FineCity Magazine - August 2015

Issue 45 August 2015

Lord Russell Baker talks

Makeover

to us about his life and incredible charity work

The Style Show transforms another unsung hero from Keeping Abreast, leading up to Cancer Awareness Month

Theatre Royal

See what the Norwich Theatre Royal has on this month

FINEFashion FINEplaces FINEpeople FINEarts

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07

Issue 45 August 2015

LORD RUSSELL

BAKER talks to us about his life and incredible charity work

MAKEOVER

The Style Show transform another unsung hero from Keeping Abreast, leading up to Cancer Awareness Month

THEATRE ROYAL

See what the Norwich Theatre Royal has on this month

12 FINE people

FINEFASHION FINEPLACES FINEPEOPLE FINEARTS

FINE places

This months Maddermarket line up

NORWICH

Issue 45

28

Your community magazine Cover image courtesy of Lord Russell Baker FineCity Magazine would like to thank all those who have contributed to this issue. This includes but is not limited to: Pete Goodrum, Stephen Browning and Tony Cooper.

FineFashion: Sue Dougal & Chrissi Rix

58 FINE arts

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Lord Baker of Little Moulton Pete Goodrum meets Lord Baker of Little Moulton - and learns a lot about the man. www.finecity.co.uk

August 2015 | 07

FINEPeople

R

ussell Baker meets me in the drive to his beautiful home, on a very hot afternoon, and shows me in to the spacious and airy kitchen. I say Russell Baker because that’s the man I’m here to visit. We’ll come to his more formal, titled, persona later.

He is instantly engaging.

This man is genuinely pleased to see me, which given his vast workload and demanding schedule is generous to say the least. We settle down, the four of us, at the kitchen table.

Four? Yes, Elsa and Ava, his two beautiful and playful dogs are not going to be left out of this interview. They make it plain from the outset. And they’re a joy.

Joy will come up again as we speak. He’s big on joy.

We start by talking about his origins. Russell Baker was born in Farnborough in 1961.

His education was at the local secondary school, from where he went on to Aston University, graduating in 1983. By 1987 he was living in Guildford, married and working at Reuters.

‘It was my first real job, after

08 | August 2015

the usual student and part time stuff’, he says. ‘My job title was Product Support Specialist’, and it meant that I was involved in their telecommunications products. I sold systems to dealing floors which meant I attended a lot of ‘FOREX’ exhibitions, meeting with people in the foreign exchange markets.

I travelled a lot, all over the world. I always travelled alone, and although it was demanding, honestly, I loved it’.

His first daughter, Kellie, was born in late 1987 - ‘a couple of days after the great storm!’ - and James arrived in 1990. Coral was born in 1995.

He reflects on the days of a family growing up while he was away so much. ‘It would lead to some decisions later, but at the time there was a living to earn and I was doing what I knew best.

There were some amazing times’.

To demonstrate the point he tells me an anecdote. ‘Around 1990 I was on my way to Bulgaria for a FOREX exhibition. I got to Sofia with no problems but the internal flight from there was proving difficult. The leader of the country had been deposed, fuel

was in short supply, the money situation was ridiculous - it was chaos. I managed to change some money into the local currency to buy a flight. It was 56 Jieba - which when I did the calculations came to about £3!

A, shall we say, ‘challenging’ flight in an ancient aircraft got me to Varna where a taxi driver asked me the equivalent of £10 to take me to the hotel. I said I’d just paid £3 for a flight so a tenner for a cab was not on. I’d give him 56 Jieba, or £3, too. He accepted’.

Now that’s a pretty good story.

And it was well told. Except it doesn’t stop there. After taking from a cupboard some of the very Jieba notes from that day, which he’s kept as a souvenir, Russell (I told you - the title comes later) tells me more.

‘At the hotel you had to be careful. These were dangerous days. But, I was taken to a party in what had been a palace. The food, the wine, the surroundings - were all fantastic. I got talking to an Eastern European businessman. He showed me around, and pointed out where Gorbachev had stayed. He asked me how I was getting back to

Sofia and I told him about the ridiculous flight there, and that I’d have to repeat it going back. ‘I will take you, in my private plane’ he said. ‘I’m going there’’.

Tapping the notes on the table, and smiling, Russell says, ‘He picked me up. Sure enough we went to this Lear jet. There were men in sunglasses and dark suits, and we didn’t stop for security. I swear I thought this was mafia territory! We take off, a girl serves me a drink and we land in Sofia. And then - the guy gets straight back on the plane and flies back. He hadn’t been going to Sofia at all - he’d simply given me a, very expensive, lift’.

What’s interesting here is that this is, another, good story. It’s full of unknowns, and the danger of putting your trust in a very mysterious man. It’s scary, with the happy ending of safe transit and arrival. But you can see from his expression that to Russell it means more. He’s fascinated by, and has sheer joy in, the fact that someone would do that for another human being. That’s what pleases him most.

We’ve digressed. Getting back to his life story we reach

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1992. Those demands on family life were beginning to tell. ‘I was missing out on the children growing up. It was time to say ‘Enough’. I left Reuters’.

He moved to Siemens, working as a Senior Telecoms Consultant.

In the following two years he was personally responsible for nineteen of their twenty one new contract wins. ‘It wasn’t exactly payment by results. So I left’.

It was 1994 and he went freelance. A course he’s followed ever since.

He set himself up in the world of enterprise architecture and solutions. He’d listen to companies, determine their needs, relate those needs to technology and guide them forward. He worked hard at it, and the business grew. Private sector companies hired him. So did the government.

‘I was checked out by Special Branch. It was fair enough, because some of the work I was engaged in was sensitive. But they were very thorough. They visited my home, looked around

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and there were a lot of questions.

It was the last question that got me. They asked why I’d never been in the services. I suppose I thought ‘why would I have?’, but then it clicked. They’d checked up on my past and my family history. My father, and several relations, going back generations, had been in the army. Suddenly bits of jigsaw from childhood memories fell into place. I recalled visiting uncles and grand parents whose houses had been full of the sort of mementoes that come from the days of the Raj. I had a history of service life’.

His father had in fact been a good footballer as well as a soldier. It was a talent he’d passed on. We rewind a bit to take in the fact that Russell had been good enough to play for Farnborough Town in the late seventies, having been coached at school by Charlie Mortimer. ‘My knees were shot. It was pack it in or be in a wheelchair by the time I was thirty. It wasn’t an option’.

Just before his footballing career, when he was twelve, in

1975, his mother had died. ‘It was a life changing moment’.

It’s a conversation stopping moment too. It’s obvious that he has more to say, and that it’s directly linked. It’s not a long pause, but it’s considered.

I’m looking at him. The dogs are looking at him. And then it comes. One of the step changes in his story that will surprise you. One of the nuggets in his narrative that is so important to him that he has to get it right.

‘We didn’t have counselling in 1975. When my life altered because my mother had died I just had to get on with it. I got on with my life, and then my work.

Then, in 1998 my brother died.

In 2000 my father died. Again, I got on with it. In 2006 my then wife, Bridget, died. I knew then that getting on with it was alright in that life has to go on. But as it does, you have to, I had to, do more with it. It was a jolt. A defining moment. The moment I decided to give something back’.

It’s when the charity work began.

He’d been living in Norfolk, his ‘spiritual home’ as he calls it, since 2002. It was here he started running half marathons.

“I’d had my knees fixed by then. I was fit. I ran in 2009

and 2010 and I raised money through sponsorship. But I was convinced I could do more’.

When it comes to giving something back, as he’d said earlier, it’s important to point out that he’s not led a life of privilege.

‘I know the perils of freelance life.

The months when you think ‘how am I going to pay the bills?’.

It’s true that his grandfather had been wealthy, but there had been no fortune passed down via his father to Russell.

‘The money had long gone’, he says, ‘but then it occurred to me that although there’d been no cash to inherit, there was something else’.

He’s good at pitching a story.

feature by:

Pete Goodrum Writer, broadcaster @petegoodrum

August 2015 | 09

FINEPeople Me, and the dogs, we’re hooked again. And here it comes dear reader, as I promised you. The title.

‘I realised that I could inherit the title, from my grandfather. I did the checks, followed the due process. I took the title out of its box, dusted it down and formally

10 | August 2015

inherited it. I was Lord Russell Baker of Little Moulton.

Do I bow at this point? Do I change the way I sit? Let’s face it; it’s impressive. But, not half as impressive as what follows.

You see, here’s the thing.

Russell Baker does not use that title on any of his business

communications. You won’t find it on his LinkedIn profile. This man took that title solely to use it to open doors, to add gravitas and enhance his power only within his work for charity. It’s the only reason he did it.

It was inspired. It was selfless.

And it worked!

Suddenly the charity work got bigger. He started Charity Auctions which rapidly became high profile. How high profile?

Kate Middleton donates. Enough said?

By 2012, with another long distance run under his belt, in Majorca, the media coverage was gaining serious momentum. ‘Lord Baker the Marathon Man’ was the talk of the European press, and it fuelled UK support.

In September 2014 he established The ‘Lord Baker Community Fund’, with the Norfolk Community Foundation in Norwich, with the stated aims of promoting health and wellbeing, tackling disadvantage, supporting local solutions to meet local needs, promoting community cohesion and developing sustainable and supportive communities.

Anna Douglas, of the Norfolk Community Foundation told me, ‘We’ve been working with Lord Baker to establish the Lord Baker Community Fund which not only supports a number of named charities within Norfolk but also creates a ‘Community Grants Programme’ for the smaller grassroots groups working within the local community. This element of the Fund will be advertised and local community groups will be invited to apply for grants up to £1,000 to support them with their projects. The Fund will grow through Lord Baker’s fundraising activities which to date have included the Norwich Charity Darts Masters and later this year, an online charity auction with some fantastic items to bid for!’

Beneficiaries of his work include East Anglia Children’s Hospices (EACH), Star Throwers Cancer Care & Support, Chapel Road School for Severely Disabled Children, Norfolk Community Foundation and

Norfolk Accident Rescue Service.

(NARS). Russell became Patron of NARS in May 2015.

Things were moving quickly.

A 2014 auction had raised £15,000 and plans for 2015 quickly slipped into gear. And amongst all this something else was beginning to take shape. A charity darts night at Wymondham Rugby Club had been seriously successful, and it led to the Norwich Charity Darts Masters. The big names piled in to help. Eric Bristow stepped up.

Paul Booth too.

Saturday June 27th was the big night. Over 425 people packed The Gunn Club at Norwich City’s Carrow Road ground for The BetVision Norwich Charity Darts Masters 2015. Media coverage soared. This was now big time.

Here’s the legendary Eric Bristow on the night “I would like to thank everyone for the best night of darts in a long time. There was a lot of money raised on the night which is why I love doing jobs like this.

I want to thank Lord Russell Baker for inviting myself to the night and all the hard work that was put into make it a magic night. There’s really too many to thank; the sponsors and players, the crowd who turned up….. I’m looking forward to next year where I want to win the trophy off Keith Deller. Keith Deller won on the night and has been winding me up most days since the event. Looking forward to my invite next year and I’ll be putting in the practice to lift the Norwich Charity Darts Masters Trophy.”

Keith Deller who, as Eric says, won added “I am very pleased to be the 1st player to win the Norwich masters. This was a great and well organized event and I look forward to returning in 2016”.

And there will be a return in 2016. Russell is very keen to point out to me that this will now be an annual event. He’s understandably delighted at what’s been achieved. ‘I love the fact that it’s done good work and spread so much joy’.

I ask him about the future.

‘The darts events have opened up a new area, and I

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FINEPeople

will be exploring the concept of establishing a World Match Play event, bringing premiership darts back - and to Norfolk. It’s an expansion of my business, into sports events management. A new venture’.

Does he have any personal hobbies or interests? Does he have time for any?

‘Well, I love collecting art’. He shows me some of the stunning collection. This is Lord Russell Baker of course, so as much as he loves his pictures he also loves the fact that his connections to famous artists means he acquires donations from them for his charity auctions.

‘I like good food, the occasional glass of good wine.

Walking the dogs in North Norfolk. Being with my family’. He married his second wife Rebecca in 2011 and his family is plainly important to him. www.finecity.co.uk

And then he mentions that he’s learning to fly! Passionate about it he’s set himself a steep target to go solo in record time. I have no doubts that he’ll achieve it.

We’re almost done, and I step out into the bright Norfolk sunshine of a truly magnificent day. As I’m about to leave I mention the new darts venture again. This is part of his business then? This is him, earning a living.

‘Yes’, he says, ‘it is. But the charities will get some benefit too’. Of course they will. Why did I ever think anything else?

Russell Baker has to earn a living.

But Lord Russell Baker of Little Moulton doesn’t do anything that doesn’t do some good, spread some joy, somewhere.

As I get into the car he says ‘I hope we meet again’ So do I. He’s the very good man, who took his title to help him do good work. And he’s very good at it.

August 2015 | 11

A City Of Dreadful Night 100 Years ago this year, Norwich became ‘a city of dreadful night’ on the orders of the city authorities. Whilst many considered this action draconian, it undoubtedly saved the citizens from the terror of the zeppelins. It had its funny side, too, as Stephen Browning found out

Two Fine Engineering Feats Norwich has always been an innovative city and, at the beginning of the 20th century, her engineers were the proud builders of a fine city-wide tram network, operational from 1901, although how to light the cars whilst not showing a light to the

12 | August 2015

enemy was to prove problematic during the first years of the war.

Another achievement which was to cause even greater difficulty with regard to making the city invisible to passing Zeppelins was the project, headed by city electrical engineer, F M Long, which installed 1,750 electric

lights in the streets between 1911 and 1913.

The new electric lights, along with the nightly glare of everyday household and industrial illuminations were to prove problematic at the beginning of the Great War. Even in prewar days, the glow from the

lights of Norwich at night could be seen out at sea between Yarmouth and Palling, and on the marsh level from the coast at Horsey. About the middle of October 1914, the Norwich Police received a complaint that the glare of the lights from the city was plainly visible at

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FINEPLACES

Electric lights and trams – two of Norwich’s glories in 1914.

Memorial to the dead of both world wars at the top of the market place: it was originally in front of the old town hall.

Happisburgh, a distance of 25 miles from the city. The coastal police and naval authorities were immediately consulted and it was decided that steps must be taken to reduce the lights.

On the night of October 26th, a photograph of the castle was taken from Mousehold Heath and

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this showed that the lights were very conspicuous.

First Action To Reduce Glare Early in November 1914 a circular was issued by the police to all shopkeepers suggesting that lights in front of shops should be extinguished or shaded. This

had little effect, however, and the Officer Commanding Troops in Norwich issued an order that all non-essential lights should be extinguished and essential ones shaded. At this time all trains travelled at night with blinds drawn and it was ordered that trams do likewise. As a result of the military order, public lights were shaded and the top part of the globe painted black, as were most shop lights. The lights on the tops of the trams were blacked out and a week later all shop lights were shaded black and red. Ipswich at this time had made no arrangements for shading lights. This action on the part of Norwich undoubtedly saved the city in the first Zeppelin attack on January 15th, 1915.

Lynn and Yarmouth suffered very badly. Precautions were taken as soon as the Zeppelins were sighted off Bacton, and though one on its return journey passed over the northern part of Norwich, the city remained invisible from the air. Fortunately, it was also a night when the mists rose up from the Yare and Wensum valleys reducing visibility from the Zeppelins pretty much to zero.

Anti-German Sentiment And ‘Spies’ Germans in Britain - and their businesses - were targeted at the beginning of the war, many believing that they were helping the enemy by showing lights and sending messages to Germany by racing pigeons. Many people - including, ludicrously, composer Ralph Vaughan Williams - were suspected of being German spies. There was a widespread feeling that anyone of German descent should be rounded up and, if it was seen that a previous idea to send them to a ‘colony’ was unrealistic, then at least they should be kept under guard.

One German guest house owner in Sheringham, by the name of Jacob Lichter, brought a court case against people who had booked into his establishment but failed to turn up after the war broke out. It was a great mistake on his part as Judge Mulligan of North Walsham

County Court threw the case out, adding some scathing remarks about the absurdity of allowing Germans to run guest houses on the vulnerable Norfolk coast.

Spies were seen by some people in every nook and cranny. The MP for Kings Lynn, Holcombe Ingleby, suggested after the first Zeppelin raids that a specially trained group of car owners were directing the airships by using their lights.

Further More Drastic Action On Lighting And Gas On January 23rd, 1915, six thousand handbills of a lighting order were printed and distributed by special constables to houses in the city. This was one of the first major tasks for the newly-recruited ‘Specials’ and was enthusiastically carried out by several hundred of them.

Three days later BrigadierGeneral Daniel issued a more stringent order whereby all lights visible outside of a building were to be extinguished between 5.30 pm and 7 am. Only a few lamps were lit on the city streets and on main highways. It was also announced that in the event of a further enemy attack electricity would be cut off at the power station. Evening classes were abandoned, and all factory production ceased at 5 pm. No shops were open after dark either.

Thereafter, further drastic steps were ordered by the Home Office - all lights in trams were forbidden, only a single candle being allowed. This was soon changed as it made travelling by

feature by:

Steve Browning Writer @returningperson

August 2015 | 13

FINEPLACES tram extremely perilous – soon trams were allowed one shaded interior light but the blinds must always be drawn. Headlights and top lights were darkened.

All street lighting was turned off, although for a short time a blue light was permitted on dangerous corners but this was quickly abandoned.

Householders pasted strips of dark paper down the sides of their windows, shaded electric lights and gas globes and pasted opaque paper over fanlights.

Factories with fanlights found it necessary to make elaborate arrangements for these to be covered nightly with tarpaulins.

Fines were imposed on citizens who did not co-operate, magistrates vastly increasing the fines for a subsequent offence.

Newsboys, tram conductors and others used bull’s-eye lanterns. Car headlights were also affected. Cyclists adopted many makeshifts: Local writer W.G. Clarke remarked ‘…I saw acetylene lamps with handkerchiefs tied over them, and ordinary stable lanterns with candles, laboriously fastened to the front lamp bracket’. The kerbs in the main streets were whitened.

On September 20th 1915, the Home Secretary ordered that the regulations for lighting should apply from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise and this remained in force until the end of the war. From November, even the striking of matches became an offence, for which many were fined. Norwich had become the darkest city in the land, a ‘City of Dreadful Night’. Some protested that it was unnecessary but to no avail.

