VantagePoint Magazine January 2015 - Dorking & Villages

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Dorking & Villages • January 2015

VANTAGEPOINT YOUR COMMUNITY  YOUR VIEW

Turner at Petworth House Inside: MOVING LATER IN LIFE THINGS TO DO IN SNOW SOUNDING OFF: ‘GOG’ ON CYCLISTS

MAGAZINE

THE QUICKIE DIVORCE—IS IT A MYTH? How often do we read about celebrities getting a ‘quickie divorce’?

For example, a national newspaper reported that a High Court judge took just 70 seconds to end the marriage of Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi! In reality the judge granted a Decree Nisi, a document stating that the court didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t divorce.

Therefore, such reports are misleading and simply not true. There is no fast track process – even for the rich and famous.

This is why you should beware of websites offering ‘quick’ divorces on line – it will be no quicker or easier than using an experienced, regulated family solicitor.

Clients often ask me how long it will take to get divorced and my answer is that if everything is agreed, including a financial settlement, it will take about six months.

The process of divorce itself is straightforward and does not require you to attend court. However, it gets complicated when couples cannot agree issues relating to the children or more commonly, money.

The first step in the process is for the divorce petition to be issued at court, the person receiving the petition must then file an acknowledgment form. Once this is done a further form is filed asking for the court to fix a date to issue the Decree Nisi. After the Decree Nisi is pronounced six weeks and one day must elapse before the court will issue the Decree Absolute and the divorce is complete.

If you need advice about divorce or separation, please contact Julie Watts.

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TO THE POINT It is hard to believe it is January already, which marks a year since we successfully launched VantagePoint. The feedback we have received is enormously gratifying and I am also delighted that so many charities and local groups benefit from the free Jottings we provide every month.

By my reckoning, we have published more than 4,000 events since last January to the advan- Stefan Reynolds tage of both readers and the event organisers. Editor & Publisher Please do keep them coming in!

We have a new, locally based gardening writer joining VantagePoint this month. Beth Otway will be writing her column monthly and she will also have further information on her website which will expand upon some of her subjects as space in the magazine is always at a premium, given all the relevant local information we want to feature every month.

The local magazine produced by local people for the local community,

Last month I mentioned the fantastic response we had had to the competition to win one of the Tower of London poppies. Sadly there could only be two winners and the first couple of names pulled from the proverbial hat were: Mrs S Colles from Liphook and Debbie Keen from Lower Bourne. Congratulations to them both.

Humph continues to increase in size almost daily and now weighs in at 15kg, which is probably close to half his adult weight. He remains fixated with food and still eats his meals in literally a matter of seconds. He’ll get a shock next month when his meals reduce from three to two. The upside to this love of food is that training is going pretty well, touch wood... stefan@vantagepublishing.co.uk

VantagePoint is published by Vantage Publishing, a Godalming based local magazine business which was first established in 2009 when we launched our first community magazine.

We now publish five community magazines which are delivered monthly

by Royal Mail to 107,714 homes across the South East, which gives us the largest local circulation in the local area, all with guaranteed delivery by your postman.

Vantage Publishing Limited 6 Chestnut Suite, Guardian House, Borough Road, Godalming, Surrey GU7 2AE.

Please visit our website or contact any of us below if you need any more information.

For more articles and Jottings, visit it us online at

Sales: 01306 776679 Editorial: 01483 421601

vantagepointmag.co.uk VANTAGEPOINT CONTACTS

January 2015

Marcus Atkins Sales Director marcus@vantagepublishing.co.uk

Trish Soper Sales trish@vantagepublishing.co.uk

Carol Martin Sales carol@vantagepublishing.co.uk

Nick and Angie Crisell Jottings jottings@vantagepublishing.co.uk

Contributors: Andrew Crisell, Bernardo Hunte, Be Kassapain, Penny Kitchen, Beth Otway, Kirstie Smillie Print: Buxton Press Cover: Timothy Spall as Turner in the Old Library - a recreation of the Turner painting An Artist and his Admirers - Simon Mein and Thin Man Films

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CONTENTS Rugmart 0115_Layout 1 10/12/2014 09:01 Page 1

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6 Jottings Your local community noticeboard

8 Turner at Petworth A unique exhibition of artwork and artefacts

10 Sounding Off with Andrew Crisell Down with pedal-philes!

14 Moving Later in Life Penny Kitchen on helping parents downsize

18 Things to do in Snow 22 Fashion Model mum

26 Long Term Care How this could affect you or a loved one

30 Garden Taking a look at terrariums

32 Food Healthy New Year

35 Profile Dorking Walkers

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The contents of this magazine are protected by copyright and nothing can be reprinted without prior permission of the publisher. The publisher has tried to ensure that all information is accurate but does not take any responsibility for any mistakes or omissions. We take no responsibility for advertisments printed in the magazine or loose inserts that might be delivered alongside it. © Vantage Publishing Limited.

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Jottings First of all, we would like to wish you all a very happy New Year.

We do hope you had a really good Christmas and unlike 2013, managed to cook Christmas dinner without disruption! We look forward to receiving all your Jottings in the coming year. If you are a club, society, school, charity or indeed anyone who is doing something for the benefit of our community and would like some publicity to increase membership or highlight an event, do email us. Although we can’t guarantee it, we will certainly try our best to include your entry.

On Sunday 4th January, Guildford Rambling Club is meeting in Effingham at 10.30 am for an 8.5 mile walk with the option to drop out after 5 or 6.5 miles. See www. guildfordramblingclub.org.uk for more information.

Horsley Choral Society’s new season starts on Monday January 5th at 8pm, in East Horsley Village Hall, Kingston Avenue.

It’s a friendly mixed voice choir of about 60 members. New members of all voice parts are welcome and because they are a Leith Hill Music Festival Choir they

- YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD

are bound by the Festival rules not to audition, so no pressure to audition just as long as you can hold a tune and enjoy singing!

They would like to invite anyone interested in joining them to go along one Monday evening or for more information visit the website www.horsleychoralsociety.com or call 01483 283683.

The Abinger Lecture Society holds monthly talks in the Abinger Village Hall. December evening’s adventure took the audience from Georgia to Afghanistan in the company of John Pilkington, an explorer, writer, broadcaster and above all, an engaging, fascinating and exciting speaker. He led us on his personal quest for the source of the Oxus and to view the Aral Sea. The large screen provided by the speaker enabled everyone to see his stunning photographs of the journey and he ended with some outstanding close-ups of the people who inhabit these ancient lands. A fascinating talk indeed. Future meetings of the Abinger Lecture Society at Abinger Village Hall this year: Monday 5th January ‘Cloudspotting’, Monday 2nd February, The White Rajahs of Sarawak’, Monday 2nd March,

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‘Egyptian Temples’.

Contact Michael Crane for further details cranem@btinternet.com or just go along at 7.30pm.

Beare Green and Newdigate Choral Society’s Christmas Concert was very successful and enjoyed by all. The retiring collection was donated to the Alzheimer’s Society and the Stroke Association. The choir’s rehearsals for the Leith Hill Musical Festival resume on Wednesday 7th January in Newdigate Village Hall at 7.45pm. This year the choir will be singing ‘Spring’ from Haydn’s ‘The Seasons’ and Schubert’s ‘Magnificat’ as well as other pieces. Some of the choir members will be taking part in singing Handel’s ‘Messiah’ on 8th March in the Dorking Halls also as part of the LHMF. If you would like to join the choir please go along on Wednesday evenings. No auditions or ability to read music are necessary. Further details, if required, from the secretary 01306 631115.

The Three Bridges spiritualist church, a very friendly and lovely well-established spiritualist church has been around for many

Jottings is your community noticeboard for local events and information, edited by Nick and Angie Crisell

To feature here, please email us at jottings@vantagepublishing.co.uk

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Turner at Petworth House Visitors to the National Trust’s Petworth House in West Sussex will be able to enjoy a unique exhibition of artwork and artefacts, inspired by the themes in Mike Leigh’s award-winning film Mr. Turner.

Turner in the garden of the Chelsea cottage he shared secretly with his Margate landlady, under the name ‘Mr Booth’. The painting was last exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1852 – a year after Turner’s death.

Petworth House played a starring role in the film having once been the home of one of Turner’s greatest patrons, the third Earl of Egremont.

• Turner’s personal possessions, including his fishing rod, watch and signet ring, books from his library, and his painting materials. Some of these pieces have never been on public display before.

The exhibition features over 30 works of art, mostly by Turner, and on loan from major museum collections including the Tate and V&A, alongside personal effects once belonging to the artist, some on show for the first time.

Also on view are paintings and drawings by the actor Timothy Spall, created whilst he trained for his role as Turner in the film, together with props and items of costume from the feature.

Highlights include: • Major loans of Turner’s paintings in oil and watercolour • Rarely seen portraits of Turner, such as John Phillip’s touching late watercolour – possibly the last painted image of the artist before his death, and CW Cope’s oil sketch, one of the very few visual records of Turner at work.

• The first showing of a painting by 19th-century artist Alexander McInnes, discovered on the BBC Antiques Roadshow. It shows 8

• Props and items of costume from the film, Mr. Turner.

Below: Petworth House - Carved Room with four Turner landscapes set into Grinling Gibbons panelling - credit National Trust, Bill Batten.

• The additional 20 Turner paintings that reside permanently at Petworth House alongside countless masterpieces by other artists in five historic show rooms, several of which featured in the film.

• A short film by Mike Leigh’s production company Thin Man Films, about the making of Mr. Turner at Petworth House, and featuring rare behind-the-scenes footage.

Visitors can also tour the Old Library, not usually open to the public, but once used by Turner and other artist guests as a studio in the 19th century. This extraordinary space, which features in the film, hosts an exhibition of artwork by Timothy Spall, who was awarded the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance as Turner. vantagepointmag.co.uk

Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at Petworth House, Andrew Loukes said: “Mike Leigh’s work on Mr. Turner at Petworth was arguably the most significant cultural moment at the ‘house of art’ since Turner himself was a frequent guest here in the 1820s and 30s.

JMW Turner and Petworth House and Park

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775– 1851) was born in London and entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1789. He is one of the best-loved English Romantic artists and became known as ‘the painter of light’ due to his use of brilliant colours for his landscapes and seascapes. The critic John Ruskin became a great champion of his work.

