Manor 001 spring15 final

Spring 2015 | £3.95

SOUTH WEST

a new magazine for the city savvy who enjoy a slice of country

9 772057 353002

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Look West

MICHELIN STARS BEACH POLO PRIZE ARCHITECTURE PREMIUM PROPERTY

...and beyond SIMON REEVE REN

Sheviock, Torpoint

Guide Price: £2,350,000

Spring 2015 | £3.95

SOUTH WEST

a new magazine for the city savvy who enjoy a slice of country

A beautiful Grade II listed manor house in the heart of the Cornish countryside

9 772057 353002

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Plymouth 8.5 miles (via Torpoint ferry), Exeter 58 miles, Exeter Airport 61.5 miles

Reception hall, drawing room, sitting room, dining room, Kitchen/breakfast room, secondary kitchen, study, utility room, laundry, cloakroom, extensive cellars, master bedroom suite with dressing room, 3 guest bedroom suites, 3 further bedrooms, family bathroom Coach House: sitting room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, shower room Extensive garaging and stores, estate office, workshops, garden stores, boot stores In all about 34.6 Acres

Look West

MICHELIN STARS BEACH POLO PRIZE ARCHITECTURE PREMIUM PROPERTY

...and beyond SIMON REEVE REN

Chudleigh, Near Exeter

An elegant late 1700’s Grade II Listed 6 bedroom country house enjoying an elevated position with wonderful rural views with 11 acres. Two additional 3 bedroom units of accommodation Exeter 10 miles, Dartmoor National Park 4 miles

Offers in the region of: £1,650,000

Filleigh House: entrance hall, lobby, dining room, sitting room, kitchen/breakfast room, study family room, laundry room, utility room, wet room, downstairs WC, cellar, master bedroom with ensuite bathroom, five further bedrooms, two ensuite, WC, family bathroom Separate apartment: kitchen, sitting room, three bedrooms, bathroom, utility room The Grounds: gardens, stone paved courtyard, paddocks, summerhouse, stable block, set in about 12.11 Acres

Exeter 01392 215631 Exeter@struttandparker.com 50 offices across England and Scotland, including 10 offices in Central London MANOR | Spring 2015 3

Chittlehampton, Umberleigh

A well-appointed Grade II Listed Victorian former vicarage with stunning views Chittlehampton ½ mile, South Molton 4 miles, Barnstaple 8 miles

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MANOR | Spring 2015

Guide Price: ÂŁ1,200,000

Porch, entrance hall, study, drawing room, dining room, kitchen, play room, utility room/ pantry,boot room, larder, downstairs wc, master bedroom with ensuite bathroom and dressing area, five further bedrooms, one with ensuite bathroom and dressing area, family bathroom with shower, separate WC, Seven further rooms on the second floor, two of which are currently used as an office and library Easily-maintained garden, orchard, paddock, double garage, hard tennis court

Buckerell, Honiton

An elegant Grade II Listed early 19th century former rectory in an elevated position Feniton 2 miles, Honiton 3 miles, Lyme Regis 19 miles

Offers in the region of: ÂŁ1,100,000

Reception hall, drawing room, dining room, family room, sitting room, kitchen/breakfast room, utility room, cloakroom, master bedroom with dressing room and en suite bathroom, 6 further bedrooms, 3 further bathrooms, 3 further second floor bedrooms The School House: former schoolhouse, grounds, formal landscaped gardens, walled garden, orchard, tennis court garaging, boiler house, outbuildings, former stable ,piggery, paddock in all about 3.25 Acres

Exeter 01392 215631 Exeter@struttandparker.com 50 offices across England and Scotland, including 10 offices in Central London MANOR | Spring 2015 5

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Regulars 19 TOWN MOUSE, COUNTRY MOUSE Correspondents from across the divide

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TRENDS Suede, Whites and Stripes

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MANOR CONFIDENTIAL Burns Night at Huntsham Court; Blue Black at Circle Contemporary

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AS I SEE IT...

23 Culture 54 THE WRITE STUFF

TV presenter Simon Reeve’s views on work, worrying and the joys of parenthood

Style & Beauty 26 MY FEEL GOOD REGIME Singer Milla Wood’s optimal mix of exercise, wind down and social

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BEAUTY TOOLKIT Make-up artist Elouise Abbot reveals the tools she can’t do without

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The prestigious Bridport Literary Prize just grow and grows

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SOUTH WEST MUST SEES What’s on round and about the region

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LIVE AND LET LIVE National Theatre Live – good or bad?

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WORTH MAKING THE TRIP FOR...

Cultural highlights showing in the metropolis

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WORTH STAYING IN FOR...

A spin around home entertainment

THE STYLE SHOOT Spring – the coming out party

Photostory 39 BROTHERS Documentary photographer Juliette Mills records family life on Dartmoor

Features 34 SKINCARE PIONEERS Celebrating 15 years – the story behind REN Skincare

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DISTANCE IS A STATE OF MIND Investigating the lives of today’s flexi-workers

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Space 114 TOWARDS SIMPLICITY Annie Martin challenges city firms’ architectural dominance on the awards circuit

120 SPACE TO SHOP Spring Greens and Grey Matter

Food 90 FOLLOW THE STARS Take a culinary tour of the South West’s Michelin-starred establishments

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Artist Stephen Dooley lets us into his studio

128 Q&A Unique Home Stays’ In-house Stylist opens up her source book

FROM HOOK TO PLATE Buying and eating sustainable fish

100 BITES Food news from across the peninsular

100 THE TABLE PROWLER Takes tea in Salcombe and dines on tapas in Dartmouth

Escape 106 ACTIVE RELAXATION Pure exhilaration followed by pampered indulgence at Watergate Bay

110 FLYING WITH CAPTAIN ANDY Mitch Tonks confronts his fear of flying

111 WHERE THE MOOD TAKES YOU Four choice getaways

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125 MY MANOR, MY SPACE

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Property 133 THE BULLETIN A regional assessment reveals the east-west divide

136 HIDDEN HAVEN The manor house hidden in Kingsbridge’s hills

139 SNAPSHOT COMPARATIVE A quick look at diverse properties currently on the market

144 BIDDING FOR BANTHAM The story behind the sale of a practically perfect English estate

Postcript 154 BRIT-SAYS vs BRIT-MEANS As if the English language wasn’t hard enough...

www.thewhitecompany.com See our exclusive offer for MANOR readers on page 38 MANOR | Spring 2015

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Every piece of Clogau jewellery contains the same rare Welsh gold as used by Royalty for over 100 years.

Photographed at Highclere Castle, location of Downton Abbey.

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Flagship Stores

34 Duke of York Square, Kings Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4LY 35 College Green, Dublin 2 Visit our website for retail partners in your area or to buy online

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MANOR | Spring 2015

Hello and welcome to the first edition of MANOR. “Another magazine?!” I hear you ask. Well yes, but this magazine is different, in that unlike many publications out there, MANOR is a title of national quality whose focus is not London-centric, but set firmly west.

“West?” Yes, South West. That corner, metatarsal of our isle, that is frequented by more of us in pursuit of time out, relaxation and fresh sea air than any other region of the country. It is also increasingly ‘happening’.

The South West is fast-becoming a haven of creative, successful and dynamic individuals who, freed from city shackles by high speed transport and higher speed broadband, are making their family residence one that’s considerably larger, within easy access to moor and beach, where they can surf before work and dine on fresh crab come sunset.

There is a notable shift going on. Where once upon a time, those under 60 with a hankering to escape the city would go as far as buying a second home, now that second home is London. For many of us there isn’t the need to be tied to commuter belt anymore and we are discovering that there is life beyond the capital.

Hence MANOR, aimed at the style-discerning quality seeker who although fully au fait with, and appreciative of, the workings and charms of the city, prefers (occasionally, frequently and often permanently) to leave it behind in favour of rural or coastal climes. They do so in the knowledge that they need never lose tabs with the metropolis, tapping in and popping back and forth at will.

The world after all is a much smaller place and our interests increasingly broader.

MANOR acknowledges that, featuring as much national content, including regular nods to what’s happening in London, as it does the South West.

From fashion, architecture, design, to matters cultural, leisurely and culinary, MANOR aims to bring readers the very best of the South West, and the rest.

Modern, fascinating, light-hearted and visually stunning content that inspires us all, from a South West viewpoint. Welcome to a new perspective.

Welcome to your MANOR.

Imogen Clements PUBLISHING EDITOR

MANOR | Spring 2015

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555 666.

Trusham Trusham Road, Road, Marsh Marsh Barton, Barton, Exeter, Exeter, EX2 EX2 8QQ. 8QQ. Telephone: Telephone: 01392 01392 215151.

215151.

www.carrs.volkswagen.co.uk www.carrs.volkswagen.co.uk

www.mannegertonexeter.volkswagen.co.uk www.mannegertonexeter.volkswagen.co.uk

www.helston.volkswagen.co.uk www.helston.volkswagen.co.uk

*Deposit *Deposit contribution contribution available available to customers to customers who purchase who purchase their their car with car Solutions with Solutions Personal Personal Contract Contract Plan from Plan from Volkswagen Volkswagen Financial Financial Services.

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Standard Standard EU Test EU Test figures figures for comparative for comparative purposes purposes and

– 138g/km.

199 –199 138g/km.

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MANOR | Spring 2015

may and may not reflect not reflect real driving real driving results. results.

Official Official fuel consumption fuel consumption figures figures for the forTiguan the Tiguan

Murray Volkswagen

Murray Volkswagen

Millbay Road, Plymouth, PL1 3FQ. Telephone: 01752 668351.

The Avenue, Newton Abbot, TQ12 2DR. Telephone: 01626 202205.

www.murrayplymouth.volkswagen.co.uk

www.murraynewtonabbot.volkswagen.co.uk

Well worth it.

PCP, at the end of the agreement there are three options: i) retain the vehicle: pay the optional final payment to own the vehicle; ii) return the vehicle; or iii) replace: part delivered by 30th June 2015. Further charges may be payable if vehicle is returned. Offers are not available in conjunction with any other offer and may be varied or withdrawn providers may pay us for introducing you to them. We can introduce you to a limited number of lenders to assist with your purchase, who may pay us for introducing you to

range in mpg (litres/100km): urban 23.9 (11.8) – 45.6 (6.2); extra urban 42.2 (6.7) – 60.1 (4.7); combined 32.8 (8.6) – 53.3 (5.3). Combined CO2 emissions

MANOR | Spring 2015

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is brought to you by PUBLISHING EDITOR

Imogen Clements imogen@manormagazine.co.uk

COMMISSIONING EDITOR

Jane Fitzgerald jane@manormagazine.co.uk

LEAD FEATURE WRITER

Harriet Mellor harriet@manormagazine.co.uk

ARTS EDITOR

Belinda Dillon belinda@manormagazine.co.uk

FOOD EDITOR

Anna Turns anna@manormagazine.co.uk

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Bonnie Friend, Emerald Brampton-Greene, Genoveva Arteaga-Rynn DESIGN

Guy Cracknell ADVERTISING SALES

Rae Muscat, Rachel Evans, John Bevan advertising@manormagazine.co.uk

With thanks to

Emilie Wiggins, Angharad Barlow, Kate Webber

THE COVER Dress by Revival, Totnes; Photographer: Michael Smallcombe; Stylist: Ione Ruquoi; Model: Naomi Vaila McLeod; Make-up: Philippa Spring; Hair: Elouise Abbott.

Š MANOR Publishing Ltd, 2014.

MANOR Magazine is published by Manor Publishing Ltd, 3 Station Road, Okehampton, Devon EX20 1DY. Registered in England No. 09264104 info@manormagazine.co.uk. Printed by Warners Midlands plc.

The views of the writers in MANOR Magazine are not necessarily those shared by the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts, artwork or transparencies are accepted on the understanding that the publishers incur no liability for their storage or return. The contents of MANOR Magazine are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without permission.

By submitting material to MANOR Magazine, MANOR Magazine Ltd is automatically granted the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use, reproduce, edit, distribute and display such material (in whole or part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in such content.The contributor acknowledges that material submitted may be published in

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any publication or website produced or published by MANOR Publishing Ltd. The contributor agrees not to submit material where they do own the copyright and where they have not obtained all necessary licenses and/or approvals from the rightful owner. With respect to any photographs submitted, the contributor confirms that all necessary model and property releases have been obtained from any clearly identifiable person appearing in any image, together with any other relevant consents required.

Prices and details of services and products are genuinely believed to be correct at the time of going to press, but may change. Although every effort is made to maintain accuracy we regret we are unable to honour any incorrect prices or other details that may be printed.

MAIN PICTURE: THE THRIFTY ESSE EL13AMP. INSET: THE MAGNIFICENT RANGEMASTER ELISE 1100.

Green credentials...

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• 4

Find us outside Winkleigh on the A3124 Torrington road.

NG

Call 01837 680068 • www.rangemoors.co.uk

EATING, COOKING OF H &L RS IV A I YE

Y •

Gone are the days when a Range Cooker could be seen as inefficient!

These days they offer excellent green credentials, superb cooking and can even run your entire heating system at a flick of a switch. To see one of the finest selection of Range Cookers in the South West from iconic brands like Esse, Falcon, Rangemaster and Rayburn, visit our showroom now.

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H E AT I N G • C O O K I N G • L I V I N G

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A A N N I V E R S MANOR | Spring 2015

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Herring Cranmere and Bodmin

58 Fore Street, Kingsbridge, Devon TQ7 1NY | Tel: 01548 858988

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TOWN MOUSE, COUNTRY MOUSE So darling...

Oh sweetness...

I was schmoozing with the beautifuls in The Filament, Portobello and I swear I’d only had a couple of Viogniers (175 ml), but you know how important it is to remain composed and elegant when walking to the lav? It’s like an Antonio Berardi catwalk isn’t it? Everyone sitting in their booths scrutinizing you, just waiting for you to trip or teeter. I’m as guilty as the rest of them. Well, I’ve been perfecting my fashion gait for this very purpose - walk as if on a line, notable hip swing, head held high to lengthen neck, etc. I feel I have it down to a tee and did not let myself down, well not en route anyway. Alas, as I reached the ladies I swung open the door with Lauren Bacall purpose, strode in checking myself in the long mirror at the far end of said toilettes, and went flying in the most appallingly humiliating way. Not even The Birkin could break my fall.

And there were at least four (younger) blondes applying lippy as I flew through the air.

I swear the step was not there pre-refurb. And that long mirror? This is Notting Hill - of course it attracts your eye immediately! Makes you wonder if step and mirror have been placed strategically to send as many of us flying as possible.

There’s probably a camera trained on that wretched step and sweepstakes amongst staff to see how many of us it takes out.

Anyhow darling, I am a stalwart. I gathered The Handbag’s contents, brushed myself down, and following some therapeutic freshening up, strode back to my place at the bar choosing the ignore the sniggering audible from said booths. Word had clearly spread.

Anyway, that’s me, nursing bruises, caressing Voigniers – Plus ca change… How’s life in the stix?

Sounds mortifying! There are thankfully far fewer people in the country to snigger at your fumbling and foibles. I have noticed the odd Dartmoor pony eyeing me disparagingly as I battle bog and gorse on the Two Moors Way, but out here in the open air you are free to make a howling fool of oneself and no one’s any the wiser.

Not that you did of course. Tripping over is hardly to be mocked, poor thing.

Anyhow, I thought, what with the approach of summer we could compare exercise routines…you are, are you not, still a platinum member of Virgin Active?

Hmm…I can feel the guilt ebbing my way as I write.

Well, don’t mean to sound smug, but I’ve recently begun mountain-biking to incorporate into my hill-walking regime. So much more effective than the stair-climber for tightening the glutes. Plus there’s no queuing for the machines or fighting over the last bike. That said, I could do with a bit of Beyoncé or Gaga on a flat screen ahead to set the pace and provide some bodily goals. I agree, some goals will remain forever unattainable but it doesn’t stop us trying does it sweetness?

Let’s compare muscle tone when we next rendez-vous, and incidentally, where should that be? Town or country? How about Watergate Bay Hotel? Notting Hill-stylish but right on the beach? In fact I insist. It will give me a chance to show you my new wetsuit. Takes a good thirty minutes to wriggle in and out of but I swear it’s better than Spanx at smoothing out those bulges. We can body-board before Voigniers and BLTs on the terrace darling!

WHAT’S HOT IN THE SMOKE?

WHAT’S COOL IN THE COUNTRY?

Eat like a hipster caveman at London’s first Paleo-diet restaurant, Pure Taste in Notting Hill. Hunter-gatherer dishes made from meats, eggs, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and oils. All gluten, sugar and dairy free, naturally.

The Anchorstone Café, Dittisham comes out of hibernation at Easter to serve an abundance of local oysters, mussels, crabs and lobster eaten on the terrace above the River Dart. The mark of Spring.

Sunny Afternoon, about the Kinks. Who knew we knew so many of their songs? A rip-roaring, touching, hilarious evening that had us bouncing in the aisles. Tis True. Resist all you may.

The mark of Poldark strikes in 2015 with eight swashbuckling episodes of bodices and beaches. With Being Human star Aiden Turner as Ross Poldark and rolling Cornish surf and turf, what’s not to like?

Marlene Dumas at Tate Modern. To be seen. Unanimous.

From Paddington, if you’re serious about Thai food head for The Heron, and if equally serious about Karaoke make it 9pm on Fridays. Karaoke Thai style. Divine.

Equal pleasure for the eyes and taste buds, The Glorious Art House on Exeter’s Fore Street has a ground-floor café serving tea, coffee and comestibles on quirky crockery; an upstairs gallery showcasing new artists’ work.

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Luxury faux fur fashion accessories

www.helenmoore.com 20

MANOR | Spring 2015

Made in England

trends

Purr suede The bohemian seventies still has a pull on our style psyche. Suede, irresistible to touch, equally gorgeous to behold adding a soft matt subtlety to all colour. We’re suede lovers, spoilt this season with it in every guise.

Altuzurra SS15

Long suede jacket, Zara, £179

Mary Portas Green Suede Top, House of Fraser, £79

Mary Portas Mint Suede Biker Jacket, House of Fraser, £269

Grey A-Line Suede Skirt, Jaeger at John Lewis, £350

Blue Suede Tasseled Clutch, Top Shop, £38

Orange Suede Front Shift Dress, Top Shop, £60

MANOR Trends compiled with the help of Emerald Brampton-Greene MANOR | Spring 2015

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Discover the Spring Collection

Sparkling daisies that shine in the soft light of Spring.

Be inspired at pandora.net 22

MANOR | Spring 2015

trends

White wear you want it Mario Schwab SS15

One of summer’s big trips for spring, whether beautifully laced and delicate, Victoriana or classic Hollywood.

Aura Precious Stone Earrings, Accessorize, £15 Printed Dress, Zara, £59.99

Himo Necklace, Toast, £49

Helena Rohner Porcelain Stone Ring, Toast, £89

Best of British Trouser, Marks and Spencer, £99

White Suede Rucksack, Zara, £49.99

Autograph Jacket, Marks and Spencer, £75

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Flagship Stores

34 Duke of York Square, Kings Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4LY 35 College Green, Dublin 2 Visit our website for retail partners in your area or to buy online

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MANOR | Spring 2015

trends

Stripe for the picking Antonio Marras Women SS15

Stripes are everywhere this spring/summer – monochrome to feature later but to zing you into spring choose bold stripes in vibrant colour combinations.

Layla Beaded Statement Necklace, Accessorize, £19 Autograph Top, Marks and Spencer, £53

Dress, Zara, £45.99

Skirt, Zara, £35.99

Accessorize Moving Triangle Statement Necklace, £10

Striped Skirt, Top Shop, £65

Striped Top, Next, £28

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My feel good regime Milla Wood, singer/songwriter. Lives with her musician husband Tim Herniman and two children near Crediton, Devon. Milla and Tim run a wedding and events business and have played at parties from London to Land’s End for the great and the good.

For me, I look my best by finding the optimal mix of exercise, wind down and social. Overdo one and it starts to show…

For exercise I mix it up Pilates, yoga, swimming indoors at the local sports centre (good social vibe) with outdoor activity such as fast walking by water. Sandymouth, River Teign – that’s one thing that a gym can’t give you, white water walking; positive ions, great for body and soul.

