MANOR The Arts Issue

The Region’s Premium Publication Autumn 2017 Issue 22 | £4.50

Beaford Arts Unseen images from 70’s Devon

Tate St Ives

The new gallery

Tremenheere

Art in the landscape

School Arts

Showcasing pupils’ talent

Martin Clunes

As I see it

CULTURE FOOD SPACE ESCAPE SCHOOL 1 PROPERTY

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MANOR | Autumn 2017

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CONTEMPORARY HOME WITH EXCELLENT VIEWS OF THE ESTUARY AND DARTMOUTH

KINGSWEAR, DARTMOUTH, DEVON

Superb estuary views ◆ Stunning open plan kitchen/living area with wrap-around balconies ◆ Sitting room 4 double bedrooms, 3 en suite ◆ 1 bedroom annex ◆ Garden ◆ Large parking area ◆ Store room/work room Garag ◆ EPC – E

Savills South Hams Sarah-Jane Bingham-Chick sjchick@savills.com

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Guide Price £1,250,000 4

MANOR | Autumn 2017

OUTSTANDING VIEWS OF ST MICHAEL’S MOUNT AND TOWARDS THE ATLANTIC

PERRANUTHNOE, NEAR MARAZION, WEST CORNWALL

Beachfront - 500 ft; Perranuthnoe - 1; Marazion - 1; Penzance - 5; Porthleven - 8; St Ives - 9; Land’s End Airport - 12; Truro - 27; Cornwall Airport (Newquay) - 42 (distances are approximate and in miles).

Trenow Cove House is set in an elevated position with panoramic views to the west and south. Surrounded by National Trust land and in an AONB, Trenow Cove House is a hidden treasure offering 3 bedrooms, sea views from all principal rooms, sub-tropical gardens of 1.2acres and a barn with stabling facilities.

Guide £1,500,000 Freehold

Savills Cornwall Jonathan Cunliffe jcunliffe@savills.com

01872 243200

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Exeter 24 Southernhay West, Exeter EX1 1PR 01392 241686 | exeter@struttandparker.com

Cornwall | Tregarne

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A beautiful 18th Century Farmhouse with a separate one bedroom self-contained annex all set in approximately 2 acres of gardens 4 Bedrooms | 3 Reception rooms | 2 Bathrooms | Utility room | Office | Self-contained one bedroom annex | Large gardens | Large gardens | Parking for several cars | Sea views | EPC:F In all about 2 acres | Approximately 2,471 sq ft Exeter Oliver Custance Baker | 01392 241686

/struttandparker 6 MANOR | Autumn 2017

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Exeter Joshua Mattinson | 01392 241686

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60 Offices across England and Scotland, including Prime Central London

Exeter 24 Southernhay West, Exeter EX1 1PR 01392 241686 | exeter@struttandparker.com

Devon | West Hill

Price On Application

A beautifully maintained elegant 5 bedroom family house set in the heart of this sought after village with large level gardens and a swimming pool 5 Bedrooms | 4 Reception rooms | 3 Bathrooms | Utility room | Walk in pantry/wine store | Lawned gardens | Heated swimming pool | Double garage | Large parking area | Electric gated drive | EPC:C Approximately 3,885 sq ft Exeter Isabel Clifton | 01392 241686

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Exeter Richard Speedy | 01392 241686

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60 Offices across England and Scotland, including Prime Central London

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16 Regulars 15 TOWN MOUSE, COUNTRY MOUSE

48 26

Correspondence from across the divide

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CONFIDENTIAL The Turner Locker Barnfield Revival 2017 and The Dartmoor Derby

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AS I SEE IT...

Actor Martin Clunes OBE

Style & Beauty 16 TRENDS

Flutes, frills and the look of leather

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FROM BRONZE TO BLUSH Faking that rosy glow

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MY FEEL-GOOD REGIME Art gallerist Annie Bowie

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COUNTRY PURSUITS The Style Shoot, photographed by Thomas Hole

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Photostory 34 LIVING MEMORY

Beaford Arts’ unseen images by James Ravilious and Roger Deakins

Contents

Autumn 2017

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58

30 Features 30 BUILDING WITH LIGHT Architect Jamie Fobert

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FREE RADICAL Self-confessed activist and artist Faye Dobinson

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MARIGOLDS AND MEMORIES

Culture 58 THE BLUR & THE BUZZ OF A BEE Artist Kurt Jackson

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BODY OF WORK Figurative artist Shelly Tregoning

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SOUTH WEST MUST SEES...

What’s on around the region

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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 editor Allan Jenkins

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94 98

116

Food 94 91 WAYS TO EAT, MEET AND UNITE

120

TV executive Kalpna Woolf on why food is a common language

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LEARNING JAPANESE Simple recipes from MasterChef winner Tim Anderson

102

MESSAGE IN A STAINLESS STEEL BOTTLE Food waste and single-use plastics

106

BITES

Space 116 CREATIVE LANDSCAPE Tremenheere Scupture Gardens, Cornwall

120

Food news from across the peninsula

113

THE TABLE PROWLER ...dines out at The Flat, Exeter, and Cribbs, Falmouth

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INTO TOUCH Touch Design Group’s new showroom

124

SHOPPING FOR SPACE Visions of velvet

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124 128

MANOR school 136 SCHOOL NEWS IN BRIEF Exeter School Lord Lieutenant selection; Poland comes to Shebbear; Millfield Prep charity haircut; South Devon Steiner School new college; Jeremy and Jeremy at Kingsley; Exeter school takes to the water

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THE ART GALLERY Showcasing artworks from schools across the South West

134 Escape 128 DINE TOWN CHICAGO

Property 149 THE BULLETIN The prospects for Exeter’s property potential

150

PROPERTY OF NOTE

161

SNAPSHOT COMPARATIVE

Hart House, Topsham

A selection of properties in the South West and London that would suit art lovers

A culinary tour of the windy city

132

HIP AND HOT OFF THE PRESS Paschoe House, Devon

134

WHEEL LOVE Test driving the new Audi Q5

Back Page 162 PRIZE DRAW Win £1,000 worth of jewellery from Kit Heath

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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 ASSISTANTS

Amy Tidy amy@manormagazine.co.uk

Phoebe Tancock phoebe@manormagazine.co.uk

PUBLISHING MANAGER

Emilie Wiggins emilie@manormagazine.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS

Kay Dunbar, Mercedes Smith DESIGN

Eleanor Cashman, Guy Cracknell

THE COVER Green beret, Topshop, £12; Checked jacket, Marks and Spencer, £99 Photographer:Thomas Hole; Stylist: Mimi Stott; Model: Jessica Pimenta; Hair and make-up: Maddie Austin © MANOR Publishing Ltd, 2017.

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 | Autumn 2017

Welcome to The Arts Issue of MANOR. It’s that time of year when sliding temperatures and shorter days mean more time spent indoors, be it in galleries, at home, in theatres or cinemas seeking cultural and artistic stimulation.

Indeed, through the content of this issue of MANOR, in which we show a mere fraction of the artistic output across the region, there’s plenty to stimulate the senses and stir the soul. In fact, in my opinion, this issue is a true coffee table edition, full of awe-inspiring works.

We have never-seen images from the archive photography of the late photographer James Ravilious and cinematographer and Blade Runner 2049 Director of Photography Roger Deakins, who between them captured in time North Devon in the 1970s.

We meet with Jamie Fobert, the architect behind the impressive and newly extended Tate St Ives. Jamie explains how a personal interest in fine art led him to take particular satisfaction in designing buildings that house art for public view. He discusses the space and light they require and the acute challenges he faced – and cleverly overcame – to create such a building in a coastal town as tightly packed as St Ives.

Martin Clunes reclines on the MANOR couch and reflects on the art of television-making; the miming, machinations and fine editing that goes on behind the scenes. He reveals how he spends his time off set and how horses play a big role. Not only does he have various of his own, but having seen the power of equine therapy during the making of a TV documentary, is dedicated to several charities that treat a variety of emotional and physical difficulties with horses and riding.

Horses, in particular one, Cascade K, star in our Style Shoot, alongside our model, Jess. Cascade behaved impeccably throughout and looked effortlessly stunning in every frame – it’s no wonder horses have held a fascination for artists throughout civilization.

There is Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, the immense personal achievement of a GP, Dr Neil Armstrong, who acquired 11 acres in 1997 and set about creating a garden. A couple of years in, Armstrong realized that without a house within it the garden lacked focus, so he resolved to create ‘moments of interest’. Today, the Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens are twice the size they were when he bought them and combine the very best in art from some of the country’s most renowned sculptors, with breath-taking landscape architecture.

Add to that works by artists Faye Dobinson, Kurt Jackson, Shelly Tregoning, and the young artists prevalent and prolific in schools across the South West – an exhibition of whose works we show in MANOR School – and you’ll see why I think this issue is a coffee table keeper.

Art, when it comes to public funding, national curriculums and the everyday rush of life, is often deprioritised, yet its influence on all aspects of society and the human psyche is profound. We hope this highly visual issue of MANOR, in which we display just a sprinkling of what’s out there, shows an appreciation for that and for the artists of all disciplines and ages who make the world a better place for us all.

Imogen Clements FOUNDER & PUBLISHING EDITOR @ManorMagazine

@manormagazine

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

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

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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 Sweetness...

Darling...

Art and age – this is the subject uppermost in my mind at present. The news that the Turner Prize is relaxing its upper age limit of 50 has come as a tremendous relief. I mean, why should art be age specific? Some of the best art was created by the aged, as it is every day in nurseries by artists barely out of nappies. As Picasso himself said, we are all born artists, the challenge in life is to remain one. So I mean to face that challenge head on. I’ve chosen my medium, which is the fast-drying type. After all, there’s taking up painting and there’s taking up really slow painting that uses oils and requires the patience of a saint and the vision of an expert. No, my medium of choice will be emulsion, which these days, thanks to the likes of Little Greene and F&B (whose palettes I’m highly familiar with), comes in a multitude of colours. And I will complement it with that even faster-drying medium, enamel. The one they use for model making, sweetie. It has the gloss of a good nail varnish and just the right consistency to splatter liberally across a canvas painted in Churlish Green. Yes indeed, as Picasso suggests, I am channelling my inner child, and my style will be drip and splatter over emulsion à la Jackson Pollock. It will make highly desirable decorative art in all those rather lovely Farrow & Ball homes. Splatter lends impact and paintings allow for particularly large works, and one simply doesn’t have the time (or skill) for anything more figurative.

Which reminds me of a rather interesting and somewhat time-consuming project that I simply can’t wait to see: Loving Vincent. It’s an animated film done in the style of Van Gogh that chronicles the last weeks of his life. Demanding a degree of care and patience that you and I will find hard to fathom, 65,000 frames of film were apparently painted over in oils by 125 professional painters; the paintings were then photographed and placed in sequence to create the film, as seen through the eyes of Van Gogh. Featuring Aiden Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson, of whom we can never get enough, it is definitely a must see.

Absolutely – it’ll be interesting seeing Aidan and Eleanor painted ‘by Van Gogh’. As for your own art, sweetie, I love the idea of enamel on canvas painted with emulsion, but I’m not sure your works will have the longevity of oil paintings or even watercolours. That said, as tastes for interiors colour schemes generally change with the season, perhaps that’s not such a bad thing? There is much art down here in the country, and much of it very good, perhaps because the environment inspires and nurtures creativity… I don’t know, but autumn itself is a work of art, isn’t it? Trees turn kaleidoscopic in their rich array of bronzes, reds and yellows. And then there’s that awe-inspiring all-natural miniature work of art, the conker. You don’t hear much about conkers these days and I’m not entirely sure why.

Perhaps it’s as a result of health and safety putting paid to any playground conker-bashing. But conkers are one of life’s wonders, don’t you think, sweetheart? Like cracking open pearls, hidden inside that green, thick, spiky, cushioned casing there sits a thing of beauty – as tactile as it is rich in colour. I think all of us should have a conker in our pockets at all times, to feel and admire, as and when the need for therapy arises.

But onto matters televisual. It’s the season of the boxset, or should I say Netflix, or Apple, Amazon Prime, whatever, whatever, I’ve lost track how we watch TV these days, but watch it we do come the change of season, particularly as country dwellers without ents aplenty on our doorstep. I’ve been trying to find a series that’s a little gentler on the constitution than, say, Game of Thrones or Narcos, and I think I’ve found something to fill the evenings before The Crown starts up again, and it’s called Mr Robot. I know, I am somewhat late to this (they’re on Season Three stateside) but I feel I’ve discovered a programme that’s intelligent, and devoid of raunch and bloodletting at every turn – call me old-fashioned.

Have you seen it? Anyhow, I’m hooked, and the lead actor’s next role I’m told will be to star in Queen the biopic – not the head of state, sweetness, the band, as Freddie Mercury. Now that I’m looking forward to.

Remember where you heard it first.

WHAT’S HOT IN THE SMOKE?

WHAT’S COOL IN THE COUNTRY?

The Other Naughty Piglet, Victoria-based sister restaurant to the original Naughty Piglet in Brixton.

Expect delicious modern British fare served on small plates and made for sharing.

For some classical aural bliss, the EMG Symphony Orchestra will be playing at Exeter Cathedral on 3 November. Works from Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Bax’s Tintagel Overture among others.

Book now: Julius Caesar at The Bridge Theatre starring Ben Whishaw and Michelle Fairley. A Nicholas Hytner production that will sell out as soon as mention. From 20 January – 15 April 2018. You’ll thank us for planning ahead.

Dartmouth Food Festival: with over 120 exhibitors, celebrity chefs aplenty, parties and tasting the very best of everything, every which way, DFF is now a a landmark event on the culinary calendar, and it’s free! 20-22 October 2017.

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Flutes and frills

Feminine midi-length dresses and skirts are prominent this autumn. Fluted and flouncy, ruffles and frills in vivid colours and silky satins counterbalance any seasonal severity. Compiled by Amy Tidy.

Emilia Wickstead AW17

Earrings, Marks and Spencer, £12.50

Top, Topshop, £42

Dress, Dorothy Perkins, £42

Dress, House of Fraser, £89

Bag, Topshop, £28

Dress, Marks and Spencer, £45 Top, Zara, £25.99

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Dior AW17

trends

Earrings, Accessorize, £12

Top, Studio by Preen, Debenhams, £39

Top Zara, £25.99

Top, Oliver Bonas, £65

Skirt, Marks and Spencer, £45 Boots, Marks and Spencer, £39.50

Dress, Marks and Spencer, £45

Bag, Zara, £29.99

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The look of leather

Earrings, Marks and Spencer, £12.50

Roksanda AW17

Whether you opt for the real thing or faux, the leather look is very much on trend. Pieces can be paired with a chunky knit or a white shirt for a casual, everyday look, or dialled up to turn heads. Tailored and cut simply – buy now and it will last you well beyond the season.

Compiled by Amy Tidy.

Pouch, Jigsaw, £39

Sweater, Hobbs, £149

Silk polo top, Jigsaw, £90

Belt, Hobbs, £65

Beret, Zara, £12.99

Boots, Marks and Spencer, £85

Boots, Topshop, £79

Gloves, Jasper Conran, Debenhams, £15 Backpack, Jigsaw, £179

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trends Acne AW17

Earrings, Marks and Spencer, £9.50

Pinafore dress, Oliver Bonas,£75

Hat, Accessorize, £15

Jacket, Wallis, £199

Bag, Oliver Bonas, £85

Trousers, Wallis, £150

Skirt Marks and Spencer, £15

Bag, Marks and Spencer, £99

Clutch bag, Oliver Bonas, £58

Jacket Studio by Preen, Debenhams, £120 Boots, Hobbs, £199

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The Turner Locker Barnfield Revival Sunday 24 September saw over 80 drivers and riders converge on Barnfield Crescent, Exeter, for the fourth Turner Locker Barnfield Revival. Showcasing a range of fabulous vehicles, from a 1920 Maharaja’s Rolls-Royce to one of only two four-wheel Bond Bugs, as well as Bugattis and Lagondas from the 1930s, guests were treated to music from the Siren Sisters and local band the Sundogs, with food and refreshment provided by Lemon Jelli and Good Game. The event was organised by Exeter commercial property consultants Turner Locker Barnfield, and raised money for the charity Look Good Feel Better. lookgoodfeelbetter.co.uk Photos by Andrew Butler Š andrewbutler.net

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confidential

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confidential

The Dartmoor Derby Organised by Liberty Trails, the Derby is a three-day equestrian challenge in which guided teams cover around 50 miles, and guests stay in a purpose-built luxury camp. Bettina Vadera, a flying doctor in Kenya, was one of five different nationalities to join British riders in the second Dartmoor Derby, on 22 September. Riders from America, Denmark and Germany took part besides Bettina, who drew parallels between Dartmoor’s beauty and that of Kenya: “It’s a contrast to Kenya in so many ways, and yet there are moments, seeing the horizon on 360 degrees, with this yellow grass, that my friends would say ‘Isn’t this the Mara?’” Next year’s Dartmoor Derby will take place on 21-24 September. Riders can bring their own horse or hire one, and should be competent riders. dartmoorderby.com. Photos by Liberty Trails/ Polly A Baldwin/ Dynamic Pictures.

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MANOR | Autumn 2017

beauty

From bronze to blush As the summer fades, there’s a pressing need for a bit more than a swish of bronzer to breathe life into our skin. Make-up artist Elouise Abbott shares her advice on faking that rosy glow.

N

ow’s the time to switch up your bronzer to a sweep of colour. With so many beautiful shades and innovative formulas available, it’s clear the make-up houses have worked hard to ensure all skin types and tones are covered. Here are some of my blush favourites, along with some helpful tips and hints to help you find your perfect formula and shade.

NARS powder blusher in Luster is a deep peach tone perfect for medium to dark skin. It has a lovely shimmer to it, making it great for an evening party look. However, ladies beware: shimmer can highlight fine lines and is best suited to younger skin.

Chanel Joues Contraste powder blush in Orchid Rose is a wonderful light pastel pink, perfect for very fair skin, which often has a cool undertone and is best complimented by the similarly cool tones of peach and pink.

Bare Minerals Blush in Beauty is a loose powder that has a wonderful peach-pink balance, making it suitable for most skin tones. While it might be slightly trickier to use on the go than a compact, I love the soft finish you get with loose mineral blush. I do prefer to use a powder blush over a powder foundation, or a cream/liquid foundation that has been set with powder. I find a foundation that hasn’t been set with powder has a tendency to grab the blusher, making it slightly harder to blend.

Benefit Benetint lip and cheek stain is a bit of cult classic. It’s a fabulous multitasker in a soft pink tone, which is perfect for light, minimal make-up looks, particularly on youthful skin. This product has

a very light, watery texture; simply pat it onto skin and use your fingers, sponge or brush to blend as needed – the result is very sheer and natural.

Lancôme Cushion Blush in Splash Coral is a cheeky shade, perfect for most skin tones. The cushion is a compact with a sponge saturated with liquid product. It comes with a sponge applicator, but I like to use a separate brush or sponge to blend the product – a little goes a long way, as it’s very pigmented.

The finish is a sheer wash of very natural colour. I’ve found this to be great on all but the very driest of skin types, as the product dries quickly and can be difficult to blend on particularly dry patches.

Illamasqua Cream Blush in Libido is a wonderful orange-red that works really well for medium to dark skin with yellow undertones. Olive skin with yellow undertones is both brightened and complimented by a blusher that contains warm orangey tones. Medium to dark skin tones can really absorb a splash of colour, so don’t be afraid to experiment with the brighter, violet, tangerine and fuchsia tones – they may surprise you.

Cream blusher is fab for all skin types, but a definite must-have for dry skin. You get a lot of working time so you can really blend well – I like to use a firm brush and really buff it to a soft finish. Cream blush works best in conjunction with liquid, and liquid and cream foundations. Applying over powder is going to make it blotchy and unblendable. However, you may want to set with powder after application if you want to matt it down or set it.

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My feel-good regime Art gallerist Annie Bowie has run the Bowie Gallery in Totnes for ten years. Selling contemporary art, some of her artists are known nationally and internationally, but always have a link with the South West. She relocated to Devon from the Midlands more than 30 years ago.

Running an art gallery is my third career, and probably

Last year I took up sailing. Years ago, I used to sail

my favourite. I worked in hospitality years ago, then, in Devon, spent more than 20 years in education, which I’ve never regretted. But taking up a third career has brought me great flexibility as well as fun, and rejuvenated me. I recommend it, and to be honest I don’t buy this negative attitude about the fact that we may all have to work a bit longer, because it keeps me up to speed, and by setting new challenges, keeps me youthful. I think, once you’re released from the responsibility of supporting a family, the key is to do work you enjoy.

dinghies with my then husband, but to be honest I never knew which way the wind was blowing. I have several friends who sail, and after a few great days off Dartmouth last year I decided to do my Competent Crew course in Gibraltar in February. I loved it. This summer I raced in the first weekend of the Channel Classics and hello! New fun activity!

Various injuries have meant stopping Body Pump and

running, but in exchange I’ve developed my walking and now always walk at least five miles a day; more at times, especially if I’m in London or Paris, where it’s easy to clock them up. Devon has brilliant coastal paths and stunning Dartmoor. I recently completed a 10-mile nighttime walk (Darkmoor) in support of Marie Curie, with a bunch of good gals. I always do a couple of miles before breakfast, and now include chunks of running of about 50 metres to bump up the heart rate! I have several pairs of trainers, my favourite at the moment being Sketchers’ Flex Sole 2.0, as they have fantastic memory foam soles.

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MANOR | Autumn 2017

Most important in my feel-good regime is a low-carb

approach to diet. This way I keep my energy, and also a reasonable shape. Carbs tend to leave me lethargic and feeling a bit tubby. I don’t eat meat and haven’t for many years, but fish, cheese, nuts, salad and veg are my favourites. I also supplement with Vitamin C, fish oils and a few other things. Ben’s Farm Shop in Totnes is an organic mainstay for me.

Wine is, in my opinion, essential to well-being. Having

spent many years drinking white, I tend far more towards red now. I love a good Rioja, or a Bordeaux, and places like Le Vignoble at the Royal William Yard in Plymouth, Ben’s Tapas in Totnes, as well as Michael Sutton’s Cellars near Dartmouth offer great selections; and Totnes Wine in

the High Street hosts a super series of tastings, and an easy walk home!

For clothes – I adore Zara… style and quality at a price

you can afford. A father and daughter business that’s a true success!

I like travelling, and when the gallery allows I often take

time out. In the last few years I’ve stayed at Raffles in Singapore, The Taj in Mumbai, and most recently had a week in Paris visiting the Fondation Louis Vuitton, and Picasso Museum. Paris is always good for the soul, and for the wine drinkers among us what better than an evening at La Boissonnerie on the Left Bank, Saint-Germaindes-Prés – a brilliant venue selling superb wines in a shop converted from an old fishmongers’. Small plates and a fantastic collection of wines by the glass or bottle. thebowiegallery.co.uk

LANGUISHING IN MY BAG An overnight make-up and clean teeth kit just in case. I totally love skin products by French company Nuxe – my favourite is Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Or. A diary, the old-fashioned kind; a small shopping bag that isn’t plastic; headphones (should I want to do a walk); RA, Tate and National Trust membership cards; a wallet.

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MANOR | Autumn 2017

As I see it...

Martin Clunes has been acting since he left school – becoming a household name in the 90s sitcom Men Behaving Badly. His hit show for ITV, Doc Martin, is set in North Cornwall’s Port Isaac; now in its eighth season, it has been running for 14 years. He and his wife Philippa live on a large farm outside Beaminster in Dorset, sharing a passion for their horses, dogs and the natural environment. He is a patron of numerous equine therapy charities including Changing Lives by Horses, the Fortune Centre for Riding Therapy and TheHorseCourse. Interview by Fiona McGowan.

There were always aspects of dressing up and pratting around for a living that I found embarrassing. I used to think that just

entertaining people wasn’t enough. I’ve always been plagued by a thing that I want to be doing something worthwhile.

Something that benefits others.

Cornwall has never been a place of leisure for me, but I love it. We come to Port Isaac at the end of winter. Everything is

brown and sullen and the trees have no leaves and everyone’s a bit sick of it. Then, little by little, the hedgerows become like firework displays. Life just oozes out… You think nature is something you have to go and visit, but even the hedges are as breathtaking as jungles. There are whole ecosystems in there – the ferns, the grasses and the flowers.

