is available from UK bookshops or direct from the publisher at www.hudsonsguide.co.uk

WINWINWIN

For your chance to win a prize copy of Hudson’s Historic Houses & Gardens 2009, just answer this easy question: Q How many profiles are there in the guidebook?

Send your answer, together with your name and address, to Hudsons guidebook competition, Life! magazine, The Gazette, Avroe House, Avroe Crescent,, South Shore, Blackpool, FY4 2DP. Closing date Friday, March 13.

Winners will be picked at random from postal entries.

FAMILIES

Win a great time on the slopes

BUNNY BAG: You’ll have a spring in your step with this retro satchel slung over your shoulder! Big enough cram in all you need for a day with the family. By Anorak £35 from www.anorak online.co.uk

PLAYTIME

Give yourself the star treatment BUDDING pop stars in your family will be falling over themselves to get their hands on this new wireless gadget .

They will really be able to unleash the star within -with the launch of Wireless SingStar® Microphones from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. They’ll be arriving in UK stores on March 20, and coincides with the release of SingStar® Pop Edition for Playstation 3.

E

ver think about hitting the slopes and experiencing the thrill of skiing, snowboarding and snowblading for the first time?

You would normally have to travel many air miles to enjoy the experience but now we have teamed up with The Runcorn Ski Centre to offer EIGHT readers the chance to win family tickets to try it out for themselves (worth £25).

The winners will enjoy a 45-minute taster session at the centre, which is situated in 9pm and at weekends from 10am until 800 acres of landscaped parks.

6pm. The centre also organises ski parties The Runcorn Ski Centre, Town Park, for special occasions and a range of Palace Fields, has three ski slopes and packages for experienced skiers to firstlifts, provides equipment hire and is timers. floodlit for evening use.

On Sundays the centre is also home to John Doyle, who manages the centres, Halton Miniature Railway. The 12-minute said: “Our centre gives people the chance journey costs just £1. to try out skiing without the expense of WINWINWIN having to travel too far. It’s a great sport To be in with a chance of winning one of and really good fun. It’s well worth giving it the family trial passes to the centre, answer a go.” the following question: The centre is open daily from 1pm until

Super chandelier on display in museum

MUM’S THE WORD: A nationwide search has been launched to find the UK’s most inspirational mum. The competition could see one very deserving lady rewarded with a one-of-a-kind diamond Mother’s Day card, (left) designed exclusively by Tess Daly, which also contains a fantastic diamond, which will be set into piece of jewellery as part of their prize.

The hunt for the UK’s Most Inspirational Mum has been launched as part of Hallmark’s Cards for a Cure™ campaign for Mother’s Day, which annually contributes £250,000 to Breast Cancer Campaign and Action Breast Cancer, a programme of the Irish Cancer Society.

To entert your mum visit www.hallmark.co.uk The winner will receive a unique Mother’s Day card designed by Tess Daly on behalf of Breast Cancer Campaign.

which took two days to hang. Another of the chandeliers is destined for Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry.

They were officially unveiled when Prince Philip opened the terminal in 1962. Their design was altered in 1987 with the coloured glass drops taken out and they were moved from the centre of the departure hall to the side.

LIFE CHANGER: Change4Life is the new movement, supported by the Department of Health, which aims to improve children’s diets and levels of activity to help make them healthier. Visitors to www.nhs.uk/Change4Life are asked to join so they will receive a welcome pack about the initiative, and there’s plenty of healthy lifestyle information, plus a questionnaire that leads to a personalised healthy action plan.

DAYOUT

A GRAND Venetian chandelier that once graced Manchester Airport has a new home in the World of Glass museum in St Helens.

The restored chandelier is one of four that dazzled passengers for 40 years in the airport's terminals.

The chandeliers were removed in 2003 when the departure halls were modernised. The chandelier has 1,300

droplets of clear, smoked grey and amethyst lead glass individually blown by a master craftsman. It cost £3,000 to commission in the 1960s but would now cost more than £250,000.

