Lincolnshire Pride January 2021 by Pride Magazines Ltd

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LINCOLNSHIRE

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PRIDE LINCOLNSHIRE

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LINCOLNSHIRE’S FINEST MAGAZINE

LINCOLNSHIRE’S FINEST MAGAZINE £4.50

Lincolnshire’s Royal Appointment with Stardom

Why the county is taking a starring role in the current series of The Crown... JANUARY

A Warm Glow to Enjoy in the New Year

2021

A delightful new range of candles created at Dorrington Hall...

FREE ONLINE

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WELCOME

hat a year 2020 has been. It’s easy to remember the worst of it, of course, but what about the best? What about the moments we stood on our doorsteps and applauded our hard-working NHS heroes, or the keyworkers who kept our cupboards full? What about that occasion you checked on your neighbour just to make sure they were alright? What about that enduring message, which permeated our consciousness, that we should all support local businesses? The latter had particular resonance with us, as the Pride team were key in setting up Yummy, our sister company which delivers fresh local food right to your door. Yummy can provide meat, fish, fruit, veg, artisan bread, cheese, milk and many grocery items too. It’s convenient and of course, it supports local businesses. Visit www.yummy.co.uk to find out more, and meet one of our suppliers – Lymn Bank Farm, which creates artisan cheese – later in this edition. This month I especially wanted to reinforce a positive message, that local businesses will endure, that our local – and national – economy will quickly bounce back and that spring will be here soon. I’m happy to say that Pride has thrived even during Covid, thanks to the support of our readers and advertisers. Yummy, too, has quickly established itself as a popular business and many of our advertisers are also reporting that they have had masses of support from their loyal customers. I’m sure that we will soon be out and about enjoying all of the fun activities and days out that we’ve had to sacrifice in 2020; The Lincolnshire Show, our local arts centres’ and theatres’ programmes of entertainment, and of course the chance to enjoy a meal out in our favourite restaurants. Hang in there and stay positive. Spring is just around the corner, and with it better times – and better weather – are sure to follow. For now, please do accept my best wishes and enjoy your New Year celebrations! From the whole of the Pride team, Happy New Year and stay healthy!

Julian Wilkinson, Managing Director, Pride Magazines Ltd. 3

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80 CONTENTS NEWS & EVENTS 06

72 28

HIGHLIGHTS TAKING THE CROWN Lincolnshire plays a big part in the latest series of flagship Netflix drama The Crown. We feature the county’s filming locations and enjoy a chat with Gillian Anderson, Grantham’s Margaret Thatcher!

FLAME & FORTUNE Dorrington Hall entrepreneur Victoria Boardman’s new enterprise creating luxury candles.

FOOD & DRINK

115 4

DINING OUT Enjoying a dining room with a view, Grasby’s Cross Keys.

THE BIG CHEESE Behind the scenes at Lymn Bank Farm, one of the county’s most successful cheesemakers.

RECIPES & WINE Delicious feel-good food to see you through winter and Champagne to see out 2020’s troubles with bubbles as we welcome in 2021.

NEWS The best ‘good news’ stories from across Lincolnshire... including a BBC Countryfile cameo for one Lincolnshire farming family.

HOMES & GARDENS 72

WELCOME HOME Shepherds Barn, a great place to spend winter, now on the market near Grantham.

INTERIORS Ideas for creating a cosy home this winter plus stylish home accessories and kitchens.

LADIES & GENTLEMEN 108 FASHION Create a winter of content with the best quality country clothing brands, plus noir-inspired makeup.

AND FINALLY... 120 MOTORS A look at Bentley’s facelifted Bentayga and one of Lincolnshire’s most long-established and trustworthy motor dealers.

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THE WEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN THE AREA READ PRIDE MAGAZINE

READ

FREE ONLINE

Pride Magazine is delivered free of charge, via Royal Mail, to high value homes in the county. Our circulation is to homes in the top three council tax bands, which are predominantly worth over ÂŁ300,000. This guarantees the magazine has an affluent readership commensurate with our content. The magazine is also sold in supermarkets and newsagents and our in-house distribution team also works hard to hand-deliver the magazine to selected hotels and restaurants, doctors, dentists, executive motor dealerships and golf clubs. This helps to ensure we have a continued presence, right across our catchment area. Our titles also have more social media fans than any other local magazine. In addition we have over 30,000 online readers each month who view the magazine free of charge, online, on their tablet, computer, laptop or mobile phone via our website, our app, and via the Readly and Issuu platforms. If your business would benefit from being showcased to the wealthiest people in the area, please call our friendly sales team on 01529 469977. Amazing new app out now: You can read our magazines on any device anywhere.

Read Pride Magazine free online at www.pridemagazines.co.uk or by downloading our free iOS and Android App. LEGAL DISCLAIMER By supplying editorial or advertising copy to Pride you accept in full the terms and conditions which can be found online at www.pridemagazines.co.uk. In the event of an advert or editorial being published incorrectly, where Pride Magazines Ltd admits fault, we will include an advert of equivalent size, or equivalent sized editorial, free of charge to be used in a future edition, at our discretion. This gesture is accepted as full compensation for the error(s) with no refunds available. Selected images in our content may be sourced from www.shutterstock.com.

THE PRIDE TEAM Managing Director: Julian Wilkinson. Production Director: Ian Bagley. Sales Director: Zoie Wilkinson. Sales Manager: Charlotte Daubney. Sales Supervisor: Cydney Dyson. Executive Editor: Rob Davis. Illustrator: Jocelyn Lawman. Customer Care Manager: Mandy Bray. Web Developer: Joe Proctor. Administration: Sue Bannister, Carissa Clay, Sami Millard. Sales Executives: Cassy Ayton, and Grace Mumford.

Pride Magazines, Boston Enterprise Centre, Enterprise Way, Boston, Lincs PE21 7TW

Tel: 01529 469977 Fax: 01529 469978 www.pridemagazines.co.uk | enquiries@pridemagazines.co.uk

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NEWS & EVENTS

Pride’s sustainable start to 2021...

WE’RE MAKING AN EVEN GREATER COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY IN PUBLISHING PRIDE MAGAZINES As the finest magazine in the county, it stands to reason that we want to ensure our precious Lincolnshire remains a green and pleasant land for many years to come. We all have to play our part in ensuring sustainability and that’s why we’re delighted to reveal that in conjunction with our new print partner, we’re making an even greater commitment to ensuring our business is as sustainable as possible. “You’ll notice that Pride is now delivered in premium paper wrapping, eliminating plastic from our magazine mailing operations,” says Executive Editor Rob Davis. “We’ve been working on replacing conventional plastic polywrapping for a number of months, investigating new compostable wrappers and bioplastics. But now we’re delighted to have found what

we believe is the most sustainable and environmentally friendly way to ensure Pride reaches our readers safely.” “In addition, our magazines are printed using paper certified by the Forest Stewardship

Boston bid for added value BOROUGH COUNCIL WANTS TO SECURE £25m TO ACHIEVE £133m ADDED VALUE

Council (FSC) and Forest Certification (PEFC) as being more environmentally friendly than even recycled substrates, making Pride’s raw materials as eco-friendly as it’s possible to achieve.”

“We also use vegetable – not oil – based inks and robustly monitor our print partner’s power usage, recycling and carbon footprint, ensuring Pride’s production is ecofriendly and sustainable!” n

BOSTON It’ll be a Happy New Year for Boston if a Borough Council bid for a share of the Government’s Town Deal fund is successful. The Borough Council is making a Boston Town Deal bid to lead 12 projects it believes will create 6,500 jobs and provide £133m of added value for the town over the next five years. Projects will need to be match-funded – meaning the £25m investment would only part-fund projects – however with projects including the creation of a DAB community radio station, the creation of Centre

for Food & Fresh Produce Logistics, lighting and conservation for St Botolph’s Church and the creation of a community space in Shodfriar’s Hall (pictured) among the targets, it could be a happy new year for Boston indeed, with some exciting developments in the pipeline. Boston is one of just 100 places selected as being eligible to bid for the government’s £3.6 billion Towns Fund, which aims to bring heritage, learning, enterprise and business together for mutual benefit. n

ESTATE APPEARS ON BBC FLAGSHIP SHOW

Lincolnshire’s cycling boost as lockdown means pedal power... New data has shown that cycling in Lincolnshire has boomed with over 16,000 more cyclists using the county’s roads and cycleways. Nearly 200,000 more rides have been logged in Lincolnshire in 2020 so far, compared to the whole of 2019. There have been 516,834 rides logged in the county in 2020, and during the peak of lockdown in May, there were nearly three times as many rides; 103,059 compared to 37,433 in 2019. n LINCOLNSHIRE

LINCOLNSHIRE WOLDS The South Ormsby Estate, a 3,000 acre rural enterprise between Louth, Alford and Horncastle, appeared on BBC’s Countryfile last month to present its vision of how country estates can build a sustainable and dynamic rural economy which supports enterprise, conservation and the environment. Custodian of South Ormsby Estate, Jon Thornes said: “South Ormsby Estate has many amazing stories to

tell and so we were honoured to welcome the hosts of BBC Countryfile and share some of those stories with them. We’re also proud to be showcasing our corner of the Lincolnshire Wolds to a national audience on one of the country’s most loved TV programmes. “Although we’re proud of the rich history of this estate, we’re focused on the future. That’s why we’re working hard to lead the way in creating a sustainable rural economy.” n

Harriet’s on the cobbles... YOUNG ACTRESS FROM LINCOLNSHIRE LANDS A ROLE IN CORONATION STREET AS TROUBLED TEEN SUMMER

MARKET RASEN By ‘eck... we wonder if Wetherfield will ever be the same again when Harriet Bibby moves into Coronation Street. The former De Aston School pupil from the Market Rasen area has formerly appeared on Doctors and Brassic, but has now landed the recast role of Summer Spellman, taking over from Matilda Freeman. “My family have watched the show for years and I already feel part of the family!” says Harriet. “I’m looking forward to bringing Summer’s sass and sparkle to the screen!” Coronation Street is the country’s longest-running soap and is seen by 8,000,000 each week. n

2,400,000 Visitors

Countryfile cameo

SPALDING Springfields is looking to the new year with a sense of optimism after plans to expand the outlet shopping village were announced. 18 new stores will be created as the site expands, creating 90 new jobs with new shops for the site’s 2.4m annual visitors. n

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LOCAL

NEWS In Brief SLEAFORD x

WILL IT BE A FESTIVE NUMBER ONE FOR SLEAFORD KIDS...? Children from Sleaford’s William Alvey School are hoping they’ll be able to boast a Christmas number one with a recording of their song, Christmas Bubble. Chris Clark is the local musician who has invited children from the ages to three to 16 to record the song, with a thoroughly modern Tik Tok dance routine to accompany it. Chris hopes to release the song as Pride goes to press and secure their place in music history. “It has a very positive message!” says Chris, who has also set up the song’s official Facebook page. n 7

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YOUR HOME, OUR VISION

5 BED EXECUTIVE HOMES AT HOLBEACH MEADOWS Based in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, Holbeach Meadows is an exclusive flagship development brought to you by Ashwood Homes.

£575,000 with double garage and large garden Just 4 plots – 5 bedroom homes plus additional downstairs guest suite giving a 6th bedroom Specification as standard includes underfloor heating throughout ground floor, vanity units in each bathroom and en-suite, flooring package throughout, bi-fold doors. Holbeach Meadows, Hallgate, Holbeach, Lincs, PE12 7HZ Showhomes open daily 10-5pm book your private viewing on 01406 430940.

01406 490590 • www.ashwoodhomes.co 1 GOODISON ROAD, LINCS GATEWAY BUSINESS PARK, SPALDING, PE12 6FY Please Note: Internal photographs reflect the typical style and finish of properties, but exact specifications and room layouts may vary according to individual plot and development. Help to Buy terms and conditions may apply, please call for further details.

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THE BARN, BRANSTON BOOTHS, LINCOLN

£795,000

Superior conversion of Victorian barns which form a quadrangle and offer a wealth of original features, immense proportions, and hi-spec contemporary interior design to create a superb five-bedroomed family home with one-bedroomed annex. Internally the property offers an impressive entrance hall with oak staircase and galleried landing, stunning open-plan family kitchen with living and dining areas, magnificent oak-beamed dining room with inglenook fireplace, vaulted-ceiling games room/bar area. To the first floor there is a superior principle bedroom with luxury en-suite bathroom/shower, a second en-suite bedroom and three further bedrooms and a family bathroom. In addition there is a one bed annex with bathroom/shower, sitting room and kitchen and further outbuilding housing two offices, kitchen, cloakroom, and substantial barn. 5

EPC Rating: TBC

BRAMBLES, PICKWORTH, SLEAFORD

£599,950

Superior detached contemporary home offering light and spacious family living with a high degree of attention to detail and a range of environmentally friendly features. Ground floor accommodation includes an open plan kitchen/dining room with hand-built English oak cabinets and separate utility, a delightful dual aspect sitting room with inset woodburning stove, spacious snug/home office and family room. To the first floor there is a generously proportioned principal bedroom with en-suite, three additional large double bedrooms and super-sized fifth bedroom /games room and a well-appointed family bathroom. The large secluded garden wraps around the house whilst the generous gravelled driveway to the front and side offers ample parking and leads to the double garage. Grantham’s highspeed rail network to London Kings Cross (approximately 65 minutes). 3

EPC Rating: D

WHICHCOTE FIELDS, OSBOURNBY, SLEAFORD £595,000

MEADOW BARN, BECKINGHAM, LINCOLN

Impressive contemporary detached property combining evocative Georgian architecture with light, stylish interiors to create a spacious family home infused with character. The property boasts a superb kitchen breakfast room with vaulted ceiling and lancet windows, generous family/dining room, dual aspect sitting room with feature fireplace, garden room overlooking the south-facing gardens and separate study. To the first floor there is an elegant principal bedroom with en-suite and dressing room, en-suite guest bedroom, two further double bedrooms and a family bathroom. Sitting centrally on a generous plot, the lawned gardens are surrounded by mature hedging with views over the surrounding picturesque countryside, whilst the gravelled driveway leads to a double garage.

Stunning family home in a picturesque village setting which combines stylish design with character features to create a light and spacious interior. The property boasts a sleek contemporary family kitchen with double doors to the garden, a beautiful sitting-room with exposed brick inglenook fireplace and wood-burner, ground floor study/snug. To the first floor there is a superb principal bedroom with mezzanine level dressing-room, en-suite and covered balcony with views, three further double bedrooms with snug/bedroom five to a mezzanine level and a stylish family bathroom and shower. Externally the block-paved driveway leads to the double garage whilst to the rear, the south-facing garden is laid to lawn with a decked terrace and bark-chipped children’s play area. Newark’s high-speed rail network to London Kings Cross (approximately 82 minutes) is located a short distance away.

EPC Rating: TBC

£550,000

EPC Rating: TBC

Fine & Country Lincolnshire and Grantham, 55 High Street, Navenby, Lincs LN5 0DZ Telephone: 01522 287008 or 01476 247070 Email: lincoln@fineandcountry.com www.fineandcountry.com With offices in over 300 locations worldwide Fine and Country combine the widespread exposure of the international marketplace with national marketing campaigns and local expertise...

