Sevenoaks Life Magazine September 2011

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sevenoaks LIFE WESTERHAm, OxTED, DULWICH, BECKENHAm, BLACKHEATH, greenwich, CHISLEHURST, TUNBRIDgE WELLS AND THE ExCLUSIVE SURROUNDINg AREAS w w w . t h e l i f e m a g a z i n e s . c o m

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L I FE S T Y L E

M A G A Z I NE

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Plus... weddi ng LiFe t h e

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www.thelifemagazines.com

BROMLEYNOW and THEN LOCAL RESTAURANT REVIEWS IS YOUR HOME BEYOND THE PALE?

the quality LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE ISSUE 31 september 2011

DISCOVER SEVERNDROOG CASTLE IN GREENWICH

DANIEL CRAIG

EXCITED BY COWBOYS

kent EVENTS

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HISTORY

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fashion

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HOMES & GARDENS

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HEALTH & BEAUTY

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FOOD & DRINK • travel

KENT 6 Royal Parade, C his l ehur s t B R 7 6 N R 020 8467 33 4 7

LO NDON 5 4 Du k e of York Square SW 3 4LY 0 2 0 7 7 3 0 3435

yve sde l orme .com

Faye Manning Editor

welcome

Hello and welcome to the September issue…

PublishedPUBLISHED by the FishBY Media THE group Ltd. Although the weather experts have suggested that FISH MEDIA Square, GROUP Hatfield, LTD 2nd Floor, titan Court, 3 Bishop Herts, AL10 9NA we are in for a late burst of good weather this

0844 800 8439

email: rory@fishmediagroup.co.uk The Ridings,

EDITOR Faye Manning EDITOR ASSISTANT Katie Miller SUB EDITOR Alex Lux FASHION EDITOR Hazel Englander

Woodfield Lane, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Essendon, Herts, MANAGER AL9 6JJ Vanessa Lane DESIGN & PRODUCTION Tel : 0844 Toni Perry 800 8439 Fax : 01707 655 718.

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SALES Jason Trotman Barry John James Marshall DIRECTORS Rory Smith Patrick Smith Peter Smith

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month, for most people September traditionally brings with it the start of Autumn. That’s why we are still encouraging you to get out and about with a wide selection of events in our Whats On section before the rain, wind and cold take hold.

No matter what the weather is like you can enjoy a great time at the cinema, so we have featured the extremely versitile ( not to mention handsome ) Daniel Craig on our front cover and featured his new movie Cowboys and Aliens in our cover story this month. In this Blockbuster of a film Daniel shares star billing with Hollywood legend Harrison Ford and together they share with us their views on stunts, sex appeal and being star struck. Its a great read.

© all Rights Reserved.

St albans Life, Harpenden Life, Radlett Life is copyright and January not be reproduced in any form either in part or whole without written permission from the publishers. Whilst the Fish Media group Ltd takes every reasonable precaution, no responsibility can be accepted for any property, services or products offered in these publications and any loss arising therefrom. Whilst every care Editor is taken with all materials submitted to the St albans Life, Harpenden Life & Radlett Life the publisher cannot accept responsibility Faye for the loss or damage to such material.Fish Media groupManning Ltd reserves the right to reject or accept any advertisement, article or material prior to publication.opinions expressed are strictly those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Fish Media group Ltd.We accept Assistant no liability for any misprints or mistakes and no responsibility can be taken for Editor the content of these pages.

We are also delighted to feature our Autumn Brides supplement in this issue. If you want to look at local venues, wedding dresses, photographers, evening wear, and everything to make your big day perfect don’t miss this special supplement.

Katie Miller

INNER 070111 LONDON Jan i31.indd 3

Sub Editor Alex Lux Fashion Editor Kitty Shead Contributors Wendy Stevenson John Ruler John Bly Bruce Edwards Jack Smith

Design & Production Jules Breckenridge www.breckenridgedesign.co.uk Photography Adam Swaine Accounts Kathy Manning Ken Fleet Business Development Managers Lisa Westerman Sinead Sheil SALES Lorna Ferrin Vanessa Lane James Marshall DIRECTORS Peter Smith Rory Smith Patrick Smith

All Rights reserved. All Fish Media Group Ltd magazines are copyright and cannot be reproduced in any form either in part or whole without written permission from the publishers. Whilst Fish Media Group Ltd takes every reasonable precaution, no responsibility can be accepted for any property, services or products offered in any of our publications and any loss arising.

Whilst every care is taken with all materials submitted to all of our magazines the publisher cannot accept the loss or damage to such material. The Fish Media Group Ltd reserves the right to reject or accept any advertisement, article or material prior to publication.

Opinions expressed are strictly those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Fish Media Group Ltd. We accept no liability for any misprints or mistakes and no responsibility can be accepted for the content of these pages.

As usual our Local Life team visit more Kent and South East London towns.

This month we look at Tonbridge, Canterbury, Keston and Westerham, 19/01/2011 whilst John Ruler our renowned local historian takes a further look at Bromley ‘Now and Then’ in the 2nd of his series and laments the loss of another famous Bromley landmark.

The September Fashion pages take an affectionate look at the ageless, versatile staple - the Tee shirt

This month sees the start of a new Restaurant Review and we are very pleased and excited to introduce you to our new food editor, Regan Maloney and her new local Restaurant feature.

Regan will review a selection of local restaurants and give her expert view on them – good or bad!

So if you are a local restauranteur or a reader who wants to recommend your favourite local eaterie then read our reviews and please contact Regan.

The September Fashion pages take an affectionate look at the ageless, versatile staple - the Tee shirt and our Beauty section helps you to keep that healthy summer tan with self tan techniques to achive a believable bronze. The Home feature talks to the superb home designer Atlanta Bartlett who shows us how to give our homes a real lift with a combination of imagination, flair and recycling.

This months Food section features TV chef Valentine Warner and some of his great fish recipes. Bruce Edwards reviews more recent Book realease, our Travel writer takes us to Malta and John Bly our resident expert from the Antiques Roadshow takes us on another journey through the wonderful world of Antiques.

So as you can see there is so much to read and enjoy this month.

Until next month……

To advertise contact Lisa on 07904 251 984 or by email lisa@fishmediagroup.co.uk SEPTEMBER2011

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Auction of Vintage & Modern Wrist Watches Monday 17th October 2011 at 10am A gentleman’s bi-metal automatic Rolex Oyster-Perpetual Datejust bracelet watch circa 2009. With box and papers.

Estimate £3,000 - £4,000 A gentleman’s 18k white gold automatic Breitling Cockpit bracelet watch. With presentation box and papers.

Estimate £12,000 - £18,000

A gentleman’s stainless steel automatic chronograph Panerai Luminor Daylight wrist watch. With box and papers.

Estimate £3,000 - £4,000

A gentleman’s stainless steel Breitling Navitimer wrist watch.

Estimate £800 - £1,200

A gentleman’s stainless steel automatic Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean bracelet watch.

Estimate £800 - £1,200

Visit www.fellows.co.uk/life for a complimentary catalogue Augusta House | 19 Augusta Street | Birmingham | B18 6JA | Tel: 0121 212 2131 I www.fellows.co.uk

kent e v e n ts

what’s on...

11 september 20

✱ Westerham Scarecrows and Soldiers Weekend A fun filled weekend organised by the National Trust, St Mary’s Heritage Trust and Squerryes.

Attractions over the weekend inclg three trails ranging in length from 30 minutes – 4 hours, where walkers can enjoy the best of Westerham and some hidden secrets whilst admiring the scarecrows on the way. A live history camp, mock battles and a living scarecrow parade.

All proceeds from the weekend go to the St Marys Westerham Heritage Trust, which exists to help maintain the historic church which has been a part of Westerham for 800 years. 10-11th September.

More information on the event can be found on www.visitwesterham.org.uk. ✱ Riverhead Carnival.The 3rd Sevenoaks Scout Group is running the Annual Riverhead Carnival on Riverhead Common. Many stalls from Fairground rides and Bouncy Castle to refreshments including a BBQ, teas and coffee and a beer tent.

Karaoke and disco dancing.

RSPCA dog show. Cake Stall, Sweet Stall, Tombola and Childrens Games. Riverhead Common, Witches Lane , Riverhead, nr. Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 2AX. Sunday 18 September. Admission free. 12.30pm til 4.00pm ✱ Long Walk on Wednesdays A National Trust Event: Take a longer, mid-morning hike through Knole Park on the first Wednesday of every month with our guide, finishing up in time for lunch at the Brewhouse Tearoom. Contact: Knole 01732 462100. Times: 10:45 to 12:45. Tickets: All: £1.00. Booking Not Needed.

Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15

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0RP. Wednesday 5 October Website: www. nationaltrust.org.uk

✱ Albert Herring Surrey Opera comes to the Barn Theatre for the first time with a professional production of Albert Herring, Benjamin Britten’s comic masterpiece, depicting rural life in a small English village. When there appears to be no suitable girl worthy of being crowned May Queen there seems to be no option but to crown the naïve and gullible Albert, May King, with hilarious and dramatic results! 7.30pm, £14.00 - £22.00, Tickets are available from 0208 657 7909. Barn Theatre, 25 Bluehouse Lane, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 0AA. Monday 19 September to Saturday 24 September. Website: www. barntheatreoxted.co.uk ✱ Great Outdoors: Countryside Walk A National Trust Event: Breathe in the fresh air and enjoy a lovely walk through the countryside surrounding Ightham Mote. Walks will be 4-7 miles and will take approximately 2-4.5 hrs.

Details of each walk will be available when booking.

Times: 11:00 to 15:00. Tickets: All: £1.00. Booking Essential 01732 810378 ext.100. Ightham Mote, Mote Road, Ivy Hatch, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 0NT. Thursday 13 October. Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk ✱ Hever Castle Triathlon is for triathlete’s of all standards along a course through the historic Hever Castle Estate and surrounding countryside.

The perfect family day out is part of the Castle Triathlon Series which comprises of four exciting weekend events and a midweek evening sprint series over the course of the

summer, offering high quality, competitive, safe and fun races set in truly stunning locations. The event includes nine races bespoke for elites, first timers and children.

First wave of races start at 8:00am. Pricing details for all nine races are included on website. Hever, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7NG.Saturday 24 September to Sunday 25 September. Website: www. castletriathlonseries.co.uk

stand up show and then in the second half he presents his unique game show MAN v WOMAN. A man and woman will be brought from the audience to the stage to face a series of challenges.

Show starts at 8pm. Contact 01892 678678. Tickets £15 Over 18’sTrinity Theatre, Church Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1JP. Thursday 22 September. Website: www.trinitytheatre.net

✱ Electro Acoustic Open Mic ORFC Open Mic takes the format of a normal open mic - each act places their name on a sign-up sheet and gets to have the stage for 15 minutes. PA system, mics. We welcome electric and acoustic artists, singer/ songwriters, solo acts and bands. If you have a couple of songs and you want to try them out through a pa then email orfc-open-mic@hotmail. co.uk to book a slot or just turn up at 8.30pm! 8.30pm11.30pm. £1 Non Members.

Orpington Rugby Club, The Club House, Lessons Way, Orpington, Kent, BR5 2QB. Friday 14 October. Website: www.facebook.com/group.php

✱ Greenwich Goes Green is back but bigger and ‘greener’ with more educational activities, demonstrations and a celebration of all things organic, green, eco-friendly in the shops and markets in Greenwich. 23rd and 24th September from 10am to 5pm. Greenwich Market, Greenwich, London, SE10 9HZ

✱ Joseph Having enjoyed sensational reviews, Bill Kenwright’s ‘amazing’, ‘superb’, ‘wonderful’ and ‘brilliant’ production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sparkling family musical Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat continues to enjoy huge success across the country with standing ovations at every performance.

Churchill Theatre Bromley, High Street, Bromley, Kent BR1 1HA. Tuesday 4 October to Sunday 9 October. ✱ Lee Hurst Man v Woman Tour It’s really 2 shows in one. The first half will see Lee in his element doing his new

✱ Open House London Visit areas of the Old Royal Naval College site not usually open to the public and join one of our free talks and guided tours. Tours run over the weekend from 10.00 – 16.30 and start from the information point on Lower Grand Square. 10.00 – 17.00.

FREE. Old Royal Naval College, King William Walk, Greenwich, London, SE10 9LW. Saturday 17 September to Sunday 18 September Website: www.ornc.org ✱ Chislehurst Rocks!

Music festival with something for all ages. Music is split by genre with lots of entertainment, workshops, rides and stalls, a food and drinks. Join our facebook group or see our website for updates on the line up and timetable. Funds raised go back into developing the venue for the enjoyment of the community. Chislehurst Recreation Ground, Empress

Drive, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 5BG. Saturday 24 September. Website: www. chislehurstrocks.co.uk ✱ The Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning Join in the Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning at Greenwich Market 10.30am to 12 noon 30 September from 10am to 5pm. Greenwich Market, Greenwich, London, SE10 9HZ Friday 30 September. ✱ Croydon Airport Visitor Centre Croydon Airport was Britain’s major air terminal from 1920 to 1939 when it became a front line fighter base for the Battle of Britain in WW2. It finally closed in 1959. You will be shown around the booking hall and the control tower where you will see how the early aviators navigated and communicated before the ages of radar and satellites. A recent addition is a flight simulator to”fly” several old aeroplanes.

Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 4RX. Sunday 4 September, Sat 17 Sep, Sun 18 Sep, Sun 2 Oct. ✱ The London HACK (Hike Against Cruelty to Kids) The NSPCC’s London HACK is a 21-mile and 10 mile hiking challenge. Starts at Hays Galleria, London Bridge, and takes in the Thames as well as many of the City’s parks.

Raising money to support the NSPCC’s fight to end cruelty to children. The walk is for over 18s only.Registration fee £15 per person. For further details, online registrations and payments please visit www. nspcc.org.uk/londonhack or contact the NSPCC appeals office on 01908 328060 or visit Website: www.nspcc.org. uk/londonhack. Hays Galleria, London Bridge, London SE1 2UP. Saturday 17 September ✱ The Gwilym Simcock Trio in concert 8pm (doors open 7.30pm) Tickets £12 Frant Church, High Street, Frant, Nr Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN3 9DX. Friday 16 September. Website:

www.frantchurch.org ✱ D H LAWRENCE: SON & LOVER For one night only, Greenwich Theatre presents Paul Slack as D H Lawrence in an acclaimed one-man show about the iconic author of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Women In Love.

Sun 25 September.

Tickets from £10; Box office 020 8858 7755; www. greenwichtheatre.org.uk ✱ Sissinghurst Castle Open Garden for NGS Garden created by Vita Sackville-West and Sir Harold Nicolson. Spring garden, herb garden, cottage garden, white garden, rose garden. Tudor building and tower, partly open to public.

Moat. Vegetable garden and estate walks Admission £11, Children £5.50. Times: 10.30-5.

Open for charity. Sissinghurst Castle, Sissinghurst, Kent, TN17 2AB. Friday 16 September ✱ Puccini - Madama Butterfly Ellen Kent’s award winning Opera returns, with exquisite sets inc a Japanese garden. Spectacular costumes including antique wedding kimonos from Japan.

Highlights include the melodic Humming Chorus, the moving aria One Fine Day and the unforgettable Love Duet.

Starring the Korean soprano Elena Dee with handpicked soloists, a highly-praised chorus, and full orchestra.

7:30 pm Tickets £37.50, £33.50, £28.50, £25.50 Consessions £3.00 off Groups 10+ 20% off Children half price. The Orchard Theatre, Home Gardens, Dartord, Kent, DA1 1ED. Sunday 2 October. Website: www. orchardtheatre.co.uk ✱ LOCAL ARTISTS EXHIBITION For one week only a selection of various works from Local Artists Iliana Sanchez, Gaynor Ithelll, Sarah Durham & Graham Davies.

Sunday 9th October till Saturday 15th October at Studio 61, 137 Lee Road Blackheath SE3 9DS. Call 020 3302 7376 for more details.

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johnlewis_kent-countryliving-aw.indd 1

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CONTENTS

PAGE

Contents

EDITOR’S LETTER

3

EDITORS WHAT’S ON… LETTER

36

WHATS ON

6

LOCAL LIFE

LIFEwithin a secret pocket in Kent EynsfordLOCAL - Well hidden

10

Bromley’s Freak Weather – It’s no great deal

26

Westerham Two Secret Surprises

10 14 Cranbrook - The capital of the Weald Canterbury Indescribably lovely

12 Tonbridge A Charming Market Town

18 18 Langton Green - A perfect mix of town and country Severndroog Castle a Tower with a view 22 22 Greenwich - Drunk for one penny, dead drunk for Bromley Now and Then two

26 Eltham College The Advantages of a Boys School 30

STONEHAMS KITCHENSl

Renewable Energy Solutions

Fine furnishings win Royal seal of approva

29

32

34 35

COVER STORY Daniel – Cowboys and Aliens LIFECraig – Supplement WEDDING

WEDDING SUPPLEMENT White Hot Weddings

37 HYPNOTHERPY 48 Wedding Day Beauty

38 Blackburn Bridal Boutique

40

42 COVER Bea Das STORY - ACouture new era of luxury at the Savoy 49 Rowhill Grange A perfect Location

44 Chart Hills

46 Make Wedding a Reality 47 ANTIQUES withyour Dream John Bly 52 Beautiful Nails

48

FASHION – Put Spring in yourfor Style FASHION – Time a Tee Party GLORIOUS TRADING

BEAUTY – Foundation Finesse

Luxury Handbags Amelia Rose

DESIGNER LIGHTING BEAUTY Bronze Ambition

54 50 54

58

58

60 60

ANTIQUES with JOHN BLY

62

HOME - Snap up your signature Style

62

HOUSE and GARDEN – Beyond The Pale Westbury – Superb Conservatories

QUALITY WINDOWS Shutterland - Plantation Shutters

Badger Bathrooms – Great Designs

Crown Pavillion

The Dilemma of Divorce and– Stunning Gazebo’s Separation Create your Dream Kitchen

64 66 65 68 70 72 66 76

David Smith – Art with a Smile

80

Books Review

82

84

RECIPE Something Fishy

Regan Maloneys Restaurant Review

TRAVEL Discover the Beauty of Malta

Glamour Comes in Cannes

86

88 90

local Life

westerham

IF YOU GO DOWN IN THE WOODS TODAY… JOHN RULER UNEARTHS TWO SECRET SURPRISES

10 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

ome say it was a look-out point for a lustful Henry VIII on his way to woo Anne Boleyn at Hever Castle a matter of miles away. Other pooh-pooh this as local folklore, citing evidence it was built in 1731 by the then lord of the manor to obtain an un-interrupted view of St Paul’s Cathedral.