Jo Hayward, museum curator, said: “It looks fantastic.”

The World of Glass had to strengthen and modify its ceiling to support the two-tonne weight of the chandelier,

YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

How many slopes does the Runcorn Ski Centre have?

The family ticket is for two adults and two children. Children must be aged eight to 16. The ticket can redeemed between March 1 and September 31 2009.

Advanced booking is required.

For further information telephone 01928 701965 or visit www.runcornskicentre.co.uk.

Send your answer, along with your name, address and telephone number to: Runcorn Ski Competition, Life! magazine, The Gazette, Avroe House, Avroe Crescent, South Shore, Blackpool, FY4 2DP. Closing date March 13. The winners will be picked at random from postal entries.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

life! 17

OUTDOORS WEEKEND CHORES

■ Tie in new growth of blackberries as it occurs.

■ Sow maincrop tomatoes indoors for planting in the greenhouse during May. ■ Sow summer spinach for harvesting in May. ■ As weather conditions improve, harden off seedlings and cuttings from autumn in ventilated frames.

■ Bring strawberries in containers into the greenhouse to bring on the fruit early.

■ Prune half-hardy fuchsias under cover when the pink ‘eyes’ (embryo shoots) appear.

■ Prick out or pot up pelargonium seedlings that have grown from seeds sown last month.

■ Apply a top dressing of gravel or chippings around plants in the rock gardens to suppress weeds and ensure free drainage.

■ Sow sweet peas outdoors in their flowering position except in very cold areas.

■ Clear weeds from around the base of established hedges and cut back overgrown deciduous hedges.

■ Top-dress pot-grown shrubs, scraping off around 2.5cm (1in) of old compost from the surface and adding fresh compost containing slow release fertiliser.

■ Prune winter-flowering jasmine once the flowers have gone over completely.

GOODENOUGH TOEAT Cut-and-come-again salad

MANY salad leaves, including loose-leaf lettuces Lollo Rossa and Red Salad Bowl, mizuna, radicchio, rocket and many types of mustard, are designed to be picked young as needed, some regrowing from the stump left when the leaves are cut.

When mixed salad leaves in plastic bags are so expensive, have a go at growing your own now.

You can buy packets of mixed salad leaf seeds, starting them off in small pots or modules on a windowsill or in the greenhouse, for planting outside when the weather warms up.

Use cloches to warm up the soil for a few weeks before planting seed outside, choosing a site in full sun for early sowings, in fertile, moisture-retentive soil.

Seeds can be sown at two or three week intervals for a continuous crop and water regularly, picking off slugs and snails.

Harvest small quantities of leaves as you need them, cutting off the leaves with scissors about 2cm from the compost, leaving the cut stump.

in association with The Alpine Centre and the Plant Place

S

pring is in the air and that means gardeners will be digging out their secateurs for some serious pruning as the growing season begins.

However, some may come unstuck if they prune at the wrong time, damaging new shoot growth and losing this year’s flowers, while others will hack away at woody plants which should be left to develop unpruned, apart from removing dead and diseased stems occasionally.

So, what should you leave alone?

It’s best not to interfere with rock roses, a family of short-lived summer shrubs, which won’t come back easily if cut back hard. Laburnums, Pieris floribunda, daphnes, sarcococca and some rhododendrons are also best left unpruned, otherwise you may ruin their shape or reduce flowering the following year.

Slow-growing deciduous shrubs such as hibiscus, azaleas and hydrangeas don’t need much pruning and should be allowed to keep their flowerheads all winter.

If you didn’t remove dead growth from perennials in the autumn you can do it in early spring, which can help if you are planning to lift, divide and replant specimens and the dead foliage marks the position of plants which may otherwise be difficult to locate.

Most evergreens, including conifers, only need an optional summer shaping with shears.

The shrubs which you should leave alone in early spring are those that flower in spring up to early summer such as philadelphus, forsythia, kerria and weigela.

