WMN on Sunday - West Magazine 1 February 2015

01.02.15

The

other of

side

Katherine Jenkins

‘I love a bit of banter’ pg12

36 Ways to wow on Valentine’s Day

DON’T MISS: + ROMANTIC

INTERIORS + DATE NIGHT

FASHION

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PLUS: + CELEB

GOSSIP + CAROLINE

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©LW

03/12/2014 15:56:11

WL

‘House plants are like green pets. They cheer us up’ Anne Swithinbank on the joys of indoor gardening, p 26

22

A romantic hideaway on Dartmoor

12

Katherine Jenkins talks life, love and marriage...

INTERIORS

9

JUST BETWEEN US...

All the gossip worth knowing

SHE’S A CLASSIC!

[contents[ Inside this week...

6

THE WISHLIST

8

GILLIAN MOLESWORTH

Valentine’s Day gift inspirations Our columnist has sewing machine anxiety...

9

JUST BETWEEN US...

12

MEETING KATHERINE

Sh! We have the latest gossip!

40

Ms Jenkins on love, life and marriage

16

DARING TO BARE

EATING OUT The best Thai restaurants

Three women confess all

22

A ROMANTIC HIDEAWAY The Dartmoor cabin with chic appeal

26

ANNE SWITHINBANK Tips and treats for house plantst

29

36

CULTURE VULTURE Our new guide to the best in the arts

OLD-SCHOOL HAIR SECRETS Catherine Barnes tries a beer rinse

30

DATE NIGHT FASHION Look your best for Valentine’s Day

32

KNIT WIT

36

CULTURE VULTURE

How to look cosy - and alluring Our new guide to the best of the arts

38

CAROLINE QUENTIN TV star shares her secret Westcountry

42

FLAVOUR SAVIOUR Why Tim Maddams loves bay leaves

44

ROAD TEST A BMW for mountain bike lovers?

30

FLIRTY

Fashion for a Valentine’s date 3

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12

[

[

KATHERINE JENKINS

Singing in the South West

[ welcome [ Love is in the air... ...And Valentine’s Day just around the corner.

We’ve got so many lovely things packed into this week’s magazine, it is sure to make your heart sing. For starters, we’ve a wonderful interview with mezzo-soprano superstar Katherine Jenkins (pictured above) who is on her way to sing for is here in the Westcountry this month.

She’s newly married, and very happy, as our writer Martin Freeman discovered when they met (page 12).

A familiar face to folk living in Tiverton is TV star Caroline Quentin, who lives nearby and shares her tips for getting the best out of life in the Westcountry on page 38. Caroline is a great supporter of a wonderful South West adoption charity called Families for Children: she really

Tweet

[

of the week @OliviaBossert Is there anywhere people can get the mag digitally? we’ve had people across the world asking to read it :) Eds note: We publish a digital version of West every Monday. To read it visit www.westernmoringnews.co.uk or follow us on twitter.

does lend her support to the community in our part of the world.

On the subject of love and romance, three women tell us why they bared (nearly) all for their own set of glamorous and sexy boudoir photographs at a studio in Devon (p 16). It’s all about learning to love yourself, and all your (real or imaginary) imperfections - we think you’ll be amazed at the results. If you think a boudoir shoot could be for you, we’ve even got one to win, worth a cool £190 - find out more on page 18 today. Oh - and did I forget to mention our new gossip column on page 9 - you heard it here first!

Newly married and very happy, Katherine Jenkins will be singing here this month

[

Becky Sheaves, Editor

CONTACT: westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk Tel: 01392 442250 Twitter @wmnwest

MEET THE TEAM Becky Sheaves, Editor

Sarah Pitt

Kathryn Clarke-McLeod

Catherine Barnes

Phil Goodwin

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Bra, £9.99, briefs £4.99 suspender £6.99 all New Look, Princesshay Exeter

If you buy one thing this week...

Retailers used to limit themselves to underwear that was scarlet red and barely there to sell this time of year but times have truly changed and visitors to Princesshay shopping centre in Exeter could be fooled into thinking that the full spring/ summer lingerie collection had launched weeks ahead of schedule.

Beautiful soft satin and lovely lace materials have been seen gracing 2015’s spring collection as well as fabulous floral prints and loose silk wraps.

Stores showcasing these trends are Next, New Look and Debenhams to name a few.

These affordable pieces mean that there is something for everyone this Valentine’s Day.

Win

£50 shopping card We have a £50 gift card to win for Princesshay Shopping Centre in Exeter. To win, send your name, address and a daytime contact number to: Princesshay Valentine’s competition, westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk to arrive by February 13 2015. Normal terms apply.

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Store we adore...

Nail varnish, New Look, £2.99 each

This Dartmouth gallery champions the work of many local artists, including Elaine Pamphilon’s vibrant naïve paintings of St Ives (and other places). See too the bird sculptures

by Elaine’s partner Christopher Marvell, stylised yet uncannily birdlike, which hang in the gallery windows.

Visit Ainscough Contemporary Art, 16 Foss Street, Dartmouth, Devon TQ6 9DR or www.acag. co.uk

the

wishlist West’s top picks, chosen with Valentine’s Day in mind...

RING ME Z for Accessorize Layana labradorite ring £17

Hold me close...

Michael Kors quilted box clutches, £155 House of Fraser

Love worth fighting for, stag cufflinks, £29.95, www.annabeljames.co.uk

Melody Maison red rustic ‘Happy Ending’ wall plaque, £12, www.melodymaison.co.uk

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Wishlist

WOW Treat someone to jewellery designer Jean Scott-Moncrieff’s gold earrings with Andean opal drops, £1,825, from www.junctionartgallery.co.uk

Romantic novel The Silver Locket by Devon author Margaret James (Choc Lit, £7.99)

fave!

A tried and tested way to say I love you... Valentine’s Premium Roses £15, www. marksandspencer.com

It’s in the details...

RED HOT NEW M&S Collection £32, from stores and www.marksandspencer.com

Phoenix heels from Office £70

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talking points Gillian Molesworth

Story of my life...

Powder

PERFECTION

Gillian learns how to sew, the easy way ophie (11) announced the other day that she enjoyed using the sewing machine in Design Technology, and would I help her do more? A sense of motherly inadequacy came over me. Not only do we not have a sewing machine, I am baffled by them. Baffled.

My mother did loads of sewing morning, we were off.

– I well remember the sound “The first and most important of her sewing machine on the question I have for you is: what dining room table. Rur rur rur, it is your sewing machine’s name?” started, slow and low. The tone asked Abbie. We all blinked. Her ascended. Rurr Rurr Rurree Rurmachine, which I was borrowreeeeeeeee!!! ing for the day, was called Gert.

She made all our duvet covers Sophie dubbed ours Flora. The and what we refer to as “dust rufother participants decided on fles”, a sort of skirt that hangs Ariel and Stephen – who says they under your bed (I think English can’t be boys? people call them valances). She In the next hour, we completecould – and did – ly took apart our make tab panel sewing machines curtains and gath– Mon Dieu, are ered curtains. She they complicated.

A sense of could even make There’s bits above, motherly anxiety Roman blinds, bits below, spools, came over me. which are tricky tools, spigots, cogs, because you have spindles and who Not only do to get the measknows what. we not have a urements exactly Needless to say, sewing machine, right or they fold Sophie was much up all wonky. better at it than I I am baffled by But alas, she was, and even had them. Baffled. never passed along a good grasp of the skills. I always threading the thing resented this a bit. from quite early on.

It’s possible that she didn’t enjoy Abbie was a good teacher – she teaching someone else to sew as taught us a bit, then let us have much as she enjoyed sewing hera go. Of course your fingers are self. It’s also possible that I didn’t itching to get in there, thread the show any interest. thingy around the doo hickey and It’s never too late to start – on press down on the pedal to see if my way to work I stopped into it works. And it did work! What Trago Mills and bought a sewing a marvel of engineering. It made machine and some fabric. Then, me think about women of old, I looked online for courses in our crouched with aching shoulders area. I found AbbieAnne Patchover a candle doing endless hemwork Quilting and Textiles, who ming, and how much this would runs courses from her home near have changed their lives.

Wadebridge, and one Sunday Roman blinds, anyone?

The Duchess of Cambridge caused yet another fashion stampede just recently, wearing a powder blue coat from luxury maternity brand Seraphine. The Natasha Coat was an instant sell-out, but you can still steal the Duchess’s look in the lookalike Nolita Crepe Coat, £125, from Coast (www.coast-stores.com).

S

Gillian Molesworth is a journalist and mum-of-two who grew up in the USA and moved to north Cornwall when she met her husband

steal her

style

OR MAKE IT YOUR OWN

OPTION A Dark denim Hallhuber coat £189.95 www.hallhuber. co.uk An edgier option.

OPTION A Waterfall Phase 8 Carys blue drape coat £99 Phase Eight The cascading front is a relaxed alternative.

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BRAND NEW!