I work 11 hours on camera every day. Then I go back to our

rented cottage, I have to feed myself, learn my lines for the next day, shave, wash my hair and train twice a week. A lot of an actor’s life is standing around, waiting for the lights or the camera or whatever other department to be ready. But I’ve been stood outside the surgery up on the hill, looking out to sea for years. I never tire of it. It is a beautiful place.

There’s no room for improvisation on a single camera, because you have to hit on your decisions and repeat them. You have to

think, “was I chopping the carrot down or up when I said that word? Can I hit that series of tape marks on the floor?” That’s the boring nuts and bolts of the job, the limbs of the tree. But applying the leaves is the alive stuff. The trick is to keep it alive when you’ve done it for the umpteenth time. There’s some boring stuff to every job. None of it is miraculous.

A lot of people think that acting’s not a proper job, because it doesn’t look like their job. But you should see what happens

off camera. In Doc Martin, I have to behave like I hate dogs, but I don’t actually shout at the dog – I mouth it and do the shouting later; or I have to make quiet little noises to make the dog follow me. Working with animals is a real technical challenge, but we seldom lose time to the dog. I wish the baby was as disciplined…

in Morocco. She’d been with SCF since it started, when they were going into concentration camps and helping the children.

I find horses pretty amazing. Initially, we’d ride as a family.

Now, of course, they won’t be seen dead out with me. My wife Philippa does dressage and shows, and we’ve been winning prizes doing dressage with my carthorses. Carthorses are such triers, because they’ve got that work thing in them. I suppose I’m quite dogged, too – so I identify with that characteristic.

While I was making a documentary on horses, I discovered equine therapy for people with problems like drug addiction,

self harming, eating disorders and self-esteem issues. I’m now a patron of a school in the New Forest called the Fortune Centre for Riding Therapy. It’s a residential course for people who struggle with various physical and emotional difficulties, from eating disorders to Asperger’s. Through dealing with the horses, they learn all kinds of skills. By grooming and maintaining the horse, they learn to groom and maintain themselves; changing the feed with the seasons, they learn about portion control. They learn about personal boundaries.

They gain core stability and strength through vaulting over the horses. After three years, most of the people can live with significantly greater independence and can find employment.

I’m also a patron of the Wormwood Scrubs pony club, which has been providing riding for inner-city children for over 20 years. It’s run by a nun called Sister Mary Joy Langdon, who has improved the lives of thousands of children using horses.

No matter how amazing they are, horses are still flight animals who think a Quavers packet is going to eat them. I often

hear people say, “oh, I’m scared of horses and they know it.”

Horses need you not to be scared, because if you’re scared, who’s looking after them? Especially if you’re sitting on their back. Horses feel nervous around everyone – they are very attuned to emotions.

Where farming is concerned, I tend to just look after my own patch – I’m not a spokesperson for the environment like I am

Common, which is as leafy as a London life gets, but I was also on the 93 bus route, so my childhood was also pretty urban.

Now I’ve got 135 acres at home. The physical engagement with the environment has become massive.

for horses. There are enough luvvies banging on about that!

We’re part of the Higher Level Stewardship, because our farm is in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with rare chalk downland. It means we can’t graze the downland at certain times of year, and we can’t put the sheep to graze before the cattle. Hedges have to laid, not cut and blah blah blah. But I’m up for that – I really like it.

Working with charities is the only useful thing you can do with fame, beyond maybe getting a restaurant table. The amount of

Part of the reason I like working in my woodshop is that it’s solitary. I love to re-use old wood, because it behaves itself

I never saw this life coming. I grew up on Wimbledon

charity work that I do sometimes seems ridiculous. It started when I was a kid. My granny was always doing things to help others, like meals on wheels or decorating the church at Easter.

And my godmother worked for the Save the Children Fund

better. I like functional things: tables and workbenches.

The ottoman I made sits at the bottom of our bed. It’s been upholstered with the same fabric that’s on our bedhead. You press a button and the lid opens and a telly rises up.

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MANOR | Autumn 2017

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Architect Jamie Fobert has always been inspired by art and the spaces that contain it.

Fiona McGowan talks to him about his design for the new Tate St Ives gallery.

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ofty is the word that springs to mind when you first peek through the huge limed oak doors into the new gallery at Tate St Ives. A glimpse of a tall, skinny, lumpy form draws you through the gap and the whole gallery opens up. Cavernous is the next word that springs to mind. On a startlingly bright autumn day, the light drifts rather than pours into the giant gallery from above huge concrete beams, washing the space with a diffuse daylight.

Rebecca Warren’s sculptures are being showcased in the new gallery at Tate St Ives. It is an unpredictable collection of work – her towering bronze statues look as though they’ve been thrown together out of clay or mud. Their spindly nature makes them seem as though they’ll topple, and their pastel colours with the occasional addition of a woolly pompom are incongruous with the solidity of the base material. They beg to be touched.

You want to see if they wobble, to feel the roughness of the casting, to know if it’s cold or warm to touch. In contrast, Warren’s sharp, mechanical-looking pieces sit around the edges of the great space, some dark-painted, adorned with a pompom, some powder-coated in a pale, salmony pink. The walls are intermittently hung with small works in similarly unyielding shapes, back-lit with neon hues.

There is so much at play here. The contrasts of Rebecca Warren’s collection almost float within the concrete and light of this massy space. It reminds me of my first visit to the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern.

The proportions of a space are almost an exhibition in themselves; your eye is drawn upwards. The new gallery at Tate St Ives may not have the huge grandeur of its London sister, but it has a similar impact. It is the light and the height of the room that lifts your gaze. The ceiling is just over 5m high, but above the concrete beams, the rooflights soar to 12m above your 30

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PHOTO: DENNIS GILBERT

The new gallery at Tate St Ives

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Tate St Ives exterior

© REBECCA WARREN, COURTESY MAUREEN PALEY, LONDON, MATTHEW MARKS GALLERY, NEW YORK, GALERIE.MAX HETZLER, BERLIN. PHOTO: TATE

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You’re trying to create a context which heightens the understanding of the artwork, but doesn’t distract from it.

PHOTO: DENNIS GILBERT

head. The gallery is 500m 2 – a space so large, you could comfortably fit a three-bedroom house inside it.

Jamie Fobert, the architect behind the design, has always treated light as a material. His Shoreditch-based architecture practice has won numerous awards, but one of the real reasons he won the competition to design the new gallery at Tate St Ives (twice) was because of his intrinsic understanding of the space needed for art.

Jamie grew up in a small city in Ontario, Canada, where architecture was not high on the inspirational agenda.

Art was his passion, however. He was planning to study Fine Art at university in Toronto, but an art teacher suggested that architecture might appeal more. He was right. “I felt a natural affinity to architecture school and the people I met,” says Jamie.

One of his earliest inspirations was the architect Louis Khan – a man dedicated to creating great public buildings. Khan demonstrated that concrete, while utilitarian and, at that time, ubiquitous in modern city planning, could also be used artistically. Knowing Khan’s work, it’s easy to see the influence on the new gallery at Tate St Ives. The giant concrete beams and smooth concrete floor are both utilitarian and deeply, stylishly contemporary. The many tones of the grey concrete above are echoed by the slightly yellowish tones in the floor – a subtle nod to the sandy shore just outside the Tate. But it is Louis Khan’s use of light that has had the greatest impact on Jamie’s latest work. As he explains: “With Khan, [I was inspired by] his ability to use light as a material. As a physical thing that you have to manipulate and build with, as much as you build with other materials…”

The Tate St Ives project has been a very long time in gestation. The original building was designed to handle around 100,000 visitors a year. By 2004, the visitor numbers were double that. A competition was held to find an architect to work on plans to expand the gallery. Jamie Fobert threw his hat in the ring and was selected. What followed were long months of frustration. The original plan was to build an extension on a car park above the original building. This was met with resistance – and anyone who knows St Ives will know why. Parking in this popular seaside town is at an incredible premium.

Even outside of the high season, every parking spot is in demand. For Jamie, this was eye-opening: having worked on galleries around the world, where “people are desperate to have art galleries – everybody wants one,” he says.

“What’s a car park? It’s an ugly thing that you could turn into an art gallery. But in St Ives, it’s totally different.”

The project ground to a halt. Other sites in Hayle and Redruth were considered. Jamie Fobert, meanwhile, had other fish to fry. His portfolio has always included buildings with a strong connection to art. He points to a formative time spent working with British architect David Chipperfield. Fresh out of his architecture degree in the late 80s, he initially landed a short contract with

Rebecca Warren Los Hadeans (III), 2017 Hand painted bronze and pompom on painted MDF plinth

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PHOTO: FRENCH & SCOTT

Aerial view of Tate St Ives from 2014 showing building work underway

the renowned practice, and ended up working there for nine years. “It was the best apprenticeship anyone could ever have,” he says warmly. While working with Chipperfield, Jamie was involved on projects with artists and creatives such as the photographer Nick Knight.

Two of his first solo projects were for artists Christopher LeBrun and Antony Gormley.

Jamie’s passion for art and architecture came together in a perfect synergy. He gained a sensitivity to the needs of an artist or a curator. “They were probably the group that first understood the value of the simplicity – minimalism,” he says. “Artists recognised the kind of restraint that I admire in architecture.” Working with David Chipperfield also gave him a more fundamental cornerstone of his skills as an architect: that of flexibility.

He admired “David’s ability to adapt to the conditions of the site” – never being beaten down by the constraints of the planners, the client or the place. Jamie learned to be positive about the process of building: “Always finding a way to respond that answers the concerns and difficulties of the site and which makes the project better.” It was a trait that was to serve him well in the creation of the Tate St Ives gallery.

While the machinations of the Tate continued, Jamie worked on projects from private residences to exhibition designs for the likes of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Tate galleries. His first foray into building a large space was the dramatic upcycling of an old bus garage in Moscow to become the city’s major contemporary art space, completed in 2010. By 2011, after much negotiating, Tate St Ives ran another competition, this time for an extension that would be built into the cliff behind the original building. Jamie Fobert won again.

The project took four years to build and cost £20 million. Blasting out the rock without damaging the newly built sheltered accommodation in front was no small factor in the cost. The dramas of engineering aside, Jamie’s focus was on creating the space within.

“You’re trying to create a context which heightens the understanding of the artwork, but doesn’t distract from it,” he explains. “It’s a difficult path to take – it’s one where you have to be quite subtle and quite modest.”

These epithets are not often applied to award-winning architects – after all, the legacy of most architects is the external impact of the building, be it the Shard or the Brighton Pavilion. The impact of the sunken gallery is all inside. The external parts of the building, however, were just as considered at the interior. Rising above the (now saved) upper car park is a small building, no bigger than a small terraced house, which serves as a loading bay and office space. ‘The Pavilion’ is a simple structure, subtle and yet aesthetically spot-on in the environment.

The big, hand-glazed tiles are made of yellow ceramic, and glazed with a mildly iridescent blue-green colour that echoes the sea below. The huge light wells that shed daylight into the gallery stand above the ground – large sheets of white glass, bordered by local granite and a garden that is seeded with plants from the path from St Ives to Zennor.

The garden is an important factor for Jamie, who is keen to give something back to the non-arty community of the town. A pathway winds through the soon-to-beverdant garden, providing public access from the car park to the beach. Benches are dotted throughout to provide rest or places for contemplation of the view.

From the front, the building is almost unchanged – although the interior of the original has been renovated and expanded by the original architects, Evans & Shalev.

It is fitting that Jamie Fobert, whose philosophy is always to start with the interior and to wrap the exterior around that space, has doubled the size of the exhibition space with only the gentlest touch on the town and landscape around it. tate.org.uk/visit/tate-st-ives jamiefobertarchitects.com

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Beaford Arts reveals as yet unseen images by James Ravilious and Roger Deakins that documented life in North Devon in the early 70s.

Over the next two years, Beaford Arts will be digitising a selection of 10,000 new images from its renowned photographic archive as part of the Heritage Lottery-funded Hidden Histories project.

These new images, selected by the team working on the project, are taken from those that Ravilious himself classified as ‘Fair’ or even ‘Poor’, the 1,700 ‘Best and ‘Good’ having already been digitised and published at beaford-arts.org.uk/archive. It’s difficult to not see these as outstanding in their own right; however, in respect of his wishes, we shall categorise them as Documentary Images and enjoy leafing through them, reminiscing and maybe even recognising a few favourite spots if not faces…

JAMES RAVILIOUS Having moved to a cottage in Dolton, Devon with his wife Robin in 1972, James Ravilious, who was a self-taught photographer, began a photographic record of all aspects of local life. What started as a short-term project grew into a 17-year obsession. In that time Ravilious took more than 80,000 black-and-white images of all aspects of life in rural north Devon: landscape, farming, everyday life in the local towns and villages, and special occasions. These pictures are held in the Beaford Archive. He died in 1999.

ROGER DEAKINS Between 1971-1972, the cinematographer Roger Deakins, who was a young arts college graduate at the time, spent a year’s residency at Beaford in north Devon where he began the early development of the Beaford Archive. He went on to study at the National Film School. Today, the highly acclaimed cinematographer is best known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes and Denis Villeneuve who worked with Deakins on the recently released, and visually lauded Blade Runner 2049.

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Supreme Magic. Company Premises, Bideford, 1973 Documentary photograph by James Ravilious for the Beaford Archive. © Beaford Arts

“This is one of my absolute favourites from the newly scanned negatives. The words couldn’t be more apt!

‘Supreme Magic’ really sums up how this project has unfolded so far. From the fascinating photographs we are seeing for the first time thanks to the digitisation process, to the wonderful oral history recordings we are gathering from the people connected to the archive: working with the Ravilious and Deakins photographic collections feels like a very special kind of alchemy. It’s a privilege to work on such an important project - one that delves into the life work of one of our best loved local artists, one that brings together a really brilliant blend of experts, and one that enables the people of North Devon unprecedented access to their heritage.”

Sophie McCormack, Hidden Histories Project Coordinator

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Thatched cottage. Home of Robin and James Ravilious, Addisford, Dolton, 1973 Documentary photograph by James Ravilious for the Beaford Archive. © Beaford Arts

“A view of Addisford, the cottage near Dolton, where James and I lived for over 17 years. It had been the home of Reg Baker, my grandparents’ gardener up at Halsdon House, which my mother’s family had owned for over 300 years. Addisford was even smaller when my grandfather gave it to me. At the left-hand end, the weatherboarded lean-to housed an old copper tub in which Mrs Baker did the Halsdon laundry every week.

A tiny shed on the right-hand end held the plank and bucket toilet, which was only accessible from outside.

We replaced that with the single-storey thatched block in order to add a kitchen and bathroom. We also added on a darkroom for James at the back. Most of his work for the Beaford Archive was processed there.

“The field in front belonged to our nearest neighbour, Archie Parkhouse. Most days, he would be pottering about checking on his small shaggy flock, always hopeful for someone to listen to his wonderful reminiscences of local life. A smallholder, and former labourer, rabbit catcher, and pig killer, Archie represented the old-fashioned way of life that James was trying to record. He became James’s favourite subject.”

Robin Ravilious, James Ravilious’s wife

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Children on beach with bathing huts and pool. Woolacombe, 1973 Documentary photograph by James Ravilious for the Beaford Archive. © Beaford Arts

“If you live in North Devon and have spent any time with James Ravilious’s photographs, you will have recognised, set in black and white, the heart of places you know well.

“If you are lucky, sometimes that recognition will strike a deeper chord. When I was young, we often visited Woolacombe during the summer holidays. I know neither the people depicted nor the precise location of the camera, but this photograph nonetheless evokes in me the strongest of childhood memories. Sandcastles beyond the wildest dreams of English Channel beaches; wide skies stretching far into the Atlantic; and just you and your family, fixed in time, happy, at play, and together.

“James’s commission was ‘to show North Devon to themselves’. I hope you, too, will come across some connection to yourself in his newly public images. And I hope it will make you as happy as this photograph makes me.”

Mark Wallace, Director of Beaford Arts

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Children dancing round maypole, Hatherleigh, 1974 Documentary photograph by James Ravilious for the Beaford Archive. © Beaford Arts

“I selected this photograph firstly because it reminds me of my school years: taking part in maypole dancing. Secondly, because I love the juxtaposition of the action captured in the photograph with the statue stances and intently watching faces. Finally, for the composition itself: the lines of the maypole reflecting those of the roofs and tree within the frame.

“When exploring the Beaford Archive with young people today, we re-photograph on location and compare how the difference makes us feel, what we can see and where our eye is drawn in each image. It sparks an interesting conversation.”

Caroline Preston, Arts Education Leader, Beaford Arts

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Morris men dancing, Winkleigh, 1974 Documentary photograph by James Ravilious for the Beaford Archive. © Beaford Arts

“This image jumps out at me. It’s alive and captures the essence of community and celebration. The motion. The gaiety. The tradition.

The image breathes life and pulls me into the moment. An activity, that happened in this print decades ago, yet still survives today, with the style of performance and dress that has not really changed over time. The Morris Dancers appear to be suspended in air, in synch. It highlights families out in force at a prominent central outdoor space in their village, surrounded by typical thatched houses, to support their community gathering in their village – in this case, Winkleigh.”

Claire Ayres, Communities Manager at Beaford Arts

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Early daffodils in wood Millhams, Dolton, April 1980 Documentary photograph by James Ravilious for the Beaford Archive. © Beaford Arts

“As digitiser for Hidden Histories I have the privilege of seeing all Deakins’s and Ravilious’s images.

As a photographer, I have left myself open to any influence on my own work gained through this exposure.

I’ve found myself drawn to the hinterland between urban areas and the moors, the edges of farmland, areas left to wild, in this lush fertile land we know as North Devon. I’m inspired by these quiet contemplative landscapes, devoid of landmarks or horizon, that are not descriptive of a specific place but perfectly describe this region.”

Dave Green, Digitiser for Hidden Histories

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Wood for the Fire, 1971 Documentary photograph by Roger Deakins for the Beaford Archive. © Beaford Arts

“The first artist to work on the Beaford Archive was Roger Deakins – who took on the commission as a young art school graduate during 1971-72. Now a prolific cinematographer (a favourite collaborator of the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes, to name a few), Deakins spent six months in 1971 following a 19-year-old Dereck Bright (pictured) around as he went about his work as a farm labourer. We will be interviewing Dereck as part of the Hidden Histories programme of oral histories – an exciting strand of activity that will see us collecting 80 new recorded interviews with people connected to the archive. All the interviews will be available to listen to on the new website by 2019, as well as around 800 unseen photographs by Roger Deakins.”

Sophie McCormack, Hidden Histories Project Coordinator

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Three Fashionable Boys, 1971 Documentary photograph by James Ravilious for the Beaford Archive. © Beaford Arts

“Choosing one from 70,000-plus images is arguably more challenging than selecting 10,000 from the collection, which was my role as Curator. Helping with this task, key criteria and well-defined categories, sub-categories and filters had already been established. Further guidance came from James Ravilious, whose copious annotated contact sheets and comprehensive spreadsheet resulted in an unexpected sense of collaboration with the photographer, via the comments and marks he left behind. Significantly, James classified each image as ‘Best’, ‘Good, ‘Fair’ or ‘Poor’, however, the subjective nature of this process should be acknowledged; for example, Three Fashionable Boys is classified ‘Fair’, although I suggest it is much more than this ( James does add, ‘Ok, even ‘Good’’). But this is not why I’ve chosen the image. Despite established strategies, cross-referencing and double-checking, this is one I nearly ‘missed’; thus it serves as a reminder of the potential photographic gems not selected.”

Kate Isherwood, Curator, Hidden Histories Project

2300 ‘Contact Sheets’ showing every photograph James Ravilious ever took will go live on a new website beaford.org this November, which will be joined by around 10,000 photographs by Ravilious and Deakins over the next two years.

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PHOTO: EMMA GRIFFIN AT GRIFFIN PHOTOGRAPHY

Faye Dobinson in her studio

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Artist Faye Dobinson lives in West Cornwall, where she produces her eclectic, semi-abstract work: from sculpture to oil paintings, and from figurative to landscape. A self-confessed activist, she talks to Fiona McGowan about what drives her and why she won’t be pigeonholed.

F

aye Dobinson is expounding her theories of life, sitting amongst the clutter of her white-painted studio in a big, old, stone farm building. Every horizontal space is covered with paper, writing, images from magazines and the requisite paint splatters. Rough-hewn pieces of tree trunk serve as stools. The light pours in from the window and roof lights, but the room remains edgily cold on an autumn day; no doubt it is positively Baltic in midwinter. On the walls hang Faye’s paintings – some part-finished, some apparently complete. In a back room, next to a whitepainted fireplace, sculptures lean against the walls. Red party shoes adorn the mantelpiece, along with chunks of wood with words painted on them. The feminine form is omnipresent in larger-than-life humanoid sculptures and in the paintings throughout her rooms.

Faye is fascinated with the effect that our modern culture has on women. Her struggles with her own identity started, she says, when she was 14. She developed what became a life-long feeling of self-doubt: “I had crippling anxiety,” she explains. “It prevented me from truly thinking I was good enough. It meant that I would often self-sabotage situations.” For someone who has crippling anxiety, Faye has thrown herself at life with extraordinary verve. From when she enrolled in art college at Camberwell in London, she was on a mission to express herself and to help others along the way. More than 20 years later, she is still doing just that.

There have been recurring themes in Faye’s work and exploration of life as an artist. Diversity runs through everything she does – cultural, gender, racial.

She says a lot of this was thanks to growing up in a diverse environment. “I was born in 1976,” she says.

“In the background, there were race riots and things like that. I was from a white working-class family, but my abiding experience was being brought up in a predominantly West Indian community.” Growing up,

she loved drawing and colouring, and when she became known as the talented artist at school, it helped build her confidence: “It made people like me. Simple as that.”

It’s Faye’s rebellious nature that led away from a formulaic education. Having had a “weird, antieverything explosion” when she hit puberty, she began to drift at school. Her parents found her a part-time job at a bookshop and she discovered an alternative world of literature and funk music. By the time she was 16, she had won a scholarship to attend sixth form at independent boys’ school Eltham College, where the art teacher was a true inspiration (they remain friends to this day). A foundation year at Camberwell followed, but didn’t inspire her to continue with education (“I just learned to skin up really well,” she says, rolling her eyes).

Looking at Faye’s work today, there is a wide-open consciousness about it – her skill at creating realistic forms constantly crashes against an invading force of abstract energy. Her works are somehow reminiscent of the way that dreams can stay with you, their archetypal messages and dark mysteries sometimes telling subconscious tales, pushing against the clarity of the everyday. It is no surprise, given her artistic style today, that her journey to this corner of Cornwall has been eclectic. She spent a year working as a croupier after leaving college, and “doing a bit of teaching” at Eltham College. Disillusioned with the croupier job, Faye started doing youth work: “I’d hang around the estates and wait to see who was doing all the [graffiti] tagging, and go, ‘Orl roight?’ I’d befriend the kids and then persuade them to learn a few more skills.

Then they’d do murals where they’d been tagging. The ownership meant that they didn’t tag the area anymore.”

Faye’s work is deeply imbued with cultural references.

Many of her paintings depict women who have been inhibited in some way – whether it’s the restrictive, sexualised, yet somehow infantilised femininity in the West (think coy models with knock knees and pointedMANOR | Autumn 2017

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Dance Like You Mean It, oil on canvas

in toes), or the cultural repression in other parts of the world. One of her exhibitions of paintings was titled ‘Unsung Heroes’, dedicated to female musicians who have struggled against oppression, or who have never made it into mainstream public consciousness. A picture of Malian singer Rokia Traoré is a spare image of a head in profile with a big stripe of grey paint right in front of her mouth – symbolising the way that her culture represses musicians, particularly women.

Today, the female form is still present in many of Faye’s paintings. But rather than nudes – which for a period were the mainstay of her work – the focus is now on the 50

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heads, the faces, and the messages of restraint or oppression depicted in the clothing and poses of her women. Dance as representation of freedom is a frequent theme – she has become intrigued by voodoo and its intrinsic connection of spirituality and dancing: “they dance to find God,” she says. She frequently breaks from painting the human form, too, allowing herself to be a conduit for whatever creative force appears in her mind: whether it’s a painted quote on a piece of paper or a bit of tree, or a sculpture made from a pair of denier tights and bits of old rags. She has explored performance art, created a series of semi-abstract seascapes layered with OS maps, and made semi-sculptural

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PHOTO: EMMA GRIFFIN AT GRIFFIN PHOTOGRAPHY

Loving yourself in this culture, in this society, is a radical act. And if you tell me something’s radical, I want to do it.