“Having been a major location for the film, Petworth is a fitting venue for Mr. Turner – an exhibition: a unique show of loans celebrating a great British film, inspired by its principal themes and featuring an important mix of iconic paintings and rarely seen exhibits.”

The exhibition explores major themes of the film, such as travel, patronage, science, the Royal Academy and colour. Included in the collection are views reflecting Turner’s many European adventures, such as the enigmatic oil Calais Sands (Bury Art Gallery). Turner’s work at Petworth is showcased by a group from the Turner Bequest (Tate), including the famous view of the third Earl of Egremont striding out with his dogs – a scene recreated in the film.

Turner’s close involvement with the Royal Academy is represented by examples of his work as student, lecturer and exhibitor, while his lifelong residence in the capital is also acknowledged through works such as The Port of London (V&A).

Mike Leigh said: “Petworth wrote itself into the film rather than us having to think of possible stately homes; it is such an extraordinary, and rare, and rarefied place.

“When you’re in a place like Petworth and you’re saying, ‘OK, let’s pretend it’s 1828’ and you do all the research, and get into the costumes and breathe the air, you really do experience some kind of magic.”

FIND OUT MORE

Booking is essential for Mr. Turner – an exhibition.

For more information please visit www. nationaltrust.org.uk/petworthturner or telephone 0844 249 1895.

January 2015

Left: Timothy Spall as Turner - Simon Mein and Thin Man Films

Turner had strong links with Petworth.

During the 1820s and 30s he was a frequent visitor to the house as a guest of his friend and patron the third Earl of Egremont. The 20 paintings bought and commissioned by the third Earl continue to be enjoyed by thousands of visitors today, and are central to the story of Petworth.

Petworth House as a film location for Mr. Turner

Above: The Artist and his Admirers

by JMW Turner, 1827 - Tate Britain

Mike Leigh filmed for just over a week at Petworth House, which was the seat of one of Turner’s greatest patrons - the third Earl of Egremont, played by Patrick Godfrey in the film. Turner famously had the run of the house when he visited, and annexed the enormous library as his art studio, which was vividly brought back to life in the film.

Little needed to be done to the interiors to prepare them for filming; they remain much as they were during Turner’s time.

Petworth House’s splendid Carved Room is prominent in the film, and contains four landscapes painted by Turner for the 3rd Earl, two of which are of Petworth House and Park.

The film also captures a scene portrayed in Turner’s painting, Petworth Park, with Lord Egremont and his Dogs (on show), which depicts the Earl walking towards the house with his dogs at sunset. Petworth House’s Marble Hall and Little Dining Room also feature.

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Soundingoff Down with pedal-philes!

Andrew Crisell recently made a list of potential gripes and was horrified to discover that virtually everything irritated him, the classic symptom of a dreadful old fogey. Here he tackles cyclists...

This month, your friend Gog, or ‘Grumpy Old Git’ as he is unchar- ing a pedestrian. If this confuses and terrifies itably termed, is going to change his personality. He, or rather the motorists, so much the better.

I, am going to struggle into some outlandish garments, climb on to my high horse – or its mechanical equivalent – and preach a I was recently driving my wife to the station. sermon at you. For I want you to know that I am a Special One We weren’t hurrying, but she did have a train to and that I can look down on most of you because I am much, catch. Ahead of us, pootling along in the midmuch holier. Whereas you move about the planet in large four- dle of the road at a steady six miles an hour, was wheeled cabins which burn gallons of irreplaceable fossil fuel, I a lady on a bicycle. Road manners seemed to burn only my own calories. I am . . . suggest that she should bow your heads and whisper it reverBeing a cyclist allows me to invoke the pull over to the left and ently – a cyclist!

Right of Alternation, to switch at will allow us to pass her, but between being a road user and, when perhaps consumed with This exalted state gives me certain the righteousness of the traffic lights are against me, being a inalienable rights. It permits me to being green, she didn’t pedestrian. flout human dignity by wearing unbudge. So to warn her speakably silly helmets, dressing like that he would like to a frogman even though I don’t go into the water, and having overtake her, Gog gave her – not a parp but lights winking not only from my bike but from my head, my feet, a respectful toot on his horn, and eased past. my bum and my belt. It allows me to bang on the roofs of cars The lady was incensed. Suddenly cycling much that get in my way. And it enables me to flout many of the rules faster, she caught up with us outside the staof the road, such as observing red traffic lights. I also like travel- tion. “You beeped your horn at me!” she acling three abreast with other cyclists, especially on narrow roads, cused. “He beeped his horn at a cyclist!” she so that the Great Satan, the car driver, cannot overtake me. I like declared to the passing pedestrians. Suddenly to weave in and out of traffic, often at high speed and without I felt like a social leper, someone who has been giving notice of my intentions. Above all, being a cyclist allows publicly denounced for torturing kittens. me to invoke the Right of Alternation, to switch at will between being a road user and, when the traffic lights are against me, be- Our roads are narrow and clogged and make relatively little provision for cyclists. Being slower and more vulnerable, they deserve special consideration from motorists. But let cyclists be considerate, too. When tempted to feel ecologically holier-than-thou, they might remember that it’s not ‘motorists’ or ‘cyclists’ who pollute the planet: it’s human beings.

Do you agree with Andrew? What irritates you these days? Please write in or let us know at editor@vantagepublishing.co.uk.

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Jottings - YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD - NOW IN DATE ORDER!

years and their doors are open to everyone. They are a self funded church so everything that comes in goes back into the church. They hold a service every Wednesday evening. Their doors open at 7pm, the service starts at 7.30 till 9pm and everyone is welcome. It’s £4 on the door, which includes a raffle ticket that is drawn at the end of the service and a lovely cup of tea or coffee. They are holding one-to-one reading evenings throughout the year as well as special clairvoyant evenings. They are currently fund-raising for a new church roof and you can purchase a roof slate for £5 each with a picture and message in memory of a loved one. The January programme has Nigel Gaff on 7th, Debbie Dean on 14th, Fledglings Evening on 21st and Tricia Bamsey on 28th. The church is located in New Street, Three Bridges, Crawley RH10 1LW. You can call Monday-Friday 3pm5pm. For more information, contact Tina on 07518 303618. www. threebridgesspiritualistchurch. co.uk.

The Whips, West Horsley Players are staging the fun filled pantomime ‘Dick Whittington and his Cat’ at West Horsley village hall. Go along and see a traditional panto for children and adults and laugh along with the Dame, the rat pack, rollicking sailors, shipwreck, camel and lots more! Performances are on Thursday 8th to Saturday 10th and Thursday 15th to Saturday 17th January and start at 7.30pm with Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. The 15th January is a Charity Night in aid of the 1st Fetcham scout group and tickets are available from 01483 284141 or online at www. horsleyamdram.ticketsource. co.uk.

Watermill Jazz, which meets each Thursday evening at The Friends Life Social Club in Pixham Lane, Dorking, has the following lineJanuary 2015

up of performers for the month: Billy Herbert and the Buck Clayton Legacy Band playing the Billie Holiday Songbook (8th), the Allison Neale quartet (15th), Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart (22nd), and Dylan Howe’s Subterraneans playing the music of David Bowie (29th).

Tickets are priced at £17- £25, call 07415 815784.

Test your spelling ability by playing Scrabble! The Dorking Scrabble Club welcomes players of all abilities. The Club meets every Wednesday at 7.30 pm.

Opponents are paired to play three games in the course of the evening Help is given to new players and everyone is provided with a list of all the two and three letter words (there are over 1400!) If you’re interested ring Priscilla on 01737 767072 or David on 01306 889308 or just go along any Wednesday to the Roy Currie Room at Dorking United Reformed Church ,West Street, Dorking.

A major event in January is a visit by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by the Venezuelan maestro Domingo Hindoyan to Dorking Halls. It’s on Saturday 10th January at 7.30pm and the programme consists of Beethoven’s seventh symphony, an exultant and joyous piece renowned for its exceptional rhythmic vitality, and Grieg’s delightful Holberg Suite. Also in the programme is Schumann’s piano concerto, a popular favourite of the romantic era. It will be played by the young prize-winning pianist Ji Liu, whose debut solo album recently soared to the top of the classical charts.

Definitely a concert not to miss!

Tickets are £20 to £29; to book call 01306 740619.

The Runners Need G3 Series consists of three tough crosscountry running events all starting

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and finishing at Newlands Corner, near Guildford. The dates for 2015 have been set – 10th January, 31st January and 21st February. These races are notoriously challenging taking in all that the Surrey Hills can throw at runners – steep inclines, sticky mud, technical descents, and sand! The delicious post-race brownies and flapjacks make a well-deserved reward.

New for 2015 are the G3 medals – a great addition to any trophy cabinet! Top three finishers will receive prize vouchers thanks to event sponsors Runners Need. The events sold out in 2014, so secure your place now if you would like to take part in 2015. Race dates: 10 Jan, 31 Jan, 21 Feb. 08:30 am start. £20 per race, or £50 for all three. www.g3series.co.uk or www. facebook.com/aatevents.

How many times have you read about how good walking is for you? Well there’s no denying it, it is good for you! Surrey County Walkers organise some great weekly walks. Here are brief details of January’s agenda.

Sunday 11th, 8 mile easy walk around Cove, Ansell Farm, and Minley. Meet at Sail Training Centre, Hawley Lake, Minley Road.

Ref 186/841584. Leader Cyril 01252 546160. Saturday 17th, 7 mile easy walk around Christmas Pie, Flexford and Wood Street Village. Meet at Normandy crossroads carpark. Ref 186/926616.

Leader Andrew 01252 520256.

Sunday 25th, 7.5 mile easy walk around Bisley and Donkey Town.

Meet in Bisley carpark, off A322 roundabout near Hen & Chicken pub. Ref 186/948597. Leader Colin 01276 474258. Saturday 31st January 8 mile easy walk around South Nutfield, Nutfield Marshand Redhill. Meet at Earlswood Common carpark, Earlswood Lakes. Ref 187/267484. Leader Jim 01737 764149. For all walks meet at 10am sharp.

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Jottings - YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD - NOW IN DATE ORDER!

