PL Magazine October 2014 by DCMedia

Your lifestyle magazine for Plymouth & surrounding areas

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M a g a z i n e

OCTOBER 2014

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haunted plymouth GO HUNTING FOR GHOULS AND GHOSTS

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CONTENTS

PEOPLE

FAMILY

58 THE ONE WHERE THEY…

6 TOMMY VILES

32 PARTY TIME

The Friends’ New York

Model’s double life

Take the fear out of kids’ parties

60 BORINGDON PARK

10 TANIA CROSSE Author’s Devon obsession

12 SETH LAKEMAN 14 MEG JOHNSON My year in pictures

Fame of Plymouth explorer

38 DARTMOOR PRISON Glimpse inside museum

FASHION 18 AUTUMN TRENDS This season’s key looks

20 LONDON CALLING A glimpse at next year’s trends

22 HALLOWEEN Get the ghoulish look

HEALTH & BEAUTY 24 SOAP STARS

40 HAUNTED PLYMOUTH PL goes in search of ghosts

HOMES & GARDENS 44 ANIMAL MAGIC The cuddliest accessories

46 HOME RENOVATION 48 PLACE FOR REFLECTION St Luke’s garden

26 JADE SIMSON

50 AUTUMN GLORY

Teenager hitting new heights

The Garden House

28 THE RUNNER’S FRIEND

52 DECK THE HALL

Frank keeps his shop running

The Cotehele House garland

30 AUTUMN BEAUTY

54 PREPARE FOR SPRING Planting bulbs

56 OCTOBER GARDENING TIPS What to do this month

/PLMagPlymouth @PLMagPlymouth

PUBLISHER: Paul Burton 01752 293045 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Fiona Stoddart THE HERALD: 01752 293000 For more contact details see page 82

FOOD & DRINK 62 CORNISH ORCHARDS Crafting local cider

64 PARTY TIME Our pick of the Christmas venues

66 THE DOCK Plymouth’s hot new eatery

68 GHOULISH DELIGHTS Recipes for Halloween

70 BIG FOOD EVENT Celebrity chefs flock to county

Couple’s amazing project

Locally crafted products

Seasonal tips

Tales from the moor

36 DRAKE’S JOURNEY

Folk hero

Golfer’s paradise

34 DARTMOOR LEGENDS

TRAVEL

OUT & ABOUT 72 JOHN BISHOP Britain’s favourite comic

74 CARO EMERALD Singer’s UK tour

75 ABOUT THE RIVER Artist’s Tamar adventure

76 WORDSMITHS Plymouth’s writing culture

77 INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL Authors flock to city

78 SOCIAL DIARY The best events in the city

80 TOP 6 EVENTS What to do this month

COVER: Tommy Viles by John Allen PL MAGAZINE | 3 | OCTOBER 2014

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gHOULS, GHOSTS AND REALLY GOOD FOOD

ow did it get to October so soon? With the final warm rays of sunshine from a lovely summer still sparkling across Plymouth Sound, the proper autumnal months seem to have crept up on us. But rather than dwelling on summer’s demise, the PL team are busy embracing October. We’re looking ahead to everyone’s favourite gothic celebration with fashion tips for Halloween parties, recipes for the day and a look at Plymouth’s most haunted pub. Yes that’s right, PL writer Louise Daniel teamed up with the city’s local ghost hunters to brave the bumps in the night at the historic Minerva pub on Plymouth’s Barbican. Read her tales of ghostly sailors on Page 40. And if that’s not enough to spook you, Rachael Dodd discovers some of the local grisly legends away from the sea, high up on Dartmoor, on Page 34. If you’re wondering why PL has suddenly become so obsessed with the paranormal, rest assured there’s plenty inside this month’s issue more in line with our mantra of showing off the best of Plymouth. We lunch at one of our favourite eateries of the summer The Dock, sample some of the finest cider in these parts with Cornish Orchards and treat ourselves to some organic pampering with soap queen Jo Baskett. We also have a sneaky first mention of the C word (is it still too early to mention Christmas?) and look at our picks of the best office-party venues while catching up with the lovely folk over the river at the National Trust’s Cotehele House where they are preparing their annual festive garland. Over the page, Emily Smith has the pleasure of catching up with Plymouth’s international modelling star Tommy Viles, while author Tania Crosse, photographer Meg Johnson, folk star Seth Lakeman and emerging hurdles hope Jade Simson feature among our interviews this month. And last, but not least, we must say a big thank you to the lovely Darren Nicholson and Colette Litton for letting us nose around their beautifully-renovated home in Hartley. Have a snoop for yourself on Page 46. See you in November!

Clare Jardine Clare Jardine – PL Magazine

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TO M M Y ’ S DOUBLE LIFE TOMMY VILES IS TAKING THE MODELLING WORLD BY STORM. SIAN DAVIES REPORTS

ommy Viles has a double life. Half the time the 24-year-old is a civil servant in Estover. A proper Janner lad happily settled with his fiancee Coral, 23, and her twoyear-old daughter Elsie-May. The other half he is an international model, with agencies in New York, LA, Melbourne and Milan snapping at his heels for him to join them. He met his future wife just as his career was starting to take off - and has spent weeks at competitions around the world in the first six months of their relationship. “I met Coral in Oceana, in the classic Plymouth way, about four years ago,” Tommy said. “We knew of each other, but in February this year I saw her on a night out. “I was actually celebrating my career starting to take off. “She was reluctant to see me as she thought I had a reputation and I wouldn’t text her back. “But I messaged her as I got in that night. “I felt so comfortable with her - we are both so blunt and always say exactly what we’re thinking. “Just before we started going out properly I said there’s three things I need - honesty, trust and respect - and if we’ve got them we’ve got a relationship.” In July Tommy brought a haul of awards back from New York after taking an international modelling and acting competition by storm. Competing at the IMTA convention (International Model and Talent Association) in Manhattan, Tommy came first out of 4,000 contestants in an acting competition after performing a monologue, and came in the top 10 for improvisation. In the modelling categories he was equally successful – coming third out of 9,000 for best commercial model. As he arrived home, Coral had organised a massive surprise party to celebrate his success. “We had a party at Devonport Services Rugby Club for Elsie-May’s second birthday,” Tommy PL MAGAZINE | 7 | OCTOBER 2014

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‘I would have laughed at someone a year ago who told me this is what I would be doing now’ - TOMMY VILES

said.“Later Coral said she had left her bag - we went back and all my family and friends were there waiting for me. It was unbelievable.” It was here that Tommy popped the question, just six months after they got together. “My dad made a speech and said how proud he is of me, and her dad said he couldn’t be more grateful for a potential son-in-law for his daughter. “At that point I still didn’t know I was going to propose. I started making a speech and started talking about Coral. I asked her to stand up, and she looked nervous because she had just been sat there having a laugh. “But I took her by the hand and went down on one knee. Everyone was in shock - they know me well and thought it was a joke. “She gave me a massive cuddle but I had to check with her she said yes!”

Tommy sealed the deal just as agencies started to get interested. Following the IMTA convention, which launched the careers of Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott, Tommy has had interest from 15 modelling and acting agencies around the world, including five based in New York and five in Los Angeles. He has also been offered a scholarship at New York Film Academy, and says his ambition would be to star in an Italian gangster movie. “People who know me well, know I have wanted this for a long time and I’ve finally had the confidence to go for it. “I’m so excited to start the next chapter of

my life,” Tommy said, who is now sponsored by Toni and Guy Plymouth. “I’m taking time to work with my mother agency IMD about what options I have. “Eventually I’d like to move to LA. I think it will be fine. “Coral has supported me with everything so far and I’ve told her it will just be like if I was in the Forces and going away for months at a time. “Lots of people make long-distance relationships work. “I would have laughed at someone a year ago who told me this is what I would be doing now. “I was quite unhappy and in a relationship I didn’t want to be in. “Now I’m moving forward with my career and am with an amazing girl. “I feel quite proud of myself.”

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PEOPLE

Seth Lakeman MERCURY-NOMINATED FOLK MUSICIAN SETH LAKEMAN IS CURRENTLY TOURING WITH HIS TOP 20 ALBUM WORD OF MOUTH. EMILY SMITH TALKED TO THE SINGER ABOUT HIS WEST COUNTRY ROOTS AND LOVE FOR FOLK

eth was bought up on Dartmoor just north of Plymouth in Buckland Monachorum and still lives in the South West, admitting it’s the inspiration to all of his work. His presence on stage and raw songs have made him a huge star across the folk music scene. Seth is keen to make folk music popular and his latest album Word of Mouth has certainly done what its title suggests, reaching the top 20 in the UK album charts. Seth is regularly played on BBC Radio 2 and is becoming a huge star, while staying grounded and a pleasure to talk to. Seth’s parents ran a folk club when he was growing up and he began his musical career performing in a band with brothers, Sam and Sean, but has now established himself as a solo artist. He tells me: “Music was absolutely something I grew up with as a child. There was no escape from it and it was always around us. I was destined to be a musician. “I started singing when I was six years old, I moved into making professional music when I was 16. “I went to Tavistock School but music wasn’t so much a part of my school life - it was more outside of school, playing with friends and around festivals. I was really into theatre and performing arts music when I was young, though.” Seth’s 2004 album Kitty Jay was Mercury Prize-nominated in 2004 and moved him into the limelight. His latest album Word of Mouth was recorded in North Tamerton Church and tells the stories of people from every walk of life, he met and interviewed. “I interviewed 100 people from across the South West. Each song on the album represents one person’s story,” he said. “I made sure I always carried a dictaphone with me and just talked to people I met, from train drivers, to farmers and festival organisers. It’s about unravelling stories as you go. “I choose the most powerful stories to be on the

album - I recorded twice as many songs, though.” Anyone who has been lucky enough to see Seth live will know that his energy on stage and his fastpaced songs are bound to get you dancing. He’s a regular performer in churches and cathedrals. “I predominately play the fiddle and sing songs about the community,” he explains. “Churches are great community spaces and give the songs more poignancy. “Folk music is people’s music, it’s for and all about people. It’s a huge celebration of people’s lives.” The folk musician is also a regular on the festival scene and has just spent the summer performing at Devon’s Beautiful Days Festival, Shrewsbury Folk Festival and Oxfordshire Towersey Festival. He adds: “Festivals are great for introducing what you do to a different audience. SETH LAKEMAN People go to festivals and end up seeing lots of musicians rather than just one person they have paid to see. “Folk music is broadening hugely as a genre. It’s really important that it’s always moving forward and young people like it and think it’s cool.” Seth will end his two-month tour in his home city of Plymouth at the Theatre Royal Plymouth on October 25. He last played the venue two years ago and is looking forward to getting back on home soil. “It’s always a pleasure to play in my home city and end the tour there.” Seth is also currently busy playing dad to his one-year-old twins. The still-learning father admits to being someone who always needs to be occupied and his twins are certainly keeping him that. I ask if music is something they will grow up with. “I’m always singing or playing to them and I have music on around the house all the time. I like annoying them!” When I speak to Seth he has just come back from a walk across Dartmoor and tells me how

‘It’s always a pleasure to play in my home city and end the tour there’ -

he loves the ever-changing nature of the moors. Having been brought up in Devon and not planning to move away anytime soon he tells me the West Country “is the roots of all my writing and my work”. Word Of Mouth was released in early February and Seth’s current tour will feature many of the songs featured on the album, as well as his fans’ favourites. Although his albums are well received by his fans, he admits that he finds writing a challenge. “Touring is the icing on the cake. The hardest thing about being a musician is writing records. Lots of people have perceptions about musicians when they see us on tour, that it’s all playing and great fun - writing is a huge challenge. Being on the road is really fun though,” he adds. The folk musician’s career is moving in leaps and bounds and his passion for folk music and traditional roots is moving the genre into the mainstream. Although he admits that his own love of music stretches further than folk. He laughs: “I grew up listening to everything from AC/DC to Bon Jovi and Bach.” Seth is infectious live and will have even a fiddle-phobic become a fan. A night at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth seeing this charming musician is set to be one night out you won’t forget in a while.

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ALL IMAGE TAKEN BY MEG JOHNSON

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PEOPLE

Picture perfect MEG JOHNSON LEFT EVERYTHING BEHIND IN HER HOME TOWN OF WORCESTER TO MOVE TO PLYMOUTH AND FOCUS ON A NEW PROJECT THAT MEANT TAKING A PHOTO EVERY DAY FOR A YEAR. EMILY SMITH MET THE DEDICATED PHOTOGRAPHER

eg Johnson did what many of us could only dream of - she quit her job and moved nearly 200 miles away to focus on a new life and her passion for taking photographs. The 23-year-old said: “I was working as a children’s photographer in Worcester. I was a lone worker and I used to drive to my location, set up all the equipment, stay there all day and then take it down again. It was really hard work.”

Meg and her boyfriend decided they would both quit their jobs and, on a whim, decided Plymouth was the place to move. The move came last July and Meg hasn’t looked back since. “Me and my boyfriend just moved into the first flat we saw online,” she said. “I had never been to Plymouth before and we hadn’t seen the flat until the day we moved down. “I felt like I needed a new chapter. I was born and raised in Worcester and then went to

university there. I needed to move on and look at my photography in terms of a business and not as a hobby. It was absolute madness just moving down, though, but I don’t regret it.” Meg began a project called 365 last October, a year-long challenge to take a photo every day. Being new to the city, it was a perfect opportunity for the 23-year-old to get out and about. “It’s beautiful here, there is so much more to do. I am keen to show Plymouth off to its full

PHOTOGRAPHER MEG JOHNSON

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‘I am keen to show Plymouth off to its full potential there is never a dull day’ - MEG JOHNSON

potential - there is never a dull day,” she said. This wasn’t the first time that Meg had started a project like this, after giving it a go when she was living in Worcester. She explained: “I started a similar project to 365 a couple of years ago but I never finished it. I always regretted not finishing it, I think I got to 250 days and stopped. “When I moved to Plymouth I didn’t know anyone and I needed to go out and explore. I wanted to give something new a try and started 365. “The longer it’s gone on, the harder it is to take a photo every day. Some days I have 20 pictures and I struggle to choose one – some days I can be running around at ten to midnight trying to get a photo.” Taking a photo every day is no easy challenge but as Meg nears the end of her project, the support she has received has been tremendous. “It has been hard but it’s been really rewarding. I have met lots of people and networked around the city. The whole project has been so much more successful than I thought it would be. “I think it’s going to be sad not using a camera every day when it’s over.” As the project nears the end of its 365 days, Meg is focusing on her future. The photographer currently photographs weddings and takes portrait photos and is busy concentrating on setting up her own business. Although the move from Worcester may have

shocked family and friends, Meg believes it was the right choice and is now proud to call Plymouth home. “There is so much competition here in Plymouth so I had that drive to keep me going, although it is easy to take nice photos of Plymouth,” she added. “Plymouth has been really influential for me. When I said I was moving to Plymouth my mum was shocked. I’m not too sure what most people made of it but everyone has been so supportive.” Meg met her boyfriend at Worcester University

and he is now concentrating on finding a job as a graphic designer in the city. Meg said: “We are both just trying to live the dream.” Meg’s work can be seen during a month-long exhibition at Devonport Guildhall from October 3 to November 1 which will mark the end of her 365 project. TO SEE MORE OF MEG’S WORK VISIT WWW. MEGSPHOTOS.CO.UK OR WWW.FLICKR.COM/ PHOTOS/MEG_JOHNSON

PL MAGAZINE | 14 | OCTOBER 2014

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PEOPLE

Tania’s Victorian chronicles DEVON AUTHOR TANIA CROSSE HAS PUBLISHED HER TENTH AND FINAL HISTORICAL NOVEL INSPIRED BY DARTMOOR AND THE TAMAR VALLEY. SHE TELLS ROGER MALONE HOW SHE KEEPS READERS HOOKED

t seems serendipity to be invited to return to the place that inspired your novels to be a guest at its literary festival. Tania Crosse set off on her now complete cycle of ten novels after a visit to the beautifully restored Morwellham Quay. Invited to speak at its recent festival, she joined a line-up of authors and poets as they explained how the West Country had influenced their work. The recently published Teardrops In The Moon is the last in Tania’s series of stories set in and inspired by Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley. Her first published novel, Morwellham’s

Child, was launched at the historic quay, once a thriving mine and port, in 2001 – and set her on writing successful career. “I’d previously written three novels and they had all been rejected. People said the Victorian era, as far as books were concerned, was over – and I proved them wrong,” says Tania. Remaining determined rather than disillusioned, Tania persisted, using her rejected writing as a learning curve. Canny and resourceful, she crafted some of the best bits into her future novels. Morwellham’s Child was set in the late 1860s when the mines changed from producing copper

to arsenic – having an enormous knock-on effect at the Tamar Valley port. “I had always had a passion for the Victorian era and it just slotted into place.” The locations and the social and industrial history that went with them inspired Tania, and her next book, The River Girl, was set in the Tavy Valley. “Because I had provided a link between Morwellham’s Child and The River Girl I thought that was quite a nice thing to do,” says Tania. “Rather than having individual books, and then writing off the characters that I had journeyed with, I decided I would bring them

AUTHOR TANIA CROSSE AT MORWELLHAM QUAY

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PEOPLE

along as well. “The links naturally developed – with the last one being in Teardrops In The Moon.” In her early days of authorship, Tania and her husband made frequent visits to Dartmoor from their home in Berkshire. They loved it so much they bought a small cottage on the edge of the moors at Walkhampton, and now divide themselves between the two. Walkhampton became the location for her ninth novel, Wheels Of Grace. Centred on the village wheelwrights it followed the fortunes of close-knit families suffering the effects of the World War One. “I did a whole lot of research and found there was so much to write about,” she says. In Tania’s carefully created stories, characters evolve and age from one self-contained novel to another. The feisty young heroine in Cherrybrook Rose, set against a backdrop of Cherrybrook powder mills and Dartmoor Prison, celebrates her 60th birthday in Teardrops In The Moon. However the heroine in this, Tania’s final novel in the series, is Marianne – exchanging the peace of Dartmoor in 1916 to be an ambulance driver and face the horrors of war-torn France. “I have a file with all the characters’ details – which ensures getting people married in the right year! You have to keep up consistency,” says Tania. “My characters do take on a life of their own. I know the basic story but all the

ins and outs and how they react comes to me as I go on. “Some authors have every scene planned from the outset, but that method is too formulaic for me. I like my characters to grow inside my head as the story develops.” Tania’s characters lead harsh, demanding lives and their stories are often cruel and harrowing. For this reason she hates being categorised as a writer of historical romance. “I tell it like it was!” she says. As a writer Tania is first drawn to the location and history of the area. Here, for her,

a lot of research before dispatching Marianne off to France with the FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry). “What struck me was the bravery of the young women,” she recalls. “I had to read the military accounts of two different regiments for Wheels Of Grace and Teardrops In The Moon. “The courage of these young men and women, all from normal backgrounds, was amazing.” Some 50 years ago books would start with a long lyrical description of the location, but not any longer, says Tania. “These days the most important line of a book is the first line where you aim to catch the reader’s attention. People are so impatient now because our world moves so quickly.” For modern authors, like Tania, TANIA CROSSE there are no ivory towers to hide away in. With so much competition comes inspiration to dramatise the human it is essential to be pro-active. “People think struggle that springs from such remote and authors live very glamorous lives like Barbara rugged locations. Cartland – reclining on a couch with yards and “In the novels I’m taking myself back to an era yards of taffeta,” she says. “It is a very mixed when women were beginning to stand up and be life. You can be quietly writing the book, or out counted,” she says of her frequently headstrong visiting locations, chatting to someone or going females. “It is right historically, as women were to reference libraries. There are book signings making their mark – and publishers always and talks. At first that was a bit daunting but want strong heroines, although they have to be it is all part of the package – and today there blemished a little as well!” is social media as well. Being an author is Tania details her Victorian novels with a more than a full-time job – it’s a way of life.” well-researched and atmospheric sense of time Teardrops In The Moon is published in and place. For Teardrops In The Moon she did hardback by Hale Books at £17.99.

