MANOR Issue 31 - The Wellness Issue

The Region’s Premium Publication

Late Winter 2019|Issue 31|£4.50

James Haskell As I See It

Melanoma A personal story

Sky Box Devon’s new gallery

WIN A luxury spa break

Living Architecture Peter Zumthor’s UK debut

CULTURE FOOD SPACE ESCAPE SCHOOL PROPERTY MANOR | Late Winter 2019

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A ‘GRAND DESIGN’ FARMHOUSE SET IN BEAUTIFUL RURAL SURROUNDINGS

NORTHLEIGH, COLYTON, EAST DEVON

Colyton – 3; Honiton – 5; Sidmouth – 11; Exeter – 23 (all distances approximate and in miles) Constructed in 2016 this contemporary home enjoys far-reaching views over landscaped gardens to surrounding countryside. With 5 bedrooms, large open-plan living spaces, study and studio this versatile layout offers the option for a self-contained cottage or holiday let. Integral car port, garden room, workshop, orchard and vegetable garden. In all about 3.1 acres. EPC: A Guide Price: £1,295,000 4

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Savills Exeter

Chris Clifford cclifford@savills.com

01392 455755

HISTORIC HOUSE WITH ACCESS TO THE SAILING WATERS OF MYLOR CREEK

MYLOR CHURCHTOWN, SOUTH CORNWALL

Mylor Yacht Harbour - 530 yards; Flushing – 1; Mylor Bridge - 1.5; Falmouth – 4;Truro - 10.5; Cornwall Airport (Newquay) – 28; (all distances approximate and in miles)

Savills Cornwall

One of the Falmouth area’s most special, unique and private homes. This Grade II* Listed Georgian farmhouse offers the seclusion of an impressive country home whilst being moments from the water and within a short drive of both Falmouth and Truro. The surrounding grounds extend to about 19 acres and include a number of paddocks, a sand school, a tennis court and woodland, enjoying views towards the water. 3737 sq ft.

01872 243200

Guide £3,250,000 Freehold

Ben Davies bmdavies@savills.com

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BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY HOME, SET WITHIN UNSPOILT AND TIMELESS COUNTRYSIDE

CAERHAYS, THE ROSELAND, SOUTH CORNWALL

Portholland – 2; Caerhays beach – 3; St Austell – 10; Truro - 11.5; St Mawes - 11.5; Cornwall Airport (Newquay) - 20.5; (all distances approximate and in miles)

Savills Cornwall

Just two miles from the sea, this substantially extended farmhouse, retains its original features whilst creating a bright, modern and charming family home. The grounds which total approximately six acres include paddocks, stabling, outbuildings and a heated outdoor pool. A stunning orangery at the end of the house allows glorious garden and panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and farmland. 4866 sq ft. EPC D.

01872 243200

Guide £1,850,000 Freehold 6

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Ben Davies bmdavies@savills.com

THE PERFECT BOLT HOLE

DART MARINA, DARTMOUTH Dartmouth town centre – 0.3; Totnes train station (London Paddington from 165 mins) – 12; Blackpool Sands beach – 4; Savills (all distances approximate and in miles) South Hams Contemporary waterfront town house arranged over three floors with breathtaking views of the River Dart. Wellappointed kitchen, stylish living room/dining area, master bedroom with en suite, 3 further bedrooms and bathroom.

Spectacular waterside terrace, reserved parking and store. EPC: C Guide Price: £1,250,000

Sarah-Jane Bingham Chick sjchick@savills.com

01548 800462

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Contents

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28 76 Regulars 17 TOWN MOUSE, COUNTRY MOUSE Correspondence from across the divide

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AS I SEE IT...

England rugby star James Haskell

Style & Beauty 18 TRENDS Bright idea and tailor made

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FRESH START Skincare saviours

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SAY IT WITH...

Features 31 OUT, DAMN’D SPOT! A personal story of melanoma

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PROTECT AND PRESERVE Rainforest charity Cool Earth

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OARSOME ACHIEVEMENT Four women from South Devon row the Atlantic

Romantic gift inspiration

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MY FEEL GOOD REGIME Art gallery owner Demelza Prettejohn

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THE STYLE SHOOT Photographed by Remy Whiting

Photostory 46 BIKE FRAMES Images by Ian Lean

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62 Culture 58 SKY BOX

100 136

Nigel Hurst, Head of Contemporary Art at The Box

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PATTERNS OF INSPIRATION Artist Yinka Shonibare MBE

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SOUTH WEST MUST SEES...

What’s on around the region...

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THE EXHIBITION SPACE A guide to the region’s art galleries and exhibitions

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WORTH MAKING THE TRIP FOR...

Cultural highlights from the metropolis and beyond

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WORTH STAYING IN FOR...

Quality time on your sofa

Food 92 CHEERS OF JUBELATION

Space 114 THE LUXURY OF SIMPLICITY Living Architecture’s Secular Retreat in South Devon

120 SHOPPING FOR SPACE Freshen up

Cornish beer brand Jubel

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BAKING WITH BOUDICCA One Mile Bakery, Exeter

100 TACKLING OUR DIET Recipes from James Haskell and Omar Meziane

104 BITES Food news and more from across the peninsula

111 THE TABLE PROWLER ...dines out at Ikoyi, London and the Scoff Troff Café, St Ives, Cornwall

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Escape 128 SEA CHANGE Carbis Bay Hotel, Cornwall

134 TRAVEL NOTES News, offers and more

136 LIVING LA DOLCE VITA Exploring Rome, Italy

Late Winter 2019

MANOR school 141 NEWS IN BRIEF News from schools around the region

144 BORN TO BE WILD A Devon outdoor preschool

Property 148 PROPERTY OF NOTE

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Highfield House, Totnes, Devon

153 THE RELOCATOR Focus on Kingsbridge, South Devon

158 SNAPSHOT COMPARATIVE A selection of properties in the South West and one in London that are full of character and simply idyllic

Back Page 162 PRIZE DRAW Win a two-night luxury spa break for two at Gaia Spa, Boringdon Hall, Devon

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Images © 2018 Cubo Design S.r.l.

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Contemporary Italian Kitchens delivered with passion and expertise Experts in bespoke kitchens, Touch Design Group are now offering an Italian Kitchen range

touchcucina.com

touchdesigngroup.com | Telephone: 01392 364269 | Exeter, Devon Kitchen Interiors | Furniture | Media Rooms | Dressing Rooms | Interior Doors | Staircases MANOR | Late Winter 2019

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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

FEATURES EDITOR

Fiona McGowan

features@manormagazine.co.uk

ARTS EDITOR

Belinda Dillon belinda@manormagazine.co.uk

FOOD EDITOR

Anna Turns

anna@manormagazine.co.uk

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Amy Tidy

amy@manormagazine.co.uk

ADVERTISING SALES

Jeni Smith

jeni@manormagazine.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS

Elouise Abbot Liz Miller Simon Rake Claire Wheatcroft DESIGN

Eleanor Cashman Guy Cracknell

THE COVER Dress, Reiss, £135 Photographer: Remi Whiting Stylist: Mimi Stott Make-up: Maddie Austin Model: Rain Chan at Storm Management © MANOR Publishing Ltd, 2019.

MANOR Magazine is published by Manor Publishing Ltd. Registered office: MANOR Publishing Ltd, 12 Mannamead Road, Plymouth, Devon PL4 7AA. Registered in England No. 09264104 info@manormagazine.co.uk. Printed by Wyndeham Roche Ltd.

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MANOR | Late Winter 2019

Happy new year and welcome to our first issue of 2019, The Wellness Issue.

It’s at this time of year that we tend to take stock and consider our health, resolving to do something about it. Then, come February, all good intentions are abandoned and we’re back to our bad old habits of eating too much and sofa-surfing. It is a fact that good health we take for granted, until something serious threatens it.

This issue includes my own story, that had me contemplating my own mortality for the first time ever in my life. It’s a story that’s taken me a while to write because, in the immediate aftermath, it was too stressful to revisit and then, as time went on, it became a distant memory. “That’s what we want,” said Jenny Geh, the consultant I credit with putting me right, “For people to move on and get on with their lives.” I have chosen to write about it, because there’s an obvious public health message and my experience will, I hope, help others. But also because I’m extremely grateful. To put it metaphorically, after there’d been a lot of rifling around for umbrellas, Jenny aimed a large bazooka at the dense black cloud that had hung above me for some time and obliterated it. The story, I should add, is probably not for the squeamish, at least not over breakfast.

James Haskell, England Rugby Union’s star flanker, is one of the UK’s most phenomenal athletes. World-beating – the man has notched up no less than 78 England caps – James credits diet with his peak sporting performance, something he first discovered when playing for England as a teenager. James takes to the MANOR couch to reveal, among other things, how he’s a workaholic. As well as his regular TV and radio slots, podcast, Instagram account with 260,000 followers, James DJs, has published three books, launched a health and fitness company, opened a gym, oh… and drives a digger in his spare time, as a hobby.

To continue in a sporting vein, we interview one of only three all-women teams to attempt the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge which is to row, unassisted, 3,000 miles from La Gomera in the Canaries to Antigua in the Caribbean. The four former hockey team mates explain how (on earth..!) the idea occurred to them and just what preparing for such a race entails.

Over the years, Cornish photographer Ian Lean has become a specialist at photographing mountain bike cyclists from across the globe. In this issue’s Photostory we showcase a fraction of Ian’s body of work, which reveals the incredible skill, agility and frankly death-defying acrobatics of MTB cyclists at the top of their game.

Wellness is as much about state of mind as it is about physical fitness, the former of which can be enhanced considerably by our living space. Living Architecture was founded in 2006 by philosopher Alain de Botton with the aim of inviting some of the world’s leading contemporary architects to create domestic buildings of the highest standard that could then be rented as holiday homes, so allowing us all to experience them. Designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, Secular Retreat in Devon is the latest addition to Living Architecture’s portfolio. We step inside to take a look.

There is, in this issue, much more to stimulate you in our Culture, Food and Escape sections, plus more related to wellness – not least, a luxury two-night spa break to be won at the 16th century Devon hotel Boringdon Hall, which, in its recently opened Gaia Spa, boasts one of the South West’s biggest and best-equipped modern spas.

We hope that this Wellness Issue of MANOR injects you with vitality and a healthy, lasting aspiration to live life well and to the full!

So… what are you waiting for?

Imogen Clements FOUNDER & PUBLISHING EDITOR @ManorMagazine

@manormagazine

Sign up to the MANOR newsletter to receive special offers and see what’s coming up at manormagazine.co.uk/newsletter Subscribe to MANOR for a year for just £30. Visit manormagazine.co.uk/subscribe

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 Publishing 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 any publication or website produced or published by MANOR Publishing Ltd. The contributor agrees not to submit material where they do not 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.

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TOWN MOUSE, COUNTRY MOUSE Darling...

Sweetness...

So, tell me, just what is ‘wellness’? It’s an interesting term and not one, I find, the older generations recognise. It seems specific to this generation, or at least the next, sweetie, to you and me, middle-aged as we are. And it has arisen in the age of social media. Camera phones, all those millions of selfies or, God forbid, someone else posting pictures of you to be seen by the masses, means that we really do need to be looking our best all the time. As a result, we are taking better care of ourselves, right? Not drinking with abandon like we used to – remember, sweetie? But instead, bouncing out of bed, running all the time and eating copious amounts of kale. Such that we too can look like Gwyneth Paltrow, who is of course the queen of wellness.

In this regard, social media’s been a force for good. All that money over the years spent on government public health campaigns could have been saved with the simple invention of Instagram – if only we’d known! Obviously, the chasing of physical perfection and trying to be Gwyneth cannot be good for mere mortals as we age – I have become acutely aware of my hips becoming perpendicular shelves instead of the smooth curve they used to be, such that when I wear my favourite metallic pleated skirt with thick knit jumper part-tucked in, as is the look, my backside looks the width of a bus. How does Nigella stay curvy – do you think she’s had a couple of ribs extracted, sweetie?

One must embrace ageing. I can say that as a country person.

You live in Notting Hill; I live in Dartmoor. You are confronted by the living embodiment of jumper-half-tucked, curvy, Instagram sheen every time you nip out for a skinny latte. I am not. I have further ensured I’m not, by curtailing my social media consumption. I too was beginning to see myself sucked into the sucked-in-cheek-and-pout brigade whose lives – families, homes, and meals – seemed utter perfection. I now feel liberated. It will be interesting when this Insta generation grow old – what will they do then?

Will there be an acceptance, indeed an about-turn narcissism where we see them blog, ‘Hi guys, this morning I noticed another wrinkle and I’m, like, so proud!’ Or, will they all be nipped and tucked repeatedly and regretting the choice not to age naturally? Who knows? For me, vitality is the goal and the key to ‘wellness’. Everything good follows from that.

It’s something children should be taught throughout school – to get outside, run around and exert yourself.

You will be happier as a result. Physical activity falls off a cliff from early school age to an almost round-the-clock state of sitting come adulthood.

It’s like the seven ages of man: primary school kids have to run everywhere – they are incapable of doing anything as slow as walking; teenagers slow down and drag their feet everywhere; then, as adults, it’s all we can do to move our bottoms from desk to car to sofa. And you ask why hips become shelves, sweetie. There’s your answer.

WHAT’S HOT IN THE SMOKE?

WHAT’S COOL IN THE COUNTRY?

Returning to the capital for another year, the Cancer Research UK London Winter Run takes place on Sunday 3 February. The highly popular 10km route passes sights such as Nelson’s Column, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Bank of England and more.

Bucking the high street trend of closures Oliver Bonas has broadened its high street presence to 70 stores, having just opened in Exeter’s Princesshay. Founded in 1993, the store hit the mark with its fashion, jewellery and stylish giftware.

Soon to open in the former BBC Television Centre at the White City development, Endo at Rotunda will offer a high-end sushi experience. With only 15 seats in the restaurant, it’s sure to be a sought-after dining spot.

100 Figures: The Unseen Art of Quentin Blake is being displayed at The House of Illustration until 27 January. It’s an extraordinary insight into his private practice as a figurative artist, featuring largescale artwork never seen before, covering the period 1950-2000.

Revered choreographer Richard Alston will be bringing his world-class dance company to the Northcott for two nights. In a collaboration with associate choreographer Martin Lawrance, the new works will feature Brahms played by solo pianist Jason Ridgeway. 12-13 March 2019.

Until 6 March, Stuart Line Cruises are offering Guided Bird Watching along the River Exe. Approximately three hours long, the cruise includes full commentary from an ornithologist and the vessel has inside and outside seating. Advance booking essential.

Get your skates on – it’s not too late to visit the only indoor ice rink in Cornwall at the Eden Project. Until 24 February.

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Bright idea

Earrings, Zara, £12.99

Kick off your 2019 with a splash of colour in the odd vibrantly bold coat, jumper and jacket. Strong, rich block colours will instantly brighten denim, black or white separates and cheer up all those you encounter. These winter brights will carry you right through the transitional period, well into spring/ summer 2019. Compiled by Amy Tidy.

Tibi AW18

Coat, Next, £75

Dress, Marks and Spencer, £45

Jumper, Whistles, £119

Cardigan, Jigsaw, £130

Earrings, Zara, £12.99 Bag, Accessorize, £17

Blouse, Hobbs, £129 Shoes, Dune, £75

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Jeans, Debenhams, £35 Bag, Topshop, £29

Trousers, Topshop, £35

Boots, Dune, £130

Jasper Conran AW18

trends

Earrings, Zara, £9.99

Hat, Topshop, £14

Coat, Topshop, £75

Coat, Mango, £139.99

Jumper, Mango, £39.99 Dress, Zara, £29.99

Boots, Topshop, £79

Scarf, Monsoon, £25 Skirt, Hobbs, £169

Bag, Zara, £19.99 Trainers, Topshop, £24

Bag, Oliver Bonas, £45

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Tailor made If you shrink from bold colour, go sleek and sophisticated, combining tailored workwear pieces with chunky knits and minimalist jewellery. Light, neutral tones always work well together. Or if looking to throw a darker colour into the mix, choose navy over black for classic muted style.

Compiled by Amy Tidy.

Earrings, Hobbs, £19

Tibi AW18

Coat, Zara, £129

T Shirt, Debenhams, £25 Dress, Monsoon, £60

J by Jasper Conran bangle, Debenhams, £60

Trousers, Marks and Spencer, £45

Bag, Mango, £129.99

Boots, Zara, £69.99

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Leather culottes, Jigsaw, £299 Jacket, Mango, £79.99

Bag, Marks and Spencer, £39.50

Shoes, Debenhams, £55

Gabriela Hearst AW18

trends

Earrings, Zara, £12.99

Necklace, Oliver Bonas, £49.50

Coat, Zara, £99.99

Jumper, Oliver Bonas, £55

Coat, Hobbs, £399

Bag, Topshop, £29

Jumper, Marks and Spencer, £75

Trousers, Mango, £35.99

Jumper, Mango, £35.99

Shoes, Zara, £49.99 Shoes, Dune, £75

Trousers, Hobbs, £119 Bag, Marks and Spencer, £35

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Fresh start Skin no longer all-aglow? Time to show it some love, suggests make-up artist Elouise Abbott.

W

inter festivities and environmental factors can leave our skin a little lacklustre. While you may be considering healthier lifestyle choices in your New Year regimen, spare a thought for your skin. Breathe a breath of life back into it with these super skin heroes.

Sleep is an important step in your skin care routine as this is when your body is most active in regenerating cells and busy repairing damage sustained through day-to-day life. This Works understand this and have developed products that work in harmony with the body clock. Their Evening Detox Cleansing Water is a gentle purifying water developed to both deep clean and detox skin from pollutants. Infused with liquorice, a source of vitamin B5, and hyaluronic acid, this product aids the hydration of the skin whilst calming and building strength and resilience, leaving your skin stronger and better equipped to combat future toxins.

Pollution takes its toll on the skin and can cause it to age more quickly by up to 10 per cent for people living in built-up urban areas. To defend the skin against the effects of pollution requires two steps: cleansing to remove pollutants, then applying a protective barrier. Paula’s Choice Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser gently removes skin-dulling pollutants and make-up whilst protecting the skin’s natural barrier. This product harnesses the power of the superfood complex of green tea, liquorice and soy to neutralise surface pollutants. Team with Paula’s Choice Defense Antioxidant Pore Purifier. This product is packed with skin-rejuvenating ingredients. Salicylic acid works to exfoliate and reduce inflammation whilst vitamin C brightens, and azelaic acid calms, soothes and repairs. It’s an anti-pollution powerhouse.

Environmental factors ranging from UV exposure to diet and smoking can cause oxidisation in the skin, creating free radicals which in turn lead to premature 22

MANOR | Late Winter 2019

ageing. Antioxidants help to battle free radicals and really underpin the age-defence technology in skincare.

Vitamins such as E, A and C are widely recognised for their antioxidant properties and are at the forefront of anti-ageing.

Aesop Parsley Seed Anti-Oxidant Serum works wonders for dry skin. Apply this powerful antioxidant serum under moisturiser for a radiant, polished complexion. This product really helps to build and reinforce your defensive barrier.

Elizabeth Arden PREVAGE Antioxidant Infusion Essence contains seven powerful antioxidants. This product packs a powerful punch, both defending against the assault of free radicals and boosting and supporting hydration to leave skin looking youthful and radiant.

An anti-ageing cult classic, this product works wonders for skin that is beginning to develop signs of ageing.

Hydration is key for healthy cells and sometimes our skin requires a little support.

Dry flaky skin may leave you tempted to use an exfoliating scrub to remove the areas of dry skin.

This may not help as your skin is showing signs of dehydration. This means that your skin needs support holding water (not oil). Hyaluronic acid does just that with ability to hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water. Vichy Minéral 89 Hyaluronic Acid Booster is a hyaluronicinfused mineralised water that works to hydrate and tone as a pre-serum/moisturiser booster. Use after cleanser and before moisturiser.

Vitamin C is both an antioxidant and a skin brightener. Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum is a potent skin treatment. Its anti-ageing, skin-refining and brightening properties make it an ideal pick-me-up ideal for dull, lacklustre skin.

beauty Tiredness, dehydration and poor diet can really leave their mark on the eye area.

Origins Ginzing Refreshing Eye Cream to Brighten and Depuff is a wonderfully light eye cream that instantly soothes and brightens with light-reflective properties. Its active ingredient is coffee, which both reduces puffiness and is a powerful antioxidant.

Cold weather, dehydration and central heating can leave skin chapped and flaky and in need of a magic helping hand. Egyptian Magic All-Purpose Skin Cream will do the trick. This product has a special place in my skin rejuvenation kit; I use it for everything from chapped skin to dry cuticles. Encompassing six of nature’s finest ingredients – olive oil, beeswax, honey, bee pollen, royal jelly and bee propolis – with no additives, preservatives or fragrances, this is clean beauty at its finest. bareMinerals Dirty Detox Skin Glowing and Refining Mud Mask is loaded with four mineral-rich clays as well as purifying charcoal to draw out all those impurities. Teamed with the beautifully exfoliating papaya, it will leave your skin

clean, smooth and radiant. Suitable for all skin types.

REN Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask is an enzymatic treatment that harnesses the exfoliating powers of papaya, passion fruit, grape and lemon. This fruity treatment is guaranteed to unclog, exfoliate and renew, reducing the appearance of fine lines. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, omega 3-rich blackcurrant seed oils nourish and repair. It’s a wholesome treat.

If your skin leans slightly toward the oilier end of the scale and is prone to breakouts, Goldfaden MD Facial Detox Pore Clarifying Mask is the ideal choice to calm and clarify. Sulphur aids to decongest and regulate the production of sebum while zinc oxide calms inflammation and cocoons the skin to shield from irritants. Apply once a week as a mask or as needed as an individual spot treatment.

Well, we all know that healthy skin starts from the inside, so I like to team up my face mask time with a cup of Pukka Detox Tea. A yummy infusion of fennel, cardamom and aniseed is sure to aid with the spring clean. elouise@manormagazine.co.uk

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Say it with...

You may have splurged over Christmas but come February, if you’re a romantic traditionalist, there’s another reason to lavish gifts. For some inspiration, we’ve hand-picked a few choice pieces of jewellery – traditional and modern – and if jewellery’s too much of a statement for the stage in your relationship, a couple of other smart accessory ideas guaranteed to delight. Compiled by Amy Tidy.

18ct white gold ruby and diamond ring, Michael Spiers, £2,950

BVLGARI Heritage ‘Pop Heart’ twill silk scarf, Selfridges, £140

18ct white gold and platinum diamond and ruby heart pendant, Mortimers, £4,885 18ct white gold emerald cut sapphire ring with diamonds, Michael Spiers, £13,950

18ct white gold and sapphire floral stud earrings, Mortimers, £1,595

Emerald and diamond ring, Michael Spiers, £6,250

18ct bracelet (available in white, gold, rose gold and yellow gold), Michael Spiers, from £2,450

Aspinal of London owl in the city scarf, Selfridges, £95

18ct white gold diamond heart ring, Mortimers, £6,750

Chloe Fay Day bag, Selfridges, £1,290

DKNY Bryant leather tote, Selfridges, £220

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Spa and wide FISTRAL BEACH HOTEL

ELAN at BOVEY CASTLE

Esplanade Rd, Newquay TR7 1PT | 01637 852221 fistralbeachhotel.co.uk Discover a journey of true relaxation on the Cornish coast. Open the doors and immerse into complete integration of body, mind and spirit; slip into serenity with invigorating treatments, relaxing overnight stays and soothing spa days at Fistral Spa in Newquay, Cornwall, exclusively for adults.

Dartmoor National Park, North Bovey TQ13 8RE | 01647 445021 boveycastle.com/spa The Elan Spa at Bovey Castle is a sanctuary tucked away from the bustle of modern life. Our spa experiences using ESPA products have been created to relax, revive and restore body and spirit.

GAIA SPA at BORINGDON HALL

THE NATURAL HEALTH SPA at BUDOCK VEAN HOTEL

Gaia Spa, Boringdon Hall, Plymouth PL7 4DP | 01752 344455 gaiaboringdon.co.uk Gaia Spa is an award-winning spa set within the grounds of fivestar country house hotel Boringdon Hall, on the edge of Dartmoor.

This world-class facility is a special place that gives guests the time and the space they need to enhance their natural wellness.

Nr Helford Passage, Mawnan Smith, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 5LG 01326 252101 budockvean.co.uk/spa Ideal for a spa break or a day visit, and part of the Budock Vean Hotel, the Natural Health Spa is surrounded by 65 acres of peaceful grounds leading to the Helford River. The Seasonal Spa Day menu changes every four months and offers a wide range of massage, facial and holistic treatments, plus a nail bar, swimming pool, sauna and outdoor hot tub.

ILSINGTON COUNTRY HOUSE HOTEL AND SPA Ilsington Village, Nr Newton Abbot TQ13 9RR | 01364 661452 ilsington.co.uk/Spa Awarded Gold in South West Tourism’s Spa and Wellbeing Experience, Ilsington is the perfect destination for a day of rest and relaxation. Located on Dartmoor, yet only 4 miles from the A38.

COWSHED SPA at ST MORITZ HOTEL Trebetherick, Wadebridge PL27 6SD | 01208 862242 stmoritzhotel.co.uk St Moritz Hotel is proud to have the UK’s only Cowshed Spa outside Soho House properties. The unique rustic-luxe Cowshed spa concept is a perfect match for St Moritz Hotel, a place to offer guests the ultimate space in which to unwind, relax alone or with friends and enjoy a glass of champagne.

To advertise here please email advertising@manormagazine.co.uk or call 07887 556447

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St Ives

My feel-good regime Demelza Prettejohn lives in St Ives with her three daughters, Sabine (21), Siena (18) and Rosa (12). After studying Art and Design at college, she worked in retail management for Laura Ashley, opening up and managing stores all over England. Her yearning for Cornwall and the sea pulled her back and she opened the Beyond The Sea gallery in Padstow in 1994. She always starts the day with a sea swim, followed by packing the girls off to college and school, then heading to her gallery.

My passions are the sea, my beautiful children and sunshine. I love wild flowers and wonderful paintings.

Ever since a young child I have always swum in the sea.

My mornings are so invigorated from a plunge into the ocean. It gives me so much good energy for the day and always takes any problems or woes away. The places where I feel most at peace are Porthminster Beach in the early morning and Trebah Garden near Falmouth.

Cornish towns out of season and sitting by an open log fire, enjoying a nice glass of wine.

Every time I go in the gallery, I feel excited as I never know what each day is going to bring. My day goes so fast, and

then there’s something so special about coming home and spending cosy evenings with my partner and my girls.

I make sure I have balance in my life. I always wake up super

I am passionate about good, healthy food. Nothing gives

me greater pleasure than cooking for my family. I like to experiment, am always looking for new recipes, and love being invited out for dinner. I do enjoy cooking a proper family roast on a Sunday.

One of my top places to eat out is the Alba restaurant in St Ives. The chef Grant Nethercott is exceptional. I also

love Talay, the new Thai restaurant on the harbourfront in St Ives.

Nothing beats a good beach or cliff walk anywhere in Cornwall. I also get a real buzz from visiting the seaside 26

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early – around 6am – and I try to fill my day with wonderful things. All my girls love sport, food and social occasions, so we all work as a team. My indulgences are a lovely glass of wine and I adore crisps, salt and occasional chocolate…

My partner has created an outdoor oasis for my birthday present this year. It already has many wonderful memories.

My friends come to my house and we sit outside by the wood burner, drinking wine, chatting and eating great food.

One of my favourite books is Friendship, Family, Love & Laughter. Edited by Geoff Blackwell, it’s filled with such

powerful, evocative photography.

One of my favourite places in the world is Camps Bay in Cape Town. The way the mountains drop into the sea is

just stunning.

Some of the biggest challenges in my job are doing art fairs and developing new opportunities. I really want to

get better at social media and get more organised!

