VantagePoint Magazine Feb 14 - Guildford & Villages

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Guildford & Villages • February 2014

VANTAGEPOINT YOUR COMMUNITY  YOUR VIEW

MAGAZINE

EVERYTHING’S COMING UP

ROSES

Also inside: JOTTINGS COMPETITIONS GUILDFORD SHAKESPEARE

Behind the scenes at Seale Nursery

A Big Bard Year Ahead

For Surrey’s professional Shakespeare company, Guildford Shakespeare Company (GSC), February 2014 kicks off their most ambitious year to date. Co-founder Matt Pinches looks back to the beginning and ahead at what this year has in store.

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013 proved to be the company’s most popular yet with 8,500 people attending the 72 performances produced, and 1,400 people, some as young as seven, enjoying classes, school workshops and talks delivered by the company throughout the year.

So how do you better that in 2014? Well, this year the company, which is a registered charity, will become a year round producer for the first time. To add to the winter and summer seasons a new third season will be introduced in the in the autumn. There will also be celebration events for Shakespeare’s 450th Birthday in April; the third Sonnet Walk Weekend; and an expansion in the education work the company already undertakes.

This ambitious year kicks off in February with the company’s 20th production as they return to Holy Trinity Church on Guildford High Street with Shakespeare’s Othello. This is Shakespeare’s chilling psychological thriller of betrayal, jealousy and suspicion.

Directed by Caroline Devlin (Macbeth, 2013), the play is set against the claustrophobic backdrop of 1950s Cold War paranoia.

A talented cast has been assembled whose pedigree includes RSC, National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, the West End, as well as performances with Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras. Actor David Carr will be taking the title role. Last year he understudied Adrian Lester in the National Theatre’s hit production, and Rosalind 8

Blessed, daughter of actor Brian Blessed, will be playing Emelia.

Familiar faces also return to the company in the form of Chris Porter (A Midsummer Night’s Dream/Merry Wives 2012) as the villain Iago, and local actor and Guildford Dad James Chalmers (Richard III, 2012) as the Governor of Cyprus.

To accompany the production there is an eclectic events programme which includes a talk and book-signing by award-winning writer Charles Nicholl on his book The Lodger which deals with the time Shakespeare was writing Othello. There is also a talk and debate about the character of Iago; a young actors’ workshop; a post-show discussion; and an audio-described performance for the blind.

But how did GSC begin? The company was established in 2006 by two local actors, Matt Pinches and Sarah Gobran, with an objective to re-ignite people’s passion for Shakespeare and theatre-going by producing immersive, accessible and innovative home-grown theatre in interesting and unusual non-theatre spaces.

Over the last eight years they have produced 19 site-responsive productions, given 324 performances, seen by over 37,800 people and created 190 jobs. In addition to this other achievements include two Sonnet Walk Weekends; two Best Cultural Event of the Year awards; twice Finalists at the Toast of Surrey Business Awards, and in 2013, the Mayor’s Award for Access Through the Arts.

As Co-Founder and Producer, I feel that locally produced professional theatre is important. Our productions seek to place the audience right at the heart of the action, using each venue to its best advantage. In this way the whole area becomes the acting vantagepointmag.co.uk

STAGE

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Over the last eight years they have produced 19 site-responsive productions, given 324 performances, seen by over 37,800 people and created 190 jobs.

space with actors performing in a spectrum of places in and around the audience, thus challenging their usually passive involvement in conventional theatre.

With more and more people seemingly glued to tablets, mobile phones and home entertainment systems, the need for human contact and interaction has never been more important and theatre is perfectly placed to fill this need.

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Live theatre is a perfect way for communities to come together and not only experience great performances, but also to share each other’s stories, lives and thoughts. Sadly, there are still pre-conceptions about the theatre - that is expensive or for an educated elite and our mandate is to challenge those perceptions and re-invigorate the simple act of theatre-going.

GSC’s year continues in April as they join the national celebrations for Shakespeare’s 450th Birthday with a series of special events including The Other Shakespeare written by Roy Chatfield - a one-woman show about Shakespeare’s wife, starring GSC veteran actor Johanne Murdock, whilst I will be giving an illustrated talk (with birthday cake!) on the Bard’s life before the theatre and how life in Stratford influenced his writing. The celebrations culminate at the end of April with the third Sonnet Walk Weekend.

The company’s other Co-founder and Producer Sarah summed up the ambitions of the year: “Our aim is to engage with over 12,000 people through professional theatre and education programmes created, delivered and performed right on their doorstep, giving more people a positive and sustainable experience of the world’s most famous playwright.”

This aim is brought to the fore in their ninth Summer Season. Another open air double bill of audience favourites will see the company return to the Castle Gardens with the brilliantly funny Twelfth Night in June, followed in July by the rousing Henry V which is sure to entice and challenge audiences with a brand new venue; the iconic Guildford Cathedral.

February 2014

The inaugural Autumn Season will bring the year to a close with a unique staging of Chaucer’s bawdy classic The Canterbury Tales at a venue yet to be announced.