Humour In The Darkness On the nights of extreme darkness the conditions had a funny side. People were unable to find their own homes, or thinking that they had found their address, entered someone else’s. Folk lost their bearings and had to enquire where they were. Pedestrians walked into Modern sculpture on bins Riverside trees, lampposts, and other commemorating Boulton and Paul who people, got their foot stuck in made Sopwith Camel aircraft.

14 | August 2015

manholes, and tripped over the kerbs, sometimes causing serious injury. It was unnerving to hear footsteps behind you but not to know to whom they belonged. Worse still, some people proceeded by swishing their umbrellas in front of them as if in an imaginary sword fight. This resulted in serious injuries. Some had a luminous disc pinned to their clothing but to little avail.

Best not to go out after dark unless really necessary.

One other effect of the blackout, according to a report in the local press, was that the people of Norwich began reading ‘higher’ literature as they had to stay indoors a good deal more than usual. Norwich at this time was very much an industrial powerhouse - metal, hats, shoes, chocolate and mustard being famously made here – but was hardly a city famous for literature as it is today. The paper mischievously adds that ‘the Scots have always appreciated their literature’.

Fines For Showing A Light To begin with, police and magistrates were unwilling to prosecute people for breaking the lighting regulations. This did not last and from mid-1915 to the end of the war the total number of people summoned for offences against the lighting regulations was 4, 042 and the total amount of fines inflicted was £1,357 10s 7d Zeppelins Attack Norfolk The main purpose of all this activity was, of course, to make the city as safe as possible from German Zeppelins. Norwich prepared for ‘air raid action’ sixty times during the war.

The first major warning was on 19 January, 1915. Two Zeppelins were sighted about 8 pm over Bacton, heading towards Norwich. The electricity supply for the whole city was turned off immediately. At the beginning of 1915 the Kaiser had sanctioned the bombing of military and industrial targets along the British coast and in the area around the Thames Estuary but not London itself. On 19th January 1915,

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FINEPLACES

from the air. Caley’s Industry had a difficult time having to completely shield all lights chocolate’ which produced hundreds of thousands of bars of their famous ‘marching can still be bought in their café.

Zeppelins L3, L4 and L6 of the Imperial German Navy, under the overall command of Zeppelin commander Korvettenkapitän Peter Strasser, took off from their base at Fuhlsbüttel in Germany.

L6 had to turn back due to bad weather but L3 turned South East towards Great Yarmouth and Zeppelin L4 flew North West towards Kings Lynn.

Zeppelin L3 dropped parachute flares to navigate its way from Martham towards Great Yarmouth. Bombs dropped on the town resulted in a crater two feet wide, a burst water main and the death of a large black dog.

Zeppelin L4, dropped incendiary bombs on Sheringham which caused a lot of damage but no casualties. Thereafter it travelled to Brancaster Staithe, Hunstanton, Heacham, Snettisham and Sandringham – where much propaganda ensued as it could possibly be seen as an attack on the Royal Family, although this is unlikely to be the case. Much more likely is that the Zeppelins travelled wherever lights could be seen

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‘Rigids’ and a tank - also developed in Norfolk – at Pulham by

Sir John Lavery.

which was unfortunate for Kings Lynn which was quite visible from the air. Here there were fatalities - Percy Goate aged 14 and Alice Gazely aged 26, both of whom are reported to have died from shock. After the raid L4 headed east and actually flew past Norwich, which was luckily shrouded in fog and had its lights out and then was seen to pass Acle and then flew out to sea to the north of Great Yarmouth.

Zeppelin Attacks Begin In Daylight The Zeppelin alert of 31 January 1916 was at first disbelieved as the first Zeppelins were seen when it was still light – just before 5 pm. It was never thought that an attack would commence before dark. Yet two hours later, after electricity had been switched off and the city was in complete darkness, an estimated 30 bombs were dropped which shook the houses in the city. It may have been because the Zeppelins chose to remain at a very high altitude that they all missed, although causing

Bustling and successful London Street just prior to the Great

War.

seen as highly likely at Scouts were sent out to map routes out of the city in the event, one point, of an invasion.

August 2015 | 15

FINEPLACES

Memorial in Norwich Cathedral, suitably in just black and white, to the soldiers of Norwich who died in the Great War.

great disruption and damage to the county as a whole. The raid lasted over twelve hours and at one time, just before it ended, a Zeppelin was clearly heard, with the engines vibrating in the early morning air, over Thorpe Station which was in complete darkness.

The most serious threat of the war occurred on Sunday, October 1, 1916. Zeppelins were reported fifty miles off the coat at 7 pm and by 8.05 pm one was immediately over Lowestoft. The railway was closed down and electricity to the city disconnected. About 9.30 moving lights were seen near Costessey. At 9.40 four bombs were dropped around Cromer.

Just after midnight a Zeppelin was shaking the night air noisily over Magdalen Road Police Station, and about a quarter after 3 four bombs were dropped, luckily falling in Eaton Park, about 16 | August 2015

five miles out. The Zeppelins then made their way across the channel. It is thought that ten Zeppelins in all were used by the enemy, four of which targeted Norwich in particular.

The Queen Hears A Zeppelin Queen Alexandra witnessed a Zeppelin over Sandringham in September 1916. The household heard a noise at 10 pm and looked outside to see, in the Queen’s words, ‘this awful monster’. The House immediately put out all lights and the machine passed over but, after an anxious few hours, witnessed the return of the Zeppelin at four am. It dropped its bombs at nearby Dodshill.

The Press Is Scornful There were various Zeppelin raids over neighbouring counties, notably Essex. Much is still

The beautiful Chapel of the Royal Norfolk Regiment in the Anglican Cathedral.

not known of these sorties but it is assumed that often the machines were attempting to reach London. The Eastern Daily Press was scathing about the indiscriminate nature of these attacks and had this to say: ‘The second zeppelin raid on Southend was of the usual character; the promiscuous

dropping of deadly missiles on a sleeping town of noncombatants, without any pretence at serving a military purpose or achieving anything upon the forwarding of the war.

On this occasion the German savages succeeded in killing two women and maiming a little girl; an accomplishment which the www.finecity.co.uk

FINEPLACES

poets of the Fatherland will no doubt celebrate in fresh verse as they have already celebrated the Lusitania massacre’.

There are frequent reports in the local press ridiculing the Zeppelin attacks. The Germans constantly exaggerated the effect of the sorties, several times declaring that the current AVIVA www.finecity.co.uk

headquarters in Surrey Street had been destroyed and all sorts of other things. One particularly scathing press report in 1916 tells, as satire, how the crew of a mythical Zeppelin, all awash with iron crosses and quaffing German beer, fly over Norwich, destroy the old Town Hall and, just for fun divert to London

A type of Sopwith Camel called a ‘one and a half strutter’.

where they blow up the Tower and St Pauls. Norwich was OK, and it could afford to laugh as it was protected throughout the hostilities by becoming ‘A City of Dreadful Night’ but the Zeppelins were far from comic in other parts of our county.

Material taken from ‘Norwich in the Great War’ by Stephen Browning, soon to be published by Pen and Sword at £9.99 Visit Stephen’s webpage www.facebook.com/ stevebrowningbooks August 2015 | 17

FINEPLACES

EACH Business boost needed for Norfolk children’s hospice dream

E

ast Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) is calling for local businesses to join other companies from across Norfolk to help those who need it most.

The nook business network is a corporate scheme which will help EACH deliver a new purpose-built children’s hospice in the heart of Norfolk. The scheme has been developed to encourage local companies - whether small, medium or 18 | August 2015

large- to commit to raising either £10,000, £15,000 or £25,000 over the duration of the appeal in return for a number of benefits from the charity.

A range of business from across the county have already signed up to the network pledging their support for the campaign including: Watton-based family company, The Abel Group, which includes house builder Abel Homes and renewable energy company Abel Energy, has signed up to be part

of the network. The firm has already donated £10,000 and has pledged a further £15,000 to the appeal by devising fundraising initiatives and ways to promote the appeal to their local community.

Mattressman are promoting the appeal in their 14 stores across East Anglia, as well creating a unique children’s mattress with a percentages of sales coming directly to EACH. Courtesy Taxis in Prince of Wales Road, Norwich have

been pro-actively promoting the appeal to their customers and corporate clients using the TV screens in their waiting room.

They also held a family fun day to raise valuable funds.

Financial planning firm Loveday & Partners, based at Broadland Business Park in Norwich, have joined the network. Director, Mark Loveday, who attended the nook appeal launch event, was quick to pledge the company’s support to raise funds and awareness for the appeal. www.finecity.co.uk

FINEPLACES

Mark said: “The support offered by EACH to families during incredibly difficult times is absolutely incredible and it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to help create a purpose built facility to enable EACH to continue its work in our community for generations to come.”

Gary Cook, the nook appeal corporate fundraiser, said: “We’re looking to Norfolk’s businesses to help make our vision of a new purpose built children’s hospice in the heart of Norfolk a reality. www.finecity.co.uk

“Many businesses in the county rely on local people for their income, so it would be great if they were able to invest time and effort into the nook business network to give something back to their local community. We already have great support from the business community, of which we’re incredibly grateful, but there are countless other businesses out there that we’ve yet to engage with and hope this new scheme is an attraction for them.

“We won’t be able to realise

our vision without the support of all elements of the Norfolk community – individuals, community groups, schools and of course the business community will play a vital role in this.”

Anyone who is interested in finding out more about the nook business network or the appeal generally, should visit: www.each. org.uk/the-nook or contact the Norfolk Fundraising Team on 01603 666767 or funding@each. org.uk August 2015 | 19

FINEPLACES The Maids Head Hotel, Norwich

VisitNorwich looks at Norwich’s fascinating royal history Norwich a Treasure of Royal Facts and Fascinations

T

o celebrate the Christening of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge, 5th July at Sandringham Norfolk, VisitNorwich looks at Norwich’s 20 | August 2015

fascinating royal history. Norwich is a royalist’s treasure trove of unusual facts, places and collections to discover from William the Conqueror onwards, including Princess Diana’s Christening robe and many items

owned and worn by Queen Victoria.

1. Norwich Castle was founded as a Royal Palace

by William the Conqueror. In 1094 William II began the build of the stone Keep which was

completed in 1121. Henry I celebrated Christmas at the newly completed castle in 1121.

Today Norwich Castle & Art Gallery is home to some of the most outstanding collections of fine art, archaeology and natural history in the UK, including breathtaking displays of gold from Queen Boudicca’s time.

2. The Maids Head Hotel has been a place of hospitality since the early 12th Century, located in one of the oldest inhabited parts of Norwich, when the early Norman Bishops of Norwich established a guest house. Its guests over the centuries have included The Black Prince (eldest son of King Edward III), Catherine of Aragon, Queen Elizabeth I and Admiral www.finecity.co.uk

FINEPLACES Lord Nelson.

3. Norfolk Museum’s Service’s Costume and Textile Collection at The Shirehall in Norwich holds many royal garments including Princess Diana’s Christening gown and (in excellent condition) Queen Victoria’s slippers (1840s & 1888), cape (1890), nightdress (1880s) and silk stockings. It also holds a large number of royal commemorative items e.g. a corsage made from velvet from the Coronation robe of Elizabeth II worn during King Edward VIII’s Coronation in 1937. All these items and more can be viewed by private appointment with a curator for free by calling 01603 493625 (3 visitors maximum; charge for groups of 4 +).

4. A four acre walled garden dating back to the 12th century in the grounds of the Bishop’s Palace is open to the public only for a few dates in summer for charity (open 5th July). This garden is one of Norwich’s best secret gardens offering a small woodland walk, kitchen garden, ornate gardens, bamboo walk, grass labyrinth and boxed rose beds. A sprig of hebe from Queen Victoria’s wedding bouquet was given to the wife of the Bishop of Norwich in 1840. This was propagated and now the plant thrives in the Bishop’s garden for all to see.

5. Norwich had a Royal Charter granted in 1158 by Henry II and in 1404, when it was one of the first town’s in England to

earn the rights granted by Henry IV Charter of Incorporation. The growth in the city’s powers led to the building of The Guildhall, one of the largest and most elaborate medieval city hall’s outside London. The building today can be toured each Friday http:// www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/norwichheart-7469943119 6. Charles II visited Norwich in 1671, reviewed the local militia from The Guildhall balcony overlooking the Market Place and dined at St Andrews Hall, a former Friary, purchased by the City from Henry VIII after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

7. George VI visited Norwich to open the new City Hall on 29 October 1938, witnessed by the largest ever

gathering of Norwich citizens in the Market Place. City Hall is an Art Deco masterpiece and was dubbed by the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as the finest civic building of the interwar period. George VI became the first monarch to attend a Football league match, when he visited Norwich City FC’s Carrow Road ground on the same day.

8. Crowds gather annually at Sandringham to watch the Royal family arrive for the Christmas Day service and this Sunday 5th July, well wishers are invited to see Princess Charlotte from the paddock outside the church of St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham.

Sandringham is located 42 miles from Norwich.

A pair of shoes, catalogued, Costume & Textile Collection, Norwich

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August 2015 | 21

FINEPLACES

Through many of his great novels flows the mighty Thames. The Palace of Westminster took 30 years to complete and the final stone was laid in 1870, the year of Dickens’ death.

Photo Daniel Tink

A Literary Adventure - Walking Around West London In The Footsteps Of Charles Dickens.

In the April issue, which featured some fabulous activities you can do for free in London, we ended by mentioning the possibility of ‘literary walks’. Since then, many readers have asked for something more specific, so here it is! You are invited to explore the West End in the footsteps of our greatest novelist, Charles Dickens, and some of his immortal literary creations… … by Stephen Browning with photographs from Daniel Tink

C

harles Dickens and London are inextricably linked, both for the good and the bad. When he was 12 years old, his happy childhood came to an abrupt end when his father was imprisoned for debt

22 | August 2015

and he was sent to work in a blacking factory situated about where Embankment tube station now stands. Here he laboured, along with a chap called Mealy Potatoes on account of his complexion, in complete misery. He did, however, take

the opportunity to explore the alleyways and shops of nearby Oxford Street and Covent Garden, becoming an expert, as he relates in the autobiographical novel ‘David Copperfield’ on shops selling bread pudding, some of which delicacy had more

currants in than others.

10 years later finds his situation improving rapidly, although his father continued to be a great strain on him financially for many years. It is along the Strand that we find a young man so deliriously happy on account of having his first article accepted by a publisher that he wanders around in a daze unable to talk to anyone. Two years later ‘The Pickwick Papers’ catapults him to international stardom and thereafter the great novels tumble out of his head, one after another.

Most of them feature London, a city Dickens regarded as the greatest in the world and was in love with all his life.

There are many walks you can take around London where Dickens sets his characters.

There is, for example, the terrible squalor and misery of some of the East End, immortalized in ‘Oliver Twist’; the area around the Monument is the setting for Scrooge’s predatory prowling in ‘A Christmas Carol’; and Chancery Lane and environs witnesses Richard and Ada’s endless legal woes in ‘Bleak House’. Dickens himself lived for the early part of his success to the north of the city, at 48

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FINEPLACES Doughty Street, from where he would take his famous ‘night walks’ when he would think up the next chapter of a novel, returning to the house at dawn to write it down in a torrent of energy. All of these places make for an enjoyable and interesting stroll, but the walk I have chosen here is on the other side of town – around the West End. This is quite a hefty excursion and could well take all day, depending how long you stop to wonder as you wander. Dickens spent a great deal of time ‘up East’, but there is no doubt he loved this part of the city equally and some of his greatest villains and cold hearts, such as Ralph Nickleby and Mr Dombey, lived here, as well as a number of his finest comic creations like Mr Turveydrop.

Starting at Green Park Tube, turn towards Piccadilly Circus and past The Ritz and Fortnum and Mason. This is Piccadilly, named after a smaker of piccadillies – collars – in the 17th century.

This was not quite as grand in the 19th century as it is now, but very respectable: it was Mr Micawber’s dream, when things improved financially, to live above a shop here. As it was, of course, he ended up an important man, but in the New World.

Chapman and Hall, Dickens’ first publishers, were located at 193 Piccadilly from 1850.

Carry straight on to Leicester Square which is the location of Mr George’s shooting gallery in ‘Bleak House’. Turning left at Charing Cross and left again

feature by:

Steve Browning Writer @returningperson

www.finecity.co.uk

along Shaftesbury Avenue will bring you to Piccadilly Circus.

From here, Regents Street sweeps northwards in a stately arc and it is where Dickens housed Lord Verisopht in ‘Nicholas Nickleby’. For some reason, although we don’t know for sure, I have always imagined the ‘handsome suite of private apartments’ to be in the first half of the street on the left hand side before reaching Hamleys.

It is here, in ‘Nicholas Nickleby’, that we first meet this dissolute gentleman at three o’clock in the afternoon, reclining listlessly on a sofa, his slippered foot dangling to the ground. He is yawning and comparing notes about the previous night’s debauch with his constant companion, Sir Mulberry Hawk. They are bent on the dishonour of Miss Kate Nickleby. They are eventually undone by a sequence of events sparked off by a confrontation with Kate’s brother, Nicholas, in an Inn probably situated in Park Lane, just off Marble Arch and not far from here.

This is Nickleby country as far as London is concerned as just off a side road to the right – try Beak Street – is Golden Square, home of Ralph Nickleby, uncle to Nicholas and, along with Squeers, chief villain of the piece. It is interesting to compare its opulence today to the atmosphere of the square in the mid-19th century as described in the novel: “Although a few members of the graver professions live about Golden Square, it is not exactly in anybody’s way to or from anywhere. It is one of the squares that have been; a quarter of the town that has gone down in the world, and taken to letting lodgings. Many of its first and second floors are let, furnished, to single gentlemen; and it takes boarders besides. It is a great resort of foreigners.”

Mr Ralph Nickleby sits in his dismal house dressed, as we meet him, as if to go out. He has on a “bottle-green spencer over a blue coat; a white waistcoat, grey mixture pantaloons, and Wellington boots drawn over them”. The air of menace he

presents is wonderfully conveyed: “He wore a sprinkling of powder upon his head, as if to make himself look benevolent; but if that was his purpose, he would perhaps have done better to powder his countenance also, for there was something in its very wrinkles, and in his cold restless eye, which seemed to tell of cunning that would announce itself in spite of him.”