This is because the flowers are produced on shoots which developed during the previous growing season, so these flowering shoots should be cut back immediately flowering has finished, to allow new shoots to form.

The ones which flower from early summer onwards including potentilla, lavatera and fuchsia, are the ones that need pruning in early spring, before growth starts. Cut back old wood hard to a low bud to encourage vigorous new growth which will produce flowers in the same year.

You may be a bit tentative about giving the shrub too much of a haircut, but there are certain plants which you can cut right back within an inch of their lives in early spring, including Buddleia davidii (butterfly bush), which can be cut down to a couple of buds from the ground, Caryopteris x clandonensis, Ceanothus ‘Burkwoodii’ and santolina.

Other plants which can be pruned in early spring include euphorbia, lavandula, passiflora and roses, although early pruning of bush roses (before you are confident that spring has arrived) is risky in cold northern gardens.

Tidy up and prune early-flowering climbers as soon as they have flowered. Those which flower later in the year should be left until the following spring.

Hybrid (large-flowered) clematis, which fall into Group 2, should be cut right back to a pair of

DIARYDATES

Cut with care

INTHEGARDEN fresh green buds about 30cm (1ft) above the ground in early spring.

Clematis which flower in summer and again in autumn need less drastic pruning. Thin out the stems every year to keep them tidy and every other year cut back the oldest stems to 60cm (2ft) above the ground.

Some shrubs do not take to hard pruning, such as lavender and heather. Make sure when cutting them back that you don’t cut back into old wood or they won’t recover.

If you make a note of what you need to prune and when, write the instructions on a label with the plant’s name and push it into the earth or loosely

Send dates to life! magazine, The Gazette, Avroe Crescent, Blackpool, FY4 4AU or e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

Saturday, March 7 The Alpine Garden Society Southport Group. John Page, 250 Years of Rock and Alpine Gardens. Emmanuel Church Hall, Cambridge Road, Southport, 2pm.

Tuesday, March 10 Carleton Garden Club. Ann McCarthy, “Madeira - the Island Garden”. Carleton Scout Hall, Poulton Road, Carleton, 7.30pm.

Thursday, March 12 The Alpine Garden Society. Julia Corden - The Explorers’ Garden.

18 life! LOGON www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk

Methodist Church, Greaves, Lancaster, 7.30pm Thornton Cleveleys Horticultural Society. Richard Hodson “Clematis – Viticella and offspring”. Thornton Little Theatre, Four Lane Ends, Thornton, 7.30pm.

Monday, March 16 Over Wyre Gardening Club, Jacqueline Iddon – Arranging The Garden – Knott End Methodist Church hall, Lancaster Road, Knott End, 7.30pm.

with Hannah Stephenson around the plant for future reference.

There are some basic rules when pruning. Use sharp tools and keep cuts clean. Cut out weak, dead or diseased stems before anything else and cut back stems which which are rubbing against larger ones.

Cut just above a bud, sloping away at a 45 degree angle, so that rainwater doesn’t run into the cut and cause rotting.

Try to prune so that air and light gets into the centre of the plant. If you want your shrub to spread wide, cut above outward-facing buds. If you want it to grow upwards, cut above inwardfacing buds.

BESTOFTHEBUNCH

Chionodoxa THESE delicate-looking pint-sized bulbs producing starry flowers in shades of blue or pink, with white eyes, are ideal for adding to beds and borders between perennials and under roses and deciduous shrubs, as long as you plant in groups so they will be noticed.

They also look lovely in rockeries or raised beds.

Bulbs should be planted in autumn 8cm (3in) deep, in any well-drained soil, in sun or dappled shade. Lift and separate the bulbs every four to five years if they become congested.

OUTDOORS

THEWALK

T

here is a tendency to regard the countryside as a place of peace and quiet where one can escape from the pressures of urban

living.