Sarah concludes: “Generations have studied Shakespeare’s work in school mainly from a literary perspective. When individuals have the opportunity to see the text live, the world of the play is opened up to them, the character’s circumstances and dilemmas are real and they are given an opportunity to engage directly with the story and the action. Suddenly it’s not “all Greek to me” but rather an event which they are part of.

One of the most rewarding – and regular – comments we receive is “I never thought Shakespeare could be like that!”

Add to this the three after-school primary Shakespeare clubs, Saturday morning Drama and Stage-Fighting Classes for teenagers and evening classes for adults, as well as the schools’ workshops for Year 5 up to university level which the company already delivers, and 2014 is certainly going to be one big Bard year for GSC. In As You Like It, the heroine Rosalind asks “Can one have too much of a good thing?” - to which GSC gives a resounding “Never!”.

FIND OUT MORE

For Othello tickets, Annual Passes and more details about GSC and the work it does, visit www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01483 304384.

Images taken from past productions.

GUILDFORD SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRESENTS

Directed by CAROLINE DEVLIN Designed by NEIL IRISH Lighting by DECLAN RANDALL Sound by MATT EATON

5 - 22 FEB 2014 | HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, GUILDFORD HIGH STREET Box Office 01483 304384 | www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk PRINCIPAL SPONSOR

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Roses

EVERYTHING’S COMING UP

As St. Valentine’s Day approaches there’s one flower that fills our shops and restaurants. Yet roses are great to give and receive throughout the year, as Viv Micklefield discovers on a visit to specialist local grower, Seale Nurseries.

“Roses are what we are,” says Catherine May proudly. And you wouldn’t argue with this. The Silver Gilt Medal certificate, scooped at last summer’s Hampton Court Flower Show, hangs confidently beside the many other top awards that she and husband David have won over recent decades. In fact, wherever you turn at Seale Nurseries, near Farnham, it’s all about this perennially popular flower.

The last thing you’ll find here, however, are buckets crammed with garishly dyed petals atop spindly stems that have been suffocated in cellophane. There are no cut flowers for sale. Instead, time it right and what you will see is a veritable feast of climbing roses, vigorously weaving through trellises, scaling walls and cascading over pergolas, as well as fragrant shrub roses, perfect for borders and tubs.

There’s been a nursery on the site since 1948 when David’s father first opened Seale Rose Gardens in the midst of the nation’s 14

post-war austerity. As Catherine observes of her father-in law: “He was very enterprising, to set up on his own, with a young family to support. And David’s early memories as a child include watching his father propagating by grafting briers that he’d pull out of the local hedgerows.” Having once grown roses in open fields, these days, the second-generation of Mays now use a different system, within their four acres.

As Catherine explains, at Seale gone are the so-called bare root roses that were once lifted and sold for planting out in the autumn. Today, thanks to the nursery’s patented Seale Super Rose Method, plants are grown directly in pots from the beginning. This enables a rose to be transplanted, at any time of year, with minimal disturbance straight to its final resting position in the customer’s garden. Here it will grow very quickly, so you no longer have to wait a couple of

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Our gardens might also be smaller and most of us have less time available to spend in tending them, but what hasn’t changed is our love affair with fragrance, and roses still deliver this in abundance

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years for significant growth. Additionally, if you‘re after an instant effect, there’s a great choice of big climbers - already tall and well established, that will suit all sorts of situations.

Talking to Catherine, who’s a qualified horticulturalist, what’s interesting is discovering the fusion between the traditional and the contemporary lifestyle that roses allow you to enjoy. “People’s gardening habits have changed so much,” she says. “They want flowers that give them value

vantagepointmag.co.uk

Above left: Perennial Blue climbing rose. Above right: Morning Mist shrub rose. Below: Catherine May with Sorbet Fruite rose

for money, starting in June and flowering through to the first frosts. The day of the rose bed, 1950’s style, is over.

Today’s garden has drifts of mixed planting with roses interspersed. It’s a more natural, romantic look.”

Our gardens might also be smaller and most of us have less time available to spend in tending them, but what hasn’t changed is our love affair with fragrance, and roses still deliver this in abundance. Although they don’t grow a rose unless it has a good scent, as Catherine’s quick to point out, everyone’s sense of smell differs, which can on occasion lead to family disputes. Old favourites such as the highly scented, double bloomed climber Madame Alfred Carrière remains popular. While under a royalty system they also graft on to new roses grown by internationally respected breeders; these include David Austin, Harkness and Warner, which adds to the enormous variety currently on offer.

Also important is colour. And here too you’re certainly spoilt for choice. From the exotic Sorbet Fruite, with its vibrantly striped orange and yellow flowers that fade to pink and cream, to the appropriately named deep crimson coloured, Love Knot. The ‘colourful’ names given to roses can certainly evoke some wonderful memories – unsurprisingly Warm Welcome is a popular gift for a new home, while Star Performer is perfect for a special achievement. The list goes on and on. >16 February 2014

Catherine May’s top tips for blooming good rose plants • Apply a regular liquid feed – tomato food works wonders during the summer months; • Roses need plenty of moisture, don’t forget to water when it’s dry; • Any rose should grow well as long as they receive at least ½ a day of sun; • Deadheading never stops if you want long-term flowering; • Soil conditions can be improved with a blended manure but this needs to be sterile; • If a rose has been heavily attacked by aphids, cut it right back, feed it and wait for re-growth.

