Best of Liverpool magazine - June 2014

SUPPLEMENT

FASHION l BEAUTY l FITNESS l CHILDREN l TALENT l CULTURE l EVENTS l FOOD

LYNDA LA PLANTE Prime Suspect writer on her new thriller

CAROL DECKER Flame-haired T’Pau singer comes home

GO FIGURE

OF LIVERPOOL JUNE ISSUE 2014

ARABIAN NIGHTS

City trainer with the Perfect 10

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival

AFRICA OYÉ

WORLD CUP

Festival brings sunshine sounds to Sefton Park

Watch the action in style

WRITE STUFF Wordsmiths inspire youngsters to read

GRAND SLAM Wimbledon champ Marion Bartoli smashes it at Liverpool Hope International Tennis Tournament

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BEST OF LIVERPOOL

31

Talk of the town

OutANDabout

From swish soirées to gatherings, launches and more, Katie McLoughlin and Michelle Rushton take a look at what the city’s glitterati have been up to...

LADIES’ NIGHT OVER 100 guests attended the Morecrofts annual Ladies’ Evening last month at the Liverpool Yacht Club, raising almost £400 for The Clatterbridge Cancer Hospital.

The event saw exhibitors from local businesses; Andrew Joseph Manion Hair, Cupcake Parlour, Inodorem room scents, 16 Braunton jewellery and Caroline Oates fashion take part with their offerings.

Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar also attended the event offering flash makeovers and skin analysis reviews while chef Adam Franklin gave a food demonstration.

In a surprise appearance, the Royal Scottish Regiment Black Watch military band marched through the event entertaining the crowd.

Morecrofts Solicitors’ Managing Partner Alison Lobb said: “It was fantastic to see so many ladies attend our event and a great achievement in raising £394 for The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, which is our chosen charity for the next 12 months.

“I’d like to thank all the exhibitors who came along and helped make the night a great success.”

Rachel Donohoe, Fundraising Manager at The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity said: “We are delighted that one of Liverpool’s oldest and best known law firms Morecrofts Solicitors has chosen us as their charity partner for the year and we’re looking forward to working closely with them to raise much needed funds for our hospital.

“The Ladies’ VIP Event last night was a fantastic evening and a great start to our charity partnership.

The fashion show and delicious BBQ were definitely enjoyed by all the guests. We’d like to thank everyone who took part and the team at Morecrofts for making us so welcome.”

We’re loving YOU know that sinking feeling you get when you’re on a night out and realise your phone battery is dying? Well, Chameleon Bar has a rather novel solution – the Back Colquitt Street bar has installed a phone charger locker.

Installed in the bar last month, the locker features charging cords which accommodate all types of smart phones and rapid charging technology to charge phones quickly. The locker, which costs £1 to use, is secure and only opens again when you scan your barcoded receipt.

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STARS stepped out in style on May 1 to celebrate the opening of fashion designer, Philip Armstrong’s new showroom in Brunswick Business Park.

Philip and partner, creative director, Tony Burke welcomed a host of celebrity guests, clients, family and friends to the glamorous launch event.

Guests at the party, organised by party planner to the stars Julie Perry Events, included Coleen Rooney, Danielle O’Hara, Dani Lawrence, Liz McLarnon and Hollyoaks’ Gemma Merna to name just a few.

UNBELIEVABUBBLE OVER 150 people attended the launch of a new hair and beauty salon in Hunts Cross.

Located on Hillfoot Road, the new Bubble Hair and Beauty salon is owner Joanne Tetley’s fifth venture and includes Tina Riley’s beauty salon, Diva

by Tina.

The new space is complete with a VIP area that overlooks the salon. aka ‘The Loft’. Jo also wants to utilise this space for a cause that is close to her heart – to support women suffering from cancer.

Jo has teamed up with Clatterbridge Hospital, as they loved the idea of

holding coffee mornings in the VIP area because it offers a chance for the women to talk as well as feeling comfortable while being pampered.

Ladies from the Clatterbridge support group, local businesses and special guests were among attendees at the launch, held on May 15.

PAINTING THE TOWN RED SOME of Liverpool’s most successful players gathered at the Hilton Hotel on May 12 for the Liverpool Former Players’ Association Annual Awards Dinner.

The event, which was supported by the IPP Group and Carlsberg, raised over £30,000 for local charities as well as funding a room at the new Royal Liverpool Hospital’s Teenage Cancer Care unit.

The event saw a number of Liverpool legends inducted into the association’s Hall of Fame, with Ian Callaghan honoured for his contribution to the 1960s, Phil Neal for the 70s, John Barnes for the 80s, Robbie Fowler for the 90s and Didi Hamann for the 2000s, while Luis Suarez picked up the

Player of the Year gong.

Hosted by Peter McDowall and Claire Rourke from LFC TV, the end of season event was attended by a host of former Liverpool greats, including Alan Kennedy, Michael Thomas, Phil Thompson, Roy Evans, Neil Mellor, Ron Yeats, John Aldridge, Mark Wright and Steve McManaman.

Jan Molby, chairman of the Liverpool Former Players’ Association, said: “While it is fantastic to see the current squad finish so well this season, it is great to honour some of Liverpool’s most successful players over the decades and show our appreciation for the part they played making Liverpool one of the World’s most successful clubs.”

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

BEAUTY SLEEP

WE’RE loving the succession of top West End shows which are set to appear at the Liverpool Empire in the coming months.

Not only is Disney’s The Lion King roaring its way to success at the Lime Street theatre until July – but Rock of Ages, Wicked and The Full Monty are set to entertain Liverpool audiences in July, September and October respectively.

The theatre has also announced a very exciting show for next year – National Theatre’s award-winning production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

An award-winning West End production of Mark Haddon’s acclaimed 2003 novel, the play comes to the Lime Street theatre in July 2015 as part of a UK tour.

For more information and tickets, visit the Liverpool Empire’s Box Office on Lime Street or log onto www.atgtickets.com/liverpool

LUXURY skincare brand Kiehl’s has revealed that two of its cult products – Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate and Midnight Recovery Oil – are perfect partners at night. Using the two products together at night was found to significantly improve key signs of ageing in a clinical test – including fine lines, wrinkles, skin tone eveness, smoothness, radiance, the appearance of pores and hyperpigmentation.

The study used the Vitamin C rich Line-Reducing Concentrate in the day, under sunscreen, and at night, under the Midnight Recovery Oil, and 79% of those who took part said their skin looked the best it had in years.

Now that’s what we call a good night’s sleep!

Visit Kiehl’s store in Liverpool ONE (near Topshop) for more information.

Photo: Brinkhof

BATTERY BOOSTER

DRESSED TO THRILL

JUNE 14 RICHMOND CHILL THRILL

A RECREATION of a red velvet mini-dress originally modelled by Twiggy in a Vogue photo-shoot, in 1967, has gone on show in the Walker Art Gallery as part of a new exhibiton of work by iconic fashion designer, John Bates.

The mini-dress is one of 12 outfits created by the popular 1960s and 1970s designer now on show to the public at the city centre gallery.

Pauline Rushton, curator of costume and textiles, says: “John Bates was one of the UK’s most innovative young designers during the 1960s and 1970s, as successful and famous in his day as Mary Quant.

“This is only the second time that his outfits have been exhibited in a British museum, so this is a wonderful opportunity for people to see exquisite and elegant creations from such a glamorous period.”

GUESTS celebrating the 1st Birthday of The Richmond Apart-Hotel Liverpool were transported through the seasons to a Winter wonderland.

Fire blowers welcomed guests to the Hatton Garden venue, before taking a journey through the magic wardrobe into Narnia, where they were greeted by a stilt-walking fawn and life-size lion.

Even the Ice Queen turned up to celebrate, complete with a real sleigh, which proved a real hit on the night.

The Narnia theme also acted as the backdrop to launch the Christmas brochure at the Grade II Listed venue.

Group Director Steven Hesketh, who is also Treasurer of Liverpool Hoteliers

Photo: Adam Johns Photography

CITY GALLERY IS EN VOGUE

Association (LHA), comments: “Liverpool City Region is a thriving destination and our unique hotels have to be some of the best in the country. We are delighted that The Richmond is now playing a part in the continuing success of Liverpool’s hospitality sector.”

ITALIAN CHARITY NIGHT FOR KIKA LIVERPOOL’S Greek community came out in force last night as Greek-Cypriot owner of Il Forno, Alice Anastasiou, hosted an evening of fine Italian food and exquisite wine from regions across Italy.

The event, attended by Liverpool’s Lord Mayor Cllr Gary Millar, raised over £2,000 for the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas and the Lord Mayor’s Charity.

This is the third year hostess Alice Anastasiou has held the evening in memory of her best friend Kika Poza who lost her battle to cancer in 2011.

Kika Poza was a mother and prominent figure in Liverpool and the Greek community, focusing her time and efforts in helping others and tirelessly fundraising for the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas and the Greek School of St Nicholas.

After being diagnosed with cancer and suffering no less than three different types, including thyroid, breast and cervical cancer, Kika turned her attention to fundraising for cancer research – raising thousands of pounds for charity before her death.

MARTINA COMES TO MERSEYSIDE THE UK queen of crime drama, Martina Cole, was the guest of honour at The House Beauty Spa Book Club, recently held at Yacht Club Liverpool.

Martina discussed her latest novel, Revenge, which went straight to number one on hardback publication, scoring the author her 11th original fiction number one in a row.

Martina Cole is a one of the UK’s most successful crime writers with several of her novels having been adapted for the

screen and stage.

Guests at the book club event were treated to a two course meal, two free drinks and a signed copy of Martina’s latest book, a raffle to raise money for Variety, The Children’s Charity, plus a question and answer session.

Martina Cole’s Revenge is published in hardback, priced £19.99.

For more information about future House Beauty Spa Book Club events contact: margaret@thehousebeautyspa.co.uk

SEEL OF APPROVAL LAST month saw the launch of 83 LTD, the new private venue from the team behind Salt Dog Slim’s and 81 LTD. Professionals from around the city flocked to Seel Street to enjoy a selection of bespoke, hand-crafted cocktails before being shown around the exclusive venue.

83 LTD. is tucked away on Seel Street, above its counterparts Salt Dog Slim’s and 81 LTD; harking back to the old time New York speakeasy era.

With a capacity of 40 people, the exclusive venue allows guests the space to create their own intimate events, with the choice of hiring a bartender, hostess, DJ and much more. The space is also suitable for a plethora of occasions, such as business meetings, away days, networking and corporate hospitality.

Email info@81ltd.com for more details.

WHAT’S COOKING AT 62 SOAP STAR UNVEILS NEW SCANNER FOR WALTON CORONATION Street star Ben Price, who plays brain injury suffering character Nick Tilsley, officially opened The Walton Centre’s fourth MRI scanner, which will improve patient care in one of the UK’s busiest neuroradiology departments.

Ben, whose character Nick suffered a horrific brain injury after a car crash, visited the specialist neuroscience hospital on Monday, April 28, to cut a ribbon on the state-of-the-art MRI scanner that will improve the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses and reduce waiting times for patients.

The Coronation Street star says: “It has

been extraordinary. If anything ever happened to me I would want to be here at The Walton Centre and in one of the best hospitals in the UK. “Having the best equipment and staff is essential for people with brain injuries. It really is life and death and somewhere like The Walton Centre with its amazing facilities is what can make the difference.”

The Walton Centre’s Neuroradiology Department is already one of the busiest in the country and last year staff carried out about 14,000 MRIs and 7,000 CT scans.

POPULAR Liverpool restaurant, What’s Cooking?, has invested a six figure sum to take over the food and beverage operation within boutique hotel, 62 Castle Street.

The new venue will be called What’s At Sixty Two? featuring a dynamic collection of bar and restaurant, private dining, boardroom, meeting and social spaces.

Located within the Grade II listed hotel, What’s At Sixty Two? will add to the already thriving restaurant and bar scene in and around Castle Street.

Creating 50 new jobs, What’s At Sixty Two? will offer a southern soul menu, the flavours of inspired by Memphis and the Deep South.

Visit www.whatsatsixtytwo.com

BEST OF LIVERPOOL 05

Fashion for her Floral T-shirt, £40, from Next

Walk on the

wild side Sue Kelbrick packs her passport and finds some fashion inspiration from around the world

FASHION has gone global this season with international influences gracing the runways, with tribal prints, exotic embroidery and ethnic embellishments, all taking inspiration from the four corners of the globe.

While tribal fashion is hardly a new trend, it has been given a thoroughly modern twist for 2014 with designers giving tribal chic their own individual interpretations and mixing and matching African and Indian influences.

Indian designers at Ankur and Priyanka Modi, for example, exhibited ancient tribal motifs with an architectural touch for their 2014 collection and likewise, designer Pia Pauro, unveiled a mix of African prints with a geometric

edge for her latest collection.

Designers such as Alexander McQueen and Givenchy created tribal looks infused with quirky accessories such as tassel bags and chunky leather sandals.

As with many catwalk trends, the tribal look needs to be pared down for the high street, as it is so easy to get it catastrophically wrong and you don’t want to end up looking like a reject from a safari park.

Keep it simple by wearing one print at a time and if you are wearing a bold pattern then don’t over accessorise. Ethnic accessories look great but again make sure you don’t go over the top and avoid mixing too many different themes.