An even larger group, including probably most visitors to Westerham, Kent, are blissfully unaware of the ivyclad tower in Tower Woods off Horns Hill close to Chartwell and only half a mile from Hosey Common.

I now know better, thanks to 83-year-old Peter Finch, local historian extraordinaire, who led me and photographer Adam Swaine direct to the tower, folly, hunting lodge, or even dovecote – take your pick, it has been dubbed all these in its time.

Just as well: most passers-by would be blissfully unaware of its existence, so thick is the covering mantel of ivy, fern and bracken. The northern entrance, illuminated largely by a shaft of sunlight, adds Raiders of The Lost Ark proportion to the riddle of the tower’s origins.

Peter, who grew up on the local legend of it being possibly Henry’s hunting lodge or certainly look-out point – even old postcards portrays it as such – still retains an open mind. ’ If you took the trees away and climbed up to the top of the tower you could see Hever in the distance.’ he said. ‘ And horns would have been blown to warn her Henry was coming, hence the name Horns Hill. ‘ He added: ‘ We used to come up here and play as children around what was then just a tower and not all covered up by ivy. Nor were there any trees, just heathland.’

Equally, he acknowledges that written research by his old boyhood chum Tom Combley in 2009 could be right in assuming that it was built far later in 1731 by then lord of the manor John Warde. This was based on a guide written in 1840 which refers to a tower ‘ in a ruinous condition.’

Further evidence is contained in a letter written by Mary Warde which, though un-dated, refers to celebrations being held at a recently built garden gatehouse, or tower, to mark what later proved to be a premature announcement of British victory over the Spanish forces at Cartagena in the Caribbean. In it she wrote ‘The Battlements were illuminated, and Squibs and Serpents thrown from them among the Crowd … on the Parterre, before the Building they fired a Pile of Faggots. Everybody had a Supper that could get into the House, and the Populace had two Hogsheads of Strong Beer we were reckoned about 700 People, and the Evening being fine it was very agreeable.’

Bob also argues that maps, too, point towards the tower being built at the later 18th century date, though one in 1845 shows nothing at all in Tower Wood. None of this has stopped a succession of photographers and artists, most notably Vincent New from Westerham, from capturing the tower in cards or drawings.

What is also known is that in 1975 it was listed Grade II

by English Heritage whose own records show very little of the history. All of which leaves the mystery of it true origins well and truly in the air –with hopefully sufficient new clues to secure its future as a building of historic interest. It certainly deserves to be, if only for Henry the Eighth’s peace of mind…

Images: Adam Swaine Photography

Did lustful Henry S once gaze out from here?

SEPTEMBER2011

11

local Life

Canterbury

Indescribably Lovely!

I

t is of little wonder that Canterbury is still attracting visitors from far and wide as it has done for hundreds of years. Pilgrims since time immemorial have trudged through the Kentish countryside on their way to Canterbury in search of salvation, from Chaucer’s motley band of pilgrims in the 14th century to modern day shoppers hunting for bargains!

Just as you would expect of such an ancient city the streets are cobbled and are lined by an eclectic mix of buildings which help to highlight the changing architectural styles, reflecting the demands of residents through the ages. From mellow brick built Georgian properties to the timber framed homes of important medieval merchants, all of them vie for attention but in reality the star attraction is the cathedral and quite rightly so! Visible from afar the cathedral rises high above the other attractions. With its size and majesty demonstrating its heavenly status and down on earth the glorious cloisters transport the casual visitor into a seemingly mythical realm; there is little wonder that Canterbury is a World Heritage Site.

Although in comparison to other British cities Canterbury is relatively small it does have a wide selection of shops. This was further enhanced by the additional shopping facilities provided by the Whitefriars Shopping Precinct where you can find many national chain stores. Surrounding the Cathedral and lining the narrow, winding streets are the specialist 12 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

independently owned shops, cafes, pubs and bars all of which help to preserve the character of Canterbury. One such area is known as the Kings Mile and is the perfect counterbalance for Whitefriars. Full of historic medieval buildings within the shadow of the cathedral, it is a particularly lovely place to shop or just while away an hour or two in one of the quaint cafes.

A short distance from the main shopping area is a large 19th century brick building that was once a place for steam trains to load up with products from the “Garden of England” on their way to the “big smoke”. These days the building is known as “The Goods Shed” and is a full time farmers market easily rivalling the likes of Borough and Portobello Market!

Along one side of the building on the old loading platform is a renowned restaurant where you will only find dishes freshly prepared using the best locally sourced produce sold in the market opposite. From freshly baked bread and hand reared free range meat to homemade fudge, the choice is endless!

Canterbury has been inhabited since prehistoric times with all of the basic requirements of life near at hand from: a safe environment, running water and a plentiful food source! The inhabitants of this far distant time have left little evidence of their existence just a few Lower Palaeolithic axes and some Neolithic and Bronze Age pots. These people disappeared into the mists of time with the arrival of the Celtic tribes, one of which gave Canterbury its name, the Cantiaci. This particular tribe settled

Images: Tom Pagenet; David Spender; Webmink; Chris John Beckett; Mark McKenny.

Words by Wendy stevenson

local Life

all over what we now know as Kent and were the first to have contact with the new invaders, the Romans! Late in the first century AD the settlement was appropriated by the Romans who promptly renamed it Durovernum Cantiacorum, which quite literally means “stronghold of the Cantiaci by the alder grove”.

The Romans were very fond of their home comforts so they quickly set about building a modern town with all of the facilities that they could expect to find in Rome, a theatre, temples, public baths and a forum. Even though the baths had a practical use they had more in common with a modern day pub as it was a place to socialise whilst washing away the days grime!

The Roman town flourished for nearly three hundred years but as time moved on the threat from the northern barbarians became greater, so the Romans in the late third century built an earth bank and wall which completely enclosed an area of around 53ha. During the 4th century the Roman Empire went into a decline from which it never recovered. The Romans fled these shores abandoning their towns and leaving the natives to the mercy of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes!

The grand buildings of Roman Canterbury gradually decayed but there are still a few that exist to this day!

Eventually a new community discovered the abandoned ruins and decided to create a settlement of their own within the old Roman walls. The new settlement was named Cantwaraburh meaning the “stronghold of the Kent people”.

Nearly two hundred years later in 597 AD, Pope Gregory sent Saint Augustine to Kent in a bid to convert the heathen King Aethelberht along with the rest of his subjects to Christianity.

His job was made much easier because Aethelberht’s Frankish wife Berta was a Christian and she had already persuaded her husband to give Augustine an audience. There is a legend of the king being unduly worried about Augustine’s “magic”, he insisted that the meeting took place outside so that any magic powers were weakened! Aethelberht was so impressed with Augustine that he gave the missionary

Even though the baths had a practical use they had more in common with a modern day pub as it was a place to socialise whilst washing away the days grime! permission to settle in Kent and convert all of his people.

Augustine decided to make Canterbury an Episcopal See, in other words the official seat for a bishop and in so doing he became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. An abbey was built outside the city walls and a cathedral was also eventually built. The cathedral that we see today dates back to the Norman Conquest with the remains of the original Saxon cathedral, wrecked by the Danes amongst its foundations.

With Canterbury now at the heart of English Christianity it inevitable became an increasingly important place, and trade flourished but it was the murder of Thomas a Becket that set Canterbury firmly on the pilgrimage trail and even inspired Geoffrey Chaucer to write the “Canterbury Tales”.

Canterbury today still welcomes visitors as it always has but if you want to step back in time and experience a bygone era The Canterbury Tales is the place for you! You can experience the sights, sounds and smells in this stunningly accurate recreation of medieval life as you accompany the characters from Geoffrey Chaucer’s book. Or just shop - the choice is yours!

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local Life

Tonbridge

Words by Wendy stevenson

T

onbridge is a charming market town set within a verdant landscape of rolling hills and wooded valleys. This is further enhanced by the River Medway which divides it in two and provides an attractive backdrop for the towns historic buildings.

One half of the town, the northern end is picturesque and dominated by a Motte and Bailey Castle considered to be one of the finest in Britain and still remains the dominant feature of the town, just as the original architect intended, for it was built to subjugate the locals. Tyranny has long since disappeared, these days the castle and its 14 acre grounds are a place of relaxation and provide a perfect setting for a programme of events that run throughout the year and include concerts and art exhibitions.

It is also a dramatic venue for the annual Festival of Music and Fireworks held for duration of three days every July.

Beautiful timber framed buildings set amongst 18th century houses vie for attention as you wander southwards in search of some retail therapy and believe me there are plenty of opportunities! Tonbridge has been a market town ever since the 18 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

Earl of Gloucester was granted the right to hold a weekly market in 1259 and this has continued to date with three markets held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. On Friday a flea market is held in the Angel Centre which is also home for Beales department store, a cinema and a leisure complex. Tonbridge Market is held on a Saturday in the Vale car park which is just off the High Street; it is the perfect place to buy all of your household essentials including clothing. Last but not least is a Farmers Market which takes place on the second Sunday of every month in the Sovereign Way car park. With over 50 stalls offering fresh locally produced seasonal fruits, vegetables and free range meat, along with hand crafted items including fudge, chocolate and of course completely irresistible cup cakes!

The High Street is long and stretches across both sides of the River Medway joining both the northern and southern ends of the town. The high street is thriving with shops and restaurants aimed at locals and tourists alike; a diverse mix of independent retailers sitting comfortably alongside well known chain stores.

The High Street is further enhanced by Angel Walk and The

Images: Tom Pagenet; David Spender; Webmink; Chris John Beckett; Mark McKenny.

A Charming Market Town

Pavilion Arcade all providing ample opportunities for a retail fix!

If you can manage to tear yourself away from the shops a cursory glance would reveal an abundance of historic buildings and these should give many clues to the town’s distant heritage for it is indeed far older than it would outwardly appear. The name Tonbridge is believed to be derived from the Old English word “tun” which means farm or settlement and the words “brycg” which is believed to mean either bridge or causeway, or “burig” meaning fort. There are plenty of alternative suggestions but it does seem likely that the name refers to a causeway as the name was in existence before any mention of a bridge in old documents. Up until the late1890’s the town was called Tunbridge but because of confusion with Tunbridge Wells it was changed to Tonbridge.

The River Medway formed a barrier for people wanting to travel to the north or south of the county with very few natural crossings, it was at one such point that the settlement of Tonbridge was established. The oldest parts of the town are situated to the north of the river from the present Big Bridge to the Ivy House, it was in this area that the majority of the population lived. On the south side of the river the only significant building was the Priory of St Mary Magdalene which was founded in the 12th century. Unfortunately in 1524

Cardinal Wolsey closed the priory so there was very little in the provision of educational for local children until 1553 when Sir Andrew Judde founded Tonbridge School which even today rates as one of the best independent schools in the country!

Jane Austen has long been associated with Tonbridge, her great grandmother lived in a house called Chauntlers which has since been divided into two homes and are now known as The Priory and The Red House. Jane’s father was born in Tonbridge in 1731 and was educated at Tonbridge School. He eventually became the Rector of Steventon in Hampshire and had eight children of whom Jane was the seventh.

Even though Jane Austen had many family links with Tonbridge there is very little evidence that Jane ever visited the town but it does seem highly likely that she would have done so. Fans of Jane Austen will be delighted to know that there are two walks in honour of this highly esteemed writer; the Jane Austen Literary Walk led by Vivian Branson (Tonbridge Castle 01732 770929) and In Austen Family Footsteps which complements the previous walk and is an audio guided tour (the equipment can be hired from Tonbridge Library).

When you have completed the walk the grounds of the castle alongside the river provide an ambient setting for a picnic to recover from the day’s exertions or you can make use of the wide choice of restaurants, pubs and cafes!

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local Life

22 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

A TOWER WITH A VIEW! g

I

severndroo

t’s not just a tower with a view. Severndroog Castle is a 60-feet red brick Gothic gem gearing up for restoration amid an ancient bluebell wood lying off busy Shooters Hill, Greenwich.

It may not seem so at present. The windows are boarded up. The inside rooms are in dire need of repair. And the Grade II listed building, built in 1784 by a grieving widow as a memorial to the derring-do of her seafaring husband, is already on the English Heritage’s Buildings at Risk register. It is currently closed to the public.

But help is in hand, not just in the way of a Heritage Lottery award of £600,000 towards the £840,000 target but by the sheer determination of Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust. I joined two of their members, Steve Daley and Andy Bullivant on a private tour of building, boarded up since 1988 which in June, 2004, was among those selected in the BBC Restoration programme in need of saving.

You can see why: the very name Severndroog rings of the exotic. Rightly so. It was April 1755 that Sir William James, son of a poor Pembroke miller who ran away to sea aged 12, led an attack on Suvarnadurg fortress (Severndroog, or Golden Fort) in English) an Arab pirate stronghold 150 miles south of Bombay, present day Mumbai.

James returned to England in 1759 a rich man, later rebuilding and settling at Park Farm Place, Eltham, with his wife Anne. He also became co-chairman of the East India Company of which he was Commodore of its Marine Forces at the time of the Severndroog battle.

Stirring stuff, though tragically he suffered a stroke and died just before his daughter’s wedding in December 1783. He is buried in the family vault at Eltham

churchyard. The following April the first stone was laid at Severndroog Castle, commissioned by his adoring and grief-stricken widow. In six months it was complete.

Designed by Richard Jupp, architect to the East India Company, the castle roof is located 20 feet higher than the cross on St Paul’s. It was certainly the high point of my visit with panoramic views not only of neighbouring Greenwich, Blackheath but further out to Biggin Hill and beyond. On a clear day, it is said, you can see seven counties.

Following Anne’s death in 1798, it was briefly used as part of a major trigonometrical survey linking England and France.

Later in 1847 it survived a threat to build a 10,000 catacomb terraced cemetery on the site. In 1850 it was closed to the public.

After two further owners, Mr E. Probyn Godson acquired the freehold, bequeathing the castle in 1922 to London County Council for public use. They, in turn, sold it to specially formed committee for £6000 with Woolwich, among five councils, contributing the tidy sum of £2000..’

After World War Two use as an observation point it was closed once again when with the LLC abolished in the late ‘80s, Greenwich Council took over.

In 2002 a council proposal to lease the castle as offices for Mount Anvil, a London property development group, sparked off a huge campaign to keep it for public use; in 2004 its appearance on the BBC Restoration raised its profile nationally.

Now thanks to the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust, comprising local historians, environmentalists, along with trustees skilled in costing and conservation, the building is eagerly awaiting a late autumn goahead, with work hopefully completed next June.

Among the plans for it use both as a community and educational centre is an exhibition on Sir James’ life. The viewing platform will also reopen as will the café which many older residents will recall before its 1988 closure. This will serve locally sourced organic food and Fairtrade products such as tea and coffee. Lady James, who loved to entertain friends at Severndroog, would surely have approved…

Need to know:

Severndroog Castle, Castle Wood, Shooters Hill, Greenwich; a narrow lane leads into Castlewood with a short signposted walk to Severndroog Castle. See www.severndroogcastle.org.uk for main details; also National Maritime Museum, Greenwich www.nmm.ac.uk/severndroog-castle/*/viewPage/2 for fuller details about the East India Company; also www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/.../SeverndroogCastle.htm SEPTEMBER2011

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RECENT CHANGES TO FAMILY LAW WHICH MAY AFFECT YOUR DIVORCE

N

ew family procedure rules were introduced in April, which aim to make the family justice system accessible to all and both fair and efficient. The procedures used in various different family law courts have been unified and language modernised where possible to make terms easier to understand. The overriding objective of the rules is to enable the court to deal with cases justly having regard to any welfare issues involved.

WHAT DO THESE CHANGES MEAN TO YOU? The Courts will now actively manage cases and are obliged to encourage alternative dispute resolution (ADR). You will be expected to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment meeting to find out about mediation and other forms of ADR before embarking on the Court process. The court can adjourn at any stage to encourage you to explore the scope for resolving your dispute outside of the court process. Litigation is to be viewed as the last resort. An experienced family law solicitor will be able to provide guidance on the changes and assist you with finding ways of resolving your dispute without recourse to the courts unless absolutely necessary.

2. PERSONALISED SERVICE - Family law is a highly personalised service and those who need help or advice will not perhaps be happy to leave their fate to an organisation which is not established in this field. The prospect of a divorce or separation can be daunting, but the process need not be difficult with the right professional advice. A specialist family law solicitor will guide you with confidence through the complexities offering sensitive but independent advice. If you use a local specialist family law firm you can be confident that they will have local knowledge and experience and that you will be able to speak directly to the person handling your case.

3. LAW SOCIETY AND RESOLUTION ACCREDITATIONS A specialist family lawyer will have accredited status with both the Law Society (which means that they have been assessed to meet the Law Society’s high standards of specialist knowledge and experience in the field) and Resolution.

Resolution is an organization for family law practitioners who are committed to the resolution of family law disputes in a constructive and non-confrontational manner.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING A NICHE FAMILY LAW PRACTICE? 1. KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE - Family law is complex and a niche practice will be able to provide you with the expert guidance that you require at a difficult time. A specialist family law solicitor will have the knowledge and experience to represent your interests and those of your family.

Advantage Family Law Solicitors are offering advice on the changes to legislation mentioned in this article. Call 020 8468 1085 now quoting CL/ED2 to book your free 1 hour consultation at the Chislehurst Business Centre.

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local Life

Now and then...

... portraying the past is best shown through pictures.

In the second of his series JOHN RULER laments over the loss of one famous landmark and how traffic problems were still with us around 100 years ago.

▼

CORNERED IN TIME

Bar the small dog cocking his leg on the shop front, little seems to have changed in the 111 years since shoppers were snapped at the corner of the Market Square and Widmore Road. Buses now stop where the horses and carts are standing.