‘I like characters to grow inside my head as the story develops’ -

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FASHION

Michael Kors cape, £330; Biba white shirt, £69; Linea Prince of Wales check trousers, £79; Therapy Kirsty duffle bag, £39; Ted Baker faux fur hat, £49G; all House of Fraser www.houseoffraser.co.uk

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Tu at Sainsbury’s Core 10th Anniversary Collection. Roll neck jumper, £22; leather look midi skirt, £22; ankle boots, £25 www.sainsburys.co.uk

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FASHION

GET THE LONDON LOOK HERE’S A SNEAK PEEK AT THE TRENDS FOR SPRING/ SUMMER 2015. LISA HAYNES SITS FRONT ROW AT LONDON FASHION WEEK

hen it comes to the Fashion Week calendar, London is undoubtedly the most experimental of the capitals, while New York is commercial, Milan is all about glamour and Paris showcases high-end chic. That means that the trends observed in London are often the most innovative and fresh, and this season was no exception. Fashion-goers from around the globe flocked to the catwalks over five days to soak up spring/summer 2015. You may not even have bought your winter coat yet, but these are the looks set to steer the high street early next year. Take notes, and if you want to be really fashion-forward, jump on your favourite trends now. Say hello to next spring’s style...

THE COLOUR: GET THE BLUES

THE TEXTURE: DARK DENIM When it comes to trend-setting shows, Burberry rules the runway. The uber-brand, famed for its trench coats, opened this season’s The Birds and The Bees collection with an indigo denim jacket. “There were fitted denim jackets, some trimmed in marabou, alongside giant paillettes, sneakers and bowling bags - all of which spoke to the Nineties theme,” Smith says. The new It staple was mixed with high-octane glamour - work your denim jacket with a sequin skirt or tulle bow to be a Burberry girl.

The coolest way to wear colour on the catwalk is head-to-toe in one tone. While white was hot on the agenda at Joseph, Temperley London and Pringle of Scotland, real colour came in various hues of blues. “It was a relief to see colour begin to soak through in the cyans, cornflowers and cerulean blues at Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders and Matthew Williamson,” says Katie Smith, senior retail analyst at EDITD.

WEAR THE TREND NOW: Jaeger Wool Crepe Shift Dress, £199 (www.jaeger.co.uk)

WEAR THE TREND NOW: Paige Dark Blue Denim Jacket, £210 (www.harveynichols.com)

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FASHION

THE PRINT: LINEAR MODE Graphic stripes are go for next season, whether it’s laidback pyjama style or hypnotic mixed stripes. “Designers haven’t shied away from all-over stripe looks,” Smith says. “Giles’ striped pyjama suit was accompanied with matching footwear, Preen went crazy for cricket stripes, and Peter Pilotto offered asymmetric panels on skater dresses, carrying varying stripes to good effect.”

WEAR THE TREND NOW: Karen Millen Stripe Shift Dress, £160 (www.karenmillen.com)

THE DECADE: FLOWER POWER Every year, retro references infiltrate the catwalks, and this season it was a Woodstock-worthy late Sixties/early Seventies vibe. Travel through the style time machine with kick flares, platform shoes and bright crochet. “New York decisively picked the Seventies as its most referenced decade,” Smith reveals. “Matthew Williamson, House of Holland, Tom Ford and Peter Pilotto gave the Seventies a turn with glam rock, psychedelic florals and disco references.”

WEAR THE TREND NOW: Topshop Crochet Patch Top, £40 (www.topshop.com)

THE SURFACE: HIGH SHINE Metallics move forward every season with new textures. For spring/summer 15, glitz finishes came in the form of patent leathers, high-shine plastics and lurex fabrics. Smith says: “The electric sheen of metallic fabrics was seen on numerous catwalks around the capital, in disco form at Tom Ford, space age party dresses at Markus Lupfer, and carrying the Nineties/Millennial theme home at Richard Nicoll.

WEAR THE TREND NOW: Hobbs Debutante Lame Dress, £249, available mid-October (www.hobbs.co.uk)

TALK OF THE TOWN

Micro trends (and front row celebs) are hot topics online over London Fashion Week. Here’s what excited the style pack during the shows, with stats compiled by retail analytics company EDITD (editd.com):

THE THEME: SPORTS DAY Don’t pack away your posh gym kit just yet; designers unveiled plenty of sports-inspired luxe details from their lockers. Smith says: “There were bomber jackets at Antonio Berardi and tube socks and sheer panelled sweaters at Joseph. “The best new direction for this casualwear came in Nineties interpretations; the stripetrimmed sweaters, cami dresses and flippy skirts of Topshop’s party girls, and sheer layers, bias cuts and spaghetti straps at Richard Nicoll.”

744 mentions of Rita Ora vs 258 Alexa Chung vs 127 Olivia Palermo. 432 mentions of skater dresses (Peter Pilotto). 404 mentions of bomber jackets (Antonio Berardi, Christopher Raeburn). 278 mentions of midi skirts (Holly Fulton, J.W. Anderson). 267 mentions of flares (Matthew Williamson, Tom Ford). 197 mentions of colour blocking (Roksanda). 178 mentions of art prints (Christopher Raeburn, Jasper Conran, Burberry). 62 mentions of tube socks (Joseph).

WEAR THE TREND NOW: The Kooples Sport Three Colour Graphic Polo Shirt, £115 (www.thekooples.co.uk) PL MAGAZINE | 21 | OCTOBER 2014

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FASHION

Black magic NO NEED TO TRAWL THE FANCY DRESS SHOPS FOR A HALLOWEEN LOOK THIS YEAR. BRING ON THE DRAMATICS WITH FLOATY FABRICS THAT BILLOW IN THE WIND LIKE DRACULA’S CAPE, OR CHANNEL MORTICIA ADDAMS IN ALLURING, BODY-HUGGING LACE

PRINT HOCUS-POCUS Gothic looks don’t have to mean top-to-toe black. Print is the accessible way to do Goth by day. Thanks to designers like Mary Katrantzou, dark photographic woodland scenes are the modern means to inject some creepy couture into your look. Stick to monochromatic prints or deep, moody hues like purple and navy that resemble a moonlit night. For something more playful, bats are currently fashion’s nocturnal creature of choice. Try a jumper with a statement bat motif or a repetitive bat print on a skirt or top and you’ll be flying high in the style stakes.

PL MAGAZINE | 22 |OCTOBER 2014

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NEW RANGE

NOW IN STOCK! WAS £ 61

NOW £ 5.25 535.00

WAS £ 20

NOW £ 5.85 179.00

5 £228.8 00 WAS 199.

BLACK OR BLACK? An all-black look can be unforgiving but not if you look for sheer, lace or cut-out velvet panelling to soften the intensity. If you prefer long sleeves and high necks for winter, this is the way to cover up but still expose a hint of skin. For daywear, try embracing the Halloween spirit with cobweb-effect fine knits. Texture is all-important with black – luxe matte fabrics are more Gothic-appropriate, so seek out crushed velvets or silk crepe. Up the glamour stakes with black lace, intricate beading or dramatic ruffles for after-dark.

£ NOW

5 £113.8 0 WAS 9 9 .0

NOW

ACCESSORY ALCHEMY Ear cuffs are having a moment right now – just the one, mind – and if you want to experiment, Halloween night is the perfect opportunity. For statement neckwear, look to striking onyx black gems to set free your inner glamorous Goth, or an oversized spider charm if you plan to freak out arachnophobics on your commute.

STYLING SORCERY The good news about the Gothic trend is that you can go as spookily subtle or dramatic as you dare. Follow these styling tips for some twilight chic: • If you’re wearing all black, break up the Gothic look with a flash of flesh. Keep either legs or arms/decolletage on show – and maybe get a cab to avoid the chill. • The right underwear is essential if you want to work black lace or sheer fabrics. Unsightly strap marks and VPLs could turn the look into a horror story. • Shoes will instantly transform your look. For a witchy vibe, slip your feet into pointed toes, toughen up your look with ankle boots, or if you’re feeling really vampish, go with open toes and opt for a black or deep inky blue pedicure.

WAS £320.85

NOW £279.00

01752 702040

www.devonfurniture.co.uk sales@devonpine.co.uk Christian Mill Business Park Crownhill | Plymouth | PL6 5DS

LARGE FREE CAR PARK OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK! PL MAGAZINE | 23 | OCTOBER 2014

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Soap of the

HAND-MADE, NATURAL SOAP COMPANY SAPOONI IS NOT YET A YEAR OLD. BUT THE SALTASH-SOURCED AND CRAFTED PRODUCTS ARE ALREADY A BIG HIT, AS EMILY SMITH REPORTS

hen you walk into Jo Baskett’s house, the first thing that hits you is the delicious, welcoming, unmistakable smell of soap. Her tiny workshop overlooking the River Tamar is fit to bursting with soaps of almost every recipe. Sapooni means soap in Greek and was an idea formed four years ago. Before moving into the soap business, Jo and her mother ran the Notter Bridge Inn, in South East Cornwall, in the early Nineties. When Jo’s daughter was born she decided to sell

the pub and worked in various community and voluntary roles in Saltash. The family decided they wanted a change of scenery and planned to stay in Cyprus for a year - four years later they returned to Cornwall. Jo explains: “When we were in Cyprus on holiday I bought a bar of soap and it was disgusting. It turned to a mushy mess when it got wet, had no lather and no scent. When we eventually moved to Cyprus I started to make my own soap. I used to go to an olive mill a few

villages along from where we lived. The mill owner used to save virgin olive oil for me, in Greece they just use the extra virgin oil – which is the first press, everything else gets thrown away. “When we came back last summer, I decided to carry on with the business over here and set it up as a limited company.” Jo was able to set up her business with help from Oxford Innovation. She was given a business coach and had support and business mentoring to launch Sapooni. Now the soap business is

PL MAGAZINE | 24 | OCTOBER 2014

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SOME OF SAPOONI’S PRODUCTS

JO BASKETT

tea, beer, clay, honey and seaweed. She explains: “People like to have something that’s from where they live or where they are from. They like to know the providence of the ingredients. They like to know that it hasn’t travelled very far, with not many air miles and a low carbon footprint. “We’ve got bees in the garden here and the lady who supplies me with honey has bee hives not far from me, so I like to think that the honey I use in the soaps and the skin care – some of it has been made from flowers in the garden. The locality aspect is very important - from a business point of view as well.” One of Jo’s latest creations already proving a big hit among her returning customers is her range of seaweed products. The recipe was born when Jo wrote a list of all the local producers she could work with. She came across Tim and Caro,

‘If somethIng is certified to be a food ingredient then generally I can use it’ - JO BASKETT

very much a family affair. “It’s not my husband’s full-time job but he does help out, he has done computer work before so he helps with the website and bits and pieces like that. My mum helps me, she does all the wrapping and helps at fairs. The children do their bit – so really we’re all involved in some way.” Both Jo and her husband’s families are of Cornish descent and Jo is keen to get involved with the wealth of producers on her doorstep. Jo currently makes products containing Cornish

founders of The Cornish Seaweed Company. “If something is certified to be a food ingredient then generally I can use it. I came across the Cornish Seaweed Company and got in touch,” she says. “I have a range of seaweed products – I’m just bringing out a face scrub, there will also be a body scrub. I knew that seaweed is full of nutrients and minerals, but I didn’t know a lot more than that about it so Caro and Tim have educated me on all the different types of seaweed we can get here. “It is very pungent, especially when you’ve

just made it. It smells like walking along a beach covered in seaweed, it will smell like that for a few days. It’s got over 40 minerals and vitamins in it and they can be absorbed through the skin. I probably have 400 bars at the moment sitting down in the workshop. Jo uses a combination of Bladderwrack, Kombu, Dulce, Nori and Sea Lettuce seaweeds in her new range of products. Not even a year old, the family-run business is proving to be a huge hit not only in Saltash but further afield. Jo’s hardworking nature and laidback attitude has made her the perfect business founder and her relationship with local producers has made Sapooni a much-admired company. She ends: “I don’t actually know where I want the business to go, I’m enjoying the moment. I’m seeing where it takes itself really. I’m enjoying the journey and we’ll see where it goes. “I do believe it’s going to be a good, successful business. I don’t want it to be a monster, I don’t want it to be this huge business but enough for us to live and employ a few people. “I think it would be hard if you didn’t enjoy your business but I love what I’m doing. It’s not work for me, it’s not a job. I really enjoy making soap.”

NATURAL INGREDIENTS

PL MAGAZINE | 25 | OCTOBER 2014

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4 3 12 Jade’s leap of faith

S AND STARTED AGE, HAS JUST RECEIVED GCSE RESULT HER S GER NA TEE HER OT LIKE N, SO UNG JADE SIM PLYMOUTH’S MOST PROMISING YO OF E ON O ALS ’S SHE , VER WE HO WORK ON A LEVELS. WN-TO-EARTH HURDLER ATHLETES. EMILY SMITH MET THE DO

ot only is Jade Simson being added to the talented stable of athletes emerging from Plymouth, she has also just started studying for four A-Levels and has a head on her shoulders way above her teenage years. The Plymstock School student recently won a bronze medal at the English Schools’ Championship, a competition she has not yet won a medal for. Jade’s love of sport started at an early age and

is something she will continue to be involved with, as she has just chosen to take sports as one of her A-Level subjects. “I think I was in reception when I got into sport, I always enjoyed sport but I only got into clubs when I was in the later years, maybe year five or six. “My mum had a work friend and her daughter used to go to an athletics club and they said I should get involved and it kind of just started from there. “My mum always used to really like netball.

I used to play netball as well before I started athletics. My dad was always a good jumper, so he did high jump and long jump. That’s kind of what I do now, I mix hurdles in with heptathlon events. I got into sport because of my family.” Hurdles is a track event that is not for the faint hearted. Jade competes in the 80m hurdles but her hurdles get higher next year and the distance longer. Jade has an advantage over other athletes – her height, though she remembers a nasty fall a few years ago.