Ethnic print kiki jacket, £79, from Monsoon

Print bandeau, £6, brief, £5, and kimono, £12, from Matalan

Tribal print T-shirt, £6, from George at Asda

Ethnic plaited necklace, £3, from Primark

Pineapple print dress, £12, from George at Asda

Tropical print T-shirt, £12, from Primark Premium kimono in floral bamboo, £60, from ASOS

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Woven cuff £4, from Primark

JUNE 14 Animal print dress, £32, from BHS

SUMMER OF LOVE WITH festival season just around the corner make sure you are festival ready with these must-have essentials...

Klipper Fuschia flatties, £65, from Kurt Geiger in the Metquarter

Jafari leather flatties, £59, from Bertie

Print smock dress, £28, from Top Shop

Bow tie open weave hat, £20, from Oliver Bonas

Exotic print dress, £65, John Rocha for Debenhams

Black fedora hat, £9.50, from Dorothy Perkins

Print vest £25, printed trousers, £29, and yellow scarf, £8, all from Simply Be

Matt round sunglasses, £2, from Primark

White Glastonbury wayfarer sunglasses, £10, from Sunglass Junkie

Half penny cross body bag, £199, from Radley

Bikini top £8, trousers, £14 and necklace, £8, all from Florence and Fred at Tesco

Selection of satchel bags, £32-£35, from Accessorize

BEST OF LIVERPOOL 07

Salon spotlight

Drop a dress size A body wrap that helps you drop up to a dress size in just one treatment? Sarah Hooley finds out if it’s as good as it sounds...

BE it juicing or the 5:2 diet, I’m all for the occasional quick fix when it comes to losing a few pounds or inches.

So when I heard about a new slimming treatment that promises you can drop up to a dress size after just one treatment, I had to give it a go.

The treatment, called ‘Honey I Shrunk’, is a new inch-loss body wrap being offered at Origin Vintage Lounge in the city centre.

Manager at the salon and beauty therapist, Michelle Ellams, explains: “The treatment uses a process called lipolysis to break down fat cells and is really popular with brides-to-be or our clients who have got a holiday or special event coming up.

“The fat is eliminated through the lymphatic system – so you might need the loo a bit more than normal – but it’s completely painless and is a really easy way to lose a couple of inches.

“It isn’t like some of the other wraps you can get where you just lose water, it actually gets rid of fat cells so if you carry on eating healthily you won’t put the fat back on.”

On arrival at the salon, I’m shown through to one of the treatment rooms where Michelle measures my vital statistics.

This includes hips, waist, thighs, upper arms, calves, bust, midriff and knees and Michelle marks each place measured in biro so it can be

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accurately re-measured after the treatment.

She then gently smooths an oil over my legs, torso and arms which, she explains, is what will break the fat cells down. Next, I’m wrapped (with my legs bound together like a mermaid) in a transparent cling film-esque material to help aid the oil sink in.

While tight, the wrap isn’t uncomfortable (although Michelle does say that the treatment isn’t always suitable if you suffer from claustrophobia) and for the next 45-minutes I relax on a cosy, heated bed with a magazine as the oil works its magic.

Once the time is up, the wrap is removed and I’m ready to be remeasured. In total, Michelle tots up my new vital stats and says I’ve lost eight inches – with almost an inch off my hips, an inch off each thigh and just under an inch on my waist.

Pretty impressive considering all I did was lie down for an hour catching up on the latest celeb goss!

Michelle adds: “Everyone’s results differ, but the biggest loss we’ve had so far is 12 inches in total which is amazing. That was after just one treatment too, although a lot of our clients choose to have a course of two or three to get an even better result.”

Michelle also explains that the Honey I Shrunk oil continues to work for up to 72-hours so it’s best

to avoid showering or exercising for a day so it can continue to sink in. Worth bearing in mind if you’re thinking of getting the treatment done for a special event or a holiday.

Over the course of the next two days I re-measured myself and while they don’t go down any further they stayed the same.

Obviously the results alter from person to person but I found that it worked for me and will certainly be popping back before my summer hols.

Honey I Shrunk costs £45 for a 45 minute treatment, or £60 for 60 minutes (which includes a free mini-facial or eye package).

WHERE IS IT?

Origin Vintage Lounge is located on Castle Street in the heart of the city centre.

WHAT DOES IT DO?

The salon offers a range of beauty treatments, as well as hairdressing services and has recently converted its ground floor into a vintage tea room.

CONTACT:

Origin Vintage Lounge, 16 Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 0NE. Call 0151 236 6086.

Visit www.originrejuvenationclinic.co.uk

Michelle Ellams, manager and beauty therapist at Origin Vintage Lounge

Male grooming

JUNE 14 Photo: MUSTO Lifestyle Collection

Photo: MUSTO Lifestyle Collection

Zlatan Ibrahimovich Photo: PA

The rise of the man bun Paul Baker looks at one of the cutting edge men’s hair styles for summer 2014

Before

After

Before

Style advice: Mark Johnson-White

long haired footballing millionaires will follow in their pioneering footsteps. After all, it’s stylish, and it keeps that sweaty hair out of your eyes when you’re going up for a header.

And where celebs go, we mere mortals tend to follow.

If you want to get the look, you’ll need to grow your hair to about eight inches in length and then practice how to best tie it up into an attractive bun.

Maybe your hair-savvy partner can help with that, but it’s good

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advice to head over to a city salon and see how they do it.

Sadly I haven’t got the hair for the man bun, but I spoke to Mark Johnson White at White Haus Liverpool, to get his thoughts on this current look.

“Yes the man bun has caught on a lot,” says Mark. “We at Whitehaus Hair have had many clients who have worked hard to get a samurai bun. Even some men having micro loop extensions to help achieve the look – invisible, yet effective!”

That’s quite revealing information from Mark, showing the lengths to which style-savvy Scouse gents are prepared to go to get the bun look.

“It’s a great style which you can mix up, so you don’t get bored of it... or your stylist!” continues Mark.

“Liverpool is renowned for its style and it’s a fact that our lads are leading the way in the samurai bun! This style pre-dated year 1100 and has seen some legends [wear it] – Oliver Reed, David Beckham, Bradley Cooper and Orlando Bloom!”

HEAD FOR HEIGHTS JORDAN Thomas, top stylist at cutting edge London hair salon Fish, has this advice for those wanting to achieving the manbun look, a la Jared Leto: “First, make sure hair is completely clean.

“Work a pea-sized amount of AquaFish Fishgum through the ends of hair to give texture and choppiness.

“Pull hair back into a low bun and secure with a hair band.

Sort out those flyaways by smoothing hair with an extra blob of AquaFish Fishgum.”

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IT will be interesting to see if this summer’s imminent World Cup throws up a new hairstyle trend amongst men – especially amongst men with longer tresses.

Currently on the rise at trendy salons is the so-called ‘man bun’.

It is exactly what it sounds like – men wearing their hair up in a bun.

Trends come and go, but this one’s taken a few hundred years to come back around – after all, it was a popular style with Japanese samurai warriors.

Okay, so you do have to have longish hair to even be able to try this look out, but it seems to be catching on amongst celebrities with the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal, recent Oscar-winner Jared Leto, and even Mr Leo DiCaprio himself.

Sports stars are not immune to the man bun’s charms with the likes of David ‘Goldenballs’ Beckham and Swedish superman Zlatan Ibrahimovich rocking the ponybun or half-bun look.

These two superstars won’t be gracing the pitches of Brazil this summer, but it’s likely that other

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BEST OF LIVERPOOL 09

Fashion for him

Pitch perfect

Daniel Nicolson, founder of Liverpool-based Steeple Pine and Distant Echo

Katie McLoughlin meets Daniel Nicolson, a Liverpool lad who’s helping men dress the part off the pitch THE start of the World Cup this month will undoubtedly lead to a deluge of, let’s be honest, rather tacky football attire in the shops.

From themed hats to cheap tees to show your support for the lads in Brazil, the high street will be awash with World Cup related merchandise.

But football and fashion needn’t be an unhappy mix, says Daniel Nicolson, the founder of Liverpool-based SteeplePine.co.uk and DistantEcho.co.uk: “The popular media perception [of terrace fashion] is probably of a fat fella from Stoke in a tatty Stone Island jumper and Burberry cap but that’s miles from reality.

“If you take a look at our city you’ll see young match lads, not long out of school, both Liverpool and Everton fans, taking immense pride in what they wear. They’ll be wearing smart trainers, almost always Adidas or New Balance at that age, a K-Way cagoule and possibly a T-shirt that harks back to something from 80s terrace culture that their dad could have been responsible for.”

It’s not just young lads who sport the trend though, as Daniel continues: “As people age there’s a definite progression to slightly more mature clothing but still maintaining something that helps them stand out. A lad in his late 20s may look for smart overshirt or a jacket with an abnormal number of pockets. Beyond that you’ll often find the dads of the aforementioned youngsters, possibly the first ‘football casuals’, still taking a keen interest.”

A Scouse purveyor of football casuals fashion, Daniel, 29, set up his first men’s fashion website – DistantEcho.co.uk – from his bedroom in 2011 as a site which “sells designer clothing aimed towards the football casual market.”

Having always had an interest in both football and fashion, it seemed a natural progression for the former Blue Coat pupil, as he explains: “From a young age I’ve always had a healthy interest in clothing and, having always gone the match with Liverpool, I’ve naturally been interested in the whole casual scene.

“I realised there was a gap in the market for a site that collated the brands that had popped up over a number of years celebrating football culture. Loads of match-going lads, myself included,

The Steeple Pine/ Distant Echo team

began wearing labels that broadcast a message from the terraces.

“These brands were all doing pretty well, including a couple based here in the North West, but there wasn’t really a place where you could get them all under the same virtual roof so I set about establishing one.”

The site was soon a success, with customers not just in Merseyside but across Europe and even as far as Japan and South America. Now, on the back of Distant Echo’s success, Daniel has set up a second menswear venture, SteeplePine. co.uk.

Launched in April, Steeple Pine caters for the ‘discerning gent’, as Daniel explains: “The Steeple Pine offering is there to cater for more than just the guys who go to the match and are into parts of the Liverpool music scene. Steeple Pine is there to cater for men who have an eye for great clothes and an interest in fashion.”

Daniel adds: “We spent the best part of 12 months developing the site, our own brand and travelling across Europe getting designer labels on-board. The result was Steeple Pine and we’re proud to stock the likes of Superga from Italy, Tuk Tuk from Sri Lanka, Armor Lux from France as well as home-grown set ups such as Nicholas Deakins and Marshall Artist.”

Both Steeple Pine and Distant Echo operate from an office/showroom on Renshaw Street.

Those keen to sport an on-trend look can shop online at www.steeplepine.co.uk or www.distantecho.co.uk

Peaceful Hooligan coach jacket, £79.99, from DistantEcho.co.uk

All photos courtesy: John Johnson

Rains long jacket, £89, paired with Tuk Tuk Harrison shirt, £65, from SteeplePine.co.uk

Rains bomber jacket, £100, and intense blue Superga Cotu, £44.99, from SteeplePine.co.uk

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BEST OF LIVERPOOL

JUNE 14 Realm & Empire French blue blazer, £115, with Realm & Empire floral desert print shirt, £70, from SteeplePine.co.uk

80s Casuals Salvador smock in green, £109.99, from DistantEcho.co.uk

Half-zip red K-Way cagoule, £50, from SteeplePine.co.uk

Peaceful Hooligan coach jacket, £79.99, with Peaceful Hooligan steward polo, £44.99, from DistantEcho.co.uk

Peaceful Hooligan Union Dove T-shirt, £29.99, from DistantEcho.co.uk

Red Superga Cotu shoes, £44.99, from SteeplePine.co.uk

Three Stroke Productions Identity sweatshirt, £59.99, from DistantEcho.co.uk

BEST OF LIVERPOOL

11

Fitness Simon Lannon, founder of P10 Fitness Photo: NHS/PA

The perfect 10 With the thought of donning a bikini on her summer hols making her shudder with fear, Sarah Hooley finds a new fitness regime that promises results...

SWEAT dripping down my shaking body, I’m lying face down on a gym mat, feeling exhausted but exhilarated. This is P10 Fitness.

A new exercise class, P10 uses a mix of cardio, core and resistance exercises to burn fat and tone the body. Think squats, push-ups, planks, crunches and plenty of other punishing (yet highly effective) exercises.

Run by founder Simon Lannon, he explains: “In every session you’ll do cardio, core and resistance exercises that I’ve designed to burn the maximum amount of calories. Every part of the body is targeted to melt away body fat and tone up.”

P10 is much more than your average exercise class though Simon reveals: “I describe it as personal training but on a group level.

“Whether you want to get in shape or improve your fitness, we will give you the support and guidance you need to achieve your goals – just like a personal trainer would.

“The exercises are easy to follow, low impact and progressive so everyone can go at their own pace. It’s all about looking great and feeling amazing.”

Each class lasts for 45 minutes (with handy 30 minute express sessions at lunch) and is held at P10’s studio on Old Hall Street or outdoors at Princes Dock. P10 is suitable for all fitness levels and ages too.

Liz Norris from Liverpool lost five and a half stone after signing up with P10 Fitness

Lifestyle change for Liz FEELING fed up with her health and weight, 34-year-old Liz Norris from Liverpool city centre, joined P10 Fitness.

She explains: “I had become very unhealthy and needed something other than a ‘quick fix’. I was seriously overweight, five and a half stones heavier than I am currently, and I found the prospect of exercising with other people less than appealing!

