West Magazine, October 8 2016

08.10.16

Why life is

sweet

at Killerton House - pg 42

23

Autumn outing ideas

HOW TO:

Hire a fashion stylist

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Celebrate

of Join the party on the 8th & 9th October Visit our website for full details

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‘Thankfully, I didn’t lose track of any rogue shards of glass: they had all helpfully embedded themselves in my palm’ Chris McGuire changes a light bulb, p46

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CORNISH AND COOL A 60s house gets a style update

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‘I’M SO LIKE BRIDGET’ Renee Zellweger spills the beans

[contents[ Inside this week...

6

THE WISHLIST Our pick of the best treats this week

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JUST BETWEEN US...

Sh! Renee Zellweger spills the beans

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THE HORSE WHISPERER Equine therapy in east Devon

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DAYLIGHT ROBBERY? Autumn feel-good solutions to try now

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JUST CHILLING...

Potfuls of goodness to enjoy

THE KING OF TWITTER Meet Exmouth’s (very) funny guy...

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BACK TO THE FUTURE Updating a 1960s Cornish home

26

JUST ASK GRACIE Our style guru solves your problems

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ENGLISH ECCENTRICITY The right way to wear today’s tweed

30

BOOST YOUR WELLBEING Great ways to feel your best this week

33

SMALL BITES What’s hot in the South West foodie world

38

LOW ALCOHOL BEER? Ale guru Darren Norbury gives it a try

42

AN APPLE A DAY Celebrating the harvest at Killerton House

46

D. I. WHY? Chris McGuire puts up shelves. Well, sort of...

42

BEARING FRUIT Apple pressing at Killerton House

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CHEF’S SPECIAL

The brand new Westcountry cookbook

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12

[ welcome [

01.10.16

17

Irresistible foodie finds

WEAR IT NOW:

Must-have kitchens

Velvet luxe

BEST OF FRIENDS

Equine therapy in east Devon

It’s time to celebrate the harvest

by a Somerset design duo

EAK BIG BR MY of Poldark Lewis Peek on the power

can hardly believe it’s a year since I headed off to the beautiful apple orchard at Killerton House in east Devon to have a very enjoyable day out there at their annual apple and cider festival. Together with my family, I watched cider being made in a magnificent old wooden press, had a go at all sorts of fun activities and ate a very scrumptious lunch.

It was such a fun day out.

This year, to flag up the festival, photographer Steven Haywood has created a beautiful set of pictures shot at Killerton, starring the National Trust’s staff - and their apples. Today’s cover girl

I

Tweet

[

of the week

[

[

is Emma Wakeham, who co-ordinates the many volunteers who help make Killerton such a special place. You can see more of Steve’s apple pictures on page 42 today. With thoughts of autumn (and food) in mind, we have a lovely recipe this week from the brandnew Taste of the West Country cookbook (page 36). The ingredients are local, the chefs too, and the combination is truly delicious.

Finally, we have Fran McElhone’s wonderful interview today with equine therapist Michaela Slade, who enlists her adorable four-hooved friends to help people overcome their difficulties. It’s certainly inspirational. Have a lovely weekend.

[

We have thoughts of autumn - and food - in mind this week

@LewisPeek

A massive thank you to @WMNWest @Dawnellis21 & @stevenhaywood1 for the front cover and brilliant article #Poldark

TO ADVERTISE: Contact Cathy Long: 01752 293017 or 07557 576668, clong@dc-media.co.uk

Becky Sheaves, Editor

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

COVER IMAGE: Steven Haywood

MEET THE TEAM Becky Sheaves, Editor

Phil Goodwin

Kathryn Clarke-McLeod

Gillian Molesworth

Cathy Long

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If you buy one thing this week...

Check out the Big Tights Company, which began in Penryn, Cornwall, back in 2007. Spotting a gap in the market for plus-size underwear, owner Laura Murray began making top-quality plus-size tights and lingerie. Big Tights Company now make underwear up to a UK size 33/34. They are much loved by curvy ladies, including the style blogger Georgina Horne (pictured).

Win

We have a £100 voucher for Big Tights Company lingerie to be won. To enter, simply tell us the name of the Cornish town where Big Tights Company is based. Send your answer, together with your full contact details (name, address, phone and email) to Big Tights Competition, westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk to arrive by October 21. Alternatively, you can post your competition entry and full contact details to: Big Tights Competition, West magazine, Queen’s House, Little Queen Street, Exeter EX4 3LJ. Normal terms apply, West magazine will not share your details.

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Leaf cake plate

Pompom bag accessory £7

£50 Amara

M&Co

the

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

Zira jute circular rug £169 The Rug Seller

BRIGHT Woven basket £12.99 HomeSense

ELEGANT Jelva side table £130 Amara

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Wishlist

Roar!

Lion cushion £40 Debenhams

COMFY Luxor chair £229 Very

Store we adore...

Tassel bag £14 Matalan

STORE WE ADORE: Oxfam Bookshop, Exeter WORDS: BETH HALL This quaint bookstore is not what you would expect from a charity shop off of the high street. It’s full of items that have been loved and passed down from owner to owner. Each book feels like it contains a little bit of magic

that allows you to be immersed into a completely new world. The shop workers are always happy to help you find the perfect book for you, no matter what your preferred style.

Oxfam, South Street, Exeter

Cord bracelet £150 Links of London

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talking points Gillian Molesworth

Story of my life...

Ponies = privilege?

Well, maybe... onies come with the stigma of privilege. It is true that ponies cost a lot of money. Not just to buy: to house, and feed, and shoe, and treat when something goes wrong.

Maybe that’s why many nonhorsey people resent pony owners legs running in midair. a little bit, especially girls. They Pony handling calls for subtlethink that a girl that owns a pony, ty, and brains, and the judgement or who rides a lot, is spoiled. A to know when to be gentle, and stereotype jumps into your imwhen to “man up” and assert your agination: something like Roald authority.

Dahl’s Veruca Salt.

That’s before you’re even riding I’ve been getting to know some it. There’s an old adage that you’ll of the pony girls, as I take my not be a good horseman until daughter to different Pony Club you’ve fallen off seven times. It’s a events over the past few months. long way to the ground when you Privileged they may be, but you’d fall off a horse. Snapped collarbe pushed to find bones are a common a finer group of rider’s injury, but it hardworking, could be a shoulder, Privileged they brave, and tough or an elbow, or a may be, but you’d little people anywrist. Or just conbe pushed to find where. cussion.

It’s true that for An uninjured a finer group of a show, riders are rider will be encourhardworking, dressed rather aged to get back up prissily – hey, it’s again – don’t let the brave and tough tradition. But it horse get away with little people takes many hours it. When you’ve had anywhere of cleaning and a shock like that, it polishing to get takes a great deal that way. For both of courage to get you and the horse… it takes a lot back on, and to repair what went of work, and those girls put in the wrong. graft.

Last but not least are the less A pony, once it arrives in your pleasant elements of horse ownlife, doesn’t act like the pony in ership. Dog owners are used to your imagination. They all have carrying plastic bags in their their idiosyncrasies. Perhaps pockets to clean up after their your pony refuses to be caught, animals: with a horse it’s on a far and you have to chase it around grander scale. You need a shovel the field for hour after frustrating and a wheelbarrow. hour.

Pony owners need to be strong Once it’s in, it might not stand physically and mentally, patient, to be tacked up, or give you a little and willing to put in long hours to nip or step on your foot - ouch. I’ve see to your pony’s comfort before seen a child’s pony lift its head your own. Veruca Salt would and career around a field dangling never have the wherewithal. Hail, a grown man from a lead rope, Pony Club girls everywhere!

P

LOVELY

in lace

At the Poldark series two premiere in St Austell, Eleanor Tomlinson looked chic in a pretty cream and nude mini dress. Her accessories included tan suede heels and a Hill and Friends handbag, not to mention her gorgeous on-screen husband Aidan Turner.

