West Magazine, April 16 2016

16.04.16

A day at the races Frocks, finery and a bit of a flutter

10

feel-good life fixes

INSIDE: + LIFE AFTER DOWNTON + BALLET FITNESS

PLUS: + HOW I MADE THE

PERFECT MACARON

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‘I would love to make a Downton movie - you get to hang out with Hugh Bonneville and the rest of them’’

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INTERIOR INSPIRATION Adorable decor in south Cornwall

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MOVE OVER, ANGELINA! Hot news on Daisy Ridley’s latest role

Exeter’s Matthew Goode on life after courting Lady Mary, p16

[contents[ Inside this week...

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LADIES NIGHT Win tickets to the Exeter races

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JUST BETWEEN US...

Sh! We have the latest gossip!

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SWEET TREATS Marvellous macaroons made in Honiton

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AFTER DOWNTON ABBEY

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AFTER DOWNTON ABBEY What Exeter’s Matthew Goode did next

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WHAT TO DO, WHERE TO GO The Westcountry’s finest days out

Devon actor Matthew Goode’s new venture

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CORNISH AND COOL Gorgeous home decor by the water

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ANNE SWITHINBANK Our garden guru tackles weeds

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FLAWLESS FINISH Abbie Bray on make-up primers

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LADIES DAY FASHION What to wear for a day at the races

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CULTURE VULTURE What’s on and where to go

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BOOST YOUR WELLBEING Smart ways to feel your best this week

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A WEEKEND IN PADSTOW Have a great getaway in north Cornwall

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SHOWING OFF Phil Goodwin’s son puts on a performance

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I SHOULD COCO Is coconut all it’s cracked up to be?

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EARN YOUR STRIPES

Ellie Jones picks the cutest looks 3

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SWEET DREAMS

Making macarons in Devon

[ welcome [ There is a lot of fun to be had here right now... t’s all happening in the Westcountry these days. For a start, we here at the West team are off to Ladies’ Night at Exeter Racecourse this Thursday (April 21) and would love to see you there. It looks set to be a great evening out and, even better, West readers can win £60 of tickets, see opposite for details. At the Ladies’ Night, West magazine’s resident style guru Kathryn Clarke-Mcleod will be judging the Best Dressed competition. Check out her column on page 32 today for tips on how to dress to impress.

Another fun event on the horizon right now is the

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Tweet

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of the week

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Festival of South West Food and Drink, which takes place in Exeter’s Northernhay Gardens on April 21-23. One exhibitor who will be at the three day foodie extravaganza is Fran Gigg of Honiton, who makes fabulous French-style macarons. Read all about her delicious business on page 12.

Another sweet treat for you today is our interview with the dapper Downton Abbey star Matthew Goode, who grew up in the tiny Westcountry village of Clyst St Mary. Matthew’s now hosting ITV’s The Wine Show and he tells us all about his glittering career, plus acting with Brad Pitt, on page 16 today. Cheers!

[

Check out her column for tips on how to dress to impress

@ExeterRaces

We are delighted that @KathrynCMcleod @WMNWest is ambassador and judge on Ladies’ Night April 21 TO ADVERTISE: Contact Lynne Potter: 01752 293027 or 07834 568283, lynne.potter@dc-media.co.uk

Becky Sheaves, Editor

COVER IMAGE: Steve Haywood

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

MEET THE TEAM Becky Sheaves, Editor

Sarah Pitt

Kathryn Clarke-McLeod

Catherine Barnes

Lynne Potter

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If you do one thing this week...

Put on your best frock and head off to Exeter Racecourse for Ladies Night, which takes place on Thursday April 21. There’s a free bus from the centre of Exeter, should you wish to enjoy a glass of bubbly, and the first race is at 4.55pm. It’s a really fun evening and a great excuse to dress up and get together with friends. Visit www. exeter.thejockeyclub.co.uk for details and to buy tickets in advance.

Win

We have three £40 pairs of Premier tickets to Exeter Ladies Night to give away (each ticket worth £20). To win, send your name and daytime contact details to Ladies Night competition, westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk by 5pm Monday April 18.

Winners will be notified asap and can collect their tickets at the gate. Normal terms apply, West will not share your details.

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HIGH FLYER Biplane shelf £300 www. whiterabbitengland.com

the

Tick tock Parisian cafe clock £28 Jaz Interiors, Ivybridge www. jazinteriors.co.uk

wishlist West’s top picks for spending your time and money this week

STREET STYLE STAR

TEA TIME Teapot £19.99 www. kitchenways.co.uk

Natasha Madzingira Natasha Madzingira is studying chemistry at Plymouth University. When it comes to fashion flair, she definitely has the formula right and she’s not averse to the occasional experiment either, revealing: “This is only the second day I have ever worn a headscarf! I usually wear black clothes, so colour is good.”

Our verdict? Style’s clearly a natural science for Natasha with first-class honours.

Iron rabbit bookends £38 Jaz Send your stylish snaps of you or a friend looking fab to westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk

Interiors in Ivybridge

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Wishlist

TRUE BLUE Helena chandelier earrings £8 Accessorize

PRETTY Camisole £16 River Island

CUTE Cockatoo £30 House of Fraser

Store we adore...

Orla Kiely watering can £49.95 www.cuckooland.com

STORE WE ADORE:

Dartmoor Country Clothes, Tavistock Look the part for your country stroll with the help of this family-run shop in Tavistock, which stocks Barbour, Dubarry of Ireland, Joules, Hunter, Seasalt and more. They even stock a Barbour jacket for dogs. Also irresistible

are the quirky dog clocks with wagging tails from The Labrador Company.

Dartmoor Country Clothes is at 8 Brook Street, Tavistock. See www. dartmoorcountryclothes.co.uk, 01822 819926

Get away Summer floral luggage label £6 Accessorize

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talking points Gillian Molesworth

Story of my life...

Can you be the hostess with the mostest? can now relax after the great entertaining events of the year: Easter and Sophie’s birthday party.

Phew! I’ve been finding birthday parties harder and harder as the kids grow older. It was straightforward in primary school: you invite everyone, hire the village hall, lay out a buffet, and conduct some games. Then they leave fantastic book called The Birthwith a piece of cake and a bunch day Party. It was written by a of ridiculous plastic stuff includDevon mum who was shocked by ing five poor-quality crayons. We the expense and parental one-upmust have four hundred of those manship of birthday parties she things lying around the house. experienced. She wanted to talk But as they get older they don’t people down to a sensible level. It want to do organised games like had suggestions of food, games, musical chairs and pin the tail on and timings. It was fantastic. the donkey. Or indeed anything What she absolutely nailed that involves a relatively modest was that fun isn’t really about sum of money. They want to what you’ve got around you or go shopping where you are. Fun in Truro, or to is about people invite all their making an effort to friends gobe interesting and The fun part was karting. Three lively, and joining getting ready and hundred pounds in with good heart. later…

I remember this actually getting I see lots of my from awkward parto the party, and ancestors shakties from my own ing their heads teenage years. The otherwise just in disapproval parties themselves horsing around from the fluffy were a dead loss with your friends clouds above. “Ri– people standdiculous, I call it. ing around trying Why, in my day to look cool, or we were lucky if boasting about how we got three cents on a birthday much poor-quality beer they had party. One year my aunt gave me quaffed. The fun part was getting a rusty nail in a box. I was over ready and actually getting to the the moon.” party (or leaving it), and other“Look at all those snacks wise just horsing around with she’s putting out. Absurd! In my your friends. day, we used to put sawdust in a So with this in mind, I revived burlap bag and chew on it. It kept some birthday party basics. I us full until the next meal.” am pretty sure it was a success.

“Have you added up the money Later that day I collapsed into bed she’s spent on those presents? In having satisfied, hopefully, both my day you could buy a horse for some young teens and some anthat.” cestors. And not a plastic crayon About seven years ago, I read a in sight.

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

BRODERIE

anglaise

Known as “the electric violinist”, Linzi Stoppard is the Surrey-born musician/model who is married to the son of Tom and Miriam Stoppard.

She looked relaxed and pretty at the recent Eddie the Eagle film premiere in London in her Azaelea midi dress from Self-Portrait (£240).

The same dress in a different colour is available to hire from Chic By Choice, a really good dress hire company. Perfect for a special occasion.

Self-Portrait dress £50 to hire www.chicby-choice.co.uk

steal her

style

OR MAKE IT YOUR OWN

OPTION B Pretty

Cynthia Rowley dress £60 to hire from www.chic-bychoice.com

OPTION A Perfect Camile lace dress £169 www.phaseeight.co.uk

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09.04.16

Just

‘MY DAD’S

between us

A LEGEND’ Can’t Touch This presenter Zoe Ball has revealed her legendary dad Johnny is writing a new book about maths.

