Harding Annual Vol. 1 by Hope Harding

HARDING

SEE DO LIVE REMEMBER

VOL.1

See – To grow and learn through seeing. Do – To have seen and now to do. Live – To have seen and done, and now live. Remember – To look back on those who have seen, done and lived.

ABI SKINNER

HARDING To our readers, Harding is so much more to me than the title of this magazine, Harding is my family, it’s my name, it’s my life. To me Harding means encouragement, it means to be free, to be creative. To work hard and to not give up. Why? Because that’s what my parents taught me, after all “What’s in a name?” As Shakespeare once wrote “that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” As people we make excuses for ourselves, we constantly tear ourselves down and battle with our inner thoughts. We don’t allow ourselves to fail and try again as we did when we were children. As we’ve grown up, we’ve silenced our dreams and told ourselves we can’t. Well today I tell you we can. Harding was created for the creator. We strive to inspire you all to see more, to do more, to live more and to remember more. I hope as you flick though these pages you will re-learn how to see, you will be inspired to do, find a new way to live and take inspiration from those who have lived, as I have done whilst creating this publication. Enjoy, Hope Harding

See - 12

14. See the world through our eyes and begin to see it through your own.

20.

Some Brains Just Arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t The Same. By Sarah Gomes Munro.

22. Meet Nick, 22 year old Film student and lead singer of The New Coast.

26.

Breaching The Void. By Silva Chege.

Do - 30

32. Bake Chocolate Truffle Cookies with us.

38. Read of Fran Stone’s journey with Blog, Fall For DIY.

54. A brief Q&A with fashion blogger, The Intern 247.

56. Meet Matt from ‘For The Love Of Patch’ and fall in love with his amazing patches!

Live - 64

66. Be inspired to create your own world of creativity from this chapter and have a sneak peak into someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world.

68.

Dreams Clouded by the Big Smoke. By Silva Chege

70. Sue Pritchard and her Lavender Hill Company story will inspire you to make the jump from helping someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream, to making your own.

Live - 64

82. The Big V We talk to vegan, Helena Gerrelli and vegetarian, Holly Jones, to hear their thoughts and tips.

84. Helena Gerrelli: World traveller and vegan - how does she do it? Find out in eye opening interview.

90. Helenaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s open and honest letter about her journey with Veganism.

92. Holly Jones: Vegetarian, health guru and confessed beauty addict!

Remember - 96

98. 100.

Lemons of September By Federica Schiavello

A brief introduction to Harry Harding and his sweetheart Marge.

106. Some Days By Tania GarcĂa Ayala

108.

Nanny Marge By Hope Harding

Remember - 96

112. Diaries from 1941 to 1952 documenting a love affair cross countries during WW2.

118.

Internet Killed the Video Star By Silva Chege

120.

Our Hourglass By Hayden Boyce

S - Verb Perceive with the eyes; to experience or witness.

What does it mean to see?

To do more than just observe; but to consume through our eyes and body. To grow and learn through seeing. To breath in our surroundings and drink up the moments and memories that will be gone within a blink. Let us take advantage of life, let us have our eyes wide open to adventure and opportunity. See and be inspire to create. To learn to see is to learn to look behind first impressions, and to learn and question the whys and hows of the objectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existence.

Some brains just aren’t the same

It’s a wondrous thing the brain Quite the machine, don’t you think? But it can go a little loopy When it gets a little chink There is no explanation For why these bumps occur But such wondrous things can happen! Like to little Sandra Fir One day for no good reason As she played in her back garden A pop! A fizz! A splurk! And in front of her sat Martin Martin had five legs (The extra for shaking hands) A sausage kind of body Bright blue with yellow bands “You’re Martin from my dreams!” Cried Sandra with no fear “I heard my head go fizz And now you’re standing here!” “Indeed, how’d you do? I was living in your head But now we can play Without you having to be in bed!” As Sandra was only little She didn’t stop to think Why Martin’s furry body Left no shadow or footprints For now you see dear reader I must give you a hint Sandra had finally flipped a switch Of which she’d been on the brink Her brain channels had been opened There was no stopping them now And all her crazy weird concoctions Just kept on flooding out Bright feathers! Strange heads! Green zebras were dancing! Paws were on backwards! Parrots were prancing! Extra wings! Extra eyes! Fur here, there and yonder! Why not add a few wings? There were no limits to the wonder! Sandra was surrounded By her bunch – oh so merry! Where were they from? She was never even wary They were all so very kind

None of them were scary But little did she know They were all imaginary So all was fine Until along came Mary “Sandra stop at once! Your brain must have popped! You’re talking to no one, Is that normal? IT IS NOT!” “Oh Mary come play! I’m not alone, can’t you see? But you are over there And there is no need to be So come meet my friends! Come over to me!” But Mary couldn’t see them Nor could have you, or I We’d turn away tutting Maybe even pushing out a sigh The truth is Sandra’s brain Was whirring away non-stop As it would continue to do Ever since it had gone POP It was blowing up with colours It was pumping out ideas Her brain was such a racket As though full of trumpeteers It was wonderful! It was madness! I’m sure you would concur But the problem was of course It was visible only to her The only person to believe it Was little Sandra Fir Now Sandra grew up fine Along the way forgetting her friends But because her brain had fizzed She knew they weren’t pretend She may seem a little odd If she talks to someone you can’t see It’s only because she’s never alone Is that the same for you or me? And she knows she never will be With some creativity Words By Sarah Gomes Munro

HARDING CHATS WITH MUSICAN AND FILM STUDENT, NICK BLYTH.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

The New Coast is the moniker of East London duo Nick Blyth and Chris Cheater. Born from an infatuation with American cinema and pop culture, The New Coast have created their own distinct style of pure Indie Pop.

22 year old Nick Blyth has teamed up with long time pal, Chris Cheater to create The New Coast. Harding met up with London based, Digital Film Production student, Nick to talk about his latest musical venture. Nick and Chris share the same deep love of cinema and pop music and recently signed their new band to LAB record label. “We are just so grateful to even have the opportunity to release something off of a label, when we haven’t even had a song out yet! I think that’s kind of unheard of! But LAB are really great people, and we can’t wait to get the music out there.” Music has been a part of Nick’s life since he was little, growing up listening to Roxy Music and Morrissey one day and Whitney Houston and MJ the next. With a soft spot for big choruses and strong swing beats Nick talks of his love of film and music. “My dad would take me to shows as a boy, which was an experience being introduced to rock n roll at that age.”

HARDING: How difficult do you find studying whilst perusing music? NICK: At the moment, I’m just about to start making my grad film. So a lot of work is going into that. But, I think both creative outlets are something I want to do. So the time management becomes simple. I think if you want to reach a certain goal, or get to a certain place in your life/career, you just have to put the time and effort in, no matter how tired or fed up you are. So yeah, studying and music are ok to pursue together! As long as you don’t mind getting your hands dirty. 24

HARDING: Paired with music these are two very creative but slightly different avenues; which do you see yourself perusing, if either? NICK: Its funny you should say that, because even though film and music are different ways of expression, I think they come as a couple. They marry well in terms of creativity, and without a visual, I need the song, and without the audio, I need something to watch. It becomes a paradox. I love both so much, but music will always be dear to me. It’s timeless, and we try to create that sound in our songs.

HARDING: Have you ever fallen over on stage? NICK: I haven’t yet! But I once stood on the PA system at the front of the stage, and my life flashed before my eyes. That was when I was about 14 though... It wobbled and my legs nearly gave way.

HARDING: 14, wow! When exactly did your music career begin?! NICK: My first show was my cousins wedding in 2007 (13). I played it with my garage band that I had with my other cousin, Jake. I remember being incredibly nervous. It’s so funny looking back on it now; my cousin kept a load of old VCR tapes. We were so bad. *Laughs*

The New Coast’s debut single, Lost in Your Love is out now on iTunes.

HARDING: You write your own music, that’s got to be tough at times, what’s your biggest inspiration when you sit down to write? NICK: I think a lot of films do it for me. Sometimes even the soundtrack will make me want to write! But I think, most of the time, it’s hearing other songs that I really love. Sometimes I’ll listen to something and think ‘This is insane’ and I’ll have to stop everything I’m doing, and try and make something better. Even when I’m watching a band, it makes me just want to immediately go and write. But then again, inspiration is all around! I write different stuff depending where I am. Hopefully I don’t get block anytime soon!