Faye working in her studio, wearing shoes created for her 2016 video work The Red Shoes

works out of the spaces between things. She is embedded in the culture of Cornwall – working with fishermen in Newlyn on her map project, performing in James Turrell’s Skyspace sculpture in Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, and renting a studio in Trewidden Gardens just outside of Penzance.

With her vibrant personality and love of mentoring, it’s no surprise that she has been asked to teach at the respected Newlyn School of Art. She also continues to do care work in the community, looking after those in need of social interaction as much as physical help. Her quotes and sayings, written in a wide, cursive script, have been popularised on social media, to the point that she has set up a website to sell the words on t-shirts, posters and pieces of wood. The website, of course, is no ordinary online shop. Everything that Faye does has some kind of activism about it. “The Fayedid site is art and the word as activism,” she explains.

“I’m using it as a means to spread alternatives to prevalent culture values. I love the idea that it’s a diffusion of my art.

It’s ‘Fayedid’ – or ‘faded. Geddit?”

Faye’s laugh, like most of what she says, is raucous and honest. Her conversation is richly littered with laughter and swearing. She worries that her passions and philosophies could be seen as self-righteous: “I am committed to performing an act of resistance rooted in kindness every day,” she writes on her blog. But Faye is as unpretentious and genuine an artist as you are likely to find – driven by a deep need to face her fears. “Since doing CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) earlier this year, I’m reorganising my life to live fully from the heart.

Which can be absolutely terrifying…” To look at the untethered and prolific nature of Faye’s work and her path through life, it seems incredible that she could have fought anxiety and low self-esteem. She is, as she says, a woman who runs at her fears. fayedobinson.com

Make Shift, mixed media on wood panel

The Weight of Experience, oil on canvas

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PHOTO: HOWARD SOOLEY

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T

he river runs through me. The Avon on the Stakes Road. My older brother Christopher and I had been rescued aged five and six, transplanted to safer ground: a cottage by an estuary outside Aveton Gifford in the South Hams. The home where I learned to be a boy. Where I learned to wait for the kingfisher, listen for the haunting call of the curlew, watch for barn owls at dusk, flying by like lost souls. It was a magical land of imagination: sailing boats were manned by pirates, abandoned badger setts were homes for dwarves.

It was a safe place, perhaps a first for us, rooted in care, a new life, a new mum and dad.

From my foster parents, Lilian and Dudley Drabble, I learned to look after things, a once-wild rabbit, a cat, our dog, a donkey. And I learned to love the land. Dudley was a one for projects. He added an extension, knocked through for French doors. The surrounding field was fashioned into a croft where we boys could play cricket.

He bought the field behind the house, put in a red pine wood, a small pear, plum and apple orchard. Trees were chosen for colourful leaves and he planted many flowers.

It was here I learnt to love, I think, from sowing seed to nurturing them. Dudley gave me nasturtium and my brother marigolds. I sow them still but somehow had almost forgotten why. I thought they were just to brighten my vegetable patch, companion planting, and for me in the best sense they are. A way to remember the

PHOTO: HOWARD SOOLEY

As a child, Allan Jenkins – Food Editor for The Observer Food Monthly – and his older brother Christopher were raised in children’s homes and foster care. Some of his early years were spent in the care of Lilian and Dudley Drabble, who lived beside the river Avon in Aveton Gifford, South Devon. In his book, Plot 29, he records memories of his fractured childhood and his subsequent efforts to unearth his roots alongside a diary of growing food and flowers in a North London allotment – his saving and his solace. Here he writes a love letter to Devon. elderly couple who saved me, my conflicted brother who died, jolly flowers to honour the debt I owe.

From Lilian I learned the seasons. I picked a primrose posy for Mothering Sunday, milk cans of blackberries for pies. Hedges had hazelnuts, fields had mushrooms, although Dudley disapproved, I think. It was a bit wild for him. Land was to be tamed like my brother and me, taught who was boss.

I learned to dig for potatoes an hour before lunch. Lift as much as you need and no more, he said. Summer meant strawberries, gooseberries, runner beans. Peas were to be podded with my mum on the porch, with her battered colander and butterfly broach. And they still taste sweetly of love, maybe more than any other. Dudley planted for bees and butterflies. Buddleia, of course, snapdragons, hollyhocks. We built a rambling, colourful cottage garden.

Twice a day, the tide cut us off. The school walk along the Stakes Road becoming a longer hill trudge through the farm, dropping off a can for unpasteurised milk in the morning, picking it up going home.

I learned to loved to walk. Like gardening, that will always stay. To Bigbury Bay with my donkey (it seemed somehow unfair to ride him); down to the Start Point lighthouse and an ice cream at the top; heather trails over Dartmoor with a Widecombe cream tea. But the best walks were winter beaches, Dad swinging his stick, Mum and the boys and dog behind.

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Summer 1965, aged 11. Peter Drabble’s last year at the village school

Autumn equinox 1971, aged 17. Peter Jenkins at Glastonbury

Summer 1959, aged five. Christopher left and Alan Jenkins with Lilian Drabble in Aveton Gifford. First day with new clothes, new home, new mum.

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feature My brother and I lived outside in the summer, counted our blessings, rode bikes, raked the endless grass.

Stunted city children had become proper country kids.

Christopher played village football and fished for brown trout and grey mullet. He was better at being with boys.

I wandered the river bank, more comfortable in my own company, listened to The Beatles in girls’ pink bedrooms.

We were happy then. The days were long. The summers seemed endless.

It couldn’t last, of course. Lilian was unwell. Dudley was disappointed. Christopher was confused. The records show Dudley tried to split us up, to send my brother back.

Teachers tried to talk to him about his complaining, comparing the boys. Puberty was problematic.

I was now Peter Drabble, rebuilt, renamed, restored.

Christopher was more alone. He was pushed away and into the junior army. I was sent to boarding school. We could no longer live together. Our Devon dream was over. I was all at sea, drifting like on a lilo. It was the end of the 60s, time of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.

My brother died in 2011 in Torbay hospital. We held each other, said goodbye. They are all gone now, Lilian, Dudley, Christopher. Just me. But another family has a loving home on the Stakes Road by the river. More lost Devon boys will be saved by kindly strangers. I still sow beans and peas that taste of Mum and safety and

summer. And I grow marigolds and nasturtiums for Christopher. For companion planting, for happy colours and memories.

Plot 29: A Memoir, by Allan Jenkins, is published by 4th Estate.

Allan Jenkins digs into his Devon childhood and chats to Dan Saladino about how gardening saved his life at Dartmouth Food Festival. 1.45pm, Saturday 21 October at Eat Your Words in The Flavel Church, Dartmouth.

Tickets available online: dartmouthfoodfestival.com

Patrick Cornée “So Jazzy”

Livio Benedetti “Soleil du Soir – Edition 7/8”

Mixed media on canvas 80x80cms

Bronze 19x18x15cms

62 Church Street, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 3DS 01326 219323 | 07913 848515 | info@artworldltd.com | www.artworldltd.com MANOR | Autumn 2017

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Culture Kurt Jackson | Shelly Tregoning South West must sees | Worth making the trip for | Staying in

Christine Allen, Constructs. Part of the ‘Abstract 7’ exhibition at Penwith Gallery in St Ives. See page 66 penwithgallery.com

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Beekeeper and smoker.

May 2014, mixed media on paper, 41 x 27 cm

Kay Dunbar talks to artist Kurt Jackson about the beauty of everyday life, the immediacy of drawing and the natural history of bees. Images courtesy of Kurt Jackson.

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culture

Bees bumbling around the kitchen table.

2014, mixed media on paper, 43 x 42 cm

D

riving into the small town of St Just-inPenwith, having followed a narrow country lane over an exposed and wind-swept moor, I arrive at the Jackson Foundation to meet the artist, Kurt Jackson, much admired for his paintings on a wide range of subjects, particularly his expressionist seascapes.

Housed splendidly within an ex-industrial building is the carbon-positive, sustainably managed Jackson Foundation Gallery, built from local materials created by Jackson and his wife, Caroline.

The gallery is free to the public, bridging the gap between public and private art centres, and is the ideal venue to view Jackson’s eclectic range of artistic output, which includes his drawings, prints, paintings (many use mixed media), poetry, sculpture and installations – all of which reveal the artist’s ideas and his aesthetic expression.

Working in partnership with several environmental and non-profit organisations, the gallery aims to raise an awareness of the fragility of the Earth. With his emphasis on observing the natural world, it would be easy to classify Jackson as an environmental artist, yet he rejects this pigeon-holing of himself, as he resists all labelling.

He sees classifications as essentially limiting: “I have

been known as a landscape artist, a Cornish artist in my time, but it’s a nonsense to be confined to a cage,” he says. “In fact, my subject matter is very wide and varied.

I have a fascination with the richness of the planet – the complexity and diversity of the natural world. I want people to appreciate my work for its aesthetic value but also to make the viewer think about wider issues.”

When I arrive at the big, open, beamed gallery space, Jackson is in the process of dismantling an exhibition called ‘Bees (and the Odd Wasp) in My Bonnet’. Some of his paintings remain. Close up, I see the paintings of bumblebees are little blobs of colour.

“I wanted to convey the blur and buzz of a bee,” he explains, and confesses that at the beginning of the project his knowledge of bees was limited. His interest in the natural history of bees and wasps goes back to his youth: “As a student reading Zoology at Oxford University, I joined an expedition to the Venezuelan Amazon and brought back half a dozen wasp specimens thought to be new to science, with drawings and information about their nests.

“One of the reasons behind a project like [‘Bees (and the Odd Wasp’] was to educate myself, to become intimate with the subject. I was unable to identify the MANOR | Autumn 2017

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Bee buzz, pheasant’s cough. April 2017, mixed media on wood panel, 60 x 60 cm

different wild bee species and didn’t understand the bees’ lifecycle or the role of the beekeeper. A lot of my work is about becoming more familiar with a subject. I only have a limited amount of time for a topic before I need to move on. I might return to bees.”

Moving on from bees, he is now putting up an exhibition inspired by the Cot Valley, situated only one mile from St Just. “This small place in a little bit of Cornwall was abused and scarred by mining, with its natural resources depleted,” says Jackson. “More recently, the diversity of the flora was limited because of an invasion of Japanese knotweed.” Now, with the Japanese knotweed knocked back, a profusion of wild flowers has returned, the water is now largely effluent free, choughs have returned to breed here and even the otters are back. The valley has been renewed. Jackson sees the rejuvenation of 60

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the Cot Valley as a microcosm of the rest of Cornwall, or of the world. “This is a place where things have gone right. I’m very excited about it. It’s an extraordinary place.

It’s clean now. I want people to be aware of its past.”

Five years ago, Jackson published a book called Sketchbooks, showing how he works and what is important to him. “The thing about sketches is that they are private works not to be seen by anyone except maybe your family,” he says. “But once I was asked to do this book, it changed my feelings. I realized that my sketchbooks, like my art, had become public property.”

Lund Humphries (his publisher) now wants to reprint the volume of sketchbooks and start on a new title.

Any surface, any media, may be used for his sketches: pencils, crayons, felt-tip pens, charcoal, watercolours, ink, spit, lipstick, polish – and much else that comes to hand.

culture “Ever since Picasso, artists have felt that they are allowed to play, do as they want no matter how random or how spontaneous,” says Jackson.

He writes about wanting to draw by a bonfire at his home. He used the charcoal from the burnt end of a twig and some newspaper that was left over from making the bonfire. Menus, tickets, napkins can be put to similar use for his sketches. After a drawing is finished, it is then stuck into a sketchbook. Jackson is particular about the weight and texture of the paper in his sketchbooks, which come in many shapes and sizes: “Any art shop has a wide variety of materials now – so much choice; it’s like a supermarket, like entering a sweet shop. Lots of these media I haven’t even tried.” But many of these conventional materials are rejected in favour of the unexpected and unusual things that he finds closer to hand. “I’m far more interested in what a leaf will do when it’s rubbed on a page. I really enjoy the randomness, the fusion, the blend of materials.”

The subject of his sketches can be as diverse as his materials: Caroline, his wife; his children; flowers; the coast; feathers; insects – nothing is too small, insignificant or ordinary to be his subject. Sometimes, his sketches lead to “another piece of work – one with more gravitas,” sometimes not.

Jackson spent six years or so living in Boscastle when he first settled down in Cornwall. At the same time, the author Howard Jacobson, who went on to win the Man Booker Prize, lived there at the start of his writing career. More recently, they both met up again for a day and had a discussion on ‘beauty’. In his book, A New Genre of Landscape Painting, Jacobson quotes Jackson as saying, “the one thing I am not embarrassed by is beauty.

I think it is important to acknowledge the beauty of everyday life.” He explains this comment in the light of the Young British Artists (YBA) era: “People like me, who engaged with the natural world, were not to be taken seriously. Ecologists were not considered relevant.

Now the green agenda has become more relevant to the world, and art reflects that. Even Damien Hirst has moved towards the natural world.”

Looking to the future, Jackson errs on the side of optimism, citing the rejuvenation of the Cot Valley as an indicator of the direction in which the world is moving.

He also looks at recent technological developments: renewable electricity, electric vehicles, and so forth, where there is a groundswell of involvement and innovation. “It’s moving so fast,” he says.

If his optimism is well founded, it’s certain that he’ll be at the forefront of any change in attitude. With his innovatory ideas, his understanding of the richness of the world and, not least, his stunning art work, it would appear that his time has arrived.

‘Cot: A Cornish Valley’ will take place at the Jackson Foundation Gallery, North Row, St Just, Cornwall TR19 7LB, until 17 February 2018. kurtjackson.com, jacksonfoundationgallery.com

I’m far more interested in what a leaf will do when it’s rubbed on a page. I really enjoy the randomness, the fusion, the blend of materials.

Towards the end of a beautiful day, Penanwell.

2016, mixed media on paper, 28 x 30 cm

TOOL KIT A wide variety of media are used in Kurt Jackson’s work and can include pencil, chalk, crayons, pen and ink, charcoal, watercolour, inks, collage, granite dust, oil, acrylic, gouache, varnish, plaster, graphite; found materials will also be exploited, applied with artist’s and decorator’s brushes, palette and other knives and found or made tools. Jackson also works with printmaking, jewellery, sculpture, ceramics and relief work. The finished pieces can range from a few centimetres on scraps of paper to many metres of canvas or linen.

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Tightrope, oil on canvas

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PHOTO: STEVE TANNER

Artist Shelly Tregoning’s compelling studies of the human figure explore the language of physical gesture. Words by Mercedes Smith.

I

n Shelly Tregoning’s vaulted, sky-lit studio, a woman in a modest 1930s swimsuit stands poised on the tips of her toes, arms wide in preparation for her imminent dive. Wandering across the room’s wooden floor to the sound of my own echoing footsteps, I stop to admire her figure – the pleasing normality of it, and her outfit. Why don’t they make those anymore? Nearby, a young man admires himself in a sleek new suit, while another gazes at me, arms folded decisively in an oddly alluring way. In the corner stands a young woman in a red dress, overtly sexual in the idleness of her pose, and beside her is the spare outline of a man in the depths of despair, a ghost on a wide black canvas.

This studio group of paintings and monoprints are not portraits, despite the force of recognition they exert on the viewer. As a collection of faceless, yet familiar figures, they amount to an anthropological study in the language of human gesture. “When I’m painting, I’m interested in the human condition,” says Shelly. “What I’m looking for is a moment in somebody’s movement.

A person may have a very strong personality, or be very physically strong, but inherently there will always be that telling, physical moment when they reveal what’s going on beneath the surface, perhaps in the way that they stand, or turn, or sit. I am interested in how a person holds themselves, the angle of their head, the curve of their body, the way they rest their hand or arm in that moment. A person’s physicality betrays so many things.

I find that fascinating. One figure in my painting stands for an inherent communality between all human beings.”

That communality shows itself in the human response these paintings provoke in me, as if I were pacing the room at a curious cocktail party. The diver, rather intimidating in her strength and poise, betrays a second of hesitation; I like her all the more for it. The sharpsuited young man, so concerned with his appearance, is at once self-admiring and insecure, as I once was.

The young woman, brimming with barely contained carnality, is also touchingly innocent of it; a child on the precarious edge of adulthood.

As a relatively new artist taking a highly original path, Tregoning is developing a talent that is fast outgrowing this modest studio space. Having graduated with a BA in Fine Art from University College Falmouth in 2011, and now resident at West Cornwall’s CAST studios, she has already been selected for the National Open Art Competition, RWA exhibitions and prestigious Threadneedle Prize Exhibition, and has been invited to hold her first solo show at Edinburgh’s Arusha Gallery this November. Her work, vividly semifigurative and powerfully composed on canvas, and more subtly rendered in handmade print, has the linear quality of fine drawing that marks out the world’s greatest artists from the celebrated ‘also rans’.

“I enjoy the process of drawing,” says Shelly. “In my paintings, I still try to draw the figure with the edge of MANOR | Autumn 2017

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Talk to the Hand, oil on linen

Barely there, monoprint

A person’s physicality betrays so many things. I find that fascinating.

One figure in my painting stands for an inherent communality between all human beings.

The Red Dress, oil on board

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Black Narcissi, oil on linen

culture layer paint but retain the ability to draw. The joy of printmaking is that it breaks down the accuracy of the work, and therefore broadens its potential. When I’m painting, I will first draw many iterations of the same figure, in order to break it down to its briefest version. I draw repeatedly, to find the essence of gesture, to refine it. Then I will start to paint, as if I were printmaking – in layers. Painting has a visceral quality; I love the stuff of paint, the sweep of the brush. Print, in comparison, is slightly different, which interests me. It’s flatter, more graphic, and incidental marks happen in print. That can be exciting.”

While many of these works are destined for her Edinburgh show, some from the collection have already been installed at the RWA’s 165th Annual Open Exhibition in Bristol. What, I ask, does she hope people will take away from these exhibitions? “I hope people will see their own stories in my paintings and prints. I’d like to think that people will recognize their humanity, recognize themselves, within my work.”

See Shelly’s work at the RWA’s 165th Annual Open Exhibition, until 3 December at RWA, Queen’s Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX. rwa.org.uk shellytregoning.net Monoprints on Shelly’s studio table

Scribbled notes on the studio wall

my brush. I like brevity, a line that suggests the form, that moment captured in a very few descriptive lines.

When I was studying, I loved life drawing, but I never wanted to make ‘pictures’, if that makes sense. I wanted my work to be representational of emotional place, of how human form can act as a metaphor.”

At Falmouth, her passion for drawing led to the study of handmade print, and at her studio, seemingly endless collections of monoprints cover tables and walls.

Interestingly, these works on paper are made after, and in response to, her paintings. “I see monoprint as a continuation of a body of work,” she says. “I like the painterly quality of monoprint, the way I’m able to MANOR | Autumn 2017

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South West must sees...

Sweet Nature 4 1976-77.

78 x 120 in. 198 x 304 cm.

Oil on canvas.

Urban abstract Alongside the group of artists – including David Hockney, Bridget Riley and Peter Blake – who transformed British art in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, Robyn Denny’s resolutely urban, large-scale abstract paintings captured the cool, modernising mood of the time. This exhibition, concurrently presented at Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange in Penzance, offers an in-depth look at the evolution of his work over five decades, and is an exploration of the importance and contemporary relevance of his art. There are also works dating from the early 1980s and beyond, which have rarely been presented publicly before.

Until 6 January at Newlyn Art Gallery, New Road, Newlyn TR18 5PZ, and The Exchange, Princes Street, Penzance TR18 2NL. newlynartgallery.co.uk

Group enterprise Following their successful show in 2015, the Abstract 7 are back with an exhibition of new work and explorations in the form of paintings and sculpture. The core group members are: Sue Davis, venturing into interactive arrays; Sean Hewitt, working with vibrant colour fuelled by music; Christine Allen, who creates illusions of space and depth with edges of light and dark; Richard Holliday, a stone sculptor who has worked with Ian Hamilton Finlay at Little Sparta; and painter Peter Morrell. This exhibition also welcomes Frank Phelan and Paul Jackson, the latter choosing to show decorated pots, which complement the paintings and sculpture of the other artists.

Sean Hewitt, Hibakusha Series 8

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13 October – 13 November at Penwith Gallery, Back Road West, St Ives TR26 1NL. penwithgallery.com

culture

Naomi Hart, The things which I have seen

Travels in colour A life-long traveller, Exeter-based artist Naomi Hart records her journeys in sketches and paintings, often en plein air – whether that’s in a forest in France, an Australian desert or in the crow’s nest of a boat tethered to an iceberg. In 2015, she sailed to the remote High Arctic as expedition artist on a wooden sailing boat and is currently Leverhulme Artist in Residence at Sheffield University Geography Department, working with the ice scientists and documenting their research in Svalbard. Featuring work shaped by different times and locations, ‘Some far off magic land’ explores how myth and reality can coincide within the same landscape, the paintings conveying a sense of place and the mysteries that we can find there.

Until 7 January at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum café gallery, RAMM, Queen St, Exeter EX4 3RX. rammuseum.org.uk

driftwood gallery showcases limited edition art prints and originals from internationally published artists and local talent, along with jewellery, sculpture and glass.

Driftwood Gallery Ilfracombe 19 St James Place, Ilfracombe, Devon, EX34 9BJ 01271862590 ilfracombe@driftwoodcontemporary.co.uk

Driftwood Gallery Padstow 4 The Strand, Padstow, Cornwall, PL28 8AJ 01841534939 padstow@driftwoodcontemporary.co.uk

Driftwood Gallery St Ives 26 Fore Street, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1HE 01736 795643 stives@driftwoodcontemporary.co.uk Get in touch. Sign up to our newsletter to keep updated MANOR | Autumn 2017

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Peter Liversidge

City scene A major multi-site visual arts project, We The People Are The Work sees six contemporary artists – from the UK, Canada, France and Mexico – engaging with the city and people of Plymouth to explore ideas of power, protest and the public. Presented by Plymouth Visual Arts Programming Group and curated by Simon Morrissey, director of Foreground, the exhibition is the first major commissioning project of Horizon, a collaborative two-year programme of contemporary visual art which will strengthen and grow Plymouth’s already dynamic arts scene, promoting the city as an exciting contemporary art destination. Antonio Vega Macotela and Eduardo Thomas’s film, Advice from a Caterpillar (in Peninsula Arts at Plymouth University), explores notions of representation, identity and visibility by focusing on local residents who appeared as extras in Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland, parts of which were shot in Plymouth. Matt Stokes’s film (at The Gallery at Plymouth College of Art) features local bands The Bus Station Loonies, Crazy Arm, Suck My Culture and The Damerals, and looks at punk’s legacy of protest and resistance, while charting the decline of live music venues in the city. Printmaker Ciara Phillips

(nominated for the Turner in 2014) has been working with groups of women from the city to produce printed textiles that voice their societal concerns, and the installation occupies multiple galleries and social areas at Plymouth Arts Centre. Peter Liversidge’s installation, at The Council House at Plymouth City Council, comprises a series of signs representing ideas from diverse individuals in the city, giving significance to voices who often go unheard. The signs will be distributed around the city by the public, and include a ritual bonfire burning on the Hoe (5 November) led by Plymouth schoolchildren. Liversidge’s work will be accompanied by a new temporary public artwork on the flagpoles on the Hoe throughout October and November. The feminist arts collective Claire Fontaine has produced a series of illuminated text works displayed throughout KARST gallery in Stonehouse. These new works, taken from recent political debates including Brexit and lifting quotes from Donald Trump, tackle questions of morality, agency and freedom of speech calling on the viewer to take a stance.

Until 18 November at five venues around Plymouth. For full event listings, see wethepeoplearethe.work

Inside out In its aim to showcase the best in contemporary and traditional Cornish art, Tregony Gallery presents the group exhibition ‘Wall, Window, World’. Showing a variety of established sculptors’ and painters’ work alongside newly represented artists Nicole Price and Gethin Evans, this exhibition looks to convey the intimacy of domesticity within references to the outside world.

Until 4 November at Tregony Gallery, 58 Fore Street, Tregony, Truro TR2 5RW. tregonygallery.co.uk

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Nicole Price, The Bike Ride

culture

On the edge In terms of bucking the trend for seaside town galleries, which can often be rather staid in their tastes, Red Propeller in Kingsbridge has long been a champion of the more outré strand of contemporary art.