MR GREY’S GREEN LIGHT JAMIE DORNAN has praised his wife for giving him the green light to sign up for his saucy 50 Shades Of Grey role.

The Fall star plays Christian Grey in the movie, based on the erotic novels by EL James. Jamie told OK! magazine that his wife Amelia Warner is a “hugely understanding person - a lot of people would have had a fit.” West says: We hope the paycheque helped, too.

Just

between us Gossip, news, trend setters and more - you

heard all the latest juicy news here first!

!

hairy man

Apparently Exeter Chief’s Luke Cowan-Dickie (born and raised in Truro) is so enamoured of his 80s-style mullet that he refused to snip any of it off for the club’s routine drug testing. So testers were given a tuft of armpit hair. Nice…

“ STOP

with the

petty silliness “

JENNIFER ANISTON has insisted that there is no rivalry between her and ANGELINA JOLIE. There had been speculation that there was some awkwardness between the pair during the awards season, because (as we know) Jennifer used to be married to Angelina’s now-husband, BRAD PITT. But Jen told Entertainment Tonight: “I think that’s slowly coming to an end. I really do.”

The Cake star even praised Angelina’s new film, Unbroken. “I mean, that movie is so beautiful and wonderful and she did such a gorgeous job,” she said.

“I think that it’s time people stop with that petty BS and just start celebrating great work and stop with the petty kind of silliness.” West says: Well done, Jen. Rise above it.

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Grace: Farmer Celena Wolfe of St Tudy wins Ms South West

Out of this world: Eden Project head chef Tony Trenerry bakes a pasty planet in advance of the World Pasty Championships

Aye aye, dear: Husband and wife Nichola and Glenn Martin of Plymouth have both clocked up 30 years of service in the Royal Navy

Politics: Man with a plan George Osborne visited Plymouth to announce investment here

in pictures

Proof of God: Toby, Rosie HuntingtonWhiteley’s brother, did his first ever modelling shoot - they’re both from Tavistock

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talking points It’s a hobby

Daily bread

10 collectors... and their trophies

1 Deltiologist

Famous faces with links to the Westcountry

postcards

2 Tyrosemiophile cheese labels

3 Phillumenist matchboxes

4 Tegestologist beermats

5 Numismaticist coins

Loaves and buns from around the world

1 Anpan, Japan

This week:

2 Saj, Lebanon

Mary Berry

3 Broa, Portugal

6 Iconophile illustrations

4 Speckendick, Germany

7 Arctophillist

6 Pane ticinese, Switzerland

teddies

8 Copoclephile keyrings

5 Shirmal, Iran

7 Michetta, Italy

9 Pannapictagraphist comic books

8 Bing, China

10 Velologist

10 Bammy, Jamaica

tax discs

10 things to make you smile this week 1 Paris Fashion Week Tres chic!

2 The chop Collarbone length

Born 100 years ago this year

or shorter, everyone’s doing it

3 Endorphins All this January exercise has its perks

4 Headspace meditation for the masses, download the app

1 Frank Sinatra 2 Billie Holiday

5 Wolf Hall - and writer

3 Ingrid Bergman

6 The Kaiser Chiefs in

4 Norman Wisdom 5 Anthony Quinn 6 Muddy Waters 7 Edith Piaf 8 Orson Welles 9 Arthur M iller 10 Arthur Lowe

Great British Bake Off royalty Mary Berry OBE, 79, is a familiar sight in and around Salcombe, Devon.

9 Yufka, Turkey

The happy list

Gone but not forgotten

ONE OF US

Hilary Mantel lives in Devon!

Plymouth on Feb 9

7 Soy sauce the new salt 8 The Waterboys new single November Tale: as good as The Whole of the Moon

9 North Devon Sinfonia at Queens Barnstaple Feb 7

10 The Archers especially Helen - open your eyes, girl!

Early Years: Mary-Rosa Alleyne As seen on TV: Mary’s first television Berry was born in Bath, taught to series was Afternoon Plus in the early cook by her mother and studied at 1970s, with Judith Chalmers. the Le Cordon Bleu school in France.

She said: “Our first meal was horse Honours: As well as her OBE meat. I’d just left my (awarded in 2012), pony back in England Mary is a Freeman and I cried all the way of the Worshipful DID YOU KNOW? through the meal.”

Company of Bakers of London, and has the Mary has Why Devon? Mary Freedom of the City and husband Paul live of Bath. had a weekin Buckinghamshire end home in but have had a Did you know? Mary Salcombe for weekend home in was admitted to an many years Salcombe for many isolation hospital in years.

Bath aged 13, after contracting polio Did you know? In her which left her with first job, she taught electricity board a twisted spine and weak left hand. customers how to cook on their new Her father walked her pony, Kerry, stoves. three miles to see her while she was convalescing.

Favourite haunts: Mary, who’s written over 70 cookery books, has Other half: Her husband Paul, praised the fish menu at Salcombe’s now retired, was an antiquarian South Sands Hotel and also bookseller: “He jokes that he rescued sometimes eats out at The Fortescue me from the shelf,” says Mary, who Inn and Winking Prawn. was 31 when they tied the knot.

The couple had three children but, Have your cake: “You just eat a tragically, son William was killed in a thin slice - there’s a lot of cheer in a car accident at the age of 19. cake,” says Mary, whose favourite Westcountry recipe is the Devonshire Throughly Modern Mary: Mary (with scone, revealing: “The secret of good daughter Annabel) sells a range of scones is not to handle them too dressings and chutneys, a cookware much before baking.” brand and two step-by-step apps.

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Interview

[

KATHERINE JENKINS

She’s a real classic Martin Freeman meets Katherine Jenkins to talk about her forthcoming performance in Plymouth - not to mention love, life and her brand-new marriage...

[

LONDE, beautiful, talented, rich and, unfortunately, taken.

Classical-crossover singer Katherine Jenkins broke as many male hearts as she has smashed entertainment industry records when she married American artist and actor-director Andrew Levitas last October.

There has been talk of a family to come. But for now she is focused on juggling work with married life, she tells me when we meet in the run-up to her forthcoming show in Plymouth this month.

“It has been hectic for the past two or three months,” the 34-year-old Welsh star says, sounding a little tired.

Katherine’s fans in Devon and Cornwall will be the beneficiaries, though. She reaches Plymouth Pavilions on February 20 on the Home Sweet Home tour. It’s the same title as her new album, and laced with irony given her frantic schedule at the moment.

“I’ve only managed to get back home to Wales two or three times recently, with all the travelling I’ve been doing. Andrew and I both have to

B

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Interview Katherine is looking forward to singing in the South West this month: ‘I love the connection with the audience’

Katherine’s high notes

fit things around our work.”

In fact, Katherine and Andrew managed to keep their relationship out of the limelight for months, and the media circus wasn’t as frenzied as it could have been when they wed at Hampton Court Palace in September. It was all down to timing: the paparazzi and gossip columnists were focused on the nuptials of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin at the same time in Italy.

Even so, Katherine is understandably cautious talking about her private life. She revealed in a BBC Wales documentary that she nearly left the music business after a bad press.

The tone of the attention she received after the break-up in 2011 with former fiancé, the television presenter Gethin Jones, was particularly hurtful, she told viewers.

A couple of weeks after the split she had to go on tour with a programme that included the usual songs of love and heartbreak, while trying to cope with her inner turmoil. “Meanwhile everybody else is under the impression it was my decision, my ambition, I wanted to take over the world. It was so far from the truth.”

Now she is relishing the focus on her voice and her songs. “The main thing is the singing,” she told me. “The Home Sweet Tour and album are a theme, a reflection, going back to the early albums.

“When I was writing the programme I asked fans on Twitter what they wanted to hear and they came up with things like Hallelujah, Angel and

Mezzo soprano Katherine has sold more than four million albums

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’

I used to get nervous

the Godfather (theme) and some classical pieces from my albums.

“That is what I love about the show: the con- nection with the audience. Everybody is incredibly supportive.

“I can have a little bit of a banter with the audience and if there is a special occasion I might make a dedication. I used to get nervous about that sort of thing. But after I sang at Wembley early in my career in front of 74,000 people, that cured me of nerves.”

Katherine comes across just as warm and relaxed off-stage, with no hint of the diva. There is an ordinariness about her, the air of somebody who, despite being pitched into the limelight in her early 20s (when she sang at Westminster Cathedral in honour of Pope John Paul II’s silver jubilee) has always had a life elsewhere.

Once attention came Katherine’s way, her voice and looks always seemed to certain to sustain her through a crossover career. The mezzo-soprano trained at the Royal Academy of Music, then taught singing and worked as a model. When fame arrived, it was meteoric. Debut album Premiere made her the

but now I can have a

Meeting The Queen with her fellow Welsh singer Charlotte Church

In a patriotic outfit at The Brits - she has sung for troops in Afghanistan

banter’ fastest-selling mezzo-soprano ever and six out of seven of her LPs reached number one in the UK classical charts between 2004 and 2008, with total sales above four million. She became the first British classical-crossover artist to have two number one albums in the same year and is the first female artist to win two consecutive Classical Brits.