The dress is by French label Sandro and costs £290 from Selfridges. Alternatively you can pick up one of our style steals from the high street for half the price.

EXACT MATCH Sandro Peaches lace dress £290 Selfridges

steal her

style

OR MAKE IT YOUR OWN

OPTION A Fitted Catrina floral lace bodycon dress £25 PrettyLittleThing

OPTION B Flirty Lipsy Love Michelle Keegan high neck dress £65 Lipsy

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.

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08.10.16

Just

SPEAK UP, JESSICA! Former Downton Abbey actress JESSICA BROWN FINDLAY has signed up to star in a new London production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

The actress, a former model who shot to fame as Lady Sybil Crawley, will play the tragic Ophelia in the Almeida Theatre production. Sherlock star Andrew Scott will be her troubled paramour Hamlet and actress Juliet Stevenson will play his mother Gertrude in the play.

Let’s hope Ophelia’s lines will be easier to hear than Jessica’s performance in the infamously mumbling Jamaica Inn, which sparked more than 2000 complaints to the BBC for its hard-to-understand “Cornish” accents back in 2014. Speak up, Jess!

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

!

‘I’M SO LIKE

[ [

BRIDGET!’

‘Sorry Simon, I’m doing it my way these days’

ZAYN’S NEW DIRECTION Simon Cowell has blasted ZAYN MALIK for developing a TV show inspired by One Direction - without consulting him first. Zayn, who quit the boy band last year to go solo, is reportedly set to executive produce a scripted TV series called Boys.

But music mogul Simon told Enter-

between us

tainment Today: “I think he should have come to me with it, if I’m being honest with you.”

And then Simon added candidly: “I like everyone who’s got ambition but I’m not going to lie, there’s always part of me that thinks they should give it to me.”

RENEE ZELLWEGER has said she relates to her on-screen character Bridget Jones because she too has made “bad choices” in her own life.

The Hollywood actress is back as the beloved singleton in Bridget Jones’s Baby. The third movie in the series finds heroine Bridget unexpectedly pregnant and unsure who is the father of the child.

Zellweger, 47, told Radio Times that people respond to Bridget’s character because everybody occasionally makes the wrong decisions.

She said: “I’ve been naive over the years, and I’ve said silly things, and I’ve made bad choices in all areas of my life.

“That’s why Bridget is so relatable. We all make mistakes but we just get on with it.” Absolutely.

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Famous: Gary Stringer from Reef sang at the cider festival held at Healeys Cyder Farm in north Cornwall

In charge: Lt Cdr Chris Hughes is the new commanding officer at RNAS Culdrose

in pictures Fresh air: The National Trust’s first South West Outdoor Festival was a lot of fun on Exmoor Pride: Richard Austin took this picture of lioness Indu playing football at Paignton Zoo

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talking points A HISTORY

of the

WEST in

100

objects 15: THE HEMBURY BOWL

The best way to:

Found in east Devon, made of Cornish clay in about 3500 BC

REFRESH YOUR WARDROBE Stuck in a style rut? A personal fashion stylist can help you get your wardrobe back on track • The Image Consulting Co: Emmeline Stevens offers personal styling, as well as organising fashion shoots and shows. She and her team have all the skills to take your look from drab to fab. Her company, The Image Consulting Co, is based in Bath but they are happy to travel across the South West. www. theimageconsultingcompany.co.uk • Maggi Green, Image Consultant: Maggi Green is a trained image consultant with 20 years’ experience in the fashion and retail industries. A wardrobe management session with Maggi, who is based in Devon, is priced at £50 per hour and a minimum of three hours is required. www.maggigreen.co.uk.

•

Colour Me Beautiful: With consultants based across the South West, national company Colour Me Beautiful offers a range of services including image consultation, colour consultation, style consultation and makeup lessons. www. colourmebeautiful.co.uk •

Pat Ayerst, Image Consultant: Pat Ayerst is an award winning image consultant based in the South West who offers personal shopping, style consultation and colour auditing.

Pat believes looking great is not limited to age, size, shape or income. Whether you shop at Primark or Prada, she guarantees to make you look and feel your best. A personal style consultation with Pat is priced at £150 for two hours. www.patayerst.co.uk

Julien Parsons is the Senior Collections Officer, The Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter.

He says: This elegant bowl was reconstructed from fragments found at the neolithic site of Hembury near Honiton. At over 5,500 years old, it is among the earliest ceramic vessels surviving from southern Britain.

Archaeologists can appear obsessive when it comes to their pottery. You can’t blame them – on many prehistoric sites the leather, wood, cloth and basketry that was the stuff of life has long since decayed, leaving only flint, bone and pottery. They need to make the best of what survives.

In the late 1960s microscopic

analysis of mineral particles in the Hembury pottery revealed the presence of a rock called gabbro.

This proved the clay did not come from Devon but from the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. So either the clay or the finished bowls were transported over 130 miles from St Keverne to a hilltop near Honiton.

But why go to the bother of importing pottery from so far away?

Surely other clay was available locally? We need to reconsider the find spot. Hembury was a causewayed enclosure – a special type of prehistoric earthwork which seems to have been reserved for seasonal gatherings, ceremonies or ritual activity.

I imagine the origin of the clay was crucial - not just to pedantic archaeologists but to the people who used the Hembury bowl.

#15 This bowl is 5,500 years old

On display in Gallery 3, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter Competition winner: Congratulations to Mrs Elizabeth Hutchings of Kingsbridge who wins a luxury trip for two to Exeter Races, with thanks to Exeter Racecourse (www.exeter.thejockeyclub.co.uk)

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People

soul mates Can horses make you happy? Therapist Michaela Slade certainly believes so, as she explains to Fran McElhone ichaela Slade is convinced that time spent with horses can be healing for us humans. So much so, that she offers special therapy sessions in which her clients to come to terms with their deepest worries and fears, thanks to the presence of some very loveable four-hooved friends.

“I had a client who was feeling incredibly isolated. He had been so all through his life, both emotionally and physically, and he had no one to show him affection,” Michaela, 37, explains.

“So when he came to see me, I started off with a simple exercise that involved just spending some time with a pony in its field. We’d only being doing the exercise for a couple of minutes when a pony walked over and put its head on the man’s chest. He just burst into tears. It was absolutely beautiful to watch.”

Michaela, who lives in Crewkerne, Somerset, works with ponies at an equestrian centre near Colyton in east Devon. Some of her clients, after being with the horses, have felt able to disclose traumatic things they’ve kept bottled up for the first time ever in their lives.

“I worked with a young girl who has extreme behavioural difficulties,” she continues. “Her life is through the roof at the moment, really difficult. She has very high energy and a lot of anger, but finally, after four sessions, she made contact with the horse and just sat for ages, plaiting its mane.

photography: Steve Haywood

M

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“It sounds so simple, but this was a massive deal for her. The horse knew she needed to relax and she needed to bring her energy levels down so this connection could happen. He just lay on his side in the stable to allow her to do this.”

Michaela is a trained counsellor, youth worker and Reiki practitioner. And with her enduring love of horses, becoming what is known as an equine-assisted psychotherapist was “a natural next step”, she tells me.

Equine-facilitated therapy is based on the principles of Native American horsemanship, a belief that human and horse are equal and can work together in partnership.

“We give off and pick up on energy vibrations when we interact, and horses, as incredibly sensitive beings, can sense this far better than we humans can,” Michaela explains.

“A horse will often play out what’s in your subconscious, which a lot of the time it is something you’re not even aware of. So you could be with a horse and it will be able to sense an emotion that you haven’t dealt with, like anger.