HARDING: Why the name ‘The New Coast’? NICK: We’ve been through what feels like a thousand names. It’s almost comical now! I get messages from people being like, ‘lol you changed your name again...’ But we are settled on this one, and it genuinely seems to encapsulate our sound and what we want to achieve. Our songs are very atmospheric, with tropical elements and big choruses. But band names are always hard, as they are so subjective. I think if you like a musician or band, the name starts to become irrelevant, and you are so immersed in the music, that the name is just cool anyway. 25

Breaching The Void

Words By Silva Chege

From Earth the stars looks so beautiful, mesmerising and special enough to make a wish on. Yet I hurtle through the intoxicating blankness of space dreading their very existence. They are ugly, annoying and they are about as special as a grain of sand in the Sahara desert. They’re liars, empty promises, and hollow projections of what died millions of years ago, but only still continue to haunt me out spite. I don’t know what’s real anymore…I’m locked in perpetual night yet infuriatingly inflicted with insomnia. I’m verging on insanity with the only thing helping me maintain my grip on reality is the constant fear of death. A slow painful, agonising death in which my lungs are suffocated, my blood violently pushes against my skull or if I’m lucky enough I’ll survive long enough to freeze. Whirling and whistling the 3d machine acts as my only confidante and saviour. I use its output of pieces of plastic and complex devices to fix, tinker and build constantly in and around my ship to keep myself on course and not spiralling into the belly of a sun. If reaching the moon was “One step for man and one giant leap for mankind” then considering I’m in the process of reaching another habitable planet is “one step for man and 13 billion light years of leaps for mankind”. So suck it Armstrong! But I still feel the weight of billion people’s dreams, wishes and imagination increasingly threatening to compress my spine like the gravity of a planet I could possibly wrongly land on. It’s a scary thought that the only thing keeping me hurtling through space are numbers on a computer screen. I don’t really call earth home anymore, I don’t have much family, friends or lovers to speak of either. However what I do miss is not having the bone density of a small child and the shitty, boring diet of pills and powder that needs water

to even look like food. I guess I should be more grateful considering I’m about to go down in history as the first man to leave our solar system, that’s if there is still a human history. I have the chance of being the Christopher Columbus to a new earth, known as Epsulon and humanities last chance of a do-over. But when I joined this mission I didn’t have grandiose dreams of being the torch carrier to humanities continued existence, a winner of Nobel prizes or schools built in my name. I just wanted to escape, escape to where and what from? Are questions would also want to find the answers to. 30 years… I could have been prime minister 6 times, gone to 5 Olympics, I could have had children and grandchildren in that time. I was chosen from a pool of millions, they say because of my years of involvement in aviation, piloting air crafts and working on Luna bases, but really I was the only candidate with literally nothing to lose. So my job now is simple; take millions of frozen microbes and plant spores to Epsulon and release them on the new planet to grow and colonize and create a natural biosphere. Then once that is done, release nanobots to start creating cities ready for man to move into. That’s if there is still man left on earth when I reach the new planet. Call it a punishment from god, bad luck or culmination of mankind’s selfishness, stupidity and lack of solidarity, because now in the year 2150, man finds itself on the edge of extinction on a planet ruined my poverty and war. And to make matters worse, on its knees man finds himself also at the mercy of violent, fluctuating and dangerous weather patterns. Somehow I still wonder… Will a change in scenery be all that’s needed to vanquish the seven deadly sins from our souls or will the new planet be another host to our disease instead of a remedy to our inflictions?

Every day is the same, I now know every last inch of this spaceship; all I do for 16 hours of the day is scrutinise every nut and bolt and constantly program the ships AI to maintain the exterior of the ship. Beep I do get sporadic communication from mission control, but call and response take almost 30 hours and increasing every mile I travel further away from our solar system. The sudden sound however of the intercom warms the room and fills me with great excitement even after all these years. I know I give the impressions of a being a solitary man, I am. But sometime even the confines of the vastness of space is lonely enough to conjure a strait jacket that suffocates your soul. Recently in the sentimentality of old age; in between each call I even go to sleep and have the nightmare that I’ll wake up and know with indisputable certainty, that I’m the last human being left in the universe and I will be left to drown in the deafening silence of empty space alone… Beep, the intercom goes off. The silence that always ensures after is always interrupted soon enough by pitter patter of asteroids slamming into the hall of the spaceship. This time a seemingly innocuous collision causes one of the bay windows to sprout a crack. In shear panic I rush to stem the damage because out here in space things can quickly go from bad to worse in the fraction of a heartbeat. In the process of desperately trying to fill the crack with liquid silicone, the room begins to flash nonstop with a florescent green, momentarily distracting me from my present and urgent task at hand. Green can only mean one thing. Almost instantly after the flashing up I’m abruptly thrust to the ground as the spaceship nose dives through thick plums of smoke. This could possibly be Epuslon or a planet that could possibly act as my final resting place. My eyes however begin to crawl back to the crack in the window, where under the air pressure the crack begins to splinter in a multitude of chaotic directions, getting bigger the quicker I fall. I know I have only seconds to decide before the window smashes and the air pressure rips everything out of the spaceship; do I lunge for a parachute and let the air take me or do I strap myself in and hold on tight and hope the reinforced craft can withstand the crash? The decision is made for me when even before I can strap my seat belt in, I’m grabbed and yanked kicking and screaming out towards the window, with only enough time to crawl and scrabble until I can scarcely wrap the tips of my fingers around the parachute and cling to it with all my might. Hurtling in through the air I can barely breathe or open my eyes, finally gathering enough presences of mind so I can pull the parachute cord. Suddenly I’m halted in mid-air then flung up, before beginning to rock gently down, now on the ground I surrender to the mercy of my lungs begging for oxygen. I’m no oxygen connoisseur, but somehow the oxygen feels different, cleaner, lighter and somehow calming in a way. Soon I’m no longer conscious of it, as my attention is diverted to the world that surrounds me. Barren, entirely flat and void of practically all types of complex life except for tuffs

of grass and beginnings of trees. This planet is truly in its infancy, virginal and untainted. From the distance a spiral of black smoke explodes into the sky and scatters all blue from it. Rushing towards the remains of the spacecraft, the ground leading to it is coated in contorted metal, melted plastic and shattered glass. “Alan, Alan”, I hear the still operational intercom barking my name. Strangely something deep inside of me prevents me from responding and instead alerts me again to the purity of the air, and I’m reminded that it’s uncontaminated, and it’s not dirtied by pollution or gun smoke. Humanity had its chance, it ruined it. I switch the intercom of and gather and destroy any devices that could be traced to Epsulon or alert anyone of my presences here or that I’m even alive anymore.

I’ve finally escaped.

D - Verb

Perform an action, the precise nature of which is often unspecified.

What does it mean to do?

To act on our surroundings, to see and to be inspired to do. Let us innovate and create, let us not watch and wait for others, but to make our own future. Let us do. To begin doing takes courage and determination, let us not just buy a cake for our dear friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birthday, but let us bake one. Let us not simply walk into a shop to buy another dress, but let us make one. Let us not search wide and far for the perfect coffee table, but let us craft one. To make the decision to be more independent of the mass market, we will learn to appreciate more, we will be proud and grow in skill and knowledge.

Chocolate Tr u f f l e Cookies

MAKES 12-14 COOKIES 80g Plain Flour 25g Cocoa Powder ½ tsp Baking Powder 90g Caster sugar 25g Unsalted Butter 1 Egg 10ml Amaretto 50g Icing Sugar To Coat

Step One: Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Step Two: Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Step Three: stir in the sugar and then using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture forms a sandy consistency with no lumps of butter. Step Four: In a jug, mix the eggs and amaretto together. Stir this liquid into the butter and dry ingredients and mix to form a dough. The mixture may seem very dry at first, but keep mixing and it will come together. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30-40 minutes. Step Five: Preheat the oven to 180ºc (350ºf), Gas mark 4. Place the icing sugar in a bowl. make walnut sized balls of the dough, each about 3½ cm in diameter, and toss in the sugar so that they are completely coated. Step Six: Place the balls onto the prepared baking trays and bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool completely before serving.

