West Magazine, March 5 2016

05.03.16

Power dressing Meet Devon’s hottest new designer

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ways to eat better, today

INSIDE: + DAVINA MCCALL

WIN: + £100 LUXURY

COOKWARE

+ TOBY BUCKLAND

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G R E E N

T R E E

C O U RT

NURSING AND RESIDENTIAL CARE HOME

A

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68 deluxe and superior rooms, 31 of which are dementia friendly and feature superior quality fittings and ensuite bathrooms.

The superb range of in house facilities includes a contemporary café, social activity programme, hairdressers, holistic therapy, physiotherapy suite, treatment rooms, cinema room, library and activity centre and a prayer and quiet room.

We also offer respite care and daycare packages. Please contact us for details.

A warm welcome awaits you at Green Tree Court, 81 Harrington Lane, Exeter, Devon, EX4 8NS. You can contact us by telephoning 01392 240400, emailing us at enquiries@lexiconhealthcare.co.uk or visiting our website www.lexiconhealthcare.co.uk

“We are waiting to help you discover a new quality of life”

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01/03/2016 10:09:36

‘She will always remain, for me, my little girl but she is also an accomplished woman and mother who makes her own decisions’

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SHADES OF GREY The coolest colour for today’s homes

Anna Avramova is a proud mum (and business partner) of daughter Denitsa, p16

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ALL THE GOSSIP Why Gwyneth relies on her mum

TALKING POINTS Wine, detectives and celebrity chefs

[contents[ Inside this week...

5

WIN £100 COOKERY KIT Enter our fabulous competition

9

JUST BETWEEN US...

Sh! We have the latest gossip!

12

COMING UP ROSES Westcountry garden guru Toby Buckland

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42

DAVINA’S NEW COOKBOOK Smart ways to eat healthily, now

A MOTHER-DAUGHTER THING Devon fashion business is all in the family

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SHADES OF GREY The coolest colour for your home

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ANNE SWITHINBANK How to plant now for summer success

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BEAUTY WITH ABBIE BRAY The hottest trends, made simple

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GREEN GROWS UP Kathryn Clarke-Mcleod on cool khakis

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CULTURE VULTURE What’s on and where to go

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BOOST YOUR WELLBEING Great ways to feel your best this week

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EAT WELL WITH DAVINA The TV star on her latest cookbook

46

TRIUMPH AND DISASTER Phil Goodwin on board game meltdowns

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SKILFUL SCALLOPS Tim Maddams has the answers

44

GREAT PLACES TO EAT

You know you want to!

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Hello,

MYSTERIOUS

When one door closes, so many more open...

Mr Andre for The Westcountry has special associations in the very Peter Andre, who met his wife Emily weekend. venue where he’ll be performing next TV presenter Dawn Ellis chats to the pop star and ahead of his trip to the Westcountry

By Dawn Ellis

P

family.

His wife, Emily MacDonagh, grew up near Taunton in Somerset and Peter says they are “always coming down” to the area. “It’s a great part of the world,” he says. “We love it.

We’re thinking of eventually moving

down that way, to be honest.”

The couple famously tied the knot in Devon last year, with a ceremony at the Grade I listed Georgian mansion Mamhead House, near Exeter,

last summer.

“It’s a wonderful place to get married,” he says. “The whole day was so special. It was such a beautiful location there and such amazing memories to cherish.”

Emily and Peter, who now have a two-year-old daughter Amelia, have yet another Westcountry link.

They met at one of Peter’s previous gigs, at Plymouth Pavilions back in 2010, under rather dramatic circumstances. When he was on tour in the South West, Peter was rushed to hospital with kidney stones and had

Office fashion essentials

[ welcome [

Interview

op star and TV presenter Peter Andre is soon to be in the Westcountry, playing a live show at the Plymouth is Pavilions in March. But there even better news for Peter’s fans in the region – he tells me that, eventually, he would like to move house and live in the Westcountry with his

WORK IT!

hen Devon’s Toby Buckland lost his job as presenter of the BBC’s Gardeners’ World, it could have been a crushing blow. And, as he tells our interviewer Sarah Pitt in today’s magazine, the immediate aftermath was, indeed, very distressing.

But fast forward to today and you will find Toby and his wife Lisa very happily running a gorgeous plant nursery in the historic greenhouses of Devon’s Powderham Castle. It certainly was a case of one door closing and several better ones opening. What’s more, Toby hasn’t entirely lost his taste for showbiz - he is putting on a spec-

W

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[

Tweet

of the week @PlymPavilions @dawnellis191 great interview thank you @MrPeterAndre

tacular garden festival at the castle this spring, with lots of familiar faces from the TV world appearing - read all about it on page 12 today.

Elsewhere in the magazine, we celebrate Mother’s Day with a heart-warming story of the mother-daughter team who are bringing fabulous fashion to the South West. Do check out their story on page 12 - and if you get the chance, visit their lovely boutique in Plymouth. I’ve been, and it really was quite something.

Finally, I think you’ll love our interview with Davina McCall today (page 42) plus her healthyeating (and delicious!) recipes.

We’re celebrating Mother’s Day with a heart-warming story

TO ADVERTISE: Contact Lynne Potter: 01752 293027 or 07834 568283, lynne.potter@dc-media.co.uk

[

[

[

Becky Sheaves, Editor

COVER IMAGE: www.beccystrongphotography.com

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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01/03/2016 10:51:28

If you buy one thing this week...

A real fire always adds a special ambience, doesn’t it? We love the smooth curved lines and large viewing panes at the front and sides of this Morso stove (£2,413) from Hearth & Cook, which means the fire is visible from all parts of the room. Their new Exeter showroom has an impressive collection of Morso cast iron wood burners in contemporary and traditional designs to suit any interior and all the expertise to ensure hassle free installation.

See www.hearthandcook.com

Win We have one sleek black cast iron Morso casserole dish with lid (1.7 litres) worth £109 for one lucky reader to win. To be in with a chance, tell us where is the new Hearth & Cook showroom located. Email your answer, marked Hearth & Cook with your name, address and phone number to westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk by March 21. Normal terms apply. West will not share your details.

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01/03/2016 12:44:51

Bright Multi-coloured clutch bag £15 BHS

wishlist

Apple green bowl £29 www.cloudberryliving. co.uk

Our top picks of the things you’ll love this week

STREET STYLE STAR

Abbie Jones Abbie, 20, is training to be a teacher in Plymouth. She says she likes to mix up styles and not stick to just the one trend – we love this cute tartan pinafore and statement bag. Almost too cool for school, we’d say!

Pinafore dress: New Look Top: Topshop Bag: River Island Boots: New Look

Adventure Bon Voyage triple wardrobe £639 Send your stylish snaps of you or a friend looking fab to westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk

www.hfchild.co.uk

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Wishlist

fave!

Dog and bone silver and copper earrings £20 www.piajewellery.com

Retro

Wooden seabass made in Fairtrade scheme in Bali £21.95 www.

GPO Retro Bermuda record player £159

coastalhome.co.uk

www.cuckooland.com

Boot-iful Suede ankle boots £89 La Redoute

Store we adore...

Rockets and Rascals, Plymouth

A bike shop with a difference, this shop has knowledgeable staff who will help you get in the saddle in no time. They have a hand-picked range of cycles at a range of prices, from good value Bobbins (with all sorts of colours) through to high end Orro cycles. There’s also clothing and a café where you can fuel up before (or after) a bike ride with great coffee and waffles. They even organise a Saturday morning bike ride, to which all are invited, with coffee.

Rockets and Rascals is at 7 Parade, The Barbican, Plymouth PL1 2LJ, see www.rocketsandrascals.com or call 01752 600979 7

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talking points Gillian Molesworth

Story of my life...

Fashion advice with a practical twist ’ve bought a boiler suit.

It’s navy blue, and rather attractively gathered around the waist. It has a long zip that goes all the way down the front. All I need is a red spotted kerchief for my hair and I’d be Rosie the Riveter.

I bought the boiler suit to try to get me back into the garden again. A busy schedule teamed grubby clothes is simply not an with general apathy to go outside option. has meant that our garden has The boiler suit is brilliant. You languished over the past year. zip it up over whatever you’re The veg patch is full of dock wearing, and out you go for leaves. Piles of clutter (broken fifteen minutes of weeding or plastic toys, an old composter, pruning or whatever. Add wellies a stack of stones, a slip n’ slide and gloves and you’re clean as a tarpaulin) are killing the grass whistle when you come out again. underneath. Various over-ambiSince owning it I have discovtious planted areas run amok. ered it is also equally useful for In my defence, the weather painting/decorating and cookhasn’t been ing – the first mess I exactly inspiring made on it was actuover the past few ally an infernally months. sticky dough from a In my navy blue What, I asked sadly unsuccessful boiler suit, all myself, was at focaccia bread. the root (pardon A friend once told I need is a red the pun) of my me that she wears a spotted kerchief not getting into boiler suit over her for my hair and the garden more? pyjamas, doing the I prefer working livestock round first I’d be Rosie outside to in. thing before showerthe Riveter I like breathing and getting into ing fresh air tidy work clothes. and listening to So ladies, I know birdsong. I enjoy you get a lot of good getting my hands dirty in the soil. advice on what to wear in these Plus, there’s all sorts of repages from style guru Kathryn search that spending more time Clarke-McLeod, and good advice outside is better for your health, it is too, although I did try the physical and mental. imitation leather trousers (on This may seem really shalsale at Dorothy Perkins) and was low, but usually it was because rather put off by the way they the “can I be bothered” balance squeaked when I walked. was tipped by the inconvenI will add to her good style ience of having to change into sense by saying: boiler suits, grubby work clothes, and then they’re the way to keep that back again for the school run or fashion look fresh underneath. whatever. And, with a 12-year-old Available at a farm supply store daughter, being seen in public in near you.

