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25 February 2020 £1.30

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Joanna Lumley I’ve been travelling all my life but I love it!

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6 irresistible recipes

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Inside this issue

Hello!

Getting out and about

I’ve decided the easiest way to combat the winter blues is to spend as much time outside as possible. While I’m aimlessly wandering, I try to look for any signs of spring. So a few days ago I was delighted to see that the magnolia tree at the end of my road is now in bud. When it starts to bloom in a couple of weeks, it will signify to me that longer days are ahead. And while we’re on the subject of the great outdoors, some of you pointed out we’d featured a plastic net bird feeder on our Garden Notes page (4 February).

You’re right, these nets are bad for wildlife, so I’ve rounded up some more bird-friendly alternatives below.

Editor-in-Chief catherine.westwood @ti-media.com

ON THE COVER

8 Cover star: Joanna Lumley: ‘I’ve spent my career doing what I’m told!’

12 Health: What your eyes tell you about your wellbeing 18 Beauty: The secrets to thicker, fuller hair 20 Real life: Meet the woman who’s walking around Britain’s coastline 22 Cookery: Perfect sweet and savoury pancakes for Shrove Tuesday 27 Good to know: How eco-friendly are electric cars?

34 Homes: Serene greens for the bathroom

38

41 FICTION

GREAT READS

4 Good to share 10 Celebrating Britain: 10 things you never knew about pancakes 15 It’s a funny old world: Actor Robert Bathurst 17 Fashion: Fresh looks to build around a floral midi skirt 38 Travel: Visit locations of The Crown and other UK dramas

YOUR HOME

41 Craft: Pretty appliqué laundry bags to sew

3 of the best… Bird feeders

2 Gardening: ummer-flowering ulbs for pots d borders 7 Crochet/ nitting: Brush p your skills on a per-easy pot holder

37 Short story: The Last Snowman 44 Short story: Judging a Book 50 Serial: Stepping Out 57 Book club

HEALTH

29 Your wellbeing 30 Dr Gill: Coping with…

Liver cancer 33 Here to help

LAST BUT NOT LEAST…

53 Your weekly stars 54 Puzzle time 56 What’s on 58 Rosemary

NEVER MISS AN ISSUE!

COVER PHOTO: GETTY

Why not subscribe now to Woman’s Weekly and get six issues for just £1!*

APPLE OF YOUR EYE This simple idea allows birds to enjoy fruit as part of their daily diet. £15, gardentrading.co.uk

FEED WITH LOVE This delicate design comes complete with bird seeds and would make a lovely gift. £26, boxwild.com

HANGING ABOUT This two-tier concreteeffect bird feeder is super stylish – hang from a tree or stake. £17.50, coxandcox.co.uk

Call 0330 333 1113 and quote 54AW or visit womansweeklysubs.co.uk/54AW. *When paying by UK Direct Debit. After six issues, your payments will then continue every three months at £12.49, saving 28% on the full price of £17.25. Offer open to new subscribers only. The price is guaranteed for the first 12 months and we will notify you in advance of any price changes. Final closing date is 31 March 2020. For enquiries and overseas rates, please call +44 (0)330 333 1113 (phone lines are open Monday to Saturday, 8am6pm, UK time). For full terms and conditions, please visit magazinesdirect.com/terms Woman’s Weekly

3

o t d o Go

E R A SH , m o lo From b in s id h c r O vegan pets and a us to family festival you Flower power

Step into a horticultural paradise at Kew Gardens’ annual orchid festival, bringing a splash of colour to chilly winter. For 2020, the festival is themed on Indonesia, which is home to more than 5,000 orchid species, with exhibits and activities inspired by Indonesian plants and wildlife. Visit kew.org. Until 8 March.

BE SAVVY WITH HOTEL REVIEWS

Almost a third of office DID staff fail to claim five YOU KNOW? days of annual leave, blaming workload.

A quarter think taking time off could affect promotion or pay-rise opportunities, found a poll of 2,000 working adults for Crystal Ski Holidays.

On this day in history On 24 February 1809, London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane burned to the ground, the second Theatre Royal on the site to do so. A new edifice opened on 10 October 1812 with a production of Hamlet. To celebrate the 350th anniversary of the theatre in 2013, owner Andrew Lloyd Webber had much of it restored to its original Regency style.

4 Woman’s Weekly

WORDS: HELENA CARTWRIGHT. PHOTOS: ALAMY, GETTY

If you’re considering booking a hotel and reading reviews online, while it’s a good idea to check recent ones, make sure you read reviews from the time of year you plan to visit too. For example, if you’re thinking of the school summer holidays, see what guests’ experiences were like then, as they could be different from how people found it in low season.