All my walks are by water.

at them, listen to the wind in their branches. Flowers and plants consume me, but without trees where would we be?

To relax I flick through gardening books and interiors magazines – but then our house has been a threeyear project. I know Farrow and Ball’s entire pallette off pat and should never be let loose in a reclamation yard again.

saloonstar.co.uk haynedevon.co.uk

I love to sleep I regularly have a power nap and always feel incredible afterwards.

I get a lot of pleasure from cooking Food is very important to me and in my opinion Devon is the garden of England. With so much fantastic local produce I’m inspired to cook up a storm in the kitchen regularly. I love hosting dinner parties – good food, wine, great friends, mad singing and dancing til the early hours. Nothing better. Favourite cookbooks are Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour and Made in India by Meera Sodha.

For that on-the-run indulgence Exploding Bakery cakes (did I mention I am ADDICTED to their flat whites?!) and Willie’s Chocolate Bars are the order of the day.

Music and dancing nourish my soul As a singer it’s vital for me to listen to music a lot of the time. At the moment I’m listening to Frazey Ford’s Indian Ocean and Robert Plant’s Lullaby and The Ceaseless Roar. Dancing and singing are essential for keeping me happy. Singing in choirs is one of the most uplifting things I have ever done.

Appreciating my surroundings I am OBSESSED by trees. We’re lucky to have so many ancient oaks surrounding us and I love to look

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Lone oak near Black-a-Tor Copse, Dartmoor

Sandymouth, North Cornwall

LANGUISHING IN MY MAKE-UP BAG Kickass red lipstick - nothing beats it! I have several in different hues. MAC Satin, Clarins Joli Rouge and Kate Moss for Rimmel Rosetto to name but a few!

I have superdry skin so I use Weleda Skinfood by the tube. I buy six tubes at a time (online, it’s cheaper) and apply it continuously.

Lash Impact Black Mascara from No.7 purely for the red glittery packaging. It makes me smile.

Lip balm is a must and my favourites are Dr Haushka, Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream and Burt’s Bees.

Fake up by Benefit is an everyday must to hide dark circles under eyes, blemishes and shadows around the nose.

Also by Benefit, I love Girl meets Pearl for highlighting around temple area and Fine One One for bringing delicious peachiness to the apples of my cheeks.

Finally, a squirt of something citrusy such as Orange Blossom by Jo Malone, Acqua Di Palma or Le Petit Grain by Miller Harris - all heavenly!

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beauty

One expert’s ‘must have’ toolkit Elouise Abbott is based in Taunton. A qualified make-up artist, Elouise’s skills range from wig-making, bridal and beauty hair and make-up, to prosthetic and character make-up for film and television. She recently worked on the BBC’s adaption of Wolf Hall, and on MANOR’s inaugural style shoot.

These are the tools she can’t do without...

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer I always reach for this primer as a pick me up for dehydrated skin. This primer creates a beautiful base on which to apply your foundation, and ensures it lasts all day.

Yves Saint Laurent Touch Éclat The Touch Éclat highlighting pen erases dark circles and shadows. For instant radiant results, apply only to the shadow, either on its own or under foundation.

Bare Minerals Original Foundation This is a mineral powder foundation that gives a beautiful flawless finish.

The foundation buffs on like a dream and blends seamlessly with your natural skin tone.

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush As a make-up artist I’m always looking for high quality make-up brushes to achieve the best results from my products. I’m a huge fan of Real Techniques. The Expert Face Brush is my favorite multi-tasker. Perfect for applying foundation and blending cream blushes and highlighters.

Urban Decay NAKED Basics Palette This little gem of a palette contains six neutral colour eyeshadows in Matt.

Perfect for creating a light natural make-up look, or a slightly darker smokey eye for the more adventurous.

Shu Uemera Eyelash Curlers Ergonomically designed they are comfortable to use, and fit all eye shapes. The silicone pad ensures a beautiful long-lasting curl and eyes are instantly opened and defined.

Remember the rule: curl before applying mascara.

Max Factor False-Lash Effect Fusion Mascara My current favorite mascara that comes out of the kit every time. This mascara gives both volume and length without being heavy or clumpy.

Cherry Carmex Moisturizing Lip Balm Cherry-flavoured and slightly tingly, this lip balm instantly softens the lips.

I like to apply this product to prime the lips ready for perfect lipstick application.

M.A.C. Ruby Woo The perfect red lipstick, Ruby Woo is a stunning Matt lipstick with incredible staying power.

Ben Nye Translucent Neutral Set Face Powder If make up is set with powder it stays on all day. Pay extra attention to the under eye area to prevent creasing of concealer and foundation.

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elouiseabbottmua@outlook.com

Find The One Bobbi Brown’s new intensive Skin Serum Foundation SPF 40, exclusive to John Lewis, is the perfect fusion of treatment and makeup for an all-day, flawless coverage.

Available in 16 shades, discover your perfect match in store or at johnlewis.com.

This product is available from 9th March and exclusive to John Lewis until 1st April. Our commitment to value means that we match the prices of high street competitors (this excludes online-only or mail order businesses).

Service conditions must be comparable. See our ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ leaflet in our shops or online for details.

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confidential

Burns Night at Huntsham Court Huntsham Court, the private hire baronial mansion in Devon, celebrated all things Scottish on 17 January with a traditional Burns Night Supper and Ceilidh.

McBaile provided the banquet comprising traditional dishes including Macsween Haggis, Cullen Skink Salad and Hot Clootie Pudding.

The Burns night was the first Supper Club of 2015. Launched in November 2013, the Huntsham Court Supper Clubs are unique events that take place several times a year. Each Supper Club carries a different theme, but each one celebrates good food, company and culture. huntshamcourt.co.uk/supperclub

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Blue Black The opening of Blue Black, a cold water surf exhibition at Circle Contemporary Gallery in Hawksfield, Wadebridge in conjunction with Finisterre, took place on 21 February.

The exhibition features new and old works from artists and photographers Ben Cook, John Eldridge, David Gray, Tim Nunn and Mickey Smith and is showing until the 25th March 2015 after which the gallery will be showing Boundless - an exploration of land, sea and light (28 March-25 May 2015). circlecontemporary.co.uk.

Opening night photos by Adj Brown adjbrown.com

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As I see it...

Simon Reeve is an adventurer, writer and award-winning television presenter.

He is married to Anya, a wildlife documentary producer, and they have a three-year-old son.

When not travelling for the job he splits his time between London and Dartmoor.

I was a disaffected petty vandal in my youth.

Like most teenagers I yearned for excitement, but I was uninspired and uninspiring. I’d set fire to things, show up to school drunk, pay no attention. I saw the sole purpose of school as a means of chatting up girls. My educational record is poor.

Leaving the security of school with little in the way of prospects is frightening. I remember being the only person to apply for the job of a van driver on Wembley Park trading estate and still not getting it. That’s when I thought, that’s it for me, I’m screwed.

Windows of opportunity present themselves when you least expect. My life changed as a postboy at the Sunday Times. That’s when the world opened up for me.

Suddenly I was in an adult environment where people were doing exciting things. I’d peer over their shoulders and felt the glimmer of a possibility that I could be involved in that.

It’s the small steps you take that give you the confidence to go further. Successive small steps and challenges met have given me the confidence to do what I do today.

Not being exceptional at anything is a tough lesson to learn. Nothing comes fast or magically easy for me. I’ll get there - I’ve written books - but it’s always been a case of long hard slog over brilliance. That’s one thing I do have, dogged perseverance.

I was relieved to discover I had malaria. I’d been filming near the border of The Congo where Ebola is a major issue and started vomiting blood.

As a British BBC presenter in Africa I survived malaria where tens of thousands of black Africans never would. My temperature rose to a shade off brain damage and I was administered with a drug that tricks the malarial parasite to launch their attack early before they’re at their most potent. Extremely unpleasant, but life-saving.

I’ve never had a recurrence but my body’s never been the same since.

Children are great memory joggers. My son has put me in touch with a young me in a way that I didn’t expect.

Through him I can sense how I was as a child. He’s awoken forgotten memories, helped remind me of feelings, senses, and the wonder of discovery that I experienced then.

This job is a huge privilege. Not a day has gone by when I haven’t learnt, seen or experienced something extraordinary.

I’ve never been asked to do something I didn’t feel safe doing. I’ve filmed over 70 documentaries and we have we never done things for effect. If we have to cross a raging river hanging from a rope it’s in order to reach a community with a good story to tell.

There’s much developed Western societies can learn from remote communities. For example, the role the wider family plays in bringing up children and their attitude to danger. I remember sitting around a fire in Paraquay and watching a small child pick up a snake and swing it around. My instinct was to snatch the snake from the boy’s hands, but the adults did not intervene. ‘Children learn through experience’ a wise Masai grandmother once explained to me, ‘if we don’t let them take risks in front of us they’ll do it out of sight where we can’t help them’.

To have fun and dance is what I want for my son.

My wife and I have no major aspirations for him other than to be content and comfortable in his own skin, and enjoy life.

I spent too much of my life worrying about what people think. There are too many voices out there – advertising, popular culture etc - telling you it matters.

It doesn’t. Be yourself, be happy, focus on your goals and set out to achieve them, in the nicest possible way. I didn’t understand that then, but I do now.

You compromise in a relationship but it gives you greater return. I’m a much better, more rounded individual as a result of being in a partnership. It’s definitely been worth losing my ability to be selfish.

Having a child is one of those points in life where there’s a before and after. The after has been seismically different to the before, and as parents we are milking every moment.

Caribbean with Simon Reeve is broadcast on BBC2 in Spring 2015.

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Pioneers of clean skincare REN revolutionised premium skincare when they launched their range of high-tech bioactive, chemical-free products that were both a pleasure to use and left skin glowing. The science apparently was, and remains, extremely difficult to crack. But there’s more than just science to REN’s meteoric rise in a prohibitively competitive market. Co-founder Antony Buck tells Imogen Clements how it all came together.

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ntony Buck’s office in London’s Marylebone has grass underfoot. There’s a certain quirkiness to REN Skincare’s headquarters. Casually dressed staff with easy smiles welcome you into a bright open-plan space of bare concrete and exposed copper piping and beyond the desks, there’s a large massage chair in the corner. The understated, contented vibe to the place is reminiscent of a West Coast creative hotshop. But then, that figures - this is the home of one the most ground-breaking and successful entrants to the multi-billion pound skincare market that we’ve seen in a generation.

REN is 15 years old this year, sells in 40 different countries and employs over 70 people worldwide.

Since Rob Calcraft and Antony Buck (pictured above) first came up with the concept of clean skincare, REN has grown to be one of the most respected beauty brands on the market, used and loved by supermodels and Hollywood actresses, lauded by beauty editors and extolled by friends to one another across the globe. REN has never advertised or paid for endorsement. They’ve never needed to.

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“It’s all about the product,” declares Antony, sitting in one of the myriad mismatched easy chairs (all eBay apparently, more of that later) that surround the low coffee table, “Everything stems from that.”

Surely there’s more to it? Even fantastic products need failsafe marketing strategies to turn them into a multimillion pound brands. That part presumably came easy to Rob and Antony who, prior to REN, were established brand strategists with their own eponymous consultancy.

Which is my first observation – successful, enduring couplings in business are rare. Be it Branson, Roddick, Boden or Chrissie White Company, more often than not, there is one driving force (and name) behind big lasting brands, for one obvious reason: conflict – the probability and degree of which seems to grow in line with a business’s success.

So what’s Buck and Calcraft’s secret? “Well, he’s not here is he?” Antony jokes, nodding to one of the empty easy chairs. Rob has taken a few months’ sabbatical. “He’s the ideas generator. And he’s fast at it. Before taking off he left us with a three-year plan, which will probably take us five years at least, so there’s plenty to be getting on with. And he’s due back next month.

“That, I suppose, is the secret to an enduring business relationship – separate skill sets. Rob’s focus has always been NPD (New Product Development).

He has an amazing feel for skincare. Having come up with an idea, he’s able to pinpoint from 20 different variants that come back from the lab which one is right. I generally manage the process thereon, from

formula to shelf. You could define how we differ by line of vision – Rob is forever looking ahead to where we go next, and I like to scrutinise where we’re at and perfect it. It’s not mutually exclusive, more of a Venn diagram, but we’re sufficiently different to not step on each other’s toes; sufficiently similar to come together when necessary. Plus of course we have shared values. You couldn’t work together if your values clashed.”

Which raises the next question, of serendipity - how was it that two different but complementary individuals chanced upon one another to create the success that REN is today?

“We met while working in advertising. At that point my career had been pretty linear. Rob’s had been considerably more erratic – he’d done this, tried that, launched this, dissolved that, and ended up where I was in advertising. I looked at what he’d done and decided I wanted some of that, rather than the structured career path that was being paved for me.

“We left the agency and set up our own brand consultancy. This was good for seven years or so, but inevitably there came a time when as brand consultants you think, ‘If we’re so good at telling other people what to do with their brands, let’s launch one ourselves.’ The tricky thing was what. We knew what we wanted it to be: something that made a positive difference, that we could be proud of, something original, fairly democratic ie not super-premium or battling on price, but we had no idea which market to do it in. We considered confectionery, fast food, even hair-dressing, before my wife, newly pregnant,

Preparing Moroccan rose oil

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We did everything the research told us not do to developed an adverse reaction to everything she put on her skin. We realised there was a market for highquality, effective skincare products that were stripped of nasty ingredients and there was nothing occupying this area. The only choice consumers had at the time was between effective products full of nasties, or natural skincare that tended to be pretty unpleasant, pungent gunk.”

This was just the first hurdle. Antony goes on to reveal the far greater seemingly insurmountable one: “There was a reason no-one was doing it.

Having decided on the idea of clean skincare it was made clear to us that this was impossible. Every chemist we spoke to stated it couldn’t be done, that those ingredients we were looking to strip out – the silicones, sulfates and petrochemicals etc – were essential for texture and consistency. You could not have a premium product that glided onto skin, smelt wonderful and was easily absorbed without them. We persevered. Eventually, we tracked down a chemist, a French woman with a PhD in Cosmetic Pharmacology, who was willing to give it a go. She succeeded and has been REN’s chemist ever since.”

And the name REN? “Again, pure chance. We’d been racking our brains when Rob, over a couple of drinks with a Swedish friend asked him what clean was in Swedish and he replied ‘ren’. Now that we’re international it’s fortunate that the name seems to translate well in other markets. Not many three-letter words do. In Chinese it means ‘honorable endeavour’.

Quite pleased about that one, and quite relieved.”

Ok, so that’s the product, but what about the rest? When REN hit the market it looked markedly different to other skincare players and there has never been any fanfare. How did they ensure people knew they existed and, more importantly, were worth a try?

“Interestingly, for two guys whose careers had been built on consumer insight, we did everything the research told us not to do. The product was clean skincare, free of nasties. Focus groups told us that our packaging should therefore look natural and clear, rather than scientific. We decided to opt for white and clinical, the antithesis. Research suggested that being natural and plant-based, the labeling should have a soft feminine look with pictures of flowers and

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nature. We thought about it for a while then decided instead on an androgynous style that bordered on masculine. Essentially, we did the ‘positive opposite’ to everything the research told us to do.”

‘Positive’ is easy to say with hindsight, but it clearly worked. The pharmaceutical look of the product when green and natural was all the rage gave it prominence and authority. The gender-neutral labeling meant that REN wasn’t considered (and rejected) as girlie, but used, as Antony points out, “on both sides of the sink”, by men too, doubling the potential audience.

“And making our presence known? Well, we’ve never had money to advertise effectively. Skincare has multi-billion pound players who we couldn’t possibly compete with. Again, fortunately for us, because the market is relatively high-risk for consumers – you need to trust something you put on your face – it is driven by editorial, and beauty editors are always looking for something new to write about. We sent them the product and they loved it. As a result, we got some wonderful publicity that gave people the confidence to trial, and they liked it enough to tell their friends.

“It still works like that – we rely on positive endorsement amongst friends and thanks in large part to the internet, word of mouth spreads quickly. We’re lucky that some of REN’s friends are well-known celebrities with big followings. They like us. They like what we do and how we are. We all work hard but it’s pretty easy-going here. You’ll often stroll into the office and there’ll be an A-lister in the corner of the room having a facial, which says a lot about the working environment. It’s a happy place and people don’t tend to leave.”

Certainly, the grassy floor makes you want to kick off your shoes and pad around barefoot, and I have to confess to feeling drawn towards the massage chair in the corner. Plus, it’s Friday lunch and everyone’s gathering up their things. “Fridays are half days,” explains Antony. No wonder no-one leaves.

“We’re all grownups who get on with the job, and ultimately it comes back down to the product.

Nobody will talk about something unless it makes an impression. The product has to be brilliant.”

REN’s latest touch of brilliance KEEP YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL™ INSTANT FIRMING BEAUTY SHOT

Rob Calcraft and Antony Buck

Pitstop profiler Antony Buck – the no-fuss, recycling, alpine and architecture-appreciating, skincare perfectionist.

Times New Roman or Arial? Arial Oils or watercolours? Pastels Saatchi or Sorrell? Probably Saatchi Breaking Bad or Borgen? Game of Thrones, although yet to see Breaking Bad

A gel-serum that instantly firms, lifts and plumps the skin to leave it looking smoother, tighter and more youthful.

According to skincare expert and REN Ambassador David Delport, there are four ways you can use Keep Young and Beautiful™ Instant Firming Beauty Shot: • For mature skin: Apply a few drops at night onto clean skin.

• For a quick firming program: Apply onto clean skin morning and night over 5 days to build up the effects for a fast and intensive facial lift.

• For special events: Apply one shot the night before a special event, one in the morning and one prior to applying makeup for a flawless, smooth and glowing finish.

• For thirsty, dehydrated skin or skin suffering post-flight (or from a hangover!): Apply one shot on slightly damp skin to maximize skin mantle hydration and comfort.

David also suggests keeping the product with you rather than confined to the bathroom cupboard. “It’s the perfect post-work pick-me-up and the first thing I throw into my carry-on bag for long flights – it makes an ideal boost for skin exposed to the dehydrating effects of heating and air conditioning.”

Boggle or Bananagram? Neither, am way too competitive

Keep Young and Beautiful™ Instant Firming Beauty Shot, £46, is available online or in John Lewis and Marks and Spencer stores nationwide.

Bridge or Poker? Poker. Bridge is excruciatingly slow

renskincare.com

Golf or a walk? A good walk spoiled, golf Long haul or Europe? Europe Beach or ski? Ski, marginally Gstaad or Courchevel? Flaine, a lesserknown ski resort that’s low-glitz, ski-focused simplicity and Bauhaus architecture eBay or Selfridges? eBay – great source of quality items the vast majority of which you don’t need to buy new ie. most of the furniture in my house, most of my kids’ Christmas presents (they assumed all toys came without a box and wrapped in newspaper until the age of nine), and all the chairs around this coffee table (and the coffee table)

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exclusive offer

Save 20% at The White Company Is there anything more refreshing than a blast of cool sea spray against rosy cheeks?

Winter has seen us tucked away into the cosiest corners of our homes, and now, with the new season on the horizon, comes the promise of cloudless skies.

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or us at The White Company, this is a joyous, hopeful time of year. Our newseason collection captures the essence of chic coastal living, from crisp white bed linen with textured throws, to the ultimate spa bathroom filled with fluffy towels and pampering treats, to cosy knits and stylish layers – not to mention sailor-themed pieces for little ones.

We believe passionately that our beautifully practical products – with hand-finished touches and stories behind them – should be used and loved every day.

We hope our Spring collection inspires you to bring the serenity of the seaside into your wardrobes and your homes. As a MANOR reader, you can enjoy 20% off your order plus free delivery* when you use code: AF159.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR OFFER In store For your nearest store, visit: thewhitecompany.com/stores Online Use code: AF159 at the whitecompany.com By phone 020 375 89 222

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photostory

Mud brothers Brothers is a work-in-progress by internationally renowned photographer Juliette Mills.

“It’s the story of my life with my boys since moving to a special place where we all feel closer to nature than ever before. Dartmoor, Devon. I hope to convey with these pictures a bond between two brothers growing day by day, a close relationship with nature setting down roots, and possibly, a dawning of what’s most important in our life – family.”