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Above: Madame Alfred Carrière rose

Tales of love and passion Roses have been symbolically linked to myth and folklore for centuries.

• The Ancient Greek goddess Cybele ‘created’ the first rose in a fit of jealousy to ensure there was something on earth more beautiful than her arch rival Aphrodite; • According to Roman storytellers the red rose comes from the blushing Venus after Jupiter saw her bathing; • In Christianity the white rose of Eden turns a deep red when Eve kisses it; • 11th century Sufi poetry represents the rose as a symbol of life – its beauty perfection, its thorns the difficulties that need to be overcome to reach that perfection; • What’s in a colour? Traditionally: red roses mean love and respect, deep pink roses mean gratitude and appreciation, and white roses mean reverence and humility.

Viv Micklefield is a freelance writer based in South West Surrey. She can be contacted at vivmicklefield@aol.com.

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< 15 Of course, being specialists, Catherine and David have an almost encyclopedic knowledge when it comes to getting the best out of a rose. Whether it’s how to reduce the use of pesticides and other nasties while keeping plants healthy, pruning advice or simply realizing the look you want to achieve in your garden, there’s a ready answer available.

They also offer a ‘rose rescue’ service, which might involve grafting a favourite rose on to new root stock. And, when not up to their elbows in plant care themselves, this busy duo happily give talks and demonstrations.

With just Catherine and David running the nursery there’s no doubt it’s a full-time job. None more so than during the peak ‘show-time,’ when there are exhibits at both RHS Hampton Court and at the annual Loseley Park Garden Show to build. Over the years, they have also become familiar faces at local farmers’ markets. “We eat, sleep, and breathe it. It’s all consuming,” Catherine admits. And as she heads off, secateurs at the ready, closely followed by her aptly named spaniels Flora and Rosie, it’s hard to imagine her doing anything else.

FIND OUT MORE

Seale Nurseries, Seale Lane, Seale, Farnham GU10 1LD Tel: 01252 782410, www.sealenurseries.co.uk Nursery opening hours: Tues to Sat 10am-4pm (other times by appointment) vantagepointmag.co.uk

Herbert Andrews Powell 1863-1950

Liz Lloyd looks back at the life of Herbert Powell, the Commandant of The Guildford Poor Law Union Workhouse Hospital during WWI.

“Behold the day-king, full astir In royal opulence, Kindle the mystic gossamer To an unseen incense, And princely rise Through breathless skies In splendour to his noon-day audience.”

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o wrote Herbert Andrews Powell, a man of education and means who devoted his life to civic duty in Guildford. Although born in Kent, by 1879 his family had moved to the newly built Piccard’s Rough in Sandy Lane, Guildford. After graduating from Corpus Christi College in Oxford he trained in medicine at Bart’s Hospital in London.

Herbert Powell began his career as a doctor in practice in Winchester where he showed his talent for flowery verse, publishing a book of poetry, “Lyrics of the White City,” from which the above lines are quoted.

By 1897 he had moved back to Piccard’s Rough in Guildford.

Within a year he was a member of the Guildford Board of Guardians and increasingly he involved himself with the District and County Council. He was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Surrey County Nursing Association from its formation and in 1916 a nursing home was opened in Woodbridge Road.

In 1915 during the early stages of the WWI, Herbert and his wife Elizabeth Powell placed their house, Piccard’s Rough, at the disposal of the War Office. It provided 50 beds for sick and wounded soldiers with Mrs Powell as its Commandant and Mr Powell as Medical officer. In 1917 this hospital was reserved for the convalescence of military nurses.

In the meantime in March 1916 the Workhouse

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Infirmary was requisitioned as a Military Hospital and Herbert Powell became its Commandant.

He was given the honorary title of Lt-Col. and was ably assisted by Major Hancock RAMC. Initially there was accommodation for 300 patients but later it could take 480. The nursing staff were mostly volunteers from the Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment who had taken a nursing certificate or special training. A major part of Powell’s responsibilities was transporting the wounded soldiers from Guildford station to the War Hospital in Warren Road.

On July 15th 1916 the Surrey Advertiser reported, “A further contingent of wounded soldiers reached Guildford on Saturday. Twenty were taken to the Surrey County Hospital and over 80 to the new War Hospital in Warren Road, which is now the central hospital for Guildford and district. The soldiers’ injuries were pretty severe, none being able to walk.”

On July 29th 1916 the paper reported, “The largest convoy of wounded yet received in Guildford in any one day. On Tuesday 200 cases were admitted into Warren Road Hospital, the County Hospital, the Red Cross Annexe and Clandon Park Hospital. The Ambulance trains were met by the Guildford division of St John’s Ambulance and members of the Red Cross.”