“We store our emotions in our bodies. People think our minds and bodies are separate but

they’re not at all. When you feel happy or sad, you can feel it in your stomach, or tense your jaw for example. Often, we’re not aware of the physical signs, but we are emitting that energy.

“Horses are ideal for this type of therapy because of their sensitivity,” she continues. “When I walk into the field where my horse is with the intention of, ‘I’m coming to get you’, she’ll run away. But when I go in just to do other things, often she’ll come over to me.

Michaela has worked with people with anxiety, depression, addiction, autism and eating disorders. And the therapy she offers can help people build trust, develop communication, manage their anxiety levels and moderate their emotions. Healing occurs on a psychological, emotional and spiritual level.

Michaela works with the ponies at the Mini Munchkins Shetland Rescue Centre in the rolling pastures bordering the pretty town of Colyton in east Devon. The centre was set up in 2014 and obtained charity status last year. A percentage of the fee for a session of therapy goes to the centre to support the ponies.

There are, she explains, “deeply personal” reasons underpinning her own decision to turn to

‘We give off and pick up energy vibrations.

Horses, as incredibly sensitive beings, sense this far better than us’

counselling and therapy as a career. She experienced a traumatic time in her own life when she was just 16. After a family breakdown, with only the clothes she was standing in, she found herself homeless and had to move into a bedsit near Yeovil, surviving on just £38 a week. But after working as a carer for the elderly and a chef in local pubs, her inherent desire to help others - “I was always the one to stand up to the bullies at school” – gave her the focus to take her A-levels, while supporting herself financially. This led on to her undertaking a course at Bristol University to qualify as a counsellor.

“Finding myself on my own at 16 was a very difficult time of my life,” she says. “But I wouldn’t change a thing about it because it was part of the journey to get here. And it’s been worth it to be in a position to help other people.”

As for horses, Michaela, who has shared ownership of a 20-year-old cob called Poppet, has always adored them. “I can remember when I was a kid,” she continues. “Every time I blew a dandelion clock and made a wish, it was always to have my own horse. I would play games in my garden, cantering around on my imaginary horse for hours and hours. I would take every opportunity to be around horses. My life’s ambition was to have my own horse.

“Our lives have become disconnected from nature, when actually we’re part of the wider eco-system. If we all spent more time in nature, and with horses, I think we’d all feel a lot better.” www.horseandsoul.co.uk

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People

Michaela offers therapy based on working with ponies in east Devon

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the Man of the Moment Artist, film-maker and Twitter joker, Exmouth’s Moose Allain is quite a character, Chris McGuire discovers he first thing Moose Allain offers me is a towel – he’s that kind of guy. Embarrassingly, I arrive at his door sweating buckets having decided to cycle to his east Devon home, without realising the entire journey would be uphill. Guided inside, I stumble into the kitchen; where I collapse into a chair. Coffee is proffered and after a few glugs I feel more like myself again.

Moose is kind enough to give me time to regain my composure, while his wife, Karen, soothes my embarrassment by explaining that even Marines they’ve known struggled climbing the nearby Exmouth hills. A likely story, but it’s gratefully received.

As soon as it’s clear I’m no longer feeling faint, conversation begins in earnest.

Moose Allain is a big, avuncular fellow. His naturally serious face regularly erupts into gales of laughter that are as contagious as they are welcome. I’m immediately at home in his (clearly family-orientated) house – it’s that kind of place. I’ve long been interested in Moose, seeing him as part of the vanguard

T

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photography: Steve Haywood

Interview

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of creatives who moved west and capitalised on the opportunities for non-centralised working offered by the internet, social media and new technologies. So, it seems sensible to begin with the life in London he and Karen left behind: “I just think I’d had enough of it. I felt very creatively frustrated,” he explains. Moose, 53, had been a successful architect, working on high profile projects including the regeneration of the King’s Cross area and the London Olympic bid. “Architecture was a very macho profession, you know?

The ethic is you work until eight or nine o’clock at night, day in day out – which is fine, but I had a young family. I needed to collect my son from nursery at half-past-five.

It just wasn’t a good fit anymore.” Similarly Karen, 50, now the business brains behind Moose’s artistic career, had been a successful buyer for retail chains but was looking for something new. Moose’s face lightens when talk moves to the escape plan they hatched together. “We both agreed to give up our jobs and start trying to do something creative. I’m still incredibly grateful to her for allowing me to do that.”

Devon, an old stomping ground – he first met Karen when she was studying at Exeter University – was to be the landing site for this leap of faith. Moose becomes notably animated in recalling this time of uncertainty. “So we moved down here with no real plan of what we were going to do. We’re weren’t too worried, we knew it’s a lovely place to bring up kids. A return to a good life. I just thought ‘I’m going to do something creative, but I don’t know what that’s going to be’.”

Time and again, Moose, one of life’s natural raconteurs, takes the conversation off on a comic diversion, leaving us both in howls of laughter – so much so I forget about my incredibly damp postcycling predicament.

Finally corralled back to the story he is telling, Moose explains that he rediscovered his latent love of drawing, but success didn’t happen overnight – far from it. In fact, although they loved Devon life, there was a time when Karen and Moose were concerned about their decision to follow their dream. They were working hard but the reality that they might need to get jobs loomed large. Even the success of several ranges of

‘We agreed to give up our jobs, move to Devon

and try something creative’

greetings cards produced by a publisher wasn’t enough to support them financially: “After a year or so, we were both like: ‘Oh my God, what have we done?’”

But then Priscilla Carluccio, sister of Terence Conran, gave Moose and Karen the confidence they needed. At a time when they were doubting their venture, Priscilla saw Moose’s large scale ‘Little Men’ drawings and wanted them for her Knightsbridge shop. Years later, it’s still clear the relief this moment created: “It was such a big turning point. Someone with such an amazing design background liking what we were doing. It validated it and made us think we weren’t completely mad.”

Years of hard work followed as Moose’s pieces were exhibited both in the Westcountry and across the nation. It was during this time – with Karen often away selling his work – that Twitter came into Moose’s life. “I was looking after two little boys and didn’t really go out, then I started chatting to people on Twitter.” This desire to socialise on a burgeoning medium took Moose to a global audience. “I’d be drawing away and bits of word play and puns would drop into my head, so I’d go to my computer and tweet them.

Then, after a while, I’d notice people were enjoying them and sharing them around.”

Moose now has more than 70,000 followers all around the world. It would be true to say that Moose is a pioneer in social media and the

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Interview

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Interview

Twitter favourites

Moose Allain @MooseAllain

Does Sean Connery like herbs?

Yes but only partially.

Moose Allain @MooseAllain

“Help! I can’t get my jogging trousers off!”

“We’ll have to perform an emergency trackybottomy” Moose Allain @MooseAllain

“I’ve bought a model of Mount Everest” “Is that to scale?”

“No, just to look at” Moose Allain @MooseAllain

Russian dolls are so full of themselves.

Moose Allain @MooseAllain

In the UK we call them lifts but in the US they call them elevators, because we’re raised differently.

freedoms it brings. The star of TV’s Pointless quiz show, Richard Osman, recently described Moose as “The Undisputed King of Twitter”: “Once you’ve got a taste for having an immediate contact with an audience,” says Moose, “you start thinking, what else can I do to entertain them?

“I started to write little improvised short stories – they would just develop live in front of an audience. I was doing cartoons. Then I discovered Vine and thought I can do animation – so I did.”

Moose shies away from the word “celebrity” but admits that he is an online public figure. “It’s a weird thing. I’m not a celebrity, but I have to acknowledge that I do have some sort of fame.

To have 70,000 plus followers on Twitter is quite unusual, especially if you’re not a celebrity who’s brought their following from somewhere else.”

Moose colours an endearing shade of red as he speaks – it’s clear it’s the desire to be creative and communicate, not the quest for limelight, that drives him. Perhaps that’s why the relative anonymity of Twitter – a largely written medium – is such a good fit?