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photostory

JULIETTE MILLS Juliette Mills is a photographer who lives in Devon with her husband and two children. Juliette began taking pictures from the age of 12, and inspired by her parents, both keen conservatonists, developed a love of wildlife that had her working for National Geographic in Zimbabwe and going on to exhibit her work back in London. From there she went to Mexico to study with Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey and in 2009, a selection of her work about the Day of the Dead was exhibited at the Graphic Arts Institute of Oaxaca. Having children has switched her focus to documentary and she now takes on commissions photographing family life, as well as special documentary projects. juliettemills.com

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Culture

Bridport Literary Festival | South West must sees | NT Live Worth making the trip for | Worth staying in for

Keys by Arthur Lanyon, oil on board, 27.5cm x 32.5cm. Part of a mixed show of paintings and ceramics over Easter at Porthminster Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall. porthminstergallery.co.uk

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The write stuff One of the most prestigious – and generous – writing competitions in the country, The Bridport Prize continues to attract highquality submissions. Belinda Dillon puts pen to paper to find out why

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orget the old adage ‘everyone’s a critic’; these days, everyone’s a writer. You only have to look to the plethora of blogs to understand that millions of us (between them, Tumblr and Wordpress hosted a staggering 250 million blogs in 2014) want to put fingers to keyboard to share our words with others.

And for those whose dream is to make money from writing, the self-publishing juggernaut is motoring in top gear: last year, data released by industry analysts Nielsen (published in The Guardian) revealed that 18 million self-published ebooks garnered sales of £59 million. It’s enough to make you dust down that Great British Novel languishing in the bottom drawer and hit the PUBLISH button.

For new writers, these are appealing statistics, especially as the traditional publishing industry is so hard to break into, but self-publishing won’t ever answer the question of whether your writing is

actually any good – and that, more than anything, is what all new writers want to know. It’s undoubtedly why the popularity of writing competitions endures.

But while myriad competitions offer the chance to win some cash plus getting your work seen by a panel of expert judges, few provide specific editorial feedback or publishing opportunities to match the Bridport Prize International Creative Writing Competition, now in its 43rd year and continuing to grow in prestige and popularity – last year’s entries topped 15,000 and came from more than 80 countries worldwide. And all in support of a seaside arts centre on the south coast.

“When Peggy Chapman-Andrews established Bridport Arts Centre in 1973, she also launched the competition as a way of raising money towards the centre’s running costs, and that’s why it still runs today,” says Kate Wilson, administrator of the Prize.

“We’re tremendously proud of it, especially the fact

Caroline Chisholm, winner of inaugural Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award for a first novel with runner-up Ian Nettleton and judge Alison Moore

Flash fiction judge Tania Hershman with winner Kit de Waal

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culture

PHOTO: COLIN CLARKE

This year’s poetry judge is Roger McGough

PHOTO: LAURIE HARRIS

that it has an international reputation – everyone in the arts centre and the wider town is very pleased with the recognition it brings. People from around the world have heard of the prize without having any idea that it’s based in a little town in Dorset!”

With winners in the short story and poetry categories each bagging £5,000, and the top flash fiction entrant snapping up a cool £1,000, the Bridport Prize is one of the most generous ‘open’ – meaning both unpublished and published writers can enter – competitions around (the only one offering more is the Manchester Writing Competition, a new kid on the block presenting prose and poetry winners with an eye-popping £10,000 each).

What’s more, since being shortlisted for the Bridport ensures publication in the anthology, the top 13 prose entries and top four poems are automatically entered into highly prestigious competitions that are open only to published authors: the National Short Story Prize and The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award for the former, and the Forward Prize Best Single Poem category for the latter.

“This competition is the perfect platform for encouraging new writers and discovering new talent – it’s very much our mission,” says Kate. “As well as going into the national and The Sunday Times competitions, the shortlisted entrants also go to literary agency A.M. Heath, and if they’re interested they have first dibs on the writers. It’s a fantastic opportunity.”

To say the Bridport has been the springboard for some hugely talented writers is something of an understatement, and serves to highlight the calibre of entrants. Kate Atkinson’s winning short story in 1990 went on to become the first chapter of her 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year-winning novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and 2013’s third place poetry winner, Stephen Santus, went on to win the Best Single Poem award in the Forward Prize in 2014. As for the panel, former judges include Ali Smith, Margaret Drabble and Tracey Chevalier in the prose category, and Jackie Kay and Andrew Motion in poetry. This year’s short story judge is multiaward-winning novelist Jane Rogers, with the poetry coming under the steely eye of bona fide national treasure Roger McGough.

Being wildly successful hasn’t resulted in the Bridport resting on its laurels, either, or easing back on maxing out the opportunities for new writers.

It added the flash fiction category (word limit: 250 words) in 2010 – read Kit de Waal’s 2014 winning entry (overleaf ) – and last year launched the Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award for a first novel, which

PCA novel award judge Jane Feaver

2015 short story judge Jane Rogers

garners the winner and runner-up cash prizes plus the winner gets extensive mentoring with The Literary Consultancy to bring the novel to publication. Last year’s runner-up, Ian Nettleton, now has an agent.

“The novel prize is particularly exciting for aspiring writers,” says Jane Feaver, the novelist judging this year’s award. “Most first-time writers need guidance, and, unless you’re prepared to pay for it, it’s rare to get that at a decent level. The great thing about this prize is that it offers a continuing process - you’re getting something far more valuable than a cash prize: the opportunity to work with experts in the industry. The potential to have your work developed over time is worth more than anything to a serious writer.”

The sense of validation that accompanies success in the competition cannot be underestimated, as Melanie Kay – whose short story Photos of Celia was highly commended in 2014 – confirms. “To know that my story was one of 13 to stand out from over 5,000 has been an incredible affirmation,” she says.

“Having your work selected by a complete stranger,

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Having your work selected by a complete stranger, who has waded through a huge pool of high calibre work, really drives home your potential as a writer

who has waded through a huge pool of high calibre work, really drives home your potential as a writer.

For me, this success has been the binary moment that every writer is hoping for when they first start submitting – the moment of transitioning from Not Published to Published.”

David Dawson – whose story Think of a Number was shortlisted in 2014, and also garnered him the additional Dorset Prize for the highest placed local writer – agrees. “Writing is such a private and subjective experience that it’s a huge boost to get that kind of external perspective on your work.

Participating has taught me to be more serious, disciplined and self-critical about the craft of writing but has also given me the confidence to put greater trust in my own judgement.”

If you’ve got a story or a poem – or even a novel – stashed away under the bed, perhaps it’s time to shake it out, polish it up and send it off: the submission deadline for this year’s competition is 31 May. As David says: “My advice to anyone considering entering the competition for the first time would be – go for it. You learn what sort of a writer you are from the response you produce in others.” bridportprize.org.uk For a comprehensive list of all writing competitions, see bookstrust.org.uk

Short story judge Andrew Miller presenting David Dawson with his Highly Commended prize for a short story

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If the short story word count of 5,000 seems too daunting, perhaps flash fiction is your bag. Probably the most famous example, written by Ernest Hemingway, is “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.” You’ll have 250 words to play with for the Bridport Prize, but it goes to show that brevity can pack just as powerful a punch. Here’s Kit de Waal’s winning story from 2014 to inspire you to think big while keeping it short.

Romans Chapter 1 verse 29 The Sins of the Heart She needs bread.

‘I’ll be five minutes,’ she sings and her heartbeat drums her across the road, around the corner, down the hill. She wears slippers and carries a tea towel, clean, unused. She has neighbours and her journey needs the props of innocence. But he is not there tending his front garden. His neat and slender house is shadowy and locked.

‘We need milk,’ she chimes and fastens her baby in the pushchair as restraint. She sees him waiting and his smile is worth her shame.

She dresses us for Church one Sunday and sits us at the front. The minister opens the Bible and speaks of sins imagined and a treacherous heart. He traces footsteps from her husband’s bed all the way across the road, around the corner, down the hill and she has weeks to wait before God looks away.

She has a list and calls us inside.

‘Do we have to?’

‘Yes, you have to,’ she mutters and foists cold coins in my sister’s hand. We cross the road, around the corner, down the hill. A man as tall as my father leans on an open gate like he knows us. Dark soil escapes from his trowel.

We carry her bag home, one handle each, potatoes, flour, unnecessary things and this time, as we pass, he tips his hat and says hello.

He has sweets, dusty, pink and everlasting.

‘Did you see anyone?’ she asks.

We spill her change and our adventure on the kitchen table and she slips away.

‘Forgot the sugar,’ she whispers ‘forgot the eggs.’

Kit’s first novel, My Name is Leon, will be published

by Viking in 2016.

culture

South West must sees...

Re-making the past Focusing on themes that forge links across the visual arts and archaeology, makers Mary Butcher, Susan Kinley, Helen Marton, Syann van Niftrik and Wright & Teague respond to pre-history in an exhibition that brings together sculptural work in natural fibres, metal, resin and ceramics with wall-based installations in enamels, glass and textiles. There will also be an opportunity to ‘Meet the Makers’ on Saturday 21 March in the main gallery.

With the announcement that Harper Lee is to publish a new novel, there’s no better time to see this acclaimed production of her Pulitzer-winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird, which explores racism and poverty in America’s Deep South in the 1930s through the eyes of young Scout Finch.

Coming to Plymouth direct from a sell-out season in London, the show (based on Christopher Sergel’s adaptation) is smartly updated by Timothy Sheader to acknowledge the book’s profound impact on generations of readers.

13-18 April at Theatre Royal Plymouth, theatreroyal.com

21 March-10 May at Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey. Free. crafts.org.uk Richie Campbell as Tom Robinson PHOTO: JOHAN PERSSON

Vibraphonic Festival A rich bag for music lovers – including a performance by Mercury Prize nominees GoGo Penguin – film fans and dancing fools. On 13 March, BBC Radio 6 favourite Craig Charles will be getting funky on yo ass in the main auditorium.

Until 27 March at Exeter Phoenix.

See exeterphoenix.org.uk for full listings and ticket prices.

Look into my eyes...

Multi-award-winning manipulator of minds Derren Brown will be messing with our heads in a brand new one-man show, Miracle. 20-25 April at Theatre Royal Plymouth. theatreroyal.com

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Wildlife Photographer of the Year

PHOTO: © EDWIN SHAYLIN (SWEDEN) and WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

A chance to wonder at the splendour of the nature in this touring version of the Natural History Museum’s annual exhibition, now in its 50th year. To mark the anniversary, the exhibition blends new and historic award-winning images to reveal how photographing the natural world has changed. There are also a number of related workshops for budding snappers to test their skills.

See plymouthmuseum.gov.uk for details. 28 March-30 May at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. Admission free.

Outside in Until December, RAMM will be home to four unique sound installations charting Devon’s diverse ecosystems. Created by BAFTA-winning sound recordist Chris Watson – who worked with David Attenborough on both Life and Frozen Planet – Ebb and Flow will bring the seasonal sounds of the natural world into the heart of the museum.

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PHOTO: MATT AUSTIN

From 28 March at Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter. rammuseum.org.uk

culture

Artist as Muse For the past 18 months, John Hurford – leading light of the British psychedelic art movement – has been painting and drawing portraits of women artists from the North Devon area. Startling in their intensity and detail, these portraits include photographers, sculptors and ceramicists all working in the fine and applied arts, from students to internationally acclaimed artists.

Until 27 March at White Moose Gallery, Barnstaple.

See whitemoose.co.uk for opening times.

Fresh moves The Richard Alston Dance Company’s latest work, Nomadic, is an exciting new collaboration with UK hip-hop dancer and choreographer Ajani Johnson-Goffe. Featuring a high-energy fusion of contemporary and street dance, the piece makes the most of live music performed by urban Gypsy band, the Shukar Collective.

24-25 March at Northcott Theatre, Exeter.

Dark visions Two shows coming up at Exeter’s Bike Shed Theatre are a must for anyone looking to be challenged, intrigued and downright disturbed.

In This is How We Die (31 March–4 April), Christopher Brett Bailey delivers an exhilarating collage of spoken word and storytelling, full of nightmarish observations, surreal connections and dizzying revelations. In Mugs Arrows (7-18 April), Third Man Theatre peer into the most shadowy recesses of the male psyche – it’s a mould-black comedy that throws you off the deep end.

A weekend-long bonanza for curious art afficianados – swing your beaks around the workspaces of more than 100 makers living and working in the city and its environs.

Free. 20-22 March, various locations.

See exeteropenstudios.co.uk for a full list of exhibitors.

LYNN BAILEY

See bikeshedtheatre.co.uk for full listings and ticket prices.

Exeter Open Studios

STEPHEN HENDERSON

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Gillian Anderson as Blanche DuBois PHOTO: JOHAN PERSSON

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Live or let live National Theatre Live brings grand-scale West End productions to parts of the UK that other theatres cannot reach; but the reaction is a mixed one as Harriet Mellor discovers.

G

PHOTO: JUERGEN TELLER

illian Anderson is playing the ‘provinces’. It’s the first night of the much-acclaimed A Streetcar Named Desire and in 560 nationwide venues, from Penzance to Aberdeen, each audience member has a front row seat. For £16 a ticket they have unbridled access to a full sweep of the set with close-ups of Anderson’s facial expressions and high definition sound of her emotionally charged line delivery as fragile Southern Belle, Blanche DuBois.

National Theatre Live has brought grand-scale West End productions to the parts of the UK other theatre cannot reach. Much of the world also comes under the same umbrella, as the screenings also encompass theatre-lovers in 44 countries and a total of 1,600 venues spanning Europe, the USA, Canada, Mexico, India, Japan, Australia, South Africa, South East Asia, South America and Russia.

Apart from those attending the real ‘in-theflesh’ performance on the Southbank, what the remote audience sees for little more than the price of a cinema ticket on that first night is the same as everybody else in cinemas across the world. The filming of the performance is quite a convoluted affair. David Sabel, Director, Broadcast and Digital Executive Producer for National Theatre Live explains the process: “The performances are filmed live and broadcast simultaneously, without delay, across the UK and Europe. In the US and Canada, the majority of venues show it on the same day as the live filming but delayed according to time zones. We don’t edit the footage, even for the delayed time zones, so they enjoy exactly the same broadcast as the regions that get the simulcast.”

What began with a live screening of Helen Mirren in Phaedre in 2009, kicked off an international digital revolution. In terms of cultural reach, Live Screenings - joined by the Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company and Globe Onscreen

Ralph Fiennes will be in Man and Superman

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- have been cited as doing for the performing arts “what the live and public screening of football matches did for sport 25 years ago.”

However, NT Live is accused by critics of mass production and saturation.

All the technical expertise involved in live streaming cannot, they say, match the collective emotional buzz of the auditorium. There is a fear that the accessibility of grand scale theatre may discourage ordinary punters from making the effort and paying the price to see the real thing, and detract from the experience of live theatre. But Sabel has a good defence: “National Theatre Live is not about turning a stage play into a film. Rather, the intent is to faithfully capture the live performance. The use of high definition cameras and the scale of the big screen allow the aesthetic to remain theatrical and offer audiences a dynamic full stage picture. This is matched with the intimacy the camera can offer, taking the audience to the heart of the emotion and the nuances of the actors’ performances. We believe that the more great drama people are able to see, the more they are likely to want to go to the theatre.”

From a regional point of view, the results are certainly positive. Sarah Hackford, Artistic Director at the Flavel in Dartmouth reels off the stats that prove that NT Live has upped the existing audiences and attracted brand new ones. They then return to re-book both subsequent NT Live performances and smaller live productions.

“Our audience figures have definitely gone up as a result of the Flavel participating in Live Screenings.

Our analysis shows in general for a Live Screening on average 12% of the customers have never been to the Flavel before and an incredible 42% then go on to book another event with us. Of that 42% then 74% of them rebook another Live Screening so it really is another

Damien Molony (Spike) and Olivia Vinall (Hilary) in The Hard Problem

by Tom Stoppard

big new market for us and is fantastic for our regional audience development as there is national marketing support from NT Live.”

For those in favour, these are exciting times at the National which we can chose to be part of no matter where we live. This month sees a creative handover with Rufus Norris taking over from Nicolas Hytner as Artistic Director, and Tessa Ross, whose background is in film production as Film 4 Controller, whose credits include 12 Years a Slave and Slumdog Millionaire becomes Chief Executive.

Productions by Damon Albarn, Patrick Marber and Carol Ann Duffy have been announced in the initial line-up. The National Theatre puts on around 25 new productions each year, of which 10 will be transmitted ‘Live’ to far-flung audiences.

NT Live Performances Spring 2015

Live screenings have been cited as doing for the performing arts what the live and public screening of football matches did for sport 25 years ago

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26 MARCH Arthur Miller’s A View from The Bridge, A Young Vic production broadcast by NT Live, starring Mark Strong 16 APRIL The Hard Problem Playwright Tom Stoppard’s first stage play since 2006 14 MAY Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman starring Ralph Fiennes

culture

National Theatre Live provokes mixed reactions, especially when it comes to regional and financial implications. We ask two South West performers whether it is a threat or addition to the theatrical arts.

FOR

Simon Rake, freelance translator, occasional cabaret performer and community theatre maker: “Going to the theatre is habit forming. The challenge if we want live theatre to flourish is to get more people into the habit and to provide those who are already hooked with a regular enough fix to keep it going. NT Live (and similar offerings from the RSC, Royal Opera House and others) helps meet this challenge. Although nothing beats truly live performance, the lure of high quality productions, possibly with a few star names, is likely to attract more new people in, whilst the screenings surely help fill out the diaries of small art centres.

“Clearly there is a risk of overkill – recent screenings of blockbuster exhibitions at London galleries perhaps already being a step too far – and it would be good if venues could make marketing links between these events and the rest of their theatre bookings (each ticket for a small-scale touring show comes with a voucher for an NT Live screening perhaps). But, in rural areas at least, it is wrong to think of NT Live being in competition with small-scale touring or local pantomimes. All of them contribute to a virtuous circle of attracting people into local venues and keeping them coming back.”

AGAINST

Belinda Chapman, Fellow of the Arts Foundation and Dance UK Mentoring Programme and Artistic Director of Bound 2B Theatre: “It is worrying that our Arts Centres are being monopolised by ‘theatre giants’ like the National Theatre, or the Royal Opera House and that as a consequence small-scale touring companies are in danger of losing audience members. There is a delicate exchange between the audience and performer in live theatre, something that can be shared only in that moment and can’t be shared again in the same way. Each performance is unique and each audience reacts differently.

Good performers and directors read their audiences and relate to them. This is something that creates the magic of theatre and it is simply not possible to experience this in National Theatre or any other ‘live’ cinema showings.

“While I enjoyed seeing the National Theatre Live showing of Frankenstein at the Flavel, and I love that fact that they are at least providing the opportunity to see these performances, for local artists in rural areas there is already a huge lack of opportunity and access to professional development. Perhaps the National Theatre could do more to support rural artists so we can continue to thrive and produce our own high quality theatre to perform in and with our own communities.”

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Worth making the trip for...

Hair-raising Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson and international star Bryn Terfel reprise their roles as Mrs Lovett and the murderous snipper in this concert staging of Sondheim’s gloriously gruesome musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

30 March–12 April at London Coliseum. eno.org

PHOTO: CHRIS LEE

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Party political broadcast If you weren’t already ramped up in advance of the general election, then the latest political drama by hot young playwright James Graham should get your pulses racing. Set in a fictional polling station in the final 90 minutes of polling day in 2015, The Vote plays a limited run at the Donmar culminating in a simultaneous live and televised event on the day of the actual election. Tickets are available via ballot, details of which are to be announced.

24 April–7 May at Donmar Warehouse, London. donmarwarehouse.com

One for the gutter

PHOTO: CHARLEY MURRELL AND FELLSWOOP THEATRE

FellSwoop Theatre’s Ablutions – an adaption of Patrick DeWitt’s Hollywood-set novel – is a Martini-soaked meander through the increasingly desperate life of a barman and career alcoholic.

Funny and insightful, with great use of live music, this is an accomplished production that conjures lock-in nights and grimy mornings-after, ill-advised encounters and the crushing despair at the bottom of the glass.

Make mine a double.

18-20 March at Bristol Old Vic. See bristololdvic.org.uk for details and ticket prices.