In August Herbert Powell showed humanity and ingenuity when a group of, “gallant Anzacs from the Front,” arrived in Guildford, “An excellent arrangement was made at the War Hospital by Lt-Col H. A. Powell, those men who had chummed up on the journey from the Front being accommodated as far as possible in adjacent beds.” vantagepointmag.co.uk

A photo view of the Workshouse in the early 1900s

Powell encouraged the War Hospital Comforts Committee in their efforts to keep up the spirits of the wounded soldiers. On October 14th 1916 the Surrey Advertiser described one of the concerts given at the hospital, “By arrangement with Miss Gore-Browne, men in the Warren Road Military Hospital were entertained by the Dennis Dramatic and Orchestral Society. A full concert party and an orchestra of 12 attended. By the kindness of employees of Messrs. Dennis Bros. A good supply of cigarettes was handed round.”

Perhaps the most cheerful patients could be found in the F wards where with the help of the Padre, E. C. Kirwin, the Rector of Holy Trinity, the soldiers produced a magazine,’ The F Wards Gazette.’ “This unique little magazine,” was described by the Surrey Advertiser as a, “Pot-pourri of wit, wisdom and genial nonsense contained in 32 pages.”

From April 1919 the hospital was used primarily for cases of malaria and in 1919 it ceased to be a military hospital, enabling Herbert and his family to return to their pre-war lifestyle. He had resigned his honorary Commission in 1918 but in 1922 he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey.

After the war Herbert continued to participate actively in the local community. As chairman of the Management Committee of Onslow Village Ltd, Mr Powell succeeded in persuading his Committee, and its shareholders, not to build housing on part of their landholding between the Farnham Road and the Hog’s Back Trackway.

This land was purchased in 1930 by Guildford Borough council and retained as a permanent public open space for the benefit of all residents and visitors. Mr Powell’s name is remembered

by Powell Close in Onslow Village and we can all appreciate the unspoilt countryside he preserved when we look up at the hillside while standing in Guildford High Street.

February 2014

LIVES

Herbert also showed great interest in education, being a member of Guildford Education Committee from its establishment in 1907. In 1911 he was elected chairman of the Surrey Education Committee and in 1914 he purchased the grounds around Allen House which was opposite the Royal Grammar School (RGS).

These grounds were given to RGS for playing fields and one of the school’s Houses is named Powell after Mr. Powell. When the Chained Library was catalogued in 1900, Herbert wrote an introduction to it.

Throughout his life, Herbert Andrews Powell collected fine watercolours, perhaps following on from his father Thomas Wilde Powell, who was a patron of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

He was encouraged by his wife, Elizabeth, who came from the Courtauld family. In 1929 Herbert began giving his collection of British watercolours to the nation to be exhibited around the country. Subsequently the Herbert Powell Collection became part of the National Arts Collections Fund which Herbert’s sister, Christiana Powell Herringham, had established with fellow artists.

Herbert Powell was a trustee of the Watts Gallery in Compton from 1905 until 1946. His son Lawrence Powell, an architect, designed the Sunken Gallery and later also became a trustee. There is a memorial to Herbert Andrews Powell at Watts Cemetery (pictured top left) where he was buried in January 1950.

Sources:http://billiongraves.com/pages/record/HerbertAndrewsPowell/3184380; Lago “Christiana Herringham and the Edwardian Art Scene” 1996; Powell “Lyrics of the White City” 1896 (poem); Surrey Advertiser at Surrey History Centre, Woking; Guildford Institute Scrapbook “The Great War” compiled by M C Elias Morgan

FIND OUT MORE

The Guildford Workhouse Casual Ward is now The Spike Heritage Centre. Public tours are available between 10am and 4pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays (last tour 3.30pm). See www.heritage. charlotteville.co.uk for more information.

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Pets as therapy P

ets As Therapy is a national charity that works very much locally and is probably best known by the acronym of PAT, cleverly taking the initials of Pets As Therapy and thereby producing PAT Dogs, although they do have some PAT Cats too.

This charity was set up 30 years ago and although still small they have about 5,000 visiting PAT Dogs and 100 PAT Cats that between them visit approximately seven million people every year.

These animals bring a smile and joy to people in nursing and care homes, day centres, hospices and hospitals when working with stroke patients, phobic patients and people with depression.

It’s surprising how having a dog or cat visit someone in these establishments can really make a difference to their lives - for instance, one lady in a care home said “that’s the best thing that’s happened to me since I’ve been here”. One volunteer was told to ignore a man in another care home as he never spoke to anyone - the volunteer ignored the instruction and the lonely man opened up and chatted to the dog - and then to the volunteer.

Animals are also taken to visit mainstream and special needs schools offering with the new service to schools of Read 2 Dogs. The value of Read 2 Dogs is in its simplicity. Many children seem naturally comfortable in the presence of dogs.

Parents and teachers can use this special relationship to enhance literary skills and encourage reading in a relaxed environment, with dog and child sitting together. This contact between dog and child encourages physical interaction which helps to put the child at ease. The dog acts as a non-judgemental listener and offers comfort to the child who may find reading difficult or stressful.

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The local Voluntary Area Co-ordinator is Patricia Bland who looks after about 90 volunteers in and around the Godalming area but spreading out to Haslemere, Farnham and Cranleigh in Surrey and also Petworth, Midhurst and Billingshurst in West Sussex - and all points in-between. Each dog or cat is owned by a registered volunteer who makes regular visits into various establishments. Before any animal and volunteer are accepted as a Pets As Therapy visiting team, they must undergo an assessment which is carried out by one of the Charity’s nationwide team of assessors. Patricia is also the local Temperament Assessor of the potential dogs and this test ensures that the dogs are suitable as no jumping up or pawing is permitted and the owners need to be able to demonstrate control of their socially acceptable dogs, who love being stroked and handled by strangers.

