FineCity Magazine - December 2016

Issue 61 December 2016

Hatters: On Trend

FINEChristmas FINEpeople

We meet with the Director of Jonathan Trumbull, Hatters and Ginger; David Kingsley

FINEFood FINEarts

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Coming Out Of The Closet, Fashionably Drunk

Norfolk Provides Backdrop For Chapters Of New Book That Charts A 40-Something’s Hilarious Path To Sobriety

H

ot on the heels of American author Elizabeth Gilbert’s announcement as a lateblooming lesbian, comes Sara Stewart’s first book, Whilst I Was Out. The book, a dark comedy, goes on sale October 27th and tackles a variety of gritty themes including domestic abuse and alcohol addiction as well as coming out when you hit middle age.

Norfolk provides the setting for several of the chapters of this new book.

Sara Stewart tells the story of Alice, a muchabused working mother of three, who begins to suspect what’s wrong with her marriage … her husband.

04 | December 2016

Already a few fries short of a Happy Meal and more interested in cycling than Alice, he goes even more bonkers when she wants out. Alice deals with it the only way she knows how - by reaching for the bottle.

When she falls head over heels for someone new, and someone who happens to be a woman, Alice dreams of a happy home for her children only to realise she’s swapped a narcissist for a sociopath. But can Alice trust her own judgment now her drinking has become a real problem?

Weaving comedy into romance, author Sara Stewart lets us laugh and learn with her heroine: how to get out before it turns into a tragedy.

Published October 27th 2016 by Pegasus Press, Whilst I Was Out has a RRP of £8.99 - ISBN is 9781910903032 / 1910903035. Visit www.sara-stewart.co.uk for stockist details.

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Issue 61 December

2016

FINECHRISTMAS

Hatters: On Trend

FINEPEOPLE FINEFOOD

We meet with the Directo r of Jonathan Trumbull, Hatters and Ginger; David Kingsley

FINEARTS

FINE people

30

FINE Arts

NOR WIC H

Issue 61

53

Your community magazine 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, Daniel Tink, Tony Cooper, Michael Chandler and Tim Barnes-Clay Cover Image courtesy of: Daniel Tink

Editor Jonathan Horswell @JonathanHorswel

Administration Luke Keable

Sales

FINE Christmas

Arron Self

FINE Food

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© FineCity Magazine Disclaimer: No part of this magazine may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, either wholly or in part, without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Publisher.

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They will, however, immediately investigate any written complaints. The Publishers reserve the right to amend such submissions and cannot accept responsibility for any loss.

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2016 December | 05

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Christmas with Waitrose From turkeys and gifts to recipes and tips.

Visit the Waitrose website for everything you need. waitrose.com

Food Counters & Ranges Fish Cheese Delicatessen Rotisserie Meat Bakery Kosher Range Customer Facilities Lottery Counter Cash Point Cafe Waitrose Car Park Parent/ Child Parking Customer Toilets

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Shopping Services Waitrose Entertaining Quick Check/Quick Pay John Lewis Click & Collect www.finecity.co.uk

David Kingsley

Pete Goodrum meets David Kingsley, Director of Jonathan Trumbull, Hatters and Ginger, to talk about clothes, business - and style. www.finecity.co.uk

Feature Images courtesy of Daniel Tink

2016 December | 07

FINEPeople

T

o begin this column I need to take you back. Back to a time when, if you were interested in clothes, you had little choice. It’s not a criticism of Norwich, our fine city, because back then, Lon-don aside perhaps, most cities in England were the same.

As a man (I’ll come to the ladies later) you could go to the ‘Fifty Shilling Tailor’ or one of the staid establishments that your grandfather had used or, if you were looking for the cutting edge of style, there were a few high street shops that had at least acknowledged the cultural revolution of the 60s.

Harry Fenton (“He dresses the Stars, why not you?’) had three branches in Norwich, but in truth by 1970 they were clinging to the last vestiges of the mod movement with their 3 button, centre vented suits and tab collar shirts.

Smart Weston had a natty line in knitwear.

It’s true that the likes of Gaegen and (do you remember?) Campus, on the corner of Davey Place, had ratcheted up the style a bit, but it was all a bit, well, dull really.

And then, above a tiny shop, at the bottom of St Stephens Street, there appeared a strange, new, name. Jonathan Trumbull arrived and lit a beacon of style that would outshine everybody else. The dark days were over.

08 | December 2016

We’re in one of Norwich’s fashionable coffee shops, my editor Jonathan Horswell and I, to meet David Kingsley, a man who has been at the heart of the Trumbull empire - because it has grown since those early days - from the outset.

I begin, as I often do, by sketching in the background details, but when I ask where David was born there’s a sudden diffidence until he explains, ‘Sorry about this but I was actually born in (whisper it) Ipswich!’

We move on.

David moved to Norwich when he was 12, and went to the Norwich School. ‘I joined in the January so I was a bit out of step, and needless to say that things were said about my crossing the border from… Ipswich’.

From school he went to London. And he went straight into the world of menswear, working for the legendary shop The Village Gate.

Named after New York’s Greenwich Village nightclub and jazz spot, this was the temple of Ivy League style, run by the guru of all gurus John Simons.

David recalls heady, super-busy days of working in London retailers, shifting 80 to 100 suits a week, and receiving substantial pay rises on the strength of those sales!

But, eventually, he returned to Norwich, where his father John, and brother Roger, were already in business.

John Kingsley had run Chadds, in Bedford Street since 1962. It was a business that almost fell through. Literally. David remembers, ‘They excavated the basement of those premises and it was far from safe. There was a lot of work to do!’

John and Roger had ideas for a new shop, and kicked around possibilities for a name. It was David who found the name of an 18th century American politician and suggested it. Jonathan Trumbull. They still have Americans visit the shop and ask about the name David tells me.

Frankly it didn’t matter where the name came from. It was right. So right for the times.

As was the shop itself.

It wasn’t over lit -

feature by:

Pete Goodrum Writer, broadcaster @petegoodrum

www.finecity.co.uk

FINEPeople like most of the high street ‘boutiques’ of the time. It had a warm, muted, atmosphere and although small, it was packed with high quality, very stylish clothes.

It was 1971 and menswear retailing in Norwich had just leapt lightyears ahead.

We will talk more of how the empire has expanded but for the moment we digress into a mutually loved world of clothes, shoes and the names that go with them. David Kingsley knows everybody. The names are a litany of style. Paul Smith, (‘we were one of his first customers and still have his first business card’), Armani (‘Nobody in Norwich sold Armani before us’), Ralph Lauren (‘We’ve always remained loyal to his clothes’).

There are tales of buying trips that range from little known but exquisite Italian tailors to a major name that was ‘the only collection show we ever left after a few minutes, and didn’t place an order with. It was just an outright ‘No!’ (I’m not saying who’s collection it was. I promised!)

David has stories too of the cut and thrust - or should I say cut throat? - nature of the menswear retailing business back when they started. Many were the re-negotiated deals with wholesalers, and ferocious were the price wars. ‘It was’, he says, ‘different then’.

It wasn’t long before Jonathan Trumbull had moved into larger premises just a few doors away. Then his brother Roger was, he admits, very much the front man of Trumbull’s. With his trademark long hair and stylish clothes he looked exactly like the sort of man you would trust to guide you on style.

Not that David is in any way short of style. This is a man who wears his clothes with ease. He oozes style. He’s dressed today in a way that only a truly elegant man can. It’s a look that’s on the in-formal side of tailoring, but totally on the side of not having to try too hard. It’s just - right.

By 1976 they’d opened Hatters, and then, in 1978, came Ginger. The strategy behind its launch is interesting. ‘We began to wonder if there was room in Norwich for another menswear shop. We also realised that Van Gils for instance, a label we’d long been associated with, had a women’s collection. It was time to enter that market’. And when they did they brought the same magic they had to menswear.

Quality fabrics, high end labels, good designs, all in stylish premises and sold by people, just like Trumbull’s and Hatters always had, who kew about and cared about clothes.

If the number of shops now began to look like an empire, the business also has the mark of a dynasty. www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 09

FINEPeople Founder of it all, John Kingsley (‘Don’t you dare mention his age!’) had started with Chadds.

He’s still regularly on duty at the Bedford Street shop. It was David and Roger, who is now retired, who were the inspiration for Jonathan Trumbull and Hatters. David’s daughter Rebecca runs Ginger and his wife Vivienne is actively involved in the business.

And this is a business that values its staff, who they see as having a place in its future. A key player has to be Rod Canham, now a director of the Trumbull’s store. ‘He had glandular fever and missed his first few days at work’, says David, before adding, that was over 40 years ago and to my knowledge he's not had a day off sick since!’

I point out that Rod has sold me a string of suits, from the days of 3 piece single breasted and flared trousers, through the double breasted and, shall we say ‘generous in the shoulder’ styles, and on to current times. And every time I’ve walked in he's greeted me like a friend. It’s - he’s - one of the things that makes the place special. Somewhere where the

10 | December 2016

www.finecity.co.uk

clothes and the customers transcend the fact that it’s a business.

its heels on business rates. They’re a major issue for us’.

When it comes to business we talk of the current climate. David admits, like so many retailers, that internet shopping has had some impact, and all of their shops now have a strong online presence. Also, there are of course more ‘high street’ competitors than there once were.

‘Honestly though, perhaps the biggest challenge we face is the way in which government drags

It’s perhaps the only moment in our entire conversation where even a hint of negativity or pessimism creeps in. And it’s soon gone. In the very next breath David Kingsley tells me ‘It’s still enjoy-able. Still exciting’.

www.finecity.co.uk

We talk - because we’re easily drawn back to the world of clothes and shoes - of what the

shops in the group ‘stand for’. He’s expressive and genuinely passionate. ‘I love the idea that we sell quality, but above that, classic clothes.

We honestly aren’t worried about high fashion.

You can buy a piece from us and yes, it might, slightly, go in and out of style, but overall it’s something you can keep, forever.

I could talk with David Kingsley forever. Maybe the finer points of an Armani shoulder’s cut, or why Bass Weejuns are important, or the weight

2016 December | 11

FINEPeople of selvedge denim, aren’t things that everybody wants to converse about, (although I do), but it’s the fact that he, and his family, and his staff, know about these things that makes this group of shops so important. Their knowledge and enthusiasm is what drives their choice and selection. It’s about real style, and real quality, both of which will always win over quick fix transient fashion. It’s about the details. And it’s very much about the service.

David Kingsley is checking his phone. Not impatiently, or impolitely. He’s been charm and good conversation personified. But it’s time for him to go. If you’ve gleaned more than a hint of my own enthusiasm from this article I’m glad.

I’ve done my job. It’s been a pleasure to talk with this man.

I’m drawn back to my earlier comment about his own style. It’s just right. So it is with the shops. And the staff. And the clothes they sell.

All of it. It’s style. But it’s more than that. And if you under-stand these things you’ll know. It’s all, just, right.

George Frazier, (no - not the boxer) the legendary American journalist and arbiter of style believed in clothes being right. He was a man who worshipped Miles Davis’ playing, but was just as enthusiastic about his choice of shoes. He could tear into a politician, even a president, not for his views or policies, but because he had no style. For that, said George, there was no excuse.

You have Trumbull’s, and Hatters, and Ginger.

You have no excuse.

12 | December 2016

www.finecity.co.uk

KlangHaus: Four Storeys in Norwich London/Edinburgh sell out sensation comes home to Norwich for the very first time.

Part gig, part live art installation and total theatre from noise art/rock/ visual art collaborators

A

fter 3 sold out weeks at the Edinburgh Fringe and 41 sold out shows at London’s Royal Festival Hall, KlangHaus, the immersive music/theatre crossover collaboration between Norwich based band The Neutrinos and Great Yarmouth born artist Sal Pittman is coming to Norfolk for the very first time.

Produced and presented by Norwich Arts Centre, the 7 performances will take place on 20, 21, 22 and 23 December at St Georges Works, Muspole St Norwich. The shows will be at 6.30 and 8.30 on all days except Friday 23 when it will be 6.30 only.

KlangHaus is a maverick collision between noise, concealed sound and visual imagery. In the atmospheric surroundings of Norwich’s disused furniture depository St Georges Works, experimental art-rock collective The Neutrinos and visual artist Sal Pittman will assemble a siteresponsive montage of light, sound and space inspired by the history of the building. KlangHaus is completely reinvented for each location it is www.finecity.co.uk

performed in, akin to a duet with the building, taking deep breaths of life and love to create a sensory encounter of shifting sound, colour, electronica, improvisation and disorientation.

Celebrating the ghosts within, KlangHaus reinvents the gig-going experience as a unique close up promenade performance confronting the conventions of audience and musician separation. This 360-degree, immersive experience brings buildings to life through live performance, sound design, projected images and glimpsed vignettes.

KlangHaus originally crept out of nowhere to become an award winning sensation at the Edinburgh Festival. It was created anew for a 41 show sell out run in July at London’s Royal Festival Hall as KlangHaus:On Air. In September it regenerated as KlangHaus:Alight Here for another sold out series of shows in a disused Colchester bus depot. Now it comes to Norwich for the very first time as KlangHaus:Four Storeys (reflecting the building’s structure and interwoven themes of belongings, belonging, leaving, arriving). Harvesting unheard sounds, unseen images and unknown atmospherics from the walls of the building, to unravel a secret world of sound and vision that reinvents the idea of what a rock gig can be.

‘The walls of the space and the music... are genuinely in dialogue with each other’ ★★★★ Lyn Gardner, The Guardian 2016 December | 13

FINEARTS ‘A blast of aural and visual magic... a joy-inducing original’ ★★★★★ Donald Hutera, The Times Neutrinos singer Karen Reilly said ‘although we’ve been working on KlangHaus for over 2 years now you could say that we’ve been building towards it for much longer than that.

The success elsewhere has exceeded all our expectations. The way that Sal reflects the music through visual art has really appealed to people, describing it as ‘it’s like being inside the music’ which reflects the immersive environment that the songs and visuals create together. We’re so pleased to be able to bring it home to Norwich for the first time, where our audiences have been very loyal but also critical enough to keep us on our toes!’

Pasco Q Kevlin of Norwich Arts Centre added ‘Norwich Arts Centre has been supporting KlangHaus from the very start. Watching its success in London and Edinburgh has made me feel very proud for everyone involved and now we are ready to present the latest version of the show in Norwich, the city where it was first conceived and created and allowed to develop’.

Samantha Coe of Shoe Factory Social Club who run St Georges Works said ‘After its sell out successes in London Edinburgh and

elsewhere we’re thrilled to be hosting the first Norwich dates of KlangHaus at St Georges Works. What a perfect lead up to Christmas!’

In London, Colchester and Edinburgh KlangHaus was a true crossover experience, equally attractive to music and theatre critics, introducing theatre to rock n’ roll audiences

and vice-versa as the drama of the promenade performance erupts into the dynamics of a full on loud rock show and embraces the subtleties of intimate acoustic settings.

‘One show that truly delivers the shock of the new, the most innovative presentation of live music I’ve ever seen – a total game-changer’ Alex Needham, The Guardian KlangHaus originally grew out of the band’s experiences recording their third album The Butcher of Common Sense, working together with Pittman in Berlin’s legendary FunkHaus, a vast former DDR radio studio. The sessions revolutionised their attitudes to making music and art. The result was a limited edition 340page hand-finished art-book containing the album on CD and a 10inch vinyl record.

Throbbing art-punk noise and sexy urgent energy’ Time Out New York The Neutrinos have spent the last 10 years in constant states of reinvention. They have released 3 albums, performed around the UK, northern Europe, Canada and the USA. Their music has been used for underground film soundtracks and throughout the feature length Channel 4 documentary The Trials of Amanda Knox.