Two Compton residents, Ken Miller and Tim Carter, have each played an important part in the Prostate Project OctoBeardFest Appeal. They are hoping that the final total will be an astonishing £80,000. Ken raised a fantastic £1,810 and Tim, who is Operations Manager at Nikon UK in Kingston, encouraged 18 Nikon staff to grow beards raising over £1,000. In a further exciting development, Tim is trying to get the Prostate Project nominated as Nikon UK’s charity of the year for 2015. All the money raised will be used to support Professor Hardev Pandha’s cancer research team at the University of Surrey and specifically, to help fund a new 500 man trial that if successful, will provide the extensive visibility, governance and a CE mark for a prostate cancer urine test that is 50% more accurate than the 30 year old PSA blood test. Anyone wishing to donate can do so at www.octobeardfest.co.uk or by contacting Tim on 07989 865702.

Fantastic, well done chaps!

The Horsley Floral Decoration Group (affiliated to NAFAS) is a friendly afternoon flower arranging club which meets at East Horsley Village Hall on the second Tuesday of each month (except August) at 2pm.

They have a varied programme of demonstrators/speakers/ in-house entertainment, trips, internal competitions (optional), sales table, refreshments, etc.

Visitors and new members are very welcome (February/AGM members only). Do go and join them (first visit free) for fun, flowers and friendship. For more details phone Yvonne 07976 281060 or Beryl 01483 831422.

Horsley Decorative & Fine Arts Society meets at East Horsley Village Hall on the second Wednesday of the month from October to July for lectures on 12

a wide variety of subjects. The lecture on 14th January will be Russian Art, Dhiagelev and the Ballet Russe by Theodora Clarke.

Coffee 9.45 to 1015am. Lecture from 10.30 to 11.30am. Visitors (£5) and new members welcome.

For more information and the full programme, visit their website www.horsleydfas.org.uk or phone Chris on 01483 280021.

The Dorking & District U3A holds its monthly meeting on Wednesday 14th January at 2.30pm in the Christian Centre beside St Martin’s Church in Dorking. Paul Whittle, vicechairman of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society, will give a talk entitled ‘Toy Train to the Clouds’ and admission is free.

For more information on the range of activities offered by the Dorking U3A visit www.dorkingu3a.org. uk.

Even in January, there is much to do and see at RHS Garden Wisley GU23 6QB. Their website is pretty comprehensive and gives details of all upcoming events. www. rhs.org.uk/wisley . Just to give you an idea, here are a few that caught my eye. Always a favourite, Butterflies in the Glasshouse runs from Saturday 17th January to Sunday 8th March and is open from 10am to 3.45pm. It really is a tropical paradise where exotic butterflies of all sizes and colours take flight amongst plants from far-off shores. If you’re lucky one might even land on you! Normal Garden entry applies, but you can beat the queues and pre-book a time slot for weekends and half term by going to the website. In conjunction with this, there is a Butterfly Photography Morning (non-tutored) on Thursday 29th January from 7.45am to 10.15am.

Based in the Clore Learning Centre, where refreshments will be served, you will be free to visit and photograph the glasshouse

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and butterflies as you please. As there are only 25 places, please book as soon as possible by calling 08456 121253, open 9am – 5pm Monday – Friday. RHS members £21, non-RHS members £34.

Dorking Folk Club has some top class professional and entertaining artists lined up for January/February.

Jez Lowe on Wednesday 14th January, Keith Kendrick on 21st January, Rosewood trio on 4th February and Bram Taylor on 18th February.

On the intervening Wednesday evenings there are the everpopular Singers nights for local performers. The club operates at Friends Life Social Club, Dorking RH4 1QA. Full details are at www. dorkingfolkclub.org.uk.

‘Platinum’ The live ABBA Tribute Show is on at Dorking Halls on Friday 16th January, starting at 8pm. Following a supremely successful show in 2013, internationally acclaimed ABBA tribute show, Platinum are back!

Described by the Evening Standard as better than the original, their breathtaking show has to be seen to be believed. It should be an unforgettable evening of singing, dancing and flares! Tickets are £19.50, from the Box Office on 01306 881717.

Dorking Good Neighbours, your local voluntary car scheme, is looking for more drivers to boost their numbers. They’re looking for local drivers, with their own cars, to join a group of about 30 volunteers to take residents to their medical appointments, at surgeries, dental practices and nearby hospitals. Typically, drivers are asked to take a passenger about once every two weeks.

Drives are usually arranged well in advance, to fit flexibly around any commitments and holidays you may have. If your lifestyle allows you to spare a few hours to help vantagepointmag.co.uk

Could you use some help with your Cleaning, Ironing or both?  Regular hourly rate only £10-£11/hr (area related)  Price quoted includes agency fee (no hidden extras)  One off spring cleans available. Call for price details  Times and hours to suit you (min. 2 hours per week)  Maid2Clean registers workers only after vetting  550+ Reliable, honest, suitable workers – why pay more?  Ease of replacement if you wish to change your worker  Worker sickness replacement cover provided if required  Insurance provided

Call Liz on 0800 0925 773 Email services@ maid2clean.co.uk

www.architecturesurrey.co.uk

You deserve a rest so be served by the best

World class healthcare with a local approach St Anthony’s Hospital combines the most advanced medical procedures and skills with the kind of personal care that many hospitals have forgotten how to provide.

We specialise in complex cardiac cases, orthopaedics, urology, vascular, breast and colorectal cancer surgery – and in the dedicated, compassionate care of the individual.

St. Anthony’s has been established at North Cheam for over 100 years. The only independent hospital in the area to provide full intensive care, it offers a safe and secure setting for complex and routine surgery.

For further information please contact

020 8337 6691 St Anthony’s Hospital, North Cheam, Surrey SM3 9DW. Registered Charity no: 1068661.

www.stanthonys.org.uk JanuarySt 2015 Anthony’s Hospital STAHVP11 World Class (Vantage Point Magazine Dorking HPC 91.5mm x 147mm) ins ?

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Moving later in life When elderly parents need to downsize, it can be an ordeal for the whole family. Penny Kitchen talks to a woman who knows how to help from first-hand experience.

Amanda Fyfe was a successful businesswoman with a young family when she realised that her parents, aged 75 and 85, needed to downsize – and needed help to do it. This presented problems for all the family members, not least because her parents lived several hours’ drive away. Both Amanda and her brother wanted to help, but spending weekends looking for suitable accommodation, and then helping her parents to get rid of a lifetime’s accumulation of possessions, took an increasing toll on family life, and on the emotions.

“Mum was very fit and still worked full-time at Oxfam, but she was beginning to feel isolated and wanted to move closer to me. Dad who was that much older was beginning to slow down – but he didn’t want to move.”

Finally Amanda’s parents were persuaded and she takes up the sory: “I found them somewhere to live, no problem; found a buyer for their house, no problem; but the practicalities of moving them from a very large four bedroom bungalow into a little two bedroom flat were huge. I was going over every weekend. I had three stepchildren living with me, a dog, a business with 18 employees to run, and an old house which required a lot of looking after.

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“I was driving to my parents’ every Friday evening, frantically sorting through their belongings and I was exhausted. It would literally be ‘OK, right, Mum, let’s clear this room now’. I would start and she would say ‘But Auntie Annie gave me those…’. Tempers frayed as the hours ticked by.

“Oh, the guilt afterwards!” Amanda acknowledged ruefully. “It should have been an exciting time for them, but frankly they must have been glad to get rid of me on Sunday, to have five days of peace. Meanwhile my brother was making trips over to clear the garage.”

Amanda had planned her parents’ move. They were going to stay with her for a week while she cleaned and sorted boxes in the flat, but in the end she had to make them move into the flat.

“It was awful. It was probably the most stressful time of my life.”

As I listened to Amanda recount the story, I thought of my own parents years ago – them in Canada, me in Surrey – and, despite my urging, putting off the evil day when they had to downsize. Lacking practical support, they understandably could not face the upheaval.

As I was of minimal help, they could have vantagepointmag.co.uk

benefitted enormously from someone like Amanda. Not the stressed and overloaded Amanda who dealt with her own mother and father’s move, but the Amanda who today, as a professional ‘senior moves manager’, can stand back from the fraught family situation and guide her elderly clients through the process.

A revelation On a business trip to the States shortly after her parents’ move, Amanda was telling an associate there about the ordeal. “He said to me ‘You should talk to my wife – she got in a senior moves manager.’

“The concept of a specialist helping older people downsize and move house was a revelation to me and I thought this is something I could do myself back in England. I’m usually calm and organised. I’ve always loved older people and felt relaxed with them – I loved visiting my grandparents and felt closer to my own parents when they got older.”

Training in America through the Senior Moves Trade Association followed and Amanda reduced the time she spent at her other business in order to experience at first-hand what it would be like to move other people. “I had moved every three years because my father was in the army, so I could do that with my eyes closed, “ she explained, “ but it is very different moving yourself and moving someone else.”

Amanda’s father died in 2011, a turning point for her. At the age of 49, she sold her business to concentrate full-time on her new venture.

Today she feels well qualified to offer good advice to others who may be facing the prospect of helping to relocate elderly relatives.

• Invite other - older - family members or friends of your parents to sit in on one of these sessions so that they don’t feel they are being bullied.

• Be open and truthful with them.

Unfortunately, adult children may approach the issue obliquely out of respect for mum and dad. Show them reality but at the same time show them solutions. For example, point out to them “the day is coming when one of you might have a fall – who will pick you up?” Describe all the available options – care home, sheltered accommodation, ground floor flat, etc.

• Parents will capitulate if the adult children give assurances often enough that they can help them.

But what if adult children can’t offer help for whatever reason? Like me, they may live far away; the chemistry/history between parents and children sometimes gets in the way; and sadly, some families are estranged. Amanda believes that this is where the American concept of Senior Moves provides a solution.

You will inevitably get situations where mother might want to keep something that daughter has designated for the charity shop. Says Amanda: “Someone like me coming in can spare the time to chat about a precious possession that holds a memory for the elderly person. We act as surrogate family to them because we’ll listen to them, whereas often family members have commitments of work, children at home, etc. We give them every minute of the hours we’re with them.” And importantly, there is no emotional childparent tension.