If you’re a child of the 1970s you’ll fondly remember Johnny Ball as the presenter of countless children’s programmes, including Think of a Number, in which he made maths and science topics infectiously fun.

Zoe reveals: “My dad is awesome. He has just come back from a skiing holiday and is writing another book about maths.

He blows me away with his knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for teaching and learning. He is also a brilliant, and daft, granddad.”

Time for him to make a return to our TV screens, say we.

Gossip, news, trend setters and more – you heard all the latest juicy stuff here first!

!

MOVE OVER,

ANGELINA?

HAPPY EVER AFTER? Devon-born rock star Chris Martin has described his relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow as a “very wonderful separation-divorce”, after the pair “consciously uncoupled” last year.

In an interview with a Sunday newspaper, he said: “It’s a divorce, but it’s a weird one.” Since separating from Paltrow, who is the mother of his two children, Apple, 11, and Moses, nine, Coldplay frontman Chris said that, far from being at acrimonious, the two remain close and still spend holidays together with the children.“So I was with them, and it was just lovely,” he added, recalling a recent trip away.

Actress Daisy Ridley has high hopes of following up her Star Wars breakout role with another high-profile part.

The 23-year-old has reportedly signed up to star in the new Tomb Raider film, stepping into Angelina Jolie’s shoes.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Daisy said: “I’m waiting for someone to say, ‘I want you, let’s do it’.”

She’s currently filming the eighth instalment of Star Wars, but has hinted that she’d make sure her diary was open if the iconic role of Lara Croft became available.

She confirmed there had been “conversations” about the role, but added there wasn’t a script in play yet, nor has she been offered the part.

[ [ Could Daisy Ridley be the new Lara Croft?

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VIP: Princess Anne visited The China Fleet leisure club at Saltash

in pictures Get set: Kelly Davis has been training hard for tomorrow’s Plymouth Half Marathon

Blooming: Tanya Kiferova of Fentongollan Daffodils at the Cornwall Spring Flower Show

Lots of bottle: Victoria Goldie of the Olde House in Chaple Amble, north Cornwall, is feeding pet lambs

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talking points Badge holders

Lost any?

ONE OF US Famous faces with links to the Westcountry

10 kinds of marbles stocked at Bovey Tracey’s House of Marbles:

Celebrities who have a Blue Peter badge

1 Madonna 2 Tony Blair 3 David Beckham (gold) 4 Ewan McGregor 5 Morph 6 JK Rowling (gold) 7 Catherine Tate 8 Uri Geller 9 Pele 10 The Queen (gold)

1 Serpent 2 Tiger’s eye 3 Odin 4 Dragonfly 5 Asteroid 6 Barrier reef 7 Glitterbomb 8 Bovey lace 9 Blue flume 10 Poison frog

The happy list

10 things to make you smile this week

1 British large copper 2 Mbashe River buff 3 Florida Zestos skipper 4 Danish Clouded apollo 5 Morant’s blue 6 British large blue 7 Paradise birdwing 8 Scarce large blue 9 Unsilvered fritillary 10 Silver-studded blue

Henry Slade Rugby player Henry Slade, 23, grew up in Plymouth

Star: Rugby player Henry Slade plays for the Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership.

School: Henry attended Plymouth College: “We are absolutely totally thrilled by Henry’s progress,” says the school’s head of rugby Richard Edwards.

Fly no more

10 butterflies that are now, sadly, extinct:

This week:

1 Sunshine more please 2 Paddle and Prosecco Ticket to Ride surf school, Newquay

3 Lambs in the fields 4 Spring flowers in Cornish gardens

5 Ladies’ Night Exeter Racecourse, April 21

6 Hot chocolate before bed 7 Fancy socks go for colour 8 Shell hunting on the

Talent: England Academy coach John Fletcher once said of Henry: “The way he plays reminds me of a young Toby Flood or Rory Clegg.”

played for England in a match against the Barbarians on June 1 2014.

Injury: Henry was tipped to play for England in the recent Six Nations campaign but suffered a broken leg and ankle ligament DID YOU KNOW? damage in a match Henry has against Wasps on December 5 2016. diabetes and

often relies on Jelly Babies to get him through a rugby match

Family: Henry is the eldest of John and Jayne Slade’s three sons. He comes from farming stock on both sides of his family and his father is a chartered surveyor.

Debut: Henry made his Premiership debut for Exeter Chiefs against London Irish in April 2013. He first

Study: Henry attends the University of Exeter, reading for a BSc in Sports & Exercise Science, as well as playing professional rugby.

Exeter: Henry is part of the “golden generation” of homegrown talent at Exeter Chiefs and grew up playing with Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Hero: Henry was inspired by England legend Jonny Wilkinson’s World Cup winning drop kick in 2003, which he witnessed when he was ten years old.

beach

9 Baking scones really easy 10 Queen’s Birthday have a wonderful day, Ma’am

Competition winners: Congratulations to the winners of a set of Sarah & Finn’s relishes: Mrs J Mansell, Woodbury; Rosie Burston, Par.

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[

Fran Gibb

Sweet treats

[

There’s quite an art to baking the perfect macaron, as Fran Gibb found out when she and a friend started a business in Devon, selling the lightas-air French patisserie with gooey fillings. Sarah Pitt takes a bite hen Fran Gibb and her best friend Andie Stanstel started out trying to bake the perfect macaron, there were a lot of what Fran calls ‘macawrongs’ coming out of Fran’s kitchen in Honiton, east Devon.

“It probably took us two or three years to be really happy with our baking,” she says. “Macarons are beautiful to look at but they are renowned for being very difficult to make.”

Fran and Andie have proved equal to the challenge, though, by dint of much practice. Their business is called Frandie Macaron (named after both of them), which they run with Andie’s chef husband Mark. They now turn out hundreds of perfect confections in flavours like strawberries and cream or salted caramel and chocolate ga-

W

nache, every week.

“We used to have a love-hate relationship with macarons but now we just love them,” says Fran, who hopes to secure new fans at the Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink next weekend (Friday-Sunday, April 22-24).

Fran has a soft spot for the festival in the city’s Nor ther nhay Gardens, where she started out tempting customers in the early days of the business.

“When we first started doing the festival, we’d take along ‘maca-wrongs’ too, which we’d

[

sell really cheaply,” she says. “They were funny shapes or a bit cracked, but they still tasted really delicious. And they were really popular. We still have customers who come up to us and say ‘have you got any maca-wrongs?’

We have to tell them that we don’t sell wrongs anymore!

Our baking has got too good!”

She and Andie had embarked on their mission to master this challenging French patisserie while both working full time. They originally met when Fran worked for Andie and Mark in their Honiton res-

‘We used to have a love-hate relationship with macarons.

Now we just love them’

[

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People

Fran will be showcasing her wares at the Exeter food festival next week

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Fran’s macarons come in all sorts of flavours and are made in east Devon

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People

taurant, Dominoes.

“We’d get together at weekends and in the evenings in my kitchen,” says Fran. “We were both ready for a new direction in life and Andie had become a bit obsessed with macarons! She could see there was a gap in the market, as no one was selling them down here, so we thought we’d see if we could make them.”

It proved to be quite a mission. “You need plenty of ground almonds, sugar, egg whites and persistence!” says Fran, laughing. Every stage of making the perfect macaron requires skill and timing – whisking the (free range) egg whites to just the right stiffness and piping the mixture, called a macaronage, into perfect rounds.

Then there’s the baking, which has to be at an even temperature to ensure a crisp exterior and chewy interior. Over four years of practice in Fran’s kitchen, they have come up with their perfect temperature, a closely guarded secret.

Now, as they prepare to move to their first dedicated production unit near Broadhembury, a few miles from Honiton, they’ll be working out

[

temperatures and timings anew.

The move to their new premises marks an expansion for the business, which has diversified into a new line of dessert sauces, called Gloop!

“The idea was born from the fillings,” says Fran. “We kept having leftover salted caramel, and it was so delicious that Andie and I would take it home at night. We’d warm it up and eat it on ice cream, or my husband and I would get spoons and just eat it. We decided we just had to jar it up and share it, so Gloop! was born.”

Fran and Andie were delighted when their salted caramel Gloop! won a gold star in the Great Taste Awards from the Guild of Fine Food last year.

“Without doubt the salted caramel is our bestseller,” says Fran. “We can never make enough of it.”

She is busy preparing new flavours for people to try at their stand at the Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink, next weekend.

They’ve struck lucky at food fairs right from the beginning, when Great British Bake Off judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood made a beeline for their stand at Radio 2’s CarFest South

[

‘Mary Berry came up to our stand, tried out our macarons and said ‘Good for you, girls!’ It was brilliant’

show back in 2012. “They both had one of our macarons and Mary praised us on what we were doing. She said ‘Good for you, girls!’. It was really brilliant.”