PL MAGAZINE | 26 | OCTOBER 2014

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6 5 4 She recalls: “Three years ago I was at a nationals competition and it was my first year. I was quite nervous but I thought I would be all right. “I was six hurdles down and I started hitting them, I don’t why I was hitting them but I was. Then I just started to fall and I ended up on the floor, I cut my arm. “I didn’t realise I had done it at the time, I got back up and started running again, I finished the race and shook hand with the other runners. I was in shock and everyone was asking me if my arm was okay. I just said ‘yeah, it’s fine’. “Then I looked at it and it was pouring with blood. I didn’t realise and then I started crying and

had to go to hospital. I came back at the end of the day but didn’t compete – it was so scary. That was the worst. When I went back to training eventually, I had this fear, I didn’t want to go over them.” Studying for GCSEs can be a hard task for any teenager, let alone one that has to fit in training four times a week and just being a 16-year-old girl. “I don’t live in Plymstock where I go to school so I used to get four buses a day – two in and two back so that takes an hour each way. It was quite squished with homework and stuff and all the work for GCSEs. “You come home and revise, then you have to go to training, then you come home and revise,

HEALTH & BEAUTY

then I had to go to school again. It was quite hard but you kind of manage it. “It has been quite hard to see my friends because they don’t live near me either, they all live in Plymstock so that’s another two bus drives. Then training in there as well and you have to fit in time for yourself. “I don’t see them much but they understand that, they know that I have to train, they know this is what I have to do. They are quite understanding and when we do go out it is fun but it’s not that often.” With any sports star they have to think about diet, false starts, training regimes and not to mention the pressure they are under. For such a young sports star, Jade deals with all of these with brilliant maturity. “I would say I matured quite young, I always feel like I am a lot older but obviously I’m not. Even with my height, I wouldn’t say I look that young either. When I was about 13 years old, I still looked like I was about 16. I haven’t really changed since then, I have always felt a bit older.” Jade’s sporting idol is Jessica Ennis-Hill, she even sat behind her when her school was taken to watch BBC sport quiz show A Question of Sport. Like Jess, Jade is keen to move towards the heptathlon rather than straight hurdles. The heptathlon includes the hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put, javelin, 200 metres and 800 metres. Jade says: “The heptathlon is a lot more fun but I wouldn’t say I was better at it than I am hurdles. “I have got nationals for the heptathlon event in September so if I do well then, I might focus on it more, I don’t train for it that much, though.” Although Jade hasn’t travelled abroad with her sport yet, even competing across the UK comes with a hefty price tag. Jade’s down-toearth nature and caring personality has shown, when this year she didn’t compete in national competitions because of cost. “I feel bad sometimes because it is a lot of money – people don’t realise but the petrol and the hotels and the actual competition itself, it all adds up to so much. “I chose not to take part in nationals this year because it is a lot of money and I don’t think it’s fair to always put my parents through that. They wanted me to go and said I could go but I wouldn’t be race fit by then. “I have other competitions I can go to as well. Money does suck sometimes.” Jade currently has her eye set on a medal at The UK School Games which is Manchester in September. Until then she will wait patiently for her GCSE results and prepare to start her A-Levels after the summer. Athletes are said to peak when they are 27 years old. Jade Simson is one name worth keeping an eye on, she’s got a few more years left in her yet.

PL MAGAZINE | 27 | OCTOBER 2014

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HEALTH & BEAUTY

ABOVE: FRANK ELFORD CHATS TO CHIARA GIORDANO IN HIS SHOP. RIGHT, FRANK WIINING THE PLYMOUTH SCHOOL’S 1500 METRES

The runner’s friend SIX MONTHS ON FROM PUTTING HIS RETIREMENT ON HOLD, ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN FIGURES IN THE SOUTH WEST RUNNING COMMUNITY SAYS IT IS ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS HE HAS MADE. CHIARA GIORDANO SPEAKS TO FRANK ELFORD

rank Elford, who runs the popular sports shop in Plymouth’s Mayflower Street, had planned to retire when the shop’s 10-year lease ran out in March. But, after almost 25 years of trading and building up a strong presence within the running community, Frank’s loyal customers weren’t so keen to let him go. “The kindness and support has just been totally amazing since I’ve carried on,” the former semiprofessional athlete says. “It has been humbling and overwhelming – I’m gobsmacked. I just thought while signing the lease in 2004 that I would get to 60 and that would be it, I’d have done my distance. “But staying on has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life.” Frank believes what sets his small independent business apart from large sports retailers is the fact that he deals with his customers on a one-to-one basis and tries to follow up on their progress even after they have left the shop. “Because I am dealing with every customer myself, I get to know them. It’s also nice to get feedback through social media – in the old days you sold a pair of trainers and never found out how they got on,” he says. “Now when I watch local races, I know some of them are doing their first half marathon and it’s like having your own children out there. I’m counting them all out and counting them all back.” It isn’t long before a customer appears and Frank jumps up from where he sits in a cubby hole at the back of the shop to greet them. The young woman explains she has been suffering from shin splints after short runs with her border collie.

Frank focuses on her feet as she walks up and down the shop and determines that her running woes are down to fallen arches and the fact she has been using the same trainers for three years. He disappears upstairs to the stock room and returns with three pairs of running shoes for the customer to try. “I came here through word of mouth,” the young woman says as she laces up a pair of shoes. “I was asking around and a lady at my church who is a runner had been in here before and she highly recommended this place.” This is the sort of standing the business has within the South West running community and as a former running champion, it isn’t just Frank’s expertise in shoes that contributes to the service he provides. As a leading runner on the South West circuit in the 1980s and early 1990s, Frank also has a lifetime of running experience to pass on to his customers. His athletics story begins with John Gilbert, a coach at the City of Plymouth Athletics Club, spotting him as a schoolboy. The talented young athlete went on to win the Plymouth Schools 1500m at the age of 14, then the Devon Schools’ and to qualify for the English Schools’. Frank later lost interest in running, deciding instead to devote more than a decade to managing football clubs and playing at Plymouth and District Division One level. However, the tragic death of his sister in 1980 was the catalyst that prompted Frank to run the Plymouth Marathon for a children’s charity in her

memory. After coming 57th in three hours and seven minutes with little training, Frank caught the running bug and later went on to come first in the Dartmoor Marathon in 1984 and second in the Plymouth marathon in 1989 – this time in a time of two hours and 33 minutes. Running began to dominate Frank’s life and he quit his job at Devonport dockyard to manage Steve Northmore Sports, later leaving to set up his own shop specialising in athletics in Southside Street on the Barbican in 1989. Frank Elford Sports, which moved to its current home in Mayflower Street in 1991, will mark its 25th anniversary later this year on November 6. Speaking about his decision to postpone his retirement, Frank says: “It’s just like it was meant to be. I feel the economy is lifting. In five years’ time I think there will be a regeneration of Plymouth – not only as a place, but with people moving away from the internet for the customer service. “The support of my wife Pat has been incredible and she said she would never take this away from me. It just brings us closer and closer together. “She’s the runner of the family now and she goes out three times a week for five miles at a time.” In terms of the future, Frank is just taking each month as it comes and is still enjoying his work in the shop and also getting away to do match reports for Port Vale Football Club. “I see this as a hobby now, not as work. I have no idea what’s going to happen in the future, I’m just enjoying it at the moment,” he says. “I would not have missed this for the world.”

PL MAGAZINE | 29 | OCTOBER 2014

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Supercharge your beauty routine PUT YOUR SKIN, HAIR AND NAILS ON A BEAUTIFYING DIET. PL ROUNDS UP THE WONDER SUPERFOODS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO GIVE YOU A GLOW INSIDE AND OUT

ust when you thought supermodel beauty was all genetics, they go and admit they get a little help - from their kitchen cupboards. Elle Macpherson, aka The Body, swears by a super-greens powder, Miranda Kerr is obsessed with coconut oil and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley supplements her green juices with Japanese wholefood Chlorella. “Everything from the food you eat to what you put on your face is important,” says Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel. “Good skin comes from within and I make sure I eat nutrientrich foods like fish, fruit, lots of veggies, nuts and foods that contain omega and are rich in oils.” The ‘you are what you eat’ mantra has never been so hip. Raid the fridge and incorporate these superfoods into your diet to help you glow from the inside out.

NEAL’S YARD REMEDIES SUPERFOOD ORGANIC VIRGIN COCONUT OIL

FOUNTAIN’S SUPER GREEN MOLECULE

BODY BEAUTIFUL

BEAUTY SHOPPING LIST:

In summer, we tend to move more and eat more healthily. A shift in the seasons can be reflected through your body as well as your wardrobe. Flush away the toxins that cause cellulite and bloating via fibre in your diet: “As with all systems of the body, in autumn/winter, your digestive system can become sluggish due to the change in pace of your body clock, and decreased opportunities for movement,” says nutritional doctor Dr Simone Laubscher. “It’s essential for your body to stay regular to detox effectively each day, and taking in enough fibre and water is the key.”

Psyllium husks or milled flaxseeds will help you feel fuller for longer, and cleanse your intestines and colon, taking toxins with it. “Both of these ingredients are in super-greens powder, The Super Elixir,” recommends Laubscher. “Brown rice, quinoa, pearl barley and millet are also especially helpful for the autumn transition. Eat them daily, but reserve for lunch, rather than dinner.”

GLOWING SKIN Need encouragement to swap your full-fat milkshake for green juices? Optimum nutrition can be as much of a skin booster as your favourite moisturiser. ‘‘Many people don’t make a link between the foods they eat and their skin,” says Cassandra Barns, a nutritionist at NutriCentre.com. “Like any other part of the body, our skin is kept healthy by the food and nutrients we consume. While a poor diet can quickly lead to sallow or dry skin, blemishes or acne, a healthy diet based on wholefoods that includes a variety of vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, beans, eggs, fish and wholegrains, is an excellent basis for glowing, youthful skin.”

LUSTROUS HAIR Preserve your crowning glory with a healthy hair plan. Stress, hormonal imbalances and insufficient nutrients are all key causes of poor hair health and hair loss. “A good diet, along with a top-up supplement of key amino acids, vitamins, minerals and plant extracts, can help give you the luxurious locks that signal wellbeing from within,” advises Yvonne Bishop-Weston, clinical nutritionist and health expert. “Hair is 90% protein, and insufficient protein in the diet puts hair into a resting, then falling, phase, rather than a growing phase.”

BEAUTY SHOPPING LIST: Orange vegetables like carrots, squash, pumpkin and sweet potatoes, which contain high levels of beta carotene and other carotenoids. “Beta carotene converts to vitamin A in our bodies, which is one of the most important nutrients for skin integrity,” Barns explains. “Beta carotene also works as an antioxidant and can help prevent free radical damage to our cells that results in ageing.”

SUPERFOOD CHEATS If you’re not keen on kale, join the superfood revolution with these beautifying pills, powders and potions: • Fountain The Super Green Molecule: Highly concentrated supplement of alfalfa chlorophyll, kelp and hyaluronic acid, £27.99 (Boots) • The Super Elixir by WelleCo: Alkalising greens supplement with vitamins, minerals and trace elements, from £36 (www.welleco.com) • Dr Schulze’s Superfood Plus: Greens-based nutritional powder including chlorella, spirulina and wheatgrass, £39.99 (www.nutricentre.com) • Neal’s Yard Remedies Superfood Organic Virgin Coconut Oil: Raw and unrefined for cooking or conditioning skin and hair, £9 (www.nealsyardremedies.com) • Vitabiotics Perfectil Plus Hair: Daily supplements containing biotin, selenium and zinc for healthy hair growth, £17.95 (www.vitabiotics.com)

PL MAGAZINE | 30 | OCTOBER 2014

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Advertorial

A ‘hidden epidemic’ - right under our feet Thousands of people in Plymouth are suffering pain and discomfort because of what has been described as a ‘hidden epidemic’.

The condition affects an estimated one in ten of the population and leads to pain in the heel and bottom of the foot. According to owner of Foot Solutions Andrew Scowcroft it can cause intense pain which in many cases severely affects mobility. Andrew said: “the symptoms include pain in the bottom of the foot, especially at the front or centre of the heel bone. The pain is often worse when first getting out of bed in the morning or when standing up after any long period of sitting”. He said the condition can be caused by a variety of factors, including standing for several hours a day, weight gain or wearing inappropriate footwear. GP’s will often recommend rest or antiinflammatory medication. In more severe cases, cortisone injections may be administered. Podiatrist Karen Scowcroft said: “Although

This diagram shows how the correct support can help to avoid excessive ‘rolling’ of the foot

this can be affective, these actions simply deal with the symptoms and not the root cause of the condition”. The technical name for this problem is Plantar Fasciitis. “The condition occurs when the foot is put under excessive strain usually due to the foot rolling inwards. This results in small micro-tears in the fascia, inflammation and

in turn pain. For many people this has the impact of time off work, reduction in sporting activities and a general disruption to their quality of life”. Andrew said that Foot Solutions provide a full assessment of the clients feet using advanced technology and supply custom made arch supports which control the movement of the foot and prevent muscle strain. “This approach, coupled with the correct footwear can provide a long term solution to the problem of Plantar Fasciitis,” he added. Recruitment consultant and enthusiastic runner Andrea Mahn had undergone a range of treatments for Plantar Fasciitis, but nothing eased the pain – until she visited Foot Solutions. “The staff were knowledgeable and attentive and they identified the problem. It was the most fantastic service I could have imagined. “Now I don’t suffer. I can do my job and my running and enjoy the experience, rather than being in constant pain. “I will never buy shoes from anywhere else again but Foot Solutions.”

Foot Pain? Knee Pain? Back Pain? The right footwear with the right arch support can very often alleviate pain in your back or knees as well as your feet. Why suffer when a visit to Foot Solutions could be the answer. We use the latest technology to fully assess your feet and can then recommend comfortable footwear and customised arch support for your specific needs. Step in to Foot Solutions for your FREE foot assessment today.

34 Royal Parade Plymouth PL1 1DU t: 01752 222660 www.footsolutions.co.uk/plymouth

30_31_Autumn beauty.indd 31

Step into the perfect fit

9/24/2014 3:16:39 PM

FAMILY

It’s supposed to be fun! MANY PARENTS DREAD HOSTING A CHILDREN’S PARTY, AND COMPETE WITH OTHER PARENTS TO HOLD THE MOST IMPRESSIVE BASH. LISA SALMON ASKS IF ALL THE PARTY FUSS IS REALLY NECESSARY?

esearch suggests some parents dread their child’s party, with 79% believing they have to impress other parents, nearly a third feeling pressure from those parents, and almost as many (31%) saying they couldn’t face letting their child down with a below-par party. The study of 1,000 parents for Cussons Mum & Me found most parents (69%) start planning the big event at least a month in advance, with a few (7%) making arrangements up to six months ahead. On the bright side, however, another poll conducted on Netmums for Wacky Warehouse found that seven out of 10 mums say the most important reason for throwing a big birthday bash is simply to make their child happy - although they admit at the same time they’re using it as an opportunity to give their son or daughter the dream party they never had. But the study also found that kids of today expect action-packed parties at the local leisure centre, bowling alley, soft play centre or the hire of a bouncy castle, and 70% of mums spend more than £200 to give their child a dream party. Siobhan Freegard, Netmums founder, says: “Putting on a big birthday party is often assumed to be about one-upmanship or showing off to other parents - but this study shows it’s simply about giving your child the best time you can. Whether your budget is £20 or £200, all mums and dads want is for their child and his friends to have the best birthday day full of happy memories.”

PARTY PLAN LIKE A PRO Mother-of-three Louise Rees, who runs party and event specialists Party Bliss (www.partybliss.co.uk), says a top children’s party tip is to only invite close friends. “A good party doesn’t need loads of guests and siblings where the birthday child is overwhelmed and lost in the crowd,” she says. “Don’t worry about being the first parent not to invite the whole class. Mothers will be grateful that you were brave enough to limit to people the birthday child likes and enjoys sharing special moments with.” She also suggests parents should only make food for a proportion of the guests, pointing out: “Kids don’t eat much - only cater for 75% of the guests so you’re not left eating egg sandwiches for the rest of the week.” She says themed parties are always popular, with kids dressing as pirates, princesses etc, and the key to a good party is planning, keeping things simple, and making the birthday child feel special. “It’s important for the parent not to get stressed - a lot of the time, if parents host a party themselves, they’re so busy, they don’t get the chance to speak to other parents, take pictures, make coffees etc. “Parents can get very panicky about the whole thing.”

Having a detailed checklist can also help, and Rees suggests the list should include: :: Guest list :: Book and pay for venue if not holding the party at home :: Organise entertainment :: Choose party theme (optional) :: Buy and distribute invitations :: Get supplies for party games and activities :: Buy decorations such as banners, balloons, etc, and Blue Tac/ sticky tape :: Sort party music :: Buy/make party bags :: Buy/make the birthday cake, candles/matches/napkins etc :: Buy partyware including tablecloths/ plates/ food boxes/ bowls/ cups/ straws/ napkins/ cutlery/ party hats/ blowers etc :: Buy food, snacks and drinks :: Get refreshments for adults, such as tea, coffee and nibbles :: Camera/video camera :: Contact numbers of parents not staying for the party :: Bin bags

IT’S IN THE BAG

- and paying for - a big bash. “Party competitiveness reaches its peak when children are five, to around 10 years old by which time most parents come to their senses and realise that inviting the whole class, stocking party bags with plastic tat and tooth rotters and potentially ending up with an exhausted, tearful birthday child (not to mention the parents) is just not worth the stress and expense. “In my experience, children are just as happy with ‘back to basics’ celebrations - a handful of friends coming to play with a birthday cake, or a family excursion to the cinema.” She points out that often children themselves take the lead in stopping party planning excess, either because friendship groups become smaller or because, faced with a choice, they’d prefer a lasting present to a party. She adds: “Parents just want their children to enjoy their birthdays, and we can get sucked into the idea of ‘I’m a good parent if I make this a memorable day’, but once you step away from that madness, it can come as such a relief.”