F r a n c e s c a S t o n e F a l l F o r D I Y. In a world where taking selfies has become a part of our daily routine and iPad’s are a constant feature in our lives, technology is taking over the world! We live in an age where everything can be accessed digitally. There is no need for physical cookbooks or newspapers; we can walk around virtual art galleries, and shop from everything to groceries to shoes from the comfort of our homes, tucked up all snug and warm behind our computer screens. Harding had the chance to catch up with writer and creator, of blog Fall For DIY, Francesca Stone, and talk all things blogmosphere and her path to success. “I would have loved to be blogging full time I just didn’t know how I could possibly make it happen” Francesca, has been connecting with the Fall For DIY reader for 3 years. After graduating with a degree in Textile design, Francesca began working in a little bead shop in the Custard Factory in her hometown of Birmingham. In her spare time she began writing for a small blog before taking the leap and creating Fall For DIY.

Introduced into blogging through her sister in 2009, she became entranced with the blogmosphere, reading blogs from all over the world and watching their success rocket. “I have watched so many people become successful over time which has really fuelled my love of blogging and motivated me to make it into a full time career.” Blogging has been a growing success for a few years now with a new blog created every 7.4 seconds (Technorati) and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. “There are a lot of people who say blogging isn’t going to stay as popular as it is now, but I don’t believe it. Blogs are becoming more and more professional and bloggers are taking on such a varied range of different business avenues. From product design, to sponsored content, to ecourses, to speaker appearances; blogging is a free resource for both the blogger and the reader so everyone’s a winner! I think we’re all going to be blogging for quite some time yet.” “In the past year I've taken so many classes it's almost like I'm back at school! But I didn't even have to get out of bed to learn something new! Living the dream!”

HARDING: Is blogging something you see yourself doing for the majority of your career? If not, where do you see yourself going? FRAN: “I love blogging and as long as people are reading, I’ll be writing. Blogging is such a new form of media that no one really knows where it’s going and what it might lead onto. I’m open to whatever comes my way and I’m regularly exploring different options for my career. ‘We Make Collective’ is a subscription kit service which is one of these avenues.”

HARDING: Where do you get your inspiration from? FRAN: “Just about everything! Anything I see that interests me becomes a starting point for an idea. I think it’s important to remember that inspiration doesn’t mean a complete idea just magically appearing in front of your eyes. You need to develop an idea into something new. It means that inspiration can come from anything like a shape or a plant pot or a pair of shoes.”

HARDING: What’s the best part of your job? FRAN: “I love it when other people make one of my tutorials or use the kits I create with We Make Collective. I still get that feeling of pride when I create something I really love and it makes me so happy when I see that feeling in other people. That is definitely the best part of my job!”

HARDING: And the worst part? FRAN: “Working alone. Not only does it get lonely, but it’s difficult when each and every decision and outcome rests on your own head.”

HARDING: Does it ever become difficult to think of new ideas for the blog? FRAN: “Yes! There are some weeks I cannot think of a single ideas and others that I’m brimming full of them. As well as writing my own blog I freelance for a number of other blogs and publications, so consistently keeping up with trends and coming up with new, original ideas can be difficult, especially when you’re trying to force it. Instead I like to always be jotting down ideas and thoughts on the go to develop at a later date. These starting points make it much easier to create new content consistently.”

HARDING: Do you ever try and fail or become frustrated with DIY’s? FRAN: “All the time! I love trying out new skills and techniques and of course there is a learning curve to that. But sometimes even your tried and tested ideas just don’t work out on the day. It’s very frustrating but some of my more popular DIY’s have come from scrambling together ideas at the last minute when something else goes wrong.”

HARDING: Would ever consider selling the things you make? FRAN: “Absolutely! I’m always thinking about this but again, it’s finding time to do all the things I dream up.” HARDING: You mentioned launching your new site, is that because of your growing success or just shaking things up a bit? FRAN: “I started my new site for a number of reasons. As a DIY blogger I wanted to encourage more creative freedom than the rigid tutorials I was blogging about. I wanted to get closer to the idea that creativity is more of an experimental process than a 5 step guide to getting an exact replica of something. I wanted to create a product to give my business more freedom from just the blogging side of things. And I also wanted to work with other creatives. I threw all of these ideas together and out came We Make Collective!” HARDING: Where do you see your blog going? FRAN: “I’d like the blog to grow to a point that I can employ people to help me write and manage the site. There are so many areas I’d love to start writing about but I have no time left to really delve into them!”

Check out Fran’s blog over at fallfordiy.com for DIY hacks, recipes, tips and tutorials on everything you could possibly dream of! Photographs courtesy of Fran from Fall For DIY

Follow the tutorial over on fallfordiy.com

Harding Talks with

“I started The Intern 247 to give a real insight into the fashion industry from the viewpoint of a young female intern actually doing the role. I felt all the other platforms never gave an honest outlook as to what it’s really like for interns or people starting out. My blog is dedicated to letting people know the ups and downs, stories I never told my boss, a typical week in fashion and celebrity moments! Plus the advice I would give to my 16 year old self starting out in the world of fashion!”

1. How many internships have you had? Give me a second.. let me count. Technically 7, all in the fashion industry and they have been extremely varied in order to build up the widest fashion management experience. My first experience was with an international fashion designer but I’ve worked in Buying, Press and Marketing and PR departments. All were based in London apart from spending 4 months in New York. 2. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Being a boss of course! I would definitely hope to be in a managerial role in fashion, doing a job I love. Although I expect I will have undertaken a number of different roles in the industry by that time. Hopefully I will have experienced living/working in another country as well. Absolutely not still interning!!!!

3. What are your top three bits of advice for the many interns out there? > Don't have company snobbery > Everyone has stressful days, don't take it personally > Say yes to everything!!!

4. What top 5 companies would you like to work for? > Burberry > KCD London > Selfridges > John Lewis > The Communications Store Fairly different right? Gotta keep it interesting

5. How did you get your first internship? Well... I searched and googled a lot! I had no clue what websites to use or how to even apply. I emailed a lot of generic HR emails from fashion websites - which wasn’t successful. After I found a select few websites that advertised great internships in London, I applied to be a general fashion intern at Emilia Wickstead. I then went for an interview with Emilia’s assistant and got the job! After that I applied for all other internships I completed using the below websites. Fashion United Fashion Monitor Fashion Workie UK Fashion Jobs UK Fashion Intern Linkedin

6. How hard is it to intern in America ? Trying to intern in American as a English citizen is hard. But its just as hard if it was the other way around. It can be done however (obviously) The whole process can be a hard one although I personally didn't find achieving an interview at a company hard based on my prior experience. You have to be savvy and want it, find new ways of finding internships I did of course face challenges, during an interview a company asked what my visa situation will be and what my money situation was if I were to get the job. So be prepared with those questions and make sure you let me know you had done your research! I used a J-1 visa with the company CIEE.

7. Where in America did you intern? I interned in Manhattan New York at PRC - PR Consulting. A PR fashion agency. They were amazing! Truly great people.

8. CV Tips? I advise to make it punchy and to the point. Don't waffle on about things that aren't relevant. Only use information that is fashion related or shows a skill that relates in some way. The fact that you took dance classes at aged 4 doesn't really count (Sadly)

FOR THE LOVE OF PATCH 56

Illustration by Adam Willis

“It’s been a lot of work, but it has never felt like work.”