I

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

FABULOUS

fuchsia

Sigh. The BAFTAs have been and gone and we didn’t even get an invite. But actress/director Angela Bassett’s stunning gown has made us rediscover pink in a whole new grown up way this spring. We’ve been inspired by just how fabulous she looks in fuchsia to find ourselves some frocks for a slightly lower-key night out.

The ruching on Angela’s dress draws attention to her amazing curves, while this flattering frock

by Lorcan Mullany for Jacques Vert will accentuate your waist.

Lorcan Mullany dress £299 Jacques Vert

steal her

style

OR MAKE IT YOUR OWN

OPTION A Simple OPTION B Sweet

Pencil dress £97 Very

Nicola grosgrain dress £150 Phase Eight

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05.03.16

Just

LILY CALLS FOR ACTION NOW Torquay-born supermodel and actress Lily Cole is fronting a new project aimed at tackling illiteracy around the world and in the UK. The 28-year-old Cambridge-educated mum-of-one is calling on MPs to help confront the problem – with Project Literacy, a coalition of groups, behind her.

Lily, who gave birth to daughter Wylde in September, said she was shocked by

some of the statistics she discovered ahead of the launch of a new Alphabet of Illiteracy campaign, planned to highlight issues that could be improved with better literacy.

She said: “I’m not pretending I have the solution to the problems. I’m trying to raise awareness and make people think about illiteracy in a more comprehensive way.”

[ [ My father’s mistress was a very famous lady

A COLOURFUL PAST Dashing actor Peter Bowles is playing lord of the manor again in new BBC drama Murder. But did you know that, in real life, his father was a butler?

“My parents were in service to big, powerful families,” he reveals. “My father’s mistress was a very famous lady, the grandmother of Jodie Kidd now, but she was Lord Beaverbrook’s daughter. When she was about 23 or 24, she always gave my father - who was a very goodlooking man and would have been about 22 - the day’s orders lying in the bath.

“Because servants were considered not to be... quite human,” he says: “ I’ve learned all sorts of things!” We won’t tell a soul!

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

!

IT’S MUM TO THE

RESCUE! Celebrating Mother’s Day tomorrow? Gwyneth Paltrow’s actress mum Blythe Danner is stepping into the spotlight in the newly released I’ll See You In My Dreams.

But she’s also a hands-on mum and grandmother, and plays a big part in the lives of her four grandchildren including Gwyn’s two, Apple and Moses, whose father is Devon-born Coldplay singer Chris Martin.

Blythe says both children have inherited their parents’ musical abilities, and says she’s currently in big demand, explaining: “My daughter’s going on a book tour, so I’ll go and spend time with the kids because Chris will also be doing a tour. I was delighted to be asked to come out and be with them.” Will they they roll out the red carpet?

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Beautiful: The snowdrops are out in Wheddon Cross, Somerset

in pictures Cute: Photographer Richard Austin snapped this orphaned badger cub at Somerset animal sanctuary Secret World

Proud: Horses and their grooms parade before the Westcountry Champion Chase at South Pool Harriers point-topoint, held at Buckfastleigh

Kniting: Cancer survivor Muriel Blackledge from Plymouth has raised more than ÂŁ10,000 for Macmillan in just one year

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talking points Cheers!

Mini me

ONE OF US Famous faces with links to the Westcountry

10 toy dog breeds being shown at Crufts this week

10 varieties of wine grape

1 Raisin blanc 2 Symphony 3 Reichensteiner 4 Sultana 5 Vega 6 Bobal 7 Centurian 8 Lambrusco 9 Dolcetto 10 Merille

1 Affenpinscher 2 Havanese 3 Griffon Bruxellois 4 Maltese 5 Lowchen 6 Japanese Chin 7 Italian Greyhound 8 Bolognese 9 Coton De Tulear 10 Pug

The happy list

Sleuth 10 young crimebusters from children’s fiction:

1 Alex Rider (Anthony Horowitz)

2 James Adams (Robert Muchamore)

3 Encyclopedia Brown (Donald J. Sobol)

4 Julian, Dick, Anne and George Kirrin (Enid Blyton)

5 Emil (Walter Trier) 6 Nancy Drew (Carolyn Keene)

7 Nate the Great (Marjorie Weinman Sharmat)

8 Lottie Lipton (Dan Metcalf)

9 Axelle Anderson (Carina Axelsson)

10 Darkus Knightley (Rohan Gavin)

10 things to make you smile this week 1 Spring flowers check them out at RHS Rosemoor

2 Easter plans so much to look forward to

3 Lemon yellow gorgeous colours to wear in spring

4 Sport Relief good fun in a good cause

5 The World Pasty Champs today at Eden 6 Beer Festival Driftwood Spars, St Agnes, March 11-13

7 Call The Midwife finale 8 Marmalade make it now 9 Dillie Keane Queen’s Theatre, Barnstaple, March 12. Fun

10 Mother’s Day tomorrow!

This week:

Michael Caines MBE The Michelin-starred celebrity chef lives near Exeter

Born and bred: Michael was born the Michael Caines Academy at in Exeter in 1969. He developed his Exeter College. Catering students on love of cooking during childhood: the course get high-profile work“from the big family meals we always placements and master classes with shared together”.

Michael and his team.

Michael has fond memories of helping MBE: In 2006 Michael his mum prepare food, was awarded an DID YOU KNOW? and studied Catering MBE for services to Michael is at Exeter College. hospitality. He has opened a string of executive Career: Michael hotels and restaurants chef for the trained in Paris under across the UK, many in Williams world-renowned chef the South West.

Joel Robuchon. As Formula 1 Head Chef at Gidleigh Family: Michael has a racing team Park, on Dartmoor, daughter called India Michael earned two with his partner Zoe Michelin stars.

Szypillo, and two older children called Joseph Life change: Michael lost his right and Hope from his first marriage. arm in a car accident in 1994 but carried on with his cooking career.

Charity: Michael was adopted as “I think what the accident had done a baby and supports Families For was make me incredibly focused on Children, the adoption charity. achieving. If somebody says I can’t do it, that’s like a red rag to a bull. Why Project: He is set to open a new can’t it be done?” luxury hotel and restaurant at Lympstone Manor, near Exeter.

By Ellie Jones Giving back: In 2011 he launched

Competition winners: Winners of the Godminster Cheese Valentine’s gift packs are: Barbara Kilvington, Umberleigh; Sharon Raggett, Ashburton; Sarah Stanton, Sennen

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Interview

TOBY BUCKLAND

Digging for victory here surely cannot be a better place for a garden nursery than the one that Toby Buckland enjoys. On this bright sunny day, there are deer grazing in the parkland around Powderham Castle, and the Exe estuary sparkles in the distance. Toby has been working outside and we settle among the seed catalogues in his backroom over a cup of coffee.

The horticulturalist and garden writer exudes the twinkly enthusiasm known to TV viewers through his presenting stints on the BBC’s coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show and BBC Gardeners’ World. He gets a little less twinkly, however, just momentarily when I ask him about his worst TV moment, being abruptly fired as the main presenter of Gardeners’ World back in 2011.

“It was sad,” he says. “It was the cloak and dagger way it was done. If they’d told me an advance that it was coming to an end… in fact, though, I was given half an hour’s notice. They said ‘in half an hour we are going to release it in the press’. I was the last one to know.”

Five years down the line, though, you could argue that TV’s loss has been the Westcountry’s gain. Toby and his wife Lisa, a fellow horticulturalist, have set up their nursery here at Powderham, after learning that there were some redundant Victorian greenhouses not being used.

They specialise in bare-root plants – the gardener’s green choice – many of which are grown here. And Toby, who still writes gardening columns and appears on TV from time to time, also shares his love of gardening at the Powderham Garden Festival every spring.

“It started off as quite a small idea but it grew as

T

PHOTOGRAPHY: MATT AUSTIN

Toby Buckland tells Sarah Pitt how everything is green in his garden – and nursery – as he prepares to host the third Powderham Garden Festival

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Interview

Toby is heading up Powderham Castle’s spring garden festival

The gardening expert Christine Walkden will talk at Toby’s festival

the amount of interest increased,” he says. “We were overwhelmed by the number of people who wanted to exhibit. It shows the strength of the gardening community here. We have so many specialist growers, and they have a lot to be proud of, so the festival’s a way of demonstrating that.”