As the animal’s temperament is more important than its breed, size or shape, no breed is excluded and cross breeds and rescue dogs are welcomed - after all this is a Temperament Assessment not a Breed Assessment. Patricia then assists volunteers in finding a suitable place to visit, taking care that the owner and the dog are happy where they are taken to visit.

Patricia regularly takes a team of volunteers with their very special dogs to local village fêtes during the summer and with their yellow and black uniforms the volunteers are easily recognisable, as are their canine friends in their yellow PAT coats. Information talks are also on her agenda and local Women’s Institutes, Rotary and Inner Wheel clubs as well as local schools and dog clubs have been lucky enough to hear all about the Charity and made generous donations to help with the good work that this hard working band of volunteers do.

FIND OUT MORE

If this sounds of interest to you with your dog (or cat), do look up their website on www.petsastherapy.org or give Patricia Bland a call on 01428 685154 or contact her by email on p.bland@btconnect.com.

vantagepointmag.co.uk

You and Your Home

Farnham based Charlie Smith with her take on health, home and food and how small changes can create a wellness lifestyle in the home and in our lives.

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t’s the beginning of a new and energising year so I am going to kick start my article with the subject of integrating ‘You and Your Home’. This is the wellness of us as individuals, teamed with the positive energy we can create in our homes, through food, fitness and taking care of ourselves.

The Christmas indulgence has now passed and, like me, I am sure there are many of you who want to start the New Year with focus, achieve goals and aspire to change little things in our lives that will enable us to be healthier and happier people. Sometimes these things might be a change in our eating habits, our lifestyle, or our fitness levels, or it is about changing our homes and living spaces.

Possibly all of them. These adjustments are all linked in some way to how we feel, so what better way to start the New Year with not only a new you, but also a new living space.

I follow food and nutrition, healthy eating and exercise trends, the way we live and our different lifestyles with great interest. In the past I have trained as a personal trainer, I am a trained stylist on interiors and a health conscious cook. I have spent years in and around these industries so finally I now want to bring them all together to create a wellness lifestyle, both in the home and in our lives.

YOUR HEALTH Running Got a lot on your mind? Take a run. It’s a great way to clear your head and sort out your thoughts, while getting good exercise. Long distance runs can help relieve tension, headaches and stress, while short, speed runs are great for releasing built up energy or anxiety.

Three short distance runs per week seem to work for me, they really set me up for a positive day. If work does not permit running in the daytime, a short run in the evenings will help with sleep and relaxation..

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Hot Yoga

I have recently discovered the newly opened little Hot Spot, Pure Hot Yoga in Godalming.

A fantastic hot yoga studio for all levels of enthusiasts,and a place that has calm energy and terrific teachers. I have tried yoga for years and years and just could not get on with it, until now!

Hot Yoga has been enjoying a surge in popularity all around the world in recent years and with good reason, it works.

A regular Hot Yoga practice brings all of the benefits you would expect from any yoga practice together with increased flexibility, dramatic weight loss and toning, total body detoxification, bright glowing skin and a feeling of deep mental relaxation.

A Hot Yoga class will systematically work every major muscle group in your body, providing deep stretching and lengthening of the muscles, calming of the nervous system and relaxation of the mind. The heat will cause your heart rate to rise, providing an exceptional cardio vascular workout, aiding dramatic weight loss and toning results. Practising yoga in the heat requires mental focus and mindful breath, this in turn will serve to calm your mind and allow the stresses of daily life to melt away. Then of course there is the sweat, lots of it, providing a deep detoxifying cleanse from inside to out that will leave you feeling lighter, brighter and inspired to extend healthy living beyond the yoga studio.

The Studio will be running courses and workshops throughout the year so please check out the website www.purehotyoga. co.uk or email info@purehotyoga.co.uk. They often some great introductory offers. vantagepointmag.co.uk

LIFE

YOUR HOME

YOUR FOOD

Out with the old and in with the new Some easy things worth doing include de-cluttering, turning out kitchen cupboards and switching your foods, and putting fresh new colours on the walls for spring, but how about making an area designated for you in your home that is purely for relaxing?

Many people are seeking to take control of their inner health. One self-help strategy is to make changes to what we eat, as there is a growing interest in how food and nutrition can affect our emotional and mental wellness.

Imagine your very own designated chill area where you can hide out and chat with friend, watch movies and read or meditate. Here are some essential set-up tips that will help you create the lounge of your dreams.

Eat as much food that is natural; fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts and pulses are always a good starting point. Removing sugar and wheat from our daily food intake is also a winner for seeing and feeling quick results.

Step 1: Find the Spot Every room has a corner just waiting to be cleared out and converted into a lounging-only zone. Scope out your space, rearrange furniture and make way for your cosy area. Wherever your magical spot may be, it’s got to have a certain level of privacy and separation from the rest of the house. Hang some fabric or light airy curtains strategically to keep it separated.