I do lots of exercise classes at St Ives gym. I get so

much pleasure out of stretching and the feeling of my body really working, and the music they play is superenergising. Always followed by a swim, of course…

If I could change anything about my life, it would be to have more time to spend with my family – my mum, dad, brother and sisters. beyondthesea.co.uk

Camps Bay, Cape Town, South Africa

LANGUISHING IN MY BAG I love Estée Lauder foundation and all the B.Right moisture creams from Benefit – they smell adorable.

I also love Benefit’s roller lash mascara and skincare. Simply wonderful. For my hair, Moroccan oil is the winner every time. It ticks every box. And when it comes to perfume, I always wear Chanel.

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PHOTO: NEIL COOPER

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As I see it...

James Haskell is an English rugby union player who plays for Northampton Saints and internationally for England. A 6ft 4in flanker, he has represented England since his teens and now, aged 33, notched up as many as 78 senior England caps. James makes regular TV and radio appearances, has his own fitness company and has published three books focused on training and sports nutrition. Interview by Imogen Clements.

My focus on nutrition started out of disappointment. I was 15,

had trialed with the England U16s team and didn’t get in. It felt like the end of the world. One of our family friends was a personal trainer. He used to come in twice a week to train me and started asking what I was eating. Then, when I joined Wasps at 17, the nutritionists there, on seeing what I ate, would say, “It’s not enough.” I’d respond, “But I’m eating three meals a day!”

And they’re like, “It doesn’t matter how many meals you have – are you eating more calories than you’re burning?” I play rugby for 80 minutes. I train four to five hours a day in total. No, I’m not. I’m not eating carbohydrates because I want a six-pack. To which they said: “Well, that’s great. But what’s your main source of fuel?”

competition and hard work. You will always get some who excel at things and some who don’t, but that is life.

If you play a contact sport, you’re going to get injured.

Concussion happens in rugby but that’s the nature of the game.

Obviously, you do what you can to manage the injuries, but you cannot change the fundamentals of a sport, because then that sport doesn’t exist. Give parents the choice as to whether their kids play rugby by all means, but don’t try to ban the game.

My mum wouldn’t let me ride horses as a child. “No way am

I letting you do that – you’ll fall off the horse and get hit in the head!” She’d happily let me beat the crap out of people in rugby though, and vice versa.

I sometimes struggle to feel like I’m achieving stuff. I’m a

workaholic. My primary job is to play rugby, but I’ve also opened a gym in Bath, I’ve just published my third book, I DJ, I’ve got a radio show and a weekly podcast. I do lots of different things and my partner thinks it’s too much. But every now and then, when I think, ‘I haven’t played Xbox in years – I’d love to vegetate and play something,’ I go, ‘Hold on a minute, there are 10 more productive things I could be doing.

Let me go and do them instead.’

I never wanted to be a rugby player, I wanted to drive a digger or be in the SAS. My mum was convinced I’d get shot, so I wasn’t

allowed to join the army. As for the digger-driving… bizarrely, I have got one on my driveway. I’m not joking! There’s a guy I do a bit of work for and I’m doing stuff for a team mate. It’s one of my fun hobbies.

My dad once said, “You can sail through life doing very little, or you can take opportunities when they’re presented to you.”

I was lucky enough to go to a public school where there were school plays, after-school clubs, every sport you could think of.

Or you could go to lessons, not work that hard, and probably still do OK. At one point, I was drifting towards the ‘do nothing’ approach and then I realised, ‘Hold on a minute, I have the chance to do it all,’ so I did.

I’m the worst footballer known to man. I’m in awe of footballers.

At a top level it requires incredible skill, but professional football and rugby are like chalk and cheese. If I’d played football to the same level as I have rugby, I’d have played for Chelsea, Real Madrid, probably for an American team and I’d have earned an absolute fortune. I’d be 33 and never having to work again. But I chose rugby. When this ends, I’ve got to get another job, my body is battered and I’m no way near to earning anything like that kind of money. It comes down to the fact that everybody, from most walks of life across the globe, adores football.

I’ve always used music pre-game to be in a good mindset. When

I was 16, stuff like Coldplay and Walking in Memphis were on my playlist. Now, 99 per cent of my music is house music. I used to go to Vegas and Ibiza a lot and fell in love with it there.

I’d see the DJ at the front with his mic, commanding the floor, getting all the attention and I thought, ‘I want some of that!’

So I learned to DJ and do it when training allows, which, to be honest, isn’t very often.

Retirement is something I’ve been planning since I first took to the field. When I was 20, a team mate broke his neck through a

scrummage session and was paralysed for life. It taught me very early on that you need to plan ahead, because you don’t know what’s going to happen.

Life’s much better when you’re training. I’m not saying go to

the gym fanatically. Training could be playing five-a-side with friends or riding your bike, but it really helps with anxiety, stress and mental health. If the rest of your life is absolute hell and you’re in trouble, the one thing you can control is what you put in your body, how you treat it and how much effort you put into it – it’s as simple as that.

Seeing team mates badly injured does shake your confidence.

They don’t hand out jobs to people for the taking part. You

Cooking for Fitness, a recipe book collaboration between James Haskell and performance chef Omar Meziane (Team GB, Wasps, England World Cup football team, 2018) is just published. See page 100 of this issue for some featured recipes.

have to be good at what you do. You don’t get the lifestyle you want without working your arse off and I think fitness and team sports – apart from the health benefits – teach kids camaraderie,

But you choose to do something and know that the risks are part of it. It was a tragedy, but the team mate in question, Matt Hampson, is incredible: he’s set up an amazing charity and achieved some unbelievable things in his life. He’s an inspiration and it shows me how important it is to make the most of what you’ve got.

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Macbeth, Act 5, scene 1, 26–40

PHOTO: MIKE SMALLCOMBE

It’s always when you’re juggling a million things, that someone lobs a curveball at you. While in the throes of getting a start-up business – MANOR Magazine – up and running, founding editor Imogen Clements receives the kind of diagnosis everyone fears.

I

was sitting in the drab windowless consultant plastic surgeon’s room of my local hospital, looking from him to my hands back to him, as he sketched a simple diagram while addressing me in a very black and white manner: “So, we’ll need to carry out a wide excision, taking off a large part of your thumbnail. We’ll analyse the tissue and if the melanoma has gone deeper anywhere – that is, if we find it’s penetrated the dermis – we will need to remove your thumb.”

When a doctor says something like that to you, you feel an urge to look behind and respond, “Who, me?

My thumb? You mean this here right thumb? Really?”

I was a right-handed writer who lived her life out of hand-scribbled notebooks, guzzling 10 mugs of tea a day, but losing your right thumb is not a prospect welcomed by anyone, I presume, in any profession. The opposable thumb is what distinguishes us primates from most other species, allows us to grasp, and gifts us with our high degree of dexterity. I loved my thumb, I didn’t want to lose it.

It was January 2016. We’d just published Issue 8 of MANOR. I’ve tended to mark my life by issue number since I launched the magazine in March 2015. It is an understatement to say that starting a business such as this – a six-weekly substantial magazine – has been all-consuming. It is a mad exercise in spinning a dozen plates and keeping a ball aloft, while running at full sprint. Then someone goes and throws you an ambulance pass such as this. That said, when you’re presented with such a diagnosis, being busy, ridiculously busy, is no bad thing. Distraction is good and I’m pretty sure, with hindsight, it saved my sanity.

The diagnosis, to put it medically, was acral subungual melanoma in situ. A melanoma located in the nail bed of my right thumb. The bad news is that melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer and subungual melanomas the most dangerous type of melanoma, carrying the worst prognosis. The good news was that mine was apparently in situ. In other words, it was in the skin’s upper layer – its epidermis – certainly as far as the initial pathology could tell.

A melanoma’s severity is graded according to the depth of skin it penetrates. Discovery of an in situ melanoma means following up with a wide excision around the site (5mm in all directions) ensuring all risky cells go with it and that there is complete clearance of the area. If it goes deep enough to penetrate the dermis, it gets picked up by the lymph and travels to do damage elsewhere, anywhere, everywhere, which can kill you. So, melanomas need to be eliminated at source to stop them going deeper. Not all dangerous cells are dark, hence the need for a wide excision around the original melanoma’s site.

Why am I telling you this story? I’m not a ‘firstperson’ kind of journalist. Publishers tend to love

Losing your right thumb is not a prospect, I presume, welcomed by anyone, in any profession.

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PHOTO: cancerresearch.com

Streak similar to Imogen’s

One of Imogen’s post-op dressings – can still type!

first-person stories because readers devour them – just consider the number of bloggers out there followed by millions. I am, though, a private individual, and this is a highly personal story, but there is an obvious public health message here – skin cancer is on the rise.

Melanoma incidence rates in the UK have more than doubled in the last 25 years. In 2015, more than 15,900 people were diagnosed with melanoma in the UK; in 2016, 2,285 people died from the disease.

Plus, there are specific individuals whom I’d like to thank – people who made me better thanks to an impressive professionalism and their awe-inspiring surgical expertise; people who allowed me to return to a normal existence where I wasn’t constantly scared, which is the greatest gift.

I have had people, corporate types, warn me, “As a publisher, running your own business, it’s probably best not to tell people what you went through, Imogen.

It shows vulnerability.” I pondered that for a while, then thought, ‘Pah, nonsense!’. We’re all human, all vulnerable, and to look at my right hand, that’s obvious.

I lost a section of my digit, but not all of it. Thanks to a world-leading surgeon, I am typing this today, hitting the space bar with a fully functioning right thumb. Its nail and upper surface above the knuckle, along with all the tissue, nerves and a thin slice of bone, have been removed and replaced with lab-grown artificial dermis (Integra™ in my case), which will, over time, become entirely my own skin and tissue, such is the magic of today’s advanced reconstructive surgery.

Thanks to this London-based plastic surgeon and another highly skilled consultant dermatologist, expert in the art of micrographic surgery, my thumb is clear of risky cells. But it took six bouts of surgery, seven if you include the initial mole removal, and 20 months of worry between diagnosis (Issue 8 of MANOR) and full clearance (Issue 19).

It is pertinent, when you consider how the UK’s poor cancer success rates are put down to catching it too late, 32

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that it took some considerable time prior to 2016 to be correctly diagnosed.

Melanomas are easily missed, and in the early stages not easy to spot, even by experts. I’d first gone to the doctor late in 2013 with a thin black streak on my nail. One morning I’d woken up and there it was, like someone had taken a 2B pencil and ruler and drawn a millimetre-wide line down my thumbnail from cuticle to tip. ‘That’s weird,’ I’d thought and googled it. I was duly terrified to discover just what a black streak on the nail could mean and called the doctor immediately.

You know you’re in trouble when your otherwise relaxed GP frowns, shifts in his seat, takes a closer look, then grabs his magnifier and shifts in his seat again. He referred me to be seen within the two-week period allocated to cancer suspects. The first consultant I saw dismissed it as nothing but to come back in three months if still there. It was. I did. The second consultant I saw was more suspicious, took photos, noted my age – new moles should always be looked at carefully in those over 40 – and suggested that I keep an eye on it and come back in another three months. I did. She was reassured that nothing had happened (the line was neither darker nor fatter) but hauled in a third consultant to take a look.

He assured me that he looks for three things to indicate a subungual melanoma: firstly, a mottled streak on the nail (just as suspect moles tend to be mottled and not uniform in colour); secondly, a streak that’s wider at the bottom (indicating rapid growth); and finally, a dark patch of skin at the base of the nail. I presented with none of these.

Therefore, much to my immense relief, I was discharged.

Of course, the only way to truly know if something is benign is to remove and look at it under the microscope which, in my case, would entail removing the nail, something many dermatologists are reluctant to do lightly, I’ve subsequently been told.

Fast forward two years. It’s September 2015, I’ve started the magazine and we’ve just published Issue 4.

feature

This is a highly personal story, but there is an obvious public health message here – skin cancer is on the rise

I’m sitting at the kitchen table of my friend, Ione, who’d helped style the initial covers and who, on catching sight of the streak on my nail, took an audibly sharp intake of breath and exclaimed, “Oh my God, you’ve got one of those. My father-in-law’s cousin’s wife (these things are quite rare) had one of those. She died from it.”

“You know, you’re right,” I flinched. “I’m still uneasy about it. I’ll go back to the doctor.” I went back to my GP and he referred me again, as he had done over two years previously. After some insistence on my part, the dermatology team agreed to remove the mole and analyse it. I heard nothing for two months.

My melanoma was not an open and shut case. As one dermatologist put it, there is no diagnostic fine line – one pathologist’s melanoma is another’s abnormal mole. Mine had been sent to London. London diagnosed melanoma and I got the call which landed me in the aforementioned consultant plastic surgeon’s windowless room at my local hospital in January 2016, contemplating the loss of my right thumb.

This surgeon performed a wide excision on my thumb two weeks later and a skin graft, taken from the inside of my left elbow – left elbow in case bad cells had begun to travel up my right arm – was applied to the wound. My right thumb was now three quarters bald. I’d asked the surgeon to leave some nail to allow for a false one to be fixed to it. It was a neat job and, I was told, several nerve-wracking weeks later, was successful. All was now clear. Immense, tear-jerking relief once again.

Back to getting on with my life, again.

Except… the dermatology team wanted to keep me under observation, following me up every three months for a year. I told my friend Ian, a doctor, about it. “You need to ask them why they’re following you up. What it is they’re looking for.” So, after some probing on my part, it materialised that the sample of tissue removed from my thumb, the wide excision, was fragmented on arrival at the lab and not entire. There was, effectively, a bit missing. As a result, despite it seeming clear, they wanted to keep an eye on me, to err on the side of caution. My relief started to fray around the edges.

With each follow-up I became more concerned. My body was examined for melanomas each time, the glands beneath my arms and my liver were felt for any sign of abnormality – apparently, melanoma often spreads to the liver was the response when I asked – and it became clear to me that they were checking that none of the tissue missing

at the lab had in fact been left behind in my thumb, turned out to be malicious and had metastasised (spread). By which point, presumably, it’s a bit late? This struck me as a ‘stabledoor’s-open-the-horse-has-bolted’ retrospective approach to assessing clearance and left me uneasy.

But, I had a magazine to publish and deadlines forever loomed. I’m too busy to question. They know what they’re doing. The risk is minimal, they insisted.

I must get on. I don’t have time not to. There are numerous ‘sliding doors’ to this story – moments when I could have done one thing but chose to do another, and I’m very glad that I did. I very nearly didn’t. Let’s be clear, a malignant melanoma that’s metastasised is a difficult thing to treat. They can, and frequently do, kill people. I was in my forties. I did not want to be in another windowless consultant’s room in a couple of years from now, listening to him say, “I’m sorry Mrs Clements, but…” and think if only I’d not been so busy.

Every journalist has their approach to writing – I tend to finally get around to it, having run out of diversionary tactics, then write and write, read, and re-write in between scrolling BBC News, then Twitter, then Google etc. I need a wiki-respite, a trivia reward at the end of a long section, before fathoming how to start the next. During one such moment, after my third hospital follow-up, I’d poured myself a cup of tea and googled ‘consultant dermatologist, London’. Many names came up, aligned to various hospitals across the capital but one, for whatever reason – I think I liked his face; it seemed both expert and kindly – caught my eye. During that opportune moment of writer’s block, I decided I wasn’t so busy to not get a second opinion, privately, in a hospital far removed from where I was being treated and wrote to his secretary to book an appointment.

A couple of weeks later I was on my way to London on the train. We were now approaching Issue 15 (October 2016) and I was madly juggling a phone interview scheduled with Chris Tarrant, at the same time as seeing, privately, the kindly-faced consultant to double-check that the post-op follow-ups were due procedure. (In the end, I needed to take the call from Chris Tarrant in an empty side room of the London hospital, but that’s another story…)

My appointment was at 2pm in the Shard. The consultant’s clinic was located on the sixth floor and to arrive, you feel like you’ve walked into hospital, circa 2050. The lift swishes open and you announce your arrival not to a person behind reception but tap it into a five-foot tablet. Moments later I was sat in front of Clive Archer, the consultant dermatologist I’d picked out from Google. He can’t have been much older than me but seemed several decades wiser – always reassuring in a medical professional. He checked my moles and glands and reassured me that I was being managed well.

He explained that nail bed tissue is very delicate and often fragments in transit. Job done. Reassured, I prepared to MANOR | Late Winter 2019

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It can never be good, when you’re in theatre, to hear your surgeon say, on opening you up, ‘Hmm, that’s interesting’, then lower her voice to murmur observations to her apprentice surgeon.

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PHOTO: ALASTAIR LEVY

leave, chatting about how I’d been concerned about the missing tissue, that if something sinister had been left behind, I’d be oblivious to it as the nail that harboured the warning streak was now gone, replaced by a skin graft masking any potential mischief – mischief that could lead to my losing my thumb, or worse. He paused for a second as I said this, and replied, “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.

We’ll send for your slides and I will review your case with a top plastic surgeon in this field, someone I work a lot with at Guy’s. She and I will decide whether it’s worth taking further action. I’ll write to your GP to refer you to her.”

A couple of months later, I sat with my sister in Guy’s Hospital waiting to meet Jenny Geh, the consultant plastic surgeon he’d referred me to. She breezed in, having come from the other myriad cases she’d seen that day and I sensed immediately, by her efficient but friendly manner, that I was in the very best hands. I explained the situation, about how the results were not entirely conclusive because of tissue fragmentation. I told her I was concerned that should anything remain, I could face a situation where I lose my thumb. She looked at me perplexed. “We don’t do that anymore. Amputate digits, that is. There was a time when we did with melanoma, even whole limbs, but not now. Only if the digit is really diseased through cancer or causing a lot of pain would we consider it.” That was not what I’d been given to understand. It was clear to me then that varied and radical schools of thought on treatment of melanoma still resided in the medical world.

I had carried the fear of amputation for over a year and in that moment felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Even if the worst had happened, I’d keep my thumb. Jenny told me that she’d requested the slides; they showed the sample of tissue to be incomplete and that the only way I could get full peace of mind was for her to do the excision again. She felt the risk was minimal but would operate to remove the current skin graft, along with the rest of my nail and fill the cavity with a magical substance called Integra™.

Integra™ is a synthetic skin: a lab-grown composite of bovine collagen and shark cells that would act as both filling and graft, without the need to take flesh from elsewhere on my body.

This artificial dermis, it turns out, is a dreamlike substance for anyone requiring intricate or extensive

Jenny Geh, consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon

reconstructive surgery. According to Jenny, it acts as a form of scaffolding adopting the composition of the skin it’s sewn into, allowing your own skin’s capillaries around it to slowly grow into it and absorb it. In doing so, it takes the form of the skin that surrounds it, and so works anywhere on the body, stretching better than a standard skin graft would. After a couple of years, it will have ‘dissolved’ entirely to be replaced by my own tissue, such that were I to have a biopsy, it would show only my own skin.

Jenny had been using Integra™ in reconstructive surgery for almost 20 years and is one of the world’s leading experts in its use. She asked if I’d be happy to have her do this and I didn’t hesitate. The operation was booked for the end of March 2017 and I showed up at St Thomas’s, registered and gowned up, confident that, as everyone had assured me several times, things would be clear and I could finally get on.

All my operations involved local anaesthetic – lots of brown iodine being painted over my right hand and forearm, followed by several anaesthetic injections applied to the area in question. I was, as a result, fully conscious throughout every bout of surgery on my thumb and acutely aware of every reaction and response of the surgeon each time.

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF GUY’S AND ST THOMAS’ HOSPITAL

Rakesh Patalay, consultant dermatologist and dermatological surgeon

It can never be good when you’re in theatre, therefore, to hear your surgeon say on opening you up, “Hmm, that’s interesting,” then lower her voice to murmur observations to her apprentice surgeon. There was, she explained to me afterwards, some infection and other stuff that looked pigmented. She’d cleared it all out, she assured me, but this was clearly not expected and I was, at this point, at my most worried. It had been 14 months since the first wide excision, 16 months since I’d first had that small black dot excised from my nail bed. By now, I was certain that melanoma traces had indeed been left behind, gone deeper and spread; that, effectively, my days were numbered.

Sitting in Guy’s waiting room two weeks later for the results, I contemplated the worst. Jenny Geh, I felt, was braced to deliver bad news. I had my husband with me.

She delivered the news. There was melanoma still there.

It was still in situ and therefore not cancerous – huge sigh of relief from husband and me – but had now spread to cover the upper surface of my thumb above the knuckle and she needed to clear it because it was likely it would turn cancerous.

Jenny’s treatment plan was two-pronged: first, to clear the periphery or outer edges of the danger zone and then clear all within, again. To remove the periphery required taking concentric circles of flesh, sending them each time for analysis then repeating the surgery, going a little wider each time, until it came back clear. This was Mohs surgery, developed by Frederic Mohs in 1938.

Mohs surgery is used on areas of the body where tissue preservation is key – so face, hands and feet and not generally back and trunk. It is often done on the same day, keeping the patient in theatre, while the tissue is analysed. In my case it was over consecutive days.

I have small hands – my thumb measures about 15mm across. Taking off concentric circles of tissue from an already excised central section that measured 10x10mm would be a tricky job. Jenny introduced me to my Mohs

surgeon, consultant dermatologist and dermatological surgeon Rakesh Patalay, who was shown the area for attention and I was booked in over Easter 2017.

I duly arrived at Guy’s Cancer Centre, the new modern treatment centre in London Bridge opened in 2016. It’s amazing, designed by top architects, funded by the Trust and private contributors from across the globe. Slick and airy, the building spans 10 floors and is split into villages: the welcome village, the radiotherapy village, the chemotherapy village, the innovation hub and the outpatients village, where dermatology surgery is located. I was registered and sat in the waiting room listening to another patient discuss chirpily with those around her how cancer on her nose had spread extensively, “So I said, look doctor, just take it off.” She now had a full prosthetic nose.

I was called, gowned, then taken into a small theatre to be daubed again in iodine and have the thumb numbed. I spent a lot of time staring out of that little theatre’s window watching the clouds float past as more and more of my thumb was cut away.

I needed three bouts of Mohs surgery in total. Each day I’d come back, sit in the waiting room, and Dr Patalay would come out, sit down and say, “I’m sorry Imogen, I’m going to have to take you back in.” Although mine wasn’t, yet, this was my first real insight into the pernicious nature of cancer – bad cells dividing and spreading and the need to get ahead and cut them off literally, rapidly, in their path. The third time he came to the waiting room to tell me, apologetically, that it was still not clear, I remained composed until I got to theatre, lay on the bed and started to cry, then became consumed by quiet, shoulder-shaking sobs. I was exhausted from juggling the madness of work with the emotional rollercoaster of extreme fear, relief, then fear and was beginning to think that this may never have an end. My entire thumb could be covered. Dr Patalay walked in to start but, seeing me in a state, vacated the room to give me some dignity, and in came what I can only describe as an angel – a warm, soft, beautiful black nurse, who came over, took my good hand, stroked my head and comforted me. She had the kindest, almost hypnotic eyes that showered sympathy down on me like a balm. I didn’t see her again, but she remains a lasting memory as an individual whose affinity for care felt

I was exhausted from juggling the madness of work with the emotional rollercoaster of extreme fear, relief, then fear and was beginning to think that this may never have an end.

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PHOTO: MIKE SMALLCOMBE

Now all is healed, and this journey seems like a distant memory. If I’m going out, I put a false nail on my thumb and no one would know, but a lot of the time I don’t bother. People don’t notice and if they do, I don’t really care.

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– its advancement, immense expertise, and other-worldly care; the very best of humanity.

Now all is healed, and this journey seems like a distant memory. If I’m going out or feeling the need to glam up, I put a false nail on my right thumb and absolutely no one would know, but a lot of the time I don’t bother. People don’t notice and if they do, I don’t really care.

Lessons I’ve learned? You know your body better than anyone. Prevention is so much better than cure, particularly as cure may no longer be an option.

Do not bake and burn in the sun, and check your moles regularly. I’ve learned that our health service is phenomenal but overstretched and not infallible. Lessen the burden, look after yourself as best you can, take up the screening invitations and pursue peace of mind, however demanding your job is. Most of all, never underestimate the gift of wellness. It’s easy to take it for granted. Treasure it and make the most of it. Life’s too short and unpredictable not to.

PHOTOS: MIKE SMALLCOMBE

nothing short of spiritual. Dr Patalay came back in and, seeing me now composed, consulted the pathology map relating to my thumb, checked I was OK, and got on with the next intricate excision.

The following day he approached me in the waiting room, this time with a wide smile. “It’s clear,” he said.

“We’ve cleared the edges.” I was dazed. “Jenny Geh is in surgery over at St Thomas’s now and thinks she can squeeze you in to do the middle section. Take your notes, don’t lose them, and hurry over there!”

I wanted to hug him. I thanked him profusely and raced out to take the tube to Waterloo clasping my thick wad of medical notes. Jenny saw me as I arrived at reception. “It’s good news, isn’t it?” she said, and, with the receptionist, slotted me in to the 10+ operations she was due to perform that day.

She took no chances, scooping out the central area to the edges, then taking a surgical saw to remove a thin slice of the upper surface of bone. She filled the cavity with a thick layer of the wonderful Integra™, tacking it to the edges of my healthy skin along with a very thin graft from my thigh to cover the wound.

I saw her two weeks later and she was pleased to report that all tissue taken that day, flesh and bone, was now clear, presenting me with all the lab reports to prove it. I had complete peace of mind, was melanoma-free and still had my thumb. It had taken over one and a half years since the suspect mole was first removed; one and a half years of proverbial dense black cloud hanging over me. Since first noticing that innocuous-looking dark streak on my nail, I had experienced delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, a variety of opinions, and had had my own concerns dismissed as extreme anxiety, hysteria, hypochondria or work-related stress. I had also experienced the very best of our national health service

Today: without and with false nail

In conversation with Jenny Geh, Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, London.

How did the use of artificial dermis like Integra™ come about?

PHOTO: ALASTAIR LEVY

It was really invented to replace loss of tissue where there was no blood supply – often burns, sometimes open wounds. It’s a template, a patch, that’s laid over the area. The patient’s own blood vessels grow into it so allowing new skin to grow. Standard skin grafts mean taking skin from elsewhere on the body and in people who have lost a lot of skin for whatever reason, this can’t be done. Also, skin grafts don’t adhere to bone (as bone doesn’t have a blood supply) so you can’t go as deep to clear a site, as we did with your case. This artificial dermis Integra™ does. If I’d put a standard skin graft on your thumb, it would have come off.

How did you start using it?

I was treating burns at the time. Standard skin grafts don’t have a fatty tissue layer underneath the scar, so after time the scar gets really tight. After 20 years, patients would come back to have their scar released and it would need something on top.

So Integra™ was initially used for that, but at the start it never worked very well. It would get infected and fall off. Yet the concept behind it was great, so we let it lie a little and I went off for a year to do some research. Then I came back into clinical practice and started using it again and it worked this time.

People survived and got better.

Why? What were you doing differently?

It was the same formation, but I did all of the looking after the patients afterwards, from putting it on through to healing.

Before, as surgeons, we would put it on then typically leave the aftercare to the nurses who didn’t know what they were dealing with. I did all sorts of things to ensure it survived: kept washing it, redressing it, giving the patient antibiotics – things that surgeons wouldn’t normally do. Many surgeons lost patience with it quite quickly when it didn’t work and wouldn’t use it again. Plus initially, it was quite expensive.

Why is melanoma so difficult to diagnose?

Under the microscope it can look like abstract art. You get pigmented cells that act differently to normal cells. But there are lots of varieties of normal cells, and lots of different types of moles that look very different under the microscope from one person to the next. The clever thing is that now we can use immunohistochemistry to stain certain types of proteins to show if tissue is cancerous or not. So, you’re looking at something visually, then you’re using stains to make things light up, or not. It is a highly skilled process.

Is melanoma always sun-related?

No, it’s multifactorial: partly genetic or sometimes you will have been exposed unknowingly to something that has changed your entire mechanism. Your genetics could mean that you could be pretty good at repairing things and then at some point you’ve been more susceptible. But sunburn is the main link that we have found in research. We can’t do much about the other factors, but we can about that. Sunbeds, in

particular, in my opinion should be banned. I would totally advise against sunbed use in any form. The link is strong for sunbed use and skin cancer and it’s usually young susceptible people who use them. One visit is one too many.