Katherine’s also earned the inevitable ‘forces’ sweetheart’ tag after her concerts for British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and showed her versatility coming second in the US TV show Dancing with the Stars in 2012.

The flow of work shows no sign of decreasing, so perhaps one solution to the dilemma of balancing the job and married life would be to collaborate on a project with her artist and film-maker husband. “I would love to do that and I am sure we will do at some time,” she says, brightly. “We are both very creative people. We would love that opportunity.” See Katherine Jenkins at Plymouth Pavilions, Feb 20, www.plymouthpavilions.com

With new husband, the American artist Andrew Levitas 15

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“ I want to “

myself So-called ‘boudoir’ photography is a growing trend - but would you ever bare (almost) all for the camera? Three Westcountry women tell Catherine Barnes why they did just that...

Anna Gillard Nurse Anna Gillard from Exeter posed for her glamorous shoot with Kensa Boudoir, following a battle with breast cancer. Anna, 52, is divorced with two grown up children and welcomed her second grandchild into the world at Christmas.

Anna says: I was diagnosed with cancer in one of my breasts just two weeks before my daughter’s marriage in 2011. To say I was in shock was a bit of an understatement.

Although I didn’t undergo a mastectomy, there was a lot of surgery. I had an operation to remove part of my breast, during which it was discovered that I also had another form of cancer - non-Hodgkin lymphoma. I had two further lots of surgery, chemo and radiotherapy and was back at work by the November. I’m a specialist cancer nurse and - if and only when it’s appropriate - I’ll sometimes tell patients that I’ve been through it too. I think it does help some patients to know that I’ve had cancer and I’m okay.

Kensa Photography had taken my daughter’s wedding photos and I kept in touch

with the studio via Facebook. When they announced they were going to be doing boudoir shoots in return for a donation to a breast cancer charity, I decided to book; partly in support of the cause and partly to improve my own sense of self-image.

I had to be careful what I wore for the shoot. Since the surgery, one of my breasts is smaller than the other and the radiotherapy also made them shrink. I’ve also had kneereplacement surgery and was conscious that one knee looks bigger than the other.

But it turned out to be such a fun day and I actually felt very relaxed about the experience. Karen, the photographer, put me at my ease and kept showing me the shots, after asking me to move an arm here, or change my position there. I ended up buying five prints - one of which I have framed by my bedside, while the others are in an album. I told a lot of friends at work I was doing it and my children knew about it – although they haven’t seen them – until now!

I’d certainly recommend the experience.

It made me feel confident not only in myself, but about my body image. While it would be a nice thing for anyone to do, for me, it was definitely really therapeutic, too.

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ALL IMAGES: Kensa Boudoir

» 17

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People

WIN A ÂŁ190 PHOTO SHOOT! Fancy being a pin-up girl? Kensa Boudoir is offering one West reader a Boudoir Experience worth ÂŁ190 at its studio near Exeter. The prize includes an hour-long hair and makeover session by professional stylists, and an hour in the studio with two or three outfits and setting changes, as well as a mounted print of your favourite photo from the day.

To enter, send your name, daytime contact number and address to Kensa Competition, westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk to arrive by February 13. Normal terms apply.

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Photographer Karen Sanders

Kim Fox Kim Fox, 31, from Crediton is married to Darren and is a full time mum to Ryan, 12, Kaitlyn, seven and Jayden, two.

Kim says: If you ask anyone they’ll tell you I’m a really nervous and shy person. I’ll even cover up with a cardi on the beach in the summer.

I’m not body-confident and, after three kids, I’ve got a mummy belly and stretch marks. Self-belief is not my strong point and I was nearly in tears on the day and ready to back out - even my husband Darren doubted I’d go through with it!

My friend had her boudoir pictures done and the photos were amazing, so I booked a session with Kensa Boudoir but even then I wasn’t sure I’d go through with it.

My sister came with me and saved me from backing out. I’m glad I did it in the end, although it was a big step for me.

I’d lost around three stone before I did the shoot and was probably a size 16 at my heaviest. I’m now a size ten to twelve, but I still don’t think I’m ever really happy with my body.

Even though my old clothes are too big and I’m buying smaller sizes these days, it’s hard to believe I’m slimmer and accept a compliment.

My cardi is still like a comfort blanket: I always have my arms covered up, even on a night out.

[ [ ‘I’m so critical of myself I thought I wouldn’t like any of the photos - but it was very hard to whittle it down to just one favourite’

Although the photographer really tried to put me at my ease, I was so nervous at first that when I smiled, my top lip stuck to my teeth. My mouth was so dry - as you can see from my ‘before’ picture, above, taken at the beginning of the shoot.

But they gave me a glass of wine and that helped!

I’m so critical of myself I thought I wouldn’t like any of the photos.

But it turned out to be very hard to whittle it down to a favourite. When you’ve got a family of five, you have to be mindful of your budget but Darren loved the pictures too. He said, it’s something you’ll never get done again. So we bought a keepsake album. The children have seen it: Kaitlyn giggled a little bit at the sight of mummy in her underwear, while Ryan, who has cerebral palsy and can’t talk, gave a cheeky smile.

Boudoir photography is very much for the girls, it’s not like exposing yourself on Page Three. It’s classy and the before and after shots on Kensa’s Facebook page show women of all ages, shapes and sizes.

It shows that everyone can feel good, look confident and sexy, without feeling it’s too much. I like to look at my photos when I’m having an ‘ugly’ day. And when I’m in an old people’s home in my 90s, I’ll have something to show all the carers.

How it’s done: Kensa Boudoir’s glamorous makeover sessions and photo shoots take place at the firm’s studios near Exeter. The studio is currently taking two and three bookings a day from women keen to boost their confidence and smoulder in front of the camera, says photographer Karen Sanders: “The experience is all about the girls, to make them feel and look amazing and boost their self-esteem. It’s an opportunity to have some time to treat themselves.

“The aim is to make clients feel totally comfortable and we also have a HUGE collection of designer stilettos to wear, including Jimmy Choo and Louboutin!” For details visit www.kensaboudoir.co.uk

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People

Michaela Greenslade Funeral director Michaela Greenslade, 31, lives in Exeter. She’s a single mum of a 13 year old son and an 11 year old daughter.

Michaela says: When you get to my age, birth- black Doc Martens, black trousers, jumper and a days can be pretty naff. So in 2013, my boyfriend white shirt and - if I’m conducting a funeral - top Mick, who I’ve been dating for two years, took me hat and tails. on my first holiday abroad, organising my passMy mum, Alison, came with me to choose some port, tickets, everything. Last underwear - I spent about £160 year, when I turned 31, I wanted in Anne Summers! - but she was to do something different - and a working on the day of the shoot, boudoir shoot is certainly someso I went to it alone. She’d have ‘I look back now thing out of the ordinary! come with me otherwise - she’s Usually I prefer to blend into always helped me out and is a and I’m glad I the background - self-confidence real hands-on mum. did it: it made has always been an issue for I actually didn’t feel nervous me feel beautiful me. I didn’t have the best time in the studio: you get so much at school due to bullying and positive feedback from the whole and it turns out then came relationships which team they’re like your best I do scrub up knocked me down. Mick’s attifriends by the end of the session pretty well!’ tude is, don’t worry about what and the experience definitely imyou think you don’t have, make proved my self-confidence. Mum most of what you do have and get was really proud when she saw out there and enjoy life. And for the pictures - she had tears in me, the photoshoot encapsulated her eyes! I look back now and I’m all that. so glad that I did it. It makes you feel beautiful I don’t take a good photograph at all usually; I for the day and it turns out I do scrub up pretty look close to death with really pasty skin. In fact, well. I’ve made some posters for my boyfriend; I’m not a girly girl at all. I work for our family-run he’s promised to trade in his biker girl pin-ups for funeral business and spend my working days in them and have a real woman on his wall!

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interiors

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fashion

style

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culture vulture

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Love affair Looking for a Valentine’s Day get-away? Sarah Pitt talks to Gemma Roberts about how she created a romantic interior for her Dartmoor log cabin holiday let he sense of entering a romantic fantasy starts on the doorstep of The Secret Holt, a log cabin surrounded

by Scots pines high up near Haytor on Dartmoor. The ornately-carved front door, set back in the porch, opens to reveal a heart-shaped mirror within.

Fantasy author JRR Tolkien’s family once lived in the main house down the lane, while Lord of the Rings illustrator Alan Lee has drawn inspiration from the tangled roots and branches of ancient Dartmoor woodlands herabouts. This is a landscape which inspires imaginings, and the cabin, a hideaway for owner Gemma Roberts’ guests, reflects this with its brightly-painted shutters and carved wooden doors.

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The cheery interior, with heart frames all over the red walls behind the ornately carved fireplace and fur throws covering wooden stools, also owes a great deal in spirit to an alpine chalet.