“I was naturally very apprehensive before my first session and worried about not being able to keep up. These fears were completely unfounded. Firstly the people taking part in the sessions

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“I have members who have never done an exercise class in their life, right through to triathlon athletes,” Simon adds. “It really is suitable for absolutely everyone.”

Simon, from Roby, was diagnosed with a lifethreatening brain condition when he was three years old. Since then he’s had brain surgery a whopping 44 times and has used exercise to battle his illness.

He explains: “At 16 I had to have a massive operation and as part of the treatment, needed to take steroids before and after.

“As a result I put on loads of weight, I suffered from post-operative depression, I had really bad headaches, and my confidence was at an all time low.

“Around the same time, my cousin, who I’d always looked up to, signed up to do a 10k run.

So, one night I decided to go for a run too.”

“Well,” he laughs, “it was more of a jog/walk/ stop and catch my breath, but when I came back I felt amazing. My headache was gone and I felt clear minded – it was unbelievable to me at the time. That’s when I thought ‘there’s something in this’ so I started running every day and eventually joined the gym.”

Simon then started taking part in extreme endurance events raising funds for The Walton Centre where he receives his treatment. And it was at that point, he decided to see if the health

were, and are, brilliant and made me feel very relaxed and at ease.

Secondly, Simon manages to tailor the sessions appropriately so that no-one is left to feel isolated or unfit.”

She continues: “They’re not your average fitness classes, they are a lifestyle change and you get support every step of the way.

“Without Simon, and the support of other P10 members, I would not have achieved the results that I have. This took me about 10 months but I am delighted. I haven’t put any weight back on and I continue to get stronger and fitter.”

JUNE 14

PEDAL POWER WHETHER you fancy getting fit or want to up your greencredentials, slip on some lycra and get pedalling in Bike Week (June 14-22)...

Olympic legend Chris Boardman helped launch Liverpool’s new cycle hire scheme Photo: James Maloney

and fitness regime he’d developed for himself could be used to help others.

He adds: “I know what exercise can do to people’s lives – because of what it did to mine and that’s why I set P10 up.

“I want to be able to help people and give them that one-to-one attention to help them get to where they want to be.”

Members pay a monthly fee of £25 for access to 26 classes per week. There’s no contract, and Simon also runs P10 Weightless, a personalised weight loss system, for £15 per month.

CITY BIKE WHETHER you’re taking a short trip to the office, or looking to see the sights of the city centre, the City Bike cycle scheme could be the perfect solution.

Launched last month, the scheme is a pay-as-you-go cycle initiative (like the so-called Boris bikes in London). You can sign up at www. citybikeliverpool.co.uk and collect/drop off a bike from any one of the participating on-street stations.

No booking is needed and it’s self-service - just turn up and go. Hire prices cost £1 per hour (plus an initial registration fee), and there are day, week or year passes available. For those travelling to the city by train, the Bike & Go scheme works in a similar way and is great for commuters with bikes available to hire at a number of train stations.

Visit www.bikeandgo.co.uk for more information.

Sign up for a free trial session or find out more at www.p10fitness.com, or call 0845 226 9089.

Cyclists in the Wirral Bikeathon raising money for Leukemia & Lymphoma Research last year Photo: Andrew Teebay

Best of Liverpool puts P10 to the test...

SO far I’ve been going to P10 sessions (along with deputy ed Katie), for just over a month.

We were a little apprehensive about what to expect on our first visit having not done much exercise for a while, but we needn’t have worried.

The class – a group of six – were a friendly mix of men and women pretty much like us. (No lycrawearing-gym-bunnies in sight – phew!).

And despite the fact we had trouble walking down stairs for

a few days after (darn those squats), we were looking forward to going back.

Weeks on we still feel the same, and even the days when we can’t be bothered (mainly Mondays - we’re not Monday people), we leave feeling perked up and ready to take on the week.

There’s a real sense of camaraderie among the class which we love too, and Si’s sense of humour and encouragement spurs everyone on. Or that could just be the Stockholm Syndrome talking,

it’s hard to tell...

In fact, the only downside of the class is the tempting smell of Italian food that drifts in through the windows from the restaurant next door. Pure. Torture.

So what about our weight loss?

Well, I’ve definitely lost a few pounds, as has Katie, but we’re more impressed by how toned we feel already.

Our thighs, derrieres, upper arms and tummies are all firmer and more defined and we’ve both lost a few inches overall.

WIRRAL BIKEATHON FOR the 16th year running, cyclists from the age of eight to over 80 will be taking part in the annual Wirral Bikeathon. The charity bike ride – taking place on Sunday June 15 – aims to raise money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. The route starts and finishes at Arrowe Country Park with a 15 or 28 mile option to choose between. A figure of eight course, the route is mainly comprised of minor roads with some off road sections. So far the charity bike ride has raised in excess of £680,000. The entry fee is £12 for adults and £5 for children aged under 15 if you register before 9am on June 9. After that date, entrants must register on the day and costs £20 for adults and £5 for children aged 15 and under. Visit www.wirralbikeathon.com

FREE CYCLE TRAINING RIDING a bike is just like, well, riding a bike! But, if you fancy a few pointers, there are a number of free courses you can enroll on with BikeRight.

Their Freewheeling course, for instance, offers cycle training for everyone (aged over 16) who lives and works in Merseyside. Plus they run free bike maintenance sessions. Visit www.bikeright.co.uk for more information or check out liverpool.gov.uk for cycle routes.

BEST OF LIVERPOOL 13

World Cup

Countdown to kick off Catch all the 2014 World Cup action, from June 12 to July 13, live around Liverpool...

BIERKELLER WITH 24 large TV screens throughout the venue and probably two of the largest HD TVs in the region, Bierkeller is geared up to celebrate all the World Cup matches.

For every nation playing in the World Cup there’s a matching menu of food and beer. For Germany there’s zwei bratwurst (German herb stuffed sausages with mash, sauerkraut and Munich sweet mustard); Australia has succulent kangaroo burger served with fries and creamy coleslaw; and France enjoys a tasty baguette your choice of filling such as beef and onion.

Set in the heart of Liverpool ONE it is three venues in one complex; on entering is the Around the World in 80 Beers’ bar where you can sample a range of world wide beers. Up a level is Shooters Sports Bar with live sports every day, plus pool tables. And the main room is Bierkeller with traditional Bavarian servers, Steins of beers and an Oompah band stomping their feet every weekend.

Bierkeller hits fever pitch

VIVA BRAZIL CAN’T afford the flight to Brazil? Then celebrate the World Cup in authentic surroundings at award-winning Brazilian restaurant, Viva Brazil.

The Castle Street restaurant will be staying on top of all of the action with three giant screens showing the latest World Cup games, staff will be wearing their own football shirts and there will be a host of giveaways including desserts and special World Cup shots. Viva Brazil’s bar team has created a new World Cup cocktail – not for the faint-hearted – and a Brazilian flag cocktail.

Various football-themed family events will also take place including a beat the goalie competition, a giant sweep stake and a ‘keepy uppy’ contest with prizes such as money-off vouchers to dine at Viva Brazil. Visit www.vivabrazilrestaurants.com

Brazil’s Junior Neymar is ready for action

Viva Brazil

MALMAISON ENJOY the beautiful game at the Malmaison on Princes Dock in your own private box!

Don’t want to miss that vital goal while you’re wrestling your way to the bar? A private box for you and your friends is the perfect solution. What’s more you can tuck in to the Mal Classics buffet collection or a choice of world-themed feasts, ice-cold drinks and your own huge screen to enjoy all the live action. What a result!

There are mini Mal burgers, chicken lollipops, sole goujons, chicken liver parfait, wraps, pasta, salads and haddock fishcakes. Plus if you pre-book, a bucket of ice-cold Heineken is £40 for 12. Call 0844 693 0655 for more details.

Malmaison

ENVI

CAMP AND FURNACE GET ready for a full-on Rio-style street party, complete with an impressive 6m x 4m screen, at Camp and Furnace’s World Cup Fanpark.

The venue has been transformed as it’s set to show every World Cup game. Resident Food Slam DJ, The Mighty Mojo (aka Maurice Taylor) will be in charge of the decks, with special guest already lined up.

The C&F kitchen will be serving up Brazilian street food such as espetinho de camarão (skewers of chicken, beef, spicy sausage, shrimp, cheese), empadinha (meat/veg packed inside dough and baked), pastel (giant deep-fried dumpling traditionally with cheese, ground beef, shrimp) and acarajé (fried black eyed peas dough ball filled with shrimp stew), plus fabulous Brazilian cocktails at the pop-up bars.

The opening night will see a Mundial Magazine party – The World Cup magazine to be seen with – and an exhibition of unseen World Cup photos. Plus there’s a retro shirt shop and a Panini sticker exchange and fanzines on sale.

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POPULAR with many for the great atmosphere during football matches, this large capacity venue is ideally located on Fleet Street.

Envi will be showing all the World Cup games in full HD on what are some of the biggest screens in the city.

What’s more pints will be just £2.50 during the matches and there are also late night booth packages available to book.

RILEY’S SPORTS BAR ALREADY popular with football fans, Rileys Sports Bar Grand Central boasts a three-metre HD screen which will be showing all the World Cup games.

The bar has also enlisted former England footballer Stuart Pearce as its official ambassador who will be actively bloggin, tweeting and feeding information to customers during the tournament.

Plus to cater for the frequenting Spanish customers, the venue has been decorated with English and Spanish flags, and a Spanish themed night is planned. On June 12 when the World Cup begins there will be a Brazilian carnival-themed launch party, June 14 is the launch of Challenge Stuart Pearce, June 19 is a quiz after the England game and on June 24 following the England game is a disco, then on June 26 is a table Foosball competition.

Visit the bar on corner of Bolton Street (between the Adelphi Hotel and Lime Street Station).

Riley’s Sports Bar

JUNE 14

Pitch perfect

Carbrini junior shin pads, £4.99, from Argos

Get your kids kitted out to enjoy the glorious game of football, whether they’re playing or watching!

Mitre junior football training pack, £15.99, from Argos 2014 England stadium little kids football kit (3-8yrs), £40, from Nike Store in Liverpool ONE

Nike England away stadium junior goalkeeper shirt 2014, £37.99, from SportsDirect.com in Liverpool ONE

Adidas Brazuca, top size 5 football, white and blue, £14.99, from Argos

Learn to play

Adidas Predator Fingersave replica goalkeeper gloves, junior, £8, from SportsDirect.com Nike Mercurial Victory IV junior Astro Turf trainers, £31.99, from Nike Store

David Campbell Soccer

If your children love to kick a ball about then maybe they’d love to train and develop their skills.

Here’s just a few kids’ football coaching centres...

DAVID CAMPBELL SOCCER

POWER LEAGUE

SPECIALLY devised by former World Cup player and UEFA Pro Licence Coach, David Campbell, the Schools Soccer programme is for boys and girls aged four to 16 of all abilities.

From absolute beginners to future football stars, the programme is available directly after school, at lunch time or as a breakfast club.

Children are coached within their own age group and ability and are encouraged to understand the principles of the game, allowing them to develop safely while ensuring correct techniques are learned right from the start. Sessions are fun and will help to improve fitness, team building and other life skills. There are also Saturday and evening soccer clubs.

Visit www.davidcampbellsoccer.com for details.

RUN by the renowned ‘Pro Kicks’ coaches, the kids football coaching at Power League in Kirkdale gets five to 12-year-olds active and learning all about football at the weekly sessions.

Suitable for boys and girls of all abilities – even those completely new to football – all coaching takes place on all-weather 5G pro-training pitches. The FA qualified coaches provide fun training tailored to the individual and plenty of interaction with parents about the progress.

Additionally, there are kids football holiday camps during half term and summer holidays.

Call 0151 207 1122 or log on to www.powerleague.co.uk for details.

LITTLE KICKERS WITH centres across Merseyside, Little Kickers is positive fun-filled football training for boys and girls.

There are different groups, Junior Kickers (aged two - three and a half); Mighty Kickers (three and a half - five) and; Mega Kickers (aged five - seven).

It would be great if kids enjoyed football fame but the real goal of Little Kickers is to use football as a fun forum to instil a little extra confidence, co-ordination, control and sense of camaraderie.

There are groups in L15, L8, Crosby, Maghull and Halewood. Visit www.littlekickers.co.uk for details.

HUGH MCAULEY FOOTBALL ACADEMY OFFERING football coaching and soccer camps for boys and girls this academy helps children learn new skills in a fun atmosphere.

Available for ages four to 16, soccer camps provide enjoyable skill sessions training in speed and agility, fun technical training, penalty shootouts plus small sided games and competitions.

The academy also provides football coaching on 3G Astroturf pitches at Formby Play Sports Facility and children of all abilities are welcome to train and develop their skills. The football coaches are highly experienced and committed to providing excellent technical coaching.

Visit hughmcauleyfootball.com for details.

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT Sports Development Coaching Service in West Derby is ideal for boys and girls aged between four and 10.

Whatever the child’s previous experience or skill level, all are welcome.

Each session will focus on a different aspect of football, such as ball control, ball skills, dribbling and turning, passing and tackling. Divided by age/ability each child will also take part in a small football match.

Football coaching takes place at St Edwards College, West Derby, £3 per child for one hour of coaching.

Log on to www.sportsdevelopment.info for details.

David Campbell Soccer

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Homegrown talent

Heart and soul WHAT is it about the culture of the 1980s that keeps us coming back for more?