Sadly, the rather fine Bromley Congregational Church originally built in 1881 – now the United Reformed Church – was one of eight churches left badly damaged or left in ruins by German bombers during the terrible raid on April 16, 1941. Still surviving is The Three Compasses, now simply The Compass, where in bygone days a long trestle hay trough by the entrance, together with a field on the opposite corner, brought a rural atmosphere close to the town centre. Two of the nearby shops were considered to be some of the best in town.

26 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

▼

SAME OLD TRAFFIC

Where has all the traffic gone? It certainly looks less congested in today’s shopping precinct, but doesn’t the sight of horse-drawn vehicles and even a classic car bring a whiff of nostalgia? Not that all the residents of the time would agree: the creation of The New Cut in 1832 a forerunner of future widening schemes dominated by Medhurst – now Primark – brought an inevitable increase in traffic and, with the lack of any Highway Code, a high number of accidents. These include bolting horses, drunken drivers and misjudging steeps hills. Ironically only recently a man pleaded guilty to driving a cart while drunk. So, too, he said, was the horse! In the old days, he may well have stopped at a number of surrounding pubs, including the 18th century Queen’s Head whose Market Square sign is seen on the right. This imposing building was said to be a place of some importance. Also on the right is part of The Forester, which once housed the police station.

▼

IN LIVING MEMORY

Many Bromley shoppers will recall the 1935 scene, the biggest change being the replacement of the old library by the Churchill Theatrecum-Central Library, opened in July 1977, by Prince Charles.

You can just spot it behind the red brick peaked roof of Ravensfell built in 1858, which lends its name to the adjacent row of 1920s’ shops. The biggest retail change by far is the 21st century development of T.K Max on the site of one of the town’s top store Harrison Gibson. This was dramatically destroyed by fire in February 1968, when flames reported to be 20 feet high, gutted the giant furniture store. Some £65,000 worth of stock was lost in the town’s worse peacetime blaze.

Among the firemen who fought the blaze was 20-year-old local lad Roger Wood. It was his first big fire, with 25 and 30 pumps attending from Bromley and the surrounding area.

▼ A HEARTFELT LOSS

Why Tetty Way ?

This oddly named street off Church Road is named after Elizabeth, known affectionately as Tetty, the eccentric wife of Dr Samuel Johnson who died in 1752. She was buried nearby at Bromley Parish Church thanks to the close friendship Dr Johnson had with Dr John Hawkesworth, who lived in the Grete House not far away on what is now part of the Sainsbury site.

Old prints courtesy of Bromley Library

This is not only my all time favourite picture of old Bromley, it is one that still makes my blood boil! I Many others, too, will regret the demolition of the White Hart when in the ‘sixties, as chief reporter of the Bromley & Kentish Times, I watched as commercial interests of the time seemed to over-ride any thoughts of conservation. Yet, as this 1910 scene vividly illustrates, stood a major High Street landmark, which, along with The Bell, the shell of which at least remains, was one of two major staging coaches on the way to London. Dating back at least to the 16th century and possibly even as far back as the latter part of the 14th, it was said one hundred horses were stabled here. Much of the left hand side was redeveloped in 1902. On a lighter note, literally, it was also home in the 1950s to Bromley Jazz Club featuring such famous luminaries as Chris Barber, Sandy Brown and George Melly. Today the site is roughly taken up by Topman and Topshop, pictured below: a sadly revamped version of the White Hart described as ‘a very different looking building’ was itself later demolished.

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e du c a t i o n

The Advantages of a Boys’ School Mr Paul Henderson, Headmaster of Eltham College I f you are a parent of a school age boy, then it would be wise to consider the advantages of a single sex education for your son.

Boys tend to thrive in a single sex academic setting for

and model airplanes which a teacher can use to develop an interest in geometry or physics.

At the same time reading and writing assignments - the subjects which boys find least attractive - can be developed to include active learning, through activity and drama.

A well-run boys’ school has a culture in which boys feel comfortable about themselves, are more confident about their abilities, and therefore do better in their class work.

With no girls to impress, boys can get on with being themselves. A boy’s uniqueness and individuality is developed as they explore subjects like languages and the arts without inhibitions. Being as confident speaking a foreign language, or singing or acting as much as being on the sports fields is testimony to a well-rounded education and individual.

With no girls to impress, boys can get on with being themselves. many reasons. They learn in a particular way responding better to practical and experimental teaching. Boys enjoy competition and are more likely to act impulsively and be less able to sit still for long periods of time.

In a single-sex school, teachers adapt their teaching styles to these specific educational needs. For example, they can include physical activity in the lessons helping boys to pay attention and learn better. Teachers can also use more relevant props that will keep boys interested.

Boys enjoy building blocks

Though no school is perfect, a single-sex school is uniquely equipped to educate young boys in ways that ensures their learning styles and challenges are considered and addressed.

Eltham College is an independent day school in Mottingham, teaching boys from the age of 7 through to 18. Girls are welcomed into the Sixth Form when the time has come to prepare the boys for entering university and adult life. The school has a strong traditional curriculum producing results of the highest standard – in 2011 61% of the ‘A’ level results were grade A*

or A, 85% grade A* to B. In addition, every year more than 80% of the pupils achieve a place in a university of their choice with a good number every year entering Oxbridge.

Set in 60 acres of playing fields, Eltham College provides the space and facilities to provide an excellent setting for the boys’ education and activities. However, the medium size of the school numbers means that every boy is known and valued as an individual. Pastoral care is highlighted in inspection reports as a significant strength.

Add to this the rich and varied extra-curricular programme, from the 40 plus musical ensembles performing home and abroad, some with professional bookings such as the recent choir performance at the BBC Proms this summer, to the wide range of sport on offer played at a high level, for example fencing and chess, and the boys can find a wide range of interesting activities to participate in and enjoy.

Community service is very much at the heart of the Eltham College ethos, building on the Christian heritage, and the combination of all of these attributes results in the school being proud to develop confident and well-rounded individuals.

To see for yourself how much the school has to offer, come and visit our next Open Morning on Saturday 17th September 2011. Alternatively call us on 020 8857 1455 for a prospectus and to request a place on one of our Autumn Tours. We look forward to welcoming you!

h o us e g a rd e n

You know when you have made the right decision Could you explain what renewable energy is? Why we need it and where you see the role of BritishEco in the complete picture?

Renewable energy is energy that is naturally replenished from the sun, wind, rain and geothermal heat. Renewable energy systems extract this energy and convert it into heat and electricity; because it is naturally replenished quickly it does not consume valuable carbon based fuel sources.

It has been well documented that carbon based fuel sources are decreasing, ever difficult and expensive to find and extract and tend to be located in less stable countries than our own. Switching a portion of our energy consumption away from fossil fuels to naturally replenished energy sources means, not only, will we move away from our dependence on fossil fuels, we will gain a much stronger and more secure supply for the future.

The BritishEco vision is to provide both individuals and organisations with affordable and reliable renewable energy systems.

Is BritishEco a local company?

Yes, we are a national company with regional offices across the country. This ensures you get the service and support you need locally, backed up by the head office to ensure you receive the best equipment at the best prices covered by our comprehensive warranties.

BritishEco Consultants are professional, industry experts with an extensive knowledge of renewable energies. They provide reliable and honest advice on all renewable technologies. They will also be able to advise you on Government incentives and grants and any local incentives in your area.

32 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

What is the most popular domestic renewable energy opportunities BritishEco specialise in?

We specialise in the main renewable technologies for the domestic and commercial market such as, solar photovoltaic (PV) cells for generating electricity, heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal panels to heat your hot water and property, as well as rainwater harvesting and wind turbines.

Won’t these options cost a fortune to install or are there perhaps, government grants available as an incentive – if so, who can claim and how much financial help is available to each household?

In April 2010 the Government backed Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) scheme was launched to enable people to be paid for generating electricity from solar panels or a wind turbine fitted in or at their property. In addition to being paid by the Feed-In Tariffs you will also be able to use the electricity you generate for free. The amount you receive for generating electricity can be secured for 25 years; index linked and is completely tax free. The benefits that you will receive for installing

solar panels are 43.3p for every unit of electricity you generate, whether you use it or not. Whatever electricity you do not use you can sell back to the grid and receive a minimum, additional 3 pence for every unit. A typical 4kw domestic solar pv system could attract £1485 per year from the Feed-In Tariffs, £51 from exporting to the national grid and a £206.00 saving on their electricity bill, giving a total benefit to you of

£1742.00 every year for 25 years.

Are there complicated issues about securing planning approval to install a domestic renewable energy source?

Most renewable energy technologies do not now require planning permission.

The Government has relaxed the planning regulations to encourage domestic customers to embrace renewable energy.

Wind turbines do still require planning permission and there are environmental and neighbour issues still surrounding them but the acceptance of turbines at both national and local level is increasing.

How quickly would an

installation from BritishEco take, who undertakes the work?

A typical domestic installation from the point of ordering to being switched on is 6-8 weeks this includes all the detailed design, testing and full commissioning of the system. Each regional office has its own MCS accredited installation teams based locally.

How long before a home owner starts to see a benefit or evens gets a return on their investment?

As soon as the system is commissioned and the home owner is in receipt of all the necessary documentation that BritishEco will provide them with they are able to begin claiming the Feed-In Tariff and start generating a return on investment.

Does BritishEco have any accreditation that offers home owners peace of mind?

For the property owner to be eligible for the feed in tariff they must have the system designed, installed and commission by an MCS accredited company. BritishEco are MCS accredited and members of the Renewable Energy Association (REA).

Alongside the manufacturers warranties BritishEco offer a 10 year guarantee on the installation of solar photovoltaic panels.

Where and how do interested home owners begin the process of discussing the installation of a renewable energy source?

By calling us on 0845 257 0041 we will be able to discuss your requirements and put you in touch with our local consultant who will be able to advise you further.

Interview with Tony O’Connor – Managing Director of BritishEco

Call us today on

0845 257 0041

You know when you have made the right decision.

Maximising your investment in renewables Choosing the right combination of equipment is only part of the decision, the other half is selecting the right company to handle your investment in renewable energy.

We have been designing and installing renewable energy systems nationwide since 2002 and have gained a reputation for excellence through our technical knowledge, onsite experience and customer care enabling you to know you have made the right decision in choosing BritishEco.

For more information please visit: www.britisheco.com Solar Thermal

Solar PV

Wind Turbines

Heat Pumps

Biomass Boilers

Rainwater

COVE R F EA T U R E

T

he prospect of chatting to Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford is daunting, to say the least. As well as being the stars of some of Hollywood’s biggest franchises, they are also known for being guarded.

Luckily for them, questions about their personal lives are off-limits today, which may explain why both actors appear to be in a pretty good mood. They’re in town promoting their new film Cowboys & Aliens, in which the two cowboys join forces to rid a small town of aliens. For many fans, it’s basically James Bond and Indiana Jones sharing screen time together, although the two may not want to see it like that.

Ford, who celebrated his 69th birthday last month, “hemmed and hawed” about the role until he discussed his concerns with director Jon Favreau. But he finally agreed because of the talents of the people involved.

“It was the opportunity to play a character different from any I’ve played before. The chance to make a movie that might be popular and successful. All of that, and a bit of money,” he says with a smile.

“And I wanted the chance to work with Daniel. He’s a very talented actor and fun to be with. Simple and straight forward.”

The appreciation is mutual, with Craig revealing: “This was a dream come true. Harrison’s lovely - you’ll find out.

“First and foremost, he’s an actor and he loves the job.

He loves getting on with it and the collaborative process...

So once you get over the fact he’s a screen legend, you find out he just wants to get on with the work,” Craig adds.

It’s hard to imagine the British actor, the first to be cast, losing his cool over a fellow thespian, but he freely admits: “Of course I was excited. Yeah, a little bit. It’s Harrison Ford, for Christ’s sake!”

As a child, the Bond star - who is set to reprise his iconic role in the 23rd film of the secret agent franchise - found himself shaken and stirred by Ford’s films, especially Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.

“I went to the cinema on my own, saw Blade Runner and thought, ‘I want to work with that man!’ And I did,” he recalls, his icy-blue eyes twinkling.

The 43-year-old, who married actress Rachel Weisz in June,

cowboys & aliens Bond and Indiana Jones - aka Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford - share screen time together in Cowboys & Aliens, the new blockbuster from Jon Favreau. By Shereen Low

34 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

needed no convincing to play loner Jake Lonergan - another childhood dream.

“I’ve wanted to play a cowboy for as long as I can remember,” he says, fingering his wedding band. “There was nothing more complicated than that. And with Jon Favreau directing, Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard producing, it seemed like a good deal.”

It didn’t take Craig, who based his character on the “silence of Clint Eastwood”, long to get into character.

“The cowboy just comes out. We’re in a desert, I’m wearing chaps, a gun around my waist, cowboy boots, a hat and I’m riding on a horse. I couldn’t have been happier,” he continues.

In the film based on Scott Mitchell Rosenberg’s

graphic novel, Ford - best known for his portrayals of Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and intrepid explorer Indiana Jones - relished playing the villainous cattle-rancher Woodrow Dolarhyde.

“He’s cruel and unusual - a bit of a bully used to getting his own way,” he explains.“But in context of the events, you come to know something more about him and the circumstances he’s involved in. I’m not so much a fan of action or genre as I am of storytelling and character. That’s where my heart lies.”

Favreau fans can expect thrills and spills, yet despite being known for carving careers as action heroes, both actors admit they left the more elaborate stunts to the pros.

“I don’t do stunts. Stuntmen do stunts. I do physical acting,” says Ford in a no-nonsense tone. “A lot of what you see is my brilliant double and stuntmen. We also had a bunch of wranglers and cowboys who helped me look good in the saddle,” Craig adds, admitting his riding technique is improving but he’s no expert.

While he may have escaped the stunts, the Bond star - whose muscles stretch his tightly-buttoned shirt and well-fitted jeans - definitely put in some hard work for his impressive physique.

“I genuinely don’t think about it. It is what it is,” he says, shrugging. “I try to get in shape for the movies because I like it, and because I thought we should have a skinny cowboy who looked in shape because he should look like a killer.”

So how comfortable was he showing off his body with shots focusing on his pecs and derriere? “The derriere? You mean the arse?” he says, bursting out into a hearty laugh. “You don’t have to say it in French to make it sound OK. That’s funny! I wasn’t operating the camera - you’d have to ask the cameraman about that.”

Fortunately, all his hard work won’t be wasted, as Craig gears up for the next 007 film. “I’m looking forward to the next James Bond. Sam Mendes is directing it [who he worked with in Road To Perdition].

We’re ready to go; we’ve got a script and start shooting in November. I’m excited to get back into the suit,” he says, but is tight-lipped when questioned further.

His next big screen outing is in the Hollywood remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, directed by David Fincher.

“From what I’ve seen, it looks amazing,” he continues. “It’s going to be an adult movie. It’s not going to be dumbed down in any way, because we’re trying to appeal to a wider audience. I think Fincher’s one of the best directors around and I enjoyed every second of working with him.”

As for Ford, he’s enjoying life with his family, including third wife Calista Flockhart and their adopted son Liam, while holding out for a fifth Indy outing. “If we come up with a script that everybody has confidence in, sure, I’d love to play the character again. But at the moment, it’s not even got to the point where I know what the story’s going to be,” he admits.

SEPTEMBER2011

35

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wedding LIFE t h e

q u a l i t y

w e d d i n g

White hot Weddings

R

ival Kate Middleton with a dress to wow on your wedding day. Whether you want to float down the aisle in a fluffy meringue or saunter Pippa Middleton-style in a slinky number, there’s a style to suit every bride.

“A bride is always looking for romance,” says Marguerite Hannah, designer for Alan Hannah (www.alanhannah. co.uk). “They want to be demure but look a million dollars; a dress that transforms them to their very best.”

So forget the husbandto-be momentarily. With all eyes on you and your frock, say ‘I do’ to the wedding dress of your dreams.

The Middleton effect With copycat versions soon appearing of whatever she wears in public, Kate Middleton’s wedding gown was always guaranteed to inspire every woman marrying their own Prince Charming.

Reminiscent of Grace Kelly’s intricate lace dress, the Sarah Burton creation for Alexander McQueen has set a trend for a bevvy of brides-to-be seeking understated glamour.

“Kate’s dress is a great look for girls to achieve; not only is it very classic and stylish but an easy shape for most to wear,” Hannah suggests.

Forget backless, strapless and side splits, the demure look is the look of the moment.

“There will be a trend towards brides going slightly more

GUIDE

s e p t e m b e r

2 0 1 1

formal in their choice of dress, with covered arms and, of course, the use of lace,” suggests bridal designer Ian Stuart (www.ianstuart-bride.com).

But unlike Kate, who slipped into evening gown number two with circle skirt and diamante belt, most brides look for that one elusive dress to impress throughout the big day.

“Brides are moving away from wanting a traditional wedding dress and are choosing instead to invest in more of a unique ‘special’ dress to take them from the ceremony to the last dance,” according to bridal designer Suzannah (www.suzannah.com).

New bridal brigade Even before the Duchess of Cambridge wowed her two billion spectators in Alexander McQueen, the mood in bridal fashion was shifting as her dress has undoubtedly boosted the bridal power of lace and covered shoulders “The key trend has moved from the popular strapless look of past seasons to ‘on the shoulder’ with the use of straps, short sleeves and sheer necklines using lace and organza,” explains Hannah.

“The alluring look of showing shoulders and arms is still key, so the use of sheer fabrics is a major look for this summer.

There is more use of lace and embossed and textured fabrics.”

Though the floor-sweeping gown is every girl’s princess fantasy, you don’t have to follow tradition to look sensational on your wedding day.

Hannah says: “Long dresses are still far more popular than short, and there is a definite trend for longer trains and veils.

“But for the hip bride and those who are marrying abroad, shorter dresses or even a Sixties-style palazzo pant jumpsuit is a great look.”

For autumn/winter brides, summer silhouettes and texture trends will continue but with the addition of sheer capes, jackets and faux fur throws for extra glamour.

SEPTEMBER2011

37

w e dd i n g sp e c i a l

N

obody wants a bad hair day or a mirror nightmare but if there’s one time in your life when you need to look your beautiful best, it’s your wedding day. With your closest family and friends to hand - and an over-eager photographer snapping at your heels - being a bride should be the happiest day of your life. So the last thing you want to worry about is make-up blunders.