Another seemingly esssential modern party ingredient is the party bag, and indeed the Wacky Warehouse poll found that 45% of mums said they felt under scrutiny when it came to the bags. While kids used to be chuffed to get a yoyo, sweets and birthday cake in a party bag, some of today’s mums said they found themselves competing with other parents to give away personalised gifts to guests. In addition, today’s party bags sometimes contain gift vouchers or a book as well as the all-important sweets. Rees advises: “Don’t put loud blowy things in, because they’ll tear the bag open before they’ve left and there’ll be even more noise. Just put in a select few nice quality items.” She adds: “There’s a massive amount of one-upmanship, and some parents do really fear hosting parties.” However, mother-of-three Tamsin Kelly, editor of the parenting website Parentdish.co.uk, points out that it can often be best for parents to take a step away from the “party madness”, as children can have a great day without all the parental stress associated with organising PL MAGAZINE | 32 |OCTOBER 2014

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Myths of the moor DARTMOOR IS ONE OF THE UK’S MOST STRIKING LANDSCAPES AND IT’S RIGHT ON OUR DOORSTEP. THIS EVER-CHANGING WORLD OF CRAGS AND POOLS, FORESTS AND MIRES IS NOTHING SHORT OF MYTHICAL, AS RACHAEL DODD REPORTS

ike most of Britain’s ancient lands, Dartmoor has many legends which have been passed down by generations of Devonians. One of the more modern myths is the terrible tale of the hairy hands! The B3212 is the haunting place of these free-floating limbs which grip steering wheels and handlebars and drive cars from the road. The legend was largely mocked until 1921, when a medical officer, travelling back from Dartmoor Prison, was driven from the road and killed. His children travelling in a sidecar were thrown from the vehicle, but survived. Experts were called in to assess the road and claimed the cause of the accidents was a dangerous camber which was duly repaired. Unfortunately that’s not the end of the tale. Mysterious goings-on have been reported on the B3212 as late as 2008. So, keep a firm grip of the wheel on this stretch of road. The legend of poor Kitty Jay is probably one of Dartmoor’s most famous. She is known as Ann, Betty, Betsy, Mary and Kitty and her surname

switches from Jay to Kay to Jane, depending on which version you believe. From simply being remembered as an unmarked grave at a crossroad, the character of Kitty Jay has grown and snowballed. The general theory, as it now stands, is that she was an orphan from a Newton Abbot workhouse who served an apprenticeship at Ford Farm. She fell pregnant

How much truth there is in any of this can’t be proved. Whatever her story, Kitty has lived on in word and song for over 200 years. Another myth is the tale of Ordgar – an 11thcentury Earl of Devon. His son was called Ordulf but unsurprisingly he preferred to be known as Childe the Hunter and he was the Lord of the Manor of Plymstock. Legend says that Childe was out hunting when he became separated from the rest of his party. The weather turned and his situation became so extreme he was forced to kill his horse, disembowel it and crawl inside for warmth – the 11th-century version of a hot-water bottle. Sadly, Ordulf’s plan failed and he died in the freezing temperatures. Before he perished he left a note stating that whoever found and buried him could have his Plymstock estate. The monks of Tavistock Abbey found his body and buried him in their grounds. Childe’s Tomb was erected to mark the spot where Ordulf fell and can still be seen today near Fox Tor Mire.

To this day,fresh FLowers mysteriously appear by Kitty Jay’s headstone and, after being shamed as a ‘slut’, killed herself from the shame of her situation. The church refused to bury anyone in their churchyard who committed suicide and Kitty’s final resting place became this small mound at the turning towards Natsworthy. To this day, fresh flowers mysteriously appear by her headstone and no one has ever discovered who places them there. PL MAGAZINE | 34 |OCTOBER 2014

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The Lych Way or ‘corpse road’ is one of the eeriest walks on Dartmoor. If the name weren’t chilling enough, this was actually the passage used to take the dead to Lydford Church – the nearest church to many living in the Lydford parish who owned farms on the moor. Along the Lych Way you’ll also find Coffin Wood and Corpse Lane – it’s like a episode of The Munsters out there. Jokes aside, this pathway gives you a real insight into the ordeal people would often go through to reach their nearest church. It was expected that anyone within parish boundaries would attend, which would mean a trek of over 10 miles or more in all weathers. The path winds its way through tors, beginning at Bellever Woods and heading past Arch, Littaford and Lynch heading up towards Lydford. Watch your step, though. Ghostly processions of monks are said to roam the pathway!

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BELOW: THE STATUE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE ON PLYMOUTH HOE

Drake’s journey SIR FRANCIS DRAKE IS ONE OF PLYMOUTH’S MOST FAMOUS HISTORIC FIGURES. HIS NAME IS ALL OVER THE CITY – FROM DRAKE CIRCUS TO DRAKE’S ISLAND. BUT, DID YOU KNOW THAT DRAKE’S NAME HAS SPREAD MUCH FURTHER THAN OUR CITY BOUNDARIES? RACHAEL DODD EXPLORES

ueen Elizabeth I funded Drake’s privateering and instructed him to put a dent in Spain’s global invasion. Through his adventures Drake became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world and the name of Drake went with him to some of the world’s most far-flung and exotic places. Streets and highways, bays and hotels. From Puerto Rico to Egypt you’ll find this infamous explorer and privateer all over the globe. Drake’s journey took him from Plymouth across the Atlantic Ocean and around the coast of South America. There’s some debate about where Drake went next - either through the Strait of Magellan which cuts across South America or around the coast. The answer may lie in where Drake’s name appears next. The 600-mile wide waterway dividing South America’s Cape Horn to the South Shetland Islands would become known as Drake’s Passage. It’s now a route often used by boats travelling to Antarctica but it’s also one of the most unpredictable and violent stretches of water in the world. Drake began his expedition with five ships but rough seas, damages and mutiny took their toll and soon only The Pelican remained which Drake

renamed The Golden Hind. Rounding South America, The Golden Hind made port in Costa Rica at what would be named Bahia Drake (Drake Bay). This paradise is about as off the grid as it gets. It remains largely untouched since Drake landed here in the 16th century. Warm, azure waters, palm trees and white sands - it’s a picture perfect, tropical paradise. The bay borders Costa Rica’s largest national park, Corcovado - 41,000 hectares containing 13 ecosystems and some of the richest bio-diversity in the world. It’s difficult to see why Drake would want to leave. Roger Hyde, photographer and volunteer with Dartmoor Search and Rescue, was able to see the bay by helicopter. Describing the experience he said: “It’s a very remote area, very unspoiled, and largely as it would have appeared to Drake and his crew hundreds of years ago. “The heli pilot told me of the name as we flew over it, I asked him what the connection was, he told me Drake harboured in the area to repair his ship damaged in his privateering activities. To this PL MAGAZINE | 36 |OCTOBER 2014

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BAHIA DRAKE IN COSTA RICA

day the locals see him as a pirate, naturally!” After rounding South America, Drake plundered his way along the west coast and would eventually find port not far from modern day San Francisco. Here he made repairs to his ship. Drakes Bay is considered to be where he docked although there’s no way of knowing completely. There’s a strong argument that the waters of Drake’s Bay were much too shallow and Drake’s landing spot was actually in San Francisco Bay itself. Drake continued up the west coast of America looking for a mythical Northwest passage through the States. With no luck he headed out towards the Pacific and ended up in the Spice Islands (Moluccas) before heading to Celebes, Java and round the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Three years after his departure, Drake arrived home with the modern equivalent of £3 million worth of riches for the Queen. Needless to say she was pleased and awarded him a knighthood. Despite his reputation as a pirate and his adventurous exploits, Sir Drake seems to have become globally synonymous with food and rest. There are two restaurants in Italy named Sir Francis Drake and one in Egypt; a Comfort Inn in Australia, a Hotel in San Francisco and an apartment complex in Los Angeles all named after our famous explorer. Without his later title of “Sir” you’ll also find the name of Francis Drake at bus stations in Chile, Australia and Milton Keynes; highways in New Zealand and Puerto Rico, Canada and North Carolina. Apparently, 500 years after his voyage ended, Sir Francis Drake is still making his mark on the world.

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s t e r c e s g n i t a n i c s a f s ’ n Priso DARTMOOR PRISON IS RENOWNED FOR ITS BARREN LOCATION AND STORIES OF DARING ESCAPES. THE DARTMOOR PRISON MUSEUM, RUN BY CURATOR BRIAN DINGLE, IS SHARING THESE STORIES WITH PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. EMILY SMITH DISCOVERS MORE

s I travel across open moorland to Princetown to visit Dartmoor Prison Museum I think to myself what a desolate place it must be to serve your sentence. The museum charts 200 years of prison history and has an average of 36,000 visitors from across the globe visiting each year. It is situated in the old diary building that in the 1850s saw prisoners milking the cows and working on the vast amount of farmland. Today the prisoners have no access to any land outside the prison walls. Dartmoor Prison began as a Prison of War Depot for French and American soldiers, they walked from their confined hulks on ships moored at Plymouth Dock to the prison. The first part of the museum is dedicated to the French and American soldiers. There are also war memorials for both parties in the prison grounds. The museum has quite an eerie atmosphere to it and the low ceilings and minimal lighting make you step back in time and remember prisoners once working there. Inside hang old prison uniforms, hand-made tattoo machines and items confiscated from cells. There are mock-up prison cells, which include items once used to lash convicts.

The prison is now a Category C men’s prison but it was once a hard labour prison. All the prisoners worked in the quarry. This ended in the 1990s.They also built the school in Princetown in 1874. Pip Barker shows me around the museum stopping at various points of interest and talking me through the history. To be honest we could talk about every item inside. Pip tells me about the mutiny that took place in January 1932 when 100 prisoners broke out and set the administration block on fire. The fire destroyed many prison documents. After the farmland was auctioned off in 2004, today’s prisoners now take part in bricklaying, plumbing, welding and carpentry workshops. They also paint garden gnomes and other items which are sold in the museum shop – all the money made goes back into the museum. The museum is home to photos of Prince Charles visiting the prison in 1981. Pip’s enthusiasm for the next artefact is clear as he takes me across to two paintings by inmate James Wanmantle. The pieces are painted on slate and show the Last Supper, Jesus is said to be depicted as the prison guard and the faces around him prisoners. Opposite these amazing pieces of artwork are newspaper clippings reporting the escape of Frank Mitchell, known as The Mad Axe Man. One of the biggest manhunts recorded across Dartmoor moors trying to capture Mitchell did not result in recapture, but it was later discovered that he was murdered by the Kray gang. The last breakout from the prison was recorded in 2003. Pip tells me Mitchell was known to be a real thug and was immensely strong. He is said to have been able to lift 300 weight of concrete and used to carry injured men back from the quarry.

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In the 1970s the prisoners were kept in granite cells, these had very wet walls and the prisoners used to spend hours in their cold, wet cells. Dartmoor is known as one of the worst places prisoners could be sentenced. We head downstairs to the part of the dairy where the cows were once milked and Pip shows me mock up cells and the smallest window you have ever seen - through which there was once an escape. The museum is also home to Mr Mackay’s bike from the hit television series Porridge. Hauntingly situated in the middle of the room is the A Frame – a wooden structure that pulled the arms and legs of the prisoners and held them in place whilst they were whipped. Pip tells me that it was the one punishment that was most feared by everyone. An original straight jacket also hangs downstairs – making every visitor remember the harsh punishments that prisoners once went through. A more lighthearted collection of photos on the museum walls are photos of The Stranglers who played a gig in the prison in 1992. As Pip walks me down to the French and American war memorials we stop to look at the 20 metre high wall that now surrounds the prison grounds. Pip takes this opportunity to tell me about an escape which saw prisoners jump on an oil tanker when the driver’s back was turned. The prisoners managed to turn the huge truck around and drive it away from the prison, before pulling over a car. Unfortunately they choose a car low on fuel and it wasn’t long before they were recaptured. In nine years’ time Dartmoor Prison will close its doors. As it’s a listed building owned by the Duchy of Cornwall it cannot be knocked down. Who knows what will happen to the museum but my advice is to get there quickly before it’s too late – you won’t leave disappointed. PL MAGAZINE | 39 | OCTOBER 2014

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haunted plymouth DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS? SCEPTICAL LOUISE DANIEL GOES IN SEARCH OF SPIRITS ON A NIGHT-TIME HUNT AT THE OLDEST PUB IN PLYMOUTH

SHELLY AND MARTIN JONES GET READY FOR GHOSTLY GOINGS ON AT THE MINERVA PL MAGAZINE | 40 |OCTOBER 2014

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KEVIN HYNES

he Minerva on Looe Street is named after the goddess of wisdom. Even as a dyed-in-thewool sceptic I doubted my own wisdom upon entering the historic pub in the wee small hours for a ghost watch. I expected goose bumps, ghosts and ghouls but needn’t have worried – Kevin Hynes and Chris Eddings of Haunted Plymouth (the ghost watchers in charge) are far from spooky. Kevin tells me he has had his fair share of paranormal experiences over the years but is always looking to find a rational explanation for the cause of supernatural occurrences. His mate Chris has been interested in the supernatural since his early teens when he witnessed what he believed to be the ghost of a young boy. By day they are plastering lecturers at City College Plymouth but by night they rove the region looking for ghostly goings on using their psychic abilities to investigate the paranormal. It’s all very informal tonight - with Kevin and Chris are Minerva owners, Shelly and Martin, and a couple of well-oiled locals. The ghost-hunting kit is stripped down this evening – EMF (electromagnetic field) meter for temperature and electrical readings; an SB7 ‘spirit box’ scanning radio frequencies in reverse to source otherworldly chatter; a contemporary ghost radar app on two smart phones showing where the spirits are situated (and speaking words in an electronic disembodied voice – which is very disconcerting!); and also divining rods with which you can ask spirits the where, what, why and when of a purported soul’s passing. Divining or dowsing is an ancient art dating back to the time of cave paintings and is even recorded in the Bible. It was denounced in the

15th century as evil but (perversely) used to divine the location of witches. The abuse of the method (and subsequent murder of hundreds of innocents) led to a decree forbidding the use of dowsing rods for the purposes of justice. Today people use them to find anything from rare mineral elements to underground streams. Though luminaries like Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci advocated dowsing, the

BY DAY THEY ARE LECTURERS, AT NIGHT THEY ROVE THE REGION LOOKING FOR GHOSTLY GOINGS ON - NAME OF QUOTATION

The Minerva Inn Plymouth’s oldest pub The Minerva, named after the goddess of wisdom, has a rich history. Surviving taxes, smuggling, war and nefarious naval officers - the oldest pub in Plymouth is still standing after 500 years. Reportedly Sir Frances Drake toasted the end of the Spanish Armada at The Minerva – the low ceiling, narrow hostelry on Looe Street, the very street where Drake lived with his cousins the Hawkins family. Today it’s a spit and sawdust pub – and I say that with the fondness its character and heritage deserve. Shelley and Martin Jones have been the owners for seven years. Shelly said: “A student came to do a survey for his degree at Plymouth University in architectural restoration. We saw the original plans – there was a well in the corner and there was a courtyard. The spiral staircase was built around a mast from the Spanish Armada fleet.” Hewn from reclaimed timber and with the central staircase leading up to three-storey living quarters spun around a ‘spar’ – the support for the sails of an ancient sailing vessel – The Minerva’s heritage is literally in the fabric of the building. Looe Street was once the main thoroughfare from Sutton Harbour to the centre of Plymouth – pre 1900s the street was narrower and six taverns greeted visitors on their way to town. The Minerva was built in 1520 as a merchant’s house before turning into a public house for seafarers 20

years later. In 1577 The Minerva was granted its first public licence and since only the bar, stairs and snug have moved with the addition of a toilet block in 1997. During the 17th century press gangs recruited men into the Navy by a range of underhand means – from dropping a shilling into pints of ale to brutally coshing unsuspecting recruits, ushering them out through the secret tunnel that still runs from the top of Looe Street under The Arts centre and out to Sutton Harbour. The secret passages were also used to move contraband from sea to shore following a tax levied on luxuries and consumables like tea, tobacco and brandy in the 17th century. By 1736 the Smugglers Act enforced the death penalty for smugglers using force when transporting contraband. For smugglers who didn’t use force, the sentence was transportation, corporal punishment, hard labour or impressment which offered no more than a ruinous life at sea for the Royal Navy. Colourful characters come here from all over Plymouth - to drink real ales and sup on the large selection of whiskeys. Varying from ex-Navy types and charming locals (always ready with a song or tall tale) to the more artistic, cramming in to mingle in the bustling atmosphere. It’s busy with jam sessions on a Thursday when acoustic players turn up to strum on piano, mandolins, guitars and banjos with energetic live music for the rest of the weekend.

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CHRIS EDDINGS

practice’s accuracy has been compared to a random guess. Random or not, tonight we are dowsing for ghosts. It’s one o’clock and after a brief explanation of how to hold the metal rods shoulder width apart, chest height - I look for a ‘yes’ (left turn), ‘no’ (right turn) or a strong affirmative (crossed rods). The ghost radar and EMF confirm where ghosts are mingling and, as I step into that area, I feel instantly peculiar. For a start it’s cold - the hair on my forearms and neck rises and I am slightly disorientated. I’m oddly nauseous and my heart starts racing. Is this nerves, excitement, anticipation, or something more? My sceptic heart says no. Though the experience is exhilarating and it’s hard to explain why the rods move freely in my hands, I can’t say

I’m spooked. It’s more like asking questions of a Magic Eight Ball – the answers are probably random and not necessarily specific to anyone. According to Kevin, there are four spirits in here tonight and sure enough four communicate with our motley crew via the dowsing rods. One of them is Eddie Blake – who apparently shoved a hapless customer down the steps and now frequents the back room snug. He says he died in the 1750s and was a skipper of a smuggling vessel – strange because the ghost radar throws out the word ‘captain’ four times during the course of the ghost hunt. Eddie says he died accidentally when he was 44 and teases us all by saying there is contraband in the Minerva but we can’t hope to find it. There are also ghosts of an eight-year-old child, as well as Elizabeth (dead in her 30s from consumption or child birth depending on who you

ONE OF THE SPIRITS IS EDDIE BLAKE - WHO APPARENTLY SHOVED A HAPLESS CUSTOMER DOWN THE STEPS AND NOW FREQUENTS THE BACK ROOM SNUG listen to) and May, the fifty-something prostitute who gets annoyed when asked if she charged a ha’penny. Chris tells me that May likes to sit in peace by the window smoking her pipe and enjoyed her work until her death sometime in the 1750s. Do I believe now? No, but wouldn’t rule out trying it again. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable but decidedly unscary experience.