For the Love of Patch was born into this world by cartoon lover, Matt Hall – a fun and entertaining patch brand that create one of a kind cool, cute and funny patches. Having grown up in Kansas City and spreading his wings to study in Colorado, Matt has recently made the college move, permanent. A big lover of the mountains, Matt spends his free time hiking, camping and snowboarding. Having worked in the mortgage industry for the last 2 years Matt tells us the advice he wished he’d of gotten when he was starting out. “I would say the most important thing for someone looking to make it on there own is to realize that you might have to work places and do jobs you don't enjoy. The purpose I used office jobs for was to motivate me to always be working on a new side project so I didn't get "stuck" for too long. I went through several ideas and businesses until I found two that I really enjoy and have a lot of passion for. Remember at the end of the day, sometimes the simplest ideas are the ones that work.” “I was getting tired of the 9-5, high pressure office environment and had always wanted to start my own business. My friend from college and I had already started a company that sold our custom designed LED armbands but I wanted to do something where I could produce my own "ad" designs.” Matt currently sells his patches on the site Etsy and speaks with passion when he tells us how For the Love of Patch began. “It all started when my friend came over to hang out and showed me a new patch he had just gotten with a bike on it. He had just gotten back from riding his bike from the North to the South of Mexico. I loved the patch so much that I thought it would be great to make my own. I had a picture framed on my desk of the Astrosloth and thought ‘Hey, part of patches other than showing what you've done is to express your personality’. I made up the final patch design on my computer and then sent it in to a local company to turn the design into a patch.” “I try to make at least 3 new designs a week’ Matt tells me, ‘and have been using all of the profit from the patches to save up for my own embroidery machine...they're a little pricey. It's been about 6 months since I started the company and this summer I should be all set up and ready to go with my own machine and the ability to help others create their own embroidery patches, shirts, hats, etc. It's been a lot of work but it has never felt like work”

Having grown up in Boy Scouts, Matt, explains that this is where his love of patches started. “They're a way to show what you've accomplished and where you've been.” Along with Boy Scouts, cartoons have also played a big part in For the Love of Patch’s journey. “My favourite cartoons as a kid were the Looney Toons series, Angry Beavers and Rocko's Modern Life. The old cartoons like the Jetsons and Yogi the Bear have been my design inspiration and I find myself in love with 1950's and 1960's classic design. Cartoons and movies I love are definitely my biggest inspiration for designs. Before I went on Etsy I was just making designs I would want to wear but with the wonderful community on there, I've received a lot of feedback from customers on designs they'd like to see.” Given that Matt lives in America, I haven’t actually met him, however, I picture a wild haired young dude with big round glasses wearing jacket covered in his cool patches ready to head out to the mountain – maybe I'm completely off pace, and this will probably quite embarrassing when Matt reads the article, but its pretty fun making up caricatures of people you ‘meet’. “I don't yet have every patch sewed on to something of mine yet. I'm getting there. The two places I have most of my patches are on my hiking backpack, which I use just about every weekend and my green vest, which I'm always wearing. I have a favourite jacket I use to go snowboarding but I haven't put any patches on it yet because I know of what upcoming designs I have and I really want to do a theme with it and make it special. What's next for the brand? Well, Matt’s hoping to get his hands on an industrial embroidery machine pretty soon, which will allow him to create one off custom patches and thus grow the business in way he couldn’t when he was outsourcing the patches. “I really want the brand to grow into a design company that makes different unique products designed around late 50's and early 60’s mid-century modern and atomic design. I'm currently planning

on getting my first sublimation printer so I can start making mugs, mouse-pads and other products with my designs. From there I would like to get a screen-printing machine. The thought of being able to create anything when I feel like it gets me really excited. For now I'm building a design catalogue and a lot of the designs I can't do much with yet because I don't have the proper equipment. Then from there I've always had a passion for woodworking and have built most of my furniture and would really like to make wall or yard art with it, in the form of customized national parks signs. I live in Colorado and the national parks signs are the brown, white and/or green from the 50's and 60's and I've always love the look and style of them. I would love to be able to hang a version of my own on my wall.” - Words by Hope Harding

L - Verb

To remain alive.

What does it mean to live?

To do more than just to breath; but to laugh and cry, to feel and love. Let us make choices that consume us, let us live the way we choose, let us be proud and strive for more. Let us live. Let it become apart of you, apart of your story and manifesto.

ive

Dreams Clouded by the Big Smoke I once thought the best thing about living in a small town… was leaving it. It had come to a point when the constant beating of the humdrum rhythm of a repetitive life, threatened to deafen my ears to the point that my own screams of escape, sounded like a whisper with no around able to hear it. Did you ever see the film Groundhog Day, the one where Bill Murray for some bizarre reason is forced to relive the same day, over and over again? That film felt like my biography… I looked back at the same old tired faces, the uninspiring places and remember how they played agonisingly on a continuous loop. I even knew that I could have closed my eyes and been able to navigate my way through each day, knowing that nothing new would occur and falter my step. As a painter and singer, I am sustained by gorging on being creative and getting drunk on being inspired, but in a small, unremarkable town, where very little happened I felt starved and thirsty. So naturally with my starry eyes and my body brimming with ambition; my heart and mind was seduced by the blinding bright lights, endless cacophony of excitement and the tasty creative melting pot of London. So with the ink barely dried on my A levels, before the zipper even closed on my bags and before the first tear could even fall from my mother’s eyes, I was sat giddy with anticipation and a mind conjuring, on my way to the big city. The only time London was ever going to stand still was when it was going to be welcoming me! The capital was where I felt I truly belonged and small town living was just the entree, to a great big city meal. I was now a creative in London and that meant buying vinyl’s, going on a macrobiotic diet and dating more foreign women! London was the place where I would spend the early mornings roaming the streets going to vintage markets, stylish boho coffee lounges and casual strolls in the park. While in the evening I would be bursting with explosive inspiration, begging to articulate itself with paint on a canvas and lyrics on a sheet. Then at night, I would take a break from writing top40 hits and painting Picasso’s and go out on the town with guitar playing, label redefining, sexuality exploring artists/ activists. But as cool, trendy and creative as everyone else was In London, the city would truly fall in love with me because I was an enigma, a genius, somebody special…

Despite crippling rent prices, a blank canvas weighing heavily on my shoulders and music execs slamming the door in my face. I was still able to strut down the street knowing I was still in the creative centre of the world and success was awaiting around the very next corner. Looking back now, I was rather impressed how long I was able to go on deluding myself especially in the face of; ever mounting bills and an ever dwindling bank balance, a group of friends only made up of Tesco work mates and with the only place hanging up my paintings was my fridge door. But the optimism wasn’t to last, I soon realised in and among the big, beautiful neon letters there was a small print, there is always a small print. In the capital nothing matches the magnificence of billboards that outreaches the sky, steel and glass buildings with no give to the surface and a capitalist heart that never stops beating. London will ultimately always leave your dreams yielded and your warmth taken, just too cruelly remind you that the Big Smoke will always conquer us all. So eventually finding myself with my bags packed, my mother on the other side of the phone and my head desperately trying to believe that maybe small towns aren’t so bad after all; what’s wrong with familiarity, having everything you need within a 30 minute walk and having your mind and talent appreciated by the people you care and love the most. Even in a small town, you can live a big beautiful life…But that’s the worst part about London, it’s like a drug, it’s hypnotising, it’s sexy, it’s intoxicating. Saying that I could go back home and be satisfied after; never being able to catch your breath after being immersed in the exotic, serenaded with the poetic and learning the rich tapestry of stranger’s stories, would be a lie. It was at that point, I put the phone down and left the small town behind for good and painted exactly what London meant to me. Success in the city is only a stones throws away when you let go of expectations, maps and worries and fall deeply in love with the soothing chaos of the Big Smoke. Words by Silva Chege Illustration by Abi Skinner

I should have known it from the warning signs… The first was when I stepped off the train and was instantly swept up by the stream of people pouring from the other carriages and pooling on the already flooded city streets. London was a big place with lots and lots of people each with their own ambitions and dreams so big that money couldn’t buy and the word special was a buzz word on everybody’s lips. Then looking down there wasn’t a red carpet or a Hollywood star waiting to put my name on it, instead beneath my feet was cold, hard concrete littered with fag ends and chewing gum. But I readjusted my rose tinted glasses, ignored the glaring signs and still considered greatness and riches firmly on my horizon. Like Lilly Allen’s song LDN, “The sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why would I wanna be anywhere else”.s

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every morning when I open up and smell the flowers, I count myself blessed to be earning a living doing the very thing that I adore.â&#x20AC;? Photograph by Diana Patient

Sue Pritchard, founder of The Lavender Hill Company started out as a chef but knew something was missing. After going back to college she explored her love of floristry and soon began working her way up in florists before starting her own company. 20 years later Pritchard had just opened her second store in Farnham, Surrey and sat down with HARDING to bare all about the pits and peaks of owning your own business. As I wander in to The Lavender Hill Company, sitting pretty on the corner of Frensham Road, I’m greeted by beautiful scents of summer, gorgeous shabby chic furniture and an abundance of mother’s day ready gifts. I’m early, so take a walk around making a mental note to tell my fiancé about this place – its like the Aladdin’s cave of beautiful home décor – it’s the kind of store any man couldn’t go wrong in, when shopping for birthday presents! Moment’s later, founder, Sue Pritchard walks in and greets me with a kiss on the cheek and explains they’re in the process of moving stores. After making a cup of tea, we sit down in the bridal consolation area and begin chatting!