Yet it was not so long ago when the rural scene was one of work and industry and a very busy place. The deserted landscape of the Grane Valley close to Haslingden is a good example – this area once supported 1,000 people – farming, handloom weaving and quarrying. Now it is the realm of sheep and curlew, and of course walkers.

THE WALK Car Park to Leys End: 6k (4m) 1½-2 hours Take the path that starts to the left of the visitors’ centre. After passing through a strip of woodland it begins to ascend the pasture beyond.

Keep ahead at a kissing gate onto the steeper fellside to reach the Rossendale Way (RW).

This long distance path provides a convenient reference for the greater part of the route. Turn left onto the RW. Though well used and obvious this is not what would be called a manicured path.

Wet weather reduces parts of it to a boggy quagmire.

Follow it as best you can past a conifer plantation. 10 minutes or 600m after joining it, the RW turns left, crosses a wooden stile and drops down to Grane Road (A6177).

Following the direction of the signpost you will arrive at the road in a little under 300m. Cross the road and turn left.

In a short distance pick up the way again to turn right into pastures.

After 150m follow the RW as it turns right. In 300m the RW turns left towards Calf Hey Reservoir. Entering an area of marsh grass the track is not always easy to discern, but frequent waymark posts will assist you as the RW reaches the first of many ruined buildings.

Passing an information board close to a ruined gable the RW drops towards a gully close to another ruin.

Across the gully the RW follows the edge of woodland before entering the plantation by way of a stile.

Keep on the RW as you go through this stretch of mixed woodland. Over a footbridge bear right. Once clear of the woods you will find yourself on the steep sided slopes below Musbury Heights.

Views open out down the valley. Keep ahead passing Calf Hey Reservoir and walking above Ogden Reservoir. 1.6k/1 mile from the woods fork left off the RW close by a small stream.

Along a narrow path drop steeply towards the south east corner of Ogden Reservoir.

The natural line appears to cross the dam end of the reservoir but there is no public access there. Keep ahead on the path then turn left through a wooden gate and

A valley of changes

SCENIC: Calf Hey Reservoir from the Rossendale Way

FACTFILE

Start: Visitors Centre Car park: Clough Head. From junction 5 M65 take the A6177 towards Haslingden. After 5k 3m turn left onto the visitors’ centre car park.

Distance: 9.5k 5.5m Time: 2½-3 -½ hours Terrain: An easy to moderate walk made more demanding after wet weather when paths become very muddy.

Map: OS Explorer 287 West Pennine Moors drop to a stile.

Passing the end of Holden Wood Reservoir on your right follow the path as it skirts around a large utility building on its right side, to lead you up to Grane Road. Leys End is along the track opposite.

Leys End to Clough Head car park 3.5k (2m) 1-1½ hours Keep ahead through Leys End farmyard and its noisy dogs.

The footpath beyond crosses a stile and then diagonally traverses pasture to reach a junction of tracks.

Turn left taking the metalled lane as it bends right leading up to Cloud Hill Farm.

Beyond the farm keep ahead on a footpath as it crosses two large pastures

YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

to reach once again the Rossendale Way. Turn left. In 800m the RW turns sharply left.

Follow it downhill to the edge of a quarry, before it turns right and then edges around the large Jamestone Quarry with its numerous warnings. The quarry is an impressive and active operation.

In another 15 minutes reach a footpath junction. Turn left and walk down along a recently laid path to a metal kissing gate.

Keep ahead with an enclosed plantation on the right to reach another metal gate on the right.

Go through this to arrive back at the car park in a few more minutes. ● Walk by John Griffiths and Bob Clare.

Hit www.lancashirewalks.com for more walks exploring the diversity of the Lancashire countryside.

BIRDWATCH

with Kate Humble

F

ebruary 2009 will be remembered for its spectacular snowfall for years to come.

Where I live no one had seen snow like it for 20 years. The countryside looked magical, but sadly many of our smaller birds and other wildlife will have perished in the freezing temperatures.