Toby always invites along his friends from the TV world as special guests, and this year’s festival on April 28 and 29 is no exception. Gardeners’ World presenter Joe Swift (son of author Margaret Drabble and actor Clive Swift) will be making the trip down from Hackney in London, while festival favourite Christine Walkden, of Gardeners’ Question Time and The One Show fame, is travelling from Essex.

They will be joined by Charlie Dimmock, the flame-haired gardener who first won viewers’ admiration for her cheerful capacity for hard work on BBC TV’s garden makeover programme Ground Force.

Toby himself will be speaking at the festival about ‘big ideas for small spaces’. “What we are really noticing is that there are increasing numbers of people who have bought a new build house in the Westcountry and want ideas on where to start. We thought ‘let’s help those people’.

“Joe is a great designer and Christine is really brilliant with plants. I thought we’d do a talk about growing things in containers, because actually you can do an awful lot with them. Small can be very beautiful and some of the loveliest things do come in small packages.”

The atmosphere at the festival, organised with help from Country Gardener magazines, will

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Toby and his wife Lisa run their nursery business together

have something of a garden party about it, with music, local food exhibitors and picnicking in the park.

“Gardening often comes across as a worthy pursuit, but when you earn your living from it it is anything but,” says Toby. “This is a very friendly show. I don’t want to have the old idea of garden shows being ‘us and them’, the experts and the gardening public. We want this to be a celebration, fun and very relaxed.”

He also wants to encourage gardeners to be more adventurous. “We are blessed with one of the best growing regions in the UK, it is so mild here you can grow a tremendous range of things.

So it amazes me how conservative people are in the plants they have in their gardens. I wanted to open up people’s minds to more interesting ideas.”

He gives the example of shrubs that cope with salty sea air, something he knows about from his own garden in Dawlish, where he lives with Lisa and their three children.

Toby, now 46, is a Dawlish boy born and bred.

“My Uncle Bob was the green-fingered one,” he says. “We used to go down to the beach to gather seaweed to put as a mulch on his potatoes. That was a great experience because it made me think what an adventure gardening could be.”

He started his horticultural training at Bicton College in east Devon before studying further at Harlow in Essex. He then went on to travel the world, including America and Germany, notching up gardening experience as he went. “That’s what is so important in this job, you learn from your mistakes.”

He was working in the botanical gardens in Cambridge when he had his TV break. “Channel

4 needed a researcher to advise them on a programme called Garden Party. I said ‘I know nothing about TV but what I can do is walk into any garden and tell you the names of every plant in it’. They said ‘that’s what we need’ and I was in.”

Various other TV appearances followed, which led to the invite to take part in a two-year stint as presenter on Gardeners’ World, alongside Carol Klein and Joe Swift. “I really loved the people I worked with, the producers,” he says. “It was great being part of a creative team.”

Through those connections he made, he’s still a familiar face to TV viewers, presenting for the BBC at the Chelsea Flower Show and, most recently, on BBC2’s The Great British Garden Revival.

Inviting the likes of Joe Swift to Devon for the festival will, he hopes, encourage more people to give gardening a go. “Joe will be showing people how he works. It will be an irreverent look at garden design, nothing too serious.”

For Toby, gardening is never, it seems, too serious. “I can’t help myself, I do enjoy gardening and I don’t think it is anything to be pompous about,” he says. “The festival will reflect that.

With the castle it is such a romantic setting and a fantastic place to picnic, listening to music and picking up some plants that will make your garden look colourful throughout the summer. I have always connected plants with people, and if you buy a plant on a special day when you are really enjoying yourself, it is like a living souvenir.”

‘I do enjoy gardening but it’s nothing to

be pompous about’

Find out more at www.tobygardenfest.co.uk. Tickets £7.50 for adults, children under 16 free.

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People

SIGNATUR With Mother’s Day in mind, West tracks down a remarkable mother-daughter partnership, two women who are busy working together to bring their fashion-forward sense of style to the Westcountry. Meet a super-stylish family... boutique owner Denitsa Avramova-Bastable and her fashiondesigner mum, Anna

By Catherine Barnes

enitsa Avramova-Bastable is running a little late when West calls in at the bijou boutique in Plymouth’s Royal William Yard that she runs, stocked with clothes designed by both herself and her mother.

So what’s a girl with time on her hands to do, but pick one or two things off the rails and give

D

them an experimental try-on?

“That one, you can wear as a dress,” says Denitsa’s assistant Dominica, as I admire a drapey black maxi-skirt that is vaguely reminiscent of the 1980s New Romantic scene.

Indeed, with a few deft twists and ties, it also transforms into a fabulous strapless dress. I want.

This LBD has been created especially for this Plymouth boutique by one of Bulgaria’s most famous fashion designers, who happens to be Denitsa’s mum. Just imagine finding

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PHOTOGRAPHY: WWW.BECCYSTRONGPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

RE

Devon designer Denitsa in one of her creations

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People

‘It was hard.

I think the business saved me and I put all my energy into that. I knew I had to make it work, for my family’

the equivalent of a Vivienne Westwood frock in a little shop in Plymouth – and then finding out, more amazingly still, that you can pay for it and still have change for a coffee from £100.

As if on cue, Denitsa breezes in, apologising about the traffic. She looks stunning in an outfit from her own range as we decide that actually, coffee sounds like a great idea. “Our story is not told so much, so it’s great to explain a few things about our clothes,” she says over a cappuccino.

It turns out that half the easy-to-wear dresses, skirts and slouchy cashmere coats you’ll find in Denitsa’s boutique, ID Fashion, have been created especially for her, by her mother, top designer Anna Avramova. Anna is a Professor of Fashion at the National Academy of Art in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital city.

“If you say Mum’s name in Bulgaria, everyone knows who she is,” says Denitsa. “She’s known for working with traditional techniques and bringing them into the future. When I was very little, she was presenting Bulgaria at fashion shows all over the world.”

Denitsa, 39, grew up in communist-era Bulgaria and first came to Devon on a scholarship as a drama student.

“I was meant to be here for a term but got involved with various projects and stayed a year,” she says, explaining that she then got married here and had her son Ethan, now eight.

“I began building the business when I found out I was pregnant,” says Denitsa, who started with a market stall selling Bulgarian artisan ceramics and then took on her first shop, in Totnes and called Traditsia, as the business grew.

“Then Mum got involved. She had created some one-off unique fashion pieces, which is how my business ID fashion began. Mum had stopped making clothes to wear and I got her back doing that.

“Bulgaria’s now very full of fashion, but growing up it was totally different to here. In the

Denitsa, centre, and some of her affordable but high-style designs

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communist era, clothes were practically a uniform, you had no choice – only Russian and Bulgarian clothes. There were no private labels then and just two or three governmentowned companies making garments.”

During the 1970s, Denitsa’s mother Anna worked for one of those government companies, making clothes according to the fabrics and patterns she was given. But as time went on, Anna was given more freedom to demonstrate her creative flair, channelling traditional Bulgarian costumes, weaves and patterns into contemporary fashion designs she took around the world to showcase the nation.

Today, she’s a household name in her home country.

“Now there’s a whole craziness about being unique and different, just to escape the uniform in Bulgaria,” laughs Denitsa, who opened her boutique in Plymouth last July.

Each of Anna’s designs for the shop is made in small runs, sometimes as few as ten, with the help of three expert seamstresses back in Sofia.

In the family

‘With mum, I can give her directions, ‘I want white, I want two pockets, make it slightly wider,’ she’ll do the rest’

Mum’s the word when it comes to fashion design

Fashion designers Anna (left) and Denitsa are a mother-daughter team Denitsa also designs some of the clothes too, following in her mother’s footsteps. “With mum, I can give her directions, ‘I want white, I want two pockets, make it a slightly wider cut,’ she’ll do the rest. I only have a little impact!

“Anna is a very traditional mother,” explains Denitsa, who grew up as an only child. “She’s a very strong woman with very strong opinions.

She’s very critical and it can be hard to work with her. She won’t do anything unless it’s perfect.

“If ten things are perfect, and there’s one mistake, she’ll spot the mistake,” she laughs. “But I do really appreciate her opinion.

“Mum and I have always been close. She’s one of those mothers who needs to know where you are and what you’re doing,” adds Denitsa, who was close to her much-loved father too, who died ten years ago.

“She comes over once a year and we go to Bulgaria once or twice a year. But we speak on the phone every day. If I don’t call, then she will, asking, what’s happened?”

Denitsa is now engaged to fiance Richie Kavanagh who has become a partner in the business and a dab hand at shop-fitting when he isn’t working offshore on oil rigs. The couple met in Plymouth when Ethan was four years old, and began living together a year ago.

Denitsa split with her ex-husband when Ethan was two and she admits that the two years she spent as a single mother, far from her own mum, were tough.

“It was hard. I think the business saved me and I put all my energy into that,” she says. “But I don’t think I’d have done what I did for myself, if it hadn’t been for Ethan. If there’s someone else in your life to provide for, you really have to make it work.”

ID Fashion is at Unit 2&3, The Guardhouse, Royal William Yard, Plymouth. Traditsia, 83 High Street, Totnes. Find both at www.traditsia.co.uk

Fashion designer Anna Avramova says she couldn’t be more proud of working with her daughter Denitsa’s Westcountry fashion business.