Sue tells me of her struggles in the beginning and how far she has come with the Lavender Hill, “I started the company working from home, from my garage and shed, that has to have been 15 or 20 years ago now! It soon grew and grew and I ended up having vases and flowers and foliage in every room in the house – which didn’t go down very well with my husband!” “So then my first shop came up, I was a little apprehensive because I knew my business had to grow a lot, to make it in a store, but I didn’t really just want to get a bigger workshop, I’m not a solitary person, I need people to give me my energy, so I took the chance and it’s blossomed!”

After I open up in the morning and put everything in it’s place, I make a cup of tea.

Day

Then I’ll condition new flowers and check the flower stand for any that look a little unhappy. I’ll clean the water out and bleach the buckets too.

To Day Routine After the shop’s all ready I’ll look at the day’s orders and check our emails for any more and then just get on with making the daily orders.

“By the afternoon, that’s when you get time to have a little bit more fun with design work for the shop, like doing the window displays and things. It’s the afternoon really when you can actually stop and think creatively because you're sort of head down and getting on with it in the morning. So afternoons are my favourite times when I get to light all of the candles and make it look really beautiful. And that’s my day really – but every day is different because I might have a big wedding on – today, a lady came in that was grieving for her grandson, she wanted a funeral tribute quite quickly so although you can plan your day, it actually doesn’t always go to plan so you end up having to stay late, and the things you plan to do end up just getting left for the next day.”

Photographs of Sue by Diana Patient

Now it was at this point in our interview, that we were interrupted by Sue’s long time friend, (and previous employee!) popping in to say hello; whilst they caught up, I sat there and thought about how I was in the presence of someone who was completely and truly living their dream. We all grew up dreaming big things, whether it was to become an astronaut or a pop star, there was a time in our lives where all we wanted was to live our dream. As you get older things start to become more complex, we can’t become a singer because well we can’t sing, and it’s a no to being an astronaut because really we’d get pretty lonely up in space. So we invent new dreams, some of us settle for helping with someone else’s dream, working in someone else’s company, for some of us, that is the dream! But as I sat there, listening to Sue chat with her friend, I couldn’t help but feel proud, proud to be in an industry where we strive to be creative and strive for success in our own pathways, not following the routine of 9-5 jobs, but creating our own. When Sue returned, I asked her what her favourite part of her job was, she told me it was seeing everything coming together, knowing you're apart of something special. “When you're doing a wedding, you meet the bride and the groom and you build a relationship with them, you get to know them, you're part of the most important day of their life and you are quite an important part, although you might be a small part, its an important part that’s going to be remembered forever.” So is having your own business actually worth the stress of having your own business? “Oh my goodness that a really good question!! Lately I would have said no, because I’ve been dealing with other issues, but normally I would say absolutely yes, because my life with having my own business is much less dictated by other people and I do absolutely get a buzz from being self employed being able to do my own thing creatively and again just please my customers. So yeah, I would say it’s worth the stress but it’s the wrong time to be asking me that really, having just done valentines!

7676

If a bride came into the shop and said “I’m getting married and I want a Lavender Hill wedding” what would you give her? “I would say... woodland and natural with the use of lots of natural twigs and blossom and moss and natural foliage! I get bored when it’s just one flower or just roses and no foliage” Can you tell what a bride is going to have when she walks in? “Yeah definitely – I can normally tell by their clothes, or their engagement ring, if they come as a couple that’s even more telling. Sometimes I’m wrong but not often, and if they tell me their colour scheme I usually know what’s going to follow. I had a lovely couple on Friday and they were both in to vintage – they came in, in vintage clothes and loved festivals and I knew that their wedding was going to be lovely – really natural, wellies and things like that – I love all that!” “Every morning when I open up and smell the flowers, I count myself blessed to be earning a living doing the very thing that I adore”

Jackie King Photography

Denise Winter Photography

The Big

V 83

Helena Gerrelli 22 year old free spirited traveller, a recent graduate of English literature at Exeter University and one of my oldest best friends! For as long as I can remember Helena has been a vegetarian; with two beautiful rabbits, hamsters and rats (cuter than you might think!) she has always been an animal lover and has definitely spurred on my moral compass! Coming over for tea, Quorn chicken nuggets and chips were always on the menu for us – not that this was all she ate but it was all my mum would ever seem to make us (I was a fussy eater!) I can’t say I’m a vegetarian, but to this day I wouldn’t buy any other chicken nuggets – call me nostalgic! Another nostalgic memory for me is heading off on the train to our nearest shopping, restaurant and cinema complex; Helena and I would spend most weekend’s and summers there – I think our record was three days in a row when the Simpson’s movie came out – ‘07 was a good year! Of course all this shopping and movie watching required snacks, so whilst I would raid Tesco’s confectionery isle, Helena would be all over those prawn cocktail crisps forever eyeing up the doughnuts but never quite following through. But that girl is gone! No more thoughts of doughnuts – in fact no thoughts of crisps either, it’s all humus, avocado and sweet potato fries now! Whilst travelling the world down under with her boyfriend, Josh, Helena has been coming and going for the last few years with China, India, America and New Zealand all under her belt. Currently in Australia, I managed to track her down and tear her away from the waves of Bryon Bay for a quick catch up and a quizzing into her veganism. “Josh and I have been absolute bums for the past month, travelling from beach to beach along the east coast of Oz - my hair is actually going quite blonde from all the sun... Surprisingly, I haven't fallen in love with Australia at all... New Zealand was way better! Really enjoying the east coast but there's no way I could live here!”

Do you have a vegetarian option? Ni you sùshí? HARDING: So you've travelled India, china, New Zealand and now Australia, anywhere else I'm forgetting? How difficult is it to be vegan whilst travelling? HELENA: Those are my main travels yeah, also did America for a couple of weeks last summer. It has been super easy in Australia and New Zealand - Josh has actually been a huge help because he is an amazing cook and makes the best vegetable stir fries and curries and salads ever - literally to die for! I don't normally struggle with meal ideas but when all you have is a small camping stove with a pot and a pan, it can be difficult, I usually rely on an oven or a food processor to make good meals! Also Australia is a bit obsessed with health food so it's so easy to find vegan options in the supermarket and restaurants! China was hard due to the language barrier but luckily I made friends with a girl doing a degree in mandarin, who asked at all the restaurants for me for the veggie options, unfortunately, it was just too difficult to make sure that the food hadn't been cooked in meat stock- we did ask, but who knows for sure. India was an organised trip, so we were provided a lot of food, it was usually ok because most curries are vegetarian out there, but I do remember having to eat scrambled eggs on toast one morning as that was what the hostel provided, and I didn't want to pass out in the heat without food, we didn't have the freedom to pop to the supermarket and get our own food- it was such a fast paced trip, and I had no idea where the supermarkets even were, it was so weird eating eggs after so long but I felt like it would be foolish to not eat at all. America was totally easy too, it tends to be easy when there is no language barrier but I wouldn't let my vegan diet stop me travelling to non-English speaking countries - I will just bring a phrase book and hope for the best! I wouldn't eat meat but if some dairy manages to sneak into my food, it's not the end of the world, although I would always avoid it when possible.

HARDING: Your BF, Josh, isn’t vegan though, so does that make it hard to eat with him or eat out together? HELENA: Having travelled for a few months with Josh, he has more or less adopted a vegan lifestyle, it's way easier to just make meals together on our tiny camping stove, he even says that when he has the odd burger or piece of meat, he now finds it really sickly and heavy going, and feels a lot healthier when he eats vegan food. We have now joined up with our friends from home, who eat meat, and I have offered so many times for him to join up with them to make some meaty meals, and he actually keeps turning it down, in favour of the vegan meal! I'm not going to lie, there have been times when it is a bit awkward to eat out - for friend’s birthdays I've found myself having to order very disappointing salads, or feeling guilty that they have to hunt down a restaurant that has vegan options too - Wagamamas is usually a good choice. Josh and I just tend to go to vegan or veggie restaurants as they taste amazing and he really enjoys it now, when I first met him, I think he thought it was a bit weird that I'm vegan. I always find that people love vegan cafés and restaurants once they give it a chance, so many of our friends have tried it out in Australia and totally loved it. Yesterday my friend, Jake tried raw vegan cake and loved it! 87

HARDING: Is there a food you miss most? HELENA: Surprisingly there honestly isn't a food that I miss at all, not even chocolate and I used to love it! After a month or two, your taste buds change and now I find myself craving hummus or sweet potato fries more than chocolate, pizza or crisps. Although I don't miss meat or dairy products at all, the only thing I'd like to be able to try would be salmon or crab as I've heard good things, but I'll never know - and I'm not desperate enough to try it to ever break my veganism! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d definitely rather they were alive than dead for a few minutes of my enjoyment.