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ROSE VILLA 40 Lindis Road | Boston | Lincolnshire | PE21 9RT

• Well Modernised Detached House For Sale Freehold • 3 Reception Rooms with Open Plan Kitchen/Diner, Separate Office, Conservatory • Coach House, Outbuildings and Mature Private Gardens Extending to 0.33 Acres • 3 Bedrooms, Box Room, Family Bathroom, Ensuite

FOR SALE FREEHOLD WITH VACANT POSSESSION

£379,950 Subject To Contract

THE ELMS Rawsons Lane | Boston | Lincolnshire | PE21 9HT

• A Unique Opportunity to Acquire an Exquisite Family Residence FOR SALE FREEHOLD • Superior Level of Fit and Finish in a Sought After Residential Location WITH VACANT • Bespoke Kitchen Diner, Three Reception Rooms, Utility POSSESSION, NO • Five Bedrooms, Two En-Suites, Shower Room and Family Bathroom ONWARD CHAIN • Natural Floor Finishes, Fireplaces with Stoves, Exposed Brickwork & Beams OFFERS OVER • Private Garden Kitchen with Raised Barbeque Entertaining Areas • Driveway, Four Garages, Outbuilding/Stores with Office • Private Established Garden with Parkland Views Subject To Contract

£650,000

PROTECTION COTTAGE Quadring Road | Donington | Lincolnshire | PE11 4TB

ON NO W CH ARD AIN

• An Attractive Characterful Home FOR SALE • 4 Parking Spaces and Enclosed Garden FREEHOLD WITH • Modern Kitchen with Family Room, Open Plan Lounge/Diner VACANT POSSESSION • 3 Bedrooms with En-Suite Master, Shower Room and Utility • 4 Parking Spaces and Enclosed Garden Subject To Contract • Viewing is Essential to Appreciate the Accommodation on Offer No Onward Chain

£239,950

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Linden Way, Boston

£395,000

Spilsby Road, Boston

£445,000

Spilsby Road, Boston £525,000

Incredibly well presented four bedroom detached house convenient to both Pilgrim Hospital and Boston High School, with a beautiful large and well established garden divided into several individual sections, two reception rooms and two bathrooms. Offered with No Chain.

Such a beautifully maintained period property with four reception rooms, and ﬁve bedrooms over three ﬂoors. It enjoys a private mature rear garden, ample off road parking for many vehicles a brand new bespoke sun-lounge and a detached Double Garage and is within a convenient walking distance to schools, hospital and the town centre.

Fantastic four bedroom Grade Two Listed Georgian property, with many original features and a range of outbuildings to include former coach house, stables, multiple garages, games room and a workshop. There are four reception rooms, three en-suites and an attractive mature garden with outdoor kitchen and pizza oven.

High Street, Swineshead O/O £599,000

Rawsons Lane, Boston O/O £650,000

Tytton Court, Tytton Hall £249,950

An incredibly large property with endless possibilities, with a floorplan of over 5000 square feet with four large bedrooms to the main house, two with en-suite, three reception rooms plus a completely selfcontained two bedroom bungalow, two offices in a separate block and two workshops.

Enjoying what must be one of the most attractive uninterrupted parkland views to the rear, The Elms is filled with charm and character and has a superb dining kitchen along with three other spacious reception rooms all fitted with wood-burners. There are five double bedrooms two of which are en-suite.

The Smithys is part of a stable block conversion in the grounds of Tytton Hall in Wyberton and enjoys a beautiful garden with far-reaching views, three bedrooms, a dining kitchen and a sitting room with a wood burner and full height window to take full advantage of the rural aspect.

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72% of paper and paper packaging is recycled into new products; one of the highest recycling rates of any material in Europe!

Discover the story of paper www.lovepaper.org Source: Confederation of European Paper Industries, 2018 Europe: EU27 + Norway, Switzerland and the UK

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Visit us online and in-store | delcor.co.uk Stamford Store, 30 Bath Row, Rear of St Marys Hill, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 2QX

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THE CROWN IN LINCOLNSHIRE

TAKING the

CROWN

Some of the backgrounds in Netflix’s flagship drama The Crown may look as familiar as the faces themselves... and that’s because Stamford’s Burghley House and Grantham’s Belvoir Castle were just two of the preferred locations used to film this lavish series about the more turbulent events during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II... Words: Rob Davis.

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THE CROWN

In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, the eponymous king declares ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.’ The trials and tribulations of monarchs provided sufficient material to keep the playwright going for years. It’s little surprise; being a monarch is never dull. Our own Queen’s reign of 68 years has had its challenges, but what makes for a challenging life also makes great TV. And one of the best series on our screens at the moment is The Crown, which over 73,000,000 households have watched since it debuted in 2016. Series four is now available to stream and if the faces are familiar, then the locations should be even more recognisable, because both Burghley House & Grantham’s Belvoir Castle make admirable representations of Windsor Castle in both series three and four of the drama. We spoke to Director Ben Caron, about what compelled him to film in the area and what the latest series has in store for viewers… What attracted you to Belvoir Castle and latterly to Burghley House?

Both are great locations. Unfortunately, we were unable to make the schedule work for our usual Windsor visits to Belvoir Castle and therefore had to seek an alternative.

and through all the highs and lows of a marriage that ends in divorce from the Prince of Wales. What happens during season four?

It’s jam packed. We’ve got Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher, the Falklands, sibling rivalry, and Michael Fagan, the Palace intruder and sat on the bed of the Queen of England. Additionally, in 10 Downing Street we have rivalry between the two Heads of State; the Queen and Margaret Thatcher. It’s a relationship where you think they are going to get on and very quickly descends into difficulties between two very similar personalities. What did you think of the scripts?

When I read our writer Peter Morgan’s scripts, there’s always a sense of, ‘oh, I know what’s coming up.’ And of course, there are the big moments in the season. There is the wedding, which everyone’s going to be

“I genuinely don’t know how Olivia Colman does it. I don’t even think she knows how she does it. She is gifted, warm and so generous!”

We went through a number of options with Martin Childs, Production Designer. One of the early contenders was Burghley House. Burghley is not too far from Belvoir Castle, situated in Stamford and they were very keen to be involved with the show. The interior frescos at Burghley were actually painted by the same artist as those at Windsor and once Martin visited, he loved the house and the next step was to convince production that this would be our next Windsor. It soon became everybody’s new favourite location!

excited about and there’s Thatcher. There are all the things that I remember now that I’m coming into a decade in which I was alive. But there are also the brilliant unknown stories that Peter gets his magnifying glass out and scratches beneath the surface of.

When does season four take place?

Is there a particular scene you’re really proud of?

Season four of The Crown starts in 1979 and goes all the way through to 1990. I’m very excited about season four because I think it’s our finest. We’ve got two characters coming into season four played by two sensational actors, and that is Margaret Thatcher – born of course in Grantham – and Lady Diana Spencer, who lived for a time in nearby Althorp, in Northamptonshire. We see the Thatcher years and we also witness the journey of Diana. Diana goes from young adult to mother of two children, 20

This season I directed the opening episode and episode three. In episode one, there are a couple of scenes that really stand out for me. One, is the first time we meet Diana. When Peter first wrote that scene it felt really mythological in the sense that there was this other worldly person that was camouflaged in her. Then, we had this encounter with Charles, brief though it was, but it left some indelible mark on him that we would then return to later. We knew as an audience watching

how important the first meeting was. I remember thinking about Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet and specifically about that moment when they met around the fish tank. I thought about how fun it would be to stage the scene so that Diana was hiding in front of the greenery and only for a brief moment, you had this moment of eyes locking. What were the specific challenges of this series?

With every season of The Crown, and this is season four, we always start with what we can bring that is new and different. I like to think The Crown has a very modern approach and doesn’t fall into that sort of classic period drama. The Crown season four covers the 80s, which was referred to as ‘Thatcher’s broken Britain,’ and so we were sort of interested in how we could bring a little more of that visceral reality of how Britain was at that time. We looked at trying to maybe slowly steer the season away from the slightly more fairy-tale approach in the earlier seasons and more towards the grittier version of life in the 1980s.

How does this season look different to the last?

In terms of making season four different from a camera point of view, without getting too technical, we have brought on new cameras and new lenses. We tested lots of cameras and lenses at the beginning of the season and I think our audience will still feel like they’re watching The Crown, but that it has the feeling of something that is taking us into the 1980s. What was it like changing cast last season?

I think season three was a huge challenge for our cast. They had the unenviable task of taking the baton from previous actors in seasons one and two. Coming back for series four, though, was like welcoming back old friends. It was a challenge, and it’s daunting to think we might do the same for seasons five and six, but I think all of those actors – not just in terms of how the audience are responding to them – also looked forward to coming back to season four. How well does Olivia represent The Queen?

I think she is brilliant. She turns up, knocks it out of the park and then goes home. I genuinely don’t know how she does it. I don’t even think she knows how she does it. She is one of the most amazingly gifted, warm, generous people that exist in the world, and we are incredibly grateful to her

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THE CROWN

on set. I think she is the matriarch on camera, and she is the matriarch on set. What does Gillian bring to the part of Thatcher?

The role of Margaret Thatcher is such a hard character to play because there are many people that have opinions about her. She was a divisive political figure. Gillian has a sort of razor-sharp focus. I know she has spent months and months and months trying to scrape underneath the surface of Margaret Thatcher. I think this is probably one of the hardest roles that she’s done because you’re stepping into the shoes of someone that everyone has an opinion about. Gillian’s performance is very nuanced, and it might make the audience think a little bit more about who the real Margaret Thatcher was.

Why was Emma the right person to play Diana?

When she stepped into the room, she had that amazing quality of vulnerability and strength. When we brought Emma in for the third casting session she was incredibly emotional. I remember saying to her, ‘your life is going to change now very quickly, you’re going to experience things that Diana experienced and that you should draw on that.’ >>

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THE CROWN

Series Four Summary...

At the end of the 1970s, the Royal Family is preoccupied with safeguarding the line of succession by finding an appropriate bride for Prince Charles; still unmarried at 30. When Lord Mountbatten is assassinated by the IRA the family is rocked to its core and Charles loses his mentor. In the wake of that grief, a young Lady Diana Spencer enters the frame and the die is cast. Their wedding in 1981 is an occasion which unites the entire country in celebrating this seeming fairytale romance. As the season progresses and relations between the Waleses become strained, so too do relations between the Queen and her Prime Minister, Britain’s first female Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher. Though on paper the two women seem to be cut from the same cloth, they often disagree about the appropriate governance of the country and the Queen’s constitutional obligation to remain silent is put to the test. By the end of the season the Prime Minister is ousted by her own cabinet after eleven and a half turbulent years in power, and the Queen finds herself head of an increasingly disunited family. Set between 1979 and 1990, season four will take viewers to incredible places including South Georgia, where the invasion of the Falkland Islands sets Britain on a war footing, and across the world to Australia, where the Waleses embark on a politically sensitive tour after republican Prime Minister Bob Hawke has been elected. Viewers also revisit Balmoral Castle, where both Thatcher and Diana will be subjected to the infamous ‘Balmoral Tests,’ and the beaches of Mustique, where Princess Margaret retreats during a difficult period in her life. n

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“There hasn’t been a TV show that I’ve worked on that has such a depth of knowledge of the subject that they are dealing with...” Above: Ben Daniels as Antony Armstrong-Jones, First Lord Snowdon; Marion Bailey as The Queen Mother; Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret; Olivia Colman as HM The Queen; Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip; Erin Doherty as Princess Anne and Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten.

>> I am so happy with what she has brought to the screen. I think people are going to be completely and utterly wowed by her. How much effort is it to turn a location like Burghley or Belvoir into a royal palace?

Martin Childs and Alison Harvey are our designers. They do the most extraordinary job every season. When I arrive on set first thing in the morning and I walk in one of the rooms that they’ve set-decorated and set designed, every time it’s just ‘wow.’ They have the task of moving The Crown through the seasons without being too heavy handed with it but being representative of that time and of that era. They find things that have a trigger for us as an audience.

There are things that take us back to a visceral memory with those fabrics, colours, and props. All of these things are inherently what create the feeling of a season. The research team too has been there since season one. They have grown, not just in the size, but also in terms of their confidence. There hasn’t been a TV show that I’ve ever worked on that has that amount of real knowledge of the subject matters that they are dealing with. What will the reaction be to season four?

We try our best with each season and we wouldn’t let it out of the door if we didn’t think that it was the best version that it could probably be. At some point every shoot runs

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Crown Jewels: Facts & Figures... How many locations are used in total for series four of The Crown? Roughly 90 locations. About 75% of filming takes place on location. What has been the most challenging prop item to source? Food with the right packaging and old mobile phones. How many photo frames of the principle cast are there? There are about 70 silver photo frames of different characters for all the sets. What props are on the Queen’s desk? Various racing related objects - a horseshoe pen holder, horse hoof letter opener, bespoke Royal ER gilt embossed stationery blotters and diaries, lots of photos of her family (particularly her father). Also bespoke leather frames made – again – with the Royal crest embossed on them. How many cigarette holders did Helena have as Princess Margaret? There were about 12 options overall but Helena picked a favourite and pretty much used that one, it’s a thick horn cigarette holder. The only time she would use a daintier holder would be during a party scene on occasion. She had approximately eight different antique cigarette cases, but again she had a couple of favourites that she used more regularly than others. How many Corgis are featured? Mainly featured are two Corgis, called Lily and Prince. From time to time there are additional Corgis to form a larger family/royal group of Corgis for bigger setups, including puppies. Which cars does the Queen drive? She is driven in a Rolls Royce Phantom VI. She drives a series two Land Rover (‘Defender’) in Balmoral.

out of money and runs out of time, so it’s never as good as you would like it to be. I shrug when people say ‘I prefer season one or season two,’ I don’t know what that means. Beside that, grandfathers are watching with granddaughters; mothers are watching with daughters, fathers are watching with daughters, or sons. The Queen has been sort of central in absolutely everybody’s lives since the minute they took their first breath. The fact that she’s as central to your grandfather’s life as she is to your mother’s, as she is to your daughter’s or our son’s is extraordinary. People make sense of The Crown in individually different ways, which is still remarkable to me. n

How many audiences between the Prime Minister and the Queen took place this season? There are a total of 11 audiences between Elizabeth and Thatcher in the series. How many wigs does each principal character have? Six wigs each, taking a minimum of three weeks to create.

Most of these were bought from the company The Queen actually uses, Launer of London. How many fittings does each cast member have until a costume is ready? Usually two or three but can be up to four if it is a complicated piece for instance, Diana’s wedding dress or The Queen’s trooping of the colour riding habit. How many uniforms feature in this series? Approximately 1,500 uniforms, for Trooping of the Colour and there were a lot of foreign uniforms for Mountbatten’s funeral. The biggest uniform day was the Falklands Victory Parade which featured all three forces. How many prime ministers in the Queen’s reign? Boris makes 14! How many Prime Ministers featured in the Crown so far? We’ve seen eight. How many Royal residences are there? In total there are 23. These are: Buckingham Palace (London), Windsor Castle (Windsor), Palace of Holyroodhouse (Edinburgh), Hillsborough Castle (Ireland), Sandringham House (Norfolk), Balmoral Castle (Aberdeenshire), Craigowan Lodge (Aberdeenshire) Clarence House (London), Highgrove House (Gloucestershire), Llwynywermod (Carmarthenshire, Wales), Tamarisk (Isles of Scilly), Birkhall (Aberdeenshire), Kensington Palace (London), Anmer Hall (Norfolk), Frogmore (Windsor), St James’s Palace (London), Gatcombe Park (Gloucestershire), Ivy Cottage (Kensington Palace), The Royal Lodge (Windsor), Bagshot Park (Surrey), Barnwell Manor (Northamptonshire), Wren House (Kensington Palace and Thatched House Lodge (Richmond). How many Royal residences feature in The Crown? Eight; Buckingham Palace, Balmoral, Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace, Sandringham, Highgrove, Clarence House, Gatcombe Park.