“When Denitsa was young, I insisted she studied Economics at university but the truth is she didn’t like it. When she gained her diploma, she handed it to me saying, “I will not work in this profession.”

“Then she discovered fashion as her art form and has a real passion for her work.

This can only make me happy and filled with respect and admiration for her.

And in business, I don’t interfere, it’s her territory.

“She will always remain, for me, my little girl but she is also an accomplished woman and mother who makes her own decisions. For me, it’s a significant gesture that her gallery in Totnes is called Traditsia which means ‘traditional’ in Bulgarian. She is an ambassador, a bridge between two cultures without even realising it, and it’s an intuitive, heartfelt connection.

“An old proverb says ‘God could not be everywhere and therefore created mothers.’

“Everyone chooses their own path to feel accomplished, loved and happy.

And mothers and fathers keep heart and wait. When their children grow up to be healthy, fulfilled and happy, then they are, too.”

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©LW

01/03/2016 12:40:51

Going grey It’s time to rediscover those 50 Shades, as Gabrielle Fagan takes notes from a new book which reveals how to go grey with grace and style nce upon a time, magnolia ruled in homes. The warm peachy shade was for years apparently the only choice for walls – until, out of the shadows, came grey.

“It’s an interior designer’s murder mystery – did grey kill magnolia?” laughs Kate WatsonSmyth.

Her new book, Shades of Grey, focuses on the power of a grey palFresh, modern ette and explains in crystal clear fashion, spiced with a liberal dash and easy of humour, how to use it stylishly. to match, We wonder if it will inspire the bestselling Fifty Shades novelist EL it’s hardly James, who’s currently revampsurprising that ing a £1.25 million Cornish cliff grey is regarded top home in Polzeath?

“Nowadays poor old magas the perfect nolia’s a byword for all that is neutral bland and boring in interiors, even though in its heyday it lamps, which replaced incanwas lauded as being practical descent bulbs, simply made because it didn’t show the dirt, magnolia look terrible.” and its soft colour instantly suggested homeliOur love of all things Nordic has also played ness,” says Kate. a part in the nation’s new passion for grey.

“New lighting in the Nineties gradually Fresh, modern and easy to match to other colbrought about its demise. The harsher, cooler, ours, it’s perhaps hardly surprising it’s curclearer light of halogen, LED and fluorescent rently regarded as the perfect neutral.

0

[[

When it comes to grey, choice of shade is crucial. Here, a deep charcoal works well with blues

And fifty shades? Forget it – Dulux alone recently expanded its range and now offers a mind-boggling 557 greys. But a word of warning: “Grey’s one of the hardest colours to get right when it comes to decorating your home,” says Kate. “Get it wrong and the effect can be cold and energy-sapping, but if it’s right it will look ultra-chic and modern. It takes a bit of

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Dark grey complements the pale floor and colourful objets d’art in this modern scheme

ALL IMAGES: TAKEN FROM SHADES OF GREY - DECORATING WITH THE MOST ELEGANT OF NEUTRALS, BY KATE WATSON-SMYTH

Interiors

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Interiors

A warm grey on the walls softens this kitchen space, working with the white ceiling

mastering, but it’s well worth it. Once you’ve gone grey, you’ll be hooked.”

“Grey paint is like the chocolate on a biscuit,” agrees Marianne Shillingford, creative director of Dulux. “Just as that will bring out the flavour of the biscuit, so grey brings out the depth of the other colours it sits with.”

Grey often works well in our part of the world, thanks to the clear light we have here.

But it’s important to evaluate how much natural light a room gets and the direction it comes from when you pick your shade.

“If you’re in a room mainly in the evening, or always have the lights on, you can afford to opt for a dark shade,” advises Kate.

“Dark walls in a kitchen work well with a light floor and cabinets – choose warm greys for north-facing rooms and cool greys for south-facing rooms.

“Dining rooms, which often suffer from lack of light, can be painted in dark greys which will conjure an intimate, cosy atmosphere but if this room’s also used in the day, opt for a lighter grey.

“The warm light of a south-facing room allows you more freedom of choice – pale greys can work as well as dark ones.

“East and west-facing rooms can be tricky, as the light will change from warm to cold as the sun moves across the sky. The secret is to look for a shade which will warm the cool and tone down the warm. For east-facing rooms, try greys with a blue or green base.”

One shade to consider, recommends interior designer Abigail Ahern, is Little Greene’s

This pink-red velvet armchair gives a glamorous touch to the palest grey walls

French Grey absolute matt emulsion (£19.25 per litre), a warm pale grey which won’t dominate or darken a space.

“I started by painting one alcove in my house grey,” she says. “It’s a good way to experiment with a shade. I then fell in love with the colour and painted the whole house in dark grey. It’s the best interiors move I ever made.”

Consider too, the effect of your existing furniture, textiles and flooring when picking your

paint. “It’s probably more affordable to swap the accessories than the wall colour,” says Kate. “Grey goes with all the other colours on the wheel, so you could throw in some pink until you feel like a change, and then maybe swap it for orange or yellow.”

Shades of Grey: Decorating With The Most Elegant Of Neutrals by Kate Watson-Smyth is published by Ryland Peters & Small, £19.99.

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GET THE

LOOK

Pair touches of textured grey with splashes of colour Mottled vase £69 www.housingunits.co.uk

Ebb & Flow Lute pendant lamp £276 Amara

100 per cent cotton bed linen set £61 Secret Linen Store

Finn ladder bookcase £295 Lombok

Loft vase £30 Black by Design

Ercol studio couch £2199 Furniture Village

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29/02/2016 12:10:32

Gardens

ANNE SWITHINBANK

Spring flings Devon’s Anne Swithinbank, panellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, is busy planting seeds now for the imminent spring season am a lark, not an owl and will sometimes start writing at 6am in the winter, often still in my dressing gown. By summer, early morning gardening takes over while the day is young and temperatures cool, with writing best tackled in the heat of the day (or when it rains). Our east Devon garden suits an early start, because most of it lies on the east-facing side of the Axe Valley and is flooded with morning light. Seeing sunrise start earlier every day is especially exciting for a gardener.

Deciding when spring has arrived involves a degree of personal choice. The Great Gardens of Cornwall (a group comprising 12 of the largest and most notable) will have it start when their six champion Magnolia campbellii trees (at Caerhays Castle, Trebah, Tregothnan, Our garden is Trewidden, Trewithen and the Lost Gardens of Heligan) have flooded with at least 50 large blooms each. morning light.

Although a few pink or white flowers broke their buds back in Seeing sunrise January this year, the Cornish start earlier spring started on February 10. every day is Meteorological spring started on March 1 and the Astronomiespecially cal spring begins on March 29 exciting just after the Equinox when afterwards can be tricky. Most there will be more day than seedlings need cooler temperanight. Or, you could just feel it tures after germination and if in your bones. you leave them in stuffy warmth, The onset of spring makes a huge difference to especially if you sowed them too close, they can plant growth and from now on it will be all go for contract damping off disease. This fungal probgardeners who raise their own plants from seed lem causes the stems to rot and the seedlings and cuttings. While persuading seeds to germitopple like a forest of miniature felled trees. If nate in the warmth of a propagating case or on you see this, transplant the healthy seedlings to a windowsill is easy, looking after young plants individual cells and pots or grid-fashion in a seed

I

[[

tray and keep them cool but protected from frost.

Reduce heat in the propagating case to around 15 C/60 F and increase ventilation to reduce condensation.

I’ve already germinated peas, sweet peas, parsley and spinach with no heat even though the surface of the compost was frosted solid at one point. Some seedlings in warmth (aubergines, tomatoes, cleome, antirrhinums and zinnias) have stayed compact but for some photography

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work I was doing, I sowed some cosmos in February (I’d normally wait until April) and they shot up into lofty seedlings on the thinnest of stems. Fortunately, seedlings don’t mind being set low in their compost and if they are lanky, you can sink them almost up to their leaves in a pot of compost and they won’t mind.

On the subject of compost, I am notoriously fussy.

Few proprietary brands meet my particular requirements and I end up buying a bag of John Innes seed (loam based) and a bag of peat-free multipurpose, a small bag of fine to medium grade vermiculite, sharp sand and a good potting grit (hard to find). A 50:50 combination of the composts is then mixed four parts to one with sand, grit and/or vermiculite. The extra drainage materials make the compost open and airy for roots.

Here in east Devon our doughty Magnolia x loebneri is flowering. This useful small, wind-tolerant magnolia grows well in most well-drained soils and the blooms are rarely frosted even in a chilly garden. There are many magnolias, so I asked Charles Williams of Caerhays Castle, who is chairman of the Great Gardens of Cornwall, to recommend five for smaller gardens. He suggests M. x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ (rose pink), M. stellata ‘Water Lily’ (white), M. ‘Caerhays Surprise’ (lilac and dark pink), M. ‘Daphne’ (yellow) and M.wilsonii (with striking maroon-centred white, fragrant flowers).

There has to be a perk for all those early morning starts and for me, it’s an after-lunch siesta and time out to visit some of the region’s stunning spring gardens.