Mr Newman Noggs, of greatly reduced circumstances and illtreated clerk to Ralph Nickleby, uncle of Nicholas, is also to be found somewhere around here.

Dickens does not give us the exact street of this kind-hearted soul, who, although at the moment of first encounter only manages to get through each day under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol, happily recovers fine respectability by the end of the book. We are given this description of the area of his lodgings: “In that quarter of London in which Golden Square is situated, there is a bygone,

faded, tumble-down street, with two irregular rows of tall meagre houses, which seem to have stared each other out of countenance years ago. The very chimneys appear to have grown dismal and melancholy, from having had nothing better to look at than the chimneys over the way.”

The Kenwigs, in ‘Our Mutual Friend’, always aspiring but never really getting there, also live near here but suitably just off Golden Square.

The walk winds through Soho from here, more or less parallel with Shaftesbury Avenue on the south side and Oxford Street on the north, until you hit Dean Street. Turn left and, at the top, is Soho Square, always packed these days with folk eating and drinking as it is one of the very few oases of green in this part of the city. I remember, when I was working around here, that if you could secure a seat at lunchtime you felt as if you had won a small jackpot.

A scene from ‘David Copperfield’ where the young hero - ie Charles Dickens himself in reality - is in despair at the blacking warehouse after his father had been imprisoned for debt.

August 2015 | 23

FINEPLACES

I always imagine Lord Verisopht’s splendid apartments to be here, at the Piccadilly Circus end of Regent Street. Photo Daniel Tink

Dickens places the home of Dr Manette and his daughter here in ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

It is also where Esther and Caddy Jellyby stroll in ‘Bleak House’.

They are going to Turveydrop’s Dancing School to try, not for the first time, to break the news of Caddy’s engagement to her beloved fiancé called Prince. Let us walk with them north from the square, straight up Dean Street until the mighty bustle of Oxford Street cuts across it.

Immediately opposite is Newman Street and it is here, in his Dancing School, we meet that incorrigible old rogue and Master of Deportment, Mr Turveydrop. Esther is presented: “ ‘Charmed! Enchanted!’ said Mr Turveydrop, rising with his highshouldered bow. ‘Permit me!’ handling chairs. ‘Be seated!’ Kissing the tips of his left fingers. ‘Overjoyed!’ shutting his eyes and rolling. ‘My little retreat is made a paradise!’ Re-composing himself on the sofa, like the second gentleman in Europe.”

There follows one of Dickens’ many masterclasses in comic writing as Mr Turveydrop is eventually prevailed upon to accept the engagement of his son, Prince, and Caddy.

Follow Oxford Street now, up past Oxford Circus. It is in this area that Richard and Ada had lodgings above an upholsterer’s shop in ‘Bleak House’ whilst waiting on the interminable legal suite of Jarndyce V Jarndyce. They had a great time taking in all the theatres around here, although Ada was very uncomfortable at continually being pursued by the smitten Mr Guppy and she was afraid that he would

Richard and Ada have an apartment here in ‘Bleak House’. Photo

24 | August 2015

Daniel Tink

Soho Square on a sunny lunchtime. Dr Manette had a house Cities’. Photo Stephen Browning

here in ‘A Tale of Two

bankrupt himself by following her to every dramatic production.

A little past the ‘Circus’ on the right is Holles Street which leads to a very important Dickens location, Cavendish Square.

Lord George lives near here in ‘Barnaby Rudge’ and, tellingly, having addressed his supporters -far too briefly: “ ‘Gentlemen, No Popery.

Good Day. God Bless you’ - which made them very discontented –”, they disperse ‘to the adjoining fields’. Here, they presently fell to pitch and toss, chuck-farthing, odd or even, dog fighting “and other Protestant recreations.”

Little Dorrit, in the novel of that name, and Fanny go to see the gruesome Mrs Merdle, in Harley Street, Cavendish Square. On the way, they drop off Amy’s uncle into a cook’s shop. Dickens is at his finest when talking about food. He must have been particularly hungry when he wrote about this cook shop – perhaps it was in the late afternoon when he was anticipating his dinner. The windows are dirty but: “…glimpses were to be caught of a roast leg of pork bursting into tears of sage and onion in a metal reservoir full of gravy, of an unctuous piece of roast beef and blisterous Yorkshire pudding, bubbling hot in a similar receptacle, of a stuffed fillet of veal in rapid cut, of a ham in a perspiration with the pace it was going at, of a shallow tank of baked potatoes glued together by their own richness, of a truss or two of boiled greens, and other substantial delicacies.”

This is also where the one-legged Silas Wegg sets up his stall in ‘Our Mutual Friend’ and where he begins to plot against the Boffins. He

Cavendish Square. Photo Daniel Tink

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The site of Tyburn gallows which were a unique triangular affair that enabled 24 people to be hanged at the same time. Dickens describes a hanging here in ‘Barnaby Rudge’. Photo Daniel Tink

sells fruit, sweets and halfpenny ballads. No matter what the weather, he is to be found setting out his stall at eight o’clock each morning.

Ralph Nickleby hustles Kate to Mrs Mantolini’s dress-making establishment in Cavendish Square where she is very unhappy, indeed. The relationship between Mr and Mrs Mantolini, however, is a comic joy and lightens the mood.

Retracing steps to Oxford Street, turn right and carry on to Marble Arch. This is the scene of Tyburn, where people were hanged until 1783. In ‘Barnaby Rudge’ the hangman is called Dennis. Dickens attended one of the last public hangings in Norwich, Norfolk and was so disgusted at the spectacle that he campaigned against the practice for the rest of his life. However, he also produced a comic account of a hanging day at Tyburn, or rather, of those about to be hung: “…a Public Progress of some fine gentlemen (half-drunk) to Tyburn, dressed in the newest fashion, and damning the ordinary with unspeakable gallantry and grace, furnished to the populace, at once a pleasant excitement and a wholesome and profound example.”

If you walk straight ahead through the underpass of Marble Arch to the other side, you come to one extremity of Hyde Park on your left. For quite a few years, when I worked in Wigmore Street and lived in Bayswater, I used to cross this corner of the park on en-route to my job. I always scurried out of it, noting that, even on bright days, it seemed to have a shadow across it and I noted that grass did not grow well there. It seemed to me a sad place. Some places appear to be like that, don’t they? I later learned that, in Dickens’ time and for many years before, it was the spot where soldiers were shot for cowardice or other treasonable offences.

If you have an extra hour and a half, and the sun is up, a walk across Hyde Park and back again to this point, taking in the ducks on the Serpentine, will lead to ‘Albertopolis’. This was the name that some perplexed citizens gave to the far Kensington edge of the park (technically, Kensington Gardens). Just follow the signs to the www.finecity.co.uk

Serpentine and then to the Albert Memorial. Here we also find the Royal Albert Hall, the Victoria and Albert Museum and all manner of grand streets named after the great love of Victoria’s life.

Although Dickens professed a wish to find an ‘inaccessible cave’ in order to escape from memorials to the Prince, the two men undoubtedly hold a connection. Both men worked hard and effectively for improvements to education, welfare and work in the booming factories at this time – mid 19th Century, the height of Empire – and after Albert’s untimely death in 1861 (most probably modern doctors believe, of cancer and hard work, the latter once again another connection with Dickens) the great novelist became more than ever the people’s champion. The Queen was a great admirer, and had a private audience with Dickens shortly before his death.

Immediately to the north of Tyburn is Marylebone and right in the middle is Bryanstone Square. It is about ten or twelve minutes’ walk straight up Great Cumberland Street. Near here we find the home of Mr Dombey. He is particularly interesting in that he is not an outand-out villain but more cold and deluded, unable to love his adoring daughter, after the very early demise of his son, Paul, who meant everything to him. Paul’s death, along with that of Little Nell, had the Victorian public in unprecedented grief and consternation.

Dickens allows Mr Dombey’s redemption at the end of the novel.

However, the mood of gloom at the beginning is quickly established.

When we enter Mr Dombey’s house, in chapter 3, it is described as being: “on the shady side of a tall, dark, dreadfully genteel street in the region between Portland Place and Bryanstone Square. It was a corner house, with great wide areas containing cellars frowned upon by barred window, and leered at by crooked-eyed doors leading to dustbins. It was a house of dismal state…”

What wonderful English is this! “Dreadfully genteel…”; “a house of dismal state?” Could anything be more suggestively gruesome?

August 2015 | 25

FINEPLACES It is not dissimilar to Ralph Nickleby’s house just ‘down the road’.

Ralph, however, is allowed no redemption at the end of the novel as the amount of pain and death he has caused – including to Smike, his own son – is just too great. No, he must hang himself.

Edgeware Road Tube is just up the road, or one of London’s fabulous new Double Deckers will take you back to Green Park if you wish it, or maybe to nearby Oxford Street for some shopping.

GETTING TO LONDON FROM NORWICH: By far the cheapest way is by coach from Surrey Street Bus Station. Try online for amazing deals of only a few pounds each way.

Alternatively, you can buy tickets from the Tourist Information Centre in the Forum or at the Bus Station.

By rail: on the day about £55.00 adult return, but booking online in advance can cut this by at least three-quarters. The journey is comfortable and just under 2 hours, all being well. You arrive at Liverpool Street where it is easy to buy your daily travel pass in the ticket hall.

By car: if you are really sure about this and don’t mind paying for possibly the world’s most expensive parking, I wish you luck.

You cannot go by air, which is a great shame, unless you want to first fly Norwich International/Amsterdam and then back to London, which is daft.

GETTING ABOUT IN LONDON: Buy a Day Travel Pass when you arrive from any underground station. Zones 1-4 will cost you £12.00 which is incredible value in the world’s greatest city. It covers bus and tube journeys.

STAYING IN LONDON: The best-kept secret in London is www.universityrooms.com Here you can get top quality rooms/flats in the university vacations and at an amazingly cheap price. Well worth checking before trying hotels.

‘The World of Charles Dickens’ by Stephen Browning, with photographs from Daniel Tink, is published by Halsgrove at £16.99 and is available from good bookshops and online. UK Libraries also have multiple copies available for loan.

Prince Albert sits in splendor in Kensington Gardens surrounded by – some unworthy folk say actually sitting ON - the greatest thinkers of all time.

Photo Stephen Browning

26 | August 2015

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CompetitionFINEPLACES

Win A Mini! or £10,000 cash!

All you have to do is complete the following sections and send it back to ensure your are included in the draw. Or enter online at: www.FineCity.co.uk/winamini Only one entry per household Your name: How much is your home phone bill ? £ Your address: Would you like to pay less than that?

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August 2015 | 27

The Rape of Lucretia, Glyndebourne Festival 2015. Female Chorus (Kate Royal) and Male Chorus (Allan Clayton). Photographer: Robbie Jack

28 | August 2015

The Rape of Lucretia, Glyndebourne Festival 2015. Lucretia (Christine Rice) and child. Photographer: Robbie Jack

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FINEARTS

The Rape of Lucretia, Glyndebourne Festival 2015. Junius (Michael Sumuel) and Tarquinius (Duncan Rock).

Photographer: Robbie Jack

Cinema City Special events at Cinema City this month include drama, opera and something different.

Tony Cooper reports

A

nd drama doesn’t come better than the Young Vic’s production of Arthur Miller’s tragic masterpiece, A View from the Bridge (12A), directed by the celebrated Belgian-born director Ivo van Hove and being screened by NT Live on Thursday, 6th August, 8pm. A stellar cast is headed

by Mark Strong (The Imitation Game; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) and the production - described as ‘magnetic, electrifying and astonishingly bold’ - has been widely acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. The play ran away with the 2014 critics’ www.finecity.co.uk

drama choice by The Evening Standard, The Guardian and The Independent. Praise at the highest level.

The scenario highlights the great American dream in a dark and passionate tale set in Brooklyn focusing on longshoreman Eddie Carbone welcoming his Sicilian cousins to the land of the free and the home of the brave. But when one of them falls for his beautiful niece, they discover that freedom comes at a price. Eddie’s jealous mistrust exposes a deep, unspeakable secret - one that drives him to commit the ultimate betrayal.

Following close on the

showing of Miller’s iconic work is Fiona Shaw’s awardwinning production of Benjamin Britten’s dark masterpiece, The Rape of Lucretia (Sunday, 9th August, 6pm) direct from the Glyndebourne Festival. An opera in two acts, Britten wrote it especially for Kathleen Ferrier and it was first performed at Glyndebourne on 12th July 1946. It was the first work to which Britten applied the term ‘chamber opera’.

Ms Shaw, a well-known actress who has starred in films such as Harry Potter and the TV series True Blood, has won high praise for her direction of this historic tale which focuses on Lucretia, a model of fidelity among Roman wives until the Etruscan prince, Tarquinius, provoked by his Roman army comrades, gallops back to Rome to ruin her virtue.

Described as ‘opera at its most nakedly powerful’ by The Daily

Telegraph, Lucretia is conducted

by Leo Hussain and performed by some of the most exciting British singers gracing the world’s opera stages today: Christine Rice, Kate Royal, Allan Clayton and Duncan Rock.

And something different - Fabergé: A Life of its Own (Monday, 17th August, 6.30pm) - is a feature-documentary telling

feature by:

Tony Cooper Writer tc@tony-cooper.co.uk

August 2015 | 29

FINEARTS

Mark Strong, Nicola Walker, Phoebe Fox and Luke Norris in Miller’s A View from the Bridge

the epic story of the Fabergé name from Imperial Russia until the present-day spanning 150 turbulent years of history, romance, artistic development and commercial exploitation.

From the bejewelled Easter eggs of the Romanov Tsarinas to the 1970s allure of ‘Brut by Fabergé’ after-shave and from the Russian Revolution to today’s highfashion glitz of London, Paris and New York, the film explores a multi-faceted world that began with one man: the prodigiouslytalented Peter Carl Fabergé, court jeweller of St Petersburg.

The film was shot at various locations across Russia and the USA as well as other parts of continental Europe and contains interviews from some of the world’s foremost Fabergé authorities as well as personal reminiscences from Fabergé family members while the fabulous Fabergé collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is fully explored.

The RSC’s production of Shakespeare’s Othello (12A) can be enjoyed on Wednesday, 26th August, 7pm, in a stirring production directed by Iqbal Khan, responsible for the RSC’s outstanding production of Much Ado About Nothing in 2012.

30 | August 2015

The play focuses upon the greatest general of his age: a fearsome warrior, loving husband and revered defender of Venice against its enemies. But he’s also an outsider whose victories have created enemies of his own, men driven by prejudice and jealousy to destroy him. As they plot in the shadows, Othello realises, albeit too late, that the greatest danger lies not in the hatred of others, but in his own fragile and destructive pride.

After more than a decade working in film and television on projects from Star Wars to Holby City, Hugh Quarshie returns to the RSC to play Othello - the Moor of Venice. He last appeared with the company in Faust and Julius Caesar in 1996. He’ll play opposite Lucian Msamati (Game of Thrones) as Iago, returning to the RSC following his success as Pericles in 2006.

Box office: 0871 902 5724 Online: www.picturehouses. com The Dining Rooms are open daily from 10am to 9pm (Sunday: 8pm) Reservations: 01603 623435 www.norwichdiningrooms. co.uk

Hugh Quarshie, Royal Shakespeare’s Company’s Othello

A fabulous Fabergé-decorated egg

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FINEARTS

Priory Insurance Can we really afford not to take Travel Insurance?

With the recent poor weather and constant rain, we have seen an increase in clients looking for breaks in sunnier climates, but can we really afford to cut corners and not take out Travel Insurance?

Cancelation and Medical cover are no doubt the main areas of concern when looking for a suitable insurance policy. With access to a panel of Insurers, we can find and arrange the policy specific to your requirements.

Whether you are travelling in

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Please feel free to call in to our Wymondham office for a quotation or advice, when we shall be pleased to assist.

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The small, friendly school that gets results for individuals Thetford Grammar School is a friendly and family based community, a high achieving co-educational independent day school in East Anglia, from rising 4s to the Sixth Form.

The strength of this “all through” school is that it enables us to place great emphasis on a supportive environment, one in which pupils take responsibility for themselves and for each other. Our pupils come from all round the region, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, a testament to our popularity. But come and see for yourselves. Bring your children for a ‘taster’ day with us. Let them be the best judge of whether TGS is the right environment for them.

We are confident they will say yes!

Whole School Open Morning Saturday 17th October To register your interest in our Open Event, request a prospectus or to arrange a visit please call 01842 752840 or e mail: hmsec@thetgram.norfolk.sch.uk www.thetgram.norfolk.sch.uk www.finecity.co.uk

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Le Theatre de Decadence Norwich-based entertainment writer, Tony Cooper, takes a peep at Le Theatre de Decadence’s burlesque and variety show arriving in Norwich next month

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ariety is the spice of life, so the saying goes, and Le Theatre de Decadence’s burlesque and variety show revisiting Norwich’s Maddermarket Theatre on Saturday, 5th September, 7.30pm, should put more than a smile on your face.

The show promises a glittering spectacle and a feast of entertainment and is produced by local cabaret performer, Ms Natalya Umanska. ‘I love performing at the Maddermarket,’ she enthuses, ‘as it’s a beautiful, historic theatre and the intimate layout of the auditorium lends itself well to the show.’

Le Theatre de Decadence is renowned for the high-quality acts it presents and this year is no exception. The performers comprise Belgian-based Florian Brooks, Sophia St Villier (New Zealand) and Dolly Rose (UK), not forgetting, of course, the boss herself, Ms Natalya Umanska.

Florian’s a juggler and object manipulator par excellence.

He graduated from the Ecole Superiore des Arts de Cirque,

Brussels, in 2011 and has been in high demand ever since travelling the world over to show off his superior skills. For his Norwich show, he’s presenting a new double-act with his partner, Charlotte.

Sophia St Villier, who comes from New Zealand and Dolly Rose from the UK, will be covering the stage in glam, glitter and stockings performing a host of beautifully-choreographed burlesque routines. Dolly, in fact, toured with the highly-popular Evening of Burlesque theatre show and since finishing that tour has been exploring new styles of movement inspired by her training as a professional dancer while Sophia St Villier has added some stunning new acts to her repertoire with costumes that take you back to the heyday of burlesque echoing the riotous and lavish shows of the 1930s.