How many costumes does each series necessitate? Around 400 in total. The total number of costumes made for the Queen are 120, for Diana that figure is 80 individual pieces.

How often do the audiences between the Queen and Prime Minister take place? The Queen meets the Prime Minister for at least 30 minutes every Tuesday when the House of Commons is sitting.

How many handbags does the Queen have? She has a collection of 86! We used six handbags.

How many audiences did Thatcher and the Queen have? We’ve calculated they had over 200. n

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By Royal Appointment: Frescoes by Verrio Over 90 filming locations were used during the filming of The Crown. Mark Walledge is the production’s Supervising Locations Manager and says that working at Belvoir Castle and Burghley House created super locations for the series. In previous seasons of The Crown, Belvoir Castle’s driveway and its exterior has been used to represent Windsor Castle, and the castle’s Elizabeth Saloon and Regent’s Gallery are used as the Queen’s private reception rooms. Burghley House features heavily in series four, with Josh O’Connor’s Prince Charles courting Lady Diana Spencer in the Heaven Room, the same room in which HM The Queen delivered her 25th wedding anniversary speech at the end of series three. Verrio’s Heaven Room is just one of the state rooms in Burghley House and its fresco is regarded as the artist’s greatest masterpiece. It depicts ‘Gods and Goddesses disporting themselves, as Gods and Goddesses are wont to do…!’ and even features a cameo of the artist at the forge of the cyclops. Verrio painted a number of frescoes at Windsor Castle, of which only three have survived fire or reconstruction works. His Banquet of the Gods fresco in the King’s Dining Room was completed in 1684. Verrio then worked at Burghley, completing the Hell Staircase in 1697. It was his last commission before Verrio went blind and the artist was unable to complete The Heaven Room, which was finished by Thomas Stothard in 1799. n

The Artist

Antonio Verrio Frescos which appear in both Burghley House and in Windsor Castle were painted by Antonio Verrio (1636-1707) who served the Crown for over 30 years, bringing Baroque murals to England.

Main: Queen Elizabeth II, played portrayed by Olivia Colman, is seen here making a speech to mark her 25th wedding anniversary to Prince Philip at Burghley House.

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THE CROWN

GILLIAN ANDERSON...

On Playing Thatcher At the tail end of the seventies – after a period of great social unrest in the UK – Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first female prime minister, and she was determined to usher in a new era of prosperity. As contemporaries, Thatcher and the Queen embark on a relationship which sees them discover both the striking similarities and yet stark differences between them. A divisive leader, Thatcher mans the helm in a turbulent decade of record unemployment and civil unrest, but unites the country in a spirit of patriotism during the Falklands war. As the two women’s fortunes fluctuate, they act as a powerful counterpoint to one another. It was a tough role to play, says Gillian Anderson who portrays her in The Crown... How does Margaret appear in The Crown? In episode one we see MT win the election and in episode ten we see her leave office. In between, the series observes her relationship with the Queen through various landmark events including the cabinet reshuffle, the Falklands War and sanctions on South Africa. What were your impressions of the script? That as with every season, the Queen and the Crown are the prism through which one sees the incumbent Prime Ministers and history playing out - it’s a very delicate balance Peter Morgan has to strike. We see history as it relates to the monarchy not for its own sake and where the PM sits within that is secondary. If one were doing a biopic of Margaret Thatcher, you would touch on many more and perhaps different events. What was it like to join the cast of The Crown? Extraordinary. It’s such a grown-up experience all around. More like a film set than a TV show. There is deep respect on set for the work, which is surprisingly not a given in the industry. The cast notoriously gets along very well and it feels very much like a home of sorts. I already miss it. Honestly I don’t know how Peter and his gang pull it off year after year. I do know that they try a few dozen scenarios before they settle on which historical event and which Royal it is experienced through. Somehow they manage to make it unpredictable and not soapy. I’m simplifying the process here and I don’t mean to!

What does Thatcher make of the Queen? Mrs Thatcher is incredibly respectful of and slightly in awe of the Royal family. Despite the differences in how they by their nature handled situations, she continues to revere the institution and the Queen within it, as long as she doesn’t get in the way of the work she intends to do. Is Thatcher a similar character to the Queen? They have many similarities in that they are the same age, have a strong faith, and are simultaneous heads of state. But where the Queen leans back, Thatcher leans in; where the Queen ‘stays mum,’ Thatcher makes very clear her opinions; where the Queen does nothing, Thatcher takes action. How do their differences become apparent? They become clear in how the Queen would have Mrs Thatcher respond to the Falkland situation as opposed to how she does. The Queen, if she had the choice, would have kept Thatcher’s original cabinet because they resembled precisely what she finds comfort in; it was the cabinet that Thatcher almost entirely sacked. And they had very different views about how sanctions against Apartheid South Africa should be handled; so different that the tensions between them became headline news which was unprecedented. Do we gain an insight into her as a person? Well, there’s one episode that deals with Thatcher as a mother - an episode that delves into her state of mind when her son Mark was missing for a few days while racing in the Paris-Dakar car rally and how her feelings for

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Mark seem to differ from her feelings for her daughter Carol. We also see her making shepherd’s pie for cabinet ministers in the flat and her wonderfully close and supportive relationship with her husband Dennis. All aspects of her that you might not have considered would be a part of her life experience as a woman on the world stage. What research did you do for the part? I think I pretty much watched everything there was to watch on her. Every documentary and many interviews. I also read a few books including the Charles Moore biographies. The Crown has an exemplary research team and if you want something, they will get a hold of it for you. So whether it was them handing me an initial Thatcher pack or me asking for details on every last cabinet member and what their specific roles and leanings were, or even ‘is there archive footage of this particular joke she told while canvassing’ the team was there to provide it. How has playing Margaret Thatcher influenced your impressions of her? Well, I think the documentary I saw definitely affected how I played her. I really knew so little about her before I started my research and certainly have a much stronger opinion of the woman as a whole as opposed to solely the woman Prime Minister who had such a monumental effect on Britain and beyond... for better or for worse. Is there added pressure for you when you take on the role of an iconic personality? Definitely, and I have to say, for Thatcher more than any iconic persona I have played before. She had such a specific way of speaking and moving and divided people so thoroughly that showing all sides of that kind of character becomes even more vitally important... and challenging too. n Award-winning film, television and theatre actress Gillian Anderson plays Margaret Thatcher in Series Four of The Crown. The actress achieved recognition for her role as ‘Special Agent Dana Scully’ on the American TV series The X-Files. Running for nine seasons from 1993-2002, Gillian won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors' Guild awards for the series.

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DORRINGTON HALL CANDLES

FLAME and

FORTUNE If overpriced candles get on your wick, worry not…! You can still enjoy the warm glow of a flickering flame and some wonderful fragrances this winter, all for a thoroughly reasonable price thanks to Victoria Boardman. Her artisan candle brand – named after her Edwardian country home, Dorrington Hall – is really glowing strong despite being a flicker over a year old… Words: Rob Davis.

The burning question is: ‘why are some scented candles so expensive?’ Of course it’s always a sound proposition to pay for quality, but even the most ordinary of mass-produced candles command £20 and some upmarket brands sell for up to £50. Paying for a name could get right on your wick. It certainly did for Victoria Boardman; that’s why the Sleaford artisan decided to create her own range of Natural Sustainable fragranced candles, diffusers, room mists and melts. Nobody can hold a candle to Victoria’s products in terms of their quality or the fair price at which she’s selling them (£16.50/50hr burn; £10/25hr burn; £10/12melts). And her most successful range of melts is especially innovative, because their letterbox-friendly packaging enables you to send something thoughtful and beautifully scented right through the letterbox of your friend or relative. It’s been a busy couple of years for Victoria, with 2018 seeing the birth of her daughter Beatrice, plus a move into the family’s Edwardian country home – Dorrington Hall, which she and husband Mark are in the process of renovating. Victoria is project managing the conversion of their Coach House into a stunning holiday retreat, and then, of course, there’s the creation of her new business. Life is a bit busy, to say the least, for Victoria who is also a hobby breeder of labradoodles and ragdoll cats. She also has sons Edward, aged nine and Brian, aged eight to look after, as well as Beatrice. Happily though, she’s still found the time to innovate with her scent-sational ranges. “I’ve always loved being creative, and having tried the usual crafts, I found myself giving candlemaking a try in 2018, whilst I was on maternity leave,” says Victoria. “It was absolutely fascinating; something that seemed so simple, initially, actually turned out to be a real skill.” “I persisted with each attempt I made and completed loads of research, eventually discovering some of the secrets of the craft. Christmas was coming up and I made a few gifts for family and friends. They absolutely loved them and convinced me others would love them too, I took a leap of faith and did my first Christmas market last year and started to develop a following online. I was then approached to wholesale in some of the counties finest shops. The belief people have shown in my products and myself who I haven’t even met online really helped me so much, and it made me believe I should turn a hobby into a business. Victoria didn’t initially realise just how good her products were – let alone why – but as her experience of the craft has grown, she’s come to realise that not all candles are created equally and that, as with so many things in life, you really do get what you pay for when it comes to a candle, albeit when you pay for quality, not for a brand. >> 33

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CANDLE MAKING

>> “Pretty early on I realised that there were two approaches to candle making; the cheap mass produced way or the quality way,” says Victoria. “Cheaper candles use paraffin wax, but it’s better to pay a little more for soy wax-based ones, which produce less soot – the reason cheap candles leave black marks on your walls. Nasty paraffin wax is also regarded as carcinogenic and can also irritate conditions like asthma. Soy wax originates from around 10 countries and Victoria’s candles are based on sustainably sourced soya bean-derived wax from Uruguay the Ukraine and Canada.” And then there’s the scent itself. The source of the nice smell in a product like a candle is derived from a combination of essential oils – extracted and steam distilled from the botanical or flower itself – plus fragrance agents which are artificially created chemical compounds. There are about 4,000 ‘stock’ fragrances which have been made by olfactory scientists, and it’s either impossible, impractical or just financially less viable to create a scent from essential oils alone. Fragrances, whilst synthetic, are more stable and more practical. Not all essential oils burn as well; some for instance can clog wicks. Speaking of which, did you know there are hundreds of different permutations of wicks, either cotton, paper, plastic or zinc with baffling designations from like HTP136 or CDN28?

the wax melts have proved especially popular during lockdown as they come in boxes or six or 12, comprising of a single scent or a mixed selection. I’ve created a sharer box of 40 melts too, one or two of which have been sent to hospital wards to be shared among the staff following a patient’s stay in hospital.”

A bit like chocolate, wax must be melted gently and carefully. It turns to liquid at around 85° but must be cooled to the right temperature before essential oils and fragrances are added – sorry, but we’re not allowed to be too specific on the details as it’s quite the trade secret!

“Melts have been publicised quite heavily by the cleaning expert Mrs Hinch and my eco friendly packaging ensures they can be sent through a recipient’s letterbox. Each one burns for about 20 hours, so they’re quite economical, and they can be used with any wax burner.”

There’s also a secret to adding the wick in such a way as to ensure it’s central in the vessel, too, which isn’t simply a matter of aesthetics for the finished product, but also determines how evenly the burn pool melts the wax and how many hours use you’re able to derive from the candle. >>

As well as her melts, Victoria also produces candles that burn for around 50 hours, plus reed diffusers and room mists, hand soaps and lotions. Creating around 1,500 wax melts and 100 candles a week takes considerable time and quite a bit of space too. Although it is Victoria’s business it’s also a family affair, with the children and Victoria’s 83 year old mum all helping out. As soy wax is a natural product, every batch that is delivered is different and has to be thoroughly tested on its own, making candles and melts from each new batch.

Victoria’s candles utilise cotton wicks which burn better (softer) with soy wax. They can self-trim but Victoria always recommends trimming your wick to ensure an even burn. The quantity of scent used also varies from product to product. Two of Victoria’s similarly-sized candles, for instance, can vary dramatically in the quantity of essential oil or fragrance used, according to their scent. Victoria reckons that in the process of inventing a new product she has to make around 12 candles until she perfects the ‘recipe’ and the process for each individual scent. Each oil or fragrance has to be finetuned because each has a slightly different burn profile – known as the heat throw – and produces a different sized ‘burn pool.’ “I usually have around 16 different fragrances but this varies from season to season,” says Victoria. “Victoria Plum & Rhubarb, Noir and Fig & Berry are popular right now, and 34

Above: Dorrington Hall Estate’s wax melts can be posted though a loved one’s letterbox and each one burns for 20 hours. Right: Victoria typically produces 16 different fragrances and her votive based candles have a burn time of approximately 50 hours. There are a number of ‘trade secrets’ to producing a good candle... but Victoria is keeping quiet about them!

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CANDLE MAKING

“Winter is seen by some as being a bit gloomy but actually the flicker of a candle or a tealight in a burner creates a really nice atmosphere and with a gentle scent, it can be a real source of comfort...”

>> Adjusting and tightening the wick is a crucial if rarely-considered (at least by the consumer) part of getting a candle to look and burn correctly. This requires intervention from Victoria as each batch of candles cure. Initial setting occurs within three hours but Victoria intervenes within that time to ensure no air bubbles are present. To complicate matters further Victoria likes to incorporate home-grown botanicals and foliage, from Pyracantha to Hydrangea, Roses or Lavender from her garden depending on the time of year. Needles from the pine trees in her garden even end up in her Christmas melts, with her botanicals all harvested by hand and dried by the old boiler in the property’s outbuildings before being added at just the right time… another trade secret, I’m afraid. “All of my products are created using sustainable ingredients and all are pet friendly, cruelty-free and vegan,” Victoria says. “I’m selling them online and I’ve been approached by a local farm shops and gift retailers across the whole of Lincolnshire. I’ve also created a bespoke branded line for one of our retailers. I’m also looking forward to starting a subscription box facility in 2021.” “The wax melts are selling exceptionally well with customers at the minute. Being letterboxfriendly, customers are ordering them and having them delivered to friends and family this year instead of Christmas cards with handwritten personal messages.” “There’s something nice about being a part of someone’s Christmas,” she adds. “Winter is seen by some as being a bit gloomy but actually the flicker of a candle or a tealight in a burner creates a really nice atmosphere and with a gentle scent. It can be a real source of comfort, which I think we all deserve after 2020!” n Victoria Boardman is the creator of Dorrington Hall Estate home fragrances with Soy wax candles, wax melts, reed diffusers and room mists, plus luxury hand soap and hand lotions which can be purchased for yourself or sent to a loved one. See www.dorringtonhallestate.co.uk. 37

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SCHOOLS & COLLEGES

Schools & Education Suthers School

“Providing an inspiring education, for life...”