Amanda’s advice • If you haven’t already talked to elderly parents about a move, it is essential to open up a communication channel. You may not be able to convince them at first, but you have to keep trying. And if subtlety doesn’t work, you have to sit them down and say “mum and dad, we have to have a serious conversation here.”

January 2015

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Who do you call?

Ghost busters are possibly the only services Amanda hasn’t enlisted to help her clients!

She helps get services in, contacts charities, organises house and garage clearance, makes a floor plan of the new property to help them plan in advance where pieces of furniture will go. “We can even unpack for them so that they don’t have to face new rooms full of boxes.

But the important thing is, they are always in control.”

She will take on any or all parts of the relocation process, but at each stage her clients are presented with choices and asked how they would like to proceed.

Questions to ask Amanda is always happy when a family calls her in at the beginning of the process and the questions she asks provide a guideline for anyone in this situation: • Do the parents want to move nearer to their family?

• Should they stay where they are because they have friends in the area, because they’ve always lived there?

• Are they sociable, do they like to go for a drink in the evening? Or perhaps they like gardening or to go and listen to talks? This should be taken into consideration when choosing accommodation.

• What sort of support do they need now – and importantly, what support will they need in five years’ time? It’s a much shorter time frame for an older person – closer to five years than 20.

The type of accommodation families choose is dependent on personality and interests as well as finance. Amanda takes her clients personally to see what’s on offer and they are sometimes pleasantly surprised. “Care homes, retirement flats and sheltered accommodation are labels that a lot of elderly people don’t like, so I might take them to visit a retirement community so they can see what it’s really like and make up their own minds.”

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A service like this wasn’t something anyone could have envisaged needing years ago.

Amanda explains why: “The change in our culture over the last 30 years means that daughters no longer live at home, or take parents in, or are there to assist when they get old. Now every woman I know works. And also we live so far away from our families now.

“Older people themselves have become more independent. They are happy they’ve been able to build an independent life and they don’t want to disrupt their children’s lives.

“It also has a lot to do with an improvement in health – by and large the baby boomers aren’t unhealthy, just frail.

“It’s great when the adult children want to be in contact, to help and make sure their parents are OK, but it’s also nice for them to know that they can go away and someone like me will be helping to sort things out. The sad thing is where we are helping elderly people who are completely on their own, or have children who just don’t care.”

Penny Kitchen in a Farnham based writer and editor. She can be reached by email at penny. kitchen@btopenworld.com.

FIND OUT MORE

Amanda Fyfe can be contacted on 0118 9794629 or email enquiries@seniormoves.co.uk. All staff are CRB checked and fully insured.

vantagepointmag.co.uk

Jottings - YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD - NOW IN DATE ORDER!

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neighbours in our community, please do consider joining them.

For more information, speak to the transport organiser on 07948 568906.

Clandon Park, near Guildford is open Every Saturday and Sunday from Saturday 17th January to Sunday 15th February, 11am - 3pm. Enjoy a special winter opening of Clandon Park and discover what it was like to care for a grand country house in the 18th century, and how to keep it looking its best today. Ground floor rooms open, last admission 2.30pm. Shop and restaurant also open. Normal admission applies.

More information at www. nationaltrust.org.uk/clandonpark , tel 01483 222482.

Guildford Shakespeare Company, Guildford’s award-winning theatre company, has announced that actor Brian Blessed will be joining the company to play

Shakespeare’s King Lear in their opening production of 2015. This will be first time that Brian has played this iconic role on stage.

The production will also be the first time that he has worked on stage with his actress-daughter Rosalind, who will be playing one of Lear’s three daughters, Goneril. The production, which runs from Saturday 17th January to Saturday 7th February, will be staged in Holy Trinity Church, Surrey’s largest Georgian church on Guildford High Street. It will be Guildford Shakespeare Company’s 24th since their inception in 2006.

Performances start at 7.30pm, with Saturday matinees at 2.30pm (no performances on Sunday).

Tickets cost £25, £21 concessions (over 60’s.under16’s, students, Equity), £18 matinees and family tickets are £80 (2xadults + 2Children under 16).There are also 20 tickets set aside every Monday for students, under 25’s and job

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seekers for £12.50. To book, go to www.guildford-shakespearecompany.co.uk or call 01483 304384. My goodness, no sooner had I written this jotting than I get an email saying due to the amazing demand already, they have extended the run by a week, and so, King Lear will now run until Saturday 14th February. I suggest you book as soon as possible.

Dorking Museum and Heritage Centre, The Old Foundry, 62 West Street, Dorking RH4 1BS is holding a Family Activities Day on Saturday 17th January from 2pm to 4pm. Family crafts and activities to look at the development of the bicycle using exhibits and pictures. Make bicycle cards with moving parts. It’s for families with children up to age 10 and all materials will be provided. No need to book - just drop in. All children must be accompanied and normal admission applies:

Come & Sing www.show-choir.co.uk

If you love singing…. and you love songs from the shows….. then come along to The Show Choir!

You’ll get the chance to: Sing your favourite show tunes Meet like-minded people Firston i Sess e Learn and improve e r F Show off your talents in performances Have a great night out!

There are no auditions – all you need, is a love of singing!

So come along to: Crossways Baptist Church, Junction Road Dorking RH4 3HB Time 8PM - 9:30PM Every Tuesday starting 13th January 2015 January 2015

Call: 01737 652099 17

Things to do in

Make snow buildings

SNOW

Rush outside after a fresh fall of snow and become an architect and builder.

You will need plastic containers in different shapes and sizes, a flat plastic spade, and an old knife and spoon to shape the snow.

How many different buildings can you make? Build a little cottage, a magical castle with turrets, a towering factory with rows of tall chimneys, or huge skyscrapers and highways for your toy cars.

Or take inspiration from buildings around you – perhaps a snow church, or even your own building.

Don’t forget to photograph your architectural masterpieces before they melt.

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vantagepointmag.co.uk

Make snowtem poles

Make snow people Try a different version of your average ‘snowman’ by making realistic snow figures in unusual places.

How about a lady sitting on a bench, an old man waiting at the bus stop, a child on a swing in the playground or someone leaning against a tree trunk in the park?

To make snowy versions of totem poles use large plastic containers to make snow bricks, tapping the snow down with your hands before tipping it out, rather like making a sandcastle.

Build up a tower, snow block on top of snow block. How high can you make it? Push a little snow between the bricks to join them together.

Use a spoon or trowel to carve animal features. Add evergreen leaves for wings or ears, berries for eyes or noses – whatever you need to bring it to life.

If there’s only a light dusting of snow, stack up little snowballs to make miniature snowtem poles.

January 2015

FIND OUT MORE

These are extracts from the fabulous book called: The Wild City Book: Loads of Things to do outdoors in Towns & Cities by Fiona Danks & Jo Schofield. Published by Frances Lincoln, £9.99.

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SOMERSET OAK

LIGHT OAK - RUSTIC OAK - WAXED OAK - LIGHT OAK - RUSTIC OAK - WAXED OAK -

£449 £359

£399 £319

SURREY OAK

DORSET OAK

RUSTIC OAK

LIGHT OAK

4`6”

£389 £311

£409 £327

£459 £367

£329 £263

£99 £79

£199 £119 £149 £159

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The

Furniture

The trading name of Cranleig

264 High Street, Cranle

www.cranleigh

£349 £279

£159 £127

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LIGHT OAK - RUSTIC OAK - WAXED OAK - LIGHT OAK - RUSTIC OAK - WAXED OAK -

- LIGHT OAK - RUSTIC OAK - WAXED OAK - LIGHT OAK - RUSTIC OAK - WAXED OAK

£569 £455

£149 £119

£529 £423

£349 £279

& New Years Day

£199 £263 £329 £159

£369 £295

£709 £567

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£199 £151 £189 £159

DORSET OAK

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£479 £383

SOMERSET OAK

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- LIGHT OAK - RUSTIC OAK - WAXED OAK - LIGHT OAK - RUSTIC OAK - WAXED OAK

Model mum Farmer’s wife and mother of four, Jo Baker, has a model experience Having bought a raffle ticket from the school’s charity event, Jo was a little surprised to be holding the winning ticket.

“I really wasn’t sure I would do it, but I am so glad I did, it was a lovely day”.

With a busy life (mainly in wellies) running the farmhouse and four boys to look after, there really couldn’t have been a better winner.

So, towards the end of last year, on a beautiful bright day, the pamper team turned up full of optimism - great weather, stunning location and a lovely model to work with. Whilst celebrity hair and make-up artist, Hanna Wildman spread out her brushes, powders and glosses on the kitchen table, fashion stylist, Kirstie Smillie started to edit Jo’s wardrobe and choose some great looks for her to wear. Meanwhile photographer, Anna Saverimuttu searched for the best light and locations for the photo session.

Hanna kept Jo’s make-up minimal. “I was conscious that as Jo doesn’t normally wear a lot of make-up, she needed a light, simple look to reproduce herself. I didn’t want to change her, just enhance what is there already.”

Hanna’s Five Minute Morning Routine for Jo: (Ok, maybe 10 minutes, but after practice, it should get quicker!)

A tinted moisturiser, cream blush and cream eyeshadow (all simply applied with fingertips) followed by a quick pencil eye line, mascara and lip gloss. Et voila.

Above: Jo glowing and gorgeous Right: Jo’s natural look

Far left: Hanna’s eyelash up-date Below: Wardrobe edit with Kirstie

Hanna emphasised that the “most important part is to have shades that flatter ... with the wrong choice of colour you can go to plenty of effort but not necessarily achieve the best results.

For Jo I kept everything warm.”

For the photoshoot, Hanna added an extra detail, just a few single eyelashes on the outer corners to highlight Jo’s blue eyes.

Maybe not for every morning but great for a special occasion.

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FASHION FOOD Meanwhile, upstairs, with clothes now spread on bed and doorways, Kirstie worked her magic: “It’s so easy to forget gems already in your wardrobe. By taking everything out, trying it on and assessing if it still works for your lifestyle, it’s possible to reduce your options and make your fashion choices simpler. Only then, invest in missing pieces you really love and know you will wear. ” Jo’s wardrobe consists of easy pieces in muted tones and shades of blue, and the fluid layers from Mint Velvet fit perfectly worn with jeans and slim fit trousers. We ditched a few obviously older pieces but also rejuvenated others that had been forgotten.