“The best wedding makeup is subtle and unobtrusive, yet reveals and enhances everything that’s most beautiful about a bride’s face,” says make-up artist Jemma Kidd. Whether you’re being made up by your best pal or a team of professionals, ensure you’ve got your look prepared by way of a few trial runs.

Make-up musts

“Bridal make-up needs to have enough colour to compensate for the whiteness of the dress,” explains make-up artist Bobbi Brown. “Apply your make-up as if you were going to a formal event - everything should be a bit stronger than the makeup you normally wear.”

To ensure your lip colour lasts throughout the ‘kiss the bride’ peck and beyond, line and fill the lips with a matching lip pencil before applying your lipstick.

Beaming with love, you may have a natural glow on the day but you’ll still need a touch of colour. “When choosing a blush, go for pink if you are fair and rose if you are dark. Apply it to the apples of your cheeks for a healthy glow. For a pop of colour, use a brighter shade just on the apples of your cheeks, Avoid embarrassing make-up blunders during the speeches with tear-proof products.

Look for waterproof and long-wearing formulas in both mascara and eyeliner to avoid smudges and streaks.

Face powder is a must. Set concealer and foundation with a powder puff. And don’t forget to bring pressed powder in your evening bag for touchups throughout the day.”

38 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

WEDDING DAY BEAUTY TIPS Ensure your wedding day make-up goes without a hitch. Our experts reveal their top tips for bridal beauty. By Lisa Haynes

Romantic hair.

Forget the debate about summer or winter wedding, one of the biggest decisions for brides is whether to wear hair up or down. If the top of your dress is fussy, an up-do is a good option to keep the focus on your face and gown. ‘This season balanced the hair with the big gowns,’ says Redken session stylist Giovanni Giuntoli.

The avant garde twist has even more height and drama this year and the sleek chignon from years past presents a new view with the croissant shape placed higher atop the head.

An up-do adds instant sophistication and elongates the neck. Ask a bridesmaid to hold on to a mini finishing spray for touch-ups to ensure that your style stays in place all night long and if you have a simple dress and want a more relaxed, modern look, try Giuntoli’s ‘end-of-day waves’. The look

is down and the waves are not tight, they’re fresh, try to get away from the corkscrew for a youthful, casual after-wedding look that’s flattering and flirty.

Ring fingers.

As you take your husbandto-be’s hand at the altar, the last thing you want to offer him is chewed nails or a garish set of false talons.

Ensure your ring finger and it’s nine family members are preened to perfection.

Start thinking about the condition of your nails four to six months before the big day, advises Joanna Hansford, director of manicurists at Jo Hansford salon.

It takes six months for a new nail to grow completely, so if they are damaged in any way they have a good chance of recovering in time. Condition and hydrate your hands and nails using a hand cream and

cuticle oil last thing every night for at least a month before the wedding to see happier hands.

If you’re addicted to nail decor, hold off excessive use of coloured nail varnishes in the run-up to your wedding.

Nail polish removal can cause nails to dry out so try not to use it more than once a week and opt for acetone-free ones.

And darker colours can also stain the nail bed if used over a long period. However, if this occurs lemon juice can be used to cleanse them.

As for the big day itself? Ask your manicurist to assess your nails and see whether long, short, square, oval or rounded most suits your hands and plan the shape in advance. Natural nails always look best if you are going for a traditional wedding but if you are going for a more modern, contemporary look you could have a brighter colour but make sure it doesn’t clash with your dress.

I do, and don’t...

“On your wedding day you should look like yourself at your most beautiful.

Don’t: Go to a tanning bed right before your wedding. If you want more colour, use a self tanner. Test the product weeks before the date and apply several days before the wedding in case you need to make corrections.

Do: Complete a make-up trial to avoid any surprises.

Don’t: Use concealer on the eyelids. It causes eye make-up to crease.

Do: Keep your look natural, fresh and modern using colours you have worn before and know they suit your skin tone.

Don’t: Apply shimmer all over the face. One or two accents are enough.

Do: Make sure your foundation is right for your skin tone.

Your colour may have changed since the make-up trial.

Don’t: Wear frosted, shiny or sparkly shadows as it will reflect camera flashes.

Do: Try and put your dress on after you have done everything else. Make-up should be completed beforehand.

NEW INCLUSIVE WEDDING PACKAGES AVAILABLE FROM ÂŁ75-ÂŁ110 PER PERSON Enjoy both your ceremony and reception at this stunning Country House Hotel set within a 3000 acre estate with perfectly manicured lawns and beautiful grounds in the heart of the Kent countryside - A choice of three oak panelled Manor Rooms or the Walled Maids Garden and Victorian Gazebo for your ceremony

- 4 red star accommodation and 62 individually styled luxurious bedrooms and suites

- Award winning cuisine and new wedding breakfast menus designed by our Executive Head Chef

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- Licensed for Weddings and Civil Ceremonies

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Pictures: Sarah Gowler

w e dd FEATURE ing BRIDAL sp e c i a l

Beautiful bridal Bridal Boutique beautiful boutique

B

lackburn Bridal who both design silhouettes designers to showcase and work educate our brides into working Couture is a sumptuous based around the 30’s and with me in my boutique”. with shapes that flatter their lackburn Bridal Couture is a 40’s as this period Duringepitomises his time on the magazines worked offer all ourbody brides funturn andcompliment informative boudoir for brides Russell he prides himself on anda in sumptuous boudoir for brides to be, as fashion director and built up a great experience of choosing their wedding to be, in Blackheath Village. pure glamour at its best”. his shop’s excellent customer their personalities as every dress.” in Blackheath Offering a Russell has relationship with the is Mandi said: gets a private Offering a selectionVillage. of some worked in thebridal designers service,throughout which he feels bride“Each wantsbride to feel comfortable of some of the most bridal industry UK, Europe and America, hence he carrys whichlooking is usually hour long and of theselection most talented bridal for nearly key towhy running a successfulconsultation whilst herone most talented bridal designers, all under such an international selection of some the mostwith him, will involvebeautiful working on designers, all under one roof. one roof.

18 years, spending 10 years business.

Working on the her silhouette wedding that day. best Russell Blackburn openedopened his stunning working for talented bridal designers the world has tofive offer.years ago suits her shape.

Ourdresses aim is to help educate Russell Blackburn Britain’s largest since opening With starting from our boutique nearly fiveboutique years ago and due to selling its position on the magazine opened many working shapesthe thatchoice flatter their his stunning nearly bridal“My magazines is his friend and branch brides into£1000 upwith to £5500 fivesuccess, years ago to itsmoved into‘You and Your andin turn enabled manager Markham, and that, coupled roaring he and has due recently doorsWedding’ for me and meMandi to pursue body and is in amazing turn compliment their personalities success, he hasvale. recently ‘Cosmopolitan Brides’. a retail fashion withwants a friendly consultative largerroaring premises on Tranquil Russell claims: my passion ofDuring opening my who own came bridal from boutique as every bride to feeland comfortable whilst moved into larger the magazines some makes for truly “Brides love what we dopremises and travelonfrom ashis fartime on‘Blackburn Bridalhe Couture’ background back in 2005.managing With looking herservice most beautiful onaher wedding day.

Tranquil Russell claims: worked as my fashion director andcontacts ofIthe streetsthat biggest With dresses wonderful in up finding as Ireland and vale.

Scotland to view our exquisite experience and washigh fortunate startingexperience from £1000 to “Brides love what we do and built up a great relationship fashion stores.

Together they your dream wedding dress. designs, we even have a number of brides it allowed me to secure some amazing £5500 the choice is amazing and that, coupled as far andwe with bridaldesigners designersto showcase andhave the inwedding dress flying travel in fromfrom Europe foras theIreland designers workmade with me my with a friendly and consultative service makes Scotland viewHollywood our exquisite the UK, Europe and shopping experience the dream For information on how showcase here”.toOld glamour isthroughout the boutique”. for a truly wonderful experience in to finding your designs, we even have a number America, hence why he carrys it should be.

Russell said: book an appointment please inspiration behind most of Russell’s collections as Russell prides himself on his shop’s excellent dream wedding dress. of brides flying inbeen frominspired Europeby thesuch an international selection hastobrought contact Russell or Mandi on he, himself has always customer service, which he “Mandi feels is key runningso much for the designers we showcase of some the most talented bridal experience and knowledge to 020 8297 1188 or email at movie stars of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. a successful business.

For information on how to book an here”. Old Hollywood glamour designers the world has to offer. the business and together we info@blackburnbridal.co.uk “I know my brides love the idea of a vintage Working with him, since opening five years appointment please contact Russell or Mandi is the inspiration behind most “My position on the have worked at making sure look for their gowns and therefore come tomagazine us ago is his friend and branchwemanager Mandi on 020 8297 1188 or email at of Russell’s collections as opened many doors offer all our brides a fun Also to find out about how to for designers such as Claire Pettibone or Jenny Markham, who came from a retail fashion info@blackburnbridal.co.uk he, himself has always been for me and in turn enabled and informative experience of book for our fabulous Designer Packham, whoby both based background managing some of the high Also to find out about how book297 for our inspired thedesign moviesilhouettes stars me to pursue my passion choosing theirstreets wedding dress.”

Weekends below callto0208 around the 30’s and 40’s as this period biggest fashion stores.

Together they have made fabulous Designer Weekends below call of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. of opening my own bridal Mandi said: “Each bride 1188 or email for an appointment epitomises pure glamour at love its best”. the wedding dress shopping experience or email for an appointment “I know my brides the boutique ‘Blackburn Bridal gets a private the consultation0208 297at1188 info@blackburnbridal.

Russell the bridal industry Couture’ for dream it should be. info@blackburnbridal.co.uk. ideahas of aworked vintageinlook for their back in 2005.

With which is usually one hour at long co.uk. Designer WeekendDesigner nearlygowns 18 years, years forexperience Russell said: “Mandi brought so muchworking on Weekend appointments appointmentsare are charged andspending therefore10 come to workingmy and contacts I hasand will involve charged at at £20 Britain’s selling such bridalasmagazines ‘You experience and knowledgethe to silhouette the business andbest suits but fully redeemable anyagainst purchase us largest for designers Claire was fortunate that it allowed that £20 but fullyagainst redeemable and Your Wedding’ and ‘Cosmopolitan Brides’. together have worked at on the day.

Pettibone or Jenny Packham, me to secure some we amazing hermaking shape.sure Ourwe aim is to help any purchase on the day.

b

38 | FE BRUARY I SS UE

‘The stylish Brides Boutique’ By appointment only Tel 020 8297 1188 Blackheath Village

Dress by Watters Bride

www.blackburnbridal.co.uk

Watters Bride Designer Weekend Friday 4th and Saturday 5th November Weddings abroad Event in conjunction with Rayavadee Resort Thailand Thursday 26th January 2012 Tickets £10 admits 2 people.

Jenny Packham designer Weekend Friday 9th and Sat 10th March 2012 By appointment only.

w e dd i n g sp e c i a l

Bea Das Couture B

ea Das of Bea Das Couture, is undoubtedly considered, South East’s leading couture Bridal designer.

Bea has a distinctive signature of classic elegance and sophistication, using luxurious fabrics and embellishment.

With years of experience, Bea has developed an expert eye for style, balance and proportion.

Bea proportionally balances each of her gowns to flatter the brides figure. She takes in consideration posture, height, colour of the skin tone and overall look when choosing the gown. Bea feels this way she can make each individual bride look beautiful and as perfect as possible for her wedding day.

Whether you choose something from the collection or choose to have a dress designed specially for you, Bea and her experienced fashion team will be with you every step of the way to give you a complete look.

The service is second to none, a fact recognised by a large number of siblings and 42 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

friends Bea designs for.

Bea’s new collection is classic femininity and romance. She has added some beautifully designed, pieces, using luxurious fabrics, to her timeless collection.

Her passion for detail, style lines, cut and embellishment are evident through out.

Bea has an increasing International presence and her collection is made up of what dreams are made up of.

Her gowns have style, elegance and glamour enhanced by precise shaping, proportion and balance! Bea has Real wedding dresses that are made to fit like a glove.

Bea is the owner of the coveted prize ‘New Designer of the Year’ awarded by Brides magazine. The winning design was made into a porcelain figurine by Coalport sister company of Wedgewood.

The shop: Bea Das Couture store, in Sevenoaks High St is understated luxury with warm cream and gold tones to give her Couture gowns a perfect backdrop.

Her beautiful, hand made large mirrors with Bea Das initials are that special luxurious touch to the showroom. Her large fitting room where only one bride is seen at any one time is spacious, comfortable and tranquil. The furniture is antique French style and adds a vintage feel to the store.

THE COMPLETE COUTURE PROCESS

Choosing the Dress: The Bride will first choose a style and fabric for her dress and place a firm order. She will then receive a Sketch of her dress personally drawn by Bea and a sample of the fabric chosen.

The Measure: Next, the bride will be given an appointment to come in and be measured.

She will once again be seen in the dress of her choice and noted on posture and overall points taken down for the pattern cutter.

Then the notes and measurement will be given to Bea’s pattern cutter who will draft a pattern in the measurements taken for

the individual bride and a toile will be made in calico for the first toile fitting.

Toile fitting: The first calico toile is a mock up of the dress. At this fitting the toile will be fitted accurately taking in the proportion and posture of the bride.

The paper pattern is adjusted to allow for the changes made on the toile. Sometimes more than one toile is required to allow for the changes.

The dress fitting: Depending on the style and fabric used the bride will have another 2 to 4 fittings. Keeping the final fitting as close as possible to the wedding day.

Bea Das Couture is located in Sevenoaks, 30 minutes away from London Charing Cross by train. It is a must see place for every modern bride. To visit Bea Das Couture please call to make an appointment.

47 High St. Sevenoaks, Kent, TN131JF Tel 01732 740 959 bea@beadas.co.uk | www.beadas. co.uk. Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm, Closed Wednesday. Late nights by appointments only

Beautifully handcrafted bridal wear

47 High Street Sevenoaks Kent TN131JF Tel 01732 740 959 www.beadas.co.uk

47 High Street Sevenoaks Kent TN131JF Tel 01732 740 959 www.beadas.co.uk

w e dd i n g S P ECIAL

A

charming 18th century country house hotel, seductively surrounded by acres of gorgeous gardens and passionately tended grounds, creates the ultimate picturesque setting for your celebration.

Intimate ceremonies, stunning wedding breakfasts, stylish receptions and lavish extravaganzas – everyone has unique ideas of what they want on their special day and Rowhill Grange surpasses all expectations.

Combining award winning dining and sumptuous surroundings with supportive dedication and expert advice, we are discreetly by your side every step of the way to ensure your day is everything you dreamed of and more.

Your Day, Your Way

Planning should be as enjoyable as the event and you will receive dedicated and individual support and attention to ensure it all runs smoothly. We are here to ease any pressure and your dedicated personal wedding coordinator will come equipped with plenty of ideas, lists of reputable suppliers, plenty of enthusiasm and expert experience. This

is your day and although we are discreetly by your side, we never loose sight of that.

Elegant Ceremonies and Stylish Receptions

As a glorious 18th Century Manor House setting we have a maze of stylish suites and luxurious rooms to host your day in a superbly impressive way.

From a quiet intimate ceremony for two or smaller wedding in our terrace rooms to the thatched Clockhouse Suite for up to 150 guests - we have just the place for you to celebrate.

In addition if the weather permits, we even have a pretty outdoor gazebo for an outdoor ceremony – perfect for making your entrance amidst beautiful gardens and lawns.

Ladies and Gentlemen Please Take Your Seats

As you would expect, we have award winning dining to match your high standards, whether you would like a seated supper, delicious wedding buffet or fine dining feast.

Our Executive Chef and his team want to make sure you

Rowhill Grange

The Picture Perfect Location

44 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

get exactly what you want, we can organise a private meeting for you to discuss your precise requirements should you wish. The team arrive with some very tasty ideas however ultimately its your choice and bespoke to your occasion.

Together our aim is to present the most impressive wedding breakfast for you and your guests.

Staying The Night

Every room has been luxuriously and individually designed and decorated.

Exceptionally comfortable beds with handmade mattress and bespoke plump pillows for the best nights sleep.

Some have four poster beds, some have original roll top or double baths, some have separate lounges, however all retain an exciting magic of original features blended with 21st century comforts, impressive artworks and very well thought out bathrooms.

Your guests will be entitled to a very special accommodation rate should they wish to stay the night.

Utopia Spa

As a residential guest, you have total access to our award winning spa and facilities.

From the minute you step through the door, stresses and strains start to melt away and with awards such as South of England Finest Spa, Best Hotel Spa of the Year, Elite Spa and within Worlds Top 50 Spas by Mail on Sunday – you know you are in for a treat.

Using the therapeutic healing nature of water, drift away in calming Romanesque interiors complete with stunning therapy pools, underwater massage beds and soothing waterfalls before relaxing in the Jacuzzi or steam rooms and sauna.

With over forty gorgeous treatments (many unique to Utopia) that replenish, revive, renew and love you – it’s the perfect relaxing and detoxing hideaway or fabulous venue for a hen celebration !

To take a look around or find out more please call 01322 612 778 or visit www.rowhillgrange.com

London Golf Club Simply Unforgettable

Your wedding is a unique occasion. At London Golf Club we know how important it is to host this special day in the ideal setting.

Licensed for civil ceremonies and partnerships, our venue, with its peerless elegance provides a stunning backdrop to your celebration.

Matched with the knowledge and passion of our staff, the dining experience you will find is simply first class and is a perfect compliment to your stunning once in a lifetime event.

Welcome to London Golf Club, the perfect stage for your wedding.

To request our wedding brochure call 01474 879899, or email us at weddings@londongolf.co.uk www.londongolf.co.uk

London Golf Club, Stansted Lane, Ash, Nr Brands Hatch, Kent TN15 7EH

w e dd i n g sp e c i a l

Chart Hills Golf Club C

hart Hills Golf Club sits on the edge of the high Weald of Kent in the village of Biddenden.

Surrounded by glorious countryside and only 5 miles from the quintessentially English town of Tenterden, Chart Hills has received many accolades for its golf course and now too as a wedding and function venue.