Step 2: Reserved Seating Every seat must be equally comfy and lounge-worthy (think beanbag chair and, jumbo floor pillows). This is really important, as lounging tends to take place in a sprawl. A supersoft area rug is lovely on bare feet and good to stretch out on.

Step 3: Mood Lighting Soft, low-wattage light sources are essential to the relaxing mood of the chill zone.

Step 4: Go Low You’ll need a big, low-to-the-ground surface, like a low level coffee table, to provide a central point and hold all your mugs, books and magazines. Throw some of your jumbo pillows down and you have created a chill zone. Candles are of course essential February 2014

FIND OUT MORE

Check out The Flexi Foodie for delicious healthy options for snacking and energy boosting recipes at http://theflexifoodie.wordpress.com. Julie Montagu is an expert on food and transformational yoga.

For more information on any of these suggested lifestyle changes please contact Charlie on 07770568307 or charlie@charliesmith.biz.

All photography by David Spink Photography. Tel 07966 238341. www.davidspinkphotography.com.

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A Local Menu

This month we feature recipes from two of our local chefs, both well worth a try

Troels Bendix Troels Bendix founded The Hungry Guest in Petworth in 2011. Initially opening with a café in the town, the business now includes a café, artisan bakery and food shop. Troels originally trained at the Culinary Institute of Denmark before moving to London to train at the Sugar Club. He is a fully trained chef having worked up from an apprentice in Denmark. In 2001 he founded Breads Etcetera growing from a one man band to a bakery with its own shop and café suppling outlets in London. The Hungry Guest is unique in that it produces so many of its own products, all carefully developed by Troels and more often than not made by his own fair hands. He is very careful to select only the best ingredients and suppliers and provenance is something he is particularly passionate about. He is also renowned for his baking skills and real bread. The extensive range of sour dough that is sold through the Petworth outlet has won many national awards since its launch.

Soft Spiced Braised Lamb Shank Casserole Ingredients Sunflower oil 8 lamb shanks 2 onions 4 cloves of garlic 4 large carrots, sliced 4 parsnips, sliced Sprinkling of salt 1 tbsp turmeric 1 tsp ground ginger 1 dried red chilli pepper, crumbled or 1⁄4 tsp dried chilli flakes 2 tsps cinnamon 10 whole cardamom pods 1 tbsp tomato paste 4 cloves Black pepper 2 tbsps honey 80g flaked almonds Serves 6

The Hungry Guest, Lombard Street, Petworth.

Tel: 01798 344564 34

1. Put 3 tablespoons of the oil into a very large, wide, heavy-bottomed pan and warm over medium heat. Brown the lamb shanks, in batches, in the pan and then remove to a roasting tin or whatever else you’ve got to hand to sit them in.

2. Peel the onions and garlic and process in a food processor or chop them finely by hand. Add the remaining oil to the pan, and fry the onions and garlic until soft, sprinkling salt over to stop it catching. Stir in the turmeric, ground ginger, chilli, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, tomato paste and season

with some ground pepper. Stir again and add the honey.

3. Put the shanks back into the pan, add cold water almost to cover, bring to the boil and then put a lid on the pan. Lower the heat and simmer very gently for 1-11⁄2 hours or until the meat is tender.

4. Add your sliced carrots and parsnips to the pan. Cook for about 20 minutes longer without the lid, until the juices have reduced and thickened slightly.

Check for seasoning.

5. Toast the nuts by heating them for a few minutes in a dry frying pan, and sprinkle onto the lamb as you serve it. vantagepointmag.co.uk

FOOD

Jay Williams This recipe from Jay Williams, the rising star Head Chef of Wheatsheaf, of West Street, Farnham This is a parfait I love to make for Valentines evening. It is always very well received as it is simple, clean and has light flavours, and acts like a palette cleanser at the end of a meal, which always helps on such a night!

My inspiration for this particular recipe came from my wife-to-be who is a big fan of lemoncello.

It is not a difficult recipe to tackle, please give it a go and you will most certainly impress your partner, whether for Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day or any other special occasion.

Chilled limoncello parfait with raspberry coulis Ingredients For the parfait: 1 large egg, plus 5 yolks 100g caster sugar Zest of 2 lemons 25ml lemon juice ½ sheet gelatine 60ml limoncello 300ml double cream For the coulis: 500g raspberries 100g caster sugar Makes 1 terrine, enough for 10 servings

The Wheatsheaf, 19 West Street, Farnham.

Tel: 01252 717135 February 2014

1. Mix the egg, egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest in a heatproof bowl above a pan of barely simmering water and whisk the mixture until it reaches 80C. Remove from heat and continue to whisk until it reaches room temperature 2. Meanwhile, soak the gelatine in a little water.

3. Gently heat the lemoncello in a small pan and add the squeezed out softened gelatine and stir in thoroughly. Gently whisk this into the cooled lemon mixture and set aside.

4. In a separate bowl whisk the cream

to a ribbon consistency, and gently fold into the lemon mixture with a metal spoon. Place the mix into a lined terrine mould and freeze for at least 3 hours.

5. For the coulis, take 300g of the raspberries and place in a food processor with the caster sugar. Pass through a fine sieve and set aside.