House rules In a housing crisis, a young couple are offered a home of their own. But at what price? Game is the provocative new play by Mike Bartlett that invites us to spy on a family as they embark upon a dangerous new way to live. Acclaimed director-designer duo Sacha Wares and Miriam Buether will radically transform the Almeida auditorium to create an unnervingly intimate viewing experience – tickets can be booked in Zones A – D, with each zone offering an equal, yet subtly different, perspective on the action.

Until 4 April at the Almeida Theatre, London. almeida.co.uk

PHOTO: ANTONI TUDISCO

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Catwalk king Celebrating the extraordinary creative talent of one of the most innovative designers of recent times, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty will be the first and largest retrospective of McQueen’s work to be presented in Europe.

14 March–19 July at the V&A, London. vam.ac.uk

MODEL: ALANA ZIMMER. PHOTO: © ANTHEA SIMS

A feast of colour Rubens and His Legacy is the first major exhibition in the UK to examine the painter’s influence on art history, bringing together his own masterpieces and the artists who were inspired by him, including Van Dyck, Watteau, Turner and Delacroix, as well as Manet, Cezanne, Renoir, Klimt and Picasso. Until 10 April at Royal Academy of Arts, London. royalacademy.org.uk Pan and Syrinx COURTESY OF MUSEUMSLANDSCHAFT HESSEN KASSEL, GEMAELDEGALERIE ALTE MEISTER/UTE BRUNZEL

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culture © SLUB DRESDEN / DEUTSCHE FOTOTHEK / RICHARD PETER, SEN

Last chance to catch...

From the seconds after a bomb is detonated to a former scene of battle years after a war has ended, Conflict, Time, Photography traces a diverse and poignant journey through 150 years of conflict around the world.

The works are ordered according to how long after the event they were created, from moments, days and weeks to decades later. Photographs taken seven months after the fire bombing of Dresden are shown alongside those taken seven months after the end of the First Gulf War. Images made in Vietnam 25 years after the fall of Saigon are shown alongside those made in Nakasaki 25 years after the atomic bomb. The result is the chance to make never-before-made connections while viewing the legacy of war as artists and photographers have captured it in retrospect.

Until 15 March at Tate Modern, London. See tate-org.uk for ticket prices and opening times.

Dresden After Allied Raids Germany 1945

by Richard Peter

SOUTH OF THE RIVER Get yourselves over to Lavender Hill to catch two great shows at Battersea Arts Centre. First up is Verity Standen’s Mmm Hmmm (19-21 March), a playful, poignant musical journey shaped by three exceptional female voices that jumps between sound worlds and lyrical styles to create snapshots of everyday life. One moment a fragile apology, the next a perilous trip to the First Great Western buffet car… Standen’s original a cappella songs evoke the awkward, heartrending and hilarious moments that characterise what it means to be human.

Mmm Hmmm PHOTO: PAUL BLAKEMORE

Kaleider’s The Money (15 April - 1 May) is a slippery piece of I-don’t-know-what that puts cold, hard cash (the sum of the ticket sales) on a table and gives those sitting around it two hours to decide how to spend it. Give it to charity, buy beer, throw it down a hole – it’s up to you, as long as it’s legal. If no decision is reached – and it is surprisingly difficult – the money rolls over to the next performance. To date, the largest amount carried forward is £784. You make the decisions, you create the drama. Delicious.

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Worth staying in for...

Power play Handed a Best Actor Golden Globe this January for his role as Frank Underwood, Kevin Spacey is just one of many, many reasons to tune into the new series of House of Cards.

Political intrigue, ruthless ambition, devious manipulation – it’s a masterclass in the art of machination.

Series two ended with Frank’s efforts earning him the top job, but with his feet now firmly under the desk in the Oval Office, the question on everyone’s lips is: how will he stay there? Irresistible television.

Season 3 of House of Cards is available now on Netflix.

Norwegian good This month sees the publication by Vintage of Dancing in the Dark, the fourth instalment in Karl Ove Knausgaard’s meticulous and unflinching interrogation of his life and family. To find out why the writer is increasingly becoming known as ‘Norway’s Proust’, head back to the start of the saga and dive into A Death in the Family, in which the author remembers his childhood and teenage years, and the increasingly fraught relationship with his demanding and unpredictable father.

You’ll be utterly gripped from the first page.

Vinyl revival On 18 April, hundreds of independent music shops around the country will celebrate Record Store Day, offering special vinyl and CD releases, exclusive promotional products and hosting special appearances and performances by artists. What’s actually available on the day is kept firmly under wraps until doors open, but last year we bagged a limited edition 10-inch of Clear Lake Forest by Austin-based psychedelic rockers The Black Angels – and it’s been on constant rotation ever since.

Whatever you’re into, everything will sound just that little bit better on what must surely be the most covetable record player ever invented: The Crosley Cruiser.

Playing at three speeds, this little beauty comes in joyful colours, and is Mac and PC compatible with a USB output, so you’re able to make audio files of your music hoard. Swoon.

The Crosley Cruiser is available at Urban Outfitters, £100. urbanoutfitters.com

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Who do you love?

If you simply cannot wait to fire up your Cruiser, 24 March sees the re-release of all 11 of The Who’s studio LPs, remastered in 24/96 format, along with a two-LP vinyl edition of the recent hits collection, The Who Hits 50! Each release includes the original artwork, and the reissues of Tommy, The Who Sell Out, Quadrophenia and Face Dances all include the extras and inserts included in the original releases.

Take a spin at your local Record Store Day on 18 April Martian Records, Queen Street, Exeter | Phoenix Sound, Queens Street, Newton Abbot | The Drift Record Shop, High Street, Totnes | The Cavern, Bolton Street, Brixham | Bridport Music, South Street, Bridport | Upbeat, Grenville Gardens, Bude | Music Nostalgia, Back Quay, Truro For a full list see recordstoreday.co.uk

What’s keeping me in...

Commissioning Editor Jane Fitzgerald “I’ve just discovered free audio books on Open Culture (openculture.com). I am lulling myself to sleep listening to stories by Ernest Hemingway. Last night it was Homage to Switzerland read by Julian Barnes – a Guardian short story podcast.”

Arts Editor Belinda Dillon “I’m completely addicted to The Great British Sewing Bee, and with every new series I reacquaint myself with my machine and get creative. I’m currently halfway through the online tutorial by former Sewing Bee contestant Tilly Walnes (tillyandthebuttons.com) to make a gorgeous picnic blanket skirt.”

Publishing Editor Imogen Clements “Tony Soprano. I’m some considerable time late to this but have discovered that vintage HBO is on a par with the best of current US output. Having mourned Breaking Bad for some months after the last perfect episode, I discovered a boxset with all six seasons of The Sopranos in the cupboard under the stairs. It has been a must-watch nightly staple ever since. We are now on episode 75 of 84 and I can already feel separation anxiety start to take hold.”

Ways With Words Reading and Writing Holiday Course at Fingals Hotel, Dittisham, South Devon 10 – 15 May 2015 A chance to get away from the humdrum and everyday and instead indulge in writing, reading and relaxing.

Professional authors are on hand to assist you.

You will stay in the beautiful, arty Fingals Hotel nestled in picturesque South Devon. Nonresidential places available for local people.

Kay and Stephen, directors of the much loved Ways With Words festivals, will be your hosts and invite you to do as much or as little as you like. (Maximum no. of participants - 15) Further details on 01803 867373 www.wayswithwords.co.uk

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The Style Shoot Style is an art - an intangible, indefinable quality that we recognise on sight, but can’t articulate. The MANOR Style Shoot follows the arts pages because it is less a fashion shoot, more a story. This story is one of Spring. An awakening from hibernation, an unfurling of tendrils and a blossoming of sunny opportunities to come. It’s been a long and desolate winter, but we’re breaking out. We’re ready to celebrate. Welcome to MANOR. Welcome to the party.

STYLED BY IONE RUCQUOI PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL SMALLCOMBE

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1940s dress from Revival, Totnes, £95 | Shoes stylist’s own

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Scarf Print Top from Topshop, £36 | Skirt stylist’s own

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Green velvet dress from Revival, Totnes, £120 | Earrings from 30 The Square, Chagford, £16

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White two-piece dress from Revival, Totnes, £95 | Earrings, £12 and bracelet, £58, both from 30 The Square, Chagford | Coat, stylist’s own

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Behind the scenes The shoot took place in The Old Wool Factory, North Tawton, Devon, on a freezing day in February. Lots of hot water bottles and copious cups of tea kept us all going at this wonderfully atmospheric location. Huge thanks to the lady who loaned us the iron.

THE MANOR CAST AND CREW Photographer: Michael Smallcombe Stylist: Ione Rucquoi Model: Naomi Vaila McLeod Make-up: Philippa Spring Hair: Elouise Abbott Flowers from Amy’s Flowers, Chagford

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S P R I N G B L O O M S AT G I D L E I G H P A R K 107 acres of exquisite gardens and woodlands, alive with colour. Two Michelin-starred dining celebrating the freshest spring flavours.

Discover more at www.gidleigh.co.uk or call 01647 481 356

GPA ManorMag 190x133.indd 3

20/02/2015 14:07

Tell us what you think and you could win lunch for two at Gidleigh Park, The Sunday Times’ Best UK Restaurant 2014 MANOR Magazine is a new magazine created for informed city-savvy individuals either resident or visiting the South West.

We’ve endeavoured to deliver a premium magazine of national quality that weaves in the very best of this rather special corner of the UK. MANOR’s content is not just confined to the region because we’re not confined to the region. Whether a visitor to the South West or a resident, we’ve tried to ensure there’s something for everyone.

But… we’d love to know what you think.

Our winner will enjoy delicious dishes from the two Michelin-starred kitchen, such as ‘local beef rump and braised cheek, roast shallot and horseradish confit with a red wine sauce’ or ‘cinnamon poached pear, caramalised pear fritter, butterscotch sauce, pear sorbet’, and will be welcome to stay and enjoy the hotel and its beautiful grounds after their meal.

Go to manormagazine.co.uk/feedback to give us your views of MANOR and we’ll enter you into a prize draw to win lunch for two, at the two-Michelin-starred Gidleigh Park, voted the Best Restaurant in the UK in 2014 by The Sunday Times in association with Harden’s.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: A two-course lunch for two at Gidleigh Park, excluding drinks (to be purchased at guests’ discretion). Valid Monday to Thursday. To be taken between 1 May – 31 September 2015. Must be booked in advance and is subject to availability. Prize is not transferable and there is no cash alternative. Refer to manormagazine.co.uk for full terms and conditions.

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Distance is a state of mind Harriet Mellor speaks to four South West-based professionals with a part-time commute to a nationwide or global career. They explain (often exhausted, but largely exhilarated) how they make going to work, work.

B

ut Devon and Cornwall are just so far away” is the repeated line from visiting urban mates, shuddering at the thought of what relocation would do to their professional identity.

Outsiders often assume that moving beyond Exeter; means entering a Peninsula lockdown, that transport dwindles, confining inhabitants to their counties. Yes, we may gain stunning coastline and green space, but the trade-off can be a loss of career opportunities – where ambition withers away on the compost heap.

However, utilise the exits, and the four corners of the globe really are within reach. The many Friday night regulars at my local pub, who spend mid-week nation or world-wide, are testament to that. As the workplace is no longer defined by whether you have your bum on the same seat five days a week, the office can be wherever you open your laptop. It is possible to live in the sticks running a global business in your pyjamas and the next day be bound for Beijing.

On the tracks, First Great Western trains traverse south and cross-country to the north, but organisation and dedication bring other options - like sleeping to and from the capital in berths aboard the Night Riveria, or using Exeter Airport’s daily flights to London City, Manchester and Glasgow. Newquay Airport is a tad more seasonal, ramping up the national destinations as the temperatures rise.

In the run-up to the general election, there are promises to get the Westcountry truly connected.

If the main parties practice what they preach then improved roads, eradicating mobile ‘not-spots’ and extending Superfast Broadband throughout more of Cornwall and the whole of Devon by 2016 are on the agenda.

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THE NEW ‘TWaT’s “TWaTs is an acronym made up by a group of people on the platform of my local station, Tiverton Parkway,” explains Charles Mills. “They regularly make the trip to London on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, then have the weekend and two weekdays at home. I guess I’m one of them.”

CHARLES MILLS, Managing Director of Flotilla Media, a video content agency.

Lives near South Molton, North Devon with his wife and three teenagers.

“When we moved to Devon 20 years ago, to work for the TV production company Twofour, I was warned by my London contemporaries that the Westcountry was known as the ‘graveyard of ambition’. Lots of friends who live elsewhere would like to think so, but it’s actually not true. There are lots of amazing creative agencies based here and at least four pretty cool production companies.

“Even back then, I had a routine of spending at least two days a week in London. Now that I run my

own business I do roughly the same thing. Flotilla is a content marketing agency with a very strong strategic element. We’re in a new era where video content is much more important to the brand and organisation.

Our clients are in London and the South West but the nature of being a TWaT is that we need to go where the business is.

“We don’t have a central office, we camp in a few clients’ offices and I’ve become dependent on the train as a workplace as it’s one of few places where people don’t bother you on your mobile phone.

“I have an arrangement, staying with a friend in Kennington, but hotels are easier and cheaper now

the whole laterooms.com thing has exploded, along with Airbnb, which I’ve used once.

“London has improved dramatically since I left it, but it’s much nicer just sweeping in and out, being able to go west after a long working day.

“I like the less tangible things about living in Devon, like it being dark and quiet when I put my head out of the window at night and having plenty of space to grow veg. It’s a complete and dramatic contrast with the world of media that I have to inhabit when I go to London.” flotillamedia.co.uk

Managing my private life and keeping a routine is difficult, but I don’t think I could live anywhere else now GABRIELLA GILKES is Science Programme Manager at the Eden Project, Cornwall.

Partly based onsite at the educational eco attraction, her role involves collaborating on charity, social and scientific enterprises that Eden are involved in nationally and internationally. She moved from London to North Cornwall eight years ago.

“When I lived and worked in West London, I started coming down here at weekends to save my spirit.

I got into surfing and met a crowd of people at Constantine Bay, up the road from Padstow.

“I had a good job, was earning decent money and decided to buy a tiny fisherman’s cottage on the beach in Porth. I began to think about being here full-time, hedged my bets and applied for a job working onsite at Eden. It was serendipitous. I met my partner here.

Now I am a family of four in the town - my two step children live with us - plus two dogs.

“I’ve got a scientific and social academic background. I work on programmes that Eden are involved in nationally or internationally. I’m also a Public Engagement specialist in communicating subjects to the public - how to make them available, accessible, interesting and non-alarming. I work a lot with the Wellcome Trust. A current major project is how bacteria have evolved to be resistant to antibiotics. It costs the NHS millions and is

responsible for deadly infections like MRSA. I’m also part of a national food and drink initiative, working with lots of other partners from around the country educating on major food issues like technology, security and why we might have to change eating habits for the future.

“I’m away for a few nights every week travelling mainly to London, all over the United Kingdom, Amsterdam and Ireland.

“Part of the Eden ethos is not commuting just for one meeting. If I’m going further than Bristol I’ll arrange quite a few. Its a hardcore commute. My local train station, Bodmin Parkway, is a 20-mile drive away, then it’s five and a half hours to London.

“Managing my private life and keeping a routine is difficult, but I don’t think I could live anywhere else now. It’s ironic that I don’t surf as much as when I lived in London because life takes over. When I’m away I really miss the sea and the countryside, but that makes me really appreciate it, which is main reason I love having that dual life. There are brilliant brains at Eden, it’s dynamic and buzzy. We’re in a beautifully designed eco building on the perimeter.

But I love the stimulation and find it a privilege attending conferences and seminars.”

The Invisible You. The Human Microbiome exhibition, launches 22 May 2015. edenproject.com

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THE COMMUTING COUPLE SUSIE HUDSON is director of client marketing for Clockwork Marketing and husband MARK HUBBARD is a director and founder of Positive Purchasing.

They also have a joint management consultancy, Smart Brown Dog (based on Rocco, their cockapoo and company muse), specialising in procurement, marketing, change management, leadership and professional development. They live in Cornworthy, South Devon, with their two daughters. Most Mondays the couple go their separate ways; one covers the globe and the other the UK, reuniting on Fridays for a paddleboard and a pint.

“I have four working days at Clockwork and a day or two, spreading over the weekend, for Smart Brown Dog. But it’s more fluid than that. Days aren’t the standard seven and a half hours long anymore; it’s about what needs to be done to get the job completed.

“There’s nothing like face-to-face contact, we have an office policy that all clients are visited at least twice a year. One of the major Clockwork accounts is a hotel group, so I often spend a couple of nights each week in a city or travel between a few city centres, then come back to work with my team in the office near Newton Abbot for a couple of days. I take lots of

flights from Exeter, to either Manchester or London City Airport. Or I drive or take a train.

“Mark’s UK base is currently from an office in our house, but he’s worked away with Positive Purchasing for years so the globe feels completely accessible to him. An example of a busy week for Mark is: leave on Monday at the crack of dawn, drive to Heathrow, fly to Hong Kong for three days where he’ll deliver a training course and a day’s consultancy with a chief exec, fly back on Thursday night, have a meeting in London on Friday, then a few quality days at home before flying to Germany.

“It’s a state of mind. I’m running a niche market business where the customers are far-flung. The life of the international consultant is not a glamorous one. It’s another plane and hotel room, but the highlight is an interesting international network.

“Mark doesn’t tend to combine trips with visiting the area, so he might go to New York to work but very seldom plays there. That’s probably one of the compromises he makes to have more time at home.

“We try and make sure Friday, Saturday and Sunday together are sacrosanct. The key is to try and go with the flow but also remember what’s important, which means carving out quality time to be a family.”

Days aren’t the standard seven and a half hours long anymore; it’s about what needs to be done to get the job completed.

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SAM USHER is Founder and Creative Director of Red Handed TV near Totnes.

The company produces broadcast television, sport, corporate and branded content. Much of their live filming is offshore live coverage of international sporting events including America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and the Monsoon Cup for ESPN and Eurosport. Sam is married to jewellery-maker Helen of Helen Butler Designs. They live in Torcross with their three children.

It would be easier living somewhere closer to London or Heathrow, but I love this area.

“Before Christmas, I went to Sydney for two days for a client who wanted us to do a specific shot. I set off from here on a Monday and was back at home by Friday evening.

“Our first account was live streaming sailing which gave us the credibility to film anything anywhere, so I’m away a lot. In one of our biggest years we covered 70,000 air miles over about 18 weeks and this year looks like matching that. We already have ten new live events scheduled, in Asia, Shanghai, Singapore and Malaysia, plus three BMX events in Sweden, Holland and Manchester.

“On top of that, I’m currently away for 48 hours each week making a live film for Tesco’s Eat Happy Project on different farms around the UK and Europe. Live streaming sporting events sounds like a brilliant job and there are lots of pockets of fun, but

it’s also hard work, and often hot and sweaty - we usually sleep in tiny hotel rooms, are onsite at 7.30am and don’t finish work until 8 or 10 at night. I’ve had quite a high fallout of staff in my company as a lot of people can’t cope with the demands.

“It would be easier living somewhere closer to London or Heathrow, but I love this area. I’ve been around since my dad brought a holiday home here when I was aged eight. I was windsurfing before starting work this morning and I cycle for an hour through the lanes to get to the office. Helen has a successful jewellery business and gets her inspiration from the beaches. Her theory (which I agree with) is, “you travel for your work but this is where me and the kids have our lives, mates and network.” If it adds another 3-4 hours of travel time onto a trip, then so be it. I’m really happy with that as know they are totally fine without me.”

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Food

Meet the Westcountry’s Michelin-starred chefs | Eat more sustainable fish Plus Bites, the latest news and events from Devon and Cornwall’s vibrant food scene

Crab and sweetpea pannacotta by Simon Hulstone, The Elephant, Torquay

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Trail of stars Anna Turns meets the Michelin-starred chefs shining bright across the region and finds out how the South West’s food identity is evolving

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hilst Michelin might make you imagine foams, jellies and fancy cookery theatrics, stars are not necessarily synonymous with white tablecloth fine-dining anymore. A star can simply indicate the best possible pub food or stonking fish and chips. The seven Michelin-starred chefs in the South West offer a mix of show-stopping flavours – from village gastropub to

grandiose country house and everything in between.

