Manor issue 2 late spring by MANOR

Late Spring 2015 £3.95

Let play commence It’s festival season! Win VIP tickets to Boardmasters

Street food; neat booze

The South West’s artisan distillers

Kathy Lette

9 772057 353002

on the couch

SAM THORNE on plans for TATE ST IVES London’s first organic pub comes to RIVERFORD Learn how to be interesting at DARTMOOR ARTS

IMMACULATE RESIDENTIAL FARM TAVISTOCK, DARTMOOR, DEVON Tavistock: 6 miles, Dartmoor National Park: 3 miles, Exeter/M5: 40 miles 5 bedroom main house  3 bedroom farm bungalow  gardens & lake  superb range of stone model farm buildings  modern cattle yards  pasture broken by woodlands  about 140 acres  EPCs: House = F, Bungalow = E

Savills Exeter Richard Addington raddington@savills.com

01392 455755 Penny Dart pdart@savills.com

01392 455755 Guide £2.5 million for the whole (also available in 3 lots)

A GRADE II LISTED HOME WITH AWE-INSPIRING COASTAL VIEWS Cape Cornwall, Nr Land’s End Lands End Airport: 3.2 miles, Sennen: 6 miles, Penzance (mainline station): 8.6 miles, Mousehole: 10 miles, St. Ives: 15 miles, Truro: 35.5 miles (all distances are approximate)

Savills Cornwall

Grade II Listed home exquisitely restored over a decade  11,660 sq ft  3 reception rooms  24 ft x 24 ft reception hall  10 bedrooms  7 bathrooms  38 ft family kitchen  conservatory  3 bedroom apartment  geo-thermal heat pumps and underfloor heating  walled gardens  garaging  stable block  paddocks and manège  in all about 7.2 acres

01872 243200

Jonathan Cunliffe jcunliffe@savills.com

Guide £3 million Freehold MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Looe | Cornwall

An immaculately maintained detached house in very private waterside location yet still close to local amenities Looe ½ a mile by foot via the coastal path or 2 miles by car, Polperro 7 miles, Plymouth 20 miles

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Guide Price: £1,500,000

Sitting room with panoramic views, dining area, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, master bedroom suite including shower room, dressing area/ additional bedroom balcony, sun room, south facing terrace, 29’ swimming pool , well maintained gardens, private drive, detached garage, ownership of land down to the mean high water mark

Trebarwith Strand | North Cornwall

A stunning luxurious coastal home, wedding venue or holiday letting business in 50 acres Trebarwith Strand and coastline 1 mile, Port Isaac 9 miles, Polzeath 12 miles, Rock 13 miles, Bodmin Parkway Train Station (London Paddington 3 hours 41 minutes) 23 miles, Newquay Airport 30 miles, Truro 37 miles

Offers in region of: ÂŁ3,750,000

A luxurious home complete with three five star holiday properties set within a spectacular cliff top location. The premium accommodation situated in the middle of its own gardens, grounds and grazing land extending to about 50 acres and provide stunning and uninterrupted West facing sea views. It offers a tourism and wedding business or a fantastic family home. In all about 50 acres

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

WHATEVER YOUR PASSION... Comprehensive financial management, giving you the freedom to enjoy what you love the most.

provide

innovative

financial

and

legal

solutions, tailored to make the most of your circumstances. Our expertise in accountancy, wealth planning and law means you benefit from a truly integrated service, with greater simplicity and better outcomes.

Your financial performance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; our passion www.prydis.com 6

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Tel. 0844 880 4033

Accounts . Wealth . Legal

Regulars 15 TOWN MOUSE, COUNTRY MOUSE What’s cool in the country and hot in the smoke

TRENDS Denim and Floral

AS I SEE IT... Author Kathy Lette with observations on life, love and Poldark

Style & Beauty 25 TOAST The story behind the brand that delivers understated elegance

MY FEEL GOOD REGIME Christie Gavin on her love of juicers

BEAUTY TUTORIAL Make-up artist Elouise Abbot teaches the smoky eye

THE STYLE SHOOT Cricket whites

Stella McCartney SS15

Late Spring 2015

Photostory 39 ROLL OUT THE BARREL

Mike Lacey shoots from inside the wave

Culture 50 EYE TO IMAGE Benedict Rubbra at the RAMM

FRINGE BENEFITS Plymouth joins the festival circuit

SOUTH WEST FESTIVAL TRAIL 12 of the best to enjoy this summer

PUSHING BOUNDARIES Tate St Ives – a vision for the future

ART SCHOOL POP-UP Dartmoor Arts in Drewsteignton celebrates 10 years

Features 34 THE DUKE MEETS RIVERFORD What’s next for Geetie Singh?

ALL WALKS OF LIFE An insight into the pioneering work of Dartington’s Landworks project

SOUTH WEST MUST SEES... What’s on around the region

WORTH MAKING THE TRIP FOR... Cultural highlights from the metropolis

WORTH STAYING IN FOR... Staying in is all about crime

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Late Spring 2015 PHOTO: SAM NEILL

94 122

Offers and competitions 14 THE WHITE COMPANY Receive 20% off with our exclusive offer

AROMATIKA 20% off a 90-minute full body scrub and massage

BOARDMASTERS Win VIP tickets to this year’s festival

Space 116 ARTS AND CRAFTS RESTORATION A five-year journey to restore a crumbling house on Dartmoor

122 SHOPPING FOR SPACE Compare and contrast Danish minimalism with British country chic

Food 94 STREET FOOD Get a taste of the revolution sweeping the region

CORNWALL’S RAW FOOD TREATS

127 MY MANOR, MY SPACE Potter Philippa de Burlet welcomes us into her studio

130 Q&A Henrietta Thorn’s distinctive coastal style

A visit to Je Tam’s kitchen in Hayle

BITES The latest food news from Cornwall and Devon

103 THE TABLE PROWLER Breakfast by the beach and seafood in Falmouth

104 SPIRIT OF THE WESTCOUNTRY Behind the scenes at two artisan distilleries

Escape 110 LA SON Pretend you’re French in this off-the-beatentrack holiday house near Carcassonne

112 THE MAGDALEN CHAPTER Pampering and Paleo at Exeter’s hippest hotel

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Property 135 THE BULLETIN Hotspots and changing trends in the region

138 PROPERTY OF NOTE Thornworthy House on Dartmoor

141 SNAPSHOT COMPARATIVE A selection of South West properties plus a London bolthole

Back page 154 BLACK BOOK Secrets from artist and surfer John Bevan

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

100% bespoke, handmade kitchens & furniture for the home

24A West Street, Ashburton, Newton Abbott, Devon TQ13 7DU

Tel: 01364 653613 www.barnesofashburton.co.uk 10

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Welcome to the second edition of MANOR, for those of you with a foot in, or a hankering after, the Westcountry. First and foremost, we are thrilled and quite overwhelmed by the response we’ve had following the launch of MANOR. We have had requests for copies all over the country and as far afield as Nashville, Tennessee. From our survey as many as 69% say they would recommend the title, of which 43% already had! Plus, more than a third of you stated that you would subscribe to MANOR, which is phenomenal. In response, and to make it easy for you to do just that, go to page 24 in this issue for details of how you can buy an annual subscription for just £20 – a considerable discount on the magazine’s purchase price. As well as responses to the questionnaire, we have had unsolicited emails and tweets from readers and those working in the industry that have been lavish in their praise. It’s extremely rewarding for all the team, who’ve worked so hard on MANOR for months, indeed years! So thank you to everyone who’s made contact. Festival season is upon us and we are already feeling the sunshiney delirium of alfresco music, munching and literary musing. There is of course every variety of festival to enjoy in the South West, whatever your leaning. This issue gives you the lowdown on some of the best across the region and the chance to win VIP tickets to one of the biggest and most famous – Boardmasters, the surfers’ and music lovers’ Mecca that takes place on a pristine Cornish cliff top and draws crowds and acts from across the world. This year’s line-up includes Faithless, Rudimental and Bastille among many more and VIP tickets provide access to all the after parties and the VIP bar together with other luxuries. We have two pairs to give away (see page 47 on how to enter.) We’ve also got another great offer for you from The White Company – see page 14. If all this is too much to handle and makes you want to hit the hard stuff and the streets in search of sustenance, check out our Food Section, but before you do, our Culture Section this issue is nothing short of bumper, spanning an exclusive with Sam Thorne of Tate St Ives, Plymouth’s Fringe Fesitval and Exeter RAMM’s forthcoming Rubbra exhibition. It shouldn’t be missed. The arts, food and festivals - nourishing body and soul. It is all happening out west. Summer promises to be sizzling! Join us.

Imogen Clements PUBLISHING EDITOR

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

is brought to you by PUBLISHING EDITOR

Imogen Clements imogen@manormagazine.co.uk

COMMISSIONING EDITOR

Jane Fitzgerald jane@manormagazine.co.uk

LEAD FEATURE WRITER

Harriet Mellor harriet@manormagazine.co.uk

ARTS EDITOR

Belinda Dillon belinda@manormagazine.co.uk

FOOD EDITOR

Anna Turns anna@manormagazine.co.uk

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Bonnie Friend, Miranda Gardiner, Genoveva Arteaga-Rynn DESIGN

Guy Cracknell ADVERTISING SALES

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

THE COVER Belted top and trousers by Zara; Photographer: Justin Evans; Stylist Mimi Stott; Model: Anya Courts; Hair and make-up Elouise Abbot

ÂŠ MANOR Publishing Ltd, 2015. MANOR Magazine is published by Manor Publishing Ltd, 3 Station Road, Okehampton, Devon EX20 1DY. Registered in England No. 09264104 info@manormagazine.co.uk. Printed by Warners Midlands plc. The views of the writers in MANOR Magazine are not necessarily those shared by the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts, artwork or transparencies are accepted on the understanding that the publishers incur no liability for their storage or return. The contents of MANOR Magazine are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without permission. By submitting material to MANOR Magazine, MANOR Magazine Ltd is automatically granted the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use, reproduce, edit, distribute and display such material (in whole or part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in such content. The contributor acknowledges that material submitted may be published in any

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

publication or website produced or published by MANOR Publishing Ltd.The contributor agrees not to submit material where they do not own the copyright and where they have not obtained all necessary licenses and/or approvals from the rightful owner. With respect to any photographs submitted, the contributor confirms that all necessary model and property releases have been obtained from any clearly identifiable person appearing in any image, together with any other relevant consents required. Prices and details of services and products are genuinely believed to be correct at the time of going to press, but may change. Although every effort is made to maintain accuracy we regret we are unable to honour any incorrect prices or other details that may be printed.

PLOUM sofa. Design: Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec.

Ligne Roset Bristol Cribbs Causeway Bristol BS10 7TU 0117 950 8442 www.ligne-roset-bristol.co.uk MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Summer style at The White Company Summer. It’s a word full of hope and something we all look forward to every year: that hazy sunshine that makes you feel alive; the opportunity to eat alfresco; the desire to create a warm-weather wardrobe; escaping to sunnier climes to unwind…

he White Company’s stunning new collection is inspired by long, lazy Summer afternoons and bringing that holiday feeling back home. Expertly designed, the pieces help you make the most of the coming season: think fabulous tableware for outside dining, cotton bed linen for the perfect Summer’s night sleep, stylish and wearable clothes – not to mention gorgeous new-season buys for little ones. The White Company is passionate about the quality of everything they design, offering something truly special at affordable prices, and hope you find something to love, this season and always. As a MANOR reader, you can enjoy 20% off your order, plus free delivery* when you use code: AF192

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR OFFER In store For your nearest store, visit: thewhitecompany.com/stores Online Use code: AF192 at the whitecompany.com By phone 020 375 89 222

Offer expires 24 June 2015. *Offer is valid for first purchase only. Offer is valid on full-priced items only and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Offer is not valid in our clearance stores. Standard free delivery is valid for online, telephone and store mail orders to the UK mainland only. Offer excludes gift wrap, gift vouchers, all furniture, beds, mattresses, upholstery and made-to-order items. To redeem this offer in store you must present your shopping code.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

TOWN MOUSE, COUNTRY MOUSE Sweetness...

Darling...

I have put it off for far too long. It is time to get a dog. Being in the countryside without a dog is akin to residing in Chelsea without a tractor. Everyone here has at least one, and they are most definitely a force for good. A dog keeps you healthy by getting you out in all weathers and I have become convinced that this is the secret to the Queen’s healthful longevity – all those wet walks in Balmoral. I am a country resident and wish to succumb to all its elements. The only thing, however, that will get me out in the driving rain is a wimpering, doey-eyed dog. But which dog? All those cockapoos and labradoodles feel a bit too town and home counties, and a tad too delicate. I need a sturdy country dog – small and wily or toned and robust, something made for all weathers like perhaps a Hungarian Vizsla… Did you know though, darling, it seems that even Vizslas have not been spared the cross-breed trend and I am convinced that the choice of cross is all in the name. Case in point, a Hungarian Vizsla I know personally has been approached by a Ridgeback to breed. The result of which would of course be, wait for it, a Rizla….hmm. For some reason, this brings me on to festivals. Tell me, darling, are we doing the literary or the music circuit this year? There’s Budleigh for books and Somersault for music, or we could go to Port Eliot and combine the two? Cerebral stimulation by day and hands-in-the-air podium-storming by night. What could be more fun? You decide. Obviously though, I’ll leave the dog at home.

A dog sounds like a fine idea – something I have toyed with myself several times but it seems wrong somehow to house a dog in a first floor flat with a balcony. There are of course many here, cityside, who do possess quite beautiful creatures who make the perfect style accessory, until of course you need to scoop and bag – the one inevitable stumbling block that continues to put me off acquiring man’s best friend. Well, it’s not very Westbourne Grove, is it? That said, dogs are fabulous ice-breakers. Walking one’s dog in the park and letting it off the leash at just the opportune moment has, I’m told, led to marriage on many an occasion. But alas we don’t have the ruddy-cheeked fresh air or expanse of land that you do to tear around. A dog I agree seems an obvious adjunct to your country life but town dog, I’m not so sure. It’s a bit like urban fox, country fox – the latter’s bright and bushy-tailed, bounding healthily through grassy meadows while the former’s scrawny and scowling as it swaggers out from beneath your car having rummaged through your dustbin. Bloodshot and bleary eyed, all that’s missing from urban fox is a can of strong brew and a fag hanging out the corner of its mouth. It is the reprobate, unhappy shadow of its country counterpart. But festival you say? Wonderful! Port Eliot sounds arty and lovely but, as they say in Madrid, ‘Aqui no hay playa’ and I long for the sea, some vibes and the opportunity to watch agile surfers in action. Let’s do Boardmasters this year sweetie and sleep under canvas to the sound of the waves. I can’t wait. I’m off to air the sleeping bag.

WHAT’S COOL IN THE COUNTRY?

WHAT’S HOT IN THE SMOKE?

Bluebell haze that’s endless and bordering on sci-fi in intensity at the Whiddon Deer Park, Easton Cross near Chagford

Private tours of the National Gallery - do it in quiet times to make like the place, and art, is your own. £230 for group of 25.

Exploding Bakery, Exeter - incendiary coffee; cakes that will blow your mind

Honey and Co, Warren Street: food from the Middle East; chefs from Ottolenghi. Need we say more?

For fashion, Revolver, Newquay will beam you straight to hipster East End, Scotty.

Albion for brunch – tasty and beautifully presented, and that’s just the clientele

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

[ THE EdiT ] WHITE

Michael Kors bag £260, Dune sandals £65, sunglasses £20, Birkenstock sandals £44.95, Marc by Marc Jacobs watch £185, Lancôme Miracle Cushion Foundation £29.50, Dower & Hall triple cuff £395, Dower & Hall concave cuff £495, wide brimmed hat £35, Toast dress £125, sunglasses £15.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

A desire for denim Stella McCartney SS15

We all have it in our wardrobe in every guise. This season however, we can wear it all at once. There is no such thing as too much denim. Layer it on!

Tigers Eye Circle Pendant, Whistles, £50

Tigers Eye Circle Gold Cuff, Whistles, £50

Denim Dungarees, Marks & Spencer, £45

Denim D-Ring Dress, Top Shop, £40

Daphne Loafer, Whistles, £140

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

trends

Denim Pinafore Dress, Miss Selfridge, £39

Twiggy Front Jacket, Marks and Spencer, £49.50

Denim Skirt, Zara, £35.99

Denim Jacket, Next, £30

Denim Sandals, Next, £30

Denim Dungarees, Marks & Spencer, £45

Denim Cullottes, House of Fraser, £45

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Floral tributes Spring Summer 2015 is in bloom! This season florals come in many different forms: dark and seductive; light and airy; bold or delicate. Something for every occasion, mood and wall flower… Altuzarra SS15

Dress, Zara, £69.99

Pencil Skirt, Next, £20

Swimsuit, Next, £25

Tote Bag, Marks & Spencer, £25

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Clutch Bag, Zara, £39.99

trends Dress H&M, £39.99

Blouse, Phase Eight, £55

Skirt, Marks & Spencer, £45

Skirt, F&F, £18

Bag, H&M, £29.99

spring summer

Skirt, Phase Eight, £55

Cork Sandal, H&M, £25 H IG H . I S ABE L DE PE DR O . NICOL E MI LLER M AL I PAR M I . ANA ALC AZAR . TR ANS I T OT TOD ’A M E . E U R OPE AN C U LTU R E C I TI Z E N OF H UM ANI T Y J E ANS . A S H S HOES 16 C astle Street Exeter EX4 3PT | T 01392 211009 MANOR | Late Spring 2015

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Late Spring 2015 £3.95

Subscribe to MANOR MANOR is a six-weekly premium publication that champions the South West. Too often, modern, aspirational magazines are London-centric, yet there is much going on and much to celebrate on the other side of the country. MANOR is aimed at those who are worldly in their outlook but choose to live or spend time in the South West, enjoying all that it has to offer.

Let play commence It’s festival season! Win VIP tickets to Boardmasters

Street food; neat booze

The South West’s artisan distillers

Kathy Lette on the couch

SAM THORNE on plans for TATE ST IVES London’s first organic pub comes to RIVERFORD Learn how to be interesting at DARTMOOR ARTS

Wherever you are, you can have each issue of MANOR delivered direct to your door. Fashion, Beauty, Features, Food, Arts and Interiors, along with Premium Property... For just £20, subscribe and every six weeks you will receive the latest from the South West, and the best of the rest, in one bumper publication.

MANOR – a new magazine, a whole new perspective. To subscribe, go to: manormagazine.co.uk/subscribe

Bovey Castle introduces two new restaurants for the South West…

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

@boveycastle

Manor Master 190x133.indd 1 24 MANOR | Late Spring 2015

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

Smith’s Brasserie is all about the stunning views, great food and a welcoming atmosphere. Relaxed and inviting, bang on trend yet unpretentious and most certainly classic British dining at its best.

Book to dine in our Great Western Restaurant and receive a glass of complimentary Champagne.

Try out Smith’s Brasserie and receive either a complimentary glass of house wine, or buy a starter and a main and receive a free dessert.

T&C’s apply. Subject to availability. Offer valid until 31.07.15

16/04/2015 16:29:05

The joy of Toast Delivering understated elegance, people have responded to Toast’s individualistic designs since 1997 and they continue to do so. All images from their SS15 Lookbook. Some weeks back, the Sunday Times Style Magazine featured an article asking ‘Which woman are you? A Toast woman or a Boden woman’. Apparently you can’t be both and it’s very possible that you are neither, but the piece caught our attention because Toast has been front of mind lately and we’d not thought about it in the context of Boden, but making the comparative helps explain the appeal. Both are strong and undeniably appealing brands but Toast is more understated. Are you aware, for example, that it is the brainchild of husband and wife Jamie and Jessica Seaton? Probably not. Whereas you can’t fail to know that Johnnie Boden is the man behind Boden. He is his own brand’s biggest ambassador, personally promoting items within his own collection as Johnnie’s Favourites, signing catalogues and communications to all of his customers and regularly heard on the radio talking about his eponymous clothing empire and the struggles he’s met along the way. Jessica and Jamie Seaton prefer a ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ approach to promoting their own collections, and we would argue that their customers are of a similar mentality – creative, quietly confident, and a little less chatty and bubbly than their Boden counterparts. Obviously this is a sweeping generalisation but it’s fun to brand-stereotype – according to Style Magazine, Boden woman’s dog is a Labrador; the Toast woman’s is a Lurcher. We’re inclined to agree.

Women are different shapes so we want to do something for all of them

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Toast started life on 31 August 1997, an unfortunate date to launch a brand in that on that day, 18 years ago, the entire world was distracted, a large proportion of it distraught, at the news of Princess Diana’s death. Jessica and Jamie Seaton had met 20 years previously at university, studying archaeology and ancient history. After graduating they moved to Wales to work together on an archaeological dig, but instead, spurred on by Jessica’s interest in dyeing wool with natural pigments, set up a knitwear business together. In 1978 they bought a knitting machine with money given to them as a wedding present and called themselves J&J Seaton. Thanks to a fortuitous encounter with a buyer at a craft fair, their knitwear was picked up by stores across the Atlantic and ultimately sold in Browns, Whistles and Matches. By 1997, though, things were slowing and Jamie (the designer of the two; Jessica focuses more on the business management side of things) was tired of designing knitwear. They both took stock and decided on a new tack – pyjamas. Obvious. Perhaps not, but as they saw it there was nothing occupying the territory between Jermyn Street and Marks and Spencer for a quality pair of pyjamas that you could lounge around in all weekend if you so wished. The name came to Jessica as she considered her future pyjamawearer enjoying long, leisurely weekend breakfasts. Because the knitwear was expensive and the design complicated, to maintain affordability Jamie and Jessica decided to cut out the middleman and sell direct to the customer via mail order. Supported by a short feature in You magazine, they launched Toast with one folded poster catalogue selling just six pairs of pyjamas, two gowns and a rug, and on that morning back in August 1997, when many were crying over their leisurely weekend breakfast, Jessica and Jamie Seaton sat despondent, waiting for the phone to ring. It did eventually, then continually, such that within a year Jamie had broadened the range from pyjamas to drawstring trousers, simple dresses and linen sheets, going on to add knitwear in Autumn 1998, then footwear and jewellery the following year. Eighteen years on, Toast still retails via mail order catalogue,

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

supported by a huge online following, 11 shops throughout the UK and concessions in 14 John Lewis stores. The couple remain in Wales, although Toast also has an office in London. The success of the brand, according to Jamie Seaton, is down to ‘it’s “individualism and idiosyncratic handwriting. People responded to Toast’s mood and they continue to do so.” We would argue that its appeal is in its quality – cut and material – and how the collection is presented. The reason the brand has been front of mind for us is that we’re particularly taken by their Spring/Summer 2015 Lookbook, from which all the images shown are taken. Presentation is an area that this company has invested in from the start, maintaining that a collection presented well is what grows the business, rather than individual items. Their first location shoot was in Lanzarote and since then they have travelled to Crete, Majorca, Patagonia and Argentina. There are individual items that are stock bestsellers (and doubtless reliable revenue-generators) for Toast. These are slouchy flared trousers, a well-cut dress sold at an affordable price, and double-layered T-shirts that come in different colours each season. Plus, of course, the polka-dot swimwear, introduced in 2005, remains forever popular and is synonymous with Toast. For us, the joy of Toast is in its ability to deliver understated elegance night and day, regardless of whether you’re town, country, UK or continentresiding. It crosses boundaries seamlessly and isn’t easily recognisable, in the way that many Boden lines are, often intentionally. That is a key difference between the Toast and Boden woman – individuality. It is an individuality in design that this mass-market brand offers that is the secret of its success. “I like lovely fabrics,” maintains Jamie Seaton, “beautifully cut, but in an unobvious shape. Women are different shapes so we want to do something for all of them.” Toast is available in John Lewis, Exeter. toa.st

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

My feel-good regime Christie Gavin lives in the countryside near Totnes. She is a board member of Broadreach – a treatment centre for addiction in Plymouth and an Ambassador for St James Place charity. She recently became an Ambassador for Landworks, a new project based in Dartington that supports prisoners back into the community. Christie’s husband Peter works in finance in London. When in town they stay on their barge that is moored in Limehouse Quay. They have three (almost grown-up) children.