The Suthers School is Newark’s newest secondary school, which was established in 2017 by the area’s Nova Education Trust. The school is based in a brand new, purpose-built, state-ofthe-art building at Fernwood, just south of Newark. The building was completed in the summer of 2020 with pupils moving in for the start of the new academic year. The school’s uniquely character-centred approach means that personal development is ranked alongside academic preparation and through its extended day the school guarantees access to a broad range of enrichment opportunities. “The Suthers School has at its heart the absolute conviction that young people deserve an 40

education that excites and enthuses,” says Head of School, Andrew Pettit. “Our ‘work hard, be kind’ philosophy, together with our unique approach to character development means that there is something very special about The Suthers School. In short, we aim to deliver a highly academic, enriching curriculum and to empower the young people of Newark to do more than they ever thought possible.” The pupils moved into their newly-completed school building at Fernwood after the summer holidays. n For further information about The Suthers School and to register your interest, visit www.suthersschool.co.uk or call 01636 957690 for a personal tour.

St Hugh’s School

“Business as usual at St Hugh’s School...”

It was business as usual during lockdown at St Hugh’s School, Woodhall Spa as pupils received lessons via Google Classroom and staff delivered live teaching via Google Meet. A new timetable for the school week was written which encompassed all the activities that take place in a typical week including all the academic subjects, PE, Music and Art. Pupils in the Prep School (Years 3-8) received five 1 hour lessons a day and there were four lessons in the PrePrep and EYFS. Delivering an entire curriculum was a huge challenge for everybody but we were thrilled with how the whole community embraced the online learning. The programme was structured and shaped in such a way as to give parents and

families as much assistance as possible and to provide variety for our pupils, much in the same way as they experience in school. With wellbeing very much at the heart of a St Hugh’s education, pupils had two face to face online meetings with their Form Teachers and peers. Parents were also regularly asked to highlight any concerns they had and together with our Pastoral team we were able to offer the support and care our pupils needed. Looking forward, the online provision is ready to put in place as soon as a child needs to be absent from school or if the Government tells schools to close, thus ensuring that there is no disruption to learning for any pupil. n Visit www.st-hughs.lincs.sch.uk or call 01526 352169 for more.

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WILKIN CHAPMAN

Making Family Law Friendly

with LINCOLNSHIRE’S WILKIN CHAPMAN As a solicitor and mediator, Lisa Boileau thrives on making family law accessible and achieving good outcomes from her clients. With 28 years experience, Lisa reveals here the reasons that much of her work is gained through recommendation from others... outcome for both parties. Family lawyers and children are not weapons by proxy, and I think the fact that my colleagues and I recognise this is a good example of how the family law profession has changed for the better over the past 28 years. I’m proud of the fact that we seek to find resolutions now, instead of exposing clients to an adversarial system.

How did you get into your line of work, and your area of speciality?

I began my legal training in 1992, qualified in 1994 then became a partner in 2000. I fell into family law purely by chance. It was not an area of law that I was particularly focused on when I was a law student, but I quickly discovered how rewarding it is to find respectful, supportive and cooperative solutions for couples and families needing resolution. What have been the most significant developments in law you’ve witnessed?

As the area of family law was developing, I took the opportunity to train as a Family Law Mediator in 2005, where I mediated separating couples as well as continuing to represent clients as a solicitor in court. In 2012, it became possible to arbitrate on family law issues. I applied to train as a Family Law Arbitrator and was one of the first solicitors in England and Wales able to sit and hear private family law financial disputes between couples and support and assist them to resolve their disputes on a binding basis, but away from the family law court. One of the aspects of the legal profession I really do enjoy is the fact that the law evolves to help people; it’s like a mirror that reflects society. Civil Partnerships became permitted in law from 2004 and so in that relatively short space of time we’ve seen a significant shift towards equality for same-sex & civil partnerships as well as marriages. What is your favourite thing about your job?

I am also now responsible for Wilkin Chapman’s trainee solicitor recruitment

What are some of your most memorable career moments?

programme and I am thoroughly enjoying meeting graduates and undergraduates who are setting out on their legal career path. Giving some of these young people the opportunity to train with us and become our lawyers of the future is hugely exciting and rewarding. What qualities do you believe make you great at your job?

The first time I went to court as a trainee solicitor and obtained an injunction to protect a woman who had been seriously domestically abused by her partner. To then get her to a place of safety gave me a feeling of immense relief and satisfaction. The first multi-million pound divorce case I got instructed on was another big moment in my career, but my most memorable career moment would have to be the day that I was invited into partnership at Wilkin Chapman.

Setting very high standards for myself, trying to do a really good job for my clients and truly caring about how they are and what outcome they get.

20 years on, women are well represented in our boardroom. The firm has 15 female partners which reflects the prominent role women now have in the legal sector.

Offering calm and pragmatic advice, being able to understand complex problems quickly and identify solutions for people who are often very upset or are feeling totally overwhelmed by their situation, is essential in what I do.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given and why?

Traditionally people regarded aggressive lawyers as being strong, and though litigation or a robust approach is sometimes necessary, overwhelmingly it’s the case that respectful, supportive and cooperative ways of finding resolutions are best, where possible. Amicable and fair results create a calmer and better

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Don’t forget to look after yourself; otherwise you cannot look after those who are around you. It’s very important when lots of people are relying upon you, to stay fit and healthy. My husband and I are very keen hill walkers. We try to go up to Scotland every year on a walking holiday and can often be found climbing Mam Tor or Kinder Scout in the Peak District to blow the cobwebs away at the weekend. n

Find Out More: For information on any family law issue, Lisa Boileau is a Solicitor, Arbitrator, Mediator and Head of Family Law at Wilkin Chapman LLP. Lisa can be contacted on 01522 512345 or email lisa.boileau@wilkinchapman.co.uk

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The NFU Mutual team pictured (pre-lockdown) at Bourneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Grimsthorpe Estate Shooting Ground. Pictured are Alice Sumner, Alister Green, Frank Woolley and Anne Evans. Thanks to Sophie and the team for the use of their location, for more details on the site see www.grimsthorpeshootingground.co.uk.

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ADVERTISING FEATURE NFU MUTUAL

Resolving to Achieve Peace of Mind Make a new year’s resolution you’ll be very happy to keep this month. Promise to ensure you achieve protection and security for the finances of your family or your business, with NFU Mutual’s financial services

THINGS ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT in the mid-Lincolnshire agency office of NFU Mutual this year. Ordinarily the team would be pulling a cracker and enjoying a sherry to toast the festive season. But for obvious reasons, instead of a Christmas bash, the team are making do with an elbow bump and going off to spend a wellearned Christmas and New Year break with their respective families.

“Amazingly some people are still unaware that we offer a whole host of financial service products. But after the events of 2020, and at this time of the year when we’re all spending time around friends & family, realising the importance of protecting them, it’s more important than ever to consider looking after what matters. And who better to consider than NFU Mutual given the trust and respect we have in the industry?”

Like the rest of us, Financial Planning Manager Mark Hatton-Smith, colleague David Richardson and the rest of the team cherish time spent with their families and work hard to support them.

“We usually offer a face-to-face consultation but we can work via the phone or video chat in the current climate. It’s our job to understand your circumstances and provide good advice on issues pertaining to life insurance and critical illness or But perhaps the best you can do for your family income protection.” is not to ensure the turkey is adequately stuffed and the gifts under the tree have the biggest bows, “Sadly there have been too many occasions when but to ensure your loved ones are protected, come someone we’ve provided protection to has then had to rely on that product. But the peace of what may. mind they and their family have had has been “If 2020 has taught us anything,” say advisors priceless.” Mark and David, “It’s that having protection and “Likewise, we offer a range of pension and investsavings both in your personal life and when you’re ment products to help you plan for your family’s in business is essential for when things don’t future. As well as spending time around family – go as smoothly as you hope.” which makes us all realise how important “NFU Mutual is a separate entity to the protection is, the end of the year is also a time NFU and was established in 1910. We provide when you should consider investing in the health insurance and financial services not just to of your business and your financial future, so farmers or rural communities, but for everyone. we’re usually busy.” We now have 300 local offices, “Resolving to protect yourself looking after the needs of 900,000 whilst you’re healthy, taking people and underwriting £1.6bn sensible steps to protect your worth of premiums.” income and looking after your future might not be the most “But whilst we’re known for our glamorous of new year’s resoluinsurance products, with trusted tion, but for those whose lives and specialist cover for your home, take an unexpected turn, it’s usubusiness and car, we also provide ally one of the purchases in a wealth of financial services with life you’re most glad to have the same philosophy of looking Mark Hatton-Smith. made.” n after our customers.”

Find Out More: NFU Mutual’s Mid-Lincolnshire agency has offices in Bourne, Boston and Sleaford. For a no-obligation discussion of your circumstances, call 01529 302437 or see www.nfumutual.co.uk. Please remember if we recommend any investments their value can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you have invested. NFU Mutual Financial Advisers advise on NFU Mutual products and selected products from specialist providers. When you contact us we'll explain the advice services we offer and the charges. Financial advice is provided by NFU Mutual Select Investments Limited. S M Green, A R Green & J R Musson is an appointed representative of The National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Limited (No.111982). And an introducer to NFU Mutual Select Investments Limited, a member of the NFU Mutual group of companies. 47

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Lamb steak, with twelve house braised lamb shoulder bon bon, dauphinoise potatoes, pancetta and spring cabbage, rosemary jus.

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FOOD & DRINK

The Cross Keys at GRASBY It’s the pub restaurant with spectacular views of the Cathedral in the distance and a wonderful team in the kitchen. Offering a warm welcome, creative food and a great atmosphere, enjoy The Cross Keys at Grasby this winter... Words & Images: Rob Davis.

High up on an escarpment between Caistor and Brigg, The south west-facing dining room of the Cross Keys’ has huge views of the Lincolnshire countryside, falling away from the restaurant right down to Lincoln Cathedral which is some 30 miles in the distance, but still clearly visible. During our visit the sunshine was pouring in through the windows, lighting up the whole room, but it wasn’t half as dazzling as what was on my plate, thanks to the skills and creativity of chef patron Steph Barker, Malika Garwell and their kitchen team. 2020 was a pretty rotten year for hospitality generally, but just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Steph’s new puppy decided to trip her up on a dog walk, and during our visit, she was hobbling around with a medical boot strapped to her ankle. Second chef Tom Soulby then emerged from the kitchen with his arm in a sling too; an accident unrelated to work but equally inconvenient for a kitchen team now short of both an arm and a leg!

THE CROSS KEYS HAS GONE FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH, FOUNDED ON GOOD FOOD, LOCAL INGREDIENTS AND A REALLY WARM WELCOME...

meet the CHEF STEPH BARKER HEAD CHEF Safe to say the whole team will be glad to be shot of 2020, and yet, despite a rubbish year generally, The Cross Keys has gone from strength to strength. Little surprise, for it’s founded on some pretty fundamental aims; good food with local ingredients and a warm welcome. Sounds to us like a recipe for an enjoyable winter dining experience. Steph was born and raised in Lincoln and moved to Brigg five years ago, taking on The Cross Keys in 2018. The couple have refurbished the dining room which now boasts pretty rural colours, dining chairs in wool plaid and of course those stunning views of the county. Ordinarily The Cross Keys provides just under 40 covers but that’s been cut back temporarily for obvious – if tedious – reasons. Happily though the restaurant allows you to dine in the restaurant, bar, lounge and on the terrace during the warmer months. >>

Food History: Raised in Lincolnshire, worked at Lincoln’s White Hart, Doubletree by Hilton, and The Horse & Groom before opening The Cross Keys. Food Wisdom: “I think the best thing a chef can do in this part of the world is to ‘keep it Lincolnshire... we’ve great ingredients right here on our doorstep!” Food Heaven: “I like my food to have great texture. Flavour wise I love local game.” Food Hell: “Dishes that have been rushed.” n

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Roasted duck breast, hibiscus and raspberry gel, wilted spinach, parsnip purée, salt baked beetroot, and buttered corn.

Charcoal tempura soft shell crab, puffed rice and mild spiced Bombay, mango purée.

Pan seared scallops, caramelised shallot purée, buttered peas and pancetta and tarragon oil .

>> And you should... just as soon as lockdown is lifted – or before that, if you’re able to comply with the rules – because Steph and the team are phenomenally talented and work really hard to ensure that food leaves the kitchen looking and tasting superlative. “We’re coming into my favourite season right now,” says Steph. “At this time more than any other we’ve so much choice in terms of local ingredients; ones that not only taste great but look really good on the plate too. I love winter veg with bright orange butternut squash, heritage carrots, purple beetroot and so on.”

OPEN FOR FOOD Monday to Friday: 12 noon - 8pm. Saturday: 12 noon - 8.30pm. Sunday: 12 noon - 6.30pm.

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on the MENU FROM THE CROSS KEYS AT GRASBY’S À LA CARTE MENU Starters Pan seared scallops, caramelised shallot purée, buttered peas and pancetta with tarragon oil. Charcoal tempura soft shell crab, puffed rice and mild spiced Bombay, mango purée. Main Courses Roasted duck breast, hibiscus and raspberry gel, wilted spinach, parsnip purée, salt baked beetroot, buttered corn. Tempered chocolate and pistachio dome, raspberry bavarois, pistachio sponge.

“The usually generous local keepers give us game but there have been so few shoots this year. We’re still offered produce from our locals though. Our drinking trade has also supported us through lockdown but we’re really lucky that we’re equally popular with our local trade as well as diners who visit us from further away to dine here.” Currently Steph and the team are running a single menu rather than the usual à la carte, pub classics and bar menus. The menus has seven main courses, which is actually refreshingly simply and allows the team to concentrate on fewer dishes and produce them with flair and creativity. Local suppliers include Brigg Farm Shop which supplies fruit and veg; Ashby’s Ash Taylor Butchers and a local fish supplier which provides daily deliveries of seafood landed fresh at Grimsby’s fish docks. Bread, desserts, sauces, sorbets and ice creams are all created in house and villagers provide eggs, honey and so on. “We’re really lucky that all of our customers share a similar philosophy when it comes to

food,” says Steph. “You can produce food that’s good looking and well-presented, but it also has to be delicious, and the way to ensure that is to use fresh ingredients and to produce unfussy dishes which will prove satisfying.” “You also need to have good front of house team to make sure the experience meets the same high standard as the food. We’ve a great team, and that’s something that’s difficult to achieve but helps enormously when you’re trying to run a busy dining room, so I’m really grateful for them, and for the way we all work so well together!” says Steph. “This has been an unprecedented year for anyone in the hospitality profession, but for us, survival has been easier than other pubs and restaurants because of the relationship we have with our customers, because of how loyal they are and because we’ve great people both in the kitchen and to the front of house. We’ve every cause to be optimistic for maintaining the high standards and happy atmosphere into 2021... hopefully it’ll be a more stable year for everyone!” n

Duo of lamb; lamb steak, 12 hour braised lamb shoulder bon bon, dauphinois potatoes, pancetta and spring cabbage, rosemary jus. Corn fed chicken, burnt leek purée, sautéed asparagus, wild mushrooms, black garlic. Cauliflower steak, wilted spinach, roasted chickpea and hazelnut, thyme oil. Dessert Tempered chocolate and pistachio dome, raspberry bavarois, pistachio sponge. Caramelised banana sticky toffee pudding, banana ice-cream. NB: featured dishes are subject to change.

n The Cross Keys, Brigg Road, Grasby, DN38 6AQ. Call 01652 628247 or see www.crosskeysinngrasby.co.uk. 53

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THE BLACK HORSE GOSBERTON RISEGATE

HOMEMADE, BEAUTIFUL, CLASSICAL DISHES

Open for quality pub dining in a warm and welcoming Covid-save environment... sample dishes from our new award-winning head chef, Michael Henry Burgoyne...