Cornishman Chris Eden realised his boyhood dream when he first received a Michelin star in 2012 at The Driftwood Hotel. “The key to our success is sourcing the finest ingredients from our phenomenal suppliers,” says Chris, who reacts to seasonality and adapts the menu accordingly. “Just this morning, my friend James went diving and bought me hand-dived scallops, so I called my veg supplier and found out

Dish by Chris Eden, head chef at The Driftwood Hotel

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Crucially, Michelin is the only guide that is non-trend led. For me, it is the ultimate credit and every chef I know aspires to reach that standard PAUL AINSWORTH

PHOTO: MIKE ENGLISH

they have golden turnips and ice lettuce, and my dish for the day started to be created.” He continues: “We are clever with our food so we get empty plates back and that’s all I could ask for.”

For years, Padstow has been a high-profile foodie centre. Chef Paul Ainsworth (right) retains his Michelin star at Number 6 for the third consecutive year. “This Michelin star means the world to me.

Something fundamental changed when we got our star – it gave me more confidence and made us a better restaurant,” he explains. “Crucially, Michelin is the only guide that is non-trend led. For me, it’s the ultimate credit and every chef I know aspires to reach that standard.” This year, Paul and his wife Emma open a boutique B&B nearby with six luxury rooms. “I want to continue giving exciting challenges to my brilliant team.” Paul has seen the Cornish food scene “go through a revolution” and he’s genuinely pleased that his customers take an active interest in food provenance.

This region has a strong fishing and farming heritage of which Nathan Outlaw is particularly proud. “Westcountry fish and seafood really is the best in the UK, and possibly the world, and we have fantastic meat, vegetables and artisan producers too,” says Nathan. “Cornwall’s food identity has changed dramatically from the pasty and clotted cream days (not that those things aren’t still wonderful!) to the very high quality foods being produced now.”

To Nathan, who has one Michelin star at Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen in Port Isaac and two at Outlaw’s at St Enodoc Hotel in Rock, each star means the very best hospitality, food and drink. “I’m always looking for ways to improve. Retaining a Michelin star is much harder than gaining one,” he comments. This year, he and his wife Rachel are relocating Restaurant Nathan Outlaw to Port Isaac – the first restaurant they have set up totally on their own. One thing’s for sure, it will be a relaxed place to eat: “I can’t stand places where you’re frightened to breathe or snooty waiters glare at you for asking a question about the menu. I think Michelinstarred eating is much more accessible now. The whole point is for the customer to enjoy the experience!”

Nathan Outlaw

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food When Anton Piotrowski of The Treby Arms, near Plymouth, found out he had won his first Michelin star last year, he “cried like a baby”. He’s the first BBC Masterchef contestant to ever reach this level. “No chef wouldn’t want a Michelin star, but I have never been one for just chasing accolades for the sake of it – I cook from the heart and if I followed other people’s trends I’d lose that passion,” says Anton, a chef proud of his Devonshire upbringing.

Whilst the kitchen at Treby is run like any Michelinstarred establishment, front-of-house is a family-run country pub with stripped tables and paper napkins.

“Perception is changing – Michelin isn’t about finedining, it’s about fantastic food, whatever that may be. We serve pies, sustainable fish and chips with white wine batter, and duck heart which is really popular.” As proprietor Anton has the freedom to innovate, he and his landlady wife Clare are setting up a gypsy caravan tasting room by the pub.

Further along the coast, Simon Hulstone has held one Michelin star at The Elephant since 2006, the first restaurant in Torquay to receive this accolade. “Torquay is on the up and great restaurants are opening all around us,” says Simon, for whom fantastic homegrown ingredients are the key to success. “Torquay is surrounded by quality produce, the fish from Brixham market is world-renowned and the farms on the Devon hills are fantastic; add to this our own farm produce and I’m in a win-win

Treby’s Gone Carrots, Anton’s Masterchef-winning dessert

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situation. It makes a lot of city chefs jealous.”

Simon’s skill is finding suppliers who have the same love for food as he does. “Local sourcing is important and we pick our own farm produce, herbs and edible flowers every morning to order as we grow them on site.” Simon and his team work closely with forager David Harrison who sources herbs, mushrooms and wild fruits from the moors, woodlands and shoreline.

With 37 years’ experience, Mark Dodson knows that consistency is the key to success. “We offer 11 services every week and it’s essential we reach the same standard every single time we open our doors,” says Mark, who has held a Michelin star at the Mason’s Arms in Knowstone on Exmoor for 10 years. “There’s been an explosion of gastropubs across the country – these days it’s difficult for rural pubs to survive on wet sales alone, so we have to be food-led.” Mark enjoys letting the public into his small kitchen for his regular masterclasses: “My aim is to demystify the role of the chef and to break down great cooking into small, achievable techniques.

Cooking shouldn’t be intimidating, and it’s only a matter of doing a few extra simple things to transform good food into excellent food.”

With 16 hour days in the kitchen, staying at the top is hard work and after 20 years at the prestigious Gidleigh Park on Dartmoor and two Michelin stars, Michael Caines MBE is not one to rest on his

food laurels. “It is a massive challenge to get Michelin stars and equally hard to keep them,” Michael tells me. “I focus on trying to achieve a third star – my motivation is to cook to the highest level and Gidleigh Park allows me to do that whilst celebrating what is great about the Westcountry. I want to serve the best and continue to be the best!”

This region provides an inspiring larder of produce to work with, and Michael has witnessed a huge growth in homegrown talent and great destination restaurants. In addition to Michael’s new restaurants as far flung as Abu Dhabi and Shropshire, he’s adding a touch of Caines magic to Kentisbury Grange, on Exmoor. He has just bought his own country house hotel, Courtlands in Lympstone, and has plans to renovate the property into luxury accommodation with his passion for food and wine at the heart of it. Meanwhile, he continues to work tirelessly to keep Gidleigh at the top: “In my business, you are only ever as good as your last meal!”

The stars of the West Chris Eden: Portscatho. driftwoodhotel.co.uk Paul Ainsworth: Padstow. number6inpadstow.co.uk Nathan Outlaw: St Enodoc Hotel and Rock and Fish Kitchen, Port Isaac. outlaws.co.uk Anton Piotrowski: Sparkwell. thetrebyarms.co.uk Simon Hulstone: Torquay. elephantrestaurant.co.uk Mark Dodson: Knowstone. masonsarmsdevon.co.uk Michael Caines: Chagford. gidleigh.co.uk

PHOTO: DAVID GRIFFEN

ONES TO WATCH Keep an eye on these MANOR favourites – chefs serving special food we think is worthy of a star in the future.

Noel Corston, NC@EX34, Woolacombe – simple, honest food, with a seasonal tasting menu.

FOLLOW THE TRAIL The South West Michelin Trail by Sara Nunan features numerous classic South West landmarks as well as all the Michelin-starred restaurants in the region, beautifully illustrated exclusively for MANOR Magazine. See larger version overleaf.

Readers can buy a 59.4cm x 42cm limited-edition fine art giglee print of The South West Michelin Trail for £79.95 plus postage. Offer ends 30 April 2015.

Go to manormagazine.co.uk/specialoffers to purchase or for more information contact info@manormagazine.co.uk

Fiona Were, Mullion Cove Hotel, Lizard Peninsula – modern British cuisine with international twists.

JP Bidart, Millbrook Inn, near Kingsbridge – serving nose-to-tail meat, often from the pub’s farm

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The Michelin Trail 2015

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Stargazey pie from Nathan Outlaw's Fish Kitchen PHOTO: DAVID LOFTUS

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From hook to plate Anna Turns asks questions about buying and eating fish

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ornwall and Devon are surrounded by the most beautiful coastline and abundant seas, rich with a diversity of super seafood, but when we shop for fish or choose from a seafood menu how much do provenance and traceability come into our decision-making? I reached a turning point a few years ago when I asked my local chippie where his fish was from. He told me it was “from the freezer” and I ate egg and chips that night! The more we as consumers take an active interest in finding out where fish is sourced from and how it is caught, the more we can encourage a more sustainable supply chain.

Brixham, Plymouth and Newlyn are England’s largest fishing ports. Over 13,500 tonnes of fish was landed at Brixham alone in 2013, with a value of £24million. Plymouth was the first city to be awarded the Fish 2 Fork Blue City status for its commitment to sourcing sustainable fish. So it seems fitting that fish landed at many South West ports is often transported to be sold through Plymouth Fisheries, England’s second largest fresh fish market based at Sutton Harbour, which sells more than 6,000 tonnes of traceable fish annually through its electronic auction system.

Sutton Harbour Master and Plymouth Fisheries Manager Pete Bromley tells me he’s been trying to find solutions to complex fishery issues for over 40 years.

“Of course we need a sustainable fishery - no fisherman wants to run out of fish to catch. Ideally, a fleet of catching vessels lands enough fish to meet demand without discarding any and allowing fish stocks to thrive, whilst fishermen get a good price for fish.”

Sustainable fish are preferably dayboat-caught, sourced locally and in season. Dayboat catch is the best of the best but they can only bring in two to three tonnes at once and are restricted by bad weather

Local boats land at Sutton Harbour, the country's second largest fishing port. PHOTO: SUTTON HARBOUR FISHERIES

Every pilchard landed at Sutton Harbour is fully traceable and the fish market uses an electronic auction. PHOTO: SUTTON HARBOUR FISHERIES

conditions. You wouldn’t expect to buy fresh, Britishgrown strawberries in November – the same thinking applies to fish. 74 different fish species are landed at Plymouth Fisheries, so there’s a vast diversity available, and no shortage of fish, but 70-80% gets exported because there’s no demand for the more unusual species here. Meanwhile, a similar amount of fish gets imported to meet the year-round demand for cod, salmon and haddock. As consumers, we all have the power to adapt to what’s available in the sea just as we do with vegetables and land-based meat.

“Here in the South West, fish stocks are healthy and being fished at sustainable levels in our nutrientrich seas, but because of quotas, as soon as boats which catch a mix of fish reach their quota for one type of fish or ‘choke species’, they have to come in to land their entire catch,” says Peter. “This March,

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food the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) are starting to take a different approach and from 2016, the quota system should improve with the end to the wasteful practice of discards.”

Approximately 85% of the fish chef Nathan Outlaw serves is caught by dayboats. “Unfortunately, it just isn’t possible to be 100% because they can’t get out in really bad weather, so we resort to fish caught by other methods.” He continues: “This isn’t a major issue as long as you know where the fish has come from and how it has been caught. Trawlers can be sustainable, but that’s down to a responsible skipper.”

Nathan believes that trying different types of fish is key. Three of Nathan’s favourite unsung heroes are gurnard, cuttlefish and dab. “Gurnard may look strange but they have a good texture, are flavoursome

Red gurnard is a great alternative fish

Best places to eat sustainable fish The Seafood Restaurant, Padstow Try the seafood bar at Rick Stein’s flagship rickstein.com

The Herring, Bedruthan Hotel, Newquay An exciting approach to Cornish seafood. bedruthan.com PHOTO: PAUL MCLOUGHLAN

Kota, Porthleven Kiwi chef Jude Kereama brings a Maori twist to organic seafood. kotarestaurant.co.uk

Porthminster Café, St Ives A Mediterranean and Asian take on seafood.

Ask Dan the Fishman Clovelly’s Dan Garnett has evolved from fisherman to award-winning fishmonger and is now casting his net further afield as street chef, visiting food markets with his seafood cooking barrow. “Cooking at festivals is like fish theatre and my simple griddled lobster or hot scallops are going down a storm,” says Dan, 58. “We have some fantastic world-class seafood, and I’m proud of the way this region supports its fishermen.

My customers are concerned about where each fish comes from and I’m starting to get an increased demand for a wider diversity of fish.”

His advice is to build up a relationship with a good local fishmonger: “You need to trust that you’re buying the freshest possible local, seasonal and sustainable fish which tastes delicious!”

If you have a question about responsible sourcing of fish, tweet @clovellyfishdan and use #MANOR. clovellyfish.co.uk

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porthminstercafe.co.uk

Samphire Restaurant, Falmouth Dave Trewin’s five course ‘Sample Samphire’ tasting menu celebrates local fish. samphire-falmouth.co.uk

Benson’s, Appledore Cooking fresh fish landed at the quay opposite. bensonsonthequay.com

Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, Port Isaac Michelin starred seafood. outlaws.co.uk

The Seafood Platter, Beer Showing off local produce, fresh from the sea. theseafoodplatter.co.uk

The Seahorse, Dartmouth Cooking locally caught fish on an open coal fire. seahorserestaurant.co.uk

Les Saveurs, Exmouth With spear-fishing chef Olivier Guyard-Mulkerrin. lessaveurs.co.uk

food

PHOTO: ROCKFISH

and versatile. Simply pan-fry the fillets, and use heads and bones to make fish soup.” He says cuttlefish are best slow cooked and “can take big flavours like red wine sauces and curries.” Dabs are sweet-tasting perfect for introducing kids to fish.

“A lot of our best fish is exported abroad and despite being an island race, we are not really a fish-eating nation,” says Nathan. “Once people are shown what they need to look for when shopping for it, how to prepare it and how to best to cook it they can see how easy it is and they are more likely to do it for themselves. Like everything, it just takes a bit of practice.”

When seafood chef Mitch Tonks visits Brixham fish market, he arrives at 6.30am. “I like the hustle and bustle, right at the start of the supply chain – it feels unique. I’m looking at some of the best fish in the world often days before the finest chefs even get it,” says Mitch who then enjoys strong coffee and freshly caught fish cooked in olive oil for breakfast!

He believes this region’s awareness of sustainability has changed massively in the last ten years. “Fish is our USP here so I think we are more connected to what’s going on, but it can be a minefield, so the credibility of the retailer comes into play. Find a skilled, trusted, independent fishmonger!”

It’s time to reconnect with our seafood, so start a conversation with your chippie or your fishmonger.

Ask plenty of questions before you buy. Order a different type of fish - there’s so much more in the sea than just the ‘big five’ - cod, haddock, salmon, tuna, prawns. Learn how to prepare and cook fresh (sometimes live) shellfish and lesser-known fish species and find out what’s in season right now.

Best fish and chippies Harbour Lights, Falmouth harbourlights.co.uk

Harbourside, Plymouth barbicanfishandchips.co.uk

Fat Belly Fred’s, Barnstaple fatbellyfreds.co.uk

Rockfish, Brixham therockfish.co.uk

Hanbury’s, Torquay hanburys.net

Kingfisher, Plymouth kingfisherfishandchips.co.uk

Lifeboat House, Coverack Bay lifeboathouse.com

The Ferryboat Inn, Helford thewrightbrothers.co.uk

Catch, Looe.

In season now... ...dab, clams and whelks, oysters, scallops, lobster, whiting, herring, megrim sole, pollock, red gurnard, red mullet, monkfish.

Follow @TheCatchLooe on Twitter.

Adam’s Fish and Chips, St. Martins, Scilly Isles adamsfishandchips.co.uk

Peckish Fish and Chips, Camelford peckishfishandchips.co.uk

Ask your fishmonger Which fish are in season?

Check out the Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide.

Where was it caught and how?

Inshore fishery by local dayboat is preferable.

Is it breeding season for the fish you are buying?

Always avoid berried crustaceans and roecarrying fish.

Is this fish above its minimum size limit?

The bigger the better.

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Bites

Bar staff go to beer school Staff at Exeter’s new craft ale smokehouse on the quayside, The Samuel Jones, have been brushing up their beer knowledge with beer sommelier Sophie Atherton.

“It’s easy enough to pull a pint or pour a bottle of beer, but being able to describe how a beer tastes and advise customers on brews that will suit them and the food they have ordered takes practice and skill,” explains Sophie, whose expert tuition included blindfolding staff for tastings. “It’s a great way of developing the sort of sense of smell and trained

tastebuds needed for understanding the flavours in beer. I get people to try various food items which taste like the flavours of hops or malt to help them recognise flavours they’ll come across in beer. It also helps give them a wider vocabulary with which to talk about it.”

The brand new pub-restaurant, created by St Austell Brewery, has a choice of 18 craft ales, the most extensive range of craft and New World beers in the Westcountry.

Oyster aficionado Farmhouse cookery school Philleigh Way introduces a new masterclass in collaboration with Cornish-born oyster expert Katy Davidson, who runs Mangez Moi and The Oyster Academy. Discover just how diverse the simple oyster can be, learn the art of oyster shucking and get handson in the kitchen with this versatile ingredient.

Cornwall is home to some of the UK’s most famous oyster beds, from the historic native oyster beds in Falmouth to the award-winning rock oysters from the Camel Estuary.

4 April, £125. Philleigh Way Cookery School, Truro. philleighway.co.uk

Kitchen must-haves Delicious Devon homeware products are now available as part of the new Coast and County ranges, with Cream of Cornwall launching soon.

To buy the Delicious Devon teatowel, apron and oven gauntlet, visit shopsatdartington.co.uk

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DON’T MISS...

13-15 MARCH Budleigh Salterton Food Festival Public Hall, Budleigh Salterton. £2 adult day pass. budleighfoodanddrink.org.uk

27-29 MARCH Oyster Gathering and Cornish Produce Festival Celebrate the end of the native oyster season.

Includes the Fal Oyster Race. Prince of Wales pier, Falmouth. 10am-10pm. faloyster.co.uk

Bean to bar Wild gorse flower to Cornish honeycomb, this is innovative artisan chocolate with a difference. One of only seven producers of authentic, bean-to-bar chocolate in the UK, Chocolarder grind beans using machinery invented on site, and forage ingredients from Cornish hedgerows to experiment with flavour.

The honeycomb milk bar uses traditionally made honeycomb; with honey gathered from bees feasting on the Lizard peninsula’s wild heather, gorse and clover. Similarly, the Wild Gorse Flower bar uses handpicked gorse growing on Kynance’s mineral rich serpentine cliffs.

24-26 APRIL Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink Showcasing the best food and drink from the region at Devon’s biggest independent food festival. Exeter Castle and Northernhay Gardens.

10am-6pm. Adult entry from £7.50. exeterfoodanddrinkfestival.co.uk

25 APRIL Porthleven Food Festival Local food and global flavours plus plenty of live music. 10am-11pm. Free. Porthleven Harbour, near Helston. porthlevenfoodfestival.com

chocolarder.com

Meat and more than two veg PHOTO: NICK HOOK PHOTOGRAPHY

Enjoy an evening with Gill Meller, focusing on his new book, Pigs & Pork: River Cottage Handbook Number 14 (The Whole Hog, 23 April, £75). Meanwhile, at the River Cottage Chefs’ School, RC extends its nose-to-tail ethos to preparing vegetables (Accredited Veg Day, 18 March, £180).

River Cottage HQ, Axminster. rivercottage.net

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Recipe with fizz

Game on

The team at Heron Valley in South Devon have been busy planting 1,500 apple trees. “Our 2015 apple project includes establishing a heritage orchard for people to visit and take grafts from some of the oldest and rarest Devon varieties of apples to ensure their survival,” explains Heron Valley’s Tasha Green. “These trees will all be underplanted with wildflower meadows to encourage pollinators and wildlife.” Tasha is working closely with South Devon AONB, Devon Wildlife Trust and Orchard Link. “The plan is to be the first fully sustainable, environmentally focused commercial orchard and drinks business in Devon.” heronvalley.co.uk

Rob Murray (above), the new head chef at the Moorland Garden Hotel near Yelverton, is dishing up a new menu for 2015, continuing to source seasonal local produce, whilst adding more personal touches and introducing more game.

Rob heads up a team of six, including senior sous chef Davin Browning, recent winner in the Cornwall’s Next Head Chef competition.

The Pink Panther Tasha’s recipe for The Pink Panther makes a one-litre jug and serves four – it’s great for a big family lunch as it’s easy to make in large quantities.

INGREDIENTS

• 200ml Campari • 400ml Sparkling Elderflower Fizz • 100ml Fiery Ginger Beer • 300ml Prosecco • Orange slices

moorlandgardenhotel.co.uk

Masterclass with Mark Learn how to combine three iconic springtime ingredients, lamb, mint and asparagus, in the kitchen with Michelinstarred chef Mark Dodson.