Now that I’m suitably dry (with the help of the towel), Moose offers me a view of his studio.

So we climb to the very top of his home – a little too much exertion for my liking. In the attic lies Moose’s work space – a satisfyingly un-pristine area where you can almost hear the echo from years of ink nib scratching and the tap-tap of Tweets long posted.

I catch a glimpse of Moose’s computer, the origin of so many hilarious Tweets, and find the ‘@’ key is, predictably, worn.

Moose and Karen have never looked back.

They’ve built a business, utilising the internet and social media, that allows them be both creative and successful while living here in Devon: “It’s a great place to bring up kids, just a magical place to live.”

As ever, guided by Karen’s impressive hand, there’s a lot going on for Moose. Recent highlights include cartoons for Private Eye, illustrations for a Pointless book and scripting a music video for hit British band Elbow. What does the future hold? Ever the innovator, Moose is working on a crowdfunded book: “The concept behind it is what am I thinking about? It’s like my Twitter feed, a mixture of words, jokes, short stories, cartoons.” Other projects include a collection of cartoons, while Moose’s “Fill Me In” posters, full of characters holding placards waiting for messages (a quirky alternative take on a wedding guest book), remain a favourite.

As I feel the end of my time with him approach, there’s something about Moose that still intrigues me: his name. I decide to bite the bullet. “So why are you called Moose? What’s your real name?” It’s clear that this question is expected. If our conversation was on Twitter I might find myself answered with a #noneofyourbusiness hashtag. “My family are very ‘nicknamey’,” he explains “I’ve got a sister called ‘Bear’, another called ‘Pig’ and my mum was called ‘Chicken’. We were just one of those families where names stick.”

And his real name?

I’m met with a raised eyebrow. I decide to leave it there. There are some things about Moose that should remain a mystery. www.worldofmoose.com

‘I do have some sort of

fame. To have 70,000

Twitter followers is unusual’

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interiors

36

recipes

34

42

eat

events 21

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03/10/2016 11:27:48

Back to the future Sarah Pitt finds out how a flair for design brought colour and character to a ‘modern’ 1960s house in Cornwall rowing up in a 1960s property that her parents built themselves, Gaynor Coley knew the advantages of modern open-plan design and unfussy clean lines.

But she never thought that she’d come back home, style-wise, to her childhood. That all changed, though, six years ago - when she bought her own 1960s home, a house called Penequindle, in north Cornwall.

Fresh from renovating a Victorian cottage in Egloshayle, part of Wadebridge, she surprised herself when she fell for this comparatively “plain” house in the same village.

“It was quite a blank canvas when I bought it,” she says. “I used to jokingly call it ‘the ugliest house in the village’, because it was so very plain; big and nice and bright, but very plain.”

She could, though, see the potential in the spacious rooms and thoughtful layout. She has since set about adding character with structural alterations, while making the most of the space and light.

G

“The first thing I did was put a porch on the front, which also gave me a study and an ensuite bathroom. I had cladding put on the outside to give it more personality and I also gave it ‘eyebrows’ over the upstairs windows on the back, overlooking the garden.”

Working with “absolutely fantastic” builders Beaumont Construction from Newquay, she also oversaw internal changes, including a fireplace and chimney breast in the living room with alcove shelves either side. A master stroke, too, was taking down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, to let in more light and views of the garden.

As former managing director of the Eden Project (and partner of its founder Tim Smit) Gaynor is no stranger to big construction projects. She was determined to enjoy this one, closer to home.

“The house was designed to feel spacious, light, welcoming and bomb-proof,” she says. “I wasn’t able to have kids but I love them and have masses of nephews, nieces, godchildren and step-

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Interiors

children. I wanted them all to feel comfortable and at home.

“The house is just half a mile from the Camel River and Camel Trail, so we are always traipsing in with canoes and bikes as well as surfboards, body boards and wetsuits. The slate and oak floors are ideal for this – all the sand and water is gone with one flip of a mop!”

The décor and furnishings in the house reflect Gaynor’s joyful and relaxed spirit. She has chosen a palette of her favourite Farrow & Ball colours, which she’d previously used in the Victorian cottage she restored. The guest bedroom is painted in her favourite shade Pale Powder, to reflect the sea and sky on a fine day on a Cornish beach. “The idea is to make people feel relaxed and that they are on holiday.”

In the sitting room, Gayle has chosen an upLush lampshades in bright colours and different lifting impressionistic seascape by a favourite designs, which hang over the dining room table.

Cornish artist, Ellen Watson, reflecting it in furThe sense of fun continues in the kitchen with nishings including a purple armchair and tur1960s stools reupholstered and painted bright quoise cushions. “I like bringing colours by a local designer. The landscapes into the interior and slate worktops and units were doing something that is a bit Vicrepurposed by the builders, ‘It was quite a torian, matching the colourways who also used their ingenuity to blank canvas in the room with the colours in build Gayle a breakfast bar from the artwork,” says Gaynor. “In wood sourced inexpensively when I bought it. this painting, there are turfrom a sawmills near CardinI used to jokingly quoises, purples and sandy colham Woods. ours, and I’ve used them all in “It has a wavey edge, the natucall it ‘the ugliest the room.” ral edge where the trunk meets house in the Her love of colour can be seen the bark,” says Gaynor. “We village’ - it was so throughout the house. Particuhunted and hunted for the right larly eye-catching are the three piece. We were getting ridicuvery plain’ lous quotes like £3,000 then Bob, from the builders, said ‘let’s go to the wood yard near Bodmin Parkway station, and they had a lovely piece of seasoned pine. It looks a million dollars and you would never think it cost just £150. I love a bargain!”

Another quirky original touch is provided by the limestone tiles with ammonites embedded them, perhaps quarried from the Dorset coast, which feature in Gaynor’s ensuite bathroom. “It isn’t a huge area, so I thought I could justify the expense,” she says. The walls of the bathroom are painted an aqua blue. “It is like the blue of the Isles of Scilly.”

The spaciousness of the house was what attracted Gaynor in the first place – she can sleep 14 people here - and often does for parties and get-togethers. “I love taking a space that looks unpromising and bringing it to life,” she says.

“It’s what we did with the Eden Project on a different scale, I guess!”

Penequindle is for sale with Cole, Rayment & White at £645,000, wwww.crw.co.uk

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GET THE

LOOK

Blossom lampshade £40 The Maker Place

Colour and texture can add a sense of fun to your home

Mirror £29.99 HomeSense

Cushion £95 The Maker Place

Dining chair £389 Houseology

Duvet set £120 Dasiy Park

fave!

Sofa £599 Very

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Ask Gracie...

Want to look your best this week? Our styling expert Gracie Stewart of Exeter can help you achieve your fashion potential. All you have to do is ask...

Capri Rush spring suit £211 www.duskii.com

Saint Tropez spring suit £169 www.duskii.com 26

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Q

Seeking surf style

I’m a female surfer based in Cornwall and I’m looking for a new wetsuit but I can’t find anything that fits or flatters my curvy figure, do you have any ideas? JS, Bude Having grown up on the beautiful beaches of New Zealand and with a marine biologist for a boyfriend I spend a lot of time in the water so I can completely relate to your dilemma. At 5ft tall I get shop assistants trying to squeeze me into kids’ wetsuits, which never make it up past my childbearing hips. However, I have recently become a huge fan of an Australian activewear brand called Duskii. Crafted I get shop using the highest quality assistants trying neoprene, Duskii offers to squeeze mix-and-match suits and me into kids’ separates that are light, warm, thin, supple and wetsuits, which stretchy. Each piece also never make provides varying levels it up past my of thermal comfort while childbearing hips flattering and sculpting all body shapes.