Unmasking Halloween Halloween used to be known as All Hallows Eve or All Saint’s Eve with its roots in the western Christian feast preceding All Hallow’s Day or All Saint’s Day (November 1) commemorating the saints and Christian’s past and present. Now celebrated across the world, revellers go door to door to trick or treat, get dolled up in scary fancy dress, carve pumpkins, bob for apples and (if they are naughty) play pranks. Bobbing for apples When halved the seeds of an apple form a pentagram shape - the Celts believed that apples were the fruit of love and a symbol of fertility. They believed an apple could predict when weddings would take place during the autumn season. Originally young unmarried couples would bite into an apple placed in a bucket of water or on a string – the first couple to bite into the apple would be the next allowed to marry. Some still believe that if you place the bitten apple under your pillow you’ll dream of your future partner.

Carving pumpkins (or Jack o’lanterns) Jack o’lanterns are named after the strange flickering light found over peat bogs also known as willow the wisp or foolish fire. Carving vegetables dates back to the cultivation of produce by early humans and is a found all over the world. The ugly faces pared into gourds, pumpkins, turnips and potatoes represent spirits, goblins or those in purgatory and originally used to ward off the undead and protect homes from evil. Trick or treat Though seen as a stateside import, the practice is thought to date back to the UK middle ages and the Celtic tradition of dressing as evil spirits to pacify them on the eve of all hallows. First called ‘souling’ and taking place on All Saint’s Day, children would disguise themselves and go door to door asking for soul cakes (square biscuits with currants) in return for prayers for dead relatives cast adrift in purgatory

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HOMES & GARDENS

Turning a house into a magnificent home WHEN DARREN NICHOLSON AND HIS PARTNER COLETTE LITTON DECIDED TO BUY A DERELICT HOUSE IN ONE OF HARTLEY’S BEST ROADS, THEY DIDN’T GUESS WHAT A MAMMOTH TASK THEY WERE TAKING ON. THE COUPLE BOTH HAD EXPERIENCE IN PROPERTY RENOVATION, BUT NOTHING ON THIS SCALE. DARREN TOLD GRAHAM BROACH, THEIR STORY

e were hunting for a house in the Hartley or Stoke areas as we liked the period features and large rooms associated with this type of house. We had been looking for a while when Colette’s aunt mentioned a house that was just around the corner – but covered in by trees. I had noticed it before but when we enquired we were told it was in probate and had been for years. I enquired again and was informed it was due out of probate the following day, but the estate agent had received three offers over the asking price. I pleaded to have a look and they agreed. The house was uninhabitable but we could see the potential and put our offer in. They informed us it was a sealed bid process. The offer process was quite long and drawn-out as there were two beneficiaries, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Lawrence Olivier Trust. We were told we were the preferred bidders as long as we could proceed quickly. The previous owner was a woman called Patricia Olivier who claimed to be a child of the famous actor Sir Lawrence Olivier. We were also informed she was quite a character. We received the keys on February 1, 2012, Colette’s birthday. Before we could do anything with the interior we had to get a tree surgeon to remove 32 trees from the gardens, including five leylandii left unattended for many years and bordering our neighbour.

DARREN NICHOLSON AND COLETTE LITTON IN THEIR HOME

No local resident has had to have logs delivered since! During the clearing of the outside, we also found an underground bunker at the rear of the garden. At first we thought it was drains, but after a long day of clearing found it to be a double room built of reinforced concrete. The house itself needed complete renovation, and to start with we stripped it back to a complete shell. This involved about 15 skips and lots of noise. The process took about four weeks, working

The entire project was our vision and we had hoped to spend a good few years here - DARREN NICHOLSON seven days a week. Luckily for us, our new neighbour was on a month-long holiday and blissfully unaware of the property carnage that was in progress. Prior to the rebuild, the house was treated for everything we could treat it for - overkill maybe but better done while it was empty. During the treatment phase we found out that the floors were maple and we were very lucky to still have them, as a lot of houses with maple floors were forced to have them removed during World War Two to help with the war effort; maple is reputed to be great for flexibility and strength.

We decided to have them all sanded and darkened rather than carpeted. The rooms were all kept the same apart from the fourth bedroom, which was changed into a walk-in wardrobe, though it could be changed back quite easily. For the period of the rebuild we decided to hire specialist help for certain areas such as electrics and tiling, but as a qualified gas engineer there was an awful lot I was capable of completing myself. During the first few weeks it was evident I required more help, so we employed a builder on a full-time basis. The first two weeks of the rebuild were a little disjointed as the specialist tile layer had only a 10-day window, having been booked to repair Truro Cathedral for the next three months. This meant not a lot could be done during this time. He was quite particular when it came to people walking on, around or anywhere near his creation. This period also gave us time to take stock but also gave us a lot of time to think what exactly we let ourselves in for! Materials were sourced from all over the country. The radiators were removed from Aston Hall in Birmingham and purchased from a reclamation centre in the Midlands. The doors were from Warwick and the fireplaces from Cornwall and Bristol. As we had an idea of how we envisaged the finished article and had the time to search, it was always quite nice to have a day or two away from the house while collecting these different

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materials. This also saved us quite a lot of money. The original budget was set at £60,000 plus £15,000 for the kitchen and we stuck to this. As with all other aspects of the house, a lot of research went into the kitchen. We had a basic plan with fairly flexible outlines and gave this to a number of kitchen companies. The one we chose listened to our ideas and brought them to reality, giving us a practical working area with some lovely design features. We especially love our towers with multiple ovens and hidden appliances. Our only issue was that we had budgeted around £15,000 for the kitchen, but every company quoted between £20,000 and £25,000. Another area that surprised us was how much wall coverings can cost. Our initial thoughts were a few hundred pounds on paint and papers, but in the end we spent nearly £3,000. The total budget for the house came in at a shade below £90,000 from start to finish. This included all the fittings and the fine furnishings, which are included as they were all made bespoke for the house. The project took nine months, working seven days a week, for us to be able to move in, with another six months of finishing while living in the house. The entire project was our vision and we had hoped to spend a good few years here. The area is lovely, the neighbours have always been supportive and friendly and the house was our dream. However, we decided to sell when we were offered the opportunity to relocate and work abroad. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, so sadly the house had to go.”

PICTURES SHOWING THE LOUNGE, HALL AND KITCHEN BEFORE, AND AFTER, THE COUPLE’S RENOVATIONS

THE HOUSE IN TOR ROAD, HARTLEY, IS CURRENTLY FOR SALE WITH JULIAN MARKS (01752 401128) FOR OFFERS AROUND £375,000. PL MAGAZINE | 47 | OCTOBER 2014

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HOMES & GARDENS

Garden’s golden finale THE GARDEN HOUSE JUST OUTSIDE PLYMOUTH BOASTS SOME OF BRITAIN’S MOST STUNNING GROUNDS. THE GARDENS ARE ALIVE WITH COLOUR ALL YEAR BUT AUTUMN BRINGS THE MOST SPECTACULAR DISPLAY OF ALL. RACHAEL DODD DISCOVERS A HIDDEN GEM

idden in a pocket of countryside on the edge of Dartmoor is the Garden House, home to many rare and beautiful plants. From the Summer Garden to the Camellia Walk, the straight borders and formality of the Walled Garden to the organised chaos of the Wildflower Meadow; the grounds take you through a range of landscapes which are all a feast for the eyes. Every month reveals a different side to the gardens at Buckland Monachorum and some visitors insist on coming back for every season just to see nature’s change. One plant in particular demands a seasonal visit. From winter to summer the Acer, or Japanese Maple, is a placid, verdant plant. But for a few weeks in autumn it puts on a show like no other. This Dr Jekyll transforms into a fiery Hyde of crimson, amber and gold foliage. The house’s Acer glade is a spectacular garden filled with these transforming trees. Head Gardener Nick Haworth has promised a particularly good autumn this year. With its picturesque, rustic

‘This Dr Jekyll turns into a fiery Hyde of crimson and amber foliage’ bridge and burning shades of red and yellow the Glade makes you feel like you’ve stepped into New England in the fall or an ornate garden in Japan. Wandering around the Garden House grounds is a real treat for nature lovers. The perfect lawns and sweet smelling borders take you back to a time when English villages were chocolate box perfect, cricket was played on the green and cream tea was served in the sun. Lionel and Katherine Fortescue bought the former Vicarage just after the Second World War and set about creating the gardens which are so loved today. The couple established the Fortescue Garden Trust charity in 1961 and left the property to the charity for future generations when they passed away in the 1980s. Lionel was a retired Eton master with some very green fingers - some of the plants at the Garden House are hybrids created by him. Plants like the Rhododendron Nancy Fortescue add a real charm to the gardens, echoing Fortescue’s influence and the gardeners that have succeeded him. The couple also ran a market garden business and sold stock plants, something the Garden House still does to this day. For such a large and extensive site The Garden House is often referred to as a hidden gem.

It provides a kind of peace and tranquillity often lacking in our busy society. Take a walk through the gardens and you’ll lose yourself in the rolling borders and formal paths. Don’t forget to stop for a cheeky cream tea in the Garden House Cafe before you leave!

THE GARDEN HOUSE IS PUTTING ON A RANGE OF AUTUMN-THEMED EVENTS TO CELEBRATE THE SEASON: • October 3 Autumn Medley 2pm-3pm: A demonstration in flower arranging by NAFAS member Vivienne Thompson. • October 7 Art and Craft Class 10.30am-4pm: A day course with artist Richard Mabey creating snowy scenes for Christmas cards. • October 29 Autumn Craft workshop 2pm-4pm: Children can make their very own Autumn leaf crown or collage. • October 30 Pumpkin Workshop 2pm-4pm: Carve a scary pumpkin in time for All Hallows Eve!

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THE SKY’S THE LIMIT THE POWER OF A FEW MOMENTS QUIET REFLECTION SHOULD NEVER BE UNDERESTIMATED. RACHAEL DODD FINDS PEACE AND TRANQUILLITY AT ST LUKE’S HOSPICE GARDENS

t isn’t often easy to set aside time in our busy lives simply to remember what’s most important in life our friends and family. In tough times, particularly, you often need somewhere to collect your thoughts. The Memorial Garden at St Luke’s Hospice in Turnchapel is the perfect place for patients, staff and visitors to enjoy a little time in peace and quiet to reflect. And what a garden it is. Gently swaying palm trees, neat patios, lush borders and stones inscribed with the names of lost loved ones decorate this tranquil space. There’s even a slice of the RHS Tatton Flower Show thanks to a new garden donation from Sam Ovens. Gardener and designer Sam won the Young Designer of the Year Award at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Show this year. His submitted garden was named “The Sky’s the Limit”. It’s the perfect title for a garden that seems to blur the horizons; filled with wildflowers, pink verbenas, fragile blue agastache and sweet-smelling oregano. Sam wanted to donate the entire garden to the hospice after the show. He said: “I wanted to show that sometimes the simplest things are the best things. I think the hospice is a perfect home for the garden, and I am really pleased with the way the design has turned out.” Robert Maltby, communications and marketing

manager at St Luke’s Hospice, said: “We can’t thank Sam enough for donating his beautiful garden for our patients, visitors and staff to enjoy. “It really is a masterpiece, and you can appreciate why Sam won Design of the Year award. “I am sure it will bring many years of enjoyment for all.” Sam’s work is a welcome addition to the Hospice’s well established Memory Garden which was opened by TV Gardener Charlie Dimmock in 2004 and has been providing a place of peace and calm ever since. The gardens were renovated in 2011 and much of the features were donated by local organisations. Staff from Plymouth Community Homes were on hand with help from contractors to create a waterfall, pond, pebbled area as well as steps and a small seated area. The gardens are a testament to the community spirit of Plymouth and the support and care that St Luke’s provide. St Luke’s Hospice is renowned for providing care for people who are approaching the end of their lives. The St Luke’s staff do their best to treat people with dignity and respect and ensure that none of their patients die alone or in pain. The gardens certainly aren’t a miracle cure for bereavement but they do provide a kind of therapy that only nature can provide. PL MAGAZINE | 50 | OCTOBER 2014

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HOMES & GARDENS

PHOTOS: STEVEN HAYWOOD

Decking the hall A BLOOMING MARVEL IS BEING PUT TOGETHER AT A STATELY HOME IN THE TAMAR VALLEY. MARTIN FREEMAN LEAFS THROUGH THE FACTS

ixty-odd years ago the staff at a National

Trust property decided to spruce up their Christmas party with some flowers from the estate. Boy, did they start something. The garland they created at Cotehele has become an annual tradition known throughout the South West and is the largest at any trust property in the country. The stunning, 60-foot-long decoration now involves a cast of hundreds of helpers and tens of thousands of flowers. But why talk about Christmas two months

before the big day? Yes, sorry; we’re eight months late. “The preparations begin in February with the sowing of the flower seeds,” says Dave Bouch, head gardener at the property on the banks of the Tamar near Callington. “The picking and drying of the flowers begins in June and this year, because of the lovely September weather, we will still be picking and drying at the start of October.” Four gardeners at Cotehele and 30 volunteers do most of the picking, cutting and preparation. This year’s fine summer weather and perfect dry, warm September conditions – “rain ruins and rots the flowers”, says Dave – means a good crop to work with. The assembly starts next month when children from four primary schools – Harrowbarrow, Calstock, St Dominic and St Mellion – will also lend a hand. Visitors can pitch in, too, from November 7. Those extra helpers will be needed to insert 33,000 blooms and grass seed heads one by one into the garland above the hall. That’s slightly down on last year’s amazing 40,000 when there were so many stems that the leftovers were used to adorn the doorways in the hall. The slower start to the growing season and

August’s rains account for the lower number, which is still a bumper crop compared to 2011’s 20,000. Even if you have seen the Christmas garlands before you will witness something different in 2014. “If flowers have not done so well, we sow something different next time,” says Dave. “Even those that are used each year will vary, because of the different conditions. Every garland is unique.” This year the statice will be one of the stars as the deep blue flowers have done particularly well. Helichrysums, paper roses, helipterums, xerochrysum (strawflowers) and annual grasses will be among the big features, too. The result of all those countless man, woman and child hours will have a rotten end, though. “We put it on the compost heap after Twelfth Night,” says Dave. There it will decay – and be spread on the fields to help fertilise the next crop of flowers.

THE FINISHED GARLAND WILL BE ON DISPLAY FROM NOVEMBER 22. ADMISSION TO THE HALL, SHOP AND GARDENS IS £5 FOR ADULTS, FREE FOR NATIONAL TRUST MEMBERS AND UNDER-17S (01579 351346 OR VISIT WWW.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK/COTEHELE).

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HOMES & GARDENS

Tiptoe through the tulips AS SUMMER COMES TO A CLOSE, IT’S TIME TO START PLANTING SPRING BULBS. PL LOOKS AT SOME OF THE NEW BULBS WHICH SHOULD BRING A BLAZE OF COLOUR TO GARDENS IN SPRING

here’s a nip in the air which, to me, signals the end of summer and provides a wake-up call to start planting some spring bulbs to brighten up borders and patios next year. Yet the wealth of varieties on offer, from crocus and dwarf narcissi to fragrant hyacinths and majestic tulips, can leave many gardeners wondering what to choose. Suppliers are constantly trying to help customers select the best combinations. Suttons (www.suttons.co.uk), for instance, has a range called ‘Plant-O-Mat’, pre-planted bulbs inserted in individual compartments in a biodegradable tray. You just dig a hole, put the tray in and cover it with compost. The range features a number of combinations, colours and sizes. They also cater for window boxes and containers. If you want something different which is going to stand the test of time, Gardening Which?, the Consumers’ Association magazine, has recently trialled a number of new bulbs to see how they fared. Researchers found that some new varieties will flower more consistently and for much longer than many older varieties. Last autumn, triallists chose 50 newly bred varieties of spring-flowering bulbs and grew them alongside five well-known varieties daffodils ‘Delnashaugh’ and ‘Dutch Master’,

and tulips ‘Ballerina’,’Mount Tacoma’ and ‘Red Riding Hood’ - for comparison. Bulbs were planted in October: hyacinths 15cm deep, narcissus twice their own depth and tulips at three times their own depth. In spring, the bulbs’ development was monitored, when they flowered, how long they lasted and their sizes, colours and scents. In the latest batch of testing, researchers noticed a lot of colour-changing varieties (such as tulip ‘Caribbean Parrot’) with flowers that open in one colour then change to another as they age, adding a new element of interest. New daffodils which came out on top included ‘Ferris Wheel’ (youtulip, www.youtulip.co.uk), a large bright yellow variety which grows to 40cm and produces immense trumpets with a frilly rim, flowering in April for around three weeks. A more subtle variety whose flowering period lasted up to 32 days was ‘Beautiful Eyes’ (J Parker’s, www.jparkers.co.uk) which has small, straight stems holding clusters of two or three creamy flowers with yellow centres and gives off a heady fragrance. Tulips recommended included ‘Mistress Mystic’ (Spalding Plant & Bulb Company, www. spaldingbulb.co.uk), a pink goblet-shaped flower which grows to 60cm and looks ideal in the middle of a border, and the zingy ‘Caribbean Parrot’ (Thompson & Morgan, www.thompsonmorgan.com), which lasted much longer than

Researchers found that some new varieties will flower more consistently and for much longer than many older ones any other parrot-type tulip in the trial and looked wonderful in a pot. Its most impressive feature, though, was its colour-changing flowers - which started mainly yellow, but deepened as they aged, until eventually they were almost completely red. Among the top-performing hyacinths was ‘Pink Angel’ (Bloms Bulbs, www.blomsbulbs. com), whose brightly coloured flower spikes were much larger and better formed than any of the other varieties, with a fantastically potent scent. Unlike the other hyacinths grown in the test, they managed to stay bolt upright throughout the trial - essential if you’re going to use them in the garden, although they looked good in pots too.