HARDING: When asked about meat substitutes, like our infamous Quorn nuggets, Helena tells me those days are over. HELENA: I actually don't feel the need to eat meat substitutes anymore but I definitely did at the beginning, as I just didn't know what to cook, but once you Google vegan blogs, there are so many amazing recipes that just use veggies and sometimes tofu! I used to hate tofu but now I'm pretty addicted, and I also recently discovered Tempe, which is another form of tofu made in Asia, it's really big in Australia an absolutely delicious!

HARDING: Any life experiences or things you've seen/watched that influenced your decision to go V. HELENA: Documentaries that have really impacted my friends and I Earthlings, Blackfish and Cowspiracy was especially enlightening! I would really encourage everyone to watch it; so eye opening! Not really had any first hand life experiences, just my love for animals in general and reading articles on the dairy industry and how bad it is.

HARDING: Favourite Vegan snack? HELENA: Homemade hummus, with sweet potato/butternut squash fries (with chilli) and avocado - I know it's random but I'm addicted!

Once you go Vegan you never go back Three years ago, I decided to commit to the vegan lifestyle, having been a staunch vegetarian since the age of 14. It all began with the entrance of two adorable pet rabbits into my life when I was 12. Once I realised that I could never eat my beloved companions, I started to question the fairness of eating other animals. My mother, who had eaten meat for forty years of her life, was in the same dilemma, and so we both began to delve into the internet to find out the truth about factory farming, the leather and fur trade, and animal testing. After the horrific discoveries that we made, we both decided to give up meat, leather, and cosmetic products that were tested on animals for good. Slowly but surely, the rest of the family were converted to the vegetarian diet too, albeit for health reasons rather than ethical. Having signed up various animal rights organisations, such as Viva! we discovered that the dairy industry was equally as abominable as the meat industry, and we proceeded to convert to soya milk and other dairy alternatives. Although I gave up milk, eggs, butter and chocolate from this time on, it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t until I began university that I decided to become a strict vegan, ensuring that all of the products I bought were acceptable for vegans. I took this approach to all of my food, clothing, cosmetic, and cleaning products. As a result of my lifestyle change, I felt much happier, healthier, and charged with energy. Owing to the nutritious value of the diet, my skin completely cleared up of any spots and I found that I rarely caught the colds and flus that the rest of my friends seemed so susceptible to. I have now reached the end of my three years at university and I know so much more about veganism, the atrocities that take place in the farming industry, and the substantial benefits of a vegan diet regarding health and the environment. Of my seven housemates, four of us are now meat-free, despite their initial resistance and ignorance of vegetarianism. Not only has this come about as a result of the debates we have had over the issue, but the impact of such documentaries as Blackfish and Earthlings has had a huge transformational effect on their opinions regarding animal rights. Furthermore, the ever-increasing number of vegan and vegetarian food blogs on the internet gave us all access to some fantastic recipes that showed that the diet could be equally (if not more!) delicious and exciting than a meaty diet. Going vegan was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I am certain that the population of vegans in the UK will rise substantially as people realise the truth (regarding cruelty, health, and the environmental impacts) that lies behind their diet. Words by Helena Gerrelli.

Holly Jones

Instagram lover Holly Jones has been a vegetarian since she was 11 after constantly quizzing her mum on where meat came from. Now aged 21, Harding spoke to Holly and got her to give a little more insight into her journey being vegetarian. “At the time, I remember asking my mum bigger questions than most children my age, like asking why it’s necessary to eat meat when we can live on plant based produce without a problem. I think she knew what was coming before I did to be honest!” “I'll forever be thankful to my parents for supporting the huge decision I made at such a young age and letting me run with it. I know a lot of parents would have put it down to a 'phase'. At that time I spent hours online researching the ways in which meat, fish and poultry was bred and slaughtered and I just couldn't understand why more people weren't making a stand against it. I'm still to this day encouraging people to educate themselves on the food they're eating instead of taking on the 'if I can't see it, it's not happening' attitude.”

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now I'm an adult, and I'm asked why I made the change to being vegetarian, I still maintain the same answer. I don't believe in the process of an animal being bred for human gain. I feel that it's unnecessary and unnatural and I prefer not to take part in it. I imagine when I first started to adopt the vegetarian lifestyle I missed a couple things, but nowadays not at all. Knowing what I do now about meat production and other topics such as overfishing, it would be impossible for me to miss any of it. I've actually tried the vegan lifestyle a few times for month long stints at a time to see how I find it, and I'm currently really seriously looking into making the switch over to the vegan lifestyle. I've lost 6 stone over the past 18 months. Being vegetarian its really easy to not be responsible with your nutritional needs and to rely on carbs to make up the bulk of your daily food intake. That's is how I managed to pack on so much weight when I went to university. When I made the decision to change my lifestyle, being vegetarian was a blessing. It's made me creative with my meals, it's made me learn about where I can gain protein from sources other than animal based produce and it's helped me to educate myself on what my body really needs from food as opposed to relying on nutritional supplements. I began meal prepping after I started following lots of fitness and health Instagram pages and read that loads of people used meal prepping to help them lose weight and stay on track. After trying it myself I found the exact same and fell in love with it. Having the week's food already there for you makes you so much more likely to stick to your plan! I think its super important to have a cheat meal a week to keep cravings at bay, healthy eating isn't supposed to be torture, it's supposed to be a lifestyle. So if you want chocolate, you go ahead and have it! Everything in moderation, right? None of my family or close friends follow the same vegetarian diet as I do, but to be honest I don't even think about it anymore, apart from maybe at times when I'm sat eating nut roast whilst everyone around me tucks into roast chicken on a Sunday! I'm very lucky to have a family that are respectful and supportive of my diet.â&#x20AC;?

“My number one piece of advice I would give to anyone thinking about coming over to the green side is to do your research. In most cases that will sell it to you. We live in a society where it’s okay to not know where what you're eating is coming from so the best thing you can do is fill that void with knowledge. In terms of replacing meat, get involved with brands such as Quorn and learn to love your tofu! I am an absolute sucker for rice cakes with peanut butter and honey on! And obviously hummus with everything!

I'm also a huge lover of makeup and all things beauty and I'm on a constant battle finding brands that are animal friendly. My favourites are Lush and The Body Shop. Lush do so much amazing campaign work on top of just selling bath goods so I’ve always been a huge supporter of them! The Body Shop carry a really amazing cruelty free makeup range that isn't too pricey. Other companies I love, that don't test on animals, are Illamasqua, theBalm, NARS, Urban Decay and Too Faced Cosmetics. I think again it's just about taking the time to educate yourself, it's not difficult choosing pro animal companies when your heart is in it.”

R emember

- Verb

To bring to oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mind an awareness of someone or something from the past.

What does it mean to remember?

To remember in love and admiration, to learn from those who have lived and laughed. Those who have seen and done. Let us be inspired by lives that have been lived. Let us remember.

Harry Arthur Harding

Lemons of September

Per Antonio e Maria

September, when the sea pleasantly shined under the sweet taste of salt and childhood and, gently, crafted a small refuge for the time of my coldest disappointment and my biggest love. When in September, above the memories of our Sun you fade delicately in a warm moon caressing my tears and the joys of being the love that you and the water gave me.

Words by Federica Schiavello

100

101

102

103

104

105

My Nanny Marge.

Margaret Florence Harding, our Nanny Marge. Born in 1925, a mother of 5, a grandmother of 15 and a great grandmother of 24 with another on the way. As a child, I loved to go to her house. She would save me from having to watch my brothers play football, filled me with ice cream, sweets and my favourite dinner whenever I asked and generally spoiling me as a true Nan would. I used to love hearing stories of her youth. Like when she met my Granddad at the age of 16 and became childhood sweethearts. When Gramps joined the army and Nan and her best friend would go out dancing all night long under false names, with eye liner drawn on the back of their legs. I would sit and listen in awe of her, to be young in the 1940s, to have gone out dancing to real-life swing bands. She lived a real-life movie, Ali and Noah â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Marge and Harry. My Nan ignited my love for the 1940s. I grew up praying for a time traveller to take me back 60 years. Scenes of romantic days spent riding bikes and evenings spent dancing all night long didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t echo my history class, but it made no difference to me.