[[

La Kasbah surf suit £219 www.duskii.com

30/09/2016 13:25:00

Gracie’s shopping list Is beauty sleep a myth?

Q

Pixi Beauty Sleep cream £24 Marks & Spencer

Is beauty sleep actually a real thing or something the industry made up to sell products? PW, Ottery St Mary

“I need to catch up on my beauty sleep” I’m sure we’ve all said it or heard it at one time or another, typically with a hint of sarcasm. But there’s no joke about it: beauty sleep is real.

The body’s production of the human growth hormone increases during sleep.

This hormone increases collagen production and repairs DNA damage caused by UV rays and environmental pollution.

Adequate sleep is also necessary for the liver’s natural detoxification process, which is critical for skin health. When the liver cannot properly detox toxins and hormones, the body will try to get rid of them via the skin, damaging cells and causing inflammation, adult acne and premature ageing of the skin. So it’s true - sleep on it!

Elemis night cream £85 Debenhams

Ren Wake Wonderful night facial £32 Marks & Spencer

Lumie Bodyclock Starter 30, £59.95, John Lewis If you’re not a morning person, this daylight lamp is just what you need. It wakes you with a gradually brightening 30-minute “sunrise” - so when you open your eyes you feel awake and refreshed.

How to join the jet set What is the perfect airport outfit? HS, Torquay While comfort is key, looking chic is essential, too. Classic looks such as girlfriend jeans, trench coats and trainers work well but if you want to look a little more sophisticated, why not try a comfy jersey dress with lowheeled boots or a jumpsuit and pointed flats?

Regardless of your personal style, there are a few tips and tricks you should adhere to when trying to achieve the perfect airport outfit.

• No chunky metal jewellery - you’ll only have to take it all off and put it all on again to go through security.

• For long flights always pack snug socks so that you can whip off your shoes and stick them on as soon as you

Q

Herringbone jersey dress £110 Jigsaw

Pointed boots £69 Topshop

take off.

• Layers are key to any successful and comfortable flight. Bring a scarf that can double up as a blanket or pillow for super snugness (especially if it’s long haul).

• Because of the change in air pressure and awful plane food, it’s not uncommon for your stomach to bloat, so make sure you don’t wear anything too tight.

• It sounds silly to have two bags, but have a small cross-body bag like this one from Oliver Bonas (£34) for your important stuff (phone, passport, boarding pass, purse) and then a bag for a jumper, book, iPad and liquids to go in your overhead locker. It makes travel SO much easier.

Nathalie Bond Organics Winter Candle £13.50 (120ml) /£22.50 (180ml), www. nathaliebond.com Containing sweet orange, clove, cinnamon and pine, this special edition candle captures natural winter aromas and brings them into the warmth of the home.

With simple but stylish packaging, the Winter Candle is a smart addition to any mantelpiece.

Forget Me Not Parrot bag, £167, www.forgetme-not.paris Add a little fun and colour to your outfit with this bright bag. Handmade in France, it features one inside zipped pocket, lamb leather fringing and a metal brass chain with a gold finish.

Got a style or beauty question? Email Gracie Stewart at westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk with the subject Ask Gracie

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Fashion

Check wrap skirt £30 Next Blanket cape £49.99 Bonprix

Heritage check trousers £18 F&F Galway boots £299 Dubarry of Ireland Haze check mini skirt £120 Jigsaw

Dogtooth pencil skirt £19.99 Bonprix

Tartan dress £39 Miss Selfridge

Pearlwort blazer £349 Dubarry of Ireland

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Brit

Tweed gloves £8 George at ASDA

arbour jackets, leather riding boots and cable knits: start digging out your countryside staples and embracing the great outdoors because the heritage trend is big news for autumn. From the catwalks of Paul Smith and Topshop to ‘it girl’ Alexa Chung, traditional British country tweeds and houndstooth checks are moving into stylish new territory. Try clashing multiple tartans and oversized plaids for a playful take on English eccentricity.

True

B

Grey coat £79 Marks & Spencer

Jacket £149 Eastex 29

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Wellbeing

the boost

Life just got better. Our wellness guru Charlotte Dear has handpicked the latest health secrets and expert advice to help you be your best self, everyday

FURRY FRIENDS Fancy a quick getaway? Whether you’re looking for a romantic break for two or a dog-friendly trip with your four-legged friend, The Greenbank Hotel on Falmouth’s waterfront is the perfect place to relax and recharge - and your pet can come too. Walk your dog along the hotel’s beach at low tide and explore the cobbled streets before heading home feeling totally refreshed - oh and there’s a hotel spa! www.greenbank-hotel.co.uk

Sleep on it As winter looms and night becomes longer than day, research suggests that a growing number of us will be suffering from insomnia, fatigue and lower moods due to a lack of natural daylight. Try natural remedies like cutting out caffeine, separating work and play, stocking up on magnesium-rich foods, writing to-do lists and breathing calming essential oils before bed.

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A LITTLE OF WHAT YOU FANCY Monday 10 October marks the start of Chocolate Week 2016, but despite its bad reputation indulging in this tasty treat shouldn’t necessarily lead to guilty pangs. On the contrary, tucking into a square or two of plain chocolate each night – such as Dorset’s Chococo or Cornwall’s Kernow Chocolate – can have positive influences on our health such as preventing memory decline, lowering heart disease risk and improving skin condition – all in moderation though, remember.

Brain train!

GOING GREEN? How much “green exercise” do you work into your routine? According to Natural England, more than eight million adults in England do some every week, from dog walking to running, horse riding to cycling, all in natural surroundings, which amounts to health benefits worth £2.2 billion per year. Here in the South West, we have lots of opportunities to go green - what are you waiting for?

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

A study carried out by Oxford University has revealed that evening classes can improve both mental and physical health. Creative writing, singing, crafts and sports can all have a positive motivational influence on our wellbeing through forming relationships, building skills and achieving new goals. Dartington in south Devon offers everything from printmaking and woodworking to life drawing. www.dartington.org

@WMNWest or email westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk 31

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Wellbeing

Can Stoptober work for you?

Our expert advice on quitting smoking this month I’m trying to give up smoking during the “Stoptober” NHS campaign. It’s not easy – have you got any advice to help me make it to the end of the month? SA, Redruth

Q

Lavina Ramlington of the NHS stop smoking service, says: I have seen first-hand how Stoptober can really bolster people’s motivation when quitting.

At this time of year, people have come back from holidays and are getting stuck back into work etc; I think it’s a great time to try and quit. And as the campaign slogan says: if you can stay smokefree for 28 days, then you’re five times more likely to stay smoke-free for life.

There’s also a real positivity in knowing you’re not alone in your efforts. Thousands of other people have taken the 28-day pledge too, and are going through the challenge at the same time. It is like there’s something in the air and there’s lots of chat going on on Facebook and things like that, which encourages people to keep going.

While there are people who’ve successfully quit smoking entirely by their own means, whether through going cold turkey or self-managing the process with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, statistics show you’re far more likely to kick the habit for good by roping in some

support - and there’s lots out there. they’re stressed, they can’t just ‘switch off’ feelThere is a range of free support that can go ing stressed. But being prepared, and having a direct to your phone, laptop or tablet via the Stopplan of action in place, will make the world of tober app, a daily email service or Facebook Mesdifference. I usually suggest people take up new senger bot. The new Stoptober interests, so you’ve got other website also has advice and healthy options to counteract information on stop smoking boredom, such as going to the services and quitting aids. gym, doing crosswords or garTake up new Everyone is different and dening - anything where you the NHS services are designed can develop a new passion or interests, so to offer a tailored approach, hobby to focus on, and help you’ve got other so you can find the solution you overcome the ingrained that’s going to work for you, habit of smoking. healthy options including one-on-one sesThings like having your to counteract sions, advice about the best blood carbon-monoxide levels boredom - the types of NRT for you, as well recorded (in a breath test) can as guidance on changing bebe a massive motivator too. gym, crosswords haviour patterns and habits Most people are quite suror gardening in order to cope with cravings prised to see they have carbon and avoid ‘triggers’. monoxide readings coming It’s a good idea to identify out quite high, depending on your own particular triggers how many cigarettes they’re for lighting up, things like smoking a day - and then how boredom, social triggers, stress and anxiety. It’s quickly they drop! Soon you will start to find you vital to have strategies in place for when triggers can breathe easier and sleep better at night. arise - which they inevitably will. After all, if Search ‘Stoptober’ online for free support to help somebody usually reaches for a cigarette when you quit, or visit www.nhs.uk

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SMALL BITES Our pick of what’s on in the Westcountry food world right now Dinner is served

All very Wells...