Question time with Anne West reader queries answered by Anne Swithinbank

Q

I love lupins but so far all my efforts to establish them have failed. After a year the plants seem to shrink away and die off. How can I persuade them to grow?

I like lupins too and raise most of my plants from Sarah Conibear’s excellent seed mixtures from westcountrylupins.co.uk. They can be a little bit fussy and need sun or partial shade on neutral to acidic soil. I find they appreciate a bit of space around them, rather than being crowded by other plants. They thrive in our improved clay soil and a slightly raised bed facing east has brought the best results. Here, there is plenty of moisture, yet soil is well-drained. The plants are not overfed and flourish in morning light with a little shade from harsh early afternoon sun. Extremes such as a dry, impoverished soil in full sun or any kind of waterlogging would not suit a lupin. Watch out for slugs, snails and the scarily huge lupin aphid.

In an unheated greenhouse I sowed two varieties of pea seeds in a pot around some supports. Despite being sown at the same time, the tall variety failed to germinate but seedlings of the shorter one have all come up. Should I re-sow the taller one?

Q

If all the pea seeds had the same treatment, the problem is not likely to be burying the seed too deeply or wet compost rotting the seeds. It must lie in the difference between the two varieties.

Maybe seeds of the taller one were older?

Although some seeds will store if kept cool and dry, it is best to stick with use by dates and get rid of old seed (especially opened packets) after a couple of years otherwise time and resources will be wasted. Peas vary in their hardiness, with round or smooth-seeded kinds being hardier than wrinkle-seeded ones. Perhaps the taller pea could not stand colder temperatures and rotted.

I would re-sow fresh seed four per 9cm/3.5in pot, plant them into any gaps and hope they catch up.

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

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

• Weed areas where ground elder has been a problem and extract the white roots before this pernicious weed sprouts into growth. Dispose of them away from the garden.

• Flooding and waterlogging could mean deplenished soils.

Apply appropriate fertilizers to your shrubs and herbaceous perennials to give them the boost they need for the best growth and flowering.

•U se a long handled feather duster to waft around the open flowers of plums on a dry, sunny day to aid pollination.

Maintain open circles of soil around young fruit trees. Feed and mulch over their roots.

•B egin planting early potatoes in milder areas as long as soil is workable. Set tubers 10-13cm/45in deep and 30cm/12in apart in rows 75m/30in apart.

Lift divide and replant large, tired clumps of herbaceous perennials such as phlox and monarda. Most of the healthy growth will be around the outside. Two forks pushed back to back into the middle will prise roots apart. Make new clumps roughly the size you can fit two hands around, set them into large, informal groups or drift one compatible type through another.

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29/02/2016 12:26:31

Beauty Nineties MAC lip pencil in Oak £12.50 The 90s are back on-trend right now, with heavy lipliner, brown lipstick, big brows and gleaming skin all round. Try this lipliner alone or with a slick of clear gloss on top.

Big lashes MAC Haute & Naughty Too Black Lash £19 Hyper-extended false eyelashes were all the rage at the runway shows. Back in the real world, try a couple of coats of this, then (maybe) add a few more.

[[ ‘On the SpringSummer catwalk, makeup artists have made a beeline for blue’

Abbie’s

Beauty box

Blue hues Lancome Anthony Vaccarello Hypnose eyeshadow palette in Blue Mania £38 A great piece of kit for the new blue eyeshadow look.

Expert advice from beauty guru Abbie Bray of Newton Abbot Wine stains Burberry Kisses Lip Velvet in Oxblood £26 Lips mostly took a back seat at the Spring-Summer collections this year, but there were a handful of notable exceptions. Anna Sui, Givenchy and Burberry all showed gorgeously dense burgundy pouts – I love this colour from Burberry.

In beauty fashion, every season has a dominant colour and this time around make-up artists have made a beeline for blue, mainly on the eyes.

On the catwalk, Missoni’s models had opaque cyan eyelids while at Chanel an eye mask of powdery aqua shadow was buffed on. So if you want to be on-trend right now, try a little good old-fashioned blue eyeshadow!

As for hair, the spring catwalks took braiding to a whole new level, with long French plaits everywhere. Grip and volume are essential to master a catwalk-worthy braid, so start with Moroccanoil’s Root Boost, it’s really good stuff.

Here is my pick of the best products on the market right now, for a runway-ready look this spring.

Braid new world Moroccanoil Root Boost £18.85 Grip and volume are essential to master a catwalkworthy braid, so try this before you get plaiting.

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Shop

The edit Your straight line to style: casual blues for weekend chic

£28 River Island

+

£22 New Look

+ £35 White Stuff.

+

Boho blouse £12 Primark

£24 Dorothy Perkins

+ £12 George at Asda

+

£65 Gerry Weber

£22.99 New Look

+ £20 River Island 29

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Fashion Denver bag £79 Dune

Platform sandals £35 Next

Principles by Ben de Lisi dress £50 Debenhams

Merino knit £79 East

A-line dress £65 Oliver Bonas

Watch £50 Radley

Matelot skirt £19 F&F Tesco

Wooden striped bangle £6.99 New Look F&F suede biker jacket £75 Tesco Aldo Naywen trainers £60 House of Fraser

Red dress £299 Phase Eight

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Pinafore jumpsuit £65 Topshop

Red Herring shopper £20 Debenhams

Working Wonders tuck in a workwear rut, endlessly recycling the same outfits? It could be time for an occupational refresh – although we’re not suggesting you hand in your notice.

A style shake-up is all it takes to give your office attitude a bit of zing - and it doesn’t take a major overhaul, either. All you need are a few tweaks. Try swapping your usual jumper dress or short sleeved shift for a chic pinafore, which offers lots of layering options. Colour-blocking is still cool, while orange and mustards are the hot hues for spring.

If you usually wear trainers for the commute there are currently lots of stylish sneakers that are actually office-appropriate, if you’re fed up with performing a quick change of shoes at your desk.

Beige or khaki slip-ons add great edge to cigarette pants and a tonal sweatshirt combo. Or steal a styling trick from the boys and pair a loose trouser suit with pale lace-ups. We think these Aldo Naywen Slip On Trainers (£60 www.houseoffraser.co.uk) look the business.

S

Colour stone bracelet £8.50 Dorothy Perkins

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Trend

HOW TO WEAR IT:

Khaki MAIN PHOTO HAIR: LILY AT SAKS, EXETER MAKE-UP: CLARINS, DEBENHAMS (BOTH PRINCESSHAY) PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVE HAYWOOD

Kathryn Clarke-Mcleod discovers the softer side of military green ’m enjoying the appearance of khaki on the pages of my favourite fashion mags. It’s practical (or, as my granny says, it doesn’t show the dirt) versatile and suits a lot of skin tones. Some of the biggest sartorial bibles are advocating it head to toe, but you can be just as on trend by throwing on a single piece in this season’s shade de rigeur.

Celebs who gave me serious outfit envy during a swift inspiration search online included Cameron Diaz and Sienna Miller. Diaz personified casual chic in a pair of skinny khaki trousers, tan strappy heels and a fabulous white button up blouse with sleeves rolled up to the elbow.

Miller’s approach was a lot less fitted but no less enviable. She was spotted picking up her coffee in an oversized green parka, slouchy grey tee, black jeans and tan ankle boots.

Weekend perfection. Check out her designer sister Savannah’s khaki coat (opposite) - they’re You can merrily talented girls, these Millers. marry it with This season’s interpretation of the shade is less milisome other tary, more off-duty model. This items from your means you can merrily marry it with other items from your wardrobe for wardrobe for mix and match mix and match perfection. One of my favourite perfection aesthetics is to introduce stripes to the equation. Paired with fitted trousers or an oversized coat in the olive shades, stripes take on a personality other than nautical or French. It’s somewhere between horse breeder and stylist on errands. Either way, I’m a fan. path. There is something about any posh do that Another must is to mix khaki with leather. means I don’t feel quite comfortable in a trouser/ Done right, this can work on so many levels. blouse combo. I’m not saying it is wrong, just A slouchy green tee works well under your fathat I never feel adequately dressed. Skirt and vourite leather jacket for a brunch date. But this blouse, yes. But never in trousers. shade has a place at more formal occasions too. I However, the minute the top and bottom half had to attend a formal networking event recentare combined in the form of a jumpsuit, espely, and shivered at the thought of having to show cially in a deeper shade, the rules bend. This my legs – tights or no tights. Until fate delivered little number is the epitome of urban elegance. this beautiful and chic Reiss jumpsuit into my It nips you in at the waist and a few strategically

I

Leather jacket, Reiss, Princesshay, £395 Jumpsuit, Reiss, Princesshay, £195 Shoes, Reiss, Princesshay, £140 Bag, Reiss, Princesshay, £130

placed pleats means that the fabric skims over your lower belly (I don’t know about you, but for me this area demands skim not cling) It also has pockets, which are always fun.

Pop on a pair of simple black courts, and a shoulder bag and you are ready to sip Prosecco with the best of them. Just be careful with the caviar, practical only goes so far.

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

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THIS PICTURE: ADRIANNA ZIOLKIEWICZ

New Look £19.99 NEW LOOK

GET THE

Khaki twill zip skinny trousers £25 RIVER ISLAND

look fave!