The club house was raised to the ground by fire in 2005 and from the ashes sprang a brand new club house with a purpose built suite perfect for weddings and parties.

You won’t find any dark and dusky corners in the brand new Carnforth suite which has its own bar and facilities.

The main suite seats 120 but can be cleverly divided into two so your ceremony can be held in one part with your wedding breakfast set out in the other. The suite is a gloriously light room with double French doors leading to your own private garden and patio. It’s also set apart from the main golf club meaning your guests wont be interrupted by the day to day runnings of a golf club and the only clue to its primary business is the view from the 46 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

In August, a groom and his groomsmen all parachuted onto the course while the bride arrived by helicopter.

Carnforth suite which has a splendid vista across the range interjected with mature oak trees and a large coy fish pond.

One of the things that is insisted upon here is that only one wedding is allowed on any day meaning that couples getting married will have the soul attention of the wedding coordinators. With over 30 years combined experience in planning and coordinating weddings, Mark and Kim have a wealth of knowledge and they are very happy to share their ideas and thoughts with you (if you want it!)

The extensive menu selection too means that you will find something that suits you and your guests. From a casual

buffet or BBQ to a 5 course banqueting meal the choices are vast and varied. But if you have a specific request, let them know and the chefs will be very happy to try and meet your exact requirements. The kitchen at Chart Hills has once again been awarded 5 stars for health and hygiene from Ashford Borough Council and has maintained this high standard for over 6 years. Head chef Jason Wearne, has catered for over 500 weddings in his time here and his experience and skill go along way in making wedding days a success. There are no set supplier lists but the staff are very happy to help you find exactly what you need for your day to be a success.

In August, a groom and his groomsmen all parachuted onto the course while the bride arrived by helicopter. Mark Kerr, the manager of the food and beverage department was delighted that the event had gone without a hitch. “I must admit we were all very glad when the groom arrived unscathed. The day had been quite wet and windy up to about 30 minutes before the scheduled jump but the party were given the all clear just in the nick of time. It was quite a sight to see them all land and rip off their parachute suits to reveal their morning dress beneath” For those not wanting to parachute in, there is a very large car park to park in!

Weddings at Chart Hills start from as little as £35 per person (not including ceremony costs) and of course if any of the wedding party are golfers then a round of golf, sometime before the wedding on the award winning Sir Nick Faldo course, is included.

For more details call Chart Hills on 01580 292222 or visit their web site to download a full wedding brochure at www.charthills.co.uk/ functions/weddings.asp

wedding special

Make your dream wedding a reality

By Sarah O’Meara

I

n our day-dreams, the romantic proposal of marriage is effortlessly followed by a Cinderellastyle wedding day, and the planning process is carefully edited out.

As lovely as these fantasies are, they’re hardly a blueprint for organising the big day.

Whether you’re planning a modest yet elegant affair or a week’s worth of wild hedonism, every dream wedding needs a strong plan to transform it from an idea into reality.

Don’t panic, just make sure you’re asking the right questions at the right time, says wedding planner and author of Wedding Bible Sarah Haywood.

There’s no point in worrying about the details of the day until you’ve made five key decisions.

Your big five are... how, where, when, who and budget.

Do you want a religious or civil ceremony, in which geographic location, at what time of year, who will you invite and how much can you spend?

People rush out and buy magazines and make decisions about having peonies before they know what month the ceremony’s going to be in. You wouldn’t think about furnishing your home, until you’d found the house, would you!

“The Big Five, as I call them in my book, are your road map and until they’ve been agreed upon you can’t get down to the details.”

Follow Haywood’s tips to make sure your wedding day is a success...

TWELVE TO NINE MONTHS TO GO

Having enjoyed the luxury of

travelling to venues, perhaps trying on a few gowns and looking at pretty pictures in magazines, now’s the time to firm up those plans.

Imagine that this phase is called ‘Ideas and Decisions’ and that now you’ve got a sense of the key elements which will define the look and style of day, it’s important to hire suppliers who can make sure those are all in place. ✱ Set the date, book the ceremony and venue(s) ✱ Book key suppliers (catering, florist, photography, transport, stationer) ✱ Compile guest list ✱ Book entertainment (band, DJ etc.) ✱ Reserve suits, purchase bridesmaids’ outfits and select wedding gown ✱ Send out ‘Save the Date’ cards/email NINE TO THREE MONTHS

Having sketched the outline of your wedding and hired the key players, it’s now the fun part - filling in the details of the day and designing your perfect wedding!

Think about what it’s going to look like - and if you’re not sure, get help. It’s important for all the elements to be coordinated otherwise you’ll end up with something random, like a cake that doesn’t work with the venue.

You need a design overview.

DON’T FORGET: ✱ Menu tasting ✱ Choose cake, flowers,

readings and music ✱ Purchase wedding ring(s) ✱ Register for gift list ✱ Choose stationer and agree invitations ✱ Book honeymoon

At this point, you’ll hopefully be tying everything together, confirming all your plans and adding those final details.

For those who feel that there’s simply too much left to do, or are worried about being stressed on the day, you might consider bringing someone in to bring it all together.

If you’ve talked through the Big Five at the beginning, then any last minute controversies should be avoided.

Listen to suggestions from friends and family throughout the process. Some people just want to be heard and by hearing them out, you know they’ll be supportive on the day - even if you’ve ignored what they said!

DON’T FORGET:

DON’T FORGET:

✱ Confirm menu ✱ Mail invitations 12 to 8

✱ Confirm final guest numbers

THREE TO ONE MONTHS TO GO

weeks before wedding ✱ Confirm order of service with officiant ✱ One month to go, chase outstanding RSVPs TEN DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING

A key point to remember is that if everyone involved has the same expectations of the day, then the day should run smoothly.

with venue and caterer ✱ Collect Orders of Service, menu and place cards if necessary ✱ Prepare ‘Wedding Day Schedule’ and distribute as required ✱ Confirm shot list with photographer For more information about Sarah Haywood and ideas for your wedding, visit www. weddingdoctor.com and www.sarahhaywood.com.

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fa s h i o n beauty

Every Woman Deserves Beautiful Nails W

hen times are tough, money is short and life is not easy, we all need a little “pick me up” and what better than treating ourselves to a lovely set of beautiful nails that will cheer us up, make us feel good and put a smile back on our faces!

Women will always find the extra pennies for that little treat, and nails are top of the list, because they are visible and we feel great when people notice and comment on our lovely nails.

Nails are one of the few parts of a person where it is not required to look in a mirror to see what they look like, nails allow women to see beauty at their fingertips.

How do you choose a nail product with so many now on offer?

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Choose a product that you are 100% sure will be good for the nail plate. Don’t just select the cheapest product or the most convenient, make sure the product you choose is well investigated and that the company is well established and has a good reputation.

Unlike other nail finishes, Bio Sculpture Gel is a nail treatment applied as a coating onto your own natural nails to strengthen and condition them with no damage. Also fantastic on toe nails and will last for weeks. Clients will enjoy seeing their nails transformed to their exceptional potential, with no fumes, no odours and minimal buffing. No more waiting around for nail polish to dry as the Gel dries instantly under a UVA Curing Lamp in a choice of over 140 different colours, French or natural finish. The gel is easily removed without any damage to your natural nails.

No more chipped nail polish as your gel nail colour will be long wearing and chip proof and your nails will keep their well manicured look long after application. Matching colour varnishes allow flexibility of Permanent Colour Gels – simply apply one of our 140 different coloured varnishes over the Colour Gel. This can be removed easily with our specially formulated “Non Acetone Cleanser” and you are back to your Permanent Colour Gel. “Your hands are your calling card in life – your nails their focal point” For your nearest salon or information on training courses for beginners or experienced nail technicians: Tel: 0845 331 2347 www.biosculpture.co.uk

Vintage Africa NAIL COLLECTION Bio Sculpture Gel is the latest must have nail care product. Unlike varnish that chips and peels, this durable Gel is applied as an overlay onto natural nails by a qualified nail technician. The Gel is set under a UV Lamp giving it that strong, flexible, glossy finish which lasts for three weeks. Easy removal without damage to nails. For your nearest salon or information on training courses for beginners and experienced nail technicians, call 0845 331 2347.

123 Namib Desert 124 Okavango Delta 125 Cango Caves 126 Savannah Dusk 127 Victoria Falls

www.biosculpture.co.uk

fa s h i o n beauty

Time Y for a

tee party Turn your attention to fashion’s most versatile garment, the T-shirt. Lisa Haynes reveals how to get the best out of your basics.

ou don’t have to be a trend follower to have a penchant for T-shirts. Whether you’ve got one old faithful or a towering pile of them, it’s safe to say everyone ticks the T-shirt box. Yet the task of finding your dream tee can still feel like mission impossible.

The problem lies in the variety on offer: slogan, print or plain? Slouchy, cropped or fitted? And let’s not even get started on the neckline or colour...

Every T-shirt can offer transforming qualities in a style that suits - and this season they’re hotter than ever in the fashion stakes too.

Forget her Galliano wedding dress, Kate Moss’s stand-out fashion moment of the year was a £23.99 Mickey Mouse tee and Kate Bosworth recently flew the flag for T-shirt lovers with a Topshop stars and stripes number.

“Tees should be a staple of any wardrobe,” says stylist Georgie Pincus from www.styleu.co.uk. “They’re so versatile and comfortable. You can’t have enough of them.”

Trend-led tees

T-shirt wearers usually fall into two style camps: statement lovers and those who want a long-serving staple.

If you’re the latter, a Breton stripy tee is always a great allrounder, according to Nicola Cupples, founder of style advisory company www.mystylecompanion.com.

“They look modern and chic with jeans, trousers, shorts or skirts,” she says.

But what you team with your tee is all-important in carrying off the latest shapes.

“Moving into autumn/winter, we’ll be seeing more looser, longer, slouchier and baggier tees, which will only work well with a slimmer silhouette on the leg, such as a skinny jean or tregging [trouser/legging 50 september 2 0 1 1

combo],” Cupples explains.

Stand out from the T-shirt basics brigade with a flash of sequins or opt for a dash of colour blocking.

“Bright colours for autumn such as petrol blue, Merlot red and English mustard will brighten up your capsule wardrobe nicely, adding interest to dark jeans and trousers in the winter months.”

Tips for the top

If you’ve met your perfect T-shirt match in the changing rooms, don’t be afraid to bulk buy.

“Find a style that works for you and stock up in a few colours,” suggests Deryane Tadd, stylist and owner of www.the-dressingroom.com.

A plain, basic tee or vest is the ideal item to take you from summer to winter, and complements just about any trend. A classic style will work just as well with a pretty maxi skirt as a pair of jeans.

Layering t-shirts and vests is a great transition tool for moving between the seasons effortlessly. Just remember there’s a knack to wearing multiple tees without adding bulk to your frame.

“It all depends on the fabric,” Tadd advises. “Your layering pieces need to be of the most super-fine cotton possible to give you that laid-back look.”

Body talk

Not sure where to tee off in search of the T-shirt to top all others? Let your body hot spots be your guide with Cupples’s styling suggestions: ✱ Big bust: Avoid a high neckline and fabric that’s too thick, as it will just add bulk and make you look top heavy.

Ensure a good bra is worn and opt for a deeper neckline. ✱ Round tum: Look for interest around the neckline to draw the eye up and away from your tummy. Or look for T-shirts that have

ruching, layering or draping in the design, which are great for disguising a tum. ✱ Skinny minny: Neater, well-fitting tees work best on petite figures. Avoid too big and baggy. Even if you go for a more boyfriend style, ensure the length isn’t too long, otherwise it will swamp your figure and the T-shirt will end up wearing you. ✱ Wobbly arms: Threequarter length sleeve tees are great for disguising the upper arm area. However, if you see a sleeveless tee or vest that you love, you can always layer with a cardigan or jacket to cover the arms. ✱ Broad shoulders: Avoid high, round-neck tees with puff sleeves, or any type of sleeve with volume around the shoulders, as this will add bulk to an area that should be avoided. If your shoulders are very square, try to soften their severity with tees that look looser and softer, rather than fitted and structured.

september 2 0 1 1

51

New and Exciting Ladies Clothing Boutique Now Open, 61 Beckenham Road, Beckenham BR3 4PR Share YourWears is a women’s designer clothing boutique with a “difference”; the “difference” is that you the customer can both buy and sell good quality designer clothing.

The Share YourWears designer clothing re-cycling system allows you the customer to receive a percentage of the sale; this allows you the customer to earn money from the sales of your unwanted designer clothing. This is a new concept that many women are now finding very attractive. Also at Share YourWears we stock a selection of re-cycled good quality designer clothing, shoes and bags.

Come and visit us at Share YourWears to receive a warm and friendly service by our fully trained staff.

Sharon: 07535 273459 Natalie: 07815 572279

Email: info@shareyourwears.co.uk

www.yoganisha.com

Private and small group Yoga Classes in the comfort of your own home or garden!

“An absolutely wonderful yoga class, thank you so much! There was a fantastic flow throughout and the ending meditation was incredibly powerful! Nisha is clearly excellently trained with a fantastic life loving and warm compassionate energy. I have booked more privates soon and I’ll definitely be recommending the class to others!” Liz Kately Feb 2011

Yoga can help with all sorts of aches, pains and help you to relax :) Tuesday 6.15pm and Wednesday 10.30am Orpington Village Hall, 311 High Street BR6 0NN ALL YOU NEED TO BRING IS A MAT & A SMILE CALL: 07535 630227 EMAIL: nisha@yoganisha.com

www.yoganisha.com

3RD BIRTHDAY NEW SEASON BAGS NOW IN

Celebrate with us. Bring this advert in to receive a free gift

Franklin Bell suits: a trusted move

Visit us to see our exciting range of designer Handbags from Coccinelle, Longchamp, Radley, Alison van de Lande, Kipling and Samsonite and many more

willow A beautiful boutique gift shop in the heart of East Dulwich Offering an eclectic range of products from luxurious bath bombs and gorgeous jewellery to Quirky cards to suit all, as well as much much more.

33 Northcross Road, East Dulwich, London, SE22 9ET

0208 693 8292

OPENING SEPTEMBER Smith & Mercer Interiors Ltd Lambourne House, London Road, Riverhead, Sevenoaks, TN13 2DE Tel: 01732 450535 info@smithandmercerinteriors.co.uk

house garden

Smith & Mercer Interiors

S

mith & Mercer Interiors offers you a contemporary lifestyle store, bringing together luxurious interiors, innovative home accessories and high quality giftware, all carefully sourced from the finest manufacturers around the world.

We have brought together, under one roof, an eclectric mix of furniture and gift ideas that will excite and inspire. In our new first-floor showroom, we offer you the chance to view our furniture, lighting, art and giftware – everything you need to express your personality and taste within your home.

We can offer a complete design service for individual items, with personalized advice helping you to use key pieces to really make a statement within an already existing style or theme. Or, we can work with you to create a total refurbishment, enabling you to express yourself creatively, and make your home a sumptuous place that you can really enjoy with the greatest pride.

We can transform any space in your home to look fabulous; creating a sense of individuality, harmony and restfulness.

We have designed our unique new store to be stimulating and inspiring, and within this vibrant environment our dedicated staff, and their passion for detail and uncompromising quest for quality, are some of the values that make Smith & Mercer Interiors unique.

We look forward to welcoming you to the inspirational and stylish world of Smith & Mercer Interiors, and to helping you to create your dream home.

Lambourne House, London Road, Riverhead, Sevenoaks, TN13 2DE, Tel: 01732 450535, info@smithandmercerinteriors.co.uk

SEPTEMBER2011

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South East England’s largest independant stockist of

Glorious Trading Company Ltd, Lambourne House, London Road, Riverhead, Sevenoaks, TN13 2DE Tel: 01732 463555, www.glorioustrading.co.uk, info@glorioustrading.co.uk

5 Glorious Key Trends for winter

fa s h i o n beauty

Michelle Wynne of the Glorious Trading Co. Ltd was once again invited by Sevenoaks Life to give us an insight into what is happening in the world of Fashion in the coming winter months. She has put together 5 key trends that will make your winter sizzle.

1. The Seductive Pencil Skirt

This is an absolute must have piece! Every woman should feel the empowerment a sexy pencil skirt gives to you. It can transform a busy, harassed Mum, into a Femme Fatale- instantly!

Wear with killer heels and a lace blouse for the most uber sexy, drop dead gorgeous look there is!

2. Leopard Print

3. Check Mate

4. Timeless Lace

5. Accessories

The leopard is the most hunted down big cat in the Jungle this season. Never before has it manifested itself with such proliferation. It is everywhere and on everything. Its powerful image has sheer magnetism, as it draws you like a moth to a flame, stealthily winning you over with its seductive nature.

Some of the most beautiful women on the planet have been seduced by the leopard!

Checks were everywhere on the Autumn/Winter catwalks. Checked jackets, teamed with checked dresses or pants, worn together in a chequered frenzy or pared down and worn with a grey or black pencil skirt or straight leg pant. Keep the check in monochrome for a more contemporary look. Your move‌.

Lace is the most beautiful of fabrics and can transform a piece of clothing into a work of art. This season, the feminine art form of lace is dominant in blouses and dresses! It looks especially seductive worn with this season’s key piece- the pencil skirt. Keep the look clean and simple for the biggest impact.

Feminine and sensual!

Chunky cuffs and big statement pieces are the main trend for jewellery this season. The larger the piece the better, worn on its own a huge studded cuff makes a dramatic statement. Keep it clean and singular, one very large piece is enough.

Daytime bags are big and soft with tassels. Grab a clutch bag for evenings and you are hot to trot!

Glorious Trading Company Ltd, Lambourne House, London Road, Riverhead, Sevenoaks, TN13 2DE Tel: 01732 463555, www.glorioustrading.co.uk, info@glorioustrading.co.uk

SEPTEMBER2011

57

Can’t get to Bond Street?

Try Westerham...

fa s h i o n beauty

58 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

T

hink Jackie Kennedy or Marilyn Monroe.

This season sees a big influence from the glamorous 50s/60s. The big bag is replaced with femininity, simple shapes and short handles.

We like this gorgeous Flap handbag from Claudio Ferrici, part of their POSH collection, the epitome of retro style and priced at £135 or their Pelle Grana (above) priced at £180.