When Pulp and Oasis boomed in the ‘90s and Labour finally ousted the Tory government we proclaimed the ‘80s a somewhat embarrasing older sibling of the Cool Britannia decade. After all, it was the decade of Kylie and Jason, perms and shoulder pads, Thatcherism and Wall Street’s ‘greed is good’ attitude.

So how come the music of the 1980s is still so popular some 23 years after the decade ended? I put this question to Liverpool-born Carol Decker, flamehaired lead singer and joint songwriter for the multi-platinum selling ‘80s band T’Pau. She explains that, to her, it seemed the most creatively diverse decade, with popular music alone spanning dizzying gulfs from electro-pop, to post-punk, to rock, to her band T’Pau. And, as with any good nostalgia trip, it takes you back to a place that makes you feel happy.

Carol left Liverpool when she was a girl, growing up near Shrewsbury and later relocating to Henley, where she’s speaking to me now, while putting away the groceries. Carol’s married to a successful restaurateur and proud mum to two children, but she still finds time to embrace the pop star lifestyle.

In fact, she’s heading back to her Scouse hometown for a couple of forthcoming local shows. In November she’ll be hitting Liverpool’s O2 Academy with T’Pau in support of a new album, Pleasure and Pain. But before that, she’s coming to Haydock Park on Saturday, June 21, as part of a very special ‘Here And Now’ ‘80s music night – alongside acts like Rick Astley, Curiosity Killed the Cat, The Christians and The Real Thing – and Carol’s still loving being a part of the ‘80s fun.

“I’ve been doing tons and tons of these ‘80s things for years,” she says. “Really nice to do, fantastic bills with all your peers from the ‘80s. It’s a bit of a laugh really, get up and do four songs and then prop up the bar after that – and the audience has a great time ‘cos they’re just listening to all the hits that they remember.”

And the hits were massive. For anyone who remembers the time, during pretty much the whole of 1987 it was impossible to ignore T’Pau. Apart from their three huge UK top 10 singles of that year – ‘Heart and Soul’; ‘Valentine’ and the five-week number one smash ‘China In Your Hand’ – it was the big red hair and towering vocals of Carol Decker that

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Paul Baker catches up with Carol Decker – Liverpool-born singer and frontwoman of ‘80s band T’Pau – ahead of her appearance at Haydock Park

seemed to dominate the TV chat shows and music programmes of that year, as much as the radio air waves.

Carol recalls: “Heart and Soul was massive in the States and all round the world, and we had hits in other countries. Back then, when you were having a top 20 hit, you were selling a lot of records. Now people say, ‘oh it only got to number 15’ – it was a big deal in my day!

"China in Your Hand was shifting 500,000 copies a day, so to get into the top 20 was very respectable.”

T’Pau was formed after Carol, along with her then boyfriend and songwriting partner Ronnie Rogers, left her art school band The Lazers in order to start out on their own. She was living in Shrewsbury at the time, but it was in Liverpool that Carol’s story begins.

“I left Huyton when I was seven,” she explains, “But I have tons and tons of family in Liverpool still, ‘cos my mother was one of seven and my dad’s family were all from Liverpool.

“I wouldn’t claim, for convenience sakes, to be a dyed-in-the-wool Scouser, but I was born there, and I lived there ‘til I was seven. I can’t remember if I was born in Alder Hey or if that was where I had my eye operation. It wasn’t Fazakerley, but we called our dog Fazakerley – or Zak for short!"

I ask Carol what she remembers about Liverpool from when she was a girl. Her recollections are mixed and interesting.

“Well, I’m 56 now, so when I was little, vast tracts of it were still bombed. I wasn’t alive in the war, but Liverpool was just left in ruins for a long time. And I remember, when I’d go and visit my nan, there’d be huge corners missing [from the buildings].

“But as I’ve grown up I’ve come to realise what a great city it is. And I’ve always been aware of the spirit of the people because at any family gathering I’m surrounded by them, and I start slipping into a Liverpool accent!”

She explains that her Scouse mum and dad were a huge influence on her musical career, her father being a talented pianist and her mother a singer.

“He was in the Liverpool School of Music, getting all these distinctions by the time he was 13/14, and then he played in all the clubs. And him and my uncle Timmy used to be bouncers as well and they were bouncers on The Cavern.

“My mother was a singer for years, she worked as a pools clerk for Littlewoods, and she was in a big choir called the Littlewoods Songsters. They did Royal Variety Performances and travelled all over the place... so yes, it’s in the blood.”

Carol wasn’t into The Beatles too much as a girl but she did bump into two of the Fab Four during her time in the limelight.

“I got to know Paul and Linda years later. When I used to be on the telly all the time you’d be in the same studio and get chatting and he’s a really nice guy.

"I met George Harrison a couple of times as well. I kept Paul McCartney off the number one album spot, and I kept George off the number one single spot, but they didn’t hold it against me!” recalls Carol with a chuckle.

As every good pub quizzer knows, T’Pau took their name from a character in Star Trek and, as Carol says, had six great years before it all started to implode, with the band splitting in 1991.

The immediate time after the band’s split was tough, with Carol and Ronnie’s relationship breaking up, plus her dad dying and Ronnie’s mum too. She tried acting in British TV and film, before she was asked to be part of an ‘80s pop revival tour.

“In 2001 I got my first call... It’s ridiculous but I’ve now been doing the ‘80s circuit for 13 years which is longer than the ‘80s lasted!” laughs Carol.

“You know, my guitarist wasn’t even born when I was in the charts! I keep thinking, that’s got to be it, the phone’s got to stop ringing, and it just doesn’t and it’s amazing!”

Carol will be appearing at Haydock Park Racecourse’s ‘Here And Now’ evening on Saturday, June 21. Visit www.haydock-park.co.uk for details.

T’Pau also play the O2 Academy Liverpool on November 19.

Visit www.tpau.co.uk

Thriller queen

JUNE 14

Michelle Rushton meets legendary Liverpool crime writer, Lynda La Plante INTERVIEWING one of the country’s finest crime writers is a little daunting.

Especially when her subject matter features a macabre mix of murder, deceit, politics, detectives, scandal, plenty of passion and a dose of the Mafia thrown in for good measure!

I put on my best ‘professional journalist’ telephone voice but on answering her call and hearing Lynda La Plante’s friendly tone, my fears melted away as we chatted naturally about everything from her latest novel to her forthcoming trip to Liverpool.

The award-winning screen writer and best-selling author, Lynda La Plante CBE, is back in her hometown today as guest of honour at The House Beauty Spa Book Club.

Liverpool-born Lynda, who is best known for writing the hugely popular television series, Prime Suspect, has been invited to talk to the Book Club about her career and her new book, Twisted, at The Marquee at Liverpool Cricket Club this afternoon with all money raised being donated to Variety the Children’s Charity.

The Book Club members are in for a real treat.

Although she is famed for her Cold series of books, the writer is as warm as her flaming mane and of course, has plenty of intriguing stories to tell.

Her new tome has been described as a “tense and terrifying thriller” telling the tale of a wealthy, attractive, successful couple who appear to have it all until their beautiful teenage daughter goes missing.

How does she think it all up? Lynda reveals: “The idea for Twisted came from a chance meeting at a dinner party in New York.

“One of the guests was very late and the host was having an anxiety attack. The late guest eventually arrived and told us about this fascinating case he was working on as a top psychiatrist. It was terrifying.

“From there, a seed formed and I started research which for me is so important – you meet so many people and it leads to other wonderful characters.”

Lynda is notorious for her meticulous research which led her to visiting prisons, mortuaries and brothels in order to get her facts right. Thus, she became the first non-scientist to be awarded an Honorary Fellowship with the Forensic Science Society in 2013.

She reveals: “I spend so much time getting things right, checking all the facts, getting forensic scientists to look at the information. They are more than helpful and the more research I do, the more ideas I get. For example, a police officer told me he had made a house visit to ask questions about the missing wife.

"The husband was very nervous and uneasy and the whole time a mobile phone was going off. It turned out, he had buried his wife in the garden and she was trying to call her sister!”

Lynda is beautifully spoken without a hint of Scouse, although she grew up in Great Crosby. This is due to the fact she has lived in London for most of her adult life. But she is excited to be coming home.

She says: “I am very much looking forward to coming back to Liverpool and talking about my new book. Plus Variety is such a wonderful charity giving children a great day out and is so valuable to parents whose children are desperately poorly as it gives them a much needed break.”

“I don’t get back a lot now but it’s so good to catch up with old school friends, the memories just come flooding back...”

Lynda is planning a trip to the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse where her career began. She explains: “I spent a lot of time working as an actress at Liverpool Playhouse and Everyman and starred in so many productions from Hedda Gabler to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

“It was a wonderful period. The director, David Scace, ran it beautifully. At one point, we had Sir Anthony Hopkins working with us – it was such fun!

“It was a bit of a jolt moving to London. In Liverpool, we got respect and great reviews then you come to London and nobody knows you and all you get offered is a Cornflakes commercial!

She laughs: “I always got offered the parts of prostitutes because I am a redhead and I would cry ‘but I was playing Orphelia last week!’”

Lynda trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in a variety of productions before the TV work came flooding in. She starred in Z-Cars, Educating Marmalade, The Sweeney, The Professionals and Bergerac, not forgetting Rentaghost and her first TV scriptwriting job was for ITV sitcom The Kids from 47A. Lynda’s writing breakthrough came in 1983 with the television series Widows. Following on from the overwhelming success of Widows, Lynda became a soughtafter crime writer and signed her first book deal. Her debut novel, The Legacy, was published in 1987 and three more books followed, all of which became international best sellers.

In 1990 Lynda started work on her next television project, Prime Suspect, which introduced the public to the instantly iconic and hugely influential character of Helen Mirren’s Detective Jane Tennison.

Three years later, Lynda formed her own television production company, La Plante Productions and through this wrote and produced several more high-rating series, including the acclaimed series Trial and Retribution. During this period, Lynda also released the Cold series of books; Cold Shoulder, Cold Blood and Cold Heart, followed by Sleeping Cruelty – followed by the Anna Travis series.

Now Lynda is touring the country promoting Twisted which, as its name, suggests, has lots of thrilling twists and turns. It sounds gruelling but she insists she doesn’t mind. “It’s lovely to meet my fans. They often ask very bizarre questions, for example, one asked: ‘I’ve got no sense of smell, would I

make a good detective?’ That has given me the idea for another character...!”

So why is she so fascinated with the criminal underworld? She ponders: “I think everybody is fascinated by it really – as I write I encourage the reader to think about whodunit – each one is a huge puzzle.

“I got the idea for my first book, The Legacy, after I saw a photo of the Kray brothers with their mother and father. We know they adored their wonderful mother and that they came from a violent background but very little was known about their father so I did some research and found out he was a Romany gypsy – I started to wonder how did that relationship spawn two murderous offspring?

“I loved writing it so much, I didn’t know how to end it and it ended up being so long, I made it into two books, The Legacy and The Talisman. It changed my life.”

Picking her brains, I ask Lynda how I go about writing my first novel. She advises: “The key is to find something that interests you – something that hooks you in.”

It’s certainly worked for Lynda who has won numerous awards including an Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University, a BAFTA and was appointed a CBE in 2008.

She also received an Emmy Award for Best Mini Series: Prime Suspect and fans will be delighted to hear that Lynda plans to return her most famous character in the novel Tennison, a prequel to the Prime Suspect series. It will be about the young Jane Tennison before she became a DCI and was played by Helen Mirren.

Lynda revealed: “It will take me a good year to write. The research alone will take six months.”

She has also found time to write a play called Murder Weekend, which she hopes to take to the stage next year and eventually tour.

And somehow I suspect, this won’t be the last we hear from the prolific writer whose imagination knows no bounds!

Twisted by Lynda La Plante is published by Simon and Schuster, priced £18.99 (hardback).

For more information about House Beauty Spa Book Club events email margaret@thehousebeautyspa.co.uk

BEST OF LIVERPOOL

17

Children Turn over a new leaf

Bill has the write stuff to inspire young minds Sue Kelbrick meets the Liverpool storyteller on a mission to get the city reading WHEN you’ve had a life as interesting as Bill Dawson has, then becoming a professional writer and storyteller was the most obvious choice of career.

But bringing his stories and characters to life for the great Liverpool public wasn’t enough for Bill who amongst other things, has also been a youth and community worker, an ice cream packer, a university lecturer and a humanist minister.

So how does Bill explain his rather eclectic career choices?

“You could say that I have had a ‘portfolio’ career or that I’m completely shiftless depending on how you look at it!” laughs Bill.

“I never just wanted to do one thing and have always thrived on doing lots of things at the same time. My favourite job was when I worked packing ice cream in an ice cream factory. Honestly! It was the heatwave of 1976 and I was the most popular man I knew at the time. It was here where I got a lot of inspiration for my storytelling.

I worked with some real characters and they have stayed with me over the years and it’s a real privilege to be able to keep those characters alive.”

For Bill, writing and storytelling is something he says he fell into ‘by accident’. “I was working as a youth worker in Sunderland in the 1980s and we were planning a trip to take the kids from Sunderland to Germany,” explains Bill.

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“We only had enough money to get them there but not enough to bring them back so we decided to put on a play to raise some money for the trip.

I really got into it and loved the whole writing process. The play was such a success that I actually had someone commission me to do more writing off the back of it.”

The rest as they say is history, and before long Bill was script writing for hugely successful programmes such as The Bill and Brookside. “But I always wanted to write my own rubbish rather than other people’s so that’s when I started producing my own stuff.”