The more exercise I do, the more grounded I feel. My main focus is yoga. I go to Lucy Minne’s classes at Harbour House in Kingsbridge. I have membership at the local leisure centre, which includes unlimited classes. On a good week I’ll do two Body Balance classes, Body Pump and Pilates.

I love my juicer! You can just shove anything into it. The children make their own, usually with fruit. Kale, spinach, beetroot, lemon, ginger and orange is a favourite. I have a different juice come into my phone each day from rebootwithjoe.com

We’re lucky to have so many wise people we can access. Masseurs, yoga teachers, diet advice… you can draw upon the advice you need at the time. Each year I attend Sura Detox, where you can completely destress. Raw food is recommended and every time I go I try to eliminate more toxins from my diet. Ella Woodward and The Hemlsey sisters have great raw food recipes. To start the day I drink hot water and lemon and have some soaked linseeds.

I’m very careful about what I eat. I don’t eat red meat any more and try to limit caffeine. Usually I’ll make a juice in the morning, have salad for lunch, and fish and vegetables in the evening. When I go out I’ll eat anything and everything, but If I go off piste too much my body reacts very quickly.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Since moving down here I have learned to like being by myself. When I lived in London I always felt the need for a full diary. Now I can’t imagine not going for a walk every day… I’ll head out to the coast path or to Dartmoor. This week I walked to Venford Reservoir at Holne Moor (above).

beauty

LANGUISHING IN MY MAKE-UP BAG If I’m feeling out of sorts I go shopping. I sell clothes I no longer want at The Loft in Totnes, then rebuy. I sneak into Anthropologie at sale time – such a lovely shop – beautiful china, jewellery and gorgeously colourful, ethnic, quirky clothes. I love a bargain. To relax it’s a trip to the theatre. I like to sit right in the front of the stalls. I saw Bad Jews in London recently, which was brilliant. I see a couple of shows a year at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth and I can’t resist the comedy nights at The Flavel in Dartmouth. My advice: The less you use social media, the happier you are. Indulgences: Skiing holidays, weekend city breaks with Peter and one of the children, Japanese food and family parties – we just roll back the carpet and dance.

Liz Earle’s Cleanse and Polish – brilliant for removing make-up at night and cleansing. Bobbi Brown – I like her natural colours. Recently I had a Dermalogica facial and am now trying out their serum. Aromatika Rose Facial Oil – a wonderful organic shop in Totnes that makes its own products upstairs. I use the oil at night. MAC frost lipstick. Nivea Pearl and Shine. Knowing by Estée Lauder – love it. Old fashioned and lingering.

MANOR READER OFFER

Treatment fit for a goddess Exclusive to MANOR readers: 20% off a 90-minute Full Body Scrub and Full Body Massage at Aromatika Aromatika offers high quality organic and natural skincare that is handmade in Devon. The range is SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate) and parabens-free. Aromatika is registered with the Vegan Society. Aromatika opened its first shop in Totnes in Nov 2009. Since then they opened The Devon Soap Company in Dartmouth and, recently, a flagship store in Exeter. Exeter has four luxurious boutique treatment rooms in a gorgeous Victorian townhouse spa. Totnes has two boutique treatment rooms. This salon is to expand soon to incorporate a third treatment room. To celebrate the opening of the Exeter store and its growing Totnes store, Aromatika in association with MANOR is offering 20% off the Frangipani, or Geranium & Orange Full Body Scrub and Full Body Massage. This is 90 minutes of pure indulgence and will leave skin buffed, polished and smelling divine. Frangipani is a signature fragrance that is known as ‘the scent of the goddesses’. This offer is exclusively for MANOR readers. This treatment would normally cost £75. To qualify for the 20% off, simply quote the reference MANOR 101 on booking and present this page on arrival. Offer expires 30 September 2015.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

The wearable smoky eye (for those of us over 30) We all need a beauty tutorial every now and then. Beyond a certain age we tend to lose the urge to find out how best to apply make-up, and yet beyond a certain age is when we need it most. Take the smoky eye. The current favourite look, beloved of Cara Delavigne and all her millions of followers, but just how do you do it and not resemble someone who’s just got out of bed having left their make-up on the night before? According to make-up artist Elouise Abbott, the classic smoky eye need not be reserved for special occasions and/or Rocky Horror. By using soft neutral colours the smoky eye can flatter all eye shapes and colours, at all times of day. All you need are three eyeshadow shades of a similar colour ranging from light to dark. Elouise’s go-to palette this season is the Illamasqua Complement Palette. To transform to an evening look, add a dark soft kohl eyeliner of your choice. Step 1 Prep the eye area with a primer such as Smashbox Photo Finish. It has a slight tint so provides coverage and ensures the make-up lasts all day. Step 2 Gently pat the lighter shade all over the lid evenly up to the socket crease line using a medium-sized eyeshadow brush. This is the base shade. Step 3 Buff the mid shade into the crease line using a soft round brush. Using small circular motions, work from the inside corner of the eye, toward the outside corner, pulling the eyeshadow outwards, extending the crease, and slightly up onto the browbone. Step 4 Taking the darkest shade, apply carefully using a firm eyeshadow brush. Concentrate the shadow to the outer corner of the eye, blending in towards the centre of the lid. Using the same brush, without adding more product, run along the lower lash line to create the smoky effect.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Step 5 Use the lightest colour to softly highlight the brow bone, the centre of the lid and the inner corner of the eye along the water line. Using the highlighter in this way is not for everyone. See what works for you. Step 6 You now have a subtle smoky eye. If you want a darker look, apply a thin line of a dark soft kohl liner to both upper and lower lash line. Take a firm bristled brush or smudger, and buff the kohl liner to blend with the eyeshadow. The key to a great smoky eye is to blend, blend, blend. There should be no hard lines. Step 7 Curl eyelashes and apply mascara. For extra volume add false eyelashes.

For more tips on how to apply make-up from the comfort of your own laptop (rather than in full view at the Clinique counter), take a look at these websites: Lisa Eldridge lisaeldridge.com London-based make-up artist who’s worked with Kate Winslet, Katy Perry and Emma Watson. Also Creative Director of No 7, and over 40. Ruth Crilley amodelrecommends.com International fashion model for ten years – has learnt a thing or two about what works. She combines makeup advice with fashion and style tips. Makeup Geek makeupgeek.com Former teacher has tutorials that range from the basics to celebrity-inspired looks, useful depending on your need and occasion. Zoe Sugg aka Zoella zoella.co.uk The famous one, now earning a considerable amount of money promoting products on her vlogs. Prompted by a canny publisher, has written a novel, Girl Online. Released in November 2014, it broke the record for highest first-week sales of a first-time novelist.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

PHOTO: LIZ MCCAULEY/WOMAN & HOME

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

As I see it...

Kathy Lette is an Australian-British author who has written numerous best-selling books and is a regular go-to source for acute and highly amusing observations on all aspects of life. She lives in London and is married to fellow Australian expatriate, Geoffrey Robertson QC. They have two children, Julius and Georgina. Nothing motivates you more than a boring job. I left school at 16. I’m an auto-didact, which means ‘self taught’. Clearly it’s a word I taught myself. School made me exasperated. I couldn’t understand why teachers spent the first few years teaching you to talk, then the next ten years telling you to shut up, but leaving school meant a succession of hideous jobs. I’ve been a bedpan emptier (hence my toilet humour), a human street sign, a jillaroo, a waitress, an encyclopedia seller, a bath plug machinist... I was determined to prove that I was more than that, so wrote my first novel aged 18. I’ve been truly in love three times… so far. Love’s arrow can be about as accurate as a Bush bomb on Baghdad. But I believe that if you’re sceptical of love at first sight, make him walk by again, but don’t mistake lust for love. The trouble with the language of lust is that orgasms tend to do all the talking. There’s nothing to say but ‘oh’ and ‘yes’ and ‘take me now’ and ‘mmmmmm’ as you finally surrender, blissfully, to each other. Your kids are the greatest love affair of your life. I have a son with autism so it’s a total roller coaster, but he’s made me a nicer person. I’m not so quick to pass judgment and I’m more patient thanks to him. Jules has taught me that there’s no such thing as normal and abnormal, just ordinary and extraordinary. Any woman who says she’s a post-feminist has kept her Wonderbra and burned her brains. We still have such a long way to go. We’re runners-up in the human race. Women still don’t have equal pay – we’re getting 75 pence in the pound – and we get concussion hitting our heads on the glass ceiling. I do think though, that women are each other’s Wonderbras – uplifting, supportive and great at making each other look bigger and better. My novels are a celebration of female friendship. I grew up with three sisters so I’m very comfortable with women. It’s a great male myth that women aren’t funny. After a girls’ night out, I have to be hospitalised from hilarity. I think men say that because they’re terrified what it is we’re being funny about. They presume we spend the entire time talking about the length of their penises – which is not true. We also talk about the width, which, after childbirth, is so much more important. Men

tell set jokes. Women tend to strip off to our emotional undies. Our humour is cathartic, confessional, selfdeprecating and hilarious. I’m a member of Who’s Not Who. If anyone ever recognises me, I think it’s a case of Mistaken Non-entity. I adore Britain and my British pals but there is a class of Brits who see Aussies as a recessive gene. They see us as the Irish of the Pacific. They hear the Aussie accent and their noses go straight up into the air. I’ve looked up so many noses since moving to London, even of people shorter than me. I wish I’d slept with Spike Milligan when I had the chance. He sort of adopted me when I was 16 or 17. He used to put me up in hotel rooms and talk to me and make me laugh (and vice versa). It was like having a sugar daddy, but without the sex. A saccharine daddy. He behaved so honorably, but oh, can you imagine the Puckoonish pillow talk? Optimism is not an eye disease. Life is short and often hard. You have to grab joy where you can. It was a relief coming out about my son’s autism a few years ago. I waited till I had his permission, when he turned 21, then I wrote the novel inspired by him, called The Boy Who Fell To Earth (soon to be a TV series). Once I’d come out, people understood why I was often found swinging from a chandelier. Mothers of special needs kids are so stressed. We really do need to let off steam – it helps you strap a shock absorber to your brain. My favourite joy lately has been watching Aidan Turner strip off in Poldark. That man has serious pecs appeal. My tongue hung so far out the carpet got a free shampoo. Kathy Lette’s latest novel Courting Trouble is published by Bantam Press and available in hardback at £14.99. Set in the world’s first two-person, mother-daughter, boutique-feminist law firm, they only champion women’s causes and cases. The novel revolves around a rape trial, but there’s a lot of girl talk and funny banter to cushion the harder, sadder story of women wronged. kathylette.co.uk

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

By the time I was 30 Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d personally made a million and lost a million

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

The Duke of Cambridge comes to Riverford Geetie Singh founded the first organic pub in Islington. She’s now channelling her expertise into re-energising the Riverford Field Kitchen, writes Harriet Mellor. Photos by Kate Mount

t was probably the radicchio that sealed the deal. When two organic pioneers stood in a field enthusing about a mutual love of the bitter-tasting purple Italian lettuce, marriage and mergers soon followed suit. Before joining forces, both halves of the couple had, individually, made a massive mark on the sustainable world. Guy ‘Riverford’ Watson, is the man who began growing vegetables on his Devon family farm. Instead of being beholden to supermarket chains, he began delivering boxes of seasonal organic veg to his local mates. Now that weekly box round comprises 47,000 UK-wide deliveries each week, from four farms around the UK and another in France. Geetie Singh is founder of the world’s first (and only) certified organic gastropub, The Duke of Cambridge in London’s Islington, and was awarded an MBE in 2009 for Services to the Pub Trade. Listing their respectively accumulated awards for commitment to ethical food, their businesses, inclusions on advisory boards (both being fabulous eco-gurus) could take up this entire page. It was in her role as a trustee of the Soil Association that Geetie ended up in South Devon looking at restaurants with the travel publisher and environmentalist, Alastair Sawday. “Myself and Alastair were on a fact-finding mission. We visited Guy at the Field Kitchen (restaurant). He spent the afternoon with us and I was completely blown away by his philosophies and passions when he talked about his business and vegetables. We went to the radicchio fields, my favourite lettuce, and he sent me home with some, joking that my love of them meant I was a woman after his own heart.” The couple’s professional paths had crossed over the years, but not always in a positive way. After one meeting, where he tried to muscle in on her patch, marrying Guy Watson would have been the last thing on Geetie’s mind. “In 2007 Guy came to see me and

asked about opening an organic pub in London. We had a frosty meeting with me getting angry, thinking, ‘what are you doing on my territory? You, big organic entrepreneur, are you trying to take away my market?’” At that time ‘The Duke’ was very much Geetie’s baby. Whilst waitressing in her early 20s, disillusioned by standards in the eating industry but inspired by the emergence of the first London gastropubs, Geetie’s vision was to open an organic pub. So she went on a mission to learn the business inside out by taking on various roles in the restaurant and pub trade. “I was clear about what I wanted to learn from the age of 24. I was really shocked by the lack of sustainability in restaurants and couldn’t believe the crap ingredients people were being charged extortionate prices for. It was dreadful the way staff were paid and treated. The whole employment and procurement ethos was just appalling and I knew it didn’t have to be done like that. “For years my plan was to open an organic gastropub that was as ethically driven as possible, but I knew first and foremost it had to be a really good restaurant.” Turning concept into reality took some persuading, as organic meat, veg and micro-brewed beers were an alien culinary concept back then. The catering world and its customers were still riding high on microwaves and ready-made meals. “I gathered five private investors, including Salman Rushdie. We kept it quiet at the time. He was just out of hiding when we opened it.”

Guy Watson and Geetie Singh-Watson outside the Duke of Cambridge

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

The foundation I was given at Birchwood was fundamental to how I approached later life. We were self sufficient, thinking about our impact on society and the environment

COURTESY OF RIVERFORD

The Duke opened in 1998 and its appearance and immediate success was timely. On the back of BSE, salmonella egg scandals and GM crops, Britain was just waking up to the fact that food sources and production were cause for concern. The supermarkets were dipping their toes into selling organic produce and companies like The Body Shop and Ben & Jerry’s were pushing on ethics. There were - and still are - rave reviews, an enduring reputation and even a special request from Tony, Cherie and the Blair offspring to meet and dine with Geetie. “It was a brilliant time. In the second year I opened another pub and in the third year a third pub. In the fourth year I sold the second two off. By the time I was 30 I’d personally made a million and lost a million.” Fast forward the years and Guy is once again talking to Geetie, now aged 45, about having an organic pub in London. But this time love conquers trepidation. Blending business, brains and vegetable recipes makes a lot of sense. “When we got together someone else was really keen about taking over The Duke, which forced the conversation with investors. Myself and Guy had this sort of fantasy about joining The Duke and Riverford. “Guy had wanted a presence in London for ages as a way of showcasing his veg. He’s been doing supper clubs for years in other venues but now we do those

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

weekly at The Duke. They sell out within 24 hours, which is extraordinary.” So, Guy the farmer who loves beer and vegetables now owns a London pub, whilst the flip side of this is that Geetie (who also loves beer and vegetables) is channelling her expertise into re-energising the Riverford Field Kitchen, founded by Guy, on Wash Farm near Totnes. “I’m tasked with making more of a bridge and creating a vision between the farm, the Field Kitchen and the pub.” The Field Kitchen, where we’re sitting today, is a cross between a cool canteen and an organic banquet, where dining is a one-sitting, multi-course affair. There are delicious meat and fish mains, but they almost take a supporting role as the exquisite and ingenious vegetable dishes really are the stars of the show, followed by selecting from a five-pudding finale. This long-established concept will remain, but Geetie is looking at utilising the lush rural setting through foraging courses, alfresco dining, barbecues, a huge yurt for undercover gatherings and boutique camping packages. For locals there will be more events: meet the supplier, cooking courses with local chefs and music. Rather than Geetie being a London entrepreneur who’s shaking up Devon, being part of a rural business that has an emphasis on community brings her full circle. She is the offspring of a Sikh dad and feisty English girl who broke convention by getting together in early 1960’s London, the racist period of signs stipulating ‘No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs’. “My mum got spat on in the street with me and my brother in the pushchair. But they were very radical, politically motivated and spent their life being fabulous 60s-like and cool.” When her parents amicably split, Geetie grew up in a Midlands-based commune called Birchwood, between the ages of 2 and 16, where she was known as ‘the Rabbit’ as she was always snacking in the veg patch. “The foundation I was given at Birchwood was absolutely fundamental to how I approached later life. We were self-sufficient, thinking about our impact on society and the environment. We had a communal meal together every evening. The food was earthy and real. We were hugely resourceful - it was an incredibly cheap way to live. We grew everything and preserved, pickled and sold.”

At the end of the commune era, paternal influence completed her social education: “It was like Finishing School with Dad. I went from this earthy understanding of where food came from at Birchwood and then Dad took me fine dining to all the best restaurants in London.” Her entrepreneurial Dad set up the Last Days of the Raj and the Red Fort, the UK’s first highend Indian restaurants, fashionable with politicians and celebrities. Geetie didn’t realise until her own ambitions took shape just how similar they were to her father’s. “Dad’s idea was trying to prove that Indian food was a fabulous quality and that you couldn’t produce Indian food at the cheap prices that people were selling it for without the slave labour industry which existed then.” Sharing businesses means Geetie and Guy can do a 70/30 residential split. Totnes is the base for Riverford HQ, where their family house includes Geetie’s five year-old daughter Mabel from a previous relationship and Guy’s four elder kids from his first marriage. “Totnes is extraordinary. It’s a home from home in my eco world – a hotbed of sustainable living. We both love being in London too, especially for the farmers’ markets, and eating out. For Guy it’s constant research. He gets inspired by what he’s eating in restaurants, wants to grow those vegetables on the farm and thinks about how he might cook them.” Once again the conversation is back on vegetables. Are she and Guy always on the same page with food-speak? “I never tire of talking about them. When I first got together with Guy, my mum said she thought he was absolutely lovely but I might get bored about talking about vegetables. I really never have.” riverford.co.uk/restaurant dukeorganic.co.uk

Pitstop profiler A glam eco-warrior who “considers the impact of everything I do.” Clothes: My rule is – organic, recycled or second hand, fair-trade or hand made. Style: I’m a trustee of People Tree who are completely incredible. In Totnes I love Revival and the market. In London it’s the vintage shops and markets of Islington and Camden Passage. I also love Liberty. Skincare: I buy Dr Hauschka and REN in London and dabble in locally made in Devon. Travel: By train always, Guy cycles Mabel to school. We’ve just bought an electric, plug-in BMW car. Home: Everything is reclaimed and recycled. Our white goods are the best ratings. Eating: In London we love Lyles in Shoreditch, the River Cafe and Skye Gyngell’s new restaurant Spring at Somerset House. In Totnes we are more low-key, popping out to The Bay Horse pub and Willow Cafe.

COURTESY OF RIVERFORD

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

PLUS MANY MORE ACTS ACROSS 7 STAGES

INTERNATIONAL SURF COMPETITIONS MEN'S OPEN / ROCKET DOG WOMEN'S OPEN / WSL MEN'S LONGBOARD / WSL WOMEN'S LONGBOARD PRO JUNIOR / WHIPPER SNAPPERS / PRO SKATE AND BMX COMPS / MINI & MIDI RAMPS BEACH SESSION GIGS / SURF ART, PHOTOGRAPHY & FILMS / BEACH BAR & BBQ / SURF VILLAGE / CORNISH MARKET

BOARDMASTERS.CO.UK 38

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

*content subject to change

FOR FULL LINE UP AND TICKETS

photostory

Roll out the barrel “I’ve always been into photography but in the last four years my surf photography has turned into a full-time job . “The best thing you can do to prepare yourself to get these shots is to spend as much time as possible in the water, either surfing or body boarding, so you can read the waves really well. You can be out there in 10 ft waves so there can be some scary moments. “Cornwall has some amazing waves throughout the year and with all the different facing beaches and reef it gives you so many options. The water here can be so clear and the county boasts some of the most beautiful coastline in the world.” Mike Lacey, Photographer 2015

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

photostory

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

photostory

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

photostory

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

photostory

Tools of his trade: Mike Laceyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kit for capturing his surf shots mikelaceyphotography.co.uk

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Win VIP tickets to Boardmasters 2015 Ben Skinner

PHOTO: TYRON MACKENZIE

Considered to be one the best festivals in the South West, this year’s Boardmasters from 5 - 9 August promises to set the bar even higher. With a musical line up including Faithless, Rudimental and Bastille as well as the spectacle of some of the finest surfers in the world competing in the Cornish surf, tickets for the festival in Newquay will be like gold dust. But MANOR has VIP tickets to give away. This is the first year that Boardmasters has issued the special VIP Charger ticket. Charger tickets include VIP weekend camping, free car parking, access to all three after parties, to the two beach sessions and a shuttle bus weekend pass from Wednesday through to Monday. Not to mention a tee and a tote bag. These tickets are available to over 18s only.

PHOTO: SAM NEILL

HOW TO ENTER

MANOR is giving two readers the opportunity to win a pair of VIP tickets each worth £500 (£250 per ticket). To enter simply go to manormagazine.co.uk/ BoardmastersVIP, enter your details and we will enter you into a prize draw to take place on 30 June 2015. Winners will be informed on 1 July 2015. Standard terms and conditions apply, and are detailed in full on manormagazine.co.uk.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

THE PERFECT MATCH

BEOSOUND MOMENT

BeoSound Moment is an intelligent, wireless music system that integrates your music and streaming services into one. With just one touch on the solid wood interface, you can instantly start a continuous, high-performance sound experience that fits your mood preference, creating precisely the atmosphere you are looking for, day or night.

Complete the experience with wireless speakers.

BANG & OLUFSEN OF EXETER 30/31 Gandy Street | Exeter | EX4 3LS T: 01392 424600 E: exeter@bang-olufsen.co.uk 48

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Culture

Benedict Rubbra, Sunlit Tree, oil on canvas, 94 x 88cm, 1987

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Rubbra aged 11 and a painting of a tree done when he was the same age

Making your subject matter Painter Benedict Rubbra journeys backwards from the final work of art to its raw beginnings. By Imogen Clements

ow in his seventh decade, Benedict Rubbra has painted all his life. Born into a family of artists, musical and visual, there was no escaping creativity as a vocation. Rubbra’s own talent manifested itself on canvas at an early age, and he went on to study at The Slade. The artist’s early work was what he would term as more traditional – painting accurate representations of standard artist subject matter. He became highly skilled at portraiture, which led to commissions by members of the aristocracy, their families, and such venerable sitters as Prince Charles. His talent and prolificacy in this field earned him a decent living with which to raise his two children alongside his potter wife, Tessa.