Ms Umanska has carefully hand-picked her cast. ‘Regular audience members may recognise some of this year’s performers from previous shows.

Le Theatre de Decadence strives to maintain good working

Elegant Sophia St Villier (image: Life is Yours Photography)

32 | August 2015

Natalya Umanska performing at Pinky’s Peepshow at Bassy’s Club, Berlin (image: Alexa Vachon)

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Vicky Butterfly all feathered up for stage action (image: Sam Holden)

relationships with its cast and crew therefore it’s simply pure delight to watch artists’ work grow and develop as their careers progress.’ Previous performers have included Vicky Butterfly, Edd

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Tony Cooper Writer tc@tony-cooper.co.uk

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Muir and Betsy Rose.

Natalya acts as joint compère of the show with Hattie Amey, who plays the eccentric character of Miss Elspeth Juniper. The pair took to the stage together for the first time last year. ‘Hattie and I have known and worked with each other for a very long time,’ thrilled Ms Umanska. ‘She has a terrific energy about her and a great “sense of play” on stage. We share similar vibrant imaginations and a surreal sense of humour. Most of our rehearsal time is spent in fits of laughter. We really enjoyed ourselves last year and tried out lots of new ideas and it should prove interesting and exciting to see where we can take the characters this year.’ Hattie isn’t just known for her performing

skills either. She has just returned from Macau in China where she worked on wigs and make-up for the highly-acclaimed House of Dancing Water circus show.

Natalya has some other grand adventures planned for later this year. When the curtain comes down on Le Theatre de Decadence she will begin preparing to fly out to Amsterdam for the International Burlesque Award Festival and soon after will pack her bags and travel to Canada to participate in the prestigious Montreal Burlesque Festival. The show she’ll present - Lipstick and Wax - features her partner, Paul Preston Mills.

‘I absolutely adore the way that burlesque has given me the opportunity of travelling the world. Last year, for instance,

Paul and I were lucky enough to be invited to perform at Stockholm’s beautiful Södra Teatre, which, by the way, is the oldest theatre in the Swedish capital while we also had the honour of playing Berlin’s famed Wintergarten venue. I’m really passionate about historic theatre venues so it was a very special experience to grace the stages of such iconic and well-loved theatres as these. It also offered me the chance of bringing some of the wonderful people I met back to Norwich to perform!’

Natalya doesn’t stop at theatres. She produces for the internationally-renowned Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, the life-drawing sessions ‘where art meets cabaret’. With its headquarters in New York and August 2015 | 33

FINEARTS over 200 branches worldwide including London, Paris and Berlin, Natalya was keen to bring the phenomenon to Norwich.

‘We hold monthly sessions on the last Wednesday of the month at the Unthank Arms. It’s a great opportunity for people to come and draw whether they are experienced artists or people that have never drawn before.

The sessions have been really popular and enjoy a very intimate atmosphere and it is lovely for audience members to meet the models. I’ve been amazed by the support of both our resident venue and the artists. Norwich is such a warm, lively and friendly place in which to work. Some of the performers gracing the stage for this year’s Le Theatre de Decadence have posed and pouted for local artists to draw.’

Tickets £16.50 are available from the Maddermarket box office on 01603 620917 or online by visiting www. maddermarket.co.uk

Edd Muir in action on the Chinese pole (image: Sam Holden)

Miss Dolly Rose in black-and-white pose

Natalya Umanska feeding the footlights (image: Sam Holden)

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream Amateur Norwich group The Common Lot to join RSC in A Play For The Nation – April 2630, 2016

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ix amateur actors from a Norfolk-based theatre group are to join the cream of Shakespearean actors from The Royal Shakespeare Company in a very special production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2016 which will mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death in 2016.

This exciting landmark production - A Play For The Nation - will come to Norwich Theatre Royal from April 26-30, 2016 – and cast in the roles of Bottom and the ‘mechanicals’ will be six members of The Common Lot, an amateur group formed in Norwich just two years ago.

The news, announced today on the feast day of Midsummer, June 24, follows a nationwide search by the Royal Shakespeare Company to find amateur groups to represent all regions and countries of the UK in collaboration with 13 partner theatres, with Norwich Theatre Royal and The Common Lot representing the East of England.

Of all Shakespeare’s plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is especially loved for its delightful comedy, its magical setting and its cavalcade of glorious characters, in particular the ‘mechanicals’ (including the iconic role of Bottom the Weaver) who are an underprepared, yet loveable bunch of craftsmen and women who put themselves forward to entertain royalty at the end of the play.

In Norwich, the roles will be played by: Owen Evans (Bottom, the Weaver), Daniel Fridd (Flute, the Bellows Mender), Amelia Hursey (Quince, the Carpenter), Eve Pandolfi (Snug, the Joiner), Victoria Stone (Snout, the Tinker) and Emma Trindall (Starveling, the Tailor).

In real-life, The Common Lot actors have equally diverse jobs ranging from a physiotherapist and a clinical trials practitioner, to an IT trainer for a marina software company, a trainee manager at Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics in Norwich, and a home and interiors blogger, while Owen Evans works in customer support for a software company but is also known to Norwich audiences as one half of comedy duo the Nimmo Twins. They are joined by the group’s founder and director Simon Floyd, who works in a regional co-ordinating role for Norfolk Museums Services.

He said the group was both nervous and excited about the forthcoming challenge: “It’s the chance of a lifetime and it does seem www.finecity.co.uk

like a dream. Things like this don’t come around very often, and it’s such a good idea to have amateur theatre groups playing the amateur theatre company in one of the greatest plays Shakespeare wrote. We know it will be a lot of hard work. The responsibility is enormous and quite daunting, but we want to be brilliant. We will do whatever it takes.”

The group will perform alongside a cast of 18 professional actors, and a professional creative team, led by RSC Deputy Artistic Director, Erica Whyman. Initially they will rehearse in Norwich and then join rehearsals with the RSC from January 2016.

They were chosen following an audition process which saw seven local amateur theatrical groups attend workshops in Norwich and London with the RSC – in the running were the Mundesley Players, Minotaur Theatre Company, the Norfolk & Norwich Operatic Societies (two groups), The Studio Company and Norfolk WI – with The Common Lot coming out on top.

Erica Whyman commented: “The Common Lot are a group with a terrific work ethic and lovely team spirit. There’s a detail and confidence in their work that really impressed us. Owen inspired us so much with his playful, boisterous performance of Bottom and it’s always a good sign when we don’t want the audition to end! They will really make you laugh.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation will visit 12 theatres across the UK between 17 February and 4 June 2016, and will involve 14 different amateur theatre companies.

The production opens in Stratford-upon-Avon in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in February 2016 and after the UK tour will return to Stratford-upon-Avon in June 2016, where each of the 14 amateur companies, including The Common Lot, will reprise their roles on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage.

Erica Whyman said: “The experience of casting our amateur actors all around the UK has been inspiring and humbling. I have met so many wonderful people: talented, dedicated and brave. The standard has been tremendous, and the wonderful diversity of men and women who will be taking on these major roles is very exciting and, perhaps most importantly, they have really made us laugh!

“In every single region, the cast we have chosen has a distinctive voice and a strong sense of connection to the place where they will perform. I think it will be a real treat for audiences everywhere to see Shakespeare’s most magical play with a properly local flavour.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation is a coproduction between the Royal Shakespeare Company and amateur theatre companies across the UK. This is an arrangement developed between the RSC and Equity. It is supported by Arts Council England Cross-Border Touring Fund

Tickets for the Norwich performances, from Tuesday 26 Saturday 30 April, 2016, will go on sale to theatre Friends from July 30 and to the general public from August 18.

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North Norfolk Music Festival Norwich-based music writer, Tony Cooper, extols the virtues of the North Norfolk Music Festival being held this month

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ne of the most promising classical music festivals to surface in Norfolk over the past decade is that of the North Norfolk Festival founded by world arts traveller Barry Cheeseman and the distinguished viola player and composer Simon RowlandJones. Now in its eleventh year, the festival goes from strength to strength and this year runs from Wednesday 12th August to Saturday 22nd August. Most

of the concerts take place in the magnificent parish church of St Mary’s, South Creake, lying five miles north-west of the bustling market town of Fakenham.

The opening event Wednesday 12th (5pm) - features the youthful and vibrant Marmen String Quartet playing Brahms’ second quartet and Bartók’s first, a work well loved by fellow Hungarian composer, Zoltán Kodály. And later on the same day (8pm) the dazzling Russian pianist Yevgeny Sudbin - making

his second appearance at the festival - will dazzle his audience playing works by Beethoven, Chopin and Scriabin in a wellplanned programme promising an electrifying recital. Shortly afterwards he’ll be wandering the North American continent doing the same for audiences in Mexico, Canada and the USA. Joint artistic director of the festival, Simon Rowland-Jones, joins forces with the Navarra String Quartet - Thursday 13th (7pm) - in a superb programme comprising of Bridge’s Three Idylls, Brahms’ G major string quintet and Beethoven’s majestic A minor string quartet (Op. 132).

Beethoven, in fact, features prominently in this year’s festival not because of any special anniversary but purely because every self-respecting chamber music festival must occasionally put this giant of composers first.

Therefore, thank you very much Messrs Rowland-Jones and Cheeseman.

The Leonore Piano Trio

will deliver a magnificent compendium of Beethoven’s piano trios as well as his violin and cello sonatas over two concerts - Friday 14th (7pm); Saturday 15th (5pm) - while on Sunday 16th (3pm) they’ll play Schubert’s colossal E flat piano trio, a masterpiece for the keyboard written during the final year of the composer’s life. The concert is the first of three making up the festival’s Schubertiade. Later in the week, the Lendvai String Trio will be heard in Beethoven’s complete set of trios over two concerts - Thursday 20th (7pm); Friday 21st (5pm). Their recording of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s string trios received international acclaim and was chosen as BBC Music Magazine’s Chamber Choice for 2013.

The Navarra Quartet teams up with pianist Tom Poster Saturday 15th (8pm) - to play Fauré’s hauntingly-beautiful piano quintet while the programme’s nicely completed by Haydn’s

Navarra String Quartet

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Arcadia String Quartet

C major and Mozart’s B flat string quartets. Poster’s a shooting-star of the keyboard with Gramophone Magazine describing him as a ‘pianist who makes a haunting virtue of inwardness and refinement’.

Poster stays on for a solo recital the next day - Sunday 16th (5pm) - playing Schubert’s A major sonata, the shortest of the composer’s piano sonatas dedicated to Josephine von Koller of Steyr in Upper Austria, whom he considered to be ‘very pretty’ and a ‘good pianist’. Poster’s

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recital (the second concert of the Schubertiade) ends with the Four Impromptus, late Schubert works like the rest of the music featured in the Schubertiade.

Incidentally, the first mention of a ‘Schubertiade’ was made in 1821 in a letter from Josef Huber to his fiancée describing an evening at Schubert’s friend Franz von Schober’s home in Vienna in the company of around 14 others in which Schubert sang and played many of his songs. Afterwards, wine and food was consumed to the enjoyment and merriment of the musical gathering.

The evening of the 16th, the baritone Benjamin Appl - who was a chorister in Regensburg Cathedral, Bavaria, the oldest church choir in Europe which celebrated their millennium in 1976 - will sing Schubert’s great song-cycle Winterreise (Winter Journey) accompanied by the renowned pianist Gary Matthewman. Then it’s wine, food and merriment as in Schubert’s day!

Preceding the Schubertiade, BBC Radio 3 presenter Susan

Sharpe will give a talk at St Mary’s church hall (2pm) about this well-loved Austrian-born composer who died at the early age of 31 but was extremely prolific during his lifetime.

Schubert’s output consists of over 500 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, incidental music and a large body of chamber and piano music. Appreciation of his music while he was alive was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers and friends in Vienna but interest in his work increased significantly in the decades following his death.

Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms, along with other 19th-century composers, discovered and championed his works. Today, Schubert is ranked among the greatest composers of the late classical and early romantic era and is one of the most frequentlyperformed composers of the early 19th century.

Pause for breath and then it’s the start of another week in the company of the highly-imaginative

young Romanian-born pianist Daniel Ciobanu - Monday 17th (5pm) - who hails from Piatra Neamt in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains. He’ll play works by Scarlatti, Rachmaninov and Hungarian Dance No 5 written by the relatively-unknown Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist, Georges Cziffra. He became a French citizen in 1968 and was well known for his recordings of Liszt’s virtuoso works.

On the evening of the 17th, jazz gets in on the act with Jacqui Dankworth accompanied by pianist David Gordon taking the audience on a kaleidoscopic musical journey in a programme that includes some jointly-written songs, a host of jazz standards and a multilingual feast of song ranging from samba to German expressionism.

The festival attracts and gives a platform to many talented young string quartets and on Tuesday 18th (5pm) the Londonbased Ruisi Quartet returns to South Creake after making a big impression on their début last year. Formed in 2012, they regularly play at such leading August 2015 | 37

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Lendvai String Trio

venues as the Wigmore Hall and King’s Place, London.

Their programme opens with Haydn (most quartet concerts seem to open by works from this composer, renowned as the ‘father’ of the string quartet) and continues with Stravinsky’s Three Pieces culminating with Schubert’s A minor quartet (Rosamunde).

Later in the day (8pm) the pianist Simon Lepper will accompany the tenor Joshua Ellicott in a marvellous and inspiring programme featuring Schubert’s Schwanengesang (Swan song), a posthumous collection of the composer’s songs. The collection was named by its first publisher Tobias Haslinger presumably wishing to present it as Schubert’s final musical testament to the world.

The programme continues with Liszt’s Songs and a very rare outing of Finzi’s Till Earth Outwears, a group of seven songs set to poems by Thomas Hardy. The work was gathered and grouped (after Finzi’s death in 1956) by his executors. The first performance fell to Wilfred Brown and Howard Ferguson in February 1958. ‘The Market-Girl’ (song no 3) shows his conversational style at its best while the last song, ‘Life laughs onward’, finishes quietly and unobtrusively.

The 12 Ensemble made such a strong impression at last year’s festival, too, that they’ve been invited back this year and their concert at All Saints’ Church, Wighton, promises a treat as it is the first time the festival has used this splendid 15th-century church for a concert which features Eloisa-Fleur Thom (violin) and Simon RowlandJones (viola). The programme 38 | August 2015

includes Mozart’s Divertimento in F major and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as well as John Woolrich’s utterly-absorbing Ulysses Awakes written for solo viola and strings. The work’s a creative transcription of Ulysses’ first aria in act i, scene 7, of Monteverdi’s opera Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (The return of Ulysses to his homeland) in which Ulysses is washed up on the coast of Ithaca. It’s a powerfully-effective piece which manages to be utterly faithful to the spirit of Monteverdi yet entirely part of Woolrich’s musical landscape, too.

And pianist Tom Poster turns up again sharing the stage on this occasion with the brilliant violinist Laura Samuel - Wednesday 19th (8pm) - returning to the festival for her fifth year while it’s Tom’s third visit. Currently, Laura’s leader of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, a different role for her as she started out in the music business (after studying at the Royal College of Music) as a founder-member of the now celebrated Belcea String Quartet serving as second violinist for 16 years. Her programme with Tom ignites with Brahms’ D minor violin sonata but before one gets to this marvellous piece they’ll play Janácek’s Violin Sonata followed by a rare performance of Clara Schumann’s Three Romances.

As a member of both Ensemble 360 and the Leonore Piano Trio together with a host of appearances with the cellist Adrian Brendel, Tim Horton’s piano recital on Friday 21st (8pm), the penultimate day of the festival, offers great things. His programme includes Beethoven’s well-loved Appassionata sonata as well as pieces by Brahms and

Schumann while the audience will be treated to a world première with Simon Rowland-Jones’ Preludes. However, Tim’s recital also includes Schoenberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces composed at the same time that he was working on his orchestration of his massive Gurre-Lieder.

While he maintained a lifelong interest in romantic music, the extreme contrast between his Klavierstücke and his more romantic works comes from his modernist desire to find a new means of expression. For him, works like Gurre-Lieder - his massive cantata for five vocal soloists, narrator, chorus and large orchestra - or Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) fulfilled the tradition he loved but it was works such as Fünf Orchesterstücke (Five Pieces for Orchestra) that attempted to reach beyond it.

The string quartet has the last word so to speak as the final concert falls to the Arcadia Quartet, the Romanianbased ensemble who made a successful appearance at the Holkham Hall chamber series last year. They’re winners all the way and have taken first prizes at a host of prestigious

international competitions including the 2012 Wigmore Hall London International String Quartet Competition and last year ran away with first prize in the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. They’re on the international music circuit for sure and the North Norfolk Music Festival is proudly part of it. Haydn’s the opener (yet again!) with the programme continuing with Beethoven’s D major quartet, Op 18, No 3 and Mozart’s D major quartet while Mendelssohn’s E minor quartet gracefully bows out the festival.

If the Schubertiade gatherings of Schubert and his friends finished with carefree jollity in the spirit of Parson Woodforde and his friends, peppered throughout the North Norfolk Music Festival is a range of lunches and dinners much in the same vein adding greatly to the flavour and social side of the festival which is growing in stature year upon year.

Box office: 01328 730357 Next year’s festival runs from 9th-20th August. Enter the date in your diary! www. northnorfolkmusicfestival. com

Benjamin Appl (baritone)

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Live Theatre Fun For Children At Norwich Theatre Royal Tree Fu Tom, September 20.

Ministry of Science Live, September 28.

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orwich Theatre Royal has a trio of fun shows lined up to keep children entertained in late summer when youngsters can join CBeebies Tree Fu Tom in Treetopolis, or enter the exciting explosive world of science at the Ministry of Science Live.

Children’s favourite, CBeebies Tree Fu Tom takes to the stage on Sunday, September 20, with performances at 1pm and 3.30pm.

Tree Fu Tom is on his first ever nationwide ‘live’ tour with his friends Twigs and Ariela, enjoying an action packed adventure through the magical world of Treetopolis.

The show is full of fun, music

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and laughter as Tom asks the audience for help. Tickets cost from £7 to £14.