The story telling aspect of Bill’s career was a natural progression from his writing and his latest project, a picture book called ‘Soft George’ has been around for a long time in Bill’s imagination and has been a hugely popular character in Liverpool for many years, loved by children and adults alike.

Soft George was first brought to life by Bill when he was the resident storyteller at St George’s Hall. If you think you know the story of George and the Dragon then think again.

This is a tale about a devilish dragon, a gruesome giantess, two dashing princes and Soft George, a Liverpool legend.

Bill joined forces with Wirral illustrator, Helen Bennett who Bill believes has captured his Soft George

characters to perfection.

“I’ve been telling the story of Soft George for years in Liverpool,” says Bill. “It has been appreciated by people of all ages from four to 94!

You could say that it was by popular demand that I decided to actually put the book into words and pictures. I want people to get lost in this book and really use their imaginations to explore the story and the characters.”

Reading is something Bill has always been passionate about and he is keen to encourage both adults and children to read. “My fondest memories as a child were of being sat on my nan’s knee as she read to me. I must have only been three or four at the time so couldn’t really read the words but I loved the intimacy of it and the way I could use my imagination to bring the stories to life.”

Soft George is published by Damp Dogs Books and is available from News from Nowhere bookshop on Bold Street, Liverpool, and is also stocked by Liverpool libraries.

HOW can you encourage your children to read?

The Liverpool ECHO’s City of Readers campaign aims to encourage children to be less intimidated by books by making reading visible across the city.

By asking people to pledge to spend at least an extra five minutes a day reading, this will make a grand total of five million minutes across the city in a single year. So far, more than 800,000 minutes have been pledged and the campaign has been backed by Ken Dodd.

Visit www.cityofreaders.org for more details.

Cathy Roberts, from Wirral bookshop Literally...A Bookshop, runs storytelling workshops both for reluctant readers and for parents to encourage their children to read. She has some advice to help get children reading.

“I would say the most important thing to know about storytelling with children is that it’s fun,” says Cathy.

“Children are natural, uninhibited storytellers.

In fact, we all are, but as adults we get more self-conscious. But most of us will exaggerate if we want to get our point across so I would say that everyone is a storyteller at heart!”

Take a leaf out of Cathy's book to get your children into reading: l It’s never too early to start: It has been proven that even reading to babies can help them with their reading and writing in later life. l Lead by example: If reading is an integral part of family life and there are books in your house then it’s more likely your children will read too. l Use your local library: You don’t have to spend a fortune buying new books. Get into the habit of making regular trips to your local library with your children and they will enjoy being involved in choosing what books to read. l Read every day: Make reading to your child part of your every day routine. If you aren’t a confident reader then try and read the book on your own before you read it to your child so you are familiar with the story and you can even improvise and use your own words if it makes you more comfortable! l Encourage their imagination: Get children thinking about the books they are reading and the characters they are reading about. Talk to them about what they like or don’t like about certain characters, and what they think might happen next in the story. It helps to bring the stories to life and will make them more likely to want to continue reading.

Cathy Roberts from Literally...A Bookshop in New Brighton

WILD WORDS STREET SAFARI LITERALLY... A Bookshop is running a community poetry project called the Wild Words Street Safari as part of Wirral's Festival of Firsts and is encouraging budding wordsmiths to pen a little verse.

Says Cathy: “Think of the name of your road and then think of an animal, bird, insect or fish that starts with the same letter. For example, there's an anteater in Atherton Street. That gives you your first line for a rhyme.

"We're looking for verses - rhyming or non rhyme, short or long, as wacky as you like.

"We will display the full Safari, with artworks inspired by the words, at the Floral Pavillion New Brighton Sunday, July 6."

Send your entries to Wild Words, Literally …

A Bookshop, 6 Atherton Street, New Brighton CH45 2NY, or email literallybooks@gmail.com

What’s on

JUNE 14

Sarah Hooley checks out the latest line-up of events in June...

BY NIGHT

BY DAY ON THE MOVE

WOODVALE Transport Festival is revving up for a great show at Victoria Park in Southport this month.

The event, on Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22, has a packed programme of attractions including, rides, giant slides, a craft fair, new food marquee, water boats for adults, a carboot sale, live music and children's entertainment.

There will also be the usual classic and vintage cars, model trains and boats, stationary engines, and motorcycles – as well as a thrilling 'Wall of Death' with one of the world's leading riders, Ken Fox. Free parking is available at Princes Park, tickets cost £8 for two days in advance, or £5 per day for adults at the gate, £2 for children aged six – 16, with under fives free.

Visit www.woodvalerally.com

WAVE HELLO

GOING DUTCH

FANS of abstract art will no doubt love the brand new exhibition Mondrian and his Studios - at the Tate Liverpool.

Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) is credited with being one of the most important contributors to the development of abstract art in the early 20th century.

This exhibition commemorates the 70th anniversary of the artist's death and aims to give art-lovers a fresh insight into Mondrian's practice, exploring his relationship with architecture and urbanism. Opening tomorrow (June 6), the exhibition will be on until October 5. Tickets cost £11 (£10 without donation) for adults and £8.25 (£7.50 without donation) for concessions.

Visit www.tate.org.uk for details.

Photo: Phil Carpenter

THE International Mersey River Festival will be sailing into the city on June 13-15.

One of Liverpool's most popular maritime events, the line-up includes visits from a number of Tall Ships, a brand new Type 45 Destroyer Royal Navy

ship and narrow boats as well as wakeboarding, street theatre and family entertainment. There'll also be a Dutch Barge Rally with around 15 barges travelling in convoy on the Leeds Liverpool canal, plus a series of displays to mark the 350th anniversary of the Royal Marines.

Activities will stretch from the Echo Arena, Albert Dock and Pier Head along to Princes Parade.

The festival also includes a number of free waterfront concerts at the Pierhead.

This year's line-up includes Rhydian, The Christians, Leee John, Esco Williams and DJ Craig Charles, who will be bringing a special edition of his BBC Radio 6 Music funk and soul show to the city.

ARABIC ARTS

DEAR JOHN

FOR the 13th consecutive year, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF) returns to the city from June 7-15, with a programme of events including family activities, visual arts, film, performance, music, dance, food and interactive workshops.

Highlights of the festival, include female jazz fusion singer Farah Siraj performing at St George's Hall on Sunday, June 8; controversial and action packed film, Omar showing at FACT on June 11; and Sarmarda, a Diwan Theatre production at the Bluecoat on June 14. Events take place during the day and night.

Visit www.arabartsfestival.com

FOLLOWING its incredible run last summer, Lennon The Musical is back at the Royal Court Liverpool from June 13 to July 19.

The smash-hit musical, starring John Power (The La's; Cast) in the title role, follows Lennon's life from Woolton Church fete to New York. Packed with music from Lennon and McCartney, there are more than 40 hit songs in the show including All You Need Is Love, Help, Hard Days Night and Imagine.

Yoko Ono is supporting the new production, having agreed, along with Sony, to the use of all the music in the show.

Visit www.royalcourtliverpool.co.uk or call 0870 787 1866.

SEVENTIES SPECTACULAR

PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES

DUST off your bellbottoms and dig out your tartan scarf as Les McKeown's legendary Bay City Rollers, David Essex, Showaddywaddy, and The Osmonds perform at the ECHO Arena on June 25.

The concert is the very last chance for fans to see these iconic acts together.

Singing hits like Crazy Horses, Long Haired Lover From Liverpool, Gonna Make U A Star, Bye Bye Baby and Shang A Lang, it's a must for fans of 70s pop.

Tickets cost £47.50 from www.echoarena.com or call 0844 8000 400.

Other shows on at the ECHO Arena this month include Dolly Parton on June 8 and Jason Derulo on June 23.

MUST DO Photo: Ben Rayner

MUST DO...

MUST TRY...

YOUR utmost to see Parquet Courts perform their first headline show in Liverpool on Sunday, June 22 at The Kazimier.

Described as Americana punk, the Texas-born, New York-based band released their debut LP Light Up Gold to universal praise in 2013.

They've also been recipients of a four-star live review and hailed as 'everyone's favourite new rock band' by The Guardian, on top of winning an Album of the Year award from The Fly magazine.

Tickets cost £12.50 adv from www.seetickets.com

YOUR hand at transforming old pieces of furniture into fresh, new treasured items at The Button Boutique's Furniture Painting and Upcycling Workshop.

All materials and tools will be provided, simply bring along your own piece of small furniture such as a dining table chair.

The workshop is split over two sessions to allow for drying time and will take place on June 7/8; and June 21/22. Email info@bobsbuttonboutique.com

MUST SEE...

MUST REMEMBER...

THE city's first street art festival presented

by MARK-IT in the Baltic Triangle.

For three days the area will be turned into an outdoor gallery with giant paper animals meandering through the streets, elevated bicycles of concrete and iron, splashes of animated gloriousness and tiny performers singing songs of love and loss. It's intriguing and enchanting all at once. The festival is on from June 27 to June 29.

TO get tickets for 'In Conversation with Lord Michael Heseltine' on Tuesday, June 17 at St George's Hall.

Lord Heseltine was given the freedom of the City of Liverpool in 2012 for his work towards an economic revival after the Toxteth riots and continued support since.

Tickets cost £25, and are sure to sell out. www.littleatomproductions.com

WIN

BURSTING with wit, wonder and weirdness, Dead Dog in a Suitcase (& other Love Songs) opens at the Everyman on June 21.

Based on John Gay's classic musical satire, the Beggar's Opera, the new show tells a tale of twisted morality with assassination, contract killers and pickled pilchard tycoons. A co-production between the Everyman and UK-based theatre company Kneehigh, Dead Dog in a Suitcase (& Other Love Songs) runs until July 12.

Tickets cost £11-£18.

Visit www.everymanplayhouse.com or call the box office on 0151 709 4776.

Tickets to see Boyzone and Kian Egan at Delamere Forest

DELAMERE Forest will be alive with the sound of music on Sunday, July 6 as Boyzone drop by for a special summer concert.

The concert is part of the Forestry Commission's Forest Live summer schedule and the band will be joined by special guest, former member of Westlife, Kian Egan.

Boyzone have been ruling the pop charts for over 20 years now with 21 singles, seven albums, 25 million record sales and hundreds of gigs.

Just some of their hits include 'Love Me For A Reason', 'Words', 'No Matter What' and 'When the Going Gets Tough'.

The Forestry Commission's gigs have everything you could need for a good night including full catering and bar facilities.

Income generated from the ticket sales will be spent on improving local forests.

Tickets cost £42.35, from www.forestry.gov.uk/music or call the box office on 03000 680400. Best of Liverpool has two pairs of tickets for the event to give away. For a chance to win, answer the following question: Q. Which country are Boyzone from?

Send your answers on a postcard, stating Forest Live, with your name and daytime telephone number to: Best of Liverpool, Liverpool ECHO, PO Box 48, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L69 3EB. Closing date June 12, 2014.

BEST OF LIVERPOOL

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Africa Oyé

Rhythms of Africa Haja Madagascar

Paul Duhaney

Katie McLoughlin meets the man bringing world music to the city’s ears this month...

Finley Quaye

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BEST OF LIVERPOOL

IT’S been dubbed the best festival of African and Caribbean music in Britain by The Sunday Times, named as one of the UK’s top 10 summer festivals by Songlines magazine and picked up a prestigious gong at the GIT Awards recently. Not bad for a festival which began life as a series of small gigs in Liverpool city centre.

Now in its 22nd year, Africa Oyé is the largest celebration of African and Caribbean culture in the UK. And with a new artistic director at the helm, a stellar line-up and a host of new festival features, this month’s event looks set to be another success for the Oyé team.

Artistic director Paul Duhaney took over the reigns following the retirement of festival founder, Kenny Murray, last year. Paul, who started at Oyé as an intern 15 years ago, says: “We want to pay tribute to Kenny this year because of the work that he put in, founding the organisation and starting the festival off – we wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for the work that he put in.”

Oyé has grown immensely since it was founded and, for Paul, keeping the established festival format and continuing to programme quality

Abdul Tee Jays Rokoto

music is key not only to preserving Kenny’s legacy but to Oyé’s future success.

He says: “In terms of the template that was set out, I don’t really want to change too much in terms of what Kenny set up, particularly the musical style. But every year, of course, we want to improve and attract more people – the key is to continue to programme artistic quality, to add new things every year and to add new stages in years to come – Sefton Park is massive, so there’s so much scope.”

Headlining the 2014 event will be reggae/trip hop star Finley Quaye.

Rising to fame in the 90s, Finley

Quaye’s sound made waves across the globe and he topped the UK charts with hits such as Even After All and Sunday Shining.

Scottish-born Finley, whose relatives include Afrobeat purveyor Femi Kuti and trip-hop star Tricky, will play a mix of classic and new material when he brings his warm Sunshine sounds to the stage.

Paul says: “Naturally we’re delighted to have Finley Quaye.

It’s a step into the unknown if you like, the whole key to that was to try and appeal to people who might not normally go and watch African music. They might be attracted to the festival to see Finley and then listen to some of the other artists and say; ‘actually, this is fantastic, I like these too.’”

As well as Mobo award-winning Finely Quaye, the line-up includes some of the biggest names in world music, such as Afro trance artists HAJA- madagascar & The Groovy People; Jupiter & Okwess International, from the Congo; Misty in Roots, from Jamaica, and New York hip hop artist Joe Driscoll who will perform with West African maestro Sekou Kouyate.