Portrait of Lord Simon, Chairman of BP

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

But while portrait-painting was his bread and butter, it was his abstract models that he would look forward to going home to at the end of each day. “The models were my personal source of continuity. Every time I got a commission I would deliberately start on a model, and it would be there in my studio exactly as I’d left it, to further build on each day, until complete and ready to paint. “With portrait painting you’re forever having to work out where you left off. The beauty of creating your own subject is that you never have to rely on finding it. And, of course, the possibilities are endless.” Plus it won’t fidget or tire, I add. You can come back to it days later and it won’t have moved an inch. “But the light might well have,” points out Rubbra, “which is what as an artist I find fascinating – the light and how it plays with the material. The model can become something entirely different dependent on where the light hits it. I find it liberating. If I’m at a loss for ideas or uninspired I simply reposition the model in relation to the light and create an entirely new effect. Numerous paintings have emerged from one model simply by viewing it from different angles and watching how the light animates it, shines through the paper and gives it depth.” Rubbra first created his own subject by accident. Forty years ago, unhappy with a self-portrait he’d drawn, he tore it up. He then reassembled it, and drew the new, distorted face. Still a representation, but of an abstract form. It was this that led him to create more abstract forms as subjects to paint, from a variety of materials: wood, tissue paper, card, clay, and wire. Only when I’m satisfied that the model is complete do I paint it. The painting is the final stage, and although technically challenging, particularly where light and shade is concerned, the modelbuilding is really where the work is.”

culture

The beauty of creating your own subject is that you never have to rely on finding it

Self-portrait, pencil on paper, 56 x 66 cm, 1972

So at any given moment over the last 40 years, when he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t painting portraits, Benedict Rubbra could be found holed up in his studio building intricate structures, positioning them and repositioning them against the light source, and then painting them. The models themselves would be inspired by a wide variety of subjects: ephemeral, experiential and tangible, such as Dawn Unfolding or Exeter Cathedral. As delicate structures they wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t last much beyond the completion of the painting, nor would they need to, their purpose complete.

Exeter Cathedral, oil on canvas, 123 x 102 cm, 2014

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Dawn unfolding, oil on canvas, 63 x 55 cm

Fourteen years ago, Rubbra finally stopped painting portraits altogether to devote time to his unique approach, and in recent years this has led him back to paintings and works of art that have left an impression on him over time. To these – works for example by Titian and Fra Angelico – Rubbra applies his own pared-down approach to convey the story and energy that’s depicted in the originals. Titian’s The Death of Actaeon is a case in point. It is based on the story of the goddess Diana, who on realising she’s being spied upon as she bathes, rounds

Titian, The Death of Actaeon, oil on canvas, 178 x 197cm (1559 -75)

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

on her admirer, Actaeon, and turns him into a stag to face a certain violent death by his own dogs. “I love the force within this painting – her fury, the setting of these killer dogs on this hapless suitor, who can only crumple and succumb to what is a pretty violent end. “It’s her energy that I was keen to convey, the movement in the painting from left to right, and I started by breaking it down into sections and building geometric structures that would represent the characters. Simplistic three-dimensional forms that sit off the page and angled in such a way as to convey the same force.” And with this, we get that rare insight into the work of the artist, a trip back to the raw beginnings of a finished artwork (opposite). Rubbra takes us from the source of his inspiration to the very initial stages of his own work - how he created simple square models of the core subjects and layer upon layer built the three-dimensional structure to convey the drama in Titian’s original. Once happy with every element of the model, how each interacted with one another and the effect the light had upon the form, he painted. Rubbra’s The Death of Actaeon, After Titian is one of the larger works among 45 pictures and 15 drawings that are on display at Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery from 2 May through to 2 August 2015. The RAMM, in association with Deborah Wood of The Art Room, Topsham, is dedicating its biggest

culture A unique view of the three stages of development of The Death of Actaeon, After Titian

gallery to the very individual technique and abstract art of Benedict Rubbra, created over a period of forty years. For the viewer this is abstract art with a difference: an extra layer. With each artwork they can attempt to visualize the model Rubbra created that gave rise to the painting, and then go back a further step, to consider the origin and source of inspiration that gave rise to the model. If the journey backwards from the final work of art to its raw beginnings fascinates, it is worth attending a talk by the artist himself. Rubbra will be giving a lunchtime lecture about his approach and how itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s developed over four decades on Wednesday 20 May at the RAMM, during which he will show the beginnings of further works that form part of the exhibition.

Benedict Rubbra, Eye to Image runs from 2 May - 2 August 2015 at the RAMM, Exeter. To book to attend a talk with Rubbra contact RAMM@exeter.gov.uk or call 01392 265858. Online catalogue: theartroom.co.uk

Self-portrait, oil on board, 2004

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Fringe benefits The time is right for Plymouth to leap into the festival circuit, writes Belinda Dillon.

hatever artform they’re showcasing, festivals have an aura that borders on the intoxicating: the atmosphere of a place when it’s thronging with artists, the excitement of racing between shows with seconds to spare, taking a gamble on something you wouldn’t normally consider (mime, anyone?) and coming away beguiled, transported and convinced that you’ve just seen the best thing in the world EVER. This year sees Plymouth add its presence to the already heaving roster of South West arts events with the launch of the city’s first ever Fringe Festival, a celebration of theatre and live performance that’ll see the half-term week (25 - 30 May) bursting with entertainment as never before. With 50 companies taking part and multiple shows a day, there’ll be a lively mix of drama, dance, comedy, spoken word and performance art, plenty of it suitable for families, and at least one show aimed specifically at toddlers. The main venues will be The Lab (the Theatre Royal’s newest performance space), Radiant Space, Barbican Theatre and The House, the spanking

PHOTO: CHRISTIAN SINIBALDI

Plymouth Fringe Festival venues: (clockwise from top left) Theatre Royal, About Barbican Theatre, The House

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

new, £7m performing arts centre at Plymouth University, but there’ll also be work on show in less traditional spaces, including at least one pub, a hidden woodland and maybe even the back of a car. Organised by Toast, a new theatre development group set up by Dan Baker, Matt Hall, Tom Nicholas and Beth Shouler – whose aim is to make Plymouth a place where practitioners can develop sustainable careers in the arts – the festival presents a curated programme of national and regional companies alongside work from local makers. Not only is it a welcome addition to the scene – and a life-saver for theatre obsessives like me suffering withdrawal due to Exeter’s Ignite festival taking a year off – but evidence that Plymouth’s theatre scene is ablaze with artists hungry to make and show new work, and venues increasingly interested in supporting and programming local companies. “With The Lab and The House new to the city, plus Barbican Theatre’s partnership on the From Devon With Love festival with the Bike Shed in Exeter, Plymouth is increasingly well-equipped to support fringe-level work,” says Dan. “And with an

culture

Ruth Mitchell’s Homeward Bound PHOTO:DEREK FROOD

Plymouth’s theatre scene is ablaze with artists hungry to make and show work ever-growing pool of artists making work, we’re seeing audiences engaging with it. Put all these things together and Plymouth presents you with the ingredients required to develop a festival like this.” David Prescott, Artistic Associate of Theatre Royal Plymouth, agrees that the time is right for Plymouth to leap into the festival circuit. “Just like in other areas of the South West, there’s a feeling across Plymouth that more young people are choosing to stay in the area and make performance work, and certainly within the region there are experienced artists making more solo work. The University already offers a performance theatre course, but from autumn there will also be a recognised acting course. “Our newest performance space, The Lab, is a 50seat theatre that we use for all our creative learning projects, including our Young Company, so it makes sense for us to welcome in local performers and artists. Being part of the festival offers a great chance for us to support regional and Plymouth artists.” By providing a platform and a focus for local artists to engage with each other as well as practitioners from further afield – enabling them to make connections and build relationships – festivals can help develop and inform makers’ practice, which all adds to the breadth and quality of work being made in the region. Bea Roberts, an award-winning Bristol-based theatremaker, whose show Infinity Pool – a witty

Bea Robert’s Infinity Pool

multimedia re-imagining of Madame Bovary – will be playing at The Lab, is delighted to be taking part in the first-ever Plymouth Fringe. “There’s nowhere like a fringe festival for bringing people from across the arts community together. It’s all about openmindedness and taking a punt on shows you might not usually see.” But ultimately, for artists to be able to build sustainable careers outside London, it’s vital that there’s an artistic community to feel part of, and – most importantly – a solid audience base with an interest in seeing new work. “Fringe festivals represent a great opportunity for artists to engage with audiences in a completely different way other than just turning up in a van, doing a show and heading off again,” says Dan. “The venues also benefit by being able to present a range of productions in a much different way than they usually would; having a large number of shows in a short space of time allows an increased number of people through their doors.” It’s a win-win situation. And if you look to the Edinburgh Fringe as a model to aspire to (and why not think big?), what began in 1947 as eight theatre companies turning up uninvited – I LOVE the chutzpah of that – to perform alongside the Edinburgh International Festival is now the largest arts festival in the world. Last year there were 49,497 performances of 3,193 shows across 299 venues; it

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Joseph Wilde’s Cuddles

provides a huge boost to the city’s economy, as well as contributing massively to its local and national identity and pride. With such a varied programme – and multiple ticket discounts – the Plymouth Fringe is looking like a great offer this half term. Performance highlights include a new piece from super-talented word-slinger Jack Dean called Grandad and the Machine, described as a ‘steampunk fairytale for grownups’. In Homeward Bound, city-based artist Ruth Mitchell explores ideas around family, baseball and the power of dreams. And, direct from London’s Oval House, is Cuddles, Joseph Wilde’s unsettling show about a teenage vampire – catch it here before it heads off to New York. Of course, it’ll take a while before the Plymouth Fringe is giving Edinburgh a run for its money, but little acorns and all that… What’s important is that regional powerhouses such as the Theatre Royal are on board, giving grassroots initiatives the support to take a good idea and run with it. As David Prescott says, “The fact that we have Toast, these young producers in the city, with the enthusiasm and drive to get on and do things, it’s great, and we want to encourage that.”

PHOTO: ALEX BECKETT

Plymouth Fringe Festival runs from 25 -30 May at venues around the city. See plymouthfringe.co.uk for the full programme and ticket information.

You can’t move in the region this season without falling over a festival or two. Here’s a quick roundup: Plymouth History Festival celebrates the city’s unique heritage. Events for all ages take place in church halls, historic houses, museums, galleries, archives and libraries. Just one of the many highlights includes a site-responsive installation by artist Juliet Middleton-Batts at the former residence of Lady Nancy Astor.

Bovey Tracey Contemporary Crafts Festival is a feast of talented makers from the region and beyond. This year’s event offers the chance to step inside an authentic shepherd’s hut to see a fascinating sound and video installation about sheep-farming on Dartmoor from the touring One Hut Full project.

1 - 31 May, across Plymouth plymhistoryfest.wordpress.com

5 - 7 June at The Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey craftsatboveytracey.co.uk

Organised by the du Maurier Festival Society, The Fowey Festival of Words and Music is staged in Fowey on Cornwall’s south coast - home to Daphne du Maurier and authors Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch and Kenneth Grahame. The programme includes author talks, workshops, exhibitions, concerts, trails, performances and river cruises. There will be a family fun weekend at Trenython Manor inspired by literature, the arts and nature.

Arts on the Move takes place in the rooms and grounds of the charmingly dilapidated Poltimore House, showcasing a mixture of Exeter University student work alongside local acts.

9 - 16 May, Fowey foweyfestival.com

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

7 June, 12noon-6pm, at Poltimore House, Exeter artsonthemove.co.uk

culture

The South West Festival Trail 2015 There are of course a huge variety of festivals big, small, literary, craft and/or musical taking place all across the South West, but here is a roundup of 12 of the region’s most popular. Dust down your tent, rev up your van, unfurl those picnic blankets and get your diaries out – it’s going to be a fun summer. Map and illustrations by Sara Nunan. Beats Cornwall Friday 14 –Sunday 16 August Mount Pleasant Eco Park, Porthtowan, Cornwall

The second Beats Cornwall drumming and dance festival offers three days of drumming and dance on the North Cornish coast. The event brings tutors of African and Brazilian rhythms to Cornwall, with workshops all day and evening performances by night. Festival-style café selling vegetarian cuisine, plus camping. A weekend ticket is priced at £125 and includes all tuition, access to evening performances and camping.

Beautiful Days Friday 21 to Sunday 23 August Escot Park, near Fairmile, Devon

Line-up: The Levellers will open the festival headlining the main stage with fellow acts Dropkick Murphys and Happy Mondays, together with Hudson Taylor, Slamboree, CoCo and the Butterfields, The Beat, Dizraeli and the Small Gods. An adult weekend camping ticket is priced at £135. Daily capacity 15,000.

Boardmasters Wednesday 5 – Sunday 9 August Watergate Bay, Newquay, Cornwall

Began life in 1981 and has become one of the most well known and respected surfing events in the country. The festival offers five days of surf competition at Fistral Beach and a weekend of live music on the stunning headland, Watergate Bay. Headliners Faithless, Rudimental, and Bastille are joined by Clean Bandit, De La Soul, Duke Dumont, Reef, and Arrested Development. A four-day adult ticket with camping is priced at £119. There is also the bumper ticket package called the Charger ticket which includes everything from bus pass to parking, VIP camping, Beach Session gigs and After Parties. Daily capacity: 30,000.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival 17 - 20 September Budleigh Salterton, Devon

Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival was founded in 2008 by the late Susan Ward with the aim of attracting critically acclaimed authors, poets and playwrights to Budleigh to share their work. Now in its fifth year, the festival boasts three days of talks, readings and conversations with authors, broadcasters, poets and playwrights. Topics span art and science, fact and fiction, poetry and prose, aimed at all ages and tastes. The president is Dame Hilary Mantel.

Chagstock Friday 17 - Saturday 18 July Whiddon Down, Chagford, Devon

Now in its tenth year, this is a two-day family-friendly festival staged on open fields on the north edge of Dartmoor with panoramic views of the surrounding area. Line-up includes New Model Army, The Neville Staple Band, Martha Tilston, Price: £85 for a weekend adult ticket. Daily capacity is 5,000.

Fal River Festival Friday 22 – Sunday 31 May Falmouth, Cornwall

The 10th Fal River Festival takes place at various venues on the River Fal, and encompasses more than 150 events from music and drama, the arts and heritage to gig racing, swimming, and walking. Events lined up for this year include the Fal River Walk, Castle to Castle Swim, Fal Fish Festival, the award-winning Film on the Ferry and the opening Beer Fleet Parade. Most events are free and not ticketed.

Looe Music Festival Friday 18 - Sunday 20 September Looe Beach, Looe, Cornwall

Line-up includes The Proclaimers, Buzzcocks, Bad Manners, Duke Special, Ferocious Dog and Luke Daniels. Price: £110 for a weekend with camping. Daily capacity: 10,000.

Port Eliot Literary Festival Thuday 30 July – Sunday 2 August Port Eliot Estate, St Germans, Cornwall

Set in the grounds of the Earl of St Germans’ Cornish estate, the festival celebrates 11 years and offers a diverse mix of music, literature, poetry, comedy, film and art. Families are especially welcome at the festival and there’s a special supervised kids’ area featuring performances, crafts, workshops and more. Line-up includes The Unthanks, Ezra Furman, Marika Hackman, Geata Krar and Mad Dog McCrea. Weekend ticket £165 and festival-goers can pitch their tents in the grounds of the Port Eliot Estate as part of the entry price or hire a yurt or teepee. Daily capacity: 7,000.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

culture St Ives Blues Festival Sunday 10 May 2015 St Ives Guildhall, St Ives, Cornwall

The second St Ives Blues Festival will feature Chantel McGregor, Aynsley Lister, Larry Miller Band, Danny Bryant, Laurence Jones, and Matt Woosey. Price £24. Event doesn’t include camping. Daily capacity 500.

Somersault Thursday 23 - Monday 27 July Castle Hill, Barnstaple, Devon

A five-day summer camp of music, adventure and outdoor living includes Wild Wellbeing classes and treatments and a Summer Garden Party hosted by Jo Whiley, which are all available to book. Line-up includes Bombay Bicycle Club, and Laura Marling, Angus & Julia Stone, Imelda May, The Staves, Jimmy Cliff, Rae Morris, Bear’s Den, DJ Yoda, Norman Jay, The Correspondents, Jeremy Loops, Laura Doggett, Ibibio Sound Machine. Price is £295 for a long weekend family ticket. Daily capacity 3,000.

Tiverton Balloon and Music Festival Friday 10 - Sunday 12 July 2015 Petroc College/Tiverton Campus, Bolham Road, Tiverton, Devon

The festival will be showcasing acts across its two music stages, together with a Comedy Stage, workshops provided by staff and students from both Petroc College and Tiverton High School, poetry and story readings, diverse catering and an eclectic mix of other attractions. More than 40 hot air balloons are planned to take to the skies on Friday evening and in the morning and evening on both Saturday and Sunday (subject to weather). On Friday and Saturday there will be evening entertainment provided by Night Glows where balloons will give a fire and light show choreographed to music alongside fire jugglers and a lantern procession. £17 for all three days, child (8 - 15) £12, Under 5s free. Daily capacity: 3,000.

Volksfest Friday 22 - Sunday 24 May Newnham Park, Plympton, Plymouth, Devon

A VW-themed weekend with two music tents, a comedy tent, children’s entertainment and stalls. The festival offers VW owners a chance to show off their vehicles in various categories, and festival goers with a chance to look at all the entries in the arena. While this festival is called Volksfest, non-Volkswagon owners can attend. Camping above the arena on the slopes of Newnham Park is open to all. Line-up includes Ocean Colour Scene, East 17, Atomic Kitten, Wilko Johnson, Finley Quaye, Otis Redding III across six stages, a cabaret and comedy tent, open mic, burlesque, cinema and kids’ performance classes. Price £80 for a full weekend of camping.

Turn the page for a larger version of Sara Nunan’s exquisitely illustrated map, created exclusively for MANOR Magazine. Readers can buy a 59.4 x 42cm limited-edition fine art Gicleé print of The South West Festival Trail for £79.95 plus postage. Offer ends 30 June 2015. Go to manormagazine.co.uk/specialoffers

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

South West Festival Trail 2015

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

• • • •

An “exceptional” ISI Inspection Report. Daily transport from surrounding area. Early Years Funding & Scholarships available. Regional and National Sporting success.

Come and see why our pupil numbers have grown by 15% in the last 2 years

Open Evening – Thursday 14th May 4pm – 7pm For further information:

Tel: 01395

272148

E: admissions@stpetersprepschool.co.uk www.stpetersprep.co.uk

Traditional values delivering outstanding academic results

TAUNTON

An education for life Co-educational day & boarding ages 3-18 01823 340830

www.queenscollege.org.uk

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

culture

PHOTO: COURTESY FRENCH & SCOTT

Pushing boundaries Changes are taking place at Tate St Ives. Artistic director Sam Thorne talks to Miranda Gardiner about his vision for the future of this iconic cultural centre

COURTESY OF TATE ST IVES

ate St Ives is building an extension. Not like one for you or me though. There will be no bi-fold doors in this scheme; it has been in the pipeline for 10 years already and will be much more than a bolt-on white cube and glass box. At this moment, it is being both finely crafted and vigorously pile-driven into the Porthmeor hillside. We are all familiar with the existing building; the soft grey rendered exterior, sitting above the sand and sea of Porthmeor beach. This will soon be joined by a new series of galleries and education spaces that will be clad in Cornish granite, and tin-glazed faïence ceramic tiles - most apt for this historic mining outpost - in watery and slatey shades. Crowning this will be a Cornish wild flower garden; I’m hoping for coconutscented gorse flowers snarling their way over the hillside, mixed with steely blue eryngiums, or sea hollies. This thoughtful new architecture should provide a contemporary response to the original 1993 building by Evans and Shalev, and more importantly, give visitors the opportunity to see so much more when they visit. It will double the current exhibition space and allow visitors to see what they expect to see when they visit St Ives: Alfred Wallis’s harbour paintings on board, Naum Gabo’s taut constructions, Hepworth’s sensuous sculptures in marble and wood, the paintings of Ben Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Terry Frost and Patrick Heron and the pottery of Bernard Leach.

Sam Thorne

Behind the door of an old sail loft, in the heart of cobbled St Ives, the Artistic Director of the Tate, Sam Thorne, showed me the plans and some visualisations for the new extension, and chatted about his role at Tate St Ives. He’s been with the Tate St Ives team for exactly a year, having formerly been editor at Frieze magazine, teaching and curating at the Royal College of Art and lecturing in History of Art at University College, London. He also brings with him an international aspect to the position, having worked

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

in the Middle Eastern art world: Beirut, United Arab Emirates and Dohar in Qatar. Sam has done some pioneering work over the last few years, and one of the projects he is most proud of is Open School East. “The project has been running since 2013 and is based in Hackney. It enables 12 - 15 young art students each year to receive free tuition from professional artists,” explains Sam, whose background in literature, an MA in Critical Studies from Cambridge and former editorship of Frieze, indicate a desire to bring literature closer to the fold of St Ives artists. “This would echo the diverse mix of artists, sculptors, painters, poets and writers who were present in St Ives during the 1930s.” Over the last 20 years, Evans and Shalev’s building has come to define St Ives, in the way that the superreflective Guggenheim Museum does for Bilbao in Northern Spain. When Tate St Ives was built in 1993, a nine-year-old Sam Thorne was holidaying with his family in Gwithian, on the opposite side of St Ives Bay. Now he is steering the artistic direction of this regional Tate, and lives a four-minute walk from the gallery. He tells me that more people visit Tate St Ives for the first time than any other Tate gallery. Straight off the beach, sand clinging to their skin and ice cream freshly consumed, they head into the gallery for a calm retreat into contemporary art. This can be their first experience of any gallery. Luckily, Tate St Ives offers much more than just the expected gallery experience. It has had an established artist in residence scheme for many years and works with local schools in the Penwith community. Within the new spaces, there will be a larger dedicated education space to allow children to become involved fully in the work of Tate St Ives artists, past and present. Interestingly, this has been designed by the original architects, Evans and Shalev, and will be built up from the existing courtyard into a two-storey

Plan of the north elevation © JAMIE FOBERT ARCHITECTS LTD

Aerial photo showing proposed extension © JAMIE FOBERT ARCHITECTS LTD

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

PHOTO: IAN KNGSNORTH

More people visit Tate St Ives for the first time than any other Tate gallery. Straight off the beach, they head into the gallery for a calm retreat into contemporary art

education space, include a cafe and learning area (some of the best learning happens over food) and topped off by a pavilion. The firm behind the rest of the new extension, Jamie Fobert Architects, has an independent practice based in London, and is also responsible for designing a new addition to the much loved Kettles Yard in Cambridge, the former home of Jim Ede, a curator at the Tate in London. Ede had a connection with the St Ives artists through studying as an artist himself at Newlyn Art School and through an on-going correspondence with Alfred Wallis. The striking new gallery spaces at Tate St Ives will allow visitors to experience a linear gallery view of 75m through the Hepworths, Wallises, Gabos, Nicholsons, Woods, Frosts and Herons. The funding for the new Tate St Ives extension has come from the Arts Council of England, Heritage Lottery Fund and Coastal Communities Fund to the tune of £18 million. In order to involve the local community fully in the on-going consultation process there are monthly meetings, where “we feel the support of the community,” says Sam. Surprisingly, for a town with peninsula parking problems, the new extension will even offer up additional parking. It will also add 200 extra jobs over the next 10 years and generate £84 million for the local economy over the same decade. We have to remember that the original building was designed for 70,000 visitors annually. It’s just that 250,000 came! Tate St Ives will be closing at the end of this current season in October 2015 and will re-open in May 2016. The Tate St Ives Project will be completed in 2017.

culture Images Moving Out Onto Space: Tate St Ives summer exhibition 2015 The exhibition runs from 23 May – 27 September 2015. Below are selected images from some of the featured artists to whet your appetite...