106

I would spend as many weekends as my parents would allow sleeping over at my Nan’s house. We would stay up late and eat midnight feasts at 8 o’clock, watching ‘Fly Away Home’ and ‘Matilda’ week after week. I suppose I didn’t really know much about Nanny Marge, not until I was old enough and bothered enough to ask. 3 years ago I sat down with her and asked her about God.

“I have always believed in God. I grew up teaching my sisters about this wonderful God, saying their prayers with them at the end of their bed before I tucked them in. When my father died I was 14. I was heart broken. He was my world and my hero. The war had just begun and my sisters were evacuated. I stayed at home with my mother and worked. I first lost my faith when I lost my baby. How could my all-loving God take away my beautiful innocent child from this world? I couldn’t understand. What I had done to deserve this? What had my child had done, to be torn from this world at such a young age? I couldn’t understand it. I stopped believing in God. I didn’t hate God - I simply didn’t believe he was there. I believed there was nothing, just life and death. My baby had died and that was the end of it. My husband never talked much about it. He didn’t like to talk about it. When I was sad he’d give me a cuddle and tell me it’d be all right, but he never told me how he felt. Slowly I began to regain my trust in God. I don’t think it’s possible to have a permanent faith. Things happen in life all the time that can test us. I have strayed away from my faith many times - when my dad died, my baby, my husband, my sister... So much heartache, but if I didn’t have my faith I wouldn’t be a happy person today.” My little old Nanny Marge who nags me for not ringing her enough and spurs me on towards my ‘ology’ will inspire me forever more. Words by Hope and Margaret Harding. 107

Some Days

RILEY - Monday, 23rd of January, 1997 Fine snow dazzles in the wind falling oblivious towards the ground, it’s sad for snowflakes in their delicate figures to be born only for pedestrians to step upon them and make them into a giant wet mess. Oh well. Days without Riley. Coffee is cold at the table, and as funny as it may sound, I’m beginning to relate to that cooling process. I’ll soon be a freaking stone. Bitter. Cold. Nasty. The first few weeks were a complete nightmare, greatly controlled by that longing sensation that would always bring me to sleep at the end of the day with a heavy heart and a troubled mind. Today, following the long stream of memories I’ve been having lately, that evening in which Riley and I rushed across the central avenue just to make our way into a sold out concert in The Atrium, has come into my mind. We were high on life, hopes, and feelings, two teenagers lost in the roar of the world. It took us a while and a couple of bribes, but we managed to find ourselves surrounded by the crowd, screaming, laughing and colliding with them. That was the day I fell for Riley, and the day I decided it may not be a bad idea to give my old bass another go. Riley said I should learn how to play it, like John Deacon; but I told her I was awful at instruments. You expect to pick it up and know what to do. You hope your hands will know how to position themselves and throw out some award winning melody. Ironically, the truth is, it’s hard, and you have no idea of what to do, or what’s the difference between notes A and G.

108 108

LEAH - Saturday, 6th of October 2001 Dry leaves dazzle in the wind falling oblivious towards the ground, it’s sad how they grow to perish in their warm colours and shapes, only for pedestrians to step upon them and make them into crunched bits and pieces. Oh well. Days without Leah. Tea was cold at the table, ‘cause I grew sick of coffee over the past few years. I ended picking it up and pouring it down the drain, wondering, if I should be doing the same with myself. I felt weirdly tempted to jump on a cup and ask for someone to mimic the action. Hah. Days are quite grey. The first few weeks were kinda tiring, greatly controlled by that longing sensation that would keep me away from work with an angry boss and a couple missed calls. Today, following the long stream of memories I’ve been having lately, that day in which Leah and I drove over to the upper lakes in Canada, has come into my mind. We were high on life, hopes, and feelings, two young adults lost in the open road. It took us a while and some asking for directions, but we managed to find ourselves surrounded by the mountains, playing around, running and laying down on the grass. That was the day I fell deeper for Leah, than I had for any other woman, and the day I decided it may not be a bad idea to give my old bass yet another go. Leah said it would be nice to have some music up there, at the countryside; but I told her I had tried to learn some times before. Too many days arguing with that dusty old bass, breaking strings and failing to tune it properly. You expect it to tune itself but the truth is, it’s hard, and you have no idea of what to do, or what’s the difference between notes B and E.

109 109

JESSICA - Wednesday, 3rd of August, 2003 The freaking fluffy clouds are nowhere to be seen, favouring the sun to shine bright and warm upon the ground, it’s sad how they decide to fly away in such harsh days only for poor pedestrians to roast down into red crayfish. Oh well. Days without Jess. Water is cold at the table, and thank god for it. I fear I’ll soon be melting to the ground like these big giant ice lollies, and perhaps I should, and get over with it. The first few weeks were quite boring, greatly controlled by that longing sensation that would always bring me to watch these long soap operas on TV with a hard frown and some heavy sighs. Today, following the long stream of memories I’ve been having lately, the afternoon Jess and I started refurnishing that little house we shared in Pine Road came to my mind. We were high on life, hopes, and feelings, two adults driven by the excitement of building a home like the one we had been imagining. It took us a while and quite a lot of money, but we managed to find ourselves surrounded by the future, tired, sweating and siting on the carpet before bursting into laughter. That was the day I fell for Jess even more than every other women I’d met before, and the day I decided it may not be a bad idea to give my old bass one last shot. Jess said she had a thing for musicians, but I told her me and my bass were a lost cause. I never understood what’s up with women and music but, once again, I battled myself to learn it. We were a funny pair, me and that bass, I could see him frowning every time I reopened his case. Learning to play… it’s still hard, and I still have no idea of what to do, or what’s the difference between notes F and D.

110 110

CASEY – Sunday, 13th of April 2004 Bright red roses grow strong towards the sky, it’s sad for them in their soft forms to be born only for pedestrians to tear them out and gift them heartily to their late spring crushes. Oh well. Days with Casey. Two gin-tonics standing alone at the table, cause we’re making love at bed, and I’m awfully happy and my heart aches, ‘cause I’ve never loved someone more. The first few weeks were a laugh, I wasn’t sure about anything anymore, and she was so pretty, and I was at war with myself. I still kept thinking about her every day with small smiles and an absent mind. Today, following the long stream of memories I’ve been having lately, that morning in which Casey and I conveniently missed the tube has come into my mind. We were tired of life, old hopes, and weathered feelings; two souls beaten up by past quests. It took us some luck and a couple more encounters on the tube, but we managed to find ourselves surrounded by the city as we fetched a coffee, chatting, laughing and letting her have both mine and her coffee cookie when she asked for it. That was the day I fell for Casey, and I can’t think about anyone better to fall for. It was also the day I decided to sell that old bass without much farewell. Casey didn’t give a damn about instruments, which I found hilarious; and seconded it myself. I had learned to play, but I just didn’t care. Too many afternoons spent on tedious practice that took me nowhere. So, yes, it was hard, and you have no idea of what to do or what’s better for yourself; it took me learning the whole freaking scale from F to E to understand you don’t have to change who you are to find the right girl.

Words by Tania García Ayala

111

112

These diaries belonged to Captain Henrik Otto Karsten and date from 1941 to 1952. Extracts were used to help write Danish book, ‘Kaereste Kek’ by Thomas Harder and Lene Ewald Hesel. The book documents letters between Henrik and his sister Ellen, during the time he served in the British Army and she in the Women’s Royal Naval Service. Reading of their daily life during the war, the uncertainty of life is very apparent, and how important it was to make the most of every day. Poems on subsequent pages were taken from Ellen’s diary.

113

We do not say goodbye: somehow the soul Keeps all that has been loved with it always. The bodies break, friends go, the seasons roll But of each cherished thing the spirit stays. They are like summer, shining on the air, These forms, this breathing earth, these radiant friends, From their remembered splendour shall I wear Some light about me till my moment ends. I cannot carve your lovely shape in stone Staying awhile its excellence from decay, Nor fix your beauty into paint. Alone A look upon my face will sometimes say How beautiful are the things which I have known That came from earth, that turn again to clay. Lawrence Lee, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We Do Not Say Goodbyeâ&#x20AC;? 1933.