This is given free rein in its latest curated group show, ‘Borderline’, which encourages its broad stable of artists – many international – to explore and interpret this increasingly relevant theme. The exhibition will feature work by Brazilian street artist L7M, contemporary painter Tracy Hamer (from Bali) and taxidermy artist Janec van Veen, who’s from a bit closer to home, in Teignmouth.

3 November – 7 December at Red Propeller Gallery, 76 Fore St, Kingsbridge TQ7 1PP. redpropeller.co.uk

L7M, Lovebird. Spray and acrylics, wine on canvas, 150 cm x 150 cm

A new Phoenix will rise Vibrant arts venue and charity, Exeter Phoenix, is launching the ‘You Make Exeter Phoenix’ fundraising appeal to raise £60,000 for the venue’s first major refurbishment since it opened in 1999. This summer, Exeter Phoenix received £187k from Arts Council England towards a £244k capital project to improve gallery spaces and visitor facilities, leaving almost £60k to be raised from the local community and other sources, including crowd-funding.

The multi-artform venue and charity will invite supporters to take part in an interactive mural installation, celebrating how visitors bring the venue to life. Over 80% of its core funding comes directly from cinemagoers, art students, concert attendance and café bar customers, demonstrating how its visitors make Exeter Phoenix happen.

Open throughout autumn, visitors are encouraged to donate to help the mural take shape.

Laura Cameron-Long, Fundraising Coordinator for Exeter Phoenix, said, “We know the changes are going to make a huge difference to our visitors and have a big impact on the arts in Devon. However, we need a fair bit of support from our community as we still have a way to go with the fundraising over the next few months, but it’s a very exciting time!”

Funds raised from the campaign will bring ambitious changes to Exeter Phoenix’s free-access gallery spaces, replace ageing auditorium seating and provide essential upgrades to facilities to improve the visitor experience of this dynamic creative hub. exeterphoenix.org.uk

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Worth making the trip for...

Dead funny

PHOTO: HUGO GLENDINNING

When, in 2013, performance artist Victoria Melody’s father Mike (a TV antiques expert) was diagnosed with a terminal illness, Victoria was put in charge of planning the funeral her dad would want – complete with eulogies, a congregation dressed in Blackpool FC’s tangerine colour and a New Orleans jazz procession. A year later, the doctors realised they’d misdiagnosed Mike.

But they’re going ahead with the funeral anyway…

Using Melody’s training as a funeral director and a huge amount of research, Ugly Chief looks at the British funeral industry and how we deal with death in modern society. Poignant, insightful and laugh-out-loud funny, Melody’s work charts the peculiarities of our small island: her modus operandi is to completely immerse herself in other people’s worlds – previous shows have been about Northern Soul dancing, pigeon-fancying, beauty pageants and dog shows – in order to examine national characteristics and regional phenomena, focusing on the extraordinary in the everyday. Ugly Chief is a comedy based on true events performed by Melody and her father. It explores the taboos around death and its practicalities, and the fractious relationship with a parent whose opinions you don’t always agree with.

31 October – 18 November at Battersea Art Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN. £12.50-£17.50. bac.org.uk

Sheet music

13 October – 14 January at Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate CT9 1HG. turnercontemporary.org

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PHOTO: © TATE, LONDON 2017

Tracey Emin’s iconic and controversial installation My Bed will be on display alongside a collection of JMW Turner’s seascapes and stormy skies, chosen by the artist and loaned from Tate’s collection. Giving a snapshot of Emin’s life after a traumatic relationship breakdown, My Bed offers an unconventional and uncompromising self-portrait through objects, in which the artist herself is absent. The artist’s unmade bed – surrounded by used condoms, stained underwear, cigarette butts and empty vodka bottles – marked a moment of epiphany in Emin’s life. Originally made in Emin’s Waterloo council flat in 1998 and included in her Turner Prize exhibition in 1999, the installation epitomises Emin’s confessional, candid art in which nothing is taboo, and represents a pivotal point in British art in which contemporary artworks achieved mainstream fame.

My Bed (1998), Tracey Emin

culture

PHOTO: THE OTHER RICHARD

Teach me It’s May 1997. Tony Blair has won the election and Katrina and the Waves have won Eurovision. Cool Britannia is swinging once more. It’s a different story, however, at the local comprehensive, where the temporary cabins have been the classroom mainstays for 20 years and ‘special measures’ are likely on their way. But rumours of a funding injection are fuelling high spirits in the staff room, so perhaps things really can only get better… Winner of a Fringe First at Edinburgh, Education Education Education is The Wardrobe Ensemble’s love letter to the schools of the 90s, and asks big questions about what we are taught and why, and where responsibility lies. With their trademark inventive theatricality and irreverent humour – plus a soundtrack featuring Oasis, the Spice Girls and Take That – this super-smart Bristol-based company once again cast a knowing eye over our recent political history, and show us what the future might look like.

1-4 November at Bristol Old Vic, King St, Bristol BS1 4ED. £15 (£10). bristololdvic.org.uk

The Islanders

3 0 t h S e p t e m b e r t o 11 t h N o v e m b e r - a n e w e x h i b i t i o n b y

RICHARD ADAMS H y b r i d G a l l e r y • 5 1 H i g h S t r e e t H o n i t o n E X 1 4 1 P W • 0 1 4 0 4 4 3 2 0 1 • w w w. h y b r i d - d e v o n . c o . u k MANOR | Autumn 2017

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PHOTO: © THOMAS RUFF

Clear capture

L’Empereur 06 (The Emperor 06) 1982. C-print, 30.2 × 40 cm

Cosmology, suburbia, nudity, utopianism, catastrophe – these are some of the subjects that Düsseldorf-based Thomas Ruff (b. 1958, Germany) addresses in his photographic series, which for almost four decades have investigated the status of the image in contemporary culture. ‘Thomas Ruff: Photographs 1979 – 2017’ draws from the full range of Ruff ’s output: from his acclaimed Portraits – passport-style portraits, reproduced on a huge scale and revealing every surface detail of their subjects – to his most recent press++ photographs, drawing on newspaper archives from the era of the space race and Hollywood starlets.

Until 21 January at Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. Tickets from £12.95 (£9.50). whitechapelgallery.org

Out of this world Starting life as the fictional band at the heart of Sheffield synth outfit Eccentronic Research Council’s 2012 album Johnny Rocket, Narcissist, & Music Machine… I’m Your Biggest Fan, Moonlandingz took corporeal form when Fat White Family’s Lias Saoudi and Saul Adamczewski were drafted in – and the result is a self-described “outsider ouija psych pop supergroup”, and that about nails it. Their debut album, Interplanetary Class Classics, is a gloriously wild romp across genres and soundscapes, but it’s the live experience that takes it all up to 11. As ‘Johnny Rocket’, Saoudi has free rein to inhabit the outer realms of his feral unpredictability – there have been reports of earrings made of ham, and glitter codpieces…

23 November at the Trinity Centre, Trinity Road, Bristol BS2 0NW. £14. 3ca.org.uk

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MANOR | Autumn 2017

culture Worth staying in for...

Listen like this Much like the weekly radio stalwart This American Life, which looks at the contemporary US experience through the prism of personal narratives and memoir, Snap Judgment (on the radio and via a podcast) shares long-form and short stories, with each episode organised around a theme. There’s a beautifully nuanced narrative arc to every show, with the stories contained within in ranging from haunting and astonishing to poignant and life-affirming; but all reveal deep truths about the human condition, and thus are utterly compelling. And much like the This American Life spin-off series, the supremely literary Serial and S-Town, you’ll find yourself drawn into myriad ways of living – and more than likely miss your stop if you’re a podcast commuter… If you want somewhere to start, check out ‘Unforgiven’, which includes the story of the growing relationship between two women: a widow and the wife of her husband’s killer.

You can subscribe on iTunes if you have an iPhone, iPad or Mac. Try Google Play or Stitcher for Android devices. Similarly, head to snapjudgment.org to listen to the entire back catalogue via Soundcloud.

Words of wisdom Although she grew up near the South Hams town of Totnes, poet Miriam Nash spent her early years on the Isle of Erraid, off the west coast of Scotland, where Robert Louis Stevenson’s family once worked as lighthouse engineers. Its influence washes through All the Prayers in the House, Nash’s first collection, which contains islands – and isolations – both physical and metaphorical, lighthouse keepers and those at the mercy of the sea, and of forces greater than in the human realm. There are songs, of a kind, to women in an American prison, and tales of teenage rebellion; an imagined correspondence with RLS himself – who decided ‘To leave behind the lighthouse life / that fathers, uncles, mothers built’ – sees the narrator call to him for advice on how to ‘Loose my thread from the family book / and set me where my tale begins’ (The Wishing Stone). This lure of the writing life is threaded through the collection, and many of the poems here imply that we can see that the writer, like the lighthouse keeper, is also a kind of guide – showing the way, illuminating truths both hard and gentle.

It’s in the poems charting hard truths – particularly those that deal with marital infidelity, fractured families and depression – that the collection really soars. There are moments of such precision and insight, such clarity, that my heart lurched from one truth-unlocking image to the next. It’s dangerous stuff, poetry this good. Fantasy mixes with cold, hard reality, and Nash is excellent on relationships, how they falter, and the hard work required to maintain them (as in The Task: ‘the silence in the bed between you // will rise in the shape of a stranger’, and it ‘will take // a force that isn’t in that moment love / not to follow her downstairs’.

But there is also guidance on how they weather the storm; how to nurture them so they grow and evolve – standout for me is the sonnet Love Song for a Keeper, which muses on the seven-year renewal of the body, and how that can be allowed to grow distance or be seen as a chance for regeneration: ‘As our chests press again, stranger to stranger, / our particles in motion, trembling, raw, / let my flesh blaze to yours, for seven more’. This is a heart-breaking and exquisite collection.

Miriam Nash’s All the Prayers in the House is published by Bloodaxe Books, £9.95.

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Country pursuits For our autumnal shoot, we descended on Higher Parford Farm in Drewsteignton. With a wonderful live accessory in the form Cascade K, the Dutch Warm Blood chestnut mare, we got into suitably seasonal attire, topped off with the headgear of the season, the beret, which lent a certain French elegance to a quintessential Dartmoor backdrop.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY THOMAS HOLE STYLED BY MIMI STOTT 74

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Green beret, Topshop, £12; checked jacket, Marks and Spencer, £99; tapered trousers, Marks and Spencer, £59; polo neck sweater, Zara, £19.99

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Checked corset top, Zara, £25.99; sweater with pearl buttons, Zara, £19.99; yellow ankle boots, Topshop, £85; jodhpurs, stylist’s own

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Jumper, Marks and Spencer, £45; checked skirt with belt, Zara, £19.99; khaki boots, Next, £70

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Sweater with pearl buttons, Zara, £19.99; checked trousers, Next, £26; original refined over the knee quilt gloss black boots, Hunter, £155

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Red sweater, Zara, £12.99; beret, Topshop, £12; checked pencil skirt, Zara, £29.99; original refined short gloss scarlet boots, Hunter, £95

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Ribbed roll neck jumper, Topshop, £36

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Photographer: Thomas Hole Stylist: Mimi Stott Model: Jessica Pimenta from Premier Hair and make-up: Maddie Austin Location: Higher Parford Farm, Drewsteignton. Tel: 07881 612211 Special thanks to Camilla Ridgers, who kindly lent us her horse, Cascade K.

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MANOR | Autumn 2017

Food

Westcountry food festivals go plastic-free Simple Japanese recipes from Tim Anderson | Bristol’s 91 ways to unite people through food Bites, the latest news and events from across the region | Food Pioneer | The Table Prowler

PHOTO: LAURA EDWARDS

Salmon tataki with ponzu and green chillies. From JapanEasy: Classic & Modern Japanese Recipes to Cook at Home by Tim Anderson See page 98 for recipe

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ways to eat, meet and unite TV executive Kalpna Woolf believes that food is a language common to us all. She tells Anna Turns how her Bristol-based charity is bringing people together around the dining table. Photos by Jon Craig.

“L

anguage is a barrier, food is not,” according to Kalpna Woolf, the founder of 91 Ways, a charitable project that runs a pop-up International Peace Café across Bristol. In today’s fast-paced world, these cohesion-building foodie events bring diverse communities together to share meals at long, communal tables, offering a heart-warming antidote to global politics, which can often be so divisive.

“We crave connections and eating together is such a natural thing – just that act of passing a plate starts a conversation,” says Kalpna, who has always believed in the power of food stories. “I just knew in my heart

that this project would work – food is something that is in all of our lives, whatever form it takes, and inviting someone to eat is offering a positive hand of friendship, and it gives an insight into your heritage.”

Kalpna is a TV executive, currently producing TV series with chefs such as the Hairy Bikers and Nigel Slater for Hungry Gap Productions. She previously worked at the BBC for 24 years, working her way up to the top of her profession, and left four years ago: “I was Head of Production, overseeing the whole of network production for BBC Bristol and Features. I loved it but I knew I wanted to do some good and make some impact

Negat Hussein, originally from Eritrea, is one of the Peace Café’s talented cooks

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food

Kalpna Woolf with Shiv Sama, host of 91 Ways’ North Indian Supper

91 Ways has empowered many people, including Viviane

and really make a difference, so I wanted to pursue something different around food in the community.”

That’s when she helped set up Bristol’s Food Connections Festival, with a mission to connect the city’s diverse communities through food. “Bristol is such a burgeoning city in terms of food culture and my role was to talk to people about food and bring them closer to other groups and celebrate each other through food.”

And while she was looking at the city’s makeup, she discovered that a total of 91 languages are spoken in Bristol: “That number really surprised me and energised me, so I wanted to use that as a symbol of inclusion,” says Kalpna, who grew up in Southall, a part of London with a strong Indian community. “London can feel overtly cosmopolitan but for many years I worked inside the BBC and just didn’t know about Bristol’s great diversity – people seem to live in their geographical silos.”

Over the past two years, Kalpna’s free peace café has popped up in community centres, community cafés and schools, welcoming Somalis, Iranians, Eritreans, Indians, Mauritians and Burmese families to the table.

“We recently took food from a Somali community to a Bristolian community and they’ve shared their Somali spread alongside a roast dinner and wonderful cakes.

They’d never have met otherwise, and actually these people discovered they have so much in common,” she explains. “We also worked with Easton Church of England Academy, where pupils speak a total of 51 languages, and ran a celebration day bringing schoolchildren and parents together so they could get to know each other through their inheritance recipes.”

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At a recent event held at Bristol’s Hindu Temple, everyone from schoolchildren to Muslim refugee women came to share a meal. It was a real turning event for one woman, Viviane, who left Egypt as a refugee with her family when she was just 14 years old, settled in London and then moved to Bristol. She told Kalpna, “I am so glad that I had the courage to come to this event; I took two buses to get here from across the other side of the city and I have made a friend today, Susan from Syria – we both speak Arabic and French and we are meeting next week for coffee. I feel so at home here.” Now, Viviane is one of 30 or so people who volunteer for this project on a regular basis and she recently talked about her life at a supper club, finding the experience such an empowering one.

Kalpna’s supper clubs are an opportunity for community members to talk about their heritage, values and history through their food, plus funds raised from ticket sales contribute to the small community pop-up events. Of course, relationships don’t always develop overnight, so 91 Ways revisits communities throughout the year to reinforce connections.

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This project has attracted a lot of women in particular: “I think women value these connections, they are good at building bridges, they want to call this country their home and food is a great way of being part of that,” explains Kalpna. “And of course a lot of women cook in their homes or cater in their communities and they feel comfortable.

Some of our refugee women wouldn’t want to directly talk about difficulties or challenges they have had, but cooking and eating opens up conversations and they feel proud of their food and feel part of something special.”

Kalpna’s vision is to roll this movement out across the country and she is currently writing a template for other cities. “We’re going to pilot it in three places, possibly one in the West Country, Yorkshire, and another city, so we are looking to develop partnerships,” she adds.

“Ideally we would love to run events nationally and have a 91 Ways festival day once a year, celebrating communities through food.” If anyone can make it happen, Kalpna will find a way.

91ways.org

food

Negat’s Eritrean baklava Negat made this lovely sweet and nutty pastry dessert to serve at the Peace Café; it’s simple to make using a few easy-to-find ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• • • • • • •

100g cashew nuts 100g unsalted, shelled pistachio nuts 2 tsp ground cinnamon 200g butter, melted 12 sheets of filo pastry 300g caster sugar 2 tsp lime juice

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 6.

Place the sugar and lime juice in a medium saucepan with 300ml of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Let it bubble away, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by a third, then leave to cool. The syrup must be cool when it’s poured over the pastry, otherwise the pastry will go soggy.

Mix all the nuts in a food processor until coarse, then tip into a bowl and stir through with cinnamon.

Gently unfold the filo pastry and cover with a damp tea towel to stop it cracking.

Layer one sheet of pastry in an oven dish and brush with melted butter.

Layer another sheet on top of the first, brush with butter and evenly sprinkle some of the nut mixture.

Repeat the layers until the pastry is finished, then generously butter the top.

Cut the pastry into portion-sized squares with a sharp knife, ensuring the blade goes right to the bottom. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.

Remove the baklava from the oven and pour half of the cooled syrup over the top. Leave to cool for 40-60 minutes. Your baklava can stay fresh for up to two to three weeks.

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Learning Japanese We thought it appropriate that, with this issue, we provide you with recipes that are as tasty as they are works of art. Our tastes are becoming ever more eclectic, and Japanese food is increasingly popular; it’s considered healthy as well as tasty and, of course, is mouth-wateringly attractive. As difficult as it looks, it’s surprisingly easy to recreate traditional Japanese dishes from the comfort of your own kitchen.

Tim Anderson, MasterChef winner in 2011, studied Japanese food culture at university and then lived in Japan for two years. We’ve had a leaf through his latest recipe book, JapanEasy, and chosen a starter, main course and dessert with which to impress family and friends. Photos by Laura Edwards.

Salmon tataki with ponzu and green chillies Serves two - four I love the silky texture and fresh, sweet flavour of raw salmon, but of course I also love the dense, meaty flavour of grilled salmon – this delivers the best of both worlds, with tangy ponzu and hot green chillies to offset the richness of the fish. (See photo on page 93).

INGREDIENTS

• Sesame oil, for greasing • 200g salmon, pin-boned and skinned – if you can, get • • • •

just the loin rather than the whole fillet 100ml ponzu (see below) 1 green chilli, very thinly sliced 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds A few drops of chilli oil, to serve

METHOD

Lightly grease a baking tray with sesame oil and place the salmon on it. Grill under a very high heat until it begins to brown. Move the salmon around as needed to ensure an even colour. Turn over and repeat on the other side.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then slice the salmon thinly and arrange on small plates. Pour over the ponzu and top with the green chilli and sesame seeds.

Drizzle a tiny bit of chilli oil over the top.

Ponzu Big batch (makes about 280ml) Ponzu is one of my favourite Japanese seasonings, combining the moreish umami of soy sauce with the fresh zing of citrus. It’s great with fish, gyoza, tempura and all kinds of veg – and it’s especially nice combined with butter, which rounds out the ponzu’s acidity and gives it a touch of rich sweetness.

INGREDIENTS

• 200ml soy sauce • 4 tbsp lemon/lime juice (you can use either, or a combination of both)

• 1½ tbsp caster (superfine) or granulated (raw) sugar • 1 tbsp vinegar

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METHOD

Combine all the ingredients and stir to dissolve the sugar. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one month.

food Buta shogayaki stir-fried pork with ginger sauce Serves four I remember having this for lunch a lot in Japan, but it’s just as nice for dinner – and it’s very, very fast to prepare. The ginger sauce, by the way, works well in other dishes as well. Try it as a marinade for chicken or a glaze for fish.

INGREDIENTS

• 400g pork belly, rind removed • 60g fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced against the • • • • • • • • • •

grain 6 tbsp soy sauce 6 tbsp mirin 4 tbsp sake 1 tbsp ketchup 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tbsp vegetable oil ½ hispi/pointed cabbage, shredded 150g bean sprouts 2 spring onions, finely sliced Toasted sesame seeds, to garnish

METHOD

Cut the pork belly in half lengthways and place in the freezer for 30-45 minutes to firm up, then slice it very thinly. Purée the ginger with the soy sauce, mirin, sake, ketchup and sesame oil in a blender or food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, simply finely grate the ginger and stir together with the other ingredients.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or deep frying pan and add the pork and cabbage. Stir-fry for three to four minutes, then add the bean sprouts and the ginger sauce. Keep stir-frying until the sprouts have softened slightly and the sauce has coated everything nicely. Top with the spring onions and garnish with sesame seeds.

Serve with rice.

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Chahan fried rice Serves four The first thing I ever learned to cook was macaroni and cheese (from a box, if you can call that cooking). The second thing I ever learned to cook was egg salad sandwiches (again, if you can call that cooking). And the third thing I ever learned to cook, if memory serves, was fried rice. Fried rice is awesome on so many levels. First of all, it’s easy. Like, really easy. Very little can go wrong in making fried rice. Also, it’s satisfying and really full of flavour, plus it’s a great use for leftovers – in fact, that’s what I usually make it from. It’s like my Japanese version of bubble and squeak, taking particularly well to finely sliced roast meats and veg. This is a sort of basic recipe for fried rice, but feel free to embellish it however you like. Delicious additions you may want to try include king prawns (shrimp), chicken, scallops, squid, Chinese chives, salmon and pork. By the way, this works better with rice that has been in the fridge overnight. I frequently make more rice than I need just so I have an excuse to make fried rice the next day.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp oil • 4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon (drycured, if possible)

• 1 onion, finely diced • 150g shiitake (de-stemmed) or chestnut • • • • • • • • • • • • •

mushrooms, finely sliced 1 carrot, diced 4 eggs 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 4 spring onions, roughly chopped 4 large portions of cooked rice (350400g uncooked) 3 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp sesame oil 1½ tbsp. mirin ¼ tsp dashi powder 50g red pickled ginger 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds Freshly ground black pepper Handful of katsuobushi (optional)

METHOD

Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok and add the bacon. Cook until golden brown and crisp, then remove and drain on kitchen paper (keep the bacon fat in the pan). Crumble or chop the bacon into small pieces.

Add the onion to the hot bacon fat and stir-fry until translucent and beginning to brown, then add the shiitake, carrot and eggs, and stir to break up and scramble the eggs. Add the garlic and spring onions and fry briefly, then add the rice, soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin and dashi powder. Break up the rice with a wooden spoon as you stir-fry, ensuring that there are no clumps.

When the rice has absorbed all the liquid in the pan, add the pickled ginger, sesame seeds, some pepper and the bacon bits, and stir through. Serve in shallow bowls, topped with katsuobushi, if you like.

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food Miso butterscotch banana split Serves four One of the dumber purchases I’ve ever made was a refurbished dual-flavour soft-serve ice cream machine. Sounds fun, right? But it cost £2,300, weighed 150 kg, had no warranty, frequently overheated, and just generally never worked quite right. I had it for about a year, until it basically stopped working entirely (it was churning my ice cream base into butter, not ice cream) and I had to get rid of it. Which eliminated our entire dessert offering at the restaurant. I had to come up with a new dessert menu quickly, and it had to consist of stuff that didn’t require the oven (our oven is terrible, and early experiments with choux pastry mainly resulted in burnt, semi-inflated pancakes).

This was the first recipe I came up with – it remains our best-selling dessert, I guess because it is just stupid good. And stupid easy.

INGREDIENTS

• 100g dark brown sugar • 25g butter • 30g miso (I like a dark miso for this • • • • •

• • • • •

recipe, but any will do) 1 tbsp vanilla extract 200ml double cream 25ml dark rum (optional) 4 bananas 8-12 scoops of ice cream (a few good flavours for this recipe: vanilla, butter pecan, salted caramel, pralines and cream, dulce de leche, Irish cream, and – the very best, if you can get it – cinnamon) 25g walnuts, roughly chopped 25g peanuts, roughly chopped For the crispy noodles (optional) 1 portion of fresh ramen or egg noodles Oil, for shallow-frying

METHOD

To make the miso butterscotch, melt the brown sugar and butter together in a deep saucepan over a medium heat. Whisk in the miso, breaking up lumps with the whisk, then add the vanilla and half the cream. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat.

To make the crispy noodles, heat about 1cm of oil in a pan over a medium-high heat, then add the noodles, a few at a time. Cook until golden brown and crisp, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Whisk the remaining cream together with the rum until soft peaks form.