Bridget Riley Nataraja 1993 Oil paint on canvas 165.1 x 227.7 cm Tate

John Divola, born 1949 The Zuma Series 1977 Portfolio of 10 dye transfer prints The Kirkland Collection © JOHN DIVOLA

Bryan Wynter, 1915 – 1975 IMOOS VI 1965 Gouache paint on card, glass, chipboard box, motor, light bulb and nylon thread 120.2 x 101 x 116.8 cm Tate

Nicolas Deshayes Slugs in Peroxide 2013 Anodised aluminium, vacuum formed plastic 165 x 142 x 8 cm ND/S 71 COURTESY: JONATHAN VINER, LONDON

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Stone-carving

Art school pop-up Ten years from conception, Dartmoor Arts thrives and continues to attract high-profile tutors, speakers and students to the pretty Devon village of Drewsteignton. By Belinda Dillon

he phrase ‘pop-up’ is ubiquitous these days: restaurants, bars, tents… practically anything can draw on the aura of cool spontaneity conjured by the satisfyingly onomatopoeic combination of those two words. That the term has become a central tenet of many corporate marketing strategies is testament to its appeal, as well as to its success as a business model, and part of its popularity surely also stems from a built-in notion of immediacy, of precarious vivacity, that draws you in precisely because it might not be around tomorrow. However, the best pop-ups achieve longevity when they address a need that’s not being met, a desire for a particular kind of experience that’s not being fulfilled elsewhere. Which is why, nearly 10 years from conception, Dartmoor Arts is thriving still, and continuing to attract an impressively broad range of high-profile tutors and speakers – not to mention students – to Drewsteignton. “Looking back to my time at art college in the 1970s, I realise how incredibly fortunate and privileged students were at that time,” says Peter Randall-Page, the multi-award-winning artist behind Dartmoor Arts. “We had lots of space, equipment and materials at our disposal, as well as a great deal of tutorial contact and support, and instruction from technicians with a wide range of experience to offer. By contrast, today’s students seem to have rather a raw deal: space and materials tend to be limited and tutors are stretched so that the level of tutorial input is often much less than I had as a student.”

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Conversations with other practicing artists living near Peter’s Dartmoor home lead to the idea of creating a ‘pop-up’ art school for one week each summer, with a number of courses running simultaneously. Since then – 2006 – Dartmoor Arts has become a centre for creative exploration and artistic rigour, each July bringing artists, writers, thinkers and performers to share their expertise across a broad range of courses, including those offering traditional skills such as painting, drawing and stone-carving, to those that incorporate cutting-edge technology. Last year’s school featured a course in robotic drawing lead by Paul Granjon, who this summer will be guiding students through the creation of interactive light objects. There’s even a course in How to Be Interesting, which will take you from wall-flower to confident public speaker in under a week. “Over the years we have initiated some innovative courses that we are particularly proud of,” says Peter. “The drawing course, for example, has a different tutor each day with a unique approach to drawing. Similarly, last year we ran a course on camera-less photography with five practitioners teaching one day each.” One of the intensely practical courses, Spatial Structures, has developed something of a cult following, attracting architecture students from all of the main schools. Lead by architect Jerry Tate, Spatial Structures is one of the only courses in the UK that allows student architects to design and build a structure at 1:1 scale – in seven years of architecture training, students don’t usually get to build anything!

culture

Body Morphing

Tabatha Andrews and Alli Eynon, who teach the Body Morphing course

– and over five days they have to conceive, design and build an inhabitable structure from local timber. The results are staggering, and projects have included a walkway through the trees, and a portable performance pavilion. New this year is the Bodymorphing course – a heady brew of performance art, sculpture and costume design that will see students working to transform such diverse materials as foam, clay and lycra into a wearable work of art. Lead by artists

Tabatha Andrews and Alli Eynon, it will culminate in a catwalk show on the last Friday of the week. “The aim of the course is to expand students’ creativity, to embrace the unusual, off beat and alternative, and find their own expression,” says Alli, whose previous work has included creating costumes for Tim Burton’s Batman films. “We want to give people the means to expand their repertoire of form, and to gather lots of inspiring, rich material to fuel their next artistic body of work. This is for all artists

Peter Randall-Page PHOTO: MIKE SMALLCOMBE

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

PHOTO: MIKE SMALLCOMBE

Spatial Structures is one of the only courses in the UK that allows student architects to design and build a structure at 1:1 scale. The bridge created by the Spatial Structures students, 2013

who want to experiment – it could appeal to painters, sculptors, digital or performance artists; anyone who is excited by the idea of morphing their body. Students will get to work with unfamiliar materials, participating in workshops that include making, drawing, performance and sound. You don’t have to be experienced to join in, just have an open mind.” Tabatha Andrews agrees that it’s this spirit of freedom and exploration that sits at the heart of the Dartmoor Arts experience. “It is one of the most exciting summer schools around, providing a vital space for working with processes and materials that are often no longer taught at art school. Dartmoor Arts creates a wonderful atmosphere that makes me want to get creative, get my hands dirty and work with stuff. It’s an intimate, supportive and experimental experience, fuelling the artistic body and mind.” What’s also key to the Dartmoor Arts experience is the fact that students and tutors all come together at the end of the day to share a meal at the local pub, to chat and relax after a hard day’s learning. This creates the space for collaboration, establishing a creative community that exists beyond the week spent on the edge of Dartmoor – it’s not just about a finished

piece of work, it’s bigger than that, more fruitful. Because the whole experience is informal and noninstitutional, established artists mix with students and younger artists on an equal footing, creating a sense of creative exchange. As well as the courses there are also a series of talks in the evening, which further fuels the creative juices, and has covered a diverse range of disciplines and interests. These have included neuroscientists, poets, writers, critics and material scientists as well as internationally renowned artists such as Anthony Gormley, David Nash and Susan Derges. “We very much wanted the ethos of Dartmoor Arts to combine learning practical skills with a high level of critical debate and intellectual rigour within a supportive and friendly environment,” says Peter. “Too often there seems to be what many artists feel to be an artificial schism between intellectual ideas and practical skills, as if the two are somehow mutually exclusive. We maintain, on the contrary, that dexterity and practical knowledge is in no way incomparable with conceptual sophistication and that both are equally important in the creation of the best art.” The student body is broad, ranging from those

PHOTO: MIKE SMALLCOMBE

The portable pavilion created by the Spatial Structures students, 2014

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

culture

Drawing day

who’ve just finished foundation level and undergraduate degrees, to those looking for professional development, and mature artists looking to learn new skills or develop a specific project, as well as artist educators keen to increase their teaching expertise. “Many students have used their experiences at Dartmoor Arts as a springboard to develop their practice or move their work into new areas, some going on to post graduate courses or further training at prestigious institutions such as Goldsmiths College of Art and the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art,” says Peter. “Others return year after year, sampling different courses or immersing themselves more deeply in their chosen medium.

“With the loss of both the art college in Exeter and Dartington College of Arts from the area, there is a large geographical gap in art education in the area, and whilst Dartmoor Arts is in no way a substitute for these institutions, it at least keeps art education alive in a region so well endowed with creative people.” Dartmoor Arts Summer School runs from 26 July – 1 August. There are bursaries (up to a 50% reduction of the fees) available to art and architecture students, and artists on a low income. This is to make the school accessible and affordable and helps support artists at the beginning of their careers.

This year, Stephen Park and Wilf Merttens will once again be teaching How to Be Interesting, comprising three days of workshops culminating in a ten-minute solo live performance. Mandy Barber did the course last year… “It was one of the most empowering and transforming experiences I think I have ever been through! Stephen and Wilf take you through a series of games and exercises that put you on the spot, way out of your comfort zone, but secretly we are all there because we want to be able to take the stage. All kinds of hilarious, unusual, bizarre and freaky things happen – strange things come out of people’s mouths when they’re under pressure – but this is what makes it so funny. I laughed so hard for three days that it took ages for my stomach muscles to stop hurting. They teach you the secret of delivering things in threes, how to create a map of your story or anecdote so that you remember

what to say, even when you are a bunny in the headlights! Stephen and Wilf are brilliant at teaching and even when you think you will never be ready to go on stage, somehow – magically – people pull it off on the night. Since I did the course I have totally lost my fear of speaking in public. Something amazing happens in the space of three days: you arrive as a nervous wreck, gibbering at the thought of standing up and speaking in front of people, and by the end you’re having to be forced off stage because your time is up but you are SO lapping up the admiration of the crowd! This course is really for anyone who wants to conquer their fear of public speaking – and, of course, to find out how to be interesting.”

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

South West must sees...

Reach for the sky

PHOTO: RICHARD DAVENPORT

In northern France during WW2, three children encounter a lost American soldier in the ruins of their village. Decades later, the soldier’s camera is unearthed and his grandson tries to solve the mystery of the photographs inside. Mixing physical dexterity, cinematic imagery and inventive storytelling, Rhum & Clay Theatre Company’s A Strange Wild Song is a touching story about finding light in the darkest of places. During the residency, the company will also be showing their latest piece, 64 Squares, an adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s The Royal Game. 19 - 30 May at Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter. bikeshedtheatre.co.uk

Sound and vision Incorporating piano wires strung across the main gallery space, Drop Me A Line Part I is an interactive installation by Michael Fairfax and Louise Baker that allows the viewer to become participant by plucking or bowing the strings and recording the results. Drop Me A Line Part II then sees the recordings, videos, paper lines and instruments created by visitors exhibited alongside some of the artists’ original work. Part I runs until 16 May, and Part II runs from 23 May - 20 June, at Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton. thelmahulbert.com

Art park Making the most of its fantastic location on the edge of Dartmoor, Delamore Arts and Sculpture Exhibition is a month-long show presenting the largest collection of artists’ work in one place in the South West. It’s also a great opportunity to wander the impressive gardens, which are only open to the public during the exhibition period – the month that the rhododendrons and azaleas are in full bloom. 1 - 31 May at Delamore Estate, Ivybridge. delamore-art.co.uk Sue Smith’s stained-glass mosaic sphere

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

culture

Siren song Folk music superstar Kate Rusby brings her soulful tones to North Devon as she tours fresh new songs from her latest album, Ghost. 23 May at The Queens Theatre, Barnstaple. northdevontheatres.org.uk

Making their marks Showcasing various techniques including wood engraving, collograph, etching and drypoint, as well as wood and lino cut, ‘Five Women Printmakers’ brings together the work of renowned South West artists Catherine Cartwright, Merlyn Chesterman, Hilary Paynter, Anita Reynolds and Judith Westcott. Until 30 May at White Moose Gallery, Barnstaple. whitemoose.co.uk

Hilary Paynter, Thames, wood engraving

Fresh eyes Showcasing 55 of the most promising artists emerging from UK art schools, the Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition provides a box-fresh snapshot of contemporary practice, spanning diverse media, processes, themes, influences and approaches – from moving image and performance to more traditional approaches such as printmaking, painting and sculpture. Focusing on final year students, graduates and artists one year out of study, the annual national touring exhibition has consistently acted as a barometer of contemporary art practice, shining a spotlight on the hottest talents of the year. Melissa Rime, A Taste of Chlorine, 2012’, mixed media 152cm x 120cm

Until 30 May at Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange, Penzance. newlynartgallery.co.uk

All aboard Set in the year 2029, Pioneer is a multimedia sci-fi thriller about the first human mission to Mars. Since Curious Directive’s last piece, Kindness of Strangers, explored issues around the NHS by driving the audience – four at a time – around Plymouth in an ambulance, it’s anybody’s guess how far out we’ll get to travel for this latest show at The Drum… Better buckle up, just in case. 19-23 May at Drum Theatre, Plymouth. theatreroyal.com

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Worth making the trip for...

Shiver me timbers Punchdrunk are renowned for creating thrilling theatrical experiences that blur the lines between space, performer and spectator. Their education arm, Punchdrunk Enrichment – which works with young people to create and explore interactive projects – has now created its largest production to date: Against Captain’s Orders, a family adventure for 6-12 year olds that takes in the National Maritime Museum’s extraordinary collection of artefacts. Donning life jackets, participants will become part of the motley crew of HMS Adventure, taking on seafaring roles of Ship’s Watch, Navigation, Midshipmen and Salvage. Harnessing the heroics of maritime legends from the past such as Grace Darling, Captain Bligh and Sir Francis Drake, audiences will live through their very own nautical adventure. Until 31 August, at National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Tickets can be purchased online and by phone via the Royal Museums Greenwich box office. punchdrunk .com

Family circle

12 - 31 May at Camden People’s Theatre, London, as part of the Sprint Festival. cptheatre.co.uk

PHOTO: IDIL SUKAN/DRAW HQ

PHOTO: STEPHEN DOBBIE

An intimate, funny and ultimately devastating exploration of mother-daughter relationships, Greyscale’s Gods Are Fallen and All Safety Gone is a piece that grabs the heart and won’t let go. That the two actors – Sean Campion and Scott Turnbull – playing the mother and daughter are men ceases to be of relevance within seconds; the hour-long piece delivers a level of emotional honesty that supersedes gender. A must-see.

The essence of nature

Until 21 June at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Bruton. hauserwirthsomerset.com

Sounds of the street Internationally acclaimed beatboxer and World Loopstation Champion Shlomo will be performing his astonishing feats of vocal dexterity at Soho’s jazz mecca Ronnie Scott’s this May. Featuring collaborations with soul singer Nate James and singer/songwriter/cellist Ayanna, the show is sure to be an ear-bending delight. 31 May at Ronnie Scott’s, London. ronniescotts.co.uk

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

‘Four Seasons’ is a brand new series of paintings by Chinese artist Zhang Enli, whose ethereal yet earthy depictions bring nature up close via enlarged views of water, leaves and trees. The works are created from sketches, photographs and, significantly, the artist’s memories, and as such are not faithful renditions but highly personal offerings. Zhang will also produce a ‘Space Painting’ by working directly onto the walls in the area between the two galleries; the scale, and the lack of a traditional frame, alters the relationship between viewer and work, demanding the viewer retraces the steps of the artist and relives his experience of this physical space. Trees in The Wind, 2014

culture

What’s mine is yours All of This Belongs to You is a series of specially commissioned interventions around the Victoria & Albert Museum that raises questions about the opportunities, obligations and limits to participation in this institution – and what it means to be responsible for a national collection. The exhibition will act as a laboratory for public life and explore the role of design and architecture in defining civic identity, technology, security, citizenship, democracy, the public realm and urban experience. Until 19 July at V&A, London. vam.ac.uk

In your image Blurring the line between collector, curator and artist, Ydessa Hendeles is renowned for creating large-scale, site-specific compositions that draw together often disparate elements, juxtaposing art works with psychologically charged cultural artefacts, to create new narratives of meaning. In From her wooden sleep…, Hendeles creates the space for an encounter with a remarkable collection of 150 wooden artist manikins collected by the artistcurator over more than 30 years. Ranging in date from 1520 to 1930 and in scale from palm-size to life-size, the manikins are both unsettling and reassuring, representing both the familiar and the uncanny. Until 17 May at ICA Theatre, London. ica.org.uk

James Bridle, Five Eyes, 2015

Mayfest Bristol’s annual festival of contemporary theatre is an invigorating fortnight of performance from leading makers based in the city, the UK and beyond. There’s so much good stuff to see, but highlights include awardwinning dance piece Political Mother (below) by Hofesh Shechter Company; Confirmation, Chris Thorpe’s one-man show that interrogates what it means to think you’re right; and Lippy, Dead Centre’s metatheatrical piece about the suicide of four Dublin women. 14 - 24 May at various venues across Bristol. mayfestbristol.org.uk

PHOTO: ROBERT KEZIERE

PHOTO: GABRIELE ZUCCA

From her wooden sleep..., 2013 (detail)

Canadian alt-folk rockers Black Mountain hit London in June. To get a flavour of their unique sound check out The Hair Song from 2010’s Wilderness Heart, and Modern Music from their eponymous debut album, released in 2005. All available on Spotify. 10 June at 100 Club, London. the100club.co.uk

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Worth staying in for...

Blood read June is National Crime Reading Month, a unique festival that celebrates the crime genre, both fiction and non-fiction, with a series of talks, lectures, guided tours, book signings and panel events at libraries and independent bookshops across the country. Keep your eyes peeled for updates on authors and venues taking part: crimereadingmonth.co.uk. But to get you in the mood, this issue’s Staying In is all about crime… A keen sense of place is a vital ingredient in the best crime novels, immersing the reader in the milieu and allowing the writer to explore how characters emerge from the landscapes they inhabit, shaped by their environment. Think James Ellroy’s brilliant LA Quartet – The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential, and White Jazz – in which the Demon Dog of American letters interrogates the dark heart of the City of Angels. On this side of the pond, there’s David Peace’s astonishing Red Riding Quartet – Nineteen Seventy-Four, Nineteen Seventy-Seven, Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty-Three – which mine a similar darkness in the bad lands of Yorkshire, and whose plotlines, featuring wide-scale abuse and corruption, seem more terrifyingly prescient by the day. Even closer to home is Belinda Bauer’s latest novel, The Facts of Life and Death, which is set in a bleak, rain-soaked North Devon where the threat from the weather and

Detectives on demand

the environment seems almost as deadly as the serial killer who’s abducting young women taking the last bus home. But a better read for me, and one which truly makes the most of its Exmoor setting, is her haunting debut, Blacklands. Following the plight of 12-year-old Steven Lamb, a lonely, bullied child who digs holes on Exmoor in the hope of finding the body of the uncle he never knew, whose disappearance 19 years before has sucked the hope out of all those left behind. Desperate to fix his shattered family, Steven writes to convicted child killer Arnold Avery in the hope of finally discovering the truth – and a whole new nightmare begins. James Ellroy’s LA Quartet books are published by Windmill. David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet series is published by Serpent’s Tail. Belinda Bauer’s Blacklands is published in paperback by Corgi, The Facts of Life and Death by Black Swan.

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in Season One of True Detective

With a few months still to go before we get a look at the new series of Nic Pizzolatto’s True Detective on Sky Atlantic, details are as tightly guarded as Hannibal Lecter on a day-release trip to a psychiatry convention, but some facts are out there. Moving the action from the brooding Louisiana landscape of the first series, the new eight-episode season will take place in the sunnier – in terms of weather, at least, if not psychology – climes of California. Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams play police officers navigating a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a brutal murder, with career criminal Vince Vaughn also trying to find out the truth. To say expectations are high is an understatement, such was the brilliance of the first series, which saw homicide detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) hunt an occult-obsessed serial killer across the Deep South. With astonishingly good central performances and a twisted, time-shifting narrative, the series rewards close attention with deeper subtleties of meaning. Happily, you can still catch all eight episodes through Sky’s On Demand service.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

culture

Simon’s selection Simon Hall is the BBC’s Crime Correspondent for the South West and the author of The TV Detective novels, in which a television reporter and a detective work together to solve a series of extraordinary crimes. As any bibliophile knows, it’s almost impossible to contain yourself to a short list of favourites, but here are Simon’s top five recommendations. Anything by Raymond Chandler, for the taut, cutting and evocative writing. Who wouldn’t read on from an opening like this: “There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks...” (Red Wind) All the Sherlock Holmes stories, for the most wonderful characterisation, particularly his acerbic, cutting, dry wit, and detective’s eye (‘You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.’) Also the simple but great plots, often involving misdirection – The Red Headed League is a favourite. All of Agatha Christie’s stories, for her mastery of plots and twists – generations of crime writers have followed where she leads. If pushed, I’d say And Then There Were None is my favourite. All of CJ Sansom’s Shardlake series, for their wonderful depiction of Tudor times, brilliant research, great characters, and simple yet alluring mysteries. Dark Fire is probably my best of the range, but they’re all excellent.

Colin Dexter and all the Inspector Morse novels - for the beautiful English backdrop, living and breathing characters, and wonderful plots, and a final twist (in The Remorseful Day) that can make you cry over the loss of an imaginary friend. Simon’s latest book, The Dark Horizon, is out now. thetvdetective.com

CCF Manor Market ad 170415 17/04/2015 09:00 Page 1

The Contemporary

CraftFestival

5 -7 JUNE2015 Mill Marsh Park, Bovey Tracey, Devon

TO U R I S M E V E N T O F T H E Y E A R

To coincide with their European tour, all-girl London three-piece Abjects are releasing a special 12”/EP in May through Stolen Body Records. Boisterous, playful psychgarage that’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face. stolenbodyrecords.co.uk

Helen Brice

Disk of the month Meet Over 200 makers

Workshops One Year On Demonstrations Craft Supplies Festival Food

Live Music Craft Curiosities Street Entertainers Exhibitions Children’s Crafts

www.craftsatboveytracey.co.uk 01626 830612 craftfair@craftsatboveytracey.co.uk

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

The Style Shoot Cricket whites. We’re erring on simplicity. Simple lines with a splash of colour courtesy of Obi, or that fabulous work of recreational art – the common cricket ball, stitched to perfection. This issue’s shoot brings minimalism, classic lines and to end, one of the many beautiful floral prints to be found in stores this season. We make no apologies for going high street – there’s much to be celebrated in easy access to quality material online or on foot. Combine with your own dash of style and individuality. And an impeccably behaved dog… STYLED BY MIMI STOTT PHOTOGRAPHED BY JUSTIN EVANS

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Linen shirt dress, Marks & Spencer, £49.50 | Shoes: stylist’s own

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Belted top, Zara, £29.99 | Trousers, Zara, £39.99

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Belted top, Zara, £29.99 | Trousers, Zara, £39.99 | Sandals, Mango, £29.99

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

V-neck top, Zara, £29.99 | Floral front pleat skirt, Zara, £39.99

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Behind the scenes Never work with children and animals – we beg to differ. Obi, the photographer’s Hungarian Vizsla, made a superb model. Perfect posture and no hair and make-up required. Canine perfection. THE MANOR CAST AND CREW Model: Anya Courts Stylist: Mimi Stott Photographer: Justin Evans Photographer’s assistant: Gemma Moore Hair and Makeup: Elouise Abbot Dog: Obi

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

BE RENEGADE

THE ALL-NEW JEEP RENEGADE.

Versatile and thrilling, it’s unlike any compact SUV you’ve ever driven. Get ready to Be Renegade. REPRESENTATIVE EXAMPLE ALL-NEW JEEP RENEGADE 1.6 MULTIJET II 120 HP SPORT INCL.SPECIAL PASTEL PAINT AT £500 Monthly Payment

£199

On the Jeep Introductory Customer Road Price Launch Deposit Contribution

£19,195

£1,000

£3,000

Amount of Credit

Optional Final Payment (inc £10 option fee)

Total Payable by Customer

Duration of Contract (months)

Rate of Interest (fixed)

Representative APR

£15,195

£7,877

£20,230

4.45%

4.5% APR

Vospers Exeter, Honiton Road, Exeter, Devon EX1 3RS. Tel: 01392 203800

Marsh Mills Motor Park, Longbridge Road, Plymouth PL6 8AY. Tel: 01752 636363

Treliske Industrial Estate, Truro, Cornwall TR1 3LN. Tel: 01872 226228

www.vospers.com

OFFICIAL FUEL CONSUMPTION FIGURES FOR JEEP RENEGADE RANGE MPG (L/100KM): EXTRA URBAN 48.7 (5.8) – 70.6 (4.0), URBAN 32.1 (8.8) – 51.4 (5.5), COMBINED 40.9 (6.9) – 61.4 (4.6), CO2 EMISSIONS: 160 – 120 G/KM. Model shown Jeep Renegade 1.6 MultiJet II 120 hp Sport incl.Special Pastel Paint at

£500. Fuel consumption and CO2 figures are obtained for comparative purposes in accordance with EC directives/ regulations and may not be representative of real-life driving conditions. Factors such as driving style, weather and road conditions may also have a significant effect on fuel consumption. Promotion available on new Renegade models registered by 30th June 2015. Introductory Launch Contribution only available in conjunction with Jeep Horizon PCP or Jeep Hire Purchase. With Jeep Horizon you have the option to return the vehicle and not pay the final payment, subject to the vehicle not having exceeded an agreed annual mileage (a charge of 6p per mile for exceeding 6,000 miles per annum in this example) and being in good condition. Finance subject to status. Guarantees may be required. Terms and Conditions apply. At participating Dealers only. Jeep Financial Services, PO BOX 4465, Slough, SL1 0RW. We work with a number of creditors including Jeep Financial Services. Jeep® is a registered trademark of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC.