‘Breathes a lungful of fresh air into gig-going and theatre alike’ ★★★★ Maxie Szalwinska, Sunday Times Sal Pittman is an artist working with light, supergraphics, typography and montage in a seamless line between analogue and digital presentation. Visual representations of music, rich with tactile, off-kilter, unapologetic personality - Her art direction and design work

14 | December 2016

www.finecity.co.uk

FINEARTS

can be seen on promos and short films for 4AD and mute, including Grinderman, Can, Scott Walker/Sunn O))) and Daughter.

neutrinos.co.uk

‘This strides from page to projector with bold vision’ Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Directors, 20,000 Days On Earth

‘By turns lulls, terrorizes and invigorates the audience … an eerie but magnetic rock’n’roll mantra … crashing drums, rumbling fuzz bass, lighting is either low or blinding’ ★★★★ Fiona Shepherd, The Scotsman

★★★★★ Times, TV Bomb, Kirkintilloch Herald, The Mumble, Fresh Air, Remote Goat ★★★★ Guardian, Sunday Times, Telegraph, Time Out, Scotsman, Fest, Exeunt, What’s on Stage, The List, Herald, British Theatre Guide, Broadway Baby, The Skinny, Fringe Review, A Younger Theatre, Culture Whisper KlangHaus:Four Storeys is produced

by Norwich Arts Centre. klanghaus.co

salpittman.com

Listings info: KlangHaus:Four Storeys Art rock band and visual artist collaborate to re-imagine cross genre London and Edinburgh hit as site-specific immersive experience for a former furniture depository in Norwich. Part gig, part live art installation, totally theatre at the edge of darkness.

Tues 20, Weds 21, Thurs 22 December 6.30 and 8.30. Fri 23 December 6.30 only St George’s Works, Muspole St, Norwich NR3 1DJ Tickets £12 (£6 concessions) from Norwich Arts Centre 01603 660352 www.norwichartscentre.co.uk www.colchesterartscentre.com

www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 15

FINEARTS

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Able Care were always available to provide advice and support. It was a huge reassurance to know that one could rely completely on the agency. It took all the worry off my shoulders. I am most grateful. www.finecity.co.uk

”

FINEARTS

Calling all Norfolk Artists!

Be part of Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios 2017

Applications are now open to take part in one of the most successful Open Studios schemes in the country.

H

undreds of artists across the region take part in Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios each year, inviting the public into their private studios to reveal where and how they work. The event attracts thousands of visitors and this year an estimated 28,000 people visited studios across the county. Artists have the opportunity to promote their work and meet their audience, and visitors see artwork as it happens.

This year 455 artists participated in the scheme across 255 venues - along with 16 Norfolk schools. And artists came together to create 19 Art Trails in various areas across Norfolk, allowing the visitor to enjoy a number of studios all in one day. Art demonstrations, private views, workshops and talks also make up this well-loved event.

Well established artists as well as artists showing their work for the first time take part and for many it’s not just about making artwork sales. Artists comment that it helps them to feel part of their local artist community, they value visitor feedback and the scheme helps raise the profile of Norfolk artists.

Breckland based artist Emma Wells, who took part in the scheme for the first time this year, said she was “very pleased to have taken part in this event, it has been a great launch pad for my new business”.

Norwich based company Wex Photographic will be supporting the scheme again in 2017.

Events Manager Emma van Deventer said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios once more this year, reflecting our long-term commitment to supporting local arts programmes.

“The ethos of Open Studios is very much in line with our own values as a photographic company and we look forward to helping celebrate and promote artistic talent in Norfolk.”

Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios 2017 will take place between 27 May and 11 June 2017.

Artists wanting to take part can apply online at nnopenstudios.org.uk.

The cost for inclusion in the scheme is £100 for individual artists and £280 for groups of

artists, and includes a listing in the Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios brochure with a print run of 35,000.

Artists will also receive a listing on the Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios website, as well as posters and postcards to publicise their involvement. They will have the opportunity to take part in the high profile Central Taster Exhibition at The Forum in Norwich in April 2017, one of the largest annual art exhibitions held at the venue.

The deadline for 2017 applications is Friday 9 December 2016.

For more information please visit www.nnopenstudios.org.uk, email nnopenstudios@nnfestival.org.uk or call Ros Dixon on 01603 877762.

“It's a delight every year to discover the breadth of creativity and talent in Norfolk.

A highlight of the calendar wish it lasted longer!”

Visitor comment, June 2016 www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 17

FINEARTS

Shedload Theatre Live Foley sound-effects and dramatised Gothic horror readings will bring the deliciously-dark stylings of H P Lovecraft to life by Shedload Theatre’s new production. Norwich-based arts writer, Tony Cooper, reports

Tim Vaughan reading a horrifying moment in The Colour out of Space. Photos: Isaak Hest

L

argely considered H P Lovecraft’s finest work, The Colour out of Space - his personal favourite of all the stories he wrote - has been dramatized by the enterprising Norwichbased drama company, Shedload Theatre, and can be seen at the Shoe Factory Social Club, Norwich, NR3 3AF, on Thursday/Friday, 8th-9th December, nightly at 7.30pm. The show, in fact, will consist of three of Lovecraft’s short stories namely Dagon, The Outsider and, of course, The Colour out of Space.

This new performing space for Norwich is housed in St Mary’s Works - the former shoe factory of Sexton, Son & Everard - who, sadly, ceased trading in 1976 after nearly a century of quality manufacturing.

18 | December 2016

On an historical note, Henry Jesse Sexton (of the shoe-making family) purchased the Assembly Rooms next to Norwich Theatre Royal in 1938 to restore the building as a cultural centre for the people of Norwich and its surrounds. How ironic, then, that his old shoe factory is now being used for the same purpose.

who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1890, where he spent most of his life - it was a different matter. He was virtually unknown.

Mr Sexton’s restoration plans had to be put on hold because of the Second World War but he persevered with his project and eventually the Assembly Rooms opened as the Assembly House in 1950 to the delight of many Norwich citizens.

But he did achieve posthumous fame through

However, within the city of Norwich, Mr Sexton was extremely well known but in the case of American-born writer, H P Lovecraft -

feature by:

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

www.finecity.co.uk

FINEARTS his influential works of horror fiction and just before he died he found a degree of success when published in pulp magazines. Nowadays, he’s regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century writers of the Gothic genre.

Hopefully, Shedload Theatre - who uses an iconic mix of live Foley sound-effects and classic storytelling to weave out the dark and rich fantasies of Lovecraft’s writings - will bring his work to a much wider audience.

Among his most celebrated tales are The Call of Cthulhu and The Shadow over Innsmouth, both canonical to the ‘Cthulhu Mythos’, a term coined by August Derleth, a contemporary of Lovecraft who used the name of the creature ‘Cthulhu’ serving as a shared fictional universe based on Lovecraft’s work and the focus of Lovecraft’s short story, The Call of Cthulhu, first published in pulp magazine, Weird Tales, in 1928. The writer, Richard L Tierney, later applied the term ‘Derleth Mythos’ to distinguish between Lovecraft’s works and Derleth’s later stories.

Foley soundscapes, by the way, are created using some of the most unassuming objects and instruments which, when matched with claustrophobic lighting and the expert delivery from the readers, achieve an intense and exciting experience.

But like so many writers, Lovecraft was never able to support himself financially as a writer.

He saw commercial success elude him time and time again partly because he lacked the confidence and drive to promote himself.

He subsisted in progressively-straitened circumstances in his final years while he completely spent an inheritance by the time he died in 1937 at the young age of 46.

The end result, hopefully, will put members of the audience right into the belly of the story, allowing their imaginations to run wild as other-worldly horrors are painted around them.

For this production, Shedload have been working with members of the blind community to create a more inclusive performance which will include accessible features such as touch tours and Braille handouts.

Each performance features a narrator who reads the story, accompanied by live soundeffects. Therefore, this unique mix of text and sound aims to provide the perfect

Andrew Longhurst and Matthew Barnes performing Foley on a Thundersheet manipulating it to create a sound of a submarine. Photos: Isaak Hest

www.finecity.co.uk

audio experience for those who are blind or partially sighted.

An innovative theatre and production company founded in 2014, Shedload Theatre - whose principals are Matthew Barnes, Sam Johnson, Jonathan Siddall and Tim Vaughan has always had an eye for getting the most out of its venues and the long-abandoned St Mary’s Works offers a sparse, lonely space that’s sure to bring out the cold and isolating world of Lovecraft.

Shedload’s portfolio chiefly comprises adaptations of literary works - both past and prersent - all of which cover a wide range of genres. Past productions include The Fall of the House of Usher (Corpus Playroom, Cambridge, 2015), The Statement of Randolph Carter (Cambridge Union, 2014/Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2015), The Star Rover (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2015), Stitches (Fusion Theatre Festival, 2015), The Dunwich Horror (Corpus Playroom, 2015), The Pit and The Pendulum (Corpus Playroom, 2014) and Five Go Off On One! (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2016).

Tickets £8, concs £7, at door.

Poster design: Ben A E Fil

2016 December | 19

FINEARTS

Guilty Party Hocus Pocus Theatre and Norwich Arts Centre invite you to their Guilty Party Theatre, intrigue, conspiracy, dancing, live music and more at the ultimate end of year/NYE party

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ocus Pocus Theatre, aided and abetted by a close knit firm of co-conspirators will take over the whole of Norwich Arts Centre for three nights leading up to (and including) New Year’s Eve for the ultimate in theatrical end of year parties – a truly Guilty Party.

The St Benedicts Street venue will be reimagined as a downtown, sleazy, nightclub dive

on the wrong side of the tracks, transformed from top to bottom with sparkling décor, drapery and slightly suspect glamour. Dreams are an escape from reality and reality is much darker than you ever imagine and watch out for the intriguing secret Your invitation allows you to explore Norwich Arts Centre as never before. To gain access to secret rooms, to experience intimate

encounters with intriguing characters, themed sets and to succumb to sweet temptation.

Social commentary meets social experiment in this underground, immersive and surreal living comedy. Turning cabaret on its head, making a song and dance of the state of the nation.

Meet the club’s sleazy proprietor and his menagerie of performers who spin a tale of power, corruption and deceit in a world where crooks are commonplace and innocent bystanders turn to crime in the blink of an eye.

Hocus Pocus Theatre and their usual suspects No Strings Burlesque & Cabaret Club & Boogaloo have teamed up with the finest performers around to throw a party you will never forget. Featuring cabaret and circus from Gossamer Thread’s Vaudeville Co.’s Daisy Black and Alex McAleer (Curious Cabaret, Greatest Show on Earth), a secret cinema, live music from the house band and dancing late into the night to DJ Jazzlord spinning the finest selection of vintage rarities.

The Guilty Party, is set to be both the party and the theatrical event of the year, this one and next – and probably the one after too! Attenders are encouraged to dress for the occasion, interpreting in their own way the themes of prohibition era uninhibited speakeasies, underworld glamour and daring decadence… will you be the Guilty Party?

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FINEARTS Opening time is staggered at 8pm and 8.30pm.

All will be revealed when you book!

Norwich based Hocus Pocus Theatre are an eccentric ensemble of performers that have been creating shows since 2008. They devise new performance that is anarchic, full of energy and wit. Their work has toured the UK and internationally. Professional wind-up merchants and masters of disguise, Hocus Pocus Theatre revel in playing the fool and are known for their quirky, dark, comic characters that entertain, amuse and delight.

shows and theatrical instillations and the company specialise in walkabout and cabaret entertainment. Hocus Pocus Theatre‘s style of performance combines clowning with a penchant for freakery and a touch of magic to create immersive and subversive performance for any occasions and for all to enjoy.

They create unique theatrical encounters that blur the boundaries between audience and performer and their talents in this type of interactive theatre, know no bounds. Their work has been produced for and performed at outdoor arts festivals, theatres, club nights and a wide range of events. Their repertoire includes site specific pieces, mid scale outdoor

Listings info: Hocus Pocus Theatre and Norwich Arts Centre present Guilty Party Immersive, theatrical club experience.

Interactive characters, cabaret, installations live band and DJ reimagine the venue as a downtown, sleazy nightclub dive. Age 18+ Thursday 29th December – Preview, 8.00pm/8.30pm – 12pm £15 / Concs: £12.50 Friday 30th December – Cocktail Night, 8.00pm/8.30pm – 1am £20 / Concs: £17.50 Saturday 31st December – New Years Eve Special, 8.00pm/8.30pm – 2am) £25 / Concs: £22.50 Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedicts Street Norwich NR2 4PG 01603 660352 www.norwichartscentre.co.uk If available tickets will cost more on the door. Advanced booking is strongly advised.

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FINEARTS

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Norfolk collective to exhibit new works at city gallery

A

Norfolk collective is set to open an exhibition of unseen work at the Fairhurst Gallery in Norwich.

Eight by Eight will feature artwork by Group Eight who are renowned for working outdoors ‘en plein air’.

Each of the group’s eight artists has created a new, three foot square piece of work for the show as well as numerous study pieces.

Norfolk born artist and former London gallerist, James Colman, said: “Group Eight are very excited about exhibiting at Fairhurst. Most of us have previously had connections with the gallery in various shapes and form.

“All the artists create work inspired by the East Anglian landscape though each artist brings their own distinctive style.”

The exhibition runs from December, 9 2016 until January, 20 2017.

Artists taking part are Tor Falcon, James Colman, Alex Egan, Cornelia FitzRoy, Fred Ingrams, Katie Falcon, Mark Cator and Auriol Innes.

For more information visit www.fairhurstgallery.co.uk

“The new programme at the gallery made us all realise that The Fairhurst Gallery is fast establishing itself as the premier contemporary gallery in the region. Its ambitious and progressive programme combines eclecticism, quality and accessibility.”

Formed in autumn 2008 with the intention of getting back to the business of ‘doing a bit of life drawing,’ Group Eight has emerged as a quintessentially Norfolk based outfit.

With shared values yet disparate styles, the group is at its happiest when rooted firmly in the Norfolk landscape of Broadland, Breckland and Fenland.

With all eight artists living within a 15-mile radius of each other, Mr Colman – the man behind ‘Paint Out’ - said: “The group meets for life drawing regularly and over the years have exhibited together both in East Anglia and London at various venues: Group shows, Festivals, Galleries and even in our own homes.

“From time to time we go off on painting trips, like collectives tend to do.

I think one of the reasons that we've stayed a cohesive force is that we do have as The Americans describe 'shared values' when it comes to art.

“The great thing is that Group Eight allows for mutual support. Some friendship and a chance to push some new ideas into reality helps keep the creative fire burning.”

Dulcie Humphrey from the Fairhurst Gallery said: “Group Eight are a collective of some of the finest artists working in Norfolk right now.

“We have been very keen to showcase the group since we took over the gallery in 2014. Having caught some glimpses of their work up in the framing workshop I have been increasingly inspired to seek more. www.finecity.co.uk

Fairhurst Gallery & Framers

Established in 1949 the Fairhurst provides bespoke framing and art conservation services

www.fairhurstgallery.co.uk

2016 December | 23

FINEARTS

A United Kingdom

Cinema City Norwich-born film buff, Tony Cooper, looks at special screenings at Cinema City this month

Films to look out for: Sully An emotionally-charged film, Sully (directed

by Clint Eastwood) tells the story of Chesley Sullenberger, an American civil pilot who became a hero overnight after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order

to save the flight’s passengers and crew.