METHOD

Put the Campari into the jug with plenty of ice and orange slices, top up first with your elderflower, then the ginger beer and finally with the prosecco. Give a quick stir then serve in individual glasses over ice and with a generous orange slice.

8 April. 10.15am. £58.

The Masons Arms, Knowstone. masonsarmsdevon.co.uk

Take a gander With a tempting six-course taster menu for £50, The Greedy Goose is set in Prysten House, the oldest building in Plymouth. Head chef Ben Palmer’s new venture was awarded two AA rosettes just five weeks after opening. thegreedygoose.co.uk

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Nutritious training at Trill Classically trained Chris Onions brings his twist on nutritious, seasonal dishes to Trill Farm in East Devon. You can get a taste of Trill’s current seasonal foods, in the garden, from the hedgerows, woods and meadows at this Spring’s Living Nutrition course with in-house nutritionist Daphne Lambert.

20-22 March, £275, includes accommodation.

Summer Living Nutrition, 26-28 June, £275, includes accommodation. trillfarm.co.uk

The Table Prowler Friday Night Tapas Browns is a stylish hotel and bistro on Victoria Road owned and run by James Brown, the restaurateur who co-founded Dartmouth Food Festival 12 years ago. Friday night tapas is a Browns staple, so we ate our starters whilst sitting on stools at the bar. These are turbo-charged tapas - we enjoyed homemade Scotch eggs, rich Morcilla sausage rolls and crab balls using fresh crab from the wellrespected Moby Nicks in Plymouth. To accompany these diverse flavours, we tried a selection of ‘food-led’ artisan beers from the Wild Beer Company.

For the remainder of the meal we moved to a restaurant table, where we feasted (I don’t use that word lightly) on a seafood platter of turbot, line-caught seabass, squid and scallops from the morning’s market at Brixham, sourced from Mark Lobb. Served with a fennel and orange salad, the local produce really was the star of the

show and there was no need for fancy presentation, just excellent food and wine.

James Brown experiments a lot with smoking at Browns, so I was keen to try the brined, cold-smoked beef fillet steak. This really was the finest steak I had ever tasted, with a delightful aroma, an oaky depth to it, and every bite revealed a complexity of flavours I had never experienced before from a meat dish. The supporting act was a chicory gratin, simple yet full of earthy depth to complement the steak.

To finish, we savoured a rich, creamy lemon posset – I definitely don’t need to eat for three days before I come here next time!

Food 9 | Service 8 | Location 8 | Ambience 8 brownshoteldartmouth.co.uk

No time for tea Going out for tea seemed a good thing to do on a cold day in late February, so when The South Sands hotel in Salcombe advertised a special tea for half the normal price, it sounded warming and appealing so I booked tea for two. The tea included sandwiches, scones cream and jam and petit fours. We arrive in reception where there wasn’t a soul. We stand for a while awaiting the warm welcome promised on an ‘A’ board outside, stepping aside to allow a couple of hotel staff lugging a table pass by without an “excuse me” or “can I help you?”

We wander into an empty dining room, then to the bar, where the barman looks a little askance when I say we have booked for tea. We are seated in the lounge bar while he disappears to find someone who presumably knows about tea. Minutes later he reappears enquiring if we have been looked after yet. No we haven’t. He disappears again. There is a stressed looking waitress in the distance. She seems to be avoiding us.

Eventually she appears with cups, saucers and a teapot that she places upon the low barrel table we sit at. I ask to move to one of at least 25 empty tables that overlook the beach. “No,” she replies bluntly, “we have to lay those for dinner.”

So there we are with cups, saucers, sugar bowl, plates, two spindly glasses of Prosecco and a three-

tiered cake stand teetering on a table little bigger (and far lower) than a stool.

The tea is flavoursome enough, but it’s breakfast tea bags – no choice of leaf teas. Sandwiches are disappointing (would you serve grated cheddar cheese and mango chutney sandwiches for a £39 afternoon tea). Scones are fresh and crumbly; jam jammy; cream clotted. But where was cake? Surely tea is about cake?

We are surrounded with cows spilling over with cream and butter, overrun with free-range chickens laying eggs and bakers popping sponges in and out of ovens, yet no cake! Just scrabble piece size squares of jelly, shards of honeycomb, piped yellow nipples and splashes of raspberry jus!

In London and no doubt elsewhere, tea is a meal of choice. Friends meet to nibble cake together, sup White Silver Tip tea from the mountains of Fujian in far eastern China. It’s about the splendour of the situation, the anticipation of waiting for the leaves to brew, the delicacy of the china, and the attention to detail. It could be we picked a bad day, I do hope this was the case. What better location to serve up a tea that is so much more than merely an inconvenience between lunch and dinner?

Food 5 | Service 2 | Location 10 | Ambience 4 southsands.com

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Escape

Watergate Bay Hotel | Fear of flying | Where the mood takes you

Polo on the Beach at Watergate Bay

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escape

Active relaxation Frazzled and in need of a break? Airports, check-ins, elusive sunshine and boredom, holidays can often be more strain than solace, so to get away from it all and ensure you return relaxed and recharged Imogen Clements asks, just what do you do?

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ill Ashworth of Cornwall’s Watergate Bay would prescribe Active Relaxation. “My mind is most relaxed when my body is weary,” he explains, “and it’s most weary after a day spent playing about in the bracing outdoors.” By outdoors he is referring to a beautiful and dramatic stretch of Cornish Coastline with precipitous cliffs, wide sandy beaches and pounding waves.

Watergate Bay on the North Cornwall Coast has come a long way since it was built in 1904. Originally a railway terminus hotel for a proposed Newquay to Padstow branch line, it was converted into RAF Officers Mess then fell into disrepair until bought in the 1960s by Will’s parents. They turned it back into a 55-room bucket-and-spade holiday resort.

“Summers were spent with Mum and Dad running their socks off, winters had me kicking a football around a cold hotel foyer.”

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A distant memory. The hotel, acquired by Will in 2004 at the age of 28, is now open all year round and is a favoured and well-frequented retreat amongst both the Westcountry and West London jetset. For these people, Watergate Bay factors into their annual holiday repertoire alongside a couple of weeks in the Med, one under winter sun and another on the ski slope.

It was the ski slopes that gave rise to the idea of Active Relaxation. “The holidays we had as children were winter ski holidays as it was the only time my parents could get away.”

In 1999 Harry, Will’s brother, decided to launch the Extreme Academy to create a ‘ski holiday experience on the beach’. By which, he meant outdoor and cob-web blowing exhilaration offered up by a vigorous Atlantic Ocean, followed by comfortable and indulgent après-surf courtesy of the hotel.

Today the Extreme Academy offers lessons for people who want to try or improve their skills in surfing, kitesurfing or the less conventional waveski,

escape

PHOTO: KIRSTIN PRISK

PHOTO: KIRSTIN PRISK

PHOTO: BEN ROWE

PHOTO: BOB BERRY

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PHOTO: KIRSTIN PRISK

traction kiting, paddlesurfing and hand-planing, and the hotel, under Will’s ownership, has undergone a major period of expansion and redevelopment.

There’s now a Swim Club incorporating cardio room, several treatment rooms and an infinity pool that looks seamlessly out to sea, and a cliff-top pool terrace furnished with loungers and sizeable hot tub; an Ocean Room with floor to ceiling windows offering hypnotic panoramic views of the bay and 69 bedrooms, tastefully decorated and supremely comfortable. The opening a year ago of Zacry’s, a brasserie inspired by contemporary American cuisine, means that guests are now tempted by three different dining options to choose from.

If that weren’t enough to sate your appetite, however, located directly next door to the hotel is Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen. It was Will and Harry who nine years ago persuaded Jamie of the virtues of Watergate Bay as a location for one of his highly regarded restaurants. This was clearly a masterstroke, given that both establishments attract a very similar clientele and so benefit from drawing custom from one another.

With double rooms priced at between £250£300 in high season, the clientele of Watergate Bay are undeniably well heeled but the hotel goes to some lengths to escape any perceived elitism. For example, much thought has gone into developing an annual programme of events that fits with the Active Relaxation premise – one that exploits the hotel’s unique location, that appeals to their affluent clientele without excluding anyone else, and that is a little different to anything you’d find elsewhere.

Such an event within the programme is Watergate Bay’s annual Polo on the Beach. It started nine

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years ago as a low-key democratic initiative. “We began with one match on a Wednesday evening in association with a locally based polo stable, Southwest Polo. Everyone who wanted could come and watch for free,” Heidi Fitzpatrick, Marketing Manager of Watergate explained. “In hosting polo on a beach in Cornwall free for all to watch we hoped to dispel the exclusivity that’s often perceived of the sport.”

Today the event has grown to extend across a weekend and draws big name sponsors, international polo players and spectators from across the country.

The date of Polo on the Beach has to be carefully planned to coincide with low tide on the annual tidal calendar and varies widely from year to year.

This year, such is the popularity of the event, the Great Western Railway (GWR) Polo on the Beach will benefit from an extra day, taking place on Friday 26th through to Sunday 28th June 2015. The weekend will be focused around the main Watergate Bay Trophy match between two teams made up of the country’s finest professional players, but there will be food, drink, and daily beach and arena entertainment that’s free for anyone to watch.

So an absence of elitism and a good dose of exhilaration on every level: bracing cliff walks, crashing waves, world-class polo, all followed by good food and top class hotel therapy. Taken seven days a year or as required, Active Relaxation, as a remedy for effective wind down, most definitely seems worth a try. watergatebay.co.uk

GWR POLO ON THE BEACH Friday 26th, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June 2015

Bovey Castle introduces two new restaurants for the South West…

Great Western Restaurant is just a little bit special.

We’re not in the market for stuffy dining where you feel like you need to whisper behind your napkin.

North Bovey, Devon, TQ13 8RE T: 01647 445000 E: stay@boveycastle.com www.boveycastle.com /boveycastlehotel

@boveycastle

Manor Master 190x133.indd 1

Great Western Restaurant is relaxed and comfortable, yet upscale and classy. We call it ‘exclusive dining’ actually, purely because it’s an experience you won’t find anywhere else in the South West.

Imagine the best pubs in the land. You’ll be thinking country views, roaring fires, welcoming atmosphere, cosy seating and delicious aromas drifting from the kitchens. Got an image in your head? Well, Smith’s Brasserie is that, but better.

Relaxed and inviting, bang on trend yet unpretentious and most certainly classic British dining at its best.

20/02/2015 14:51:36

happy days *A level results 63% A, A* & B*

*95% of Sixth Form go on to university* *Outstanding Dyslexia Centre*

*50+ extra curricular clubs including the popular surf club* *Home-from-home Boarding*

Outstanding achievements, outstanding individuals.

Kingsley School, Northdown Road, Bideford, Devon, EX39 3LY t: 01237 426200 www.kingsleyschoolbideford.co.uk Member of the Methodist Independent Schools Group

Nursery | Pre School | Junior School | Senior School | Sixth Form MANOR | Spring 2015

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Flying with Captain Andy Mitch Tonks recently completed a Fear of Flying course with the Virtual Jet Centre. But has it helped him conquer his phobia? By Natalie Vizard

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ward-winning food writer, restaurateur and fishmonger Mitch Tonks developed a fear of flying six years ago and has found that it has hindered his life ever since. However, he is not alone, as one in six Britons suffer from a similar problem. This is why Captain Andy Wilkins, a commercial pilot who flew for Thompson Airways for 20 years, set up the Virtual Jet Centre, based in Chudleigh, Devon. He was determined to set up a service that could help people, like Mitch, take control of their fear. Mitch has recently undertaken their Fear of Flying course, which uses a Boeing 737-800 jet simulator to help sufferers turn nightmare flights into enjoyable travel experiences.

Recognised as a leading seafood chef and as the UK Ambassador for Norwegian Seafood, Mitch is frequently required to travel, both nationally and internationally. He enjoys visiting world destinations to experience local food and drink, but his fear has made air travel particularly difficult.

“A friend called to invite me to California on a wine-tasting holiday and my automatic thought was that this was not possible,” says Mitch.

“I used to adore flying, but six years ago, for no particular reason, I developed an irrational fear and I now associate air travel as being a dangerous and hostile experience. I don’t have a fear of crashing, but even from the point of entering the airport I get a sense of foreboding and am sure I’m going to my doom. I won’t let it stop me from travelling by plane,

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but I get panic attacks and the whole experience is just awful.

“When I found out about the Virtual Jet Centre course I jumped at the chance! I was really excited to hear of somewhere that offered help to people with a fear of flying. I never knew this type of course existed and thought I would have to endure my debilitating phobia for the rest of my life.”

The Virtual Jet Centre has developed the course to provide maximum effect within the timeframe of three hours. Andy puts emphasis on the need to approach each individual’s fear in a tailor-made way. He believes that: “A-one-size-fits-all course would not be suitable, as everybody has different reasons for their fear and react in different ways.”

Mitch says, “I was greeted by Andy in full uniform. He asked me lots of questions about myself and wanted to understand my specific fear. He helped me to recognise how my body was reacting and we strategised about how I could overcome this. We came up with coping mechanisms that I would be able to use in the future.”

The course involved an in-cabin session, and then the opportunity to fly the plane from Heathrow to Manchester in the flight deck. The simulator experience is as authentic as flying a real-life jet as possible, with noises and a replica interior.

“Knowing what goes on and what is happening behind the scenes really put me at ease and I felt more in control,” says Mitch. “It also gave me the chance to have all the daft questions that run through my mind answered. Can I fall out? What would happen if I had a heart attack? How quickly can I reach a doctor? Andy made me realise there was no reason to be frightened.”

This weekend Mitch is flying to America and is the first time since completing his course at the Virtual Jet Centre where the knowledge he gained from the Fear of Flying course will come into play. Although he explained that he would still feel anxious, he feels a lot better about the situation and is more in control.

“There is no magic cure, but it’s definitely a great step forward. I would recommend the course without hesitation,” says Mitch. virtualjetcentre.co.uk Rockfish Brixham opens in April 2015 mitchtonks.co.uk @mitchtonks

escape

Where the mood takes you Need to get away? Don’t we all. The following provides some pointers of where to go dependent on your mood and requirements.

Adrenaline hit Rural retreat

Situated conveniently for those en route for Cornwall, Hill Farm in Hittisleigh is a haven nestled in the Dartmoor countryside. Peaceful and elegantly kitted out, this B&B is the perfect destination to drop suitcases, lie back on the four poster and expel every ounce of stressed city life in one long exhalation. After which, you can set forth on myriad walks to reacquaint yourself with the sound of birdsong and babbling brook. For those looking for a more complete purge they also do detox retreats and yoga classes on the croquet lawn. Retreats can be booked en masse, so bring the office with you. bedandbreakfastdevon.org

Driftwood Beach Chalet is a beautifully decked-out cottage situated right on Gwithian Beach near St Ives, a beach that is renowned for its surf. Not only is the beach one of Cornwall’s finest, guarded by the famous Godrevy Lighthouse, it is a mecca for sporting extremists from across the country. Surfers, windsurfers, kite-surfers come to experience the surf, and blow-karters have a wide and endless expanse of beach to race back and forth on.

After subjecting yourself gladly to every element, Driftwood Beach Chalet is the perfect refuge. Decorated tastefully with a double and a bunk room, it has everything you need in a chilled environment to ease those aching muscles, before going back out there the following dawn to do it all again. forevercornwall.co.uk

Hotel Faro

City break Romantic indulgence

Combe House Hotel couldn’t be more spot-on perfect for anyone looking to impress the object of their ardent desire. Ivy-clad and Elizabethan-stately, it is set in 3,500 acres of pristine Devon countryside and has Arabian ponies running past its immaculate lawns. Listed as one of the most romantic hotels in Great Britain and voted one of the ‘Top Best Foodie Hotels in South West England’ by readers of FOOD Magazine, every sumptuous room oozes bliss, but if this is a truly special person or occasion, you can choose instead to stay in the hotel’s thatched cottage hidden in the woods and have the chef come and cook for you there. combehousedevon.com

Faro is one of those pass-through destinations better known as an airport from which to hail a taxi to a sunsoaked beach apartment. It is, however, worth pausing for a stop-over and look around. Firstly, because it is proper Portugal rather than ‘tourist-landia’ which is always refreshing, but also because it has plenty to please.

Inside the medieval walls of the city’s citadel lie cobbled streets and spectacular Baroque churches such as the fantastically over-the-top Igreja do Carmo complete with extensive gold leaf and ‘bone chapel’. You can snack on Portuguese delicacies like porco con ameijoas (pork with cockles) with a cold cerveja at one of the many bars or sit and dine overlooking the harbour at Faro and Benefica.

Easily accessible from Exeter, the recommended centrally located stays would be Hotel Eva or Hotel Faro. hotelfaro.pt; tdhotels.com

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Properties featured; Tanzarra (top), Pednolver (centre), The Haven (bottom)

0844 800 2813 www.cornishgems.com

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Space Annie Martin | Shopping for space | Stephen Dooley | Designer’s Q&A

carpenteroak.com

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Towards simplicity Annie Martin is challenging city firms’ dominance of prize-winning architecture and scooping accolades within just five years of setting up her own practice in rural Devon.

Words by Imogen Clements. Photos by Nigel Rigden

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or someone who’s not keen on ‘show-off’ buildings, architect Annie Martin’s work has been receiving a lot of attention lately. Setting up her own practice just five years ago, two of the four new builds she has taken on in that time have won highly prestigious awards.

All four buildings could be described as sleek, modern residential dwellings cleverly designed to exploit the location in which they are set. The prize-winners both replace dilapidated bungalows with bright, airy two-storey accommodation that impresses inside and out. These and other work she has completed in the last five years would categorise Annie Martin’s approach as

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contemporary, cutting-edge architecture, although she would argue that she doesn’t have a trademark style.

“My response in each case is dependent on the client brief and very much led by the site – its location, orientation, and topography. As a result, every job is different. Generally, clients want lots of light which means plenty of glass, and a seamless continuity with the garden, both of which lend themselves to buildings whose fundamentals are contemporary. What I would say is that with everything I do, I err towards simplicity - I don’t like adding detail for the sake of it. I’m not for show-off buildings.”

space Seacombe at East Portlemouth, South Devon.

The main entrance (left), the house now and the plot before building began (below right)

Annie Martin

Cutting her teeth in practices large and small across the globe – London, Sydney, Washington DC and Brighton – she returned to her home county of Devon for the final stage of training and decided, on qualifying, to set up her practice here rather than head for the capital.

“I was keen to challenge the London-centric architectural ethos that exists. I think there are in fact more architectural opportunities in Devon. There is more space, no need to fight for ‘light rights’ like you do in London, with its abundance of tall, tightly packed buildings.”

Annie saw Devon as an attractive prospect because it has more land and therefore more scope, plus it has a wider range of builders and craftsmen trained in traditional crafts and able to work with traditional materials, at the same time being able to apply new techniques to these. Also, as many of the more rural buildings are off the National Grid, she loves the challenge of coming up with creative and sustainable solutions.

“Fundamentally, though, it was the work ethos in London that didn’t suit my aspirations. I wanted a family and the antisocial hours and cutthroat environment that exists in London weren’t conducive. The process is calmer here; contractors are easier to deal with and you can build good long-term relationships with them, and lines of communication are more direct and stronger. Most importantly, I’ve been able to set up my practice at home, making it possible to grow my business and have children, something I’d have found hard in London.”

Annie, 37, who has two children under six, goes on to cite a statistic that would indicate the difficulties placed on women to succeed in this profession.

“Of those who choose to study architecture, 44% are women, yet only 12% of partners in firms are female. It’s a demanding profession that requires at least seven years to qualify, and a major commitment thereon to succeed. It’s difficult to work that around having children. Having my practice at home has meant I can work flexibly around my family’s needs.”

Where some may have worried that deliberately placing themselves at some distance from London’s highly influential architectural hub would risk invisibility, Annie Martin stamped herself firmly on the map with her debut new build as a qualified architect, by winning The Telegraph’s Overall Winner of Home Building and Renovation, 2008.