Why do subungual (under the nail) melanomas have the worst prognosis?

Because people take a long time to do anything about them.

They are quite rare, certainly in white people, and health practitioners and dermatologists are reluctant to remove nails, because, as in your case, it sometimes means removing the nail bed. This means losing your nail permanently, when the mole may be benign. I’ve had to remove two nails recently where the moles turned out to be benign, but it’s better to know. If in doubt, get referred to a plastic surgeon. Other surgeons may be less familiar with taking biopsies from digits or under nails.

What are your thoughts regarding curing cancer and the latest advances in immunotherapy, particularly when it comes to skin cancer?

Well, we already cure a lot of people with cancer, particularly where we find it early. That’s generally been through surgery.

We’ve only just started using the new drugs, and sadly there is only a percentage of people who respond. It’s about your immune system, which is highly complex, and how it deals with trauma and attack. I don’t think there’ll ever be a time when we cure every cancer, but there is a rapidly growing range of options. It’s a remarkable time actually. Although the aim is to cure, I think the realistic aim should be to live with it and manage it, such that it no longer kills and isn’t the frightening diagnosis it is today.

As a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, what is your aim in each case?

We would aim to restore both function and form. That is, with injury or cancer, we try to repair the damage caused and put the patient back to living as full a life as possible. What’s interesting is that people don’t know much about plastic surgery, what it’s about and what our role is. It’s a lot more than surgery that’s purely cosmetic.

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AshĂĄninka Aerial image of river and rainforest

Cool Earth, based in Falmouth, is a rainforest charity that puts the indigenous communities first – supporting local initiatives for everything from healthcare and education to clean water and sustainable harvesting. Words by Fiona McGowan. Photos courtesy of Cool Earth.

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hen Brazil is in trouble, the world is in trouble. Just as the parks of London are known as the lungs of the city, the Amazon rainforest is not just the lungs of the world, it is the very thing that could slow climate change as it goose-steps towards us in double-time. Brazil’s new president has vowed to remove the rights of the indigenous people in the rainforest and sell off large tracts of it to mining, agriculture and hydro-power. Within weeks of taking office, he is already exhorting his government to remove controls that protect the rainforest. And there’s precious little anyone can do about it.

It is partly for this reason that environmentalists are desperately seeking ways to preserve rainforests elsewhere

in the world. Peru is also home to Amazon rainforest: a massive 60 per cent of its land is covered in tropical forest – all threatened by illegal logging, oil prospecting/ mining and gold mining. The rainforests of Central Africa are equally threatened – especially in the war-torn countries of Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic as well as neighbouring Cameroon. In Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia have been farming palm oil and logging for so long that much of the rainforest has already been destroyed; but there are other areas such as in Cambodia and Papua New Guinea where forest is still standing – and still in desperate need of protection. It is so easy to feel hopeless when faced with the catastrophic results of deforestation and increased carbon emissions, but the fight is still real and the challenges are still being faced by NGOs all over the world.

One such organisation is Cool Earth. Set up in 2007 and based in Falmouth, its remit is to help indigenous communities around the world find a way to strengthen their claim on their home. Ridiculous as it may seem, it is very easy for these people to have their homes literally cut from under their feet. Legally or illegally, prospectors can offer money to communities and begin the work of building cattle ranches or logging or mining or crop farming. Cool Earth helps to support communities to find their own way to subsist without destroying the forest around them. It is a Jacob’s Ladder of a challenge.

For every solution, another problem arises. Introduce a system in one small community in Peru, and there’s no guarantee that it will work 200 miles away in the same country, let alone in the Congo or Papua New Guinea. Matthew Owen, director of Cool Earth since its inception, is deeply aware of these struggles, and has spent the last 10 years working with his team to come up with practical solutions to each issue.

One of the biggest changes in the last decade, he says, is that those massive swathes of cleared rainforest which once made way for ranches, soya crop farming and logging are now less of a problem: “Today, areas that are under a quarter of a square kilometre account for 70-80 per cent of all deforestation,” he explains.

“So we’ve gone from industrial-scale clearing of forest to a far smaller-scale process. It still adds up to huge amounts of forest, but we need very different ways to address it.” There are many reasons for this change, says Matthew – partly because government crackdowns on large-scale clear-cutting has forced it underground, with smaller, illegal plantations and logging enterprises coming into force. Another issue is that many rainforests are in post-conflict areas, where populations are experiencing baby booms and now require more land for growing crops. The vast majority of rainforest communities create a livelihood by carrying out ‘slash and burn’ agriculture techniques. But, says Matthew, “If you clear the forest like that, the growing material disappears very quickly and becomes, if not infertile, MANOR | Late Winter 2019

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then very low productive farmland, which is why slash and burn leads to a cycle of more and more clearance.”

Add to that the fact that the most inaccessible areas of the world are becoming more and more connected, with roads being built to serve remote communities.

These then open up huge areas of previously untouched forest to prospectors keen to take advantage of the prized hardwoods, oil or mineral-rich land, and agricultural opportunities… The problems facing the rainforests can seem unsurmountable.

But Cool Earth and other international charities are doing their best to solve the problems, one patch at a time.

The Falmouth-based NGO has around 20 employees in the UK and double that on the payroll in the countries in which they work. Their solutions are both simple in concept and complex in application. The basic idea is that they help to fund communities to protect their own backyards. Much of it is about learning which solutions work and which don’t.

Their billionaire founder once bought 400,000 acres of rainforest in Brazil with the intention of protecting it from logging. While this idea didn’t work very effectively – he faced accusations of ‘green colonialism’ from the Brazilian government – it did lead him to set up Cool Earth to try to find alternative ways to protect the forest.

Aerial image of Cutivireni, Peru

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After years of working on the ground, says Matthew, the organisation has discovered that: “It’s not about taking control and ownership, it’s making sure that you can provide alternatives to the illegal logging or the aggressive slash and burn so that people can still feed their families.”

One model was to use funds from donors to outbid the loggers – offering a long-term investment to the local community association in return for them managing and monitoring the forest around them. It was highly successful with the Asháninka and other remote communities in Peru.

Many of their ideas, he says, are both scalable and applicable to other rainforest communities around the world.

However, in Papua New Guinea, that particular funding system fell down dramatically. There were problems with powerful leaders making decisions that only benefited their families. In the end, Cool Earth found that giving exactly the same parcels of money to every single family with the proviso that each looked after their patch of forest worked pretty successfully.

Because the problems facing the rainforest are so varied, it has led to the development of a huge array of NGOs – from the small local ones to the massive international ones – each tackling the issues in their own ways. Matthew is keen to emphasise that Cool Earth

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What Cool Earth is trying to do is absolutely critical to the equation of addressing climate change. All we can do is keep the forests standing while politicians continue to talk.

Matthew Owen and Tony Juniper in Cutivireni on the Rio Ene in Peru

Community members in Oviri, Peru

is all about collaboration, working for the most part with indigenous people and local charities. “We’re very keen on ensuring that we don’t adopt the white saviour mentality – just arriving there on the forest floor with a whole bunch of solutions for everyone’s problems, which never really work.” He expands: “Instead, we provide resources for people to understand the issues. If they take them up or if they don’t, it’s entirely up to them. If someone needs to be trained in our suggested solutions, we don’t send one of our team from Cornwall – we’ll send, for example, people from Peru to Honduras, where they can learn exactly what works there and what doesn’t work. We’ll then do an exchange between different communities within Peru itself.”

Cool Earth is dedicated to helping communities become self-sufficient so that, after a few years of

support, they are no longer dependent on the charity.

This might mean encouraging them to introduce sustainable agriculture and helping them to set up networks for export. How, you might ask, do you encourage agriculture without cutting down the forest?

Cool Earth works with another Cornwall-based charity, the Inga Foundation, to show that planting alleys with small trees called Inga trees can provide shelter for crops to be grown without the need to cut and burn large areas of forest. The ‘alleyways’ are sustainable and can be replanted year after year.

While it is important to change legislation at national and international level, it is the very remoteness of the world’s rainforests that makes them particularly vulnerable to illegal logging. So even if the international furore about palm oil and unsustainable hardwoods leads to local governments putting in rules, it is incredibly hard to monitor and enforce these laws. For every seemingly hopeless situation, though, there is the tenacious work of NGOs to find solutions. Matthew says that the development of AI and surveillance technology can help not only governments, but charities like Cool Earth to see where some of the flashpoints might be, and where they need to support the local communities to fight corruption and illegal logging. Partnering with academics has been key: “We’re working with universities in Exeter, Cambridge and Melbourne,” he says. “My last meeting was with the University of Oxford’s and some smart techy businesses – like Planet Labs, who have designed some of the most advanced mini satellites who fly in flocks of 40 or 50 to give you a cloud of images pretty much 24 hours a day.”

Cool Earth is much smaller than many of the other rainforest charities, with arguably less visibility than the likes of the Rainforest Foundation, but their advantage is that they are more flexible in their approach.

Matthew explains that while bigger NGOs have separate departments for funding, research, marketing and operations, Cool Earth has a more fluid structure: “We usually hire people from academia, or the private sector, because then our team doesn’t just follow the playbook that charities have been doing for decades – they think of the problem anew and figure out different ways of approaching it.”

Rainforests are as vital to halting climate change as reducing our carbon emissions, and the work of charities that are protecting them is intrinsic to our survival. And from an office on the Falmouth University campus, Cool Earth is not just protecting the forests and their ecosystems but saving communities and their ways of life. “I think,” says Matthew thoughtfully, “what Cool Earth is trying to do is absolutely critical to the equation of addressing climate change. All we can do is keep the forests standing while politicians continue to talk.” coolearth.org

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Four South Devon women swap their hockey sticks for oars as they row across the Atlantic. Words by Anna Turns.

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he calm sheltered waters of Salcombe estuary might seem a world away from the mighty 40-foot waves of the open Atlantic Ocean, but for Chloe Harvey, mum and daughter Louise and Emily Read, and Helen Symons, this has been their training ground for the past 18 months as they have prepared for the biggest challenge of their lives. As the Astro to Atlantic crew, they are one of only three allfemale fours currently competing in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, rowing 3,000 miles unassisted from La Gomera in the Canaries to Antigua in the Caribbean.

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“We are going into the unknown,” says Chloe, who literally dropped her oar while the crew spotted a pod of dolphins when training just off the South Devon coast.

“Teams that have trained in big waves haven’t done any better in ocean races than teams like us who are new to these conditions.”

The idea first came about when Louise and Helen were running from John O’Groats to Land’s End a few years ago. “On one day in particular, we were running up so many hills in the wind and rain – it was tough and we said to each other it would have been easier to

feature row the Atlantic because it’s flat,” explains Helen, who subsequently received a text from Louise on New Year’s Eve 2016 saying: “Right then, let’s do it.” And so by spring 2017, the four women, who have all played hockey together for 14 years, decided they had better learn to row. Despite each being super sporty, their hockey training is all about cardio fitness and sprinting – very different to the endurance and strength required to row a boat across an ocean. But as Helen puts it: “We all wanted a new challenge.”

“Now here we are, two years down the line, having trained and learnt everything we need to know for our trip,” says Chloe. “From sea survival training and first aid at sea to navigation exams and VHF radio. The rest of our prep has been about getting fit and learning how to fix and maintain our boat, Huntress.”

Packed full of essentials such as enough food for 60 days, water and medical supplies, the women have sneaked in a few treats too – from Christmas party hats, bunting, a bottle of bubbly, Christmas cake, wine gums and crisps, and a few small presents for the three crew members all celebrating birthdays on board. They are also taking a good supply of music, podcasts and audio books, although apparently Chloe sings loudly a lot: “I’m the human jukebox!” she laughs. Crew dynamics must be one of the driving forces for any adventure this big, and each woman has their role to play. As well as providing the in-house entertainment, Chloe is the power and strength behind the oars: “I just keep pulling them. I think I have quite a high pain threshold, but we’ll see. I haven’t rowed the Atlantic before…”

Helen is a calm and positive motivator and she likes to fill the spaces when there is silence. She is level-headed in a stressful situation and always ready to find a solution

to any problem. Emily is described by her team mates as very practical, grounded, and wiser than her years. “She turns 21 while we are away and I think it is just the start for her. She will go on to big things, and it’s great that she does her first big adventure with her mum!” says Helen. In fact, they will only be the second mother-anddaughter team to have ever rowed this event together.

And Louise, the ‘mother hen’, is the organiser and the voice of reason: “I’ve been in charge of all the long lists and I’m the admin queen.”

Days and nights will be spent rowing two oars each in pairs steadily for two-hour stints and sleeping for short bursts, so any normal sense of a body clock will no doubt be chucked overboard, but a strong competitive streak runs through all four crew members and they have high hopes: “We would love to break a record,” says Helen.

“Last year, the world record for four women rowing the Atlantic was set at 34 days – they had phenomenal winds in the right direction so they sped across, and the British record for four women is 40 days. It is really weatherdependent though.” Every time they come out of the cabins, they will be harnessed on at two points for safety and there will be times when they have to tie themselves on and jump off to snorkel and scrape off the limpets, barnacles and seaweed that attach to the hull and slow the boat down.

As a small rowing boat, Huntress will be more easily influenced by sea state than larger sailing boats are, so they have employed two experts to weather route them across the Atlantic. Imogen and Harry Robinson, experienced sailors and co-founders of My Passage Plan, are also Salcombe-based and will help predict the weather patterns and set their route: “We really admire these women – you’ll never get ocean swell training here

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We want to inspire people to step outside their comfort zones. We are not rowers and we have got this far, so it makes us feel massively empowered as women in the English Channel but once they find their rhythm and get used to life at sea, they’ll gain more confidence in reading the elements,” says Imogen, who will be emailing the team every couple of days with an up-todate navigation plan.

If the storms and possible hurricanes do set in, it will literally be a case of battening down the hatches. “We will hunker down in the two cabins at each end of the boat and ride it out. It will be noisy with the waves crashing and the instruments beeping right next to the cabin, but our boat is built to survive those situations and to self-right,” says Chloe. “Those big rolling waves are going to be quite frightening the first time we experience them. We have been told we can wear crash helmets if we want!” The crew have packed walkie-talkies so they can communicate between the cabins at each end of the boat during rough weather. “The worst part of it mentally is the thought of how far off track we are getting blown, losing miles that we have already rowed,” says Helen.

Having bulked up with carbs in the run-up to the event, the women may each lose up to two stone in weight during the 3,000-mile journey. No doubt, it will be intense, and there will be good days and bad days, so they have planned some code words to say if some days they really don’t feel like chatting. “Eighty per cent of this challenge is a mental one,” says Chloe, “so we have done some work with a counsellor to understand how our minds work in stressful situations and how we can train them to deal with difficult scenarios. We are lucky

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feature we are all good friends and have known each other for a long time. Some teams go and do this row not having known each other well beforehand, so we feel like this team bond is a huge advantage.”

“We want to inspire people to step outside their comfort zones. We are not rowers and we have got this far, so it makes us feel massively empowered as women,” says Chloe, and Helen agrees that nothing is impossible. “It doesn’t have to be rowing the Atlantic but just have a go at something. When I am 90 years old sat in my chair, I can think back to this amazing thing I did when I was 33. It’s just about pushing those boundaries, whatever that may be for you.” The mix of ages makes this crew unique too: “Our diverse age range just goes to show that anyone of any age can do this and enjoy it, even if I am old enough to be all of their mothers,” laughs Louise. “Anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it: look at us!”

Once they reach the Canaries, they test the watermaker for the first time, then repack the boat before weigh-ins, inspections and scrutineering tests. Setting off from La Gomera with just open ocean ahead of them, they’ll be braced for the ride. Always the optimist, Helen

is ready for the huge rolling waves that “will just get us to the finish quicker!” The women will keep their eyes peeled for wildlife too – turtles, dolphins, whales and probably lots of flying fish that tend to land on the decking and need throwing back overboard.

By the time they reach land again, it will be time to party, and then adjust to a new perspective – perhaps decluttering their home, buying a puppy and appreciating the little things that little bit more, changing jobs or planning more exciting adventures. As Helen says: “I love my job but part of me wonders if I’ll decide I want to do something else. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up anyway!” Chloe agrees the future is quite unknown: “People say a row like this can be quite life-changing. Lots of people go to the South Pole or climb Everest after this. Everyone keeps asking us what’s next and actually we need to do this first!”

Astro to Atlantic is raising money for Devon Air Ambulance. The team set off on 12 December and are hoping to complete the journey before the end of January. To donate and follow the team’s progress, visit: astro-to-atlantic.co.uk

WHO’S WHO: CHLOE HARVEY, 27 Job: Paralegal Previous rowing experience: None Biggest fear about this challenge: Storms, capsizing and equipment failure Most looking forward to returning home for: A hot shower LOUISE READ, 49/50 Job: Financial advisor Previous rowing experience: Rowing little wooden boats around Salcombe estuary Biggest fear about this challenge: That we have forgotten to pack something Most looking forward to returning home for: A beer and the ability to stand up properly EMILY READ, 20/21 Job: In between jobs at the moment Previous rowing experience: Some cornish pilot gig rowing in Salcombe estuary Biggest fear about this challenge: Seasickness – overnight training rows haven’t been the best experience Most looking forward to returning home for: A comfy bed HELEN SYMONS, 32/33 Job: Driving instructor Previous rowing experience: None Biggest fear about this challenge: Running out of food, even though it tastes disgusting!

Most looking forward to returning home for: A proper cup of tea

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Bike frames

“I began photographing bikes by chance really. I became friendly with local World Cup Downhill rider Jay Williamson who, at the time, rode for Wideopenmag Race Team. Around 2013 their photographer decided to move on, so I applied for the position and was given it.

“Photographing the world’s best riders showcasing their skills, in some of the best locations on earth, is incredibly rewarding, particularly when you nail some amazing images!

“Conditions can be challenging, so you have to adapt well to any situation.

Planning can play a huge part in creating the best shots: choose your location; if necessary, build a feature jump; wait for the right conditions but also be looking to create something different from the norm.

“Photographing racing is a whole different kettle of fish. Unless you’ve been there before, you get one chance to see the track before practice begins and you have to think quickly on your feet for the right angle.”

Photographer Ian Lean

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IAN LEAN A freelance photographer from Cornwall, Ian specialises in action and adventure, predominantly within the mountain bike (MTB) industry. He takes commissions from various magazines, brands, resorts and companies. Outside of MTB photography, Ian photographs surfing which has led him to be commissioned by environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage for various projects. Not all commissions need to be sport related, however.

Landscape photography is also a passion of Ian’s, seeing him visit various stunning locations while travelling, but also as a result of living in Cornwall. ianlean.co.uk @ianleanphoto on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter

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Culture The Box’s Nigel Hurst | Yinka Shonibare MBE South West must sees | The Exhibition Space | Worth making the trip for | Staying in

Maggie Matthews, Harvest Moon, part of the ‘Winter Collection’ exhibition at Cornwall Contemporary, Penzance (see page 69)

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PHOTO: ATKINS

Architect’s visuals for The Box

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culture

Liz Miller talks to Nigel Hurst, former director of the Saatchi Gallery and now heading up contemporary art at Plymouth’s newest gallery. Get set for The Box.

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he phrase ‘step change’ has already become something of a cliché when talking about Plymouth’s artistic and cultural regeneration plans. However, when the city entices the director and CEO of London’s Saatchi Gallery to move west and help make it happen, then, surely, change is going to come.

Nigel Hurst started in September as Head of Contemporary Art at The Box, Plymouth’s new exhibition and gallery space opening in 2020 (see below).

He joins a talented team who have already laid the foundations for this ambitious project, which will bring national and international touring shows to the city.

Nigel comes with his artistic contacts book and with experience in overseeing major building plans and cultivating wider audiences. Over his 23-year career at Saatchi, he was involved in two capital projects as the gallery moved from Boundary Road, North London, to County Hall on the South Bank and finally to its substantial current home at the Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea. During that period there was a 16-fold annual audience increase from 90,000 to 1.5 million.

“The story of contemporary art has been on an interesting trajectory since I was first involved,” he says.

“It was treated as the preserve of a few wealthy people.

Contemporary artists didn’t get their work shown, they had to be at death’s door. During that time it has become less niche, less nerdy and we have been able to bring contemporary art to a wider audience. The Box is an exciting continuation of that story.”

He says that the regeneration of social and economic fortunes through culture have been well-documented and evidenced both in the UK and abroad, and that Plymouth already has a thriving grassroots infrastructure. From the specialist creative arts education at The Red House and Plymouth College of Art, to artist galleries and spaces including KARST and Ocean Studios, he says: “There is support for the arts at primary, secondary, FE and HE level, and all the tools for incubation are in place. Austerity

has been the word for the last decade, so Plymouth City Council are showing great foresight to invest in culture and the arts from grassroots right through to The Box. It’s a programme with considerable ambition.”

There are four spaces Nigel can work with in The Box, making it the largest GIS (Government Indemnity Scheme) compliant in the South West. This means that very valuable works of art can be shown to the public and it covers loans from private lenders and other institutions in the UK and abroad.

Nigel won’t reveal what the theme of the opening exhibition will be, as he says ideas are not fixed that far in advance. However, there is likely to be some work playing on narrative themes around Mayflower 400 (the anniversary of the ship sailing to America), possibly involving artists responding to existing works in Plymouth’s collection. The city doesn’t have a substantial contemporary art collection, and Nigel says the acquisitions budget is “always a movable feast”.

The Box has already won a £50,000 Contemporary Art Fund award, which has enabled it to purchase three pieces that examine ideas around identity and immigration.

The first is Narrenschiff, a three-channel film installation by American artist Kehinde Wiley, who has painted Barack Obama and Michael Jackson. There are also two pieces by Canadian-born, London-based artist Zadie Xa: a mixed media mask and a cloak made from fabric.

“Both artists deal with issues of migration and placement,” says Nigel. While one piece is multimedia and two are craft-based, they “immerse people in the story… and the themes link to the city’s histories.”

Much of the spadework in winning this award was done by the existing team, including partnerships officer Judith Robinson and curators Nicoletta Lambertucci and Emma Philip, and Nigel is keen to emphasise the collegiate approach that epitomises Plymouth’s art scene.

This team has also ensured that Plymouth will be one of four cities (along with Manchester, Aberdeen and Wolverhampton) to host the ninth British Art Show, MANOR | Late Winter 2019

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PHOTO: COPYRIGHT OF THE ARTIST. COURTESY OF STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY

Kehinde Wiley, Narrenschiff, 2017. Three-channel digital film. Duration: 16.40 minutes (AP 1/2) (WILEY 64).

While we will be bringing international artists to the city, we will also be taking Plymouth to the world.

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which last visited in 2011. This time the show, organised by the Hayward Gallery, will be able to use all the new gallery space at The Box as it arrives in October 2021 and will run to January 2022.

Plymouth’s international reputation in the art world was also given a boost by The Atlantic Project this autumn, and Nigel aims to build on this work.

“Reaching out is always a two-way process, and while we will be bringing international artists to the city, we will also be taking Plymouth to the world.”

In his down time, Nigel is getting to know the city better (he has visited friends in Derriford with his family for many years). He jokes that the number 21 bus, which traverses Plymouth, might help familiarise him with key landmarks. Taking that bus ride will also remind him that many locals are not necessarily going to prioritise a visit to a contemporary art gallery at the weekend. In order for The Box to go further than the natural territory of the middle classes and cultural tourists, considerable effort will need to go into widening participation.

Practically, that means engaging the local community from a young age, so the education programme at The Box will be extensive and workshops for primary and secondary aged children will be at the heart of the offer.

“This is a city of 250,000 and a community that is very diverse,” says Nigel. “When we are talking about regeneration, that needs to be a shared civic experience.”

culture THE BOX Supported by scaffolding and surrounded with hoardings, The Box is currently a noisy building site on North Hill in central Plymouth.

MANOR takes a sneaky peek inside the new £37 million arts complex, guided by Paul Brookes, interim CEO. Wearing hard hats, gloves, sturdy wellies and hi-vis jackets, we access The Box through the vast new atrium space in Tavistock Place, which Paul describes as the “wow entrance”. Here, several enormous carved wooden ship mascots will be hanging from the ceiling, providing plenty of opportunities for arty selfies.

As we walk around the shell’s bare walls, wires and pipes, it becomes clear the design takes the existing Edwardian city museum and enfolds it in a huge modern extension topped by a glass ‘box in the sky’, which will contain the city’s historical archive.

Paul says it will be the largest gallery space in the South West.

It will house the existing museum collection, education space and South West Film and Television material, as well as having several programmable spaces for exhibitions.

Funded largely by Plymouth City Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, the Arts Council and Plymouth University, this multi-million

pound investment is the biggest step the city has ever made towards cultural regeneration.

Unsurprisingly, Mayflower 400 will be the focus for the opening in April 2020, and in one of the empty galleries Paul explains that a replica of the side of the ship, together with stories of the travellers on board, will form the centrepiece of a significant exhibition.

Once we have explored The Box, we head over to St Luke’s Church, on the other side of Tavistock Place, which is currently stripped back to its architectural bones. This will be a stunning stand-alone gallery with mezzanine floor and a specified 3m x 3m delivery entrance, so large works of art can be installed.

The pedestrianised space between the two buildings will also be used for performances, food offerings and one-off happenings, and some 400 events are planned for 2020.

The scale and ambition promise to deliver a welcome boost in tourism to the city. And with the anniversary a little more than a year away, as we hand back our safety equipment, Paul emphasises this is one building project that cannot overrun.

PHOTO: ATKINS

Architect’s visuals for The Box

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ARTS COUNCIL COLLECTION, SOUTHBANK CENTRE, LONDON © THE ARTIST AND STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY, LONDON

Belinda Dillon unwraps the multi-layered meaning behind Yinka Shonibare’s curation of the Arts Council Collection, ‘Criminal Ornamentation’.

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Yinka Shonibare MBE, Line Painting, 2003 (detail)

culture

T

here’s a moment in Grayson Perry’s 2012 Channel 4 documentary series, All in the Best Possible Taste, that has stayed with me all these years: a woman buys a fully fitted-out show home – astounding in its blandness and lack of character – because she’s so overwhelmed by the choices she would have to make in decorating it herself that she’s afraid of ‘getting it wrong’.

I doubt she’d heard of Adolf Loos, the modernist architect who, in 1910, delivered his lecture titled Ornament and Crime, which pushed for a purely strippedback, minimalist style, and essentially labelled decoration and the use of colour as primitive and/or degenerate. This cultural elitism became entrenched as a kind of arbiter of good taste, an edict that removed all personal narrative and history, of some people, it has to be noted, from art and design. The woman in Perry’s documentary, with a framed photo on a side table revealed to be a generic stock image of a smiling model, was not only under the yoke of Loos’s moralising control, but simultaneously a poster girl for his particular branch of ‘tasteful’ modernist law.

It’s in reaction to Loos’s elitist dictat that contemporary artist Yinka Shonibare MBE has curated ‘Criminal

Ornamentation’ – a selection of the Arts Council Collection, plus pieces from the V&A and the Crafts Council – which celebrates pattern, colour and popular culture. Including work by artists as diverse as Sarah Lucas, Susan Derges, Alexander McQueen, Milena Dragicevic, Lis Rhodes, Bridget Riley and Bedwyr Williams, as well as his own work, the show also reflects Yinka’s practice, which spans multiple mediums in its exploration of cross-cultural identity, colonialism, global trade, and the importance of personal narrative in creativity and art.

“I felt that we got to a point where Modernism, particularly Minimalism and Abstraction, was standing in for a patriarchal dominance of the art world, and I wanted to return history into art, as well as the stories of other cultures,” Yinka explains over the phone from his studio in East London. “Loos was particularly negative about pattern, and he was also negative about people from Papua New Guinea [Loos uses the example of the Papuans’ tattoos and intense use of decoration as evidence that as a people they were not ‘civilized’], and he saw those kinds of expressions as vulgar. Of course, at the time when Modernism was being pushed, it was radical and avant-garde, and it was about getting rid of

PHOTO: © BRIDGET RILEY 2018. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The show covers a lot of things – taste, class, snobbery, craft, design, art, history and pattern – but some of the pieces are not just about the pattern, they are also about creating relationships between things, formally and politically.