One new addition that Jo loved, was a cashmere poncho from The Gate in Guildford, as it’s just one of those pieces that won’t date, and for the early morning school dash, looks fab worn in any season.

Once hair and make-up and outfits had been decided, the team moved about the house and gardens with Anna taking these great photos.

Jo soon relaxed and got used to others organising clothes and hair for each shot.

There were a few extra visitors, a friendly cockerel, moody cat and herd of cattle to deal with, but the relaxed mood made for a fun indulgent day. Jo had some ‘self time’ away from her everyday duties - learnt make-up and wardrobe tips, with some great images to remember the day by.

“I am so pleased that I didn’t chicken out! It really was a fun and unusual way to spend a day.”

Hair and Make-up/Hanna Wildman. Visit www.hannawildman.com.

Fashion styling/Kirstie Smillie. Visit www.kirstiesmillie.com. Feel relaxed and confident in your own style with a wardrobe full of clothes you love. email: kirstie@kirstiesmillie.com.

Photographs/Anna Saverimuttu. A luxury hair, make-up and photography service for women. Visit www.annasaverimuttu.co.uk to find out more.

Clothes credit: Mint Velvet, 162 High St, Guildford 01483 385301.

Cashmere poncho, The Gate, Guildford 01483 453466.

Evening dress, House of Fraser, www.houseoffraser.co.uk.

Bolero, Edenblu, www.edenblu.com.

January 2015

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Jottings - YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD - NOW IN DATE ORDER!

Adults £2, children £1 (under 5’s free). Family Ticket £4.50.

Apparently, Activity Days are held every third Saturday of the month. You can find out more at www.dorkingmuseum.org.uk.

You can also contact the Centre at admin@dorkingmuseum.org.uk.

Tel 01306 876591.

Churches Together in Horsley and Ockham are holding a Christian Unity Service at St Mary’s Church West Horsley on Sunday 18th January at 6.30pm, this being at the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity throughout Britain.

The Dorking Harmony Singers, a daytime choir, is a small but friendly choir which would very much like more people to come and sing with them. If you enjoy singing and can spare some time during the day why not give them a try? They meet on Thursday mornings during term time in Dorking town centre. There is no audition and you don’t need to be able to read music. They sing a mixture of pop, folk and classical so if you’re interested, please phone Helen on 07753 862138 or email: hmargetts@gmail.com.

Do you fancy learning how to jive properly? Well you can Learn original American 40’s / 50s style. (not Lindy Hop or modern jive) on Mondays 8pm - 10pm at South Holmwood Village Club, Warwick Road, South Holmwood, Dorking RH5 4NP. £6 on the door to include free tea and coffee, bar if preferred. Call 07854 621522 for more information.

In its January meeting, the Historical Association, West Surrey branch, is featuring a talk by Professor Dan Stone on ‘Rethinking Liberation: The End of the Holocaust?’ Professor Stone, of Royal Holloway College, University of London, is a leading authority 24

having recently published a book on post war European history and he is currently working on the Concentration Camp for the Oxford University Press and the Liberation of the Nazi camps for Yale. The meeting is at 7.30 pm on 20th January at St Nicolas’ Hall, Bury Street, Guildford, GU2 4AW. Non members are very welcome (£3 at the door) and students are free. Further information from Rollo Crookshank, 01252 319881 crookshank@starkmann.co.uk.

Home-Start Guildford has another Volunteer Preparation Course starting on Thursday 22nd January. Home-Start Guildford is a family support charity covering the whole of the borough of Guildford and they are now expanding into Bookham and Fetcham in Mole Valley. They provide homevisiting volunteers with parenting experience to support families who are struggling to cope, with at least one child under five.

Examples of difficulties might be: post-natal depression, illness/ disability (of parent or child), multiple births, family breakdown, and financial worries. Can you spare a few hours each week to help a family with young children?

Are you interested in learning new skills on the friendly, free, volunteer training course? If the answer is yes, they are recruiting now. Call Harriet on 01483 511181, or email office@hsguildford.org. uk for more info.

The Dorking Halls continues its excellent series of live screenings with the Bolshoi Ballet performing one of the best-loved ballets in the entire repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. It takes place on Sunday 25th January at 3pm.

Then on Thursday 29th January at 7.15pm they will be screening André Chénier. This opera, by the little-known composer Umberto Giordano, is based on the life of the French poet André Chénier,

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and it features a starring role for the tenor, sung in this production

by Jonas Kaufmann. Tickets for both screenings are £17 and can be booked by calling 01306 881717.

The next Title Page Book Fair takes place at Dorking Halls on Sunday 26th January from 10am to 3.30pm. Loads of second hand and antiquarian books and other printed material will be on sale. Enquiries to Simon McArthur on 01372 725075 email titlepageukus@yahoo.com or Keith Alexander on 020 8399 8168 email titlepagebkfairs@aol. com . I gather that Book Fairs also take place at The Bookroom in Surbiton, call 020 8404 6644.

NewLife Fertility Clinic in Epsom has partnered with Access Fertility in a new service designed to bring hope to those facing fertility problems. An innovative IVF programme is making private infertility treatment more accessible to couples in the Surrey and Greater London area through a partnership between one of the country’s leading fertility clinics and Access Fertility - the UK’s first independent provider of IVF payment programmes and treatment plans. For the first time IVF patients will be offered a 70% refund if they fail to have a baby after undertaking fertility treatment at NewLife Fertility Clinic in Epsom. For more information and patient eligibility, visit www.accessfertility.co.uk and www.newlifeclinic.org.uk.

Horsley Garden Society holds flower and produce shows, meetings, lectures and visits that bring together those with an interest in gardening. They hold a plant sale which is open to the public, along with three shows at which members compete for awards and trophies with their flowers, fruit and vegetables, vantagepointmag.co.uk

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Long Term Care Bernado Hunte looks at how this could affect you or a loved one An inescapable fact of life is that we all are born with parents and possibly grandparents. We may now be parents or grandparents ourselves, however, the ‘Peter Pan’ in us wants us to live forever…free of aches, pains, serious illnesses and forgetfulness.

The real world is of course quite different. We do have a finite existence on earth. Our loved ones do age, become frail, have heart attacks or strokes, struggle with cancer, contract any number of conditions and in some cases they don’t even recognise us any more.

I write this article as both a qualified independent chartered financial adviser who gives regulated advice on long term care and a son whose mother fought off cancer when she was 67.

She then contracted Parkinson’s in her early 80s and lived as a widow in her own home with daily incoming care. She then fell one day when she was on her own smashing her elbow joint to pieces which led her into hospital for an operation. She ended her days in a care home as she was deemed to be unable to look after herself at home after her elbow operation. Her time in the care home was approximately 18 months…she actually died of pneumonia aged 85.

My personal experience with my mother may ring bells with you.

I was lucky in that I was one of three siblings so the responsibility of looking after my mother was ‘shared’...looking back there were good and bad aspects of ‘sharing the responsibility’ as I discovered. Not everyone gets on fabulously well with their fellow siblings.

So who may need long term care? Today more people are living longer. This improvement in life expectancy also brings with it the increased possibility of a person suffering a chronic illness later in life resulting in the need for another person to look after 26

them. This need is most likely to arise for very elderly people, typically those aged 80 or over.

Numbers in this section of the population are rising quickly. Recent figures from the National Office of Statistics predict that by 2035, 110,000 of the population will be living to the age of 100. That’s a sevenfold increase in the number of people living to the same age in 2013. Although there is no guarantee that a person will have the need for long-term care during their lifetime, the numbers who do are increasing substantially, and the problem is likely to worsen further in the future (Who may need Long Term Care - Techlink Professional 7th November 2014).

Long term care can be provided in a separate residential care home by an independent care provider or in the person’s own home. There is also a difference between a residential care home and a nursing care home. The latter provides ‘nursing’ care by qualified nursing staff.

People entering a residential home usually do not need much ‘nursing’ care e.g. they may be physically fit but have ‘dementia’.

When it is ‘established’ that someone can no longer look after themselves and therefore ‘needs’ care, all sorts of issues start to surface.

How and what will the State provide? What social security benefits can be claimed e.g.

Attendance Allowance or Registered Nursing Care Contribution? Can care be provided in the home or would residing in a care home be better? Is Power of Attorney in place and which relative/friend has the ‘power’? Which relative/ friend can do most of the local legwork? (Other relatives/friends may live a considerable distance away). What will the care cost? How do vantagepointmag.co.uk

we go about finding what assets the individual has? How do we go about finding what net monthly income is being paid to the individual?

Does the individual own a home? Will it have to be sold? Where is the individual’s will, is it up to date and is it valid? What are the processes we must go through on behalf of the person requiring care? Where there are two partners and one needs care how do we deal with the fitter one? Out of all the relatives/friends which one will offer to do all the above ‘spadework’.

Will just one relative/friend liaise with the solicitor and the financial advisor? Do any of the relatives/friends live abroad? Do the closest relatives/friends get on with each other?

You will now conclude that there are quite a few ‘hoops’ to pass through. Emotions will undoubtedly surface in some individuals. My personal experience is that the fewer the relatives/friends the smoother the ‘processes’ will flow, as human nature is quite interesting to observe! This is where the combination of an experienced LTC CF8 qualified adviser who has a good working relationship with a solicitor who is also familiar with all aspects of long term care will provide much needed support, guidance and a steadying influence.

For me, professionally speaking, the best way to look at the overall situation is to start from the simple premise which is: this is my mum or dad, aunt or uncle, relative, friend. He/she has hopefully lived a good life to date but their health is now failing and they deserve the very best care, so let’s try and give them the best that resources/circumstances will allow. If you pursue this philosophy then processes tend to go more smoothly and purposefully.

Here is an inescapable fact. What we do now know is that two in three women and one in two men will develop high care needs (Techlink Professional -Reform of the current Long Term Care provisions Friday 7th November 2014). The question is who amongst our relatives/friends will it be?