The building in question, Seacombe, emerged from the plot of a 1920s faded bungalow that sat in prime position high above the coast in East Portlemouth. Meeting the height restrictions demanded by the National Trust (which owns this stretch of coastline), Annie replaced the original building by cutting into the natural contours of the land behind it to create a two-storey dwelling with

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Award-winning Westering on Dartmoor

panoramic ocean views. Approaching what appears to be a one-storey building from the rear, it is entered via the upper floor where the space opens up to reveal a wide landing with generous floor to ceiling windows coast-side, and two staircases – one exterior, leading from the landing’s balcony down to the alfresco dining area; the other, interior, descending to the ground floor living area with astonishing views that extend from the garden out to sea.

As well as being lauded professionally for its design aesthetic, Seacombe is the ultimate holiday home, with mesmerising views, inner/outdoor lounging and dining, and a cinema room for when the sun goes down.

The Telegraph’s national award immediately led to two commissions for new builds. One of these, Westering – a residential dwelling on Dartmoor – prompted RIBA to name Annie Martin Regional Emerging Architect South West 2014. To quote the judges’ summation, the building, “has an optimism and simplicity that marries with down-to-earth detailing, avoiding the ‘look no hands’ vanity detailing of chic urban houses.”

Such weighty accolades within just five years of starting out have led to a continuous stream of work.

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I don’t like adding additional detail for the sake of it. I’m not for show-off buildings Annie is currently working on a new build in Exeter, a barn conversion in Teignbridge, and a couple of extensions and renovations to existing buildings, all of them residential.

“The jobs that have come my way to date have been domestic buildings but I would be as happy to work on public spaces. Public spaces can provide more breadth and flexibility to generate impact, but in many ways domestic buildings are more complicated in that they need to incorporate living, eating, and sleeping into the design. The ethos is the same though for both public and residential. It ultimately comes down to enhancing the experience of the individual, be they a visitor to a museum/ gallery or a domestic home owner.”

And with the number of awards she is scooping on the nation’s architectural stage, it looks like this mother of two, one-woman practice is doing exactly what she set out to do – to prove that good architecture does not always have to emerge from large, male-dominated London practices. It can as easily transpire from an impeccably designed home office at the bottom of a Devon garden. www.anniemartin.co.uk

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n i n n u t s y l p m , si y r a r o p m e t n o

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w: simplykitchensuk.com Tamerton Foliot Road, Plymouth PL6 5DS MANOR | Spring 2015

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Straight from the start Space for friends and family to stay, a library and a cosy space with a woodburner – the vision was clear for the busy couple who bought a second home on the edge of Looe.

The task for Camellia was to make it a reality…

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his is the story of how a busy couple bought a three-storey property on the edge of Looe with the intention of creating a second home for their family that they could escape to periodically to enjoy a slice of relaxed, coastal life.

Their vision was clear - a space for large groups of friends and family to stay, as well as hosting large parties. Bespoke wine storage was a must alongside a purpose-built bar, with room for a pinball machine and a football table for all the family. For quiet times, they requested a library space and to reinstate the wood-burning fireplace for the family to gather around after a winter day on the beach. Idyllic. But realistic? Particularly when the couple work over 200 miles away in London.

The biggest first step was finding the right contractor. They purchased the property in Looe via local estate agency Jackson-Stops in Truro. The buyers had very little history on the build and after some dead-end conversations with builders, turned to Ben Standen of Jackson-Stops to recommend a designer. Camellia Interiors were brought in to realise their vision.

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Design director Elaine Skinner visited the house with the buyers and listened to what they wanted for their new home. “After taking me through the whole house, I asked them if I could tell it to them straight.

To achieve what they were after they needed to reconfigure the layout. The kitchen needed moving and new bedrooms with en-suites installed. We offered them a better solution from day one and, as a result, got the job.”

Elaine and her clients were very open and honest with each other from the start. By being transparent, the designer-client relationship worked and they understood each other perfectly. “I get on with you because you talk straight to me and because you care.

We see your passion for our project and it inspires us,” said the client.

Camellia were pleased, not just because being straight from the start saves time, money and angst on all sides, but also because this property was particularly special and perfect for their portfolio.

Sea-facing, the house is built virtually into the cliffface above the beach. The architecture and huge potential generated an immense challenge and a lot of excitement for the practice, but what also pleased the

promotional feature

We do charge for our advice and we’re not the cheapest, but we don’t mind stating this either because we do give you a return on your investment

team was how savvy and design-aware these buyers were. “They wanted to buy somewhere and have it look how they wanted it to look. We knew they would be great people to work with,” Elaine says.

Camellia’s client planned to spend their first Christmas in Cornwall at the end of 2014, utilising all the entertaining facilities they’d stipulated in the brief. There is no deadline that galvanizes a team like the client’s family Christmas. As busy individuals, the clients didn’t have time to oversee the project and needed a practice that could manage the entire process for them, within time constraints: “After speaking with Elaine we were reassured that everything would be taken care of. We could then go back to our busy lives in order to pay her!”

Camellia complied, starting the project by knocking down walls, ending it by buying cutlery – almost everything but laying the table – and all in time for Christmas.

Camellia designed with the clients’ vision in mind, around the unusual architecture and to their budget.

“We understand that just because our clients have bought an expensive house doesn’t mean they have lots of money to throw at it.” Elaine says. “We want to make sure you have a return on investment. We are revenue aware, business minded and design around your brief and budget. We do charge for our advice and we’re not the cheapest, but we don’t mind stating this either because we do give you a return on your investment.”

Whatever the cost of this project, the client was clearly happy. They’ve since instructed Camellia to begin another project – the family’s personal beach house.

+44 (0)1637 854304

camelliainteriors.co.uk info@camelliainteriors.co.uk

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Fresh spring greens Green – such a seductive colour, renowned for its calming qualities. Mix with white or a pale neutral to get maximum effect.

Dartington Little Gems Ball Posy Vase, John Lewis, £20

Linen Towel, Toast, £55

Occa-Home, & Tradition, Mayor Sofa, £2,499

Verdi Plate, Marks and Spencer, £5

LSA Chiffon Vase Pistachio, Occa-Home, £25

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House by John Lewis Felt Storage Bucket, £18

Crochet Throw, Toast, £95

Bug Embroidered Cushions, £25 each

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Go your own grey There’s no getting away from it – grey matters, still. And we love it.

Adds a depth and richness that you can layer colour onto, or just mix with white for elegant simplicity.

Plain Lambswool Throw, John Lewis £60

Original BTC Wall Light, John Lewis, £169

Day Birger et Mikkelsen Butterfly Vase, £23 Block Printed Floor Cushion Cover, Toast, £59

Jane Churchill Brightwood Wallpaper, John Lewis, £44

John Lewis Croft Kitchen

John Lewis Croft Laundry Bag, £18

Kara Stool, Toast, £119

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ti mber fr a me s p a c es New builds

01803 732900 122

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Extensions

cabins

c a r p e n t e ro a k . c o m

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Unit 1, Eurotec House, Burrington Way, Plymouth, PL5 3LZ T: 01752 776 464 . E: enquiries@firetecplymouth.co.uk

w w w. f i r e t e c p l y m o u t h . c o . u k Firetec_PRINT.indd 1

20/02/2015 09:47

The new A-Class.

With 3 years’ free servicing.

With its dramatic lines and sculpted surfaces, the A-Class has redefined the prestige compact car segment. Boasting so many attributes, you’re sure to be won over by everything that this highly enticing model has to offer.

Representative example: A 180 SE Manual

36 monthly payments of*

On the road price

Customer deposit

£269.00

£20,715.00

£2,495.00

Retailer deposit Optional purchase contribution payment † £499.41

£10,375.00

Amount of credit

Total amount payable††

Acceptance fee

Purchase activation fee †

Duration of agreement

£17,720.59

£23,328.41

£180.00

£95.00

36 months

Representative Fixed interest APR rate 6.3%

5.47%

Discover more and book a test drive at Mercedes-Benz of Exeter today.

Mercedes-Benz South West Visit your local retailer at:

Mercedes-Benz of Exeter Matford Park Road, EX2 8FD 01392 822 700 www.mercedes-benzofexeter.co.uk Official government fuel consumption figures in mpg (litres per 100km) for the A-Class range: urban 32.1(8.8)-67.3(4.2), extra urban 48.7(5.8)-88.3(3.2), combined 40.9(6.9)-78.5(3.6). CO2 emissions 165-92 g/km.

Whilst this offer is only available through Mercedes-Benz Finance, we do arrange finance on behalf of other finance companies as well. Model featured is a Mercedes-Benz A 180 SE Manual at £20,715.00 on-the-road (on-the-road price includes VAT, delivery, 12 months’ Road Fund Licence, number plates first registration fee and fuel). *Finance offer based on a Mercedes-Benz Agility Agreement, on 10,000 miles per annum. Excess mileage charges may apply. †Payable if you exercise the option to purchase the car. ††Includes optional purchase payment, purchase activation fee and Retailer deposit contribution. Orders/ credit approvals on models between 1st January and 31st March 2015, registered by 30th June 2015. Guarantees and indemnities may be required. Offers cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Some combinations of features/options may not be available. Please contact your Retailer for availability. Terms and conditions apply. Prices correct as of 01/15. Credit provided subject to status by Mercedes-Benz Financial Services UK Limited, MK15 8BA.

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my MANOR, my space Stephen Dooley is an artist and illustrator who works from a studio in Dartmoor, Devon. Studio photographs

by Genoveva Arteaga-Rynn Stephen’s paintings have been predominantly commissioned by London galleries, interior designers and private clients. His work can be found in collections around the world. His murals adorn the walls of castles, chateaux and stately homes.

Clients that have commissioned Stephen’s art include The Chelsea Gallery, Country Life magazine, Mercedes-Benz, Burgh Island Hotel, De Beers, Jay Kay of Jamiroquai and The Eden Project.

Stephen works in many styles: paintings, murals, trompe l’oeil, sculpture, illustration and computer-generated imagery. The success of The Wind in the Willows app has meant he has become more involved in the illustrations for interactive books for iPad. At present, Stephen is working on ideas for 12 books based on his Toad illustrations in The Wind in the Willows. “It seems my little drawing of Toad jumps out and creates chaos wherever he goes.”

Overleaf, Stephen reveals the stories behind the items of significance that inhabit his workspace. thewindinthewillowsapp.com stevedooley.co.uk

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Pots of brushes I have numerous pots of paintbrushes hanging around. I don’t throw them away until they’re pretty destroyed. Damaged old brushes are still very useful tools. I find it hard to resist brushes in shops, they all hold so much potential.

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WITHIN MY SPACE...

The poster

The gorilla behind the easel

This is a painting of A Man in a Golden Helmet by Rembrandt, or is it? The origin of the painting has been argued over for years. The poster was given to me by an artist friend who knows I love paint, especially paint handled like this. This is masterful use of paint.

It gives me great pleasure to look at it and understand how human beings are capable of such wonderful, uplifting acts.

I often get very strong images that form – complete – in my mind. They are a distillation of information, experiences, emotions and research. Whatever I have been affected by tends to form, usually daily, as image or idea. I make small thumbnails of these ideas, and then occasionally they turn into paintings or illustrations. Civilization is one such idea. I think it is to do with the ever-increasing distance mankind puts between us and our very important roots.

Pencil on a bamboo I love to draw, my arm outstretched, with a long pencil or brush held like a sword. When I have a pencil taped to the end of a long thin bamboo stick, the illusion is complete.

I use this device to draw murals. When drawing like this a small crowd generally gathers to watch.

The ‘strangebeing’ with the feather I have many friends who work in fantasy film, writing and illustration.

I have always invented creatures and characters that could live, may well live, at least in my imagination.

So when a friend, Wendy Froud, invited me to make a figure with her, I couldn’t resist. This is a character built over two days at her house.

Great fun.

The owl When my youngest daughter was four we found the Tawny owl dead but still warm on a lane in Cornwall. We took it home and both painted it. That evening we had a family discussion about what to do with it. A decision was made to find a good taxidermist. The owl then went around all the junior schools in North Cornwall for several years. Many projects, drawings and paintings later, it still inspires young children today when they see it up close.

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Q&A Jess Clark, Unique Home Stays In-house Home Stylist, has been with the company eight years and in that time has provided numerous owners with advice and direction on how to best improve their property. Her involvement will range from hints and tips to providing a complete interior design service.

What are you currently working on?

I’ve just completed an entire renovation project on a thatched cottage down at Cadgwith Cove. It’s been a labour of love that has seen me furniture painting until 4am, but I’m so pleased with how it’s turned out. It’s a bombardment of colour with mid-century furniture finds, vintage nautical artwork and kitsch floral bursts, with a really fun yet decadent vibe. It’s not a style that the owners were sold on, but glad to say they love the finished result.

I’m also just putting the finishing touches to a ‘collectors lair’ themed cottage and working on a potting shed theme for a little cob cottage.

Who are your favourite suppliers – what do you source from where?

Sofa.com is my go-to for beds and sofas. Garden Trading is great for kitchen accessorizing and lighting. Rockett St George, Nordic House and Nkuku for accessorizing. Etsy for bespoke rugs. eBay and local charity shops and auctions for one-off finds. I also love House Doctor DK. They have amazing stylists. I always want to buy the whole collection!

Your most satisfying project?

Due to the nature of working for Unique Home Stays my brief is always to create a unique and individual look, so each project is a fresh challenge and I don’t have a set style.

Whilst one property might have a definite retro kitsch style, the next will be pared-back industrial. It depends entirely on the setting and style of the property and how it inspires me as to the look I create. One thing that’s amazing about creating luxury holiday homes is that you can be a bit more themed and create a very strong look with your designs which you might dilute slightly if you were living in a property day to day.

Living room of The House in the Sea, Newquay, Cornwall and the building’s dramatic location (below right). uniquehomestays.com

MANOR | Spring 2015

Woven hemp pouf and lamp. nkuku.com

Most challenging project?

The most challenging project from a logistics perspective was working on The House in the Sea as I had my six-month old strapped to me on a baby carrier whilst lugging furniture over the suspension bridge to the house. During a particularly stormy Boxing Day bridge crossing I did find myself questioning whether I might have lost my mind!

There’s always an amazing sense of relief when the property is finished and it comes together as I’d hoped it would, yet I always have the same sleepless nights in the final weeks worrying that it might not. Because I like to involve myself in every aspect of the project – from creating artwork to painting furniture, there’s the additional level of satisfaction that comes with being hands on.

Sources of inspiration – where you get your ideas, books, people, mags, history My inspiration comes from many and varied sources.

Living etc is great as it keeps me up to date with current trends and is great for styling inspiration. I can idle away many an hour on Pinterest and hunting through second-hand bookshops. I try to keep my eyes open to my surroundings as there’s inspiration in everything from packaging to nature’s pallet.

Current trends – what do you lean towards and what do you veer away from?

What do I lean towards? From a personal perspective I love back-to-basics interiors where the materials speak for themselves – rough-sawn floors, timber walls, sliding doors, galvanised, polished concrete. When I’m creating a new look for someone else I’ll keep the basics quite simple – light walls and wooden floors – and then layer the interest from there. If I did have a signature look it would be collections of artwork, interesting lighting, and lots of mid-century furniture. I prefer to re-purpose furniture finds if I can, such as utilising old shutters as a headboard. I love the Scandinavian style, pared back yet cosy, lots of texture.

In terms of what I stray away from? I’m a carpetophobe! I will always remove a carpet given the choice. Likewise, divan beds. uniquehomestays.com

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Pendant light by Garden Trading. gardentrading.co.uk

100% bespoke, handmade kitchens & bespoke, furniturehandmade for the home 100% kitchens & furniture for the home 24A West Street, Ashburton, Newton Abbott, Devon TQ13 7DU

Tel: 01364 653613 www.barnesofashburton.co.uk 24A West Street, Ashburton, Newton Abbott, Devon TQ13 7DU Barnes SeptOct14.indd 1

Tel: 01364 653613 www.barnesofashburton.co.uk

19/08/2014 08:31

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Creating Legacy “We are committed to developing beautiful historic buildings in a way that demonstrates our sensitivity to and celebration of architectural heritage.

We strive to set new standards in design and finishes to create genuinely unique products that set us apart from volume providers.� www.BurringtonEstates.com Exeter: Dean Clarke House, Southernhay East, Exeter EX11AP 130

MANOR | Spring 2015

London: 4 Skinner Place, Belgravia, London SW1W 8HH

Property The Bulletin | Property of note: Ranscombe | Snapshot comparative The story behind the sale of Bantham

Watch Hill, Budleigh Salterton, Devon On the market with Wilkinson Grant. Guide price: ÂŁ2,000,000. wilkinsongrant.co.uk

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South Devon Georgian splendour in a lakeside setting Ashburton and Dartmoor 2 miles, Exeter 22 miles A magnificient Grade II listed family home. 4 reception rooms and conservatory, 2 bedroom suites, 6 further bedrooms, family bathroom, 1 bedroom annexe, gym, stables, garaging, barn, walled garden and tennis court.

KnightFrank.co.uk/country bruce.tolmie-thomson@knightfrank.com 020 7861 1070 KnightFrank.co.uk/exeter christopher.bailey@knightfrank.com 01392 423111

In all about 24.7 acres

Guide price: ÂŁ1,975,000 KnightFrank.co.uk/EXE140110 All potential tenants should be advised that, as well as rent, an administration fee of ÂŁ276 will apply when renting a property.

Please ask us for more information about other fees that may apply or visit KnightFrank.co.uk/tenantcharges

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@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk

property

The Bulletin - a regional assessment Christopher Bailey, Head of National Waterfront, Knight Frank reports…

A TALE OF TWO MARKETS Speak to any number of our 26 Central London offices of Knight Frank and they will tell you that during the latter half of 2014 the London property market appeared to plateau and even started to cool off in some areas. This seemed to correlate with what we’re seeing in the Westcountry, certainly at Knight Frank, where a quarter of our buyers were relocating from London, and another quarter from the South East.

The immediate reason is obvious - the price differential between properties in London/South East and the Westcountry has never been more pronounced. But there has always been a price gap; the difference today is that the traditional barriers preventing moving too far from London are evaporating – high-speed transport (trains from Exeter and flights from Exeter and Newquay) make east-west travel easier, and high speed broadband reduces the need to be London office-bound. We expect this drift west to continue; indeed, we’ve already seen signs of such in January and February of this year.

The greater demand for property has had an upwards influence on prices in the South West. The graph (top right) shows that the prime market in the South West has fared particularly well against the average for England and Wales.

Annual Price Change 2005 - 2015 Key: Prime South West (light green); Prime England and Wales (dark green)

This is set to continue if premium property transaction levels are anything to go by. In the latter half of 2014, we saw a 30% increase in transaction levels of properties valued at £500,000 or more, and this has accelerated into 2015.

Annual increase in transaction levels for properties valued at £500,000+, 2007-2014

THE CHANGING DEMOGRAPHIC Over the past 10 years the average age of buyers moving to the Westcountry has dropped to between 40 and 50 years old from post-retirement. They’re looking for a lifestyle change and to break free from the daily commute to London. Conversely, the average age of our waterfront property buyers has risen from 30 to 40 years old, over the same period.

Previously, buyers were typically those from the banking and hedge fund sector investing in second homes with bonuses. Now buyers are older, more entrepreneurial, and purchasing second homes longer term with a view to semi-retirement.

Considerable investment in the South West is making the region all the more attractive to this group of working age. As well as a greater and faster number of services from Exeter airport and train station, the A303 is set to be significantly improved in the short term to provide a continuous dual carriageway between the M3 and the M5 just north of Exeter; both Exeter and Plymouth continue to attract a high number of national and international businesses, and the former looks forward this summer to hosting the Rugby World Cup. With all these

factors, coupled with the unique natural beauty of the region, we expect the South West property scene to remain healthy for some time to come.

The average age of buyers moving to the Westcountry has dropped to between 40 and 50 years old

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TUCKENHAY, South Devon

â–

Guide Price ÂŁ1,500,000

A beautiful Grade II listed early 17th century stone built property with lovely original features including imposing staircase. Set in a charming rural location. Includes an annexe and a detached barn with gardens, all set in approximately 1.78 acres.