Starring: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Castaway) and Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Battle Los Angeles) A United Kingdom A United Kingdom (directed by Amma Asante) tells the true (and inspiring) story of Seretse

Khama, king of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana) and Ruth Williams, the London office-worker he married in 1948 in the face of fierce opposition from their families and the British and South African governments. Seretse and Ruth defied Family, Apartheid and Empire their love triumphed over every obstacle flung in their path and in so doing they transformed their nation and inspired the world. Starring: David Oyelowo (Selma, Queen of Katwe) and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, Pride and Prejudice) Paterson Jim Jarmusch’s immersive followup to Only Lovers Left Alive, Paterson is both a searching study in aloneness and a celebration of the small wonders woven into feature by:

Tony Cooper Sully

24 | December 2016

Writer tc@tony-cooper.co.uk

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FINEARTS the fabric of everyday existence. It chronicles a week in the life of Paterson (Adam Driver), a bus-driver in the city of Paterson, New Jersey.

He leads a homespun life of regularity with his creative ‘stay-at-home’ wife, Laura (played

by Iranian-born actress, Golshifteh Farahani), underpinned by a passion for poetry that provides refuge for reflection.

Allied In 1942 North Africa, intelligence officer Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) encounters French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

Reunited in London, their relationship is threatened by the extreme pressure of the war.

Director: Robert Zemeckis.

Star Wars: Rogue One In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things and in so doing become part of something greater than themselves. Director: Gareth Edwards. Starring: Felicity Jones (A Theory of Everything, Inferno) and Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal, The Hunt).

Special Events It’s a Wonderful Life Sunday 21st December (2pm) Monday 22nd December (8.30pm) Wednesday 24th December (12pm) (2.45pm) (5.30pm) One of the most popular and enduring films ever made, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life is

It’s a Wonderful Life

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Paterson

a gloriously-sentimental testament to homely small-town American moral values. The setting’s Christmas Eve at Bedford Falls where one meets guardian angel Clarence (Henry Travers) who’s assigned to convince the desperate George Bailey (played by James Stewart) not to commit suicide. George, though, is a good man that sacrificed his dreams and his youth on behalf of the citizens of his small town and starts to realise how many lives he has changed and impacted - and how they would be different if he was never there. The film looks better than ever in its new restoration.

One More Time with Feeling Thursday 1st December (9pm) Andrew Dominik’s One More Time with Feeling is a remarkable 3-D black-and-white documentary about the creation of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ album ‘Skeleton Tree’.

Originally a performance-based concept, the film evolved into something much more

significant as Dominik delved into the tragic backdrop of the writing and recording of the album. Interwoven throughout the Bad Seeds’ filmed performance of the new album are interviews and footage shot by Dominik.

The result is stark, fragile and raw and a true testament to an artist trying to find his way through the darkness.

This extraordinary and now widely-lauded film premièred at this year’s Venice Film Festival and was followed by screenings in 950 cinemas across 30 countries. Already seen by more than 125,000 people on one day (many at sold-out screenings) the phenomenal response globally sees One More Time with Feeling return to cinemas for what promises another great outing.

Dean Spanley Saturday 3rd December (3.30pm) Star actor, Peter O’Toole, gives a scorching performance as the misanthropic curmudgeon, Horatio Fisk, in this wonderfully-eccentric comedy-drama based on the novel by Baron Dunsany and full of peculiarly English quirks and ticks. Directed by Fijian-New Zealander, Toa Fraser, the action of Dean Spanley is set at the start of the 20th century and the scenario surrounds a distanced father and son, Horatio and Henslowe (Jeremy Northam), who attend a lecture on the Transmigration of Souls by a visiting Hindu Swami. They meet Dean Spanley (Sam Neill), with whom Henslowe strikes up a bizarre friendship. At dinner he plies the Dean with a rare Hungarian wine and, in return, Spanley hales forth trance-like reminiscences of a highly-unexpected former life: a preexistence that may just hold the key to the family heartbreak that Horatio is trying to keep repressed.

2016 December | 25

FINEARTS Dean Spanley

musical counterpoints, the fascinating language used by Alex and his pals - Kubrick shapes them into a shattering whole.

Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man Wednesday 7th December (1pm) Claude Rains made his American film début as Dr Griffin, H G Wells’ scientist- turned-invisible psychopath. Helped along by some impressive matte work and trick photography, Rains conjures his considerable screen presence through voice alone.

Royal Opera House Live: The Nutcracker Thursday 8th December (7.15pm)

Night of the Demon Sunday 4th December (1pm) Legendary for such 1940s fantasy/horror thrillers as I Walked with a Zombie and Cat People, French-born director, Jacques Tourneur, returned to form in the mid-1950s with this eerie tale based on M R James’ story, Casting the Runes. In London for a paranormal symposium, sceptical American psychologist, Dr John Holden (played by Hollywood heartthrob, Dana Andrews), aims to debunk the supernatural claims of cult leader, Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis). While perhaps unwisely staying at the agreeably urbane Karswell’s estate - along with Joanna Harrington (Peggy Cummins), the niece of one of Karswell’s inner circle - Holden gradually experiences all the unsettling signs of being subject to a deadly curse. Tourneur’s skill with unnervingly suggestive imagery ramps up the fear factor.

The Coming War on China Monday 5th December (8pm) The Coming War on China is John Pilger’s 60th documentary film and reveals what the news doesn’t: that the world’s greatest military power, the United States, and the world’s second economic power, China, both nucleararmed, may well be on the road to war.

A warning to the curious: Ghost Stories at Christmas

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Pilger’s film is both a warning and an inspiring story of resistance.

The Sainsbury Centre at Cinema City: Fire at Sea Monday 5th December (8.30pm) Fire at Sea - an Italian-made documentary directed by Gianfranco Rosi - won the Golden Bear award at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. It was also selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.

Shot on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa at the height of the European migrant crisis, the scenario portrays the migrants’ dangerous Mediterranean crossing against a background of the ordinary life of the islanders.

The main characters are a twelve-year-old boy from a local fishing family and a doctor who treats the migrants on their arrival. In his acceptance speech for the Golden Bear award, Signor Rosi stated that his intention was to heighten awareness of the migrant situation, saying: ‘It’s not acceptable that people die crossing the sea to escape from tragedies.’

A Clockwork Orange Monday 5th December (1pm) Stomping, whomping, stealing, singing, tapdancing, violating, Derby-topped teddy-boy hooligan Alex (Malcolm McDowell) has his own way of having a good time. He has it at the tragic expense of others. Alex’s journey from amoral punk to brainwashed proper citizen forms the dynamic arc of Stanley Kubrick’s future-shook vision of Anthony Burgess’ novel. Unforgettable Images, startling

The Royal Ballet’s glorious production of The Nutcracker, created by Peter Wright in 1984, is a production par excellence of an all-time ballet favourite. It is Christmas Eve and Drosselmeyer, the magician, sweeps young Clara away on a fantasy adventure in which time is suspended, the family living-room becomes a great battlefield and a magical journey takes them through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets. Tchaikovsky’s glittering score, the gorgeous festive stage designs and The Royal Ballet’s captivating dancing - including an exquisite pas de deux between the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince - make this Nutcracker the quintessential Christmas experience.

Meet Me in St Louis (dementia-friendly screening) Friday 9th December (11am) Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames), a banker and a father, is considering whether to uproot his family to New York, scuttling his daughter Esther’s (Judy Garland) romance with the ‘boy-next-door’ John Truett (Tom Drake) and causing similar emotional trauma for the rest of the household. The songs are a heady combination of period tunes and newly-minted numbers by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin, the best of which are ‘The Boy Next Door’, ‘The Trolley Song’ and ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’. As a bonus Meet Me in St Louis is lensed in rich Technicolor, shown to best advantage in the climactic scenes at the St Louis World Fair of 1904.

MET Opera: L’Amour De Loin Saturday 10th December (5.55pm) / Monday 12th December (12.30pm) One of the most highly-praised operas of recent years, Kaija Saariaho’s yearning medieval www.finecity.co.uk

FINEARTS romance, L’Amour De Loin (Love From Afar), had its Met première this season. The production’s

by Robert Lepage and co-produced with L’Opéra De Québec in collaboration with Ex Machina. Debuting Finnish conductor, Susanna Mälkki, leads the performance which stars Susanna Phillips as Clémence, Eric Owens (Jaufré) and Tamara Mumford as the Pilgrim who carries messages of love between them.

Drag Me to Hell Saturday 10th December (10pm)

and packed with all the favourites including Handel’s well-loved Hallelujah Chorus as well as other lovable numbers as Jingle Bells and White Christmas. As an exclusive for cinema audiences, André will be inviting his fans to his home town of Maastricht for a taste of its Christmas festivities as well as participating in a Q&A with Cinema Live host, Charlotte Hawkins.

A Warning to the Curious: Scrooge Sunday 11th December (1pm) / Monday 12th December (1pm)

Director Sam Raimi (Spider Man Trilogy, Evil Dead series) returns to the horror genre with a bang in Drag Me to Hell, an original tale of a young woman’s desperate quest to break an evil curse. Christine Brown (played by Allison Lohman) is an ambitious LA loan officer with a charming boyfriend, Professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long). Life’s good until the mysterious Mrs Ganush (Lorna Raver) arrives at the bank to beg for an extension on her home loan.

Should Christine follow her instincts and give the old woman a break? Or should she deny the extension to impress her boss? She fatefully chooses the latter, shaming Mrs Ganush and dispossessing her of her home. In retaliation, the old woman places the powerful curse of the Laima on Christine, transforming her life into a living hell.

Could anything be sweeter than a taste of Christmas humbug? Alastair Sim is the definitive Ebenezer Scrooge in this evergreen tale of greed, ghosts and goodwill.

Christmas with André Rieu Encore

Opening during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, this début feature from the Iranian-born writerdirector, Babak Anvari, draws on his childhood experiences. His central characters, Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and her young daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi), are holed up in their Tehran apartment while her conscripted husband Iraj (Bobby Naderi) is away fighting.

After an air-raid badly damages the building, Dorsa’s once familiar playthings go missing

Sunday 11th December (3pm) A festive celebration featuring a 90-minute Christmas concert performed by André Rieu and his famous Johann Strauss Orchestra along with his immaculate team of solo singers was recorded during the master violinist’s December tour last year. The show’s magical, entertaining

Blue Velvet Monday 12th December (8.45pm) The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

Under the Shadow Tuesday 13th December (6.15pm)

and she begins seeing frightening images. As Anvari’s film skilfully segues into the horror genre, the implication is that malevolent spirits are creeping through cracks in the ceiling. Still hoping to return to her medical career once hostilities finally end, Shideh refuses to play the obedient housewife role despite her husband’s cautions. This masterful blend of anti-Cultural Revolution polemic, family drama and outright scariness is a great credit to all concerned.

Under the Shadow was produced by the British film company, Wigwam Films, in an international co-production between Qatar, Jordan and the United Kingdom The Bolshoi Ballet: The Nutcracker Sunday 18th December (3pm) Another version of The Nutcracker. Why not!

Christmas would not be complete without it.

Featuring the principal dancers of the famous Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russian ballet-master Yuri Grigorovich’s staging of E T A Hoffmann’s fairy-tale will transport and delight children and adults alike to a world of magic and wonder. Just the right ticket for the holiday season.

The action of the ballet takes place on Christmas Eve in which one encounters Marie’s wooden Nutcracker Doll transformed into a beautiful and handsome Prince who takes her on a magical journey. But before they depart they have to confront the Mouse King whose army’s on the march and threatening poor little Marie like no other.

The star cast includes Denis Rodkin as The Nutcracker Prince while Anna Nikulina dances Marie, Andrei Merkuriev (Drosselmeyer) and Vitaly Biktimirov (The Mouse King) and supported as always by the Bolshoi’s masterful, well-disciplined and well-trained Corps de Ballet.

The Bolshoi Ballet: The Nutcracker

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2016 December | 27

Picture of the Month

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Location: Timber Hill Featuring: Ginger Photography: Daniel Tink, hello@danieltink.co.uk www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 29

Your Christmas In A New Light C

hristmas in Norwich is going be spectacular, and like nothing you’ve ever seen in the city before.

The festive season officially started on 17 November when the cities Christmas lights were officially switched on by Ed Balls, and Norwich has been sparkling and glittering ever since.

Light plays a major theme for Norwich this Christmas with the highlight of the festive celebrations; a 45m Tunnel of Light and is a UK first and the largest video tunnel in Europe.

30 | December 2016

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FINECHRISTMAS Images courtesy of Norwich Business Improvement District (BID)

With over 8.6km of 55,000 pulsating LED beams this light extravaganza promises visitors a Christmas wonderland display that will reflect the pattern and colours of the Northern Lights as well as a few festive treats.

The impressive structure located on Hay Hill by the side of St Peter Mancroft Church is illuminated daily/nightly until 5 January 2017.

Norwich is known for its creativity and Christmas is well known for its shows and this year the two come colliding together with visual treats across the city centre. www.finecity.co.uk

Continuing the theme of light, marvel at two of Norwich’s most iconic buildings, the Castle and City Hall be transformed by 280ft awe-inspiring projections set to music. Three original projections, commissioned by Norwich Business Improvement District (BID), illuminate these stunning architectural back drops nightly until the 5 January.

City Hall will play host to a seasonal spectacular full of festive cheer whilst the Castle is a canvas for contemporary visual art and an impromptu mural from Father Christmas,

Starting from 6pm on the Castle and 6.30pm on City Hall, each will run hourly until the final 10pm showing on the Castle.

The streets of Norwich are bedecked with twinkling lights, but Christmas would not be the same without a Christmas Tree and this year standing proudly by City Hall, you will find a glittering 8m tall Norwegian Spruce.

These fabulous attractions are not to be missed, head in to Norwich and immerse yourself in a wonderland never seen before.

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FINEPLACES

Joining Castle Mall For Christmas

A

t Castle Mall, Christmas means a very special time of year for so many people and for the shopping industry.

Within the eight week build up to Christmas retailers will take up to between 50 to 60% of their annual sales, so it is very important that the retailers get it correct in ordering the stock and to keep an eye on what is selling.

But what is so important for all at Castle Mall is the correct environment, the correct security, the correct customer focus, car parking, offering a clean environment and an inviting environment.

The Mall will also have brand new decorations which will consist of a gold theme bringing in a classic warmth, and hopefully these decorations will last up to a period of four years. Reindeers with Santa’s sleigh will be on view for customers

to enjoy with reindeers placed throughout the Mall with gold icicles. At about 3pm the lights will come on showing the full impact to customers who have come from outside in the cold to the warm inviting gold lights of the Mall.

There will be a traditional turning on the lights ceremony by Santa with personal appearances from Catboy, Gekko and Owlette from preschool TV series PJ Mask. Also joining in will be Heart FM Breakfast Presenters Dave and Heidi as well as acts Jingle Bell and Lorraine Deer and juggling Ice People.

The Mall is also looking forward to welcoming new tenants who hopefully will be installed in time for the Christmas period including its very own Christmas shop. Extended shopping times will be on offer to allow customers more times to purchase their gifts including up till 9pm on a Thursday leading up the big day, with the car park opening at 7am and closing at around 1am and housing around 800 cars. The Mall has a different approach to closing times because of the cinema and extra staff are employed for the holiday period to make customer shopping experience even greater.

32 | December 2016

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FINECHRISTMAS Castle Mall is involved in an annual charity, so towards the Christmas period a local charity is nominated and a Christmas gift wrap which will be situated on level 2 and will be run by volunteers and a donation will be collected for the wrapping.

This year at the Mall there will not be a Santa’s grotto, but will in its place be a giant chair which will be known as the ‘Selfie Chair’ where photos will be posted on Facebook with a competition for the best photo with a prize based on ‘Social Media’ such as a phone or camera. The Mall’s in-house Marketing Manager came up with the idea and it is a brave idea in moving away from the traditions that has long been expected by shopping centres. In using the ‘Selfie Chair’ Castle Mall are given the youth of Norwich and further afield what they are using and being involved with every day, and that being ‘Social Media’ and this I believe is a first for the area making Castle Mall a champion for the youth.

An ice rink will return and will be sponsored

by Archant.