And on Monday, September 28, children are requested to keep their heads firmly on their shoulders and arms and legs inside the ride at all times as the Ministry of Science Live explodes onto the stage with shows at 10.30am and 7pm.

The show is packed with fun, laughter and plenty of amazing science and history, which includes a fully operational hovercraft, massive cannons with lots of bangs, a push bike that makes the best smoothie ever and Darth Vader playing with plasma.

It investigates the inventors and engineers who have

shaped the modern world we live in, and the audience gets to experience everything from liquid nitrogen flowers to hydrogen bottle rockets, Buzz Aldrin to Virgin Galactic, cat food tins to hovercraft and methane to the invention of the battery.

It’s a fully engaging interactive experience that explores energy and engineering using demonstrations and historical references as a narrative, with the primary aim of inspiring and educating young people. Tickets cost £7 to £14.50.

Listing: Tree Fu Tom, Sunday September 20, 1pm & 3.30pm, tickets £7-£14.

Ministry of Science Live, Monday September 28, 10.30am & 7pm, tickets £7-£14.50. Various concessions available.

BOX OFFICE 01603 630000. For more info or to BOOK ONLINE www. theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk

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Rebecca Cornish classic comes to Norwich stage – September 21-26, 2015

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y any standards Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is a classic of popular literature, reportedly having never been out of print since it was published in 1938.

Now this best-loved Cornish tale has been brought to the stage by the renowned Kneehigh Theatre company, also from Cornwall, and opens at Norwich Theatre Royal from September 21-28.

Interviewer Al Senter spoke to the author’s son Kits Browning about how his mother’s ‘study of jealousy’ has been given a fresh look for a new generation, and to Kneehigh’s joint artistic director 40 | August 2015

Emma Rice about the challenges involved.

As Kits Browning says, the phenomenal appeal of his mother’s book Rebecca can be attributed to it being “a damned good story”.

But he points out its enduring popularity doesn’t mean that any adaptation of it should be reverential, preserving the book in aspic.

“After so many years, I believe that a new approach is called for and you have to turn Rebecca on its head slightly.”

Having researched some of Kneehigh Theatre’s work on YouTube, he felt they were the people to give Rebecca a very

contemporary production.

Emma Rice had also been thinking about Daphne du Maurier for some time and says: “Daphne and Kneehigh share a Cornish connection and it felt that a piece based on one of her writings was long overdue. I’d been looking at the short stories when producer David Pugh offered me the perfect apple.

“How about doing Rebecca?” he suggested and I nearly leapt off my feet in excitement.”

Perhaps one of the reasons the book is still a bestseller is its refusal to be pigeon-holed in one genre or another. It’s a gripping whodunit and a social satire, a ghost story as well as a critique

of the position of women in twentieth century Britain.

Kits confirms that it used to drive his mother mad when she heard Rebecca described as a “romance”. She insisted it was “a study in jealousy”.

“My mother would get very cross when people called Rebecca a romance, although she did concede that Frenchman’s Creek, another of her books, was a romance,” he says.

“I think that she didn’t want her work to be compared with the kind of books somebody like Barbara Cartland was writing, because hers was a very different genre. Even today, people find it hard to square www.finecity.co.uk

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the author of Rebecca with the person who wrote The Birds or Don’t Look Now.” However you describe it, Rebecca brought worldwide fame to Daphne du Maurier who apparently had mixed feelings about such attention but took great pleasure in the success of the book.

Having a famous parent can also be a mixed blessing for the children, as Kits recalls.

“I think that the first time I realised that my mother was a celebrity was when I went away to school in 1948/1949 and I saw piles of her new book, My Cousin Rachel, stacked high at the station booksellers. The www.finecity.co.uk

other boys soon realised whose son I was and would plague me with questions like “How’s Cousin Rachel?” It was with My Cousin Rachel rather than Rebecca that I understood the extent of Mum’s fame.”

Manderley, the house where the novel is set, is an amalgam of two houses. The look of it is based on Milton, a property near Peterborough which Daphne du Maurier had visited and where she had seen the model for Mrs. Danvers, but its location was inspired by Menabilly, where the du Maurier family lived.

Kits recalls: “It was like NeverNever Land in Peter Pan. We didn’t get a television set until

1956 and Daphne was very good at encouraging us to play games in the grounds which was really wonderful. I remember several gorgeous summer days in the late 1940s. I don’t think we were never very interested in our mother’s occupation. We simply accepted the fact that writing books was something she did.”

When the children reached an age to fill the house with lively noise, Daphne retreated with her manual typewriter to a hut about three quarters of a mile from Menabilly in order to find the peace and quiet she needed for her work.

Kits admits to not having read Rebecca until he was a young man, preferring more traditional schoolboy fare. “I was more of a Biggles fan, as was my father,“ he reveals. “And I didn’t realise how famous Rebecca was until I saw the Hitchcock film version sometime in the 1950s.”

In the 1960s, Kits joined forces with his mother in setting up a production company to encourage the exploitation of her books. She had herself adapted Rebecca for the stage shortly after the book’s publication and there have been a number of productions both in the theatre and on television down the years.

Emma says of this new production: “We have moved on from the time of Rebecca’s publication in the 1930s. We’re in a different century after all, so changes needed to be made. However, I am never disrespectful. I love this period.

It’s a bit of history which you can reach out and touch and I feel the link to the 1930s and 1940s very strongly. It is a time of great foreboding, a feeling of unease which you can sense in Rebecca.

“It was published a year before we went to war and I find the era very evocative. I’m also rather fond of the stiff upper lip. People were like icebergs with such a lot kept below the surface and a tension generated by what was implied rather than spoken.”

Audiences at Norwich Theatre

Royal will be introduced to Kneehigh Theatre’s distinctive company house style. Emma explains: “We use a number of different elements; acting, music, film, design to tell the story and we stitch together a great big tapestry of ideas. Audiences coming to Rebecca will see a recognisable 1938 world but with something of a twist.”

The cast is led by Tristan Sturrock as Maxim de Winter, Emily Raymond as Mrs Danvers, with Richard Clews, Katy Owen, Ewan Wardrop, Andy William and Lizzie Winkler, and introducing Imogen Sage, who completed her training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2014, as Mrs de Winter.

Tristan Sturrock graced television screens earlier this year appearing in another Cornish classic, the hugely-successful Poldark, in the role of miner Zacky Martin. He also played the long-running character of Officer Colin Hedges in Bad Girls and has appeared in Doc Martin, The Bill and Saving Grace.

He has enjoyed a 28-year association with Kneehigh Theatre, in particular starring in the theatre’s international productions of Brief Encounter, in which he originated the role of Alec, and in Tristan & Yseult in which he played the character of Tristan.

Listing: Rebecca runs from Monday 21-Saturday 26 September at 7.30pm, and Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Tickets £8-£25.

Discounts for Friends, Corporate Club, Over60s, Under-18s, Schools and Groups. Captioned performances Wednesday September 23 at 2.30pm & 7.30pm. BOX OFFICE 01603 630000. For more info or to BOOK ONLINE www.theatreroyalnorwich. co.uk

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FINEARTS

What’s on at Maddermarket Here’s what Maddermarket Theatre has to offer this month

Norwich Players Present Quartet By Ronald Harwood Thu 23 Jul - Sat 01 Aug 7.30pm/2:30 Matinee Saturday 25th July/2:30 Matinee Saturday 1st August Cecily, Reggie and Wilfred reside in a home for retired opera singers in Kent, England. Each year, on the tenth of October, there is a concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva and refuses to sing. But the show must go on in this funny and poignant play by the author of Another Time, The Dresser and Interpreters.

Quartet was made into a film in 2012 starring Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Bill Connolly, Michael Gambon, Pauline Collins, Gwyneth Jones, Andrew Sachs and Sheridan Smith. It was Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut.

Directed by Becky Sweet Tickets £8.00 - £12.00

A Portrait Of Lewis Carroll Crocodiles In Cream Sat 08 August 7:30pm 42 | August 2015

A portrait of Lewis Carroll drawing from his diaries, letters, poems and stories, taking the audience into the world, half-dream, half-reality of this complex many-sided figure: mathematician, logician, photographer, poet and storyteller. Written, devised and directed by David Horlock, Crocodiles in Cream is a moving and compelling one-man-show.

Kevin Moore’s interpretation of the complex and fascinating character of one of the country’s most appreciated authors has received critical acclaim around the world. Crocodiles in Cream is one of the many events taking place this year in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Kevin Moore – Lewis Carroll Kevin first performed Crocodiles In Cream which was devised and directed by David Horlock at the Salisbury Playhouse. Since then he has performed it at the Edinburgh Festival, the National Theatre and also in Bermuda, Antibes, Los Angeles, Barbados, Athens, Istanbul, Ankara, Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands, Ireland and New York.

His recent television roles

include Prior Anthony in the series World Without End adapted from Ken Follett’s book and McCarthy in the BBC sitcom Father Figure. Other credits include Fantabulosa, Extras, Heartbeat, Doctors, The Bill, Silent Witness, Courtroom, Father Ted, Evil Under The Sun, Keeping Mum, Love Again, How Many Miles To Babylon, Heartburn Hotel, Flame Of Love, Ticket To Ride (the American series where he was one of the regulars), World Without End. His recent stage work includes Chasuble in Handbag - a musical version of Importance Of Being Earnest - (Old Sorting Office), The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui (Bridewell), Take Two (Jermyn Street Theatre), Singular People (Edinburgh Festival & King’s Head). Other theatre credits include The Man Who Came To Dinner & The Recruiting Officer (both Chichester Festival Theatre), Twelfth Night (Shakespeare Festival, Barbados), The Parasol (Royal Exchange), Rough Crossing (King’s Head), Incident At Twilight (Cottesloe), The Cheating Hearts (Hong Kong & Perth Festivsals), DA (Greenwich), Bohemian Lights (Gate Theatre), Perfect

Days (Haymarket, Basingstoke), Spokesong (UK & Netherlands tour & King’s Head), Pier Paolo Pasolini (Offstage downstairs), Reynard The Fox (Young Vic), The Duel (Duke of York’s), The Relapse (Old Vic), Bent, Noel & Gertie, Forty Years On and Under The Greenwood Tree (all Salisbury Playhouse).

Films include The House And Everything, Holy Water, Fierce Creatures, Under Suspicion, The Wolves Of Kromer, Fogbound, Johnny English, If Only, Tezz (a Bollywood thriller) and I Give It A Year.

David Horlock – Author and Director Before his tragic death a few years ago, David Horlock created and directed Crocodiles In Cream. He began his career as an ASM at the Bristol Old Vic, later becoming an Associate Director. He then became Artistic Director of the Redgrave Theatre, Farnham, where he mounted the first revival of Noel Coward’s epic work, Cavalcade, with a cast of 350 professional and amateur actors, hailed as an outstanding achievement. He was then appointed Artistic Director of the Salisbury Playhouse where, in addition to his other directorial

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FINEARTS assignments, he produced a number of stage adaptations, including Thomas Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd, The Woodlanders and Tess; Jane Austen’s Emma and Pride And Prejudice; Charles Dickens’ A Tale Of Two Cities and Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock.

He directed many notable productions including Shaw’s Man And Superman, the Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd, Jamaica Inn, Martin Sherman’s Bent and Noel And Gertie - Sheridan Morley’s musical celebration of the work of Noel Coward and Getrude Lawrence - which on to a long and successful run at the Comedy Theatre in London.

Tickets £15 (£12 Concessions)

A Round-The-World Tour In Music Sun 09 August 7.00pm Programme: Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave) - Mendelssohn In the Land of Mystic Egypt Ketelbey L’Arlesienne Suite No.1 - Bizet La Paloma - Yradier Trumpet Concerto in E flat Haydn Symphony No. 8 in G major Dvorak Beginning in Scotland, and passing through Egypt, France, Spain and Austria on the way to their final destination in the former Czechoslovakia, St. Gregory’s Orchestra offers a lively programme of music by six different composers.

Conductor: Martin Wyatt Soloist: Helen Cozens (Trumpet) St. Gregory’s Orchestra was formed in the autumn of 1986 by its conductor, Martin Wyatt, and for many years was based in the former St. Gregory’s Arts Centre in Pottergate. The orchestra now rehearses in St. Cuthbert’s Church, Sprowston, and aims to give three or four concerts each year. The repertoire is largely classical, with occasional forays into light opera and musicals.

Tickets £10 (£8 Concessions) www.finecity.co.uk

Norwich Jazz Club Mon 10 August 8pm in The Redwell Bar Norwich Jazz Club has been established in the city as a place to hear great live jazz every Tuesday night since 1989.

Our programme continues to feature jazz to suit a wide range of tastes, from mainstream through to the most exciting contemporary projects, featuring local, national and international artists alike.

Why not come down to the Maddermarket Redwell bar and enjoy good music, great conversation with friends and a jam with the trio.

Tickets £5 on the door

Intellectual Hooligans - Improv Comedy Sat 15 August 7-8pm Workshop, 8.30pm Performance This event takes place in the Redwell Maddermarket Bar The Intellectual Hooligans are a group of top notch improv comedy performers led by Daniel Taylor (founder of UEA Headlights Comedy Society) and Rob aka Will Turner (creator of Reynard City). The show will consist of “Whose Line is it Anyway?” games based on audience suggestions. Prior to the show, there will be a one hour workshop open to anyone wishing to try their hand at improv.

Tickets £6.00 (Includes Workshop if you wish to participate)

The Singing Squad Sat 15 August 11.00am/ 2.30pm Back by popular demand! The Singing Squad’s Summer Holiday.

A live music show for children The Singing Squad are going on their summer holiday, but it’s raining! Cue 40 minutes of live singing (in the rain?), fun and adventure.

Join us in the Emmerson Studio at The Maddermarket Theatre and look forward to a selection of children’s favourite songs.

Suits children aged 3 years and upwards.

Do bring a cushion for your child to sit on.

Tickets Adults £7, Children Under 16yrs £5, Under 2’s Free

Vintage And Retro Sale Rail

Murder On The Nile

By Agatha Christie

Afternoon At The Seaside

Thu 20 Aug - Sat 29 Aug 7.30pm/2.30pm Matinees On 22nd And 29th August Agatha Christie’s classic play adapted by the author from one of her favourite novels, Death on the Nile.

Rich with atmosphere, character, and plot. A clergyman, a young couple on their honeymoon, and a bevy of other memorable characters, gather aboard a paddle-steamer cruising down the Nile.

When one of the tourists is murdered, everyone becomes a suspect … and a detective. A missing gun, mysterious shots fired, and multiple motives will keep you guessing till the surprising end.

Directed by Stash Kirkbride Tickets £8 - £12

Fri 21 August 1-5:30pm Prices under £50 Tickets FOC

Mon 24 Aug - Fri 28 Aug 1:10 The scene is a refreshing seashore, on an afternoon in 1954. There are beach huts, sun, sandcastles and the perfect undercurrents for theft! This short play is a gentle comedy built on some fun, entertaining stock Agatha Christie characters, including a siren in a bikini, ogling men and envious women.

Afternoon at the Seaside was written as part of The Rule of Three series, and critics at the time of its original professional production compared it to “a naughty post-card” featuring “the best – and the worst – of British at the Beach.”

With its bright and breezy humour this mad-cap holiday romp is chock-full of intricate sleuthing and zestfully cheeky story-telling.

Directed by Steven Scase Tickets £6 (£5 Concessions)

Georgina Jackson With The Chris Ingham Trio Sun 30 August 8.00pm Georgina Jackson (vocals/ trumpet) Chris Ingham (piano) Dave Olney (bass) George Double (drums) Georgina’s early career was

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FINEARTS provides the perfect anchor for her superlative vocals.

Tickets in advance £12 (under 25’s £8.00) on the door £15 (under 25’s £10) This concert takes place in the Maddermarket Theatre Redwell Bar. This concert is preceded by a concert featuring Georgina Jackson and the Chris Ingham Trio.

Tickets £12.00 (Under 25’s £8.00)

one of her chief influences.

Following commercial success with her debut CD “Til There Was You” she went on to land her ‘dream job’ as vocalist with the Ronnie Scotts Jazz Orchestra.

This evening she leads the Chris Ingham Trio with a set of familiar jazz standards.

Tickets in advance £12 (under 25’s £8.00) on the door £15 (under 25’s £10) This concert takes place in the Maddermarket Theatre Redwell Bar. This concert will last 90 minutes and will be followed by a 10pm concert with The Gabrielle Ducomble Quartet.

Tickets £12 (Under 25’s £8.00)

Bellydance Workshop - Kindred Camels

The Gabrielle Ducomble Quartet

spent working as lead trumpeter with big bands up and down the UK, but she’s subsequently expanded her role to include singing, and cites Peggy Lee as

Sun 30 August 10pm Gabrielle Ducomble (vocals) Dan Teper (accordian) Nicolas Meier (guitar) Nick Kacal (bass) Singing in English and her native French, Gabrielle performs Parisian-style jazz and tango, putting a contemporary spin on songs by Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg and Astor Piazzolla, plus her own

original material.

Her band, including some of Europe’s finest musicians in an authentic line-up of guitar, accordion and double bass, and

Mon 31 August 1.30pm 3.30pm A mother and daughter workshop (also suitable for sisters, best friends and kindred spirits!)

Celebrate and embrace your unique relationship through the empowering and feminine art form of bellydance. We will start with introductions and create a positive mindset around our bodies, then relax through stretching before learning to bellydance together. The workshop ends with a celebration of our duos.

Tickets £30 per pair

Box Office Our box office is situated in the foyer area, opposite the coffee shop.

Box Office opening hours Normal Open Hours Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm.

On Show Days Monday to Saturday 10am - 7.30pm Sundays 5pm - 7.30pm Booking Tickets Tickets may be booked in person, by telephone or online.

Box Office: 01603 620917 office@maddermarket.org www.maddermarket.co.uk

44 | August 2015

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FINEARTS

Hetty Feather Heart-Warming Children’s Story Gets Stage Treatment

T

he best-selling book telling the story of a girl’s search for her real mother set against a background of Victorian London is on its way to Norwich Theatre Royal.

Jacqueline Wilson’s classic story Hetty Feather takes to the stage on September 29-October 3 fresh from a successful soldout West End run.

It follows the title character who is abandoned at the Foundling Hospital by her mother. She takes part in a host of adventures facing the nasty Matron Stinking Bottomly, discovers the wonder of Tanglefields Travelling Circus, and braving the streets of Victorian London as she tries to find her real family.