Proving its popularity last year, Wells Food Festival is back for its second year in the historic Market Square on Sunday October 9. In the heart of rural Somerset you can take part in foraging walks, attend a vintage tea-party and enter the cake competition in true country style. Pick up some goodies at the artisan producers market too. www.wellsfoodfestival.co.uk

MAIN PICTURE: MATT AUSTIN

Tim Maddams, the chef, food writer and cookery teacher is hosting a special pop-up restaurant on October 15. Tim, who is one of River Cottage’s best-known chefs, will be hosting an exclusive pop-up restaurant in The Gallery Cafe in Barnstaple to tie in with North Devon FoodFest. If you love unusual, tasty and seasonal food, then this is the supper club for you. The menu will be a surprise, but will comprise of three courses of seasonal, regional food accompanied by wine and followed by coffee. Tickets are £60 per person and more information can be found at www.northdevontheatres.org.uk.

The world of oysters

An Apple A Day

Falmouth’s Events Square will play host to one of the region’s biggest and best loved specialist food festivals, Falmouth Oyster Festival, from Thursday October 13 – Sunday October 16. The annual festivities celebrate the start of the oyster dredging season, the native Fal Oyster and the diversity of Cornish seafood, with four days of feasting, cooking demos, live music, food and craft stalls. www.falmouthoysterfestival.co.uk.

Taking place on October 28 is Apple Day at Clovelly in north Devon. Bring a bag of apples, watch them being pressed, and taste the juice outside Clovelly Visitor Centre, or bring more for pasteurisation and bottling.

On entry to the beautiful village of Clovelly children can also enjoy apple games, crafts and an apple modelling competition with prizes. For details visit www.clovelly.co.uk

Got some foodie news? Let us know on westmag@westernmorningnews.co.uk 33

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PHOTOGRAPHY: MATT AUSTIN

Wellbeing

Naturally Bridie’s

Chilling Chia Seed Pot

Bridie Nicol says: This pot of goodness can really help our skin to glow and boost defence mechanisms. The warm cinnamon spice is a powerhouse for antibacterial properties and is linked to balancing blood sugar levels. With antiviral properties the antioxidants, vitamin C and iron in passionfruit seeds help to boost the immune system.

You will need: ¼ tsp pumpkin seeds ¼ tsp sunflower seeds ¼ tsp alfalfa seeds ¼ tsp sesame seeds 6-8 raspberries 150ml milk or rice milk 3 tbsp chia seeds ¼ tsp cinnamon @naturally_bridie

Method: ½ tsp vanilla bean 2 passionfruit 2 tbsp Greek yogurt or natural yogurt 1 peach 3 strawberries Handful pomegranate seeds

1.

Mix pumpkin, sunflower, alfalfa and sesame seeds together in a medium size jar and throw in the raspberries on top.

2.

In a cup pour in the milk, chia seeds and cinnamon. Scrape out the inner part of the vanilla bean and add this in. Keep stirring until the chia seeds have expanded, which will only take a couple of minutes.

3.

Pour the chia seed mix on top of the raspberries. Place into the fridge for ten minutes to set.

4.

Scrape out the seeds from the passionfruits. Take the jar out of the fridge and pour this into the jar on top of the chai seed mix.

5.

Blend the yogurt and chopped peach (removing the stone first!) and spoon on top of the passionfruit creating a layer effect.

6.

Cut the strawberries into slices and place onto and sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds.

7.

Now you just have to grab a spoon and enjoy every mouthful!

Bridie Nicol runs the nutrition advice business Naturally Bridie in east Devon www.naturallybridie.co.uk 34

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Affordability

W I T H A S H G ROV E K I T C H E N S Our kitchens are surprisingly affordable. We are one of only a handful of kitchen manufacturers in the South West who supply our kitchens direct to our customers’, so we can keep a close eye on costs and work to our customers’ budgets. Call us to arrange a free, no-obligation home visit with one of our designers, or see our website for more examples of our work.

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ASHGROVE Telephone 01363 773533 • www.ashgrovekitchens.co.uk 04/10/2016 11:59:30

Cook

Roast Cornish rabbit with blackberries Recipe: Lee Groves, head chef of The Turks Head, Penzance using Boddington Berries preserves, from Mevagissey, Cornwall

Ingredients:

Method:

2 fresh rabbits, legs, shoulders and loin removed (ask your butcher to do this and keep the bones) 12 blackberries 2 tbsp Boddington’s Berries Blackberry Conserve Olive oil Red wine Unsalted butter Salt and ground white pepper

For the stock and rabbit legs 1.

2.

3.

A Taste of the

hefs and producers to d Gloucestershire way me. What better

West Country

Tea & Supper Worth Matravers

Once roasted, season with salt and pepper and add enough water to the roasting tray to cover the rabbit. Place a sheet of tin foil over the tray, ensuring the edges are tightly sealed. Cook in the oven at 150°C/gas mark 2 for an hour and a half.

Remove from the oven, take the legs out of the tray and cover to keep warm. Strain the stock liquid, discarding the bones but keeping the shoulders - they can be frozen for future use in a pie or casserole.

For the sauce 1.

created by Taste original recipes and producers A collection of ning chefs of the West award-win

e beautiful ive in an area wher doorstep.” on our e found almost Room, Dorset

A Taste of the West Country

Put the rabbit bones, shoulders and legs in a roasting tray and roast in a hot oven for eight minutes.

Pour a glug of red wine into a saucepan, bring to the boil, then add the stock. Return

to the boil and reduce for around 15 minutes until thickened. Stir in the conserve and simmer until glossy.

2.

Add the fresh blackberries and rabbit legs to the sauce, including any juices that have collected. Set aside.

To serve 1.

Season the rabbit loins with salt and pepper.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil, and a knob of butter in a frying pan until foaming. Add the loins and cook for one minute on each side, then remove from the pan.

2.

Serve with roasted baby or chantenay carrots and a potato dish, such as dauphinoise.

Arrange the vegetables on a plate, slice the rabbit and place around the vegetables, add a glazed leg to each plate, and pour over the blackberry sauce.

This recipe comes from the new Taste of the West Country cookbook, now available on Amazon (We Make Magazines, £17.99) created by original recipes ers A collection of g chefs and produc award-winnin David Griffen Photography by

Taste of the West

1

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Drink

Happy h ur with drinks expert April Marks

April says: On a recent camping trip, a close friend of mine observed that it was “obvious” I’m still working, due to the speed at which I eat my meals. He’s fortunate enough to have retired many ye a r s ago, so life for him has slowed down including the consumption of food. He explained that he now savours every mouth full.

I love food, too, so how did this happen? I realise I am a victim of today’s fast-paced lifestyle, grabbing a ten minute lunch break at my desk most days. Would I treat wine in the same way? Never! The better the wine

the slower I drink it. This I contemplated while sipping one of my favourites - Domaine Pillot Saint Aubin Premier Cru, Burgundy France 2014.