The last day for shopping, being Christmas Eve, which falls on a Saturday will see the Mall close its doors for around 5pm, but for the retailers an early finish will not take place as they will have to get their shops ready for Boxing Day on Monday and followed by Holiday Tuesday.

Boxing Day will see some stores open from 8am to 9pm.

Castle Mall is run by the talented Centre Manager Amanda Phillips and her amazing team which include Katy Steer and Carole Hayward and they all work very closely with their retailers all year round, so Christmas will be equally important to both sides. And as we head towards the end of 2016 and to the start of 2017 Castle Mall look forward to inviting new and old customers alike to the new restaurants that will soon be unveiled.

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2016 December | 33

FINECHRISTMAS

The Greatest Christmas Novel of All Time BAH HUMBUG!

gaslight, ‘gruff ’ old church bells, braziers, rapture of everyone for the time of year, holly, oranges, plums, nuts, stirring Christmas puddings in garrets, skating on the snow, singing carols, good cheer, meanness and forgiveness – he refers to ‘The Lord Mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty Mansion House’ who is giving instructions to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayor should. So we know where Scrooge is when he utters the immortal words ‘Bah. Humbug!’

It is 1843, and six days to Christmas. Charles Dickens, already world-famous for a series of best-selling novels, releases ‘A Christmas Carol’.

It is to rapidly sell out six editions. More than that, it redefines a rather lacklustre and cold Pagan festival and turns it into the celebration we know today.

It is fast getting to that time again, the holiday which Dickens described – of ice and snow, of goodwill to all men, of families, of chestnuts, plum pudding and roasted goose, of cards and gifts, in short, of Christmas! If our greatest novelist did not exactly invent all these things, he certainly immortally encapsulated them in his most wonderful short novel ‘A Christmas Carol’.

Our present view of Christmas-tide is probably Germanic in origin. The Christmas tree, with gifts and candles, was introduced to Great Britain by Prince Albert, devoted consort of Queen Victoria who was herself what today we would call a ‘superfan’ of the novelist (he was granted a private audience with her shortly before his death in 1870 ). Yet the spirit of Christmas, of how we could be, of how we perhaps should be, and the possibility of change to that ideal, is simply, clearly and thrillingly presented by Dickens in his invention of one man - Ebenezer Scrooge.

READING THE BOOK AT CHRISTMAS

THE MEANEST MAN ON EARTH In Scrooge, Dickens presents us with the ultimate story of transformation. Here is a man totally wrapped up in negativity, hating everyone and doing nothing but harm to his fellow man. But Dickens shows us that even this miserable wretch, when given a good kicking, can change and become a good man. Thus ‘A Christmas Carol’ has it all: it can be great drama, an entertaining musical, a comedy or everything in one as in my personal favourite Yuletide entertainment, the completely daft and endearing ‘Muppets’ Christmas Carol’ with Michael Caine and Miss Piggy.

REDEMPTION IS UNIVERSAL ‘A Christmas Carol’is remarkable for many things, but one of the most striking is that while it deals in great themes – love, selfishness, redemption – it is the most vague of Dickens’ great novels in exactly where we are at any one time. It can be argued that this is intentional as the themes are universal and a lot of time is spent whisking Scrooge over the universe and from life to death to life again, with a touch of time-travel thrown in. But as to its earthly origins, most people know that it is based somewhere in the East End of London but will not be able to tell you more than that.

However, at the beginning, as Dickens begins to warm to his theme of Christmas – cold,

34 | December 2016

When I was younger I was lucky enough to share a London house with several other people, all of whom were, like me, great Dickens fans. Every Christmas Eve, those of us who did not go somewhere else, had a ritual that I cannot help but smile about whenever I think back. We would make sure that we had finished dinner and washed up etc by about 8. Then, we would settle down in a circle on the living room carpet with coffee, mints, nuts, Tawny Port and Guinness. We would take it in turns to read the whole of ‘A Christmas Carol’ aloud. We had a particularly gruffsounding flatmate who would say Scrooge’s lines with such brilliance that we would often have to stop for a few minutes, quite helpless with laughter. It was maybe fortunate that he had the invariable habit of nodding off about the same time as the Ghost of Christmas Present: this would be about 11 o’clock. The art, of course, was to make sure that the final words from Tiny Tim – God Bless Us, Everyone!’ – were said just after the clock struck twelve. In all the years we did it, I think we always achieved this - you can speed up or slow down, you see, or have another nut or something to keep on time…

If you have children, how about sitting around the living room and taking it in feature by:

Steve Browning Writer @returningperson

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FINECHRISTMAS Papers’, where he remarks that the local people had a very fine opinion of their own importance. This is contested vigorously by several other places, notably Ipswich, but I think that the size of the election and description of the town points to Norwich.

HANGINGS Dickens is reputed to have attended a public hanging in Norwich and was appalled at what he witnessed. They used to take place outside the Norman Castle: The Bell Hotel was a favoured place to rent a room for a good view.

Dickens found the ‘party’ atmosphere – there was feasting, singing, (much) drinking and the sale of gruesome knick-knacks – appalling.

There is something about the city that makes it easy to imagine Dickens placing his characters here. In ‘English Journey’, J.B. Priestley remarks that Norwich has the most Dickensian atmosphere of any city he knows, excepting perhaps Canterbury. turns to read the book between you? It is short and will take maybe three hours. It is very funny and heart-warming, but as it will make you hungry when Dickens talks of Christmas fare - which is often - it is a good idea to have some snacks, nuts, fruit and things to nibble.

It is also the most perfect novel ever written.

There is not an excess word. Here we have Charles Dickens in his pomp. He read it aloud to Maclise, Forster, Wilkie Collins and his family. I see him, with a glint in his eye, settling everyone down after dinner, saying, ‘I have written something. Care to hear it?’ He would have thoroughly enjoyed himself, watching

all their faces. Then, at the end, silence and apparently there were a few tears. What more could they say?

DICKENS COMES TO NORWICH Dickens was a great traveller. He was probably best known to the citizens of East Anglia from the tours he took in a type of entertainment that he also invented– ‘Readings of Charles Dickens’. His prose is theatrical in nature – Mamie Dickens, his daughter, tells us that once she watched him at work when he was completely unaware that he was not alone: he got up from his chair, went to the mirror and exchanged conversation with the character he was inventing in his imagination.

Then he returned for a few minutes to write the exchange down, before, hey-ho, he was up again for another exchange in front of the mirror. This training lent itself perfectly to great dramatic monologues. And his readings from ‘A Christmas Carol’, as mentioned above, would generally bring the house down.

There was one place, however, where he did not do so well – Norwich. He gave two readings here in March 1867 at St Andrews Hall and the Royal Hotel. The audience was ‘not magnetic’ by which he means he could not feel any bond with his audience. Being a native of the city myself, I think I can understand how people here would refuse to be charmed by this famous man from the big smoke. We were stubborn then and still are, don’t you think?

WICKED HUMOUR It is here, too that Mr Pickwick and friends probably - I say that as some argue that this great ‘social event of the year’ takes place nearer Ipswich, but we simply do not know for sure -attend the summer party of Mrs Leo Hunter. My friends thought I was quite mad when, some years ago, I first read this scene: I simply kept laughing in the most unsuitable places, like the check-out queue at Marks and Spencer, as the poem arose uninvited into my mind. In the novel Mrs Leo Hunter is mocked for her supposed literary abilities and sensitivity.

She recites her latest work to an amazed Mr Pickwick. It is called ‘Expiring Frog’ and goes like this: ‘‘Can I view thee panting, lying On thy stomach, without sighing; Can I unmoved see thee dying On a log Expiring frog!’’

‘Beautiful!’ said Mr Pickwick ‘Fine,’ said Mr Leo Hunter; ‘so simple.’

›

A STARRING ROLE Norwich was possibly also the scene of the very funny Eatanswill elections in ‘The Pickwick www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 35

› ‘Very,’ said Mr Pickwick.

‘The next verse is even more touching. Shall I repeat it?’

‘If you please,’ said Mr Pickwick.

‘It runs thus,’ said the man, still more gravely.

“Say, have fiends in shape of boys, With wild hallo, and brutal noise, Hunted thee from marshy joys, With a dog, Expiring frog!’’

‘Finely expressed,’ said Mr Pickwick.

GREAT YARMOUTH Great Yarmouth features in key scenes in David Copperfield. Dickens liked to walk here and get rid of his amazing energy. Once, in 1849, he took a holiday in Norfolk, walking from Yarmouth to Lowestoft and back again in one go – a distance of 23 miles. He found Yarmouth ‘the strangest place’ and set key scenes from David Copperfield on an upturned boat/ turned home on the beach. Little Emily was taken from here and seduced by Steerforth.

Steerforth was to perish in possibly the most terrifying storm in literature, which wrecked his ship off Yarmouth sands as he attempted to return to England following his fall from grace.

This is how Dickens describes it: ‘The tremendous sea itself, when I could find sufficient pause to look at it, in the agitation of the blinding wind, the flying stones and sand, and the awful noise, confounded me. As the high watery walls came rolling in, and, at their highest,

tumbled into surf, they looked as if the least would engulf the town’.

Anthony Trollope, Dickens’ famous contemporary, thought his affection for the town quite ridiculous and supposedly planned the novel ‘Can You Forgive Her?’ in 1863 as an antidote. There was a good deal of rivalry, at times loathing, between the great literary figures of the day – Dickens and Thackeray in particular having a lifelong ding-dong, the latter regarding Dickens as unbearably coarse.

Dickens himself was not above gentle ribbing of Norfolk folk either when it pleased him. We find the following in his last great unfinished novel ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’: ‘Mr Bazzard’s father, being a Norfolk farmer, would have furiously laid about him with a flail, a pitch-fork, and every agricultural implement available for assaulting purposes, on the slightest hint of his son’s having written a play’.

BURY ST EDMUNDS Mr Pickwick pops up all over and it is no surprise to find him in our neighbouring county of Suffolk. It is in Bury St Edmunds that he finds himself fooled – along, most unusually with the acute Sam Weller – and ends up in a compromising position in the garden of a school for young ladies.

THE RED BARN MURDER Bury St Edmunds also attracted Dickens’ attention in a completely different sense. The town witnessed the execution by hanging of William Corder in 1828 in the notorious Red

36 | December 2016

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FINECHRISTMAS Barn Murder, when Corder shot his fiancée.

Dickens published an account of the trial and hanging in ‘All The Year Round’, the monthly magazine he ran. Dickens campaigned against such executions all his life and the aftermath of this one was particularly gruesome – you could apparently buy a piece of the hanging rope for a guinea, and Corder’s scalp, with an ear attached, was displayed in Oxford Street in London.

SOUTHWOLD, CHARLES DICKENS AND GEORGE ORWELL The seaside resort of Southwold has a special link to Dickens. Southwold was the home of George Orwell and it was here that he retired, in frail health, hoping the sea air would help repair his damaged lungs. The year was 1940.

Whilst here he wrote his famous essay on Charles Dickens, whom he greatly admired. He says that when he read Dickens, he saw the face of a man behind the words – ‘It is the face of a man of about forty, with a small beard and a high colour. He is laughing, with a touch of anger in his laughter, but no triumph, no malignity. It is the face of a man who is always fighting against something, but who fights in the open and is not frightened, the face of a man who is generously angry…’

A NEW RIDDLE I have also, during the researches for my book ‘The World of Charles Dickens’ (Halsgrove 2012), found an interesting little riddle which concerns the Suffolk town of Ipswich. Here, Mr Pickwick, finds himself in a hotel where he gets lost looking for his room late at night.

He enters a room he supposes to be his, but is mortified to find that a middle-aged lady subsequently arrives ‘in yellow curl-papers’. He hides, but the lady hears a noise:

‘A gentleman!’ said the lady, with a terrific scream.

‘It’s all over!’ thought Mr Pickwick.

‘A strange man!’ shrieked the lady.

The riddle is this. In ‘Bozland: Dickens’ People and Places’, published in 1895, the author claims to have spoken to a man who has heard from another man who has spoken to Dickens himself that this is based on a real incident.

It was Dickens himself who became lost in the hotel and committed this transgression. I am quite prepared to believe it, as it has the ring of truth, although the details may well have been changed for dramatic impact. It was typical of him to take and develop such a genuine incident.

A fascinating fact is that new tales of Dickens are still coming to light. Apart from his great novels and articles, he wrote thousands of letters, some of which are still being ‘discovered’. Will there be more stories of Dickens, ‘A Christmas Carol’ Norwich and East Anglia? I sincerely hope and expect so.

enjoyed the journey as the author leads us through Dickens’ life and times. Written with scholarly enthusiasm and a mix of humour, it makes for light enjoyable reading. It explains how many of the names of the characters came to be. Brilliant! Contrasting as it was, with how it, is makes me want to visit some of the locations to drink in the atmosphere first hand.

A BOOK IS AVAILABLE – ‘THE WORLD OF CHARLES DICKENS’ BY STEPHEN BROWNING, available from good bookshops nation-wide.

5.0 out of 5 starsA must for every Dickens fan.

Check it out in the Daily Telegraph website which carries a feature plus 26 photographs from the book @ Telegraph http://fw.to/yn5oemm

Wonderful photos and informative text. We are using it to plan a trip to Rochester and surrounding Dickens sites.

The book has received exclusively five star verified reviews on Amazon in both the UK and USA. Here are a couple from the UK

‘Gracious Heaven!’ said the middle-aged lady’ what’s that?’

FIVE STARS OUT OF FIVE Verified Purchase

By Ex Fairy

‘It’s – it’s—only a gentleman, ma-am,’ said Mr Pickwick, from behind the curtains.

Such a pleasure to read with wonderful photographs and illustrations. I thoroughly

FIVE STARS OUT OF FIVE Verified Purchase

by Linda

And one from the USA 5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent book!

FIVE STARS OUT OF FIVE Verified Purchase

by Ruth It is full of interesting information that I had not known before, and I am a big Dickens fan. I’m really glad that I got this book.

Please visit my website www.stephenbrowningbooks.co.uk

www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 37

FINECHRISTMAS

EACH

Buy a gift you don’t have to wrap this Christmas…

B

uying that perfect gift for your loved ones at Christmas can be a challenge.

East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) have taken the stress out of present buying and come up with a special gift - that you don’t even have to wrap.

From specialist nursing kits that can help a family receive care at home to the bereavement sessions that help supports families through an unimaginably difficult time, a Gift of Care will have a real impact on the lives of local families.

There are a selection of gift cards to choose from ranging in prices from £5 to £35 and are available to buy online and in all EACH shops.

Whichever card you choose to buy, each Gift of Care represents a life changed for the better.

Once you’ve made your purchase the charity will send you a special gift card in the post.

You can then write on the tag and give it to someone special.

£5 could buy art supplies, helping a child enjoy an art therapy session. £10 could pay for an essential nursing kit for our nurses to use when providing care in the family home. £20 could help fund a support group for siblings. £35 could pay for an hour of short break care for a child at one of our hospices or in the family’s own home.

To buy your gift card visit: www.each.org.uk/ online-store or visit your local EACH shop.

Cards for Good Causes Multi Charity Christmas Shop 10th October – 17th December The Forum, Norwich (located in the Library for the first 3 weeks) Open 7 Days a week Selling cards for more than 40 charities plus gifts, gift wrap, traditional advent calendars and lots more.

Cards for Good Causes Limited (CFGC) pays the participating charities (or their trading subsidiaries) at least 75p in every pound from card sales.

The retained amount covers CFGC’s costs of running the temporary charity Christmas card shops.