Well stocked feeders and bird baths kept ice-free really would have made the difference between life and death for many of our garden birds.

Keep those feeders well stocked now, too, because those garden birds that did survive the harsh conditions will be preparing for the breeding season.

The Great Spotted Woodpeckers are having drumming competitions in my local wood, the robins are singing their hearts out and the house sparrows are prospecting possible nest sites under the eaves of the house.

Blackbirds, one of the earliest of our garden birds to breed, are already gathering nesting material.

This is also a time of year when we will be out in our gardens again.

A Great Spotted WoodNow the ground has thawed it’s a good time for pecker and (below) a nesting blackbird planting trees and your hard work will be accompanied by beautiful birdsong.

Towards the end of this month, listen out for the unmistakable call of the cuckoo, a true sound of spring, and to further lift the spirits you might also see a lone swallow, the first of many that will start to arrive in April.

Bees should start to appear again soon, too, along with the arrival of the spring flowers.

Last year I saw my first bluebell of the year at the end of March and the woods were already full of wood anemones and wild garlic. This is a truly wonderful time of the year so enjoy it and I look forward to seeing you next month. ● For more information about garden birds and other wildlife and what to do in your gardens visit www.rspb.org.uk

Saturday, March 7, 2009

life! 19

TRAVEL&HOLIDAYS

Here’s a selection of Gazette Travel offers... in association with Liverpool John Lennon Airport CASTLES AND GARDENS OF KENT July 24, two days from £189.95

See and enjoy the charming Garden of England, and visit three of its finest gardens, on this attractive and great value summertime break. Includes return coach travel, two nights in a twin or double bedded room with a private bathroom at a three star hotel in the south west, dinner and full English breakfast from dinner on Friday to breakfast on Sunday and admission to Sissinghurst Gardens, the gardens at Great Dixter and to Hever Castle and Gardens. Organised by Omega Holidays ABTA V4782.

WINDSOR CASTLE ROYAL TATTOO

May 16, two days from £179.95

Enjoy an evening of spectacular entertainment, in the presence of royalty, in the private grounds of Windsor Castle at this splendid Royal Tattoo, held to honour all our armed services and in support of The Royal British Legion. There will be appearances from members of the armed forces and fantastic displays of military music from the massed bands of the regiments and a stunning finale of music, sound and light, with combined pipes and drums, a military band and choir. Includes coach travel, one night four star outer London hotel, a full English breakfast, a two course meal at the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo and a top priced ticket for the Tattoo.

Organised by Omega Holidays ABTA V7482.

MURRAYFIELD MAGIC May 2, two days from £119.95

Rugby League’s magic weekend will be played at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield stadium in May and offers a chance to see 14 top rugby teams in action. After the excitement of last year’s Magic Weekend at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium, Edinburgh braces itself for seven massive clashes between the biggest names in the Northern Hemisphere Rugby League. Includes return coach travel, two day match tickets to see seven Engage Super league matches, overnight stay at the four star Holiday Inn, Glasgow Airport, Paisley with full Scottish breakfast and coach transfers from hotel to Murrayfield. Organised by Omega Holidays ABTA V7482.

F

OR centuries, Italy has drawn visitors,in search of culture and romance. Few countries compare with its enormous classical origins, its art, architecture, music, design, scenery, food and wine.

Italy’s contribution to European painting and sculpture surpasses that of any other nation. Blend this with the magnificent scenery of the Italian Lakes, one of the world’s great cuisines and the attitude of living life to absolute maximum inside every Italian and you have a superb destination for a tour.

Italy is blessed with some fantastic scenery and some of the finest is to be found as you approach the Alps around Lake Garda, where images of the abundant flowers and trees, which cover the banks, are reflected in an ever changing kaleidoscope of colour. The picturesque lake with gentle waves lapping slowly onto the shingle shoreline, with the stunning snowcapped Alps in the background, interspersed by picturesque villages all fit together in a beautifully balanced mosaic of harmony. Furthermore, we see the Dolomite Mountains, some of the most spectacular alpine scenery on earth.