Andie will be appearing with another TV baking star, Bake Off’s 2013 competitor Glenn Cosby, on stage at the Exeter festival. “She will be doing a demo with Glenn in the baking tent,” says Fran. “He and Andie did a demo on stage last year and it was really good. They really bounced off each other. I will be manning our stand. I love talking to people, but I wouldn’t want to be on stage. We will have a good range of flavours for people to try.”

Fran was pregnant with her daughter, now two, when she and Andie started out, so setting up this business has been a juggling act in many ways, but it has worked well for her. “People say don’t go into business with your best friends, but in fact it has made it easier,” she says. “I definitely knew I was making the right decision. I was a visual merchandiser for H&M before and I really enjoyed that job, but it was very corporate.

Making macarons is really creative.”

Her favourite part, she says, comes after the baking, which they do every Monday morning.

“Once they come out of the oven you need to let them cool. My favourite part is putting them all together and, sometimes, decorating the shells, that is always really good fun. We are coming up with new flavours all the time.”

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Having starred in Downton, Matthew is hosting The Wine Show

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Interview

A very goode vintage The Imitation Game and Downton actor Matthew Goode, who comes from Exeter, is now hosting TV’s The Wine Show. Ella Walker finds out more

atthew Goode is as well spoken and earnest as his Downton Abbey character - Henry Talbot - but far scattier, leaping from chair to chair, hands gesticulating animatedly, a woollen hat firmly crammed over his dark brown locks.

It turns out that the 38-year-old actor is actually rather goofy, not that his roles have revealed that so far...

Born in Exeter, the youngest in a family of five children, Matthew is best known for his grownup, serious roles in the likes of Cemetery Junction alongside Ralph Fiennes, A Single Man opposite the Oscar-winning Colin Firth, and acclaimed drama The Imitation Game, where he got to shout at Benedict Cumberbatch’s frustrating genius, Alan Turing.

Now, however, he’s about to let his inner goofball shine, alongside Welsh actor Matthew Rhys (“He’s a really witty animal”), as the pair take up residence at an Italian villa and try their hand at presenting on new ITV series, The Wine Show.

“We’re a couple of idiots effectively, on a jaunt, who hold their hands up and say, ‘We love wine, we’d love to know a little bit more, but allow us to get rid of your fears of this world and let us be a conduit into it for you’, and I think that’s why it works,” the father-of-three explains, “because people can see us raise those questions they didn’t want to ask themselves.”

M

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Interview

With Matthew Rhys in their new venture, The Wine Show

With Scarlett Johansson in the film Match Point

The two Matthews, Rhys and Goode, became friends on the set of the BBC adaptation of Death Comes To Pemberley in 2013, so when Matthew Goode’s brother-in-law, producer Russ Lindsay, proposed the idea of The Wine Show, his thoughts naturally drifted to his friend.

“We were organising my wedding in Russ’ back garden and we were picking the wines we thought people might like, and he seemed to think I had some knowledge about it,” Goode recalls. “I’m not a TV presenter so I said, ‘Ah, that’s quite a scary prospect’, and he said, ‘Well, is there someone you could do it with?’” Matthew Rhys was the obvious choice.

“He’s a super-talented actor, incredibly funny

As Larry in the 2005 version of My Family and Other Animals

‘I would love to make a Downton movie you get to hang out with Hugh Bonneville and the rest of them’

Playing Mr Wickham in Death Comes to Pemberley

and I could listen to him doing impressions of Richard Burton [forever]. He’s just very, very lovely, so it was perfect. We didn’t know it was going to work, necessarily, but I thought my best shot would be with someone like that, because we’re like a married couple, in the sense that we finish each other’s sentences,” buzzes Matthew.

“I love him! He’s also a very smart man and he’s in the same position, being a lens monkey but not a presenter,” he adds. “We’re taught to ignore the camera, so when you’re looking right down the pipe, it’s terrifying.”

Being wine drinkers, but not wine experts, the duo are joined by bona fide experts Amelia Singer and Joe Fattorini, the latter of which Matthew affectionately calls “Obi Wine Kenobi”,

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Interview

In The Imitation Game with Keira Knightley and Benedict Cumberbatch

but allegedly everyone was very responsible throughout filming...

“We didn’t have time to get too squiffy!” cries Matthew, promising their packed schedule made it impossible. “It was good old-fashioned elbow grease!”

Until recently, Matthew was a regular on hit US show The Good Wife and, of course, married Lady Mary Crawley (played

by Michelle Dockery) in the Downton Abbey series finale.

Considering the constant rumours that the hit period drama is headed for the big screen, would he sign up to appear in ‘Downton the movie’?

“Yeah! I would, because I have children and I don’t want to be in far-flung corners of the world. And also, you get to hang out with Hugh Bonneville and the rest of them,” he says. “It’s a great bunch of people, but I suspect they’ll have to do it quickish, otherwise they’ll lose people. Julian [Fellowes] has to write a script, obviously, and he’s quite a busy man.”

In May, Matthew will be in TV mini-series Roots, a remake of the 1977 series set in the slave states of America during the 1700s, based on Alex Haley’s book of the same name.

“I got a phone call saying do you want to be involved, and I was like, ‘Err, I don’t know’,” the

‘We’re a couple of idiots, effectively, who hold their hands up and say: we love wine, we’d love to know a little bit more’

actor confesses. “I didn’t know! I seem to be the only person who didn’t know the previous Roots.”

After reading up though: “I thought, ‘This is really interesting’, and went and did it,” Matthew recalls. “And James Purefoy was already doing it - I phoned James and was like, ‘Is it going to be good?’, and he said, ‘Of course - it’s got me in it!”

While there was great camaraderie on set Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Forest Whitaker and Laurence Fishburne also star - the subject matter was challenging, says Matthew.

“It was quite harrowing at times, because we were filming on plantations that were real, so any

time you see a big oak tree with Spanish moss on it [which many black people were hanged from], it’s an uncomfortable feeling.”

Next up, he will be playing opposite Brad Pitt.

“I know!” he quips excitedly. “In a new film that Robert Zemeckis is doing - with Marion Cotillard as well. I have literally one scene, but it’s a fivepage scene, which is very interesting, it should be thrilling. I look forward to meeting him.”

It’s all a long way from the village of Clyst St Mary, where Matthew grew up on the outskirts of Exeter. He certainly is a star of whom the Westcountry can be very proud - so let’s raise a glass to his latest success.

Matthew Goode appears in The Wine Show on ITV on Saturdays at 4.55pm

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The Art of Living

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11/04/2016 15:44:58

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Interiors

River haven Sarah Pitt discovers a renovated 1920s bungalow beside an idyllic Cornish creek with a unique sense of comfort and style

1920s bungalow tucked down beside a Cornish creek is not the most obvious dead-ringer for an Alpine chalet. But when it came to bringing some extra comfort to the interior, new owner Martha Burnyeat knew just where to look.

“My father had just sold a chalet in France, near Chamonix in the French Alps, so we had quite a stock of family furniture,” she says. “I used a real mixture of bits and pieces, as I was determined not to buy anything new.”

The hoard from the chalet provided the wellworn brown leather Chesterfield sofas which now grace the living room beside the wood-burning stove. There’s a colourful Aztec patterned rug on the floor and a painting of mountains on the wall.

In one of the bedrooms, meanwhile, there are two cabin beds complete with ingenious underbed storage, which complement the cheery red and green check curtains. And in the kitchen, a solid wood table is accessorized by stylish benches, made by a French boat-builder.

Martha lives just a few doors down from the property, with her husband Jake and their threeyear-old daughter, at Roundwood Quay, where copper and tin ore from nearby mines was once loaded on to ships.

The couple happened upon this idyllic spot, close to the National Trust gardens at Trelissick, ten years ago, while searching for a building plot.

At the time Martha was thinking of leaving her job as a commercial surveyor in London and

A

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Interiors Ruan Dinas is tucked away in an idyllic spot by a Cornish creek

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heading off to live the good life many of whose design flourin Cornwall. ishes Martha has kept. These ‘They opened out “My husband and I were lookinclude the burgundy and white ing in the local West Briton checked floor in the kitchen, the house so you newspaper and saw a shed for matched by dark red metro tiles. can see the river sale down by the creek. We went The range cooker is from Heritto see it on a Monday evening in age of Liskeard, which Martha on both sides – it September at high tide, and it describes as “a Cornish take on works well as a was just so beautiful that we fell the Aga”. The deep shade works family space’ in love. At the auction, my hand well with the warm wood tones just popped up and I bought it!” of the table and benches from They have since knocked the Alpine chalet. down the shed and built their The curtain fabrics, meanhome in its place. And when this while, were inspired by the colbungalow, called Ruan Dinas, ours of the creek. “When we came up for sale two doors down, they decided to first moved here, I thought the colours of the buy that too. Martha’s parents would now have curtains were a bit dour,” says Martha. “Then somewhere to stay when they were visiting from I spoke to the previous owner, who we are also their home in Hertfordshire.