Cards for Good Causes Limited is the trading company of the 1959 Group of Charities (Registered Charity No. 249039)

38 | December 2016

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FINECHRISTMAS

B

Mince Pie Specials...

low away the cobwebs after Christmas and take a trip on Norfolk’s longest narrow gauge steam railway which runs nine miles through the Bure Valley countryside. For those feeling a bit more energetic, walk part of the way on the Bure Valley Path which runs alongside the railway and join the train at one of the intermediate stations at Brampton, Buxton and Coltishall.

Trains depart from Aylsham: 11:00 & 14:20 and Wroxham: 12:10 & 15:30 (NB: single journey only on 15:30) from 27th December 2016 to 4th January 2017.

A free mince pie is available for every fare-paying passenger at the Whistlestop Café at Aylsham Station. Adult Return £13.00. Child Return £6.50. Under 5’s travel free!

For further information contact: Susan Munday, Bure Valley Railway, Aylsham Station, Norwich Road, Aylsham, Norfolk, NR11 6BW, Tel: 01263 733858 Website: www.bvrw.co.uk Email: marketing@bvrw.co.uk

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2016 December | 39

FINECHRISTMAS

Unusual And Creative Gifts For Christmas 2016

the victory from making literally hundreds of thousands of pairs of boots for the troops to sending cakes of locally made Caleys’ Marching Chocolate to the Norfolk regiment on the front. Boulton and Paul on Riverside also made more of the Sopwith Camel aircraft than anyone else. My new book is called ‘Norwich in the Great War’ and has received some very generous reviews from nationally respected sites. Here are a couple: NORWICH IN THE GREAT WAR I’ve chosen this Pen and Sword title as my history book of the month simply because Norwich is my local city and I know it well - but not as well as I thought, clearly!

Stephen Browning uncovers many surprising and fascinating facts about the “fine city” of Norwich at the time of the outbreak of the First World War, and this is a superb example of one of Pen and Sword’s very best series.

W

e’ve all had the socks, the chocolates and the wonderful knitted jumpers from Auntie Flo, and great they are, too.

But if your soul hankers after something more original, here are some ideas.

1. Give a subscription to your favourite Norfolk Magazine ‘Norfolk on My Mind’ (five issues a year). I once read that the difference between an ordinary car and a Rolls Royce was that the former was produced purely to be good enough to sell: the latter was engineered to be as excellent as it could be, irrespective of cost.

This magazine is a work of art in itself, lovely to look at and keep, with articles and artwork of the highest skill. It is something you will keep and take pleasure in looking at over the years.

2. Fabulous Christmas Cards of Norwich in Winter, by Fine City photographer Daniel Tink Daniel’s Wintery Christmas Cards of Norwich are perfect to send to friends or loved ones this Christmas who live in, work in or have fond memories of our fine City. They are blank inside, so are also great to use as thank you cards after the big event! Includes popular locations such as Elm Hill, Norwich Cathedral and Pull’s Ferry.

Each pack contains 12 A6-sized cards, from a selection of 8 different wintery scenes of

40 | December 2016

Norwich (at least 1 of each scene will be included) and is specially priced for Fine City readers at just £5 a pack, plus £1.50 delivery.

For full details and ordering please visit: www.scenicnorfolk.co.uk/finecity/ or call Daniel on 01603 449109.

3. Buy someone a local history book. It is now 100 years since the ‘War to End Wars’ and Norwich and Norfolk played a pivotal role in

Books Monthly, May 2016 – Paul Norman All considered, an excellent book, with information about nationally important characters, as well as details for those resident in, or visiting, Norwich and around. I am leaving this book with friends, after reading while house and pet minding near Cromer, for use by adults and school age children.

Army Rumour Service website August 2016 4. Prints & Canvases of Norfolk, by Daniel Tink - Give a unique gift this Christmas.

Daniel has been photographing Norwich and the Norfolk Coast for over a decade, capturing some of the most dramatic and stunning scenery that our beautiful county has to offer.

Now you can buy a loved one a constant memory of their favourite feature by:

Steve Browning Writer @returningperson

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FINELIVING

by the way) helps mindfulness. It is a very powerful tool that can change your life and, for many, this starts as soon as they turn up for the first session.

place in Norfolk to hang on their wall (or treat yourself!). Simply browse Daniel’s website to choose your scene: www.scenicnorfolk.co.uk/ finecity/ and select from either Mounted or Canvas print options.

Prices start from £15. Please order by December 12th for Christmas delivery. For full details and ordering please visit: www. scenicnorfolk.co.uk/finecity/ or call Daniel on 01603 449109.

5. Join a friend up to The Norwich Society. This group of people actively work for the future of our city. There are lots of interesting talks but a subscription will also give ‘power to their elbow’ in making Norwich an even better place.

6. Go on one or a course of sessions in meditation, or take a friend along. What is this?

Meditation in its simplest and most powerful form is the ability to be ‘mindful’. The point is that our minds are all flitting all over the place like a flea. We are thinking of this, of that, of our girlfriends/boyfriends, got to check the mobile phone, got to get the kids from school, of the house curtains, the bank manager (I hate him!), the latest soap – and literally thousands of things. Many people like to be super busy in order that they don’t have to think. At the end of the day we seek bed and dreams as a relief.

Ahh! Mindfulness helps you slow down and the basic form of meditation (there are hundreds,

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A word of caution: the process can be so powerful, and the ‘unblocking’ process so quick that a few people may have difficulty immediately coming to terms with what is happening to them. This is why it is recommended that you start your meditation routine in a class with others and, vitally, with someone who has many years’ experience of the practice. You can then chat about your practice.

There are many groups who offer meditation, usually offered by those with a spiritual connection, but it is absolutely not necessary to be of any particular faith to practise. One of the most friendly, and a group which holds both noon-time and evening sessions for a very modest fee, is the Norwich Buddhist Centre run

by Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. They are at 14 Bank St, Norwich NR2 4SE and you can ring them on 01603 627 034. If you prefer, take a look in the local press or Google and you can find many more groups of every sort.

7. Join the Norfolk Library Service – a present to yourself – or take someone along to enrol. It is free to join and you will need proof of ID and address in Norfolk. Of course you can borrow books but did you know, for a small charge, you can take out music and films? You can use computers for free and there are scanners and printers. There are also talks, some of which are free, and all sorts of meet-ups – book study, board-game afternoons, practise English sessions, ‘knit and natter’ and art afternoons, poetry readings and times when experts are on hand to give counselling on starting your own business.

The atrium in Norwich Millennium Library holds an incredible range of fairs and events all year from Norfolk Food to Science. To many, the best feature is the second floor where you can get started, absolutely free rather than paying for an internet site, on tracing your family history: the staff will lend a hand if you need any help. The Library service is a fantastic resource that we all pay for with our taxes but it will give you your money’s worth back many-fold if you will let it.

2016 December | 41

FANTASTIC RANGE OF FESTIVE LOCAL FOODS FRESHLY CUT LOCAL CHRISTMAS TREES. ORDERS TAKEN FOR TURKEYS /GEESE /CHICKENS. Christmas opening times Thursday 22nd 8am -6pm Friday 23rd 8am -7pm Saturday 24th 8am -2pm Sunday 25th Closed Reopen Wednesday 28th December 10am -4pm Thursday 29th December 10am-4pm Friday 30th December 10am-4pm Saturday 31st December 10am - 1pm Sunday 1st January Closed Monday 2nd January Closed Reopen Tuesday 3rd January 9am -5pm

‘OPEN WEEKEND’

We are holding an open weekend from Friday 2nd December to Sunday 4th December, 10am - 5pm

Come and browse through our extensive showrooms located on the Norfolk-Suffolk borders just nine miles from the cathedral city of Norwich. You will find a spectacular showcase for both fine and decorative pieces with which to decorate the home.

P

hil

NORWICH

SEASON 2016/17 HIGHLIGHTS

Over 200 m2 full of pieces of outstanding quality from sumptuous sofas, beautiful paintings, exquisite porcelain to elegant mirrors, luxurious rugs and much more besides. Combining the old with the new, you’ll find Art Deco pieces living discreetly and elegantly among ornate neo-classical pieces, cool contemporary rubbing shoulders with gorgeous Georgian furniture.

DECEMBER

NORWICH PHILHARMONIC

ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS

AT ST ANDREW’S HALL NORWICH

SATURDAY 10 DECEMBER 2016 SMETANA Sárka (from Ma Vlast) KORNGOLD Violin Concerto Zoë Beyers violin

DVORAK Symphony No.5 SATURDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2017 RACHMANINOV Caprice Bohémien COPLAND Clarinet Concerto Matthew Hunt clarinet

The Norwich Philharmonic Society is a registered charity No.264425

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.12 SATURDAY 18 MARCH 2017 HAYDN The Seasons Cecilia Osmond soprano Mark Dobell tenor Jonathan Brown bass

SEASON SPONSORS

MUSIC AWARD WINNER

42 | December 2016

Korngold’s sparkling Violin Concerto – a perfect showcase for the Hollywood composer’s famous gift for irresistible tunes, featuring the welcome return of CBSO associate leader Zoë Beyers as guest soloist.

Olde Time Antique Clocks and Barometers have over four hundred fine antique clocks, barometers, barographs and scientific instruments on display.

FEBRUARY A rare performance of Shostakovich’s powerful Twelfth Symphony, dedicated to the memory of Lenin, to mark the centenary of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

‘We have been looking for a really good antique shop in East Anglia, now we have found one!’

MARCH Three hand-picked soloists join us for Haydn’s great oratorio The Seasons, the spectacular follow-up to The Creation that took 18th-century Europe by storm.

Beautiful Antiques for Beautiful Homes

BOX OFFICE www.preluderecords.co.uk www.norwichphil.ticketsource.co.uk INFO

www.norwichphil.org.uk

- Mr & Mrs R.Warren, Cambridge.

Oak Bank Farm, Wacton Norfolk. NR15 2UL Tel: 01508 532188 • e-mail:paul@oldetimelifestyleantiques.com

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FINECHRISTMAS

Holidays are Coming as Coca-Cola Christmas begins

The Christmas truck tour returns with an exciting new experience to spread holiday magic across the UK

C

hristmas has officially begun, as Coca-Cola announces the return of the iconic Coca-Cola Christmas truck tour. The tour, returning for a sixth year, will kick off on 17 November visiting 44 stops nationwide in the run up to Christmas Day. Holidays Are Coming This year, Coca-Cola has added an extra sprinkling of magic with an incredible new look truck tour experience. At each stop, visitors can share the festive cheer and explore a special winter wonderland, before enjoying a 150ml can of Coca-Cola Classic, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar or Diet Coke. When the sun sets, the truck really comes to life with a special animation powered by the crowd’s seasonal goodwill, celebrating the magic Coca-Cola brings to Christmas.

In addition to the 44 nationwide stops, CocaCola will spread more festive happiness as one lucky consumer will win a personal visit to their home from the Christmas truck and a

Santa sack full of goodies worth £5,000. To be in with a chance of winning this special prize, consumers just need to buy a promotional pack of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke or Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and follow the instructions on pack.

For the first time ever, the Coca-Cola truck will also be stopping online as Twitter users will enjoy their own special visit from 4 November – 25 December. Anyone tweeting #HolidaysAreComing will see the Coca-Cola Christmas truck appear in their tweet.

Often said to mark the official start of Christmas and a regular feature of the Christmas TV schedule across the globe, the famous ‘Holidays Are Coming’ advert will also return to UK screens, 21 years since first being aired.

A Coke for Christmas This holiday season will also see Coca-Cola unveil a brand new TV advert ‘A Coke for Christmas’, celebrating the joy of giving over the festive period. The TV ad features a young boy who spreads joy through gifting the refreshing,

uplifting and unique taste of Coca-Cola to those who are making Christmas a reality.

A season for giving Christmas is the season for giving, so this year Coca-Cola is expanding its partnership with FareShare, the UK-wide charity that tackles food waste and hunger. An on-pack promotion will enable consumers to Donate a Meal to Someone in Need this Christmas. Taking part is simple, consumers just need to purchase a promotional pack of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Life or Coca-Cola Zero Sugar which features the FareShare logo, take a photo of the label and upload it to cocacola. co.uk/donate. Coca-Cola will then donate 25p for each photo uploaded, enabling FareShare to provide a frontline charity, such as a homeless shelter or older people’s lunch club, with enough food to serve a meal to someone in need.

For the ninth year in a row, Coca-Cola is bringing back its Designated Driver campaign, celebrating those unsung heroes of the Christmas party season. Run in partnership with the Department for Transport’s THINK! Drink Drive campaign, the initiative rewards people who are driving to the pub over the festive period by offering a free second soft drink when they purchase a Coca-Cola Classic, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Appletiser or Schweppes at participating pubs and restaurants when they show their keys at the bar.

Aedamar Howlett, marketing director for Coca-Cola Great Britain said: “Coca-Cola is synonymous with the Christmas season and it’s no secret that our much-loved Holidays are Coming advert and Christmas Truck Tour mark the unofficial countdown to Christmas.

“This year, we’ll also put those people who work behind the scenes to make Christmas happen at the heart of our Christmas campaign. We’re proud to celebrate those that go the extra mile to make Christmas a special time of year – we all know someone who goes out of their way to put a smile on everyone’s face and make the festive time of year magical for others.”

For more information on the truck tour and competition, visit http://www.holidaysarecoming.com/trucktour or contact cocacola@lexisagency.com or 0207 908 6455.

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2016 December | 43

Cromer’s New Year’s Day Firework Display 1st January 2017 Cromer, North Norfolk, England

A

n annual event which invites you to spend New Year's Day in the fabulous North Norfolk seaside town of Cromer. Take a walk on the beach, grab some fish and chips for lunch and watch the spectacular fireworks display over the sea at 5pm set off from the town's iconic pier. Welcome in the New Year with all the family at Britain's biggest New Year's Day firework display.

About the event The annual firework display was set up by a group of volunteers alongside Cromer Town

Council in 2000 as a way for the townsfolk of Cromer to see in the new millennium. It soon outgrew its location at one of the town’s local parks and the team had the bold vision of moving the display to its, now traditional, location on the town’s iconic pier.

Moving into its eighteenth year in 2017 the annual display now attracts over 10,000 people to the town on New Year’s Day and raises thousands of pounds for local good causes.

Firework Committee Chairman Jim Bond said “We’re delighted it’s become such a successful annual event. The idea has always been to bring people up to the coast for a breath of fresh air, something to eat and drink, and a fabulous firework display over the sea fired from Cromer Pier at 5pm. Cafés, pubs and restaurants will

also be open, so there’ll be plenty of places to get a cuppa or something stronger.”

Twelve Hour Day for Fireworks Team The day’s work starts at 8am on New Year’s Day when the team from Titanium Fireworks pull up at the Pier forecourt to the fireworks and the day doesn’t end until the counting of the bucket collection is complete, often not until 8pm.

Director of Titanium Fireworks, Simon Page, said: “Titanium Fireworks are incredibly proud to be firing the Cromer New Year’s day firework display from Cromer Pier.

“We have joined forces with Clive Casburn of Premiere Fireworks and intend to augment what is already a very highly regarded display at a fantastic setting. We believe our experience on the London Eye, The Forth Road Bridge, Blackpool Pier and a host of stadia roofs will help us to make this display even better by using our digital firing system which allows split second firing from multiple locations.

“Some of the 150 displays we fire each year are work but others unbridle our creativity and we relish the challenges and opportunities of firing from an iconic structure like Cromer Pier.”

For more information about the event visit www.cromer-tc.gov.uk or www.facebook.com/ NYDFireworksCromer

44 | December 2016

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FINEEVENTS A full list of dates, times, locations, choirs and musicians and where to buy tickets can be found at www.big-c.co.uk/carols.

Voices sing out to hit the right notes for county’s Big C cancer charity this Christmas

T

he voices and lyrical tones of more than 35 choirs and musicians will ring out in a rousing festive finale to the closing weeks of Norfolk and Waveney’s own cancer charity Big C’s 35 anniversary year.