JUNE 14 Crowds enjoy the performers at Africa Oyé 2013 at Sefton Park

Homage to Magool

“Jupiter & Okwess are one of the biggest bands around in the world music scene and we’re delighted to have them play at Oyé,” enthuses Paul. “I’m quite excited about WARA too, they’re a Cuban band with energy. It’s good to have a lot of women on stage too, in our business it tends to be male-orientated, so it’s good to have a band [like WARA] that’s dominated by women, to have powerful women up on stage doing their thing.”

A London-based nine-piece band, WARA will be playing a mix of Latin funk, hip hop and rumba at the festival. Also on the bill for the two-day event are contemporary Somali singers ‘Homage to Magool’ featuring Farxiya Fiska; Afrobeat star Abdoulaye Samb & Minnjiaraby, from Senegal, and Abdul Tee-Jay’s Rokoto, from Sierra Leone.

One of the original purveyors of world music in the UK, Mose ‘Fan Fan’, will also grace the stage at Africa Oyé this year. Having began his career in the 60s, Mose is one of the ‘grand old men’ of African music in Europe and it is with great pride that Oyé welcomes him to the festival for the first time in 2014.

Jupiter & Okwess International

As well as a sterling main stage line-up, the family-friendly event features workshops, an Oyé Active Zone, world cuisine, an Oyé traders’ market and a newly expanded DJ offering dubbed Trench Town.

“Last year the DJ area was in a tent – which doesn’t really work because it’s cut-off from the festival.

So, we devised a way to do it as an outdoor area that’s part of the festival,” reveals Paul.

“We’ve got straw bales, a DJ area, nice huts, a food area and a seating area for people who might not necessarily want to listen to the stuff on the main stage, but they do want to listen to music.

“We’ve got a real eclectic range of DJs over the two days from all over the country, playing everything from reggae to Afrobeat to samba. I think people will really enjoy that area this year.”

Africa Oyé takes place in Sefton Park on Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22. The festival, which is free to attend, is open from 12.30pm until 9.30pm on both days.

Visit www.africaoye.com

Misty in Roots

BEST OF LIVERPOOL 21

Tennis Martin Alund

Virginia Wade

Marion Bartoli

Photo: David Radcliffe/ Propaganda

Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Coco Vandeweghe

Volley good show Liverpool Hope International Tennis Tournament boasts a change of venue and a reigning Wimbledon champion this year... Paul Baker finds out more IT’S tennis time once again as the sun says hello and some top tennis stars arrive in the city to compete on our grass courts ahead of Wimbledon.

Liverpool’s own grass court tournament is now in its 13th year and is the largest tennis exhibition in Europe.

Running from June 18-22, it provides a unique opportunity to watch real tennis talent competing in our city.

This year there’s a new venue for the Liverpool Hope International Tennis Tournament as the action moves from Calderstones Park to Liverpool Cricket Club on Aigburth Road.

Founded in 1807, Liverpool Cricket Club is the oldest amateur sporting establishment in Merseyside. The last tennis tournament to be held at the club was in 1954, so this year sees the sport returning to its original home in Liverpool after sixty years.

As if the change of venue wasn’t interesting enough, the real exciting news this year is that the reigning Wimbledon Champion, Marion Bartoli, will be playing in the tournament.

Bartoli, who is renowned for her unusual playing style, beat German Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-4 in the 2013 Wimbledon final. She also became the sixth player in the Open era to win a Wimbledon title without dropping a single set.

Bartoli’s visit to Liverpool represents a fantastic opportunity for fans to see one of the best current Grand Slam players around and really puts the Liverpool International Tournament on the map as a viable preparation tournament for Wimbledon hopefuls.

The French star, who is as well known off the court for her striking fashion sense, says: “I am extremely

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Photo: David Radcliffe/ Propaganda

excited to be part of this year’s impressive line-up at the Liverpool Hope University International Tennis Tournament.

“I am a big football fan so I am excited about visiting Liverpool for the first time and meeting some true Liverpudlians – hopefully I will have time to visit Anfield and Goodison!”

In the past, tennis greats like John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Ilie Nastase and Novac Djokovic have graced the Liverpool tournament.

This year, the predicted record crowds will be able to watch current and classic players alike with young talent like Andrey Rublev, alongside famous names like Greg Rusedski, Virginia Wade, plus local tennis heroes Barry Cowan and Ken and Neal Skupski.

With the switch in venue, a purposebuilt centre court stadium has been created at the LCC in Aigburth in order to ensure the grass court is of superb quality for the competitors and crowd to enjoy the action.

Tournament director Anders Borg says: “Calderstones has been a fantastic venue over the past twelve years... but I feel the event has outgrown the Park and Liverpool Cricket Club have the right foundations to be a lasting home for the tournament, and can comfortably accommodate the ambitious plans we have for the Liverpool Hope International Tennis Tournament over the coming years.”

For more information on the event – which starts June 18 – and tickets, visit www.liverpooltennis.co.uk

Chavasse Park scores a return for tennis festival DON’T miss the Festival of Tennis at Chavasse Park in Liverpool ONE this June.

The event first ran last year in the city centre, preceding the start of the Liverpool International Tournament.

The Festival provided the chance for school groups and members of the public alike to play tennis in a unique setting. It was such a success that it’s returning this year...

Children are invited to take part in an array of fun-filled events as part of the festival this June at Liverpool ONE. The Fun Squad will be working alongside organisers of the International Tennis Tournament to host free tennis lessons.

Children visiting Liverpool ONE can take part in a lesson everyday for free until June 8, from 12pm until 3pm, on a first-come, first-served basis.

For details visit www.liverpool-one.com/events

JUNE 14

Strawberry smashes Serve up a tennis-inspired dessert with these delicious recipes, says Sarah Hooley...

Strawberry Panna Cotta THERE’S nothing that says summer like watching tennis while eating a bowl of juicy strawberries drizzled with cream, and this sumptuous dessert combines the two beautifully.

Created by Adam Franklin, head chef and proprietor at Yacht Club Liverpool, he says: “The recipe is great for this time of year as it is quick and easy, seasonal and packed full of flavour. It will also tickle the taste buds of any party guest.”

Serves 8 Ingredients: l 250ml double cream l 260ml milk l 3 gelatine leaves l 1 vanilla pod l 50g caster sugar l 50g icing sugar l A handful of raspberries l 150g strawberries Method: l Place the cream, milk and split the vanilla pod in a heavy pan and heat on a hob. l Remove from the heat when the first wisps of steam appear. l Remove the vanilla pod and

mix in the caster sugar. l Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water and when soft, add to the pan. Strain into a jug, fill eight ramekins and place in a fridge for four hours. l Roughly chop the strawberries and place in a pan with a tablespoon of water and the icing sugar.

Cook on the stove until the strawberries turn to a jam-like consistency. l Dip each ramekin in hot water to release the panna cotta and tip onto a plate. l Top with the strawberry confiture and garnish the plate with fresh raspberries.

Strawberry Eton Mess

Sweet Eve Strawberry, mint and pineapple iced yoghurts RECIPE courtesy of www.sweetevestrawberry.co.uk Serves: 4 (makes 1 litre) Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients: l 450g Sweet Eve strawberries l 1 tbsp lemon juice l 130g caster sugar l 250g whole milk, unset yoghurt l 2tbsps chopped fresh mint and four extra sprigs for decoration l 1 fresh pineapple

Method: l Slice the strawberries into small pieces and place them with the lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and warm gently, mixing well with a wooden spoon. l Mash the strawberries with the back of a wooden spoon as the sugar dissolves and the mixture warms. l Set the cooked strawberries aside to cool, covered. l Mix together the yoghurt and the mint in a bowl and then add the strawberries. l Spoon the yoghurt mixture into four individual serving glasses, moulds or plastic ice-lolly moulds and freeze for at least three hours, or overnight. l When ready to serve, take the serving glasses or moulds out of the freezer. Dip into warm water to unmould the yoghurt on a plate.

Serve with finely chopped fresh pineapple and decorate with fresh mint, or for fun, serve in a wafer cone.

A True Italian Experience

Francos

Exciting New Italian Tapas NOW AVAILABLE Menu

0151 236 3375 bookings@francosliverpool.com www.francosliverpool.com

PERFECT FOR ALL YOUR CELEBRATIONS!

THE BEST IN ITALIAN FOOD

A QUINTESSENTIAL summer classic, this recipe uses yoghurt combined with all your favourite ingredients to give a sweet summer treat.

Serves 4-6 Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: l 200g strawberries, stalks removed and quartered l 80g caster sugar or icing sugar l 4 meringues, crushed l 300ml double cream, whipped l 200g Rachel’s Low Fat Raspberry Bio Live Yogurt Tip: Try making this extra special by adding a drizzle of your favourite liqueur

Method: l In a large bowl take the strawberries and sprinkle over the sugar and, with the back of a fork, squash some of the strawberries to release the juices. l Add the crushed meringues, cream and yogurt and gently fold together with a spatula. l Spoon into serving dishes or glasses and serve immediately.

Francos Restaurant is situated at 48a Castle Street in the heart of Liverpool. Open daily for lunch and dinner - until 11pm on Saturdays

BEST OF LIVERPOOL 23

Food & drink

Michelle Rushton and her family have a bite to eat at Blue Bar and Grill

A waterfront wonder WITH the sun putting in an appearance during the May bank holiday, my family and I decided to take a voyage down to the Albert Dock.

It was a perfect day for mooching round the shops and museums and marvelling at the colourful array of vessels bobbing about on the Mersey.

But after all that river air, our tummies were a-rumbling come 5pm, so we decided to stay and seek sustenance in one of the Dockside eateries.

There is certainly plenty of choice – from Indian and Italian to steaks and modern British cuisine.

Walking around, we were a little spoilt for choice and there was an awful lot of deliberation until Blue Bar and Grill caught my eye.

One of my pre-children stomping grounds, in the days when I had time to get dolled up, the stamina to dance in heels, and the finances left to afford cocktails, it had been a while since I had been to the glamorous haunt.

But how would it fare now we have the

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kids? Tempting us in with its new summer menu, we decided to put Blue to the test.

Having only ever been at night, it was interesting to see the contrast in Blue by day when it is a cool and contemporary, laid back cafe bar with vaulted brick ceilings and wooden tables, leather sofas and exterior terrace overlooking the waterfront.

We were seated upstairs by the window, the perfect place to unwind and soak up the stunning waterfront view.

Our waitress brought us the lunch menu which is served from 11am to 6pm, after which time the a la carte menu is served.

The more informal lunch menu features a good range of starters, sharing platters, hot and cold sandwiches and hot meals, as well as salads and sides.

We were pleased to see there was a special kids’ menu – priced £6.50 for a main dish, dessert and drink which was good value for money.

The children, Daniel and Isla, chose spaghetti carbonara with a garlic bread slice and chicken dippers with potato skins and salad. The carbonara was lovely and creamy and five-year-old Daniel wolfed down the lot.

Meanwhile, Isla, who has just turned three, did well with her dippers although she was more interested in pinching bits from the sharing platter Mike and I had ordered as a starter.

Priced £10.95 for two, the tapas platter featured cola BBQ ribs, salt and chilli

chicken, Chinese vegetable spring rolls, grilled halloumi and chorizo, garlic bread slices with cheese, chilli coleslaw and dips.

The ribs were superbly sticky and moreish, if not a little messy but that’s to be expected, especially when you have a three-year-old involved! And the chicken had just the right kick – overall, it didn’t last long with the kids tucking in too, a great starter.

For our mains, Mike chose the hog roast ciabatta, recommended by our lovely waitress Charlotte, which featured generous slices of hot roast pork drizzled in a lovely sweet apple sauce and caramelised red onions, priced £8.50.

Whereas I couldn’t resist the fish and chips, priced £10.95. The fish was wonderfully fresh and the batter light, crispy and melt in the mouth. It was accompanied by hand-cut chips just like my mum used to make – delicious – and minted mushy peas but I am not a fan so

I left those, although I am sure they were lovely if you like that sort of thing!

The children enjoyed strawberry ice cream which kept them quiet for a bit but then, as many kids do at that age, they felt the urge to wander and explore their surroundings, putting their sticky hands on the windows overlooking the waterfront.

Although it would have been lovely to relax with a glass of wine and enjoy one of the alluring puddings from the dessert menu, watching the sun set and the lights twinkling on the water, the children were starting to get restless and it was time to go.

Charlotte, the friendly waitress was so good with the kids, playing with them and trying to keep them entertained, but we had to admit defeat and take them home.

We vowed to return one night, sans kids, when the venue is transformed into one of the city’s most popular and sophisticated clubs and a hang out for the seriously stylish.

Plus, the 19th-century basement downstairs is home to Liverpool Comedy Central, offering the best laughs on the British comedy circuit every week from Thursday to Saturday.

Just need to book a babysitter – anyone?!

Blue Bar is at 17 Edward Pavilion, The Albert Dock, L3 4AE. Tel: 0151 702 5831 or visit the website www.bluebarliverpool.co.uk

JUNE 14

SUPER NOVA Pam Bloom has a Masterchef moment at the Nova restaurant in Heswall YOU know that moment in Masterchef when judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace taste a contestant’s food and launch into a paroxysm of praise?

How they wax lyrical about its saltiness or bitterness or essence of lambiness or whatever, while pulling a face you and I reserve for the likes of a chippy tea?