“I have always loved ski chaletstyle buildings, like you see in Swiss resorts, and in the first winter after we moved here we had so much snow it felt very mountainous, very alpine,” says Gemma. “This cabin is surrounded by enormous pines, which the architect of the house planted in groups of three, and so it looked like something out of a fairy tale.”

The wooden cabin had been used by the previous owner Phoebe Whortley-Talbot – a great traveller and photographer – as a darkroom and photographic studio.

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The cabin’s carved front door was reclaimed from an English castle

Interiors

This Dartmoor cabin is now a chic luxury bolthole

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Interiors

“It had a low black ceiling, all the windows were boarded up and the entrance was around the back then,” says Gemma. “We straightened out the ceiling, painted the beams and made it all much brighter.”

When Gemma and her family bought the house and moved in four and a half years ago, many interesting curiosities came along with it, collected by previous owner Phoebe. The trunk in the sitting room of the Secret Holt, as well as the photographs of Haytor between the wars and a fine hunting oil painting in a gilt frame, were all hers.

“She had travelled the world because her father worked with a big cruise company, so she had lots of interesting bits and pieces,” says Gemma.

“When we were tidying out her studio, we found so many slides from literally every country she had been to. She had travelled to places like Burma 40 years ago, and it was all really fascinating. I wanted to keep the feel of different cultures and countries thrown together.

“At the same time, the cabin is in a lovely Engburning stove. In the sitting room, the wooden lish woodland setting, so the bedroom has a tradichandelier came from Finland and was an eBay tional Sanderson honeysuckle and passionflower find. Among other unusual discoveries were the fabric - it really has a calm feeling in there.” large metal tiles which are believed to have origiGemma and her husband love going to reclanally come from the Empire State Building in mation yards, and many of the things they have New York. One is used in the kitchen as a splashsourced for the interior of The Secret Holt are reback behind the granite trough which serves as sults of those trips, including the the sink, while others are used on stunning carved front door. “I the kitchen cupboard doors. think it is an English castle door, As befits a fantasy interior, because it has a coat of arms on there are plenty of surprises. In With candles it,” says Gemma. the main bedroom, the curtains Carved wood is used throughare made of faux fur, lined with and log burners, out the cabin with pieces from white velvet. “They are not as exfur throws and many different places around the pensive as they could be because heart-shaped world. The doors leading into the they are actually throws, as you main bedroom, for instance, are would put on a bed, threaded up frames, this is a from Europe, with the intricate on a curtain pole,” says Gemma. very romantic pattern on the panels backed Gemma worked as a fashion with mirrored glass for privacy. designer before she had her chilplace to stay “They came from an old apartdren, and enjoys seeing what she ment building and they were so has achieved when she is cleantall we had to cut them down,” ing the house, preparing for her says Gemma. next guests to arrive. “I’m always The fireplace and hearth in the sitting room interested to stay in hotels to see how our cabin have been made from a chunkier piece of carved compares. I honestly think it is much nicer than wood, originally from Thailand, which Gemma anywhere I have ever stayed because it has got sourced from an antiques dealer in Honiton, east character and privacy, a really nice feel.”

Devon. It is complemented by a rotund woodAnd, with candles and log burners, fur throws and heart frames on the walls, this is a very romantic place to stay. There’s even a skylight above the bed where guests can look up at the stars. “We are on top of the world here,” says Gemma. “Everyone who stays here says they sleep extremely well.”

The Secret Holt is available for short breaks through Unique Home Stays, visit www.uniquehomestays.com, or call 01637 881183

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STYLE TIP: Use faux fur throws lined with

velvet as curtains, to get that cosy, luxurious feel ski-chalet feel 24

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Shopping

GET THE

Libra Company wooden chandelier www.artisani.com, £627

LOOK

For romantic chalet chic think rustic wood with dashes of red Snow Leopard faux fur throw £75, House of Fraser

Hearts photograph frames £12.95, www. melodymaison.co.uk

Petite Parisian bombe chest £449 www. sweetpeaandwillow. com

Patterned rug £49.95, www.cuckooland.com

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28/01/2015 15:16:02

Gardens

ANNE SWITHINBANK

The joy of house plants Devon’s Anne Swithinbank, panellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, says pot plants still deserve house space he Great British Garden Revival has been back on our tv screens, encouraging us to renew our enthusiasm for a wide range of garden plants both ornamental and edible.

During the last run, presenter Tom Hart-Dyke made a noble attempt at improving the image of house plants. Interestingly, he never actually went inside a house with them, as though the producers thought this might scare people off.

As an embryo gardener aged about 5, I cut my teeth on indoor plants because although I had a tiny earth bed in our modest garden (it was the early 1970’s, so think coal bunker, washing line, oddly shaped privet, straight concrete path, strip of lawn) I could control my house plants better.

Nobody minded cluttering up their windowsills in those days and I was soon given Mexican hat plant (Kalanchoe diagremontiana), a tall-grower whose leaves produce tiny plantlets all around the edges and old-fashioned, spindly, pinkflowered busy lizzie (Impatiens walleriana).

By the time I hit 11, my indoor plant collection was seriously out of control and since my bedroom was also full of jars and boxes containing various caterpillars and cocoons, ladybird larvae and tanks of stick insects, it was declared a no-go zone. The parents bought me a small greenhouse and everything was supposed to go in there. Naturally I just expanded my territory, mostly with plants handed on because they were half dead. Reviving and propagating them was all part of the allure. I can remember pressing my nose against florist shop windows to gaze at expensive mother in law’s tongues and Begonia rex.

All through the 1980’s and early 1990’s, I was asked to write, speak and present about house

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plants and then suddenly it dried up and everybody wanted to know about fruit and veg instead. Perhaps we’re all so busy on our phones and computers we haven’t time to tend them, or windowsills have shrunk? On Gardeners’ Question Time we only ever seem to be asked about moth orchids.

At the moment I have 26 proper house plants, not including cacti and succulents or porch and greenhouse plants but when I needed them to work for their living as props, there

[[ House plants cheer us up.

They are like green pets and watching them grow is satisfying.

were as many as 70. So now, for the pitch. Our climate is such that we end up sitting indoors for much of the year. House plants cheer us up and also clean the air inside buildings. They are like green pets and watching them grow is satisfying.

Propagation is fun and you can keep the same plant going for many years, so they become like old friends.

I just love being surrounded by them.

Buy what you like the look of, find out where its

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ancestors came from in the wild and what it needs by way of temperature, light and so forth, then find the perfect position for it. Or identify a plantsized hole in the room, note the surroundings and go shopping. My favourites are maidenhair fern (always pot these on when you buy them, or they dry out too fast) and the tall, silver-spotted cane begonia B.corallina ‘Lucerna’. I’ve got a lovely 15 year old parlour palm (Chamaedorea elegans) and biggest of all is a Medinilla magnifica, an enormous Swiss cheese plant that has been in our family for 50 years - a real old friend.

Keeping house plants healthy

This week’s gardening tips Anne’s advice for your garden

• C hoose a damp day (moisture loosens dirt and algae) to clean the outside of greenhouses and frames which have gathered a film of grime during winter.

Wash debris off using a hosepipe and soft, long handled broom.

Most need good but not direct light. Avoid dark corners, bright south facing windowsills and anywhere near radiators and heaters.

Water carefully, when the compost surface begins to dry out. Give enough to soak all the roots and never leave standing in water.

After a few months, nutrients in compost run out, so give a well balanced liquid feed at half the strength you’d use for outdoor plants, at fortnightly intervals while plants are actively growing.

• B uy a few pots of slightly forced spring flowering bulbs, now abundant and affordable in garden centres. I

Remove dust occasionally by wiping leaves with a soft, moist cloth. Use a make up brush on hairy leaves. Be watchful for sticky leaves, at this is a sign there may be sap sucking pests about.

like to pot them on straight away into slightly larger pots and display in greenhouse or porch.

After flowering, plant out in the garden or in patio containers and they’ll bloom year after year.

• Plant Jerusalem artichokes, shallots and garlic cloves (you might have them previously sprouted in pots) as long as the soil is in a fit state.

Question time with Anne West reader queries answered by Anne Swithinbank

Q

What with wind and wet soil, my sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli have collapsed but are still growing. Should I attempt to prop them up?

My broccoli plans have done exactly the same and I wished I had staked them back in the autumn. The tops have straightened themselves up, so I’ve opted to leave mine, firming them in gently with my foot. A high nitrogen feed is a good plan for overwintered greens. My grandmother used to administer a teaspoonful of sulphate of ammonia to each plant, but I opt for pelleted chicken manure to give them a boost as light levels increase. You could stake the sprouts to raise them of the soil but all this movement is likely to make them ‘blow’.

Q

I want to plant a low evergreen hedge but want to avoid box in case it succumbs to box blight. What could I use instead?