Jumpsuit £40 NEXT

Nine by Savannah Miller £68 DEBENHAMS

Heels £59.99 NEW LOOK

Bag £29 MISS SELFRIDGE

Embellished detail shirt £30 NEXT

Kathryn says: Savannah Miller’s label ‘Nine’ gets my vote. The designer has worked with both Alexander McQueen and Matthew Williamson and her high street creations are well cut and designed to be layered - the ultimate in stylish smart-casual.

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culture vulture Our guide to what’s on in the South West by woman-in-theknow Sarah Pitt On The Levels Wildlife artist Greg Poole creates prints from sketches and paintings of the wildlife that he observes around him on the Somerset Levels. “I am a keen all-round naturalist and drawing in the field is probably my favourite way of spending time,” he says. Part of the process is not just recording what he sees on paper but also absorbing the atmosphere, “hearing birds, smelling the vegetation, feeling the wind or sun and starting to paint”. Back in his Bristol studio, he distils that essence into pleasing woodcuts.

See Greg Poole’s work at the John Leach Gallery, Muchelney near Langport, Somerset until March 15, www.johnleachgallery.co.uk

Over from Nashville Anyone who has seen Martin Harley play slide guitar before will know he is a genius with fingers and fretboard. The accomplished bluesman now divides his time between the UK and Nashville, and is carving out a strong following across the pond. He’s over here this month with new collaborator Daniel Kimbro on upright bass, performing tracks from new album Live at Southern Ground.

Martin plays at the Princess Pavilion, Falmouth on Wednesday, March 9 (Box office: 01326 211222) and The Phoenix, Exeter on Thursday, March 10 (01392 667080).

Tickets around £12.

Life and times of King Richard The magic of the past will come alive tonight at Torbay Museum for those enthralled by the story of King Richard III, who was found buried under a car park in Leicester. Ian Churchward, of Torbay folk rock band The Legendary Ten Seconds, is passionately interested in the story – and it has inspired music with a medieval flavour. Join Ian and band at Torbay Museum tonight for a concert and talk, with support act Renaissance Folk singing traditional folk songs.

Performance 7pm, tickets in aid of the museum, £8.50 on the door. See www.torbaymuseum.org

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Enjoy

Your stars

by Cassandra Nye This week’s sign:

Happy birthday to...

Pisceans tend to be a bit dreamy but also very compassionate. Find a friend in someone born under this sign and you have a true bestie for life, who’ll be forgiving of your foibles and the listening ear you need – often picking up on troubles before you’ve fully realised them yourself. Giving without expecting anything in return, emotions run deeply within Pisces, who can be as unafraid to express how they are feeling, as they are to offer comfort and care.

Rachel Weisz born on 7th March 1970 Beautiful, intelligent and a talented actress, Rachel is the daughter of a psychoanalyst and an inventor. She hadalready begun modelling when she won place at Cambridge and, by the time she graduated with a degree in English, she was on her way to becoming a TV and film actress, too. Her breakthrough Hollywood role was in The Mummy and she won an Oscar for her role in The Constant Gardener. She had son Henry, nine, during her relationship with director Darren Aronofsky and married Bond star Daniel Craig in 2011 at the age of 40.

PISCES (February 20 - March 20) You are having a good time this week, so carry on! Of course, there are always people who do not understand where you’re coming from. Don’t let this worry you, as you really do know best at the moment. Of course you are not perfect, you are human, so if you have a bad day here and there, it’s just natural.

ARIES (March 21 - April 20) Some of those dark clouds have cleared and your mind feels lighter and brighter. If you can manage to get a few quiet days to give yourself time to think, so much the better. This week’s New Moon shines on family life past and present.

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) Although it is often nice to escape into an imaginative world where everything is lovely, it is not sustainable. The potential for success is high at the moment, but you need to be awake to the possibilities and getting up on those toes. Be extra aware.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Simplifying your everyday life has a lot to recommended it. It will stop that constant feeling of not being able to cope or make the most of your situation. Try ignoring little worries by getting involved in an ‘at home’ interest that needs your concentration.

CANCER (June 22 - July 22) Be prepared to be spontaneous and creative this week. Letting your mind run free is sometimes a bit difficult for you, but just try it. When you are not worrying about something all the time and just ‘doing it’, there is a great feeling of freedom.

To go with the flow is liberating and fun.

LEO (July 23 - August 23) You are human. That fact alone means you sometimes have doubts. This week sees you a bit overconfident, which is unusual. Why are you feeling this way? It is because you have every reason to feel so. The opportunities that start to come along this week will surprise you. However, they are no less than you deserve.

VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) Sometimes you really want to rule the world. Well, maybe not the whole world, just your own bit of it. Right now there is a need to push forward for what you want. The New Moon will help in this endeavour. Be prepared to look hard at what you see. Not so scary is it?

Certainly it is also not so permanent, either.

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) Although you are willing to make a leap of faith, you would still like some kind of confirmation that it is the right thing to do. Nothing can be for sure, but you can rely on your instincts. Listen carefully to find the right time to make a suggestion and it will be accepted.

SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) If it seems that someone is out to spoil your fun, you could be right. When success is bright in others, there is always sure to be a bit of envy. Refuse to see or

acknowledge it. Forging ahead with that bright thought and ambition is just right now. You have no reason to doubt your ability to succeed, even if others do.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) You are unlikely to be excited by what is on offer this week. As soon as you realise this, make some fun of your own.

Waiting for others to ‘get going’ is a bit silly anyway. Those who need your attention for the best of reasons can be brought into your social life. At the moment it is OK to be a bit selfish.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) The New Moon this week is shining a light into the murkier corners of your everyday life. Drag out those undone jobs, those unuttered words, that essential conversation. Just get it all sorted. If you don’t, your progress will stall and cause you a lot of irritation. What needs changing in your life may be small. However, you are the only one who can do it and do it right.

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19) It is a great temptation, when we feel on edge, to involve others in our problems.

Talk about them by all means, but don’t expect anyone to find a simple solution. It is easy to drive friends away by getting snappy and non-responsive. How to find the happy medium? Speak to an older relative.

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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

Pampered In need of a pamper? Heyland & Whittle’s Shea Butter Bath Melt Gift Box, £20, contains seven petal-packed melts that dissolve to infuse your bath with lavender, rose or marigold scent (www. heylandandwhittle.co.uk).

Did you know?

Experts recommend

8 Glasses of water a day, as the optimal amount for supporting overall hydration, health and wellbeing. According to a poll by Robinsons, however, 16% of us think alcoholic drinks also count. Bad news: They don’t!

DANCE TO FITNESS Shimmy away the calories at belly dancing classes. You can already book to enrol on Cornwall College Camborne’s 10-week term of classes (£75), beginning April 18 and taking place on Mondays from 6.30pm. Classical Egyptian, Arabic, Turkish, Greek and Indian styles will be included in the course.

Visit www.cornwall.ac.uk for more details.

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01/03/2016 12:52:42

How Ruth relaxes

Back Pain?

Work’s been nonstop for one of our favourite comedy stars, Ruth Jones, since Gavin and Stacey and Stella turned her into a household name. So we love her all the more to discover her favourite way to wind down is listening to The Archers, “with a strong cappuccino”.

She’s also lifted the lid on her favourite retreat – Holm House Hotel in Penarth near her home city, Cardiff. “It has a wonderful spa and I often escape there for a bit of a pamper,” she says. Tidy.

Back pain? The bac< Backboard Lite (£39.99) will help improve your posture, whether you’re sitting on an office chair on the sofa or in the car. For £10 the Plus version includes pockets for hot or cool pads and both come in a range of pretty colours including raspberry pink, purple, and silver.

Find them at www.backpainhelp.com

Get a spa in your shower Green People’s new Quinoa & Calendula Shower Gel smells fabulous and will leave you feeling fresh, with softer skin.

At £9.95 for 100ml, this organic brand’s a bit pricey, but a treat that’s worth trying – and cheaper than a spa.

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

Know your body Whether it’s your skin, eyes or ears, your mood and energy levels, your digestive habits or any unusual aches and pains, be alert for any changes or warning signs that could be a symptom of changing health, says Dr Sally Norton of www.vavistalife. com. “The message is simple.

Get to know your body and what is normal for you to feel healthy – and don’t let your car be the only thing that gets an MOT this year,” she says. “Particularly as you get older – 50 may be the new 40, but only as long as you get the health maintenance that you need.” Wise words indeed.

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

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29/02/2016 14:41:40

Wellbeing

Winning the losing battle The ten-point plan for losing weight for keeps No matter how good my intentions are, every time I lose weight, it gradually creeps back on. I find it hard to stick to diets for more than a few weeks at a time – help! GB, Minehead

Q

Body coach Joe Wicks says: It can be done! Here is my 10-point plan to help you get, and stay, lean for life: Preparation: This means preparing your own meals, so when you’re leaving the house, you’ve got your lunch and your dinner sorted.

Drink more water: A lot of people don’t drink enough water, and a hydrated body burns more fat, so try and drink two to four litres a day.