No EPC required. Web Ref 79317 Historic building | annexe and barn | set in approximately 1.78 acres For further details please contact our Prime Waterfront & Country House Department on 01548 857588

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KINGSWEAR, South Devon

â– Offers

in excess of ÂŁ3,000,000

Outstanding views from this award winning house set in a spectacular south facing location overlooking the River Dart. Approximately 5,000 sq ft of accommodation including 3 receptions, 5/6 en-suite bedrooms, gym, infinity pool, helipad. Beautifully landscaped gardens. EPC Rating C. Web Ref 84362. Joint agents Savills, Exeter.

Superb river views | state of the art oak and glass property | helipad and infinity pool For further details please contact our Prime Waterfront & Country House Department on 01548 857588

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property of note

Hidden haven A South Hams home so perfectly positioned it can only be seen from the air.

A

ny estate agent worth their salt knows quite how much first impressions can contribute to the sale of a property.

Ranscombe, a 17th-century manor house situated just outside Kingsbridge, must therefore be an agent’s dream. The approach from the popular South Hams town to the five-bedroom property and adjoining three-bedroom cottage is impossibly scenic, culminating in this impressive house only revealing itself mere yards from its front door.

“That’s really why I fell in love with the place,” recalls Amanda Lubrani, who bought Ranscombe in 2006, “It’s a stunning house, but the setting is so incredibly quiet and private. The home is perfectly positioned such that it can’t be seen from anywhere other than the air.”

Seclusion, yet accessibility - Kingsbridge, with its blissful estuary scattered with bobbing sailing boats, is a mere two miles away. Turning from said estuary to climb the adjacent hillside, you’re greeted by heavenly panoramic views: endless rolling hills hemmed with hedges and a single gleaming, white-fenced

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Ranscombe Manor has been sensitively restored to make it an idyllic family home set in 32 acres of farmland and gardens that wrap around it to provide a natural buffer to the world beyond

gallop that conjures up visions of bit-champing thoroughbreds cutting through the dawn. Much lush pasture and sky, but nothing to indicate the presence of a sizeable manor house nestled in the hillside until you’re upon it, and the reveal is stunning.

Ranscombe, set in a dip of the brow of the hill, has lost little of its presence and historical character – it retains many of the original 17th-century features including the front door, cross passage and fireplace lintels – but has been sensitively restored to make it an idyllic family home set in 32 acres of farmland and gardens that wrap around it to provide a natural buffer to the world beyond.

The gardens, comprising a walled vegetable garden, yew path, beech hedging, pond and small stream leading to the orchard, have been landscaped to deliver practicality (vegetables) and romance (climbers including wisteria over the front of the house) as well as a somewhat stately touch to the manor house. Set directly in front of the property is a parterre of box hedges with gravel paths, and a maze for little people that adds to the sharp inhale on arrival.

This is not Hampton Court, however. “The house and gardens are very manageable,” Amanda insists.

“They needed to be.” A property developer herself with various accolades, she makes a living out of enhancing a building’s heritage and natural beauty, while making it liveable. “When I bought it, the house was dated and needed total refurbishment throughout, which took approximately a year and a half, but the mix of character and potential made it a joy to do.”

Prunella Martin of Marchand Petit points out how Amanda’s approach ensured the house works on many levels, “It’s a great home to entertain in – the cottage at one end is self-contained and can be separate to the main house or function as a summer kitchen leading to the terrace, croquet lawn and barbecue area. If there’s work to be done you can shut yourself away at the other end of the house, making it perfect to run a business from.” An abundance of potential has clearly been realised, but if you’re a grand designer yourself, there’s more on offer.

Ranscombe has planning permission for conversion of the farm buildings that sit across the courtyard

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property of note

Ranscombe Manor is definitely a house that fires the imagination

from the main house into four residential dwellings.

And herein lies the coup: adding to the obvious aesthetic appeal is a compelling fiscal one. Given that the property comprises the manor house, agricultural farmland and farm buildings (albeit with planning permission for residential conversion), it should fall into the ‘mixed use’ category* for stamp duty, charged at 4%. Under the new stamp duty regulations, were it to be judged as purely residential, the purchaser would expect to pay some £273,750 in stamp duty, whereas were it judged to be of ‘mixed use’, the duty due on Ranscombe will come in at less than half of this, at £120,000. That marks a considerable saving – money that could be spent on a boat, perhaps to sail around to neighbouring Salcombe or Dartmouth and moor in the Kingsbridge estuary below…

Ranscombe Manor is most definitely a house that fires the imagination. A house that combines grandeur with homeliness and still further potential; that’s set in breathtaking surroundings providing the ultimate in privacy, at an easy walk from one of the South Hams’ prettiest waterfront towns. Why would anyone want to sell it?

“I’m a person who loves change,” states Amanda.

“I’ve never lived anywhere for more than seven years, and my passion for homes and property continually generates a yearning for new projects. Ranscombe will always hold a place in my heart. It was our family home and we take with us wonderful memories, but the children have now all moved. It seems a good time to sell and allow a new family to experience all this lovely house has to offer.”

*Note: It should be emphasised that it would be for the purchaser and their professional advisers to judge which category of stamp duty to pursue.

Ranscombe is on the market with Marchand Petit, Kingsbridge for £2,950,000.

Tel: 01548 857588. marchandpetit.co.uk Joint agents with Savills, Exeter.

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property

Snapshot comparative A snapshot of a selection of properties on the market in the South West alongside a London Bolthole for those looking east for a capital pied-à-terre.

5 Baring Crescent, St Leonards, Exeter £1,350,000

Town

Providing space and exclusivity in Exeter’s most popular residential area, this six-bedroom detached house looks out onto private gardens and across to the Haldon Hills.

It is within easy reach of the local shops with the city centre just 0.5 miles away. Rebuilt in the 1950s in the Georgian style, it is not listed like other properties on Baring Crescent and is well presented all the way from the contemporary finishes to the walled gardens. knightfrank.co.uk

Trethewey Barns, Roseland, Cornwall Guide price: £1,500,000

Country

Perfection on the Roseland Peninsula. Trethewey Barns is a very special four-bedroom country house with two-bedroom cottage in a private, peaceful, rural setting rich in wildlife. Available for sale for the first time since its conversion by the present owners in 1999, it is a property of exceptional style and quality. In 2002, the house was awarded the RIBA/CPRE Cornwall Architecture Award. savills.co.uk

Quay Cottage, Dittisham £795,000

Waterside

A superb Grade II-listed terraced cottage situated on the water’s edge, with stunning views across the River Dart and surrounding countryside . The cottage is full of charm and character and has been sympathetically modernised to provide 3 bedrooms, 2 reception rooms, study and fitted kitchen. To the rear of the property there is a patio and raised decking, again with river views. marchandpetit.co.uk

London Bolthole

Portobello Road, Notting Hill £999,950 A beautifully presented two-bedroom flat on the second floor (entered on the first floor) of this stucco-fronted period building. The flat benefits from vaulted ceilings and wonderful, bright accommodation throughout. Portobello Road is a world-famous road situated in the heart of Notting Hill, offering an excellent selection of boutique shops and restaurants and nearby Tube stations Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill Gate. struttandparker.com

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ASHBURTON, South Devon

â–

Guide Price ÂŁ1,200,000

An outstanding 4 bedroom house with an attached 2 bedroom barn. This unique family home combines traditional and contemporary features and enjoys magnificent countryside views. The barn is currently run as a successful holiday let, but could be used as additional accommodation. EPC Rating C. Web Ref 71018 Stunning and unique property | attached 2 bedroom annexe | easy access to the A38 For further details please contact our Prime Waterfront & Country House Department on 01548 857588

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RINGMORE, South Devon

â– Guide

Price ÂŁ1,100,000

A fine south-facing house with well arranged and spacious accommodation. Gardens, stabling, 2 paddocks, parking. Lovely setting with views to sea. Walking distance of excellent local shop, pubs, renowned beaches, beautiful estuaries with excellent sailing nearby. Good broadband speed. EPC Rating E. Web Ref 71770 Immaculate accommodation | close to beaches | paddocks and stabling For further details please contact our Prime Waterfront & Country House Department on 01548 857588

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ENCHANTING SECRET GARDEN ESTATE HIDDEN IN THE HILLS exeter, devon Arts and Crafts styled main house  5 reception rooms  10 bedrooms  8 bath / shower rooms  3 bedroom cottage  outbuildings  brick range of potting sheds, workshop, tractor sheds, stable  enclosed gardens with rare, exotic and ornamental shrubs and trees  about 25 acres  EPCs – Main House = E, Cottage = F

Offers in excess of £1.5 million

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Savills Exeter Richard Addington raddington@savills.com

01392 455 755

HISTORIC GRADE II* LISTED CORNISH MANOR blisland, cornwall Bodmin Parkway: 9 miles, Polzeath: 14 miles, Truro: 30 miles 4 reception rooms  6/7 bedrooms  4 bathrooms  office  flat and guest suite  3 stone holiday cottages  heated outdoor swimming pool  mature grounds with walled terraced garden  parkland  woodland  river  hydro-electric plant

Savills Cornwall Jonathan Cunliffe jcunliffe@savills.com

01872 243200 London Country Department Charles Chute cchute@savills.com

About 33 acres Guide £2.75 million

020 7016 3822 MANOR | Spring 2015

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Bidding for Bantham There is nothing that captures the public imagination like the possibility of buying not just a lovely house, but your own country estate. Particularly when the estate in question happens to be one of the most pristine slices of countryside in the UK.

By Imogen Clements

B

antham, with its 730 acres, village little-changed in the last hundred years, and coastline boasting one of the most beautiful estuaries and sought-after surfing beaches in the country, generated quite a stir when it came on the market last year.

The seller: Strutt & Parker, Exeter, along with Michelmore Hughes “Although we’ve sold bigger estates”, recalled James Baker of Strutt & Parker, “we’ve never worked on anything that generated quite so much press attention.”

Why it whipped up such a frenzy of interest is unknown, although the suspicion is that it simply epitomised a pocket of English perfection – breathtaking coast and countryside, pretty little houses, a pub, a golf course and nothing more commercial than a village shop and catering van. Bantham is the most quintessential package which, it was certain, would be snapped up by a Russian oligarch or powerful property developer and ruined.

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Pretty much everyone with a serious interest in the estate had so for conservationist reasons. Many knew the area and loved it for the jewel that it is.

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property “Interestingly, all the worry over oligarchs and commercial land-grabbers was misplaced,” James insists.

“Pretty much everyone with a serious interest in the estate had so for conservationist reasons. Many knew the area and loved it for the jewel that it is. Plus there is no big house anywhere on the estate for a wealthy potential buyer to base themselves, which immediately ruled out a lot of interest.”

The media frenzy of course helped Strutt & Parker raise awareness long before the estate was officially on the market, “As soon as we entered properties to do floorplans, some six months before the estate went on the market, it was clear to the tenants, all of whom have long-term leases, that Bantham was going up for sale and word got out.

Then things quickly started to get out of control, with relatives of the owners being door-stepped by journalists, Bantham’s small community becoming increasingly unsettled by rumours of likely potential buyers, plus there was the risk of any quality buyer being put off by all the attention. As agents we needed to step in to appease the press and bring things back under control.”

Which brings us to the whole sales process. How do you go about selling a 730-acre Devon estate that’s practically perfect in every way?

“We had to pitch for it, along with two other estate agents,” James explains. “Michelmore Hughes had managed the estate for the previous owners,

the Evans family, and were to be the joint agent throughout the sales process. In September 2013, we received an invitation to sell a ‘to be revealed’ 730-acre estate and we were taken by Michelmore Hughes on a discreet tour, which of course revealed the estate to be Bantham. We had to furtively value each element of it – the 580 acres of agricultural land, golf course, each of the 21 residential properties and car park, etc – without giving any indication to the estate’s tenants that it would be going up to for sale.”

James went on to explain that Strutt & Parker, beyond merely valuing the estate, had to pitch the sales approach they would undertake and prove their understanding of the client’s requirements: essentially their wish that any buyer preserve the peace and beauty of the estate, and show respect and sensitivity to the long-term tenants of Bantham.

“We won the pitch and got on with planning the sale. The preparation of the sales documentation and marketing plan was a lengthy process – every building needed floorplans; the topography and history of each element of the estate needed thoroughly researching and then dividing into Lots, plus of course a brochure that did full justice to the area needed to be put together, which required aerial shots where the weather was never forthcoming. We eventually managed to take the helicopter up just before the brochure was due to go to print.

“Thanks to the media interest, by the time we launched it onto the market we’d already had numerous enquiries. Soon after, when interest started to plateau, we invited sealed bids. As before, it was not merely the price being offered but the attitude and ambition of the prospective buyers that mattered. It came down to three, who as agents we recommended, one of whom was the National Trust looking to buy the estate minus the village to preserve the land and coastline; the other two were private buyers looking to buy the estate in its entirety. Each prospective buyer was then interviewed by the previous owners, and it was Nicholas Johnston, who through his 4,000-acre Tew Estate in Oxfordshire had a proven track record for the sensitive management of large swathes of countryside, became the new owner of Bantham.”

James Baker is clearly pleased with Strutt & Parker’s role in the story. “In all, it took nine months to prepare the sale and just two months to sell Bantham in August 2014, and we, along with Michelmore Hughes, the previous owners and the existing Bantham community, were very pleased with the outcome.”

The Boat House

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The Surfing Beach

THE BUYER: Nicholas Johnston How did you get to hear about Bantham being up for sale?

I came to it late via the conventional way. I saw it advertised in the press and it caught my imagination.

Had you been looking to buy another estate?

No, I hadn’t been looking but Bantham chimed very much with what we have at Great Tew – it was the same kind of place, its historic nature, a gem that had been loved and nurtured by one family. I understood the language of the place, plus I knew it personally, having holidayed in Devon frequently as a child. I have three children and I felt this was an opportunity for them to develop a long relationship with Bantham.

How did you feel that, given all the attention, you would go from obscurity to The Man who Bought Bantham?

It didn’t bother me. Ultimately the story was a very simple one, which was ‘man with big farm in Oxfordshire buys big farm in Devon’. Like all these things, today’s news becomes tomorrow’s fish and chip paper.

How was the sale conducted?

Impeccably well – the vendors knew exactly the kind of buyer they were looking for and they got it. Without a doubt, Strutt & Parker and Michelmore Hughes helped them achieve that with an extremely well-managed marketing approach.

If I had any bugbear it was how the National Trust was portrayed by some aspects of the media as needed to ‘save Bantham’. This underestimated the vendors, who had placed great emphasis on choosing the right buyer, but it also underestimated us – I was not the only potential buyer with a proven track record for careful management of estates.

There is a lot of evidence to prove that single familyowned multigenerational farms and estates are some of the best preserved in the country.

Your plans for Bantham?

No great plans, but this is a business – there is lots to do. We have a social and emotional responsibility to both tenants and visitors to the estate to ensure it is run well and safely. I’m down there a lot at the moment assessing all aspects and noting where things can be done better and it’s clear that a more holistic approach to all the different elements would improve its day-to-day running. But the process is gradual. There will be no kneejerk changes.

What about your personal plans for enjoying your purchase?

In good time we will take one of the properties, so we have a base there.

Despite the fact that there is no large family residence?

I don’t need a big swanky house to live in. If I was the kind of person who did, I’d not have bought Bantham. It’s simply not that kind of place.

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Poundsgate | Ashburton

An Arts & Crafts Grade II Listed manor house set in an elevated position in Dartmoor National Park Ashburton 3½ miles, Totnes 11 miles, Exeter 21 miles

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Guide Price: £2,500,000

Currently divided into two properties with potential for conversion into one significant country house.

Hannaford Manor providing: reception hall, drawing room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, minstrels’ gallery, sitting room/bedroom 3, master bedroom with en suite, bedroom 2, family bathroom, second floor suite currently laid out as a sitting room, kitchenette, 3 bedrooms, superb formal landscaped gardens with a pond, vegetable garden, woodland, ample parking & turning for several vehicles, garden store, greenhouse, cellar & wine store.

In all about 5.87 acres (Hannaford Manor 4.82 acres, Hannaford House 1.05 acres)

St Leonards | Exeter

An elegant renovated Grade II listed Georgian townhouse on a prime St Leonard’s Road City centre 0.5 miles, Exeter St Davids Station 2 miles, Exeter International Airport 4 miles

Offers in excess of: ÂŁ1,250,000

Reception hall and cloakroom, kitchen/ breakfast room, drawing room, dining room, sitting room, study, music room, utility room, boiler room, master bedroom with en suite bathroom, 5 further double bedrooms, family bathroom, large decked area and level walled garden, garage and off road parking

Exeter 01392 215631 Exeter@struttandparker.com 50 offices across England and Scotland, including 10 offices Central MANORin| Spring 2015 London 149

Exeter: 01392 427500 • Topsham: 01392 875000 www.wilkinsongrant.co.uk

We value your home, not just your property.

At Wilkinson Grant and Company we work hard to get the best price for your property. But it's what our dedicated team of professionals do above and beyond this that sets us apart. We understand how invasive selling your home can be for you and your family and take great care to make the process as smooth as possible from the start to completion.

Call us to find out more.

WORKING FOR PEOPLE. DEALING WITH PROPERTY. 150

MANOR | Spring 2015

PROPERTY & ACQUISITION AGENTS

Exeter: 01392 427500 • Topsham: 01392 875000 www.wilkinsongrant.co.uk

PROPERTY & ACQUISITION AGENTS

Overlooking Teign Estuary, Coast and Sea - Guide price £2,750,000 A quite exceptional and highly individual luxurious modern detached house of striking contemporary architectural design with stunning interior features set in over eight acres of grounds.

Just 14 miles Exeter, enjoying spectacular coastal estuary and countryside views.

Generously proportioned versatile accommodation presently arranged to include six bedrooms, generous open plan living space, superb kitchen / breakfast room, indoor swimming pool, gym, garaging, stabling and outbuildings.

Email: g.weil@wilkinsongrant.co.uk Call: 01392 427500

Our Agents view...

“A simply stunning modern home with one of the best views you could ever hope to find. Longpark is a complete ‘one-off’ offering something for all ages. A fabulous place for entertaining, fantastic leisure space and great potential for horticultural and equestrian use.”

Roger Wilkinson

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TWITTER: @WILKINSONGRANT FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK.COM/WILKINSONGRANT

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www.thrive-hubs.com 152

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Available throughout Devon and Cornwall, and on sale from Paddington through to Plymouth, MANOR is a must-read for any quality-discerning style-seeker with a base in, or a hankering after the South West.

Featuring fashion, beauty, architecture and design, MANOR covers the areas that inspire us all, while showcasing the very best of the region. A premium publication aimed at the modern active professional, MANOR has all that a quality national title delivers, but from a different perspective, the South West perspective.

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postscript

BRIT-SAYS vs BRIT-MEANS As a sign off: the British are so accustomed to saying the contrary to what they mean, that it makes sobering reading to translate things from a non-Brit perspective. Originally posted online by Duncan Green, a strategic advisor for Oxfam as ‘a handy guide for our fellow Europeans and others trying to fathom Brit-speak’, the origin of the chart is unknown although it’s thought to have been devised by a Dutch company in an attempt to help employees working in the UK. Read and relate - you know you’re as guilty of obfuscation as the rest. As if the English language wasn’t hard enough!

What the British say

What the British mean

What others understand

I hear what you say

I disagree and do not want to discuss it further

He accepts my point of view

With the greatest respect...

I think you are an idiot

He is listening to me

That’s not bad

That’s good

That’s poor

That is a very brave proposal

You are insane

He thinks I have courage

Quite good

A bit disappointing

Quite good

I would suggest...

Do it or be prepared to justify yourself

Think abut the idea, but do what you like

Oh, incidentally/ by the way

The primary purpose of our discussion is...

That is not very important

I was a bit disappointed that

I am annoyed that

It doesn’t really matter

Very interesting

That is clearly nonsense

They are impressed

I’ll bear it in mind

I’ve forgotten it already

They will probably do it

I’m sure it’s my fault

It’s your fault

Why do they think it was their fault?

You must come for dinner

It’s not an invitation, I’m just being polite

I will get an invitation soon

I almost agree

I don’t agree at all

He’s not far from agreement

I only have a few minor comments

Please re-write completely

He has found a few typos

Could we consider some other options?

I don’t like your idea

They have not yet decided

154

MANOR | Spring 2015

EST 1970

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