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HOMES & GARDENS

october gardening tips at home pottering around fter a glorious summer en-fingered TV presenter his garden in Ireland, gre paring his beds for the pre now Diarmuid Gavin is cooler months. I have are beginning to die back. ing “Th s in my own garden ah and ver iron t cas n training up a some wisterias I’ve bee ennials per e som out ing ripp l be and underneath that I wil dendron, in my garden, like a trocho that haven’t been happy leaf.” the er und ts spo ck and has bla which has looked sickly l and ewa ren following tips for Diarmuid swears by the the and hst wit den gar r l help you regeneration which wil for the year on diti con d goo in is it cooler months and ensure

ahead.

DIARMUID GAVIN

Clear up leaves

The Lawn

es or they will You’ll have to rake up fallen leav wal and the first rene for y them and read ath get to erne time und “It’s suffocate any plant life ch has probably lots of leaves have you If s. pest thing to look at is the lawn, whi for ter provide shel it in the over all ning run mould by kids leaf by e mak ered , been batt and enough space and time with air rs line tbin dus into summer holidays. es leav putting your ifying, scar ion, sess e anc n to make nten dow mai rot d to “A really goo holes in them and leave them s of the grass or so year a take , ever how s, aerating and topping up the root doe a great mulch. It make will r ilise fert use. mn to tly autu e cien som plants with for the leaves to break down suffi “Really getting a massive difference,” he says. the to remove all stuck in with a spring tine rake Herbaceous Perennials g job. sfyin sati ly edib incr an is ch that that are flopping n will look Tidy up herbaceous perennials “For a couple of weeks, the law will . it on, rust r d late or have develope like you’ve demolished it, but t to lift and divide about toughening In a month’s time, you can star improve its condition. It’s all and produce new ur vigo and r it thei ing w Spik perennials to rene it up to get it ready for winter. may get seven or gen to get right plants. Out of one clump, you aerating it really allows the oxy , digging organic them of e lant ases som eight smaller ones. Rep down to the roots, but also rele and they time e Be sam up. the t at buil e soil hav the may into matter the other bad gases that . year t nex w sho should give you a good cruel to be kind.”

Prolong the season

Check your soil

k to see how your that’s still in Autumn is a good time to chec Continue to deadhead anything mulch and buy garden centre to soil is doing. Prepare to do a big flower but also visit your local l. in some organic materia see what’s coming into flower. “If the garden has fantastic and are ms “Planning is key,” says Gavin. sedu mn autu the of “Some year - and for this ld drop in some produced the goods for you encourage butterflies, so you cou ntiful year - you bou ly real a such been lias it’s es. Dah most people spot colour before the frost com t will need to wha ht flowers and want to condition the soil. See as Bishop of Llandaff with brig your manure r orde and ched put enri so c now be mulched and deep purple foliage look fantasti does.” else e to be delivered, before everyon them in pots in the border. es also look “Some of the Japanese anemon scope for using of ty plen e’s Consider Fencing ther and c asti fant e hav ’t don You en. or broken, consider gard spot colour in the If your fencing has fallen down the exoticof e som n the autumn. Eve in it yet. ace just repl up to to give planting a hedge Tropicanna, are ing panels and fenc out take to looking cannas, such as Canna ning plan “I’m h and holly.” looking good now.” plant beech or a mixture of beec

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                

               

                

 

 

  

        PL MAGAZINE | 57 | OCTOBER 2014

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XXX

The one where they… HIT TV SHOW FRIENDS HAS CELEBRATED ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY. POLLY WEEKS VISITED THE BIG APPLE TO SEEK OUT THE HAUNTS WHERE ROSS, RACHEL AND THE GANG HUNG OUT As water spouts from New York’s Pulitzer fountain, I tot up the number of hours I’ve spent staring at this iconic sight. Yes, this fountain is the fountain. It’s the one from the opening credits of all 236 episodes of Friends. It’s hard to believe that this September will mark the 20th anniversary since Joey, Chandler, Ross, Phoebe, Monica and Rachel first appeared on our screens, sparking a successful 10-year run. Sadly, there are no planned reunions on the horizon, but it’s still possible to visit several of the locations popularised by the show. Although filmed in LA, the cult comedy was set in New York, and so I set off to the Big Apple to catch up with old Friends...

Geller. In the earlier series, his love of dinosaurs landed him a job as a palaeontologist at the New York Museum of Natural History. The dioramas at the museum are legendary and in one episode of Friends, some scamp shifts the figures into rather suggestive positions. When I visit the Spitzer Hall of Human Origins, I secretly hope someone has done the same... The other big attraction here is the planetarium. Remember the episode when Ross and Rachel got ‘a little physical’ beneath a simulated solar system display? I must say the show doesn’t make me feel amorous - in fact, quite the opposite. It’s so relaxing, I almost nod off.

THE ONE WHERE THEY VISITED THE LOCATIONS Actually, scrap that about the fountain - it isn’t really in the series at all! Realising the real Pulitzer fountain would dwarf the show’s stars, producers opted to build a much smaller replica. This is one of the many nuggets of information I glean from an On Location Tour of New York, which features a very popular Friends section. We also stop at the the corner of Bedford and Grove Street in Greenwich, outside a very recognisable apartment building. It’s far smaller than I expect, but our guide explains that the film crew used clever camera angles to make it look more like one of Manhattan’s famous skyscrapers. Better still, it turns out our guide is a celebrity in his own right. He was the hand double for Chuck Bass in series four of Gossip Girl. Joey, who desperately tried to convince a stranger in Las Vegas they were hand twins, would be very impressed!

THE ONE WHERE THEY ATE OUT Forget sophisticated eateries - I want something akin to the Moondance Diner, where Monica had to skate around the restaurant and dance on tables when tunes came on the jukebox. Right by Times Square is Ellen’s Stardust Diner, which bears a striking resemblance. Here, staff take turns singing songs to amused guests who regularly pack out the place. I also discover the more serene Tick Tock Diner, where we sit in retro booths and eat hearty food. There may be no roller-skaters, but Monica would approve.

THE ONE WHERE THEY EARNED A LIVING Rachel’s office, well Bloomingdale’s, where she was an assistant buyer, seems a good place to start. The massive department store attracts a steady stream of tourists and local fashionistas, many leaving with their iconic ‘little brown bags’. Just around the corner I spot the Solow Building, which doubled up as Chandler’s office, where he worked as an IT procurement manager (and we still don’t really know what that is). As I’m by Fifth Avenue, I head north to Museum Mile, frequented by another dependable employee, Ross

THE ONE WHERE THEY SAW THE SIGHTS After spending the day sightseeing with Monica and birth mother of their adopted twins, Erica, Chandler bursts through the front door wearing a Statue of Liberty hat and declares: “New York is awesome.” I make my way to Liberty Island to see why he was so amazed. Close up, Lady Liberty is absolutely gigantic 305ft to be exact - and although it’s possible to climb her, you’ll need to join a queue. Most people are happy just to walk around the base, admiring the green (caused by the copper exterior having weathered) statue. Visit the gift shop and for a couple of dollars, you can pick up one of the sponge hats Chandler wore. THE ONE WHERE THEY HUNG OUT I’m disappointed to discover there’s no real Central Perk in Manhattan, although I’m told a few do exist in Dubai. So I decide to search for an alternative. The research process begins in the comfort of The Hotel @ Times Square, where

I’m staying, conveniently situated close to all the downtown attractions. The Apple Core hotel has - in addition to free breakfast, giant beds and big TV screens - free WiFi. I make the most of it, scouring the internet for coffee house options in New York. It’s not easy, as most are far too hip. Let’s face it Chandler’s not cool. He owns two copies of the Annie musical soundtrack and loves Miss Congeniality (to be fair, it is a classic). But on my final day, I find the Tea Lounge in Brooklyn. It has sofas and a bare brick wall - so far so good. Although the abundance of MacBook Airs is a sign that a lot has changed in the 20 years since Friends first aired.

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TRAVEL FACTS • Polly Weeks was a guest of Apple Core Hotels (www.applecorehotels.com) who offer doubles at The Hotel @ Times Square from £150 per night per room plus taxes (two sharing) with complimentary breakfast, free WiFi and free phone calls within the US. • Virgin Atlantic (0344 209 2770; www.virginatlantic.com) flies six times a day to New York from London Heathrow. Economy fares start from £224 plus £361.31 tax. • On Location Tours’ New York TV & Movie Sites costs 40 US dollars per person. Visit onlocationtours.com for more details. • For information on New York tourist attractions, like the CityPASS, which saves 41% on six attractions, including Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island, visit www.nycgo.com THE FAMOUS ‘FRIENDS’ PL MAGAZINE | 59 | OCTOBER 2014

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cider THAT’S created WITH LOVE CORNISH ORCHARDS CIDER IS TUCKED AWAY IN THE VILLAGE OF DULOE. EMILY SMITH WENT ON A VISIT TO FIND OUT EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT THE AWARD-WINNING CIDER

ndy Atkinson arrived on Westnorth Manor Farm in 1992 with nothing but a herd of dairy cattle. Keen to encourage wildlife on the Duchy farm, which dates back to the 1600s, he planted his first orchard. It wasn’t long before he had one of the largest collections of Cornish apple varieties in the County. Andy began juicing and blending his fruit to make Cornish apple juices. He found success and quickly began making cider – Cornish Orchards was born. From that day, Andy hasn’t looked back and the farm now employs 30 members of staff. I arrive at the remote but idyllic farm and am met by Chris Newton, one of two cider makers. The farm is a lot smaller than I imagined but Chris explains that over the last year it has grown a lot and they are about to start producing in a brand new cider barn. We move towards the bays outside, one is filled with apples ready to be pressed. All the apples used in Cornish Orchards’ cider are either from the farm’s own orchard or fresh, British apples. Lots of the apples which are being stored have been rejected by supermarkets because they are too small. Local people can also take apples along to the farm and the business buys them them - all the money made then goes towards community projects. The farm aims to work in the most environmentally-friendly way possible and all the apples are moved from the bay to the press by water. The apples are pushed down a little passage and up a small ramp. Chris explains there

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is quite an art getting the pressure just right for all the apples, all different sizes, to make it up the ramp. The farm is also proud to say its production is waste-free, with all the leftover apple pulp used for pig feed on nearby farms. The farm is getting ready for their busiest season – between October and November, when the apples are pressed and the cider process starts. “This time at the farm is complete madness, ”said Chris. Between October and January the raw cider is made and blended over the following year. The one apple press used at the farm presses more than a million litres of juice every year. The belt press can crush seven tonnes of apples per hour, which is 4,000 litres of juice. At the moment the one press is running 22 hours a day. We move inside where it is rather noisy but extremely clean. All the ciders Cornish Orchards produce are made using a unique combination of traditional cider apples and dessert apples.

‘if someone asks me if we make scrumpy, it’s the end of the conversation’ - CHRIS NEWTON

The natural fermentation process is one that has been used for hundreds of years and Chris explains: “It’s very humbling working in such a way. Every cider I make is treated like my baby.” He adds: “The acidity of the cider does not have to be adjusted because it’s all being done naturally, what the apples do is protecting the craft elements of the business. We are all very passionate about that.” Cornish Orchards produce seven bottled ciders as well as a selection of fruit juices and sparkling drinks. It is the Cornish Gold that is the most popular though. It is also the only Cornish Orchards cider that can be bought on draught, after it launched at the end of last year. After fermentation takes place it is time for the cider to go through the maturation process. This can take between six to eight months. Before this, the raw cider is originally nine per cent ABV, it is then mixed with differing amounts of water to make the different ciders on offer. The vintage cider is 7.2 per cent and the strongest one they do. Chris jokes: “If someone asks me if we make Scrumpy cider - then that’s the end of the conversation for me. It’s about the taste and the look of it, not how strong something is.”

All ciders are blended by hand and use a natural fermentation process rather than forced heating and cooling. Chris is rather like a cider scientist and measures the temperature daily and keeps check on the huge cylinders holding the golden liquid. The room we are in is called the Cider Barn and this is where the yeast and sugar is added to the apple juice to begin the cider making process. The barn is filled with huge cylinders in which the fermentation takes place. Chris explains this can take anywhere between three and eight weeks.

ELAINE BOLTON IN THE SHOP AT CORNISH ORCHARDS

THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL VISITS

It’s then into quarantine for the cider so nothing can touch it, before it’s moved onto the bottling line. In the bottling room a team of people carefully fill the glass bottles, before adding the signature Cornish Orchard labels on by hand. Any waste produced on the bottling line goes to make cider apple vinegar. The success of Cornish Orchards is continuing due to its craft methods and environmental ethos, something all the team are passionate about. This year the farm celebrated a royal visit when the Duchess of Cornwall took a tour. An idea that was started more than ten years ago by a Cornish farmer has grown into a hugely successful business.

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ELFORDLEIGH HOTEL

ZUZZIMO

EASTERN EY

The best Christmas ever... STILL DECIDING WHERE TO GO FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS NIGHT OUT OR OFFICE PARTY? HERE’S PL’S PICK OF THE TOP VENUES FOR FESTIVE FUN IN PLYMOUTH

Zuzimo

Elfordleigh Hotel

Eastern Eye

Zuzimo offers a tapas bar and fine dining all under one roof. The cosy bar area is an ideal place to enjoy a glass of wine or soft drink and sample tapas dishes from around the world for as little as £3.95 each. Diners can also enjoy a two course express lunch in the elegant 70-seater restaurant for just £9.95 from Mondays to Fridays. Also popular is the Tapas Tuesday promotion offering a choice of three tapas and a glass of wine for £10 or six tapas and a bottle of wine for £30.

For that somewhere truly extra special this Christmas, why look anywhere else? You are warmly invited to relax, unwind and savour the unique atmosphere that is the Elfordleigh. The hotel is set in 100 acres of picturesque scenery, with an 18-hole parkland golf course, gym and spa facilities. Enjoy a three-course seasonal menu from as little as £18.25 or dance the night away at a festive party nights which include a three-course dinner, disco and late bar until 1am.

Spice up Christmas with a visit to the Eastern Eye. Break away from the traditional turkey and trimmings for a great night out with work colleagues or friends. The Plymouth restaurant is open every day of the year from 6pm until midnight Sunday to Thursday and from 6pm until 2am on Friday and Saturday nights. The restaurant is also open on Christmas Day itself from 1pm until 9pm. NAME OF

LOCATION

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FOOD & DRINK

CROWNHILL FORT

EN MOORLAND GARD

Crownhill Fort

NATIONAL M

ARINE AQUA

RIUM

LE VIGNOBLE

Experience a magical Christmas party at a historical venue. Crownhill Fort is the perfect setting to gather with your colleagues and friends for an unforgettable evening. A wide variety of Christmas party packages, are on offer, starting from £21.50. The parties take place within the fort’s main magazine and can cater for up to 150 guests. Christmas party packages include exclusive venue hire, festive themed room, arrival drinks, Christmas finger buffet (upgrades available), DJ, bar and event management. For more information or a brochure visit www.orangechilli.co.uk or contact them on 01752 680021 or email clients@ orangechilli.co.uk

Moorland Garden Hotel

Le Vignoble

National Marine Aquarium

Celebrate the festive season in a magical moorland setting on the edge of Dartmoor, just 25 minutes from Plymouth city centre. Enjoy the relaxed and friendly style, truly delightful ambience and delicious food from its award-winning chef. Moorland Garden has events throughout December, including festive afternoon teas, lunches and dinners. Crystal Christmas Party Nights are also being held on selected dates. For more information contact the Events Team on 01822 852245 or events@ moorlandgardenhotel.co.uk www.moorlandgardenhotel.co.uk

Based in the stunning Royal William Yard, the cosmopolitan Le Vignoble wine lounge is perfect for relaxed evenings out, Christmas parties or just a welcome glass of wine after trawling the shops. You must try one of their delicious tapas platters: French cheeses, charcuterie and terrines with fig chutney, fresh bread, marinated olives and sunblush tomatoes. If you’re mouth isn’t watering already just wait until you taste it. And don’t forget – a private wine tasting makes a lovely Christmas present!