This acclaimed production mixes strong acting, live music and songs, plus some aerial and circus-set scenes making it an exciting must-see production for all the family.

And Jacqueline Wilson herself is delighted with it. She said: “I am so thrilled that Hetty Feather has become a stage play. I have written exactly 100 books but Hetty is my number one favourite character and I’m delighted that

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she is back on stage.

“The team behind the production have done a magnificent job bringing the book to life and I’m so pleased that the forthcoming tour will allow even more people to see this wonderful show.”

Taking on the lead role is Phoebe Thomas. She has been performing since she was a child and was nominated for a Bafta Award at the age of eight for her very first screen role. She is no stranger to the stage appearing in the likes of Little Women at the Duchess Theatre and Annie Get Your Gun at the Princess Theatre, as well as parts in a number of small-screen shows including Maria Kendall for four years in the BBC’s hospital drama Holby City, as well as parts in Death In Paradise, Vera and Outnumbered.

Hetty Feather is part of a trilogy of books based around the character, her family and friends, which has been hugely successful internationally, and the popular novel has also been adapted into a popular CBBC series.

Emma Reeves, who penned the adaptation, has worked with Jacqueline Wilson before, most notably creating the TV version of her Tracy Beaker books. She is

also no stranger to writing plays for the stage including West End productions of Little Women and Cool Hand Luke, and Nina Bawden’s children’s favourite Carrie’s War which toured to Norwich Theatre Royal in 2010.

Hetty Feather is directed

by Sally Cookson, who is an Associate Artiste with Bristol Old Vic where her previous productions include Jane Eyre, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Peter Pan and Treasure Island. Her other work includes regular collaborations with Travelling Light Theatre including the Olivier Award-nominated Cinderella, Varmints at Sadler’s Wells, and family favourite We’re Going On A Bear Hunt for touring producer Kenny Wax.

Listing: Hetty Feather, Tuesday 29 September at 7pm, Wednesday 30 September at 10.30am and 5.30pm, Thursday 1 October at 5.30pm, Friday 2 October at 7pm, and Saturday 3 October at 10.30am and 3pm. Tickets £7-£20.50.

Discounts for Under-18s and Schools. Signed performance on Friday 2 October at 7pm. Audiodescribed performance on Saturday 3 October at 10.30am.

To book, log onto www. theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk or call the box office on 01603 630000.

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FINEARTS

The Bicycle Shop August events at The Bicycle Shop

The Tin Pigeons

Monday 3rd August at The Bicycle Shop Norfolk based trio THE TIN HEART TROUBADOURS - Nigel Orme vocals/guitar/harmonica, Steve Clark vocals/Dobro and Clare Pastorius vocals/cello play what could be described as American Parlour Folk music.

They have been working together for the past ten months writing and arranging original material. Their songs tell tall tales of low-life, long odds, high hopes and big deals... short stories of hot nights and cold lead in Heaven and Hell.

Although only recently formed they have all had a wealth of experience working with many other musicians in the past and have come together as old friends with a mutual love of English/Americana folk music.

Music - https:// thetinhearttroubadours. bandcamp.com/ Video - https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=waYeMEZjPYo Monday 3rd August The Bicycle Shop, St Benedicts Street, Norwich Tickets £5 – ueaticketbookings.co.uk 46 | August 2015

Website: http://www. josephandmaia.com/

Video: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=mP8rZwpg3_g

Video: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=CtUdLc_-AVk Monday 10th August The Bicycle Shop, St Benedicts Street, Norwich Tickets £7 adv / £9 door – ueaticketbookings.co.uk Doors 7:30pm 01603 625777

Joseph & Maia

The Tin Heart Troubadours

The Tin Heart Troubadours

Website: http://www. lukedanielsmusic.com/

Doors 7:30pm 01603 625777

Luke Daniels + Joseph & Maia Monday 10th August at The Bicycle Shop Luke Daniels Master melodeon player with De Dannan, Riverdance, Ian Anderson, Cara Dillon, countless albums and a soloist on The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit soundtracks, the release of a debut songs album playing guitar, banjo and piano last year was met with a few raised eyebrows to say the least. Initial surprise, turned to heaped praise and glowing reviews in support of his voice, the quality of songwriting and a central philosophy that value springs from what we have in common rather than what we can achieve as individuals. Really exceptional musicianship and a relaxed genuine stage persona have also helped him secure solo main stage appearances at 2015 festivals including How The Light Gets In Music and Philosophy Festival in Hay on Wye, Kate Rusby’s new Underneath the Stars festival and Towersey Folk Festival. www.lukedanielsmusic. com “A master melodeon player” Mark Radcliffe’s Folk Programme BBC Radio 2

New Zealand based duo, Joseph & Maia, have been making music for the last 3 years establishing themselves as songwriters and a hardworking touring act. Influenced by the likes of Ryan Adams, Ben Howard, The Staves and Noah Gundersen, the pair have quickly developed a unique sound that is ‘Joseph&Maia’. The follow up to their debut EP ‘Roll Up Your Sleeves’ is set for release in April 2015 so be sure to keep your eyes and ears open.

The Tin Pigeons Wednesday 19th August at The Bicycle Shop Four piece indie-folk band from the East-Midlands. With traditional instruments & deep harmonies, they have grown a unique footslamming yet soulful sound.

This August they embark on ‘The Run to the Coast Tour’ of Norfolk raising funds in aid for charity Disability Rocks.

‘Run to the Coast Tour’ short film https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=eXK2amPrHKA ‘All’s Spent’ live video https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=d98QRfCZojY ‘Christopher’ live video https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ujvK_gZYSlk Facebook Page https://www.facebook. com/pages/The-TinPigeons/116584151776310

Luke Daniels

Wednesday 19th August The Bicycle Shop, St Benedicts Street, Norwich

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FINEARTS Tickets £5 – ueaticketbookings.co.uk Doors 7:30pm 01603 625777

Formidable Vegetable Sound System + Mal Webb Tuesday 25th August at The Bicycle Shop The world’s most successful experiment in ecological electroswing ukulele, Australia’s Formidable Vegetable Sound System delivers you the secrets to growing abundance, improving life and reversing climate-change. Energetic live mash-ups of vintage speakeasystyle electroswing wonk, ukulele quirk, beatboxing, vocal gymnastics and hyperactive horns to lettuce turnip the radish beets and roquette!

Formidable Vegetable Sound System has performed alongside such legendary favourites as Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Dap Kings, Thom Yorke and The Rolling Stones (actually!)

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In a world gone mad, there’s one thing you can do to improve the party: Lettuce Turnip the Rad(ish) Beets and Rocket!

“Formidable Vegetable Sound System are spearheading a new and exciting form of musical activism and becoming one of the most important voices in a global cultural movement that began right here in Australia” Harry Angus, The Cat Empire “So infectious that the most ardent climate sceptic would have trouble staying still”- Sydney Morning Herald Website: http://www. formidablevegetable.com.au/ Video: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=H29hwOF6C3g Tuesday 25th August The Bicycle Shop, St Benedicts Street, Norwich Tickets £5 – ueaticketbookings.co.uk Doors 7:30pm 01603 625777

Formidable Vegetable Sound System + Mal Webb

August 2015 | 47

FINEARTS

Dusk by Martin Mitchell

Norwich Print Fair Fine City arts writer, Tony Cooper, salutes a special anniversary of a thriving Norwich art fair

I

ndeed, I am! I’m saluting the Norwich Print Fair’s 20th anniversary. And I’m pleased to say that over the past two decades the Fair - an exhibition of artists’ original prints - has well and truly established itself on the local arts scene. When the event started out in 1995 a mere handful of artists/printmakers were involved - about eight or so. Now the number reaches well over 50.

The Print Fair’s founder, Martin Mitchell, a professional printmaker living and working in Norwich, harboured the idea of creating such an event for years and is obviously pleased with the outcome. This is what he had to say 20 years on: ‘The Print Fair, which brings together a great gathering of some of the finest 48 | August 2015

and most talented printmakers to be found in Norfolk and Suffolk, was originally set up to promote and foster understanding of printmaking as opposed to the photo/mechanical reproductions of a work of art executed in another medium.

‘By attracting the best local artists and explaining the diversity of techniques, styles and subject the Fair has been showcasing the very best of fine art printmaking in the region from intricate fine detailed work to abstract and the conceptual.

‘For me ART is combining the aesthetics of the image with the dexterity of the craft skills of the artist. This can best be exemplified in the techniques of printmaking.’

The Fair - widely regarded as

one of the best-loved and largest independent-selling shows of its kind in East Anglia - has had the distinction of being a finalist in the EDP People’s Choice Awards for the past couple of years.

All of the artists will be displaying a wide variety of original hand-made print techniques in the unique setting of one of Norwich’s cherished medieval churches: St Margaret’s in St Benedict’s Street. This year’s show (which is free to enter) runs from Monday 7th to Saturday 19th September and is open daily from 10am to 5pm.

An original print, by the way, is an image created from hand-cut or drawn printing blocks, plates or stencils, which are used to produce a limited number of hand-pulled prints.

The Fair’s popular and informative open portfolio days will be held on Saturday 12th September and Saturday 19th September in which members of the public can gain an insight into the work of the artists. All of them will be displaying additional work such as sketchbooks, printing plates and so forth to illustrate their varying techniques.

These sessions are informal, friendly and fun and all of the

artists will be on hand to answer questions about their work - no matter how technical!

And on Sunday, 13th September (from 11am to 4pm), there’ll be a day focusing on ‘printmakers in action’ offering members of the public an exciting opportunity of observing artists at work producing a wide range of original prints. One can discover how various plates are made and printed ranging from screen-prints to linocuts as well as mezzotints, etchings and collagraphs and even be able to witness the prints emerging from

feature by:

Tony Cooper Writer tc@tony-cooper.co.uk

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FINEARTS the printing-presses.

To complement the main exhibition - and in celebration of the Fair’s 20th anniversary there’ll be a special trail of original prints to be spied throughout the popular and thriving hive of Norwich Lanes. Therefore, ‘20:20’ will feature 20 of the Fair’s current artists exhibiting the best examples of their work in the windows of local shops and offices of The Lanes. Pick up a leaflet, trek the trail and see how many you can discover.

A book will also be published to mark the 20th, too, and the organisers have been working with Norfolk-based publisher Mascot Media and Norwichbased printer Swallowtail to create a publication about the Fair’s origins and so forth. The book - featuring lots of interesting stuff while focusing on a few of the artists who have helped to make the Fair the success it is today - will be on sale throughout the exhibition as well as through additional local outlets.

As in past years the Fair will be running its very successful mini print raffle for the chance to win specially-created works by the artists. Tickets are priced at £1 each and are available from St Margaret’s throughout the duration of the Fair. The prizes are little gems! It’s well worth a flutter! The lucky draw will take place on Saturday19th September. Hold on to your seats! Have your ticket ready!

Artists exhibiting this year include Rob Barnes, Vanna Bartlett, Sarah Bays, Louise Bird, Neil Bousfield, Amelia Bowman, Kerry Buck, Colin Bygrave, Chris Evans, Niall Grant, Brigitte Anne Hague, Rebecca Hearle, Richard Horne, HJ Jackson, Clare Johnson, Colin Johnson, Vicki Johnson, Jo Stafford,Cordelia Jones, David Jones, Vanessa Lubach, Martin Mitchell, Elaine Nason, Chrissy Norman, Laurie Rudling, Nicola Slattery, Mandy Walden, Laura White while newcomers are Paul Bommer, Leanda Jaine Hughes and Tricia Newell.

Visit www.norwichprintfair. co.uk for more information. www.finecity.co.uk

Wildflower Meadow by Louise Bird

Nelson by David Jones

Wells-next-the-Sea Quay by Colin Bygrave

August 2015 | 49

FINELIVING

The Care Partnership For most of us, our home is our castle. It’s the place where we feel secure, relaxed and comfortable; surrounded by familiar possessions and happy memories.

B

ut what happens when you start to struggle with the jobs that used to be easy? Whether you live alone or with a family member, your home can start to become a worrying place if you find it hard to manage essential tasks.

For people who need some extra help with personal care or every day activities, calling in a domiciliary care specialist can provide invaluable peace of mind as well as improving their quality of life.

So what actually is domiciliary care? Basically it means care that is delivered in your own home by a trained and experienced support worker; also known as a carer, care worker or home carer.

“A home carer can help you – or someone you care about – deal with a wide variety of tasks and activities; helping to make some of life’s everyday challenges easier to deal with.

For example, you may be realising that personal care, such as washing, bathing or dressing, has become a problem. It can be far easier to ask a professional to give you some help with those kinds of areas, rather than relying on a family member or friend.

Carers can also help if you rely on regular medication. Whether it’s visiting to ensure you take the right medicines at the right time or simply collecting your prescription from the doctors and getting it fulfilled at the pharmacy; having someone to help out with this vital job can really take a worry away.

You might be finding that your health and fitness doesn’t allow you to cope with household tasks, such as washing, ironing, tidying and cleaning, in the way that you used to. A domiciliary care company can arrange the help that you want, when you want.

52 | August 2015

When you’re not feeling your best, going shopping can be quite a problem – especially when you have heavy things to buy. A support worker can help you make a shopping list, go shopping with you or go to the shops for you. They’ll also help you to put everything away if that’s what you want.

Perhaps it would be helpful to have a hand with the cooking.

Whether you’d like occasional help chopping vegetables of for someone to cook you lunch every day; there are many domiciliary care companies that will provide help with preparing delicious and nutritious meals.

If you’re leaving the house less often, it can be only too easy to feel lonely and isolated. You may not know that many care companies can provide someone to help you get out and about. For example, going to a regular club or day centre, visiting friends, going for a stroll or to the library. For many of us, having regular companionship is just as important as help with cleaning.

Of course care companies can also provide support if you need more specialist nursing and health care; ensuring that you are well looked after without having to go to a nursing home or medical facility.

All reputable domiciliary care agencies should be able to help you, or your loved one, with any number of home care solutions: providing as much, or as little, support as you need. It might be an ongoing 24hour a day care package or a short break for a family carer. You may only need help during the day time or temporary support whilst you’re recovering from an illness or accident.

So if you’ve decided that some extra help at home could be useful www.finecity.co.uk

FINELIVING

for you, or a family member, how do you go about accessing it?

The first thing to do is to contact your local social services department who will assess your care and support needs. You can visit www.gov.uk to find your local authority.

If you are eligible for homecare services, the local authority may arrange the help for you. Alternatively, you can arrange your own care which will be funded by the local authority through direct payments or a personal budget.

If you are selecting and/or paying for private domiciliary care, here are some things to consider: •

•

•

All independent homecare providers must be regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and must meet the CQC’s national minimum standards and regulations in areas such as training and record–keeping. The CQC has the power to inspect agencies and enforce standards.

Whilst it might be tempting to employ a casual worker to help out in your home, all homecare agencies must vet care workers thoroughly before engaging them. This involves a robust process including obtaining two recent work references and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Finding domiciliary help through a reputable agency also means that you don’t have to worry about payroll, training, insurance or ensuring that qualifications are up to date. An agency should arrange cover if your carer is ill or on holiday

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•

•

and be able to deal with any problems that may arise.

You need to be able to trust the agency you decide to work with. They should meet with the person requiring care, and any existing carers, to talk through the individual’s needs. By getting to know the person, a good agency will try to ‘matchmake’ them with care workers they will get on well with and provide a package of care that best suits their needs.

You may have heard stories of harassed care workers rushing from home to home with barely a moment to say ‘hello’ before they move on. For your peace of mind, always select a care provider who offers at least 30 minute visits.

Before making a final decision on a domiciliary agency, make sure to ask the following key questions: • • • • •

Does the agency check references of all staff?

What training and supervision does it provide for its staff?

What happens if you are unhappy with something? What is their complaints policy?

Who will be responsible for insurance?

Is there any out-of-hours emergency contact if needed?

But, after all of this, the most important thing is to select a care provider that you feel comfortable with. Don’t be afraid to ask for lots of information and remember to share as much as you can.

August 2015 | 53

Spiritual Flow We had a last minute guest speaker at our recent Norwich festival who attracted a lot of attention, Lyon G. Zonamyari.

L

yon is a professional name analyst and author of a book titled Name Reality.

He is originally from East Anglia but now resides in the SW Caribbean. His work is based on ancient texts and methods used thousands of years ago by enlightened families to name their children for a prosperous, healthy and happy life.

The system is not numerology but mathematics are used for some of the calculations to analyse names.

This study comes with an impressive documented history file. Everybody who participated was amazed at the accuracy and depth of information this system revealed. I include here an introduction Lyon provided outlining some of the merits. The first two pages of his website tells the story in more detail and there is a forty minute TV interview recorded just last week, posted on his Face Book page, Lyon Zonamyari.

Your given documented names from birth create an energy blueprint, influencing your personality, your character, 54 | August 2015

your virtues, vices and both your mental and physical health, for better or worse.

More amazing, the second part of this system reveals how letters from each of your names rotate at predetermined years, influencing events and the way you live your life. Incredible, maybe, but true!

Any one name for the most is good. Just as you can touch any one key on a piano and it will sound good. When you press two or more keys at the same time or play with two hands, it is important you press the right keys. If you press the right combination of keys, you produce beautiful music.

If you press the wrong combination of keys, at best you are out of tune, or worst, you become a dreadful noise. Your names apply a similar action.

The sound of music produced by a piano can be documented with Sheet Music. The vibration produced by your names can be documented with Name Reality.

What tune do you play?

When you understand all of your names, if a negative part of your personality or certain letters

bring negative events into your life, you can make advance plans.

You can change, overcome or reduce these potential problems.

When positive events are coming into your life this system helps you to know where and when to focus your time, your effort and resources to obtain the maximum results. This system will not tell you which lottery numbers to play. However, it will give you an accurate weather forecast. Knowing which year to carry an umbrella or take your sunglasses, will enhance the quality of your life.

For some, self-awareness is enough, enabling us to take better control of our lives with positive attitude and positive

visualization, others decide to change their name. Changing just one name, the way you spell a name, or adding middle initials, can make a huge difference.

Creating a positive name for a new-born can be a wonderful gift, a gift for life.