This stunning white wine from Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune region is produced from 100% Chardonnay grapes which are grown on a premier cru site (that is, a quality site with potential to produce wines that age well). At Domaine Pillot, they hand-harvest the grapes which are then gently pressed before fermentation in oak barrels, followed by maturation for 11 months, again in barrels. The resulting wine is sensational; beautifully balanced and clean with the pure fruit character of lemon and stone

The resulting wine

is sensational and

beautifully balanced

EXPLORE The Somerset Wine Fair is a big annual event coming up soon with plenty to taste among wines and spirits from around the world. Tickets are £15 and it takes place on Friday October 28 from 6-9pm. Tickets can be purchased through The Wine Shop in Winscombe, 01934 708312 www.somersetwinefair.co.uk

fruit shining through and on the finish a hint of spice. This is a serious wine with no shortage of minerality and will evolve and improve for a few years to come. When it’s taken so long to produce a wine as good as this why rush?

Savour every mouthful!

April Marks is co-founder of Regency Wines Ltd Exeter @regencywinesuk

WINE OF THE WEEK Domaine Pillot Saint Aubin Premier Cru, Burgundy France 2014 Slow down and enjoy this wine (see my main story for details!) at either Plymouth’s Samphire Bush Restaurant or The Helyar Arms in East Coker, Somerset.

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Drink Beer of the week At the request of my liver, I’ve been giving non-alcoholic, or very low alcohol, beers a try. One that is some distance ahead of the competition is BrewDog’s Nanny State (0.5% ABV). It’s a very hoppy, very bitter beer - imperfect but the best of its kind.

Darren Norbury

talks beer AND FURTHER AHEAD… Another date you must put in your diary is November 26, for this is the 18th (gosh, has it been all those years?) Celtic Beer Festival in the labyrinthine vaults of St Austell Brewery. Get there early to try to avoid the inevitable crowds and expect loud music and great food as well as, of course, a stunning range of beers.

Ale’s well on the Fal Just a couple of weeks now until the annual Falmouth Beer Festival at the town’s Princess Pavilion (October 20-22). Expect more than 240 real ales, some 60 ciders, live music, food and, hopefully, fine weather in which enjoy the pavilion’s lovely grounds. For more details, search for Falmouth Beer Festival on Facebook.

ophie Atherton, a beer sommelier even if it’s a little hazy and unfined. It should living in South Devon, wants us to look tempting in the glass when there’s natural talk about beer. Specifically, in her light behind it, and it should have an inviting role as this year’s author of The aroma, not a fug of wet cardboard.

Cask Report, she’s keen that bar Certainly, the cask experience in most pubs staff take a leading role and promote our nationthese days is so much better than it was when al drink.

I first got into real ale in the 1990s. Some bars, Sophie says: “It is clear that like the Hicks Bar, St Austell it’s no longer enough to be able Brewery’s on-site tap, have staff to pour a decent pint. Bar staff that go the extra mile when you Real ale should need to understand how cask ask about a beer, almost giving ales are different from other you its life history. look tempting beers. They need to be able to To help consumers, Cask in the glass and describe them, they need to be Marque, which is one of the it should have the ones starting the cask conbackers of the Cask Report, has versation.” created the Cask Finder app for an inviting I get this, and it’s a good smartphones. Cask Marque’s aroma, not a point, but in my local I tend to Paul Nunny said: “All you do be the communicator. Whenevis grab a picture of a particufug of wet er a stranger comes in and asks lar beer’s pumpclip and the app cardboard what a particular beer is like, provides you with information inevitably I hear: “Ask him – about the beer. You’ll see the he’s a beer writer.” I do also do brewer’s tasting notes and dea little bar work in a brewery, too, so get time to scription. These may include details about intalk to customers there, as well, about the joy gredients, and certainly tell you about colour of beer. It’s great to be able to enthuse about and flavour. You can also see how other drinksomething you love. ers have rated it.”

Sometimes, alas, beer knowledge can be a bit Another step in the right direction for beer lacking in some pubs. I bet we’ve all had the education, but hopefully not a back door to experience of being poured an uninspiring, flat robot beer servers! That would be the end of pint of beer and been told: “It’s real ale – it’s cask conversation. meant to be like that.” No, no it’s not. It’s meant Darren Norbury is editor of beertoday.co.uk to have a sparkle, perhaps a gentle carbonation, @beertoday

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To find out more contact us:

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ea

P FRC n o rs

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plymouth@re-cognitionhealth.com www.recognitiontrials.com

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04/10/2016 13:31:53 19/09/2016 16:11:48

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

It’s party time at Drake Circus!

Classically perfect The Two Moors Festival was born out of the devastation caused by the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in 2001, which affected both the Westcountry farming industry and rural tourism. John and Penny Adie, Exmoor locals, were inspired to help regenerate the local economy and bring cheer to people’s lives by producing a week of stunning music-making on the two moors of Exmoor and Dartmoor.

Now one of the largest classical music festivals in the South West, the Two Moors Festival stages 30 concerts in October each year in some of the most exquisite and remote locations in England. The festival opens on Saturday October 22 at 7.30pm with a performance by the Carducci Quartet of Beethoven, Mozart and Shostakovich in St Paul’s Church, Tiverton. Running from the 22-29 October, tickets range from £6 - £35. www.thetwomoorsfestival.co.uk

If you’ve got shopping planned this weekend, then head to Drake Circus in Plymouth. The shopping centre is celebrating its 10th birthday with a range of celebratory events to thank its customers and retailers for all their support. This weekend (October 8-9) customers are invited to join the 10th Birthday Weekend party. Celebrations include a DJ playing the hits of 2006, 100 free gold ‘10’ pretzels, from Mr Pretzel, which will be given away today (October 8) and entertainment including stilt walkers, a roaming magician and balloon modelling.

Plus there will be a range of ten totally exclusive discounts, available to redeem if you pick up a discounts booklet in the Drake Circus Centre. Drake Circus director Greg Lumley says: “We’re really excited to be celebrating ten years of success at Drake Circus. We’re committed to being part of the Plymouth community and this seems like the perfect opportunity to thank all our customers and retailers - and celebrate together with a great big party. We encourage everyone to come along and join in the fun.” www.drakecircus.com

A celebration of film in Cornwall The Cornwall Film Festival offers local and national film premieres, workshops, lectures and parties.

Screenings of films include Earth Beneath My Feet by Ella Jane New in which a woman living in the depths of a Cornish valley has her solitude disrupted by a traveller on her way to Land’s End. This year’s screenings take place in Newlyn Film House and The Poly, Falmouth, from October 29 to November 26. www. cornwallfilmfestival.com.

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THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT TO BOOK: Ring reservations on: 01637 861000, Option 1 Book online at: www.fifteencornwall.co.uk ON THE BEACH

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04/10/2016 13:28:39

Bearing fruit Killerton House near Exeter is celebrating this year's apple harvest witha very special weekend of fun, discovers Gracie Stewart

s the saying goes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away and Killerton House in Broadclyst, near Exeter, is celebrating this humble fruit with a unique family festival taking place in its Sparrow Park Orchard next weekend. You can join in their celebration of National Apple Day with live music, children's activities and award-winning food and drink.

Since the 1950s, around 90% of traditional

A

apple orchards in Devon have been lost. Cheaper imported fruit reduced demand for home-grown apples, while changes to more intensive farming methods meant traditional orchards were neglected or removed in favour of other crops.

At Killerton the National Trust is helping to preserve the Westcountry's orchard heritage.

More than 50 types of apple trees are grown, on trees which are bigger and taller than those found in commercial orchards. These traditional

orchards can support more than 1,800 species of wildlife.

Killerton cider is a useful by-product of managing this habitat and income from cider-making is spent on managing the orchards and preserving old apple varieties. The National Trust aims to leave 50% of the apples on the trees or on the ground for wildlife, taking only 50% for cider production.