Hundreds of singers and musicians from schools, college, communities, churches and performing arts centres are all giving up their voices and time in the run up to Christmas to help sing out the year for Big C in concert halls and churches throughout the county.

Starting next weekend (Saturday November 19) when Simply Sing community choir

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perform in Kings Lynn, there will be six weeks packed with Christmas concerts, musical entertainment events and open air performances across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Among those carolling away include Norwich High School for Girls Junior Choir, Ellingham and Great Dunham schools, Wymondham College, the children’s ILOVEUKE band, staff of the Institute of Food Research, D’Capo from Wymondham, the Keswick Hall Choir, Big Heart and Soul Choir of Castle Acre and the Fakenham Town Band. A bucket collection at the Norwich Philharmonic’s Christmas Concert in St Andrew’s Hall will be taken for Big C.

“Music is uplifting and good for the soul, a great therapy and stress buster and in the run up to Christmas we thought what nicer and more festive way to end our year than by joining in Big C’s Christmas Carols,” said Director of Income Generation and Communications Clive Evans. ”We have been amazed and so humbled by the generosity of our choirs and musicians who have offered to help us, either by giving proceeds of ticket sales, or a bucket collection to help us support cancer patients and their families in this area.”

Big C will be teaming with Mustard TV for its Christmas Cracker musical event in the Forum on December 3 and hosting its own one hour Give Thanks event on December 21, a chance to remember and give thanks for family or friends with cancer or support those who have lost loved ones during the year.

If you are in a choir or group giving a festive concert this year and would like to support Big C please contact lauren.self@big-c.co.uk or call 01603 619900.

2016 December | 45

FINEEVENTS

Sleep Out Biggest ever charity Sleep Out event in Norwich is hailed a success

O

ver 100 people spent a night outside in the city, to help end youth homelessness

On Friday 11th November 2016, Norfolk and Suffolk charity The Benjamin Foundation, hosted its annual Norwich Sleep Out event.

More than 100 people were sponsored to spend a night sleeping outside, to raise money and show solidarity with the issue of helping to end youth homelessness. The event took place from 7pm until 7am this morning in Norwich city centre, in the car park of Marsh on Queens Road.

The Benjamin Foundation is part of the End Youth Homelessness Campaign, which is supported by a network of UK regional charities. All money raised from Norwich Sleep Out will go to The Benjamin Foundation, which helps thousands of local people each year. The charity provides support and accommodation in Norfolk and more recently into Suffolk, for homeless young adults.

face; but this event gives a small flavour of what the physical side of it can be like, whilst raising money at the same time.

Chris continues: “Despite the cold, there was a sense of camaraderie during the night; and everyone here waking up this morning is acutely aware how fortunate they are to be going home to a shower and a comfy bed today. The amount raised will be known when the sponsorship and donation money has been calculated; but last year over £17,000 was achieved. Because more people have taken part this year, we are hoping that figure will be exceeded.”

About The Benjamin Foundation The Benjamin Foundation was founded by Richard and Vanessa Draper in memory of their son Ben who died, aged just 17 years old. For more than 22 years the charity has been helping people across Norfolk, and more recently into Suffolk, 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 homelessness, bullying or abuse. Every service The Benjamin Foundation delivers is focused on providing hope, opportunity, stability and independence.

The services include: • h ousing solutions for young homeless people or those leaving care • one-to-one support for children in schools •p ositive activities for young carers and those with limited opportunities • support for parents and families in difficulty • high quality childcare and kids’ clubs • s ervices in local communities such as youth clubs and lunch groups for older people • fi ve stores which between them sell a range of furniture, household items, children’s clothes and toys and many more items.

The Benjamin Foundation is difficult to sum up in one sentence; but everything it delivers is driven by the needs of people in the communities in which it operates.

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

Speaking at the event the next morning, having spent the night sleeping outside, Chris Elliott, marketing and fundraising manager at The Benjamin Foundation, said: “Norwich Sleep Out is the biggest fundraising event we’ve run in 2016. This is the second year that it has run and it’s encouraging that we’ve had 50 percent more people take part this time. It shows that people feel strongly about the issue of youth homelessness. Of course, we can’t replicate the hardship that people who are homeless 46 | December 2016

www.finecity.co.uk

FINEEVENTS

KipBag Homeless man finds success, and launches charity - for the homeless

Eric Farrow

number of people that slept rough on any one night across the country. The will be visiting major cities across the UK each month, and during this December, they will be in Norwich delivering 25 Kip Bags.

A

once-homeless man from Staffordshire has launched a charity to help those sleeping rough on Britain's streets, after finding success in business.

difficult life can be without anywhere to sleep.

In his mid-20s he suffered the same fate as thousands of other homeless people across the country, finding himself with no money, food or shelter after leaving the armed forces.

Chris Haycock, Managing Director of digital publishing company CliqTo Media has a real rags-to-riches story, with the experience from his own story of homelessness inspiring him to start his own charity.

Chris fought back adversity and turned his life around. Selling toys door-to-door in London, he eventually raised enough money to turn his life around, find success by learning about digital publishing, and putting his new-found skills into practice. Today, his company owns a portfolio of more than 30 websites, used by almost 1 in 7 of the UK population.

KipBag (www.kipbag.com) was launched at the beginning of September 2016 to raise money to buy essential items that would help those unfortunate enough to find themselves living on the streets. Each KipBag contains one sleeping bag, toiletries, thick socks and hat, first aid kit and homeless information pack.

The packs are then distributed to homeless charities across the country to provide warmth, comfort and dignity to those with nowhere to sleep.

Once part of the Britain's growing number of 'hidden homeless', Haycock knows how www.finecity.co.uk

Chris Haycock

Homelessness has been an issue that's been close to his heart for many years. The idea for KipBag came from a flash of inspiration whilst helping feed the homeless in Birmingham alongside 'Help the Homeless and Needy in Birmingham', a charity that distributes food every weekend in the city centre.

Haycock, along with co-founders Eric Farrow and Amy Wood, aim to raise enough money to distribute 3,569 KipBags in the next 12 months - one for each of the estimated

Whilst the team know that KipBags won't eradicate homelessness, their goal is to provide immediate relief for those who are sleeping rough on the streets of Britain, and to reduce the number of deaths associated with sleeping rough.

As the rest of us welcome in the Autumn and Winter, switching up the central heating, snuggling under thick-tog duvets and donning thermal clothing, it's easy to forget about those who are left out in the freezing cold. For them, the seasons are the ultimate test of survival staying alive.

The charity are encouraging people to donate a KipBag to the homeless. Each KipBag costs just ÂŁ15, with every single penny going towards helping the homeless.

Donations can be made at www.kipbag.com

Amy Wood

2016 December | 47

FINELIVING

William Crotch, A Child Prodigy

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illiam crotch was born in Norwich on the 05th July 1775 to a master carpenter and by the time he reached the grand age of two he could play ‘God save the King’ and by three and a half his mother, full of ambition for him took him to London to the Chapel Royal in St James’s Place to play the organ for King George III. In April 1779 ‘The London Magazine’ stated that; ‘He appears to be fondest of solemn tunes and church musick, particularly the 104th Psalm. As soon as he has finished a regular tune, or part of a tune, or played some little fancy notes of his own, he stops, and has some of the pranks of a wanton boy; some of the company then generally gave him a cake, an apple,, or an orange, to induce him to play again…’

Shortly after this experience William could play in any key and name any notes in a chord without being able to see a keyboard. His overbearing mother then took William on a tour of

the British Isles where he performed in front of many influential persons of the day.

Many years later William would go on record to state that the experience made him become a spoiled child who would indulge in eating so as to perform, and it also caused him to suffer psychological damage.

Later he would become the organist at Christ Church, Oxford where he went on to graduate with a Batchelor of Music degree.

He produced many compositions in his time and it is claimed that he wrote the ‘Westminster Chimes’ in 1793 and his ‘Captivity of Judah’ was performed on the 04th June 1789 at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and his more wellknown composition was te oratorio ‘Palestine which he wrote in 1812.

At the relatively young age of twenty-two William became ‘Heather Professor of Music’ at Oxford and two years later he became

a doctorate in music. Whilst still at Oxford, William became friends with musician and artist John Malchair and he took up sketching, adapting Malchair’s style of placing the time and date of all his paintings. William would also go on to pass this style on to John Constable.

In 1833 when S S Wesley’s anthem ‘The Wilderness’ went on to be submitted for the Gresham Prize William wrote; ‘The introduction of novelty, variety, contrast, expression, originality, etc, is the very cause of the decay so long apparent in our church music’.

When aged fifty-nine and with the Duke of Wellington becoming chancellor of the University of Oxford he composed the Oratorio ‘The Captivity of Judah’.

By his later years, William became the first principal of the Royal Academy of Music but resigned after ten years. He later lived with his son at Taunton, Somerset and died in 1847.

His more well-known students were Lucy Anderson, William Sterndale Bennett, Stephen Codman, George Job Elvey, Cipriani Potter and Charles Kensington Salaman.

To promote his lectures, a collection was published in three volumes between 1808 and 1811 using the title ‘Specimens of Various Styles of Music’.

It is very much a disappointment that the music of William Crotch has not stood the test of time.

feature by:

Michael Chandler

Author, Historian & Broadcaster @EastAngliaMedia

48 | December 2016

www.finecity.co.uk

FINELIVING

Live Long and Prosper?

Star Trek’s Mr Spock used the phrase as a greeting, but is it really possible to have both long life and prosperity?

I

t’s true that we are all living longer and this has put significant pressure on families’ financial planning. It’s not just the long years of retirement that need to be funded, there’s also the prospect of an increasing number of us needing to pay for care at some stage.

Good financial planning will allow you to look at what life may throw at you and factor in all the possible challenges to your wealth. Many firms will use lifetime cashflow planning tools that give the adviser the opportunity to show what impact changes to your financial plan can have on your long term income and investments. It can be used, for example, to demonstrate the effect of paying care fees, allowing you to see at what point the money could potentially run out.

Technology has done much to improve the services that independent financial advisers can bring to their clients, and lifetime cashflow planning is just one of a range of tools that we use to enhance the client experience. However, the relationship between adviser and client remains the most important element in our service: we get to know our clients well and, in the main, they become our friends. We really do wish that you will live long and prosper.

The value of an investment and the income from it could go down as well as up. The return at the end of the investment period is not guaranteed and you may get back less than you originally invested. The tax treatment of investments depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change.

For independent financial advice, contact Almary Green on 01603 706740 or email enquiries@almarygreen.com. Please remember that the advice here is generic and we recommend that you get individual personalised advice.

Having established the difference a life event can make on your finances, an adviser can then explore ways to mitigate the issues created. We can show, for example, the effect of an Immediate Care Plan to provide a top-up to pension income to cover care fees using a one-off payment.

This type of plan is a form of annuity, individually underwritten, and its use can help protect the remainder of your estate from erosion, allowing you some certainty about the amount you will be able to leave to your heirs on your death.

Many new pensioners are now looking at the use of flexible drawdown pension income routes which draw funds directly from pension savings rather than buying an annuity. We can use lifetime cashflow planning to compare the drawdown and annuity routes, using “what if ” scenarios to explore the impact of events such as the need for care or an early death.

We can incorporate the finances of a partner or other family member into the cashflow planning so that you can see the impact any changes make on them too. This might include, for example, the death benefits from your pension scheme.

Your savings and investments will have been set up to produce investment growth, income, or a mixture of both. Using lifetime cashflow planning, we can assess if and when existing investments need to be adjusted to deliver the right mix to allow you to sustain your desired lifestyle and reach your growth objectives.

Lifetime cashflow planning can also be used to identify estates that might incur Inheritance Tax (IHT) charges. Those who have built up wealth in their lifetime may find that their savings and investments can generate more than their income needs on an ongoing basis, leading to continuous growth of their overall estate. We can use our planning tools to project the likely growth of your wealth and to identify the potential IHT liability of your estate under a range of scenarios. This can lead to discussions with you about mitigating your future IHT liability through the use of lifetime gifts and trusts. www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 49

FINELIVING

Sound Sleep

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very September the National Bed Federation Awards take place at the Telford International Centre. These awards are designed to reward hard working retailers and manufacturers in the Bed Industry. To win an award you have to demonstrate how you as a business have been a leader in your category and what you steps you have taken in doing so.

In the category of Bed Retailer of the Year, Sound Sleep won the runner up award, missing the top spot by just one vote.

As a business, Sound Sleep are very involved within the industry, managing director Andrew Bright sits on the prestigious Sleep Council’s Retailer Panel, a panel of 15 retailers from across the UK and Ireland that meet to work on marketing techniques and benefits that retailers can bring to their own customers.

Then to add an award in the Bed Retailer of the Year category, which is the category that has the most entries from up and down the

50 | December 2016

UK, quite frankly we are immensely proud of our achievement.

Sound Sleep don’t operate like your average bed retailer. Our Dream Team, made up of three family members, Andrew alongside his mother and sister, Trish and Amie, are mattress specialists. We are specialists due to the fact we have spent years designing and manufacturing our own mattresses, so we have the knowledge of what different products inside mattresses can do for you and how they can benefit your sleep. We also pride ourselves in the way we advise our customers. We are here to advise and help you choose the right bed for you, come in and chat to us, we are very relaxed and you certainly will not be followed around or hassled in our store. If you want to just look, then feel free to do so. Just remember, with over 100 beds on display some guidance will most likely benefit you. We are not working on commission so we are not trying to sell you additional warranties and products that you don’t need.

Our products are all made by National Bed Federation approved manufacturers. NBF members are audited and their products are tested to ensure that they are clean, safe and honest. This means that any NBF approved bed or mattress in manufactured using brand new, clean fillings, all mattresses are tested to the correct fire safety regulations and the honest part is that all products are exactly what the label says they are. By choosing to sell only NBF Approved products, we protect our customers so when they are buying a new bed or mattress from Sound Sleep they know that it is exactly what it says it is.

When your bed or mattress is 7 or more years old, make sure your first stop is Sound Sleep.

Stockists of leading brands Rest Assured, Sealy, Hilary Devey by Duvalay, Myers, Slumberland and don’t forget we are Norfolk & Suffolk’s only Silentnight Sleep Centre offering the exclusive Platinum Collection.

Sound Sleep. Your award winning Dream Team.

www.finecity.co.uk

Need a new bed this Christmas....?

FINELIVING ....then look no further!

Double Divan Beds from only £199

Pocket Sprung Divan Beds from only £289

SEE INSTORE FOR GREAT PRE-CHRISTMAS OFFERS!

Beautiful Metal Bedsteads from only £129

Wooden & Oak Bedsteads from only £99

Sound Sleep LTD

www.soundsleepbeds.co.uk 0% Interest Free Credit - Credit & Debit Cards Accepted Free Local Delivery - Old Bed Disposal Service Mile Road - Winfarthing - Near Diss - IP22 2EZ For mattress advice or information call us on 01953 861177 find us on the main B1077 between Diss & Attleborough Look out for the bright yellow signs Showroom Opening Hours Monday - Friday 9:00 - 5:00 Saturday 10:00 - 4:00 Sunday 10:00 - 1:00 Closing for Christmas on Monday 19th December at 4pm www.finecity.co.uk Reopen Tuesday 27th December at 10am Open every day 27th December - 2nd January 2018 10am - 4pm

2016 December | 51

AWARD WINNING Sound Sleep Dream Team

FINELIVING

A-Z Of Norwich My latest book was released in October 2016

N

orwich is not only one of the most attractive cities in England, it is also one of the most historically significant, with a proud heritage dating all the way back to the Iceni, who bravely fought the Roman invasion. At the time of the Norman Conquest, Norwich was the largest city in England after London and until the industrial revolution was the capital of the most populous county in the country. Much of this rich and vibrant past is still in evidence today.