It is only in the past 150 years that Italy has come to exist as a nation state formed from a collection of largely independent cities, often separated by impenetrable marshes or mountain ranges. They then evolved totally separately and on this tour we shall visit two of them, the very different but very classic cities of Verona and Venice.

Verona is without a doubt one of the most attractive cities you will ever see and appropriately well known as the setting for the legendary story of Romeo and Juliet. It has been important since ancient times and has more ancient remains than any city in Italy except Rome itself. Its most striking monument is the arena, the third largest ever built, where a range of entertainments were presented, including gladiatorial combat. Enclosed by massive and extremely well preserved ramparts, the city has a lovely medieval feel to it with pink hued buildings lining the streets having been lovingly restored.

All the photographs and pictures you have seen of St Mark’s Square and Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and the Grand Canal have been simply telling the extraordinary truth that Venice is a stunning city. You cannot walk for more than a few minutes without seeing something to make you stop and admire. Indeed a roll call of must-see churches alone would number more than 50. As far is art is concerned there is probably no other city with so many collections of such quality. Indeed the Accademia museum consists of nothing but masterpieces. The city itself has been painted countless times, with the views exactly as Canaletto captured them, the Campanile and St Mark’s Square look straight from a film set. The city was founded 1,500 years ago and was to become the dominant power in the Mediterranean, being at the crossroads of east and west. Trading

22 life! LOGON www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk

BEAUTIFUL SCENERY: Our holiday visits Lake Garda (above), Verona and Venice

Italy – land of contrasts CONTACTNUMBERS Call our 24-hour brochure hotline: 01772 838080 Other inquiries: Telephone as above or www.gazettetravel.co.uk

exploded and wealth positively flooded in creating the richest city in the world.

At the centre of it all, St Mark’s Square was a hive of activity, packed with berobed bankers and entrepreneurs finalising another eastern expedition in search of the spices, fine silks, ivory and other luxury items Europe’s aristocracy and monarchs craved.

However, Italy is much more than majestic cities and this can be particularly noticed in the restaurants.

Boasting one of the world’s greatest cuisines, far from being pizza and

pasta, one of the first things which strikes you about visiting a restaurant in Italy is how deeply embedded in the culture food and drink really is. Fresh vegetables and salads abound, combined with succulent meats, seafood, a hint of garlic and the finest olive oil to create simple, tasty, wholesome and healthy menus.

One of the greatest joys of visiting Italy is, of course, the Italians themselves.

Stylish, always ready to help and, if there is a single national characteristic, it is living life to the full, creating a fantastic atmosphere which is so much in evidence everywhere.

This eight day holiday departs on various dates from April to October, 2009 and costs from £539. The price includes return flights, seven nights half board hotel accommodation, a guided sightseeing tour of Verona, a tour of the Dolomites and a guided sightseeing tour of Venice. For a brochure please telephone our brochureline.

Organised by Riviera Travel ABTA V4744 .

YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk

Saturday, March 7, 2009

life! 23

SOCIETYDIARY YOUR STARS

With Cassandra Nye

For the week starting March 9 PISCES (20 Feb-20 Mar) This is an energetic week, with Mars pushing you forward and encouraging quick decisions and forceful conversations. Opposition to your ideas can be equally forceful, however, and a show of determination will be needed. Get what you want by all means, but not to the point where you ignore any danger warnings.

ARIES (21 Mar-20 Apr) A slowdown in your personal life seems to have been balanced with a particularly hectic time at work. This is to be expected with Venus in retrograde motion, so make the most of the chance to progress on more practical issues.

TAURUS (21 Apr-21 May) It’s an interesting time for any relationships that are in a state of flux at the moment. Feelings can swing from despair to delight and back again, with unsure Venus at odds with energetic Mars. With the moon shining a light on any intimate connections there is a generally unsettled mood.