Ecclesia, Bridget Riley, 1985

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PHOTO: © YINKA SHONIBARE MBE. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY, LONDON

Yinka Shonibare MBE, Food Faerie, 2011

the Baroque, so it was quite political. But then, over a long period of time, Modernism’s dominance created a world-enforcing, universal style on everybody, and that universal style meant a denial of voice and visibility. The idea of this show is to start to re-express diversity and to acknowledge it.”

So while the show contains works that could be seen as pure examples of pattern – such as Bridget Riley’s 1985 piece Ecclesia, whose kinetic vibrancy seems to 64

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create its own visual dimension – there are also examples of photography, video, textiles and ceramics, blurring the lines between ‘high art’, popular culture, craft and design. James Maskrey’s teacup and saucer called Polka Dot (decorated with tiny portraits of the EastEnders character Dot Cotton instead of coloured spots), for instance, and Bedwyr Williams’s The Burn (a shell-encrusted portable barbecue) play on the notion of ‘kitsch’ and demonstrate the fact that, over time, tastes shift and change.

culture

ARTS COUNCIL COLLECTION, SOUTHBANK CENTRE, LONDON © THE ARTIST

Bedwyr Williams, The Burn, 2012

ARTS COUNCIL COLLECTION, SOUTHBANK CENTRE, LONDON © THE ARTIST

Milena Dragicevic, Opet, 2002

“I wanted to expand that notion of what art could be,” says Yinka. “So the decision to include a costume

by Alexander McQueen felt, in some way, to be a representation of my own approach to art and art making.”

Born in London in 1962, Yinka moved to Lagos when he was three, returning to the UK to study at 17, and his work has always embraced and explored the notions of hybrid identity. When he graduated from Goldsmiths with an MFA, he was part of the cohort labelled the Young British Artists and was featured in Charles Saatchi’s career-making ‘Sensation’ show at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1997; in 2004, he was nominated for the Turner Prize. So while he could be seen as embedded in the contemporary art establishment, his work continues to play with the notion of boundaries and cross-cultural experiences.

Key to Yinka’s creations is the use of wax batik fabrics, which were made by textile companies in the Netherlands to mimic Indonesian designs, but which were so popular in West Africa that they are assumed to originate from there. The work – such as the sculpture Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, which graced Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth in 2010, and featured sails made from batik fabric bought from Brixton market – can be interpreted as a metaphor for colonialism and global trade, but also unpicks cultural assumptions. Textiles, as well as pattern, have distinctly gendered associations, with all the sense of undervaluing that goes along with that, which Yinka’s curatorial choices have also sought to bring to light.

“I like to think that people will enjoy the work [in the show], and be educated by it,” says Yinka. “I also want them to look at history and how history connects to our identities today. The show covers a lot of things – taste, class, snobbery, craft, design, art, history and pattern – but some of the pieces are not just about the pattern, they are also about creating relationships between things, formally and politically.”

As a rebuttal of Loos’s strict negation of personal narrative and expression in art, Yinka’s curatorial choices for ‘Criminal Ornamentation’ are insightful and inclusive, with an alluring playfulness, while the breadth of work featured reveals the sense of freedom that’s intrinsic to much contemporary work. Something to be celebrated, as Yinka concludes: “In the art world at the moment, there is actually no one style. People work in so many different ways now, and I think we’ve broken out of those boxes – basically, anything goes. I don’t really think there’s the authority of one particular institution, particularly with the internet. People have many different ways in which they can show their work, so they’re not relying on one institution to support them, and that can only be a good thing.”

‘Criminal Ornamentation’ is at RAMM, 19 January – 17 March 2019, Gallery 21 and 22. Free. rammuseum.org.uk

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South West must sees...

New kids on the block The Devon Guild has long been a champion of artist-makers, not least through its ‘Get Fresh’ programme – a biennial exhibition (now on its eighth incarnation) that showcases a range of new and innovative work from recent graduates and emerging independent practitioners across the region. This year, 13 makers have been selected through the open submission process by Tim Bolton (Vice Principal, Plymouth College of Art) and Saffron Wynne (Exhibitions Manager, Devon Guild): Abbie Gardiner, ceramics; Alex Carpenter, wood; Alysa Freeman, jewellery; Barbara Roll, glass; Fi Smart, ceramics; John Molesworth, printmaking and ceramics; Julie Massie, ceramics; Kate Lyons-Miller, ceramics; Rebecca Connolly, woven textiles; Renovat Moody, glass; Ryan Hardman, photography; Valerie Muddyman, jewellery; and Takahashi McGil, a husband and wife team who, using a combination of planing, chiselling and turning, create wooden furniture and homeware from their open studio at Cockington Court in Torbay.

19 January – 10 March at Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Riverside Mill, Fore St, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9AF. crafts.org.uk

Takahashi McGil

LOL International art clown Jamie Wood rolls into Bristol for one week only with his anarchic blend of comedy, performance and clowning. O No! (13-14 February) is a psychedelic ride and wonky homage to the woman damned for destroying The Beatles, which asks whether falling in love is always catastrophic. I Am A Tree (15 February) explores the tendency for people to seek out Jamie and tell him about their life when he is sitting still for any length of time; it’s an invitation to drink deep, face the shadows that growl inside you and laugh big. Beating McEnroe (16 February) tells the story of Jamie’s obsession with Bjorn Borg, who epitomised tennis cool and was everything he and his brother wanted to be. Until John McEnroe came along. It’s about rivalry and love and how they can both better us and destroy us. There’s also a chance to take part in Jamie’s workshops (1-3 February), which are open to all ages and levels of experience.

13-16 February at Tobacco Factory, Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol BS3 1TF. Tickets from £12. tobaccofactorytheatres.com

Colour works Liz Cleves returned to her first love of art after 35 years in the teaching profession. A chance encounter with fellow abstract artist Patrick Jones inspired her to channel all she had learned as both a student artist in her youth and throughout her teaching career into the vibrant body of work for which she is known today. Now working out of East Devon, Liz grew up in West Cornwall which provides continual inspiration to her: “Painting is a matter of fact for me. I’m drawn to colour and to the surface of the canvas.

I occupy myself with colour as it fills spaces, and with lines that indicate relationships within compositions, as well as assisting with describing form. I am fascinated by contrasts and changes of atmosphere that inhabit a picture… especially around the interfaces between one shape and another.”

9 March – 6 April 2019 at the Penwith Gallery, Back Road West, St Ives TR26 1NL. penwithgallery.com

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O No!

Octopus’s Garden, Liz Cleves

culture

Style sheet Drawing on imagery ranging from medieval woodcuts and leaded glass windows to tarot cards and art nouveau children’s book illustrations, Jacqui Hallum works across a number of loose cotton sheets, staining and dyeing them with drawing ink, graffiti ink and squid ink. The sheets move between Hallam’s Totnes studio and garden throughout this process, before they are grouped and pinned together, concealing and revealing themselves to create a multi-part work. ‘Berber Carpet’ at Exeter Phoenix is the third in an King and Queen of Wands, 2017 ongoing sequence of exhibitions, curated by Daniel Howard-Birt, in which Hallum’s work is presented in the context of an object or set of small artworks by another maker. (Previously, these have included a series of prints by Leon Kossoff at Kingsgate Project Space, London, and with specially commissioned ceramic works by Phil Root at Intercession Gallery, Northampton.) Jacqui will be exhibiting alongside antique examples of Berber rugs made in the High Atlas Mountains of North Africa and loaned from the collection of Jonathan Clark.

16 February – 21 April at Exeter Phoenix, Gandy St, Exeter EX4 3LS. All welcome at the preview on Saturday 16 February, 3-5pm and a free talk on Saturday 30 March, 2.30pm when Jacqui and curator Daniel Howard-Birt will discuss their recent series of exhibitions and her wider practice. exeterphoenix.org.uk

In the country

PHOTO: MATTHEW DAY JACKSON. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND HAUSER & WIRTH

The title for Matthew Day Jackson’s exhibition, ‘Pathetic Fallacy’, is a literary term used to describe the attribution of human emotions onto inanimate objects in nature.

This is the starting point for the artist’s investigation in Somerset, where Jackson has been living with his family as artist-in-residence at Hauser & Wirth since August 2018. His continued investigation into society’s relationship with its natural environment haunts the exhibition, which is punctuated by collaborations with his family and the local community.

19 January – 6 May at Hauser & Wirth, Durslade Farm, Dropping Lane, Bruton BA10 0NL. hauserwirth.com

Matthew Day Jackson, Bouquet in a Sculpted Vase Beside a Wreath of Flowers (Berlin) 2018, 161.6 x 149.9 cm

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Time for clay

1 February – 9 March at White Moose Gallery, Moose Hall, Trinity Street, Barnstaple EX32 8HX. whitemoose.co.uk

30 years of success After 30 years at Pavilion, the Bath Decorative Antiques Fair still occupies its own ratified position in the decorative antiques trade. Founded in 1989 by local dealer Robin Coleman, as part of the original Bath & Bradford on Avon Antiques Dealers Association, it became a stand-alone a few years later before being acquired in 2011 by Sue and Peter Hodder of Cooper Events. Sue comments: “We are honoured to own this important event, which is so cherished by all who sail in her! We are very much looking forward to celebrating the 30th edition with exhibitors from 1989 to the present day. There will be an emphasis on style diversity, with a mix of a few dealers who were at the very first event. There will also be new exhibitors and many dealers returning who will bridge the gap between the two generations.

8-10 March at The Pavilion, North Parade Road, Bath, BA2 4EU. bathdecorativeantiquesfair.co.uk

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PHOTO: JOHN ANDOW

‘Khnum’ is a solo exhibition in clay and paintings

by Michael Storrs, the former classical music events organiser and agent for the likes of Kiri Te Kanawa and José Carreras. Since retiring, Michael has concentrated on his art, absorbing influences from his extensive travels, including from modern masters Louise Bourgeois, Miguel Barcelo, Cy Twombly, Antoni Tapies and Picasso.

After moving to Bideford, North Devon, Michael undertook courses with the internationally renowned potter Sandy Brown, who remains a source of encouragement.

“I paint in oil and ink and make ceramic sculpture,” Michael explains. “Living near the coast, I’m affected by tides and the surrounding nature. Music also has a strong influence: its pace, ebb and flow. I like working with clay and find there is quite a ‘tripping’ side to it – time can stand still and what comes out can be a surprise.”

Note: Khnum, the ram-headed early Egyptian deity, is known as ‘the great potter’ and said to have created mankind from clay. Recent scientific research suggests that clay was the laboratory for the proteins, DNA and living cells that form the building blocks of life.

Crying Head

culture

Show time Currently filling all three floors of Cornwall Contemporary are paintings, sculpture and ceramics by the established and burgeoning gallery artists that have exhibited there throughout 2018. Among the paint contingent is new work by Maggie Matthews, who looks to the Cornish countryside for inspiration, focusing on hedgerows and collected leaves and seedpods, which are then abstracted back in the studio. Harvest Moon (see page 57) is a large abstracted hedgerow in deep blues, with textured layers of mark making built up onto the canvas to create a piece rich with atmosphere and depth. The show is also a chance to see some of the abstract expressionist Cornish landscape paintings by David Mankin, whose work has garnered much international interest, and is a new name to watch on the Cornish arts scene.

David Mankin, Serpentine Summer, acrylic and mixed media on canvas 122 x 122 cm

Until 28 February at Cornwall Contemporary, 1 Parade St, Penzance TR18 4BU. cornwallcontemporary.com

The power of three Concerts in the West – which brings talented musicians to small venues in the West Country – kicks off its 2019 season of mini classical and baroque chamber tours with Trio Sõra, a French piano ensemble. The three young women – Pauline Chenais, Magdalena Geka and Angèle Legasa – met at the Paris Conservatoire in 2015 and are making a name for themselves on the European classical music scene, gathering awards as they go. Playing with both warmth and energy, Trio Sõra is now considered an ensemble with a distinct artistic identity.

14 February, 7.30pm, at Wellhayes Vineyard, Clayhanger, Tiverton, Devon EX16 7NY. £15. Call the box office on 01398 361612 or email music@well-hayes.uk.

Trio Sõra

15 February, 11am, at Bridport Arts Centre, South Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3NR. £12. Call the box office on 01308 424204 or email info@bridport-arts.com. bridport-arts.com 15 February, 7.30pm, at Ilminster Arts Centre at The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, Somerset TA19 0AN. £15. Call the box office on 01460 54973. themeetinghouse.org.uk 16 February, 7.30pm, at The Dance House, Gouldsbrook View, North Street, Crewkerne, Somerset TA18 7AL. £15. For advance bookings: email director@concertsinthewest.org or buy at the Local Information Office at Crewkerne town hall. Or text 07776 995789 or book at helmtickets.com from 7 January.

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The Exhibition Space MAYNE GALLERY

NEW CRAFTSMAN GALLERY

14 Fore Street, Kingsbridge, Devon TQ7 1NY | 01548 853848 maynegallery.co.uk

24 Fore Street , St. Ives TR26 1HE | 01736 795652 newcraftsmanstives.com

Exceptional art, at extremely attractive prices.

Throughout January and February, New Craftsman gallery will be exhibiting new work by leading painters, printmakers and sculptors, alongside a varied range of contemporary British craft, including ceramics, glass, wood and jewellery.

With up to 50% off selected artists’ originals, including Nick Potter, Rosanne Bell and Scott Bateman, to name but a few, and exclusive in-gallery offers to be discovered… there are plenty of tempting reasons to pay a visit to Mayne Gallery in January.

Into The Blue Nick Potter

The perfect opportunity to pick up that piece of art you’ve been thinking about and bring some fabulous new colour into the New Year.

David Pearce, Harbour

ART WORLD GALLERY

WHITE MOOSE

62 Church Street | Falmouth TR11 3DS 01326 219323 artworldltd.com

Trinity Street, Barnstaple, Devon EX32 8HX | 01271 379872 whitemoose.co.uk

This great painting is by French artist Thomas Bossard, what better incentive to get you started on that journey to shed the Christmas overload. Thomas Bossard known for his quirky humour, always seeing the funny side of life.

I WIll Get Fit, Thomas Bossard, 20 x 20cm, oil on canvas board

Khnum Sculptural ceramics by Michael Storrs 1 February – 9 March 2019 A solo exhibition of Michael Storrs’ clay sculptures and paintings. Over his many years of travelling Michael has gained inspiration from all over the world. Music also remains a great influence on his work, particularly in his sense of line, rhythm and texture.

Big Fallen Head

TREGONY GALLERY

PENWITH GALLERY

58 Fore Street, Tregony, Truro TR2 5RW | 01872 530505 tregonygallery.co.uk

Back Road West, St.Ives, Cornwall TR26 1NL 01736 795579 penwithgallery.com

“The artist run Tregony Gallery..... and turned it into what good contemporary gallerists with a bit of venture and commitment in their bones could hope to achieve in the promotion of what I sometimes like to term ‘proper painting’.”

Nicholas Usherwood Galleries Magazine Assembleº until 22nd January 2019

Mark Dunford, Queen of Sweden, oil on panel, 39 x 39 cm

Light Source March 2019

PHOTO: JOHN ANDOW

Liz Cleves 9 March - 6 April 2019 “It is the choice of weight, colour, tone and hue, plus imagination, which Liz brings to each work, to create a sense of life”.

PATRICK JONES, ABSTRACT PAINTER In Sync, Liz Cleves

To advertise your gallery, exhibition, show or event here please email advertising@manormagazine.co.uk or call 07887 556447

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culture Worth making the trip for...

All rise Following a critically acclaimed debut run, performance artist, theatre-maker, comedian, musician and activist Bryony Kimmings (Fake it ‘til you Make it, A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer, Channel 4’s The Sex Clinic: Artist in Residence) returns to Battersea Arts Centre with I’m a Phoenix, Bitch. Having spent the last few years on collaborative projects and telling other peoples’ stories, including co-writing a script with Oscar award-winning actress Emma Thompson, Bryony’s recent experiences of postnatal depression and the illness of her son led her back to her original solo practice.

Combining personal stories with epic film, soundscapes and ethereal music, I’m a Phoenix, Bitch is a powerful, dark and joyful work about motherhood, heartbreak and finding inner strength.

20 February – 9 March at Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN. £15 to £30. bac.org.uk

A year in view Now in its 22nd year, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize recognises artists and projects deemed to have made a significant contribution to photography over the previous 12 months in Europe. The work of this year’s shortlisted artists – Laia Abril, Susan Meiselas, Arwed Messmer and Mark Ruwedel – will be shown in an exhibition at The Photographers’ Galley (which originated the prize), with projects exploring state and gender politics, social injustice, human rights and conceptual approaches to image making. The winner of the £30,000 prize will be announced at a ceremony at the gallery on 16 May. 8 March – 2 June at The Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies St, Soho, London W1F 7LW. thephotographersgallery.org.uk

Susan Meiselas, Dee and Lisa 1976

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PHOTO: E. HOWARTH

Martin Freeman and Danny Dyer

Two for the road

The crowd-pleasing Pinter at the Pinter season continues, and what a treat there is rolling in at number seven: a double bill of A Slight Ache and The Dumb Waiter starring Martin Freeman and everyone’s new favourite political pundit, Danny Dyer. This tightly sprung two-hander tells the story of two hitmen biding their time in a basement while awaiting news on their next target, as a mysterious dumbwaiter in the room delivers food orders – despite the room clearly not being a kitchen for a restaurant. Extremely tense and deliciously dark, it’s a tantalising sliver of Pinter’s great gift for subtext.

31 January – 23 February at Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton St, London SW1Y 4DN. Visit pinteratthepinter.com for show times and tickets.

Strange visions Throughout her life, Dorothea Tanning pushed the boundaries of surrealism, which she first encountered in New York in the 1930s. In the 1940s, she married fellow painter Max Ernst and they moved to the Arizona desert.

Although surrounded by a vast landscape, many of her paintings from this time depict claustrophobic and unsettling domestic spaces. Tanning wanted to depict ‘unknown but knowable states’: to suggest there was more to life than meets the eye. The first major retrospective of her work in the UK since her death in 2012 at the age of 101, this exhibition will tell the story of her seven-decade career: from her enigmatic early paintings to her pioneering stuffed-textile sculptures, which she began to make in the 1960s. Many of these works – including the room-sized installation Hôtel du Pavot, Chambre 202 – feature bodies: contorted, transformed and intertwined, they connect with her lifelong interest in dance. In later life, Tanning dedicated more of her time to writing, publishing poetry and a novel in her 80s.

PHOTO: DACS, 2018

27 February – 9 June at Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. £13. tate.org.uk Dorothea Tanning (1910 – 2012) Birthday 1942, oil painting on canvas, 1022 x 648mm. Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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culture

Get down FOMO on leaving London? Then check out the annual VAULT Festival. The capital’s biggest and boldest arts and entertainment fiesta returns in 2019 in venues across Waterloo. Now in its seventh year, VAULT presents 400-plus shows from more than 2,000 artists across eight weeks of theatre and comedy, immersive experiences, cabaret, live performance and late-night parties. Also rather exciting is the new partnership between the festival and London’s New Diorama Theatre, so look for The Faction’s The Talented Mr Ripley (13-17 March) and the award-winning Queens of Sheba by Nouveau Riche (30 January - 3 February). Venues include London’s secret community performance space The Network Theatre, upstairs at The Horse & Stables pub, Granby Place, and the Travelling Through Bookshop on Lower Marsh, where you can catch fresh material from television favourites and hot new comics. Unit 9 on Leake Street will be a space dedicated to groundbreaking immersive performances while other pop-up venues include shipping containers, caravans and escape rooms.

Queens of Sheba by Nouveau Riche

23 January – 17 March at various locations. See vaultfestival.com for full listings and ticket information.

whartonantiques.com

whartonantiques.com

Bath Bath Decorative Antiques Antiques Fair 8–10 8 –10 March March 2019

The The Pavilion, Pavilion, Bath BA2 4EU Trade Preview Preview Trade Thursday 7 March March Thursday Complimentary tickets via Complimentary via website website bathdecorativeantiquesfair.co.uk bathdecorativeantiquesfair.co.uk

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culture Worth staying in for...

Sex files Gillian Anderson lends gravitas to anything she turns her hand to, so we’re fully expecting Netflix’s original series Sex Education to get a boost from La Anderson’s turn as Jean, a sex therapist raising her teenage son, Otis (Asa Butterfield), on her own. Surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations about sex, Otis is a reluctant expert on the subject. When his home life is revealed at school, Otis realises that he can use his specialist knowledge to gain status. He teams up with Maeve, a whip-smart bad-girl, and together they set up an underground sex therapy clinic to deal with their fellow students’ weird and wonderful problems. Through his analysis of teenage sexuality, Otis realises he may need some therapy of his own.

Sex Education begins streaming on Netflix on 11 January.

Scratch that itch

Series 2 of Fleabag will premiere on BBC Three and Amazon Prime Video in spring 2019.

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PHOTO: LUKE VARLEY

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s creation Fleabag in its original form was an intimate one-woman theatre show.

Irreverent, smart, vulnerable and unflinchingly filthy of mouth, it dared to stare you in the face and say: “this is also what womanhood looks like.” That the character crossed mediums to TV drama so seamlessly is testament to Waller-Bridge’s skill as a writer and a performer. Since the first series aired, Waller-Bridge stole the show in Solo: A Star Wars Story as L3-37, and she has written and executive-produced two-time Emmy Award-nominated series Killing Eve. She’s now turned her attention back to Fleabag, creating a frenzy of anticipation in the process.

Returning to the principal cast are Olivia Colman (Godmother), Sian Clifford (Claire), Bill Paterson (Dad), Brett Gelman (Martin), Jenny Rainsford (Boo) and Hugh Skinner (Harry). The amazing Andrew Scott (Moriarty in BBC’s Sherlock reboot) is the new addition.

Get the vino out and book yourself a slot on the sofa; it’s going to be a wild ride.

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We went for crisp whites and fresh, muted neutrals high on class, and matched them with this season’s trainers to add a stylish, relaxed athleisure feel into the mix. It’s all about ‘wellness’, after all.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY REMY WHITING STYLED BY MIMI STOTT MAKE-UP: MADDIE AUSTIN MODEL: RAIN CHAN FROM STORM MANAGEMENT

Skirt, Tibi, £153; shirt, Stella McCartney, £184 from The Outnet

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Skirt, Tibi, £153; shirt, Stella McCartney, £184 from The Outnet; trainers, Zara, £95.99

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Top, Ezna Costa, £93; skirt, Yves Salomon, £475 from The Outnet

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Top, Ezna Costa, £93; skirt, Yves Salomon, £475 from The Outnet; trainers, Zara, £39.99

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Shirt, Tibi, £190; jeans, J Brand, £100 from The Outnet

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Blouse, John Lewis, £59; jeans, J Brand, £100 from The Outnet

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Top, Zara, £12.99; blazer, W118 by Walter Baker, £128; trousers, Joseph, £92 from The Outnet

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Blouse, John Lewis, £59; trainers, John Lewis, £69; skirt, JW Anderson, £195 from The Outnet

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Dress, Reiss, £135 and trainers, £69, from John Lewis

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Food Jubel Beer | One Mile Bakery | Recipes from James Haskell and Omar Meziane Bites, the latest news and events from across the region Signature Dish | Food Pioneer | The Table Prowler

PHOTO: GUY HORROP

Jude Kereama’s chocolate salt caramel pots with malt ice cream, as featured in Just Add Beer, published by Sharp’s Brewery. See page 105.

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Two 20-somethings from the South West are proving that they most certainly can brew up a storm. Fiona McGowan meets the guys behind booming beer brand Jubel.

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food

I

am not a beer drinker. Once upon a university, I used to drink pints of ale, not because I particularly liked it, but because it was cheap and because it wasn’t gassy, so you could drink more of it, more quickly. We’ll gloss over a brief period of sickly, flavoured alcopop drinking... As a 20-something wannabe-sophisticate, bottled lagers were de rigueur – especially if they were golden-pale, Spanish-sounding and had a chunk of lime shoved in the top. As time caught up with me, I realised that beer was a no-no: like cheap wine, beer would leave me with a hangover, puffy face and bloated body that took days to get over. And don’t even go there with all the late-night calories that my ageing metabolism couldn’t burn through.

The gluten-free market is booming, and beer brands have jumped on the bandwagon. The debate on gluten rages: are people becoming more intolerant to foodstuffs?

Is mass-produced grain more liable to cause gluten issues? Are people blaming gluten for the fact that they are overweight? Are we all becoming dreadful fusspots?

Intolerance is, for the most part, highly subjective. Short of doing elimination diets and reintroducing specific foodstuffs incrementally and charting the results, none of us will really know why we get headaches, puffiness, digestive problems or brain fog after consuming food or drink. But it stands to reason that the less mass-produced and less processed our food and drink, the better it is for our bodies.

Gluten-free lager is relatively easy to produce. Beers are usually made with malted barley and/or hops, and barley is fairly low in gluten to start with. Understanding that gluten is such a big deal in the Western market (a recent Mintel report showed that 15 per cent of households now avoid gluten) means that a lot of beer brands are offering gluten-free alternatives. So says Tom Jordan, 25-year-old co-founder of Jubel beer, whose learning curve about the beer business has been nothing

short of vertiginous since its inception in 2017.

Jubel started life as a holiday memory. Friends Jesse Wilson and Tom Jordan were reminiscing about a university skiing holiday in the Alps – where they drank lagers flavoured with peach syrup and danced to a tune called Jubel. The peach syrup idea had appealed so much that they brought a bottle of it back home and started lacing their friends’ lagers with it. A couple of years later, both were on the corporate career ladder in London – Tom working in sales at the London Stock Exchange and Jesse in marketing at Mars – when they heard that song in a bar. And, with the insouciance of youth, they thought – why don’t we make peach beer and try to sell it?

Both Tom and Jesse had a strong connection to the South West – Jesse is half Cornish, Tom grew up in Falmouth, and they both went to Exeter University – so it was natural that they decided to brew their first batch of beer in Cornwall. “We put together our savings and we brewed 5,000 bottles down in Cornwall,” says Tom, “We wanted a nice crisp lager with peach extract added to it.” They did their homework: looking at the market for flavoured ciders, and getting in touch with the likes of Fever Tree to research the best quality flavourings.

“We are pretty good at talking to people in the industry and people who had drinks brands,” says Tom. And then they spent the summer of 2016 carting their beers around to festivals in the South West. Taking a punt with 5,000 bottles was quite a risk, admits Tom: “We hadn’t really tasted it – we’d only done really small batches before. The risk was: if it didn’t sell, we would have lost the money we’d put into it 10 grand or whatever – but we’d at least be able to carry on doing our jobs.” And, at the tender age of 23 with their careers ahead of them, perhaps that wasn’t such a huge risk.

They had made a commitment to each other that if they sold all 5,000 bottles, they would quit their jobs and start a business. They sold out at every single event. And

We wanted a nice crisp lager with peach extract added to it Jesse Wilson and Tom Jordan

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the Cornish flavoured beer brand was born. By 2017, they had a business plan, an investment deck and were on the way to a crowdfunding campaign when they found a lead investor: “Someone who had been following our story and loved the product and thought we had a good opportunity. He’s pretty passive, he likes to leave it to us to run the business, which is what we always wanted.”

Although Tom and Jesse were living in London, they were keen for the brand’s roots to be Cornish, and they started a contract with St Austell Brewery. “We wanted to represent the contemporary side of Cornwall – along with cool brands like Finisterre. It’s not necessarily about embedding yourself in one place – we were never going to put a Cornish flag on our packaging. But there’s a lifestyle side to it that is very much about Cornwall.”