My introduction to the book is as follows;

When I was first asked to write the A-Z of Norwich I though how wonderful as I can write about my favourite stories of this great city, but after spending a week looking over some of the great stories of the city, the famous and infamous people it then dawned on me that what I like might not be of interest to my readers, so I had to forget what I wanted to write and to envisage what my readers wanted to read.

I will admit to having in place over fifteen different versions of an A-Z of Norwich until I became satisfied and happy that the version now in place will offer stories of this great city that the reader knew nothing about, or knew something but had a thirst to learn more.

I would like to thank all the people and businesses that have taken time to share information with me and once again I would like to thank this great city for adopting me and allowing me to write about Norwich.

feature by:

Michael Chandler

Author, Historian & Broadcaster @EastAngliaMedia

A COMPETITION FOR DECEMBER To win a signed copy of Michael Chandler’s A-Z of Norwich please answer the following Question: In Norwich who was Matthew Parker and what was he known as?

Tweet your answer to @EastAngliaMedia using HashTag #WhoWasMatthewParker The winner will be picked by an independent person in time for the new year

All the girls wore yellow, her favourite colour It’s the little things that make a funeral special

52 | December 2016

Here for you every hour of every day

01603 625495

for your local funeral director www.eastofengland.coop/funerals

www.finecity.co.uk

Café Gelato Just opened in Opie Street Café Gelato can only be described as a ‘gem’ within the Norwich food industry.

T

he great thing on entering this new business was seeing regular clients ordering their favourite gelato and coffee. One client Sharon stating that her love for hazelnut gelato reminded her of a favourite chocolate bar whilst another client Victoria was here for favourite being Nutella and also a fruit sorbet for it being dairy free,

whilst I can say that apple pie with cinnamon is definitely one of my favourites, another client states that there is no such thing as a bad gelato and that all the flavours are superb and changed on a regular basis.

Owners Sando and Jenny took time to talk to me and it was of interest to find out that

Sando’s mother came from Norwich and moved to Italy in 1967. Sando has two uncles living in Norwich and on many occasions he came to Norwich to visit them. In November 2014 Sando and Jenny came here for a holiday and had thoughts about opening a Gelato store in Great Briton and research showed them that Norwich was without a traditional Gelato store. The couple soon enrolled in the Gelato University where they trained and then spent time working in a Gelato establishment in Italy before spending a year finding the right establishment for their trade.

The Gelato University is situated in Anzola dell’Emilia and it was put together in 2003 by ice cream maker Carpigiani to teach students around the world to make Gelato ice cream.

The university teaches its students the art and science of gelato production and the promotion of Italian gelato as a natural and flavourful food which is suitable for all cultures.

The Carpigiani brothers built the first automatic gelato machine the ‘Autogelatiera’ in 1944 before becoming a group two years later.

Café Gelato has its own lab where the gelato is freshly prepared each morning taking 2-3 hours just before opening. A lot of the recipes were learnt whilst at the University who also sent a teacher to visit the store on its opening, as many ingredients in the UK are different to that of Italy including the cream. Sando and Jenny also make up different recipes in

www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 53

FINEFood

It also contains less air than frozen desserts and this gives it a density and richness that you don’t get in other ice creams. order to supply clients with different tastes, including specials for the Christmas period being a Christmas cake gelato and one in commemoration of Norwich author Amelia Opie whose statue can be seen on top of the shop. Italian cake is also set to be in the offering.

Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream and it is made with a base of milk, cream and sugar and takes its flavour from fruit and nut purees.

54 | December 2016

Sicilian fisherman Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli may have invented the first ice cream machine in 1686, gelato only became popular in the 1920s and 30s in the city of Varese in northern Italy where today it is massproduced by 55%. Today there are over 5,000 modern parlours with over 15,000 people working there.

A hot process is used where the sugar is dissolved and a white base is then heated to

85 0C and this completes a pasteurization program. When making a chocolate Gelato it is generally flavoured with cocoa powder. The sugar in gelato works in the same way as ice cream by stopping it from freezing.

Another favourite of mine at CafĂŠ Gelato is Stracciatella a milk based gelato that is filled with chocolate shavings. Its creation started in 1962 in Bergamo, northern Italy by Enrico Panattoni who owned a gelateria and he came up with the idea after his customers kept on asking for stracciatella soup which was stirring eggs into a broth. In 2013 Italy Magazine named it one of the top five Italian gelato flavours. The

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FINEFood

dish is less chunky than a chocolate chip and it is presented as a smooth crunch texture. The Italian word ‘stracciare’ means ‘tear’ or ‘shred up.’

Drizzling melted chocolate is poured into plain milk ice cream at the end of the churning and this makes the chocolate solidify when coming into contact with the cold ice cream and is then cut up. This can also be made with vanilla and a dark chocolate.

Affogato, Italian for ‘drowned’ is a coffee based desert housing vanilla or hazelnut gelato drowned in a shot of hot espresso. It can also be made using amaretto or other liqueur. There are now so many variations of this that it has become difficult to know whether to call it a beverage or a dessert. An interesting fact is that the word ‘affogato’ entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1992.

Jenny brings to me my first ever affogato with hazel gelato and it looks far too good to drink

www.finecity.co.uk

it. Using a spoon I dunk the ice cream and the espresso comes up against the ice cream in what can only be described as a volcano.

As I taste it the taste of hazelnut is immense as the espresso hits your throat with its full flavour. The whole concept of this affogato is a different dimension with an intense flavour.

The espresso on its own is just amazing and for those who love sugar I can assure you that you will not need any.

At Café Gelato Sando and Jenny offer clients a real treat in bringing gelato to Norwich along with a selection of their amazing drinks.

They are closed on Monday, but open Tuesday to Saturday 10:30am – 6pm and Sunday 11am – 5pm

The coffee used here is Mokaflor who have been roasting coffee since the 1950s and is passed down from father to son. The green coffee arrives at the Mokaflor roasting plant in Florence from areas such as Mexico, Brazil, India, Ethiopia, Java, Jamaica and Porto Rico.

Mokaflor created the Espresso Academy that went on to become one of the most famous schools for barista and coffee in Italy where Jenny spent some time homing in on her skills.

2016 December | 55

Shepherd’s Crook

Ideal Event Services

We are a Norwich based Event company with over 20 years experience in Event production and equipment hire covering the East of England.

We supply Staging, pa, lighting, projection screens and much more.

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.

www.idealeventservices.co.uk

01603 280176

Follow us on Twitter @finecitymag

Christmas Carol Service

THURSDAY 15TH DECEMBER 2016 7:30PM

56 | December 2016

www.finecity.co.uk

FINEFood

Easters of Norwich

This is Our Story

frozen, dried goods, in addition to oils and Mediterranean products.

The bespoke, hand-prepared vegetable service, Easters offers is unique and they are committed to supplying local produce in all categories and whenever possible. Easters customers choose them because they supply good quality, fresh products and provide a reliable and unbeatable service.

Peter Easter started out in 1975, in a small shop called Magpie Stores, in the St. Augustine area of Norwich.

Peter sold the retail shop in 1990, to expand and increase the fresh produce range. This became possible by concentrating on selling to restaurants, pubs and hotels.

E

of produce, at a competitive rate and with a reliable service, to some of the best loved places in Norwich.

The business has resided in Northumberland Street Norwich for 7 years and signs are that they will be there for many many years to come.

For more than 40 years, Easters has been at the forefront of supplying a wide range

Easters offers an extensive range of fresh fruit, vegetable and herbs as well as dairy,

For more information please visit www.eastersofnorwich.com

asters is a family run, high quality, food wholesaler, operating in the heart of Norwich City Centre.

Fresh

01603 622890 www.eastersofnorwich.com www.finecity.co.uk

Local

156-158 Northumberland St, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 4EE

Family Run

01603 760565 sales@eastersofnorwich.com 2016 December | 57

FINEFood

we brew the beer, we cook the food, we show the sport. all you do is

enjoy yourself COACH & HORSES 82 THORPE ROAD NORWICH

The drinking consultants

thecoachthorperoad.co.uk @TheCoachThorpe

is a surprisingly bitter edge and a defined vinous quality to this dark red ale. First brewed in 1996 and only available at the Coach & Horses on a seasonal basis, the mild was awarded Norfolk Beer of the Year 2010 in the strong mild category. Perfect for cold, dark evenings in a warm, cosy pub, Flintknappers will be on tap for a limited time.

Triple Celebrations At Coach & Horses Pub featured in Good Beer Guide, Flintknappers back on tap and CHB wins second place at Norwich Beer Festival

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riple celebrations at the Coach & Horses on Norwich’s Thorpe Road as the pub is listed in the beer drinkers’ bible – the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, its brewery, Chalk Hill, brings back Flintknappers Mild due to popular seasonal demand, and its CHB beer wins second place at Norwich Beer Festival.

A traditional pub that prides itself on its high quality ales, the Coach & Horses has been listed in CAMRA’s 2017 Good Beer Guide. This independent guide for beer buffs features only 4,500 of the country’s outstanding real ale pubs which have been nominated and evaluated by CAMRA members. This is the first time the Coach & Horses has been included since 2008.

At the same time, Norwich’s longest established brewery Chalk Hill, based at the Coach & Horses, has also brought back its Flintknappers Mild ale for winter. Flintknappers (ABV 5.0%) is a throwback to the milds of history. Although a roasted barley flavour dominates throughout, there 58 | December 2016

Plus, Chalk Hill’s CHB beer was awarded second place in the Best Bitter category at the recent 39th annual Norwich Beer Festival.

Bob Cameron of the Coach & Horses said: “We take great care in offering customers high quality real ales in an authentic pub atmosphere and so to be recognised by CAMRA in the Good Beer Guide and scoop second place in the Best Bitter category at the Norwich Beer Festival are both fantastic achievements. What better way to celebrate than with a few pints of Flintknappers, one of our most popular seasonal favourites, which we are delighted to welcome back for the winter.”

Flintknappers re-joins the rest of the range of Chalk Hill brews, which are available at the Coach & Horses and free trade outlets across the county: • Tap, ABV 3.6%. A pleasant session bitter. A gentle blend of hoppy bitterness leads to a light refreshing finish.

• CHB, ABV 4.2%. Solid malty aroma gives this copper coloured beer a good start. The well matched fruity sweetness complements the malty base.

• Dreadnought, ABV 4.9%. A traditional, robust strong ale. The fruity overtones are counter-balanced by a mellow richness.

• Gold, ABV 4.3%. A malty, straw coloured ale, refreshing and easy drinking.

• Mustard IPA, ABV 5%. A delicious and refreshing hoppy summer ale For more details on the Coach & Horses and Chalk Hill Brewery, visit www.thecoachthorperoad.co.uk and www.chalk-hillbrewery.co.uk. www.finecity.co.uk

FINEFood

Raffles

Serving the Fine City for 25 Years

Jayne and Nigel Raffles will have much cause for celebration in January 2017

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elebrating its 25 years of running restaurants in Norwich

Twenty five years! From the humble beginning of St Benedicts restaurant or grill as we first named it, to Pinocchio’s, Pulse café bar and finally The Library It is a long time and, to be honest, and feels like dog years in the hyper competitive, always changing, perpetual motion of the restaurant industry. Since our first day, so much has changed. Case in point—when we opened St Benedicts restaurant, you could smoke in our restaurant..

Our guests are loyal, regular and, after 25 years, have developed favorites and strong preferences. When you’ve been around for this long, change is a necessity—we need to keep our regulars engaged and interested. We feel compelled to improve at all times, in all ways.

Plus, tastes, techniques, products and trends are always changing.

We promise to keep innovating and we are committed to listening to our guests and correcting any mistakes we make along the way. www.finecity.co.uk

We feel that both of these traits are a huge reason we’ve been around longer than 99% of the restaurants that have ever opened in the city of Norwich.

On a personal note being married to a chef and business partner certainly leads to an interesting challenge, the phrase never a dull moment springs to mind.

As the new year begins we look forward to another good few years of trading in this beautiful city and very much our home Norwich 2016 December | 59

‘TIS

N O S A E S THE

@lakenhamcream

www.lakenhamcreamery.co.uk

Lakenham Creamery

Service only your local independent electrical retailer can provide

FREE LOCAL HOME DELIVERY

For over 125 years, the Bosch name has been synonymous with engineering excellence. Bosch home appliances are renowned for their quality, reliability and performance which derive from their inherent, unflagging commitment and the painstaking thoroughness with which every unit is made. There are no gimmicks or frills with our products – just pure, clean lines and beautiful, functional simplicity that will enhance any kitchen.

Delivered direct to your door with our free home delivery service from your local independent electrical retailer when you buy a selected Bosch home appliance.

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ards 2014 Aw

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60 | December 2016

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Nelle I

started the business as I have always had a passion for fashion from the day I started in the shoe industry and have never really looked back!!

I grew up in Denmark and only left because of a season job in Italy in a designer store for 9 months. When I got back at the end of that year I was offered a job to help setting up a couple of shop for a Danish brand in both London and Sheffield. So having worked for some lovely brands over the many years that I have been in England, I finally took the jump to start my own business, which is the best thing I have ever done.

I love getting to know people and what they like, so I can help them in their choices with choosing their outfit, may it be for topping up the seasonal wardrobe, wedding or clothing for everyday chic! I take pride in looking after all my customers whether it being young or old, as us women always like to look our best!!!

AUTUMN

& WINTER Mother of the Bride outfits STOCK Wedding attire NOW IN Perfect for special occasions Cruise wear, day wear & evening wear Accessories Many designer labels Sizes from 10 to 22

11 High Street, Coltishall, Norfolk NR12 7AA Tel: 01603 738161

www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 61

62 | December 2016

www.finecity.co.uk

AUTUMNAL

ELEGANCE

IN NORFOLK

Jonathan Trumbull 5 St Stephens Street, Norwich, NR1 3QL Tel: 01603 629876 www.jonathantrumbull.co.uk

HATTERS 11-13 White Lion Street, Norwich NR2 1QA Tel: 01603 626469 www.hattersnorwich.co.uk

GINGER 35 Timber Hill, Norwich NR1 3LA Tel: 01603 763158 www.gingerfashion.co.uk

Chadds 23 Bedford Street, Norwich NR2 1AR Tel: 01603 622668 www.chaddsnorwich.co.uk www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 63

Posh Plants for Posh Presents!

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t’s creeping up on us too quickly… every year I wish I’d been more organised and had gifts planned, bought and wrapped by now. But, maybe that final flurry and rush to make everything lovely for Christmas is all part of the fun.

If you lead a busy life and need a few suggestions for the perfect gift here are a few of my handpicked favourites from the Posh Plants range…

If inspiration is needed for the garden the perfect gift would be a design. Either a joint or surprise gift this could range from a plan for a small area to a complete garden design.

I would offer a consultation before Christmas and discuss your requirements, then present an attractive card for you to give to the lucky person!

2017 could be the year to really enjoy the garden.

Outside again now…why not consider a pair of these lovely box balls planted in rustic ‘Vence’ planters…stylish either side of the front door and very ‘on trend’!

Give me a call to discuss.

Seasonal plants make great gifts…who wouldn’t love to receive a planted basket filled with these lovely white muscari?

Green up Christmas this year!

For a very special gift this hallmarked 9ct gold ‘Wrap’ ring is part of the Silver Leaves range of handmade jewellery from Posh Plants.

An unusual gift for the indoor plant enthusiast is the biOrb Air. This beautiful terrarium is supplied planted and can be delivered before Christmas. Light and humidity is automatically controlled to provide the perfect environment for small plants.

64 | December 2016

Each piece is designed and made by myself here in Norfolk and hallmarked by the Goldsmith’s Assay Office.