This article attempts to look at the human and practical sides of what is involved in providing care for an elderly person. In a subsequent article I will spell out how the ‘financial assessment’ operates. The present UK coalition government established the Commission on Funding on Care and Support chaired by Andrew Dilnot in July 2010. The government responded with the ‘Care Act 2014’.

FIND OUT MORE

Bernardo Hunte is a CF8 qualified Independent Chartered Financial Planner with Aspect8 Ltd. Aspect8 Ltd is a member of Best Practice IFA Group Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Bernardo can be contacted at bernard.hunte@ aspect8.co.uk or 01403 331419.

For more information call 01252 220080 or visit www.melodycare.co.uk.

Melody Care 10 The Enterprise Centre, Coxbridge Business Park, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 5EH. “Mum is very fond of her carer”

Melody Care were there when we needed them most Good health is something many of us take for granted. Those who have to care for a loved one with failing health know only too well the devastating effects this has on their quality of life.

So often people’s worlds are turned upside down when a parent or spouse become seriously ill or lose the ability to care for themselves. It is when this happens that professional help is often needed.

Melody Care has an enviable reputation for providing Care Assistants to help share the burden.

Whatever the circumstances might be, Melody Care will be there when the help is needed most.

January 2015

A typical day for a Melody Care Live-In Care Assistant: • Arise and prepare the house for the day (draw curtains, open windows, etc) • Feed and walk any pets • Deliver morning tea or breakfast, newspaper and post • Prompt or assist with any medication requirements • Prepare bathroom for washing • Assist with all aspects of personal care if necessary • Assist with dressing and hair care etc • Perform household duties (cleaning, laundry, etc) • Accompany Client to shops/dentist/ doctor/hairdresser/ friends or family • Prepare and serve lunch • Break 14.00-17.00hrs • Prepare and serve dinner • Close down the house for the night • Run a bath and prepare bedroom • Assist with all aspects of personal care and undressing, ready for bed.

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homecrafts and handicrafts.

All activities take place at the West Horsley Village Hall. Their gardening year will begin with a talk on Wednesday 28th January at 8pm by Mr Paul Templeton on Vegetable Growing. Anyone interested in membership at the modest cost of £8 per annum should contact the chairman, Roger Lindsay, email sue.roger@ virgin.net or the membership secretary, Terry Lazenby, email terrylazenby@terrylazenby.plus. com.

Do you remember the rock ‘n’ roll band Showaddy Waddy, who sang Under the Moon of Love etc? Well, they are still around and what’s more they are coming to Dorking Halls on Saturday 7th February. If you fancy a really good bop, call 01306 881717 or go to www.dorkinghhalls.co.uk or www.ticketline.co.uk.

Winston’s Wish is calling out across the country for families, friends, colleagues and classmates to join them and help raise £50,000 to support bereaved children by hosting a charity breakfast in February 2015. From the 9th to 15th February, Winston’s Wish is asking everyone to make their morning special and revive the tradition of the Great British Breakfast! This can be anything from sturdy full English, to a good old cuppa and toast, to a fancy continental dish. To support the campaign the Great British Brekkie website has been revamped to include sample ‘brekkie’ recipes, a gallery of supporters’ photos and videos, an interactive ‘brekkie’ map and online registration: www.greatbritishbrekkie.org.uk . Winston’s Wish is the leading childhood bereavement charity in the UK and all funds raised from the Great British Brekkie go directly into their work supporting children and their families after suffering the death of a loved one.

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Ewhurst Horticultural Society’s next talk is by Paul Gallivan and is entitled ‘Woolbeding Gardens’.

It’s on Tuesday 10th February at The Glebe Centre and starts at 8pm. Visitors are welcome, there will be a raffle and refreshments will be available.

I can’t believe that I am writing about next half term already but I mention this as it should be a nice thing to go to during the half term break. Sooty, the nation’s favourite bear will be at GLive on Thursday 19th February in a fabulous new show to entertain the whole family. Featuring a spectacular mix of magic, music and mess- guaranteed giggles for Sooty Fans old and new! It’s Sooty’s Birthday party and things aren’t going to plan. Sooty and Sweep get messy baking the birthday cake and will Soo ever decide which dress to wear?

Special party guests include legendary Sooty favourites Butch the bulldog and Ramsbottom the snake. Sooty said: “I’m really looking forward to meeting Sooty fans old and new – and I can’t wait to squirt the Mums and Dads with my water pistol!” The Sooty show is the longest running children’s programme in the world, it must be, even I remember it as a kid!

Harry Corbett originally bought Sooty for his son Matthew whilst on holiday in Blackpool in 1948.

Sooty first appeared on our screens in 1952. Following Harry Corbett ’s retirement in 1976, Sooty was operated by Corbett ’s son Matthew, and enjoyed a new wave of popularity on stage and TV. Matthew retired in 1998, giving Sooty to then co-star Richard Cadell who presented the show through another five series.

In June 2008, Richard Cadell bought the rights to Sooty. Tickets are £15 adults, £13 children.

Family tickets and group bookings are available. Go to www.GLive.

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co.uk or call 0844 7701 797 (10am-6pm, Mon-Sat).

RASASC (Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre- Guildford) offers listening and support for women and men who have experienced childhood or adult rape and/or sexual abuse. They are holding a Telephone Helpline Volunteers Training Course starting on Thursday 22nd February 2015.

Limited number of spaces – female only. The course runs on 7 Thursday evenings (7.30 to 9.30pm) from 26th February to 9th April plus there are 3 Sundays (10am to 4pm). On completion of the course, you would need to be free 2 evenings a month from 7.15 to 9.45pm for the helpline plus the 2nd Tuesday evening of every month for clinical supervision.

Volunteers are offered a friendly and supportive environment, with supervision and ongoing training and no previous experience is necessary. Details and application form on www.rasasc-guildford. org or email vivcien@rasascguildford.org. This does qualify as an informal placement, but they need a commitment from you of at least 18 months.

If you are a retired or semi-retired professional or business man why not consider joining The Probus Club of the Horsleys. A warm welcome awaits you. They meet at the Leatherhead Leisure Centre on the second Monday of each month for a good three course lunch and an illustrated talk. In January this is on ‘Policing in Surrey’ and in February they cover ‘Early Flying at Farnborough’. Two of the lunches (in June and at Christmas) include ladies, with occasional outings arranged to include partners and friends. Potential members are welcome to go along as a guest before joining. If you are interested, contact David Lush on 01483 280267. vantagepointmag.co.uk

A U T U M N

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West Horsley NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Breaking news……

West Horsley has recently been granted the right to create a Neighbourhood Plan.

We need your help It is a community led plan for guiding the future development, conservation and rural character of our village.

Our Village, Our Future, Our Opportunity The Neighbourhood Plan will be part of the statutory development plan for the area. It represents a critical chance to have OUR say and influence a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues such as housing, schools, employment, heritage and transport.

At stake is the future of West Horsley for generations to come.

WE NEED…YOU To join our team shaping a Neighbourhood Plan The time to act is NOW. To make a difference please contact: David Hollingsworth chairwesthorsleynsg@gmail.com Sue Lush secretarywesthorsleynsg@gmail.com

GARDEN

Taking a look at

Terrariums With Beth Otway

I love bringing nature indoors; vases of flowers, pretty stones and all manner of leaves, bark and pinecones are welcome in my house at any time of year. I enjoy house plants, but I especially love creating bottle gardens or terrariums.

Terrariums are fun to plant up either by yourself, with a friend, or with children or a disabled or housebound friend or relation; they are something everyone can be involved in and enjoy, which is wonderful.

Whether you’re looking for a unique present or to add a special touch or feature to your home, whatever your style or budget, I’d recommend a terrarium. I have a number of terrariums, here’s a closer look at two of them: The first is a glass terrarium I bought second hand, it cost me £10. After giving it a good clean I set about planting it up: first I added a mixture of gravel and activated charcoal, then I added a layer of very fine gravel, then a layer of peat free coir compost and on top of this I added my own peat free compost mixed with sand. I carefully planted my plants and mosses, each chosen to cope with the humidity and conditions of a terrarium.

All manner of items can be used to plant a beautiful and unique indoor garden: bell jars, cloches, carboys, old fish

bowls and tanks, sweet jars, cheese domes, even old light bulbs!

Select a sturdy, robust container, without any drainage holes, that’s made of clear glass, strong plastic or acrylic. Choose a container with a wide enough opening to allow for planting and maintenance and ensure you select one with enough height and room for both the growing medium and the plants.

My second terrarium is a BiOrbAir, a specially designed, automated terrarium, created by a company known for their aquariums. The BiOrbAir uses modern technology to create a stable microclimate with regulated humidity and air movement.

It even has LED lights which simulate daylight, allowing you to take nature with you, even in a basement office or room without any natural light. The lights are designed and arranged so that the plants will grow upright, meaning you won’t have to regularly turn the terrarium as with traditional types; this also allows you to have a ‘backdrop’ to your planting design should you wish.

The way the terrarium is lit means that it also adds a soft, natural looking light to the room, casting pretty foliage shaped shadows – it really is beautiful and creates a unique feature and talking point.

The design and features of the BiOrbAir take a lot of the guess work and worry away from the planting and maintenance of the terrarium. The water level indicator, a discreet tube at the side of the base of the unit lets you know if you need to top up the water reservoir. This is such a great feature, the tube can even be used to drain water from the base should you accidently overfill your terrarium. Watering is a key component of any aspect of gardening, it’s so easy to get it wrong; this is such a clever feature and will give confidence to gardeners of all ages and experience.

There’s a fan which runs continually drawing in fresh air and circulating it around the terrarium; I’d compare the noise of the fan with the sound of a laptop computer fan running. Another exciting feature is the misting unit! The built in sensors control the humidity, creating a perfect environment for plants to thrive.

For a list of suitable terrarium plants, please visit my website: www.pumpkinbeth.com.

Beth Otway is a horticulturalist and garden writer from Godalming. She is vice-chairman of Godalming in Bloom, the Programme & Visits Secretary for The National Vegetable Society Surrey District Association and the Press Officer for Milford Horticultural Society. She is a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, Milford Horticultural Society and the National Vegetable Society. Beth is a vegetable enthusiast and has an allotment where she enjoys growing a wide variety of vegetables, fruit, herbs and cut flowers. Beth has previously worked for the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) at Wisley, reviewing and editing digital photographs of RHS plant trials.