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In the spirit of bridging the gap between Cornwall and the rest of the world, Jubel has an office near Falmouth and an office in ‘the beer mile’ in Bermondsey – surrounded by other beer companies – says Tom as “a fun part of town to be in”. His background in sales (albeit only a couple of years) has meant he has taken the mantle of garnering contracts with pubs, bars and retailers, while Jesse has got stuck in with marketing and production. Jubel has spread quickly. It has been taken on by big pub chains and numerous smaller pubs and bars across the country. It is available in bottles and on draft in Fullers and Everards pubs. And recently, Tom has scored a contract with Sainsbury’s – Jubel is now available in 600 of their supermarkets around the country. At the end of 2017, they did a funky re-brand

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and developed their distinctive slash-through logo – “We were trying to show that we were cutting through the beer and cider industries” – and introduced an elderflower infusion version of Jubel.

Like most millennials, Tom and Jesse are deeply conscious of the environment and nutrition. While the ‘eco’ and ‘free from’ tags are often used as cynical marketing ploys by more established brands, the younger generation has grown up with this awareness. Jubel has found a company that produces waterproof labels entirely without plastic or foil – surprisingly difficult to do, as pure paper labels tend to disintegrate as soon as they get wet. Their draft beer has the advantage not just of tasting better (“If you minimise oxygen through less packaging, it improves the taste”), but of reducing the amount of weight and bulk for transportation. They are looking at putting Jubel in cans, not because it’s any cheaper to produce, but because it will reduce the weight and reduce transportation emissions. Jubel also offsets the emissions from every bottle made by getting trees planted around the world. “We’d really like to put sustainability at the core of every business decision that is made,” enthuses Tom. So back to the gluten-free thing: Jubel wasn’t initially a ‘gluten-free lager’. But in that first summer of touting on the festival scene, Tom and Jesse were right at the sharp end of customer reactions: “I think we served about 30,000 people over that summer,” says Tom. “We were so close to all the feedback on the product…” They found that a lot of drinkers (“definitely more skewed towards females”) would have liked it more if it were

gluten-free. Quick to respond, they took their request to St Austell Brewery. “We add an enzyme to the beer that breaks down any residual gluten particles,” Tom explains.

“Every single batch is tested, to make sure it is below a certain number of parts per million.” The result, he says, is a lighter beer, and of course, a benefit to sales.

I wonder whether he thinks gluten intolerance is a genuine issue, or just a finicky consumer market which can be pandered to. As it happens, both he and Jesse have first-hand experience of gluten intolerance. “I’ve known Jesse for seven years. He used to drink beers, and he always just thought he had bad hangovers the next day.

But he’s cut out gluten in the last year and a half, and you notice a considerable difference with him – especially working with him the next day. If he’s had gluten the night before, he’s a bit slower and not quite on it as much. They call it brain fog.” Now, he grins, “he can put Jubel beers away, no problem.”

The two flavours of Jubel lager are very distinctive.

The peach one has a sweet taste to it, edging towards a flavoured cider. The elderflower flavour is so mild that it is more of a hint of a taste. But this is still very much a light, clean lager – not so far away from the lime-in-the-neck lagers of my younger days. With plans to add another infusion and to expand nationally and internationally, these young entrepreneurs may well be at the cusp of a lager revolution. Move over G&T infusions and flavoured ciders – beer-with-a-twist might be the next big thing on your bar tab. jubelbeer.com

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Anna Turns has a satisfying time earning her daily bread at Exeter’s new One Mile Bakery. Photos by Angel Wade Photography.

othing seems particularly out of the ordinary at Boudicca Woodland’s red brick terraced house in St Thomas, except for the electric bike that leans against the wall in the dining room and the industrial-sized oven in the back room. Her kitchen is the hub of Exeter’s new One Mile Bakery – a new concept in home delivery on a small scale. Every Tuesday, Boudicca spends the day baking loaves and at 5pm she hops on her bike to deliver 96

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the freshly-baked parcels of bread, home-made soup and preserves to her subscribers, who all live within a onemile radius.

“I really love that moment of knocking on the door when I deliver bread boxes to my customers. People get really excited about what they’re going to get in each weekly parcel, and I enjoy sharing the inspiration behind the loaves I make for them in my newsletter too. For example, I made stotty loaves after a weekend

food visiting friends in Newcastle,” explains Boudicca, who is sometimes accompanied by her two children, eight-year-old Alfred and five-year-old Seren, on the delivery run. “My kids love baking with me too – they particularly like the kneading bit and getting really messy!”

Boudicca also runs baking courses from her home kitchen and I’m here to have a go at making some delicious loaves – not something I’ve ever achieved before. The bread I’ve made in the past has always turned out like a brick, so I lost my confidence, and apparently that’s quite common. I’m relieved to be in safe hands.

On the menu today: Jewish speciality challah bread, sweet yeasted buns called Devonshire splits, and pain de campagne, a French country loaf.

Every loaf has its own signature shape and Boudicca has always been fascinated by the different cultures represented by different traditional breads. “Having previously lived up north and in east London, I had been able to buy things like Turkish bread on any street corner, so I really noticed the lack of diversity when I moved to Exeter 10 years ago and I began learning how to make breads of the world myself,” she explains.

Over a coffee, Boudicca starts off by explaining that so many people have no idea what’s actually in supermarket bread: “I’ll often read out a list of ingredients from supermarket bread at the start of each course. There are so many additives, and people

are often surprised by how few ingredients are used to make real bread. It’s simply yeast, flour, salt and water, plus sometimes egg for enriched doughs. Massproduced supermarket bread has been sped up and not left to prove naturally – real bread has had a longer chance to develop so it’s easier to eat and you won’t get bloated. I think a lot of people have forgotten what real bread tastes like. This is the bread our grandparents used to eat – there’s nothing fancy about that,” says Boudicca. Lesson one: ‘artisan’ bread doesn’t have to be expensive, it’s just about going back to basics. “It’s always good to know that you have the basics in your kitchen cupboards and being able to make a simple loaf of bread means you’ll never go hungry,” says Boudicca who clearly loves sharing her passion and teaching others to bake bread.

As we head to the kitchen, I see the ingredients have already been weighed out to save time, so we can get cracking. First up is challah bread, so I add the yeast, salt and sugar into the flour, careful not to directly mix the salt and yeast (the salt would kill the yeast off ), weigh out the warm water (more accurate than a measuring jug) and add the eggs. Mixing this all together, I make a shaggy dough in the bowl, and then scrape this out onto the work surface.

The first instruction is to always knead your dough for 10 minutes and to use a timer, so there are no excuses for cutting this short and it’s quite a workout! “You can

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I think a lot of people have forgotten what real bread tastes like. This is the bread our grandparents used to eat – there’s nothing fancy about that put as much effort in as you want. Your dough grows more quickly if you knead it more, manipulating it to start it working. And certain doughs act differently – my introduction course is fantastic because you can see the total difference between the pure white loaf that gathers up into a dough quite quickly, to the wholemeal one which you have to scrape off your hands – and it’s great for people to feel that difference.” I quickly see how kneading can be a totally immersive process – it’s therapeutic, ever so sticky, and it’s impossible to do anything else at the same time so the art of baking is mindful by nature. Boudicca emphasises that although it might be tempting to add more flour at the kneading stage, it’s not necessary and it’s important to trust that the dough will come together within the allotted 10 minutes, so I do my best to trust the process and persevere. She’s right, and just as the timer beeps, the texture of the dough changes into a smoother, bouncier ball. The enriched dough is quite yellow, due to the extra egg yolks, and we pop it into the bowl, cover it in a plastic shower cap and leave it to rise for an hour on top of the warm oven.

After a thorough hand scrub (I’m totally covered in sticky dough), we get started on the traditional Devonshire splits and once again mix the sugar, salt and yeast into the flour separately, then add the melted butter, water and milk to make a soft dough. After another 10 minutes of kneading, the dough is silky smooth and it’s so relaxing – just like a stress ball! This dough is left to prove and we enjoy a well-deserved coffee break, complete with seeded sourdough toast and home-made plum jam.

Next up is the pain de campagne, made with strong white and dark rye flour to give a nutty texture.

Boudicca describes this heavier dough as a ‘late bloomer’ – it’s very sticky and wet because the rye flour take time to absorb the extra water. I quickly get puffed out kneading this one and I start to think it’s going to take much longer than 10 minutes, but true to Boudicca’s word it changes to a more elastic dough just in time.

By now, the challah has risen into a soft, golden dough and it’s ready to split it into three. We fold each piece six ways pulling out from edge and back to middle, to form a shape like ‘Mick Jagger lips’. Boudicca shows me how to roll each strand and then we plait our loaves, brush with an egg wash and sprinkle poppy seeds on top.

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food Back to the Devonshire splits which smell incredibly yeasty – we divide the dough into 10 pieces then shape each small roll into an oval dough ball (mine look pretty irregular compared to Boudicca’s beautifully round ones) then dust lightly with flour and cover with a tea towel for the second prove, before adding an egg glaze and popping them in the oven.

While we have lunch (Boudicca’s home-made soup with bread followed by delicious tart), Boudicca tells me about her love for ‘Old Greg’, her favourite sourdough starter. “Sourdough is just like magic. I keep it in the fridge and give it flour and water and it’s wonderful to see it rising and bubbling. On my sourdough course, I send every student off with their own starter and hope that the love affair continues!”

Next, we prep the pain de campagne, flouring the inside of a cane spiral bowl that will give this loaf a distinctive pattern of circular rings. The dough is still very sticky, and I can see the gluten strands – breadmaking feels like a chemistry lesson in the kitchen. We shape it into a round loaf, place it top down into the cane bowl, then slash the top four ways with a razor to direct where the rise happens. Boudicca demonstrates how to spray the top of it with lots of water in order to create enough steam in the oven to help it rise, then she pops it in the oven with a pizza paddle. Once baked, it looks so pretty and we give it a quick knock on the base to check it’s hollow and therefore cooked through.

The challah looks golden and very professional too. We sprinkle icing sugar on top of our shiny Devonshire splits which are best served with clotted cream or whipped cream and home-made strawberry jam. An indulgent treat!

No two loaves are the same, and I have been surprised at how the three contrasting doughs have felt so different. And although I could have simply read a recipe from a book on my own at home, that would have felt so much more daunting. The very process of getting a feel for each loaf, with a watchful eye from Boudicca,

has helped me make so much more sense of the natural progression of bread-making and now I have a strong reference point for how my dough should feel when I bake it at home – hopefully with similar success!

Book a course: Introduction to baking: 8, 25 February, 15 March.

Sourdough: 15, 27 February, 16 March.

French loaves: 1, 22 March.

Devon breads: 8 March One-day courses (9.30am – 2.30pm) cost £125pp, including lunch (maximum four people per course).

Find out more at onemilebakery.com/exeter.

BOUDICCA’S TOP BAKING TIPS 1. Flour is your main ingredient, so it’s worth seeking out the best, and this will only cost a few pence more. Always look for stoneground flour: the grain is crushed between stone, and this incorporates much more of the wholegrain and bran, retaining much more of the natural oil. Your bread will have greater flavour, will be lighter and keep longer, and you may well find it easier to digest. Also, check the use-by date on your bag of flour – if it’s been left open at the back of the cupboard for ages, replace.

2. Make sure your yeast is still active. Tins of yeast, once opened, need to be stored in the fridge. So often, people bake a good loaf with a new tin of yeast, and then months later, the loaf fails because the yeast has declined if out of the fridge. It’s what makes your loaf rise, so give it some TLC. 3. Forget about airing cupboards and proving drawers; let your bread rise at normal room temperature. Lots of baking lore comes from the days when houses weren’t heated. A slower rise at a cooler temperature gives you more flavour and the bread will be easier to digest.

One Mile Bakery’s recipe for white farmhouse tin loaf This is a great place to start baking, using just four ingredients to make a really simple loaf. It’s a flexible recipe – you can add a couple of handfuls of extra ingredients such as grated cheese or chopped herbs to make a beautiful flavoursome loaf.

INGREDIENTS

• • • •

500g strong bread flour 10g salt 7g sachet instant yeast 325g warm water

METHOD

Mix ingredients together, knead and leave covered for at least an hour. Roll into a sausage shape and place in a 2lb tin.

Cover and leave to prove for 45-60 mins or until almost doubled in size and clearly risen in the tin. Bake in a hot oven for 30-35 mins until golden and giving a hollow sound when you tap the bottom.

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PHOTO: NEIL COOPER

Cooking for Fitness is the new recipe book created by our As I See It interviewee, rugby player James Haskell, along with performance chef, Omar Meziane.

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nowing the importance that diet has played in his own world-leading rugby performance ( James holds 78 senior England caps), the book is designed to boost training performance and body goals for anyone looking to stay, or get, fit and gives full nutritional breakdowns for every recipe.

James explains how eating for muscle gain requires a high-protein and high-carbohydrate diet with fats playing a minor role. For fat loss, you need to be in calorie deficit – expending more than you consume -

and reduce your daily calorie intake safely, healthily and slowly to get results.

Sounds easy… but knowing which foods to choose while still enjoying meals is the hard bit. Hence James’s collaboration with Omar, the performance chef who has cooked for many England teams including the football team in the 2018 World Cup. Most of the dishes will take no more than 20 minutes to prepare and we’ve selected a few low-carb and high-carb meals to give an insight into just how tasty cooking for fitness can be.

Baked eggs with kale, spinach and parmesan (low-carb breakfast) Serves two James says: “Eggs are my go-to breakfast, especially on training days.”

INGREDIENTS

• • • • • • •

1 knob of butter 1 large handful of tough, curly kale (stalks removed) 2 large handfuls of baby spinach leaves 200ml tomato passata 4 large eggs ½ avocado, chopped 2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan

METHOD

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PHOTO: CLIVE BOZZARD-HILL

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Toss in the kale and season with salt and pepper. Cook the kale until it begins to wilt. Add the spinach and remove from the heat but continue to stir until spinach wilts. Tip into a colander and allow to drain.

Place the kale and spinach in the bottom of a small roasting tray and spoon over the passata. Crack the eggs over the passata and season each one with salt and pepper.

Scatter the avocado over the top of the eggs and then sprinkle over the Parmesan. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until the whites of the eggs are cooked through.

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PHOTO: CLIVE BOZZARD-HILL

Mexican chorizo breakfast burrito (high-carb breakfast) Serves four Omar says: “You could use ready-to-eat sliced chorizo instead.”

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

• • • • • • • • •

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Chop the chorizo into pieces roughly 1cm thick and place on a roasting tray. Add the red pepper. Bake in the oven for 3 minutes or until the chorizo is cooked through. Crack the eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk well. Pour the eggs into a medium saucepan and cook over a medium heat. Stir continuously until the scrambled eggs are cooked. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the spinach.

Keep stirring until the spinach has wilted. Now add the kidney beans, Cheddar, Cajun spice, red pepper, smoked paprika and chorizo. Give it all a gentle stir. Lay out the wraps on a work surface and spoon the mixture down the centre of the wraps. Now roll up the wraps nice and tightly. Transfer them to a roasting tin and heat in the oven for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

75g cooking chorizo sausage 1 red pepper, sliced 4 eggs 1 handful of baby spinach 100g tinned kidney beans 30g mature Cheddar cheese, grated ½ tsp Cajun spice 1 tsp smoked paprika 4 tortilla wraps

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PHOTO: CLIVE BOZZARD-HILL

Sea bass with ginger & tamari, boiled rice & edamame beans (high-carb dinner) Serves two Omar says: “You’ll know the whole fish is cooked through when the backbone can be removed easily, pulling it away by the tail first.”

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

• • • • • • • • •

Preheat your grill to high. Place the rice in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes or according to the pack instructions. Drain away any excess water and put the rice back into the saucepan and set aside. Now bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and carefully add the edamame beans. Boil them for 5 minutes before draining and mixing together with the rice. Stir in the finely chopped coriander. Place the sea bass on a roasting tray skin-side up. Sprinkle the garlic, ginger and chilli over the fish.

Spoon over the tamari and place under the hot grill.

Cook for 15 minutes. Baste the fish with the sauce in the roasting tray. Divide the rice between two plates and top with the fish. Spoon over any excess sauce. Scatter the spring onions over the fish and serve.

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180g brown rice 80g edamame beans ½ small bunch coriander 2 whole sea bass 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 cm piece of ginger, finely chopped 1 red chilli, finely chopped 3 tbsp tamari or soy sauce 4 spring onions, finely chopped

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food Lamb chops with roasted vegetables and salsa verde (low-carb dinner) Serves two INGREDIENTS

• • • • • • • •

4 large lamb chops Zest and juice of 1 lemon 5 garlic cloves 1 head of fennel sliced into 6 wedges 1 red pepper, chopped 1 red onion, chopped into 6 wedges 2 courgettes, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil

For the salsa verde

• • • • • • •

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley 10 mint leaves 2 garlic cloves 2 tbsp capers 3 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp white wine vinegar

METHOD

PHOTO: CLIVE BOZZARD-HILL

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the lamb chops in a bowl and sprinkle the lemon zest and juice over them. Finely chop four of the garlic cloves, mix them with the lamb chops and leave to marinate for 10 minutes. Place the fennel, red pepper, onion and courgettes on a roasting tray. Finely chop the remaining garlic clove and mix together with the vegetables. Drizzle over the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

Place all the ingredients for the salsa verde in a food processor and blend until everything is combined. You still want the salsa slightly chunky. Place the lamb chops on a roasting tray and roast in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Once the chops are cooked, allow them to rest for 5 minutes before serving. To serve, divide the roasted vegetables between two serving plates and top with the lamb chops. Spoon over the salsa verde.

Cooking for Fitness: Eat Smart, Train Better by James Haskell and Omar Meziane is out now. £19.99, available on Amazon and from all good bookshops. Published by Haskell Publishing, a division of James Haskell Health & Fitness Ltd. Photography by Clive Bozzard-Hill and Neil Cooper.

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Kitley’s cuisine Kitley House Hotel in South Devon has been awarded an AA Rosette in recognition of the high standard of its food, shortly after the arrival of new head chef Ben Davies. The recently revamped menu focuses on high quality, locally sourced ingredients including pork, poultry and duck reared on the family-run estate, and vegetables grown in neighbouring fields.

Ben says, “We all have massive aspirations for Kitley. Very rarely in this line of business do you happen to be in the right place at the right time when someone comes in who really wants to change the direction in which the business is going. It’s exciting for us all.”

Gin gelato Founder of Dorset-based Baboo Gelato, Annie Hanbury is launching two new flavours made from rich, organic A2 milk from Eastfield Farm. The pear sorbet and gin and tonic ice creams (£3) can be found at ice cream kiosks in Lyme Regis and West Bay plus local farm shops, delis and River Cottage’s Canteen in Axminster. Annie loves to experiment with flavours: “For our pear sorbet, we use Comice pears from our orchard and from North Perrott Fruit Farm. They are a buttery, smooth, juicy pear when picked in that short window of perfect ripeness in early October,” says Annie. For the gin and tonic sorbet, she uses Fordington Gin from Dorchester, with botanical flavours including juniper, star anise and lemon balm. baboogelato.com

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Just add beer Rock-based Sharp’s Brewery has launched its first cook book in which its beer sommelier, Ed Hughes, guides readers through the beer landscape. Sharp’s works closely with some of the top chefs in Cornwall who are now creating dishes to pair with different beers in their restaurants. For the book Just Add Beer, award-winning street food chefs alongside those with Michelin stars to their names share 60 recipes to demonstrate how everyone can match beer with food – from easy-to-make beer snacks to a show-stopping birthday cake.

Co-author Rachel Williams has been working at Sharp’s Brewery for more than 10 years: “Alongside the team and some of the finest chefs, it’s become my mission to educate and inspire people about the modern, mouthwatering fusion of beer and food. Beer shouldn’t be an afterthought. It should be at the heart of any dining experience. The aim of this book is, therefore, to

turn the pint drinking culture on its head, put beer on its rightful pedestal and have you swapping your Pinot for a Pilsner at the dinner table.”

Sharp’s expert beer sommelier and co-author, Ed Hughes, adds: “There is a beer for every occasion, whether you’re throwing a lavish dinner party or an impromptu barbecue. It’s easy to navigate and totally accessible with ingredients and beers that can be found in most supermarkets or independent shops.”

Just Add Beer (£18.99) is available to buy at sharpsbrewery.co.uk

Top spot Primrose Herd has been named Producer Retailer of the Year at the 2018 National Pig Awards. Owner Sally Lugg was thrilled with the win, saying: “Looking after pigs properly and producing all our own products here on the farm is quite a relentless occupation so to receive this kind of recognition from our industry peers is really rewarding.”

Sally, her husband Bill and their three children – Rachael, Abi and Josh – plus long-standing staff member Jake Gregory describe the rearing of traditional breed pigs at their farm near Redruth as a labour of love. The pigs enjoy outdoor life and a natural diet, which encourages slow growth, as Sally explains: “When we began keeping pigs back in 1999 and selling our own pork at local markets, we set ourselves extremely high welfare and quality standards and, despite all the pressures food producers are under these days, we have maintained those standards. I’m really proud of that and also thankful for our loyal customers who have been so supportive.” primroseherd.co.uk

Tastebud safari Poole in Dorset is home to Zim Braai, a new restaurant which features dishes not only from South Africa, but also from the Seychelles, Mauritius, Malawi, Zanzibar, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Founder Andy Lennox has adapted the recipes, flair and cooking style of the world’s second largest and second most-populous continent to suit the UK. He says: “On my travels I had one of those lightbulb moments and realised the UK restaurant sector was missing a great new opportunity, yet diners are eager and highly receptive when it comes to international cuisine.

Southern African food is an exciting cuisine – featuring fish, meat, vegetables and lots of flavours – and offers a tantalising new foodie frontier for the taste buds!” Bobotie, the iconic national dish of South Africa, is a delicious mix of curried meat and fruit with a creamy topping (not unlike moussaka). Dishes are cooked on braai (grills) and feature a range of potjie (stews and curries). zim-braai.co.uk

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World-class wine list Liam Steevenson MW has collaborated with Exeter’s Southernhay House Hotel to curate a new list of eight wines including six created by Liam himself, plus two of his all-time favourites. Liam comments: “I’ve always regarded Southernhay House as the height of elegance, and a beautiful setting in which to enjoy contemporary dining and a bottle of something special. So I am very proud to have been invited to present this new wine list, which is very personal to me and brings together the wines I have made myself around the world.”

“The property was built at the beginning of the 19th century for a trader who worked for the East India Company,” says Deborah Clark, who owns Southernhay House with her husband Tony Orchard, “and has been

associated with travel and adventure ever since. We are especially excited to see Liam’s new Syrah from India on the list, which fits perfectly with the spirit of Southernhay House.” southernhayhouse.com

Beer fund Salcombe Brewery Co is supporting the RNLI by donating 5p to them for every pint of their aptlynamed Lifesaver sold in 2019, 150 years since Salcombe first established its own lifeboat station. The brewery owner, John Tiner, says: “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to support an important cause and help raise awareness of the invaluable role that the RNLI has played in our community for the last century and a half, and to raise funds to support them in the continuation of this work.” Lifesaver (ABV4.8%) is a tasty bronzecoloured ale which boasts a pleasantly malty flavour with a smack of citrus and orange peel. The initial citrus flavour gently fades into a subtle liquorice and toffee character with a floral finish. It is available on draft in bars and restaurants throughout the South West. salcombebrewery.com

Exmouth investment Award-winning chef Michael Caines MBE will be opening a restaurant with a bar and café area on the new Exmouth waterfront development, with work scheduled to begin on site later this year. The new venture will include a casual dining restaurant complete with an upstairs terrace, plus a dog-friendly café offering a lighter menu and serving home-made ice creams, local coffee and healthy takeaway snacks.

Michael Caines says: “The waterfront development will play a pivotal role in the regeneration of Exmouth and I’m really excited to be a part of something that celebrates all that this wonderful coastline has to offer.

We’ll be using local ingredients to showcase the great variety of high quality food and drink that this area has right on its doorstep.” watersportscentreexmouth.co.uk

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Steve Edwards (Michael Caines’ operations director), Peter Quincey (director at Grenadier), Michael Caines MBE (chef patron of Lympstone Manor) and David Kirk (Michael Caines’ finance director).

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Florrie Smith with Jason Jobling

Budding baker Florrie Smith, 17, of Portsmouth, has been crowned ‘Young Budding Baker of the Year’ and received a winner’s welcome at Warrens Bakery in St Just, Cornwall. This is the first time that Warrens Bakery – founded in 1860 and the oldest bakery in Cornwall – has run the competition, open to 16-18 year olds.

Florrie fought off stiff competition from six other youngsters during a day of technical and creative challenges at the finals in Bristol at which head baker Jason Jobling was chief judge. “It was fascinating working in a professional kitchen. I was impressed by the

skill and precision that goes into the job – for instance, measuring temperatures,” says Florrie, who was new to crimping pasties. “I love eating pasties and we go to Cornwall on holiday because my grandparents live in Launceston, but it’s not something I was brought up with. It’s hard to get the pastry the right thickness, and some looked good, some not so good. I will definitely do some more!” As winner, Florrie then spent two days at the Cornish HQ, working with the bakery’s creative team on some new recipes to put into development for the future.

No. 1 collaboration A Cornish hotel is the first in the county to commission a single estate gin: Talland Bay No. 1. It’s the result of a collaboration between Cornwall’s first plough-to-bottle gin distillery (Colwith Farm Distillery) and award-winning Talland Bay Hotel. The delicious and distinctive gin uses Colwith Farm Distillery’s potato wine as its base spirit, produced from potatoes grown on the fifth-generation family farm near Fowey. Botanicals are then added, including a selection foraged from Talland Bay Hotel’s own coastal gardens. Next, the gin is carefully blended in a traditional copper still at the distillery before being bottled and driven the 17 miles from Lanlivery to Porthallow.

“We wanted to create something that captured the unique setting of Talland Bay Hotel, packing the Mediterranean-style ambience into a bottle,” says general manager Jack AshbyWright. The end-product is very clean with notes of pine, citrus and peppermint, layered with elderflower and finished with soft and aromatic undertones of rose petals. It’s been a real team effort, the marriage of two Cornish families.” tallandbayhotel.co.uk

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Save the date WINE MASTERCLASS

GIN AND GASTRONOMY

Study for the WSET Level 1 award in wine and get a hands-on intro to the world of wine.

Indulge in an evening of exclusive dining with head chef Scott Paton, with each course paired with Salcombe Gin cocktails.

21 January – 4 February. From 6pm for three Monday evenings. £175. Le Vignoble, Royal William Yard, Plymouth. levignoble.co.uk

1 February. 7-10pm. £49pp includes five-course dinner and gin cocktails. Boringdon Hall Hotel and Spa, near Plymouth. boringdonhall.co.uk

TUSCAN FOOD AND WINE FEAST Andrea from esteemed Italian wine producer Brancaia celebrates all things Tuscan with a guide to pouring wines to match each course of a feasting menu created by executive chef Ben Ambridge.

BURNS NIGHT A night of feasting, merriment and plenty of Scottish tradition, including trenching and an ode to the haggis plus whiskies from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

26 January. 7-10.30pm. £70 includes dinner plus whisky or wine flight. Glazebrook House, South Brent, Devon. glazebrookhouse.com

MAD ABOUT MARMALADE! Join cook Julia Ponsonby and Voirrey Watterson for a one-day workshop on making the most of the bitter Seville orange and take away your own fresh batch of home-made marmalade.

7 February. 7pm. £75pp includes paired wines. The Longstore, Charlestown, PL25 3NJ. Call 01726 68598 to book. thelongstore.co.uk

BRITISH DAL FESTIVAL Launching on World Pulse Day, events are running across the country, plus there will be a Dal Trail across Bristol city centre and a festival finale at Paintworks in Bristol (10am-6pm, 16 February). This includes chef demos, a dal market place, street food and pulse-based children’s activities and entertainment.

The festival runs 10-17 February. More info: britishdalfestival.com British Dal Festival

27 January. 10am-4pm. £50 includes lunch. Chicken Shed (Craft Studio), Dartington Hall, South Devon. Contact crafted@dartington.org.

FONDUE FEASTS Enjoy the stars twinkling over Mawgan Porth from The Wild Café, and share a delicious classic fondue made with Gruyère and Comté cheese, served with Glühwein.

Every Thursday throughout February. 6pm. £20pp. Bedruthan Hotel and Spa, Cornwall. To book, call 01637 860860.