Do High Intensity Training: You need to aim for cardio 20 minutes a day, four to five days a week.

It’s high-intensity training and you’re going to burn loads of calories.

Eat more fats: A lot of people are frightened of fats. They don’t eat butter and eggs and saturated fats because they think it’s unhealthy and you’ve got to cut them out, but the right fats are actually really, really good for you.

Don’t fear carbs: Everyone that’s starting a diet says, ‘Low-carbs – cut the carbs, can’t eat that,’ but you can eat carbs. You’ve just got to eat them at the right time. So eat your bread, pasta

or bagels, whatever, after you’ve done your trainprobably have changed, you just don’t realise it. ing, to refuel.

Get your store cupboard essentials: Stock up Plan like a winner: That basically means plan your kitchen cupboards with things which are your meals for the week ahead. full of flavour and convenYou could get a little seven-day ient like curry powder, cocoplanner and then write down nut milk, Thai green curry what you’re going to have for paste, chillis and eggs (great breakfast, lunch and dinner. for making omelettes). With Little things like this may seem cupboard essentials like this, Take before and a bit silly, but it’s practical and you can always make a healthy after pictures if you follow it, it’s much easier meal and resist the junk food to sustain. urge they are a great Throw away the sad step: Allow yourself treats: Don’t way of seeing The ‘sad step’ is what I call be afraid to spoil yourself at the your progress the scales, because I have seen weekends. If you like having a people in the gym and they look drink or treating yourself to a over time really happy because they’ve little tub of ice cream, it’s fine – just done a workout. Then they you know, moderation, balance. walk to the ‘sad step’, stand on Lean In 15 is a lifestyle, it’s it and look crestfallen because not me saying, ‘You’ve got to eat their weight hasn’t changed. this way’, it’s just me trying to The fact is, though, that muscle weighs more encourage you to take control, prepare your own than fat, so you could be changing shape but still food and start to feel great. Nutrition’s about feelweigh the same. ing good, you still need to have treats.

Take before and after pictures: You can keep them for yourself, but it’s a really great way of *Lean In 15: 15 Minute Meals And Workouts To Keep seeing your progress over time, as opposed to You Lean And Healthy by Joe Wicks is published by looking in the mirror and thinking, ‘I haven’t Bluebird, price £14.99. To find out more visit www.thechanged, I look exactly the same’. Really you bodycoach.co.uk

[[

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01/03/2016 13:08:25

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W AT E R G AT E B AY

C O R N WA L L T R 8 4 A A

01/03/2016 10:35:31

Eat

Scallops

with Tim Maddams callops, of all seafood on offer, He simply cleans the frills, drops them in flour, are the ones most often served in deep fries them until crispy, seasons them with over-cooked enthusiasm. You will salt, paprika and pepper and, there you go. The see them on menus throughout best bar snacks ever! The stomach sacks and the Westcountry. unwanted sandy bits of frill also Beware, though, their provemake the best black bream bait nance. Good quality, hand-dived going – a tip I picked up from an scallops will have cost the chef annoying lucky fisherman, Hugh Scallops are in the region of a pound each, so Fearnley-Whittingstall. certainly better in anyone selling you half a dozen What we have left is the main the colder months. scallops for a tenner will either muscle of the scallop – the white When I decide to be going out of business shortly bit – and the roe, the pink bit. I or is buying frozen dredged scaloften cook both bits together and stump up for some lops from who knows where. love them equally, but you can also plump beauties, I The smaller ‘Queenie’ scallops separate the roes and use them to like to buy them in are a different species and also enrich fish stews and curries. tasty, much cheaper and available Spankingly fresh, tiptop quality the shell from an MSC certified sustainscallops are in fact best not cooked able fishery off the Isle of Man. at all. Simply slice them, sprinThere is no particular season kle with a little seasalt and black for scallops but they are most certainly better in pepper and a touch of lemon juice and eat them the colder months. When I do decide to stump up as they are. In the autumn I sometimes marinate for some plump beauties I like to buy them in the sliced fresh scallop meat with sliced tomatoes, shell. It also allows you to make deep fried crispy finished with chopped lemon verbena and basil, bits from the frills – a tip I picked up from the the acidity from the tomatoes taking the place of ever-creative Lyme Regis chef Mark Hix. that of the lemon.

S

[[

Scallop skills There are only two ways to cook scallops, in my opinion. They can be baked in a fierce oven on the half shell with a little butter and garlic or seared in a pan, with butter or light olive oil.

Saying that, I was once at a barbecue in Cornwall where the scallops were so plentiful they were simply threaded onto rosemary stalks with devil-may-care enthusiasm and grilled over the coals. They were beyond good.

However you decide to cook yours, do make sure you know where and how they were caught. @TimGreenSauce

Tim Maddams is a Devon chef and author of Game: River Cottage Handbook no. 15 (Bloomsbury £14.99) 40

Tim_Beer_Mar05.indd 40

29/02/2016 15:23:45

Drink

Beer of the week

Darren Norbury

talks beer utcombe Brewery, late of Somerset, There’s been a growth, too, in online sales, either now at Wrington near Bristol, takes from breweries themselves or online retailers such an interest who stock beers from a number in the important of producers and who can curate bottled beer that boxes based on customers’ perFewer of us it takes it upon itself to provide sonal tastes. are going to an industry commentary on the Interestingly, too, many of the sector. And you wouldn’t really beer bars that I frequent – bars pubs, yet more need to be Mystic Meg to know rather than pubs in most cases breweries that its latest Premium Bottled – have chiller cabinets stacked are springing Ale Report finds bottled beer high with interesting bottles of producers in buoyant mood. beer and, increasingly, cans too. up and beer It’s not hard to see why when Martin Holland, of Butcombe production is you think about it. Like it or not, Brewery, says: “We asked leadhigher than for fewer of us are going to pubs ing figures in both the supply than we used to, yet more brewand retail areas of the market for many years eries are springing up every their views and the results show week and beer production is there is a high level of confihigher than it has been for many dence in the sector for the future. years. People are drinking at home more, yes, but It’s important for brewers and stockists to work they’re not just buying from the supermarkets. together to find innovative ways to bring these products to consumers, because there is clearly a healthy enthusiasm for good quality bottled ales.”

Supermarkets are not charities so it’s interCORNISH SHOWCASE esting to note that they are now stocking more Falmouth’s HAND beer bar, in Old Brewery bottled beers, clearly in response to customer Yard, off the High Street, has a St Piran’s demand. If you want a bottled beer, though, I still beer festival on at the moment and recommend you find a good local independent rerunning until Monday. If you’ve never tailer where you can chat to knowledgeable staff. visited before, this gem of a bar is not huge, Recommendations? Well, we are really blessbut is brilliantly stocked with beers from ed here the Westcountry. St Austell Proper Job across the globe. in bottle is 5.5% ABV compared to the 4.5% on draught and an excellent IPA, while for some-

B

[[

Einsteinium is a bit of a mouthful as beer names go (especially if you’ve had one or two already) but this 4.7% Helles lager from Somerset’s Wild Beer Co is a great interpretation of a classic German style. Well balanced, with a lovely grainy mouthfeel, it offers citrus notes and a subtle yeast bite. As far from a bland massproduced keg lager as you can get.

Festival cancelled

Cornwall CAMRA’s spring beer festival, held previously in St Ives and due to move to Penzance this year, has now been cancelled.

The Cornwall committee cites the reasons as “costs and a reduction of attendance” but hopes to find alternative options for future summer festivals.

thing more malty, with fruit and chocolate notes, Branscombe Vale’s Brewer’s Preferred (6%) has superb depth. For something a little more sessionable, Yeovil Ales Star Gazer packs in a lot of flavour for 4% ABV while Quantock Sunraker (4.2%) is extremely pale and very welcome as the days get warmer, offering refreshing pine and lemon notes.

At a recent bottled beer tasting I hosted we tried some tots of BrewDog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32%). Fine for a rare treat, spirit-like and warming, but I’ve seen it on sale in BrewDog bars at £6 a shot. That’s £132 a pint!

Darren Norbury is editor of beertoday.co.uk @beertoday 41

Tim_Beer_Mar05.indd 41

01/03/2016 12:54:23

Eat

Simply Davina!

Confused about carbs? Mum-of-three Davina McCall is on a mission to help clear up the confusion - and dish up some tasty grub in the process. Keeley Bolger tucks in avina McCall has just added a new cookbook to her repertoire. Written out of frustration at the confusing advice surrounding carbohydrates, Davina’s Smart Carbs seeks to simplify the issue.

“It makes total sense; there are smart carbs, ones that are good for us - and there are some very simple changes we can make,” she tells me. These include swapping white bread, rice and pasta for brown varieties (“That’s a no-brainer”) and using sweet potato in place of regular spuds.

Davina, 48, admits she thought her children (Holly, 14, Tilly, 12, and Chesgter, nine) might “baulk” when she first made a chicken crumble with a cauliflower, quinoa and Parmesan topping - but actually they loved it.

“It’s interesting, you think, ‘Oh well, the kids aren’t going to like it’, but the kids have got more adventurous with the new stuff I give them. They’re into trying new things.