So whether it is a handbag, an evening bag or luggage for that special trip, Amelia Rose, the luxury handbag shop in Westerham, has a huge selection of fabulous new season bags from Coccinelle, Longchamp, Alison Van Der Lande, Claudio Ferrici and many more.

If you have to wait until a birthday or Christmas, Amelia Rose will open a wish list for you, so you can send in your nearest and dearest and get exactly what you want.

Amelia Rose is celebrating its 3rd Birthday this month and offering a free gift to customers with our magazine, so why not pop in to browse or with the help of their friendly staff, we are confident you will find a bag you love.

After all, a girl can never have too many handbags .. can she?

Amelia Rose, 2 The Green, Westerham.,TN16 1AS. Tel: 01959 565104 Join Amelia Rose on Facebook to get current offers and trends.

OPENING 1ST SEPTEMBER HIGH STEET BECKENHAM 020 8650 9595 ice-clinic.com

UNISEX TREATMENTS: AdvAnced AeSTHeTicS AnTi Ageing TReATmenTS BeAuTy BASicS Body TReATmenTS FAce TReATmenTS iPl TReATmenTS

VISIT: 131-133 High Street Beckenham Kent BR3 3AW T: 020 8650 9595 e: info@ice-clinic.com

ice-clinic.com

Transform pale and pasty skin into an enviable post-holiday glow. Lisa Haynes unveils the self-tan techniques to achieve a believable bronze.

Bronze

ambition

i

t’s official, that post-holiday feeling can wear off in as little as seven days.

Dutch researcher Jessica de Bloom warned this week the feel-good benefits of a vacation disappear quickly, and unfortunately that tan you worked so hard on may fade just as fast.

With recent research

60 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

from Superdrug indicating 71% of British women feel more confident with a golden glow, it’s time to encourage an everlasting tan.

But fear not, you can go from pale and pasty to post-holiday glow without so much as stepping on a plane.

The faux glow is safer, quicker and more dramatic

than its sunny sister alternative.

Just as well, considering deep, rich-coloured skin, a la Farrah Fawcett, is bang on tan trend.

“Whatever the season, the dark ‘retro tan’ always looks good,” says tanning expert James Read.

“There are tricks to achieve this look but it’s all

about making the skin look glistening, golden and hot.

Lotion products are making a comeback this season as they are the best formula to deliver that darker look.”

Get glowing with our expert guide.

Prep perfect

Dry, dehydrated skin is your

health beauty self-tan enemy. If you want your look to have staying power, sloughing off dead skin cells is all important.

“Exfoliate - this prepares a smooth base for your tan,” advises Sun-Believable tanning guru James Harknett.

“A gentle scrub is sufficient to remove dead skin cells and give a good foundation for a tan to cling to.”

Plan your tanning session and stay one step ahead with your hair removal.

Wax 48 hours or shave 24 hours before tanning to avoid product entering open pores on your legs, which can resemble telltale spots.

Moisturiser is both your friend and foe when it comes to tan prep, according to Harknett.

“Don’t use a moisturiser all over your body before tanning as it works as a barrier against the dihydroxyacetone or DHA, the tanning agent that reacts with the proteins on our skin,” he says.

“But do apply an oil-free moisturiser sparingly to the feet, elbows, cuticles, hands and back of heels, only. Apply a small amount of moisturiser to the base of your palm, using a semi-circular motion.

This allows the tan line to naturally fade, so nobody knows you’re faking it.”

Tan tactics

Know your limits when it comes to your faux glow.

Work with your natural complexion to achieve a flurry of “have you been away?” compliments rather than self-tan inquisitions.

“From my experience you should only ever aim to go two shades darker than your current natural skin tone,” advises Athena Skouvakis, celebrity make-up artist and advisor to Piz Buin.

“Opting for darker shades, unfortunately, won’t give you the sleek sun-kissed look that we all adore.”

If a tan’s a top priority for you, dedicate time to being a bronzing beauty rather than piling it on as you’re

flying out of the door: a recipe for a streaky disaster.

Skouvakis says: “A key selftanning rule is to make sure you don’t rush the application - never mind how much you want to get out and party!

“To avoid messy streaks or an uneven shade, you really must take the time to do it properly. Also remember that less is more and you should always be able to build the colour up.”

Maintain mode

Keep your fake tan glowing for as long as possible with regular self-tan maintenance.

Nobody wants to walk around showing off streaks, patches or premature fading.

“For an even tan you need to keep skin sleek, smooth and well hydrated,” says Nichola Joss, St Tropez skin finishing expert.

Moisturise twice daily to maintain the longevity of your tan and help your tan fade naturally.

Despite the misconception that exfoliation will ‘shed’ a tan, the action of lifting dead cells will keep your colour looking fresh.

“Tanning products absorb into several layers of skin - the surface build-up of dead cells is what can make you look dull and orangey,” Joss explains.

“Gently exfoliate every two or three days; you’ll still have a tan coming through, but it’s radiant.”

Amp up the volume of your tan for evenings out with a glossy sheen using a shimmer oil on areas that you want to highlight, like shoulders, collarbone, arms and legs.

Tan truths ✱ British beauties

are obsessed with achieving a gorgeous glow. Superdrug’s research reveals the lengths us ladies go to for self-tanning: ✱ The average female will spend as many as

680 hours applying fake tan during her lifetime. ✱ Almost a quarter (23%) of women confess to having an unhealthy obsession with looking tanned. ✱ More than half (54%) want a noticeable tan like

Cheryl Cole or Katie Price. ✱ One in 10 women wouldn’t consider going on a night out unless they had applied fake tan. ✱ Of the 1,500 men questioned, 23% confess to using fake tan on occasion.

SEPTEMBER2011

61

s

antiques

ome long time ago, when there were no more than a dozen different issues of Fishmedia magazines, I wrote an article including mention of my friend of many years, Kenneth Sears, whose family comes from Marsworth, one of a cluster of charming villages and hamlets not far from Tring. The Sears were Sires to the French knights who came over in the late 15th century, and settled in the area. But as few people could spell in those days, by the time names were written down we had often adopted phonetic spelling, and so as Sear was the sound of the French word Sire, that’s how it was written. In Marsworth Church there are several hatchments recording the lives and deaths of various members of the Sears family including one which confuses many people by stating:- Mrs Henrietta Sears, Spinster. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was customary to give the title of Mrs to any unmarried woman who was involved in a profession or in trade. Miss or rather Mrs Sears was in fact a teacher. Two other points of interest arise from this and other hatchments, memorial testaments, gravestones and the like. One is that any memorial tribute was and always will be made to conform to the latest fashionable shape in the decorative arts, so once you become acquainted and familiar with their chronological changes it is easy, with no more than a glance, to discern from which era or period one will date from. For example the rather delicate classical vase shape entablature which bears Henrietta’s details, and that of her mother and father adjacent, is typical of the last quarter of the 18th and early 19th centuries, their inscribed dates of death are from 1792, 1798 and 1807.

The influence of this shape

62 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

John Bly

I picked it up as one would naturally do, for me it’s a reflex action, and assured the rest of the visitors that I was not practising for a TV appearance emanated from excavations in Italy and Rome from the 1750’s onwards which informed we northern tourists of how the ancients decorated their homes, and within 30years or so affected even the most mundane of domestic items from pots and pans to fireguards and salt cellars.

Historical Mediterranean suddenly enraptured middle England. Whereas the late 17th and most of the 18th century memorials show great flamboyance in their frames – correctly called cartouches – as if made of stiff curled paper or stylised drapery in the baroque and rococo manner, as is clearly evident in the earlier Sears memorial dated 1773. Secondly the typeface will also conform to the latest fashionable script, seen in any published works of the time.

This helps us today to establish

the authenticity of any engraved or carved dates and initials on furniture, metalware or glass., particularly when an early date will enhance the commercial value. Such simple guides rather than rules, for there are so often exceptions just when you don’t expect them, can add enormously to the sheer fun of just looking around. All the above was brought to mind when I was visiting Marsworth Church Festival of Flowers at the end of August. While there and by coincidence I spotted a really lovely 17th century joint – or more correctly joined – stool.

I picked it up as one would naturally do, for me it’s a reflex action, and assuring the rest of the visitors that I was not practising for a TV appearance, found to my delight another easy-to-spot guide.

Early joined furniture was constructed by the frames being held together with mortice and tenon joints secured with long split willow pegs which for some reason were rarely if ever cut off when they protruded inside or underneath, as shown in the illustration. This possible idleness was corrected in the manufacture of Victorian and later copies. So seeing the extended peg ends coupled with the general crustiness of the oak timbers’ surface I had in my hands a stool made around soon after 1660, during the Restoration of Charles II. You have to wonder how ever many bottoms had sat on that stool in the intervening years or indeed how many

coffins had been rested thereon.

These stools are sometimes called coffin stools for that reason, they were considered a convenient height and were sturdy, but it was not their original purpose; they were essentially secular, domestic bits of furniture. Another totally functional piece is the chair illustrated. A reader sent in the photograph curious as to its history. Stylistically it is early to mid-18th century and almost certainly could be catalogued as Welsh. The gently curved frame to the back, around a deeply fielded, or bevelled, panel are typical features. The drawer to the front rail – which appears to be missing - was a popular feature, sometime being made to draw out to the side. Even without the drawer it is a fine example of its type with great character and good rich colour throughout. I am pleased to say having read in full the reader’s email I see that the chair was found in a cottage in Wales. There are other pieces of interest in Marsworth Church but my vision was obscured by the quite wonderful flower arrangements. Imagination, flair and ability enhanced by glorious colours were on show in abundance and I have to agree with the committee that this year of this bi-annual event was better than ever. One last good reason for visiting the Marsworth Church is that like every village church it has a village pub within a few steps walking distance, and here, at The Red Lion is where we all gather for a congratulatory pint, and discuss the merits of all we have seen, and learned a little something on the way. Perfect.

John Bly Est Antiques 1891.

Tel: 01442 823030 Mobile: 07831 888826.

Website: www.johnbly.com Email:john@johnbly.com

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Designer Atlanta Bartlett opens the door to her inspiring home to reveal a combination of imagination, flair and recycling can create stunning interiors. By Gabrielle Fagan

Beyond the pale

i

t would be understandable if a home inhabited by two designers was a temple to perfection; an intimidating space where attention was given to detail rather than lifestyle. But what’s so striking as you step over the threshold of Atlanta Bartlett and Dave Coote’s Kent home is its air of tranquil informality, and a ‘kick off your shoes and get comfortable’ approach to decor.

This is an interior which cocks a snook at trends and transient fashion, and instead celebrates comfortable living with pared back decor - bleached, stripped floorboards, large squashy sofas dressed with light cotton throws, pale walls and an abundance of natural light flooding in through large windows.

“We both have a relaxed, simplistic attitude to interior design and believe that our homes should reflect our personality,” says Bartlett, who juggles her work running the couple’s interiors company and working as a stylist with bringing up their three young sons and new-born daughter.

“What’s paramount to us is good design, and noting fashion and trends - but not following them rigorously. Then it’s about creating a happy home, not a show home.”

Coote, a furniture and interiors designer known for his quirky, retro style with an emphasis on reclaimed materials, has put his stamp on all areas of the house, but none more so than in the kitchen. “It’s the heart of the home and the hive of activity as a family room, where everything from homework to hobbies takes place. And it’s also where we entertain,” says Bartlett.

“We didn’t want it to be ‘fitted’ as that wouldn’t suit our style and wouldn’t feel as welcoming, so Dave has created a collection of units from vintage cupboards and reclaimed wood, and we’ve used polished concrete and aluminium so it doesn’t feel too quaint.”

While colour is confined to soft accents - washed-out blues, pastel pinks - there’s never any danger of blandness, because the whole is enlivened by a liberal scattering of toys belonging to their

64 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

lively children, as well as stylish displays. There are eye-catching quirky treasures arranged on surfaces or hung on walls, ranging from vintage shop signs and Victorian mirrors to assortments of delicate china plates collected over the years from markets.

The interior is a harmonious fusion of both their styles, explains Bartlett, who met her husband 15 years ago. “Originally we were both searching for a simpler, more laid-back approach to decorating,” she says. “Although our styles were quite different - Dave’s quite rugged and masculine and I’m more feminine and predominantly prefer white-based schemes - we both love honest materials, artful recycling and choosing vintage over newly-made, and handmade rather than mass produced.”

It’s resulted in a hugely successful look and company that they’ve called Pale & Interesting, which they also celebrate in their new book by the same name. “We want to show that it’s not difficult or expensive to create a light, airy home that works for you,” she says. “It’s all about getting back to basics, tapping into your own style, editing your possessions so you retain only what’s useful and beautiful, and then you can live in an environment that’s calm, easy and unpretentious.”

Bartlett reveals her key elements for a Pale & Interesting interior...

Clever colour

“An all-white scheme will need to have some colour somewhere, whether it’s in curtains, cushions, furniture or simply a vaseful of acid-green foliage,” says Bartlett.

“Source furniture from junk shops and markets, and paint it in soft shades of gentle grey and blue, inspired by the colours which predominate on antique French and Swedish pieces.

“Other options include painting every chair around the dining table a different colour for an eclectic effect, displaying

house GARDEN

It’s all about getting back to basics, tapping into your own style, editing your possessions a collection of coloured jugs on open shelves or hanging curtains in a bold vintage floral for a splash of retro chic.”

Stylish tip: Loose covers in pastel hues of lilac, lemon yellow or dusky pink will add a note of femininity, she suggests, while slate grey or denim is more appropriate for a more masculine feel.

Touchy-feely

“A room devoid of texture will feel hard and cold, and not compatible with an inviting retreat that soothes and feeds the senses,” she says. “Aim to contrast and complement textures throughout your interior, from walls and floors through to cushions and throws. Tongue-and-groove panelling is a great way to add understated texture to walls.

“For something more unusual, try cladding one wall in planks of different widths and textures, then paint them all one colour for unity.”

Stylish tip: In general, heavier, coarser surfaces like wood, stone or linen lend themselves to a more relaxed look, she points out, while mirror, lacquer or satin are more formal.

Layer tactile fabrics such as chunky knitted throws, felted cushions and animal skins with antique linen curtains, battered leather armchairs and rusty metal tables.

Creative kitchen

“A soulless off-the-peg kitchen plucked straight off the showroom floor with endless rows of fitted cabinets will not suit a pale and interesting interior,” says Bartlett.

“Instead, have fun and be creative, combining an antique dresser with industrial style shelves or a sleek bank of

fitted cupboards with a vintage French linen press.

“Scour salvage yards for inspirational finds such as old school lockers to house your mops and brooms, or a shop fitting that could be transformed into a kitchen island with plenty of storage space beneath.”

Stylish tip: Paint cabinet doors for an instant new look, and paint the inside of glazed cupboards to give a burst of colour.

Choose a large trestle or wooden refectory table for dining, which will blend with any scheme, and add decoration with a collection of vintage china displayed on a wall or in a cabinet.

Treasure trove

“Give your home plenty of soul by adorning the space with the things you love,” she says. “It doesn’t matter that your cherished 1960s tulip table doesn’t exactly match your grandmother’s Chippendale chair, or if your husband’s record collection takes over half the sitting room.

“Give those items pride of place. The important thing is that everything you have out on display should have personal meaning for you and your family, and that way your home will be a truly relaxed expression of yourselves.”

Stylish tip: The first step is to declutter your home and consider which items you want tucked out of sight - good storage is essential - and which you want to showcase.

For an effective display, remember you don’t need to have everything out at the same time - ringing the changes keeps things interesting. Vary a display on a seasonal basis - with beachcomber finds in the summer, and a hedgerow collection in the autumn.

SEPTEMBER2011

65

house garden

A

pproached by Mr & Mrs Lamb, owners of a traditional ‘farmhouse’ styled building in rural Kent, Westbury Conservatories Ltd, specialists in providing bespoke timber garden rooms to the Home Counties, were initially requested to create a fully glazed “conservatory” on the rear of the property where a rarely used patio area sat.

Architectural Designer, Ian Harrington of Westbury needed to understand the home-owners ideal use and function for the building in order to best design and specify the most functional and aesthetically pleasing design. In conversations with Mrs Lamb, she expressed a desire for a room that was multi-functional; a place for informal relaxation or formal entertaining, a room that can be used by their young children to play and enjoy television under her watchful eye. Mr Lamb wanted a design that was both in-keeping with the architecture of the building, but also made a considerable improvement to the properties look, function and add to the overall value of their property investment.

During the initial site visit Ian Harrington was able to quickly ascertain that an “Orangery” style of building could be integrated into the space using brick and timber construction, allowing connection of both the kitchen and living room areas. This would be a much more substantial extension to the home than a conservatory, as well as being far more functional due to a more steady temperature provided by a lesser glazed building.

Ian’s recommendations would allow, what was the exterior wall to be knocked through to the kitchen, providing an open plan living area with a continual ceiling level, conducive to the modern style of living embraced by many families. This met the ideal scenario of Mrs Lamb, allowing her to watch over

66 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

A Contemporary Orangery

in Kent

her children during meal preparation time. The living room was proposed to be connected with a partially walled expanse with bi-folding doors, allowing the homeowners either open access to, or privacy from the new room.

Ian Harrington proceeded to design the building using his brief, creating planning drawings and a watercolour illustration in order to gain Mr & Mrs Lamb’s approval. Approval granted, the project began and upon gaining planning permission; working drawings were created, scheduling planned and building commenced.

The timber Orangery is

sympathetically designed to nestle within the traditional exterior of the farmhouse style but with a contemporary twist. The roof lantern, a stunning architectural feature, provides masses of natural light, as well as ventilation via automated windows featuring rain and temperature sensors that open and closes according to conditions.

The Orangery structure is made up of both brick and timber elements connecting to the building. The specialist timber joinery of tall doubleglazed casement windows and large bi-folding double-glazed doors, open the room out into the garden. Both windows and doors feature a contemporary four pane glazing bar design.

Tasteful lighting integrated into the ceiling and internal shelf of the roof lantern brightens the room at night and creates an amazing illumination when viewed from the garden. The roof lantern design provides a beautiful view of a starry sky on clear nights, whilst sunlight brightens, without dazzling, in the day due to the tinted solar protective glazing requested as an option.