Fondue Feasts

VALENTINE’S DINNER Treat your date to a romantic fine-dining pop-up with chef Mike Welsh.

16 February. From 6.30pm. £45 includes Champagne on arrival plus dinner. Brickhouse Vineyard, Kenton, near Exeter.

COOK THE BOOK Chef Jane Baxter spent some of her early years cooking alongside Rose and Ruthie at The River Café, so she cooks some of her favourite recipes from The River Café Cook.

Book for this special feast. 23 February. 7pm. £39. Wild Artichokes, Kingsbridge. wildartichokes.co.uk

WORLD PASTY CHAMPIONSHIPS Pasty-makers compete in the search to find the pasty champions of the world.

2 March. The Eden Project, near Truro. More info: cornishpastyassociation.co.uk

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food

Signature Dish Mary Quicke’s roast squash and pesto pasta

PHOTO: MATT AUSTIN

Simple comfort food is just what we need at this time of year, and Mary Quicke MBE is the 14th generation of the Quicke family on Home Farm, near Exeter. She loves this seasonal recipe for its speed and simplicity: “The goat’s cheese perfectly sets off the sweetness of the butternut squash. Pile it high in a big bowl, serve it with salad and bread, and pass it around the table after a chilly day out in the fields. It’ll be sure to warm your tummies and bring a smile to your faces.”

Mary has recently become an ambassador for the Exeter Food and Drink Trail which gives foodies the opportunity to embark on some fantastic foodie experiences, including cheese tours at Quicke’s Farm, where you will see the art of making world-class cheese. quickes.co.uk INGREDIENTS

• • • •

Large butternut squash, cut into cubes and de-seeded 80g pasta per person A good grating of Quicke’s Goat’s Milk Cheese Toasted pine nuts, basil leaves and seasoning to finish

Ingredients for pesto

• 100g Quicke’s Vintage Clothbound Cheddar or • • • • •

Parmigiano Reggiano 1 clove of garlic A big handful of basil leaves A pinch of sea salt A handful of pine nuts 100ml extra virgin olive oil

METHOD

Coat the squash in olive oil and roast in the oven at about 200°C for about 40 minutes, until the squash is soft and starts to lightly caramelise on the edges.

To make the pesto, crush a clove of garlic in a mortar until creamy and add the basil leaves and sea salt. Next, add the pine nuts and cheddar and then extra virgin olive oil. Adjust the pesto with a bit more oil or cheese to reach a lovely creamy texture.

Cook your pasta according to packet instructions and, once drained, stir in the pesto and add the roast squash on top.

Serve immediately in a big bowl, with a generous grating of Quicke’s Goat’s Cheese on top.

PHOTO: MATT AUSTIN

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Food Pioneer Kieran Hemsworth MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CORNISH PASTY COMPANY, GINSTERS We are currently celebrating 50 years of baking the noble Cornish pasty. We’re extremely proud to still be

doing this in Cornwall. It all began back in 1967 when dairy farmer Geoffrey Ginster founded the business. Two years later, he began actually baking Cornish pasties in an almost derelict egg-packing barn in Callington and produced just 24 pasties on his first day of business.

We’ve come a long way since then and now produce three million pasties, slices and sausage rolls every week. We’re

still on the same site in Callington, but the bakery has come on somewhat and sadly the egg-packing barn is no more.

We have taken the noble Cornish pasty to the nation.

We’re proud of the fact that our pasties are produced using local ingredients, including our vegetables that are sourced from Hay Farm on the Rame Peninsula, just 15 miles from our bakery. We use Cornish cream in our chicken and bacon slices, and we also use Davidstow mature cheddar in our cheese and onion pasty. There’s so many fantastic producers on our doorstep so we champion a strong local sourcing policy where possible.

We’ve had the chance to work with some extremely talented chefs. We have collaborated with acclaimed

Cornish born and bred Michelin-starred chef Chris Eden and our very own World Pasty Champion, Graham Cornish, enabling us to create some exciting new flavours and take our pasties to the next level.

Our Cornish heritage and use of Cornish ingredients are what makes us stand out. Our products are made in

Cornwall under the PGI protected status at our bakery in Callington. We don’t add any artificial colours, flavours or preservatives to any of our products and as well as the locally sourced vegetables, we use 100 per cent British farmed meat. All of this works to give our products a distinctive taste that our customers love, not to mention reassurance of quality and provenance. We are the largest-scaled producer of Cornish PGI status pasties, so our size of distribution makes us stand out. We contribute in the region of £15m per year to the Cornish economy, including the local farming community in Cornwall and the South West.

We’re like a family here. Many of our workers have been

at Ginsters for over 20 years, with some having worked for us for over 30 years. Everyone takes great pride in their work.

Cornwall has a growing reputation for great food, driven by the number of Michelin star chefs basing themselves down here and enhanced by the quality of produce that is available. Cornish food producers often prefer to

We have just recently launched our easy-to-cook ‘Bake in a Tray’ pasties and slices in the Co-op and Sainsbury’s, which are perfect for a busy family life. It’s wholesome comfort

use local ingredients and take great care in their work, spending time to perfect their products.

food and we’d love to see our pasty lovers experiment in the kitchen and try out new serving suggestions.

We are a founding member of the Cornish Pasty Association. The CPA exists to protect the heritage

Our methods are basically the same as you would see in a small kitchen, just on a much larger scale. Our highly

and quality of the Cornish pasty. It was instrumental in securing the Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) status for the Cornish pasty, which we’re incredibly proud of.

talented chefs work in the development kitchen to devise new and enticing recipe flavours that we then introduce to our bakery. They are inspired by foodie trends but also their own travels and experiences. It’s this creativity and ambition that drives our product development.

Cornish pasties are crimped on one side and have a ‘D’ shape. Devon pasties are crimped on the top, and they aren’t

protected by the PGI status that Cornish pasties have.

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ginsters.co.uk

food

The Table Prowler Ikoyi, St James’s Market, London So off we went to London to experience probably the most achingly groovy restaurant on the scene right now. Ikoyi is an award-winning restaurant in the new (and otherwise soulless) St James’s Market Development in Mayfair. Posh Nigerian nosh (Ikoyi is the Hampstead of Lagos, apparently) has clearly arrived: Waitrose has identified West African cuisine as ‘The Thing’ for 2019.

We hit the tasting menu, which is the only one on offer in the evenings. The lack of choice is a refreshing plus, as chef and part-owner Jeremy Chan shifts and weaves the dishes in accordance with the market, with a few house staples to pin the whole thing down.

The first course, raspberry-coated plantain with scotch bonnet cream, is searingly bright on the eye, and also on the tongue, beginning the meal like a trumpet blast. It’s simple but effective. I’m a wine woman, so we were on an interesting Portuguese Gouveio all night, but this food is probably perfectly paired with spirits. The other customers were certainly running the gamut of the very competent cocktail list.

Next up, prawn with yam mousse and chestnut shavings: a light, sweet and soothing contrast to the plantain. Down in one scoop. My notes say that at this point we admired the earthenware bowls. In fact, the entire fit-out was utterly tasteful, including the staff. Cue a little ogling.

We then got going on Devon line-caught mackerel with banga fish bisque. It was nice to be able to boast about Devon (a little), and Ikoyi casts its net wide in sourcing and crediting UK ingredients, as well as notionally traditional West African ones. A moment’s thought about line-caught mackerels being bashed on the head passed.

Again, following a neat pattern of mix and match, the next course of roast pumpkin with kumquats and chanterelle sauce soothed and sweetened. The main protein block came next (I’m not sure how the tasting menu would square with some dietary requirements, but I would urge anyone to go with the flow). We had Cornish duck with miso-glazed plantain and sour carrot with smoked Jollof rice – another house staple – which was the highlight of the meal. We finished with rice ice cream, caramelfilled peas and miso meringue – a combination of textures adding great crunch.

Overall? Thumbs up and not just for the novelty; this is a restaurant that knows where it stands, what it does, and delivers it beautifully. Not cheap at all but we handed over £100 per head (with wine) willingly and pottered back through Soho.

Food 10 | Service 9 | Ambience 8 | Location 6 | Value 8 ikoyilondon.com

Scoff Troff Café, St Ives, Cornwall Scoff Troff sits just at the business end of Fore Street, the main drag of St Ives. While the cobbled high street is mostly pedestrianised, Scoff Troff is right on the edge of a complicated bit of road chicanery, separated from a stream of cars by the narrowest of pavements. I mention this, because on a busy day, it was a Frogger-like effort to get myself and two kids across the road and into the café when the pavements were jammed with people and the roads full of confused-looking drivers.

We visited the café in the late morning on a chilly Christmas eve, having exhausted the kids with a ‘few lastminute bits’ shopping spree. The place was packed with the usual St Ives mish-mash of local dog walkers (dodge the pooch) and families, young hipsters and out-of-towners. It has a thrumming, buzzy atmosphere. The outsized menus held a promise of generous portions and hearty, meaty food. We were not disappointed. The kids chose Breakfast Sandwiches – one with bacon and one with bacon and sausage. I went for Posh Eggs, because I am the mummy and my brunch must contain avocado and a semblance of sophistication... The food took ages to arrive – the place was

rammed, and the staff clearly run off their feet – and there was no useful activity sheet to entertain the kids. As predicted, the meals were large: the sandwiches on giant slices of freshly baked bloomer bread with perfectly turned herby sausages and not-too-greasy slices of bacon. My posh scrambled eggs (locally sourced from St Ewe) were golden yellow and creamy, topped with melted goats’ cheese and accompanied by half an avocado and doorstopper slices of bloomer bread. The coffee was exceptional – the owners pride themselves on their blends: and it certainly woke me up…

The place has the vibe of a hectic café – they cram in perhaps more tables than they can properly handle, but it is lively and fun. The owners are widely travelled and claim that they particularly wanted to create the kind of Asian/ Antipodean fusions (with top coffee) that they found in Australia. They seem to have hit the mark. Just a shame it takes so long to get served.

Food 7 | Service 9 | Ambience 7 | Location 9 | Value 6 scofftroff.co.uk

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C’est Magnifique!

Expertly gathered together at our showroom in Exeter, is a truly international collection of the ďŹ nest range cookers and kitchen appliances, including a touch of je ne sais quoi from the renowned French cooker manufacturer, La Cornue - designed to transform homes and inspire wonderful culinary creations.

Experience and explore the largest selection of live La Cornue appliances on show in the UK. To whet your appetite, visit us in store and online or call to book a personalised appointment.

FINE STOVES & COOKERS Telephone 01392 797679 www.hearthandcook.com 112 MANOR | Late Winter 2019 Showroom: 14 Oaktree Place, Manaton Close, Matford, Exeter EX2 8WA. Open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Saturdays 10am to 4pm or by appointment.

Space Living Architecture’s Secular Retreat, in South Devon | Lighting tips from an expert Shopping for space

Living Architecture’s Secular Retreat, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor (see page 114) living-architecture.co.uk

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The new Secular Retreat in South Devon is the only permanent building in the UK from star Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Simon Rake takes a look at this exceptional, enigmatic building now available as a holiday home. All photos courtesy of Living Architecture.

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space

O

Peter Zumthor

ver the past few years, on a hilltop in South Devon, nestled in a stand of Monterey pines, a very special house has slowly, oh so slowly, been brought to life. It is the result of a near decade-long design and construction process that, while it has its roots in Switzerland, has a strong ‘Made in Devon’ element.

Secular Retreat is the latest holiday home in the Living Architecture stable and the only permanent building in the UK from star Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. As its name suggests, the building exudes an air of monastic calm and solid protection, however hard the prevailing westerlies may blow. Its concrete structure hunkers down on what is a very exposed site, presenting a raw, already somewhat weather-beaten exterior and giving little away as to what lies within.

Arranged on a single level, the house provides five bedrooms, contained in two accommodation wings leading off a single main living space. In the rectilinear wings, the repeating bedrooms and bathrooms conjure a sense of order, marking a regular rhythm. Each bedroom is itself a retreat – the cell-like austerity of the simple shapes, exposed concrete walls and ceiling tempered by the luxury of the beautifully detailed fruitwood joinery. But in the main space, this ordered arrangement evaporates. The vast, irregularly shaped concrete roof sits on a group of seemingly randomly placed columns, whilst double-height glazing slides in and out between them. Glazing bands intersect with the overlapping bedroom wing roofs to form complex 3D geometries overhead. The slabs of the blue lias stone floor, each one of which was cut to a special design worked out precisely to fit the stones delivered from the quarry in Somerset, are laid to a set of rules resulting in carefully controlled irregularity. While the space is subtly divided by columns and bespoke units into entrance hall, kitchen, dining and living areas, its scale remains remarkable.

Only a handful of materials have been used in construction, but each is of exceptional quality – concrete, stone, wood and fabrics that call out to be touched as well as looked at. The interior received the same attention to detail as the building itself; Zumthor has designed most of the furniture and fittings, including lights and the basins in the bathrooms, one of which even boasts a specially commissioned wooden bath.

Paradoxically however, the real star of the interior is the outside. The house enjoys magnificent views over the surrounding countryside, which flood in through the soaring glazing around the living space, the full-wall bedroom windows and the bedroom wing corridor glass wall. In the bathrooms, tiny square windows, deeply recessed into the double-thickness concrete walls, frame jewel-like glimpses of the garden.

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Only a handful of materials have been used in construction, but each is of exceptional quality – concrete, stone, wood and fabrics that call out to be touched as well as looked at.

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something disorientating here. Something enigmatic about the way in which the concrete roofs and rammed concrete walls and columns suggest huge weight and yet sit so lightly in their setting. Something confusing about exactly how, and where, inside becomes outside becomes inside again. An exceptional building, yes, but also a puzzle. A place that demands further investigation, consideration and reflection. A riddle to be solved.

Perhaps a little background will help.

Living Architecture was founded in 2006 by philosopher and author Alain de Botton. The aim was to commission a handful of houses, each designed by a different outstanding contemporary architect, to be available to the public for short holiday lets. The lofty purpose was to allow people to experience the highest standards of architecture in a domestic setting and, hopefully, slowly, raise the bar for domestic architecture more widely. As de Botton points out, a similar process has taken place in the nation’s kitchens, with exposure to new cuisines changing tastes radically over the past few decades.

space The result is a collection of seven houses – in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Kent, Wales and now Devon – ranging from the playful Balancing Barn, which as the name suggests dangles nearly half of its length into thin air on its sloping site, and the gingerbread fantasy of Grayson Perry’s House for Essex, to the serenity of the Life House in Wales and the stark beauty of the Shingle House on Dungeness beach. There was also the temporary delight of A Room for London, a tiny boat-like structure perched on the edge of the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London’s Southbank Centre.

Then there is the architect, Zumthor, who was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2009 and the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Gold Medal in 2012 – two of the profession’s highest awards. Now 75, he has achieved the recognition of his peers on the back of a relatively small portfolio of projects. (His only previous building in the UK was the temporary Serpentine Pavilion in London in 2011.) In part this is because he is notoriously picky in accepting commissions; in part because the painstaking attention to detail and uncompromising focus on quality of craftsmanship, common to all his buildings, take time.

A lot of time. His is a slow architecture, carefully crafted to last. It was clearly something of a coup for Living Architecture to engage his services, tempting him most of all perhaps with the site. “It is easy to make a building for a place like this,” he observed. It was also something of a gamble for a commercial organisation; although Secular

Retreat was one of the earlier Living Architecture projects to get under way, it is the last to be completed. That the gamble has paid off is reflected in the fact that Secular Retreat was fully booked out for 2019 within days of being made available.

So, we have a determined, visionary client; a perfectionist, craftsman-like architect… gradually we can begin to understand how a building like this can come about. For the final piece of the puzzle, and for a glimpse behind the scenes, it might help to turn to three Devon-based people who each played an important role in its creation.

Kate Purver, structural engineer “There are some quite complicated internal geometries hidden inside those apparently monolithic roofs.”

Based largely in her South Hams home office, Kate Purver worked with structural engineers Jane Wernick Associates on aspects of several of the Living Architecture houses. “These were fun and exciting projects. The client really knew what they wanted, the architects were exceptionally good, and the locations were stunning.” She also notes wryly that after years of travelling to London for meetings on projects around the country, when she at last got to work on a project close to home she had to travel to meetings in Switzerland.

She confirms the initial impression that there is more to this building than meets the eye. “Peter wanted this

Balancing Barn

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apparently very simple principle. But of course if you have exposed concrete both inside and outside, you need to put the waterproofing and insulation somewhere – so you end up with a double structure. Every external wall is in fact two separate walls, and each roof has an inner and outer structural slab.” The architecture didn’t make this any easier. “Often we couldn’t put columns where we’d have liked them. And the fact that the bedroom wing roofs had to appear to cross the glazing envelope, pushing into the space, made things more complex.

There are some quite complicated internal geometries hidden inside those apparently monolithic roofs.”

Charlotte Rathbone, landscape architect “We have planted native perennial wildflowers to create an oasis of biodiversity in this agricultural landscape.”

For Charlotte Rathbone, of the Modbury-based Rathbone Partnership, the emphasis was very much on the local setting. In early conversations with Zumthor, he impressed on her his desire that the house should flow from the landscape. Although local shillet was considered, the same blue lias stone as used for the internal floor is set on edge to form low walls, the path that leads to the house and the terrace that extends from the living space, fingering into the surrounding soil to avoid hard edges. It also provides the floor for the only surviving remnant of 118

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the 1940s house that previously occupied the site, a sitting area surrounded by low concrete block walls. Native species have been used to plant thickets and restore hedge banks.

“Mark Robinson of Living Architecture was always very clear that this is a holiday house, and therefore had to be low-maintenance,” she adds, “so there are only two small areas of mowed lawn, immediately outside the bedroom areas, and the rest is meadow, where we have planted native perennial wildflowers to create an oasis of biodiversity in this agricultural landscape.”

Simon Cannon, construction manager “Fortunately, I was able to keep the same team in place, and as they grew to understand the project, they took a real pride in it.”

For Simon Cannon, who first became involved as site manager for Woodmace of Poole, Dorset, before taking on overall management of construction, a different local feature provided the biggest challenge. “We had to deal with some truly atrocious weather during the build, and the site is very exposed,” he recalled. “It is very difficult achieving the level of accuracy and detail required when faced with conditions like that. Fortunately, I was able to keep the same team in place, and as they grew to understand the project, they took a real pride in it.”

At the beginning, some of the builders working on

the rammed concrete elements struggled with the notion that the rough finish was exactly what was required.

As Zumthor noted, each layer with its own particular features serves almost as a day’s entry in the diary of the house’s construction. Simon also noticed a mutual respect building between his craftsmen and the architect during site visits. “There was none of that aloofness that you sometimes get from architects for the people actually doing the work. Peter and Rainer Weitschies, the project architect, would always make a point of talking to them, and were very interested in how they were using their skills to address the challenges they had been set.”

Secular Retreat is an impressive architectural and technical achievement. It is a place that is immediately welcoming, but also has secrets that it will only give up slowly. There is no opulence here; instead, it offers simple luxury and luxurious simplicity. It is an ideal setting for a group of people to come together to explore the house and the landscape beyond, to cook, eat, laugh and play in this magical setting. But they will have to be quick. I suspect that it will continue to get booked up for a long time to come. living-architecture.co.uk

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Pendant, Hurn &Hurn, £84

Freshen up

The days are getting longer! Blow away the cobwebs, suck up the dust and prepare your home now for a bright airy spring with a clean, neutral palette, minimal clutter and an injection of lush, living greenery. Simplicity can sometimes provide the most refreshing tonic. Compiled by Amy Tidy.

Pendant, A by Amara, £50

Faux potted string pearls, Audenza, £35

Mirror, John Lewis and Partners, £150

John Lewis and Partners

Vase, Marks and Spencer, £15

Dining chair, Bridgman, £159

Potted plant, Debenhams, £30 Pisa shelf, Loaf, £395

Faux Aloe Vera plant, Cox & Cox, £25

Terracotta pots, Tine K Home, (Set of three) £95

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Nkuku basket, Amara, £10

space Next

Pendant, Atkin and Thyme, £79 Pendant, John Lewis and Partners, £150

Bloomingville cushions, Amara, £53 each

Cushion, Marks and Spencer, £9,50

Plate, John Lewis and Partners, £5 Velvet throw, John Lewis and Partners, £135 Jars Reflets D’Argent dinner plate, Amara, £21 Chair, Sweetpea & Willow, £1,695

Chair, Swoon Editions, £499 Throw, Marks and Spencer, £39,50

Coat stand, Tine K Home, £135

Cushion, Dunelm, £7 Table, Eclect Design, £105

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An illuminating career path Lighting has evolved considerably in the last couple of decades but our understanding of how to do it well in the home remains limited. Imogen Clements tracks down one of the country’s leading experts, David Amos, to find out how he has honed his reputation among both architects and homeowners alike as the UK’s go-to lighting guru, and garners some useful tips

L

ighting, when I was a child, was purely functional.

Its function, it seemed to me back then, was to prompt my mother to be continually nagging us to switch the lights off in rooms we were using. There was no spot lighting as I remember in our house, but pendants, always in the centre of the room, always fitted with a standard A-line shade, then a strip light in the kitchen, and then regular power cuts and grappling for candles, so you didn’t take electric lighting for granted.

Today things are very different. Lighting is not just about illumination but far, far more. It can transform a space and your mental state, as a result, within it. People invest far more in lighting for its aesthetic and moodenhancing qualities than they ever used to, but it’s not easy to get it right.

David Amos is one of the country’s leading experts in lighting, a go-to source of illumination for both top

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architects and domestic consumers. It was probably always meant to be. He was brought up in the lighting industry. David’s father started his own lighting business in Bristol in 1968 and David joined in 1982, starting out sweeping floors and unpacking boxes. As the business grew, so did David within it, rising to store manager and then to Exeter opening the second store there. David’s father sold the family business in 2000, at which point his son decided to branch out on his own, opening Amos Lighting in Devon in 2005.

Amos Lighting now has two stores with substantial showrooms that display every variety of lighting you could possibly imagine along with furniture. After all, lighting is rarely considered in isolation.

We get an insight from the man who has made good lighting his life, and living, and garner some tips on how to do it well.

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David Amos

How do you curate your product range, in other words, choose what lighting to stock?

Was it inevitable that you would go into the lighting industry because of your father or was there another reason you chose to make it your career?

Without light, there is only dark and in the earliest of times, the only source of light was fire, a flame. I find lighting and its evolution so incredibly fascinating as it creates shape, shadows, forms and visual interest. Without light, without fire, you can’t survive, and this just captivated me from a very early age. It helped of course that my father had his own lighting business in Bristol in 1968, but not everyone inherits the passions of their forebears, yet I took to it like a duck to water! Plus of course, as long as it continues to get dark at night, people will always need lighting!

What have been the key milestones in the growth of the business when you look back?

In 2005, I had an opportunity to buy my own freehold unit in Marsh Barton industrial estate, Exeter, creating a retail and design space to help customers find the perfect lighting for their project or home. In 2016, we expanded with the opening of a second store in Topsham which allowed us to showcase a broader range: designer lighting as well as more affordable and everyday functional lighting. Most recently, we’ve developed our digital presence with a new website and e-commerce store in December 2018.

Ah, that’s my secret recipe! Whilst not wishing to give too much away, it’s important to reflect trends, offer genuine value for money, have an eye on what’s happening next as well as understanding what is no longer relevant. It’s a fine balance, but one which gets easier with experience. Put another way, the trick is not what to include but what to leave out. Whilst there are lots of amazing styles of lighting out there, the principles of a really well-lit space never change, which is to always layer with light, two layers as a minimum, ideally three. First, ambient (or general) – ambient lighting typically refers to overhead fixtures such as chandeliers, pendants and flush ceiling fixtures – which tends to be a basic for most rooms… but don’t stop there. Second, task lighting – which is as straightforward as it sounds.

Think kitchen undercabinet lighting, a bathroom vanity light and bedside reading lamps. I always recommend ambient and task lighting as a minimum; however, the most mood and impact comes with the final layer: accent lighting. Accent lighting is perhaps not as functional as ambient and task, but the ‘finishing touch’ to a room.

Highlighting a bookshelf, a piece of artwork or an architectural statement creates subtle and dramatic effects which instantly draw the eye and create a lasting ‘wow’ factor. It’s important – no, critical – to have these three levels on individual switches so that you can control each layer individually.

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space Why did you decide to stock furniture lighting rather than just lighting and how do you approach sourcing this?

Our furniture ranges were introduced around 10 years ago, initially to help dress the store and provide a sense of ‘home’. It’s important to offer customers a context within which lighting can be viewed.

Give us an idea of the range of lighting customers can expect to find at Amos Lighting.

We have travelled extensively to offer brands that reflect our values, from South West artisans such as Stuart Lamble who creates beautiful, hand-sculpted wooden lampshades, table and floor lamps and wall lights, to top international lighting designers such as Marc Sadler and Rodolfo Dordoni for Foscarini, Pierre Bonnefille for Lampe Gras, and Raimond Puts for Moooi, to name a few. We will always try to provide customers with a carefully selected and curated range of lighting to suit all rooms, requirements and budgets.

How do you approach devising full lighting systems in homes?

As we say to our customers, the more we know about your space and have a better understanding of how it’s going to be used, the more effective a job we can do.

This can be very time consuming but equally rewarding as the finished product is always better. It all comes down to customer understanding leading to the very best customer service. The lighting and furnishings are a means to an end, that is the long-lasting customer delight. Ultimately, our purpose at Amos is to deliver a beautiful space that is perfectly illuminated, warm and welcoming, so working on all rational and emotional, often intangible, levels.

Explain to us your forthcoming campaign to ‘Fall in love with your home again’.

Life can be busy, and your home is often the last place to benefit from extra attention because a lot of people consider it a big job they don’t have time or money for.

But, if you’ve fallen out of love with tired décor, it can just take a few tweaks to your furnishings or adding the right glow to deliver instant ambience. Our team of lighting and home interiors experts enjoy sharing inspiration and creative ideas to refresh your home and see it in a new light. We will be visiting national and international trade shows at the start of the year, and as a result introducing lots of new home furnishings for the spring. Inspiration will be flowing with mood boards and look books, and our team of super enthusiastic designers will all add to the fun and vibrant atmosphere in store.

We’re really looking forward to it. amoslighting.co.uk

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Escape Carbis Bay Hotel, Cornwall | |Travel Notes | A taste of Rome

The Spanish Steps, Rome. See page 136

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A new sea defence wall led to an ambitious beachside project on Cornwall’s Carbis Bay. It’s a luxury development that’s certainly making waves, as Fiona McGowan discovers.

I

have spent the night sleeping between soft sheets – the thread count must be many hundreds of times higher than my own mid-range percale set – lulled by the sound of the rush and the pull of waves on the beach.

The first big storm of autumn was raging across the South West that night, but I heard little of it. I reach out of the warm covers and pull back the curtains. The tide is in; the waves are crashing onto the dull ochre sand. A long, dark shape floats beneath the swollen surface of the sea then breaches it. I climb out of bed and slide open the large double-glazed doors. The big dog-like head of a seal turns to look at me. The wind whips into the room, salty and damp and surprisingly mild. I step out onto the balcony and look across the bay. The water is churning and boiling out at sea, but this bay is sheltered from the wild south westerly wind.

The eight new uber-luxury lodges at Carbis Bay Hotel literally sit on the beach. Protecting them from the onslaught of the sea is a wall of great big slabs of concrete, whose base goes 30 metres down into the sea bed and 20

metres back into the cliff beneath the hotel itself. From the balcony of the master bedroom, you could almost be on the deck of a cruise liner. Or – in more clement weather – on a veranda of a Malibu beach house. The lodges are built on three levels – the entrance accessed from a pathway via a locked gate. At the top is a terrace complete with private hot tub, and an unprepossessing entrance hall. Spiral steps lead down to the bedroom layer – two comfortable-sized double bedrooms and twin, two of which have balconies overlooking the beach. The bathrooms are not cavernous, but the master bedroom does have a gorgeous freestanding rolltop bath. Down the spiral staircase again – a vast white concrete tube softened by tactile rope handrails and sand-coloured carpet treads – and you step out into a huge living area. It’s minimalist beach chic – every element designed, sourced and overseen by Josie Baker, co-owner of the hotel. The stairwell comes into its own here – a statement piece, it sits just off-centre in the space.