6. To serve, place a slice of the parfait on a chilled plate, decorate with the reserved raspberries and a spoonful of the coulis and garnish with fresh mint.

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GARDEN

What to do in

February

With Matthew Pottage, Garden Manager at RHS Garden Wisley

F

ebruary is a time of year to do some good old-fashioned graft in the garden in readiness for the season ahead. While the ground is not frozen, it is a great time to dig over empty allotment plots and any borders you plan to renovate or replant in the spring. If you have a heavy soil with clay content then leaving upturned sods of earth for the frost to break apart can take some of the effort out of creating that wonderful tilth we all hear about when it comes to sowing seeds directly into vegetable plots in the spring.

It is also a good time of year to apply a good thick mulch of organic matter to any borders where you have ornamental shrubs or perennials. Make sure you do this when the ground isn’t frozen, but by doing it now, you are sealing in the moisture and giving the worms time to start incorporating this goodness into the root zone before the plants wake up.

Winter Colour If you want a little more colour in your garden in the winter, now is a good time to take an amble round Wisley and pick up some ideas from what is looking good in the garden and plant centre. The colourful stemmed shrubs around the Seven Acres lake are in full glow (above right), including a couple of my favourites; Cornus ‘Magic Flame’ and the powdery white stemmed Rubus biflorus.

There are flowers to enjoy too, and witch hazels with their spidery, highly fragrant flowers are always a real winter treat. Every year I rediscover my love for them

when I come across the first one in bloom. The smell is just heavenly and with colours ranging from flame shades of yellow and orange through to bright reds they provide a wonderful booster to any garden in winter.

Come and see them at Wisley and choose your favourite but make sure you don’t miss bright yellow cultivar ‘Pallida’ (below right) which gets my vote as the best.

Taking stock after the storms It’s been a particularly stormy couple of months and many gardeners will have had to cope with a few sad losses amongst their trees. Mostly it tends to be older, declining trees that succumb to bad weather and while the loss of old trees is always sad, it’s inevitable and makes us think of the importance of planting succession trees for tomorrow. However I’ve noticed losses amongst some of the more recently planted trees in the gardens and streets around Surrey as well as older, more mature trees.

Younger losses usually mean that the tree has failed to establish properly – a typical cause of this is poor planting technique. Buying pot bound trees that have been hanging around on the nursery for years isn’t necessarily time or money well spent. Unless they can be properly pulled apart, the circling roots often don’t spread out as they should and will continue to develop in a crowded, cage-like fashion, 38

depriving the young tree of anchorage as it grows and leaving it vulnerable to strong winds.

Anyone whose garden has suffered a bit of damage and is in need of a refresher could do worse than coming along to Wisley where we deliver a course on the very latest thinking in tree planting. It’s a super session and people are always amazed to learn how bit of attention to proper root preparation and planting depths can prevent the quick death of their young trees. We always say don’t plant a £20 tree in a 20p hole so remember that correct planting methods are crucial if you want trees to enjoy for years to come.

FIND OUT MORE

RHS Garden Wisley is the flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society, the world’s leading gardening charity. RHS Garden Wisley, Woking, Surrey, GU23 6QB. Visit rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley to find out more vantagepointmag.co.uk

Cranleigh walk Cranleigh is Surrey’s largest village and the locals are justly proud of it. This panhandle walk begins from near where the railway station once stood, but that sadly was lost to the village during the infamous Beeching cuts of 1965. Since then the track has been transformed; nowadays it leads a much quieter life and the old track bed forms a part of the Downs Link long-distance footpath, The days when steam trains rattled through here spewing out their smoke and hot cinders have long been forgotten. This route takes in almost two miles of the track bed, which has become an unofficial linear nature reserve. After leaving the track bed the way follows wide paths and quiet lanes as it loops through magnificent countryside before rejoining this wonderful path for the homeward journey.

The walk From the car park continue away from the High Street on a path beside the leisure centre to cross a small brook and reach a T-junction with a wide track.

This track was once the railway line and you should now turn left along it and pass between a small car park and a sports fi eld. A few houses will be seen through the trees on your left and 90 yards after passing the last house, look out for a wire fenced bridge parapet.

Turn left here and go down steps to reach a field where you should turn right along its edge. Enter a second field and follow a cart track uphill until 30 yards before its crest; seek out a narrow path that forks slightly right.

Follow this path between trees as it shadows the old railway cutting. At the foot of a slope by a crossing track, with the railway track just 10 yards away to your right, press on ahead. The path finally ends at a stile by a track with a brick bridge on your right.

Turn left here along a concrete farm track until it soon ends at a T-junction with a tarmac driveway. Turn right on the bridleway along this scenic drive and ignore a left fork that leads to 40

Vachery House. About 10 yards before meeting a second fork, turn left and follow the bridleway along a cart track and pass between buildings. After passing entrance gates, follow the bridleway left as it continues along the left-hand boundary of a large field. Press on as it follows the left side of a second field but, when the well-worn track turns left at a third field, keep ahead on a narrower path that you now follow until it passes a house and ends at a tarmac driveway.