Box doesn’t always get blight and Buxus microphylla varieties are held to be the most tolerant. If you are making a big investment and there are potentially diseased plants nearby, I can see you’d think twice. You could buy a few plants, set them in a nursery bed and wait to make sure they are disease free. Take cuttings and you’d soon have enough so the gamble would not be too great. Otherwise, Ilex crenata, hedge germander (Teucrium x lucidrys) or one of the shorter berberis (B.buxifolia ‘Pygmaea’or B.thunbergii ‘Atropurpurea Nana’) would make good hedges. I favour teucrium as it is aromatic and the small purple flowers attract bees.

Send your questions to Anne at westmag@ westernmorningnews.co.uk

Tackle apples and pears that still need pruning, as cut off time is March. However leave stone fruits (plums and cherries) until summer, because pruning them in winter makes them more vulnerable to silver leaf disease.

Sow summer cabbage, hardy lettuce, rocket and spinach under glass. You can also start seed of hardy annuals for cutting such as cornflowers, larkspur and ammi in modules ready to plant later.

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Beauty

Tried

& tested

hi tech New this month: Blue Plasma Cleansing Treatment by Perricone MD, contains copper and salmon egg enzyme (really!), which removes dead skin cells. Effective - once you get used to the texture! £35 at spacenk.com.

We present the beauty treats and cheats of the week, all trialled by West magazine’s Catherine Barnes, with help from daughter Tilly, 17.

ruby red

fave!

Ciate’s glitter polish in Love Letter Red: great for a romantic night, or a search for the Wizard of Oz! £9 at www. ciateLondon.com

Scrub up well Yes To is behind a range of fruit and veg-infused skincare. Its Grapefruit Even Skin Tone Facial Scrub (£8.99) is a zingy wakeme up. Find it at Waitrose, where’s there’s a third off the price until February 17.

all about that base....

Face in a Box’s organic and cruelty free collection contains foundation, primer, bronzer concealer and brushes.

Sorted! £49.95 at www. inikacosmetics.co.uk

UP IN STYLE Kitsch’s bun pins add a touch of glam to an updo. £15 at www.mykitsch.com 28

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the review This week we try

Beer Rinses

Magic nails Try Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel for a home gel-manicure. No need for a UV lamp to dry: apply two coats of colour and a top coat (sold separately, £9.99 each at Boots).

Catherine Barnes sees if the old ways are the best when it comes to making your hair shine creen star June Allyson is tangles before the rinse. June used this famed for her ‘shining and treatment as a setting lotion and the beer well-kept hair’ according does indeed have a sticky, thickening to this 1950s style bible, consistency on drying hair. Perfect if you Glamour, that I found in a plan to rock a beehive, but not so good second-hand store recently. for achieving silky tresses. My hair took Besides washing her hair TWICE a week longer to dry naturally, but actually did (she massages her head vigorously for so surprisingly straight and with little three consecutive shampoos, thank you), of the frizz that usually sees the GHDs the Glenn Miller Story star followed called into play. the final rinse with a soak of beer, said Modern advocates of the beer treatment to be packed with shine-enhancing offer conflicting advice over whether ingredients, including B vitamins to rinse off or not. Hair website British contained in hops Curlies recommends a rinse and malt. and then a final application of I gave this vintage conditioner for maximum shine beauty tip a whizz and manageability. Meanwhile, My hair took with Dartmoor’s forum member Amanda at longer to dry finest Jail Ale. www.ukhairdressers.com says There are a wealth use one part beer to three parts naturally but did of recipes and water in a final rinse, for super so surprisingly tips around which shine. This forum offers up use beer as spritz, a wealth of other weird and straight, with rinse-out shampoo wonderful kitchen cabinet little of the usual or a dilute final ingredients that members say frizz rinse mixed with will make locks shine, from other ingredients mayonnaise to maple syrup! such as cider There are gentle off-the shelf vinegar, but I products available containing went for broke. Half a bottle is enough beer for soft and shiny tresses, if you to drench your locks and give them that don’t have the bottle to DIY. Look out just-stepped-out-of the-tap-room aroma. for Hair Xpertise’s Anelco two-in-one Wring out, then towel dry and drink beer shampoo and conditioner (£1.99 at what’s left of the beer.

Superdrug) and Cynthia Sylvia Stout Result? Difficult to comb out locks – if

by Lush (£4.50), which contains beer, you try this at home, tease out any vinegar, and lemon juice.

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[[

Honey...

With anti-inflammatory properties, Manuka Doctor Normalising Facial Oil helps reduce the size of pores and skin redness. £19.99 from manukadoctor.co.uk

Want a review? Send your request to westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk 29

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Dress £32 Bag £32 both M & Co High heels £30 Linzi

Bonbon coloured crystal sterling silver bangle, tresorparis.co.uk

Valentine’s Date Night If you’re off out with your other half, you’ll want to look your best on February 14. Here’s our pick of the best outfits for a little flirting over dinner...

Clutch Very £20

Apricot £24

La Redoute £29

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Fashion

Moda in Pelle £179.95

Natasha dress White Stuff £45

Autograph faux fur coat, down from £149 to £78 Marks & Spencer

La Redoute black dress £28 31

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Trend

Roll neck jumper, Next, Princesshay, £30

HOW TO WEAR IT:

Knitwear MAIN PHOTO HAIR: ADAM AT SAKS, EXETER MAKEUP: CLARINS, DEBENHAMS (BOTH PRINCESSHAY) PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVE HAYWOOD STILL-LIFE PHOTOGRAPHS: PR SHOTS

Cosy, yes: but can it also be alluring, asks Kathryn Clarke-Mcleod ’ve become a bit obsessed with a blog called ‘Man Repeller.’ Don’t be put off by the name. Type www.manrepeller.com into your browser and you will find an incredibly funny website that is also very serious about fashion.

Creator Laura Medine explained the title of her blog to the Daily Mail. “Good fashion is about pleasing women, not men, so as it happens, the trends that we love, men hate.”

Laura’s social media accounts are awash with images of her in all sorts of get ups, some are outright bizarre and one includes the worst pair of jeans I have ever seen, but somehow she always looks enviably stylish.

In a recent post entitled ‘Why I wear bad pants’ (trousers on our side of the pond) she elucidates “They make me feel like a more interesting version of myself and that, to me, is what style is about.”

The sociology major in me is fascinated. The woman in me is frustrated. Why can’t I be on-trend, comfortable, and alluring all at once? Is it too much to ask? Cue flashbacks to Can’t I be Stella McCartney and Celine’s AW14 shows. There is hope. on-trend, Now and again, a trend comes comfortable along that means you don’t have compromise. Knitwear is one and alluring all of them. The cosy comforting at once? Is it too depths of a roll neck jumper in a geometric print will make you much to ask? feel like Kate Moss during apres ski, and your lunch companion is sure to agree. have a pair, put the magazine down It’s all about creating a siland get yourself to the nearest mall houette. Here’s how: Start with your knit, if stat) or Chelsea boots and head out the door. you’ve chosen a slightly oversized version like Of course, not all knits are oversized. Another my gorgeous monochrome number from Next key shape right now is the longline cardigan. Pair (pictured) then pair with leggings and ankle it with the new must-have, a sleeveless blazer, for boots for a chic shape, ideal for working lunches mucho fashion credibility. and Sunday brunches. If you’re on soccer mom Preppy sorority knits never go out of fashion duty, the good news is that cosy knits and sloucheither, so don’t relegate your fitted traditional ier denim cuts such as ‘boyfriend jeans’ are big cuts to the back of the cupboard. Keep them up news right now. If you’re standing in front of the to date by popping a fully fastened collared shirt mirror unsure, just ask: ‘Do I feel like a more inunderneath. Dress this look up by slipping a teresting version of myself ?’ I’ll bet the answer statement necklace under the collar. And, if you is yes. Simply pair with pointed flats (If you don’t are feeling extra brave, it looks like torn trousers

Trousers, Karen Millen, Princesshay, £115 Ankle boots, Karen Millen, Princesshay, £170 Bag, Next, Princesshay, £25

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are back. These offer the perfect foil to the prim upper half you have just created, and juxtapositions equal interesting!

Unsurprisingly a beauty trend has emerged from fashion’s love affair with knits. It’s called the ‘hair-tuck’. Simply put, this is the art of tucking your hair into your roll neck jumper. Everyone’s doing it, from the Olsens to Olivia Palmero.

If you have long hair it’s like having a chop without the commitment. I especially like the wisps that escape, tres alluring. After all, why be repellent when you can be resplendent?

All fashion in these pictures is from Princesshay Shopping Centre, Exeter, www.princesshay.com

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NEXT fringed cardigan £45

CREW CLOTHING Tilly Cardigan £65

GET THE

look SIMPLY BE Tomato red cross body bag £35

fave!

STREET STYLE HERO KAREN MILLEN Ankle boots £170

Note: These are the most comfortable ankle boots I have ever stepped out in. Pricey, but can you put a price on your feet feeling as good as they look?

Jesse Garcia, Exeter

GET THE LABEL Vera Moda womens leora knit £14.99

Knit, Zara Bag, Mulberry Jeans, Topshop Boots, Primark Hat, New Look Jesse says: It’s all about the silhouette for me, oversized knits look great with leggings and boots.