Assemble the sundae by splitting the bananas lengthways down the middle, then topping with the ice cream, walnuts, peanuts, miso butterscotch, rum cream and crispy fried noodles, if using.

Recipes from JapanEasy: Classic & Modern Japanese Recipes to Cook at Home by Tim Anderson (Hardie Grant, £20). Photography © Laura Edwards

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City to Sea’s water bars are hugely popular at festivals

Foodies at festivals across the West Country have the power to make a huge impact when it comes to food waste and single-use plastics, as Anna Turns finds out.

N

ow, it’s all well and good being as ecoconscious as we possibly can at home or in the office, but what happens when we’re out and about en masse in public spaces? At food, music and camping festivals around the country, people are in relaxed mode, convenience is key and saving the planet may well end up lower on the agenda. But some environmental champions and event organisers in the West Country are going the extra mile to make it quick, easy and above all fun to be as wastefree as possible.

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Food and drink always features heavily for festival goers, whether they bring their own or buy from street stalls. So just imagine how many thousands of plastic knives and forks, cups and bottles are used or how many tonnes of food waste are thrown into landfill. Foodies across the country are beginning to take note of the media frenzy currently surrounding the plastic pollution scandal, and some of our favourite regional food festivals are at the forefront of this campaign to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle.

In June this year, sustainability expert and founder of Less Plastic, Amanda Keetley, spearheaded a

food

Encouraging more people to buy and bring a stainless steel bottle is a great way to reduce numbers of single-use plastic bottles

PHOTO: ZOOMING FEET: DEVON PHOTOGRAPHY

Reducing single-use plastic was a key aim for Kingsbridge Food and Music Festival this summer

campaign to make the Kingsbridge Food & Music Festival as plastic-free as possible. “Single-use plastic is our biggest challenge in terms of making any festival more sustainable because it is so cheap, light and readily available – plus, it’s a habit; food waste comes a close second,” explains Amanda. “Look for reusables – stainless steel is ideal – but after that, compostable single-use items are probably more realistic for large events.” It’s a big ask to scale up these values to festival level, but Amanda believes it’s within our reach: “We’ve had lots of positive feedback about our compostable plastic cups going to a local farm for composting – people are really happy if they can go out and have a good time without feeling guilt for the waste they’re creating.”

Sustainability isn’t an afterthought. It’s key for organisers to integrate any sustainability ethos into the initial planning and design stages, and Amanda did manage to persuade most of the food and drink stallholders to comply before signing up to the festival, which has a footfall of 5,000 visitors. “But many businesses are so used to looking at costs they are reluctant to spend a couple of pennies more per unit. In our case, all the food and drink stallholders cooperated by using only paper, cardboard, wood or compostable plastic, but the main pub on the town square only ‘dabbled’ in our compostable plastic cups scheme – they sell hundreds of thousands of drinks over the weekend and ran out of compostable cups just a couple of hours into our three-day-long event, then used single-use plastic for the rest of the weekend, causing extra hassle in separating their cups from the compostable ones, which would be disposed of differently. It was disappointing that they were reluctant to step back to see the bigger picture, but we hope to persuade them to fully get on board next year.” Most people genuinely want to do the right thing – it is good for their business, after all, and Amanda makes it easy for them, providing details of local suppliers and a specially negotiated discount.

Plastic drinks bottles are probably the biggest culprit – almost half a trillion (500,000,000,000) plastic bottles will be used in 2017 alone. But Bristol-based social enterprise City to Sea is tackling this head on with its Refill campaign, promoting restaurants and shops who are happy to offer free tap water. This is something Amanda has worked hard to establish in her local area: “We love the simplicity of City to Sea’s Refill app – how it aims to connect people with taps to people that need water, using technology to make it easier, and breaking down the typical British embarrassment to ask for something for free! We now have around 15 participating shops, bars and cafés in Kingsbridge signed up to the Refill app and we’re working on spreading the word further.”

Natalie Fee, founder of the community-interest company City to Sea, set up Refill in 2015 in Bristol.

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PHOTO: ZOOMING FEET: DEVON PHOTOGRAPHY

Compostable cups at the Heron Valley stand at Kingsbridge Food and Music Festival

PHOTO: SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE

Boardmaster’s Green Team helped keep plastic litter to a minimum

Green ASBO stickers were a new type of deterrent on tents belonging to messy campers at Boardmasters this summer

Dartmouth Food Festival aims to be single-use plastic-free for the first time this October

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The responsibility is very much with festival organisers to build in a re-use culture and incentivise that because generally people are more motivated if they know they’re going to save money. nationwide. But if every Bristolian refilled once a week instead of buying a single-use plastic bottle, the city would reduce its waste plastic bottle consumption by 22.3m a year. Refill is currently also set up in Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Bath and Bradford-on-Avon, with Brighton, Norwich and Hunstanton launching very soon. This model has been shared beyond the UK border too, with Refill Hamburg now happening.

En masse, it is harder to engage crowds of thousands with behavioural change but Natalie believes the key to success is encouraging people to remember to bring their reusables out with them. “Organisers should build plastic-free alternatives into the preparation and planning of an event. Refillable cups, bottles and food vessels can be included in the ticket price so people have the option to buy a lunchbox or a bottle right from the start or choose to bring their own. Refilling them on site is then discounted, so for example they get £1 off every pint if they bring their own cup. The more it’s mentioned, the more these events are helping to normalise that behaviour for people.” She explains that “the responsibility is very much with festival organisers to build in a reuse culture and incentivise that because generally people are more motivated if they know they’re going to save money.”

Luke Howell, environmental sustainability manager and founder of Hope Solutions, is working closely with the Boardmasters Surf and Music Festival in Newquay, which has big ambitions to reduce its plastic footprint, in association with Surfers Against Sewage.

“At Boardmasters, tens of thousands of pints get served and that could be a massive amount of waste being incinerated or going to landfill if not recyclable, so amongst other things we will be looking at alternative cup options for future years,” says Luke, who is based in Shepton Mallet. Every August, this festival attracts

food almost 150,000 people to Newquay over the course of five days. This year, Surfers Against Sewage ran a series of beach clean ups, ocean plastic workshops and installations, plus 10,000 reusable refillable bottles were available to buy plus refill stations were installed across the site, eliminating thousands of single-use plastic bottles from the festival site.

Hugo Tagholm, Chief Executive at Surfers Against Sewage, based in St Agnes, believes that when it comes to creating change, it’s important that people feel empowered: “We always try to give people bitesized chunks of information and specific actions, from refillable water bottles through specific Plastic Free Coastlines campaign actions they can engage with MPs on.” He continues: “This year, for the first time at Boardmasters we deployed litter ASBOs to encourage ‘messy campers’ to clean up their act. This coupled nicely with the litter bonds that all campers had, whereby £10 was reimbursed when the campers brought back a full bin bag of litter.”

Even en masse, Hugo feels optimistic that people’s attitudes are changing for the better. “We have made huge leaps and bounds forward in engaging festival goers with plastic pollution and litter issues, and the organisers of Boardmasters are very engaged with this

agenda too. Together with our partners, we’re making some tangible headway.”

Plastic-free options are out there and change is totally within our reach, so at a festival level, the potential to scale up our good intentions is huge. This October, Dartmouth Food Festival is the next event on our calendar to tackle this issue head on, with six cafés and delis initially signed up to the Refill scheme and more than 115 traders signed up to the new plastic-free policy.

Let’s hope even more festivals and events across the South West follow suit next year.

GO SINGLE-USE PLASTIC-FREE • Use reusable cloth bags or take a basket so you can say no to • • • • • •

plastic bags.

Invest in a stainless steel drinks bottle and find a water refill station (download the Refill app at refill.org.uk ).

Use reusable or compostable alternatives rather than polystyrene takeaway containers – or buy food naked if possible.

Say no to plastic straws or stirrers every time you order a drink.

Use bulk dispensers rather than sachets of sugar and condiments.

Recycle what you can – take note of the bins available at festivals and separate your rubbish accordingly.

For ideas to reduce your plastic footprint, visit lessplastic.co.uk.

CELEBRATE WITH US

Christmas Day Lunch

New Year’s Black Tie

Experience Bovey Castle this Christmas.

Enjoy a glass of Champagne, a four-course Christmas Day meal, coffee and mince pies.

See in the New Year at Bovey Castle with Champagne reception accompanied by a traditional piper, followed by a five-course gala dinner in Smith’s Brasserie, dancing to a live band and fireworks over the estate at midnight.

£125.00 per person with reduced rates for children

£135.00 per person with reduced rates for children.

IN SMITH’S BRASSERIE

T: 01647 445098

E: events@boveycastle.com

/boveycastlehotel

GALA DINNER AND DANCE

W: www.boveycastle.com | North Bovey, Devon, TQ13 8RE

@boveycastle

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PROUD TO BE PART OF THE EDEN HOTEL COLLECTION MANOR | Autumn 2017

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Bites Tapas Revolution

tapasrevolution.com

PHOTO: MARTIN POOLE

Madrid-born chef Omar Allibhoy recently opened his seventh tapas bar in Bath, Tapas Revolution. With a mission to bring the real taste of Spain to the UK, Omar opened his first tapas restaurant in London in 2010.

Author of Spanish Made Simple, Omar trained under three-Michelin-starred chef Ferran Adrià in Spain before moving to London and working with Gordon Ramsay and Jason Atherton. He later became Head Chef at El Pirata de Tapas in Notting Hill, where he was featured on Channel 4’s Ramsay’s Best Restaurant.

Omar’s simple food and flair for Spanish cuisine has garnered him recognition within the industry by winning 2012’s Caterer and Hotelkeeper’s Acorn Award for ‘Rising Star’. In addition, the London Lifestyle Awards shortlisted Tapas Revolution for ‘Best Restaurant’. When he’s not in his kitchen, Omar often makes TV appearances on shows including Sunday Brunch, The One Show, This Morning, MasterChef and BBC’s Saturday Kitchen.

Omar Allibhoy

PHOTO: LOVE PORK

Prize pork Taste of the West has awarded Kenniford Farm a gold award for its cranberry and rosemary sausages, and two silver awards for its pork pie and Cumberland ring. Kenniford Farm has been rearing pigs in Clyst St Mary for over 20 years, and Andrew Freemantle, owner of Kenniford Farm, says: “This award means the world to us, as we pour everything into the care and welfare of our pigs, and work hard to create delicious and innovative recipes. It’s fantastic to get this recognition for our work and passion.” kennifordfarm.co.uk

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food

Feed the 300 To celebrate the 300th birthday of Newlyn’s historic Tolcarne Inn, chef Ben Tunnicliffe has introduced a three-course menu for the month of November, featuring his favourite dishes, including plenty of fresh Cornish seafood sourced from nearby Newlyn Fish Market. Ben says, “This place has witnessed a huge amount of history: the growth and decline of the mining industry, the trials and triumphs of Newlyn’s fishermen, the evolution of the local artist colony, the arrival of tourism and Cornwall’s emergence as a food destination. So, it seems fitting to mark the pub’s birthday by bringing people together to celebrate over good food and drink.”

PHOTO: BEN TUNNICLIFFE

To book one of the 300 places for £28 (to include recipes for recreating the dishes at home plus a £10 voucher for a return visit), visit tolcarneinn.co.uk/invitation-feed300-sign-today/

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Adding a pinch of Cornish Sea Salt to the cheeseboard Cornish Sea Salt has begun an exciting collaboration with Quicke’s Cheese, adding a new complexity of flavour to the Devon-based cheesemaker’s expertly crafted clothbound Cheddar. This Devon-Cornwall collaboration is the latest enhancement in Quicke’s long history of cheesemaking, using just four ingredients: milk, natural rennet, heritage starters, plus salt.

Mary Quicke MBE says: “Cornish Sea Salt has a unique mineral-rich flavour that initially hits the palate and then withdraws to enhance other ingredients, which gives us an extra complexity of flavour. Harvested out in the ocean, It has a concentrated nature without the impurities you find in pan-dried sea salt.” She explains an unexpected benefit: “The sea salt is also more demanding to mix into the fresh curd than table salt, so this stage has required even more love and care from the team. We are noticing a greater roundness in the flavour that we are putting down to that extra work.”

This is Mine

Tonic o’clock Luscombe Drinks has created a trio of new tonic waters, crafted in small batches using Devon spring water blended with Indian quinine. The traditional Devon Tonic Water is enhanced with the zingy citrus of Japanese yuzu, a rare citrus fruit with three times more vitamin C than a lemon. The light, floral Elderflower Tonic, which has just been awarded a Great Taste two-star award, is infused with handpicked wild elderflower, and the Grapefruit, which was awarded a Great Taste one-star award, is blended with pink grapefruit to create a delicate citrus taste.

The new Luscombe Drinks tonic waters are now available to buy online via ginkiosk.com.

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Mark Dodson launches his cookery book, This is Mine, at The Masons Arms in Knowstone on 13 October. His book, which has been 39 years in the making over the course of a Michelin-starred career, includes recipes for 70 dishes and a praiseworthy foreword from one of Britain’s greatest chefs – Michel Roux. The launch night menu showcases Mark’s mozzarella arancini, halibut fillet with potato crust and cider cream sauce, loin of venison with poached pear and blue cheese gratin followed by chocolate and passionfruit delice, fudge and macarons served with coffee.

7pm for Yearlstone Pink Fizz and Canapé reception, followed by a five-course tasting menu featuring recipes from the book. £95 per person, including a copy of the book per couple.

The Masons Arms, Knowstone, Devon EX36 4RY. masonsarmsdevon.co.uk

food

Devon and Cornwall has Great Taste Sandford Orchards recently won the Great Taste Gold Fork award for the best food or drink from the South West. The Crediton-based cider producer hopped to the top with its “bright, fruity and beautifully crisp” St Louis dryhopped cider made using the whole juice of Devon cider apples.

Following more than 60 days of judging, other regional producers also celebrated three-star success at the Great Taste food awards. Great Taste three-star winners from the South West include Meridian Sea’s Classic Seaweed Relish, a mix of fresh wild seaweeds from Brittany and Extra Virgin Olive Oil that has a “lovely ocean freshness with vibrant aromas of the sea’, Salcombe Gin’s Start Point, Treleaven’s cider sorbet, Gin & Tonic Marmalade made in batches of 22 jars by Ilfracombe’s The Proper Marmalade Company, cardamom vodka by the Helston-based Curio Spirits, and waxed Cornish kern produced by Lynher Dairies Cheese Company. greattasteawards.co.uk

A winning combination of wine and cheese Sharpham Cremet fought off stiff competition from over 1,000 products in 23 categories to take the prestigious top spot as Champion Cheese and Supreme Champion at the Taste of the West Awards 2017. This ‘deliciously clever’ artisan soft cheese, produced by Sharpham Partnership in South Devon, is made by enriching mould-ripened goats’ cheese with cows’ cream to create a unique combination of flavour and texture.

“Our Cremet is the most recent addition to our range of artisan cheese and is very special indeed,” says Mark Sharman, Managing Director of Sharpham Partnership. “It has a subtle, fresh, creamy flavour and mousse-like texture when young, deepening to a full, rich flavour with earthy undertones when mature. There really is nothing else quite like it produced in the UK.” Taste of the West’s panel of anonymous expert judges agreed, calling it: “a deliciously clever, outstanding example of the perfect cheese!” They added that, “it beautifully combines the sweet/salty richness of ‘cow’ with the tang of ‘goat’. Without doubt a unanimous and clear winner of our Supreme Champion Product Award 2017. We urge you to go out and hunt down this cheese!”

Sharpham Partnership also received top praise from the judges for its wine, with Sharpham Barrel Fermented 2014 named Champion in the Wines, Spirits & Liqueurs category.

This newly released white wine is one of only a few English whites to be barrel-fermented in new oak barriques. It is this secondary fermentation process which really makes the wine stand out. “English wines are often drunk young,” explains Mark, “but barrel-fermented wine takes time, resulting in a much more serious drinking style.” The Taste of the West judging panel declared the wine “superb” describing it as “smooth, gentle oak with a lovely finish. A very drinkable wine… very drinkable indeed.”

Mark Sharman

For a list of stockists or to buy online, go to sharpham.com (Sharpham Cremet £13.50 for 600g round; Sharpham Barrel Fermented 2014 is £17.75 a bottle or £213 for a case of 12).

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Save the date FALMOUTH BEER FESTIVAL

RIVERFORD’S PUMPKIN DAY

Taste more than 240 real ales, 60 real ciders and perries at one of the largest beer festivals in the region.

Celebrate the arrival of autumn with family activities such as pumpkin carving, face painting, seed potting, worm digging and seasonal food and drink.

19-21 October. 8-11pm Thursday, 11am-11pm Friday and Saturday. £10. Princess Pavilion, Falmouth. cornwall.camra.org.uk

DARTMOUTH FOOD FESTIVAL

28 October, 11am-4pm at Wash Farm, Buckfastleigh TQ11 0JU. £5 adults, kids free. To book tickets go to: riverford.co.uk/ pumpkinday.

Mitch Tonks and friends host cookery demos, workshops, wine-tasting seminars across town and a series of tasty discussions at Eat Your Words in The Flavel Church on the Saturday.

20-22 October. Free (except some workshops and events). dartmouthfoodfestival.com

FOODFEST The best of North Devon’s produce comes together under one roof.

22 October, Barnstaple Pannier Market.

Susy Atkins hosts a series of wine and drink seminars at Dartmouth Food Festival

Riverfords’s pumpkin day

CLOVELLY HERRING FESTIVAL Back in 1749, 100 herring boats were based at Clovelly.

400 years on, the village celebrates its heritage.

18 November. Standard admission charges apply. clovelly.co.uk

CORNISH WINTER FAIR Meet artisan food producers and farmers from across the county, and explore the food and farming educational discovery zone.

Bristol-based chef Romy Gill cooks up a spicy feast at Dartmouth Food Festival

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18 November. 10am-5pm. Free. Royal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge PL27 7JE.

Food Pioneer Roger and Tanya Olver DUCK FARMERS We began converting our farm into a luxury free-range estate for discerning ducks in 2006. It now includes

a hatchery, nursery, a holiday village and a retirement plot; 3,000 ducks are housed in large straw-bedded barns with a low stocking density, their own paddling pools and plenty of outdoor space. The ducks are brought in at night to protect them from predators, but otherwise they’re free to roam with very little human contact. Free range is an ethical imperative, but we also believe that this natural, stress-free environment contributes to the quality of the final product.

We were inspired to start breeding and rearing ducks after speaking to a chef. Nigel Tabb of Tabb’s in

Truro told us how hard it was to source good-quality, ethically reared duck; it seemed a real gap in the market so we jumped at the opportunity. We soon had orders coming in from top restaurants. Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen at Watergate Bay was one of the first, soon to be followed

by Chris Eden at The Driftwood Hotel and Paul Ainsworth at No.6 in Padstow. Our big break came when we were featured with Michael Caines MBE on the Great British Menu – he has been using our duck ever since. Duck is such a versatile meat; it’s been fantastic to see creative chefs serve it in so many ways.

We have created our own unique breed of duck. The

exact formula is a secret but the ‘Terras Duck’ has been bred for great flavour, resistance to disease and healthy growth. We’ve specifically bred our ducks so that they have strong legs – this supports their development without compromising quality of life.

Eggs are collected from our free-range layers every morning and incubated. Immediately after hatching,

they are really tired – it’s hard work getting out of that shell! They spend one to two weeks in a specially converted cow shed – a brooder room – which acts as a nursery. It is clean, warm and quiet. Their pens are circular to prevent any of the tiny ducklings getting stuck in a corner. Later they are moved across the yard to larger sheds, where they listen to classical music.

The birds are fed a natural diet, which supports slow growth. They take longer to reach the optimum weight

than commercially reared birds. The end result is a meatto-fat ratio that creates optimum flavour and texture; in 2016, our whole duck was named one of the Top 50

Foods in the World at the Great Taste Awards – the best endorsement we’ve ever received!

There is much more awareness of ethically reared meat these days, but also a lot of misinformation. It’s

important that people continue to question where their meat comes from, and probe beyond the expensive marketing campaigns of big retailers. Genuine knowledge of provenance enables the consumer to make an informed decision, but there is still a lot of smoke and mirrors in the industry. We have a policy of complete transparency and are always happy for people to come and visit the farm.

The only food miles travelled by our duck is when it leaves the farm to be delivered to the customer. Our

ducks are incubated, hatched, reared and dispatched on the farm, and we process everything here, too – including smoking duck breast, and making burgers and Drake’s pudding to our own fine-tuned recipes.

Cornwall’s food scene has gone from strength to strength over the last 10 years. We’ve had good

restaurants for a long time, but it’s the grassroots food culture that has really blossomed. Cornwall has artisan producers, creative chefs and stunning venues; throw in a hungry audience who lap up street food, festivals, popups and cookery courses, and you have a thriving food scene that is continually evolving. We’re very proud to be a small part of it – long may it continue!

We have plans to introduce a range of confit duck later this year. We’re working with a chef on production and

packaging at the moment. Our online sales show that people are keen to have duck at home but don’t have time to grapple with complicated recipes for legs and thighs. Duck eggs are also increasing in popularity and are available for delivery.

We love eating our own duck. We have pan-fried duck

breast regularly – the key is to let it rest thoroughly after cooking to allow the juices to percolate. We also love a whole roast duck at the weekend; the flavour is not as rich as breast but very distinctive, and the meat is very tender.

The Cornish Duck Co. farm is based near St Stephen in Cornwall.

Cornish Duck is available to buy online at cornishduck.com or you can find Roger and Tanya at Truro Farmers’ Market every Saturday.

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Signature dish As the nights draw in and the weather turns colder, all you really want after a hard day at work is a good, hearty dinner to come home to. This tasty traybake recipe from Devon restaurateurs, the Tanner Brothers – TV chefs and owners of Plymouth brasserie, Barbican Kitchen – takes just 25 minutes from start to finish, and incorporates some of autumn’s very best seasonal ingredients. “The buttery softness and subtle sweetness of the butternut squash contrasts perfectly with the sausages, and it all tastes great served up with a good helping of curly kale. We can guarantee you’ll be heading back for seconds!” says Chris (pictured left, with his brother James).

James’s tip for choosing your squash: if you can push a fingernail into the rind, it is immature and will be lacking in flavour and sweetness. The rind should be firm and unbroken, with a uniform matt tan or beige colouring – and free from any green tinges.

Barbican Kitchen, Plymouth Gin Distillery, 60 Southside Street, Plymouth PL1 2LQ. barbicankitchen.com

Tray-roasted sausages with butternut squash, Stilton and potatoes Serves four INGREDIENTS

• • • • • • • • • • • •

8 thick butchers’ pork and herb sausages 500g potatoes 1 butternut squash 2 tbsp clear honey 1 large red onion, cut into petals 3 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, cut into thick lardons 4 cloves of minced garlic 2 sprigs of picked thyme 6 shredded sage leaves 80g Stilton cheese Zest and juice of 1 lemon 4 tbsp olive oil

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7.

Take the garlic, lemon zest, juice and the thyme, and mix in a bowl with two tablespoons of olive oil. Rub the mixture all over the sausages, season with salt and pepper 112

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and leave out at room temperature to marinate whilst you prepare the vegetables.

Take a large roasting tin and pop it into the oven to heat up while you prepare the vegetables. Cut the potatoes and the squash into two-inch chunks, then cut the onion into petals. Toss them in a bowl with the bacon lardons and remaining oil and seasoning, ensuring that all are well coated.

Next, put the mixed ingredients into the preheated roasting tin and shake gently to make sure your ingredients are evenly spread. Lay over the pork sausages and add any remaining marinade.

Roast in the hot oven for 20 minutes, shaking the tray and turning the ingredients halfway through cooking.

With five minutes of cooking time left, remove your tray from the oven and drizzle the honey, scatter the shredded sage, and crumble the Stilton cheese on top. Return to the oven and cook for the remaining five minutes.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and serve piping hot with some seasonal curly kale. Lovely!

food

The Table Prowler The Flat, Exeter Local, independent, sustainably run and sourced... these are all buzz words in the restaurant game these days, but rarely is it carried off with such aplomb as at The Flat on Exeter’s Fore Street. With just 18 covers, an open kitchen dishing up homemade vegetarian and vegan pizza and pasta, and minimalist interior design – think pallets and a rough-hewn aesthetic – it is reminiscent of the New York neighbourhood restaurants of the movies. I keep expecting Tony Soprano to wander in...