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Capel Choral Society would like to thank all those who came to their Christmas concert, or to hear them sing carols at Polesden Lacey. The Society will now be concentrating on rehearsing for this year’s Leith Hill Musical Festival. The set works are Mendelssohn’s joyful Hymn of Praise, and a new piece

by Bob Chilcott, Dances of Time, which was commissioned by the Festival. The latter is, apparently, a very enjoyable and singable work. January is a very good time for anyone who would like to experience the enjoyment and challenges of choral singing to go and give it a go. They would greatly welcome new singers, particularly men! So if you like singing, do give them a call. You can see information and pictures of the choir on their website, www.capelchoralsociety.com.

You can contact the Secretary at secretary@capelchoralsociety. com, tel 01306 712365.

The international Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is returning to the UK and Ireland from 24th January to 6th June.

The Festival will bring inspiration and big screen adventure to Dorking, with the Festival being held at Dorking Halls on Thursday 5th March. This is their sixth year and it will be bigger than ever before. I hope to be able to give you more details of what will be showing next month but in the meantime you should be able to find information at www.Banffuk.com . There is a tour trailer showcasing a little of what the festival is all about.

The Surrey Half Marathon will take place on Sunday 8th March.

Starting and finishing at Woking Leisure Centre the closed-road running event is the biggest in the county, and will take 6,500 runners through the country lanes to the South West of Woking before returning to the town for January 2015

their big finish! The scenic course is flat and fast, so it’s a great place to secure your best 13.1 mile finish time! A Kids Race will take in a 2km closed road circuit in Woking hopefully inspiring the half marathon runners of the future.

The running route will be lined with local live bands, and local club cyclists will lead the runners out onto the course. The Surrey Half Marathon will be working closely with local charities. Their official Charity Partners for 2015 are Shooting Star CHASE, WWF, Woking and Sam Beare Hospices and Harrison’s Fund.

They hope that runners will use the Surrey Half as an opportunity to fundraise for charity. Entries are selling fast, so to enter, go to www.surreyhalfmarathon. co.uk . You can follow them on Facebook – www.facebook.com/ surreyhalfmarathon Twitter - @ surreyhalf. Download the app – Search ‘Surrey Half’ in your app store.

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is looking for people to be part of a Guide Dogs Support Group. Lots of voluntary roles are available from organising events, helping with collections and raising awareness of the work they do. Roles are very flexible and can be suited to how many hours you are able to donate. There is something to suit everyone! Katie Smith, local Guide Dogs representative, says “Whatever you’re interested in doing, whether you have a little or a lot of time to spare, you will be guaranteed to meet new people and have some fun! At the same time you will be raising funds to enable Guide Dogs to create the special partnerships which can change the lives of people who are blind and partially sighted.” To find out more information, please contact Katie Smith on 07795 611459 or email katie.smith@ guidedogs.org.uk. For more

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information on Guide Dogs, visit www.guidedogs.org.uk.

Here’s a date for your diary. West Horsley Parish Council Spring Litter Pick is on Saturday 18th April. All are welcome and equipment will be provided. Meet at 10am outside West Horsley Village Hall. Contact Cllr. Pamela Holt at pholt848@gmail.com for details.

There’s something very satisfying about picking up litter especially when you see all the full sackloads of rubbish at the end. Perhaps it’s just me!

Ewhurst and Ellens Green Bridge Club is a friendly club which meets at Ellens Green Memorial Hall, on the Surrey/West Sussex border.

They meet every Friday night and play a mixture of duplicate bridge - individual pairs and team events - as well as occasional County and World Wide simultaneous pairs events. They are an EBU-affiliated club, so members can earn master points and benefit from the other benefits which EBU membership brings, such as training days. They hold a summer party to which members’ partners or spouses are invited, and they have an annual bridge weekend away in some congenial location where they play some less formal bridge and enjoy free time for walking or other leisure activities. New members are warmly welcomed and can come as visitors to ‘try us out’ - ideally with a partner. They meet every Friday evening, with a 7.10pm for 7.20 pm start, at Ellens Green Memorial Hall, Furzen Lane, Ellens Green RH12 3AR. For further information visit their website www.ewhurstbridge.org. uk or contact the Hon. Secretary, Carole Warde, on 01293 786653 or edrawlc@gmail.com.

There was quite a lot of good news in the Chancellor’s autumn statement particularly if you are buying a house for under £2 31

Healthy New Year

by Be Kassapian from Be in the Kitchen Welcome to ‘Be in the Kitchen’ Cookery School and an introduction into our wonderful way of healthy eating. This month’s recipes are taken from their regular ‘Energiser’ and ‘Kill Sugar Cravings’ demonstrations, which are all free from sugar, caffeine, wheat and alcohol.

Free-ing your body from these things is liberating and powerful, but unless you can enjoy the recipes and feel ‘full’ when you have eaten, a healthy eating regime won’t last long. So Be makes sure you love her recipes and want to eat this way for the whole year.

Join Be for one of their spring workshops. Just £45, this includes welcome drinks (coffee if needed!), cake, lunch and a glass of Prosecco – or not if you are being extremely good!

Roast ratatouille baked with goat’s cheese This heart-warming, cosy, full flavoured, luscious bubbling gem is a huge ‘detox’ favourite. It might seem odd to be cooking Mediterranean veg in the winter, but the colours and flavours are just what we need as a ‘pick me up’ on those freezing days when we are trying to revert to a sensible eating regime after Christmas.

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/ Gas 6.

2. Prepare the vegetables: Take the ends off the courgettes and cut each into 4 large chunks. Cut the stem end off the aubergine, cut in half lengthways and divide each half into about 8 chunks. Cut the peppers in half, remove the seeds and cut each half into 4 pieces. Peel and quarter the red onions.

3. Put all the vegetables into a large roasting try and pour over the olive oil. Add the herbs, crushing a little bit with your fingers as you put them in. Season generously with salt and pepper and then toss everything together so they are all coated evenly.

4. Transfer the roasting tray to the top

of the hot oven for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are starting to brown.

5. Remove the tray from the oven, turn the vegetables over and return to the oven for 10 minutes or until starting to brown on the second side.

6. Stir in the garlic, then add the tomatoes and tomato puree to the tray, mix well together and return to the oven for a final 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

7. To serve: Tip the ratatouille into a large shallow oven proof dish (or individual dishes). Arrange the goat’s cheese slices on top and return to the top of the oven for 5-10 minutes, just until the cheese has melted and is bubbling attractively!

Ingredients 3 courgettes 1 large aubergine 4 sweet peppers, mixed colours 3 red onions approximately 4-6 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon dried mixed herbs or a few sprigs of fresh thyme and oregano Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 large cloves garlic, crushed 1 tin good quality chopped tomatoes 2 tablespoons tomato puree 2 x goat’s cheese logs (approx 140g each), cut into 1 cm/ ½ in slices Serves 4-6

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FOOD

Turkey burgers with chilli, coriander & feta Drizzled with tzatziki 1. In a large bowl, mix the turkey, red onion, chilli, coriander, feta and seasoning (not too much salt because the feta is salty). Shape into 4 large burgers, place on a tray, cover with cling film and chill for 30 minutes to develop the flavour.

2. Make the Tzatziki: Mix all the

ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to use.

3. Preheat a grill on its highest setting.

Grill the burgers on each side for approximately 3 minutes or until brown and feeling ‘firm’.

4. Serve with the tzatziki drizzled over.

Ingredients 500g minced turkey ½ red onion, finely chopped 1 red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped 1 handful of fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped 110g/4 oz feta cheese, crumbled salt and freshly ground black pepper For the Tzatziki 150ml/ 5 fl oz low fat natural yoghurt ½ cucumber, peeled, deseeded & finely diced small bunch fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed juice of ½ lemon salt and freshly ground black pepper Serves 4

Greek yoghurt with ‘cappuccino’ crunch This recipe comes at the start of my ‘Kill Sugar Cravings’ Demonstration. Caffeine is a trigger for me and somehow after a nice coffee, my defences are weakened and I reach for sugar, so drinking coffee it out! But I love a cappuccino because they look so lovely and I hate feeling deprived. At ‘Kill Sugar’, we teach you to start the day with an amazing breakfast, of which one part is a delicious, luscious crunchy layered yoghurt/muesli that looks like a cappuccino. This way, you get the ‘look’ without the caffeine and it tastes so good you don’t feel you’ve missed out!

1. Prepare the ‘crunch’: Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan. Add the nuts, seeds, oatbran, buckwheat flakes, cinnamon and stevia. Gently stir over a medium heat until pale golden in colour and smelling ‘toasted’. Remove the pan from the heat and tip the ‘crunch’ onto a plate and allow to cool.

2. Divide half the ‘crunch’ mixture between two small tumblers (or wine glasses), spoon half the yoghurt on top and then layer with the remaining ‘crunch’ and yoghurt on top. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon before serving.

NOTE: The ‘crunch’ can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days and is so named as it does resemble

January 2015

a cappuccino. Caffeine is not good when giving up sugar, so you have this instead and feel good about it!

Ingredients 100ml/3 ½ fl oz Greek, Goat’s or Natural Probiotic Yoghurt For the ‘crunch’ 1 heaped teaspoon coconut oil 30g/1oz hazelnuts, roughly chopped 30g/1oz sunflower seeds 30g/1oz pumpkin seeds 30g/1oz oat bran 30g/1oz buckwheat flakes ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (plus extra for dusting) ½ teaspoon stevia Serves 2

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million! George Osborne also announced that he is awarding a significant grant to the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance.

The seven figure sum will go towards the charity’s capital investment programmes based on a new helicopter and future basing needs. Chief Executive, Adrian Bell said “The Chancellor’s statement today, in which he granted the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust £1.5m, is a very clear and ringing endorsement of the critical service this Charity provides to its patients”. The Charity is also hugely appreciative of his move to exempt all Air Ambulance charity expenditure from VAT. In our case, this will release about £100,000 per year directly to frontline services rather than the Exchequer and equates to over 30 life-saving missions of the 1800 that the Charity undertakes annually. However they still have to raise over £6m annually to provide this life-saving service.