Filename Size Page No

Taste the Experience!

IDJ00106_Q115_Jeep_Renegade_PCP_Vopsers_Exeter_133x190_ON6524 133x190 Operator Paul 1 Modified 17 April 2015 12:02 PM

www.rla.co.uk

Fine English wine & cheese, produced from our Estate on the banks of the River Dart. Tours are available which include a wine tasting. Alfresco dining in summer.

01803 732203

www.sharpham.com

u of th W th e e st ye P ar ro 20 du 14 ce r MANOR | Late Spring 2015

All walks of life Harriet Mellor visits Landworks – a pioneering project working with offenders on the Dartington Estate. Photos by Kate Mount

‘‘ Y

ou lose everything very quickly during the first year, your partner and friends; your job and house. A few people stay around for a bit, but they say that the more years you’re inside, the more you lose.” Simon (not his real name) is explaining why the end of a prison sentence isn’t always a time for jubilation. The finishing line may be in sight but very often there’s not a lot waiting on the other side. Simon leaves HMP Channings Wood in a few weeks’ time after serving two years four months of a four-year eight-month sentence for his first offence. On release, a ‘loan’ of £47 is presented to prisoners to fund the first fortnight and a bed offered in that notoriously chaotic setting – a hostel for the homeless. The starter sum is paid back out of the first Job Seekers Allowance cheque (providing you have a base so you can be registered and a bank account to deposit it in). “So what?” you might think. “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” But with such a glaring deficit of support it’s no wonder that 46% of prisoners re-offend within the first year of release.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

From a financial perspective, each prison place costs £36,808 per year, and reoffending costs the economy £13 billion per year. Simon is adamant he’s not going to become one of those grim statistics. He took an opportunity and has run with it, spending the final seven months of his sentence being a ROTL (release on temporary license) at Landworks, a work-based training scheme that provides a route back into the community and eventual employment. On a sizeable patch of land on the Dartington Estate, he and three other trainee ‘inmates’ “please don’t call me a Lag or a service-user”, plus another five ex-prisoners spend Monday to Friday building walls, constructing workshops, making furniture and growing vegetables. The aim is to accrue employable skills, followed by a work placement and ultimately getting a paid job and re-engaging with society. Landworks is the brainchild of Chris Parsons (above), former owner of a successful landscape gardening company called Greenlands that he started in the 1980s. As the business grew, so did the number

Most days the lads budge up on the bench so guests can join them to break bread and experience the Landworks model of rehabilitation firsthand of employees and Chris found mixing the creatives, jobbing musicians and artists with those from more challenging backgrounds created a positive work and social dynamic. “We employed people from all walks of life and one of those happened to be an ex-heroin addict and alcoholic. Working outdoors and with a strange mixture of people seemed to do him a lot of good,” Chris explains. “As the company expanded we took on more people, especially those who were struggling with life, then that stepped up a bit to men who’d had runins with police and then to guys coming straight from Channings Wood (prison).” Spending time with the latter group highlighted to Chris that there were huge gaps in the criminal justice system with no workable solutions to break the cycle of re-offending: “You slip up once, get a short sentence and very quickly start to get institutionalised. Coming out of prison, there’s not a lot out here for you, especially if you go into a hostel. Inside, prison becomes a quasi-family. It’s hideous,

violent, horrible, but can be more familiar than the outside. It’s better the devil you know. “Alienated people don’t believe they can change and don’t see a way back into society. It speaks volumes that the community as such doesn’t really want to have you back. We can lock them up, push them away and forget about them, but what they do have to find is a form of re-entry and are we going to do it or aren’t we?” As the seed was firmly planted, Chris met with the Celia Atherton, director of Social Justice at Dartington. She too had been thinking about a way of working with prisoners on the estate, so she suggested that Chris could rent the land. With added collaboration from Channings Wood and the Devon and Cornwall Probation Service, Landworks came to fruition three and a half years ago. “Landmarks has a strong ethos. We are totally dedicated to resettlement and re-entry into society. It’s about inclusion, being supported, accepted and earning a reasonable amount of money in order to go on and do something.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

We become a bit more human out here because it’s a safe non-judgmental environment. People speak to you like you’re a normal member of society rather than a convict

The bridge to “Hope”

The workshop

The result is a great sense of ownership and trust here. They’ve built and created everything around them.” In terms of actually running Landworks, Chris is pretty much a one-man band but keeps to the ‘all walks of life’ participation. Apart from the ‘lads’ there’s an eclectic bunch of regulars giving their support. Both students and established artists work with the trainees. Carved messages and symbolic structures are integrated into the surroundings. An arching yellow hive-like structure constructed from old gas pipes by the trainees with artist Sarah Jane Hodge represents how bees socialise in comparison to humans. A bridge over a man-made pond traverses from “Shit Life” to a more tranquil “Hope” on the other side. “On Thursdays we have three second year art students who are on placement. Upwardly mobile kids mixing with a grizzly bunch of old crims! They trade off the mix and swap extraordinary stories. It’s really eye-opening stuff on both sides, which is fantastic. “ The emphasis on social skills is almost as important as the practical. There’s a fry-up on a Friday and the daily lunch of cheese, homemade vegetable soup and bread, donated by the Schumacher College, is a simple but really significant element of the programme. Chris feels normality is one of the keys to

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

rehabilitation: “It’s really important to weave in the softer, social skills around the structure of the working day. The meals have become a real keystone. Eating together is one of the things we completely take for granted in life, but it’s quite a big thing after two or three years inside (prison), eating alone in your cell. Initially it can be really difficult to sit down (communally) at a table and can take a few months for people to feel at ease, then they pipe up and good stuff starts happening.” Most days the lads budge up on the bench so outside guests can join them to break bread and experience the Landworks model of rehabilitation first-hand. These include key figures in the law and justice system: barristers, judges, the detective sergeant who “nicked one of the guys” and Ann Widdecombe (in her capacity as former prisons minister rather than one of Strictly Come Dancing). “When visitors sit down to lunch there’s a crossover of information, which works on both sides, and people start to understand the difficulties. “Local MP Sarah Wollaston has been a few times and she took one of the lad’s concerns to Chris Grayling (the Minister for Justice) and he replied to him. For the lads it’s fantastic, there’s no way they ever thought an MP would listen to them and get a response from the top.”

Author Nicholas Evans explains why he is an active Ambassador for Landworks.

There’s also a band of high profile, hard grafting supporters of the project. Nick Evans, famed Horse Whisperer author is an ambassador, along with a former head of industry, and a high profile fund raiser. They all literally get stuck in. But Chris stresses that anybody from the area is equally welcome to come along and help. “The real goal is to get people to engage here so it’s not a frightening experience. I’d like them to feel they want to support us once they know our real roots.” Back to Simon on the cusp of release. After a criminal slip-up and so much loss it’s looking like a positive ending, graduating from Landworks with a job offer at Riverford Farm and the possibility of living locally and independently. “I was 24 when I went in and 27 now, an old head on young shoulders. I feel like I’ve wasted my prime in gaol. Inside people tell you you’re scum. We become a bit more human out here because it’s a safe, non-judgmental environment. People speak to you like you’re a normal member of society rather than a convict. “Chris is unbelievable, he tries to see the best in everyone even when there isn’t anything to see. He goes to the extreme. You don’t meet people like Chris very often. We’re like his kids out here.”

“I studied law at university and in those days we were taught that one of the main purposes of prison was rehabilitation – helping prisoners to see life differently and reintegrate with society so that they didn’t reoffend. In the last 40 years that idea seems to have been utterly lost. “Politicians see no votes in being ‘kind to criminals’. Plenty of votes in trying to look tough. The result is that prisons are shockingly overcrowded, conditions are appalling and the level of re-offending is soaring. At the end of their sentences, prisoners are given a few pounds and kicked out into the world with no help or advice. Surprise, surprise: they go back to their old ways – often with a few new criminal tricks they’ve learned in gaol. “This is what Chris Parsons and Landworks is starting to tackle: helping these guys get started again in society with a different mindset, one which makes them want to work and get on with people, live a decent, ordinary life. It helps them learn some basic skills, maybe find a job and somewhere to live. Chris is a fantastic, inspirational figure. When I met him and saw what he was doing, I just knew immediately that I wanted to help.”

At Landworks Chris says they “do a hell of a lot with very little” but any donations are welcomed as there is always a shortage of funding. Landworks’ wish list 1. Sponsor a weekly fruit bowl…£10/week 2. Woodwork shop equipment, table saw, drop saw, band saw, pillar drill approximately £2,000 3. Day of release pack £150… bag of groceries, toiletries, mobile phone with credit and basic clothing 4. Rotovator for our new vegetable enterprise £1,800 5. Sponsor a trainee for a six month placement £6,000 6. Clothing, boots, work trousers, shirt and fleece/ trainee £85 7. Counselling, £5,000 would fund a trial pilot scheme with Relate

dartington.org/landworks

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Food

Taste the street food revolution | Cornwallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s raw food treats Bites, the latest news and events from Devon and Cornwallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vibrant food scene The Table Prowler | Behind-the-scenes at two artisan distilleries

PHOTO: DAVID GRIFFEN

Look out for pop-up dining events hosted by The Little Feast Company across Devon thelittlefeastcompany.com

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Foodies on the front line of the Westcountry street food revolution The phenomenon of street food offers the chance to socialise, soak up the atmosphere and experience fresh new flavours in a way that differs to sitting down at a restaurant table. Recently, gourmet vintage vans and street food markets have been popping up everywhere, bringing that al fresco festival feel to beaches, campsites and town centres. By Anna Turns The Thirstea Company Seth Richards, co-owner of The Thirstea Company, a travelling tea room (below), trades from a pitch on the South West Coast Path, just above the beautiful Towan Beach. “Street food is really taking off now, as the Westcountry keeps up with metropolitan trends. It’s a much better way of engaging different markets and customers wherever the company wishes. People

love street food now, it has worked its way up from the image of a greasy burger at the car boot sale to a whole range of quality products, often served from quirky vehicles!” says Seth, whose own van is called Earl. So it is most definitely time to jump on the street food ‘bandwagon’, or converted horse trailer or airstream or retro campervan... anything goes!

It is most definitely time to jump on the street food ‘bandwagon’, or converted horse trailer or airstream or retro campervan... anything goes! 94

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

food @HOME One chef drawn towards street food by its freedom is Harry Bartlett, who was inspired to combine his passion for cooking with talking to people when he created @HOME street food last year. He offers a menu of dishes inspired by his globe-trotting around the world: “I didn’t want to get pigeon-holed. I wanted to bring diversity to Cornwall, from Mexican tacos to Thai curry, whilst using locally produced ingredients. For me, authentic street food gives a relaxed vibe that’s different to eating sat at a table indoors.” As any intrepid traveller knows, the best way to get a real taste of a foreign country is through eating specialties on offer at exotic street food stalls – and Harry is bringing his favourite experiences back to

Cornwall and creating locally sourced delights such as Cornish lobster from Dreckly Fish in a tortilla with Cornish salad and a chimichurri salsa. “I called my business @HOME because Cornwall is my place of rest now,” explains Harry, who has a regular Saturday slot at Truro Farmers’ Market on Lemon Quay and at Falmouth University on Mondays. Harry worked as a boatbuilder for 12 years, and this spring he’s putting his hands to work developing a new vehicle for @HOME with an awning so he can cook in front of his customers, rather than in a trailer. “I love the outdoor lifestyle here and surf when I can, but the busy summer season is pretty non-stop.”

Posh Kebab Company Devon’s new Posh Kebab Company has taken a very different approach, specialising in one homegrown dish. Rare and traditional breed meat specialists, Hannah and Duncan Nobbs (below) run Partridge Farm Meats near Tiverton, and they are the first farmers in the Westcountry to diversify into street food, reducing food miles from the field to fork to a minimum. “All of our livestock is born, bred and butchered on our farm. The animals only leave the farm to go to the local abattoir a few miles away,” explains Hannah. “Now we’re going one step further by cooking posh kebabs for our customers at street food markets and private functions.” Their 95 grass-fed Aberdeen Angus cattle and 130 Oxford Down sheep result in meat that is succulent and rich in flavour.

This is turning the traditional impression of greasy street food on its head – with topside and silverside beef steaks hung for 35 days, it’s not ‘fast’ food, and animal welfare is of utmost importance to Hannah and Duncan. “We can trace every steak used in our posh kebabs back to a specific animal, and there are no other middle men in our supply chain,” explains Hannah. The Posh Kebab Company trades at Frome Independent Market on the first Sunday of the month and various other food festivals across the region. Following their recent launch, Hannah and Duncan are excited to have been invited to participate in the West and Wales regional heat of the British Street Food Awards in May in Bristol, with finals in September, so watch this space!

PHOTO: GUY HARROP

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Chef and founder of the Posh Pasty Co, James Strawbridge runs a pop-up restaurant at Port Eliot festival later this summer

MANOR’s pick of the best street food events this month Lanson Grill Fest: Launceston town square, 2 May, 10am-10pm. Plymouth Good Food Market: Royal William Yard, 3 May, 10am-3pm. Barnstaple Real Food Market: Pannier Market, 10 May. Paul Brealey at Devon’s Lemon Jelli serves up sweet and savoury French crépes, barista-made Origin Coffee, speciality teas, shakes and smoothies from a van called Sapeur.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

LostFest: Lostwithiel, 17 May. From 10am until late. Totnes Good Food Market: 17 May, 10am-3pm. Chill at the Mill music and food festival: Retorrick Mill, Mawgan Porth, 22-24 May. Booking essential. Truro Farmers’ Market: Lemon Quay, every Saturday. Exeter Street Food Market: Guildhall Shopping Centre, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Plus night market 16 May 4.30-9pm in Piazza Terracina.

PHOTO: GUY HARROP

Street food has gone upmarket. For example, The Posh Kebab Company uses silverside and topside grass-fed Aberdeen Angus beef

Michelle Northcott and Nicholas Daniel cook culinary delights on board the Silver Server, a 40-year-old airstream trailer

Tweet about street food! Annaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top ten favourites: Bantham: @Gastrobusbeach Totnes: @DiabloDeliFood Newton Abbot: @LemonJelli1 Westward Ho!: @Glorious Oyster Tiverton: @PoshKebab1 Truro: @HomeStreetFood Wadebridge: @WildBake

Helen Grace serves homemade crumpets from her 1967 Cheltenham Waterbuck Truly Crumptious vintage caravan. Try her crumpets with Cornish brie with free-range smoked bacon

Falmouth: @TrulyCrumptious Roseland Peninsula: @Thirsteaco Cornish Street Food Collective: @Cornstreetfood

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Have your cake and eat it Tam Schallhorn Garrood tells MANOR the story behind the raw food treats she creates at Je Tam’s Hayle kitchen

n enterprising mother-and-daughter team from Cornwall are on a mission to revolutionise the idea of guilty pleasure when it comes to food, with a range of raw food treats designed to satisfy even the most powerful of sweet-tooth cravings. For Tam Schallhorn Garrood and her mother Monika, embarking on this new business venture (appropriately named ‘Je Tam’) has been a remarkable personal journey. It began when Tam, who prides herself on her health and fitness, was extremely ill before her wedding in 2013. “I was bed-ridden for months and in that situation it’s too easy to eat unhealthily,” Tam recalls. “After doing lots of research I decided to give up sugar, as there is a growing consensus about the detrimental impacts of sugar in our diets. I looked for alternatives which would satisfy my desire for chocolate, biscuits and cake. I also don’t eat wheat or dairy, and finding products which didn’t contain any of these was virtually impossible.” As her health improved, Tam started devising her own recipes using sugar substitutes, making chocolate and ice cream with raw cacao butter and frozen bananas, and cheesecake using cashews and fruit to sweeten. The latter in particular was an immediate hit with her husband Jon, who began setting her challenges to make ‘clean’ (meaning unprocessed and free from sugar, wheat and dairy) and raw (uncooked) versions of his favourite sweet treats. This is how one of Je Tam’s flagship products, The Clean Viscount Biscuit, was born. Thinking that she might be onto something, Tam took a batch of her cheesecakes to The Allotment Deli in St Ives. Within a few hours she received a phone call – the cheesecakes had sold out almost immediately and

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

the deli wanted to place a regular order. Je Tam started selling to stores around Cornwall. In fact, demand became so high that Tam moved to new premises at Foundry Farm in Hayle, and brought in help from her mother Monika. “I wanted to support Tamarah, who is studying Natropathic Nutrition at the same as running a busy business,” said Monika. “Working with raw food has changed the way I eat, which in turn has improved my energy levels. I’ve never felt better!” “We use wholefoods for our products – this is food in its natural state including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds,” says Tam. “Often added to this is raw cacao; untreated, it retains its vitamins and minerals, providing health benefits and making your daily chocolate intake a healthy prospect. “We have found our products to be helpful for people with food intolerances, as the majority contain no wheat, gluten, sugar or dairy. All these ingredients – which are carefully sourced and often organic - are not only safe to eat uncooked but are turned into what feel like indulgent treats. Our favourites include Chocolate Orange Cheesecake, Lemon, Lime and Coconut Bars, Salted Caramel Raw Chocolates and Spirulina Balls. We also make savoury burgers in a variety of flavours including beetroot and mushroom, which contain very small amounts of dairy and gluten. I can honestly say our products can be consumed ‘guilt free’ and not only that, but they pack a nutritional punch too.” Je Tam’s products can be found at Archie Browns in Penzance and Truro, The Natural Store in Helston and Falmouth, Elixir Soup and Juice (also in Falmouth), The Granary and The Front Room – both in Penzance. jetam.co.uk

food

Bites

Pickle Shack pop-up Join Michelin-trained chef Josh McDonald-Johnson, who uses Cullompton’s local produce to create a popup dining experience to the raucous tunes of Hazaar. “We’ll be using seasonal ingredients such as rhubarb, wild garlic, asparagus, elderflower, gooseberries,

lamb and watercress in May and maybe even some redcurrants if they decide to show their faces!” 15 May: 6.30pm. Three-course meal, live music and pop-up bar. Upton Barn and Walled Garden, Cullompton EX15 1RA. £25. Book online: uptonbarn.eventbrite.co.uk

Top pint St Austell Brewery’s flagship lager Korev has been named one of the best lagers in the world at the International Beer Challenge Awards 2015. Korev, named after the traditional Cornish word for beer and made with Cornish-grown lager malt, was awarded Bronze in the lager 4.5% - 4.9% ABV category, and this Cornish lager has also recently become the official beer of Surfing GB.

New restaurants for Cornwall

Rick Stein’s restaurant is now open 11.30am to 9pm daily on Fistral Beach, Newquay. Follow @SteinFistral on Twitter for the latest updates. The new Restaurant Nathan Outlaw is now open in Port Isaac, whilst Outlaw’s at St Enodoc Hotel, Rock, continues under Nathan’s guidance, with head chef Tom Brown at the helm.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

True food Tim Bouget brings his sustainable Café ODE to Gara Rock, a spectacular venue in the South Hams situated right on the South West Coast Path. Tim says: “We are so excited about operating at this amazing landmark property as we’ll be able to continue to use the same incredible local producers and offer people a true taste of Devon. Our aim is to offer walkers, day trippers and beach goers ‘family friendly food that does not cost the earth’.” Café ODE: East Portlemouth, near Salcombe,TQ8 8FA.

DON’T MISS... 1-4 MAY Landmark Beer and Music Festival Enjoy real ales and delicious food over the May Day bank holiday. Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe. Free. 2 MAY Lanson Grill Fest Cornwall celebrates US-style low ’n’ slow BBQ and grilling, craft beer and Americana. Launceston town square. 10am-10pm. Free. 17 MAY LostFest Serving street food including Cornish Curry, venison burgers, and Cornish icecream. Lostwithiel. 10am until late. Free. lostfest.co.uk

23-24 MAY River Cottage Spring Food Fair Growing, cooking, and most of all eating for the family at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s HQ. River Cottage, Axminster. 10am-4pm. From £12.50. rivercottage.net

24-25 MAY Dartington Food Fair A foodie shopping heaven with local producers aplenty. The Shops At Dartington, near Totnes. Free. dartingtonfoodfair.org

5-6 JUNE Occombe Farm Beer Festival Taste test over 60-plus beers, ales, ciders, perry and wine. Occombe Farm, near Paignton. 01803 520022

100

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Never Mind the Burdocks Cornwall-based artist and forager Emma Gunn’s early May favourite is Angelica. In her latest book, Emma demonstrates how to cut the stems, simmer in water and create a sweet and sticky cake decoration which is also bizarrely meant to stop alcohol cravings! To purchase the Spring edition for £12.00 plus £2.20P&P, email mntb.sales@nevermindtheburdocks.co.uk

Teach and eat Exeter’s Fun Kitchen has teamed up with Fresha catering services to launch a new joint healthy eating venture for primary school children in Devon. Helping teachers to deliver effective hands-on cookery classes and fresh locally sourced school meals to eat, the ‘Teach and Eat’ programme provides a whole school approach. “This is all about trying to engage children with their food. Cooking is a life skill so it’s important that every child has the opportunity to learn to cook, try new flavours and learn about what they are eating and where it comes from,” says Joe Mann, founder of Fun Kitchen cookery school.

food

Feast night

luscombe.co.uk

thelittlefeastcompany.com

Take a sip

PHOTO: DAVID GRIFFEN

Madagascan Vanilla Soda is the new soft drink from Luscombe Organics.

The Little Feast Company launched last summer by Will Greig and Abby Allen, based in Kennford, creating beautiful food using sustainable local produce. The Little Feast Company will be at Powderham Garden Festival 1-2 May. Look out for ‘Feast nights’, pop-up celebrations showcasing the finest seasonal food and local drinks, hosted in uniquely charming locations across Devon.

Ways to eat mindfully Mindfulness may be a trendy buzz word but how do we relate that to our food? Sisters, Jewel and Julia Ponsonby from Schumacher College, Dartington, share their top tips for mindful eating. schumachercollege.org.uk

Time for afternoon tea Now the sun is shining, treat yourself to posh afternoon tea in the beautiful gardens of The Horn of Plenty in Gulworthy near Tavistock. Each traditional Devon cream tea includes homemade scones with a generous helping of strawberry jam and Devon clotted cream, and a choice of tea or coffee (£9.50 per person). Alternatively, indulge in a Luxury Afternoon Cream Tea, which also includes a selection of sandwiches and delicious home-made cakes for £14.50.