We start with some Sicilian nocellara olives – bright green and gloriously meaty – and mixed nuts (£2.50) to keep us going as we peruse the menu, which is compact and satisfying, just like the restaurant itself. I rarely eat pasta at home, so plump for the crema e funghi (£9), which turns out to be a splendour of fat spaghetti languishing in a mushroom, parsley and creamy walnut sauce. It is divine. I can’t stop gasping about how good it is. It’s literally that scene from When Harry Met Sally.

The other half responds more decorously to his Garlicky pizza (£9.50), even though it’s a gluten-free, hand-

stretched triumph that actually tastes as good as – better than! – a regular pizza. Bright with courgette, aubergine, red onion, mixed seeds and garlic oil, it disappears very quickly. I think I may have been granted a crust to suck on. We wash it all down with a bottle of Primativo del Salento, which at £20 is an absolute bargain, given its velvety smoothness. The word ‘authentic’ is often slung around with abandon when it comes to indie eateries, but The Flat has just that feel. Owners Chloe and Pietro head up front-of-house and kitchen duties respectively, and there’s clearly a roster of regulars who make this a buzzy place to spend a few hours –make sure to book, as it’s usually full. With friendly and welcoming service, and top-notch food, this is a great addition to the Exeter foodie scene. t e ate eter.co.uk Food 10 | Service 10 | Ambience 9 | Location 8

Cribbs, Falmouth This Caribbean restaurant is right in the heart of Falmouth. During term-time, the town is thronged with students mingling with locals – the quirky, alternative vibe is matched in this low-key eatery. The décor is hip without being in-your-face: lots of recycled chairs and old oak tables. The staff is young, friendly and chilledout, and your instinct is to relax, washed by Caribbean tunes and delicious smells from the open kitchen at the rear of the restaurant.

People-watching is de rigeur if you get a table next to the window, but the service was snappy enough that we didn’t spend too much of our time gazing out. Skipping the starters, I chose a grilled mackerel salad from the lunch menu – each dish costs £9. It was a perfectly cooked fillet – spicy and juicy and served on a rocket and frisée lettuce leaf salad with a scattering of peppers and beanshoots and a tangy dressing. Delicious though it was, it was a very stingy portion: one small mackerel fillet and a salad that could have served as a garnish.

My husband chose from the main menu (wise man), going for a lamb curry at £10. It could not have been better, and was exactly what we expected of Caribbean

fare, accompanied by a large portion of sticky wholegrain rice cooked with kidney beans, slices of poached pear, and a very generous amount of spiced curry. The lamb was tender enough to melt in the mouth, and the scattering of fresh herbs and chillies made this a zinger of a meal.

This is definitely more bistro than restaurant, but this is as fine a dining experience as you could wish for if you love Caribbean food. The St Lucian owner has clearly put his soul into creating a menu with burgers that bite back – liberally seasoned with Caribbean spices – and classic West Indian mains: jerk chicken, coconut prawns, baked sweet potato stuffed with roasted veg, and rumsoaked BBQ ribs. There is also a tempting list of rum cocktails (it would be rude not to) just to funk things up a bit. cribbscornwall.co.uk Food 8 | Service 9 | Ambience 8 | Location 8

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10% off

for Mano r read with the c ers o de Manor1

Traditionally hand cast in Cornwall New London and Cornwall showrooms NOW OPEN

cornishbeds.co.uk Tel 01726 825182

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London showroom The Old Dairy, 66a Paddenswick Road, London W6 0UB Devon showroom Odhams Wharf, Topsham, Exeter EX3 0PD Cornwall showroom 24, The Roundhouse, Harbour Road, Par, Cornwall PL24 2BB

Space Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Cornwall | Touch Design Group, Exeter | Shopping for space

PHOTO: KARL DAVIES

James Turrell’s Skyspace at Tremenheere. See page 116. tremenheere.co.uk

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PHOTO: JESSICA SILVER

Chelsea Garden

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In what was once an overgrown valley, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens is now a site blooming with carefully curated flora and some of the country’s most impressive contemporary artworks.

Fiona McGowan meets the man behind the vision.

A

PHOTO: KARL DAVIES

Perspex wind sculptures by Michael Chaikin

PHOTO: KARL DAVIES

t the head of a valley that rises up above a rushing stream, there is an unfettered view to the iconic castle-topped island of St Michael’s Mount. It’s a scene that begs to be captured – painted, drawn, photographed. The stands of woodland at either side of the valley provide a frame for a vista that rolls away down a grassy slope, gently slipping down to the sea. Facing south, sheltered from blustery north-westerly winds, sub-tropical flora thrives alongside indigenous trees – beeches and pines standing tall above bamboo, ferns and an array of rubbery-leaved plants that would seem at home in a rainforest. There is nothing formal about this garden, no straight lines or symmetrical borders, no order of colour or style. And yet every aspect has been considered, each sector containing a carefully selected group of plants, chosen to suit the site, and the symbiotic relationship with the trees, shrubs and flowers alongside it.

Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens opened in 2012, fifteen years after Neil Armstrong bought 11 acres of overgrown valley near Gulval in West Penwith. He and his wife had four children at the time, both working as full-time GPs in Mullion on the Lizard Peninsula. For a long time, the project was all his own: “My wife wasn’t really into it. She said, ‘Off you go, dear’.” He grins a little sheepishly as he describes the years of hard labour that he put into cultivating the garden. The idea of incorporating sculpture came slowly. Neil explains: “It felt, when I developed this garden, that there was no focus – no big house. So I wanted to create moments of interest to stop you. Otherwise you just wander around. So the artwork provides direction and focus on certain vistas.”

With a mother who was a landscape gardener, Neil has gardening in his veins. He’s also passionate about art: “I’ve always been interested in contemporary art.

I became keen on this whole trinity of the landscape, the planting and the artwork, where the art worked in synergy with the garden, rather than the art being more dominant.” One of the most impactful pieces of work in the garden today is one of the earliest works to have been commissioned – James Turrell’s Skyspace. An oval structure, clad in rough-hewn granite stone, it perches

Tremenheere Woods

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Neil Armstrong

PHOTO: KARL DAVIES

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PHOTO: CLIVE NICHOL

at the top of the valley. Inside is a smooth, white room whose walls tilt inwards up to a large oval opening. It’s the sort of space that makes you whisper. A smooth white bench circles the wall, and there is nothing to look at but the sky – a shifting image above you.

Turrell, says Neil, was hugely influential in the direction of the sculpture garden. He initially built a temporary structure on the land in 1999, to interact with the solar eclipse, and the two men began to collaborate on a vision for the garden. Turrell resolved to make two works for Tremenheere – “I guess that was a big stepchange,” says Neil. “James Turrell is, according to one London critic, not only the most important artist living at the moment, he’s the most important artist of this century.” In his diffident way, Neil is clearly proud to have Turrell’s work: “There are five works by him in the UK, and two are here in Cornwall.” “In your garden,” I add. Neil nods and looks down. The second Turrell work is a hidden gem – even regular visitors to the garden might not have encountered the sculpture, it’s so tuckedaway. And it’s only open to visitors at certain times: usually on Saturday mornings, says Neil, cagily. He calls it ‘the Tank’, and it’s his favourite sculpture of all…

Among the ever-evolving plantings is a similarly evolving collection of sculptures. “The artwork here gets mixed press,” admits Neil. “It’s not mainstream stuff.” He chooses each piece personally, usually working in collaboration with the artist for some time before incorporating it. Some are on loan to the garden, and some have been specifically commissioned. They are a varied collection that Neil says are all carefully chosen to be site-specific: a group of huge, blackened, rounded stumps that are reminiscent of shrouded giants hunkering in the woods; the elegant, fluid forms of ceramic vessels by eminent local sculptor Tony Lattimer; a gigantic black head of a minotaur that looms through the trees; and a weighty, rounded granite piece by Royal Academician Peter Randall-Page, to name just a few.

A boardwalk leads the visitor uphill, alongside a river that is a wild torrent after rain, and a babbling stream in drier times (rare though they are in Cornwall). At the top, the boardwalk loops around some tree-shaded ponds; wooden benches invite a pause – literally and metaphorically, a place to take a breath. “Pauses are important,” says Neil, “whether to stop and admire the exotic shrubs, the great, ancient trees and the views, or to take in the sculptures.”

The perennially popular restaurant and shop at Tremenheere, located inside a big curve of wood and granite building, are both separate businesses – albeit so much a part of the ethos of the gardens that they seem entirely intrinsic. The only element of the gardens that was not privately financed was the restaurant building: an EU-funded project that was so bureaucratic that Neil has avoided seeking external funding ever since. It means that his vision for Tremenheere has had to grow slowly, apace

The Upper Gallery

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PHOTO: KARL DAVIES

Black Mound by David Nash RA

PHOTO: ALI BRAYBROOK

Slip of the Lip by Peter Randall-Page RA

with the growth of the business. “But that’s all right,” he says, smiling. “It’s a garden. It grows at its own pace.”

Since 2012, Neil and his wife have gradually bought land from their neighbours, doubling the original acreage. The most recent development has been a handsome oak-framed art gallery, which opened in January 2017. “Building the gallery was always part of the long-term plan,” says Neil. “The idea was to grow Tremenheere as an arts destination. It’s still evolving,” he adds with quiet enthusiasm. “There are several projects which are in various stages of being worked on.” The table in front of him is scattered with drawings: he’s planning a new artwork that is all his own design – a watchtower that integrates with the natural environment, perhaps involving copper… He might be collaborating with an American artist, he mumbles… More definite are plans to build an artists’ studio, to enable up to eight resident artists to have an indoor space to work when the weather proves too inclement to create in the gardens themselves. He’s also planning to build a tiny cabin to serve as a one-person workshop.

Throughout the 20 years since Tremenheere’s first inception, this tall, softly spoken Irishman has managed to combine bringing up four children, becoming practice manager in his GP surgery, creating a 22-acre public garden, and developing the beginnings of an ‘art destination’. Over the years, he’s travelled all over the world to learn about plants, from Mexico to Vietnam and from the Himalayas to South Africa. He absorbs art from all aspects of culture: “We spend our holidays looking at galleries and churches, strangely. I’m not religious at all, but it’s the ambience and the atmosphere.”

He is passionately involved in the local art scene, and collaborates with world-renowned artists. Neil leans back in his seat next to the rosy woodburner in the corner of the restaurant. “It’s a nice foil to have this place,” he says, “it’s something I like to do. It’s great fun and satisfies a creative need, working in the arts.” tremenheere.co.uk

PHOTO: KARL DAVIES

PHOTO: KARL DAVIES

One of the views from Tremenheere

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Into Touch

Ahead of the launch of Touch Design Group’s new showroom, Imogen Clements talks to the team about bespoke interiors, attention to detail, and viewing ‘the story’ of a product from thought to completion.

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T

here are many benefits to living in the South West that are well documented. Space is one.

We South West residents get to walk out onto open moor without a road or person in sight; to survey wide, sandy stretches of coastline punctuated by just the odd stick man and his dog; and live in houses that, for the price of a London onebedroom flat, can accommodate a family of five and have them rarely bump into one another.

There is also the space associated with businesses: shops and showrooms, those who sell goods that require some room for their clients to fully gauge and appreciate what’s on display, such as those associated with bigger purchases, namely interiors, carpentry, furniture, and kitchens. Designers’ showrooms there are aplenty in London, but with square footage at a premium, there is rarely room for more than a few lines in each, and certainly no sight of the manufacturing process. When it comes to design, specifically design of the highest level, the making of it frequently occurs behind closed doors, some distance from the buying point and, more often than not, across-continent.

Ed Tremlett and David Crosby acquired a site the size of a small aircraft hangar in Marsh Barton in 2014, from which to run their own business creating luxury bespoke interiors. At 3,000 square metres, 6 Marsh Green Road North, in Exeter’s extensive retail and industrial park, was to comprise the business in its entirety. With all needs of the business in mind, this cavernous space was architecturally divided into offices from which Touch Design Group would be run, including drawing studios in which products would be designed; there would be a spacious consultation and samples room, through which the company could present a variety of concepts and advanced materials to the client; and the ‘hangar’ would be split-level to allow for a viewing gallery of the massive workshop where Touch’s team of carpentry and joinery experts can be seen making to order the highly refined and innovative bespoke kitchens, furniture, dressing rooms, media rooms, door sets and staircases for which the company is known.

It was an ambitious move acquiring such a site, a wide departure from many more conventional interiors operations, but 6 Marsh Green Road North has been cleverly designed – the immense frontage fully glazed across both floors, with the showroom immediately on entering, the workshop sitting behind it and the offices, consultation room, and viewing gallery on the floor above. Touch Design Group employs 32 people split into two core divisions: Touch Kitchen and Touch House.

“What we wanted to do,” explains David, “was to show the ‘story’ of the business. As you come in, you can appreciate the finished article in the showroom, then you come up through the drawing office to see how it’s drawn, then look down through the windows on the workshop to see how it’s made. As a result, you get sight of the end-to-end process at every stage.”

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The showroom is really to show the possibilities; that what we can do doesn’t need to relate to anything the client has seen before.

The showroom was always to be the final stage in the site’s development. Mission complete: the Touch Design Group showroom opens on 17 October 2017.

A showroom, you may suggest, is interesting for a company known for its bespoke creations. But everyone needs a reference point, and Ed and David, the business’s founding partners, and Richard Swift, responsible for Touch Design Group’s kitchens, have curated the space to show a wide spectrum of what this company is capable of.

“You’re not coming in and seeing white or grey kitchens,” explains Richard. “Here, there is an eclectic range of forms and materials, because we offer a breadth of finish and design capabilities, which I believe are quite refreshing, and pretty unique. We can take the classic white sleek kitchen and give it a bespoke contemporary treatment that you won’t find anywhere else.”

In the Touch showroom, you won’t find a clean, white designer kitchen in its entirety. Here, you will find a kitchen ‘composite’ made up of different approaches and materials, such that you can compare and contrast how they look and feel within the same context.

Richard adds, “I wouldn’t expect a client to come in and say, ‘I want that’, because there are around 25 materials used within that one ensemble. We’ve been relatively bold with it, but it all hangs together.”

David adds, “The showroom is really to show the possibilities; that what we can do doesn’t need to relate to anything the client has seen before. A samples library works well for architects and interior designers, but for a client it can sometimes be quite hard to visualize – they need to see those materials applied. Plus, it allows us to show the attention to detail we like to give to each individual project.”

Of the 3,000 square metres, the showroom extends to approximately 120 square metres of space, with the lion’s share of the site still given over to the makers. Touch Design Group is regularly involved in big projects; as well as kitchens, there are whole-house briefs for expensive homes. Much work to date has come from

London (where both Ed and David first started out) and many are jobs from high spenders, occasional VIPs. The aim of the showroom, then, was to bring the company’s expertise closer to South West residents as yet unfamiliar with what Touch offers.

David ponders Touch’s point of difference: “To be honest, I don’t think there is anywhere else in the country, not just county, like it – where you can see the product, how it’s designed and drawn, how it’s made, and look at the range of materials from across the world that you could use. I believe what we’re doing is unique. There is a growing design awareness in general, and certainly in the South West. Plus, we find that the added end-to-end view of their product provides not just reassurance, but interest for the client.”

Based in Marsh Barton rather than the town centre, the Touch Design Group team isn’t expecting a great deal of passing traffic, so initially the showroom will be open Tuesdays through Fridays, from 10am to 3pm, and by appointment at any other time.

Richard explains: “Obviously, we’ll see how it goes, but our line of work is pretty specialist and this showroom requires an expert to be in attendance at all times to explain the kitchen elements, plus the additional wide range of variations. It’s me who really has all that knowledge, garnered through years in the business and my time travelling the world to source the latest materials and techniques.” Richard clearly won’t be in the showroom all week. Due to the depth of consultation required, it therefore makes sense to have the showroom open by appointment only, for part of the week.

During general opening times, interested parties can visit to see Touch Design Group’s scope of work, and also, should they wish, buy product off the shelf. The Touch showroom will be selling lighting from Amos Lighting, furniture from twentytwentyone, and stone and ceramic flooring from Lapicida, all of which are suppliers in keeping with Touch’s own style and level of design.

David adds: “It makes sense to make the showroom as complete as possible with lighting, furniture, flooring and accessories. The more ambitious projects are generally what we focus on and are obviously our primary objective, but the relationship often starts with a smaller token purchase.”

Certainly, you value things far more when you see the stages of their development, particularly when an acute attention to detail has gone into making them. This applies all the more when the end product or kitchen is unlike anything seen elsewhere, using materials so advanced no one else in the UK is yet using them.

It is this that Touch Design Group delivers, precisely to the client’s bespoke requirements. It’s what – along with its ‘complete story’ showroom experience – makes 6 Marsh Green Road North well worth a visit. touchdesigngroup.com

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Visions of velvet Velvet has been on catwalks for many seasons but now the interiors world is catching on. Injecting an exotic richness, velvet upholstery makes a statement.

Rich, jewel tones such as emerald, ruby and amethyst will instantly revamp your living space. Adorn with metals, especially copper and brass, to create a modern and luxurious welcome. Compiled by Amy Tidy.

John Lewis HAY hourglass, Amara, £25

Pols Potten chair, Amara, £315

Luxe deco tray, Marks and Spencer, £39.50

Tivoli sofa, Swoon, £1,069

Chair, Oliver Bonas, £425 Metallic wall art, Dunelm, £50

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Warsaw table lamp, NOXU Home, £127

Cushion, Marks and Spencer, £25

space

Copper and bronze, Nedgis, £202

Clock, Marks and Spencer,£89

Pols Potten vase, Amara, £96

AYTM circum round mirror, Amara, £155

Next

Cushion, Oliver Bonas, £30

Sofa, made.com, £799

Wine rack, Oliver Bonas, £35 Wine glasses (set of 4), Oliver Bonas, £32

Footstool, Next, £199

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COMING SOON…

Opulent, exclusive and elegant, these first-rate residences are unmatched in the area Set in the heart of Exeter’s picturesque Cathedral Green, this prestigious development of just seven luxury apartments occupies an unrivalled position overlooking the Cathedral – the jewel in Exeter’s crown.

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www.burringtonestates.com

Escape A culinary tour of Chicago | Paschoe House, Bow, Devon | Test driving the new Audi Q5

PHOTO: CHOOSE CHICAGO

Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain in Chicago. See page 128.

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PHOTO: A ALEXANDER

Amish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate (known as ‘The Bean’)

There’s so much more to Chicago’s food scene than hot dogs and deep-dish pizza, as Belinda Dillon found out on a recent culinary adventure.

H

ammered by jet lag, I’m up well before dawn. Since my usual morning run is beside the River Exe, I could simply supersize that experience and take myself down to the Chicago River and then out to the shore of Lake Michigan, but it’s my first morning in an unfamiliar city so I play it safe and head to the hotel’s third floor terrace garden, which has a running track circumnavigating the entire outside of the building.

As I run, the downtown cityscape wakes around me, and each circuit sees the sun emerge out of the lake, peeping through the skyscrapers, until I round a corner and rays like laser beams suddenly light up the gold leaf decoration on top of the Art Deco Carbide & Carbon Building on Michigan Avenue, two streets away. Built 128

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in 1929 by the Burnham Brothers, its black granite and green terra cotta exterior was allegedly meant to resemble a Champagne bottle, the gold leaf of the tower representing the foil and a cascade of liquid ‘pouring’ down the sides. It’s a jaw-dropping moment. Oh Chicago, you really know how to put on a show…

That my hotel, the Radisson Blu Aqua (visioned by Jeanne Gang, its exterior all organic curves and flowing lines, it’s still the tallest building in the world designed by a woman) has its own track, and is mere steps from the city’s runner-friendly waterways, is just as well – I need to keep moving to counteract all the calories I ingest over my five-day immersion in Chicago’s vibrant food scene.

Think the Windy City is all about deep-dish pizza and hot dogs? Think again: home to 26 restaurants boasting

escape

PHOTO: CLAYTON HAUCK

Lost Lake Tiki Bar

PHOTO:DEREK RICHMOND

Publican Anker’s roasted half chicken

Michelin stars, neighbourhood eateries celebrating the city’s multi-ethnic heritage, and a plethora of chef-driven startups brimming with innovation and creativity, Chicago is justifiably being hailed as the culinary capital of the US. Central to my stay is Chicago Gourmet, the annual two-day food festival that fills the Great Lawn of Millennium Park with tasting pavilions, food demonstrations, and wine and cocktail seminars. I’d like to say I paced myself, but with so many titbits to sample I managed to eat my own body weight in under an hour (I think I did at least three circuits of the BBQ, Beer & Bourbon tent, ostensibly to get out of the sun, but who am I kidding?). The festival was ten this year, and to celebrate hosted ten additional events around the city, including the Hamburger Hop, which saw burgermeisters going head to head with their creations, and a ‘haute’ dog cook-off in the shadow of Wrigley Field ball park, home to the 2016 World Series champions the Chicago Cubs, at which city chefs brought their own twist to the classic hot dog

(my favourite of the night, by Ryan McCasky from the two-Michelin starred Acadia, saw the dog slathered in lobster). Insider tip: never ask for ketchup on your hot dog in Chicago; you’ll be booted out of the joint faster than it took Al Capone to file his tax returns.

But burgers and dogs are only part of the story. Head out into the neighbourhoods (there are 77 of them, each with their own personality and flavour, not least in terms of culinary invention) to get a taste of what’s making Chicago the foodie destination. First off, we hit the West Loop, which is a bit like New York’s meat-packing district, and now a very fancy postcode, thanks largely to all the superb restaurants that popped up to make the most of the post-industrial spaces. There are outdoor terraces strung with lights, packed with diners enjoying the unseasonably warm autumn weather (temperatures didn’t dip below 90°C my whole stay). We head for Smyth/The Loyalist, a dual-concept restaurant opened in August 2016 by husband and wife team John Shields and Karen Urie Shields. Downstairs, The Loyalist is casual, with a mix of booths, tables and stools at the bar, serving easy-going, rustic fare with flair – we enjoyed succulent oysters languishing in a super-hot chilli dressing, heirloom tomato salad with goat’s cheese, served with fermented black sourdough rubbed with black garlic, and a stand-out dish of sea trout, which was buttery perfection under a crisp skin; a pear crostata had perfect pastry and a cinnamony overture, ice cream was drizzled with a deliciously dark and brooding pinot noir reduction. Upstairs, Smyth offers fine dining without the pretension (and garnered a Michelin star in its first year of business) amid cool, open-plan, Scandi-style décor, all industrial chic with bare pipes and beams, brushed concrete floor and a record deck spinning vinyl.

Also in the West Loop is The Chicago French Market, a covered food hall packed with more than 30 local artisans and producers, many independent. We hit it at lunchtime in the company of Steve Dolinksy, a food writer and presenter of The Hungry Hound on Chicago’s ABC 7 news channel – he’s been reporting on the city’s culinary scene for years, so is the perfect person to show us where the locals go. Clearly, many of them are here: grabbing lunch to take back to the office or eat in, or picking up provisions for dinner.

We sample delicious tuna poké from Aloha, a succulent chicken curry from Saigon Sisters, fat slabs of pastrami from Fumare Meats, and super-smoked bone-in chicken from Wood Fire Counter, whose chef-proprietor Kevin Whittier starting smoking meats as a hobby (he’s an architect by training) and has now turned it into a vocation. His team has been at the market since January, growing their customer base before setting their sights on bricks and mortar in the coming year. I completely fell for his chicken, which came with standout mac ‘n’ cheese and delicious roasted sprouts jazzed up with Parmesan, black pepper and truffle oil.