The Laws of Attraction are real. Your names can help, hinder or halt your progress. Name Reality shows you how, why and what you can do. Visit www. namesdoctor.com Have a great summer and perhaps if you wish to meet Lyon he does have plans to attend all our events during July.

Steve Hudson www.spiritualflowevents.com

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FINELIVING

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August 2015 | 55

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Exciting new Luxury Retirement Village in Norfolk

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FINELIVING

Woodgate Park in Swanton Morley, Dereham is a charming retirement village in the heart of the beautiful Norfolk countryside. A selection of spacious two-bedroom bungalows are complemented by a range of high quality facilities designed for comfort, enjoyment and peace of mind. Isn't it time you treated yourself to the retirement you so thoroughly deserve?

On-site GP Surgery | Caring Support | Landscaped Grounds | Unspoilt Views

Showroom Now Open! To view, please call to arrange an appointment.

To find out more call: 01362 620016 or visit: www.castlemeadowcare.co.uk 56 | August 2015

Woodgate Park Woodgate Road, Swanton Morley, Dereham, Norfolk, NR20 4NU

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FINELIVING

Castlemeadow Care The stress free retirement you deserve is the promise from the Woodgate Park Retirement Village at Swanton Morley, near Dereham.

S

pacious two bedroom bungalows are now available at this village style development which promotes independent living with care on hand if and when needed. The new bungalows build on the success of the first phase of Woodgate Park.

The unique retirement village development, brought to the mid Norfolk countryside by Castlemeadow Care, is designed to deliver peace of mind for its residents. The picturesque surroundings and traditionally designed bungalows are complemented by a range of top-quality services and facilities ranging from care support to GP medical care.

Each bungalow has a generous open plan living space, underfloor heating, solar panels, kitchens and bathrooms designed for easy access and comfortable bedrooms with spacious fitted wardrobes.

Each has patio doors leading to a private terrace and garden, all have views across the landscaped village gardens and several have garages available too.

In this retirement village the exclusive Club House is the social hub, allowing residents to dine together when they choose, meet for coffee mornings or congregate for events and activities.

There is a hair salon and nail bar on site if you need a little

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pampering plus an award winning GP Surgery with pharmacy.

The village also has an on site care home, wi-fi in communal areas, fibre optic broadband available, a dedicated care and support service, domestic help and 24/7 nurse alarm call system.

The retirement village is fully wheelchair accessible, and being in Swanton Morley village itself you will be able to take advantage of the many facilities it has to offer that include a traditional pub, general store, bakery and award winning butchers.

The aim at Woodgate Park Retirement Village is to ensure residents are offered just the right amount of support to help them live an active and enjoyable life, while enjoying safety, support and peace of mind.

The village is within easy reach of many of Norfolk’s attractions from the shops, attractions, arts and history of Norwich to the beautiful mid and north Norfolk countryside, the stunning beaches and the Norfolk Broads with its scenic waterways and rare wildlife.

For those individuals or couples who are considering downsizing or beginning to worry about coping with everyday tasks or their general well being, Woodgate Park may be the key to an enjoyable new chapter in their lives.

In the words of Gwyneth, a retired pharmacist and a resident

of Woodgate Park. “I wanted to be able to stay in my own home, feel safe and secure and be reassured that I could rely on trained staff when I needed it. Woodgate Park ticked all the boxes for me. As a bonus I have made new friends and enjoy the

social activities that take place in the Club House. I have been recommending Woodgate Park to all my friends!�

To find out more call: 01362 620016 or visit:www. castlemeadowcare. co.uk Woodgate Park, Woodgate Road, Swanton Morley, Dereham, Norfolk, NR20 4NU

August 2015 | 57

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FINEFASHION

Keeping Abreast Unsung Hero With The Style Show This month’s unsung hero is the lovely Gloria Girling, who has been a committee member of Keeping Abreast for over two years and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008.

G

loria had a full left mastectomy and removal of many lymph nodes, followed by a revision in 2010. She is currently awaiting reconstruction surgery.

Gloria is a staunch supporter of the Charity and volunteers

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regularly to help with anything the Charity needs. She was nominated by Tracey Burlingham, National Admin and Development Assistant, for the makeover due to her invaluable contribution and support over the last few years. Amongst her regular contributions are, helping

in the Norwich office every week, attending functions to raise awareness and support the team, plus taking her turn on the catwalk on more than one occasion! Gloria is an inspiring example of how to turn something that has happened to her into a positive.

Gloria’s makeover day started at The Gallery Hair Cutters where her hair was cut to sharpen the style and tapered into the neck.

Next it was blow dried to give the look fullness and texture.

Then it was on to The Style Show’s new Style Studio where Gloria had a full colour consultation and body styling, followed by complete makeup to compliment her colouring. Next it was a visit upstairs to The Style Lounge where the Style Show team selected outfits to complete her styling.

Gloria will be back in action on the Catwalk at Keeping Abreast’s ‘The Style Show’, taking place on 1st October 2015, to celebrate the launch of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Many of the Keeping Abreast team will be modelling on the evening, as The

August 2015 | 59

FINEFASHION Style Show demonstrates how each lady should dress for her particular colours, shape and style!

The Style Show is at the Holiday Inn, Norwich North and starts at 7pm for 7.30pm. The evening is one not to be missed, with many beauty, style, hair and skin experts there, including The Gallery, U & Your Skin, John Lewis Bare Minerals, plus The Style Show’s unique show and Style Surgery.

The Style Show will also be showcasing their Autumn collection of lovely clothing and accessories which will be available to try and buy on the night, all with expert help and advice from the team!

For tickets visit www. styleshow.co.uk . Early Bird tickets are available until 1st August 2015. All ticket proceeds with go towards the Keeping Abreast Charity.

For more information contact enquiries@styleshow.co.uk

60 | August 2015

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FINEFASHION

The Style Show The Style Show co-founder Chrissi Rix, explained the unique concept of the show was developed to demonstrate to women a different way to shop and to bring out the best in themselves, without the costly expense of a personal style consultation. The unique show provides something different in the fashion landscape of Norfolk, offering women information to last a lifetime and a thoroughly entertaining and inspirational night!

The Style Show also has a Style Studio on City Road in Norwich, where women attending the show may have a follow up, free one to one style consultation and a visit to the Style Lounge where outfits are selected perfectly for them.

They can experiment, try on items and purchase clothing and accessories if desired. There is free parking right outside The Studio.

Of paramount importance to The Style Show is the need to ensure women feel good about themselves, empowered, inspired and confident. Chrissi says, ‘We all know how we feel when we www.finecity.co.uk

think we look great. It can make us feel fabulous and so much more confident. When we feel more confident we are more inclined to try new things, take on new challenges and tackle the things in our lives we would like to achieve. It can be liberating and so very uplifting.

Contact Chrissi on 07487 796853 for more information or join them on Facebook Keeping Abreast Keeping Abreast was first formed in 2007 by two patients, Beverley Birritteri and Anna Beckingham with breast reconstruction nurse specialist Ruth Harcourt, after realising there was a huge need to support women considering or undergoing breast reconstruction after a diagnosis of breast cancer. Since then the charity has gone from strength to strength and now has groups across the country.

The Charity is passionate about being able to offer women both advice and choice regarding their reconstruction and there is a lot of emphasis on allowing

women to feel like they have regained their femininity The Gallery Haircutters The Gallery Haircutters is situated on Waterloo Road in Norwich and has been established for over 20 years.

They have built a strong reputation locally and nationally, winning numerous awards along the way. Their association with Keeping Abreast has been a great partnership from the beginning and they are proud of how the organisation has grown.

The salon constantly strives to deliver the highest standard of service and skill and has two colour specialists and a talented team of creative stylists. They will be available on The Style Show evening to offer hair colour and style consultations to those attending, so if you have ever wondered what hair style should suit your face or body shape, or what would be the best hair shade to choose, then look no further!

Visit www.galleryhaircutters. com and join them on facebook

James Robinson Photographer Extraordinaire James Robinson is a photographer with a talent for creativity, which has been used by multi-nationals like Ferrero, as well as established local brands such as Norfolk Broads Direct, The Boathouse, Hoveton Hall, Style Gym and the Best Western Brook Hotel amongst many others.

His true passion is capturing adults and children engaging with each other and their surroundings. With his informal, stylish and contemporary style, James loves nothing more than creating beautiful images through a mixture of relaxed portraits and documentary photography.

James shoots images for corporate brochures, studio portraits and product photography from his coral Norwich photography studio and has been lucky to establish a large printed portfolio, consisting of wedding photography, family lifestyle, studio portraits and commercial photography, Check out his funky website at www. jamesrobinsonimages.co.uk August 2015 | 61

"If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you're not sure you can do it, say yes then learn how to do it later"

What is Residual Income?

What is Residual Income and how does it work?

You have probably heard the expression that “the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.”

It’s often used to explain the unfairness when it comes to money.

However I don’t think this is unfair at all. The reason it happens is because the rich focus on a completely different way of earning money. There are thousands of stories about poor people who accumulated great

62 | August 2015

riches and this choice is available to all of us.

Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Oprah were not born into riches.

Yet over their lifetimes they’ve amassed huge personal fortunes.

This is because they understand and use the power of leverage through residual income.

What Is Active Income?

Active income comes as a direct result of our efforts. This is when we work for one hour

and get paid a certain amount for that hours work. This can be seen in wages, salaries, and selfemployed service providers like lawyers or doctors.

There are many people who get paid vast amounts of money to become the CEO of a company, play professional sports, or star in a movie. Earning a high active income is often a lot of hard work and requires a dedication beyond most of us. It’s also limited because no matter how much money you get paid you still need to show up to work to earn your money.

What Is Residual (Or Passive) Income?

Residual income is when you continue to get paid after the work is done. This includes royalties from books, movies, or songs and also income that comes from property or business investments where you don’t actually have to be present to earn it. For example, Bill Gates is still making a residual income from Microsoft even though he isn’t working there anymore.

Residual income comes from building an asset that continues to pay you after the work has been done. A book, movie or www.finecity.co.uk

song is an asset to the people earning royalties from it. A house is an asset to the landlord being paid rent and a business is an asset to the business owner who does not need to be involved in the day-to-day activities anymore.

The Passive Income Myth Many people talk about passive income and create the impression that you never have to do anything to keep that income going. The truth is that you will normally have to keep your eye on things if you want it to run smoothly. For example Richard Branson doesn’t run any of the www.finecity.co.uk

How To Build Residual Or Passive Income The key idea here is leverage.

You must be able to leverage other people’s time or other people’s money in order to create a residual income.

Richard Branson can run 400+ companies because he isn’t actually running any of them at all. His CEOs are.

To create residual income, you need to create something that people will continue to buy on a regular basis long after you’ve created it. Utilities is a prime example of this as people will continue to pay for Gas, Electric, Phones and Broadband month after month after month. A business needs to have products that are sold over and over again rather than trading the business owner’s time for money.

residual income. Then you want to decide a path that transitions from active to residual income over time. It’s hard to start a new business and create residual income tomorrow so you have to have some patience.

As you make more residual income you can start to scale back the hours you put into active income. This will mean your residual income will grow even faster once you pay it more attention.

As Jim Rohn was famous for saying: “I’m working full-time on my job and part time on my fortune.

But it won’t be long before I’m working full-time on my fortune.

Can you imagine what my life will look like?”

The First Steps To Creating Residual Income The first thing is to be aware of how you work for active or

For more information on Residual Income: www.

AskMeHow.co.uk or Call / Text me: 07802 690589

400+ companies he started but he goes over the numbers each day to make sure they’re performing well and calls the CEO if there are any problems.

There is also an idea that we should work to build a passive income asset and then sit on the beach relaxing for the rest of our lives. The truth is that most people would get extremely bored with this scenario and will be eager to find something to do.

That’s why the world’s billionaires continue to work… they love what they do and it stopped being about the money a long time ago.

August 2015 | 63

Mark Pendlington, Chairman of New Anglia LEP speaking at the Royal Norfolk Show.

Green energy company secures £7,000 grant with Hub support The New Anglia Growth Hub continues its work to support new and existing businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk by providing a clear path to business support, with easier access to sources of funding, grants and expert advice.

The hub marked their first anniversary with a reception at the Royal Norfolk Show in July.

Mark Pendlington, Chairman of New Anglia LEP that it was important that business owners had access to free and impartial 64 | August 2015

support offered by the New Anglia Growth Hub. Norfolk based Green Solar Footprint, specialists in solar panel design and installation have recently secured £7,374 in grant funding from the New Anglia LEP’s Growing Business Fund, which will help create two additional jobs.

The company had previously been installing systems on new build domestic housing, but recently secured their first

commercial contract and need to upscale their business in order to meet demand. Together with private investments, the company is purchasing new equipment such as tools, scaffolding and ladders as well as training for their accreditation.

Marketing Director Su Allport said: “We are really excited about being awarded the grant from New Anglia. It is great to know that there is money for small Norfolk businesses to expand. To be able to gain bigger contracts we needed to increase our equipment and gain further accreditations which this grant will enable us to do. We are keen to get as many people and businesses to benefit from solar

energy so they too can become more sustainable for themselves and others in the future.”

Meanwhile, the Government have set high targets to reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by 80% by the year 2050. With a new government directive to agree a minimum requirement for new build properties to have solar panels installed, Green Solar Footprint could benefit through additional contracts with building companies.

To find out more about how the New Anglia Growth Hub could support your business, call 0300 333 6536 or email growthhub@newanglia.co.uk www.finecity.co.uk

Posh Plants

topiary, plants, shrubs and trees to hire or buy

Sue Huckle is the inspiration behind many award winning gardens, offering a professional and creative approach to the art and science of garden design.

At Seven Acres Nursery we have a range of lovely plants and containers for sale, as well as our beautiful collection of large topiary plants available to hire for weddings, parties and your workplace!

07703 347014 email: sue@poshplants.com website: www.poshplants.com

Posh Plants, Seven Acres Nursery, Common Road, East Tuddenham, NR20 3NF

Posh Plants Bringing The Outside In. Driving through Felthorpe woods this afternoon I was struck by an epiphany moment. It happens now and again!

Today the woods caught me.

Not as in a “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost moment, I’ll keep that for another six months, but by the sheer exuberance of an early summer’s day.

A break between showers had allowed shafts of sunlight to pierce the tree canopy. The rays illuminated the bed of newly unfurled bracken, the soft green leaves carpeting the wood as far as the eye could see.

The silvery air glistened between the green of the ground and the green of the trees…this was good air, air to breathe in long and deep, to savour, to feel vibrant and alive in.

This connection to nature, this deep rooted relationship, needs to be nurtured, respected and never taken for granted.

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I count myself as being fortunate, my workplace is green.

I’m never happier or healthier than when surrounded by plants.

I know if I worked long hours in an office or at a computer I would need to surround myself with a forest of interior plants.

Scientific evidence into the beneficial effects of plants in the workplace has shown some very interesting results.

The presence of plants has a calming and positive effect on people and we all know a positive and pleasant workplace promotes better performance.

Stress and anxiety levels are reduced when plants are around us, positive feelings increase whilst negative feelings subside.

Hospital patients are stimulated to recover quicker if they can see greenery, while staff working at computer screens experience less stress and take less time off work through sickness.

Imagine a city office, a white

space with a desk or two, a filing cabinet and waste bin! Now add some healthy plants and the space is instantly transformed!

It is known that interior upholstery, office equipment and all the high-tech gadgetry we have in our homes and workplace can release tiny particles that affect air quality.

Plants will absorb not only carbon dioxide but also other substances, potentially harmful in high concentrations, such as formaldehyde and benzene.

Plants act as filters, cleaning the air, minimising contamination, leaving indoor air fresher.

Humidity in the workplace or home can be increased by 10% to 15% by having some water loving plants. A high percentage of the water absorbed by

plants is released back into the atmosphere through their leaves.

This helps to establish an ideal climate, especially in the winter when the heating is on.

Plants in the workplace or home will...

• absorb potentially harmful substances • filter the air • increase humidity in dry atmosphere • reduce stress levels and improve positivity, performance and education • act as a sound barrier • create shade and hence have a cooling effect If you would like to improve your surroundings and lift your spirits, an investment in greenery is just what you need!

I am always happy to quote for any plant requirements.

Plants can be purchased or hired on a long or short term basis.

Sue Huckle Posh Plants Seven Acres Nursery Common Road East Tuddenham NR20 3NF Tel: 07703 347014 email: sue@poshplants.com www.poshplants.com

August 2015 | 65

Care, reassurance and support... ...when you need it most

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Braziliant Fun In The Sun Visit South America in Norfolk this summer!

One of Norfolk’s leading attractions, Amazona Zoo in Cromer offers a unique and special summer day out where families can explore and learn about a varied and fascinating selection of animals native to South America.

Home to over 200 tropical animals, including Jaguars, new Jaguarundi ‘otter’ cats, Monkeys, Snakes, Caimans, Flamingos and Tapirs, the zoo is committed to helping visitors discover nature and providing education on conservation issues set within 15 acres on the north Norfolk coast.

New for summer 2015, Amazona Zoo is now home to two Jumping Pillows, which can be found in ‘Rainforest Springs’, the new outdoor play area! The Jumping Pillows have already proved to be very popular with children of all ages and guarantee hours of bouncing fun!

Not only this, but the South American zoo is also home to ‘Jungle Tumbles’, an indoor-soft play area, which offers slides, tunnels, interactive toys and climbing nets, providing under 12’s with a great creative and active experience no matter what the weather.

With all that running around, the Lakeside Café which is open from 10.30am offers a wide range of hot and cold snacks, meals and drinks.

The resident Spider House and Guinea Pig Village are also new additions for this year and provide a scary and sweet opportunity to get a close look at these beautiful a docile creatures.

The 30ft educational Yurt located on the zoo grounds is a hub for educating visitors about the history of South America and facts on the animals who call Amazona Zoo their home, so even throughout the school holidays children will be fascinated with fun facts!

What Animals and Birds can you see?