1. Find a place and time that supports you to dedicate your attention to your food, without distractions. 2. Pause before eating to be grateful for the food and the creativity, work and care behind it. There may be a prayer or verse of thanksgiving you like to say. 3. Look carefully at the food before you begin to eat, notice the different colours, shapes, and smells. Appreciate what you are about to eat, take it in with all of your senses. 4. Chew each mouthful slowly and attentively; 20-30 times is sometimes recommended. This helps you really taste the food and your saliva has the chance to begin to break it down, aiding digestion. 5. Put your utensil down between bites, allow your arms and hands to relax while you focus on chewing, not preparing your next mouthful of food. Sometimes we unconsciously rush ourselves and take the next mouthful before we’ve finished the first. This can lead us to overeat, not recognising when we are satiated. 6. Experiment with eating without TV, radio, newspaper, cell phone and, at times, even conversations. Even eating five minutes in silence can help us to really be present and encounter our food deeply, rather than being lost in our thinking and not appreciating the food. Eat your food, not your thoughts! 7. Try to use fair-trade, organic, sustainably produced ingredients, ensuring that your food is the best for everyone including yourself and the planet. Eating wholesome ingredients has the added benefit of reducing food cravings and snacking between meals.

Simple suppers

Learn labour-saving tips and skills to recreate seasonal and delicious meals at home from scratch. 13 May. Philleigh Way Cookery School. 10am-4pm. £120. philleighway.co.uk

thehornofplenty.co.uk

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

101

food

Cheese, cows and chefs

Street café

Quickes traditional clothbound cheesemakers welcomed 50 chefs to a cheese-making and cookery event organised by The Chefs’ Forum. Local catering students demonstrated their culinary skills under the experienced guidance of Ian Webber, Head Chef at The Five Bells Inn, Clyst Hydon, whilst eight chefs competed in a traditional butter-patting contest. “It’s great to see these young students being Ian Webber inspired by more seasoned chefs at Home Farm,” says award-winning cheesemaker Mary Quicke. “There has been a real sense of sharing knowledge and as a producer it’s so important for local chefs to know about the food being grown and made in the region.”

Ten trainees between 16 and 24 years old are taking part in a new community café project in Newton Abbot, run by Young Devon and serving delicious food devised by River Cottage’s team of chefs. Chris Griffin, Head of Consultancy and Education, says, “In addition to providing transferrable skills for the trainees, we’re creating a foodie destination in Newton Abbot.” Visit: The Change Academy, 6 Market Street, Newton Abbot, TQ12 2RB.

Signature dish Vicky and Mark Tobin (pictured left) recently took over The Anchor Inn, a hub for the local community in Ugborough. Favourite ingredients this spring: Lamb and asparagus. Style of cooking: Fresh, classically inspired with a modern twist. Best thing about the Westcountry foodie scene: Fresh produce, fabulous local meats and fish. Top restaurant recommendation: Turtley Corn Mill at Avonwick. Favourite supplier: Gribbles in Ivybridge. It’s a family-run traditional butcher with traceability at its core. Our favourite cut is their locally sourced flat iron steak.

Recipe: Flat iron steak with mushroom duxelle. Serves 2 INGREDIENTS

PHOTOS: ED OVENDEN

• Two flat iron steaks • Three cloves garlic • Sprigs of fresh rosemary • Olive oil for marinating and cooking • One small red onion, diced • 200g sliced button mushrooms • 250ml white wine • 125g butter • Sea salt METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. 2. Crush one clove of garlic and pound in a pestle and mortar with the rosemary and some olive oil and a little sea salt. Rub this into the steaks and leave to sit for a few minutes. 3. Heat a pan on the stove till it is smoky hot and add the steak (you shouldn’t need any further oil as there should be enough on the steak)and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Pop the pan in the heated oven to finish the steak to your liking. Remove from the oven and leave covered to sit until ready to serve. 4. Add some olive oil to another pan and cook the diced red onion gently. Bash the garlic and then after a minute or two add to the pan and cook gently for another minute or two. Add in the sliced mushrooms and stir round, then add the white wine and simmer to reduce to about a quarter of the volume. Finally add the butter and stir through. Season further to your liking and serve with the steak.

102

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

The Table Prowler Breakfast at Zacrys Most nutritionists would advocate that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It certainly was when my family feasted at Zacrys, the new restaurant at Watergate Bay near Newquay. As a family, the three of us all interpret breakfast differently, there’s no ‘one size fits all’. So we were pleasantly surprised by the vast and contemporary choice in the brasserie. My husband made a beeline for the self-service English breakfast – nothing greasy here, it was all delicious. My three-year-old son chose a freshly baked croissant to tide him over while the kitchen made his porridge from scratch. Attempting to avoid overindulgence, I poured myself a glass of homemade

berry smoothie and piled my muesli high with a mix of fruits and compôte – not a tinned peach in sight. However, the pièce de résistance for all of us had to be the waffle machine. Pouring a small cup of batter into the cast iron waffle maker, waiting three minutes and then devouring hot, light waffles with Maple syrup – divine. The only downside – I couldn’t eat anything else for the rest of the day! Food 10 | Service 8 | Location 8 | Ambience 7 zacrys.co.uk

Rick Stein’s Fish Rick Stein’s Fish at Discovery Quay in Falmouth sits just across from the National Maritime Museum and looks out over Events Square, itself developed ten years ago to host the various Festivals (Tall Ships, Sea Shanty, Oyster, Spring) that the port of Falmouth is well known for. Housed in a suitably white and blue fish-tiled dining area with high or low heavy wooden tables and a sinuous wooden eating bar that runs along the windows overlooking the Square, Stein’s restaurant cleverly combines a sophisticated à la carte and three-course set fish menu with a classic fish ‘n’ chips eat-in or take-away-and-eat-overlooking-theharbour. Arriving at six o’clock on a sunny Thursday in early April, we waited in a small queue (no exclusive booking here) to be given a table, eyeing recipe books and assorted Rick Stein merchandise including scented candles. The friendly, helpful staff sat us at a high table, offered us a drink from the small beach-pebble-lined bar area – ‘La Tuffeau’, the excellent house Sauvignon Blanc, encouraged me to order half a case the following morning – and left us to peruse the menu and the chalked-up ‘specials board’ on the white-tiled wall. The open kitchen bustled and fried away behind us and the rest of the dining area was filled with lots of early evening children and parents, tourists and regulars busily eating, drawing and colouring-in exotic sunfish and scary John Dory to be posted on the wall as

you leave. Many were drinking local Sail Ale from Penryn, laughing and chattering in a thoroughly convivial, inclusive and relaxed atmosphere where you can engage in conversation – no canned music here – without feeling aurally challenged. But back to the menus: we ordered Three Pacific Oysters to start, with shallot red wine vinegar (French - 7º acidity) served on ice with lemon or Tabasco to taste, followed by Meen Kulambu, a fragrant cod curry from Southern India served with basmati rice, poppadom, Kachumber salad and cucumber mint raita; Goujons of plaice with mixed leaf salad and salsa verde mayonnaise and a side of chips – excellent and crispy, the salad too. We could have had a Cosmopolitan or a Classic Daiquiri cocktail, or a plateful of classic fish and chips – soft, fresh hake would be my recommendation. If the weather had been cooler perhaps a confit of duck with braised red cabbage and sautéed potatoes and a passion fruit tart with local ice cream, but after three mouthfuls of briny-fresh Pacific Oysters, and the ample and tasty main courses that followed. We downed two Espressos, paid a little over £40 for two and stepped out replenished and happy into the evening sunshine in Discovery Quay in time for an evening concert in the town. Food 8 | Service 9 | Location 8 | Ambience 9 rickstein.com

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

103

Spirit of the Westcountry Anna Turns meets the artisan distillers bottling classy must-haves for every drinks cabinet

We grow our own Devon violets for the gin and forage for gorse flowers along the cliff tops at Trevose Head 104

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

food

here’s a certain beauty and authenticity bottled during the making of craft spirits. The time, effort and skill that goes into making every drop of gin or local grappa taste as it does is astonishing. Across the Westcountry there are a select few artisan micro-distilleries crafting boutique spirits on a small scale, and the resulting products are to be savoured, sip by sip. Tarquin Leadbetter, at South Western Distillery in Wadebridge, takes creating artisan gin to another level. Every finished bottle is waxed, numbered and signed by hand and Tarquin handwrites tasting notes onto each label, a laborious task no doubt but one that makes his gin totally individual. Tarquin and his sister Athene Lippiett run the distillery, producing just 300 bottles per batch: “We grow our own Devon violets for the gin and forage for gorse flowers along the cliff tops at Trevose Head,” Athene tells me. “Tarquin immerses himself in the chemistry of distilling as an artisan.” Tarquin spent two years developing his own gin, researching and sourcing the best botanicals and it took 200 batches before he perfected the recipe. Tarquin’s Gin launched in summer 2013, the first new gin to be produced in the South West since Plymouth Gin began in 1793. Whilst making the gin, he fell in love with the aniseed and liquorice spectrum of flavours and so his Cornish pastis, a take on the French aperitif, was born - another UK first. Athene explains that they employ a botanical expert, David, who sources the best herbs and spices from around the globe, including green aniseed and sweet fennel seeds from Turkey, star anise from China and liquorice root from Uzbekistan for the pastis. For the gin, zests of sweet orange, lemon and grapefruit are sourced from wherever they are ripe, plus juniper berries from Kosovo and cinnamon from Madagascar add depth and complexity to the flavour profile, among others. It seems a shame to break the beautifully dripped blue wax seal to open the bottle, but it’s worth it; Tarquin’s is a delightfully aromatic floral sipping gin made with fragrant homegrown Devon violets and a unique recipe of botanicals. “Our flame-fired copper still, Tamara, is named after the goddess, and our second still, Senara, is named after a local saint,” says Athene. “We gently steep our botanicals in wheat spirit overnight before warming to distilling temperature in the morning.” The alcohol is distilled using traditional techniques. Only the heart of the run is bottled, the alcohol is cut with Cornish spring water, and each small batch has its own unique character.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

105

Dappa is a waste product from winemaking so it’s a great way of upcycling

Cosmo Caddy (pictured left) lives on the southern edge of Dartmoor where he has converted an outbuilding in his backyard into a distillery for making Dappa, Devonmade grape-marc-spirit. “I realised no-one in the UK was making grappa, and it’s a drink I love so I did some research at various distilleries across Northern Italy,” Cosmo tells me. “Italy produces 90 million bottles of grappa a year – they drink a lot of it, with morning espresso as a caffè corretto or after dinner as a digestif.” The ethos of Dappa is about quality not quantity. Because production is small scale (producing just 350 litres per season), Cosmo focuses closely on every batch. “For six weeks from September to November throughout the red grape harvest, this distillery runs at 42°c and 100% humidity – it’s hard work and messy – the floor gets stained red as some of the hot water drains away.” Cosmo recalls the day he processed the first batch of grape skins from Sharpham on 18 October 2013: “It started to smell and sound just like Italian

106

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

distilleries which was a massive relief. I was so happy the final product tasted like it should do.” Cosmo advises sipping it gently at the end of a meal with coffee or dark chocolate. “They say it burns away the calories! Dappa has the clean, crisp power of vodka and the grapey-ness of brandy, with a grassy floral nose, earthy taste and the berry fruit flavours of red wine.” Grappa is made from grape skins and aptly Cosmo has a close connection to Sharpham Vineyard in the Dart Valley. “My grandfather founded Sharpham and the vines were first harvested the year I was born,” says Cosmo, who also sources grape skins from other English vineyards, including Denbies in Surrey and Three Choirs in Gloucestershire. “It’s a waste product from wine-making so it’s a great way of upcycling.” Tubs of grape skins are put into a large shoot with an Archimedes screw to turn the skins, pushing them up to the top of two bespoke copper cauldrons. “Steam ‘tickles’ the grape skins, without any pressure, and lifts the alcohol from the grapes. This process takes 45 minutes per cauldron, and I work continuously through the day to fill one still while the other is processing.” Cosmo’s distillery processes eight tonnes of red grape skins a year and the essential chemical process involves steaming the alcohol off the skins, removing water and siphoning off the resulting precious alcohol at 74% proof, which is then diluted with Sharpham spring water prior to bottling. As I sniff the silver tank filled with 200 litres of Dappa, I notice the depth and complexity to the flavour profile that has been intensified by distillation. “The real craft is in splitting the head, heart and tails of the final distillation in the hydrometer – the first portion, called the head, contains methanol and must be discarded, the middle ‘heart’ makes the Dappa and most of the last portion, the tails, is discarded.” Cosmo uses his nose and one simple white teacup to distinguish between portions: “Methanol is green so once it’s clear I know I’ve reached pure alcohol which I can filter off.” Part of the tails from last season are left in situ ready to mix with the distillation from this coming year, so although it’s a long wait between batches, there’s a lovely continuity to the process.” devondistillery.com southwesterndistillery.com

food

Make the perfect gin and tonic INGREDIENTS

• One part Tarquin’s Gin • Three parts quality tonic water • Plenty of large ice cubes Mix ingredients together. Garnish is the key. Classic: wedge of lime Adventurous: wedge of lime with an orange twist Off the wall: pink grapefruit, juniper berries and violet flowers.

Other artisan spirits to try Plymouth Gin For almost two centuries, no Royal Navy ship left port without a bottle of Navy Strength 100 proof (57% abv) on board. A naval doctor invented the Gimlet, mixing gin with the daily rations of lime to help the medicine go down. plymouthgin.co.uk

Black Cow Vodka The world’s only vodka made entirely from the whey of grass-fed cows, and with hints of vanilla, is the brainchild of West Dorset dairy farmer Jason Barber. blackcow.co.uk

Godminster Vodka Somerset-made elderflower vodka mixes well with Champagne as a summer cocktail and horseradish-infused vodka was made with the Bloody Mary in mind. godminster.com

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

107

Plymouth

France or Spain

one?

mouth Poolee Portsmout Le Havre Cheeerbourg bourg Caen

Roscoff Ros

St Malo

Take off from Plymouth with Brittany Ferries and you’ll be free from airport hassle, free to pack your car with all those holiday essentials, and free to explore at your own pace. Book now and you can take advantage of some great value offers on short breaks and longer stay holidays in France or Spain.

Santander

Bilbao

Gourmet Cruise to Roscoff

Spanish coast and mountains

Up to 25% off cottage holidays

Enjoy a relaxing cruise, coupled with a true taste of France. Begin your gourmet adventure on board our ﬂagship, Pont-Aven, with an evening meal followed by breakfast. Upon arrival, there’ll be time to explore the harbourside and village before lunch at one of two favourite restaurants.

Whether you fancy breathing in the fresh Picos air, relaxing in a tranquil country village, exploring a vibrant city; or simply soaking up the glorious spring sunshine, we’ve hand-picked some of our customers’ favourite hotels – all perfect for you to enjoy.

It’s not too late to enjoy the freedom of a cottage holiday in France or Spain this summer. With plenty of properties still to choose from, and nd some great savings, you’ll ﬁnd it costs less than you’d expect! BOOK

Departs Sundays, until 25 June

Travel throughout 2015 – even during school holidays

from just £92pp

This break includes:

✓ Thursday overnight sailing from Plymouth with en suite cabin ✓ 4 course buffet dinner and breakfast on outward crossing ✓ Lunch at a choice of quayside restaurants ✓ Friday afternoon return sailing

4 nights from £164pp

This break includes:

✓ Return overnight cruise from Plymouth to Santander with your car

✓ 2 nights on board with en suite cabin ✓ 2 night stay at a choice of hotels with breakfast

in France and Spain

NOW!

✓ Up to 25% off cottages in France ✓ 10% off casas in Spain ✓ Pack your car with everything you need ✓ Enjoy the ease of sailing from your local port

Find out more at brittanyferries.com/manor or call 0871 244 0171 Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras. All offers are for new bookings only, are subject to availability and cannot be combined with any other offer. Exclusion dates and conditions apply. See website for full details. Gourmet cruise: Price per person based on 2 people sharing, travelling as foot passengers. Spanish coast and mountains: Price per person based on 2 people sharing, travelling in a standard car (5m long x 1.83m high). Up to 25% off cottage holidays: Saving applies to the basic inclusive holiday cost of selected properties in France and Spain, excluding seasonal and weekend supplements and on board accommodation when travelling to France. Also excludes additional passengers, vehicle supplements, pet travel and insurance.

108

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Escape

La Son â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an idyllic French holiday home Pampering for body and soul at The Magdalen Chapter

The fortified medieval French town of Carcassonne

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

109

La Son This highly desirable holiday home should, as you’d expect, sit in the Escape pages of MANOR because that is its purpose, to escape to and relax, writes Imogen Clements

a Son teeters between Escape and Space simply because much of the house’s charm to any arriving guest is how the place has been decorated. There is nothing more relaxing about a holiday home than one that feels like home, where effort has been made and expense invested in making sure the pleasure derived on arrival is both aesthetic as well as recreational. Situated in the Laurargais region, between the historic city of Carcasonne (below) and Toulouse, La Son is an ex-convent dating back to 1840 that has been transformed into a large French country house.

110

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Some way off the beaten track, this holiday home is very much outside of the tourist patch, which means staying here, just for a little while, you can pretend you’re French. Make like the French do: grab the bicyclette of a morning, and cycle to the nearby village of St Papoul to pick up croissants and baguette. Then, after a leisurely petit-dejeuner, head to the nearby town of Revel to immerse yourself in the bustle of the weekly market. Banter with the stall holders, squeeze and smell the abundance of fruit and comestibles on display, before, impressed by everything, you buy the lot and haul it home to work on your cassoulet. There is something very seductive about the (supposed) French way of life, particularly, if it involves a beautiful house with an infinity pool and a view of the Pyrenees. La Son, sleeping 14 comfortably, looks out across planes of honey-coloured French

escape

The main verandah and one of the seven bedrooms

countryside that’s peppered with little but dark Cyprus trees. In the far distance, the horizon’s lined with mirage-like, snow-tipped Pyrenees. The interior of the house is as impressive. It has the tranquillity of a convent but has been modernised in such a way that none of the character and history has been compromised; indeed, both have been positively celebrated in its refurbishment, with each room across La Son’s three floors possessing its own unique wow factor and personal charm. This is a home that tremendous effort has been put into, to good effect, the kind of effort you’d put into your primary residence. It doesn’t feel like a holiday home. The lobby, with its high ceilings, simple chandelier and centre table, welcomes you into the house and invites you to down your luggage and explore. The dining room adjacent is roomy enough to sit 14 sharp-elbowed diners comfortably and there still be room for them all to get up and dance postdessert. We know, because we did. The kitchen is ingenious – bespoke-designed such that every space is cleverly accounted for and every mod con catered for without betraying the simple, rustic beauty of the house. At the opposite end of the house, the library feels cosy, despite the room’s enormous granite fireplace. Staying at a time when evenings were still chilly, we lit a fire and were amazed at quite how efficiently such a colossal hearth draws, making the space a lovely after-dinner space to hunker down on sofas and natter into the early hours. Upstairs, every room has an attention to detail

and charm that means none will be fought over and there are four bathrooms, shared by seven bedrooms, ensuring that no one’s left waiting. Possibly because it’s some way from the nearest beach, the owners have ensured that La Son comes with its own wide variety of entertainment. Outside, the pool merges seamlessly into the aforementioned view, plus there’s a spanking-new tennis court, and two alfresco eating areas off the kitchen: one, a daytime terrace with a pergola to temper the midday scorch; the other a cosier space with a chimenea that’s table-level to provide warm and atmospheric dining by night. To amuse yourselves or the kids there is a games room with a table tennis table, a football pitch and a trampoline tucked away discreetly on the lower lawn. In all, La Son makes the perfect holiday home for a large family or two, or a group of friends looking to get away from it all and enjoy themselves. The house, I’m told, took eight years to refurbish from a spartan ex-convent to what it is today. The family who took it on did enjoy it for several years but began to rent it out when work requirements meant they couldn’t get out to it so often and now they are looking to sell, but in no hurry and happy to carry on renting it in the meantime, making the odd visit themselves. So Escape, Space or Property, La Son could have sat easily in any section, but Escape won through because that is essentially what La Son offers, to transport you to a French idyll that feels like home. La Son can be rented for between £3 ,000 - £4,000 a week depending on season and it is for sale for in the region of €1 million. Contact: angelahopelason@gmail.com thebigdomain.com/large-houses/domaine-de-la-son Fly from Bristol to Toulouse with Easyjet; from Toulouse it is a half hour taxi ride.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

111

The pool at night

Imogen Clements gets pampered and goes Paleo in Exeter’s hippest hotel

here is nothing that screams ‘Massage, now!’ more than the frenzied months-long run-up to the launch of a sizeable lifestyle magazine in the South West of England. And given that the Magdalen Chapter happens to be around the corner and was due a delivery of said magazine, I couldn’t help but relent to the now hysterical nag in my head and book a massage at Magdalen’s REN spa. Magdalen Chapter, formerly the West of England Eye Hospital in Edwardian times, is now a modern, elegant hotel of 60 rooms situated in the heart of Exeter, and there is much that’s pleasing, indeed therapeutic, on the eye. For example, the fine array of modern art on the walls, including Jo Barrett’s intriguing Still Life with Physalis Bowl that greets you in reception and Phil Shaw’s The Critique of Reason that hangs appropriately in The Library. The art fits the rooms and each room suits a different mood. Should you be hankering after ‘cosy’, The Library is just the right size. Enclosed and highceilinged with a log fire at one end, it’s furnished with comfortable easy chairs, a sofa and an extensive wall of books. And good books – Anais Nin, Peter

112

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

PHOTO: RAE MUSCAT

The Magdalen Chapter treatment – inside and out

escape The Library and artwork by Jo Barrett - Still Life with Physalis and Bowl

Carey, Rose Tremain or for those looking for a lighter read, Louise Bagshaw’s latest... Something for everyone. And for all seasons. While The Library is definitely a winter room, The Lounge, which is much more open plan – sporting large French windows leading to the terrace and lawn – is a summer room. And the Restaurant, a domed extension with a multitude of teardrop pendants is probably spring – a bit too airy and glassclad to be cosy but warmed by the bustle of a visible kitchen producing heart-warming sustenance. I am one who feels the cold, so it is rather unfortunate on this not quite spring March day, the only way to the spa is to step outside and cross the garden. But I’m welcomed with slippers and robe, and Airida, my therapist, after the usual obligatory consultation, proceeds to massage me REN-style. Now to me, a massage is a massage, but apparently a REN massage is different in that it is ‘inspired by Shiatsu and Japanese Kobi-do which boost the skin’s natural processes of protection, repair and renewal together with a synergy massage system’ and, of course, uses REN products. It was good. Could have been a little firmer, given the rock hard tension I’d accumulated in the run-up to said launch, but frankly, a jackhammer wouldn’t have released that. I nevertheless rose from the bed a good deal more relaxed and decided to hit the pool. This, unfortunately, meant going outside again as the pool is located further around the lawn. It is a small pool, but very novel in that it is, wait for it, inside out. It has been designed such that a third is under cover, the air warmed by a sizeable poolside wood burner, the rest alfresco, accessible by swimming out through a small hole in the wall. This was fun. It was dusk and early March – a time of day and year when it is extremely rare in the UK to find yourself swimming outside. There was something rather decadent about it. There is no sauna for this perpetual heat-seeker, so after huddling around the woodburner, it was time to get dressed and dine. Dine Paleo. Well, of course! This is the full therapeutic package, outside and in. Not really familiar with Paleo, I wasn’t sure what

to expect, but was told it was basically a caveman diet free of gluten and dairy as neither was around in those days. The premise behind the diet is that our digestive systems have not evolved sufficiently to deal with the deluge of gluten and dairy we regularly throw at it and that eating Paleo is a relief on the system, making it more efficient. The menu was devised by new head chef Matthew Downing. I chose a starter of griddled mackerel, pickled fennel and gremolata, with roast Cornish monkfish, salsa rosa and wild garlic to follow. My companion chose purple-sprouting broccoli and choppy egg salad followed by ribeye steak with Chimichurri sauce and sweet potato chips. Well, those Neanderthals knew a thing or two. It was delicious! My fish was of perfect texture, delicate mackerel followed by monkfish’s more substantial bite, both accompanied perfectly to heighten the fish’s flavour. My companion’s salad, peppered with crumbled hard boiled egg and feta, was the best way I’ve ever tasted purple-sprouting broccoli, and her steak was melt-in-the-mouth tender. What’s more, one’s digestive system approved. There wasn’t that familiar uncomfortable stomach-stretch that so often follows a restaurant meal. I felt light and airy, pampered inside and out. Almost. I needed a touch more warmth. Easily achieved by retiring to The Library, ordering a warming night cap (very un-Paleo) and choosing a nourishing book to peruse in front of the glowing fire.