Experience a different kind of Christmas magic at the National Marine Aquarium. If you are looking for an exciting and inspiring venue for your company’s Christmas Party then you’ve just found it. Experience an underwater world full of vibrancy and colour, right here in Plymouth. The evening includes a welcome drink, a three course meal served in front of the spectacular Eddystone exhibit, followed by a memorable night with the aquarium’s resident DJ. Call 01752 275214 or email functions@ national-aquarium.co.uk

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FOOD & DRINK

ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY UNDERSTATED NAUTICAL COOL COMBINES WITH STELLAR SEAFOOD AND UNFETTERED VIEWS OF THE SEA AT THE DOCK. LOUISE DANIEL PAID A VISIT

t’s 2.30 on a Wednesday afternoon and the lunchtime crowds are only just leaving The Dock – the newest addition to the Plymouth food map. I’m here to meet 24-year-old Dan Weaver - one of the youngest head chefs I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing – to talk about his role in the success of this up-and-coming contemporary restaurant. But don’t mistake youth for inexperience – this young gun is an ambitious team player whose eye is always on plentiful platters, fabulous flavours and the best possible customer experience. “I don’t like to count the hours I work but it is worth it. “When you get compliments from customers that’s the best feeling - it doesn’t matter how many hours I work as long as people are going away happy. “Ultimately I try to do the best I can in anything I do – it doesn’t matter if I have to go the extra mile.” Dan started as a keen home cook before honing his abilities at City College Plymouth, The Glassblowing House and The Mission. Dan’s love of cooking sprang from experimenting with simple ingredients and conjuring up delicious meals for friends and family. “There’s something special about making something out of nothing – also my mum taught me a lot because she used to do pastries and cakes. “My sister was a chef when she was younger and I used to help her. It was a spark and I knew I could make a career out of it.” It’s here at The Dock that Dan used his enthusiasm and inspiration to gather a team together that really gels – something that is key to working well in the kitchen. And with around 120 covers on a Saturday night

CHEF DAN WEAVER

alone, the nine-strong crew needs a captain with Dan’s work ethic, vision and leadership. Going the extra mile at this dockside restaurant means service from 8.30am for breakfasts, through to 10pm from Monday to Saturday and 9pm on Sunday. It’s punishing, but the hard work and dedication of the whole team means the service and food is consistent – waiting times are short and the servers are pleasant, friendly and helpful. The menu is pleasingly limited to one page – with small plates, sharing platters, sandwiches, starters, mains, burgers and salads. Each dish has a star ingredient, complemented

by artistic flourishes, kitsch presentations and delicious sauces. It’s not expensive – think fish and chips for £9 via creamy mussels and tiger prawn linguine at £13 to grilled rib-eye at £19. The food is agreeably familiar (classic BLT, oldschool chicken Kiev and beer-battered fish of the day) with touches of home cooking (posh egg and chips and fish finger sandwiches) with bistro flair (classic carbonara, chorizo croquettes and steamed mussel pots). You aren’t overwhelmed with choices that leave the kitchen nowhere to hide – what they do, they have to do really well. Dan is fully aware of this and very proud of the stripped-back fare. “The practicalities of the menu help us to deliver the best we can to customers.” It’s not just the great food that makes The Dock a memorable eating experience – it also offers great views and relaxed dining in a spacious venue. The ceilings are high and the L-shaped dining room, with its feature floor-to-ceiling sea-facing wall of glass, is remarkable. Add to that a stunning wrap-around balcony and you’ve got a truly memorable must-visit restaurant.

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Wednesday 24th December Christmas Eve Festive Afternoon Tea Start the celebrations with a glass of Prosecco, followed by Christmas Cream Tea, Delicious Scones with Clotted Cream & Jam, Festive Sandwiches, Warm Mince Pies and a slice of our chef ’s very own Christmas Cake. Music by The Swing Kings This includes a seasonal gift from Father Christmas, who will be making a special stop at Kitley House Festive Afternoon Tea starts from 1.00pm

£24.95 per person

Christmas Lunches Enjoy a 4 course Lunch Menu Available from Monday 1st December 2014 4 Course Seasonal Menu with Coffee

£17.95 per person

Kitley Party Nights & Disco Friday 5th December, Friday 12th December & Friday 19th December 4 course Seasonal Menu with Coffee and Disco

rich and hearty White Onion and mascarpone soup

£29.95 per person including Cocktail on arrival

Ingredients

Method

Accommodation available from £35.00 pps

6 medium white onions sliced

Fry onion, garlic and celery with a little olive oil on a medium heat until soft and translucent – try not to colour them. Add the cream and mascarpone and cook for a further 15 minutes on a low heat.

2 sticks of celery 4 garlic cloves crushed Tbsp. olive oil 5 sprigs of thyme 600 ml cream Truffle oil for garnish

Arrive 7.00pm Dinner served at 7.30pm Disco from 10.00pm - Midnight

Tie the thyme with kitchen string and add to the bubbling pan. Remove the thyme then blend and sieve the soup Garnish with truffle oil. Top tip

If the cream reduces too much leave on a low heat and add a splash of water. If you’re worried about calories – use lower fat alternatives to the cream and mascarpone cream. Recipe from Dan Weaver head chef

KITLEY

HOUSE PA X

POTIOR

BELLO

There’s so much that makes us special Kitley Estate Yealmpton, Plymouth, PL8 2NW Telephone: 01752 881555

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FREAKY FINGERS Ingredients

Method

100g caster sugar

Place the first five ingredients and a pinch of salt in a food processor and whizz just until a ball of dough forms.

100g butter 1 egg yolk

Scary Halloween jelly

200g plain flour ½ tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients

Method

2 x 135g packs strawberry or raspberry jelly

Cut the jelly into cubes with scissors and place in a bowl. Add 400ml boiling water and stir continuously until dissolved.

425g can lychees in syrup 12-14 small seedless green grapes 12-14 dark coloured jelly beans 80g white marzipan 6-8 whole blanched almonds Red piping gel or red icing in a tube

Drain the lychees, reserving the juice. Put the juice in a measuring jug and make up to 400ml with cold water. Add to the dissolved jelly. Pour about a quarter of the jelly into a clear glass dish and place in the fridge to set. Take a grape and gently push a jelly bean into the centre, using the hole where the stalk has been. Then gently push the grape into a lychee. Repeat with the remaining grapes and lychees to make eyeballs. To make the spooky fingers, divide the marzipan into 6 and shape into sausages the size of a finger. Pipe a little red gel at one end and attach an almond to represent a fingernail. Using a small knife mark three or four lines half way down the finger to make a knuckle. When the jelly is set, arrange half the eyeballs over the surface, add more jelly and return to the fridge. When this has set, arrange the remaining eyeballs over the jelly. Place the spooky fingers against the side of the bowl. Pour over the remaining jelly and place in the fridge to set. Serve in the bowl.

20 blanched almonds Red food colouring, paste is best (optional)

Tear off a golf ball-size piece of dough and use your hands to roll into finger-size cylinders – you should get about 20. Place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment – a little apart as they will spread during baking. Use a knife to make a few cuts, close together, for the knuckles. Place an almond at the end of each finger and trim away excess pastry around the edge to neaten. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes, heat oven to 180C/160F/Gas 4, then bake for 10-12 minutes just until firm. Leave to cool a little, then paint the almond with food colouring, if you like. Makes 20.

Dracula’s blood punch Ingredients

Method

2 litres cherry juice

Tip the cherry juice, orange peel, chilli, cinnamon sticks, cloves and ginger into a large saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Leave to cool, then chill for at least 4 hours, or up to 2 days – the longer you leave it the more intense the flavours. If serving to young children, take the chilli out after a few hours.

peel from 3 oranges, pared with a vegetable peeler 1 thumb-sized red chilli, pierced a few times but left whole

When you’re ready to serve, pour the juice into a jug. Serve in glass bottles or glasses and pop a straw in each. Dangle a fangs sweet from each glass.

3 cinnamon sticks 10 cloves 6 slices ginger

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COME AND SEE WHATS COOKING...

MEET THE STARS

Friday John Torode

Sunday The Hairy Bikers

Saturday Gino D’Acampo

and so much more Tasting and trying Restaurant stage Classroom demonstrations Local chefs and producers Shopping The BIG Cake Show Baking Area Kid’s Kitchen Competitions

Westpoint, Exeter • 24th - 26th October buy your tickets at

Proud supporters of

thebigfoodshow.com 66_67_Halloween recipes.indd 67

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FLASHBACK TO THE BIG CAKE SHOW

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TIC KE T

OUT & ABOUT

PETER GORTON AND MARY BERRY

A feast of celebrity chefs LOVERS OF LOCAL FOOD ARE PROMISED A FEAST OF FLAVOURS AT THE BIG FOOD SHOW THIS MONTH. SU CARROLL REPORTS

estcountry produce will be on the menu at The Big Food Show this autumn, a celebration of the region’s food and chefs. It’s been organised by MK Events, the team behind The first Big Cake Show at Westpoint Arena near Exeter this spring, which was a huge success. With guest chefs including Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood and Devon’s Great British Bake Off hero of 2013, Glenn Cosby, the near sell-out show celebrated the world of cake with a bang. MK Events founders, childhood friends Mel Edwards and Kim Vernon, realised that there was the potential for an autumn event at the venue. It would have the same ingredients – celebrity chefs to give demonstrations, lots of local producers showing off their great food and drink, plenty to keep the kids entertained and all under one roof. But what to call it? There were lots of food festivals in the Westcountry, but they needed something to stand out. Then they realised that the answer was right under their nose. As they say in the movies, from the makers of The Big Cake Show comes (drum roll please)... The Big Food Show! Tickets are on sale for the event at Westpoint from October 24-26. There will be two demonstration stages packed with big names. First to be announced are TV’s Hairy Bikers – Si King and Dave Myers. These cheery, down-to-earth guys have been

cooking together for more than 20 years. Born and bred in Barrow-in-Furness, Dave worked at the BBC as a make-up artist. Si, who hails from the North East worked as first assistant director and locations manager for film and television (including the Harry Potter series of films). The two met on the set of a Catherine Cookson drama and were united with their love of food. The Hairy Bikers stepped in front of the camera and a career was born – TV shows, books, live performances, a range of ready meals and even a diet club! They are firm favourites on the food festival circuit and will prove a popular draw at The Big Food Show. Over the three days the demonstration stages will be peppered with some of the country’s favourite celebrity chefs, each demonstration followed by a 15 minute Q&A session. The classroom demonstrations which proved so popular at The Big Cake Show will also be held, giving everyone the chance to learn something new from the professionals. On the speaker stage you can hear from producers, food group experts and restaurant owners and chefs as they talk about their experiences, skills and knowledge to inspire and educate. Kids’ Kitchen workshops, hosted by Fun Kitchen, will give children the opportunity to have a go and cook something to take away with them. And for those suffering withdrawal symptoms

MARY BERRY

while they wait for the next Big Cake Show (20-22 March 2015), there’s a whole baking area dedicated to bakers and cake eaters – packed full of exhibitors selling the most up to date baking products, producers selling the best cakes and bakes in the South West and demonstrators showing you how perfect your sugar craft and lots more. And there will be more than 100 exhibitors at the event. THE BIG FOOD SHOW IS FROM OCTOBER 24-26. DOORS OPEN AT 9.30AM UNTIL 6PM ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AND 5PM ON SUNDAY. TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT THEBIGFOODSHOW.CO.UK. THEY ARE £14 FOR ADULTS FOR ONE DAY (£8 CHILDREN, £12 CONCESSIONS) OR £22 FOR TWO DAYS. VIP PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE AT £44.

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BORINGDON PARK GOLF CLUB

Boringdon Park Golf club tees off for a fine future BORINGDON PARK GOLF CLUB SUFFERED A MASSIVE SETBACK WHEN VANDALS ATTACKED THE PLYMPTON CLUB LAST WINTER – BUT IT’S FOUGHT BACK TO BE STRONGER THAN EVER. GRAHAM BROACH REPORTS

ast winter vandals sprayed hundreds of gallons of contact weedkiller on 14 greens at Boringdon Park Golf Club. They have never been caught. Staff were dismayed when the grass on five of the tees, half the greens on the main 18-hole course and five on the nine-hole course began to die. Two men and a vehicle were sighted at the course on the night of December 5 last year. But despite owner Mike Davey offering a £5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction, noone has ever been charged with the attack. Mr Davey said: “Our members were great and got together to help us, and we invited them up for free drinks and pasties. “It is very difficult to make temporary greens in

the middle of winter when grass doesn’t grow, so we stayed on the dead greens until April, spraying them with green dye. “We then went onto the new greens, though by the end of June they were getting hard and crispy and burning off. “We re-seeded the original greens in April and they have been back in play since June; we also re-turfed some of the tees, and one has been re-seeded.” Mr Davey said much of the club’s income now came from food and drink, so damage to the course had a limited financial effect. He added: “Thanks to the loyalty of our members, who really feel part of the club, we have since increased our membership by more than 10

OUR MEMBERS WERE GREAT AND GOT TOGETHER TO HELP US - MIKE DAVEY

per cent and our income by 20 per cent.” The club, which is awaiting payment of an insurance claim, has also spent £6,000 on new infra-red CCTV, which works even in darkness. Some of the cameras are placed prominently on high poles, while others are hidden.

PL MAGAZINE | 70 | OCTOBER 2014

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FULL GOLF

£499

FOR

(Until 31st July 2015)

Direct Debit available for all monthly memberships starting from £16.10 (5 day 9 Hole).

GREEN FEES

£10

FROM

MEMBERSHIP

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(TWILIGHT)

2 week cooling off period for all memberships.

PLANTING TREES ON THE SITE

For further information please call 01752 339113 or email steve.dougan@boringdonpark.com

GOLF . EVENTS . CONFERENCING 55 Plymbridge Road, Plympton, Plymouth PL7 4QG

01752 339113

www.boringdonpark.com BORINGDON OWNER MIKE DAVEY

Christmas

LUNCH - 3 COURSE STARTER Cream of Roasted Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup (v) Three Cheese, Rocket & Cranberry Tart (v) MAIN COURSE Traditional Roast Turkey Herb Crusted Roast Fillet of Salmon Mushroom & Vegetable Nut Roast

The images are such high-definition that they would be acceptable as evidence in court. The Boringdon course was built in 2009 by Mr Davey, who also owns Trethorne Golf Club near Launceston. On 300 acres of agricultural land, he created a 7,000yard 18-hole par 72 course and a 3,000-yard nine hole par 36 course, describing them as a cross between links and parkland styles. Mr Davey, who is 46 and plays off a 14 handicap, also built a driving range, a pro shop and a clubhouse which can seat 400 people for functions. The whole complex employs up to 40 local staff. Looking ahead, Mr Davey has planted 16,000 indigenous species of trees, including ash, willow, beech and oak, which are growing well, and has plans for a new bistro-style bar-restaurant next year.

DESSERTS Christmas Pudding Brandy Snap Basket Trio of Langage Farm Ice Cream COFFEE Mince Pies & Clotted Cream

£18.50 PER PERSON MENU AVAILABLE MONDAY - FRIDAY

IN DECEMBER

Menu available Mon-Fri throughout December excluding Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing

GOLF . EVENTS . CONFERENCING 55 Plymbridge Road, Plympton, Plymouth PL7 4QG

T: 01752

339113

www.boringdonpark.com PL MAGAZINE | 71 | OCTOBER 2014

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TIC KE T

OUT & ABOUT

‘I showed the kids’ JOHN BISHOP’S SOARING COMEDY CAREER IS ABOUT TO GO SUPERSONIC. MARTIN FREEMAN REPORTS

e raced to the top with eye-watering speed and proved he was faster than Tom Cruise. Toothy comedy star John Bishop outpaced the action movie man in a reasonably priced car on a certain BBC motoring show. Now he’s about to go Supersonic in Plymouth. The title of his latest tour shows that the Scouse funnyman has no intention of slowing down since swapping a secure job in pharmaceutical sales for a punt at delivering the medicine of laughter. His rise to become arguably the comedian of the moment in the UK is built on broad appeal. To women he’s the family man who shows his caring side with self-effacing tales about being a dad to three teenage boys (who he can never make laugh). To men he’s a bloke’s bloke whose dry humour nods to the tradition of comics who came from the northern clubs rather than the performing arts schools in the south. There’s also his charity efforts. The only time he’s dropped the pace is on his charity efforts such as the bike-row-run triathlon from Paris to London that raised £3.4m for Sport Relief 2012. His travelogue series (Australia, BBC One) earlier this year, recreating the cycle journey he did across the land Down Under as a 25-year-old, showed his versatility. The re-cycle has given him (for once) pause to think.

‘Of all the jobs you can do in life, this has to be the best’ - JOHN BISHOP “The only other time a middle-aged man pretends he’s 25 is when he’s drunk, dancing at a wedding,” he says. “This is my version of that, but in Lycra. “It’s a weird thing to try and think about why on earth I would at all end up in this situation, coming from where I started. “I recognise it for what it is. As far as the options of all the jobs you can do in life, this is the best.” Even if he hadn’t gone from being a debut

professional to a comic with a national profile – plus the owner of a string of awards – in the space of three years, and stayed at the top, he reckons he would have had no regrets. “I’m glad I took the chance to be a stand-up,” he says, “because even if it hadn’t got as big as it’s got, I showed the kids you can try and do something that you want to do, rather than do something you felt you have to do.” JOHN BISHOP PLAYS PLYMOUTH PAVILIONS FROM OCTOBER 22-24. THE SHOWS ARE SOLD OUT BUT SOME LATE TICKETS MAY BE RELEASED

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0845 146 1460 | PL MAGAZINE | 73 | OCTOBER 2014

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TIC KE T

OUT & ABOUT

The shocking Miss Emerald DUTCH SINGER CARO EMERALD IS BRINGING VINTAGE BACK AND HER RETRO STYLE AND SMOOTH JAZZ GROOVES HAVE SECURED HER A UK TOUR, WITH A ONE-NIGHT STOP IN PLYMOUTH. IT’S SOMETHING SHE COULD ONLY DREAM OF, SHE TELLS EMILY SMITH

f Caro Emerald is a name that doesn’t ring any bells then it should do. After enjoying 30 weeks at number one in the Netherlands in 2010 with her album Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor, this jazz singer has very much proved that she is a female vocalist making a name for herself. Caro’s spell at number one made headlines, it was the longest release someone has ever held at the top spot, beating Michael Jackson’s Thriller. She modestly tells me: “It’s so hard to describe that period. It was such a blur, everything went so fast. Months felt like years. Time would go so fast, there was barely enough time to realise what was going on.” Born as Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw in Amsterdam, the 33-year-old started her career doing anything and everything she could involving music. In 2013 the singer’s album The Shocking Miss Emerald reached number one in the UK album chart. Perhaps one of her biggest singles Back It Up will make even a jazz novice tap their feet and swing their hips, after having more than seven million views on Youtube since July 2009. The video for Back It Up is wonderfully fresh.