Well, my husband and I had plenty of those moments at Heswall’s Nova restaurant the other Saturday, while being treated to a full complement of courses.

Despite living just a short drive away, we’d never before been to Nova, which is close to the heart of Heswall on Pensby Road, but had heard great things about its food. Owned by chef Moyo and wife Jana, who runs the front of house, Nova opened in 2011 and, judging by the number of people greeted by Jana in the couple of hours we were there, has built up an impressively large fan base since then.

And, once the food arrived, it wasn’t hard to see why. Even before our starters came, we were served a pre-starter of warm black pudding balls in breadcrumbs, which were meaty and spicy, followed by slices of fresh bread and butter to keep the hunger pangs at bay.

Starters were chicken and rabbit terrine for me (£7.50), and sesame mackerel for Tony (£7.25). My cold terrine was fresh and light, and came with a crunchy remoulade salad (Google it – I had to) and a

deliciously tangy apple puree, while the tasty mackerel was accompanied by carrots and salad.

Mains were roast rump of lamb for myself (£18.20) and catch of the day, halibut, for the other half (£17).

The fish came with watercress, potato, pineapple and beetroot, all of which were sampled with the fish in separate ‘mmmm’ moments, while my plentiful tender lamb came with an assortment of perfect vegetables, including shallots, carrot, broccoli and cauliflower, and a smoky sauce, the origin of which I could not for the life of me place (I’m sure John and Gregg would have had no problem, though, with their perfect palates).

We also shared a small but perfectly formed portion of chunky chips, (£3), hot, crispy and fluffy in all the right places, which were without exaggeration the best chips I have ever eaten.

Tony was too stuffed for dessert, but I just had to, didn’t I? My chocolate cremeux (£8.50) was a chocolatey delight, with pieces of pistachio and creamy salted caramel. Absolutely delicious.

Just as we were sitting satiated and getting up the energy to leave, the waitress arrived with dark chocolate batons and sweet fudge to ensure we wouldn’t need to eat again for a whole week.

Our verdict? You’re through to the final!

Nova Restaurant, Pensby Road, Heswall, 0151 342 9959, www.novarestaurant.co.uk

BEST OF LIVERPOOL 25

Arabic arts festival

Arabian nights

Photo: AB Photography

Discover a flavour of Middle Eastern culture in the city this month

Funky Pharaoh

Photo: AB Photography

ing the Bluecoat, FACT, Unity Theatre, St George’s Hall and Sefton Park Palm House.

Two family events will open and close the festival – The Big Saturday will launch the festival on Saturday, June 7, while a Family Day on Sunday, June 15 will provide a fitting end to this year’s LAAF. Taking place at The Bluecoat, The Big Saturday is a free, family-friendly event featuring music, food, culture and entertainment. There’ll be a diverse array of entertainment throughout the day, including music from London DJ Funky Pharaoh, who performs a mix of Arabic and house rhythms; enchanting jazz and soul artist Amira Kheir; The Al Awadhel Band and Maya Yousseff.

The grand finale of the festival – the Family Day – will take place at Sefton Park Palm House on Sunday, June 15. As well as stalls selling food and goodies,

the event will feature music and performances from renowned oud player, Attab Haddad and London-based African and Arabic inspired band, Karama.

Simona Abdallah will also be performing at the event – with her signature sound famed for fusing ancestral Arabic rhythms, house, electronica and World music.

Dance enthusiasts will enjoy traditional dancing from Nawarra and the Family Day will feature another chance to catch The Al Awadhel Band with dancers.

Other festival highlights include female jazz fusion singer Farah Siraj performing in St George’s Hall on Sunday, June 8, in what will be her only UK show this year. A music superstar in the Arab world and many European countries, Farah has a style all her own, which she describes as Arabian Flamenco Jazz, and has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious platforms, including the United Nations, Nobel Prize Hall and the World Economic Forum.

Also not to be missed is a screening of controversial and action-packed film Omar, showing at FACT on June 11. The film, which recently premiered at London Film Festival, follows

Farah Siraj

Photo: Ann Blake Photography

ONE of Liverpool’s most exciting and unique festivals returns to the city this month – Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF).

Now in its 13th consecutive year, LAAF is renowned for bringing a culturally rich collection of talented artists from across the Arab world and has become a fixture of Liverpool’s cultural calendar, with attractions and events that will appeal to everyone.

The eclectic, nine-day festival will cover a plethora of cultural mediums and genres, with family activities, visual arts, film, performance, music, dance, food, two book launches and interactive workshops. The festival, which runs from June 7-15, will see events take place at a range of venues across the city, includ-

protagonist Omar as he climbs the separation wall in the West Bank to visit the woman he loves. As he attempts to elude intelligence forces, he finds himself press-ganged into catching a member of the resistance.

Another festival highlight is Waiting for Summer, which will see four gripping, funny and touching short plays about Arab

women in revolution staged at Unity Theatre. Written by some of the UK and Middle East’s best writers, the plays will be staged at the city theatre on June 11-12.

Saturday, June 14 will see the launch of Syria Speaks – Art and Culture from the Frontline at the Bluecoat. A lively, insightful and engaging event, Syria Speaks will feature readings, screenings and discussions from selfpublishing Syrian writers and artists who have formed artists’ collectives since March 2011.

Other highlights include the premiere of a Diwan Theatre’s Sarmarda at the Bluecoat on June 14; a drumming workshop led by Simona Abdallah at The Bluecoat on Saturday, June 14; and two major exhibitions at the Bluecoat; Choose Your Own Adventure (June 6-29) and Al Noor – Fragile Vision (June 7-17).

For full event details visit www.arabartsfestival.com

Feast from the Middle East If you’ve been inspired to try Arabic food by this month’s Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival, these recipes from Bakchich, a Lebanese street food eatery on Bold Street, are perfect for adding a Middle Eastern flavour to your fayre

Tabbouleh A refreshing parsley and bulgar wheat salad that’s popular around the Middle East.

Ingredients: l 1 cup bulgar wheat l 1/2 medium onion, minced l 2 cloves garlic, pressed l 3 cups fresh parsley, finely chopped l 1 medium tomato, chopped l 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil l 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice l Salt, to taste Method: l Place one cup of bulgar wheat in a bowl, season to taste then pour over two cups of boiling water, stir and let sit for 15-20 minutes. l Meanwhile, finely mince the onion and garlic and leave to sit for five minutes. Then, fluff up the bulgar wheat with a fork and mix all of the ingredients together to form the tabbouleh.

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Mahalabiya Mahalabiya – a Middle Eastern milk dessert flavoured with orange blossom or rose water and served sprinkled with pistachios, raisins or coconut.

Ingredients: l 2 cups of milk l 3 tbsp sugar l 2 tbsp corn starch l 1 tbsp rose water Method: l Pour the milk into a saucepan, add the

sugar and corn starch, mix well with a wooden spoon then, with the hob on a medium heat, gently bring the milk to boiling point while stirring constantly. l Once the milk mixture has reached boiling point and thickened, stir in the rose water and cook for a further two to three minutes. l Pour the mixture into serving bowls or tall glasses. Let the pudding sit on the counter until it reaches room temperature, then place it in the fridge to chill and set for a few hours before serving.

Shopping

JUNE 14 Kirkby Market is now open six days a week

HEAD START JESS Heaton owner of a hair accessories stall, says: “The new market has a lot more variety to offer and feels a lot more vibrant. We are receiving excellent feedback from our regular customers and a brilliant response from our new ones.

“Since a young age I have run my own business trading on Kirkby Market, selling hair extensions, hair accessories all the latest

Super stalls at Kirkby

trends, I try to keep up with the upcoming styles.

“I am now trading six days a week located opposite the Premier Pub on the main walk through the market.”

Traders Ian and Elaine Blundell

Emma Thompson goes undercover to check out the all-new Kirkby Market...

GONE are the days of market traders tipping rain water off the sagging stall roof as now the all-new renovated and covered Kirkby Market has opened its shutters.

As part of the multi-million pound regeneration of the area, the 130-stall market is now open six days a week.

Hundreds of shoppers celebrated the opening weekend in April which included kids entertainment, music and special offers from traders.

The array of products has always made Kirkby Market a popular choice for residents and visiters to

the area. There’s a selection of great butchers, fruit and veg in abundance, deli counters and pastries, celebration cakes to order, children’s christening and communion wear, as well as youngsters and adults clothing, bags, shoes, jewellery and hair accessories. That’s not to mention home furnishings and decorating products, essentials for pets and so much more.

What’s more, for those wanting a quick coffee and a bite to eat while shopping they can enjoy the new market cafe.

The launch of the market comes just a month after the transformed £5million Kirkby Centre opened its doors which brings together a range of key local services. Opposite the bus station, the Kirkby Centre, includes the library, gallery, local history archive, One Stop Shop, an independent coffee shop, toilet facilities and more.

These fabulous unveilings are just the start of Kirkby’s big regeneration plans which are also set to include a 8,218sq m Tesco store within an additional 15,310sq m retail park.

LOCAL FOOD IS OUR PRIORITY TALKING to long-standing market trader, Martin Davies from Martin’s Deli, he says: “I have been a market trader on Kirkby Market for 20 years and my family have been here for over 50 years.

“We are a hard working deli and sell a large amount of products ranging from Liverpool favourites like bacon ribs right through to bakery items and also stock a large range of locally prepared pickles.

“Indeed a large amount of our goods are locally sourced and we consider this to be a priority for a small local business.”

Talking about the improved and covered Kirkby Market, Martin continued: “The new market provides us with an excellent customer friendly selling environment, an opportunity to provide our customers with continuity of service six days a week and a wide range of commodities and services under one roof.

“The traditional market days of Tuesday, Friday and Saturday have shown an increase in trade with some promise shown on the remaining three days which we obviously expect to develop as customers become accustomed to being able to shop Monday through Saturday.”

NEW CITY SUNDAY MARKET

Entertainment at the market relaunch

PLANS have been unveiled by property firm Nextdom for a permanent Sunday market on the outskirts of Liverpool city centre.

Liverpool is known for its love of markets and after The Heritage Market closure in 2011 one of the traders came up with the idea of Pall Mall Market, an opportunity to breathe new life into the area.

The plans show the undercover structure will offer space for more than 270 stalls every Sunday from 9am to 3pm.

Enthusiastic local traders hope a busy, fresh city centre market will bring more people to Liverpool on Sundays again if the scheme is approved.

The site, which is bordered by Pall Mall and Merseyrail’s Northern Line, is currently used as a 603-space car park and Nextdom says it will mainly remain as a car park with the market occupying one section at the end.

If planning is approved then Nextdom intend on setting up a brand new market full of fresh, local produce and amazing street foods, local businesses and some of the best Liverpool has to offer.

BEST OF LIVERPOOL 27

Homes Bellagio Richmond, eight-piece patio set, £399.99, from Taskers

CLEAN & GREEN MAKE arranging your recyclables easier with these handy containers...

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Gardeco Granada cast iron chiminea, £59.99, from Taskers Pouffe from £390; chair from £250; throw £120; lanterns from £14; cushions from £22; and glasses from £4, all from Debenhams

Party patio

Red compost food bin with replacement carbon filter, £14.99, from Lakeland

Emma Thompson digs out a fabulous range of patio furniture and bright garden accessories for you to make the most of the outdoors this summer...

WHETHER you’ve got a cute and quirky courtyard or a large landscaped garden, there’s a fantastic array of patio furniture available for you to create an outdoor haven.

Chic cafe-style tables for two are perfect for small gardens giving you somewhere to relax and enjoy the sun without taking up too much space, and funky deckchairs and benches are great for this too.

If you’ve got plenty of space or a big family, you may prefer a larger dining set with a table to accommodate everyone, although sofa lounge sets are also really popular at the moment allowing you to sit back and put your feet up in the great outdoors.

Of course, there are also plenty of quirky seating arrangements from swinging egg-shaped chairs to contemporary daybeds, cosy pods and sleek curved loungers.

For a little inspiration check out this great selection of lovely patio furniture and garden accessories...

Stacking plastic wine glasses (set of four), £10, from Next

Bellagio Ashbourne deluxe corner suite, £1199.99, from Taskers

48L steel bar recycler bin, £199, from Simplehuman

Lilo Orchard, eightpiece dining set, £299.99, from Taskers

Rio Geo seat pad, £15, from Marks & Spencer

Lotus recycling bin, threepack, blue/ green/red, £35, from Tesco

Bright lanterns (set of three), £12, from Next

Drinks dispenser, £15, from Marks and Spencer

Mini ribbed lantern, £2, from Wilkinson

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24L stainless steel rectangular two section recycling pedal bin, £30, from Tesco

Days out

JUNE 14

Down on the farm Michelle Rushton and her family swap city life for the hill farms of North Wales MY family and I were gripped recently by the recent series The Hill Farm on BBC 2 Wales.

Cameras followed farmer Gareth Wyn Jones through the seasons as they went about their daily lives on their farm in Llanfairfechan.

It was worlds apart from our lives in the city and seeing the stunning slopes of the Carneddau mountains made me hanker for my homeland of North Wales where I grew up before moving to Liverpool.

My children were fascinated by the programme so I took them on a trip back to North Wales to show them where mummy and daddy grew up.

During a spot of internet research, I discovered there is an actual Welsh Hill Farming Experience available.