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Cellar Door Provisions

PHOTO: CAROLYN SYKES

Chicago Gourmet in Millennium Park

Pastries from Fat Rice

Tea at The Ladies’ Room

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Steve guides us next to Logan Square, the hottest foodie destination after the West Loop, to show us the vibrant, innovative and creative food and drink artisans who are putting this neighbourhood on the map. The businesses here really care and support each other, and cheap rents – you’ll still see vacant lots, closed-up stores here – means that it’s a great place for start-ups and local joints. Our first stop is Fat Rice, which is a three-part treat: a small bakery, where they produce all kind of Macau-inspired sweet-eats, a restaurant space and the Ladies’ Room, a red-suffused parlour that’s like slipping into an opium den, where we have a ‘boozy high tea’. Alongside gorgeous little pastry treats, including Portuguese egg tarts, little sesame seed-covered mochi cakes plump with peanut butter and miso chocolate brownies, we sample a hot tea cocktail served in dainty glass cups, containing oolong as well as a Romanian plum brandy originally smuggled in by the janitor, but now legitimately acquired. It steams in the cups, and seems to get stronger the longer I leave it. The afternoon suddenly takes on a rather hazy glow…

A short shuffle up the road is Cellar Door Provisions, a compact coffee shop-cum-bistro that serves farm-totable American fare. Presenting a bare pine aesthetic and open kitchen, it’s buzzy and friendly, with brunches, lunches and tea drawing a local crowd. They make amazing pastries (definitely try the cannele, custard caramelized in a copper mould brushed with beeswax and clarified butter, to die for), and the custardy quiche – simply dressed with pea shoots, it arrives on a white plate and literally trembles before us. To be honest, I’d be content with just the bread and butter, all made in house, and spectacular. But head over on a Friday and Saturday night for the prie fixe set dinner: three to five course for a staggeringly good $40-$50 price tag, and it’s BYOB… And because we clearly aren’t full, we stagger across the road to Lost Lake, a kitsch and cute tiki bar run by Paul McGee (who also oversees the cocktail and spirits program at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel).

The glassware and vessels are as quirky as the decor, but don’t think they don’t take their craft seriously: these are seriously good cocktails made with precision and flair (favourite: Heaven is a Place, with London Dry Gin, lime, Curaçao, Falernum, honey, allspice, Angostura bitters), and they also do great chicken wings – deliciously sticky – and plump dumplings to help with the soaking up process.

And Chicagoans do take their booze seriously (this is the home of the microbrewery, after all), not least the Chicago Distilling Company, run by the DiPrizio family, who make gin, vodka, single malt whiskeys and a bourbon called Blind Tiger, which refers to the symbol a proprietor would display in their window during Prohibition to indicate they were serving, all from a site on Milwaukee Ave in Logan Square. A warehouse space with the still and bottling in back – it’s all family and friends’ hands on deck when it’s bottling time – and

escape a large bar that acts as a tasting room. They make their own ginger beer and tonic, as well as canned cocktails (including G&T and Chicago Mule). You can take a tour, enjoy tasting the product, even make cocktails – or just go along. The tasting room is open from 5pm, Thursday through Saturday.

My last dining experience of the trip is to Publican Anker, in bohemian Wicker Park, at the corner of Damen and Milwaukee, which is a hot spot for bars and eateries. Sister establishment to city favourite Paul Kahan’s Publican, which serves oysters, beer and pork, Publican Anker plays homage to 19th century saloons, is laid-back and casual, but is impressive on the palate. A half roast chicken is drool-inducingly juicy inside crispy skin, and is served with thinly sliced potatoes and endive; the pork shoulder is melt-in-the-mouth. I can’t believe I manage to fit it in, but the warm, sticky banoffee pudding is worth leaving room for: flecked with banana, it comes with a butterscotch sauce that all but makes me slide off my chair with pleasure. And rather than beer, it’s all about the wine list here, served by fabulously handsome staff who really know their grapes.

More than 54 million people visited Chicago last year, putting it third after New York and Orlando, so it’s hardly a big secret, but the majority of its visitors are from the US – make it your mission to change that. It’s got fantastic arts and culture, stunning architecture – Chicago is the home of the skyscraper – a food scene to bust your belt, and a welcoming, friendly demeanour; this is the Midwest, after all. In fact, it’s as good as New York, but without the attitude. Choose Chicago instead.

it is underground. Ride the Loop – the part downtown that you see above the street. Just because.

The 606 is a disused train track given over the nature. Run it, cycle it, walk it (it’s only 2.7 miles, end to end), it’s a great way to get a different angle on some cool neighbourhoods, and to wrap your peepers around some enviable residences and their roof terraces.

There are two iconic paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago: Grant Wood’s American Gothic, and Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks.

You can walk the Frank Gehry-designed bridge through Millennium Park, which deposits you at the gallery, and then head down to the East Monroe Street entrance, which is never as busy as the main entrance on Michigan Avenue.

• •

• • •

Belinda travelled to Chicago courtesy of Choose Chicago. choosechicago.com Chicago Gourmet is back again next year in Millennium Park, 28-30 September 2018. A weekend pass for the 2017 event was $275. chicagogourmet.org Rooms at the Radisson Blu Aqua start at $199 per night. radissonblu.com United Airlines has daily flights between London Heathrow and O’Hare International, with prices starting at $685. united.com Belinda was fed and watered by: smythandtheloyalist.com; alohapokeco.com; saigonsisters.com; fumaremeats.com; oo firecou ter.co eat atrice.co cellar oorpro isio s.co lostlaketiki.com; chicagodistilling.com; publicananker.com

I ALSO LOVED… Millennium Park is a green oasis smack in the heart of downtown.

Enjoy the Jaume Plensa fountains, two glass bock towers showing faces of 1,000 ordinary Chicagoans of every ethnicity, aged eight to 87, in five-minute cycles, who then spit water like video gargoyles.

There’s also Amish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate; stand inside to see yourself in multiples. Take a Chicago Greeter tour – a free service that matches visitors with city-wise volunteers for two to four-hour guided walks.

While there are great views from John Hancock Building and Willis Tower (still called the Sears Tower by, well, everyone), instead head for Cindy’s rooftop bar at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. For a more refined experience, have a cocktail in the Milk Room. All dark corners and low lighting, one can imagine this was where Chicagoan businessmen of old took their mistresses when they were ‘working late’ in the city… Don’t forget to check out the swoon-worthy lobby.

The architecture river tour with Shoreline Sightseeing gives you a different perspective on the city’s many iconic buildings, and a potted history of Chicago’s growth. And the guides are hilarious.

The L – instantly recognisable from movies, from The Blues Brothers to High Fidelity, it’s the city’s transport system. It’s clunky and rickety – and it’s called the L (for ‘elevated’) even though a lot of

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Hip and hot off the press Anna Turns checks into Paschoe House and gives her verdict on Devon’s newest hotel opening.

Photos by Neil Gratton Photography.

H

ats off to Paschoe House. Transformed from a totally derelict country home into unique boutique accommodation, with a fresh take on fine dining, it’s now ready to give the West Country’s Michelin stars a run for its money. With just ten bedrooms, it’s small but certainly packs a punch. On arrival, after winding through the midDevon lanes near Crediton, a mile-long driveway leads up to the manor house. Architecturally, it’s nothing hugely spectacular, but inside, every wall, fitting and furnishing has been beautifully finished with rich, textured wallpapers, bespoke chandeliers and luxurious fabrics.

Perhaps most striking of all is the taxidermy collection: a barn owl with wings outstretched, red deer gazing down the corridor, a plush fox curled up by the fire in the morning room. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but tucked away deep in the countryside surrounded by 132

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ancient oak trees dating back to the Domesday Book, these woodland creatures seem fitting. Many pieces have been made especially for Paschoe, including the more exotic one overlooking the bar: “This ostrich is pretty wild,” explains Tabitha Amador-Christie, who commissioned Get Stuffed in London to make it. “Some pieces are from antique stores, others have been in the family for years – that’s how my mum first decorated this place, so I felt they needed to go back up where they were first displayed. I know some people feel weird about taxidermy, but I think that because most of these animals were killed up to 100 years ago for sport, meat or as a trophy, it makes sense that they’re not wasted now. They’re on the walls, they’re proud and they’re being appreciated by me and hopefully lots of other people.”

Tabitha has made her vision a reality – “there has definitely been blood, sweat and plenty of tears” – and

escape every detail is just how she planned it. “This hotel needed to be traditional but also fresh, new and funky.

In London, I had experienced some unusual places and I wanted to bring some of that funk down to Devon.” For example, she commissioned a Scottish company called Clockhouse Furniture to make a huge antler chandelier, the centrepiece in the hallway: “It didn’t fit through the front door and we had to put a scaffold up to install it, but it was a real magic moment when it finally went up.”

Paschoe hasn’t always been destined for greatness.

Tabitha’s family bought this “faded farmhouse” in 2000, and when renovations were in full swing and the house was gutted and without running water, the credit crisis hit, so money for the renovations ran out. From 2010 until now, it stood empty, but Tabitha always loved it for its quirky potential.

This hotel has been in the making since 2008, when Tabitha was just 18 years old and studying for her degree in English Literature at Oxford Brookes. Ideas whirred around in her head, rudimentary cash-flow spreadsheets evolved, event flyers for New Year’s Eve Balls were scribbled on scraps of paper, and she’s always been on the lookout for design features that would suit the building, hoping that one day she could bring Paschoe back to glory. After university, Tabitha worked on reception at The Berkeley in London, where she got her first real taste of five-star luxury, then she was employed by a high net-worth family. But Paschoe was always on her mind.

Finally, she managed to persuade her father to give her a chance and let her apply for planning permission two years ago. “I knew this amazing pile of stones could be transformed into a fabulous events venue, hotel and restaurant. But Mother Nature was taking over – seeds were growing in the mortar and walls were crumbling, the grounds had gone haywire with waist-high weeds and thistles. Every time I visited, I felt so sad and knew I had to do something with it. So once I applied for planning, I moved back to Devon in October 2015, and luckily planning came through in June 2016.”

And so, having never renovated anything like this before, she hit the ground running. “I had to arm myself with a really good team of people, and we found investment through Folk 2 Folk, a wonderful peer-topeer lending company based in Crediton.” Like all refurb projects, this one went over budget, perhaps because if something wasn’t finished to absolute perfection, Tabitha would insist on doing it again: “It had to be perfect,” she says, “and now we have this amazing product that we can only keep making more amazing.”

Paschoe’s 25 acres includes a tennis court, woodland, farmland, an orchard her family planted, a carefully restored Victorian walled garden and games lawn. Inside, Tabitha was in charge of interior design: “It all happened so naturally, and the design was the best part of the whole project. We chose the best, so all our paints are Farrow & Ball, wallpapers are Morris & Co., Sanderson

or Designer’s Guild, and bedding is luxury goose down on mattresses made bespoke for us by Okehamptonbased Enchanted Beds, plus four rooms have Smarthome systems with electric curtains.” It’s not all about shiny new luxury, though – Tabitha scoured auction houses to find stunning antique wooden bedsteads and accessories, and fireplaces date back to the 13th century. And in ‘Hedgehog’ (every room is named after a woodland creature, of course), she’s colour-matched the Card Room Green wall paint to a patch from when it was servants’ quarters. “Under these floorboards, we found a cigarette tin with love notes from the previous owner to a servant dating back to the 1940s.”

While bedrooms are relatively classic and serene, there’s more of a modern twist in the bathrooms: “Five bathrooms have roll-top freestanding baths, and we’ve used huge, bold floral or geometric patterns and bright Fired Earth tiles.”

Tabitha has worked hard with head chef Alex Gibbs to finesse the menu, and it shows. She believes her new chef will play a vital role in the hotel’s success: “Alex has an excellent reputation,” says Tabitha. “I’m excited about his creativity in the kitchen and can’t wait to see what delights he and his team produce from our brand-new kitchen.” Alex, who previously worked as Executive Head Chef at The Royal Clarence in Exeter until the hotel and restaurant burned down last October, is excited to be part of Tabitha’s vision for Paschoe House from the very beginning. “My first glimpse of the house took my breath away,” says Alex, who is Devon born and bred. “Now, we’re busy planting up our kitchen garden, and there are lots of ideas flowing for our menus, which will change weekly, if not daily. We will let the quality ingredients and beautiful local produce do the talking!”

Just a couple of weeks after it’s official launch, as Paschoe opens its doors to the public for the first time in its 800-year history, the hotel is in full swing and booking for shooting parties, private hire and romantic gourmet escapes are flying in. Plus, of course, dogs and their owners can stop by for afternoon tea as they walk through on the Two Moors Way, which cuts through the grounds.

When a boutique hotel opening is preceded by endless fanfare, hype and promotion, expectations can swiftly be deflated by the smell of paint, unfinished touches and sloppy service. Here, finishing touches took longer than planned to get just right, so the hotel didn’t open in time for peak summer season.

And, it turns out, Paschoe House’s delayed opening in September has paid off. First impressions really do count for everything and as a seasoned hotel critic, I’m normally quite hard to please!

Double rooms start from £220 per night, including breakfast for two.

Paschoe House, Bow, Crediton, Devon EX17 6JT, 01363 84244. paschoehouse.co.uk

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Imogen Clements fires up the Audi Quattro Q5 and puts it through its rural – and city – paces.

“O

nly a small scratch, John,” I said to John Fairman, Head of Business at Exeter Audi, as I handed him back the keys to the rather smart, white Audi Quattro Q5 he’d lent me for the day.

Startled momentarily, he realised quickly that this was my childish attempt at humour. A small scratch or dent is not something you want to return a car of this calibre, indeed any car, to a dealer with. Fortunately, it’s pretty hard to dent this model of Audi, as it comes with ‘Drive Assist’ and ‘Park Assist’.

I didn’t, in the day I had full use of the Q5, put these to the test; as a life-long manual driver, the idea of putting a car on autopilot, whether parking or motorway cruising, is something that will take me some time to come around to, psychologically.

I did cover some ground, however. Today was the day of our editorial conference, and as MANOR South West’s journalists are dotted around the region, this invariably means crossing county borders into Cornwall to find a midway point for us all to congregate in. Our meeting place was to be the Duchy Nursery near Lostwithiel.

Prior to leaving Audi’s new flagship showroom in Exeter, I was shown the ropes by sales executive Jack Pascoe. Seated in the Q5, you’re higher up than you are in a standard car, which gives greater visibility and instils confidence. The controls are all straightforward, and it was clear this car was clearly designed to perform 134

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impeccably with minimal human interaction. It was an automatic with just three modes – drive, reverse, park – which meant that having pressed the button (note: button) to start the ignition, touched another to take the handbrake off, the gear stick required merely a gentle nudge for the car to spring into action, as if it had been waiting patiently for the command.

The steering is effortless, with a leather-upholstered ergonomic steering wheel that’s as stylish as the leather covering the seats. The wheel has discs at ten and two o’clock that allow you to switch to manual should you wish, for example, to make a nifty overtake.

The media interface became a fascination. A wide array of stations can be flicked between at the turn of a dial. Satnav on the dashboard immediately beyond the steering wheel meant you need never take your eye off the road to follow it; and the Audi Smartphone Interface allows you to use all the smartphone apps approved for in-car use from the controls on the centre console. You simply plug in the USB or install bluetooth and the approved apps appear on the dashboard, allowing access to your contact list, podcasts or for Siri to make any outbound calls you need to, hands free.

Audi engineering has taken on board every potential driving hazard. The car’s Pre-sense can initiate emergency braking if a collision looks imminent, for example, applying the brakes should you be cruising

escape the motorway and there’s unexpected gridlock ahead.

Human reflexes can be slow so, the Audi Q5 simply starts the brakes to warn you to take over in good time.

There are features that make this car particularly suited to the South West, with its city/rural driving requirements, not to mention the weather, bringing unexpected snow and ice on high-lying, ungritted rural roads. This car’s intelligence includes a continual assessment of its grip on the road, adjusting the power between all four wheels to where it’s needed most, so ensuring the very best traction.

There is, I’m sure, much more to this Audi than I can convey here, because my driving needs are basic, and what cars of this nature are capable of stretch well beyond my imagination.

But what is clear to drivers all along the auto expertise spectrum is that this is a family car that is probably one of the most advanced currently on the market. It is automotive engineering that ensures the most effortless but safest drive, while offering all the convenience of modern life’s requirements for communication and media.

What’s more, it looks good. Plus, you can build you own to your specific aesthetic tastes: there’s a wide array of standard and optional features to choose from, as well as every variety of colour, in body work or upholstery. The flagship Exeter Showroom is big enough to demonstrate every model of Audi available, and has simulation rooms where, using a digital tablet, a prospective owner can fully spec the car, inside and out, see how it looks at night or in a different environment

(urban, rural), turn it 360 degrees, open the doors and start the engine to see how it sounds.

Not all Audi showrooms have simulation rooms or the space of Exeter’s. Open since August 2017, the twostorey showroom is fully equipped – the offices upstairs allow for more cars on show on the ground floor, and there is roof-top parking for models sold or serviced.

After a day’s driving, I can confirm that the Audi Q5 Quattro is as pleasurable to drive on long, straight ‘onespeed’ roads as it is on winding rural lanes. After a long drive, I got back to the showroom relaxed, impressed and, thankfully, without a scratch. marshall.co.uk/audi

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UNDERGRADUATE OPEN DAYS 14 OCT / 4 NOV / 6 JAN POST-16 OPEN EVENINGS 23 NOV / 15 FEB / 11 APR

RENOVAT MOODY BA (HONS) 3D DESIGN CRAFTS

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

Lord Lieutenant selection for Daniel EXETER SCHOOL Lower Sixth Former Daniel Wilcock has been selected to be a Lord Lieutenant’s cadet.

The Lord Lieutenant of Devon is appointed by the Prime Minister and acts as a link between the monarchy and the county. Each year, a small number of cadets are selected to accompany the Lord Lieutenant on official duties.

Head of RAF Section Dr Simon Smale said Daniel received the nomination for showing outstanding commitment to the RAF section of the CCF. Daniel said the appointment came as a complete, yet exciting, surprise and he was really looking forward to carrying out his various duties in the coming year with pride.

A cut above effort for charity

A cultural visit from a school in Poland SHEBBEAR COLLEGE RECENTLY welcomed a group of 34 senior pupils and their teachers from a school in Wroclaw, Poland, who are on an educational trip to England. The group wanted to visit a British school to find out more about education in the UK. After being shown around the college by a group of willing 5th and 6th Formers, the pupils were joined by 30 Shebbear pupils who will be attending an educational enrichment trip to Krakow, Poland, in February 2018. The visit provided a very enjoyable cultural exchange for both schools.

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STREET LOCAL Nancy Bix, a Year 6 pupil at Millfield Prep School in Glastonbury, has donated 13 inches of her hair to the Little Princess Trust, a charity that gives real hair wigs to children who are suffering from hair loss from cancer treatment or other illnesses. Nancy has also raised £225 of her £515 target to fund the creation of a wig.

Nancy says: “I decided to cut my hair because I wanted to help children who have lost their hair, due to illness or medication. I wanted to help them feel happier and confident at school and out and about.”

To donate, please visit: justgiving.com/fundraising/nancyshaircut

Nancy had her hair cut at Deborah Louise salon in Street

school

South Devon Steiner School launches ground-breaking college and qualification A NEW EDUCATION college opened in September in Dartington, offering independent schooling for pupils aged 16-19, based on the Steiner curriculum and a new University-recognised Steiner qualification.

The South Devon Steiner College extends Steiner schooling from three to 19 at the South Devon Steiner School, and provides an alternative route to University education based on Steiner teaching and the new NZ Certificate of Steiner Education.

Kaycee Fordham, head of admissions, said: “The South Devon Steiner College carefully balances academic, artistic, and practical activities to stimulate the imagination and prepare students for life.”

The South Devon Steiner College has 80 places for students, with approximately 32 assisted places and 15 openings for international students across the age range. Thirteen teachers make up the college faculty, many with extensive Steiner teaching experience from across the world and advanced degrees including PhDs.

Jeremy and Jeremy at Kingsley

Exeter School takes to the water EXETER SCHOOL is delighted to announce an exciting development in its participation in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

Since September, pupils are now able to carry out their Gold Award expedition by sea kayak.

Duke of Edinburgh Manager Mark Schramm said sea kayaking would provide an alternative to the usual walking expeditions: “Sea kayaking is adventurous and the only way you can access some of the wild areas of the UK and reach places you cannot by foot. There will be no footpaths to follow so pupils will be camping wild on beaches.”

Exeter School is one of the largest direct licence centres in the South West, and there are currently 150 pupils signed up to participate in the Bronze, Silver and Gold schemes. In the last year, 44 awards were made – 24 Bronze, 14 Silver and 6 Gold.

Jeremy Paxman, Kingsley head Pete Last and Jeremy Vine

KINGSLEY SCHOOL RECENTLY played host and sponsor to the headline author event of the Appledore Book Festival, the charity founded by Nick Arnold, author of Horrible Science, in 2006. On the evening of 30 September, Kingsley School opened its doors to many, to host a VIP drinks reception, which was then followed by broadcaster Jeremy Vine questioning journalist and author Jeremy Paxman on his latest book, Life in Questions, which took place in Kingsley School’s theatre. The theatre was filled and the evening enjoyed by all. appledorebookfestival.co.uk

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THE ART GALLERY As this is The Arts Issue of MANOR, we decided to showcase selected artworks from pupils of various ages from schools throughout the region.

Some of the best art we produce as children, before life, work and inhibitions get in the way. This MANOR School gallery reminds us of the quality of art being created by the younger generation, who are yet to decide their career path. We are only able to publish a selection, but all that follows we’re sure you’ll find astonishing in its variety, perspective and attention to detail.

Exeter School

Exeter School Alumni Art Competition Winner Medium: Pastels and ink Artist: Daisy Smith, Year 11 (15) Art Teacher: Mrs Escott Mrs Escott chose the piece as it has an exaggerated perspective and demonstrates effective use of materials.

The incorporation of surface rubbings makes it a very original response.

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THE MANOR SCHOOL ART GALLERY

Blundell’s

Sealife Medium: Plaster, resin, aluminium and Modroc.

Artist: Jack Williams, Year 11 (15) Teacher: Gil Armstrong Williams (Director of Art) “A confident use of a wide variety of sculptural media. This GCSE coursework showed a natural affinity with manipulating materials and communicating form.”

Self portrait Medium: oil on canvas Artist: Tobias Francis, Year 13 (18) Art Teacher: Gil Armstrong Williams (Director of Art) “This painting was the successful conclusion to an in-depth, mature study of the use of technique in portraiture. The student drove himself to explore the intricacies of medium application, and use of light and composition, and has a very bright future in Fine Art.”

Beetroot Medium: Watercolour Artist: Jessica Gardner, Year 13 (17) Teacher: Gil Armstrong Williams (Director of Art) “Jess had grown significantly in her practice and confidence during A Level study, and under the pressure of an examination showed astonishing planning and took calculated risks with her media and scale of the pieces (A0). Sensitive use of watercolour and masking fluid with accomplished, natural ability evident.”

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THE MANOR SCHOOL ART GALLERY

Maynard

Islamic art Medium: Ceramic tiles Name of Artist: The entire Lower 4 (Year 8) year group in July 2017 Art Teacher: Zoe Vingoe (Head of Art & Design) Zoe Vingoe, Head of Art & Design: “This is a really great cross-curricular project combining Art & Design, Maths and ICT. The brief was to understand geometric design and the use of shapes to create their own Islamic Art. All the tiles have been finished with incredible attention to detail and immense intricacy, with some even including their names in Arabic. I think they are beautiful!”

Map in a Face Medium: Carbon pencils and white chalk Name of Artist: Lauren Wood, Upper Sixth Art Teacher: Zoe Vingoe (Head of Art & Design) “The quality of draughtsmanship as well as the imaginative use of the map’s contours and lines to breathe life into the face really do make this an excellent piece. It’s accurate, yet creative and I just love it!”

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THE MANOR SCHOOL ART GALLERY

Millfield These two images were selected as they were two of the ‘Picture of the Week’ winners during the previous school year, selected by the Millfield Prep Art Department.

The fruitbowl Medium: Painted in acrylic Artist: Kizzi Reed, Year 6 (11) Art teacher: Peter Maxwell

The eye Medium: Photograph of a painted hand Artist: Charlotte Taylor, Year 8 (13) Art teacher: Peter Maxwell

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THE MANOR SCHOOL ART GALLERY

Mount Kelly Grandad’s shadow Medium: Acrylic on wood, ready-made chair Name of Artist: Madeline Knight, Year 11 (15) Art Teacher: Miss Gemma Spooner (Head of the Creative Arts and Technology Faculty) “Portraiture can develop technical skills; by adding symbolic imagery and objects in the form of assemblage, pupils are able to tell a story and provide a narrative on their memories and experiences. Madeleine does this beautifully.”

Trapped Medium: Paper and acrylic on mirror Artist: Lottie Luckham-Down, Year 13 (18) Art Teacher: Mrs Netty Holwill (Art and Photography teacher) “Making interactive work can provoke questions about how both pupils and their viewers respond to their subject. Asking pupils to consider how the audience can also view themselves in their work can encourage pupils to think more critically about the purpose, context and meaning of their outcomes.”