“From the outside it looks like a mundane Cornish bungalow but it is light and airy inside,” says Martha. “The family we bought it from did quite a lot of work to it. They opened out the house, so that when you are in the kitchen you can see through to the dining room and lounge, and you can see the river on each side. It works well as a family space.”

And Martha had a head-start on the décor, as the previous owner was an interior designer,

friends with, and she said that when she was looking for colours for the soft furnishings, she had to bring in the colours from outside. Nothing else worked. So we’ve continued with them.”

She has, though added slashes of colour, including a striking bright yellow pendant lamp above the kitchen table, inspired by the gorse growing outside. “It is amazing what a difference that one light fitting makes,” she says. “It really goes with all the greens.”

Overall, Martha is pleased with the look she has created. “I was worried it would look like a ski chalet but it doesn’t. It looks nice and cosy but also plain and unfussy enough for a holiday let.

And it is a lovely place to come in the winter as well as the summer.”

Ruan Dinas is available to rent, see www.millyandmartha.com/ruandinas

MARTHA’S TOP TIPS: There’s no need to buy everything new. Look afresh at inherited pieces and add elements to make them work in their new surroundings

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GET THE

LOOK

Pair warm wood with splashes of colour for country chic

Missoni Home Sumitri throw £226 www.amara.com

fave!

Jester chequered cabinet £429 www.aroundthehousefurniture.co.uk

Glossy yellow pendant light £135 www.rume.co.uk

Mandala cross bench £355 www.puji.com Hydrangea cushion £49 www.in-spaces. com 25

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12/04/2016 12:53:23

Gardens

ANNE SWITHINBANK

Unwanted guests Devon’s Anne Swithinbank, panellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, says now is the time to launch your war on weeds espect to the weeds. They creep into our gardens unbidden and are often so much more vital and durable than cultivated plants. Accidentally rip a penstemon from the soil, or tread on a toad lily and it might disappear for good but weeds just keep coming. Their ancestors took root where they found optimum soils and climates long ago, established their strongholds and never looked back. Pull one up and there are plenty more waiting to drift or probe their way back in.

In our large rural garden in east Devon, surrounded by wild hedges, we have our fair share of weeds which I sort into four categories. First up are the thugs, consisting of brambles, nettles and ivy. Brambles (Rubus fruticosus) arch their questing stems into gardens, root where they hit the ground and literally cartwheel their way in. Give them an open A mere snippet space and fertile ground (as in the Lost Gardens of Heligan) is sufficient and they’ll literally submerge to start an a plot. Back in the day, most infestation and of Britain was covered by wild wood, so bramble growth would none must ever have been controlled by availbe put near a able light levels. In the clearchemicals. We recently fought compost heap ing caused by a felled tree, they so bitterly over one patch of inmight grow more strongly but fested ground that to save our their spiny stems would then marriage, we decided to split it come in useful to protect dein half. I’m cutting, smothering veloping trees and new coppice and grubbing out on my half, shoots from deer. while he will cut and then spray In the garden, their top growth is easier to the regrowth on his. The best tool I’ve found for clear than roots but you need a stout pair of winkling brambles from tight spaces is the rather gloves (I swear by Briers B0212 Gauntlet Pro- costly but effective Sneeboer pointed spade. Forktective Gardening Gloves). My husband likes to ing out and drawing the horizontal rhizomes of use glyphosate-based weedkiller on brambles, nettles through soil in spring is rather satisfying. nettles and docks but I prefer to garden without Next, we have persisters. This group consists

R

[[

of bindweed, ground elder, couch grass and others whose top growth dies back for winter leaving perennial, pernicious roots (or more strictly, rhizomes) below ground. A mere snippet is sufficient to start an infestation and none must ever be put near a compost heap (municipal heaps reach temperatures sufficient to kill them).

Now is a good time to return to patches of ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria) to dig them out before new growth starts in earnest. Allegedly introduced by the Romans, this weed has some revealing common names. ‘Housemaid’s knee’ and ‘Devil’s Guts’ are my favourites. Covering or even

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mulching has the effect of bringing roots to the surface, making them easier to take out. Success depends on how often you return to remove the pieces left behind.

Empty patches of soil are open house to annual weeds we’ll call the ‘opportunists’. The likes of speedwell, chickweed and hairy bitter cress are adept at setting seeds while still tiny. Remember: ‘one year’s seed is seven years’ weed’.

Finally, there’s a group I call the prima donnas; odd weeds like pernicious enchanters nightshade with tiny white flowers (Circaea lutetiana) from the willowherb tribe, tall, soft-leaved, purple-flowered hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) and worst of all in my garden, creeping cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans). The latter arrived wrapped about the bare roots of new gooseberry bushes and never looked back. Wiry roots anchor deeply into soil and long runners speed across pathways to colonise fresh areas.

The rightful definition of a weed is a plant growing in what, for the gardener, is the wrong place. They are unwanted, rampant plants. We can have some revenge by eating them (avoiding those that have been sprayed, or at dog level).

Dandelions, wild garlic, ground elder, hairy bitter cress and nettles are well known foraging treats. My personal favourite is chickweed, growing in pots under glass. Their tender, forced spring shoots are tasty in salads. And they certainly make good talking points.

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

• Plant summer flowering bulbs.

There’s still time to plant Crinum x powellii at the foot of a sunny wall, gladiolus corms and dahlia tubers into the ground.

Set Tigridia and Eucomis (pineapple bulbs) in pots, or borders of well-drained soil.

Question time with Anne West reader queries answered by Anne Swithinbank

Q

I have cut my hydrangeas right to the ground and been told this was wrong. Have I killed them?

You certainly won’t have killed them but you might have prevented them from flowering this year. Hydrangea paniculata, whose long panicles of flowers appear during late summer and autumn, is sometimes cut right down and will flower on the new stems produced during one growing season. Ordinary Hydrangea macrophylla (mop headed and lacecap hydrangeas) bloom on stems that grew the previous year – in other words, their flower buds were on the stems you have just cut off. By all means thin out up to one third of the stems on an ungainly plant (to improve shape and encourage new growth) but on the remaining stems, do no more than nip off the old flower heads back to the topmost pair of fat buds in spring just before new growth bursts.

By the time you read this, your plant will have produced new shoots from the base. Mulch over roots with well rotted compost and these will bloom next year.

I have a small basement flat we use mainly at weekends. I’d like to put troughs on the window ledges but plants will have to cope with intermittent watering and I’d rather not buy plastic ones.

Q

This is tricky because the answer would be succulent plants such as sempervivums (house leeks) but the basement might be too gloomy.

Try them anyway. I have various mossy saxifrages growing in a lump of porous tufa rock in a north facing position and they happily go a week or more without water in summer. Tufa is a natural porous limestone rock you can sometimes buy second hand, or you can make hypertufa. One part coarse sand, one cement and two peat or composted bark are mixed with a little water (using protective gloves) and set in a poly bag. You can find how on the alpine garden society website (www.alpinegardensociety.net). A trough of well-draining soil with the absorbent rock set in it and colonised by shade tolerant alpines could work.

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

• Plant new clematis, being sure to choose good soil and set the plant a good 5cm/2in deeper than it was in the pot. Then, if stems are damaged, new ones will grow back from below. Prune the top back even if it means removing

flowers. You’ll end up with a much better, branching structure.

• Plant evergreen hedging plants now winter winds are hopefully over. Holly, laurel, thuya and yew make good solid hedges. Plant in well-conditioned soil, in a double, staggered row and keep moist.

• As soon as weed seeds have appeared, the soil is warm enough to sow carrots and parsnip (use fresh seed) and beetroot (remember the ‘seeds’ are clusters of two to three seeds).

Make a sowing of peas direct to the soil. I take out two wide, parallel drills and sow seeds 5cm/2in apart into these. Guard against mice, rolling cats and slugs.

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Beauty Rescue Benefit Porefessional Matte Rescue (Boots, £21.50) I love this light-weight gel, it absorbs excess oil and minimises the look of pores too.

[[ ‘Primers make skin look smoother and silkier, pores smaller and lines and wrinkles softer. Truly.’

Balm Clarins Beauty Flash Balm (House of Fraser £30) This classic product is great for tired skin and it brightens and tightens the contours of the face.