An additional storage room was incorporated which has become the ideal “toy cupboard”.

Finally, the Orangery is connected to the garden via three deep set brick and slab steps to the new stone slab patio.

A large light and contemporary family room has been created by this extension, giving the owners and their young family a functional room that has become the hub of the home. The architectural design has improved and given more interest to the rear of the house.

For further information on this and many other similar projects contact Westbury Conservatories Ltd. Telephone: 01371 876576, Email: info@ westburyconservatories. com or visit www. westburyconservatories.com

house garden

ShutterLand H ave you ever thought about how many times you look through your windows during a day?

Windows are the eyes of your home. Accessorizing your windows with the right window coverings will make your home more attractive from the outside and more enjoyable from the inside.

ShutterLand is a local online business that supplies and installs made-to-measure plantation shutters, blinds and curtains to customers in South London and the South East of England. We bring with us a great wealth of experience from the blinds and soft furnishings industry and in the last 4 years we have seen our business grow consistently despite the tough economic climate.

At a time when people find 68 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

it hard to sell their homes, the common mantra is “Don’t Move, Improve!”. Investment in your home is certainly worthwhile. People spend more time at home and therefore improving what they already have makes perfect financial sense. And when the right time comes to sell, your property becomes more interesting in a competitive market. When the budget for home improvement cannot stretch to a complete makeover, many customers have realised that accessorizing

Demand for plantation shutters in particular has grown rapidly over the last few years.

their rooms with new window coverings and soft furnishings is a very cost effective and practical way of giving their home a face lift. New blinds and shutters will give your home a botox injection!

Demand for plantation shutters in particular has grown rapidly over the last few years.

This is partly due to the fact that shutters are stylish and beautiful. But shutters are also extremely versatile in their light control and privacy functions.

They can make your rooms look more spacious and they can make a significant contribution to the energy insulation of your rooms. Equally important, like most bespoke products, shutters will last you for years, so they are a very good investment for your home. Our plantation shutters are a truly bespoke product. From cafe-style, to tier-on-tier, to the new blackout shutters, there are hundreds of different options, colours and configurations to choose from.

But don’t panic.

Our surveyors are here to advise you. We always welcome your questions and we will help you find a solution for any type of window, patio door or room divider.

ShutterLand’s

approach to sales is not that of your typical blinds company.

Our surveyors constantly strive to provide our customers with the highest quality and best-value products. Without hard sales or unnecessary price games, we always quote the best price we can offer. And because we provide a home service to all our customers, you will be able to choose the right colours, patterns and style of your blinds and shutters against the colour scheme and decor of the rooms in your home.

All this combined with exceptional customer service.

In fact, unlike other online shutters and blinds companies, at ShutterLand we operate locally to where our clients live.

This allows our team to provide a customer service experience tailored to our customers’ needs and to be more responsive and personal in the way we interact with them. We want our clients to enjoy the whole experience with us, from the moment they make contact to completion of the job.

For more information about our shutters, blinds and softfurnishings, please visit our website www. shutterland.co.uk or call 0800 0337 965 to speak to one of our surveyors.

h om e s gardens

Great Designs from Badger Bathrooms

“We’ve celebrated 27 years of supplying and installing bathrooms in Kent, and we now have a bigger and better store in Sevenoaks” Dan Tanner, director.

Badger Bathrooms opened their first store in Bromley, way back in October 1983. The company remains to this day a family business with decades of experience within the industry.

They learned early on that they should offer a full design and installation service to their discerning customers and this soon set them apart from much of the local competition.

In addition, they made the most of their knowledge and expertise to offer a design and supply service to local house builders, many of whom they have supplied ever since.

Having outgrown the Hayes outlet, the business expanded to another premises in April 1996, when they opened a showroom at Sevenoaks. A decade on Badger Bathrooms found they needed yet more space, in a more accessible location with better parking. In December 2008, they launched their flagship showroom at Tubs Hill Parade, Sevenoaks.

This new showroom provides even more products to see and plenty of easy free parking nearby. The new store is fresh, exciting, bright and inspiring for customers to visit.

Today the company employs 70 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

full time sales, administration and warehouse staff - most of whom have been with them many, many years - all working alongside their valued estimators and most trusted installers. Badger Bathrooms is continually evolving, yet the company remains a family concern.

As Dan Tanner explains “We believe we provide a personal, friendly service with emphasis on knowledge and reliability and we take pride in our reputation for old fashioned good service, honesty and value for money.

We think you will be glad you came to Badger Bathrooms.”

Most customers choose to visit the showroom first because the staff are able to offer advice and information about any aspect of your new bathroom. You won’t be greeted by ‘flashy’ sales personnel and you won’t be offered misleading ‘deals’.

They always make recommendations based on experience and knowledge regardless of how fashionable or expensive a product.

Once you have an idea of the look you would like they will visit your home to make sure your choice will fit and work in your bathroom. This service is free and absolutely without obligation. They will take measurements and make some notes, and will take no more of your time than is necessary.

You can then simply buy the goods and arrange your own installation, or Badger Bathrooms can handle the whole project.

The choice is yours!

We can also work with your architect’s plans to design your dream bathroom for new build or refurbishment work. We can measure and deliver to site as required.

You can visit Badger Bathrooms at 8-9 Tubs Hill Parade, London Road, Sevenoaks TN13 1DH or you can reach them on 01732 464 450.

Opening times: 9am - 5.30 pm Monday to Friday, 9am - 5 pm Saturdays.

Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays. Alternatively, you can go online at www.badgerbathrooms.com to see their excellent range of bathroom furniture.

Badger Bathrooms specialise in supplying good quality, well designed bathroom products from major manufacturers ranges. Products include every conceivable type of bath / bathtubs, showers, whirlpools, spas, a huge range of basins and taps, monoblocs, digital bath fillers, wet rooms, toilets, and a huge range of bathroom accessories including - heated towel rails, lighting, mirrors, flooring, tiles ... plus much more besides.

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The Jewel in the

“w

Crown

e first met our latest client, a Kent property developer, when he called in at our stand at the RHS Chelsea Flower show,” explains Crown Pavilions’ in-house Garden Designer, Carl Hooper.

“He explained that he had admired our products for some time - and browsing our website noticed we have our own landscaping company (which, incidentally, was awarded the much coveted Merit Award for Outstanding Presentation),” he adds.

“He wanted a beautiful garden complete with spacious gazebo, all of which would reflect the unique character of the main house. All elements had to work together in harmony as well as forming a sumptuous back-drop for relaxing and entertaining.

Day or night, winter or summer, rain or shine… he wanted a year-round sanctuary where he could work, rest and play.”

Unfortunately ‘sanctuary’ wasn’t the first thing that came to mind when Carl and the design team arrived on site one cold, damp March morning.

“We had to clamber across rubble, weeds and rubbish,” he recalls. “The soil was poor and the drainage atrocious. However to our landscapers it was the perfect blank canvas and at the heart of this canvas would be the jewel in the crown: a bespoke 12-seater cedar gazebo with luxury dining, seating and lighting, fully wired for media and internet – an ‘escape’ that could be a haven of relaxation one minute and a glorious pleasure zone the next.”

Crown Pavilions and its sister company Crown

A U G U S T 2 0 1 12 0 1 1 72 september

As a property developer you get used to building sites, but when that building site is your own ‘garden’, it’s quite another matter. And when the ‘building’ at the heart of that garden - the jewel in the crown-to-be - is little more than a pile of rubble, you need a special kind of landscaper to put it right.

Gardens (responsible for the landscaping) aren’t just ‘your average’ landscape designers or gazebo manufacturers.

“We’d started life as a manufacturer of high-end gazebos and garden rooms,” Carl explains. “But, increasingly, we were finding people wanted us to handle the landscaping too – after all, when you’re investing in a state-of-theart gazebo you want a setting that does it justice!”

So Crown Gardens was born to work in parallel with its sister company - and scores of sumptuous gardens-and-gazebos later, they’ve attracted the attention of some of the world’s most discerning clients – people like Duncan Bannatyne for his Bannatyne Spa Hotel in Hastings and Canadian businesswoman Gabriella Atkinson for her home and riding centre at Bedgebury Park (to be reported in the next edition).

“We’ve also created stunning sanctuaries overlooking the

house garden Mediterranean where the gazebo is more about sheltering from the heat than the rain or snow,” says Carl.

But wherever the location, the accent is firmly on creating the perfect haven to relax and entertain, and which requires minimum maintenance.

“It’s important that everything - from the smallest exotic shrub to the most intricate cascading rock waterfall, from the plump feather-filled cushions to the siting of the gazebo itself - must work in complete harmony.”

But unlike a painting on a canvas, a garden never looks the same. “Not only does it change dramatically according to the season, it must look amazing from every angle.”

From the house to the garden room and back again, it’s a 360 degrees 3-dimensional entity that needs to look stunning and serve a multitude of different purposes “whether you’re putting your feet up at the end of the day or welcoming guests to a glittering celebration.”

Then there’s the weather to contend with. “Soft furnishings must be fade and insect-resistant for the summer and mould-resistant in the wet season. Structures must be sturdy and low maintenance. Lighting must complement each other. And, of course, you need heat so you can get the most from the garden room all year round.”

Inspired by a string of triumphs “which includes the transformation of our property developer client’s ‘building site’ into a breathtaking garden retreat”, Crown is now setting its sight on making clients’ outdoor spaces even more versatile.

“These days, people want a garden in which they can do everything,” says Carl “We already have a popular range of gazebos with hot tubs. Now we’re about to introduce a range of bespoke garden offices and outdoor kitchens, vastly extending the scope of how you use your garden.”

september AUGUST2011

73

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reating your dream kitchen can be very exciting yet requires careful consideration. As the hub of the modern home, kitchens should be suited to the needs of the whole family, fully functional yet stylish. Used for a whole host of activities from cooking to homework, entertaining and eating, there are more demands on this space than any other within the home. At John Lewis of Hungerford we have specialised in designing and making painted and natural wood kitchens for almost 40 years and Charlotte Hill-Baldwin has some top tips to share with you.

“The most frequent question our designers are asked is what the TOP TIPS FOR PLANNING AND STYLING A KITCHEN best steps are to creating the perfect kitchen. While most homes have a lot of similar requirements from their kitchen, each inspiration; their input will enable you to think differently about the family is unique therefore thorough planning is essential. options open to you. They will also offer some useful tips when it Consider all that you love about your current kitchen and how it comes to considering simple yet often overlooked functions such as could be more efficient. While the basic layout of your kitchen will having ample space for dishwashers and fridges to open. Do ask dictate which style works, think about the layout you like most – U about the in house installation service and what is involved as this shaped, open plan, L shaped or galley. will be the last and most important part of your purchase. A Don’t get caught up in rules for planning a kitchen! The fabulous kitchen poorly installed would be incredibly disappointing positioning of the key elements should not be made into a hard and so the relationship that the designer has with the installer is fast rule. The important and most efficient aspect is to make sure important. you have a good preparation space between the hob and the sink Style stems from individual taste and this will be reflected in the while maximising storage space. colour choices and textures as well as the type of furniture you Think of a kitchen purchase in the same way as you would any choose. Clever use of colour can pull a scheme together or help high investment spend. Look for superior quality products. Good create zones if that is what you are looking for from your new cabinets made to fit your kitchen may mean ordering bespoke units kitchen. Mix and match colours for a fresh look or simply inject from a specialist company but rest assured it will be well worth it in some colour with a glass splash back in a neutral scheme. If you the long run as your kitchen will perfectly suit your requirements. A intend to sell on in the next few years, select a more classic style.” good kitchen will last you a lifetime and should work for you by John Lewis of Hungerford’s showrooms are located on the popular making everything as effortless as possible. shopping street of Tranquil Vale in Blackheath, and on the Pantiles in Speak to a good designer to talk through your ideas, budgets and Tunbridge Wells. www.john-lewis.co.uk • 0700 278 4726

creating your dream kitchen

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76-78 Upper Wickham Lane, Welling DA16 3HQ Open: Mon-Fri 9-5.30, Sat 9-5

art

Art with a smile David Smith is a Yorkshire based artist rapidly building a reputation with clients not only in the UK but also in America and Europe.

He paints a whole range of subjects using various mediums

but is probably best known for his whimsical paintings with a touch of humour.

a career as creative director with advertising agencies, eventually establishing his own agency.

David studied at Hornsey College of Art in London and went on to

In recent years he has returned to his love of painting and now tries

‘JACK THE LAD’ ORIGINAL ACRYLIC ON CANVAS. 60CMS X 60CMS £250

4 GEESE - ORIGINAL ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 60CMS X 60CMS £175

Prints of pencil drawings

80 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

to spend more time with a brush than with a computer mouse. Here are just a few examples of original paintings in acrylic on canvas, limited edition watercolour prints and prints of animal drawings.

EGGS ON TOAST - LIMITED EDITION OF 10 GICLEE PRINT ON CANVAS. 90CMS X 60CMS £200

IN MOUNTS £45 EACH. SEE WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS.

The ‘Blokes’ paintings are an unusual and quirky concept using little characters at work in unusual situations that have a big impact on the wall of any room. As a further dimension each painting has a hand-made clay model of a ‘Bloke’ mounted on a plinth at the base of each picture.

50CMS X 40CMS AND 40CMS X 50CMS EACH £75

Limited edition prints of watercolour paintings

ORIGINAL ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 90CMS X 90CMS £1200

Each of these limited edition prints is supplied mounted without frame so you can have it framed to suit your own decor.

www.davidsmithart.co.uk Purchase direct from david@davidsmithart.co.uk or 01759 318553

ORIGINAL ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 60CMS X 90CMS £950

ORIGINAL ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 90CMS X 90CMS £1200 SEPTEMBER2011

81

book reviews

The Bookshelf

Three tales for today: all thought provoking reads Words by bruce edwards

We Shall Never Surrender

the weird sisters

me and mine

We Shall Never Surrender Ed. by Middelboe, Fry & Grace ✱ Macmillan, hardback, £20

The Weird Sisters Eleanor Brown ✱ HarperCollins, paperback, £12.99

Me and Mine Anna May Mangan ✱ hardbackback, £12.99

We’re currently suffering (at the time of writing) from a wave of incomprehensible disorder which has produced scenes reminiscent of the war. From the introduction to this comprehensive collection of reminiscences comes a suggestion it is difficult to imagine ‘what living through the war’ was like. Recent events may have given too close an idea.

An entry for Sept 7th 1939: we must fight or be dominated by a gang of bullies and liars sets the tone. We are all aware of the eventual outcome, the indomitable British spirit prevailed and peace became a reality, though many questions may arise on just how the current state of affairs came to pass. A cautious read through this well-assembled diary will show how individuals (many from the Kent area) dealt with circumstances far removed from a vision of today’s Britain and provide hope that a modern, different, battle may be won. Whatever views one holds, the work in putting these stories together is justifiably laudable.

A humbling and thoughtful read.

With some concern being expressed over dysfunctional families (which may extend to worry over single-parent situations, a very sad state) then looking at Brown’s concept of one such may engender some sympathy. After all, three daughters? And what a random collection! Cordy (Cordelia) steals, doesn’t wash, trades her favours for somewhere to sleep. Bean (Bianca) lived an artificially enhanced social life, fuelled by frequent dips into her employer’s funds.

Rose (Rosalind), the more orthodox, is the first one to return home to a mother who is diagnosed with breast cancer and a father who still lives his Shakespearian life. Bean has to return, she’s an enormous debt and nowhere else to go. Cordy has run out of ideas on how to cope with an unwanted pregnancy. Their lives twist, tangle, turn and turn again while their mother’s spirit struggles to survive. There’s dislike merged with tolerance, love creeping insidiously everywhere and it’s a different and ultimately inspiring read. Even dysfunctionality can produce rewards if handled sympathetically.

A marriage, a birth, a healing.

Immigration is a subject never far away from discussions on the problems besetting London’s streets, and no discussion would be complete without consideration of all aspects, including ‘why’.

In the 1950s England must have been seen as a potential refuge for the Irish family whose story this is, a place where work could be had and life had all the trimmings we take for normality which did not, at that time, exist in rural Ireland. The story is a blend of emotions, with wry humour knitted within the fabric of a tightly told descriptive tale to bring wonderment at how youngsters were brought up in those days. Brought up to value the family ties, discipline and hard work were no strangers.

There is a sadness interwoven amidst the intense detail, the minutiae of a life style incomprehensible to most of us today. Yet, amongst the debris of such humanity, there is a strength which may well be missing from those now running amok. Not a book to absorb for pure pleasure, but one to allow echoes from another world resound with clarity in our very different one.

Your comments on any reviewed title are always welcome: writerselect@gmail.com SEPTEMBER2011 82 september

locale

Passionate about Italian food

“Beautiful food at affordable prices” Best London Restaurants Market fresh Italian food selected and prepared by talented Italian chefs.

A sumptuous splendid dining room and cocktail bar with a bustling open kitchen at its hub.

New Autumn Menu

Locale, Blackheath’s favourite restaurant launches its new Autumn menu.*

£13.95 for two courses

(Tuesday to Thursday)

*Free peach Bellini for all telephone reservations in September. Quote LE1.

Live Jazz Sunday Brunch (First Sunday of every month)

www.localerestaurants.com Tel: 020 8852 0700 1 Lawn Terrace, Blackheath Village

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cocktail on arrival, and a complimentary coffee after your meal.

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Top quality food, cooked to perfection by real chefs GREAT STEAKS, FISH & GOURMET BURGERS

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“Supremely good burger” TIME OUT, LONDON

the authentic Italian

Sunday Lunch Special Featuring our famous Scotch Rib of Beef 2 courses just £13.95 3 courses just £16.95

Our menus celebrate the best of classic Italian cooking.

We pride ourselves on delivering exceptional quality at reasonable prices.

“Great food, great service, well done Ferrari’s I’ll be back” Matt Warren, Features Editor Daily Mail

For reservations call

020 8460 2346 Book online

Our private dining room is the perfect venue for your special occasion. Birthday’s and Weddings are our specialty. We are able to accomodate up to 80 guests with menus to suit all budgets.

