yourlife, Chester Chronicle by Chester

TheChronicle September 26, 2008

Welsh crafts and antiques in a unique mill setting

AFONWEN

CRAFT & ANTIQUES CENTRE

Advertiser’s announcement

IF YOU are looking for somewhere to spend an interesting day out why not meander through the picturesque Wheeler valley along the A541 to the Afonwen Craft & Antique Centre in the village of Afonwen?

There, located in a converted water mill, you will find one of the largest displays of antiques, locally made crafts, curios and collectables that you are likely to find under one roof in North Wales, and with nearly 15,000 sq ft of floor space you’re almost guaranteed to find what you want for yourself or as a gift. It’s not just a place to browse or buy either, because most weekends and weekdays as well sometimes, visitors will find craft workers demonstrating their skills, sharing their secrets with an eager audience and actually making the very thing you might later wish to buy to remind you of your visit. At the centre there is a delightful periodfurnished licensed restaurant serving a wide range of meals and snacks that attracts groups of friends and coach parties from all over North Wales and beyond. What’s more, on a warm day, you can enjoy a drink and a snack in the centre’s tea garden alongside the bubbling River Wheeler and, if you’re lucky, watch trout dimple the surface as they rise to feed on flies carried down by the current.

GREAT DAY OUT: The Afonwen Crafts & Antique Centre. So, if you’re looking for a day out with a difference, take a scenic drive to Afonwen to a place full of reminders of yesteryear, or just pop in to browse and maybe have a drink or a bite to eat there as part of a day exploring the unspoiled Wheeler valley. The Afonwen Craft & Antique Centre is open every day except on Mondays and admission to the centre and all craft displays and exhibitions is free. The Centre has plentiful free parking and can accommodate visits by coach parties.

◗ “Homemade” is our speciality - using much local produce ◗ Meat, Fish and Vegetarian daily specials plus light bites for all appetites ◗ Scrumptious Homemade puddings and cakes and kets, h , s ◗ Morning coffee and afternoon tea jac ns e ◗ Licensed restaurant ◗ Traditional Sunday lunch ◗ Take home buffet foods made to order Exhibitions During September 27th and 28th Handmade Dolls Clothes and Embroidery

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Call us free on 0800 043 1997 for an information pack Or alternatively visit our website www.veinsolutions.co.uk info@veinsolutions.co.uk

◗ Specialists in quality antique furniture ◗ Spectacular show cabinets - stocked with Beswick, Silver Moorcroft, Worcester, Jewellery and much more ◗ Gifts from Wales and around the globe ◗ Stunning range of cards, handbags, jewellery, ladies and mens jackets, fleeces and gilets

Craft Centre 01352 720965 ◗ Delivery throughout Wales

and borders ◗ Free Parking

Open Tuesday to Sunday 9.30 - 5.30

www.afonwen.co.uk antiques@afonwen.co.uk edenshine@afonwen.co.uk Afonwen, Nr Caerwys, Mold, Flintshire.

Restaurant 01352 720797 Signposted off A55 jct 31

50 15

TheChronicle September, September 26,2008 2008 TheChronicle

Step into Sixth Form @King’s Ehzivxmwiv7w errsyrgiqirx

IXTH FORM EVENING 7.00pm Thursday, 2nd October 2008

If this is what you’re looking for... • Inspirational, challenging teaching – in a great environment • Independence, with your own lively and vibrant Sixth Form Centre • An excellent record of top university entrance

... it’s time to step into Sixth Form @ King’s For a prospectus or further details: Co-educational 7-18 years

www.kingschester.co.uk

Tel:01244 689553

Email: registrar@kingschester.co.uk

THE QUEEN’S SCHOOL H O N O U R

W I S D O M

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f you are looking for a new inspirational and challenging start for A-level study, look no further than King’s.