Sensitive Mary Kay Foundation Primer (£14) This primer is oil free and is great for sensitive skin, plus it has an SPF 15.

Abbie’s

Beauty box Expert advice from beauty guru Abbie Bray of Newton Abbot

Flawless The Body Shop All-InOne Instablur primer £14 This primer is great for hiding blemishes, giving a flawless finish.

A quick survey of my friends tells me you’re likely to be one of two types of people: either you rely on a layer of primer under your foundation or you’ve never tried one.

Personally, I’m a believer. If you have oily skin, a make-up primer containing fine silky powders will help to mattify your complexion. If you have combination or dry skin the correctlymatched primer can really help, too.

Primers aren’t used much on the catwalk or on shoots, because the foundation doesn’t stay on the skin for too long. But red carpet celebrities rely on them. Blurring primers make skin look smoother and silkier, pores smaller and lines and wrinkles softer - all things the cameras love.

In real life, a light layer of primer under your foundation will help it stay put all day. Truly.

fave!

Glow Lancome La Base Pro Hydra Glow Illuminating Primer (Debenhams, £28.50) If you want radiant and glowing skin, then this primer could be perfect for you.

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G A LLE RY

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EXHIBITION

A major exhibition featuring artists living and working here in Devon.

Monday 4th - Saturday 23rd April Call us on 01548 853 848 or email info@maynegallery.co.uk if you would like more information about any of the artists featured and other forthcoming events we have planned.

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11/04/2016 15:46:20

V by Very dress £55 www.very.co.uk

Shopper £17.99 www.deichmann.com

Ada jacket £120 www.peopletree.co.uk

Earn your stripes

Ghillie lace-up ballerinas £17.99 www.deichmann. com

by: ellie jones

his spring the catwalks are bursting at the seams with one key trend: stripes. Vertical, horizontal, big, bold and subtle – they are everywhere. Want to dive into the trend headfirst? Go for a vertically striped jumpsuit, or a wide-leg trouser which promises to suit and flatter any shape or size. Prefer to just dip your toe in to the stripe trend? We suggest you ease yourself in with a shopping tote or the fail-safe classic: the horizontally-striped tee.

Our mantra when wearing stripes is moderation – never mix this trend. Vertical stripes are great for lengthening petite legs and horzontal stripes work best worn on top. Check out our pick of the best on the high street

T

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Fashion

Toucan Stripe tee £30 www.peopletree.co.uk

Balloon midi skirt £24.99 New Look

Louche luxe Kienna skirt £65 www.joythestore.com

Stripe Ribbons £4 each www.tch.net

Drawna Rocks dress £59.95 www.seasaltcornwall.co.uk

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Trend Have you got a fashion question or a trend you’d like to see tackled? @KathrynCMcleod

HOW TO WEAR IT:

Off to the races MAIN PHOTO HAIR: ADAM AT SAKS, EXETER MAKE-UP: CLARINS, DEBENHAMS (BOTH PRINCESSHAY) PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVE HAYWOOD

It’s almost time for Ladies Night at Exeter Racecourse, but what to wear?

‘

love the races, but I don’t have anything to weeeaaarr’ is the wail that greets me every time I tell someone that it is almost time for Exeter Racecourse’s Ladies Night event.

Don’t panic. Yes, it is a socially significant event that carries serious fashion wallop but this is no reason to lose your nut and kick the contents of your wardrobe about the room.

Just like the event itself, if you follow a few simple rules you are guaranteed a good time. Here are my top tips for winning form.

Stay in your comfort zone. If you are feeling any sort of anxiety around the pressure of dressing to impress I recommend sticking with what you know. For a lot of us this means the classic LBD. We all have one in our closet that has served us well time and again and this outing needn’t prove an exception.

Black is perennially popular I hit the jackpot for a reason, two actually. It is slimming and dirt-proof. As in Karen Millen. much as I love a diaphanous This sunset white frock a la Daisy Ridley, orange suede a night on the grassy sidelines might render the hemline a jacket drew me Jackson Pollockesque splatter in like it had a fest when your favourite thunders past. Not a good look. gravity field of If your current black number its own is looking more charcoal than ink these days, then this is a good not enough to keep me warm. I am excuse to reinvest in a newer a wimp, and sleeves are essential model. When you do so, do it without a smidge of (although I never say no to a glass of the good guilt. Black dresses are a sure thing. stuff as a proverbial scarf.)

So, that’s your base layer sorted. Now to get Don’t stop at the coat. This is a real opportunity it racecourse-ready. This is where you can get to have fun with your bag and shoe combo. adventurous. I hit the jackpot in Karen Millen.

Frontrunners for me include metallics (rose gold This orange suede jacket drew me in like it had and copper have real wow factor) and another prea gravity field of its own. Sunset tones are big event favourite is colour blocking. These playful news for SS16 and this beauty will look just as heels and matching clutch from Karen Millen are home with jeans and a cream cami as it does over thoroughbreds - hard-working, majestic and sure my black frock. Another bonus is that it keeps to garner plenty of admiring glances. me toasty warm. I’m not blessed with the Grand A lot of people get caught up in the idea of a hat.

National mentality, ie a bottle of Prosecco is Fret not. Hats aren’t essential to evening events,

I

Dress, Karen Millen, Princesshay, £199 Suede jacket, Karen Millen, Princesshay, £499 Shoes, Karen Millen, Princesshay, £150 Clutch bag, Karen Millen, Princesshay, £110

although they are still seriously fun to wear. There are other ways to make a statement. I am a big fan of braiding. Pop over to your salon and ask your stylist to plait your hair into a style fit for a Game of Thrones’ Khaleesi. Dramatic eyeshadow is another winner, the brighter the better.

I have one last rule that is designed to make the process even more fun. If you manage to get any part of your outfit on sale, you can bet the difference. How’s that for a carrot?

I will be judging Best Dressed at Exeter Racecourse Ladies Night on April 21, see you there! All fashion in these pictures is from Princesshay Shopping Centre, Exeter, www.princesshay.co.uk

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Strappy heels £65 TOPSHOP

Principles by BDL black pattern jacket £55 DEBENHAMS

GET THE

Salvador coat £229 HOBBS

fave!

look Andara poncho £169 HOBBS Espadrilles £35 DEBENHAMS

Clutch £25 RIVER ISLAND

Ting sandals £149 HOBBS

Mono box clutch £24 NEXT

Jacket £45 RIVER ISLAND 33

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MAIN PICTURE: KATHRYN CLARKE-MCLEOD

culture vulture Our guide to what’s on in the South West by woman-in-theknow Sarah Pitt

Island garden focus Visitors to the beautiful seaside garden which clings to the cliff-face at St Michael’s Mount are invited to enter a photographic competition. Post your pictures on social media with the hashtag #seagarden for a chance to see your photograph exhibited in the Mount’s inaugural Summer House Exhibition during July and August. The competition, now open, runs until July 1. There’s also a St Michael’s Mount plant hamper to win worth £50. See www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk for details and garden opening times.

Sounds of Shakespeare Evocative madrigals from Shakespeare’s time will be sung by the East Cornwall Bach Choir in Liskeard on April 23, marking the date the playwright died exactly 400 years ago (also his birthday).

The programme, conducted by Chris Howarth, includes 20th century composer Vaughan Williams’ enchanting Serenade to Music, from the Merchant of Venice, with violin and piano accompaniment from Petra Stephenson and Jonathan Delbridge. There will be words, too, with extracts from the bard’s

Classical

plays acted by students from Looe Community Academy.

Celebrating Shakespeare 400 is at the Public Hall, Liskeard on Saturday, April 23 at 7.30pm. Tickets £12 (£5 students, 12 and under free) from www.ecbc.co.uk

John Pollex decorates his ceramics with colourful brushstrokes in his studio on Plymouth’s Barbican, where he has worked since the 1970s. Lecturing and travelling the world some years back, he discovered the vibrant work of US ceramicists which has influenced his work ever since. He’s also inspired by painters such as Sir Howard Hodgkin and Patrick Heron. Using brushes, sponges and spatulas to apply paint, John often adds in the brush strokes of Zen Buddhist calligraphy. You can now see his work in a rare solo exhibition in Plymouth.

John Pollex’s solo exhibition is at 45 Southside Gallery, Plymouth from April 23-May 31 (www.45southside.co.uk). Admission is free.

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Enjoy

Your stars

by Cassandra Nye This week’s sign:

Happy birthday to...

Those born under the sign of Aries are independent spirits and born leaders. They love to follow a dream and have the charisma to inspire others and sweep them along with them. They are more than happy to take a gamble on a wild idea which captures their imagination, although if a scheme does not pay off quickly they are likely to get bored and move on. As friends, they are generous and caring but they do expect to get their own way most of the time.