Inspiration is taken from the natural world and of course, plants!

My handpicked favourites are available along with lots more on the online shop at www.poshplants.com or, just give me a call on 07703 347014 or email on sue@poshplants.com.

Have a Very Happy Christmas!

Sue x Sue Huckle Posh Plants Seven Acres Nursery East Tuddenham NR20 3NF 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

Build the Kitchen of your Dreams La Belle Cuisine has been supplying Kitchens to our customers for almost 40 years.

Based in Norwich, we are one of the top kitchen retailers in the Norfolk area.

We pride ourselves on our personal, professional and helpful service.

148 Cromer Rd, Norwich NR6 6XA 01603 426519 sales@labellecuisine.co.uk

www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 65

Award Winning Landscaping and Design

Paving and Pathways Ponds and Water Features Lawn Laying Walls and Brickwork Timber and Decking Driveways, Fencing and Screening Garden Design by Georgina Read

Free Survey and Quotations Tel: 01953 459778

T: 01953 852139 E: info@lifestylelandscaping.co.uk W: www.lifestylelandscaping.co.uk

Owl Barn, Norwich Road, Besthorpe, Attleborough, Norfolk NR17 2LA

Is Your Conservatory Is your Conservatory Too Hot in Summer or Too Cold in Winter?

Transform your conservatory with Conservatory Roof Insulation!

The most lightweight Tiled Roof on the market

50mm continuous external thermal barrier

A U-Value lower than 0.10 W/m2k

50mm internal insulation

The widest choice of Tapco Slate Tile colours

Suitable for all conservatory styles and sizes

Structural integrity as standard

Dry fit slate effect standard with 50 year guarantee

19 layer thermal barrier quilt

01603 301100 • www.comfortableconservatories.com Your Local Branch: 16 Alston Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR6 5DS Showroom Open 9:30am - 4.30pm 7 Days A Week

66 | December 2016

www.finecity.co.uk

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A RURAL PROPERTY EXPERT

PLANNING PERMISSION: HOW TO NAVIGATE THE MINEFIELD OF THE PLANNING SYSTEM

Y

ou may be a property owner seeking to develop your property, a landowner seeking to unlock the development potential of your land, or a farmer seeking to make use of redundant farm buildings. Sound familiar? Then you will be one of many who will have to navigate the planning system, which is, for most, an intimidating and confusing prospect.

Martin Ranner BA (Hons) PG Dip MRTPI is a partner at Sworders, the rural property consultants based at Holkham Hall. With his local authority background, Martin specialises in advice on planning applications, lawful development certificates, enforcement and appeals. For further information, call Martin on 01328 854400 or email martin.ranner@sworders.com

There are many property owners that often do not realise the development potential of their assets, and how planning can often act as a vehicle to help to maximise the value of them and create funds they did not realise were possible. Businesses, and in particular, farmers, often have the dilemma of what to do with deteriorating assets such as old redundant farm buildings. Such buildings can provide the means to diversify the farming business, creating, for example, commercial opportunities via change of use, to achieve additional income streams.

Similarly, following changes in legislation, opportunities now exist to develop and

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convert a greater variety of farm buildings to dwellings, where once only traditional buildings of architectural or historic interest were likely to be viewed favourably by councils. There is also growing pressure being placed on councils to demonstrate that they have an adequate supply of future housing land, which has, again, provided landowners with opportunities to develop land that, in the past, may have had little development potential.

The government has also been seeking to promote self-build projects for houses. For those who have dreamed of designing and building their own home, there has never been a better time.

Good professional advice and guidance is more important now than it has ever been. It can quite simply make the difference between failure and success.

Be sure to speak to a professional to help guide you through the process and maximise the chances of achieving your goals.

2016 December | 67

68 | December 2016

www.finecity.co.uk

2017 Ford Kuga First Drive review by Tim Barnes-Clay, Motoring Journalist Location: Poland and Lithuania.

T

he new Ford Kuga is a delight to drive. I should know, as I spent 24 hours in one motoring from Warsaw in Poland to Vilnius in Lithuania. And let me tell you, Eastern Europe’s roads are not as kind to cars as Britain’s are – and that’s saying something.

Many of the roads in Poland and Lithuania are peppered with potholes, broken up by the odd stretch of motorway, but often with roadworks.

The new Kuga made light work of the potholes, due to its excellent suspension and wellpadded seats.

The only real grumble came from the car’s petrol engine. My Kuga was fitted with the 1.5-litre Ecoboost engine, in four-wheel-drive 182PS guise. It returns 38.2mpg and 171g/ km of CO2, and it’s quite noisy when you put your foot down for overtakes. That said; the melodramatics are soon over, and the car is happy to settle into a less raucous cruise when it sees the open road ahead.

Although Ford is billing the latest Kuga as ‘new’, it’s more of a face-lift, with the design taking its influence from the new Ford Edge. On the outside, the modernised Ford Kuga now has a more profoundly fashioned bonnet. This gives the car a ruggedly handsome look, but it’s not been done for pleasing aesthetics alone.

The bonnet has also been produced to offer

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improved pedestrian protection in the event of a car vs person collision.

One of the most obvious Ford Edge styling cues in the fresh Kuga is the fitting of a trapezoidal grille. Additionally, the model now benefits from LED daytime running lights, bi-xenon headlights, and up-to-date fog-lights. The rear of the Kuga hasn’t been left out either. Here, there are redesigned tail-lights and an electricallyoperated tow bar that stores itself out of view when not being used. The tailgate can also be released by you doing a little kick under the new Kuga’s feature by:

Tim Barnes-Clay Writer @carwriteups

2016 December | 69

FINEARTS motors back bumper. And, while you’re doing that, you’ll see the Kuga’s alloy wheels are different.

They are now obtainable in 17-inch, 18-inch and 19-inch sizes.

Step inside, and the Kuga’s cabin is cleaner – in the sense that there aren’t as many buttons littering the dashboard as there were before.

An electronic parking brake has also joined the party. Ford’s new Sync 3 system is responsible for doing away with many of the switches. It consists of a large touchscreen and comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality.

It also enables you to control functions using voice instructions. For instance, by saying “I need a fuel station”, the sat-nav will find the nearest fuel pumps for you.

While it’s really a face-lift, the new Kuga does have some new stuff going on underneath the bonnet, too. There is a new 120PS 1.5-litre TDCi diesel unit with front-wheel-drive, which delivers up to 64.2mpg and 115g/km of CO2. If you prefer more clout, there is a 2.0-litre TDCi engine with 150bhp, and you can choose to have it with all-wheel-drive or front-wheel drive. This variant will return up to 60.1mpg, while emitting 122g/km of CO2.

If you want even further power, there’s an Intelligent All Wheel Drive version with 180PS. This does 54.3mpg on average and CO2

70 | December 2016

emissions are135g/km. The 1.5-litre Ecoboost petrol engine stays, and comes in two states of tune – 120PS or 150PS. Finally, as mentioned earlier, the four-wheel-drive 182PS variant of this petrol engine, driven here, returns up to 38.2mpg and emits171g/km of CO2.

All-wheel-drive Kugas, like the one I drove, also include semi-autonomous Perpendicular

Parking tech. This helps you to park, without using your hands, in tight spaces alongside other vehicles. I found this particularly useful when trying to park up in a congested area of Warsaw – as you do.

The new Kuga can be bought for £20,845 in entry-level Zetec trim, and the Titanium model is priced from £24,245. The ST-Line model is

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FINEmotors

on sale from £25,845, while the more luxury oriented Kuga Vignale comes in at £30,745.

The new Kuga is an affordable car, if bought at the lower end of the range. It comes well equipped and has enough space for a family of four. The car is comfortable and makes mincemeat out of long trips. The six hours I spent travelling from Warsaw to Vilnius would be gruelling for any car, but the new Kuga coped well, and, more importantly I did, too.

Everything in the car is simple to use, and there are lots of handy storage compartments for things such as cash for toll booths, and cupholders for bottles of water and mugs of

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coffee. The boot is also a good, square size, and you can load things in easily due to the low load lip.

While the new Kuga isn’t as refined as some in terms of engine noise, wind and tyre roar is suppressed well. The car is also a doddle to park, with or without parking aids – and visibility is very good. All in all, the new Ford Kuga offers good value for money. It is certainly worth buying or leasing if you need a main car that isn’t too big, yet is large enough to cope with a family of four. In four-wheel-drive guise it also turns into a useful tool for the winter months – something many parents, like me, will find invaluable on frosty school-runs using ice-rink-like rural routes.

Pros ‘n’ Cons Handsome ✓ Comfortable ✓ Kit ✓ Space ✓ Noisy engine ✗ Fast Facts (ST-Line 1.5T Eco 182PS AWD Auto – as tested) Max speed: 124 mph 0-62 mph: 10.1 secs Combined mpg: 38.2 Engine layout: 1498cc 4-cylinder turbo petrol Max. power (PS): 182 CO2: 171 g/km Price: £30,180

2016 December | 71

FINEAdvice

Utility Warehouse

Have you claimed your FREE energy-efficient LED light bulbs yet?

I

live locally and I represent a company that will replace every light bulb in your home with the latest energy-efficient LED bulbs, completely free of charge, thus saving you around 11% OFF your electricity bill forever!

Free LED light bulbs typically worth £300-£500 They are bright, fully dimmable, light-up instantly, and use around 15 times less electricity than traditional light bulbs.

Free expert installation by a team of professional fully trained fitters; they’ll visit your home and install your new LED light bulbs at a convenient time for you — completely free of charge.

Free lifetime guarantee If a light bulb ever needs replacing, you’ll be sent a new one in the post — so you’ll never have to buy another light bulb again!

72 | December 2016

Utilities Lower electricity bills - forever!

In addition to helping to save the planet, your new LED bulbs will reduce your electricity bills by around 11% — FOREVER Who’s behind this initiative?

It’s being provided by Utility Warehouse, the Nation’s most trusted utility supplier. In addition to gas and electricity, they provide landline, broadband and mobile giving you the convenience of all your utilities on one monthly bill.

Utility Warehouse is operated by Telecom Plus PLC, a major British company whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The company provides its members with great value, great savings and the best possible customer service. Perhaps it’s not surprising that, in a survey, 93% of Utility Warehouse customers said they would recommend them to a friend.

Utility Warehouse is very different to other suppliers because they’re a club - a Discount Club. They don’t have any high street shops and because (unlike their competitors) they don’t spend customers’ money on expensive

advertising campaigns on TV, they can afford to charge their customers less for the same services.

They have also received numerous awards from Which? Magazine and Moneywise, and have around 600,000 satisfied customers.

As a member of Utility Warehouse, you SAVE...

• Single supplier for all your utilities • Award-winning customer service • Value that’s unbeatable • Easy to switch • Ready to claim your FREE LED light bulbs?

Please don’t hesitate to contact me today.

I’ll be delighted to explain how it works.

Advice by:

Jonathan Horswell Mentor @jonathanhorswel 07802 690589

www.finecity.co.uk

FINEAdvice

Marketing Join in our Success Story Welcome to the ‘FineAdvice’ section of FineCity Magazine About Us:

In a fast moving world, where the media seem to be ever more distant from people’s real concerns, it is vital that community lifestyle magazines like FineCity Magazine find and print the information and news that is important to local people.

That’s where we come in; two years ago we added FineCity Magazine to our portfolio of publications which include; Dispatch Magazine in Attleborough & Diss and a second publication in Wymondham & Dereham. We also publish Norfolk on My Mind for North Norfolk and Suffolk on My Mind for Suffolk. Over the fifteen years we have been publishing magazines our publications have become some of the most well respected community lifestyle magazines, and a “must-read” across a Norfolk & Suffolk.

Our distribution is enormous; Dispatch is delivered Free of Charge Door to Door to 30,000 homes and businesses. FineCity

Magazine is delivered or collected around the City centre by 12,000 people each month, and Norfolk on My Mind has 10,000 copies available for pick up across 800 pick up locations. Suffolk on My Mind is seen by 10,000 people in Bury St Edmunds and across Suffolk. This gives us a combined readership of 155,000 every month.

FineCity Magazine: Promote your business in our ‘FineAdvice’ section in our rapidly growing FineCity Magazine. We are inviting just one company from a few specialist market sectors, to feature in our new ‘FineAdvice’ section with a combination of editorial and an advert on a full page, in the same design and layout as this page is being presented to you. We are offering you the full page (normal cost £505.00) for just the cost of a half page advert £295.00. You pay for the advert we’ll give you the editorial (425 words) for FREE.

FineCity Magazine is growing throughout Norwich, now with a 12,000 print run every month, and available for pick up at our prestige partner locations which includes; John Lewis, Waitrose, Jarrold, Cinema City, MadderMarket, The Theatre Royal, The Forum, Norwich Library, The Norwich Tourist Information Centre, Norwich Airport, Castle Mall and Intu Chapelfield, and further copies are delivered Door to Door around Eaton, Cringleford, Easton, Newmarket Road and The Golden Triangle area of Norwich.

Come and join FineCity and be part of our success story!

The FineAdvice section is designed to offer readers advice, and enable your company to be the exclusive provider.

Advice by:

In addition to the above, we will also include your company within our daily tweets and Facebook page completely free of charge.

FineCity Magazine @finecitymag 01953 456789

Meet The Family FineCity Magazine

Dispatch Magazine 2016

Dispatch Magazine 2016

Norfolk On My Mind Magazine 2016

Suffolk On My Mind Magazine 2016

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Issue 61

FINECH RISTMA S FINEPE OPLE FINEFO OD FINEAR TS

Decem

ber 20

16

Hatte rs: | 73 On Tr2016 December end We me et with th e Dire Jonath ctor of an Tru mbull, an

FINEAdvice What does success mean to you?

If you want things to be different, YOU have to do it. Life doesn’t have a remote control, you have to change it!

A

re you looking for a change? Looking for something different? Need more money? Want to take control of your life? Or perhaps you’re bored or broke?

There are lots of massive opportunities out there if you’re energetic & ambitious and if you really want to create a better life for yourself and your family.

If that sounds like you, I’d like to introduce you to a fantastic business opportunity that you can work around your other commitments, like your current job or childcare etc.

Just choose one of the following which is most important to you?

• Extra income • Financial freedom • Get out of debt • More free time

74 | December 2016

Money • Have your own business • Personal development • Help others • Early retirement

of his how this business works. Last month he got paid for that conversation for the 216th time for that 35 minute chat, 18 years ago.

That’s Residual Income explained!

Now, just ask yourself these few questions, and be completely honest with yourself when you answer them; Why did you pick that one?

Why is that important to you? What are the consequences of not having that opportunity?

And Why would that worry you?

So… how soon can you spare 10 minutes so I can answer all the questions I know you’ll have, and explain how this award-winning and trusted company can help you achieve what you want?

Do you fancy earning ‘Residual Income’ with my full help and support and the backing of a fast-growing FTSE 250 PLC, which provides the opportunity to build a substantial longterm “Residual Income” alongside your other commitments?

Residual income (also called passive income) is income that continues to be generated after the initial effort has been made.

Compare this to what most people focus on earning: linear income, which is “one-shot” compensation or payment in the form of a fee, wage, commission or salary which is directly proportional to the number of hours invested in it - 40 hours of pay for 40 hours of work.

Here’s an example of Residual Income; In 1998 my college spent 35 minutes showing a friend

Remember this: “If you think it’s to good to be true, I still get paid. If you take a look and join me, we BOTH get paid. If you don’t join me, well I still get paid!”

I can help you, but you have to take the next step, which is call or text me now: 07802 690589 or visit my website for more information: www.

JonathanHorswell. co.uk

Advice by:

Jonathan Horswell Mentor @jonathanhorswel 07802 690589

www.finecity.co.uk

www.finecity.co.uk

2016 December | 75