GEMINI (22 May-21 June) It would seem that you are running fast with no real idea of the next goalpost.

Energetic Mars wants you to make progress but without a firm plan in place there could be confusion and time wasting. The saving grace is the Virgo full Moon as the week begins, bringing your mind back to practical realities.

CANCER (22 June-23 July) Although you start the week on an unsure note, the Virgo Full Moon soon brings emotions to a head, making it clear what your next move should be. After some confusion, this is very welcome. Both Mercury and Pluto continue to give a sharp mind and optimistic attitudes.

LEO (24 July-23 Aug) Showing a strong face to others is important if you want them to take you seriously, as any signs of confusion or muddled thinking will not go down well. Taking charge of your emotions and surroundings is not easy with so much planetary activity, but be strong.

VIRGO (24 Aug-23 Sept) A confused start to the week could see you wasting both time and energy, but don’t be too hard on yourself as the situation you face is unexpected and annoying. Someone who seems to be in tune with you one minute appears to be at odds the next.

LIBRA (24 Sept-23 Oct) Thoughts keep going back to a recent moment when all seemed to be going well with a relationship, but no amount of analysing will help if things are going pear-shaped or have simply stopped progressing. A retrograde Venus is fogging the emotions and giving others pause for thought.

SCORPIO (24 Oct-22 Nov) In the mood for some fun, but someone cramping your style? Follow your instincts rather than taking yourself on a guilt trip. You are allowed some time to yourself, especially when opportunities arise that may not come again. The Virgo Full Moon is feeding your fantasies and putting before you the possibility of physical delights. With a sharp mind this also brings the determination to make the most of a special situation.

SAGITTARIUS (23 Nov-21 Dec) Monday being relatively calm, Tuesday onwards can be something of a shock. Lots of activity on both the personal and business front, coupled with a strong Virgo Full Moon, can set your mind reeling.

CAPRICORN (22 Dec-20 Jan) The exciting Full Moon in Virgo can see passions rise and caution thrown to the wind. Using an instinctive influence from Saturn, however, can bring you clear thoughts long enough to avoid disaster.

AQUARIUS (21 Jan-19 Feb) A quiet day on Monday leads smoothly into a romantic frame of mind on Tuesday. The full Moon in Virgo intensifies feelings but you can be the force for good. Bringing humour into everyday situations can change a stressful environment into a tolerable irritation.

Captain of Blackpool North Shore Graham Shaw and Captain of Fleetwood Dr Max Romer

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hree Fylde golf clubs joined forces to celebrate, staging a Valentines Ball at the Hilton Hotel, Blackpool.

Members of Fleetwood, Blackpool North and Blackpool Park golf clubs enjoyed a black tie dinner and dance.

Captain of St Annes Old Links Dave McBain, Lady Captain of Fleetwood Eileen Squire, Dorothy Cartwright, Edith Clegg and Captain of Fairhaven Jim Hudson

Captain of Captains John Jagger, Blackpool Park ladies Captain Pat Bulmer and Captain of Blackpool Park Terry Cartwright

Rora Hudson, Maureen Romer, Vera Shaw, Gwen Jagger and Betty McBain

■ To order any of the photographs on this page, please contact our photo sales department on 01253 361867

Beryl Radcliffe, Keith Radcliffe and Wynne Booker

Trisha Green, Stewart Morgan, Rebecca Goodall, Lewis Hill and Lynn Morgan

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Chris Cardwell, John Cardwell, Stephen Low and Andrew Cramer

Phil Sewell, Nora Sewell, Dot Pymer and Reg Pymer

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LL things showbiz came to the Tower Ballroom when hundreds of revellers enjoyed international circus acts at the Showzam!

Carnival Ball. Staged by organisers Claire Turner and Professor Vanessa Toulmin, the flower-themed evening was hosted by “former beauty queen” Tina C and entertainment included trapeze artist Empress Stah, hula-hoop showgirl Marawa and comedy group Bearlesque.

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