Victoria Beckham Born April 17 1974 Posh Spice turns 42 tomorrow – and hasn’t she done well? Not only did she achieve global stardom (and a multi-million pound fortune) as one-fifth of the Spice Girls back in her 20s, she then went on to become a genuinely respected fashion designer. Add in an enduring marriage to the gorgeous Mr B, four seemingly angelic children and, all in all, we can’t help but admire Victoria. Being born under the first sign of the Zodiac means Victoria is restless and never likes to stand still for too long. We wonder what she’ll get up to next?

ARIES (March 21 - April 20) Long-term plans are going apace and even finances are looking up. Do you remember that long, heated look across the room last week? Well, one of you may decide to make a move this week. Avoid giving in to something at work just because you are feeling tired or unsure. Delay. Whatever you want is not as far away as you think.

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) It is a highly creative week for you. The trick is to combine business moves at the right time financially. Romance is all around you, but are you ready? It is sometimes a good idea to be ‘busy’ and play for time if you are not sure. Don’t think that all decisions (especially personal ones) need to be made alone.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Spontaneous romantic feelings could see you express more than you intended this week. Do you really want a current romance to become more serious? At times it feels as though you are being backed into a corner. Be busy. Make plans to travel to avoid premature leaps in the dark.

CANCER (June 22 - July 22) Lighter moments see Venus giving everything a sentimental edge. While you love romance, choose your words carefully to avoid misunderstanding. A partner may want to be spontaneous. Fine, but make sure it isn’t with your money!

LEO (July 23 - August 23) Venus, bringer of peace, wants you to tie up loose ends to bring contentment. Some will decide to take a romance to the next level. Cash flow should

give you the chance to move forward on a pet plan. Does your view of the future differ from that of your partner or family, though? Talk your socks off and try to come to some sort of agreement.

VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) Someone you were not initially attracted to could take on a rosy new glow in your eyes. Why is this? Could it be that their lack of interest has stirred your curiosity? You feel lucky and are the owner of a sharp mind.

Use it to get the best out of any situation, business or personal.

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) Do you feel you are being given an opportunity, or just being put in a stressful situation? Perhaps a little of both? Don’t kid yourself. Push and make that extra effort now to see your dreams come true.

SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) A long conversation at the weekend inspires you to make changes. This could be to your appearance or your attitude towards an old flame. Sentiment certainly comes into it. You may be thinking, ‘What if...?’

Spontaneous spending should be avoided this week as you may regret it later.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) Surprises and spontaneous fun are yours this week. Even so, it sometimes seems like one step forward, one step back. This is not the time for taking leaps in the dark, especially if they are financial.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) Venus, giver of peace and romance, is certainly on your tail this week. Accept invitations and enjoy being the centre of attention. Things may have been a bit quiet recently and you could do with a bit of spontaneity. Who did you dream about last night?

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19) Family and friends keep you moving along happily, even if energy is low.

Talking takes little of this and there is plenty of talking to be done. Chances to discuss things that have been pushed under the carpet arise. Be adult and mature and see that things are not as worrying as they at first appear.

PISCES (February 20 - March 20) Sentimental thoughts of the past come flooding back when an email or call comes out of the blue. It is lovely to remember good times and what it was like to be together. However, take into account why you parted. Closer to home there are things that need to be aired.

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11/04/2016 16:28:27

Wellbeing

the boost

Life just got better. We’ve handpicked the latest wellness trends, best-body secrets and expert advice to help you be your best self, everyday

WALK THE TALK If you love brisk walking and a bit of socialising, then do check out the Ramblers Association. Aged in your 20s-30s? Then Devon Bootlegs, based in Exeter, could be for you. Open to new members aged between 20 and ‘early 40s’, it organises weekly walks up to 11 miles long, with scenic jaunts including some weekends away. You’ll need to sign up with the Ramblers’ Association to become a fully-fledged member but can try up to three walks with the group first. www.devonbootlegs.org

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Drink up!

Hungry? In fact you could be dehydrated and confusing the signals, according to Shona Wilkinson, head nutritionist at online health store NutriCentre. She says: “Sometimes we feel like we’re craving something and interpret this as hunger when actually all we need is a glass or two of water.”

We also need plenty of water in order for our body’s cells to make use of the nutrients we eat. “A lack of nutrient availability causes our body to crave more food,” adds Shona. “ This is another reason to make sure you’re drinking water throughout the day and not just when the craving strikes.”

Yummy This fabulous new Lime Blossom & Honey Lip Balm was the runner-up in Bee Good’s Great British Lip Balm Competition 2015. The zesty beeswax-rich lip rescue (£4.75) proved so popular with testers, the Bee Good team decided to launch it in the shops, including Waitrose stores.

Ballet good It looks so graceful but ballet uses muscles that you didn’t even know you had until you try it! Whatever your age or ability, BalletBeFit is a great way to limber up at your own pace, using exercises and warm-ups practised by professionals, even if you’re no Darcey Bussell! Dance teacher Trudi Massey holds weekly classes in Tavistock on Thursday evenings. Find out more at: www.misstrudi.co.uk

A BOX OF

Run vs ride Are you fit enough to Beat The Bike on the 5km running trail at Newnham Park in Plympton? Runners aged 14 and over will set off first next Friday evening (April 22,) then the bike riders will follow the same course later on. Whether you’re aiming to win, or just doing it for fun, you’ll be able to compare your times against the bike riders. The entry fee is £5 on the day. Stay on to watch mountain bikers tackle on the same circuit, with live music, and there’s even the option to camp over. www.fullysussed.co.uk

What’s coming up? Tweet us your wellbeing diary dates

DELIGHTS Keep on track with your fitness goals with a little treat for yourself. Spark & Gusto’s subscription boxes contain 10 surprise goodies to inspire you to keep active. Items include skipping ropes, healthy snacks, magazines and fitnesswear like running socks and hats. You can pay per box or get a discount by signing up for a longer term subscription (from £28 plus p&p), visit www.sparkandgusto.com

@WMNWest or email westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk 37

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Wellbeing

I should coco...

Is the recent health fad for all things coconut all it is cracked up to be? Our expert investigates

than initially thought, particularly the type of saturated fats which are found in coconut oil: lauric acid and myristic acid. Coconut oil also contains some poly- and mono-unsaturated fats which bring additional health benefits. It’s still an energy-dense food, however, so should be used in moderation.

Dietician Sophie Claessens says: Coconut water is now marketed as a highly hyThere has been a lot of hype redrating fluid. It has less sugar than fruit juices cently about and more minerals such as the fact that potassium, sodium, magthe saturated nesium and calcium. These fat found properties are great as a In fact, you can in coconuts post-workout drink if you’ve (called medium-chained trigonly been doing moderate exachieve the lycerides) is healthier, but ercise, but there isn’t enough same nutritional this hasn’t been proven in protein or carbohydrate if results by having humans yet, only animals! you’re undergoing vigorous Coconut oil, popular for exercise of over an hour. In banana and a roasting and baking, has a fact, you can achieve the glass of milk after similar nutritional profile to same nutritional results by a workout, which butter in that it has a high eating a balanced diet and saturated fat content. This is having banana and a glass of also costs far less currently being discovered milk after a workout, which to be less harmful to health also costs far less!

A lot of my friends have really got into using coconut-based products since it was hailed the latest superfood. I tend to think that a little bit of anything you fancy won’t do any harm, but are there really benefits to swapping my regular ingredients for coconut oil and so on? NM, Padstow

Q

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[[

Of the two types of coconut milk widely available, both have a similar calorie content to soya milk (about half that of semi-skimmed milk) but have a much lower protein content. Ensure that if opting for coconut milk you choose one with added calcium and vitamin D, which cannot be naturally found in this product.

Meanwhile, some studies have found coconut oil supplements have encouraged weight loss.

However a tablespoon of coconut oil contains double the calories and saturated fat that you’d find in the same-sized lump of cheese. It is definitely going to increase your calorie intake – so I’d say it’s not worth the risk and it’s more likely to cause weight gain. In short, it’s an unproven fad, as of yet!

As a dietician, I would advise that you stick to a monounsaturated fat, such as rapeseed oil, to cook with. This has a high ‘smoke point’ (and therefore produces fewer harmful free radicals) and monounsaturated fat has genuinely been proven to increase your good cholesterol and reduce your bad cholesterol.