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The thing that draws the eye, of course, is the sea.

Who needs art on the walls when you have a massive scene filling one side of the room?

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catering. A large hamper of Cornish goodies welcomes every guest. There’s a big reclaimed-wood dining table, large soft leather sofas and a super-modern fireplace that somehow combines with a TV centre. But the thing that draws the eye, of course, is the sea. Who needs art on the walls when you have a massive scene filling one side of the room? Patio doors lead out to yet another balcony, where you are just feet away from the sand and the waves.

This level of luxury accommodation, of course, doesn’t come cheap. The lodges cost up to £1,800 a night in high season. The clientele, says Dan Allister, marketing and development manager of the hotel, has to date, mostly been affluent families from London, the odd celeb and the international moneyed set. The lodges, completed this year, have already begun to blend into the steep hillside behind them, upon which perches the original Victorian hotel and spa. There are grassed roofs, and the three-storey structures are clad in wood that has begun to mellow. From the beach, the big grey sea defence wall in front of the lodges is something that’s more practical than aesthetically pleasing.

The resort has been through various stages of development since Josie’s father-in-law bought the hotel and its 125 acres of land in the narrow valley that stretches down to the beach. For a long time, it was a small hotel that opened only six months of the year, says Josie. She and husband Stephen decided to help turn the place around by marketing it as a wedding venue and opening all year round. Over time, they introduced a fine-dining experience in the hotel, bought a small hotel up the valley, and another one (The Gannet) at the top. Plus, a collection of self-catering cottages. The spa was another brainwave of Josie’s. She recognised that there was a market for it, particularly with the wedding guests, and within months of having the idea, there was a luxurious (albeit fairly small) spa with treatment room, nail stations and a lounge area overlooking the outdoor pool and the beach. A big new conservatory was added to the dining area in the front of the hotel and they introduced Saturday night fireworks during the summer months – a display that could be seen arcing over the dark sea from miles away.

Then the couple turned their gaze to the beach. Carbis Bay was a charming, if somewhat traditional, place to visit. Like a low-fi version of Porthminster in St Ives, it had a long, slightly storm-battered car park abutted by a line of quaint little beach huts. There was a white-painted, slightly municipal toilet block set back away from the car park, and a bucket-and-spade-shop-cum-beach-café. It was frequented by locals and guests alike – the proximity of parking to the beach being a boon to those with small children. Off season, the café was popular with dogwalkers, coast path-ers and locals hanging out and gazing out across the exquisite bay. It was perhaps inevitable that any change to this set-up would cause some consternation.

The recent £15 million investment in the hotel (all raised through private funding) was kick-started when

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Carbis Bay secured coastal investment funding to build a new sea defence wall. The old car park and line of beach huts was no defence against the increasing risk of storms and higher sea levels undermining the hotel. With the half million pounds of Coastal Communities money, Josie and Stephen realised that if they had to knock out the car park and do major structural work on the beach, it was an ideal moment to expand the hotel’s offering.

And the idea for the luxury beachfront lodges was born.

Dan Allister is keen to emphasise the benefits of the development. Bringing more tourism to Cornwall, of course, is one. Another is the job creation. While the building work is finite, the local employment generated since the work started on the sea defence wall has been impressive. Josie adds: “And when the next phase is complete, we will have a staff of 60-65 people.” There is a new energy centre on the site. A large shed-like building in the car park, it houses two gas-powered turbines that generate consistent electricity – a big plus in an area plagued by power cuts. The by-product of the turbines is heat – and this is piped throughout the estate to heat the water system: from the hot tubs and the bath water to the swimming pool. Excess energy generated, says Dan, goes back into the grid and can be used to power local homes in the event of a power cut.

Josie is clearly ambitious, and the latest phase of development – a venue building – is the newest product of her grand vision. It is still a building site, and currently stands like the giant prow of an ocean liner about to launch across the sand into the bay. Even Josie had her reservations.

“When the building went up…” she hesitates, “I did know the scale of it. We weren’t naïve, but when it actually starts going up, it’s, ‘Oh, my God’. I’ll never forget when the first platform went on, and I was walking around thinking, ‘Oh my goodness. This is crazy.’ Then the next platform went on…” Dan and Josie insist that once the wood cladding and glazing go on, it will mellow and blend into the surroundings – homogenising what currently looks like a MANOR | Late Winter 2019

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somewhat disparate collection of unconnected buildings.

There are landscaping plans to add green and soften the edges and the new development will be a venue for anything from weddings to corporate events. It includes further hotel suites, a large restaurant, a café-bar and a promenade at beach level with ‘retail’. Dan says that art will be a big push here – he wants to have art events, galleries and an art trail that draws people along the coast path from St Ives. The coast path will go right through the middle of the new development, with the intention of attracting more non-residents to the café.

A true force of nature, Josie is already embedded in new plans to make the main hotel into more of a chic boutique hotel. It means knocking down walls and increasing the size of rooms; changing the layout of the (currently very formal) restaurant to add more treatment rooms to the spa; and creating a smaller, more informal, fine-dining restaurant experience. The Bakers don’t just want to cater for their guests. They are not about creating a private beach in the style of, well, Malibu – all private sun-loungers and ‘keep out’ signs.

They donate to community events and sponsor local surf-life-saving groups; they organise beach cleans and insist that locals are as welcome as they always were.

Whatever the eventual result, Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate is destined to become a major tourist destination – and there’s no question that guests, from near and far, will enjoy understated beach-front luxury in one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in the country. carbisbayhotel.co.uk

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Land’s End, spring begins After

IF WINTER’S GETTING YOU DOWN, HERE’S A TIP: SPRING COMES EARLY ON THE ISLES OF SCILLY. It’s been a while since you’ve seen flowers in the hedgerows, or felt the sun on your skin. So here’s something worth knowing.

Just off the coast Cornwall, you’ll find the Isles of Scilly’s sea pinks and purple loosestrife in full bloom, while the mainland’s still under frost and fog.

There’s more sunshine, and the evenings stay lighter, longer – even before the clocks change.

It’s because the islands are perched right at the UK’s the western tip. The Gulf Stream keeps the weather milder, and the sun sets up to half an hour later than Eastern parts of the UK. There’s rarely a frost, so the flowers bloom all year round.

You can understand why it’s is the most popular time to visit Scilly (yes, even more than the summer).

People are fed up of winter, and going to meet the spring.

If you like, you can too. You can fly direct from Exeter, Newquay and Land’s End airports. There are easy connecting flights across the UK, so the spring really is minutes away.

Or, if you prefer a relaxed approach, there are direct trains to Penzance from London, Birmingham and the North. The passenger ship Scillonian III makes the round trip daily, and takes in some of Cornwall’s best coastline on the way.

When you arrive, you’ll be glad of that extra half hour of daylight. Life takes a slower pace, and there are so many deserted places to discover. Pack your walking boots – and more importantly, your shorts.

If you’d like more information on getting to the Isles of Scilly – and a taste of island life – visit www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk.

BY SHIP | HELICOPTER | PLANE

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MANOR travel notes Wine and dine at luxury Somerset home

PHOTOS: UNIQUE HOME STAYS/MARK WATTS PHOTOGRAPHY

Unique Home Stays have teamed up with Stirred Travel to create a three-night residential gastronomic stay in the British countryside. London’s acclaimed chef Jeremy Lee (current head chef of Soho club Quo Vadis) will lead a culinary retreat in the Quantock Hills. Fourteen guests will experience an array of wine tasting and cookery masterclasses using locally sourced ingredients. It takes place at Bohème in Somerset, a 16th century former cider press which has been thoughtfully renovated as a luxury countryside residence.

From 15-18 February 2019. £1,300pp with a £200 single supplement. Price includes: three nights’ accommodation, hands-on classes with Jeremy Lee, tastings, all food, wine, drinks and a private cinema viewing.

Call 01347 868659 for more information. uniquehomestays.com stirredtravel.com

Chapel House’s new super suites Chapel House is celebrating its new luxurious extension by offering a night free in their super suites when three nights are booked. Penzance’s go-to boutique hotel’s new super suites are housed in a Georgian building across the courtyard garden, which would have originally supplied produce and bounty for Chapel House’s kitchen. Sun filled and boasting views over Mount’s Bay, each suite has a ground-floor bedroom with a bespoke hand-crafted bed, smart TVs, iPads and a polished concrete wet room. Handmade open treated English walnut stairs lead up to an open-plan living area on the first floor. The living space has deep sofas, Tom Raffield lighting and wood burners, and each suite benefits from a handmade kitchen, so self-catering options are available for longer stays. (From Easter 2019, the garden will feature a wood-fired hot tub and small treatment room.) The three nights for two offer is available until the end of February. chapelhousepz.co.uk

PHOTOS: ADAM GIBBARD

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Caerhays Estate launches new Cornish holiday company For the first time, people who want to experience the magic of Cornwall’s private castle by the sea will be able to choose from a range of unique, historic holiday estate properties to stay in. The 140-acre Caerhays Estate is situated just a few miles from The Lost Gardens of Heligan and Mevagissey on the southern Cornish coast.

Caerhays Holidays will bring together a portfolio of 12 unique estate properties which can be booked directly via the new website or the Caerhays Holidays team. Accommodation will include the Burncoose House, a Georgian residence, available for exclusive house hire. Also available will be The Vean, another Georgian country house, situated next to Caerhays Castle, already popular as an exclusive hire venue for weddings and luxury B&B. Some of Caerhays’ other hidden gems include: The Rabbit Warren, tucked underneath the castle itself; The Fish Sheds, a converted fish shed right on the waterfront; and The Boat House, an upside-down house with sea views. Each property has been luxuriously and comfortably furnished and range in size, sleeping two to 16 people. Most are selfcatering, while The Vean and Burncoose offer bespoke concierge services with the option to be fully catered by a private chef. caerhaysholidays.co.uk

New Geothermal Spa at the Jubilee Pool Penzance’s Jubilee Pool, which was reopened in late May 2016 following a major refurbishment, is an art deco gem and perfect for stylish swims. After a large crowdfunding project, the pool is undergoing a geothermal development, so it can be open all year round, making it the first of its kind in the UK. The saltwater lido is set to open a new heated spa pool, using the geothermal energy below by drilling into the earth’s natural heat source and creating a geothermal well. After finding a ‘geothermal vein’, the water will be even warmer than first anticipated and a glass wind break will be created in order to make it as sustainable as possible. It is due to open in May 2019. jubileepool.co.uk

Devon hotel wins Dog-Friendly Travel Award PetsPyjamas 2018 Dog-Friendly Travel Awards, as part of the UK’s leading pet-friendly holiday company, recognises special destinations that offer a truly pet-friendly experience.

Selected from PetsPyjamas’ thousands of pet-welcoming hotels, cottages, manor houses, pubs and stylish B&Bs around the UK and Europe, Soar Mill Cove was given the title ‘Best Newcomer’ and is one of 12 hotspots awarded for their own unique style of hospitality. soarmillcove.co.uk

Dog wash at Soar Mill

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Liz Miller describes how she and her daughter Charlotte lived like locals in Rome, eating pasta, drinking espresso, riding the buses and discovering lesser known gems of the Eternal City.

Trevi Fountain

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hen my daughter announced she would be spending her gap year working as an au pair in Rome, I was thrilled to have another chance to visit the Eternal City.

And this time around, accompanied by an 18-year-old who has already picked up enough Italian to navigate with confidence, it is a great opportunity to seek out a more authentic Roman experience, away from the overcrowded tourist sites.

Taking Charlotte’s advice, we are staying down a cobbled alleyway in Monti, just north of the Colosseum, which has become popular with Rome’s in-crowd, as old buildings are repopulated with bars, vintage stores and business start-ups. While travellers might visit the sites lying around its edges, many bypass this vibrant area where independent fashion boutiques and avocadothemed cafés thrive next door to traditional family-run 136

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osterias and artisan workshops (we spot violin and guitar makers and upholsterers in their studios).

Monti’s central gathering point is Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, where the fountain turns into an al fresco event every evening as drinkers spill out from nearby bars. Among the many interesting features of the neighbourhood is Mercato Monti, held every Saturday near Cavour metro (mercatomonti.com ). This small indoor market is a mixture of new fashion and accessories from small makers and vintage designer clothing – think Burberry and Belstaff – in immaculate condition.

While Monti is charming, and could absorb us for our entire stay, we are seeking new experiences. So, as an antidote to the classic monuments dotted around the city, one of our first destinations is the sleek modern art gallery of MAXXI ( maxxi.art). This Zaha Hadid-designed building, which uses her signature fluid and organic

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PHOTO: ANDY VISSER

Liz and Charlotte on their way to lunch

PHOTO: ANDY VISSER

style, can hold its own against some of the more ancient buildings in Rome, but is a significantly quieter and more relaxing experience.

MAXXI’s large public spaces include the Green Gallery, an orderly arrangement of planters on a white platform, which makes a great Instagram backdrop.

The complex has a café and bookshop and sophisticated restaurant with outside seating in the shadow of the building’s jutting mirrored window. There are several exhibition spaces and we particularly enjoy an emotive and powerful show by Magnum photographer Paolo Pellegrin.

From MAXXI, it’s a short number two tram ride back to the Piazza del Popolo, gateway to the historical centre, and where one of the city’s 13 obelisks stands above a fountain. Via del Corso, which is now pedestrianised, is Rome’s main shopping street. But unlike other European capitals, it is not an identikit experience and still contains many independent stores.

In and around this street are some deceptively plain looking churches that are easy to ignore on the way to the Spanish Steps or Trevi Fountain. San Carlo al Corso has a very simple façade, but we step inside to see the highly decorated marbled interior with glorious ceiling frescos by Giacinto Brandi, whose work appears in a number of the city’s churches.

Romans are very sociable and the passeggiata is part of daily life. During the week this happens around aperitivo time between 5pm and 8pm, but at the weekend it can take place all day, and one of the favoured spots to stroll is in the sprawling Villa Borghese gardens which line the northern border of the historical centre.

Italian style on Via del Corso

PHOTO: ANDY VISSER

A glimpse of ancient Rome at Trajan’s Forum

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PHOTO: ANDY VISSER

Pyramid of Cestius

PHOTO: ANDY VISSER

Exotic planting at the non-Catholic cemetery

PHOTO: ANDY VISSER

Carciofi (artichokes) at Mercato Testaccio

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We walk up the side of the Spanish Steps to enter the gardens, which give magnificent views over the cupolas of the city, particularly St Peter’s. The front area of the park is busier and a little scrubby, but when you walk towards the lakes the foliage becomes lusher and the people fewer.

A good place for refuelling is Casina del Lago which serves tea and cakes. The nearby lake has a temple copied from Stourhead in Wiltshire and there’s also a replica of the Globe Theatre in the gardens. The park houses several museums including Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Museo Carlo Bilotti and Galleria Borghese.

Having already seen one obelisk, the next day we continue the Egyptian theme in the city, which is a legacy of the Roman occupation and was at its height during the romance between Marc Antony and Cleopatra. In the south east there is a mini pyramid that Gaius Cestius commissioned in 18BC to be built as his tomb, which was a vital part of the Grand Tour in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Next to this mini monument lies the non-Catholic cemetery, where Keats and Shelley are buried, that serves as the Roman equivalent of Père Lachaise in Paris. While the house where the Romantic poets lived is next to the Spanish Steps (Byron lodged opposite at number 66), not so many tourists come to the peaceful and well-kept cemetery, with its literary and artistic associations.

As we wander through on a sunny morning, the air is fragrant with box and other traditional English planting, alongside the ubiquitous cypress trees. Spotting stories on the grave stones, we find a number of Westcountry travellers who sadly perished on the Grand Tour. The cemetery seems to double as a cat sanctuary; several relaxed felines are slumbering on the grass and in the bushes ( cemeteryrome.it).

Here we are on the edge of the Testaccio area, formerly home to Rome’s slaughterhouse, but now undergoing gentrification. Part of the clean-up involved rebuilding the market which has become a favourite foodie destination.

As it’s lunch time, we head for the far end (past the clothing and footwear stalls) toward the bounteous displays of fruit, vegetables, charcuterie and wine.

There are several stalls selling takeaway food and, after eyeing all the tempting possibilities, we choose pizza, weighed by the kilo, with some delicious and inventive toppings such as ricotta and persimmon, spinach and almonds, and cavalo nero and mushrooms. Another stall sells panini filled with local specialities like carciofi (artichokes) alla Romana.

We decide to move on to the vast food hall, Eataly, for coffee and cakes. It’s a short bus ride away, near Ostiense station. This four-floored gourmet heaven, in a converted air terminal, is chock-full of every type of Italian food product imaginable with 18 bars and restaurants selling goodies such as seafood, fresh pasta and handmade chocolates, as well as a coffee roastery and microbrewery.

Charlotte describes it as “like Waitrose on steroids” and

while we wander through the mouthwatering displays I wish I had driven to Rome so that I could stuff my boot with all the glorious produce (eataly.net/it).

Back in Monti, our final dinner is at nearby Taverna dei Fori Imperiali, which has been run by four generations of the same family. With recommendations from The New York Times to Condé Nast Traveller, it’s hardly surprising that we can’t get a table until nearly 10pm, but happily for us this is when the restaurant is at its most buzzing – and we are able to while away the waiting time sipping cocktails on the velvet sofas in the nearby Libreria Caffè Bohemien ( caffebohemien. it). The homemade pasta, always served al dente, is sublime, and the white chocolate soufflé catapults its way to the top of Charlotte’s best-ever-puddings chart. (latavernadeiforiimperiali.com ) We’ve had an amazing time living like locals down our alleyway in Monti, and skirting around the major tourist sites. And as we head towards Termini to get the train to the airport, it’s hard to say arrivederci to such a wonderful city.

EAT LIKE A ROMAN Romans favour a quick and easy caffeine and sugar kick-start to the day. A typical breakfast consists of a cornetto – not the ice cream, but a sweet pastry cone filled with a super-sweet filling such as Nutella, white chocolate or pistachio from a pasticceria. This is usually accompanied by a strong shot of espresso. As any frequent visitor to Italy knows, it’s social suicide to order a milky coffee at any time past 10am, which is why you might get an odd look ordering a post-dinner cappuccino.

Dinner tends to be late in Rome, so for a pick-me-up at 6pm, follow the locals by indulging in aperitivo, an early evening social snacking session. Whether it’s charcuterie and cheese, olives and oysters or pizza nibbles, these bites tend to be accompanied by an Aperol spritz, Campari or glass of wine. Chin-chin, as they say.

For restaurant recommendations, check out romeing.it and Elizabeth Minchilli’s excellent food blog at elizabethminchilli.com.

GETTING AROUND The fastest way into central Rome from Fiumicino airport is the Leonardo Express, which goes every 15 minutes, takes half an hour and costs €14. Official white cabs are the only ones available in Rome as Uber is banned (with a punative €6,000 fine for anyone caught using it).

To get the best out of the public transport system, use the Citymapper app which demystifies bus and tram routes and will tell you when the next one is due to come (although this info is a little unreliable). Buy tickets at metro stations or street kiosks; it’s €1.50 per journey and the same ticket is used for bus, metro or tram.

Crossing the road in Rome can be daunting. Try locking eye contact with the approaching driver and step out with confidence.

Just bear in mind that 14-year-olds are allowed to drive ‘mini’ cars (classified as mopeds) and so are elderly people and those who have had their licences revoked!

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TRURO SCHOOL PREP Rated

DOUBLE EXCELLENT in the latest ISI inspection

OPEN MORNING

Saturday 9 March 2019 10am-12pm Ages 3-11

From the beginning of school life… to the beginning of your future, Truro School provides educational excellence for girls and boys.

NURSERY | PREP | SENIOR | SIXTH FORM Truro School Prep, Highertown, Truro, Cornwall TR1 3QN truroschool.com 01872 272 616

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For teachers and parents of children studying in the South West Schools news in brief

New headmaster for Mount Kelly THE GOVERNORS OF MOUNT KELLY are delighted to announce that, from a very strong field of candidates, Guy Ayling has been appointed as headmaster and principal of the Foundation. Guy succeeds Mark Semmence who, after a highly successful tenure, leaves Mount Kelly in April to take up the post of headmaster at Repton School. Guy joins Mount Kelly from Llandovery College, a 4-18, co-educational independent day and boarding school in Wales. He is currently the warden (headmaster) here, a post he has held for six years. Before this, Guy spent 15 years at Sedbergh School where he was housemaster for 10 years and the senior master (senior deputy head) for two. Guy has also served on the governing body of several prep schools and is currently a committee member of the Society of Heads. Educated at Bilton Grange and Rugby School, Guy was a music scholar and head of school, and at the University of St Andrews (MA) he studied Mediaeval History. Also a keen sportsman, he has played 1st XV rugby and 1st XI hockey at Rugby School and went on to captain the St Andrews 1st XV and play Scottish Universities Rugby Football. Guy will take up the position at Mount Kelly in April 2019 together with his wife Heather and their three sons.

Art prizes for Exeter Cathedral School THE ART DEPARTMENT at Exeter Cathedral School has recently received some fantastic news. Two pupils have secured prizes at Badminton School’s Mary Feddon OBE Commemorative Art Competition.

Fearne Reavill (Year 6) was awarded first place overall and Joshua Taylor (Year 6) received a commendation for his piece at this annual competition which receives submissions from prep schools across the South West. The theme this year was ‘Still Life – Stories through Objects’, with entrants encouraged to include objects that represent their favourite person or place. This is the second year running in which the school has won at this competition.

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Kingsley – the centre of excellence for learning support in the South West THE KINGSLEY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (LDC) has recently undergone a CReSTeD (The Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils) inspection. Kingsley has subsequently been awarded the CReSTeD status for its firstclass learning support for pupils – the only school in Devon and Cornwall with this national recognition.

The head of LDC/SENDCO, Naomi Jefferies, said: “I am completely delighted with the outcome of the inspection, and proud that we are the only school in Devon and Cornwall to achieve this award.

Kingsley has been praised by the inspectors for its teaching and learning support of our pupils. The CReSTeD inspector’s recognition of the high-quality provision we offer for students with specific literacy difficulties highlights the excellent work the team has done, supporting and building upon the inclusive and dynamic teaching of Kingsley’s staff.”

Young film-makers learn from the best at the BFI Film Academy TWENTY 16-19-YEAR-OLD BFI FILM ACADEMY STUDENTS from across Devon and Cornwall enjoyed an exclusive visit from acclaimed cinematographer Oliver Stapleton BSC (British Society of Cinematographers) as part of their intensive practical film-making programme hosted by Plymouth College of Art. Oliver is best known for his work on feature films The Cider House Rules, The Proposal, Unthinkable, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and many more. While in Plymouth, he held a workshop on how to approach blocking a scene with actors, advised on the relationship between the director and cinematographer, and demonstrated framing and compositions for different types of shot. Oliver also covered his entry into the industry, detailing his early years working on music videos for David Bowie and The Rolling Stones and his relationship with famed director Lasse Hallström.

Students also had the opportunity to learn from experienced BFI tutor Jon Scott including a session on cinematography, while a freelance camera operator for Lucasfilm, Hana Backland, held a masterclass in pre-production. Rebel Film Festival founder William Jenkins then spoke to the students to provide an insight into the creation of short film and into the role of the film festival in the cinema industry. For many students, half-term is an 142

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opportunity for a break, but for those on the BFI Film Academy, the week saw them immersed in five days of intense film production, accompanied by acting students from Marjon Arts. The production of three short films – all scripted by professional script writers exclusively for the BFI Film Academy Plymouth – formed the centrepiece of this extremely practical educational programme. Shoot locations spanned abandoned airfields in Yelverton, Plymouth Barbican alleyways at night, bespoke film sets created in Palace Court studios and a kindly provided Plymouth Citybus.

school

Third Millfield pupil joins National Youth Choirs of Great Britain YEAR 10 PUPIL JO MADDOCK has joined Sixth Form pupils Izzy Barber and Greg Wells in the prestigious National Youth Training Choir of Great Britain. Members participate in two residential courses a year full of choral music, vocal development and ensemble skills, together with 100-150 of the most talented singers from Great Britain. The singers perform in concerts around the UK in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Perth Concert Hall and Nottingham Royal Concert Hall.

The Training Choir, which performs nationally and internationally, is one of the best choral training programmes that exists for young singers. Once members turn 18, they have the opportunity to take it to the next level with an audition upwards for the flagship National Youth Choir, a world-renowned choral ensemble featuring recent Old Millfieldian Isabelle Weir (2017), who also recently started a choral scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University.

Millfield’s director of music, Matthew Cook, commented: “To have three pupils taking part in the prestigious National Youth Training Choir is something to be very proud of. It is testament to our pupils’ hard work and dedication across our choral training

programme that they have achieved this opportunity.

I know they will inspire other members of Millfield’s Music School as they pursue their dreams in music.”

Jo Maddock, Izzy Barber and Greg Wells

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Anna Turns takes her toddler along to Devon’s new outdoor preschool, and enjoys slowing down the pace for the day.

J

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PHOTO: ANNA TURNS

ust a couple of hundred metres from the beach, and a stone’s throw from the path that leads up to the woods, a dozen little explorers are starting their day’s adventure. Hope Cove’s reading room is the base for Venture Outdoor Kindergarten, but these preschool children rarely step inside. From 9am until 3pm, they are out in the open air, exploring the world around them.

Here in the enclosed garden, there are tyres and crates and other obstacles to clamber across, hanging blank canvases to paint with colourful patterns, china teacups to play with and a rug with a basket overflowing with books to read. At the far side, by the little stream, there are just a few wooden posts with red ribbon indicating a boundary – and none of the children attempt to cross it.

Each child, fully equipped with waterproofs ( just in case) and a backpack of essentials, gravitates to different areas in the garden, moving seamlessly between activities and it’s a peaceful start to the day as they play quietly under the watchful eyes of Jenny Papenfus and Zoe Purkis.

Jenny and Zoe, who met four years ago, are both qualified forest school instructors, and together they turned their local preschool round from a ‘poor’ Ofsted rating to ‘good’ within a few months. They started this new business as outdoor nannies and it has grown from there, opening in January 2018 as the region’s first dedicated outdoor preschool three days a week, with plans to expand this autumn. “When we ran Holbeton preschool, we started beach school for one day a week, forest school another day and the more we did that, the more we realised the children needed to be outside rather than inside all day. Everything, their behaviour and their learning, was all just much more natural and things happened so much more easily,” explains Zoe. “We are completely child-led so while we leave out equipment and toys that might inspire them, we generally don’t instigate particular games. In fact, they often come up with something much more creative to do with an object than we might have thought of – an imaginative way of playing with the drainpipes, for example.”

As we speak, my two-and-a-half-year-old is wobbling on top of a plank of wood, balancing on a crate at one end and clambering over a tyre. He is having a lovely time, yet I feel myself having to bite my tongue to let him explore his own limits and I resist reminding him to ‘be careful’ at regular intervals. As he wobbles, falls off and shouts for me, Zoe assures me this is all part of his learning process: “Falling over occasionally, or getting stung by a stinging nettle is all important at this age,” she explains. “They learn about not doing it again and learn something new about their environment, which wouldn’t happen if they get wrapped up in cotton wool.” Soon enough, he’s back climbing and running down the sloping plank.

The children, aged between two and six, are called around to sit in a circle for storytime and snack time, a process that takes quite a while! First up, there’s handwashing with damp cloths and that involves a song to make sure every finger and thumb is clean as a whistle, then the cloths are counted back into a bag, so children count one by one around the circle and then quietly eat their snacks while Jenny reads a book to them. There’s no rush, everyone here is incredibly present and enjoying the moment and it’s lovely to observe. It’s also a useful time for Jenny and Zoe to assess where everyone is at and evaluate their needs – what mood they’re in, who’s engaging fully and who might need extra support, perhaps.