A Paleo dish

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

113

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

0844 800 2813 www.cornishgems.com

114

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Space Ford Park: a Dartmoor house reborn | Shopping for space Philippa de Burlet | Designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Q&A

Ford Park, Dartmoor

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

115

We had the run of the woods and were let loose there, to climb every mossy tree we liked, and live the Mowgli stories... FREYA STARK

Ford Park: a five-year journey Juliette Mills feels good in large old houses. When she fell in love with a crumbling Arts and Crafts house on Dartmoor she decided she was going to rescue it… Words and pictures by Juliette Mills

have always loved large old houses and big bony dogs. I have dreams where I’m wandering around the corridors, peering into the rooms, wishing the house was mine. I grew up between a rambling six-bedroom thatched Arts and Crafts house designed by WG Tarrant in Surrey with the family Great Dane, and a 16th century manor house – a working dairy farm in the Weald of Sussex set in over 1,500 acres. The story of Ford Park doesn’t follow the familiar pattern of 40-something adults reaching a financial comfort zone and buying a large family home. It came into our lives at a point where we were at rock bottom, with hit and miss freelance work and an over-sized mortgage on our first house by the sea. Having lived there for seven years, that house sold to the first person through the door. Now it was time to grow up and do the right thing. By this time we were parents and our boys were five and two. We were drawn to Dartmoor by its wild, raw landscape and atmospheric hidden pubs.

116

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

We should have been looking for a small manageable freehold cottage, but my eye was caught by photos of a house that was ‘all wrong’ for us. It had that sort of fatal attraction where you know it might be bad for you and you want it all the more. My husband had said ‘bad news – don’t even go there’. So I stored the photos on my computer, looking at them now and again when alone. It was like a secret stash of chocolate. I went to view it without telling him and as I drove along the winding driveway, surrounded by enormous old trees and granite boulders, I felt that rush of love, and I hadn’t even seen the house yet. It was a miserable November day and persistent drizzle had set in. As I arrived at the door, the owner of the house told me with shining enthusiasm and the smiliest of faces that I couldn’t be viewing the house on a worse day. Blinded, I only saw beauty. The owner showed me around apologetically and this possibly made me love it all the more. It hadn’t been decorated in a very long time. Every door frame was full of gashes and chipped paint from a

space Craftsmen from Character Builders worked to restore the staircase and bannisters

wheelchair. I remember even telling her I thought this added charm. The house was elderly, obviously beautiful in its youth, but had hit poverty and was dressed in rags. Still standing and spreading its love, it now cried out for a huge amount of TLC. And it was me that was going to rescue it. My husband and I bought Ford Park in 2010 - a seven-bedroom house with 17 acres. It wasn’t long before we acquired an English Pointer dog. I am now quite sure that it is in my blood – but wherever it came from, I simply feel good in large, old houses and happy around big bony dogs. A privileged life… or serial selfpunishment? Sweet and sour, like having children, and so many of the best things in life. Because the truth is, there has been as much pain as joy. The house was held on a very short Duchy lease and it was in a terrible state of repair. The slate roof was at the end of its life and the electrics were dangerous. Trees had been left unmanaged and there were enormous pines and firs looming over the entrance. Worst of all, a drain survey revealed that the house had no septic tank and raw sewage was going straight out into the stream. British Listed Buildings described the house in 1987 as ‘Unaltered… an important house. A rare example of a purpose-built artist’s house built in an individual style.” It also had romance on its side. Built in 1890 by sculptor Robert Stark, it was the childhood home to Freya Stark, his daughter, who went on to become a well-known travel writer and lone explorer of the East at a time when ladies just did not do that. In her autobiography Traveller’s Prelude, she describes the house and garden with a love which hints at the influence it must have had on her: “We had the run of the woods and were let loose there, to climb every mossy tree we liked, and live the Mowgli stories… “There were glades of azaleas, and rhododendrons now thick-trunked like trees… we looked over the granite boulders of a rockery and open lawn, across a pond or small lake my father had dug out and

planted with lilies and miniature islands… to where Meldon Hill, cone-shaped like a volcano, dreams in moonlight on summer nights.” The garden, mature and unmanicured was, and still is, as intoxicating to me as it was to Freya. We moved into a house whose every inch of body, inside and out, needed stripping, fixing and

Shown (as birdbath): El Cazaar pot £165 and Canova Plinth £300

contemporary concrete garden pieces www.thethirdnature.co.uk or call 07909 695204

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

117

space redecorating. The heart – a very old Rayburn – was only just about beating and there was one small built-in unit with sink and an ancient cork floor full of floppy loose tiles and holes, which let in frogs and slugs and tripped up my mother. “Remember to keep those drains around the kitchen clear of leaves come the autumn,” advised the owner as we moved in. Advice I had quite forgotten as summer departed and the leaves began to fall, blocking drains and causing all the rain on Dartmoor to run down into our kitchen through invisible holes in the wall. House renovation and decoration was one thing my husband and I never argued over. The slate roof quickly became number one priority, because it was leaking in several places (as we discovered, during our second week under it). We placed buckets and saucepans along the upstairs landing and I remember emptying bucket while bats flew around my head in the hall, thinking ‘what have we done’. First we stripped and varnished the original pine parquet. Next, we re-wired the entire house. This took two electricians two weeks. Floorboards were lifted to reveal a layer of original sawdust insulation and every light fitting and switch was left with holes of crumbling plaster around it.

The bathrooms worked if you obeyed certain rules, such as not running two baths at once. The paintwork, much of it old lead paint, was peeling off and there were damp patches on upstairs ceilings. The main fireplace also smoked terribly. More serious problems were discovered as we delved further: an asbestos roof in the boiler room, leaking lead pipes in the attic, and a rotten Himalayan style balcony off our bedroom that we could only dream of being able to sit on one day. In that first year, we had set the bones right in the body and we had lived with a plumber for a month (and paid him enough to travel the world). We had replaced the deceased Rayburn with a new AGA around which everyone gathered, including the pets. Apart from the pretty varnished floor, however, no one would have ever known we had put any money into the house whatsoever. It was four years until the next phase of works began with the installation of a sewage treatment plant, causing flooding in the kitchen and devastation in the garden, as diggers struggled in sodden ground to dig trenches for over 200 metres of underground piping. Inside, I tackled the staircase, instructing decorators to strip back the many layers of paint. I was unsure how it had been originally because

Old paint was peeled away to reveal original features like these original glazed bricks

The house was elderly, obviously beautiful in its youth, but had hit poverty and was dressed in rags. And it was me that was going to rescue it

118

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Materials were painstakingly chosen

A restored room including the original parquet floor

PHOTO: JAMES WALKER

One of the finished bedrooms

The en suite bathroom

Many of the fabrics used were William Morris

The kitchen

it was made up of a mixture of different woods. Pine spindles, which one would usually paint, but beautiful mahogany newel posts which no one in their right mind should cover up. As they stripped away, they revealed ornate ebony inlays on each post â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a stunning reward for the expensive and timeconsuming decision to strip it. Next was the main living room. If there was any room that cried out for William Morris and pure Arts and Crafts essence, it was this one. With its granite mullion windows, exposed joists and beams, and an open Minster fireplace, it needed to be colourful, warm and sumptuous. To help my confusion over wallpapers, I decided to hang samples around the room so that I could live with them for a few days. I began to pull them down one by one as they got on

my nerves. Morris papers are all busy, but some are more peaceful than others. The kitchen evolved easily. Chipping away at the wall we discovered that there were original glazed bricks beneath decades of paint in various shades of cream, grey and pale blue. Ripping up the cork floor I found roof tiles from Serbia that were covered in black soot. For worktops I went for the coffee-coloured Emperdor marble, and complemented this with solid brass Perrin and Rowe taps over a Belfast sink. The vast, north-facing studio cried out to be light and natural, just like the attic room above it. I liked the idea of light and dark playing out with their different energies at opposite ends of the house. This room once saw the evolution of a life-size statue of the infamous race horse Hyperion, which now stands

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

119

The veranda

in Newmarket. It was it made here by sculptor John Skeaping. Our neighbour remembered bringing her horse here as a young girl, to be used as a model. Fabrics had to be William Morris. I went to town in the entrance/dining hall with full lengths of embroidery and interlining with his ‘Tree of Life’ design. In the living room I chose a design taken from an original Morris tapestry called ‘The Forest’ – full of colourful peacocks, hares and foxes you can imagine wandering in the woods beyond the windows they embellish. Outside, every inch of woodwork was stripped back, repaired and painted. And the Himalayan balcony was restored using trees my husband cut

from our woodland. The broken concrete veranda was set straight and re-laid with Indian sandstone in similar tones to the surrounding granite walls, our own homage to travel along with the Moroccan and Serbian tiles, which I’m sure the Starks would have tipped their hats to. The chimneys all required repair work and new lead flashings, and the old coach house which had only crumbling swaying walls left of it was made into a stable and wood lean-to by a charismatic French carpenter, who carved his personal sign into a beam and put pound coins inside joints for luck. The work was completed last summer, and now with spring arrived at Ford Park, it feels like I have been reborn. A survivor of five winters here, in an isolated old house on the moor, I have learnt that it is not for sissies. I also realise there is no light without shade and the long winters generate the most powerful appreciation of new life in spring. In a similar way, I have come to treasure the house, rejuvenated and once again radiating new life.

A no-nonsense design and project management consultancy delivering exceptional commercial results for every client. Our challenging and exciting designs suit today’s modern lifestyle and business ventures. Contact us for a consultation. info@expediteps.com . 01392 691 631 www.expediteps.com

120

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Timber Frame Spaces

Carpenter Oak create beautiful, award winning timber framed spaces. Hand crafted by expert carpenters in our Devon workshops, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve raised frames across the UK and abroad for over 25 years. If your dream is to have a truly individual and sensitively designed new build, extension, or cabin then weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d love to hear your plans, contact us to start the journey.

01803 732900

carpenteroak.com

hello@carpenteroak.com MANOR | Late Spring 2015

121

Style contrast Clean utilitarian lines or pretty country contours? Well of course, to some extent the property you live in will dictate but we’ve decided to present both ends of the spectrum – two fine and highly successful brands both catering to very different tastes. House Doctor House Doctor, established in 2001, is an interior design business based in Denmark with dealers across the world. The company is run by three siblings – Rikke Juhl Jensen, Gitte Juhl Capel, and Klaus Juhl Pedersen – who started out with an industrial design business before launching House Doctor when ideas for new products emerged. A favourite now with many interior designers, their head office is in Ikast in Mid-Jutland, where they have 50 designers creating products in-house. House Doctor is sold through a network of dealers in Europe, New Zealand, and Japan. housedoctor.dk

Black vase, €90

Carafe, €23

Table Lamp, €232

Day Bed, €1,893

Desk Lamp, €464

Velvet Cushions, €28 - 43

122

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Armchair, €851

space

Susie Watson “A charming handmade toast rack started me thinking about the possibility of art in everyday things.” Susie Watson started to design pottery and cushions in 1999 to make and sell from a gallery in Notting Hill. From there she went on to sell at trade shows and retail fairs until 2008 when she opened her first shop in Marlborough. Susie Watson Designs now has eight shops across the south of the country as well selling online. All the products are handmade (by humans, not machines, so small imperfections add to the charm) and are based on traditional studio methods. Susie Watson’s latest shop opened in Salcombe, Devon in 2014. susiewatsondesigns.co.uk

Butter Dish, £29.50

Teapot, £48

Mugs, £17

Cushion, £42 Lamp, £187

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

123

124

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

125

space to imagine

Explore hülsta space solutions for your living, dining, bedroom and home office. 75 years of hülsta

Bristol | 33c Wine Street BS1 2BQ | 01179 290844 Other stores: Bournemouth - Coventry - Esher - Leeds - London - Manchester - Northampton 126

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

German space craft Made in Germany •••

www.bristol.hulsta.co.uk www.hulsta.co.uk

my MANOR, my space Philippa de Burlet is a potter who lives on Dartmoor, Devon.

Philippa, much like us all, discovered clay at school but started to pursue it seriously as a living in her mid-twenties. Early years saw her responding to big commissions from commercial stores, but she found this, the completion of in excess of 40 more-or-less identical teapots to order, began to take the joy out of her work, and chose instead to make what inspired her. She specialises in porcelain as her clay of choice and paints her fine vases, plates and bowls with coloured â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;slipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, essentially liquid porcelain mixed with ceramic pigment. Her patterns and illustrations are drawn on freehand but somehow, doubtless through years of practice, she manages to maintain a regularity across the item such that no aspect of the illustration is crowded or bunched. Philippa works at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen part of the week as their Education Officer but the rest of the week she can be found in her studio throwing, slip-trailing, or incising (scratching) her intricate works prior to firing them in her kiln. She sells her work handily at Devon Guild of Craftsmen, The Marle Gallery in Axminster and also, this year, will be at The Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey. pdeburlet.co.uk

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

127

128

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

space

WITHIN MY SPACE... The cat Dave is now 14 years old. I share my studio with him in that his home is just off it. He likes to drink the murky throwing water which doesn’t seem to do him much harm given the age he is. He has been known to sit on a freshly thrown pot which can be a little irritating but generally he makes a good studio companion.

The Bending Wheel This is used once the thrown pot has dried, for painting. It is very heavy and revolves slowly to ensure accuracy. All my pots end up here.

A copy of an Albrecht Dürer print of grasses My inspiration. I enjoy painting grasses on my vases and Dürer was the master of grasses so a great reference point. The theme continues thoughout my work, where if the art isn’t grasses it’s butterflies or bees – all related natural subject matter.

Bee tile I used a brooch to create the bees on this tile. It was for an exhibition Urban Bee the Devon Guild ran last year inspired by bees in the city – there are nests of bees to be found in Princesshay shopping centre. The exhibition was all about bringing people’s attention to the plight of bees.

The small vase Measures about 10 cms in height and 3 cms in width, and is thrown using my fingers only. Quite tricky but I regularly make a series of these as they are a very popular size particularly when sold in multiples.

Black and white photo of my previous studio It was in Throwleigh and the picture was taken by the renowned local photographer and film maker Chris Chapman. Here I am with my two daughters who at that time were four and eight but now are well into their twenties. You can see all the teapots I used to make on the shelves when I worked to commission… .

Slip Slip is porcelain clay mixed, stained, with ink. This is what I use to decorate my pottery, applied with a ‘slip trailer’, a bulbous pipette come pen, that you can fill and then squeeze the stained clay out of the small hole at the other end. What you see here is drip from the slip trailer, and scraffito tools for scratching. The test tile is used to test colour which can change dramatically on firing.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

129

space

Q&A Henrietta Thorn fell into interior design in her early twenties. Four years on, her distinctive look can been seen in some of the most prestigious properties in Salcombe and beyond.

What came next The work at South Sands led to more commissions in and around Salcombe – a redesign and refurbishment at Lower Bay View, then complete refurbs that I also project managed, show homes at Salcombe Heights, and the Beach House and Penthouse at Salcombe Estura. These projects were intermingled with smaller soft furnishing and consultancy jobs to include Salcombe Court, The Start Bay Inn, Somerset House, and The Dartmoor Union. I am also working for clients in Bristol and London to a refreshingly different brief from the coastal properties I am used to. What are you currently working on Watch Hill in Salcombe is an exciting project linking up a previously unused garden to the top floor of the house, via a bridge and inset balcony within a reworked master bedroom. It has dramatically changed both spaces and brought the outside in. We are now pulling the new look through the rest of the house. I have also just completed a showhome for the Harbour Hotel in a beach house style, a conversion of two fishermens cottages in Batson into one property and I am involved in new developments at Hillfield Village near Dartmouth which includes the renovation of a beautiful grade II listed Georgian farmhouse. How would you describe your style I started with the Coastal/New England look. My clients love South Sands Hotel, but they also say they don’t want to replicate it. They want something that is unique to them – this is probably the thing I most I enjoy about the job; creating a space that a particular individual or family will love. People in Salcombe are tending to veer away from being so coastal now. They want elements of it, but at the same time a smarter, chicer look. Recent work has led me to discovering new styles. The farmhouse at

130

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SOUTH SANDS HOTEL

How did you first get involved in interior design? After finishing my physiotherapy degree, I did a ski season, then I came back to Devon and while applying for physio jobs, I was offered an admin job for six weeks at the South Sands Hotel in Salcombe. I ended up designing the interiors for their Beach House apartments. Interior design was something I had always wanted to do, but never really had the confidence. Then I was asked to do the hotel. That’s how it all began. South Sands Hotel, Salcombe

The kitchen at Lower Bay View

Hillfield Village I would describe as more ‘country’, it’s more experimental with fabrics, tiles and papers – the bit I really enjoy. Sources of inspiration? Fabrics are my inspiration. I love looking through fabrics, browsing magazines, seeing ideas put together in different ways and discovering new fabrics at Decorex trade fair each year. I use Pinterest quite a bit – more to show people ideas as I’m not brilliant at drawing. Fabrics are generally the starting point for my schemes. I collect all the samples and it all comes together from there. Most challenging project? They all have their individual challenges, but that’s how you learn. I love learning from the tradesmen and working with them to achieve the end product we are

after. Transforming two fisherman’s cottages in Batson into one was fun but challenging. The cottages were damp, at different levels, the job list was ever increasing, and the builder was less than organised. There were flooding issues too. I learned a lot about damp proofing. I got experts in to advise me on the technical side and we ended up putting a pump in the floor, which was tricky but has really worked. I had to know about the technical side before embarking on the building works so I didn’t get taken for a ride. Builders see me and think: ‘Young girl, what does she know about it?’ I’m always up for learning and getting stuck in. I have a toolbox and a drill in the back of my car now.

Fabrics are generally the starting point for my schemes. I collect all the samples and it all comes together from there.

Most satisfying project Well it’s not quite finished yet, but I hope it will be The Farmhouse at Hillfield Village. The character and history of the building has strongly influenced our choices in layout, look and feel but with a contemporary twist. It is somewhere I would love to live. It really works. What next? Old Cottage in South Sands is a project I am just getting stuck into, which is exciting for me as it is sited over South Sands beach which is close to my heart. It is one of the oldest buildings in the bay and the clients are keen to be sympathetic to its history but also give it a bit of a wow factor. Current trends? Grey – everyone loves grey at the moment. Grey used as a base colour with other colours to accent it – maybe purple, bright blue or mustard yellow. henriettathorninteriordesign.com

Bedroom in one of the fisherman’s cottages, Baston

FAVOURITE SUPPLIERS Joff Hopper Ironwork in Dartington. He made the metalwork staircase at South Sands Hotel, and handmade lights for the Farmhouse metalpigforge.co.uk

Robert Allen – an American company in Chelsea Harbour. They have a huge collection of fabrics, with some really unusual ones. robertallendesign.com

OTM – they’re a local company who supply frosted film for windows. It’s brilliant because it lets the light in, but you can’t see in. otmprint.co.uk

Peter Goss for joinery. gossjoinery.co.uk

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SOUTH SANDS HOTEL

Structural Skins – a Bristol company that imports ceramic and porcelain tiles that you can’t find elsewhere in the UK. structuralskins.co.uk

Commerce is a brilliant shop in Dartmouth. They sell reclaimed mirrors and old French shutters which I have used as headboards. Unique and interesting pieces. commercedecor.com South Sands Hotel Lounge

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

131

RIBA Chartered Architects

Recent winners of the Build It Awards 2014 ‘Best Oak Frame Home’. Our architectural approach aims to wed progressive, contemporary design with environmentally responsible construction practices. Each of our designs is a bespoke response to the client’s requirements, the site, and the critical demands of a sustainable environment. We undertake projects nationwide. Please contact us with a new challenge.

The Studio, 5 Station Yard, Ashburton, Devon TQ13 7EF. tel. 01364 653 503

www.vanellensheryn.com 132

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Property The Bulletin | Property of note: Thornworthy House | Snapshot comparative

Thornworthy House, Dartmoor On the market with Strutt & Parker. Guide price: ÂŁ1,275,000. struttandparker.com

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

133

Whatever your property you always get our full focus.

More than youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking for. Savills Exeter The Forum, Barnfield Road Exeter EX1 1QR 01392 455700 exeter@savills.com

Savills Cornwall 73 Lemon Street Truro TR1 2PN 01872 243200 cornwall@savills.com

savills.co.uk 134

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

property

The Bulletin Hotspots and changing trends. By Bonnie Friend and Imogen Clements. There was a report issued by Savills recently that valued properties by the sea at approximately 12.4% more expensive than properties inland. The report concluded that when buying, a premium is placed on those properties with a view, and that the most desirable and expensive view of all is one of the sea. The variation between regions however found that in Dorset (think Sandbanks) and West Sussex, properties with sea views cost an astronomical 40-45% more than properties inland, whereas in Cornwall the differentiation was a mere 10%, and in Devon little variation was reported. Savills put the Devon blip down to its high prevalence of rivers and estuaries, so waterfront properties that aren’t sea views, therefore don’t fall into the category, such as those in Salcombe on the mouth of the Kingsbridge estuary and those in Dartmouth on the River Dart. They remain highly sought after, particularly by the boating set. What is clear in the South West though is that it isn’t just the sea, or river view properties that are attracting investment – there are some unexpected trends occurring across the region. Young families are increasingly buying their primary residence in Cornwall. The fear of the remote seems to be abating as transport connections start to improve and families seek better work/life balance. In and around Falmouth and Truro are proving particular hotspots, no doubt because they are the employment centres of Cornwall and provide a wealth of facilities, but also because they are at the narrowest part of the peninsular. They therefore allow access to both coasts within half an hour, as well as several good schools. The types of property people are looking for has changed. Second homeowners tend to prioritise a location by the sea, whereas families looking for primary residences go for houses that are with easy access to schools, amenities plus, of course, community. Most property buyers are very aware that a proliferation of second homes equates to depletion in community, and community is the one thing that growing families need all year round. As a result, traditional favourites amongst second homers, Rock and Salcombe remain favourites amongst second homers, whereas primary residencehunters look elsewhere, for example inland Chagford, which was named the UK’s most desirable place to live this year by The Sunday Times.

Porthleven still bridges the gap. It is predicted to be this summer’s hotspot, thanks to the recent opening of Rick Stein’s new restaurant. Porthleven has always been a popular area both for holidaymakers and for those living there, thanks to the thriving community that has its roots in the town’s historic fishing industry. Whether the Stein effect tips it more into holiday territory remains to be seen, but the community here has strong foundations to hold them here. The Padstow effect is spreading along the coast, between Newquay and Padstow, particularly amongst second homers, with Newquay Airport doubtless helping matters. With regular daily flights to and from Gatwick now secured for the next four years, that weekend getaway to the South West is a lot more appealing when it takes just 50 minutes. There will be zones that remain forever second home territory but this, it seems, isn’t the unstoppable tide that it used to be for many Devon and Cornwall communities. Technology and transport have prompted greater consideration from young families to make the South West their base where they can raise their children. Bringing creativity and enterprise with them, this trend can only have a positive effect on local economies that have been propped up in recent decades by the tourist industry alone and in some cases, not even that. There will always be those who are resistant to change and sceptical of the benefit, but ‘incomers’ it seems are not the ‘blow-ins’ they once were, and bring with them considerable potential.