More health & wellbeing tips and articles from Sophie can be found at www.vavistalife.com

11/04/2016 14:09:06

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11/04/2016 29/03/2016 15:46:56 10:44:40

Drink

Darren Norbury

talks beer ’ve done it in pubs and you may well have more bars – as against proper pubs – more have, too. The CAMRA conversavenues selling decent beer, such as hotels and tion. You know, that one where you restaurants, and more bottle shops, as well as survey the myriad British beers export opportunities – British beer is now wellbefore you, on tap and in bottle, the regarded worldwide. different styles, from traditional Interestingly, a lot of young to world brews, and you say to people are now drinking decent your companion: “Well, surely beer, whether it is cask or keg, CAMRA has achieved what it set and this is where CAMRA finds A lot of young out to do? Isn’t it time to pack up itself with a bit of problem. people are now and call it a day?”

These youngsters didn’t need CAMRA (the Campaign for much of a campaign to get them drinking decent Real Ale) with its 177,300 memtrying the good stuff. They’ve beer... and they bers and reputation as the most grown up with the so-called successful UK pressure group craft beer revolution. don’t need much of all time, would beg to differ.

Headlines, though, like the of a campaign to It’s started a year-long consultaDaily Telegraph’s probably persuade them tion into a revitalisation of the aren’t proving helpful: “Thanks campaign. This new project is to the hipsters, has the Cambeing spearheaded by Michael paign for Real Ale pulled its last Hardman MBE, one of the four pint?” Many beer drinkers, even founders of CAMRA back in CAMRA members themselves, 1971, when there was a concern have a love-hate relationship that all cask ale would be lost under a wave of with the organisation, but to throw away all keg Red Barrel and Double Diamond. that campaigning experience is unnecessary. I It is undeniable that, in recent years, the suspect the result will be a focus on pubs while campaign has a new focus. It is fighting to slow making sure legislation doesn’t damage the sucthe closure rates of pubs, currently 27 a week. cess of microbrewers. Watch this space…

But then, why are more brewers starting up if Darren Norbury is editor of beertoday.co.uk there were no outlets for the beers? Because we @beertoday

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Beer of the week Welsh brewery Tiny Rebel took CAMRA’s champion beer of Britain title last year with Cwtch, an American-style amber ale, but I’ve been warming to their Dirty Stop Out (5% ABV) recently. It’s a smoked oat stout, starting with coffee notes before the smoke takes over. And there’s a hint of well-done bacon in there, I swear!

CIDER AND DANCING Pilton Cider, Shepton Mallet, is throwing a party on April 29 to mark its new season, with a chance to try the 2015 harvest cider. Tickets are available (priced £5) at www.piltoncider.com/newseason. There will be music and “dancing is very much encouraged”.

Benevolent Badger

Hall & Woodhouse’s new brewery in Blandford St Mary, Dorset, home of the famous Badger Ales, will be staging its fourth annual charity beer festival on June 18. There will be beers, too, from the likes of Otter, Palmers and Piddle breweries. Last year the event raised more than £7,000. Sounds like fun.

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11/04/2016 14:35:49

Eat

Ingredient of the Week

Asparagus

with Tim Maddams ou may think it is a little early, and vironmental catastrophe, not to mention that in fairness so did I, but I have just it’s woody, bitter and horrible. That, though, all seen a tweet from a fantastic local sounds a little depressing. producer (Bothen Hill Organics) Instead, I’ll tell you all about the right reasons just over the border in Dorset that to eat locally-grown English asparagus. I love they have just cut the first asparagus of the year. eating asparagus in the same way I love wild It’s these stop press moments that garlic, or partridge. It’s one of highlight the way that each year those treats that makes the whole is subtly different seasonally. The seasonal eating thing such a joy. wild garlic has been about for a Asparagus is one of those Raw earlyfew weeks, yet because it’s gone magical ingredients that indiseason spears colder again, I hadn’t seriously cates change is afoot, the season expected the appearance of the is turning and summer really is are hard to beat, tasty spears just yet. Hooray! about to get underway. Its fresh, dipped into There are so many angles I unique flavour and texture is a homemade could take in telling you about unmistakeable. It’s one of those asparagus. Should I tell you that veggies that even the most bloodmayonnaise or a eating this member of the fern thirsty of carnivores will jump boiled egg family makes your wee smelly, at the chance to sink their teeth unless of course you are one of into. It’s indulgent and luxurious the 1 in 50 people who has the – and all this from a plant. ability to break down the chemiIncidentally, all you gentlemen cal contained within this vibrant green stem? out there, I think you will find it’s the act of cookOr should I head down the ethical route and ing for your loved one rather than the asparagus talk about the many and compelling reasons itself that has the aphrodisiac effect. An effect not to eat Peruvian asparagus? Land snatching, easily counteracted if you fail to clear up the decimation of fertile land, slave labour and enkitchen properly afterwards!

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Awesome asparagus There are three great ways to eat asparagus: raw early-season spears are hard to beat, dipped into a homemade mayonnaise or indeed a runny boiled egg. Lightly boiled (in well-salted water) until just tender, the mid-season stems are perfect with a fresh hollandaise. Then towards the end of the season, they are great roasted and dressed with chilli, garlic and olive oil with maybe an anchovy or two and some fresh mozzarella.

Use up the tough stems in soup, to make the most of this abundant seasonal crop while it’s here. It will be 2017 before you get the chance again. @TimGreenSauce

Tim Maddams is a Devon chef and author of Game: River Cottage Handbook no. 15 (Bloomsbury £14.99) 41

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11/04/2016 14:36:39

Enjoy

A WEEKEND IN

Agatha Christie country Dame Agatha Christie was born in Torquay and later lived at Greenway, a beautiful property on the River Dart estuary. Now run by the National Trust and still full of her personal belongings, Greenway itself is well worth a visit. But Agatha Christie’s links with the South West don’t stop there – why not sleuth out a fun weekend tracking down connections to the creator of Poirot and Miss Marple in the Westcountry?

Stay: There

are four holiday properties on the Greenway estate, including an apartment in the main house itself which sleeps eight and costs from £549 for three nights. Get here by river boat, vintage bus or steam train just as Hercule Poirot did in Dead Man’s Folly, the last mystery David Suchet filmed on location in his iconic role as the detective. More details at: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/greenway

House party: In Peril at End House, Hercule Poirot and his friend Captain Hastings take a holiday in Looe. In the TV series starring David Suchet, the drama was filmed in Salcombe, where The Moult doubled as End

House. Perfect for a weekend house party, The Moult sleeps between 12 and 24, with gorgeous gardens and a swimming pool with spectacular sea views. A two-night weekend here in April costs from £4,550, www.bigcottage.com

Murder mystery: Book ahead for the Dartmouth Steam Railway Company’s annual murder mystery train, setting off from Paignton on September 12 and 14. Expect a ghastly murder to occur while you’re enjoying a wonderful dinner.

Unravel clues, grill the suspects and see if you can deduct who committed the dastardly deed.

Tickets and alibis at the ready, please! www.dartmouthrailriver.co.uk Stay: At the Burgh Island Hotel at Bigbury on Sea, south Devon.

The Queen of Crime not only stayed and wrote at this fabulous Art Deco hotel, but

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was inspired by the island setting to set the scene for her murder mysteries Evil Under The Sun and And Then There Were None. Burgh Island also was a setting for the Miss Marple TV drama, starring the wonderful Joan Hickson. Stay a night in its smallest (yet sumptuous) double from £310. Alternatively, don a suit or diamonds and dine as visiting guests at the hotel’s nightly Black Tie Dinner (£75 per person), www.burghisland. com.

Walk: From Churston Station on the Dartmouth Steam Railway line down to Elberry Cove. Both locations feature in The ABC Murders. In the Poirot thriller, Churston was the place where poor Sir Carmichael Clarke met his doom. Or you could stroll the Agatha Christie Mile in Torquay, starting off from the beautiful Grand Hotel or stately Imperial Hotel which featured in The Body in the Li-

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Agatha Christie stayed and wrote at this fabulous hotel, and set her mysteries here

Burgh Island 42

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11/04/2016 14:10:57

Burgh Isla nd

brary and the Miss Marple mystery Sleeping Murder. Look out for seven plaques marking places significant to Agatha Christie’s life and works along the way.

Write stuff: Got a whodunnit in you? Why not visit Totleigh Barton near Okehampton.

Writing retreats are held throughout the year in this beautiful old house, www.arvon.org.

Or put pen to paper at the Moorland Hotel on Haytor where Dame Agatha wrote much of her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

If you’re walking on nearby Dartmoor (setting for The Sittaford Mystery), the Dandelion Café at the hotel is open to non-residents and serves lunch and local beer, www.moorlandshouse.co.uk.

Shop: If you love retro looks, take a shopping trip to Vintage and Retro in Cornwall Street, Plymouth. Look out for period frocks and accessories in a mix which also includes brand new cocktail and swing dresses from retro label Hell Bunny. You might also find original Agatha Christie paperbacks at Black Cat Cooks in St Marychurch, Torquay.