01775 840 995

www.theblackhorse-gr.co.uk

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LYMN BANK FARM CHEESE

THE BIG

CHEESE With such diversity, such popularity and such ubiquity in our diet, cheese is not so much food as a lifestyle, and one Lincolnshire business dedicated to dairy is Thorpe St Peter’s Lymn Bank Farm. Now selling to Lincolnshire households via Yummy – the website which brings fresh local food right to your door – we catch up with Gemma Sisson and her team... Words & Images: Rob Davis.

“ARE YOU THE PHOTOGRAPHER or the engineer?” I’m asked. I’m running late having taken the wrong turn at the blue house and ended up at the roadworks at the B1195. Some terribly nice but awfully butch chaps fixing the road allow me to turn around and I eventually find Lymn Bank Farm’s two-acre site at Thorpe St Peter, having made a phone call en route to apologise for my tardiness. “I’m definitely the photographer.” Look at these hands; neither the hands of an engineer or a road fixer, but we all have that one thing we’re good at. The engineer turns up at the same time as me and quickly diagnoses the problem with the bit of machinery in production which is playing up. ‘It’s either going to be six bolts or six grand,’ the team are warned. Thankfully, it isn’t as bad as first feared. With a spare part and (probably) a spanner he’s soon fixed the problem which means production can resume the next morning. It’s a relief for the dairy, which has a number of customers keen to ensure they get their delivery, especially as Christmas 56

is coming up and a whopping 80% of your average cheesemaker’s output is between the months of September and January. Ask a Lincolnshire resident to name our local cheesemakers and two candidates in particular come to mind. Ulceby Cross’s Poacher is perhaps the most well-known Lincolnshire cheese, produced near Alford by Simon & Tim Jones since 1992, along with Michael & Mary Davenport’s Cote Hill products which originated circa 2005. Just a mile or so from Wainfleet, Lymn Bank Farm has also been making cheese since 2004. But with half of the dairy’s output being contract cheese – that is, produced for their customers and so wearing someone else’s label – and with just 30% of Lymn Bank’s produce being sold within the county, the dairy’s own brand cheese hasn’t always had the same profile here as others in the company’s home county. Happily that’s now changing and more people are becoming aware of Lymn Bank’s Nibble Nose, Just Jane, and its flavoured cheese barrels. >>

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>> “We’re unusual in the industry in that we produce our own ranges but we also innovate for our other customers,” says Gemma. “Perhaps other cheesemakers across the UK concentrate on one or two core products, but we’re much more flexible in our approach, so necessarily we’ve had to become absolute experts in the technicalities of the cheesemaking process.” Gemma’s father Steve Grinstead was an artisan back in the mid-noughties, albeit creating wood burning stoves and fireplaces. The family were keen foodies and enjoyed their cheese as consumers, but not as producers, although Steve did experiment with smoking bacon, meat and cheese… probably not over the stoves he was making and selling, but if you squint a little and tilt your head to one side, there’s a (very) tenuous connection to fire. One of Steve’s more successful products was his smoked cheese, which the family began to sell at farmers’ markets. Soon Steve fancied producing his own cheese to smoke and sourced milk from the now closed Rich Pastures dairy, utilising their raw (i.e.: neither homogenised nor pasteurised) milk to create his own cheese, experimentally at first then for commercial production from about 2007. The family moved to Thorpe St Peter, four miles from nearby Wainfleet, and the rest is history. Today the operation has grown considerably. Whilst Steve is still involved in the business, daughter Gemma and son Matt are at the helm too. 58

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Output is a distinctly healthy 175 tonnes of cheese a year, which equates to about 1.2m of their signature barrels, and the company employs around 25 people at its two-acre site.

Gemma, Matt and the team have ensured that production at the company is now an even split, 50/50 between their customers’ products and their own ranges.

Lymn Bank Farm’s skill though is the company’s nimbleness and its ability to innovate. Whilst other artisan dairies across the country concentrate on just a few core products, Lymn Bank’s speciality is its ability to produce many different products and to innovate and experiment, especially in the respect of creating new flavours.

The company’s website and its farm shop and retail customers were historically a smaller part of the business, with much of the dairy’s own products being sold at county shows and so on, nationwide.

Product development, whether for its in house products or contract customers, usually takes place in the afternoon, subject to the presence of photographers and engineers. Life at the dairy begins at about 7am each morning. Cleaning and sanitising takes an hour or two, and after that, until early afternoon, production takes place, after which the team splits in two, with half the team packing finished products and the other half cleaning and sanitising ready for the following day when the team once again cleans the already clean dairy, just to make sure hygiene is flawless.

With Covid knocking county shows on the head in 2020, the dairy has this year had more time to approach more retailers, and they’ve been greeted very warmly. 2020 also afforded Gemma the chance to create a new website enabling consumers to buy their cheese directly, and the firm has also come on board with Yummy, the county’s newest online food service, enabling the delivery of local food right to your door. Lymn Bank’s Skegness Blue cheese was the firm’s original product, followed by Sunset Blue. The former is akin to a blue brie and is an award winner. Success with these lines spurred the family on and they began to sell their Just Jane mature cheddar. >>

Lymn Bank’s Skegness Blue cheese was the firm’s original product, followed by Sunset Blue. The former is akin to a blue brie. Success with this spurred the family on and they began to sell their Just Jane mature cheddar... Top/Left: Once the curds and whey are separated, cheese is placed in truckles and left to settle. Above: The company’s larger truckles are turned during ripening to allow all surfaces of the cheese in early aging days to dry evenly. Left: Heart of Lincolnshire is Lymn Bank Farm’s delicious mature cheddar encased in wax.

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LINCOLNSHIRE CHEESE

>> It’s named in tribute to the East Kirkby Aviation Heritage Centre’s restored AVRO Lancaster, and production of the cheese has been on the go for about eight years. The firm’s Nibble Nose truckles are waxed, and include a number of flavours from red onion to chilli to orange and whisky. But where things become really interesting is with in dairy’s 18 different flavoured barrels. From caramelised red onion or cranberry to limoncello or a hot & spicy version, you’ll find a treat to suit your palate, thanks to the cheesemaker’s ability to 60

produce in comparatively smaller batches than other dairies and hence offer such a broad range of flavours. Lymn Bank Farm now also works alongside Huttoft-based Farmer Brown’s Ice Cream, and uses Darren Brown’s Friesian/Holstein flock’s raw milk, completing pasteurisation on site. It’s a partnership that works well since ice-cream producer Darren is busiest in the summer and Lymn Bank is busier in the cooler months. We’re not allowed to reveal too much about the production process as the success of

Lymn Bank Farm’s range is partly due to the time the family has invested in development of their cheese and in ‘trial and error’ attempts to perfect their processes during their early days. What we can say, though, is that generally milk is pumped into the dairy, and heated up prior to one of a number of different starter cultures being added. There’s just a 0.5°c margin of error in the temperature of the milk, which means the process has to be as tightly controlled as the dairy’s hygiene processes. >>

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DISCOVER YUMMY

Fresh local food – including Lymn Bank Farm Cheese – delivered right to your door...

Lymn Bank Farm is just one of a number of local suppliers you can buy from using Yummy. Yummy is a new food delivery service which delivers produce from local butchers, bakers, fruit & veg suppliers, fishmongers and other local food businesses, with shopping delivered straight to your door. How does it work? Simply visit www.yummy.co.uk and browse through the different products available. Once you’ve chosen your products from each of our different Yummy partners, you complete one single secure checkout. Next, we visit each of our partners in turn, collect each of the different products in your order, then pack them safely and delivery them using our fleet of our refrigerated vehicles. We’ll deliver your Yummy box to your doorstep which means you can enjoy local food, from local suppliers, delivered to your door for maximum convenience. As well as local produce, Yummy has lots of practical groceries too such as milk, butter, honey, and sliced bread. n Discover Yummy now by visiting www.yummy.co.uk... you won’t be disappointed!

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LINCOLNSHIRE CHEESE

>> Vegetable rennet is used to coagulate the milk and split the curds (the solids) and the whey, which is eventually drained off and used as high protein animal feed. Once the curds are lumpy they can be cut into strips, and once again the exact process for this is a bit of a secret because it’s a key element in determining the texture of the finished cheese. Hard cheese such as cheddar for example, has been cut more and consequently loses more moisture than cheese whose eventual texture is to be more like a moist squidgy brie. The cheese is allowed to ‘pitch’ or settle prior to the whey being drained off, and thereafter production processes diverge according to whether you’re making a blue cheese (in which case it’s put into moulds and salted the following morning) or a

cheddar (which is broken down and reformed using an extruder). “It really is a complex business but it never fails to fascinate us – or people who come to visit us – that you can vary so dramatically what is fundamentally the same product.” “We’ve come to love product development, and dad is a sort of unofficial Cheese Professor… but the proof is in the pudding, or rather the truckle, because we’ve become really well respected in the industry.” “There’s no pleasure like curling up with a glass of wine, some crusty bread and some cheese, especially in winter.” “And we hope that by incorporating our different flavours, and by being faithful to our ethos of always producing a really great product, we’re able to give our customers a consistently good product no matter what flavour they choose!” n

Find Out More: Lymn Bank Cheese is based at Thorpe St Peter PE24 4PJ, call 01754 880312, see www.postacheese.com or shop online via Yummy, for fresh local food delivered right to your door across Lincolnshire; www.yummy.co.uk.

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TASTING

NOTES n Heart of Lincolnshire: A delicious Mature cheddar in the shape of a heart encased in a pink wax, £4.50/200g. n Just Jane Vintage Cheddar: A tangy flavour and creamy texture from the dairy’s vintage cheddar makes this fantastic cheese, £4.50/200g. n Sunset Blue Cheese: A creamy blue veined cheese with a beautiful orange flesh naturally coloured with annetto, £3.50/100g. n Skegness Blue Cheese: Beautiful soft blue cheese made with local Lincolnshire milk. Said to be similar to a blue brie, £3.50/100g. n Lymn Bank Strongest Cheddar: Matured for two years this extra mature cheddar is smooth and full of flavour. Amazing as a snack with warm crusty bread just out of the oven and a glass of port, £3.00/145g. n Tomato & Basil Cheddar: With tomato and basil woven into this delicious mature cheddar, this cheese is something special, add to a platter with crusty bread and olives for an amazing starter or grate into hot pasta for a quick lunch, £3.00/145g. n Caramelised Red Onion Cheddar: One of Lymn Bank Farm’s most popular cheeses. Perfect for cheese on toast, £3.00/145g. Above products available to purchase at www.yummy.co.uk.

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Fresh local food delivered right to your door Covering the Whole of South Lincolnshire

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QUALITY FOOD FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES MEAT, FISH, BAKERY AND FRUIT & VEG MILK, EGGS, CHEESE AND GROCERIES TOO FREE DELIVERY AND A FREE SERVICE

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TO ORDER VISIT OUR WEBSITE OR CALL OUR HOTLINE WE’LL THEN TAKE YOUR ORDER AND DELIVER TO YOUR DOOR

WWW.YUMMY.CO.UK - 0800 122 39 39

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In the KITCHEN The warming taste of nutmeg and just a hint of rum both feature in this feel-good cake perfect for winter. Enjoy it mid-morning with a cup of coffee!

FESTIVE SPICED LATTE CAKE Preparation time: 25 minutes. Cooking time: 50 minutes. Serves: 10. Ingredients: 250g melted unsalted butter, 300g self-raising white flour, 1 tsp baking powder 250g light brown soft sugar, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, plus a pinch more, ¼ tsp salt 1 tbsp instant coffee powder, plus 1 tsp, 75ml whole milk, 275g low-fat fresh vanilla custard 3 medium free range eggs, beaten, 4 tbsp golden caster sugar, 2 tbsp dark rum, 200ml whipping cream Preheat the oven to 180˚C, gas mark 4. Use a little of the butter to grease a 23cm springform tin, then line the base. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the light brown soft sugar, a pinch of nutmeg and the salt. Mix well with your hands to smooth any lumps in the sugar, then make a well in the middle. In a cup, mix 1 tbsp coffee with 1 tbsp hot water. Stir into the melted butter with the milk, 175g custard and the eggs; whisk into the dry ingredients until smooth. Pour into the tin and bake for 50 minutes, until risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

While the cake bakes, mix 1 tsp coffee with 2 tbsp caster sugar, 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp rum to make a syrup; set aside. Place the cake, in its tin, on a wire rack to cool. After 30 minutes, poke lots of holes into the top using a cocktail stick and brush with the coffee syrup. Once cooled completely, remove from the tin and put on a plate. Make a frothy topping by whipping the cream with the remaining 2 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tbsp rum until very thick, then fold into the remaining 100g custard. Spoon and spread the topping onto the cake, then use a fi ne sieve or tea strainer to dust with the remaining ½ tsp nutmeg.

Recipes & Dishes: Find thousands of recipes online at www.waitrose.com/recipes.

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In the KITCHEN These hotcakes are similar to an American-style pancake - wonderfully thick and fluffy with a lovely, light texture when cooked on the Aga. Serve a stack of these with the cardamom-scented blueberry syrup for an indulgent January brunch...!

BLUEBERRY, LEMON & RICOTTA HOTCAKES Preparation Time: 15 minutes. Cooking Time: 20 minutes. Serves two. Ingredients: 250g ricotta cheese, 90g self-raising flour, 50g caster sugar, three large free range eggs, separated , 2 lemons, zest, 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, 2 tbsp extra thick half fat cream. For the syrup: 150g blueberries, 3 tbsp maple syrup, 4 cardamom pods, cracked open, Â˝ tsp vanilla extract For the syrup, put Â˝ the blueberries in a small saucepan with the maple syrup, cardamom and vanilla. Bring to the boil, then turn down to simmer gently for 3-4 minutes until the berries have just burst. Take off the heat, stir in the remaining blueberries and set aside to cool. For the hotcakes, put the ricotta, flour, sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest and a pinch of salt to a large mixing bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon. In a separate bowl, using electric beaters, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, then fold into the ricotta mixture.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat with 1 tbsp butter. Fry 3 hotcakes at a time (it makes 6 in total), using 2 dessert spoonfuls of the mixture per hotcake, and frying for about 3 minutes on each side. Repeat with the remaining 1 tbsp butter and hotcake mixture. Serve with the blueberry syrup (discard the cardamom pods) and a dollop of cream. For a breakfast option, serve these pancakes with yogurt instead of cream. They also work well with orange zest instead of lemon.

Recipes & Dishes: Find thousands of recipes online at www.waitrose.com/recipes.

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Wine of the Month

Glenlivet comes of age with 18 year old Speyside malt...

Blue Aurora English Blueberry Dusk Wine, Oundle, Northants 2020

18 years in the making, Glenlivet is happy to lose the moody teenager and gain a well adjusted and mature single malt Speyside...

£17.95 / 37.5cl / 10.5% ABV

Over the course of 18 years Glenlivet’s Master Distiller, Alan Winchester, utilises first and second-fill American oak (for tropical fruitiness) and ex-sherry oak (for spicy complexity). The result is a single malt that is complex, elegant and balanced. Taste profile includes a ripe citrus flavour with a bite of winter spice and a nose of fruit and toffee. Gold colour and an apricot nose. £115 / 70cl / 43% ABV.