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Fashion

The edit Your straight line to style: choose cosy clothes in springlike colours

La Redoute £19

Principles by Ben de Lisi at Debenhams £16

Claire Richards plus size jeans Fashion World £45

Printed skinny jeans Next £28

Skinny jeans Next £18

Feather knit fluffy cardigan French Connection down from £90 to £45

Fluffy jumper Wallis down from £36 to £27.36

Longline jumper Marks & Spencer £39.50

+ East £40

+

+

+

+

+

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Events

The hotlist: There’s plenty to do right now here in the Westcountry, from wedding fairs to pasty championships

#1 The World Pasty Championships

2. Tying the knot?

Saturday February 28, the Eden Project

#2

Hartland, Feb 1 Love is in the air right now and the Something Old, Something New Wedding Fayre takes place today at The Milky Way, near Bideford in north Devon.

Look out for wedding dresses, caterers, marquees, hen/stag parties, jewellery, hats, chocolate fountains and more. For details see www.themilkyway.co.uk 01237 431255

Also known as the Oggy Olympics, pastymakers amateur and professional will compete for the coveted medals, while entertainment includes shanty singers The Fisherman’s Friends. Come along to join the fun – or even enter!

Visit www.edenproject.com for details.

3. Breadmaking Loddiswell, Feb 7 Learn how to make your own bread with chef Tom Rowlandson at Hazelwood House near Kingsbridge next Saturday, complete with lunch and wine. From 9am-2pm, £35, call 01548 821232 to book.

#4

4. Hank Wangford

#3

Newton Abbot, Feb 21 British country music star Hank Wangford (far left) is playing at Kingskerswell Parish Church with his old musical buddy Brad Breath on their nationwide tour of small venues. Doors open 7pm, £12, call 01803 875527 for details.

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Discover

Josie Long A good laugh is much the most effective way to banish the winter blues, and comedienne Josie Long is sweeping into Exeter to provide just that, for one night only. The three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee is divulging all sorts of things in her most personal show to date, sharing her take on love and being outdoorsy as a bear. Josie is the star of Radio Four’s All Of The Planet’s Wonders and Short Cuts – as seen on BBC1’s Have I Got News For You, Channel Four’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats, and, the critics all agree, she’s very funny indeed.

Exeter Phoenix, February 4 at 8pm. www.exeterphoenix.org.uk

Rambert If you haven’t seen these wonderful dancers before, you really should!

In a rare treat for the Westcountry, Rambert are at Hall for Cornwall this week. They start tomorrow with a programme including Christopher Bruce’s enduring classic Rooster, featuring the music of The Rolling Stones, and Mark Baldwin’s The Strange Charm of Mother Nature, inspired by the science of the cosmos.

The London-based company which dates back to the 1920s, used to be called Ballet Rambert, and you can see the ballet spirit in the way the dancers elegantly swirl, leap and pirouette around the stage to music from a live orchestra. Don’t go expecting to see a troupe wearing tutus and beribboned ballet pumps, though, because the creative choreographers at Rambert always come up with something quite different. And watching it is spellbinding, even if you are new to dance.

culture vulture

Our superb new guide to the arts scene in the South West by culture expert Sarah Pitt

On location...

If you are being drawn in by the intrigue of BBC drama Wolf Hall, currently on our screens in an adaptation of the Devon resident Hilary Mantel’s prizewinning novel, you may have spotted a Somerset stately home - Montacute House (right). Montacute stands in for Greenwich Palace, with Damian Lewis as Henry VIII riding with his courtiers through the grounds to the backdrop of the mansion.

The house is closed until March but the gardens – and view of the house as gazed

upon by Damian - are open year-round. See www.nationaltrust.org.uk and follow the show on BBC2, Wednesdays at 7.30pm.

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Enjoy

A WEEKEND IN...

Gittisham ittisham in East Devon has been described by Prince Charles as “the ideal English village”. At its heart is the Elizabethan Combe House, now a lovely hotel, while the main village is a collection of unspoilt 17th-century cob and stone cottages and elegant 18th-century brick houses. Almost all buildings in the village are listed, and the village has been designated a conservation area. It is surrounded by a 3,500 acre country estate, and is not far from the World Heritage Coastline at Sidmouth and Salcombe Regis.

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Where to stay: Combe House Hotel is Grade I listed and has an award-winning reputation for food, comfort and service. There is currently a three nights for the price of two on certain nights for Dinner, Bed & Breakfast until March 31, Call 01404 540 400 or visit www.combehousedevon.com for details.

Toast cafe

cally sourced and beautifully prepared by long-standing head chef Hadleigh Barrett.

For a more casual pub lunch, try The Holt on nearby Honiton’s main street, renowned for its superb gastro-pub menu. Afternoon tea?

Try the pretty Toast café across the road, run by the same family and serving superb home baking and light meals.

Shop: The market town of Honiton has a long-standing reputation for its antique shops. Visit The Grove Antiques Centre in a 17th century town house (01404 43377) or Abingdon House Antiques (01404 42108) on the High Street. Moko on New Street Honiton is a lovely women’s clothes shop selling unusual and stylish finds, with great service.

Visit: The Grade I-listed St Michael’s church in the centre of the village is described by Devon historian W G Hoskins as ‘exceptionally attractive’. Built in the early English and Perpendicular style of architecture, it has many points of interest, including box pews, a wagon roof and some 16th-century glass.

Walk:

Head for the coast at Salcombe Regis (home to Olympic equestrienne Mary King) and enjoy the lovely views from the South West Coastal Path here as it winds along the World Heritage Coastline between Sidmouth, Beer and Branscombe.

Eat: The food at Combe House is fine dining, lo-

Left and above: Combe House Hotel 37

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Caroline Quentin

Sloe gin Caroline makes her own

My favourite...

My Secret Westcountry Caroline Quentin Actress Caroline Quentin, 54, lives near Tiverton with her husband Sam Farmer and their children Will, 15, and Emily, 11. She’s perhaps best-known for her roles in the BBC TV series Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek and has appeared in countless roles on stage and screen. From February 5 Caroline will be starring in the title role in The Life and Times of Fanny Hill at The Old Vic in Bristol (www.bristololdvic.org.uk)

Westcountry town: I would like to give a shout out for Tiverton because it is really underrated. People see it as second-rate compared to Exeter and Taunton but I think it is a beautiful town architecturally. There isn’t a lot of money here, but if you take a stroll around it there are so much to see. I do all my shopping there, and of course we have got the canal which is flat, unlike the Devon hills! I ride my bike along the towpath and as a family we go for walks along the canal, too.

Pub: Sam and I like the Staplecross Inn at Staple Cross. It is just a really nice place to go and have a bite to eat and a drink, very easygoing and not at all poncey. A proper little pub.

Food shop: I love the Halberton Court Farm Shop, which is just up the road from Tiverton Parkway train station. Janet, who runs it, is wonderful and they have got a great butcher and a beautiful tearoom. They produce everything on site and all the vegetables are grown there. Then, for those who prefer to shop in town, there is Landrake Farm Greengrocers in Tiverton.

Place for coffee: The Independent Coffee Trader in Tiverton. He makes the best coffee in Devon. It is a tiny place, and it is always full of people. It is really popular.

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My Westcountry Caroline Quentin Feb 1.indd 38

28/01/2015 16:48:45

People

Snob Boutique in Tiverton and Wellington

Boutique: I’m a regular at Snob, in Tiverton and Wellington, where you can find nice things at very reasonable prices to jazz up an outfit. I’d also like to give a push to the charity shops in Tiverton, which include Devon Air Ambulance, Hospiscare and the YMCA. They have loads of bargains, ideal if you are short of money at this time of year.

Mode of transport: I use the trains a lot to get up to London, from Tiverton Parkway Station, and I love First Great Western - they are bloody marvellous. Over the past year I’ve been on stage in Oh What A Lovely War and Noel Coward’s Relative Values, which ran for eight months in the West End, so I rely pretty heavily on the trains. I’m in rehearsals now for The Life and Times of Fanny Hill, at the Bristol Old Vic, and it is really nice because I’m able to get home each night and sleep in my own bed. That’s quite unusual when I’m working.

[[ ‘In the summer our whole family goes to the River Exe where the kids paddle and swim. I love living in Devon’

Good cause: I’m a patron for the Exeter-based adoption charity Families for Children, together with the chef Michael Caines. We have had a very exciting time because the charity has just opened a new offices in Cornwall and North Devon. We are also looking for a new sponsor, because our previous sponsorship deal has just come to an end. So if anyone is looking for any input from Michael and me in return for helping the charity financially, please do get in touch.

Drink: I do have a soft spot for homemade sloe gin. I go around the blackthorn picking them and make my own every year. I also like to collect rosehips from the hedgerows and make them into a syrup, which is delicious with white wine.

Places to explore: I live close to the River Exe, and in the summer our whole family goes to a spot near Cove where the kids go paddling and swimming. It is absolutely gorgeous. I really love living here in Devon, surrounded by all this fabulous countryside.