Greenway ferry

Greenway

Agatha Christie at home

Burgh Island Hotel

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11/04/2016 14:11:56

My Secret Westcountry Luke Dillon Luke Dillon, 20, is a professional surfer and is the reigning British Men’s Open Surfing Champion, competing internationally against the best surfers in the world. He loves coming home to Cornwall and his hometown of Newquay.

My Favourite: Walk: At this time of year, walking to Pentire Headland is always on the top of my list. You get a view of Crantock and Fistral beaches on the north coast of Cornwall and it is simply amazing.

Beach: For me, it’s got to be Fistral in Newquay. It is where I first learnt to surf, so it will always be really special to me. Growing up in Newquay it was pretty much on my doorstep and I have probably been there every day I’ve been at home for the past 15 years.

Festival: Boardmasters in Newquay (August 10 -14) is a personal favourite of mine. It combines surfing and music in the sun and on the beach – it’s like the ultimate weekend. This year is particularly exciting as the World Surfing League qualifying series event is back here, which I will be competing in. I’m also really looking forward to seeing the band Chase & Status, I saw them at the Eden Project a few years ago and they were amazing.

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11/04/2016 14:13:57

People

Sennen Cove

Hubbox, St Ives

Fistral beach, Newquay

Activity: An obvious answer, I know, but it would have to be surfing. It has been my passion all my life, and I have been lucky enough to travel the world, compete internationally and work my way up the ranks. I do also love to play golf when I have some spare time. I often go to Trevose Golf Club near Padstow and also Bowood Park Hotel & Golf Course in Lanteglos.

Food: It’s got to be a traditional Cornish pasty.

When I am away surfing, especially for long periods of time, I really miss them. My favourite place to get them is from the Crantock Bakery near Newquay. They simply can’t be beaten.

Tipple: I was a massive fan of St Austell Brewery’s Korev lager before they offered to sponsor me, so in terms of alcohol they are certainly my favourite. I am also a big tea drinker and I really like Tregothnan Tea from Cornwall, where they grow their own tea plants.

Pub: I love the Central Inn in Newquay town. It is my mates’ favourite pub to watch live sport and chill out together with a pint. They also do a great steak on the stone.

Restaurant: It has to be Hubbox in St Ives. They Luke competing

do a mean burger and fries, plus the view is insane out over the harbour.

Way to relax: A great way for me to relax, and especially have a bit of a break from surfing, is to play golf. It’s such a relaxed sport in comparison, so I like to do that when I have some spare time.

Weekend away: The perfect weekend away for me would be to take my van down to Sennen Cove in the far west of Cornwall. The views out over the coast are amazing and I really enjoy cooking some food on a barbecue with the beaches in the background. After an evening watching the sun go down, there’s nothing better than spending a night under the stars in the van.

Shop: I like going to the markets on Lemon Quay in Truro. They have great local produce and food. I also really like Finisterre clothing, it’s a great Cornish brand with stores in St Agnes and Falmouth – and the clothes are very surf-inspired! You can shop online at www. finisterre.com.

Luke Dillon is sponsored by Korev Cornish Lager from St Austell Brewery. He will be surfing this weekend at The Surfaced Pro competition at Watergate Bay. Visit www.lukedillonsurfer.com 45

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12/04/2016 13:06:39

My life

man and boy

The gift of the gab Phil Goodwin’s son James, six, has a go at public speaking

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a documentary about its tiny, often unnoticed, creatures so we focused on that. It ended up as a kind of presentation board, lashed up by yours truly, on which a map along with pictures and factoids about a monitor lizard, a shrew and a dung beetle, of all things, were pasted.

He named it Africa, Beneath Our Feet. I went to the school hall on the day the whole class assembled to show off their work. It was a great effort all round and there were all kinds of things on display – instruments, costumes, books of photos and so on. But only one child was on his feet.

There he was, like an enthusiastic salesman, pitching his guide to Africa’s forgotten wildlife.

The teacher told me he had delivered a super-confident, unscripted show for his classmates and was now happily rattling the thing off as each new parent appeared, including me. “Don’t you get tired of saying the same thing?” I asked him.

“Oh, I change it around a bit so as not to get bored,” he said. Not bad if you can improvise a performance at the age of six.

I don’t know how much credit I/we can take for the lad’s rapid socialisation – it takes a village to raise a child and all that – but it is a delight to see him unafraid to take part in the world.

Of course, he gets a little cocky sometimes in public, and I occasionally have to give him the eyes, have a quiet word, when he gets too full of himself. But the other day he cracked an old joke in the playground, the first time I have heard him tell one in public. He casually asked an older kid at queue for the zip wire: “Knock-knock…Who’s there? Boo…Boo-hoo?…Ah don’t cry!” It’s corny, I know, but his friend laughed, genuinely, and my lad’s face lit up.

We lashed up a presentation board with pictures of a monitor lizard, a shrew and a dung beetle, of all things

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NEXT WEEK: Chris McGuire on starting his new life in the South West

main picture: Steve Haywood

s a student I was once admonished during a protest march for not showing enough desire to grab the megaphone and lead the chant.

The brother-in-arms accused me of being a ‘shrinking violet’, an insult which stung at the time.

Now, I knew early on that I was not destined to rouse the crowds from the podium. But somehow the idea I was afraid of projecting myself publicly made me uncomfortable. The truth hurts, they say, so maybe there was more than a grain in there.

Having since worked as a teacher and a journalist – neither of which are jobs for the lily-livered – I feel like I have overcome any of the shyness I might have had.

Of the million things you worry about with your kids, confidence is right up there. A dose of self-belief and bluster can take you a long way. Just look at some of our politicians. But it seems that my fears are ungrounded. I have seen the lad in action at the stage school he attends on a Saturday morning, most recently belting out When You Wish Upon A Star louder than anyone else at the Christmas production.

He told me later he had picked out a spot on the wall behind the assembled parents and focussed on it through his rendition: a tip from the mother, I later discovered. Now it seems to be paying off at school, too. At the end of last term, Year 1 was asked to create a project about Africa. James and I had been watching

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12/04/2016 11:17:06

Adjusting your heating from your phone sounds great – but what’s it really like?

We asked three Westcountry homeowners about their experiences switching from night storage heaters to ELKAtherm® electric radiators with HeatApp controls.

If you’re struggling with night storage heaters –guessing the temperature and trying to make the heat last all day – simply having instant, reliable warmth,whenever you want, must sound wonderful. So being able to adjust that heating using your tablet or mobile phone might seem like science fiction.

Cornwall-based South West Heatinghas already installed ELKAtherm® electric radiators, with HeatApp controls, in hundreds of Westcountry homes. The benefits are obvious:set the temperature and timing in every room, for a warm, cosy home without running up energy bills while you’re out.

Pre-warm the house before you get home, and turn the heating up or down without even leaving your sofa. All the warmth you want, and save money at the same time.

But does the system deliver? We asked three South West homeowners to share their experiences.

“It’s a pleasure to be here” Jenny Wakelin from St Ives had struggled with night

storage heating for fifteen years before switching to ELKAtherm® heating in 2013. She is impressed by the performance of the new radiators.

“The night storage heaters were incredibly inefficient – the house was cold,” Jenny recalls. “Now we have a very even ambient temperature throughout the house. It’s a pleasure to be here.”

But what about the iPhone controls – are they easy to use?

“When I’m coming back on the train I can turn the heating on and make it any temperature I like, so it’s lovely when I come in. I set the time once on each room and it just works.

It works from my phone and from my iPad; there’s no ugly panels on the walls.It’s perfect.”

“The house is toasty” Zoe Abbotts, fromRedruth, says switching to ELKAtherm®

“It’s a bit of a no-brainer, really. When my son came to visit I could sit at home and switch on the heating in the morning so the house was nice and warm when they got up – result:‘Thanks mum!’

heating has made a real difference – and not just to the

“It’s been a revelation, really. How it’s transformed this house is amazing.”

to constantly think about having wood for the fire, or the

“It just works” InTavistock, Louisa Chanter is similarly impressed.

“I like being able to use it from my phone, because I travel quite a lot,” she explains.

temperature of her home.

She explains: “It’s made my life less stressful. I don’t have storage heaters not working and the house being cold when I come in from work.

“It’s all there on my app – I can turn the heating on an hour before I leave work, and the house is toasty.”

You can hear Jenny, Zoe and Louisa’s stories in full, online: just search YouTube for “South West Heating” If you’d like heating information and advice, call 01209 714600, visit southwestheatingsolutions.co.uk, or write to us at ‘Freepost SOUTH WEST HEATING SOLUTIONS’ ©LW

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11/04/2016 14:19:30