Turn right along the drive and pass by cottages and farm buildings. Ignore a footpath ahead at a bend and remain on the drive. At a terrace of half-tiled cottages, maintain direction ahead on a rising stony bridleway. The way meets with a concrete farm drive which you should follow between cottages and farm buildings and when this ends press on ahead along a track that soon meets with the old track bed of the defunct railway where a small private lake will be seen ahead of you.

Turn right here along this glorious path inhabited by wildlife; without any further instruction, stuff this little book firmly into your pocket and follow the track for two miles until you reach Cranleigh where there are coffee shops and eateries available in the High Street for your delight. If real ales are required then 100 yards to the right of Village Way you will find the Three Horseshoes, while a short walk up Ewhurst Road from the mini roundabout brings you to the White Hart. vantagepointmag.co.uk

WALK

Winkworth by Sarah LemariĂŠ

Places of interest nearby Winkworth Arboretum north-west of Cranleigh at Hascombe, contains over 1,000 different trees and shrubs, many of them rare. It is an ideal place for the family to visit and maybe picnic. During the spring and early summer the massed rhododendrons and azaleas give a wonderful display of colour. Open all year round from dawn to dusk. Tel 01483 208477.

Cranleigh Walk 7

A wide field track along the route.

DISTANCE: 6 miles OS MAP: Landranger 187 GRID REFERENCE: GR 058389.

TERRAIN: An easy walk through gently undulating countryside.

GETTING THERE: Cranleigh is 8 miles south of Guildford on the B2128. Very limited roadside parking by the White Hart, so use the cheap pay and display car park (free on Sundays) in Village Way; turn oďŹ&#x20AC; by the village hall in the High Street.

This walk is taken from Pocket Pub Walks Surrey, published

by Countryside Books. Visit countrysidebooks.co.uk for more information.

Neither the publisher nor the author can accept any responsibility for any changes, errors or omissions in this route. Diversion orders can be made and permissions withdrawn at any time.

February 2014 a wide track. This track was once the railway line T-junction with and you should now turn left along it and pass between a small

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PROFILE

Introducing

Vivace Chorus V

ivace Chorus is a vibrant, versatile group of singers based in Guildford. We attract members from a wide area, most are local to Guildford, but many travel in from as far away as Liphook and Horsham.

Membership hovers around 150 and our age range is wide! We are brought together from many walks of life by our shared love of choral singing.

We are conducted and trained by one of the finest choral conductors in the country.

Jeremy Backhouse has vast experience, huge enthusiasm and a wonderfully positive outlook! Apart from Vivace, Jeremy works regularly with Salisbury Community choir, and his own top-notch chamber choir Vasari Singers, previous winners of Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year and holders of many awards for their fine recordings. Our rehearsal pianist Francis Potts is a composer and concert pianist of considerable repute. All of this makes weekly rehearsals fascinating, sometimes demanding, but ultimately great fun, which is what it’s all about.

We sing around three concerts a year in the Guildford area, in the Cathedral, Holy Trinity, or GLive. Our aim is for an exciting mix of old and new, classical, jazz, serious and less serious. We are equally at home with Mendelssohn’s Elijah, or Will Todd’s Mass in Blue. (We liked the Mass so much; we commissioned a new work Te Deum from Will in 2009.) We presented “A Night at the Opera” to a full house at GLive in 2012 and followed this up a year later with another

“

Forthcoming concerts include “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” at GLive on March 8th and Verdi Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall London on May 18th.

”

capacity audience for ”An Evening with Elgar” which included the choral arrangement of Vaughan Williams’ beautiful “Serenade to February 2014

Music”, and featured international star Julian Lloyd Webber in Elgar’s wonderfully nostalgic Cello Concerto. “…….The Vivace Chorus brought to the opening a gentle sweetness of sound which was quite captivating, and as the harmonies faded the sopranos gave us the most limpid top A in the phrase “of sweet harmony”….”quoted from a review in the Surrey Advertiser.

Apart from concerts in the Guildford area, we sing regularly with the Brandenburg Sinfonia at St Martin’s-in-the-Fields in London. This is a gem of a venue and it’s a great thrill to sing there. We also pack our suitcases every two or three years and take off for foreign parts. We have sung concerts in Notre Dame in Paris; in Strasbourg, Freiburg and Heidelberg; and next year we leave for a four day tour of northern Italy, visiting Venice, Verona and the Italian lakes. We also host an annual Come and Sing at Normandy Village Hall each January.

Forthcoming concerts include “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” at GLive on March 8th and Verdi Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall London on May 18th.

The concert in May at the Albert Hall will find Vivace playing its part in the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth. We sang Mahler 8 – The Symphony of a Thousand - to a packed Albert Hall in 2011. This time we aim to do the same with one of the most dramatic and well-loved settings of the Mass, his Requiem. This is an operatic work with the ability to move everyone with the beauty of its melodies and the drama of its orchestration.

Vivace Chorus always welcomes new members. If you would like to join us, please contact Jane Brooks our membership secretary on 01483 539088, or turn up at 7.10pm on almost any Monday evening at Holy Trinity Church on the High Street in Guildford to try us out and see if we are the right chorus for you. See our members page for our rehearsal schedule.

FIND OUT MORE

For details of all concerts and more information please visit vivacechorus.org.

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