Caro wears a signature retro outfit and the style is very film noir. Many of the song lyrics appear as film captions and takes viewers back in time. She explains: “With film, there is an imagination that comes with it. It’s cool to have the stylistic approach. My songwriter [David Schreurs] does lots of storytelling through his lyrics. We wanted to do something a little retro. We spent a long time looking at movie scenes and videos. Everything has an ambience and it’s a fun way to be inspired.” Being part of an independent record label that Caro helped set up herself in Holland has allowed her to stand out among the likes of Duffy, Amy Winehouse and Adele. Caro worked with producers Jan van Wieringen and David Schreurs to launch Grandmono Records. It then was a lot of hard work for the team to push Caro into the limelight, doing just that. “We seemed to crack the music scene quite fast in Holland whereas in the UK it was so slow and steady. I had a lot of support from BBC Radio 2, who played a lot of my songs from the beginning. I steadily grew a fan base in the UK but it really kicked in when The Shocking Miss Emerald album got to number one. We performed at the Royal Variety Performance and it was broadcast live. That was when it really felt like ‘wow, what’s happening?’” Travelling to a gig in Holland where she will receive the Dutch Milestone award, Caro talks about her upcoming UK tour which starts on October 9. Caro sets me straight first though, saying she will not be flying to the UK as she ‘hates’ flying, they will be travelling by bus. Caro is enjoying life with her six-month-old girl as well as embarking on a tour which will see her perform at The O2 in London and a sell-out gig at the Plymouth Pavilions. “Sometimes my little girl comes with us, I

normally figure something out. Every week is different, it’s not too difficult with really little babies as they are really flexible and they will just go to sleep.” It isn’t just her jazz, R&B and soulful songs that are making Caro stand out though, her retro style makes her a real presence on stage. She adds: “I love fashion, I love clothes, I love shopping. The fashion side of being a musician is a really big bonus. “Even as a little girl I loved dressing up. I don’t dress like that in ordinary life though. The first outfit I wore in a live DVD in 2010 is my favourite. It was by Marine Vernon. “It was a red dress and it just worked really well on the stage. “I work with several designers in the UK. I have just started working with Suzannah. “She’s a new designer, very feminine and fits my style really well. I look at big designers for inspiration like Louis Vuitton, I also look at fashion magazines.” The 02 arena in London will be Caro’s biggest live show yet and the jazz singer remains modest as she explains what it means to her. “It’s so hard to even imagine what it’s going to be like, it doesn’t even sound real. It sounds like the kind of place Rihanna would perform, it’s seems too big for me. It’s really exciting though. “I hope I don’t get too overwhelmed when I see the size and remember my lyrics. “My shows seem to sell out in the UK which is really complimentary.” CARO EMERALD PLAYS PLYMOUTH PAVILIONS ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14

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A TALE FROM THE RIVER RICHARD ALLMAN HAS TRANSFORMED FROM ARTIST TO FILMMAKER FOR HIS LATEST PROJECT, WHICH PREMIERED AT THE IT’S ALL ABOUT THE RIVER FILM FESTIVAL LAST MONTH. HE SPOKE TO RACHAEL DODD ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

ichard Allman is best known for his drawings but film festival organisers challenged him to break new ground and create an animation. The fruit of Richard’s labours is the short film Tamarama – taking viewers on a sensory journey up the river from the industrial to the rural; exploring this major landmark and defining boundary between Devon and Cornwall. As a Plymouth resident for more than 35 years, Richard is certainly no stranger to the city. The regeneration of Plymouth has become a prominent theme of his work and his interest in structure is clear in the film’s frames of the Tamar Bridge and Devonport. But, as the landscape shifts, the linear architectural lines of Plymouth’s buildings and streets give way to open waters and the lush banks of the Tamar. He set about making Tamarama by taking three boat trips from the Barbican to Calstock and documenting everything he saw: “It’s been quite a challenge. The whole journey is 16 miles and it takes an hour and three quarters which is difficult to capture in nine minutes of film.” Richard was able to create more than one hundred sketches which formed the frames for the film. His ink and charcoal drawings are animated in various ways – some stop-motion, others subtly

suggesting movement. With no experience of creating an animation, Richard had to start with the basics: “Moving pictures are completely different really because viewers can’t stop and look closely at the frames. “What animation really means is ‘to bring to life’ but in terms of this film what I’m trying to do is suggest the movement of the viewer on this journey. “The biggest challenge for me was getting to grips with the software. Luckily I had some marvellous help from Mike Endacott who works at the Plymouth University illustration department.” I feel my film complements the others at the festival and it moves in quite a chronologically logical kind of way. When I try something else I might experiment more with clever cuts and move the story around a bit but everyone has to start somewhere!” Richard chose to move away from some of his more colourful work for the film and kept to black and white throughout. He said: “I mostly used free-flowing ink

and charcoal. That’s partly why the film is monochrome because I didn’t want it to be too complicated.” The River Tamar is a familiar sight for most locals but Richard was able to gain a deeper insight on the river and how vital it is: “It isn’t just an idyllic pastoral landscape – there’s much more to it than that. It’s very varied. “The river has had such a wide variety of uses and that’s really apparent as you travel on it. The agriculture you can see from the banks, the marines in ribs on exercises and of course there’s the dockyard and the submarines.” “It’s good to think about our relationship to the Tamar. “The film is really about creating an atmosphere and an experience rather than being a documentary about the journey.”

TAMARAMA WILL SOON BE AVAILABLE TO VIEW ONLINE. FOR THE LATEST UPDATES VISIT WWW.RICHARDALLMAN.CO.UK

PL MAGAZINE | 75 | OCTOBER 2014

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TIC KE T

OUT & ABOUT

Writers’ revolution PLYMOUTH’S LITERARY SCENE IS AT THE BEATING HEART OF THE CITY’S ARTS SECTOR. RACHAEL DODD REPORTS ON THE GROWING COMMUNITY OF POETS AND WRITERS

hat better way to dive headfirst into Plymouth’s literary scene than a visit to a poets and writers’ open mic night at Plymouth Arts Centre? My overactive imagination had woven the scene already: A smoky bohemia, surrounded by candlelit tables. There would be people whispering about Sartre and drinking bourbon. A solitary, beatnik poet would be performing on a stage lit by a singular spotlight. Of course, the reality was a little different. The fluorescent-lit, white-washed room at the Arts Centre is the perfect blank canvas. All the fancy detailing is unnecessary – this is a modern room for modern poets. Plymouth’s Poet Laureate Mike Sullivan had invited me to the event and urged me to read one of his poems to the gathering. As I started reading to the sea of expectant faces, I began to understand the bravery involved in throwing a crafted piece of poetry or prose into the ring. It’s no easy task to lay your soul out to the masses – and this wasn’t even my work. The evening was one of the regular meetings of the Cross Country Writers group. Many poets and writers stepped up to the plate with their works. Some of Plymouth’s more active writers, including Nick Ingram, Kenny Knight and journalist William Telford from The Herald were in the gathering. The open mic nights are a regular occurrence in Plymouth and the surrounding area. As well as Cross Country Writers, there’s a plethora of writing groups: the Waterfront Writers, Athenaeum Writers, Bread and Roses Creative Writers and Blackbooks among others. My journey into the world of Plymouth writers had begun a few days earlier when I met the Waterfront Writers group who

are celebrating their 18th birthday this year. Waterfront Writers aims to give all poets, writers and songsmiths a chance to develop their craft and their celebration saw acoustic guitar sessions alongside poetry readings from published authors and amateurs alike. Member and organiser Martin Perry said: “The scene has always been there and it’s always been strong, right from the start. But a lot of events were being held in isolation. Now you’re starting to hear about different events and what’s going on.” “I was there, almost at the beginning. We’ve done shows, readings, workshops and school visits. “What’s nice is that you don’t have to write, as long as you have a desire to write that’s the main thing. In 18 years we’ve sadly lost a few members and the group has changed but the core principle has never changed. “It’s very simple: come in, read your poems, get some feedback. It’s always friendly and we never put people down. We build really strong friendships in this group.” Waterfront Writers meet at the Swarthmore Hall on Mutley Plain every Friday at 1pm during university term time. Plymouth’s Poet Laureate Mike Sullivan – aka Sullivan the Poet – was also in attendance for the Waterfront Writers celebration. Mike speaks with so much enthusiasm for Plymouth’s artistic underbelly you can almost hear him fizzing: “The writing scene is so healthy it’s untrue,” he said. “The biggest problem is getting people to talk about the fact that they write.” Mike has encouraged the various writing groups in the city to form a literary community. He said: “I go to all the different groups where I read and meet people. “Then I tell them: ‘what you have to do now,

as a thank you to me, is send one of your members to someone else’s group and read for them’”. “So each group then starts talking to each other and turning up to each other’s groups as guests. Another writing group is Blackbooks, the creation of Peter Davey from Pennycomequick Arts. The group’s packed poetry evenings have been drawing increasing public attention from enthusiastic writers and poets. Peter Davey said: “We offer a mixture of spoken word works from hip hop to standard verse. It’s a host of different mediums. We’re really open to ideas and mix a lot of cultures. Blackbooks exists to give people a platform to work from, to encourage them to not be afraid and to perform whether they’re amateurs or seasoned professionals. It’s about what you can give not what you can’t.” Blackbooks features some of Plymouth’s most exciting artists from MCMC, to Julian Isaacs and Gabi Marcellus-Temple. The next event will be part of Plymouth’s International Book Festival and takes place on October 22 at the Mayflower Bar on Phoenix Wharf at 7.30pm. It’s clear that Plymouth’s literary scene is steadily building and it won’t be long before everyone knows it. Mike Sullivan predicts it will be sooner rather than later. “Give it another 12 months and the literary scene will be bubbling, people will see it, know of it, be part of it. The seams are creaking but none of them have blown yet. I hope my enthusiasm is catching. If people knew what we had here in Plymouth we’d have got the City of Culture.”

PL MAGAZINE | 76 | OCTOBER 2014

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TIC KE T

OUT & ABOUT

Celebrating the written world OUR FAST-PACED LIVES LEAVE VERY LITTLE ROOM FOR A GRAND OLD STORYTELLER LIKE THE BOOK. BUT, AS THE PLYMOUTH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL PROVES, THIS OLD TIMER ISN’T READY TO GIVE UP YET

eading authors and prominent local writers are converging on Plymouth this month to celebrate books; bastions of a time when 3g was a weight and twitter was what the birds did. The Plymouth International Book Festival has been a honey pot for writers since it began in 2012. This year’s festival line-up features household names like Joanna Trollope, Will Self, Sir Andrew Motion and Kate Adie. Plus Costa Prize winning novelist Nathan Filer, Man Booker Prize judge Sarah Churchwell, BAFTA nominated screenwriter M R Hall and Sarah Hilary, whose novel Someone Else’s Skin was recently named in Richard and Judy’s Autumn Book Club. Former prisoner turned writer Caspar Walsh will be reading from his work as will our very own Plymouth Poet Laureate Michael Sullivan. There will also be performances from celebrated poets Patience Agbabi and Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze. Joanna Trollope, Will Self, Nathan Filer and Sarah Hilary will read from their latest novels, while Sir Andrew Motion will be talking about his life as a poet and reading from his latest collection, The Customs House. Kate Adie will be one of the authors speaking about the role of women in the First World War and Sarah Churchwell will be giving a talk about the genesis of the literary classic, The Great Gatsby. As well as events for adult book-lovers there will also be events for children, including a dedicated Family Day, and the opening night including the

crowning of the 2014 Plymouth Young City Laureate. Professor Dafydd Moore, Executive Dean of Arts and Humanities and a Professor of English Literature at Plymouth University, explains why it’s so important to pass on a passion for reading to future generations: “Reading and writing are such precious gifts, and everyone should have the opportunity to discuss, debate, be inspired and occasionally enraged by books. I am absolutely delighted that, with the support of the University and its partners, the Plymouth International Book Festival is establishing itself as a major event in the cultural calendar and attracting a distinguished range of writers and poets to Plymouth. “By pooling our creative resources, energies and talents we can now stage a spectacular celebration of the spoken and written word.” More than 40 events are due to take place from October 17 to October 25, at venues including Plymouth University, Plymouth City Library, the Athenaeum, Waterstones in New George Street and other sites across the city. Author talks, readings and workshops designed to ignite people’s passions about the written and spoken word. There are also days focusing on crime and nature writing, and a special series of events to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Joanna Trollope, writer of 17 best-selling

In this digital age, I believe books and literature are more important than ever - JOANNA TROLLOPE novels, believes the festival has an important role to play in igniting public passion about the written word: “In this digital age, I believe books and literature are more important than ever. A screen doesn’t feed the imagination or expand the mind in the way that something on a page (paper or electronic) does. Technology is another way of reading or acquiring knowledge, but it is not as enriching to the heart and mind as works which demand more from the reader in the first place.” The Plymouth International Book Festival is organised through a partnership of Peninsula Arts at Plymouth University, Literature Works and Plymouth City Council, with funding and support from Arts Council England.

PL MAGAZINE | 77 | OCTOBER 2014

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SOCIAL DIARY

Breakwater Swim Breakwater The sun shone brightly on this year’s brave to the took ers swimm hardy 160 as , stants Swim conte icy September Sound. es in the Steven Ferguson came in first at 45 minut beating back, and water Break the to swim ile 2.2-m Jack ar-old 15-ye was d secon In 50. of time last year’s over £3,000. Cornwood from Northmore, who raised al - a charity The swim is all in aid of the Chestnut Appe care. r cance ate prost of ont forefr the at

ployer m E e g e l l City Co t Scheme n e m e s r o End ity launch ti-stalking char boss of an an

s breakfast presenter and ch of a busines er and the A former TV at the re-laun re t ca es r gu l he ia of ec was sp ned details business Bowater outli she spoke to n he w event. Alexis me co er ent ov em to rs d do ha e En er challenges sh outh’s Employ d in the College Plym ste ity ho C t, at en fs ev ie ch . The ge’s ess Breakfast s of the colle Scheme’s Busin urant, welcomed member partner s se sta es re sin 1 bu PL college’s me, in which rsement Sche Employer Endo benefit. al tu mu r fo ge with the colle

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9/24/2014 6:06:04 PM

Countryside

Awards

Dinner suits and glamorous even ing gowns repla mud-splattered ced boots as the So uth West’s rural community came together for the W estern Morning News’ first ever Countryside Aw ards. Conservatio farmers and rural nists, business leaders travelled from across the regio n to St Mellion Int ernational Reso near Saltash, fo rt, r the glittering ce remony. Awards categories were in ten handed out to ind ividuals, busines and volunteers ses who have all ma de a special co to rural life over ntribution the past year.

Get Hired!

to new opportunities flocked JOB SEEKERS looking for nt. eve d Hire Get s ald’ The Guildhall for the Her e on apprenticeships, People looking for guidanc their own businesses ding buil and er changing care advice from some of the and s inar were treated to sem city’s top employers. a vital tool in the jobEmployers said the fair was y. our seeking arm

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TIC KE T

TOP

OUT & ABOUT

EVENTS NOT TO MISS THIS MONTH IN PLYMOUTH

OCTOBER 4

Devonport Guildhall Beer Festival

OCTOBER 4 - 11

OCTOBER 8 -9

Frantic Assembly: Othello

Lee Mack at the Plymouth Pavilions

Devonport Guildhall and Summerskills Brewery have combined forces to host the Devonport Guildhall Beer Festival. You’ll be able to try a range of delicious local beers and ciders, while listening to the sounds of Vince Lee and Russell Sinclair and the Smokin’ Locos, who are headlining the festival in the evening.

Frantic Assembly’s Shakespeare pulls no punches. Their electrifying take on Othello, a thriller/ tragedy of paranoia, jealousy, sex and murder, fuses a classic text with high impact choreography. This unforgettable coproduction breathes new life into a play still loved worldwide more than 400 years after it was first performed.

OCTOBER 15 - 25

OCTOBER 31

Two Moors Festival

Halloween Stories at Saltram

Attack of the Killer Pumpkin

A celebrated festival which pays homage to classical music and the beautiful countryside of the South West. After 13 years the festival has blossomed to an international level and people from all over the world converge to listen to recitals performed in churches across Devon and Somerset. Whether you want Mozart’s Sonatas or The Carducci Quartet, Two Moors offers everything for the classical music aficionado.

Prepare for Halloween by getting spooked at Saltram. From 11am until 3pm there will be scary stories and ghostly tales galore. Kids are encouraged to don their best Halloween costume - even the grown-ups can get in on the fun. The grounds will also feature Halloween trails and crafts for the whole family to get involved in.

This gloriously named shadow puppet show tells the story of a greedy soup maker and a killer pumpkin. Hosted by singer, songwriter and poetess Mama Tokus the show looks set to be a magical way to start your night of Halloween fun. The performance begins at 2pm. Tickets are available via the Barbican Theatre website or by calling the Barbican Theatre.

Comedian Lee Mack returns to touring after four years away from live performing. The Hit the Road Mack tour is sure to bring Mack’s trademark energetic delivery and witty one-liners thick and fast. Not to be missed this is one of the most hotly anticipated comedy shows of the year.

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PL mags top

James Foulkes