The Wine Cellar RAISE A GLASS TO THE END OF 2020 AND LOOK FORWARD TO A BETTER 2021... THIS MONTH WE’VE FESTIVE FIZZ, A DELICIOUS WINE FOR DUSK AND A NO-ALCOHOL OPTION... FORGET YOUR TROUBLES WITH BUBBLES: Let’s all drink to the end of a rotten 2020! 1. Bubbles on a budget from Laurent Perrier here, as delicate citrus and floral notes are prevalent over a lovely fine mousse of bubbles... and at £30, it’s a bargain! £30 / 75cl / 12% ABV.

2. Ordinarily we’d reserve some quite ‘Anglo Saxon’ language for the kind of monster who puts ice in Champagne, but Ice Imperial is the first – and only – Champagne designed to be consumed over ice... an unusual prospect! £49.99 / 75cl / 12% ABV.

3. And our showstopper? It’s a Bollinger, but not just any Bollinger. RD stands for Récemment Dégorgé, a sort of special edition aged on lees. £190 / 75cl / 12% ABV.

Blue Aurora is purely and simply made from 100% English blueberries, hand picked from Lutton Farm in Northamptonshire. The blueberries are pressed and fermented to create this beautiful medium dry wine which is crisp and deliciously fruity. Blue Aurora is purely and simply made from 100% English blueberries, hand picked in Oundle. The wine is produced by Lutton farm; a family run farm just outside the picturesque town by the Long family. Call 01832 273300 for stockists or buy direct at www.blueaurora wine.co.uk.

Alcohol-Free Ale for Designated Drivers If you’re the designated driver, You can still raise a glass to 2021 with an alcohol-free tipple. Ordinarily these taste ghastly but Brewdog’s option has the taste of a really good bitter with lovely hoppiness and a nice citrus taste but none of the alcohol, meaning you can drive home in safety. The name, incidentally, is a snarky response to complaints that the company’s high ABV encouraged irresponsible drinking... but there’s nothing irresponsible about this! £4 / 3 x 330ml

n Our featured wines are available from

the best local independent wine merchants, supermarkets and online, prices are RRP and may vary from those stated. 71

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HOMES & INTERIORS

FOR WISE MEN and

SHEPHERDS

Located in Skillington, near Grantham, this monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s featured property is suitable for both shepherds, and for wise men (and women)... thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because Shepherds Barn has plenty of period features, an abundance of space as well as brand new kitchen and bathrooms to ensure low maintenance in the future... Words: Rob Davis.

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If you’re going to make a New Year’s resolution, make it one you’ll stick to. The owner of this month’s featured property, for example, is resolving to do less housework. With the children of the family having now left home, they’ve reasoned that now is the time to downsize and spare themselves the extra hoovering. Shepherds Barn is located equidistant between Grantham, Stamford, Bourne and Melton Mowbray, and dates back to 1780. Despite its age and its period charm, the place has escaped a Grade II listing, converted into a residential property as recently as the 1970s, before being renovated again by its current owners, who moved to the property in December 2012. Main/Right: The property has a dining room plus two further receptions and six bedrooms with two en suites.

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The house is L-shaped and arranged over two floors. Undoubtedly it has seen service as an agricultural building for a number of years, and above the door there’s a wall plaque which reads ‘et mea messa erit,’ which we expert scholars of Latin – at least those of us with Google Translate at our disposal – have translated as ‘and it will be my harvest.’ What the next owner is certain to reap is the rewards of space. There are three reception rooms currently arranged as a large dining room, sitting room and drawing room. The 30ft dining room is home to a log burner and flagstone flooring, and has in previous years accommodated Christmas Day lunch for 14 people... back in the days when we could celebrate the season without limiting the number of people with whom we were enjoy the festive season.

“The current owners knocked through so that rooms sensibly connect with each other allowing for a better flow...”

All six bedrooms are located upstairs occupying part of the roof space continuing the sense of charm with dormer windows and vaulted ceilings.

The kitchen was installed just a year or two ago, prior to the family deciding to move, and was installed by Melton Mowbray’s John Smith Kitchens & Interiors.

A split-level, newly fitted Jack & Jill bathroom can be reached from both landings at the top of the two main staircases. The master bedroom has a vast adjoining dressing room and a shower room with top notch Grohe lavatory and washbasin plus a Crosswater shower.

It’s a solid timber in-frame shaker kitchen created in tulip wood and painted in blue, with Minerva engineered stone work surfaces and featuring appliances like a Rangemaster range cooker with induction hob, plus Neff dishwasher and refrigeration. Meanwhile a separate utility room keeps laundry room clutter and boots out of the way.

The current owners knocked through so that rooms sensibly connect with each other, and in doing so created much better ‘flow.’

The south facing, low-maintenance garden of Shepherds Barn is through metal gates which open onto a gravelled drive which will take up to six cars, whilst brick terracing borders the barn. >> 75

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>> Beyond, enclosed by stone walls, a lawn and sizeable terrace provide shaded and sunny areas, and beds are filled with colourful perennials and shrubs. The grandchildren in the family love playing in the gardens, which are walled and safe. Beyond the curtilage of the property is a rather lovely paddock, owned by the Parish Council and leased out to a local who grazes their horses on the land. The currently owner of Shepherds Barn says this provides the best of both worlds in the sense that the land belongs to the village so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unlikely to be developed into housing, and yet itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s there providing a charming pastoral backdrop to the property. Top: The kitchen was installed just a couple of years ago and has been crafted in tulip wood by local cabinet maker John Smith.

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Speaking of which, the village is home to about 280 residents, and the locals run various events throughout the year based around the Church, the Methodist Chapel and the village hall. On the opposite side of the green from Shepherds Barn, food is served at The Cross Swords Inn, whilst the Tollemache Arms in Buckminster and The Cholmeley Arms in Burton Coggles are about a fifteen minute drive away. The award winning Olive Branch in Clipsham and The Jackson Stops in Stretton are also within easy reach, so the next owners of Shepherds Barn will seldom be without entertainment or in need of a place to enjoy a good pint or meal. The current owners say they will miss the house, but are happy that a new family will get to enjoy the space and style the rather unique house affords. n

SHEPHERDS BARN SKILLINGTON Location: Grantham 16mins; Sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ford 24mins; Oakham 25mins. Style: Refurbished quality barn conversion with three receptions and six bedrooms. Guide Price: ÂŁ750,000. Find Out More: Fine & Country, Seaton Grange Barn Offices, LE15 9HT. Tel: 01780 750 200, or see www.fineandcountry.com.

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ELECTRIC & MANUAL GATES, AND BESPOKE METALWORK FABRICATION SPECIALISTS

Home Interiors Studio

30 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE, FREE, NO OBLIGATION QUOTES

Interior design for reception rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms Plus: Finishing touches from lighting to mirrors to bedding & home decor

01522 688285 • 07748 187801 www.mjbmetalwork.co.uk

Anelise Home, 140 Burton Road, Lincoln, LN1 3LW

01522 530400 • www.anelisehome.co.uk

Bring Richwood into the Heart of your Home

KITCHENS • BEDROOMS • BOOT ROOMS • STUDIES INDIVIDUALLY MADE FREE STANDING FURNITURE

Call 07534 808903 richwood-cabinetmakers@hotmail.com

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SUPERIOR STONE SURROUNDS Keeping warm this winter can be done with glamour and elegance with one of our natural stone fireplaces. Imagine heat radiating into your room, warming the very heart of your home. And our stone is easy to keep clean - a gentle brush and it will look amazing for decades.

&VS[WI SYV WXYRRMRK REXYVEP WXSRI ¾SSVMRK TEZMRK ERH ½VITPEGIW SRPMRI ERH ZMI[ SYV RI[ HIWMKRIV XMPMRK VERKI EX www.ssathome.co.uk SV GSRXEGX YW on 01780 740970 XS FSSO E WLS[VSSQ ZMWMX

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HOME FURNISHINGS

KEEN AS

MUSTARD Warm and rich, if you’re planning to wait out the cooler months in sumptuous comfort, these warm yellow country-inspired fabrics and wallpapers will help to ensure you remain as keen as keen as mustard on the results of your interior design projects... This Spread: Seasons By May Bedding and Pillowcase By Morris & Co in Saffron, £125/king; £22/pillowcase, £150/throw.

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Each of our featured fabrics are stocked by the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading independent interior designers...

Top: Kooltown two seater sofa. Chairs in William Yeoward fabric, lamp in peacock by William Yeoward. Above/Right: Elina fabric collection by Zoffany, curtains in linen/yellow. Right: Clarke & Clarke Botanist collection.

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Harlequin Momentum Accents, colours shown are moonstone, plum pebble and gold.

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Clarke & Clarke Oasis, Monika and Leighton fabrics in mustard.

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Above: Harlequin Callista collection, curtains in Meadowgrass fabric. Cushions in Kalamia and Harmonia. Right: Pineapple wallpaper, Clarke & Clarke Colony, Tobago colourway. Little Greene Paint Companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sakura wallpaper.

Above/Right: Harlequin Hortelano voile curtains, zest/silver ombre colourway.

Local Suppliers...

Anelise Home: 01522 530400, www.anelisehome.co.uk. Delcor: 01780 762579, www.delcor.co.uk. Lees Furnishers: 01472 353251 www.leesfurnishers.co.uk. Richard Sutton Interiors: 01472 268377, richardsuttondesign interiors.com. Sack Store: 01205 310101, www.sackstore.co.uk. Stevensons: 01472 233111, www.stevensonsgroup.co.uk. n 85

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UNSURPASSED QUALITY, AFFORDABLE CRAFTSMANSHIP Bespoke Kitchens, Bedrooms and Bathrooms - full project management and free quotations

Peter Jackson Cabinet Makers Ltd Devereux Way, Horncastle LN9 6AU

Tel: 01507 527113

W: www.peterjacksoncabinets.co.uk E: info@peterjacksoncabinets.co.uk

PJCabinetMakers

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Crafting bespoke hardwood conservatories and orangeries, roof lights & timber windows...

MORRISS & SHAW LUXURY GARDEN HOUSES

Based in Sleaford, so for a free, no obligation design consultation and an initial discussion of your project call 01529 300609

www.morrissandshawgardenhouses.com 87

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Above: Anelise Home has a range of winter accessories for your home. Below: New to the retailer is The Finest Linen Company’s bedding, 400tc Carnaby design with contrast edges £140/king duvet cover; £75/king flat sheet; £23/standard Oxford pillowcase... superb quality! Grey Boheme Throw £35/130cm.

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WINTER STYLE WITH ANELISE HOME

Cream Metal Posey Indoor or outdoor, approx 40cm, £25.

Wooden Carving

Available as square or heart, approx 80cm, £85.

Velvet Photo Frame

5x7 inch shown £10.50; also available in 10x8 and 6x4 sizes.

WINTER STYLE with ANELISE HOME Wooden Tealight Holders Sold as a pair, concrete-effect matte wood finish £5.

Three Nesting Star Pots

Set of three nesting pots with warm grey ceramic glaze, £9.50

At Anelise Home of Lincoln you’ll find a wonderful selection of items for the home or to give as thoughtful gifts. Visit the company’s studios or buy our featured products online...

Bespoke Cushions

Sold complete with choice of fillings, 40cm x 40cm £54.50, Fabric B.

Heart Tealight Holder With spaces for nine tealights, metal and wood, £22.50.

Heart & Star Vases

Two sizes available, medium £9.95; large (approx 30cm x 10cm) £16.95.

Anelise Home brings interiors to life with interior design for kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms & reception rooms as well as giftware and accessories for your home. Visit the boutique at 140 Burton Road, Lincoln, LN1 3LW, call 01522 530400 or see www.anelisehome.co.uk.

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FITTED FURNITURE COMPANY

ENJOY A HAPPY NEW

KITCHEN

If preparing your festive turkey stuffed your kitchen and the most important room in your home is nothing to celebrate, make a new year’s resolution that’s easy to keep: invest in quality by treating yourself and your home to a brand new kitchen from The Fitted Furniture Company, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year... Words: Rob Davis.

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30 years old this year, the Fitted Furniture Company enjoys plenty of repeat business from satisfied customers. But unfortunately (for the company) only when clients move home or need quality freestanding or built-in furniture for another room. If they stay put, the team has to wait a long time for a Fitted Furniture Company kitchen to look tired. Nobody ever regrets buying quality, and when it comes to choosing a kitchen, opting for solid, well-made, bespoke cabinetry will always prove to be the best option. The Fitted Furniture Company’s team includes a workshop team of three people. There are no sales people, so a customer is never paying for somebody’s commission. Nor is there a showroom – there’s no point since everything the company produces is bespoke – so customers aren’t paying for those overheads, either. Instead, the company works with budgets typically around £25,000 VAT (but more or less, according to the kitchen’s specification), and you can not only see, but also feel where that budget has gone. “You can purchase hinges for pennies,” says Jason. “But we don’t. We spend a bit more on them. And that’s why they do their job for years and why our clients don’t end up with rickety cupboards.” “It’s an example of the fact that you can do a job well if you don’t compromise on quality. Our kitchens are good value given their solidity and quality because we minimise our overheads instead of cutting corners.” “Much of our work is in creating kitchens but often the client wants us to return and create studies and home offices, libraries, freestanding furniture or bathroom storage too. There has been a huge upturn in home offices as more people are working from home, especially following Covid.” >>

Left: The Fitted Furniture Company was recently commissioned to create this solid hardwood handpainted kitchen in a barn conversion near Stamford.

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KITCHENS

“Our bespoke cabinetry means there are no set sizes, so we can make sub-millimetre adjustments to the dimensions of a cabinet to compensate for wonky walls or ﬂoors that aren’t even.” >> “And much of our work is in older homes because our modern interpretation of the traditional shaker kitchen tends to be commensurate with the style of local properties and our clients’ need for a kitchen that will withstand kids, pets and entertaining.” “It’s also because the nature of our bespoke cabinetry means there are no set sizes, so we can make sub-millimetre adjustments to the dimensions of a cabinet to compensate for wonky walls or floors that aren’t even.” “Kitchens are a pleasure to work with because there’s both a technical challenge to making something that’s well constructed, but also an art to creating a room that’s essentially practical, but looks great, too.” “We work in a whole host of solid wood materials from oak to maple to beech. Sometimes these are lacquered to show the look and character of the wood but more often they’re hand-painted, typically in a Little Greene shade or with any other brand a client wants to use.” “The fact that our work is often painted is another reason that their life span is so long. Often clients want a mid-life facelift for their room in which case they can be painted to

cover up scuffs and marks inflicted on a kitchens from the rigours of daily family life.” “We source appliances for clients, and again, we know which brands will yield quality. Often spending a little more on a brand like Siemens, Bosch or Miele will mean a longerlasting appliance.” “Another important element of our work is that we project manage each installation and coordinate trades like plumbing, electrical and gas work, which is advisable for any installation as there’s usually a preferred order for each part of the work to be completed... and it’s a hassle for a customer!” “We began the business in 1991, just before the recession, and we’ve thrived amid another recession since, and during 2020’s Covid outbreak, too. It’s not down to chance that we’ve enjoyed a steady stream of work and a reputation for quality.” “We’re good at what we do, we make sure our customers are happy and we always have our eye on quality and value... and we believe that’s the reason that we’ll be celebrating our 30 years in business and many happy customers in 2021!” n

Find Out More: The Fitted Furniture Company creates handmade bespoke kitchens, studies and freestanding or built-in storage for your home. Call 01780 480080 or see www.thefittedfurniturecompany.com.

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THE FARM OF THE FUTURE

THE FARM of the

FUTURE This is a farming operation like no other. Clean boots, no mud. No pests, no weeds. Consistent crops, no variation in yields. And best of all, it’s farming the weather can’t spoil… Words: Rob Davis.