Once everyone has finished their snack, they kit up and grab hold of the ‘rope bus’ – a long rope with

school

PHOTO: ANNA TURNS

looped handles every half a metre or so – which Jenny leads from the front at a nice relaxed pace, with Zoe at the back. Every child has learnt to keep hold of the rope as they walk along the roadside to the beach and there’s no whingeing whatsoever. “They might not get the opportunity to stop and look or go slowly at their own pace at other times, and it is so nice for us, too – we are gaining so much personally from it,” says Zoe. First stop is to watch some swimmers in the sea and play with the pebbles, while a few of the children climb the rocks and they all take it in turns to peer in and watch a spider one boy has spotted on the stone wall. The walk to the beach takes the best part of an hour, and it’s less than a mile away, but it’s clear that the journey is as much a part of the routine as the resulting visit to the beach. Snails are particularly fascinating, and the children all seem very comfortable getting very hands-on. “We are all about being open to what happens. Children always discover things that we would have walked straight past. It’s just beautiful,” adds Zoe. “We go off to the beach, or we go up into the woods and we spend time in the open areas on the big hills around Hope Cove – they love to roll down the hills and they are just playing, that’s all we do. Anyone could do it really, it’s just about making sure they are safe while they play and allowing them that freedom to explore their environment,” says Zoe, but I suspect there is more going on developmentally for all of these children. “It’s definitely an advantage being outside while they are processing so much, their little brains are learning so much in these early years. One six-year-old boy who comes is a natural leader, all the children look up to him, he reads to them and writes, and so they all aspire to be like him. Rather than having them all look at an adult, they can see that he is only a little older than them and meanwhile he is learning to help the little ones.”

Zoe has five children of her own and her youngest, who is seven, has to wait until early evening sometimes to play with his friends as they are all so busy with afterschool activities and clubs. “My children have lots of time to hang around and play. I need it personally, too.

Schedules get so busy. It is nice to give them the space.”

And every child needs downtime, even at this preschool stage: “Sometimes we might have a child who just comes up to the woods with us and lies in the hammock for an hour, but that is what they are choosing to do at that moment and they must need that space to go off and do it. Meanwhile there will be others who are wildly climbing trees and playing with sticks.”

When they reach a location Jenny and Zoe always set the boundaries, and they are constantly doing a silent head count, but the children have so much freedom: “We talked about all wearing hi-vis jackets, but we felt that showed that being outside was almost dangerous. We want them to feel like they are there without much adult interaction. Of course, we are there for their safety, but

they get busy playing with their friends.”

Jenny and Zoe rarely instruct games or activities, so when a new child arrives, they might not be sure about starting something out of the blue. It might seem quite strange to arrive in the woods and not have a single thing to play with, but their imaginations soon kick in and run wild.

The benefit of this form of early education must be even more powerful with inner city children, and Jenny and Zoe agree: “Even nearby in Plymouth, some children have never been to the beach. We would love to have a setting over that way soon, too – this could make a massive difference to those children who haven’t necessarily had any experience.”

Although both Jenny and Zoe are forest school qualified, they try to use this knowledge but in a looser sense. “Yes, we do light fires and boil the Kelly Kettle or use tools, so we follow the safety elements of course, but most forest schools have everyone doing the same activity… here it is very much that if someone wants to have a go with a tool, they can. There’s always a big element of choice, except at storytime and for the rope bus.”

Sometimes that can take some getting used to, especially if they have previously been at a formal setting when play is far more directed, but they have also witnessed amazing transformations. One child used to stand outside and shout, and didn’t want people near him at all, but now he is very relaxed and calm and can talk to people and enjoys being near others.

Here on Harbour Beach, some children wade in the shallows, some catch seaweed and treasures in their little pond-dipping nets, others climb the rocks or spend ages drawing a cat picture in the sand with their fingers.

Slowing down and allowing this age group to spend a day that is truly child-led is a gift in itself. And doing this in natural surroundings just helps feed their curiosity even more. This is about as far from screen-time as you can get. In fact, I think Jenny and Zoe are the preschool equivalent of horse whisperers…

Discover more at ventureok.co.uk For further information, call Jenny on 07500 927722 or email ventureoutdoorkindergarten@outlook.com

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Nr. North Cornish Coast A spectacular conversion of a former corn mill between Mithian and the north coast beaches of Perranporth and St Agnes. 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, open plan kitchen dining room, first floor sitting room, separate guest accommodation, garage/workshop. In all about 2.5 acres. EPC - B/A Guide price ÂŁ1.5m

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Property Property of note: Highfield House, Totnes | The Relocator: Kingsbridge, South Devon Snapshot comparative

Highfield House, Totnes, Devon. On the market with Marchand Petit for ÂŁ1,250,000. See page 148 marchandpetit.co.uk

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With its generous proportions, light-filled space and elevated position, Highfield House is one of Totnes’s great original houses and has family appeal all over it, as Imogen Clements finds out.

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property of note

T

rends for open-plan come and go. One moment we’re all knocking through walls with abandon to create wide open kitchen/ diner/living spaces, and then we’ve decided that actually we’d like the airiness but with a little more separation between zones so we came up with ‘broken-plan’ living: zones not entirely cut off from one another by a wall, but separated instead by a split level or double-aspect chimney.

It seems like the Georgians had it right all along.

It is undeniable that high ceilings, and even, generous symmetry, in a house tend to appeal to the majority.

Indeed, that was what attracted the Edwardses in 2002 to Highfield House, in Totnes.

“I was convinced as soon as I walked in,” reveals Cathryn. “It had that classic Georgian space, and beautiful windows that opened the house up to so much light.

There are the large rectangular nine-paned windows so typical of the period on one side of the house, the arched windows at the front, and the Chinese Gothic windows at the top of the house. Plus of course, the view that looks out over Totnes is stunning.”

Highfield House is elevated above this popular Devon town and was built in 1825 as one of the first houses in the region. According to Cathryn, there is an apocryphal story that Highfield was subsequently lost a few years later as a gambling debt between two solicitors. It’s not surprising that a house such as this was put up as a prize, and it was doubtless a considerable blow to the loser.

“When we bought it 16 years ago it needed quite a bit of work, but not really to the structure of the house. The key thing that we added was The Orangery at the front, but we were keen to ensure it looked very much part of the house and I’m proud to say that many people think it’s one of the original features.”

Cathryn was a historian at the start of her career and, probably for that reason, is particularly enthusiastic about restoring the house in the spirit of the age in which it was built. The arched double-fronted door is original but when the Edwardses bought the house it was somewhat obscured by a modern garage extension.

They took down the garage and opened up the front to show off the door and they added to the north western wing the Orangery, which as well as an additional room allowed more light through the front of the house. “The Orangery has been a real asset. Being on the north western side of the house, it receives a soft gentle light through the lantern window and the arched gothic windows, rather than the kind of bright glare you’d get were it on the south side of the house. Although it looks original, The Orangery is built to a modern standard and is just a lovely space to be in.”

The light throughout the house, Cathryn tells me, is very special: “The morning light in the main room is stunning – it is flooded by low morning light as the sun rises.” The large arched windows in the main MANOR | Late Winter 2019

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reception rooms leading onto the terrace are original sash windows that open fully – the sashes are contained within the wall – such that the windows can be pushed right up into the wall leaving just the archway through which, come the summer, you can walk straight out onto the terrace. “They were ingenious, the Georgians,” Cathryn muses.

The garden, 16 years ago, had no formal landscaping, so Cathryn applied her historical knowledge to that too.

“We created three tiers and landscaped it in as Georgian a way as we could. This extended to the planting – a rose garden and box reflected what was typical for the age in which the house was built, but also we used the planting to ‘nest’ the house.”

When I comment on the tasteful interior of Highfield, Cathryn replies that she has a keen interest in interior design as a hobby, but “the house had a beautiful framework already, so we haven’t had to work that hard.

When you have so many beautiful architectural features to a house, you don’t want to distract from these.” So, the huge Georgian windows in the main room sport simple large white wooden shutters that open fully either side, rather than decorative curtains that could obscure them in any way.

Does such a big house – Highfield has six bedrooms – with spacious rooms large enough to entertain 100 people at a time, I’m told, ever feel empty or cold?

Apparently not. “We were a big extended family at one point. Each of us had privacy but we all felt connected through the house. No element of it feels cut off so there is a warm welcoming feel to the house, whether it’s busy with all the family or you’re home alone – you never feel like you’re rattling around. It may look beautiful, but the house is not at all oppressive. It’s very liveable – like a big sofa.”

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property of note

There are solid double wooden gates (leading to the gravel drive and turning area) which, when closed, makes the place feel very private but it is close, very close to Totnes. It takes just three minutes to walk from the house to the centre of town “which means you can get up on a Saturday morning, don your wellies and head to the Happy Apple for croissants,” says Cathryn.

Totnes is rated as one of the UK’s top places to live. In Devon’s highly sought-after South Hams region, populated by artists, architects and progressive environmental thinkers, it has an abundance of independent shops, galleries, delis and design shops, and a vibrant community that’s more well-heeled hipster than hemp-shoed hippy (the latter being the reputation it used to have).

Such proximity to town gives older family children the freedom to come and go and hang out there without any requirement of parents to taxi them around (which is the endless bane of Devon mums and dads).

But also, Totnes train station with its direct link to London is a mere 15 minutes’ walk from the house or five minutes in the car, making commuting to London regularly, as the Edwardses had to, a breeze.

There is much, it seems, in Highfield House that would appeal to the young professional family – and Cathryn, who’s benefited from it all, will be sad to move on but with the children gone and the couple’s work requiring more travel, it’s time to embark on a smaller project. “With these beautiful old historic houses, you tend to steward them and we’ve tried to be good stewards. We’ve loved living here, but we are the age we are and there comes a time in life when you need to move on.”

The Orangery

Highfield House is on the market with Marchand Petit for £1,250,000. Tel: 01803 847979 marchandpetit.co.uk

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Prime Waterfront & Country House

SO U TH H AMS’ L EAD I N G ESTATE AG EN T

Guide price

Extensive panoramic views over Start Bay - Stoke Fleming

£1,500,000

Overlooking Start Bay this stylishly renovated property has been modernised to a very high standard, with spectacular panoramic sea views, a fabulous swimming pool and triple garage. EPC Rating C.

Dartmouth 3 miles, Kingsbridge 12 miles, Totnes 13 miles

hotel 6 Bedrooms bathtub 4 Bathrooms furniture 1 Reception Room Web Ref: DAR170108

Prime Waterfront & Country House department: 01548 855590

DARTMOUTH 01803 839190

KINGSBRIDGE 01548 857588

MODBURY 01548 831163

NEWTON FERRERS 01752 873311

Dartmouth office: 01803 839190

SALCOMBE 01548 844473

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TOTNES 01803 847979

PRIME WATERFRONT & COUNTRY HOUSE 01548 855590

property

The Relocator tours the South West on your behalf to get an on-the-ground insight on hotspots in the region in order to assess their relocation potential. We do our research and talk to residents, businesses and estate agents to get the lowdown on‌

KINGSBRIDGE, SOUTH DEVON

Located on the Salcombe estuary, Kingsbridge is a traditional market town in the South Hams district of Devon. With a population now estimated at over 17,000, it is a lively town all year round, offering plenty of facilities, and is a popular destination for walking and sailing. With a rich history of weaving, tanning and shipbuilding contributing to a M5 busy harbourfront over the years, there are houses and buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th century.

Barnstaple SOMERSET Kingsbridge boasts a wide variety of property within the town and surrounding area, with a range of price points. It has a much higher A361 A303 A377 proportion of all-year-round primary residents Tiverton than neighbouring Salcombe and Dartmouth, DEVON with facilities catering to all ages.

M5 A30 There is, as a result, a strong sense Crediton DORSET Exeter Airport of community, with many eclectic, Okehampton independent shops and businesses and A30 Exeter a bustling farmers’ market, which runs on the first and third Sidmouth Dartmoor Saturday of every month.

A380 A38

Padstow

Newquay Airport

CORNWALL

A385

Exmouth

Dawlish Teignmouth

Torquay

Plymouth Dartmouth St Austell Truro St Ives

Kingsbridge

Falmouth

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AN ESTATE AGENT’S OPINION… Marchand Petit director Prunella Martin discusses the main draws. “Kingsbridge is probably the working town of the South Hams region. It has got an excellent school – Kingsbridge Community College – and many people relocating are moving from London and the Home Counties to bring up their young children in this part of Devon. In a way, Kingsbridge is the centre of the South Hams. You’ve not only got the town, but you’ve got access to the water,” says Prunella. “This allows you easy access to Salcombe and from there, out to the sea.”

There are many places apparently worthy of a mention: “Harbour House is quite special, a space for arts and yoga with a nice café. The Crabshell Inn is a really good pub down on the water – they do paddleboarding down there – and Barrel & Still is a fantastic wine merchant.” Prunella also notes how Kingsbridge is a location with much to do throughout the year and is rife with employment opportunities. “People can find jobs there, and not just in gardening or housekeeping. You’ve got banks, supermarkets, vets, schools and it’s got its own small hospital too.”

Mill Cottage, Kingsbridge on the market with Marchand Petit.

Guide price: £650,000

WHAT THE SMALL BUSINESS OPERATOR SAYS…

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PHOTO: RACHEL HOILE PHOTOGRAPHY

Jane Baxter is the co-founder and head chef of Wild Artichokes, a highly acclaimed foodie business which holds pop-up dining events within the South Hams and provides catering for weddings and events. Their HQ is in Kingsbridge. After years travelling in the South Pacific, Jane moved to Devon and started working for Riverford Field Kitchen. It was here Jane and business partner Samantha Miller decided to set up Wild Artichokes. “Kingsbridge was the perfect hub for us. You know, we didn’t know if it was going to work, we took a bit of a punt to do what we’re doing, and it seems to have paid off.”

Hugely popular amongst locals and visitors, Wild Artichokes is just behind the main high street of the town. “Our business model is based on events at our HQ and nearby pop-ups, so being in Kingsbridge is really good because it’s central for the South Hams,” explains Jane. “As the unit itself is not right on the high street, it means that we can park a refrigerated van outside and we have lots of space too.” There is an abundance of local produce available for the dishes prepared by Jane and the team: “We use Spindlebrook Farm in the warmer months for our vegetables. There is a really good veg shop in the town as well as a quality butcher’s and fantastic fishmongers.” Kingsbridge, she says, is the perfect place for Wild Artichokes as its unique offering of communal dining suits the collective personality of the town.

In 2009, Victoria Rendle founded the business QuayPhysio and around two years ago, developed this into the HealthHub when moving premises. The HealthHub offers a multitude of health, fitness and

Jane Baxter and Samantha Miller of Wild Artichokes

wellbeing services including physio, massage, pilates, dance and yoga. After graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy, Victoria worked at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital in London before returning to her home turf in South Devon and seizing the opportunity to start the business. Now, almost 10 years since its opening, the business has gone from strength to strength and its Kingsbridge location has contributed a lot to this. “I opened the business with the aim of having a one-stop shop for health and wellbeing,” says Victoria, “bringing together like-minded health professionals all under one roof who work together for our clients. Having experienced top-end London private healthcare, I wanted to bring the same thing to the South Hams.”

The HealthHub is situated at the very top of Fore Street: “Our location is pertinent as it has easy access to both sides of the Salcombe estuary. It was our first choice

property is at the head of the estuary and so close to the beaches. I can’t imagine not living near the water and it allows for an active, outdoor lifestyle – a great place to raise a family.”

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION There are around 10 primary schools close to Kingsbridge, all at least within a 5-mile radius. The aforementioned Kingsbridge Community College, a co-ed state secondary school, is the main school in the area and has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted. Having such a well-regarded secondary school is a high-value asset for the town and a big draw for relocating families.

TRAVEL AND GETTING AROUND Dodbrooke House, on the market with Marchand Petit.

Guide price: £1,375,000

If planning on settling here, it’s advisable to have a car.

Totnes railway station is 30 minutes from the town while Plymouth is 45 minutes. The GWR fast service to London Paddington passes both of these stations. From Plymouth it takes three and a half hours; from Totnes it’s three. There are also regular trains from Totnes to Exeter, taking 30 minutes. Exeter Airport is one hour away with daily direct flights to London. The A38 is just over 13 miles along a B road taking approximately 30 minutes, and from there another 30 minutes to Exeter and the M5.

PHOTO: RACHEL HOILE PHOTOGRAPHY

PROPERTY

Wild Artichokes

when looking for a site and we have a prime spot with on-site parking. Clients come to us from Dartmouth, Totnes, Bigbury, Salcombe and even Tavistock! The best bit about the Hub is our community of clients who make it what it is. Our local population are really interested in maintaining their independence and mobility, so they can take full advantage of all our local area has to offer.”

WHAT THE RESIDENT SAYS… Claire Massingham grew up in Kingsbridge, moved away and lived in the Caribbean for 12 years, then came back to the town with her family. “Since being away, Kingsbridge hasn’t changed a great deal,” says Claire. “There are some new faces and different shops but that is part of its charm.

The town is evolving but the changes are subtle.” Having always considered the town ‘home’, Claire says it’s the community spirit and surrounding coast which she and her family love the most. “We love the fact that Kingsbridge

For value, Kingsbridge seems to have one of the biggest variations of property within the South Hams. For example, you could find a two-bedroom apartment starting at £150,000 or a well-presented three to fourbedroom home for between £350-£400,000. Some of the larger properties complete with a waterside view can cost up to £3,500,000. (There are a good number of discreet millionaires living in Kingsbridge.) It’s a location where there’s property available for all budgets, making it an attractive place to consider buying, and only further strengthens its sense of community.

The Relocator’s verdict…

There is much about Kingsbridge to praise: its waterfront scenery, buoyant atmosphere, and strong, working community throughout the year – with businesses thriving both in and out of peak season.

It isn’t the easiest place to access by car or public transport but beautiful once you get there, with an abundance of facilities and amenities for all ages.

Property within Kingsbridge is reasonable, with prices suiting many potential buyers, unlike Salcombe and Dartmouth where house prices tend to be much steeper. It is an all-round, all-yearround location: decent, desirable property that’s well-priced; good community enjoying many amenities and independent shops; water access for those who sail; and an impressive state secondary school. Kingsbridge will tick many people’s boxes.

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Prime Waterfront & Country House

SO U TH H AMS’ L EAD I N G ESTATE AG EN T

Guide price

Outstanding modernist home with views - West Charleton Kingsbridge 1.5 miles; Salcombe 7.5 miles; Dartmouth 13 miles

hotel 4 Bedrooms bathtub 3 Bathrooms furniture 1 Reception Room

£1,000,000

An exceptionally designed property by Devon based award winning architect with wonderful estuary views and outstanding features throughout, creating light and easy living. Beautifully landscaped gardens, all set in a private village location, with beautiful walks and estuary access nearby. EPC Rating D.

Web Ref: KIN180159

Prime Waterfront & Country House department: 01548 855590

DARTMOUTH 01803 839190

KINGSBRIDGE 01548 857588

MODBURY 01548 831163

NEWTON FERRERS 01752 873311

Kingsbridge office: 01548 8575888

SALCOMBE 01548 844473

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TOTNES 01803 847979

PRIME WATERFRONT & COUNTRY HOUSE 01548 855590

Prime Waterfront & Country House

SO U TH H AMS’ L EAD I NG ESTATE AG E NT

Guide price

Bright and spacious house with separate lodge - Ringmore

£1,250,000

A superbly presented 4 - 5 bedroom detached property, a short distance to the sea, with self-contained 1 - 2 bedroom lodge and detached studio set in its own grounds, including a paddock, in all nearly 4 acres. EPC Rating C.

Kingsbridge 11 miles, Modbury 5 miles, Plymouth 17 miles

hotel 4 - 5 Bedrooms bathtub 4 Bathrooms furniture 3 Reception Rooms Web Ref: PWC180007

Prime Waterfront & Country House department: 01548 855590

DARTMOUTH 01803 839190

KINGSBRIDGE 01548 857588

MODBURY 01548 831163

NEWTON FERRERS 01752 873311

Modbury office: 01548 831163

SALCOMBE 01548 844473

TOTNES 01803 847979

PRIME WATERFRONT & COUNTRY HOUSE 01548 855590

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property

Snapshot comparative Properties in the South West and one in London that are full of character and simply idyllic.

Cornwall

Bay Tree House, Constantine Guide Price: £795,000 A classic country retreat, Bay Tree House offers spacious accommodation bordered by a pretty stream and is complete with annex. Its well-designed kitchen features a red Aga and has access to a courtyard.

There is an impressive master suite and a further three bedrooms which are all of a good size. The property benefits from a peaceful setting with approximately two acres of picturesque gardens and grounds. rohrsandrowe.co.uk

Devon

3 Rose Cottages, Totnes Guide Price: £550,000 This Grade II listed, three-bedroom stone house dates from the 17th century. The open porch, with quintessential roses around the door, frames the entrance to the living room with wood burner, slate floor and window seat. The kitchen and dining room is a bright L-shape with original flagstone floor and two stable doors to the rear courtyard. The beautiful variety of gardens are a wonderful feature to the property. savills.com

Cornwall

Rose Cottage, Penzance Guide Price: £599,000 Rose Cottage is a unique, three-bedroom country house set in serene surroundings on the outskirts of a charming village in West Cornwall. There is an openplan kitchen, dining and living area comprising ample preparation and storage space with a large kitchen island. The dual-aspect sitting room has French doors opening to the front patio at one end and an open fireplace at the other. humberts.com

Worple Street, London Guide Price: £800,000

London

A delightful two-bedroom terrace house, with original features, situated on a quiet cul-de-sac in Mortlake. Arranged across two floors, the ground floor comprises an attractive reception space and a kitchen/breakfast room that opens onto a secluded and pretty rear garden. The first floor presents two double bedrooms and a bathroom with a staircase on the landing leading to a useful loft room. savills.com

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Prime Waterfront & Country House

SO U TH H AMS’ L EAD I NG ESTATE AG E NT

Open plan living with outstanding estuary views - Newton Ferrers A38 9 miles, Plymouth 11 miles, Dartmoor National Park 11 miles

hotel 4 - 6 Bedrooms bathtub 4 - 6 Bathrooms furniture 2 Reception Rooms

Guide price

£1,600,000

Innisfree is a magnificent light and contemporary 4-bedroom property with additional 2-bedroom annexe, in a central location close to the village with incredible panoramic Yealm estuary views.

Stunning open plan living space, attractive garden with hot tub and double garage. EPC Rating C

Web Ref: NEW160044

Prime Waterfront & Country House department: 01548 855590

DARTMOUTH 01803 839190

KINGSBRIDGE 01548 857588

MODBURY 01548 831163

NEWTON FERRERS 01752 873311

Newton Ferrers office: 01752 873311

SALCOMBE 01548 844473

TOTNES 01803 847979

PRIME WATERFRONT & COUNTRY HOUSE 01548 855590

marchandpetit.co.uk MANOR | Late Winter 2019

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To advertise here please email advertising@manormagazine.co.uk or call 07887 556447 INTERIORS

A carefully curated selection of affordable gifts, cards, kitchen and homeware, alongside a selection of Cornish makers and designers

4 High Street, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 2AB Tel: 01326 618240

01208 812 333 cornwallrugcompany.com

Unit 3 Trevanson Street Wadebridge PL27 7AW

FASHION OSKA 18 Fore Street St Ives TR26 1AB T 01736 797219 Mon to Sat 10 am – 5.30 pm Sunday 11 am – 4.30 pm stives.oska.com

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The Jewellery Box KinetIQue Jewellery

EMILY NIXON

1 Mansion House, Prince’s Street, Truro TR1 2RF 01208 592066 | kinetique.co.uk

Contemporary Jewellery Foundry Square Hayle, TR27 4HH 01736 887599 emilynixon.com Open Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Emily’s wedding, engagement and statement pieces combine glittering gemstones with a distinctive sea-worn finish. Hand crafted designs with a sculptural language entirely their own.

The amazing IQ Diamond, created by Cornwall’s award winning KinetIQue Jewellery, offers a socially responsible stone for today’s socially responsible buyer. See our luxury jewellery ranges and bespoke designs all backed by a lifetime guarantee.

Visit the studio to try on pieces in the range or book an appointment to commission a bespoke design.

SILVER ORIGINS

ERIN COX JEWELLERY

1 Fore Street St Ives TR26 1AB Market Place Marazion TR17 0AR silverorigins.com

14 Castle street, Exeter, Devon EX4 3PT 01392 660836 | erincox.co.uk From the heart of the city of Exeter, Erin Cox creates bespoke jewellery imbued with a timeless quality, inspired by the natural landscape, and the organic and molten fluidity of manipulating metal. Using carefully curated stones, and recycled or fair trade metals, Erin’s jewellery become pieces that tell a family story. Come and talk to us about your story, and let Erin create something for you.

Contemporary simplicity and stunning design, inspired by the natural beauty of Cornwall.

Handcrafted in sterling silver, finished with delicate textures and exquisite semi- precious stones to enhance the spirit of each piece.

Beautifully gift boxed and exclusively designed in Cornwall. A unique collection available in stores or online.

BARRY ROWE FINE JEWELLERS

NAOMI DAVIES JEWELLERY

30a Molesworth Street, Wadebridge PL27 7DP 01208 815800 | barryrowefinejewellers.com

Newton Abbot TQ12 2PR | 07769 177222 naomidaviesjewellery.co.uk

Where there is love, there is Barry Rowe Fine Jewellers.

Renowned traditional jewellers, we create beautiful bespoke jewellery and carry out all types of repair work. Restringing, engraving, watch and clock repair service is also available.

Naomi is a silver and goldsmith creating hand made unique and bespoke jewellery for men and women.

Her pieces are often combined with other materials such as marble, or leather to create an edgy, but timeless elegance. Pieces can be ordered from her directly and she is available for commissions and workshops.

Member of the Devon Guild.

Instagram: @naomidaviesjewellery

To advertise here please email advertising@manormagazine.co.uk or call 07887 556447

MANOR | Late Winter 2019

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back page prize draw

a two-night luxury spa break for two at the award-winning Gaia Spa, Boringdon Hall

F

or The Wellness Issue MANOR has partnered with Gaia Spa at Boringdon Hall, Devon, to offer one lucky reader and their companion a revitalising wellness break.

Gaia Spa is located within the grounds of the majestic Boringdon Hall – a Grade I listed 16th century country manor house hotel on the edge of Dartmoor. The winner plus guest will experience a two-night stay at Boringdon Hall, with breakfast/brunch and dinner during their stay, a 120-minute treatment and full use of the spa facilities.

This Balancing Spa Break is worth £729.

In summary, this issue’s fantastic prize draw includes:

• Two nights’ accommodation at Boringdon Hall • A delicious and nutritious Devonshire breakfast in • • •

the Gallery or brunch in the Spatisserie from 11am on both days Full use of the facilities Dinner in the Mayflower Brasserie* on both evenings 120-minute Gaia Ritual per person

gaiaboringdon.co.uk

HOW TO ENTER To enter to win this luxury retreat, go to manormagazine.co.uk/backpageprizedraw. This MANOR Prize Draw closes at midnight on 28 February 2019 and the winner will be informed by email within 48 hours.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS : The stay is for a maximum of two adult guests. The prize cannot be exchanged for a cash alternative; nor will any negotiations be entered into regarding exchange of the prize. The winner must telephone Gaia Spa, Boringdon Hall, to arrange their spa break. The prize is to be booked on Sunday – Thursday only and must be booked prior to 1 November 2019. The package includes a two-night stay in a Courtyard room. Please ask for upgrade details and prices should you be interested. Subject to the availability at time of booking. *Upgrade to the Gallery restaurant for an additional £20 per person, per night. Full terms of the MANOR Prize Draw and Privacy Policy can be found at manormagazine.co.uk

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TRUE BLUE

www.michaelspiers.co.uk THE SOUTH WEST’S LEADING RETAILER OF FINE JEWELLERY AND WATCHES, INCLUDING:

Follow us on:

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87 Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3RP, Tel 01392 279994, Email websales@mortimersjewellers.co.uk 164

MANOR | Late Winter 2019