There are at least four ‘feed the animal’ events a day, with jaguar and pumas on alternate days. www.finecity.co.uk

The animals and birds found at the zoo include:Five species of tarantulas, including Mexican Red Knee, Green Bottle Blue, Pink Zebra Beauty, Brazilian Black and Chaco Golden Knee South American guinea pigs A Toucan Feline Forest – Pumas, Jaguar and Ocelot Chilean Flamingos Amazon Parrots and Macaws Jaguarundi ‘otter’ cats Ring-tailed Coati & American River Otters Marmosets Capuchin Monkeys Tropical House: Entering from the Capuchin walkway, visitors will encounter the Currasow and the Piping Guan. After the bridge, see the Spectacled Caiman and spot the Red-tailed Catfish or the Black Pacu. Follow the path into the shadows to find the Iguanas, the Anaconda and the Boa Constrictors South American Wildfowl: See native migratory species such as Greylag Geese and Mallard, as well as Chiloe Wigeon, Brazilian Teal, Coscoroba Swan and the iridescent Comb Duck Birds of Prey: Red-legged Seriema are South America’s nearest relation to birds, known in the rest of the world as cranes. Striated Caracara, also known as Johnny Rook, are found predominantly in the Falkland Islands and small islands off Tierra del Fuego. Once abundant in numbers there are approximately only 500 pairs left in the Falklands Capybara: This is the world’s largest rodent. It is an excellent swimmer, with eyes, nostrils and ears set in alignment across the top of the head Brazilian Tapir: One of the largest of three species to be found in South America, this one has the widest distribution.

Its closest relatives are the rhinoceros and the horse Squirrel Monkeys: This small monkey of Central and South America live in troops of up to 30-40 animals from mangrove

swamps to 3,000 feet above sea level Geoffrey’s Spider Monkeys: This species is distributed throughout Central America, from Mexico to Panama Mara: the Patagonian Hare The Rhea: the greater Rhea is one of South America’s largest birds Collared Peccary: Also known as the Javelina or the Musk Hog, this is the smallest of the

peccary species When leaving the zoo, the wellstocked gift shop sells a variety of toys, games, stationery, jewellery, confectionary and books for a souvenir to remember the day!

For more information visit www.amazonazoo.co.uk, call 01263 510741 or follow @ AmazonaZoo on Twitter and AmazonaZoo on Facebook.

August 2015 | 67

We’re a family run business with many years experience Our Services Showers, Cubicals & Walk In Showers Wet Rooms Relax in a Perfect Bathroom Kitchens Designed & Installed Central Heating Installation & Servicing

Unit 8 Elvin Way, Sweetbriar Ind Est, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 2BB Telephone: 01603 400134

Email: cooperbandh@hotmail.co.uk

Norwich Foodbank intu Chapelfield shoppers help raise nearly £1000 for Norwich Foodbank Shoppers at intu Chapelfield in Norwich have helped raise £970 for Norwich Foodbank. During May 2015, intu Chapelfield ran a ‘Big Treat’ campaign with a whole range of fun activities and treats for visitors to the centre.

One of these initiatives was the opportunity for friends, family or admirers to nominate someone they know to receive a Big Treat in the form of a £2000 intu gift card. Shoppers then voted for the person they wanted to receive the gift card. intu Chapelfield donated funds to Norwich Foodbank for every vote cast resulting in nearly £1000 being raised.

Staff from intu Chapelfield visited Norwich Foodbank to present the cheque and to see how the Foodbank worked. As a result of the donation, Norwich Foodbank was able to feed just over 76 people for three days each, based on the average cost per kilo and average weight of the 68 | August 2015

charity’s foodboxes. To put this number in context, foodboxes for 600 people were distributed in May 2015.

Sheridan Smith, marketing manager at intu Chapelfield, said: “We’re really pleased that our donation helped so many people and the amount raised was down to the number of people in our community who voted in the Big Treat campaign.

We want to thank everyone who took part. We are always trying to find new ways to give something back to our shoppers but it’s also great to be able to help people in our community who really need extra support”.

Hannah Worsley, Norwich Foodbank Project Manager says, “To receive a donation of £970 from intu Chapelfield, was wonderful. We were delighted to welcome staff members into our warehouse to see the workings of Norwich foodbank and understand how this amazing

d, Pat Moore from left to right: Rebecca Downie and Ben Allen from intu Chapelfiel Hannah Worsley Project Norwich Foodbank (Warehouse and Transport Manager) and Manager from Norwich Foodbank.

Norwich Foodbank

sum would help local people in crisis. We are very grateful for the support of intu Chapelfield’s

staff and customers and look forward to working together again in the future.” www.finecity.co.uk

Left to right: Tony Ing chief executive of The Benjamin Foundation; Karl Alderton managing director of Comms Supply; Chris Elliott marketing and fundraising manager of The Benjamin Foundation; Paul McVeigh and Mark Durrant operations manager at Kelling Heath Holiday Park.

Fletcher Lain-Smith, aged six, taking part in the Butterfly Walk Robbie the dog.

The Butterfly Walk Paul McVeigh opens charity fundraising event, The Butterfly Walk at Kelling Heath Former Norwich City football player, Paul McVeigh, officially opened The Butterfly Walk for Norfolk charity The Benjamin Foundation, on Saturday 18 July 2015. He was joined by

Tony Ing, the charity’s new Chief Executive along with co-sponsors Kelling Heath Holiday Park near Holt in North Norfolk, which was the venue for the event; and Comms Supply.

151 people took part in the family event which raised more than £3240 for The Benjamin Foundation.

The Benjamin Foundation helps children, young people and families across Norfolk to deal with some of the challenges that life throws at them. From ‘everyday’ problems such as finding affordable childcare or training, to heart-breaking issues like

with his family and

homelessness, bullying or abuse.

Every service that The Benjamin Foundation delivers is focused on providing hope, opportunity, stability and independence.

For more information about The Benjamin Foundation, visit www. benjaminfoundation.co.uk.

Left to right: Karl Alderton managing director of Comms Supply; Mark Durrant operations manager at Kelling Heath Holiday Park; Paul McVeigh and Tony Ing chief executive of The Benjamin Foundation

People enjoying a stroll in beautiful woodland for The Butterfly Walk at Kelling Heath; helping to raise funds The Benjamin Foundation.

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August 2015 | 69

John Lewis John Lewis Norwich offers a wide range of home products and services from Fitted kitchens and flooring to custom-made furnishings and Fitted bedrooms. If you’re planning a home update visit the shop on All Saints Green for expert advice.

John Lewis Fitted kitchen service At John Lewis we’ve been selling kitchens for 80 years, in Norwich our Kitchen Planners have over 50 years experience.

We offer a wide range of styles from classic to contemporary, with choices to suit every taste and budget, plus all the sinks, taps and appliances you need.

We now also offer the option of Interest Free Credit when you spend between £1,000 £25,000.

We offer a complete fitted kitchen service, which takes care of everything from planning your space to getting it all installed,

and for your peace of mind, all John Lewis fitted kitchen come with a 5-year guarantee included at no extra cost.

To book an appointment with one of our experienced Kitchen planners or for more details call 01603 677866 or visit the Fitted Kitchen department in-store.

John Lewis Home Design Service If your planning a home project or need additional help with colour schemes, furnishings, flooring and decorative accessories then our Home Design advisors can help.

From a complete redesign to

a seasonal update of one room, you can book an appointment to call on the expertise of our Home design advisors to help you bring out the very best in your home.

They’ll bring a fresh and creative perspective to your design project, working closely with you every step of the way to create something that’s both practical and unique, whether it’s key ideas for one room, or a whole new interior scheme.

You can either: book a free in-store appointment, for help and inspiration for minor changes or a room refresh, or opt for a more thorough

home consultation for £200 (redeemable against the final delivery and payment of any made to order purchases), which we’d particularly recommend if you’re contemplating changes in several rooms.

Appointments for both in-store and at home typically last 90 - 120 minutes, depending on how many rooms you have in your project.

To book an appointment with one of the Home Design advisors or for more details call 01603 677873 or visit www.johnlewis.com/ourservices

SPECIALIST VALUATION DAYS FREE EXPERT VALUATIONS

of Coins (GB & World, Sovereigns, Krugerrands, Royal Mint, Proof Sets), Stamps, English & Foreign Banknotes, Antiques, Watches, Gold, Silver, Postcards, Cigarette & Trade Cards, Medals & Militaria, Swords, Bayonets, De-Activated Weapons, Clocks, Scientific Instruments, Jewellery, Pre-1900 Documents / Books & Maps, Pre-1960 Sporting Programmes: WE URGENTLY WISH TO BUY, IF YOU WISH TO SELL

Tuesday 18th August, 10am-2pm: St Peter’s Church Hall Centre, Newmarket Rd, Cringleford, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 6UE (free parking subject to availability) Wednesday 19th August, 10am-2pm: The Fisher Theatre, 10 Broad Street, Bungay, Suffolk, NR35 1EE AUCTION CONSIGNMENT & CASH PURCHASE OFFERS AVAILABLE FREE VALUATIONS, NO OBLIGATION NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY

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Titchwell Manor Stress-­Free Family Fun This Summer At Titchwell Manor From finding child-­friendly restaurants, to keeping the kids calm in the car, family holidays aren’t always the most relaxing. This summer, however, boutique hotel Titchwell Manor has put together a fantastic two-­ day family package to ensure stress-­free fun by the North Norfolk coast.

Families will be welcomed on the first day with gin & tonics alongside canapés for the adults, and cookies with warm milk for the little ones, before settling into one of the beautifully designed family rooms. In the evening, take a trip to Eric’s Fish & Chips, the new restaurant just down the road launched by Titchwell’s Chef Patron Eric Snaith, for an early fish and chip family supper.

Whilst enjoying breakfast the next day, a selection of beach

toys and crabbing equipment will be delivered to rooms making sure both big and little kids alike can make the most of the nearby, award-­winning beaches. The area also boasts spectacular nature reserves, championship links golf courses and picturesque towns to explore such as Burnham Market - ­plenty for even the most active families to enjoy.

After a day of adventure the children can tuck into an early supper in the informal Eating Rooms or hotel gardens before their qualified babysitter for the night arrives with a Disney film in hand, popcorn and malted milk.

With the little ones settled, parents can then head to the hotel’s Conservatory Restaurant to sample a five or eight course* tasting menu with wine pairings. Eric’s flair and flavours

have earned him a reputation for exquisitely presented, innovative, modern European food using the finest local ingredients and have also won the hotel three AA Rosettes.

Sadly holidays can’t last forever, and so on the final day after breakfast, the kids will receive special children’s travel packs before waving goodbye to North Norfolk. The packs include juices, snacks and games to make for a quiet car ride as you head back to reality.

Why not head to Titchwell Manor this summer and enjoy a family holiday without the hassle.

For more information visit www.titchwellmanor.com or call 01485 210221

Shepherd’s Crook Shepherd’s Crook is extremely sumptuous with full-size double bed, freesat flatscreen TV, and fully equipped kitchen including fridge and dishwasher. And unlike a lot of shepherd’s huts, our WC and shower is truly en-suite - you don’t need to go outside!

Based on the edge of Framlingham Suffolk Call Becky on 07778 381953 for availability.

Stunning, responsive websites from the creators of

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Hearing Care Centre Ask the Audiologist Local Audiologist Karen Finch from The Hearing Care Centre, answers some of the most commonly asked questions she receives from her patients regarding hearing loss…

Why do I have trouble only hearing certain words and not others?

If you are missing certain sounds you may have some hearing loss and today’s digital hearing aids, audiologists such as myself are able to precisely program the hearing aids to only provide amplification at the pitches you need, allowing you to use the hearing you have remaining and boosting where you need it the most. Inability to hear some sounds like sh, s, th, t, etc. significantly impact your understanding of the overall word causing the dreaded “huh?” and embarrassing inappropriate responses to questions.

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What actually causes hearing loss?

Most hearing loss is caused by the ageing process, however regular exposure to loud noises, heredity, and some illnesses can also cause hearing loss. Around 90% of all cases of hearing loss are because the microscopic hair cells in the cochlea (or inner ear) become damaged which limits their ability to detect soft, higher frequency sounds and means that they cannot send a complete signal to the brain. As a result, it becomes difficult to understand the consonants that allow us to understand speech.

One of my friends has two hearing aids and hates them and said I should never try them. Is she right?

There are many factors that come into play when fitting hearing aids and therefore

everyone’s experience is different.

Every person has a different hearing loss, different size ear canals, different hearing aid technology etc…

Hearing aid success depends quite a lot on the actual hearing aids. Perhaps your friend chose a basic hearing aid that is not technologically advanced enough to suit their needs. Or perhaps they have not followed up with their audiologist since their fitting and the hearing aids simply need adjustments.

Is it cheaper to order hearing aids online?

While buying hearing aids off the internet may be less expensive, it is not advisable.

By purchasing through these venues, you might be giving up the quality of care you will get by working with an audiologist.

This includes things such as a qualified hearing evaluation, professional recommendations as to the most appropriate type of hearing aid, follow up care and much more.

The Hearing Care Centre is a multi-award winning, family run private hearing care company with 20 centres across Suffolk and Norfolk.

To book an appointment or for more information please call Freephone 0800 096 2637 or go online at www. hearingcarecentre.co.uk

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S&C Window Repairs Windows give your property character and individuality, but also offer the practicalities of insulation and security Because of their very nature, the windows and doors on your house or bungalow are a significant investment and cost.

Problems, however, can occur – hinges and locks may break or stick, handles work loose, there may be draughts around the house and windows may become “blown” or steamed up.

But rest assured, these issues do not have to prove as expensive to remedy as you may think - and repair is usually the best and most cost-effective course of action, rather than replacement.

Steve Olley, who has 20 years experience of repairing doubleglazed and sealed-unit windows, knows that an effective repair can give windows a new lease of life.

“A lot of people think that when the glass has blown - when you cannot see through a window properly - or that there is condensation on a window or that doubleglazed units become steamed up, that they need a whole new window,” explained Steve, who runs S&C Window Repairs with his wife Clare.

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“But repairs are relatively straightforward and not expensive.

The glass can come out of the frames and be replaced, so there is simply no need to go to the expense of having a whole new window and frame.”

S&C Windows provides a service to repair windows, doors and conservatories and that includes misted or broken sealed units, UPVC window and door repairs, conservatory repairs, patio door repairs, worn out window hinges, broken window handles and locks, and draughty doors or windows. The replacement glass includes clear, patterned, toughened, leaded and Georgian bar windows.

New locks and handles, bathroom and kitchen windows, hinges, patio doors and cracked panes can all be easily and effectively dealt with.

It’s not only with repairs, the same applies for upgrades as well such as to A-rated windows with the highest grade glass.

Covering the whole of Norfolk from bases in Norwich and near Holt, S & C Windows, can upgrade

standard windows to A-rated windows, without removing the frames and merely by changing the quality of the glass. Steve said: “We can do upgrades with the highest quality glass without changing the frames.”

In the 1970s and 1980s people often selected golden handles for their windows, commented Steve, but they can also be changed quite easily to give the windows an upgrade and a modern new appearance.

“I am cheaper than other operators and can offer costeffective solutions with a quick response.” he added.

Customers ring through to Steve’s main contact number where a call operator will take brief details and instantly send them on to Steve via text.

“I’ll then telephone the customer to make an appointment, make a visit to assess what they need and if they are happy with the quote place an order for what is needed and then arrange a convenient

time to install.” he said.

“Most jobs are straightforward.

With a draught, for example, the solution can be something as simple as a hinge that needs replacing. I’ll give my customers an honest assessment and offer a quick, often same day or next day service.”

“The call-out is free and we can show people that their windows can be repaired to a high standard without them incurring the cost of replacement.”

S & C Window Repairs are experts in repairing windows, doors and conservatories, providing a friendly and reliable service which will “take the pane out of window repairs.”

If you have a problem with your windows and need a quick, reliable and costeffective repair, give Steve Olley of S&C Windows a call today on 0800 160 1932 or visit www.sandcwindows.co.uk

August 2015 | 73

Norwich Charity Motor Show & Family Fun Event Norfolk Show Ground. 15th & 16th August 10am to 4pm

T

he 8th Norwich Charity Motor Show & Family Fun Event, this year reverts back

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to its regular August slot at the Norfolk Showground, (Red Car Park East), on 15th & 16th .

The annual show is organised

and run by Wroxham & Hoveton Lions Club, on a non-profit making basis, with all proceeds this year, being distributed

equally between the East Anglian Air Ambulance, EACH (East Anglian Childrens Hospice, Quidenham) and Lions Charity funds, which will enable the Club to support some of the smaller local deserving causes.

To date the event has raised approximately ÂŁ64,000 for various charitable causes.

One of the criteria when planning the first show in 2008, was to make it an enjoyable experience for all the family and this philosophy has been the cornerstone for all the shows

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Registered Charity No. 280331

since. The move from the show’s original home at the `Norwich Rugby Club to the Norfolk Showground has provided additional space and gave the opportunity to make the show bigger and better with more attractions.

Along with new cars from local dealerships, this year there is the added bonus of specialty cars from local manufacturers, under our “Made in Norfolk” banner.

In addition to the new vehicles, there will also be a large number of classic cars as well as classic buses and commercial vehicles, military vehicles and much more.

Regular features will include craft and charity stalls, trade stands, live music, Police and Fire vehicles, children’s rides and amusements, magic shows and competitions, live auction and grand prize draw raffle. The everpopular Star Wars Characters will also be attending again. Various food outlets will provide a variety of refreshments.

Because the Lions do not

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have any paid executives and donate their time feely, all proceeds from events such as this, after deduction of essential expenses, are donated to the causes supported.

This is the only dedicated motor show in the area and has something for all the family.

IT’S A GREAT DAY OUT FOR ALL AGES! Opening times are 10am to 4pm, both days.

Admission is only £5.00 for Adults with Children under 14 and Parking Free.

For full details go to www. norwichmotorshow.co.uk For more information contact Mike Clipston 01603 429389 / 07767810027 mikeandros@rockcakes. eclipse.co.uk If anyone is interested in becoming a Lion or finding out more on how we support local communities, please go to www.lions105ea.com

NORWICH

Featuring New & Classic Motor Vehicles Plus lots more to see & do for all the family

15th & 16th August 2015 10am to 4pm

Adults - £5.00, Children & Parking - Free

A GREAT DAY OUT FOR ALL AGES!

Red Car Park East

The Norfolk Showground, Norwich NR5 0TT For more information visit www.norwichmotorshow.co.uk

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Go Go enjoy free summer fun Wednesdays & Thursdays during the school holidays

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