THIS IS THE FARM OF THE FUTURE, and it looks very different indeed to a traditional operation. James Lloyd-Jones is the farmer – although he’s unrecognisable as such, given the radically clinical appearance of the operation and his premises. He grew up in London, with no experience of farming or agriculture, making him an even more unlikely candidate for pioneering the future of food production. Instead, his background is in the creation and installation of wind turbines, solar panels and the development of sustainable properties, interests which he has held for over 17 years. Tomorrow’s World

James remembers with affection – as do I – the 1980s BBC series Tomorrow’s World which, each week, would reveal faintly absurd inventions, or occasionally those which would eventually come to market such as the home computer terminal, mobile telephone or bagless vacuum cleaner. One of the innovations that James was most struck by was a segment on vertical farming, in which crops were grown indoors under light. “The advantages seemed very clear and I kept expecting someone to take the concept mainstream, but it didn’t happen,” he says. “Often people talk about making their business or their industry carbon neutral by 2030 or adopting new technology within ten or 20 years. But for the sake of food security and the environment, it’s time to stop talking about farming this way and to start doing it.” The operation at James’ Jones Food Company is hydroponic in nature, but is termed ‘vertical farming’ due to crops being stacked vertically within the farm. The products grow on racks that slowly and gradually move from one end of the operation to the other, from germination, to harvest… so at harvest time, the crop comes to you! Investing in Scunthorpe

“My parents moved from Bristol to North Yorkshire about the same time I was looking to create a vertical farming operation,” says James. “So I looked for a site and discovered that Scunthorpe was an ideal location. Property is well-priced, there’s an established skill set in the area for construction and engineering, and good transport connections. It was a great place to set up the operation. I had no prior experience but that meant no preconceptions or bias. I could create the operation with a fresh perspective.” >>

Main: Is this the way Lincolnshire will be farming in the future? James Lloyd-Jones’s vertical farming sees UV-sterilised seeds planted in media and kept indoors, away from any pests or soil diseases.

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>> How does it work? In 2016, James created the facility, which now has five growing racks, 17 levels high totalling 12 metres. The total growing area is 5,000m2; the size of 26 tennis courts.

than overalls and muddy boots, in an area that, by James’s own admission, looks a bit like the TV studio in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with its odd pink glow, where Mike Teavee met his fate.

As the facility is indoors and subject to controlled environmental factors, production is consistent all year round.

12km of lights are used emitting the correct colour temperature to ensure growth, and because light levels and moisture levels are precisely calibrated, the entire crop is completely consistent.

The growing medium used is rockwool, a stone-based product which originates from igneous rock and is superheated before being spun into a fleece-like form. The material is commonly used for natural insulation in homes. It provides many benefits for the farm; not only is it cheap to buy, but it can also support the development of plants from seedling to harvest. It doesn’t rot and remains lightweight, even when wet. Trays for growth are prepared, the seeds are then placed in the growing medium before being sterilised using UV light. The operation is free of contamination and no chemicals are required to avoid pests or diseases typical in traditional farming. No Growing Pains

The seeds germinate in two days and then the trays are placed on racks. Slowly they move from one side of the growing environment to the other; seedlings go in, and crop comes out at the other end. The business employs 16 people with seven of those working in production. They wear lab coats, face masks and hair nets, rather

Environmental Control

The secret of the operation is how the environment is controlled, and so for obvious reasons the details are a trade secret. James and the team are constantly innovating in this respect – but the environment is a balmy 25°c, humidity controlled and quiet, with only a slight hum from the fans controlling the environment’s CO2 infused air flow. The operation is sustainable too, with the exothermic heat released by the plants recovered and used to create sustainable energy for the site, and water recovered, filtered and reused. In fact, despite the critical role that the nutrient-infused water plays in the plants’ growth, the site only consumes the equivalent water of a twobedroom flat – 95% less water than a conventional farming operation. Energy at the site is courtesy of solar panels. The site covers 1.25 acres and is mostly carbon neutral, but a few changes early in 2021 will make the entire operation carbon neutral by May. >>

Main: The Jones Food Company’s vertical farm has 5,000m2 growing space, about the size of 26 tennis courts. It’s five racks are 17 racks tall each - about 12 metres - and the operation will soon be entirely carbon neutral.

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THE FARM OF THE FUTURE

>> A Viable Operation

“At the moment we’re enjoying great success with a variety of crops and innovating with others,” says James. “We can grow around 1,000 tonnes of dill a year and 400 tonnes annually of pak choi, plus spinach, parsley, kale and radishes. We grow fresh herbs and leafy salads and are now farming root vegetables and soft fruits too.” It’s possible to produce cereals using the same method, planting varieties of wheat known for having less stature, for example. However the economics, for now, make conventional production methods with large combines and vast fields more financially viable. It is, perhaps, the future of the cereals industry in Lincolnshire too. The Future of Farming

Speaking of the future, James has bold plans to expand the operation. He’s currently investigating the licensing of his technology to around 20 joint ventures and plans to create 10 similar sites by 2026, including one in the West Country in the next year. When complete the operation will be able to sustain two major supermarket retailers with their salads as well as their existing wholesale

salad customers… already, though, Ocado has invested £17m in the operation. More importantly though, it will provide a blueprint as to how farming can be a more secure operation in the future. International Adoption

Currently Japan and the US are keener to move to vertical farming operations. Japan now has 200 vertical farms, incentivised in part by greater population density and an inability to farm on irradiated ground around the Fukushima plant. The US is a less likely candidate with large land masses. However, as James points out, the soil is less rich and because your farming operation can be many miles from your supply chain, sometimes that vastness and its associated remoteness can be a hindrance, rather than a help. As for the UK, there are currently around 20 vertical farms in operation, and if you’ve purchased basil from one of the major supermarkets, there’s a one in three chance the basil you’ve consumed is a product of the Jones Food Company’s vertical farm. Plans to Grow

Because James’ farming method is so unique

and innovative, it’s hard to state whether his operation is the largest vertical farm in the UK, but it’s certainly one of the largest and his plans for expansion will, we reckon, comfortably make the company one of the earliest and greatest pioneers of vertical farming in the next five or ten years. It feels odd to talk about a farming operation in the context of clinical growing conditions, all year round production and flawless consistency... instead of fresh air, state of the art New Holland machinery yomping across furrowed fields, and hungry birds hovering impatiently over newly ploughed fields. But there’s no arguing with the fact that to protect our planet, to secure our food supply and to ensure we grow and eat more food produced here in the UK, a move towards vertical farming at least as a supplement to conventional farming, is necessary. It’s innovative and free from the disadvantages of conventional farming; climate problems, variable yields, pests and soil problems. Instead, this is farming utilising a truly innovative, more efficient and absolutely revolutionary approach… meaning vertical farming will inevitably have a greater presence in Lincolnshire in the next few years. n

n The Jones Food Company is based in North Lincolnshire, for more information see www.jonesfoodcompany.co.uk. 105

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A WINTER of CONTENT Comfort clothing for the cooler months from some of the UK’s best brands... because nobody ever regrets buying quality! This Page: Schöffel’s new house tweed; the Sussex tweed. Scarf £39.95; Ptarmigan coat £649.

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Barbour Elmis waxed jacket in sage/ancient colourway, Â£319.

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Joules Carmella knitted cable jumper, £79.95; Piper waterproof parka, £199.

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- FASHION -

Top/Left: Joules Jenna knitted pointelle stitch jumper, £69.95. Top/Right: Joules Derwent quilted jacket in dark pine or marine navy, £99.95. Bottom/Left: Barbour Dunoon tartan shirt, tailored fit, £69.95. Bottom/Right: Merino loose fit jumper from Schöffel in seagrass £139.95.

For Local Stockists: www.barbour.com; www.schoffelcountry.com; www.joules.com.

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Purveyors of Luxury Eyewear Since 1979

The NIFTIES collection in stock now.

43/44 Wrawby Street, Brigg, North Lincolnshire DN20 8BS Tel: 01652 653595. Web: www.obriensopticians.co.uk Call for an appointment or pop in to view our latest designer eyewear.

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LJM HOMECARE

Care Delivered in the Right Way LJM Homecare provides the right care, at the right time. That makes it the right service for your loved one, with both flexibility and peace of mind, ensuring your relative can remain in their own home...

The best care for your loved one is the care they really need. That sounds somewhat like we’re stating the obvious, but between independent living and full-time residential care there remains a large gap. It’s a gap that domiciliary care is able to fill, with a huge degree of success.

without having to commit to long-term, full-time residential care. LJM Homecare was founded five years ago and provides care across Lincoln and in a 10-mile radius of the city. The company is now employing 48 carers and providing over 40,000 hours of care each year across Lincoln.

Perhaps your relative can live independently most of the time, but would feel the benefit from a little extra help at certain times of day? Perhaps a visit once or twice a day to help aid getting up in the morning or prior to bed? Perhaps a ‘night sit’ for temporary carers’ respite. Perhaps a once a day visit to ‘check in?’ Perhaps they’d like a visit every couple of days, or perhaps they’ve needs pertaining to weekly shopping or domestic help. Or perhaps you’re in need of temporary respite care for the purposes of giving a full-time carer a break or for recovery after an operation.

“We’ve seen a particular increase in interest during the Covid pandemic, with relatives of loved ones less able to visit their older or less able relations.”

LJM caters for everything from general well-being checks to specialist care – the administration of medication, dementia, bariatric and end of life care, for example. “Domiciliary care is the answer,” says Lindsay Nearn. “It’s flexible enough to begin with the question ‘what do you need?’ and is a holistic, people-centred service that’s based on keeping someone in their own home as long as it’s safe to do so, whilst ensuring the support they need to live independently, whether that support is practical, emotional or a mixture of both.” Lindsay is a former Lincoln County Hospital Emergency Nurse Practitioner who saw the opportunity to provide care in clients’ own homes, enabling them to live independently,

“Through domiciliary care, even relatives from outside the county or living overseas have the peace of mind of knowing that a professional, fully trained carer, with the support of the rest of the LJM Homecare team, can help to ensure their loved one is safe and well cared for.” “Recently we’ve adopted the Birdie care app which works via mobile phones and tablets. Birdie provides live reporting of care to LJM, but its records can also be securely shared in real time so you can be inclusively connected with the care your loved one receives.” “With a clear layout, it facilitates reporting of someone’s wellbeing, their daily diet, toileting, activity and moods, as well as carer’s activities, medication and any ongoing welfare or medical concerns.” “Birdie is a game changer,” says Lindsay. “It’s an effective system. We instantly saw the benefits and became early adopters.” “We invested in new tablets which – as well as facilitating Birdie to keep clients’ families enfranchised in their ongoing care

– also allows us to keep families in touch with their loved ones via Zoom or Facetime video chat. We’re also seeing the benefit of Birdie for our dementia patients.” “If someone enfranchised in their care visits and they’re told by the client that they haven’t eaten that day, for example, someone with permission – a relative, carer or neighbour – can quickly check back and be reassured the person has already had lunch.” “Birdie operates securely across all mobile devices and within the confidentiality and welfare policies we operate. That means it’s secure, but flexible enough to, for instance, allow access by a relative, neighbour, or next of kin. Birdie can also be configured to allow information to be shared with other agencies like doctors or social workers, temporarily or permanently. One social worker has already praised its ease and its depth of information, using it in a multi-disciplinary meeting about someone’s ongoing care.” “The point of domiciliary care is that it’s flexible enough to allow your loved one to live independently for longer and the level of care can increase – or decrease – according to their needs.” “It’s totally bespoke, too, meaning anything from a visit to prevent someone being lonely to through-the-night care can be provided in an environment that someone is already familiar with.” “We go above and beyond to provide high quality, person-centred care for individuals. The resulting peace of mind that our clients and their families experience speaks for itself. That’s why we offer completely free, no-obligation and Covid-safe discussions with relatives and their loved ones, exploring whether a service like LJM Homecare offers can meet their needs. So, if you’ve concern over the independence of a loved one, call for a chat... we would love to help discuss your needs and we’ll be happy to explain more.” n

Find Out More: LJM Homecare is based in Lincoln. Call 01522 700400 for a no-obligation discussion or see www.ljmcare.com.

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TANGLEWOOD HEALTH CARE

A Warm Welcome Awaits... This month we’re meeting the Home Manager behind one of Lincolnshire’s newest and most beautifully appointed care homes, Tanglewood Healthcare’s Krzysztof Krzysztoﬁak... THIS MONTH we meet Tanglewood Healthcare’s Krzysztof Krzysztofiak, Home Manager for Boston’s newest Care Home, Avocet House. What made you join the care sector?

I had been working as a Senior Care Assistant in Poland before I came to England in 2012. I was fortunate to secure a position at Cedar Falls Care Home in Spalding under the leadership of Nike Ajewole who is now the Managing Director for Tanglewood. What do you enjoy about the care sector?

Caring for people and helping them lead fulfilling enabling lives is my passion. I learnt many things at Cedar Falls, but probably the most important is that age, health, ability and living in a care home are no barriers to happiness and social inclusion. What experience do you have in the care sector?

I have 19 years of experience working in the care sector. In Poland I worked two jobs, as Special Education Needs Teacher and also as a Senior Care Assistant in nursing home. I have always loved working with people and particularly older people. What are your qualifications?

I have a BSc in Special Education Needs Teacher and MSc in Education Therapy, NVQ Level 5 Management and Leadership with PEARSON, and a Level 2 certificate in Mental Health Awareness that I took with the Social Care and Northern Council for Further Education.

What motivates you to succeed in the sector?

I am committed to making sure that older people enjoy inclusive and engaging lives in my care home. I am dedicated to making a difference every day. My aim is to develop a team that put the needs, passions, choices and interests of the residents before all else. Tell me a little about your care team?

I am proud of the kind, caring and very compassionate team I have recruited for Avocet House. They have all been employed because they are dedicated people. I have been inspired by the individuals I have met... it really has been amazing! Why is it important to ensure you have stimulating activities in your home?

Activities are a great way to socialise and build a community. We look at life histories so that we can ensure individual needs are met. Of course we also respect that some of our residents enjoy quieter times too, we have lovely areas to sit, contemplate and feed the soul. How will Avocet House support the people that come to live or stay there?

Avocet House is a purpose built care home and will provide residential and specialist dementia care for 66 residents over three floors. We provide the care and facilities to support their every need so that our residents feel safe and comfortable in their surroundings.

What facilities will Avocet House offer the people that come to live or stay there?

I am very proud of the beautiful home we have created for residents. Bedrooms are spacious and modern with full en-suite wet room facilities. There are multiple lounges designed with residents in mind, and a fabulous garden rooms. We have a vintage style café with its own retro kitchen, a library and a cinema room to enjoy favourite films on the big screen. There is truly something for everyone. Why should your home look after someone’s friend or relative?

Tanglewood is a trusted and regulated group of care homes with strong professional relationships, Avocet House will be part of the Tanglewood legacy. My team will ensure families and their loved ones are safe and happy. We understand moving into a care home is a life changing decision, we support everyone through the transition and we genuinely care. Would you place your loved one in your home

Yes, most definitely! My greatest pride will be to build a community where relatives, friends and family feel included. We will also try hard to connect with the local community so that our residents can maintain those important outside links. My own family will always be my measure.

n Tanglewood was founded in 1989 and is Lincolnshire’s largest private care home provider. n The company provide nursing and residential care in Spalding, Boston, Coningsby, Horncastle, Lincoln & Alford with bungalows for the elderly in Spalding and Horncastle too. n The company’s services are rated ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). n Care Home Awards 2019 winners of: Best Smaller Care Home Group (Overall Achievement Winner 2019), Best Clinical Facilities and Best Training & Recruitment.