Visit www.familiesforchildren.org.uk for more information.

THIS PICTURE: RAY YARDLEY

The Grand Western Canal at Tiverton

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My Westcountry Caroline Quentin Feb 1.indd 39

28/01/2015 16:49:21

[

EATING OUT

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Jasmine Thai

By Becky Sheaves

utting to the chase, what a little gem of a restaurant the Jasmine Thai on Exeter’s Fore Street is. My husband John and I went there for the first time the other day, meeting up for lunch and a chance to escape the busy working day for an hour or so.

Outside, all was bustle and buses, not to mention tipping rain, parking problems and puddles. Inside, the place is a little slice of Thai tranquillity – a calm oasis of good service and delicious food in the midst of a busy Friday in Exeter.

We were met on arrival by a serene Thai woman with flowers in her hair, to whom I very nearly said hello before realising she was, in fact, carved out of wood and merely decorating the doorway. Once inside, we were met by another serene Thai woman, this time very definitely real and smiling.

The restaurant is decorated in simple, oriental style with large golden Buddha heads, dark wood

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and muted silvers, plus padded delicious, though. banquettes. As an aside, for all John started with satay gai my fellow deaf friends out there, fragrant chicken satay skewers It’s a calm oasis the acoustics in this restaurant with spicy peanut sauce, very good are completely wonderful. I’m indeed. Next, he had a Thai green of good service somewhat hard of hearing curry with prawns for his main and delicious (ahem) and many a groovy or course, which almost made me feel interesting venue is hell for a bit jealous. Very coconutty, with food in the me due to its preponderance lots of flavour and fresh ingredients, midst of a busy of hard surfaces and oddabsolutely jam-packed with king Friday in Exeter shaped ceilings, swallowing prawns. up sounds and bouncing them I went for the squid phad bai around in an impossiblekrapaow, tasty stir-fried squid in to-hear fashion.

Here, a warm broth flavoured with chilli, despite the almost laughably garlic and Thai holy basil. It was cheesy easy-listening background music really rather scorching thanks to the chilli but playing constantly, John and I could chat extremely tasty once you got into it. These main with ease, without me saying “What?” every courses both came with a half moon of steamed five minutes. fluffy white rice and were, in short, altogether We opted for the set menu, going for the option wonderful. Throughout, our waitress was that cost £13.45 per head. This started with prawn extremely efficient, helpful and yet self-effacing, crackers as nibbles – so far, so ordinary. Starters allowing us to have a relaxed and peaceful lunch. for me were thod man pla - Thai fishcakes. These For dessert, I chose banana fritters, which I also found a bit dull, but John thought they exceeded all expectations. Hot and sweet with a were “delicate”. Their dipping sauce – clear and light, crispy sesame-seed encrusted batter and vinegary, with chopped vegetables, was very a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzled

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4 of the best Thai restaurants

1 The Journeyman, St Issey

This lovely village restaurant near Padstow serves an eclectic menu including That, Indian and Chinese food as well as British dishes, all cooked beautifully from fresh.

Dish of the day: Thai-style duck salad starter Price: Mains around £13 Contact: 01841 540604

2 Thai Garden, Paignton

with warm syrup. John had ordered a coconut pancake stuffed with coconut. The pancake was an unexpected grass-green colour, wrapped in a neat parcel around loose handfuls of golden toasted coconut. I tried some and thought it tasted more than a little weird – the pancake could almost be described as slimy, with rather dry, hay-like contents. Definitely different. However, John said it was well worth persevering, as once you got used to such an unfamiliar collection of textures and tastes, it was really special and rather delightful.

Despite the recipes coming from half way round the world, I was impressed to see that Jasmine Thai aims to source ingredients locally.

They use products such as top-quality Devon ice cream, and even feature the superb Dart Valley wine from the Sharpham Vineyard near Totnes on their drinks menu.

We had a good look at the evening menu when

I was there and, suffice to say, John and I will certainly be back before too long to give the much more extensive choice of dishes a good go.

We really liked this restaurant. I’d say Exeter is lucky to be blessed with such a good example of Thai cuisine. All too soon our lunch was over and we had to leave this little haven of oriental calm to do battle once more with the shoppers out on the busy streets.

Jasmine Thai, 153 Fore Street, Exeter 01392 689988

How they scored...

Food



Atmosphere



Service



Price

Weekday three course lunch for two including drinks: £48.70

This traditional family-run Thai restaurant has been going in Paignton, south Devon for more than 30 years.

There is Thai dancing most Friday and Saturday nights.

Dish of the day: Kang Kheaw Warn (green curry with coconut milk) Price: Mains around £8 Contact: 01803 521540

3 Moran’s Restaurant, Westward Ho!

This restaurant in north Devon enjoys a great reputation locally for serving Thai and British dishes. Look out for its feast-like special set Thai menus.

Dish of the day: Weeping Tiger (sirloin steak cooked in a hot wok with garlic and black pepper) Price: Three course set menus around £25 Contact: 01237 472070

4 Tiandi, Bude

Offering Asian fine dining on the seafront in Bude, north Cornwall, this restaurant offers an authentic Thai menu in elegant surroundings.

Dish of the day: King prawn Thai curry Price: Mains around £9 Contact: 01288 359686

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28/01/2015 17:15:53

Ingredient of the Week

Bay leaves with Tim Maddams

t’s that time of year when things are getting a little dull on the food side of things. There is very little of interest growing on the farms and the wild greens haven’t really got going yet. In short we’re a little bored and yearning for the next exciting ingredient on the seasonal calendar to make an appearance (the rhubarb won’t be long, though!). It’s at times like these when we need to look at our standard cookery methods and ingredients to see if we can’t make just a little more effort with what we have and make those dull dishes shine.

Fresh bay is a green leafy aromatic that I think is under-used and misunderstood by many cooks. It’s abundant and available all year, being evergreen, so why not get to know this flavourful form of laurel and give it the chance to enhance your cookery?

Now then, this is going to be stretching the definition of foraging a little far for some (and it’s not strictly a wild food either I suppose) but all around the country there are bay trees waiting for you to take advantage of their

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fragrant leaves. Often planted as ornamental trees in pots bay leaves are a cornerstone of base flavour. Soups and stews almost always improve with the addition of some bay and even bay leaf ice cream is well worth a go, though it’s not to everyone’s palette.

There is a myth that bay is poisonous and that is why it must be removed from the dish before serving. In fact, that’s not true: though many other laurel trees are poisonous bay is not. I suspect the reason they are removed is to avoid embarrassment should people try and eat them - they are rather woody and could easily choke you.

Don’t bother to buy those little boxes of dried bay leaves when there are bay trees all over the place here in the South West and the best thing about fresh bay is its pungency.

I have heard it said that bay leaves do not fully develop their flavour until they have been dried for a week or two but frankly I disagree. Fresh bay is versatile, delicious and abundant - so get out there and help yourself to a few, whenever you get the chance.

Think bay leaf!

Fresh bay has a flavour all of its own and I love to drop a few leaves into the pan when I’m frying sausages, steaks or pheasant breasts for supper. The flavour they impart to mushrooms is a combination not to be missed but paired with salty bacon and fresh white fish bay becomes a whole new flavour to enjoy.

Because the leaves are fresh they will not only flavour the dish but they won’t burn straight away like the dried ones would. So you can use them in different ways and at higher temperatures.

I very often put a twig of bay on top of the BBQ grill before I get cooking. Not only does this help to stop the fish, meat and veg sticking to the grill but it adds aroma and zing to the smokey food at the same time. @TimGreenSauce

Tim Maddams is a Devon chef and writer who often appears on the River Cottage TV series 42

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28/01/2015 14:22:35

Drink Beer festivals are a fun event and chance to try something new

Beer of the week My favourite from Exeter Beer Festival was Botanical IPA (5.9% ABV) by a new name to me, the Big Rabbit Brewery at Butterleigh, near Cullompton.

Ginger is an ingredient you have to be so careful with in beer, but Big Rabbit have done well here, keeping the spiciness subtle enough to make a difference but not overpowering. I could have drunk this all afternoon, had that not defeated the object of the festival!

Duty bound MPs are being urged to sign a Parliamentary Early Day Motion calling for another duty cut on beer in the forthcoming Budget. The EDM urges the government to consider a third cut in beer duty in three years “which would secure pub jobs, help keep pub pints affordable and support Britain’s much-loved pubs”.

Darren Norbury

talks beer little while go a parcel turned up on my doorstep from Shepherd Neame, the famous, historic brewery in Kent. Cosily packed in its own hinged wooden box, Mash Tun No 1 Ale (7.4 % ABV) was built up as a humdinger of a beer, but I found it, well, not that exciting to be honest. It was a fine old ale style beer, with date sweetness, dark plummy fruits, but for me, too much caramel sweetness.

It was a shame because I like a brown, strong bitter, which was exactly I why I delighted to find myself at Exeter Beer Festival a couple of weeks ago. I’m afraid the Mash Tun No 1 didn’t come near my favourites at this do.