114

115

116

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, At the goring down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. Robert Laurence Binyon, “For The Fallen” 1914. The names of those who in their lives fought for life, Who wore at their hearts the fire’s centre, Born of the sun, they travelled a short while towards the sun And left the vivid air signed with their honour. Stephen Spender, “The Truly Great” from Collected Poems 1928-1953.

117

Internet Killed the Video Star

I’m an old fashioned relic cast adrift in the ocean of time… A lonely sundial stuck in the shadows of Apple watches… An analogue dinosaur lost in a digital jungle. Whilst most invested in a wife, mortgage and 2.4 kids; dial-up, pagers and the dotcom boom, I sunk all my savings from a 20s spent wondering aimlessly from dead end job to dead end job into a video store. My dream was born out of a childhood spent secretly serenaded by my father’s vinyl collection when he went to sleep; an adolescence consumed by Atari games I had to work every weekend to afford; a young adulthood captivated by VHS films I had to scour every store in Brighton to find. With such good times emblazoned in my fondest thoughts, I practically wept when the opportunity came when I could finally weave those same beautiful memories into my own inclusive paradise of the vinyl’s, cartridges and VHS’s of my youth and give them a home where others to could bask in their glory. For the first few years I was staring at a silver lining, stood on top of cloud nine in the middle of heaven; life had become pure bliss without a blemish in sight. The store was a lighthouse, a beckon in the dark with welcoming rays ushering all lost souls to the home I had built. I didn’t know what most of them did for a living, if they had wives or what cars they drove… but I still felt like I knew them better than anyone else had ever known them before; I knew what songs they sang to and what films they laughed to and if that’s not knowing someone, then I guess I have never truly known anyone before. In the early days when Amazon was just a river in South America, the money rolled in, enough so I could travel the world twice over, but I didn’t. No midnight strolls in Paris, gondola tours in Venice or bike rides in Amsterdam, instead I kept my feet firmly planted in the store and spent the profits investing in Presley records, Spielberg films and Pacman games and the guys who came to the store noticed that and respected me even more for it – I was their hero. However, the grains of time had begun to fall through my fingers faster than I could ever hope to hold on to them. Technology was quickly changing, evolving with each passing day yet I was too busy enjoying myself to notice. My friends tried to warn me about this thing called the internet, but I simply didn’t believe this boy cried wolf story… In my mind and heart, I always thought and felt people would always want something they could physically see, hold and connect with. In my mind and heart, art was supposed to be experienced, not merely consumed for nothing. In my mind and heart, you simply couldn’t condense magic into pixels on a screen, algorithms and 1s and 0s… But the mind can be tricked and the heart shattered… Usually the store was a revolving door of new faces, each with their own unique stories to be told and tastes satisfied. Then the millennial ball hit 0 with the force needed to set off a destructive domino effect in my perfectly curated world. No longer were there no new faces, instead I just kept seeing the same old noses, eyes and ears I had seen plenty of times previously and even before they could open their mouths, I already knew what they wanted because they had asked for it a week earlier and the week before that. Then even those old faces began to drift into a distant memory, leaving nothing but the carcass of a ghost town in their wake.

118 118

With no costumers to speak of, I finally found the time to invest in that mortgage and wife, I meet her at a 50s appreciation night. But while nostalgia was a one-night whim for Barbra, to me it was an everyday torment. My life with Barbra was amazing! She made the ‘now’ romantic and exciting -something that once felt so foreign, felt so right with her. Our life together was great, occasionally even perfect but in the back of my mind not a day would go by that I wouldn’t yarn for yesteryear; I miss the dependable days of two channels instead of being swept up in the chaos of demand TV. I miss the dependability of paying with cash instead of contactless swipes of cards coupled with the fear of theft. I miss picking up a phone and hearing the warm sound of someone’s voice instead of the cold sight of letters on a screen… I miss, I miss, I miss a time when life was simple. Barbra had finally had in enough of playing second fiddle to my nostalgia, she finally gave me the ultimatum, “let go of the past and embrace the future or ignore reality and cling on to an expired memory?”. I couldn’t bear watching her heartbreak any longer, so I did the right thing and left – you probably think I’m an idiot for deserting a chance at real happiness. But it wouldn’t have been fair for myself or her to have my body and mind in one place and my heart in a different era. I crawled back to the confines of my shop. I locked the door behind me and re-watched all the spaghetti westerns, re-listened to all the Motown records and replayed all the Donkey Kong levels again and again until the pendulums of time swung back the other way – the right way.

Words By Silva Chege

119

Our Hourglass

The sands lay still and heavy at the bottom of our hourglass, no one at fault gravity cannot be denied, those worn-down rocks had to fall they’ve made such a neat pile Smashing open our spent hourglass on my desk I gather all our memories into my hand, grain-by-grain holding on forgiving the cuts from broken glass, I’ll carry around the granules of us in my pocket take it wherever I go, dusting my hands off I’ll lose some sand painful pieces will wash out of my open skin I’ll travel the lands and sleep under the moon keeping us safe with me every step of the way, before I set off though there’s one task at hand to prick a tiny hole in my trouser pocket, as I journey my life the sands will be lost one-by-one everywhere I go, I promise myself I’ll act oblivious to the day I leave our first kiss when

Words by Hayden Boyce

120

exiting a bar empty pocketed

END.

121

Where to find them...

Silva Chege

The New Coast - Nick Blyth

Sarah Gomes Munro

Author of: Breaching the Void Dreams Clouded by the Big Smoke Internet killed the video star www.silvawpius.wordpress.com

www.thenewcoast.co.uk Facebook - thenewcoast Instagram - @thenewcoastuk Youtube - TheNewCoastVEVO Soundcloud - thenewcoast

Author of: Some brains just aren’t the same.

Fall For DIY - Fran Stone

The Intern 247

For the Love Of Patch - Matt Hall

www.fallfordiy.com Instagram - @fallfordiy Facebook - FallForDIY

@theintern247 www.theintern247.com

Facebook - fortheloveofpatch Etsy - For The Love Of Patch

Adam Willis

Abi Skinner

The Lavender Hill Company - Sue Pritchard

Illustrator of: Matt from ‘For The Love of Patch’ on page 57 www.adam-willis.co.uk adamwillis321@gmail.com

Illustrator of: ‘Sheep City’ on page 68 ‘Pigs’ on inside front and back cover www.abiskinner.com

01252 711175 www.lavenderhillcompany.com info@lavenderhillcompany.co.uk 44c Frensham Road Lower Bourne Farnham GU10 3PX

Diana Patient

Jackie King

Denise Winter

Photographer www.dianapatient.co.uk Twitter: @DIAZAPAN

Photographer www.jackieking.com Twitter: @JackieKing101

Photographer www.denisewinterphotography.co.uk Twitter: @bestweddingtog

Helena Gerrelli

Holly Jones

Federica Schiavello

Author of: Once you go Vegan you never go back Interview held on her journey with Veganism. helenagerrelli@hotmail.co.uk

Interview held on her journey with Vegetarianism. Instagram - @whistlerose

Author of : Lemons of September federicaschiavello@outlook.it

Tania GarcĂa Ayala

Hayden Boyce

Hope Harding

Author of: Some Days tagarcia97@hotmail.com

Author of : Our Hourglass caranglerboycie@googlemail.com

Editor & Contributor harding.hopesophia@gmail.com www.hopeharding.com

THANKS.

A huge thanks needs to be given to a number of people, for whom with out their help, this publication could not exist. First and foremost to Neil and Debbie Harding, for their continued support and ideas, inspiring me at all hours and always having the Bank of Mum and Dad kept open. Thank you for encouraging me and not pushing me, to work hard; for loving me and not scolding me, when I failed and for always believing in me and never thinking a goal was too big or too small. You are my heroes! To Margaret Harding, also known as Nanny Marge, for lending me her memories and letting me share with you all, Harry Harding. For being Nanny Marge and supporting and believing me through my â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. To all the artisans, writers and illustrators who contributed, and the Willis family, for sharing a snippet of Henrik Karsten. To Adam, for the constant support and giggles through our long and tough 3 year journey - thank you my love! Finally to our readers, for allowing us to inspire you and inspiring us in return.

126

ABI SKINNER

127