41 East Street, Bromley BR1 1QN

39 East Street . Bromley . BR1 1QQ . Tel: 020 8464 8877

www.edswoodfiregrill.co.uk This offer cannot be used in conjuction with any other offer or set menu. A la carte only.

w w w. f e r r a r i s r e s t a u r a n t s . c o . u k

There’s nothing Valentine Warner enjoys more than messing around in boats. The shaggyhaired chef tells Sarah O’Meara about his fishing odyssey around Britain’s coastline and waterways for his latest TV series Coast To Coast

Something fishy about Valentine

Seabass soup

(Serves 2-3) 2tbsp olive oil 1 small onion, finely sliced 2 small leeks, finely sliced 2 sticks celery, finely sliced 2 floury potatoes, cut into chunks 1tsp fennel seeds 1 bulb fennel, chopped 2 bay leaves 84 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

300ml white wine 1 medium sea bass, skinned, filleted and cut into bite-size pieces Small bunch curly parsley, chopped Freshly ground salt and pepper ✱ Heat

the olive oil in a saucepan and soften the

onions, leeks, celery, potatoes and fennel seeds for about 10 minutes without colouring. ✱ Add the chopped fennel, bay leaves, white wine and about 300ml water, or enough to generously cover the vegetables. ✱ Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and simmer until the

potatoes are nearly tender - about 10 minutes or so. ✱ Now add the fish pieces and cook for a further two to three minutes until just tender. Add the chopped parsley to the hot soup, reserving a little for scattering over the top of each bowl. ✱ Serve with toasted bread.

FOOD DRIN K

L

ooking exactly like a fish out of water, Valentine Warner squirms, crosses, then uncrosses his long denim-clad legs.

“When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m invariably fishing,” says the tall TV chef, by way of explanation, shooting a sharp, perhaps unconscious, look towards the door. “And when I’m not fishing, I’m out looking for mushrooms and things,” he adds.

Warner, 39, really does love the great outdoors. During his first two TV series of What To Eat Now, the TV cook and author, who grew up on a farm in Dorset, strode off to shoot bunnies for his dinner without a care in the world. And charmed countryloving audiences at the same time. This time he’s put the air rifle away and is taking a rod to Britain’s rivers and waterways.

In his five-part series Coast To Coast, Warner’s off in search of British fish, and will be cooking up simple dishes such as sweet and sour mackerel while sharing his skills. “I learned to fish, aged eight, in Montana while on holiday,” he explains. “It was great because it was a very wild and amazing place, and I was taught by a guy who knew so much. “Fishing is just a way to get your food,” he adds earnestly. “You simply can’t separate food and nature.”

Wherever he went in Britain, Warner hunted down not only food, but bites of history: “An old friend told me she used to catch mackerel with fuchsia flowers when she was a little girl in the 1920s, so I walked into the Cornwall Padstow

harbour with a big basket of flowers. “All the fishermen were looking at me like... ‘You ponce’. They were fishing properly with feathers and I was tying flowers on my rod.”

He frankly admits to trashing a lot of cameras while filming: “Water and electronics don’t go very well together,” but says it was hardly a rock ‘n’ roll shoot. “Making a programme about fishing, well... it’s a bit like making a programme about golf. There’s a lot of waiting.”

During those long pauses, Warner relished cooking classic, old-school fish dishes such as piped sausages with crayfish sauce, and experimenting with alternatives, such as smoked zander, instead of haddock. “I’ve spent my life stuffing everything into my mouth, wanting to know what it’s like, and zander was the only fish I hadn’t eaten before,” he explains.

But despite the length’s Warner will go to for a decent tea, his cooking tastes are simple. “If someone says, ‘I’m going to take you to a place with a Michelin star’, I almost don’t want to go,” he says, frowning. “My real interest is in very simple food that’s not mucked around with. Give me some boiled crab and a bowl of mayonnaise, please.”

And because Warner did so much cooking on the road, he’s also become used rustling something up on the hop. “I’m not a slave to recipes, I’ll use whatever’s around. We might intend to use spinach and then find there’s wild garlic and nettles growing nearby. Or if I realise we’ve left something behind, I’ll improvise. “I also try to take stages out of recipes, to make them simpler. So the food is about the main player in the dish, and doesn’t become overcomplicated.”

And there’s no doubt his four-month-old daughter will be encouraged to tickle fish as soon as they make wellies her size.

“I have to live with the awful realisation that one day she might say, ‘Dad, please stop taking me on a fishing trips’,” he admits.

“Saying that, women certainly catch more fish, and bigger fish.

They’re far more patient. The biggest salmon was caught by a women and the record has remained unbroken. “Women shoot better, cook better - and generally look after themselves better.”

Certainly, this is a man who understands the natural world all too well.

Pickled herrings

(Serves 3) 6 herring fillets, skin on 2tbsp sea salt 500ml white wine vinegar 175g caster sugar 1 large onion, thinly sliced 2 carrots, thinly sliced 3 bay leaves Large pinch black peppercorns Large pinch juniper berries 1tsp fennel seeds 1tsp coriander seeds 1tsp mustard seeds Freshly ground salt and pepper ✱ After

sterilising a 500g glass jar, put the fish on a plate, sprinkle the flesh side with salt, and leave on one side for two hours. This draws out any juices and firms up the fish. ✱ Pour the vinegar into a pan and add the sugar, onion,

carrots, spices and berries.

Bring to a simmer for five minutes and set aside to cool. ✱ Rinse the salt from the fish, pat dry with kitchen paper and halve them across their width. Put three pieces in the bottom of the jar and cover with a handful of the onion and carrot mixture - continue layering up with more fish and vegetables until the jar is full. ✱ Pour over enough liquor from the pan into the jar to completely cover the fish, then seal with a lid. ✱ Store in a cool, dry place for about a week. Unopened, they will keep in the fridge for about a month. Once you open the jar, they’ll need to be kept chilled and eaten within a week.

SEPTEMBER2011

85

locale

f oo d drink

Restaurant Reviews

This month, Food Editor Regan Maloney has visited three restaurants in Kent and SE London, to give you her verdict.

Full reviews of all restaurants can be found at www.whatiatelastnight.com ed’s woodfire grill, bromley

ferrari’s, bromley

locale, blackheath

Passion

“Beau price

Market fr Italian ch A sumptu with a bu

New Au

Locale, Blac

If you own or have a local restaurant that you’d like to recommend for review, please email regan@whatiatelastnight.com

£13.95 fo

*Free peach

Live Jaz

(First Sund

Ambiance

A nice mix of couples and families with a laid back atmosphere. No tablecloths or overly fancy cutlery, but a good buzz and a happy crowd.

A recent refurbishment for their 10 year birthday has made the restaurant warm and inviting. Lots of groups of ladies dressed up on their Friday night out as well as couples and families.

A real 1920’s feel of rich reds and lampshades with dark wood. The open bar and kitchen areas provide good theatre and a great energy.

Service

Our waitress was extremely knowledgeable and attentive.

She helped us around the menu, telling us what the chefs take most pride in (their sides!) and being open and honest about portion sizes (large!).

All waiters were happy, experienced and very attentive.

Tap water was replenished throughout the meal without us having to ask, and it was refreshing to see that the white wine wasn’t poured until our first drinks had been finished.

Although attentive, our waitress didn’t seem very experienced. A spilt Mojito wasn’t mopped up, and her knowledge of the menu was limited. Other staff seemed far better and the manager was knowledgeable and friendly.

Food

All prime meats are sourced from British rare bread farmers and cooked in a ‘Josper oven’ – the hottest indoor oven in the world. I’d strongly recommend trying the Flat Iron steak . The only downfall for me was the apple tart tatin as the pastry was a little undercooked.

Ferrari’s describe themselves as ‘The best of Italian cooking with a ‘state-side’ twist, using fresh food from local suppliers.’ This is all true – and their homemade pastas, and the freshness of their fish is exceptional. I’d recommend the Linguine Alle Vongole

A superb menu full of Italian delicacies. There’s a seasonal specials section that’s updated every month, and I’d recommend sharing a starter of Salumi Misti – a wooden board full of Italian cured meats, shaved fennel and their own homemade Focaccia.

A nice selection of wines, with a decent cocktail menu. ‘The Bramble‘ was a refreshing start to the meal, and the Tempranillo matched very well with the Flat Iron steak.

A great wine list that was broken down by tasting notes.

The Sauvignon Il Palu Veneto 2009 was served perfectly chilled and would be a great accompaniment to any dish.

A great selection of wines and cocktails, with the option of an after dinner cocktail – we were told a ‘Strawberry cheesecake’ flavour is coming soon!

The best steaks in Bromley, with great service and fine wine.

A perfect night out with friends and family for authentic Italian food.

A touch of 1920’s sophistication with modern Italian cuisine.

Drink

Overview

86 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

www.lo Tel: 020 1 Lawn T

NOW OPEN

travel

DISCOVER THE MAGIC OF MALTA AT THE PHOENICIA HOTEL

T

he charming Mediterranean island of Malta boasts an enthralling combination of cultural flavours, thanks to its fascinating history spanning over 7000 years. Stay at the fabulous five-star Phoenicia Hotel by the gates of capital city Valletta and you’ll be in prime position to enjoy the many delights this captivating country has to offer.

Dating back to 1939, the Phoenicia was Malta’s first five-star hotel and remains one of its finest, offering an historic charm that you simply won’t find elsewhere, yet all the amenities that today’s discerning global travellers have come to expect. The standards of service are second to none and guests return again and again.

General Manager Charles Azzopardi comments; “We’re very proud of our heritage here at the Phoenicia Hotel as we can offer something totally unique and give our guests an authentic Maltese experience.”

The original features of this magnificent hotel have been carefully preserved and enhanced in the recent art-deco inspired makeover and many of the 128 rooms and eight suites offer stunning views across the Grand Harbour. The resort also boasts acres of exquisite mature gardens; an unexpected delight given its city location, which lead to the impressive Bastion Pool Deck carved into the city walls - an idyllic hideaway for a spot of secluded sunbathing.

With Valletta just a short stroll away, guests can do as much or as little as they like. The Maltese capital offers an abundance of sights, alongside a vibrant café culture and some great open air markets.

For those who prefer to sit back and enjoy a spot of pampering, the Phoenicia offers a selection of spa and holistic treatments, whilst the more adventurous will find plenty of activities on offer nearby; from scuba diving with local experts to yachting in the crystal-clear waters.

Beach-lovers, meanwhile, will be spoilt for choice, with the likes of Mellieha or Golden Bay within easy reach and the islands of Comino and Gozo just a ferry ride away, where you will find the famous Blue Lagoon and some of the best beaches in the Med. Malta also prides itself on a thriving music and arts scene so check for events when planning your trip as you’ll find something to suit all tastes, including open-air concerts, festivals, opera, theatre and much more.

Back at the hotel guests will delight in the many wining and dining options which include the award-winning Phoenix restaurant with its outdoor terrace and spectacular views of the beautiful Marsamxett harbour, the informal Pegasus Brasserie, the 88 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

relaxing Palm Court Lounge and the regal Club Bar. In the Phoenix Restaurant you will sample the delightful Mediterranean-based international fusion cuisine of head chef Bernd Maier and his team, with mouth-watering dishes such as salad of smoked pigeon, crème brulee of foie gras, wasabi risotto with grilled tuna, and an excellent selection of fresh local fish.

With outstanding facilities and exceptional service, the Phoenicia Hotel has long been a favourite haunt of famous faces, with previous guests including the likes of Pierce Brosnan, Rachel Weisz, and even the Queen - who danced in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom in her younger years and has visited on several occasions since - and you’ll certainly feel like royalty during your stay. From the moment you step inside, you’ll find an air of elegance and understated charm that make this a truly enchanting hotel.

Enjoy luxury accommodation in an Executive Room at the f ive-star Phoenicia Hotel from £210 per night, based on two sharing and including breakfast. To book visit www.phoeniciamalta.com or call 0808 238 1710.

Fly to Malta, in just three hours, from a choice of three London airports or more than 20 regional airports across the UK.

SEPTEMBER2011

89

travel

Glamour comes in

Cannes

Bess Manson escapes the city for a relaxing trip to the South of France.

I

could not have imagined a more quintessential Gallic moment.

It’s karaoke night at the Château de Camiole (a resort in the Provencal hills behind the Cote D’Azur) and a bronzed and bejewelled 81-year-old Madame takes the microphone at the Jay’C Club lounge bar. Screwing her face up with the raw emotion of Edith Piaf, she breaks into ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien’.

Singing to her husband with whom she is celebrating a 60th wedding anniversary, she brings the house down. The only pity is that few other guests at this resort, perched delightfully on a remote hillside well inland from Cannes, are there to hear it.

The place seems to suit all generations. While the happy octogenarian couple are here for the “good air”, a retired Dutch couple intend to scrutinise numerous insects populating the vast woods surrounding this region, while a Parisian couple are on a ‘last hurrah’ before the first baby arrives. And us? I want to show my family the razzmatazz of the French Rivera and the peace of Provence without spending a small fortune. We’ll sip rose wine on warm evenings and coax our little toddler into the sea for a frolic by day. She’s a city girl and needs a nudge!

Late May is a great time to visit southern France. Wild flowers are out in full bloom, the sun is starting to pack a decent punch without being overbearing and the crowds that flock here in summer are largely absent.

We’re guests at the Château de Camiole, a complex of 18 luxurious villas (some with private pools), 183 apartments and 43 hotel suites and rooms, with a spa and fitness centre for some pampering - all resembling a smallish, snug village in Provence - in one of France’s sunniest spots, Pays de Fayence, Le Var. But we’re practically on the doorstep of the famous coastline of Antibes, Cannes and St-Tropez that make up the Cote d’Azur. We’re barely a 30-minute drive from the coast 90 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

yet far enough away to escape the madding crowds.

The Pays de Fayence includes seven ancient hilltop villages dating from Roman and medieval times. We are only a 10-minute walk from Callian, one of the oldest and most charming villages in the region. And despite warnings that the narrow road is dangerous for walkers, our late-afternoon stroll to the village became a ritual. Winding our way around the narrow and picturesque alleyways we eventually find our way to the village square where, under the chestnut and plane trees bookended on one side by an imposing cathedral, we take great delight in our treats: aperitifs for the adults and a generous portion of ice cream for our two-year-old. In 30-degree heat we would perch on the ledge of the square’s trough filled by water raining down from a mossy bank. Not a shabby way to end a day.

It’s bliss being in this peaceful spot surrounded by craggy olive groves and cypress trees that point purposefully to the hot sky. But few places thrill me like the stretch of coast below, so we head for the beach.

Call me shallow but I love the glamour of Cannes, the chicness of Nice and the sheer ridiculous fantasy that is Monte Carlo. We go to one of the few beaches in Cannes where you don’t have to stump up good cash for a touch of sun (30 Euros for a few square metres of beach? No thanks). And after a cooling dip in the Med, we stroll along the Croisette, the desperately fashionable boulevard by the beach, and a simply surreal stretch of road.

Whereas most beachfronts have tacky shops selling air mattresses, overpriced bathing suits and cut-price cigarettes, Cannes’s promenade seems to be reserved for the mega rich. Luxury brands like Gucci and Prada stand shoulder to shoulder and our wallets stay firmly in the backpack. Until we find a shop that does not cater to the well-heeled, but sells simple ice cream cones for a reasonable 2.50 Euros.

As we lick our fast-melting, cooling snacks, a slightly grubby man stumbles across to one of the city’s many fountains to cool off his booze. But no cheap lager for this homeless man. It’s Cannes and standards must, so also goes in a bottle of seemingly good rose. In the fierce sun, the old town is a natural shelter. It’s cooler than the beachfront, less crowded and deeply charming, helped no end by meals being much cheaper - big plates of seafood pasta and much-needed cold beers setting us back only 30 Euros.

In Nice, we find the old town again, with reasonably priced tiny restaurants huddled into the sides of the alleyways. The pizza is the best I’ve eaten. Well, we are just an anchovy away from the Italian boarder. Shops selling trinkets dot the narrow paths and eventually give way to the famous flower market on the Cours Saleya.

The picturesque market is a riot of colour and a hive of activity. The flower and produce vendors are flanked by cafes and sellers of antiques.

A little further along the glittering and sweltering coastline is the Principality of Monaco.

I unsuccessfully gambled all of 20 French francs at a casino here way, way back in the late 1980s. No one can call me a big spender but I got value for money people watching. Casinos aside, it’s worth a wander around the streets of this tiny principality. Take in the exotic garden and stop for a massively overpriced drink at Le Cafe de Paris as Lamborghinis and Ferraris cruise by.

Further south still is elegant Menton, where the locals like a sedate pace of life. Queen Victoria liked it and the writer Katherine Mansfield came here in 1920 in a bid to restore her

health, because it’s famed for its mild and curative climate.

Sit at a beachfront café for a citron presse or, if you’re up for some culture, head to the 17th century built museum dedicated to the life of famous artist, poet and film director Jean Cocteau.

Back at the Chateau de Camiole, it was still balmy enough for a dip in the resort’s beautifully designed four pools, while our little girl hankered for the kids’ club, the best we have come across in all our travels. Apart from a lush garden smattered with see-saws, slides and bouncy toys, the indoor club has umpteen attractions and activities too. In peak seasons, a childminder is on duty to allow parents a few hours of uninterrupted bliss. Or time to savour the award-winning Les Jardins de Mathilde restaurant that offers daily breakfast and a la carte lunch and dinner, along with set-choice menus for 23 or 36 Euros.

To its credit, the resort caters for just about any budget. Weekly rentals vary according to property size, amenities and season, but many units are bought as investments, after which they are let to tourists throughout the year. Most are extremely well equipped with loads of crockery and cutlery, dishwasher, microwave, TV, fridge and all the stuff you need for a self-catering holiday.

Our four days flew past, and on our final morning we do our end-of-holiday ritual: pack, check our return flights are on time, then reflect on our holiday.

Did we enjoy it? Was it good value for money?

The famous refrain summed it up perfectly: Je Ne Regrette Rien!

Call me shallow but I love the glamour of Cannes

Key facts - Provence Cote D’Azur

✱ Best for: French Riviera beaches and Provencial countryside. ✱ Time to go: Spring and summer. ✱ Don’t miss: A flutter at a Monte Carlo casino. ✱ Need to know: A car is an absolute necessity. ✱ Don’t forget: Your best threads for a night out on the Riviera.

SEPTEMBER2011

91

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