The festival is a much-loved annual event, tucked into two rooms within the Exeter City FC clubhouse, and showcasing some of the finest winter brews from across the West Country, with a few from around the UK thrown in for good measure, too.

So what caught my eye this year? High up on my list was Luvely Jubbly (6%) from the Isca Brewery in Dawlish. Very dark, close to black, with well-balanced flavours but lovely dandelion and burdock notes coming through.

Very drinkable, as was Exeter Brewery’s Falls Over (5%), which was a proper best bitter in excellent condition.

Exe Valley Brewery’s Winter Glow (6%) was

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a deserved champion beer of the festival, with sweet fruit dominating on the palate, while Devil’s Walkabout (8%), from the Topsham Brewery, was a good recommendation (thanks, Drew!) with apple and almond flavours in the mix, and easy drinking for its ABV. There were a couple for which the jury is still out, though. Red Ink Thoro’ Bred, from Wellington, in Somerset, promised a hint of toffee, but I thought there was an awful lot of toffee taste – bit too much for me. That word ‘hint’, too, in the festival tasting notes for the Gyle 59’s Starstruck, flavoured with star anise and promising a hint of liquorice. Blimey – it was like drinking a liquid Liquorice Allsort, which, if you like the taste, is not a bad thing, but it’s only in adult life that I’ve come to tolerate liquorice and it’s never going to be a love affair.

If you couldn’t get to this event, you missed a treat. The festival was well organised and very friendly, and the clubhouse is a good venue, both in terms of suitability and accessibility.

I noted with a wry smile the Alan Brazil quote emblazoned on the wall: “Man United could only beat Exeter 2-0… and at one point it was 1-0.” These days City could possibly win it…

Darren Norbury is editor of beertoday.co.uk @beertoday

touch down It’s almost time for the Six Nations tournament, and this being strong rugby country there are a few beers out to mark the event. Among the trusted hardy annuals is Skinner’s Splendid Tackle, a golden ale at 4.2% which means it’s great for quaffing over 80 minutes. Worth a try, one might say...

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28/01/2015 14:24:13

Living

More

familythan fierce...

Scott Squires takes the new front wheel drive BMW 218d Active Tourer for a spin o BMW has sold its soul to the devil and made its first frontwheel drive car. Does this mean hell is about to freeze over and the end of the world is in sight?

That may all sound a bit dramatic, but BMW’s always been about the driving pleasure, and the manufacturers have always claimed that the best way to propel a car is from the rear. Formula One cars aren’t frontwheel drive, after all. But the new Active Tourer is BMW’s first multi-purpose vehicle - now a dominant part of the motors market.

BMW says the 2 Series Active Tourer is ‘proof that compact dimensions, functionality and practicality can be combined perfect-

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ly with a dynamic design’. I say: Not quite.

While it does drive very well it just doesn’t feel like a BMW. It just feels like any other car. Usually, when you drive a BMW you feel like you can keep pushing the car into the corners, but with the Active Tourer, you start to drive wide with handfuls of dull understeer. This is the first BMW not to be about the driving pleasure, but more about getting the family (and its bikes) into the countryside.

So don’t be fooled by the name of the car – as the ‘Active’ bit refers to you, not the car.

BMW thinks the owner of this car will have a busy weekend schedule – it seems to think you will be white-water rafting, mountain biking and potholing. Yep, that’s me.

The interior, however, is where every BMW driver will still feel at home. The only downside I can find is that it has the older i-drive system, which isn’t as good as the newer one.

There are plenty of little bins to store all the children’s odds and ends, plus a few nice touches like the centre armrest which is also a storage compartment with USB port for charging your phone.

In the cabin, it feels like a much bigger car. Yet while it does have enough room in the back for two adults or three children, it’s not quite as roomy as some of the competition. But the boot (open it by swiping your foot under the rear bumper) can swallow up a great deal. You can slide the rear seats for-

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gadget notebook BMW 218d Active Tourer Price

£24,205

Engine

2.0-litre turbodiesel

Power

148 bhp

Top Speed 127 mph Fuel Consumption 68.8 mpg

1 February 2015

tech tips: fitness gadgets Get some hi-tech help with your fitness goals

Watch it This GPS watch is ready for action right out of the box and can be worn at the gym and in the swim. It uploads your fitness data so you can share your stats on social media with friends and fitness buddies.

Garmin Forerunner 620 - £271.66 from sweatband.com

Weigh in These super-smart bathroom scales are iOS and Android compatible and can monitor your weight, body fat, heart-rate, air quality and even the ambient temperature. It can also recognise up to eight different users.

Withings Smart Bodyanalyser WiFi Scales - £129.99 from firebox.com

Pound the Streets It costs nothing to get fit on a by walking 10,000 steps a day - and just 100 pennies to buy this gadget to tally your strides.

Pedometer £1 www.poundland.com ward or, with a push of a button, they fold flat to give you 1,510 litres of space.

One thing BMW’s always done well is engines and there are plenty of options: petrol, diesel, and now four-wheel drive thanks to xDrive. The car I drove was the 218d which is expected to be the most popular, with its 109g/km and 65.7mpg which is better than some of its rivals.

Overall, the Active Tourer’s a great car, but I just don’t see why you’d spend the extra money on it (prices start from £22,125) over its cheaper competitors. A luxury car designed to take the kids and their muddy bikes to Dartmoor and back – will you really want them to sit in it on the way home?

EAU SO GOOD Over 22 billion plastic water bottles are discarded around the world every year: This charcoal-filter bottle makes tap water taste great, saving money and the environment. £12.80 from www.kiwifunk.com

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28/01/2015 14:56:27

My life

[

man and boy

Back in time

[

Phil Goodwin, father of James, four, goes prehistoric y home is slowly being converted into a prehistoric carnival of the grotesque. And it’s not often you find yourself saying that.

Avid readers of this column since the inception of West magazine last June (hello Mum) may recall I once railed against the pervasive effects of junk modelling. Thanks to Crafty Sonia from the Messy Beans playmorning group and her Pied Piper-like hold on my innocent young son, the house slowly began to fill up with cardboard constructions – aquariums, shops, stations, schools, rockets… box-fish (even Sonia struggled with this one).

Over time I have managed to, let’s say, thin out the best works and discreetly recycle the rest. But now, just as I have reclaimed enough space to breathe, the pocket-sized artist has switched medium. Like The Russian genius Wassily Kandinsky with his revolutionary abstract lines and shapes, James has swept the past behind him, swapping paper and card for clay. A sculptor no less.

Now this sea-change in his artistic directin just happens to have coincided with the launching of a school project on dinosaurs.

Having studied this subject in our nightly storytelling sessions a long time ago, I thought the fascination with giant lizards had passed.

Not a chance. The little angels have been painting volcanos, making papier-mâché eggs in class and discussing all things Jurassic. One evening, in a moment of weakness, I remembered moulding figures as a boy, and suddenly found myself volunteering to buy a lump of modelling clay so we could fashion our very own lava-spouting Mount Vesuvius. So, off we went to The Range in Exeter, which actually does a nice line in kids craft material – aisles of the stuff in fact. And to my astonishment, they

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even had the same make of clay I had way back when – Das, it’s called – made in Italy. There was no Play-Doh moment of aromatic nostalgic – in fact it stinks – but at two quid a kilo I reckoned I had snapped up a bargain. As ever with such trips, I was talked into buying some other shiny

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[

We created a frog-legged praying mantis, hardened into an unflattering squat: ‘He looks like he’s having a poo,’ said James

piece of tat, in this case a Made in China buildyour-own-T-Rex kit. But notwithstanding this, we set of home with joy in our hearts and the determination to create what the boy called Dino-world.

The volcano was a doddle but the T-Rex, as I feared, was a disaster. It contained not the raw material we required but what appeared to be an inedible marshmallow. We followed the instructions and left it to set but when we came down next morning, the creature had crumpled into an odd position, face down as if melted to the mantelpiece. He is now permanently disfigured, cannot stand and is frankly unfit for duty in our raptor army.

Undaunted, we unpeeled the Das and resolved to give life to a T-Rex made of sterner stuff. I must confess, the job had seemed easier when I was a kid, though I seem to recall my ambitions were less lofty. I think I made an ashtray – well, it was the 70s…

The Italian clay fared better than the Chinese confection but even so the design lacked realism. James perfected the shape but, to be honest, we ended up with a kind of mutant squirrel with goofy teeth and giant feet. Another freak joined the display - a piece of chipboard painted up as a volcano, which sits in the window. I decided it was time to apply some engineering principles and devised a wire frame to carry the weight of the clay. And, lo and behold, the creature stood, unaided. Unfortunately, the proportions were wrong, the legs way too long. So rather than a lifelike replica of the fearsome king of the reptiles, we ended up with a frog-legged praying mantis, hardened into an unflattering squat. “He looks like he’s having a poo,” James told me. It’s not going well. Maybe I should just leave him to it.

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