“But if two of them like something and one of them doesn’t, I don’t cook them something different - I just say, ‘Have some of the veg and have a bit more of this if you don’t like that’.” Davina is a dab hand in the kitchen, though she admits husband Matthew has been cooking a lot for the kids just lately - when she was out.

“I thought, hang, on how come you only cook when I’m out!” Maybe it’s because her cooking is so good?

D

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Lamb and Aubergine Casserole (serves 4) Ingredients 2 aubergines, cut into 2.5cm cubes Olive oil spray 1tbsp olive oil 1 large onion, finely sliced 600g lean lamb leg or shoulder, trimmed of fat and diced 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1/2tsp ground allspice 1/2tsp ground cumin 1/2tsp ground coriander 1/2tsp cayenne or hot chilli powder 1/4tsp ground cinnamon 400g can of chopped tomatoes 200ml chicken stock or water 1tbsp pomegranate molasses 1tbsp lemon juice Small bunch of parsley, leaves only, to serve Salt and black pepper

Method • Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Put the aubergines in a bowl and spritz them with olive oil spray, then turn them over and

repeat. Spread the aubergines on a baking tray and roast them in the oven for about 20 minutes, until they’re starting to brown.

• Heat the olive oil in a large flameproof casserole dish. Add the sliced onion and cook it slowly over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes, until it’s soft and translucent, then turn up the heat and add the lamb.

Cook until the lamb is well browned, stirring regularly, then reduce the heat and add the garlic and spices.

Season with salt and pepper.

• Add the tomatoes and the stock or water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat, put a lid on the casserole dish and simmer for an hour until the lamb is becoming tender.

Add the aubergines and the pomegranate molasses, cover again and cook for another 30 minutes.

• Remove the lid from the casserole.

If the sauce is very liquid, simmer until it has reduced slightly, then add the lemon juice. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

Baked Plums (serves 4) Ingredients 25g butter, plus extra for greasing 8 ripe plums, halved and stones removed 25g honey 75g ground almonds 25g flaked almonds, plus extra to garnish Seeds from 3 cardamom pods, ground 1/4tsp ground ginger Pinch of cinnamon To serve: 1tbsp honey (optional) 150g creme fraiche or yoghurt

Method • Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Grease an ovenproof dish with a little butter. Place the plums, cut side up, in the dish.

• Put the 25g of honey with the butter in a small saucepan and warm them over a gentle heat until they’ve melted together. Remove

the saucepan from the heat and stir the almonds and spices into the butter and honey. The mixture should be quite crumbly, but it should clump together when squeezed.

• Spoon about a dessertspoon of the mixture into the centre of each plum half. Bake the plums in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until they have completely softened and the topping is golden brown.

• Whisk the honey, if using, into the creme fraiche or yoghurt. Serve the plums with dollops of the sweetened creme fraiche and a few more flaked almonds as a garnish, if you like.

Davina’s Smart Carbs by Davina McCall is published by Orion Books, priced £16.99.

Available now 43

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29/02/2016 15:56:46

Trevaunance Cove

My Secret Westcountry Louise Treseder Louise Treseder is the landlady of The Driftwood Spars, a 16th century pub in St Agnes on the north coast of Cornwall. In her time as landlady, Louise has developed the business to include a brewery, wedding venue, restaurant and accommodation

My favourite:

[[ ‘I hate to give an obvious answer but Trevaunance Cove, where my pub is, is my most loved beach in Cornwall’

Walk: Walking in the Westcountry is one of my favourite pastimes. The coastal path that runs through St Agnes provides stunning views and no matter how many times I walk it, I’m still amazed at the beauty this spot has to offer.

I particularly enjoy walking to Chapel Porth, along the coastal path, and back to St Agnes over St Agnes Beacon.

Potter: Falmouth is packed with cosy pubs Louise Treseder

and quirky shops; I love the town’s atmosphere and will often spend my days off here, enjoying lunch in one of the cafes followed by a pint or

three.

Beach: I hate to give such an

obvious answer but Trevaunance Cove, where my pub is, really is my most loved beach in Cornwall. Throughout the summer I endeavour to swim here at least once a day and never miss the Christmas Day swim! It’s such a pretty beach and is ideal for both surfers and those just looking for somewhere to go for a dip in the summer.

Festival: Whether it’s the Falmouth Oyster Festival, Looe Music Festival or the Eden Sessions I love nothing more than enjoying these great festivals with my friends. The Royal

44

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29/02/2016 14:58:48

People

Falmouth Oyster Festival

Gwel An Mor, Portreath

The Driftwood Spars

Looe Music Festival

Cornwall Show is the event I look forward to the most. I go with our brewer, Pete Martin, and the Cornwall Brewers Alliance and we never fail to have a brilliant time.

Tipple: When it comes to beer, obviously my ideal tipple would be a pint of our own beer, called Lou’s Brew. Named after yours truly, this light and hoppy bitter gets top marks in my book. As for food, nothing can rival a proper Cornish pasty for me, I would have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could. However I’m also a fan of our head chef’s pork belly, with garlic rosemary and thyme roasted potatoes, fresh local vegetables and red wine jus.

Pub: My favourite pub has got to be my own.

I’m always hard at work here at the Driftwood

Spars, whether in the pub or in the brewery. But if I do get a spare hour or two there is nothing better than popping downstairs and catching up with all the lovely locals with a cool pint of Lou’s Brew and maybe listening to some live music.

Restaurant: St Agnes has an abundance of great places to dine out. I would say Number 4 Peterville is my number one. They use seasonal and local produce and support local businesses, something that is important to me both personally and as a business owner.

Way to relax: Living in Trevanaunce Cove, I really am spoilt in terms of all the lovely walks on my doorstep. Walking is a great way to relax.

Whether it’s a brisk walk along the beach or up

on the cliffs I never tire of the views. Nothing more relaxing than a long walk to build up your appetite for Sunday roast.

Shop:

I’m not a fan of shopping and would always rather watch a rugby match. Although I always get my underwear at Trevails of Truro, and really would recommend them for lingerie.

Treat: A swim, sauna and jacuzzi at the Gwel an Mor resort in Portreath.

Secret place: The Taphouse in St Agnes is just up the road from The Driftwood Spars and it has great ambience and lovely music. We’re very lucky with our nightlife in this village. www.driftwoodspars.co.uk 45

MSW_Mar5.indd 45

01/03/2016 12:56:24

My life

man and boy

All in the game Phil Goodwin’s son James, six, finds out about winning and losing

P

[

feared T-rex den (throw a six to get out) before returning home to victory. Monopoly or Risk it is not. At first, the lad turned out to be quite good at it, shaking out endless high numbers and rolling the right ones when he needed them. Beginner’s luck, I told him, when he started gloating. Inevitably, this hot streak came to an end. There were a few bad rolls, even a few attacks from his loving family rivals.

Naturally, that look crept over his face. You know, the upset one, with the little waver in the voice. What was that Kipling line about meeting triumph and disaster and treating those two impostors just the same? I shyed away from a lecture, fearing I might be straying into the tragicomic territory of Mr Sudgen.

The problem was that he had been so triumphant in victory, so gleeful in his dispatch of others to the T-rex den. He had not considered the crashing low of finding himself down and out. So for a while, we went easy on him, giving him time to gather his forces. It was only a game, after all. Then his mum threw a five.

She counted forwards and realised that puts the lad back in the lair. So she counted back (players dictate which direction the T-rex moves) and saw that the opposite move would sink her. She looked at me, then the boy, then her dad… and resolved to commit board game suicide. It was the classic mother’s choice: to save herself or her offspring. She courageously chose self-sacrifice.

The lad was delighted. I thought it was a step too far. But she disagreed, claimed it was her choice and actually fair, considering how nasty she had been so far in the game by attacking the rest of us. ‘I deserved it,’ she said. It was heartwarming to see. But, on the quiet, I do worry she is going to make him soft.

That look crept over his face. The upset one, with the waver in the voice

[

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

main picture: Steve Haywood

ersonally, I don’t buy this supercompetitive dad stuff, although you do come across these fathers who won’t let their kids win as much as a game of tiddlywinks.

You know the line of thought: toughen ’em up, show them the world is no bed of roses, no one is going to hand life to you on a plate, and so on. I suspect these guys take things far too seriously and are just that way naturally. The archetype for these supermen is, of course, the overbearing sports teacher, Mr Sugden, superbly rendered by actor Brian Glover in the football match scene during the brilliant 1969 film Kes. For those unlucky enough never to have seen the movie (you really should), Glover dribbles through a team of skinny kids, wearing spotless Manchester United kit, before triumphantly scoring and celebrating his victory alone. When I first saw the film in the 1980s it seemed to perfectly sum up this, to my mind, antiquated philosophy of child-rearing.

My wife, however – a product of the idealistic Soviet Union – recently went equally as far the other way, taking the art of gentleness and fair play to another level.

James turned six a couple of weeks ago and collected an impressive array of gifts from his mates, including a T-rex board game. During half term, his grandfather came to stay, so we packed in a few family four-handers. It is a simple enough concept: you throw dice, dash around the primeval forest with your herbivors and try to avoid the apex predator and the

46

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29/02/2016 13:54:11

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