Find Out More: Call 01205 336897 or email avocethouseenquiries@twhealthcare.co.uk to book a visit. Alternatively, go online at www.tanglewoodcarehomes.co.uk to view our brochure and take a virtual tour. 118

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MOTORS

OFF ROAD

LUXURY The newly facelifted Bentley Bentayga is better than ever, having matured into its position as a class-leading 4x4. It’s now more luxurious, capable and more recommendable than all of the German brands or the equivalent Range Rover... Words: Rob Davis.

UNDOUBTEDLY there are some things that the British do exceptionally well. Queuing, for example. Making small talk about the weather. We’re especially good at maintaining silent frustration at someone’s apparent lack of gratitude. At least, we are until the searing tension boils over and we’re forced to mutter a barely audible ‘you’re welcome(!),’ as though the phrase serves as some form of dark incantation. The British, though, have also perfected the art of understated taste and style. We do it brilliantly. Think Savile Row, rather than clothing emblazoned with a designer brand name. Think quiet country pubs, not London nightclubs. Think ‘Great British Bentley,’ rather than of the howling exhausts and black-alloy wheels of an SUV from AMG Mercedes or a gussied-up BMW.

Bentley doesn’t need to show off. Its cars are somehow understated despite their position in the market and their imperious price tag. The company has the skill of reflecting its values down to a fine art. When the Bentayga first appeared in showrooms some – me included – wondered if it would be a little brash; a clean-tyres school run SUV for well-heeled urban mums. In fact, the car has matured into its looks, especially with this new facelifted model, and wears its size and power tastefully. The car’s interior is beautiful, and for the first time I can honestly say I see where the extra investment goes, above what you’d pay for a Range Rover. The Bentayga is luxurious capable and eminently recommendable. >>

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>> For now there are two Bentaya engines. Forget the 6.0W12 Speed model; it’s not what a Bentley should be about. Sitting below it is the wholly better 4.0V8 with twin-turbocharging and 550ps of power and 770nm of torque; an ideal engine for motorway cruising, the odd-off road or for towing. As standard the car has an eight speed automatic gearbox with permanent all-wheel drive and air suspension. Also standard are five seats, a hide interior, park assist, top view camera and walnut veneers. First Edition specification models adds two-tone leather, adaptive cruise control, and ventilated massaging seats. At least for now this is our pick of the range, and you can choose between a luxury four 122

“The Bentley online configurator is a great way to kill off a couple of hours between Christmas and New Year as you deliberate on and eventually design your perfect Bentayga...” seat configuration, the standard five seat configuration or for the first time a practical seven seat interior according to your needs. After that choice, you’re left playing around with the firm’s online configurator to choose from the myriad paint, two-tone hide and two-tone wood veneer options... the configurator is a great way to kill off a couple of hours between Christmas and New Year as you deliberate on – and eventually design – your perfect Bentayga.

What more do you need to know about the Bentayga? Well, refinement is peerless, even better than a Range Rover. It’s perhaps not as capable off-road, lacking low-range gears or diff locks, but if your SUV requirements are more road-going in nature, you’ll love it. The best expression of style is often the most understated, too. That’s why Bentayga works so well. Opt for a subtle colour, linen hide, walnut veneer and we reckon you’ll own one of the most beautiful cars on the road. n

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Super SUVs: More four by four than before...

Aston Martin DBX, £158,000: Aston Martin has deviated from its usual GT models to create its own four door, four wheel drive vehicle, with a 4.0V8 twin turbo engine. 60mph is reached in 4.5 seconds, top speed is 181mph and it has 542bhp of power. Fuel economy is a weak point at just 19mpg, and despite its seemingly small dimension it’s wider and 20cm longer than a Range Rover Sport! Arguably it’s oriented to performance rather than luxury, but it’s certainly a compelling alternative to the Bentayga for well-heeled motorists. n

Rolls Royce Cullinan, £264,000: Rolls snootily rejects that its 4x4 car is an SUV, stating instead that it’s a ‘high-sided car from Rolls Royce.’ Enjoy a hand-built 6.75 litre V12, all wheel drive, all wheel steering and all wheel drive, but you’ll need a hand parking, considering the Cullinan is 30cm longer than a Range Rover and over 5cm wider. There’s something a bit naff about someone for whom a Range Rover or a Bentayga is ‘not good enough,’ and it’s difficult to see where the extra money goes, but if you insist, the Rolls will certainly be an imperious sight on the road thanks to its huge grille, vast dimensions and monster engine. n

BENTLEY BENTAYGA Price: £146,700. (On sale now). Drivetrain: 4.0V8 twin-turbo petrol, 550ps, 770Nm torque. Eight speed automatic gearbox, all wheel drive. Performance: 0-62 mph: 4.4 seconds. Top Speed: 180mph. Economy: 21.2mpg, 302g/km CO2. Equipment: Leather upholstery, electric heated seats, satellite navigation, climate, cruise. n

Range Rover Autobiography, £102,940: There are more expensive Range Rover models available, but the PHEV Autobiography here is the sweet spot of the range. Unless you’re set on having extra rear legroom we’d pass up the opportunity of the longer wheelbase model in favour of this standard version. Meanwhile, even well-heeled drivers will appreciate the smoothness of the PHEV drivetrain, its fuel economy and CO2 advantage, as well as the option to run the 2.0V4 assisted Range Rover as a company vehicle. n

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50 YEARS OF JOHNSON MOTORS

Keeping You Motoring

for 50 YEARS Offering motor vehicle servicing, repairs, MOTs and car sales, Boston based Johnson Motors has been keeping its customers on the road for a landmark 50 years... Words: Rob Davis.

A LOT HAS HAPPENED SINCE 1970. You can see evidence of technological progress everywhere, not least in the cars we drive. What hasn’t changed, though, is the need for someone trustworthy to maintain your vehicle; someone to keep you on the road. Someone, in fact, who can offer their customer great service, whilst giving their car a good service, too. In 1970, Ray Johnson and wife Rita set up Johnson Motors in Boston. The family has become the go-to name in Boston for troublefree motoring. 50 years on, it’s a family business more than ever, with the couple’s sons Paul and Graham involved, plus granddaughter Ellie and Alison & Jackie Johnson part of the business too. “As our family has grown up, so too has the business,” says Ray. “And we’ve seen so many changes in that time.” >> 124

Top/Above: Johnson Motors was established on 1st November 1970 and 50 years on, it’s the most respected business in Boston for motor sales, service and MOT. Right: Ray & Rita Johnson this month reflect on how motoring has changed.

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“We’ve been fortunate to have had many good people working for us. We’ve looked after them, and so some of them have worked with us for decades...”

Above: Graham, Rita, Ray and Paul Johnson have been keeping their customers on the road for 50 years!

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>> “Today’s cars are quicker and more complex, and you put your life in the hands of the person taking care of your car, so it’s more important than ever to have someone who’s the go-to person you can trust.”

Ironically, on the morning of my appointment to see the Johnson family, I also had the chance to enjoy the family’s prompt and professional service first hand. On my way to work that morning a ‘check engine’ light suddenly made an untimely appearance.

“‘Plug and points’ have been replaced with electronic ignition. The manual choke is a thing of the past, and welding, too, is a less frequent job with much more fibreglass, aluminium and plastic now used to make the bodywork of modern cars.”

“This is not always – but sometimes – how you diagnose modern cars these days,” said Paul as he and Ray kindly connected my car to the workshop computer. Paul straight away diagnosed a problem with the ‘EGR and DPF.’

“Diesel engines and automatic gearboxes have become more popular over the past few decades, too, much improved and refined compared to what they used to be like. And then, of course, there are the computers.”

“Mechanics these days are incredibly talented, as cars are much more complex. But we’ve been fortunate to have had really good people working for us. We’ve looked after them, and so, some have worked with us for decades.”

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1970-2020: 50 Years of Motoring... 1970 Austin Morris 1,100cc:

2020 Ford Fiesta Zetec 1,000cc:

Price: £700 (£10,899.73 today)

Price: £16,065

The Austin Morris was updated to the MkII in 1967, replaced in 1971 by the MkIII. Its 49bhp engine was good for 81mph. It weighed 832kg, measuring 3,687mm long, 1,530mm wide.

The Ford Fiesta, in 1.0T Zetec version, weighs in at 1,144kg, and despite its smaller engine, it reaches 113mph, putting out 98bhp. It’s 4,040mm long and 1,735mm wide.

1970’s Best Selling Cars:

2020’s Best Selling Cars:

TOTAL CARS SOLD 1,076,865 CARS ON THE ROAD, 1970: 13.5m

TOTAL CARS SOLD 1,384,601 CARS ON THE ROAD, 2020: 38.4m

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Austin Morris 1100 Ford Cortina Ford Escort Austin Morris Mini Vauxhall Viva Hillman Avenger Rootes Arrow Ford Capri BMC 1800/3-litre Vauxhall Victor

132,965 123,256 95,782 80,740 76,838 50,133 43,111 38,186 32,927 27,930

Ford Fiesta Vauxhall Corsa Volkswagen Golf Ford Focus Mercedes A-Class Nissan Qashqai MINI Volkswagen Polo Ford Puma BMW 1 Series

43,281 39,692 35,014 33,965 31,604 27,790 25,841 23,904 21,142 20,032

Back to 1970: Pop, politics, prices & people...

Opposite: Images from 1983, plus Ray’s recovery truck.

Find Out More: Johnson Motors is based on Willoughby Road, Boston PE21 9HN. Call 01205 310202 or see www.johnson motors.co.uk.

Back in the 1970s, Ray sold brand new Ford vehicles on the forecourt and still maintains the brand is a great name in the industry. Graham and Paul joined the business in 1981 and 2001, selling quality cars as a sister company; Johnson Motors Car Sales. “The sweet spot is to purchase a car that’s three years young and then maintain it,” says Paul. “You can save an enormous amount on depreciation and still enjoy a modern car... if you’ve a reliable company to maintain it.” “From the beginning we had good customers, so we’ve looked after them. Now we can count their children and grandchildren as customers too, so we’re a family business, working hard to maintain our trustworthy reputation!” n

1970: The Cost of Living

2020: The Cost of Living

Average Wage: Average House Price: Pint of Milk: Pint of Beer: Loaf of Bread: Mars Bar:

Average Wage: £29,600/annum Average House Price: £256,000 Pint of Milk: 50p Pint of Beer: £3.94 Loaf of Bread: 99p Mars Bar: 60p

£2,000/annum £5,500 5p 20p 9p 6p

n Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath replaced Labour’s Harold Wilson in June 1970, just five months before Ray and Rita opened Johnson Motors. n Disco music was on its way up, but number one in the charts on 1st November 1970 was folk rock tune Woodstock by Matthew’s Southern Comfort. Freda Payne was also in the charts with Band of Gold, as was Melanie with Stones cover Ruby Tuesday and Black Sabbath with Paranoid. n On TV, we were watching The Goonies, and Steptoe & Son. TV’s Zoe Ball and newsreader Suzanne Reid were born. n In the news, test pilot of Concorde André Turcat flew over the Atlantic at Mach 2. Right: Freda Payne and PM Ted Heath.

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MOTORS

Blow Your Top

ASTON MARTIN’S VANTAGE ROADSTER GAINS ROOFLESS ‘VOLANTE’ SIBLING

Silence is golden for Land Rover & Jaguar owners thanks to tech... JAGUAR LAND ROVER

ASTON MARTIN Oh heck yes! Aston Martin has lifted the lid on the new Volante soft top version of its entry level Vantage model, and the result is a spectacular piece of automotive design. Powered by Aston Martin’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo 510PS/685Nm V8 engine and mated to an 8-speed ZF the roadster accelerates from 0-60mph in just 3.7sec and is

capable of 190mph with the roof raised. Weight increases by just 60kg compared with the coupé thanks to a new, lighter Z-fold roof mechanism and optimised exterior and chassis revisions throughout. The Vantage range starts at £114,850, with the recommended retail price of the Vantage Roadster starting from £126,950 in the UK. n

New Bugatti Bolide on track

LIGHTWEIGHT ‘RACETRACK ONLY’ CAR CAN REACH 311MPH IN JUST 20 SECONDS AND HITS 60MPH IN 2.1 SECONDS...

Jaguar Land Rover has revealed new noise cancellation technology that removes unwanted road and tyre sounds from the cabin and provides a quieter and more refined experience for drivers and passengers. The technology, introduced on the new Jaguar F-Pace, new Jaguar XF and Range Rover Velar, is capable of lowering unwanted noise peaks by 10dB and overall noise levels by 3-4dB – the equivalent of turning down the in-car sound system by four ‘steps.’ n

BUGATTI Looking to dispatch your daily commute in a more brisk fashion? Bugatti’s Bolide could help. At just 1,240kg, but with an eight litre W16 engine and four turbochargers, it’s got some poke, to say the least. In fact, the car will reach 311mph flat out and reaches 60mph in just 2.1 seconds. The car is so fast that it actually changes shape at speed, and will sell for an eye-watering £15m. What’s worse is that it’s a track-only car, so even if you did have the grit and fearlessness to use the Bolide on your commute, it wouldn’t be legal... which in hindsight is probably for the best. n

MOTORING

NEWS In Brief AUDI

AUDI IS LORD OF THE FOUR RINGS WITH A NOVEL OF AN OWNER’S MANUAL... One of the pleasures and the pains - of buying a new car is getting to know your way around all of the buttons and gadgets. But a new survey by Bristol Street Motors has shown that as cars become more complicated, their owner’s manuals become lengthier. In fact, Audi’s A3 owners handbook is now the longest with 167,699 words necessitating an estimated 11hrs to read... that’s longer than Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings, which has a modest 156,198 words. For reference, Harry Potter books are around 75,000-100,000w and Tolstoy’s War & Peace weights in at a hefty 587,287 words. Pride’s monthly word count is around 25,000! Motoring’s longest handbooks... 1. Audi A3 167,699 words; 11hrs, 45m. 2. Seat Ibiza 154,657 words; 10hrs, 50m. 3. Mercedes C-Class 152,875 words; 10hrs, 42m. 4. Mercedes A-Class 143,706 words; 10hrs, 4m. 5. Kia Sportage 133,531 words; 9hrs, 21m. 6. Ford Focus 127,321 words; 8hrs, 55m. 7. Volkswagen Golf 114,606 words; 8hrs 2m. 8. Honda Civic 110,484 words; 7hrs, 44m. 9. Audi A4 109,934 words; 7hrs, 42m. 10. Nissan Juke 108,853 words; 7hrs, 37m. n

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The Directory To advertise here call our friendly team on 01529 469977

DOG TREAT

PUZZLES

My own design of hand made dog puzzles... 07772 491 610 www.jbwoodcraft.biz

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Lincolnshire Pride January 2021

Articles inside

MOTORS A look at Bentley’s

FASHION Create a winter of content

INTERIORS Ideas for creating a

THE BIG CHEESE Behind the scenes

RECIPES & WINE Delicious

DINING OUT Enjoying a dining

TAKING THE CROWN Lincolnshire

WELCOME HOME Shepherds Barn

NEWS The best ‘good news

FLAME & FORTUNE Dorrington Hall