Incidentally, I wrote a while ago that The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance became the first air ambulance service in the country to operate a 24 hours Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS).You might be interested to know that in the first year of its night operations crews have attended over 430 patients as well as about 1,400 patients by day.

The Surrey Hills International Music Festival 2015 celebrates its sixth season with ‘Hear the Colour’, an exciting programme of exceptional music performed by world class artists in venues across the Surrey Hills from 30th April-2nd May. Tickets priced £26-£29 are now on sale from www.shimf.co.uk or the Tourist Information Centre, High Street, Guildford, tel 01483 444334. The 2015 programme is the Festival’s most ambitious yet with many internationally acclaimed artists already confirmed including: 34

Alexander Sitkovetsky ( Violin); Wu Qian ( Piano); Natalie Clein(Cello); Leticia Moreno (Violin);Michael Collins (Clarinet); Natalie Klouda (Violin); The Festival gala night on 2nd May Mairlot Hall, St Teresa’s, Effingham will feature The London Mozart Players with guest conductor Dimitry Sitkovetsky.

View the full programme at www. shimf.co.uk Dorking Museum never forgets that it is an important community resource, run by the community for the community.

Children are an important part of this, and the Museum team works with local schools, clubs, youth groups and other organisations to bring the history of the area to life. The Museum’s programme includes visiting schools, hosting school visits, and arranging loan boxes of photographs, costumes, objects, information sheets and activities on important themes.

But in addition, the Museum has been running family activities – sometimes called ‘fun days’ – on the third Saturday of each month for more than two years now.

These have proved popular with local families and visitors to the town alike. Katie Mackay, one of the Education team’s volunteers, runs the activities for the under tens, although all Museum activities are available. Some families return again and again. The dressing up and toys are particular favourites (sometimes with adults as well), but others come especially for the crafts. The Family Activities take place on the third Saturday of every month – with occasional extra sessions – between 2pm and 4pm. They are primarily designed for families with children up to age ten. Children must be accompanied. There is no need to pre-book – just turn up on the day.

The activities are free with normal Museum admission (although donations are welcome).

All materials are provided, and there

is nearly always something to make and take home. This is a great opportunity for a family day out – fun for children and parents alike.

Admissiojn prices: families £4.50, adults £2, 5-18 yrs £1, under 5s free; Museum family membership £20 per annum). For details of the programme, see the Museum website: www.dorkingmuseum. org.uk/events/family-saturdaysat-dorking-museum and updates on Facebook (Dorking Museum) and Twitter (@dorkingmuseum).

Thousands of families from across the UK will have the chance to try their hand at over 75 different sports and activities at GoFest2015, which was launched in November by Olympic gold medallist and BBC presenter Sharron Davies and footballing superstar Kevin Keegan. GoFest will be the UK’s first festival of sport, fitness, dance and health and takes place at Surrey Sports Park on the weekend of 10th-12th July 2015. Around 15,000 people are expected to attend the event which will include 12 specialist zones such as GoCompete, GoSplash, GoTry, GoCool, GoFuel and GoTeens along with live music, entertainment and picnic areas.

GoFest has teamed up with charity partners, Macmillan and SportsAid and a selection of elite sportsmen and women who will be on hand to offer expert coaching tips across the weekend. I gather that camping will also available nearby to give the weekend a true festival feel. Tickets and more information are now available at www.gofest. co.uk/tickets.

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More Jottings are available online at vantagepointmag.co.uk. To send in an entry, go online or email us at jottings@vantagepublishing.co.uk.

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PROFILE

Dorking Walkers Club walking. We are more about enjoying the outstanding countryside within easy range of our doorstep and marvelling at our good fortune to live so close to so much beautiful scenery. We always encourage those among us with interesting information about where we walk to share their knowledge with fellow walkers along the way to increase their enjoyment. If this means stopping to enjoy the view or explain something of interest, that is just as it should be. A little mental stimulation always adds relish to a good walk.

Are you thinking that you might need a little – but fairly regular – exercise before you get downhearted about the thought of tackling a flight of stairs? Dorking Walkers Club offers you a way of getting back some of that almost forgotten vitality.

We walk during school terms and take turns to devise and organise walks each week for spring, summer and autumn. We observe holidays, including half terms and are a self- supporting group which has its origins in the further education classes of what seems like quite another age. Our walks are limited to approximately four miles taking about two hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am until about noon. That’s enough for real exercise but not too demanding. Each walk starts from a car park ideally within a 10 miles radius of Dorking.

There is a limit to the number of members for insurance purposes but at present we have some vacancies. The annual subscription is very reasonable and is simply to cover organisational expenses. If you wish you are welcome to come along as a guest for a trial walk.

If you are interested in joining us or would like a copy of a typical programme, do have a word with June Letheren on 01737 842084.

Each week of the term we have walks on both Tuesday and Thursday.

You can choose which you prefer and if you can’t make your usual day, join us on the other one. Pub lunches feature after our mid and end of term walks when we usually stop for a bite to eat and a catch-up chat with fellow walkers. There are also a number of social members of the Club who occasionally join us at this point to keep in touch and enjoy a chin-wag. We are a sociable lot and quite a mixed - though, we like to think - civilised bunch. In the second half of the summer term we have an annual general meeting to ensure everything is as it should be. This is another opportunity to have a short walk, a hopefully quick meeting followed by a pub lunch and get together for, yes, another chin-wag.

The club has been going for some years now so we do not go in for seeing who can get back first or, perish the thought, spells of power January 2015

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Ripley and the Wey Navigation This is an easy, flat, figure of 8 walk, running past a lake and alongside the historic Wey Navigation. The walk description is provided by Guildford Rambling Club (guildfordramblingclub.org.uk).

The walk Facing the back of the shops, head right, passing behind the houses until emerging on Newark Lane (the B367). Turn right and cross. Walk past the houses and keep going until passing a stile out left into a field. Further along the road, just beyond this stile, go through a gap in the hedge on the left to emerge next to a large lake, Papercourt Lake (used for angling and sailing).

Head anti-clockwise around the lake. When forced to choose take the left fork, into trees.

Keep going until emerging in an open area (you are now beyond the end of the lake) and turn right. The path brings you out onto a road opposite some houses.

Cross to take a footpath heading away from the road and passing some allotments. The path takes you along the left-hand edge of fields.

At one point it jinks left then right, passing a footbridge and continuing forward. Keep going along the edge of the field until you reach a T junction. Here, turn right. Now, follow the path with a stream on your left until you see a footbridge on your left at a point where the path swings sharp right. Turn left to cross the footbridge and immediately turn right to walk with the stream now on your right. Pass a pond and eventually reach a point where you can see a lane, Tannery Lane, ahead of you. Do not go through onto the lane. Instead, follow the path as it swings left and runs parallel to the Lane but in trees, just off of its edge. Emerge in the Lane just short of some light industrial buildings, one of which is Tannery House. Go down the righthand side of the buildings to cross a footbridge over the Wey Navigation.

On the far side turn right and walk along the towpath to Papercourt Lock. Here, cross the Navigation and continue along the towpath on the other side to reach a road bridge. Go up onto the bridge and cross it, left, then go down onto the towpath on the other side to continue forward. You will quickly pass (on your left) the remains of Newark Priory. (This, an Augustinian 36

priory, was built at around 1189. It was partially demolished after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.) Continue on past Newark Lock to reach Walsham Gates (the last of the original turf sided locks, opened in 1653, that were common along the full length of the Navigation). Here, turn right to cross over the weir and then follow the path ahead to reach Ripley Green and the starting car park. You could lunch in a café or pub in Ripley or picnic on the Green.

Afterwards, walk north, away from the houses and shops, along the lane through the common, passing the play-park. Follow this path to reach the lock at Walsham Gates again. Turn right to walk along the towpath to Pyrford Lock. (Along the way, on the other side, you will see the brick-built “summer house” in which the poet and playwright John Donne lived for a while. You will also pass a medieval bridge, Pigeonhouse Bridge.) At Pyrford Lock, just before the Anchor public house, turn right, through a gate and into Wisley Golf Course. Follow the yellow arrow signs along the wide track which swings out right across the course and then curves left and reaches a T junction where they take you left until, close to a small pond, the path swings left and over a fairway and a footbridge. It then passes through scrub and vantagepointmag.co.uk

WALK

trees and a scruffy work area and turns right to emerge close to the Club House.

A few yards along here, before reaching the Club House, take a footpath left and emerge in the churchyard of Wisley Church.

(Wisley Church is well worth a look. It was originally built in 1150.) Go out onto the road (Wisley Lane) in front of the church and proceed right, alongside it. Walk past the golf club entrance then take a footpath right, to re-enter the course. Quickly reach a junction and turn left. Follow the path around the edge of the course to reach a footpath left. This takes you through bushes, over a small footbridge and, for a few yards alongside the River Wey, to reach the road again, by a bridge. Turn right and walk along the road until you see a lollipop post box across on your left.

fenced corridor, through the middle of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Wisley Gardens and out behind the Glass Houses to reach a road.

Cross this road and continue forward across a large field. The path brings you out on the access lane to Ockham Mill, just to the left of its buildings. (Ockham Mill is now a private residence. Ockham is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086.) Go straight across and continue in the same direction, along a footpath that takes you to Ripley Common and the start point.

Now, cross the road and go up the wide track opposite, passing the post box. Go up this track for 20 yards then take a footpath off right. It takes you between fields to the start of a wooded area. About 50 yards inside the wood, at a cross paths, take the footpath right and follow it straight ahead (ignoring lefts and ignoring a fork left) until you reach the small Wren’s Nest car park and Wisley Lane again. Cross and head left. Quickly fork right, off the Lane and along a concrete vehicle track. After about 20 yards pick up a footpath off right which takes you, in a

DISTANCE: A figure of 8 of 5 plus 5 miles OS MAPS: Explorer 145 – Guildford & Farnham STARTING POINT: The car parking area by the play park on Ripley Green.

GRID REFERENCE:5 053 1 571

REFRESHMENTS: There are a number of pubs and eating places in Ripley itself. Also The Anchor, Pyrford Lock, Wisley, Surrey GU23 6QW (01932 342 507) which is on the route.

Image above: Walsham Gates and Lock Keeper’s Cottage by Colin Smith

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.

January 2015

37

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