Every autumn the apples are collected by hand

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PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVEN HAYWOOD

Enjoy

You can watch cider being made and press your own apples for juice and juice is made using a wonderful 200-year-old wooden cider press. You can visit the cider press and see it in action and you can bring your own bag of apples to press and take your own juice home. Killerton’s cider takes its unique flavour from apple varieties such as Killerton Sweet, Killerton Sharp, Star of Devon and an apple called, memorably, Slack Ma’ Girdle.

The festival itself will be taking place in the orchard and will be split into four zones, one for each season, with activities and decorations reflecting winter, spring, summer and autumn.

As well as cider, you’ll be able to try apple juice cocktails and locally produced real ales and beer.

There's also a hog roast, barbecue, warming soups and stews, and classic Devonshire cream tea. To help keep children entertained there will be arts and crafts stalls, village fete games, storytelling, campfire cooking, bumble bee parade and face painting, while older children (and adults) can try out archery.

Killerton's cider and apple festival is one of the biggest celebrations of its kind in the South West, and makes a great family day out. It runs from rom 10am-5pm Saturday October 15 and Sunday 16. Adult entry £6, children £2, under 5's and National Trust members free. www.nationaltrust.org

Killerton's apple festival is a fun day out for all the family next weekend

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A desire to move When first diagnosed with Parkinson’s, actress Sue Wylie met a rebellious free running teenager. She tells Anna Turns how she has brought the story of their friendship to the stage.

hen a middle-aged drama teacher met a free running 16-year-old, little did they know how much they had in common.

Sue Wylie had recently been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease, while her student Laslo was at risk of being kicked out of school for his rebellious attitude. Sue faced increasing disability and Laslo was searching for freedom and pushing his body to its limit.

The story of this unlikely friendship is the subject of a new play, called Kinetics, written by Sue, in which she plays a fictionalised version of herself. The play is currently showing across the South West.

Five years ago, shortly after her

MAIN PICTURE: NEIL CRICK

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People

50th birthday and quite out of the blue, Sue was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s Disease.

“I thought that only old people got this disease so there was a definite period of absolute denial.

Later, though, I wanted to create an entertaining play that stood up in its own right while raising awareness about this disease.”

Writing Kinetics helped her to clarify and accept her raw emotions: “Over the past 18 months, some parts of the script that previously made me choked have become easier to say out loud,” says Sue, who lives in Dorchester. Everyone deals with fear differently. Sue went skydiving: “I thought the prospect of jumping out of a plane would help release my fear, and I remember thinking that ‘this is life, none of us are really in control of it, so let it go’.”

She describes meeting Laslo, a young lad practising parkour, the art of free running. “In the play, he lands on my dustbin but in real life he was in my tutor group when I was teaching drama. Rather than admonishing him for free running on the school roof, I was fascinated by what drives someone to run as fast and as high as he can without any seeming fear,” explains Sue. “They are connected by their desire to move; in some ways he feels trapped so free running is his outlet, whereas my character feels trapped on an emotional level.”

When she noticed that she was losing dexterity whole body felt like it was covered in treacle. I in her left hand, she went to the doctor thinking couldn’t copy the instructor’s movements. I cried she had trapped a nerve. “I didn’t see it coming at because I thought I’d have to stop, but now I take all. The diagnosis was a complete shock. a double dose of meds before I do something en“It transpired that my loss of ergetic.” my sense of smell was another So performing her own play is symptom, but the potential side quite an undertaking. In it, the effects of the drugs freaked free runner is played by Roly 'He feels trapped me out... who wants to take a Botha, who is 19, and has a backtablet that results in psychotic ground in martial arts, physiso free running episodes?” She resisted taking cal theatre and dance. During is his outlet, medication until her movement the intense two week rehearsal slowed down, her balance and process, Roly trained with Jackwhereas my ability to swallow were affected, son Turner who runs The Parkcharacter feels so she started taking Madopar, a our Project in Poole. trapped on an dopamine substitute that masks Sue has acted on TV and radio some symptoms. but stage is her first love. “I love emotional level' “I get tired more easily but I the connection with the audican mostly function at the level ence. In this play, I address the I need to. As my body gets more audience directly to draw them used to the drugs, dyskinesia in and this makes each performoccurs, resulting in the random jerky movements ance unique. Because it’s my true story, it is open that can’t be controlled. There is a map laid out and honest.” Sue hopes the play will show next before me in advance – I know where I’m going year in London and believes it would make a brilbut I wish I could turn around and run away.” liant TV drama. While she feels that Kinetics has Sue has always been active; she plays tennis still “got legs”, she’s going to run with it. and goes walking but she remembers the moment Kinetics is at The Plough, Great Torrington on Octoshe realised her body could no longer manage ber 13 and Exeter Phoenix on October 24, for more without help: “I was at my keep fit class and my information, visit www.dt2productions.co.uk

[[

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My life

Chris Mcguire

D. I. Why? Chris McGuire gets on with some odd jobs. Very odd... hey tell me that a picture can say loud. It was as though I’d laid out the constituent a thousand words, which makes parts of a nuclear reactor, not a low-end clothes pictures far more impressive than storage device. The instructions were written on parrots – who are usually limited a piece of paper roughly the size of a cream to a few dozen. Moving on from our cracker. Some time later, the piece was comfeathered friends, I said at least a thousand words plete and I turned it the right way up. Why as I attempted to hang a picture recently – unformust flat pack furniture always be contunately most of them were expletives. Yes, this structed upside down? It was then that week, I learned that DIY and I aren’t a good mix.

I realised the drawers had no bottoms.

“Chris…?” said my partner, as she attempted to Any clothes would drop through to rock our baby to sleep. “Have you seen my list?” the carpet below. I wasn’t a happy I had. She was leaning slightly to the left, bunny. which I took to be caused by the geriatric springs The final item on my list was on our couch. hanging a picture.

“My list of things to do.”

Simple enough, I hadn’t, or maybe I had and you’d think.

I Thankfully, I pretended not to. placed the frame didn’t lose track of “It’s just a few DIY things against the any rogue shards I need you to do around the wall and drew house.” a pencil dot of glass: they DIY? where the had all helpfully I felt sick. She spoke with the nail should nonchalance of someone who’d go. I then embedded never seen me attempt DIY took my themselves in my before. Surely she knew of my hammer palm deficiency in this area? to as“I can’t…” s e r “Come on Chris. How hard can tively it be?” “introduce” the nail Nonplussed, I assumed this was a rhetorical to the wall. One strike question and went off in search of the list.

– nothing. I struck The first task was changing a light bulb. again – still nothing.

Within moments I’d managed to snap off the The nail hadn’t even glass sphere, leaving the rest of the bulb in the punctured the surface socket. Thankfully, I didn’t lose track of any of the wallpaper. Decidrogue shards of glass, oh no: they had all helping that I needed to act fully embedded themselves in my palm. So far, so with confidence, I struck typically me. again – much harder this Next came the flat pack chest of drawers we’d time. That did the trick, the bought months ago, currently still in its box. nail embedded in the wall in a “Some assembly required” said the lettering on very pleasing manner. Then the the cardboard. I remember my school had a simicracking began. Slowly at first, lar policy. I opened the package and laughed out then quicker. Within seconds cracks

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at least two feet long emanated from the nail in all directions. A moment later a huge circle of the plaster crashed to the ground, leaving nothing but bare brick behind it.

“I’ll hang the picture later,” I called, to my other half; in the next room. “After the plasterer’s been.”

“Plasterer?” she replied.

“Don’t worry, I’ll put him on the list.”

Chris McGuire is a writer who recently moved to the Westcountry. If he had a hammer, he wouldn’t hammer in the morning, evening or any other time of day @McGuireski

NEXT WEEK: Phil Goodwin on love, life and parenthood in the South West 46

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