Organised by Celticos and Golygfa Gwydyr, the two day tour of Snowdonia National Park offers an experience of the Welsh Hill Farming skills, culture, lives and environment first-hand. It includes visiting various farms, meeting farmers and butchers, watching demonstrations, sheepdog handling, ploughing with heavy horses and harrowing, sampling local produce and much more.

Gareth Wyn Jones

I called Alwyn Griffith of Celticos and he kindly agreed to squeeze a potted version of the tour into one day for us.

Celticos arranges a number of different sightseeing and themed tours of North Wales – from castles to nature walks, family tree and heritage tours, such as the AmeriCymru North Wales Trail for American tourists.

Alwyn picked us up in his minibus in Menai Bridge and introduced us to Liz Davies from Golygfa Gwydyr Tours, a social enterprise which offers tours of hidden gems in the region and works in close partnership with Celticos.

Alwyn and Liz took us on a guided tour of the region. Alwyn says: “This bespoke tour is designed to give visitors a true taste of Welsh rural life outside of the hustle and bustle of the current major tourist destinations.

“Tourists will have the opportunity to experience first-hand how people live and work in Snowdonia and find out about traditional local skills and what gives the people of this area a sense of connectedness to the land, a pride of place and cultural heritage.”

We drove through the Ogwen Valley, one of the gateways to Snowdonia, with its stunning lakes and glowering mountains.

Even though I had been there before, it took my breath away with its rugged beauty.

We popped into the new Ogwen visitors

Caer Gors

centre in Nant Ffrancon, in the shadow of the spectacular Carneddau and Glyderau mountain ranges.

The Centre’s facilities provide an excellent base for walkers, climbers and field work students and the kids enjoyed playing with the interactive displays and touch screens where you can find information about the mountains.

Liz pointed out the popular beauty spot of Cwm Idwal, an excellent place to walk apparently and the kids enjoyed a little run about, splashing in the stream and jumping on stepping stones.

Alwyn explained how the National Trust had been eager to get involved in supporting the Welsh hill farming experience event and our next stop was one of their properties in Capel Curig which was once the home of Thomas Firbank, author of ‘I Bought a Mountain.’

The Canadian bought Dyffryn Mymbyr farm at the age of 21 and the book give his insight into hill farming during the two world wars.

We also visited Hafod y Llan farm, which is managed by The National Trust who acquired the farm following a huge campaign for donations supported by Sir Anthony Hopkins. As well as being a National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, it is also a working farm and a living, breathing piece of Wales’s rural upland heritage.

Farming is practiced in an environmentally sensitive way there and the farm breeds traditional Welsh mountain sheep and pedigree Welsh black cattle.

Daniel and Isla loved meeting the sheepdog Merc and even spotted a burly wild goat before we headed off to the Cwm Idwal

pretty town of Beddgelert.

Here we met a really interesting guy, entrepreneurial National Trust tenant farmer, Cynan Jones, of award-winning company, The Mushroom Garden Snowdonia.

Cynan and his family grow exotic mushrooms, such as shiitake and oyster mushrooms, normally grown in the Far East, which he sells throughout the UK. He showed us the containers where he grows the mushrooms, mimicking nature – one is cool and damp like autumn and the other warm like summer.

He explained: “My wife and I were interested in wild fungi and foraging so we developed a system, growing them on Welsh oak which worked. They had a fantastic flavour and we found we could produce them at market price.”

The couple’s children got involved and they have developed powders and steak rubs which you can add to dishes. He gave us a little Umami Seasoning to try which is a blend of shiitake and Anglesey Sea Salt.

The Mushroom Garden

We also sampled his Umami Chocolates, created in conjunction with Cariad Chocolates, dark chocolate with a shiitake aftertaste – an interesting combination!

Back in the minibus, we took in the colourful slopes of Snowdonia, resplendent with yellow gorse, deep green forests, sparkling blue lakes and the purple snow-tipped mountains. It really was a sight to behold.

We stopped at Cae’r Gors in Rhosgadfan, jewel in the crown of the North Wales quarrying landscape and the childhood home of Welsh author, Kate Roberts, hailed ‘The Queen of our Literature.’

The Grade II listed quarryman’s cottage has been sympathetically restored and the cottage, garden and surrounding buildings are now a small museum and community centre celebrating her life and showing a traditional 19th century smallholding.

We popped into the nearby Inigo Slateworks cafe for a snack and took

Alwyn and Liz

a look around the workshop and shop featuring all manner of locally made slate products.

Then we were on the road again, for our last stop to Llanfairfechan and the icing on the cake. Here we met celebrity farmer Gareth Wyn Jones high up on his hill farm, Tyn Llwyfan.

Gareth and his lovely wife Rhian gave us a very warm welcome and showed us around their farm, where we had the privilege of watching a calf being born!

We also got to see his sheep, cattle and goats.

Daniel and Isla enjoyed chasing the sheepdogs around the field and collecting freshly laid eggs from the hen house.

The Jones family have been farming the slopes of the Carneddau mountains for centuries.

Gareth gave us an insight into the harsh and demanding lifestyle of Welsh hill farmers, telling us about the wild Carneddau ponies on his land and his struggles during the harsh winter of 2013 when he lost a lot of livestock and had to dig lots of sheep out of the snow.

Gareth has become something of a celebrity due to his daily tweeting and his snow disaster was well documented on BBC’s Country File and has even led to his first book, Mab y Mynydd/Son of the Mountains.

Above all, it was a brilliant day out.

Alwyn and Liz were very entertaining with their knowledge and passion for the region and kept me and the kids thoroughly entertained. Plus, it was great to get away from the city and give the kids a breath of fresh air, as well as teaching them about the traditional farming way of life.

For more details call Celticos on 01248 671234, visit www.celticos.com/ welsh-hill-farming-experience or visit www.gwydyrtours.co.uk

BEST OF LIVERPOOL

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Travel

JUNE 14

London calling Katie McLoughlin samples a different side of London and gives Regent Street the green light...

Burberry

Hotel Café Royal Photo: James Bedford

LONDON is many things to many people.

It’s a city as multi-faceted as they come and whether you’re looking for culture, food, music, shopping, sport, fashion, clubbing or a spot of sightseeing, there’s always a variety of things to see and do.

Previous sojourns to the capital have seen my partner and I dance around Clapham Common in wellies at dance music festival SW4, swanning around trendy Shoreditch and exploring the stomping ground of friends in Hammersmith.

Yet, despite London being home to some of the best shops in the country, we’ve never frequented the capital’s stores.

A shopping trip was therefore on the cards. But where to stay? A bit of proficient Googling soon solved that dilemma – Regent Street seeming the ideal location for a spot of retail therapy.

Home to over two kilometres of shop frontages – many of which boast grade II listed facades – Regent Street has been dubbed the ‘Mile of Style’ and is said to be a retail rival of the Champs-Elysées.

And with Oxford Street (home to the Holy Grail of Topshops), luxury Bond Street, and quirky Carnaby Street all close by, it’s easy to see why this area is something of a Mecca for shoppers.

Saville Row is also nearby and, as we made our way to our hotel, The Cavendish London, on Jermyn Street, my other half was itching to go into one of the many bespoke tailors.

Jermyn Street itself is famed for being home to fine tailors, bespoke shirtmakers and luxury stores and after window shopping in the likes of Church’s Shoes, Roderick Charles and Thomas Pinks, we soon found our home for the night – the four-star Cavendish – opposite Fortnum & Mason, the iconic store famed for fine food, tea and hampers since 1707.

Originally built in the early 1830s, The Cavendish houses 230 luxury bedrooms, a two AA Rosette restaurant – Petrichor’s, a lounge bar and the Rosa Lewis Bar –

Brasserie Zedel

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a cocktail bar named after the hotel’s founder.

We stayed in an executive room, a spacious room complete with a huge queen size bed, a dressing table, chaise longue, modern bathroom and views of the London skyline. Plus, all the little luxuries that make staying here a real treat – including magazines, a Nespresso coffee machine, iPod dock, flatscreen TV, fluffy bathrobes, slippers and toiletries from The White Company.

A welcome sanctuary in the heart of one of London’s busiest areas, The Cavendish is just a few minutes’ walk from Regent Street, the touristy Piccadilly Circus and Soho, where we found a quirky Parisian brasserie for lunch.

Penhaligon’s

Set within a restored Art Deco building to the east of Regent Street, Brasserie Zédel offers authentic but affordable French brasserie food in a spectacular setting. We feasted on Roquefort salad, snails in garlic and parsley butter, steak frites, roast haddock with sauce verte and tarte tatin while marvelling at the historic interior.

Buoyant after a Parisian lunch (and a bottle of Beaujolais), we ventured forth to Regent Street to give the plastic a workout. The area is home to high street names like All Saints, Banana Republic, TM Lewin, Russell & Bromley, Mango, Hackett, Coast, Karen Millen, Nike Town, Reiss and Hobbs, as well as plenty of luxury brands – including the UK’s largest Omega boutique, Hugo Boss, Nicole Farhi, Vivienne Westwood, Rigby & Peller, fine English fragrance house Penhaligon’s, Tommy Hilfiger, the biggest Burberry store in the world and the flagship store for Karl Lagerfield, which opened in March 2014.

There are one-of-a-kind stores which are synonymous with London shopping too, like Hamleys – a seven-floor toy shop that reminded us of the toy shop in Home Alone, and Liberty – an iconic

The Cavendish

British emporium of fine fashion, homewares, antiques, beauty, jewellery and accessories all housed in a stunning Tudor building.

Dinner was a relaxed affair in celebrity haunt Momo – a Moroccan restaurant in Regent Street’s foodie quarter, on Heddon Street, where Italian, French and vegetarian eateries are also to be found, along with cocktail bars and an ice bar.

The atmospheric North African restaurant was packed with a fashionable crowd who were happily tucking into exquisite tagines, cous cous and grilled meats with harissa dip, while quaffing Momo’s signature cocktail – a refreshing tipple of vodka, fresh mint, lemon juice and soda water – at candle-lit tables in the ethnically decorated restaurant.

After dinner we headed to one of Regent Street’s most historic hotels – The Hotel Café Royal. Founded by a French wine merchant in 1865, the Café Royal has long been a London institution and its famous patrons over the years have included Winston Churchill, Arthur Conan Doyle, HG Wells, DH Lawrence and Virginia Woolf to name just a few.

The hotel is also said to have been a favourite haunt of 19th century literary great, Oscar Wilde, who frequented the Café Royal so often that the five-star venue created a bar named in his honour when it reopened in 2012, following a refurbishment.

Along with dining here, Wilde and his fellow bohemian intellects regularly drank absinthe in the Café Royal, so much so that the hotel is now home to The Green Bar, which seeks to revive the spirit of the original Café Royal and the tradition of absinthe drinking.

FACT FILE The Cavendish London, 81 Jermyn Street, London, SW1 Y6JF, tel: 020 7930 2111, www.thecavendishlondon.com l Brasserie Zédel, 20 Sherwood Street, London, W1F 7ED, tel: 020 7734 4888, www.brasseriezedel.com l Momo, 25 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BH, tel: 0207 434 4040, www.momoresto.com l Hotel Café Royal London, 68 Regent Street, London, W1B 4DY, tel: 020 7406 3333, www.hotelcaferoyal.com l For more information on the Regent Street area, visit: www.regentstreetonline.com l

Prepared in a style favoured in Wilde’s era, the absinthe is served with an ornate silver water fountain at the table, which slowly drips water over a sugar cube delicately balanced above each glass of absinthe.

The slow infusion of sugar and water into the potent green spirit is said to result in an improved taste.

While drinking absinthe in the Café Royal, Wilde once famously cried out at a waiter for picking tulips – when he was, in fact, stacking chairs.

Not wanting to end up in a similar pickle, we bid adieu to the green stuff after one ‘absinthe journey’ and retired to The Cavendish in the hope that the Green Fairy inspired a good night’s sleep (and not a hangover) after an amazing day seeing yet another side of London.

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EVERTON PROGRAMME BOOK The ultimate souvenir for every fan who has ever loved going to Goodison Park. Rekindle memories in this official book.

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SO GOOD I DID IT TWICE

The Everton hero shares many entertaining tales from his glory days. A donation will be made by Sheedy to Beating Bowel Cancer.

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When you a support a football team it is for life. This is a great gift for new Blue Dads to share with their little toffees.

CHILDREN’S BOOK

THE ROBERTO MARTINEZ STORY

This special club magazine provides a unique insight into the much loved Everton manager, with exclusive interview and photos.

MAGAZINE

BOOKS FROM THE HEART OF THE CITY Visit: Or call: 0845 143 0001 Orders placed before 12th June should arrive for Father’s Day, subject to Royal Mail. Prices subject to change. While stocks last. P&P not included.

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CRAIG BELLAMY GOODFELLA

An honest and hard-hitting autobiography which like the man himself, won’t hold back. ‘Gripping, sensational’ - Daily Mirror.

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KENNY DALGLISH MY LIFE

Your Dad can spend time with his hero King Kenny as he shows off his memorabilia and photos, with revealing interview.

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IAN RUSH MY SCRAPBOOK

Any Liverpool fan will enjoy this fascinating glimpse inside the private world of one of Anfield’s biggest legends.

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THE KOP ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION The unofficial irreverent monthly Liverpool magazine that will be following the Reds return to the Champions League.

BOOKS FROM THE HEART OF THE CITY Visit: Or call: 0845 143 0001 Orders placed before 12th June should arrive for Father’s Day, subject to Royal Mail. Prices subject to change. While stocks last. P&P not included.

BEST OF LIVERPOOL

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