Identity Medium: Colour photographic print Artist: Emily Sorrell, Year 13 (18) Teacher: Miss Gemma Spooner (Head of the Creative Arts and Technology Faculty) “Photographers who inspire artists and artists who inspire photographers… encouraging pupils to appreciate all disciplines is crucial in widening their knowledge and creativity, and Emily demonstrates this with her stunning, Hirst-style composition.”

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THE MANOR SCHOOL ART GALLERY

Plymouth College

Medium: Acrylic on board Name of Artist: Lilith Li (age 18) Art Teacher: Emma Wright Response to natural beauty in the urban environment

Medium: Acrylic, collage, ink on canvas Name of Artist: Olivia Grzelinski Art Teacher: Emma Wright Response to exam question boxes; exploring the theme of Pandora’s Box

“Both works were chosen as great examples of the fine art produced at Plymouth College. Diverse and well thought out responses. Students are encouraged to push themselves and their ideas on an individual basis and both candidates show this in their vibrant and accomplished work.”

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THE MANOR SCHOOL ART GALLERY

Trinity Suspend Medium: Photograph Name of Artist: Esther Li, Year 13 (17) Art Teacher: Patrick Cairns “This work was selected because Esther has displayed, throughout the two-year course, a genuine passion and engagement for the subject and her work. She has incorporated her two great loves, Dance and Art – when she is the most ‘alive’. It should be noted that she achieved an A* in Fine Art at A level and a Distinction* at BTEC specialising in Ceramics and Textiles components. All of this was achieved with no prior formal Art instruction.”

Stover

Medium: Pencil Name of Artist: Romilly Penman, aged 14, Art Scholar

Medium: Photography Name of Artist: Toby Finn, aged 14, Art Scholar

“Every child brings his or her unique style and creativity to the art department at Stover. We underpin their originality with a strong skills base, alongside observations and a passion for investigating the world through the visual arts and crafts. We use our inspirational environment and regularly support their studies with visits from the incredible group of internationally successful local artists and field trips to their studios and galleries as well as further afield. This encourages a strong cooperative learning approach and has led to group exhibitions involving community and schools across Devon, the next one being in March: Young Art Devon at Torre Abbey. We encourage all pupils to think creatively using Research Based Learning to discover their potential and enable them to produce exciting outcomes that ‘stand out from the crowd’.” To see more from Stover Art Department, visit our Instagram feed: @stoverart. For further information you can contact the Art Department directly at cwhightman@stover.co.uk

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school THE MANOR SCHOOL ART GALLERY

Truro High School Cyanotype Medium: Full-body cyanotype Name of Artist: Alice Chuter, Year 13 (17) Art Teacher: Mrs Judith Tutin (Head of Creative and Performing Arts) “This piece really stands out for its impressive scale and risk taking, as well as its evocative pose with lots of energy.”

Samurai Dress Medium: Textiles Name of Artist: Jasmine Dickson, Year 13 (17) Art Teacher: Mrs Judith Tutin (Head of Creative and Performing Arts)

Embroidered bowl

“This piece has a wonderful use of sculptural details, creating strong shadows. I am also really impressed by its exploration of female empowerment.”

Medium: Textiles Name of Artist: Sophie Collins, Year 12 (16) Art Teacher: Mrs Judith Tutin (Head of Creative and Performing Arts) “This piece has a fantastic sculptural approach and references to literature.”

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Prime Waterfront & Country House

S O U T H H A MS’ L EAD I NG ESTATE AG E NT

Guide price

Exquisite 17th century manor house – Kingsbridge Kingsbridge about 1.7 miles, Dartmouth about 10 miles, Bantham Beach 7 miles

hotel 5 + 3 Bedrooms bathtub 5 Bathrooms furniture 4 Reception Rooms

£2,995,000

Stunning 17th century house in a wonderful countryside location with 10 acres of garden and grounds, range of period outbuildings with planning permission for conversion and 22 acres of pasture land. Available as a whole or in 3 Lots. No EPC required. JSA Savills.

Web Ref: KIN050401

Prime Waterfront & Country House department: 01548 855590

DARTMOUTH 01803 839190

KINGSBRIDGE 01548 857588

MILLBROOK 01752 829000

MODBURY 01548 831163

NEWTON FERRERS 01752 873311

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Kingsbridge office: 01548 857588

SALCOMBE 01548 844473

TOTNES 01803 847979

PRIME WATERFRONT & COUNTRY HOUSE 01548 855590

Property The Bulletin | Property of note: Hart House, Topsham Snapshot comparative

Contemporary annex of Westhill Villa, Totnes Guide price: ÂŁ895,000. See page 161 marchandpetit.co.uk

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Prime Waterfront & Country House

S O U T H H A M S’ L EAD I N G ESTATE AG EN T

Guide price

Contemporary property with sea views – Thurlestone

£2,000,000

This individually designed contemporary property currently has an excellent holiday letting income and offers light and spacious accommodation in a quiet and peaceful location overlooking the golf course to the sea, with a sunny south facing garden, garage and parking. EPC Rating C.

Kingsbridge 5 miles, Salcombe 6 miles, Totnes 16 miles

hotel 6 Bedrooms bathtub 5 Bathrooms furniture 4 Reception Rooms Web Ref: KIN140092

Prime Waterfront & Country House department: 01548 855590

DARTMOUTH 01803 839190

KINGSBRIDGE 01548 857588

MILLBROOK 01752 829000

MODBURY 01548 831163

NEWTON FERRERS 01752 873311

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Kingsbridge office: 01548 857588

SALCOMBE 01548 844473

TOTNES 01803 847979

PRIME WATERFRONT & COUNTRY HOUSE 01548 855590

property

The Bulletin Imogen Clements sifts through the data to see what’s possibly in store for the South West property market – and shines a light on Exeter’s potential to become another ‘Little London’.

T

here are some who associate statistics with lies, and damned lies at that, but I find them fascinating, particularly when they’re founded on logic – such as, current trends in growth as an indicator of future trends, tempered of course with economic, political and social influences.

There are a number of key statistics that I believe to be of relevance to the South West property market. Firstly, net migration from London of working professionals continues apace. In 2016, net migration from London was at 93,000, an increase of 80% on 2012. This is driven in the main by 30-somethings looking to bring their children up in bigger, more affordable homes. The net migration of this group has increased 27% over the five-year period, with the average house price in the regions they are moving to at around half the price of where they are moving from. Affordability and children are the main drivers when you consider that the average London property price is apparently 13 times the average London salary.

Many of these young, working professionals, particularly those from the wealthier boroughs, are choosing further-flung locations, and a recent Savills report terms Bristol and Bath as ‘Little Londons’, as an influx of ex-Londoners look to exploit a property price gap while maintaining a similar quality of life.

Enter the new contender on the block: Exeter. The city’s economy is booming, with an Oxford Economics report expecting the city to notch 24% economic growth over the next ten years.

The city is ranked by Irwin Mitchell as the fourthhighest employer in the UK, surpassed only by Milton Keynes, York and Manchester in its rate of job creation.

With the imminent opening of IKEA, and planning approval recently given to a new giant distribution centre to the east of the city that will employ almost 2,000, Exeter’s employment rate is likely to further accelerate.

This in turn will boost Exeter’s housing market, and Oxford Economics predicts a 30% increase in house prices for the city over 10 years.

Exeter also boasts a highly regarded university as a key draw. The red-brick institution is ranked as 14th in the country and currently accommodates 22,000 students, up 24% in the last five years. Concern has been expressed in some quarters at the rise of student accommodation in the city, and in response, the council has begun to restrict the number of large rental houses in certain zones to ensure they don’t become student ghettoes, dead outside of term time.

What does all this mean? It means, or should I say implies, that Exeter is looking to be a ray of sunshine through the dark cloud of economic uncertainty that currently hangs over us. This is further brightened by increased inward investment in the region’s transport infrastructure, namely the A303, and demonstrated by continued good business for the region’s airport, Exeter, which has notched up its fourth successive year of growth.

Will Exeter become another Little London, like Bath and Bristol? Certainly it seems we’re finally seeing the beginnings of a geographic redistribution of wealth away from the capital. It would certainly be nice if, like other European countries, not everything were centred on one city, allowing others to also grow and thrive into their own entities with much to attract migrating Londoners.

What is fundamental is that Exeter provide everything that thriving cities and other capital-contenders across the Continent offer to ensure there is something for everyone. By which I mean culture – the arts, galleries and performance venues – as well as the leisure centres and food halls. If not, there’s a danger that the city will have only partial appeal, that artists and performers will bypass it, many of Exeter’s university students will leave on graduation, and without a decent, wide array of cultural offerings, the city will risk resembling another provincial British town rather than a vibrant, attractive, and highly stimulating ‘Little London’ that’s very much of its own identity.

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Right in the heart of Topsham, Hart House has all the benefits of a townhouse with the typical rural advantages of plenty of light, views over rolling hills and easy access to the water’s edge.

Words by Imogen Clements.

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property of note

T

opsham, the genteel estuary town just a nudge outside Exeter, has for some time rated as one of the South West’s most desirable places to reside. Spared the cruel beating that its near neighbour took during in the war, it is a compact, pretty town populated by Dutch-style houses that date back to the 17th century, when Topsham was a busy cotton port.

Its charm is in both its lasting architecture and its proximity to the Exe estuary. The town is linear and runs in parallel to the estuary, meaning that pretty much wherever you are in Topsham, there is easy access on foot to the water and beautiful views.

Topsham’s offering is as aesthetically pleasing as its prize position, with a quaint, winding high street populated with independent shops and cafes, the awardwinning Dart’s Farm around the corner, and within a ten-minute drive, Exeter, with all the shops, restaurants and air and rail transport amenities that provides.

Topsham Station connects directly with Exeter St David’s, allowing easy, car-free access to the city and to high-speed connections to London.

All these factors mean that Topsham ranks high on prospective buyers’ shortlists, particularly for those looking for a house of decent size and rather special aspect.

Hart House is one such property. Commanding a central position in Topsham and Grade II listed, its frontage is classic Georgian with an elegant symmetry

and large latticed windows; inside, there are parts that date back to Elizabethan and Stuart eras. It is joined at one end to Cromer House, another impressive Georgian home. The edge-to-edge meeting of two such grand houses is typical of Topsham, where, over the years, it’s as if the town has been planned to be as compact as possible while losing none of its charm. This has obvious advantages – easy access to everything, plus the warmth of a close-knit community.

Hart House is far from compact on the inside, however. Extending over four floors, the rooms are a good size, many with original beams, and some of double or triple aspect. As such, the house looks over the town, the tranquil leafy churchyard directly behind, the river beyond and the hills beyond that. The internal space is such that when the current owners bought the property around 15 years ago, it was split into student accommodation serving Exeter Art College. When Mr and Mrs Shortis bought Hart House, they acquired planning permission to turn it back into a family home.

As you make your way up through the house, there are lovely views in every direction; it was clearly a house of artistic inspiration and remains so. “You’re in the centre of the town,” informs Lucy, the couple’s daughter, “but you don’t need to cross a road to get to the water’s edge.

The back of the house leads directly onto the churchyard through which you can reach the shore, where my father had a boat moored and would go out in it frequently.”

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property of note

The house looks over the town, the tranquil leafy churchyard directly behind, the river beyond and the hills beyond that.”

Often sizeable townhouses spread their space upwards rather than out. There are obvious advantages – light being the key one – and a drawing room or major lounging area that is set above street level feels more relaxed, above the bustle, and lighter and airier.

Hart House’s ground floor comprises the kitchen and dining room – the kitchen is large and impressive, with a huge inglenook fireplace neatly accommodating the double-fronted Aga. The windows are wide with deep seats, and their Georgian frames enhanced with timber panelling and shutters.

The dining room adjacent is large enough to accommodate a 12-seat dining table, although the

kitchen with the island is also more than big enough to fit a family table.

“The kitchen could probably do with modernizing,” admits Lucy, “the fittings haven’t been changed in years and are a little old fashioned. It’s a huge space with plenty of potential.”

The first floor comprises the spacious drawing room, which is bright and double aspect, overlooking the churchyard and the estuary beyond. On the other side of a spacious landing is the guest bedroom with fireplace and ensuite. A flight of stairs leads to the third floor, with the master bedroom along with a family room/study or bedroom from which you can access a balcony that looks out to the river and hills. “We’d often sit out there in the evenings to enjoy the view,” recalls Lucy.

Through this room you can reach the top floor, where there are another two bedrooms and a bathroom.

“The top floor is self-contained and could easily bring in an income, or perhaps make nanny or au pair quarters,” says Lucy. “It can be kept separate from the main house in that there is an interconnecting door on the third-floor landing that could be locked if required. There is a bathroom, so all it would require is a kitchenette.”

In the same way, the top floor makes a great hideout for teenagers looking to escape the rest of the family.

With no single room that’s small and pokey, and views on all sides, Hart House has all the benefits of a townhouse with typical rural advantages – light, views over rolling hills and easy access to the water’s edge, from which you can take a boat out daily – plus off-street parking should you require it. “I live in Topsham,” says Lucy. “We moved from London and often need to go back, yet I find I don’t need a car. We can get the train from Topsham to Exeter easily and connect there to fast trains to London. Topsham station is a ten-minute walk from the front door.”

This house came to the family as an artists’ residence and, thanks to its layout over several floors, it remains inspirational in that regard, permitting an imaginative use of the rooms that all give out wonderful views.

Lucy adds, “Topsham has a wonderful, young community, many of whom work in Exeter. This house would suit a family who are looking for a gentler, archetypal rural place to live with all the amenities of a well-equipped town. It would suit people who want to base themselves in a beautiful part of the world, close to the river front, without being cut off.”

Topsham has it all in that regard, and Hart House, with its central position within the town, its space and height, makes the very best of it.

Hart House is on the market for £895,000 with Strutt & Parker, Exeter, 01392 215631. struttandparker.com

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BEAUTIFUL GRADE II* LISTED ELIZABETHAN HOUSE WITH COUNTRYSIDE VIEWS

WEEK ST MARY, NR BUDE, CORNWALL

Widemouth Bay – 5; Bude – 7.5; Tintagel – 17, Port Isaac – 24; Dartmoor – 26; Bodmin Moor – 26; Bodmin Parkway (rail) – 31.5; Cornwall Airport (Newquay) – 39 (distances are approximate and in miles).

Set in just under six acres of gardens and grounds with countryside views, outbuildings and a detached cottage, Leigh Manor Farm is a Grade II* Listed Manor house, filled with character, which has been lovingly restored by the current owners. It has 3 bedrooms, charming reception rooms with original features, grounds including orchards and woodlands and a separate 4 bedroom cottage.

Guide £1,250,000 Freehold 154

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Savills Cornwall David Jenkin david.jenkin@savills.com

01872 243200

BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED REGENCY COUNTRY HOUSE SET WITHIN LOVELY GARDENS

INWARDLEIGH, DEVON

Wonderful example of a Regency country house ◆ Beautifully restored ◆ Set within lovely gardens and ground Range of outbuildings ◆ Drawing room ◆ Dining room ◆ Garden room ◆ Kitchen breakfast room ◆ Master bedroom suite ◆ 5 further bedrooms (two en-suite) ◆ Family bathroom ◆ Quiet rural setting ◆ In all about 1.7 acres with a further 3.5 acres available by separate negotiation ◆ EPC - E

Savills Exeter Edward Tallack edward.tallack@savills.com

01392 455 741

Guide Price £895,000

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Exeter 24 Southernhay West, Exeter EX1 1PR 01392 241686 | exeter@struttandparker.com

Devon | Bovey Tracey

Price On Application

A beautiful family house set in 5.1 acres of gardens and paddocks with stunning countryside views 3 Bedrooms | 3 Reception rooms | 3 Bathrooms | Utility room | Gardens | Garage | Pastureland | Woodland | Additional parking | Outbuildings | EPC: E In all about 5.1 acres | Approximately 2,586 sq ft Exeter Richard Speedy | 01392 241686

/struttandparker 156 MANOR | Autumn 2017 @struttandparker

Exeter Susie Cordwell | 01392 241686

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including Prime Central London

Exeter 24 Southernhay West, Exeter EX1 1PR 01392 241686 | exeter@struttandparker.com

Devon | Kingswear

Price On Application

A superb, contemporary waterside property with outstanding panoramic views of the River Dart 4 Bedrooms | 3 Reception rooms | 2 Bathrooms | Spectacular panoramic views of the River Dart | Garden | Summer house | Log store | Garage | Store room | EPC:E

Exeter Richard Speedy | 01392 241686

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

Exeter Susie Cordwell | 01392 241686

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including Prime Central London

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Prime Waterfront & Country House

S O U T H H A M S’ L EAD I N G ESTATE AG EN T

Guide price

Elegant waterside townhouse – Dartmouth Totnes 13 miles, Kingsbridge 15 miles, A38 Devon Expressway 19 miles

hotel 4 Bedrooms bathtub 3 Bathrooms furniture 4 Reception Rooms

£1,450,000

An outstanding Grade II listed period townhouse finished to a high quality with stunning views over the River Dart and within easy distance of the town centre. Double garage with planning permission for conversion into a 1 bedroom self-contained annexe.

Ample parking. No EPC required.

Web Ref: DAR110062

Prime Waterfront & Country House department: 01548 855590

DARTMOUTH 01803 839190

KINGSBRIDGE 01548 857588

MILLBROOK 01752 829000

MODBURY 01548 831163

NEWTON FERRERS 01752 873311

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Dartmouth office: 01803 839190

SALCOMBE 01548 844473

TOTNES 01803 847979

PRIME WATERFRONT & COUNTRY HOUSE 01548 855590

Prime Waterfront & Country House

S O U T H H A MS’ L EAD I NG ESTATE AG E NT

Guide price

Unique style of restored former village school – Kingsbridge Kingsbridge 7 miles, Dartmouth 12 miles, A38 Devon Expressway 17 miles

hotel 4 Bedrooms bathtub 4 Bathrooms furniture 3 Reception Rooms

£985,000

A superb detached house, formerly a village school where the windows and layout give the property a unique style with an open plan sitting and dining room, situated in an idyllic tranquil setting with pretty garden, outbuildings and ample parking. Short distance to Beesands beach. EPC Rating C.

Web Ref: KIN170143

Prime Waterfront & Country House department: 01548 855590

DARTMOUTH 01803 839190

KINGSBRIDGE 01548 857588

MILLBROOK 01752 829000

MODBURY 01548 831163

NEWTON FERRERS 01752 873311

Kingsbridge office: 01548 857588

SALCOMBE 01548 844473

TOTNES 01803 847979

PRIME WATERFRONT & COUNTRY HOUSE 01548 855590

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The Bloor difference

The Bloor difference CAREFULLY CONSIDERED LOCATIONS CAREFULLY CONSIDERED LOCATIONS

BECAUSE THERE ARE THOSE WITH A GREATER OUTLOOK ON LIFE

BECAUSE A HOUSE IS MORE THAN JUST BRICKS AND MORTAR Superior coastal living in the South West

Experience superior living, set alongside the delightful coastal experience We take a lot of care over where we build our homes. in Lyme Regis, ‘The Pearl of Dorset’ Not because we have to, but because we want to.

We ask ourselves, if it were our home, where would we want it to be? chosen locations in historic seaside locations.

It’s a place where you’re going to have great memories. So we createCarefully beautiful spaces for making those memories. The ceilings are a bit higher, the rooms are a bit lighter, Our Palm Cross development is offering discerning buyers the doors are a little wider and the features are more characterful. a rare opportunity to buy a beautiful new home in the picturesque All these little things make a big difference. That’s the Bloor difference.

Devon town of Modbury, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

WOODBERRY COPSE

Woodberry Copse is tucked away in an idyllic woodland setting,provides the perfect combination of a peaceful escape, Palm Cross Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3HP with a stylish mixture of 3, 4 & 5 bedroom homes from £399,950 set in with easy travel back to civilisation.

3 & 4 bedroom homes over six acres of glorious grounds. The homes have been inspired by from £399,950 to £674,950 That’s the Bloor difference. the Arts & Craft style architecture that is typical of the area. The development is a short walk Speak to our Sales Advisors: from the coast and the iconic harbour in the heart of the town, 01297 579122 with some homes on the development benefiting from sea views.

Open daily from 10am – 5pm

SEE I T. F EEL I T. E X PER I E NC E I T. SEE I T. F EEL I T. E X PER I E NC E I T.

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Price and availability correct at time of going to press. Images shown for illustrative purposes only.

Prices and details correct at time of going to press. Images shown for illustrative purposes only.

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property

Snapshot comparative A selection of properties in the South West and London that would suit art lovers.

Ford Park, Chagford Guide price: £950,000

Devon

Ford Park was built in the late 19th century as an artist’s residence by Robert Stark, the father of celebrated traveller and author Freya Stark. Located near Chagford, this five-bedroom property is on the edge of Dartmoor and has approximately 17 acres of garden and grounds. The imposing studio space, once used by sculptor John Skeaping, has endless potential for art enthusiasts. jackson-stops.co.uk

Polsue Farm, The Roseland Guide price: £1,750,000

Cornwall

Boasting scenic views across the countryside, Polsue Farm is a four-bedroom property set within 8.5 acres of private grounds and close to the sea at Portholland and the Roseland Peninsula. The property is spacious and light, and has underfloor heating throughout. It has a number of outbuildings, including a detached twostorey unmodernised cottage, offering plenty of scope for an artist’s studio or holiday let. savills.com

Westhill Villa, Totnes Guide price: £895,000

Devon

A substantial detached Grade II listed Georgian property situated in a central position for easy access to the town centre, this property boasts five bedrooms, a walled garden, and views across Totnes. Complementing the main accommodation is a contemporary one-bedroom self-contained annexe, which would make a perfect, light-filled studio. marchandpetit.co.uk

Cornwall Gardens, London Guide price: £1,650,000

London

This is a two-bedroom apartment with a south-facing, split level, decked roof terrace and access to communal gardens. The interior comprises a kitchen, a light and spacious reception room, and two bedrooms (one with an en-suite). Renowned museums, galleries and arts venues are easily accessible from South Kensington tube, and the property is close to the shops and restaurants of Gloucester Road. struttandparker.com

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back page prize draw

£1,000 worth of exquisite jewellery With the festive season almost upon us, awardwinning fashion jewellery brand of the year Kit Heath, in association with MANOR, is offering one very lucky reader £1,000 worth of jewellery.

The winner can choose from the full selection of Kit Heath’s contemporary and classic jewellery, crafted with quality sterling silver and carefully selected semi-precious gemstones. The price of each item ranges from £25 to £300, allowing the winner to buy a range of statement and refined pieces, any of which would make the perfect Christmas gift.

HOW TO ENTER Simply go to manormagazine.co.uk/backpagecompetition/kitheath To see what you’re in with a chance of winning, visit kitheath.com to view the full range. The Prize Draw closes at midnight on 30 November 2017, with the draw taking place the following day, and the winner will be informed via email within 24 hours.

Flourish, £135

Signature Diamond, £145

£49

Shore, £245

Rokk Earrings, £49

The winner will be offered £1,000 credit including postage, to be ordered direct from Kit Heath (this offer does not apply through our retailers). The winner will be mailed the Kit Heath brochure or can view the range online. Once they have made their selection they should contact Kit Heath Ltd on 01271 329123 or email sales@kitheath.com to place their order (orders cannot be processed through the website). The winner can place more than one order to a maximum value of £1000 including postage. The prize must be redeemed in full by 31 March 2018. Full terms and conditions of the Prize Draw can be found at manormagazine.co.uk/backpagecompetition/kitheath

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MANOR | Autumn 2017

The all-new Audi Q5 Now is calling Test drive at Exeter Audi today.

Exeter Audi 1 Matford Way, Matford, Exeter EX2 8FN 01392 338057 www.marshall.co.uk/audi

Official fuel consumption figures for the all-new Audi Q5 range in mpg (l/100km) from: Urban 25.7 (11.0) – 52.3 (5.4), Extra Urban 39.8 (7.1) – 58.9 (4.8),Combined 33.2 (8.5) – 56.5 (5.0).CO2 emissions: 195 – 132g/km.

Standard EU test figures for comparative purposes and may not reflect real world driving results. Images shown for illustration purposes only. Models shown feature optional equipment. Choice of wheelsand other options may affect fuel consumption and emissions data. More information is available on the Audi website at www.audi.co.uk and at www.dft.gov.uk/vca MANOR | Autumn 2017

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87 Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3RP, Tel 01392 279994, Email websales@mortimersjewellers.co.uk