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

135

LISTED GEORGIAN HOUSE IN EXETER’S MOST FAVOURED AREA st. leonard’s, Exeter Elegant detached family home in one of St Leonard’s most exclusive crescents  main house 5,242 sq ft  versatile guest accommodation  separate 2 bedroom apartment  extensive garaging and workshop  ample parking  landscaped grounds  0.44 acres of gardens  walking distance to city centre

Excess £2 million

136

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Savills Exeter Sarah-Jane Chick sjchick@savills.com

01392 455755

PERFECTION ON THE ROSELAND PENINSULA ruan lanihorne, the roseland, south cornwall Living room  galleried entrance hall  kitchen with AGA and walk-in larder  4/5 bedrooms  office/playroom  attached store  2 bedroom cottage with private drive  garage and workshop  idyllic rural setting  countryside views  gardens and apple orchard  about 1.6 acres  main house: 385.5 sq m (4,149 sq ft)  cottage: 133.8 sq m (1,440 sq ft)  EPC=D (main house and cottage)

Savills Cornwall Jonathan Cunliffe jcunliffe@savills.com

01872 243200

Guide £1.5 million Freehold

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

137

Thornworthy House A 19th century former sporting lodge on remotest Dartmoor with distinguished literary connections. By Bonnie Friend

peaking to Philippa Waddell, owner of Thornworthy House on Dartmoor, it’s clear that this is a woman in love with the life and location that her home affords. Once the home of writer Mary Wesley, author of The Chamomile Lawn, this Victorian property has a literary feel, located high up on Dartmoor, overlooking Fernworthy Reservoir. It dates back to the 1840s when it was built as a sporting lodge, and many of its original features remain intact. Having relocated to Devon from London by popping a pin in a map and upping sticks, filmmaker Philippa and her composer husband moved into the property eight years ago, having fallen in love with it at first sight. They had temporarily been living in Salcombe while they looked for the perfect place, getting to know the area and figuring out where they did and didn’t want to be. It was then that Thornworthy crossed their paths in a manner not dissimilar to the way it is now crossing yours: “I saw an

138

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

The resident Indian Runner ducks

property of note

Happily for anyone moving in, all the necessary amenities are conveniently modern – no tumbledown family seats to prop up here article saying ‘could you live here?’ and went to see it with my mother. Even as I came down the driveway I knew it was the right home for us,” Philippa recalls. Having set one’s heart on this rural abode, what exactly do you get for your £1.2 million? Well, the house itself is certainly impressive. While there is no doubt that it was a property built with the aristocracy in mind (having been the longstanding home of local nobility), it is neither stuffy nor imposing. In fact, it’s thoroughly welcoming. Downstairs it has a garden room separate from the sitting room, a kitchen/dining room, utility area, study, larder, cloakroom, and cellar. While upstairs it has a master bedroom with an ensuite, a guest bedroom with an en-suite and a dressing room, and four further bedrooms, as well as a family bathroom and a shower room. As if that wasn’t space enough, the grounds, which total around 4.4 acres, are home to a Barn Cottage and standalone studio called The Bothy. Both are a big part of the property’s appeal, not least as the former is rented out throughout the year either as a holiday let or residential property, providing an income for owners. Meanwhile, the latter allows ample space for an office (useful as both Philippa and her husband work from home). It isn’t just the space that is appealing to a new buyer, however, it is the details that have been both enhanced and retained within it. Happily for anyone moving in, all the necessary amenities are conveniently modern – no tumbledown family seats to prop up here. However, details such as high ceilings, flagstone flooring, and sash windows are all part of its original character, and have been dutifully maintained. It is always a bit of a worry for anyone taking on an older building that costs will escalate in terms of renovations, but Philippa points out that part of the appeal when she moved in was that there wasn’t anything to do to it: “We just Farrow&Ball-ed a few walls and got on with enjoying our new lives,” she says. “The costs are nothing beyond the usual maintenance that comes with a large house.” The gardens are of ample size to run around in, and the grounds include a paddock and tennis court and have a stile at the far end that leads down to

Fernworthy. It is no surprise then, with all of that at their disposal, that Philippa and her family have often played host to friends and family visiting from the South East – imagine the party capabilities! But there’s also an oasis feel to the house that Philippa enjoys when she’s not travelling with work. Up high on the moors and three miles from the nearest village, it’s worth pointing out that

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

139

Aerial view of nearby Fernworthy Reservoir

A stile at the end of the garden leads down to Fernworthy

Thornworthy is remote. It is a detail that, for the couple and their children, proved life and hobbychanging. Having never ridden before, they quickly bought horses to put in the paddock, followed by a small menagerie including dogs, chickens, gerbils, fish and Indian Runner ducks. The coupleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s children, who were aged five and one at the time, also enjoyed their new lives at the rural retreat. They have since become both horse-mad and country-loving, and while trips to London are frequent, they enthuse about their eagerness to remain living in the countryside and living the happy, healthy lifestyle that they have enjoyed so far. So with all that beauty and such a clear sense of enjoyment surrounding their home, it demands the question: why is Thornworthy House on the market? Well, Dartmoor apparently has done its job too well. Having fallen in love with the location and the landscape, the family is eager to have more land to accommodate an increasingly large stable. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t intend to leave the area, but they would like to explore it more on hoof, which simply means that there is an opportunity for someone else to start a new chapter in this remarkable corner of the moors. Thornworthy House, Chagford, Dartmoor, Devon TQ13 8EY. Guide price: ÂŁ1,275,000 Strutt&Parker. 01392 215631 struttandparker.com

Riding on the moor

140

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

property

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

Country pile

Colleton Hall, Rackenford, Tiverton, Devon £1,300,000 A country house with an outlook over its own park, conveniently positioned between Exmoor and Dartmoor in an area of countryside intersected by wooded stream valleys and patches of uncultivated moor. Great for entertaining, with four interconnecting reception rooms and French doors opening out onto the terrace. Extensive lawned gardens and pasture fields, garaging and stables. 10 acres. stags.co.uk

Regal rectory

The Old Rectory, Clayhanger, Devon Guide price: £775,000 The Old Rectory is a charming former rectory in a beautiful secluded location which sits neatly in its own grounds. Situated in the village of Clayhanger and occupying an outstanding rural position. Set within an unspoilt valley lying close to the Devon/Somerset border, twhe property lies between the small towns of Bampton and Wiveliscombe. Both afford a wide range of day to day retail and recreational facilities as well as primary and secondary schools. struttandparker.com

Waterfront glamour

Villa 10, Estura, Cliff Road, Salcombe, Devon Guide Price £2,500,000 A four-storey five-bedroom villa in an exclusive new development, Estura, on the water’s edge is luxuriously fitted throughout with spectacular estuary and beach views. The position of Estura is on the edge of the Salcombe estuary which provides an extensive harbour stretching six kilometres inland and is a haven for a boating and yachting lifestyle. Estura residents enjoy access to a private slipway. marchandpetit.co.uk

London bolthole

Two bedroom flat, Blackheath £499,995 On the top floor of a beautiful house in Blackheath is a great two-bedroom flat with stripped floorboards and a feature fireplace. As well as a large communal garden and off-street parking, this flat is also just a short distance away from the green spaces of the heath and Greenwich park and has brilliant transport links into the city. winkworth.co.uk

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

141

Walkhampton | Yelverton

A former regency vicarage with views over the surrounding countryside and access to the high moor Yelverton 1.5 miles, Tavistock 6 miles, Plymouth 11 miles

142

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Guide Price: ÂŁ1,200,000

Main house: reception hall, lounge| dining room, farmhouse kitchen/breakfast room, library, conservatory, utility |master bedroom with ensuite, 3 further bedrooms, family bathroom Annexe (former domestic accommodation): entrance hall, downstairs wc, lounge, kitchen |three bedrooms, shower room, landscaped gardens, triple garage, shed In all about 3 acres

Down Thomas | South Hams

A charming period residence in a beautiful secluded location with stunning views Wembury Beach 1 mile, Plymouth 6 miles, Exeter 44 miles

Guide Price: ÂŁ995,000

Entrance hall, sitting room, kitchen/ breakfast room, utility, snug, library, office/ fifth bedroom, gym, shower room, master bedroom with en-suite bathroom and dressing room, 3 further bedrooms, family bathroom, EPC rating D, separate double garage, stables, paddock

Exeter 01392 215631 Exeter@struttandparker.com 50 offices across England and Scotland, including 10MANOR offices in Spring Central | Late 2015 London 143

stags.co.uk The West Country is Stags Country

Chudleigh

12 acres

An elegant Grade II listed country residence enjoying an elevated position with wonderful rural views. 5 reception rooms, kitchen/breakfast room, domestic offices and cellar. 6-bed principal house, 3-bed integral apartment plus 3-bed apartment with separate access. Stables and paddocks. Web find: 70517 Offers in excess of ÂŁ1,650,000

Exeter: 01392 255202

stags.co.uk The West Country is Stags Country

Manaton

0.8 acres

An enchanting Grade II Listed Dartmoor house and outbuildings nestled within its own gardens and grounds. Quintessential granite cottage, large reception rooms with inglenooks, contemporary hand built kitchen, two sizeable ensuite bedrooms, three further bedrooms/studies, gorgeous moorland gardens, large garage and parking. Web Find: 65956 Guide Price: ÂŁ795,000

Cornwall | Devon | Somerset | Dorset | London

Totnes Office: 01803 865454

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

145

Carpe diem! If you’re thinking of selling your property, there’s never been a better time to take the plunge...

Call us now to find out how we:

• Get to buyers before they even contact other agents • Get buyers to look at properties outside of their search criteria • Encourage buyers and make it simpler for them to view • Encourage buyers to make realistic offers • Regularly achieve in excess of 98% of asking prices – often, well in excess of quoted guide prices • Help our sellers find, negotiate and secure their next home • Accelerate the sale process, help avoid “fall-throughs” and aborted costs

Demand for property in our local area continues to outstrip supply, creating a unique opportunity for sellers. With the right agent, NOW is the perfect time to make the most of your property sale. At Wilkinson Grant & Company we know how to get the best price for your property in the least time and can help you secure your next home too. Our experience and expertise can really make a difference. As the leading Independent property agent and acquisition specialists in the area, we pride ourselves on providing a bespoke personal service to each and every client – working closely with you, not only to sell your property but to help you with all aspects of your move and help you achieve the best outcome with the minimum of fuss in the shortest realistic time-scale. 146

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

• Consistently account for more house sales between £300,000 and £2,000,000 in the immediate Exeter postcode areas - nearly 30% of all sales over £300,000 and almost 50% of all sales over £500,000*

PROPERTY & ACQUISITION AGENTS

Exeter: 01392 427500 Topsham: 01392 875000 www.wilkinsongrant.co.uk *Estate agency data is collected from the internet and is collated and published by Savvyagent. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the data, due to variations in data published by estate agents, this cannot be guaranteed and Savvyagent accept no responsibility for any discrepancies errors or omissions. There may be other companies/offices not included in this report, as they do not publish their data on the Internet. For further information see www.savvyagent.co.uk

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

PROPERTY & ACQUISITION AGENTS

Broadclyst – Guide Price £1,750,000 A superb period residence just beyond the North Eastern fringes of the city, set in over 5 acres of park-like grounds, adjoining National Trust pasture land, with sweeping lawns, small lake, paddock and manege. Beautifully renovated with a wealth of character features. Offering 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, well-proportioned living room, dining room and family room plus lovely garden room, fabulous light kitchen/ breakfast room, laundry, cloakroom and cellar. Our Agent’s view... “With tree-lined driveway and wonderful grounds this ‘model’ period home offers something for all the family. Great entertaining space and easily managed equestrian facilities.”

Roger Wilkinson

Email: b.roberts@wilkinsongrant.co.uk Call: 01392 427500 MANOR | Late Spring 2015

147

TWITTER: @WILKINSONGRANT FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK.COM/WILKINSONGRANT

PLYMOUTH

A network of Co-working Hubs launching summer 2015. An eco-system for entrepreneurs and businesses to work in a flexible, inspiring and professional environment alongside like-minded individuals.

JOIN A NEW WAY OF WORKING.

Serviced offices

Flexible meeting areas

Casual hot-desking

Free networking events & seminars

Unlimited WiFi

NOW LIVE Virtual PA

JOIN THRIVE PLYMOUTH. LOCATIONS:

Ocean Crescent, 24-26 The Crescent, Plymouth, PL1 3AD Burrington Business Park, Burrington Way, Plymouth, PL5 3LX

Office rental: richard.dixon@thrive-hubs.com or call 07918 078 551 Other enquires: joinus@thrive-hubs.com or call 03333 447 373

www.thrive-hubs.com 148

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

Creating Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are committed to developing beautiful historic buildings in a way that demonstrates our sensitivity to and celebration of architectural heritage. We strive to set new standards in design and finishes to create genuinely unique products that set us apart from volume providers.â&#x20AC;? www.BurringtonEstates.com Exeter: Dean Clarke House, Southernhay East, Exeter EX11AP

London: 4 Skinner Place, Belgravia, London SW1W 8HH MANOR | Late Spring 2015

149

marketplace DESIGN AND CARPENTRY

From Inspiration to Installation Crafted in the heart of East Devon

Tel: 013950568123 | www.westgrovejoinery.com

Bespoke Kitchens Fitted Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms Studies Office & Life Space Joinery Specialists in bespoke kitchen furniture and free-standing handcrafted pieces

Telephone: 01626 336629 Mobile: 07736 779307 Email: jon@kkandj.co.uk

25 years experience 150

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

www.kkandj.co.uk

To advertise in MANOR marketplace please email advertising@manormagazine.co.uk GARDEN ROOMS

GARDENING

Unique wooden Wagons, Cabins, Lodges and Carpentry Made in Devon from locally sourced, sustainable timber

www.barreltopwagons.co.uk JEWELLERY

Jamie Inglis Jewellery

SOFAROOMS SOFAROOMS SOFAROOMS Bespoke Sofas & Upholstery Bespoke Sofas & Upholstery FURNISHINGS

Bespoke Sofas & Upholstery A A Local Local Family Family Run Run Business, Business, in in Devon. Devon.

Handmade gold and silver jewellery Commissions undertaken

A Local Upholstered Family Run Furniture Business, in Made & Soft Made to to Measure Measure & Devon. Soft Furnishings Furnishings A Local Upholstered Family Run Furniture Business, in Devon. Made to Measure Upholstered Furniture & Soft Furnishings Made to Measure Upholstered Furniture & Soft Furnishings

www.jamieinglisjewellery.co.uk Member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen Associate member of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen

Designer Designer Fabrics Fabrics & & Furnishing Furnishing Stockists. Stockists. Designer Fabrics & Furnishing Stockists. up to 10% with this advert.MANORMAG15 ** SAVE up to 10% with this advert.MANORMAG15 SAVEDesigner Fabrics & Furnishing Stockists. SAVE up to 10% with this advert.MANORMAG15* SAVE up to 10% with this advert.MANORMAG15* *On handmade orders and fabric orders over 10 meters. Excludes re-upholstery, stock fabric & some fabric companies and suppliers. *On handmade orders and fabric orders over 10 meters. Excludes re-upholstery, stock fabric & some fabric companies and suppliers. *On handmade orders and fabric orders over 10 meters. Excludes re-upholstery, stock fabric & some fabric companies and suppliers. *On handmade orders and fabric orders over 10 meters. Excludes re-upholstery, stock fabric & some fabric companies and suppliers.

Curtains Curtains & & Blinds Blinds

Poles Poles & & Tracks Tracks

Wallpapers Wallpapers

Paints Paints

Designer Designer Fabrics Fabrics

Curtains & Blinds

Poles & Tracks

Wallpapers

Paints

Designer Fabrics

Curtains & Blinds Poles & Tracks Wallpapers Paints Designer Fabrics Bakers Bakers Yard, Yard, Alphinbrook Alphinbrook Rd, Rd, Marsh Marsh Barton, Barton, Exeter, Exeter, EX2 EX2 8RG 8RG Bakers Yard, Alphinbrook Rd, Marsh Barton, Exeter, EX2 8RG 01392 42 Bakers Yard, Alphinbrook Marsh Barton, Exeter, EX2 8RG 01392 42 44 44 44 44 Rd, www.sofarooms.co.uk www.sofarooms.co.uk

01392 42 44 449am—5pm. www.sofarooms.co.uk Open: Mon to Sat Open: 42 Mon44 to Fri, Fri, Sat by by Arrangement Arrangement 01392 449am—5pm. www.sofarooms.co.uk Open: Mon to Fri, 9am—5pm. Sat by Arrangement Open: Mon to Fri, 9am—5pm. Sat by Arrangement MANOR | Late Spring 2015

151

marketplace ART & FRAMING

FAB is a family run Picture FAB is a family Picture Framers, Galleryrun & Exhibition Framers, Gallerya&comprehensive Exhibition Venue, offering Venue, offering a comprehensive framing service for over 30 years. framing service for over 30 years.

We pride ourselves on design and technical We pride ourselves on knowledge. design and technical knowledge. Conservation and the framing of 3D objects is our speciality, you’ll Conservation and thehowever, framing of 3D also findisaffordable high however, quality readyobjects our speciality, you’ll made and mounts in ourreadyshop. also findframes affordable high quality made frames and mounts in our shop.

10 BANK STREET OKN SATBRBEOETT 1N0E W B ATN N E W T OANN DABBOBXOE T F R A ME S S@MSN.COM

MON-FRI 9-5.30

WRW W. S ..C CO OM M F AM EF SR AA NM D EB S OAXNE D S B@OMXSEN W W W. F R A M E S A N D B O X E S . C O M

01626 335965

152

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

30 0 M O N -SFARTI 9 9 -- 4 5 .. 3 S AT 9 - 4 . 3 0

01626 335965

To advertise in MANOR marketplace please email advertising@manormagazine.co.uk FOOD & DRINK

We’re looking for an experienced sales professional to take a management role selling MANOR to the wide variety of prestigious and quality operators that are active in the South West. If you’re ambitious with good communication skills and an excellent management style, this is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic, creative and groundbreaking team. Delicious home-cooked food including quiches, soups, ready meals and desserts Let us prepare your picnic with our mouthwatering filled baguettes and salads Local and continental cheeses, freshly ground coffee, Luscombe Organic juices, Devon Wines, Chagford Cider ...and so much more. Chris and Catherine look forward to welcoming you

Blacks Delicatessen 28 The Square, Chagford TQ13 8AB 01647 433545 www.blacks-deli.com. Follow us on Facebook

You will be responsible for leading the achieving and exceeding of ad sales targets and building strategic relationships with key clients. You should be driven, results-focused with excellent planning skills, but also great fun! We’re looking for someone who will fit in well with a professional and highly creative team and enjoy being part of a new magazine that is taking the region by storm. To find out more or apply, write to

imogen@manormagazine.co.uk MOTORING

Our company produces quality, bespoke restoration work, from concourse to servicing, metalwork and finishing. We can arrange transportation if required. Come and meet the team of specialist craftsmen. See them work on cars from the Austin Healey range. All models in the M.G., Jaguars, Triumph ranges as well as other British sports cars. We sometimes have in a foreign classic as well! Walk through the authentic garage scene of the 60’s era. Visitors are welcome. you cannot visit,from then taketoaservicing, look at our website. Our always company produces quality,If bespoke restoration work, concourse metalwork and finishing. We can arrange

transportation if required. Come and meet the team of specialist craftsmen. See them work on cars from the Austin Healey range. All models in the M.G., Jaguars, Triumph ranges as well as other British sports cars. We sometimes have in a foreign classic as well! Walk through the authentic www.colingroomclassiccars.co.uk garage scene of the 60’s era. Visitors are always welcome. If you cannot visit, then take a look at our website. 01803 813668

Unit 2

| TQ12 5TY MANOR | Late Spring 2015

153

BACK PAGE BLACK BOOK Artist and keen surfer John Bevan shares secret pages from his black book with MANOR

It’s back to British Surfing Time and we’ve already started mini-breaking. When I lived in London it would be Barcelona, Paris, or perhaps Florence. Now I live in Cornwall I don’t feel the need to leave my county, let alone my country. Just got back from Kynance Cove in The Lizard, which alongside Bedruthan Steps and Porthcurno must be amongst the county’s most beautiful beaches. If you can deal with the utilitarian fittings, the Youth Hostel at the lighthouse by The Lizard is hard to rival for location. Of course, having made this saving we then blew our budget on John Dory Risotto and kids’ fish and chips at the Cadgwith Arms where my eight year-old had the whole pub singing Drunken Sailor (he’s a natural Cornishman). Mother Ivy at the top end above Harlyn is a hauntingly beautiful, black-rocked, goldensanded beach that I almost don’t want to share with you, so forget that instantly. For personal reasons I love Chapel Porth beyond St Agnes where I rode my first unbroken ‘green wave’. It’s an unspoilt National Trust beach, with good mussel beds at the far end if you fancy a free dinner, then some messedup ice creams in the NT car park. I feel I have to mention the Jam Jar in Newquay, for consistent attention to detail and a ridiculously high standard of coffee, as well as savoury and sweet bites. If

154

MANOR | Late Spring 2015

you are an itinerant television food producer looking for your next star, your search is over. Jam Jar Jess is it. When I was mugged there by three seagulls for an avocado and lime chilli bagel, my thoughts turned to murder. Gusto’s nearby, selling flatbread and meltingly roasted pork and beef is what I compare every take-out lunch to. The fact that these two are so close is just one of those amazing synchronicities in life (for me) and a terrible unfairnesses of the universe (for everyone who lives further away).

From top: Kynance Cove, Jam Jar and Strong Adolpho’s

When it comes to sitdown lunch, these are my go-to, go-toos: Strong Adolpho’s in Wadebridge produces consistently tasty food – it’s really one of my favourite spaces. From the outside, you have a series of nicely built, slightly industrial units set in the hills above Wadebridge; inside, you’ve a great little restaurant, a deli, gallery, reclamation yard, and homestore. It means you can park, and there’s cool stuff to look at, even buy. Then there’s POP, also Wadebridge, whose er… pop-up restaurant, gallery and party venue make you feel like you’re in the East End of London.

Lastly, and this is a special place which I’m not sure should be publicised, as it’s grown organically from a chap with a field, a barn, a 30-foot fire pit, and a keg, to a bar/restaurant, camping and chalet venue with its own supply of pigs and chickens. It’s River Cottage but real, unpretentious and a little unpredictable. If you think you might not like it, you won’t. For everyone else, there’s a festival on 22 May. Come and see. It’s called Retorrick Mill.

EST 1970 EST 1970

MORTIMERS MORTIMERS jewellery jewellery as as unique unique as as you you are... are...

One of the finest antique and modern One of the finest antique and modern jewellers in the country. jewellers in the country. Visit our shop in the heart of Exeter, or our website... Visit our shop in the heart of Exeter, or our website... and enter a and enter a –a –a

small, exquisite world of breathtaking beauty small, exquisite world of breathtaking beauty reflection of history’s finest legacies. reflection of history’s finest legacies.

www.mortimersjewellers.co.uk www.mortimersjewellers.co.uk

Dealers in Antique & Fine Modern Jewellery, Silver and Watches. Dealers in Antique & Fine Modern Jewellery, Silver and Watches. 87 Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3RP, Tel 01392 279994, Email info@mortimersjewellers.co.uk 87 Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3RP, Tel 01392 279994, Email info@mortimersjewellers.co.uk