The Sixth Form @King’s is an independent centre within the school, with its own cyber café, study area, careers library and lecture theatre. There is a wide choice of A-level courses, all taught by specialist teaching staff who are recognised academics in their subjects. King’s is a high achieving school with a huge extra curricular programme. The academic success of students is

phenomenal with 100% going to university: 12-15% to Oxbridge, 33% to The Times top 10 universities and 65% to The Times top 30 universities. The rest go on to other top universities and specialist schools such as medical and vet colleges. Top university entrance is competitive and demands not just good Alevel grades but independent, confident and well rounded people. The Sixth Form @Kings encourages and develops these qualities, giving the greatest chance of success in life after King’s. Beyond the classroom, King’s offers excellent facilities including sport, drama productions of the highest calibre and an ever-growing music school, with 20 different groups, from rock to jazz and choral to orchestral. Sixth formers get involved in charity fundraising, community work in some remote areas of the world and are planning to go to Madagascar and Tanzania in 2009. There are leadership courses, Young Enterprise companies, Model United Nations conferences and Combined Cadet Force. Financial considerations should not deter you from coming to visit Sixth Form @King’s as bursaries are available for sixth form study. l Visit Sixth Form @King’s at 7pm on Thursday October 2. Open morning for the whole school is Saturday November 15.

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Firm helps create quality images for your home IMAGES has been manufacturing bedroom and kitchen furniture for more than 20 years, supplying both the general public and the trade sector. The manufacturing process is carried out in a 15,000sq ft unit in Saltney's Central Trading Estate, equipped with the latest computer driven technology. For the retail customer a large factory showroom displays 35 room settings to assist with the design and purchase of a fully fitted kitchen, bedroom or study. For the DIY enthusiast a vast range of replacement doors is available for an inexpensive make over. One of the only manufacturers in the area to offer a fully bespoke

51 16

TheChronicle September 26, 2008 TheChronicle September, 2008

service, Images can “tailor make” to suit all requirements. In addition a full design service by qualified consultants is available without obligation or cost. Also available is a range of quality branded products including Crown Kitchens, Neff, Bosch, Hotpoint, Corian, granite, laminate worktops and Franke Sink among others. Images’ contract division has established successful relationships with a number of leading house builders in the North West installing kitchens and bedrooms in the new house sector. l Images has now relocated to its new showroom, Unit 3 Riverside Trade Park,River Lane, Saltney. For further information call 01244 677579.

he Queen’s School in Chester is one of the country’s leading independent schools for girls aged four to 18.

The school celebrates young women and their potential and prepares girls to face their future with self-belief, energy and a ‘can do’ philosophy. Academic success is only one aspect of life at Queen’s and all girls are encouraged to explore their abilities, interests and passions in a wide range of extra-curricular activities. From drama, art and music to sports, community work and overseas adventures, the girls benefit from an education of the whole person, experiencing new

Ehzivxmwiv7w errsyrgiqirx challenges inside and outside the classroom. Queen’s School staff seek to develop in each student a risk-taking spirit, leadership abilities, confidence and a love of learning. This individual approach ensures each girl has the support she needs to thrive and succeed throughout her time at the school. The school is housed in elegant Georgian and Victorian buildings, situated in a beautiful setting within walking distance of historic Chester. These sur-

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roundings prove a constant reminder of the heritage and traditional values that have shaped the school for more than 130 years. There are a number of bursaries available to very able students. Mrs Catherine Buckley is the headmistress of Queen’s; Mrs Felicity Taylor is head of the Lower School in Liverpool Road. Past pupils include Beth Tweddle, Olympic gymnast; Sarah Kelly, founder of the UK’s Neuromuscular Centre for muscular dystrophy; and Vivienne Faull, the first woman to become Dean of an English Cathedral. l For further information, visit the website www.queens.cheshire.sch.uk

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TheChronicle September 26, 2008

Best bulbs for spring Y

sit happily among tulips. I’m not a great lover of garish parrot tulips or others with flamed and streaked flowers. I prefer more subtle varieties such as the white T. ‘Purissima’, which produces huge shining white flowers on 40cm stems. These are perfect to plant with evergreen shrubs and also set off blue flowers. My other personal favourite is T. ‘Queen of Night’, a plum-coloured, almost black variety which looks fantastic mixed with vibrant wallflowers, or planted in rows against a backdrop of acid green foliage. If you are buying bulbs this year, purchase them early in the season – you’ll have more choice that way. Make sure the bulbs are firm, with their outer coats intact. Avoid those which have patches of mould on them or are soft in places. If you buy your bulbs later on, carefully check those which are pre-packed as they may have

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deteriorated with time. And don’t always go for the ones which are bargain priced. Cheaper bulbs may turn out to be smaller and produce inferior flowers.

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acclaim this year. The regal crocus tommasinianus ‘Ruby Giant’ won the title of 2008 Spring Flowering Bulb of the Year at the annual judging event hosted by The Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Centre. ou may still be enjoying the summer Leading gardening journalists and opinion but if you want a good show in formers voted it the ‘must have’ bulb to plant spring, it’s time to think about what this autumn, for blooming in spring 2009. bulbs you need to plant now and through It has decadent purple petals which fade to autumn which will give you the colour you the centre and a golden stamen. Clumps of need for next year. them will bring rich colour If you’ve returned from to any spring garden, lightholiday to find your coning up flower beds and tainer plants looking dry, drawing the eye to darker sorry and beyond saving, corners of the garden with it may be worth emptytheir vibrant shade of ing them and planting purple. some crocuses or narcissi Other bulbs that were in for an early spring show. the running were Narcissus But what are going to ‘Avalanche’, a multi-headed be the most popular variety with white-petalled spring bulbs next year? flowers with lemon-yellow Among my personal facups, and Muscari armenivourites are Tulipa clusacum, a delightful and reiana ‘Lady Jane’, a delliable grape hyacinth which icate, fine-boned specie produces deep blue, longtulip which grows to just lasting fragrant flowers in 20cm. Its pencil-thin mid-spring and looks great flowerbuds open to in a pot mixed with the blooms which are deep dwarf Tulipa ‘Red Riding pink on the outside and Hood’, or planted as a solo white within. species in one or more pots, It looks perfect in a to give a burst of blue. rockery but is also eyeNarcissus ‘White Fire’, catching in pots, teamed from Unwins, has stunning with the blue grass FesWYFXPI ZEVMIX]> Xli X2 6Tyvmwwmqe70 double blooms projecting tuca glauca. tvshygiw lyki wlmrmrk {lmxi jps{ivw sr colours of cream and soft Other pint-sized bulbs have also received much 84gq wxiqw2 peach and is tall enough to

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54 17

TheChronicle September, September 26,2008 2008 TheChronicle

Get it down in black • Your Life • Your Advert • Your Space Use this space in our next Your Life Feature to promote any special offers, seasonal sales or new lines. This Feature provides a fantastic cost-effective way to promote your business to over 250,000 readers. Just ring On

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he world of interiors can be a little confusing sometimes, with the trends changing as rapidly as high street fashions.

That’s fine if you’ve got the budget to indulge in every passing interior whim, but most of us really want a style that will have lasting appeal and doesn’t cost a fortune. Look no further than monochrome – a classic which looks just as good in rooms as it does in an outfit. The black and white combo – accessorise with warm, chic touches of ‘bling’ gold or silver metallics to bring it bang up to date – is in the spotlight this autumn as designers

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celebrate its charms. They’re confidently predicting that it will be a leading look all through 2009 and beyond. So how do you create monochrome magic? Leading interior designer, Karen Howes of THis Designs, says: “Black and white and cream are hot colours this season. However, it is how you use them that’s key. “It’s all about materials as well as colours, so go for polished steel, acrylic and plastic. “Most importantly, before you start choosing fabrics and furniture, decide which style you’d

like to go for so you can plan a complete look.” There’s a whole choice of interpretations from modern and minimal using pure white and jet black, a more rococo style with elaborate pattern and detail, or the glamorous Art Deco feel with mirrored pieces and shiny black surfaces. “If you can’t really afford a whole redesign but love the look – get savvy,” Howes says. “Take the ‘designer shoes and handbag paired with a Marks & Spencer T-shirt’ approach. Use inexpensive fabrics for large expanses such as curtains or loose covers and then have a minisplurge on some fabulous designer cushions and accessories like vases.” Follow a few simple monochrome rules to guarantee monochrome success, urges Steven Rowe, head of home design at Littlewoods Direct, which features a range of design-standard monochrome homeware at budget prices. “It’s not simply a case of putting black and white together. Too much black and your decorating scheme becomes heavy and dark, so always consider the balance of colours,” he says. Rowe recommends mixing matt and shiny

with leather furniture while a flash of metallic – silver or gold – will bring the look bang up to date.” Seeing things in black and white

means they’re clear and totally in focus and that could be the perfect recipe for home decor. So banish the confusion and move to monochrome.

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and white gloss combinations of black together to reflect the light and create surface interest. “Textured white cushions and throws make a fantastic contrast

55 18

TheChronicle September 26, 2008 TheChronicle September, 2008

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