This week A step too far?

As plant-based eating becomes more mainstream, research from rover.com revealed that over a quarter of dog owners (27%) are putting their pups on typically human eating plans, including vegan, Paleo and keto diets. Why? Twofifths of owners of pets on a vegan diet say it’s more environmentally friendly, while one in 10 believe a dog can get all the nutrition it needs without meat.

SHOPPERS’ ANXIETY

If you’ve ever found it hard to make a decision when researching things to buy online, you’re not alone. On average, shoppers in the UK now spend 16 hours a week scrolling through options when researching what to choose online, which equates to a staggering 832 hours a year. Comparatively, we spend just five hours each week socialising with friends, six hours a week cooking, and 12 hours a week having quality time with our families.

Have you heard?

Surrey is the pothole capital of England. The county council has received 3,533 claims and paid out £323,222 for pothole damages over the past couple of years, more than any other local authority, says leasecar.uk.

CLEAN BILL

Over half of Brits take cleaning products to a hotel, according to new research from End of Tenancy Cleaning Company. When asked what they take along with them, 56% of travellers said their own wet wipes, 44% brought bleach and 33% fragrance spray.

For your diary Looking for something to keep the family busy? The new-look Coastival festival, 22-23 February, in seaside Scarborough (left) offers a weekend of activities for all ages, with a programme of free events at the Grand Hall at Scarborough Spa. Highlights include Brazilian and flamenco dance, carnival drumming, cardboard engineering, music performances and crafts. Visit scarboroughspa.co.uk

Deal of the week The new Beverly Hills Formula Professional White Advanced Silver Whitening and Beverly Hills Formula Professional White Black Pearl toothpastes have a third off in Boots until 10 March, making these pearly whites essentials £6.67. Visit Boots stores nationwide or shop online at boots.com

Woman’s Weekly

5

o t d o Go

Where I read mine

E R A SH

Recently, my husband and I travelled on the Portsmouth to Caen ferry. I intended to read Woman’s Weekly on the journey, but someone else got there first and read the whole magazine from cover to cover, including doing the puzzle page!

Janet Robins, Surrey ✣ We’d love to see where you read your copy of Woman’s Weekly. The more exotic the location, the better!

t a h w r a e h to e v lo We o you’ve been up to, s do get in touch!

Letter of the week

‘You never bring me flowers’… …I berated my partner the other week. So he surprised me – with a bunch of… ‘flours’!

Carol Gasan, Devon

Get in touch WEEKLY REVISITED!

I recently started reading Woman’s Weekly once again after a break and I was so pleased that I did. It brought back many amazing memories of knitting with my mum and sister. I really hope you continue to publish knitting patterns each week. I get the greatest pleasure from the finished garment, like the one in this photo.

Christine Wilkinson, Canada

WE LOVE LETTERS Woman’s Weekly, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. P.S. It really helps when you put your details in capitals.

Paws for thought I’m sending this picture for my mother, Audrey McDonald, who has subscribed to your magazine since the early 1950s and never missed a week! In particular, she loves Paws for thought, so this is a picture of our Australian Kelpie, Buddy, keeping watch on the cows!

Daren McDonald, East Gosford ✣ Got a pet pic that makes you smile?

We can give it a good home

Important! All contributions to Woman’s Weekly must be original and NOT duplicated to other publications. £25 will be paid to the writer of the ‘Letter Of The Week’ for all rights in each letter printed. The Editor reserves the right to modify any letter. TI Media Limited reserves the right to reuse any submission to Woman’s Weekly in any format or medium, including social networking sites. We regret that we cannot enter into personal correspondence. Photos of children under 18 must be accompanied by written permission of a parent/legal guardian. All details correct at time of going to press.

6 Woman’s Weekly

We do not return photos (apart from You Wore It Well) so please do not send originals.

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This week

What you’re

WEARING SUE McCHRYSTAL, 61 Tell us about your look My coat is by Paul Smith – the colour always makes me feel good. My scarf is Mercy Delta and it’s a perfect match. I’ve had my Prada bag for years.

My jeans are J Brand and my boots are Jimmy Choo. I only buy things I really love and that will stand the test of time.

And the best bit of your body?

I have quite nice feet.

JUDITH ALMEIDA, 54 Tell us about your look My leather jacket came from Turkey.

I think a biker-style jacket gives a modern edge to any outfit. The floaty, pleated skirt is from Reserved and the top from Pull & Bear.

It gives the outfit a slightly tougher look and stops it being too girly. My boots are by Skin Footwear and my bag is Furla. I always love to add a scarf – it’s the perfect finishing touch!

And the best bit of your body?

My eyes.

You Wore It Well BONNIE CROSTA, 48 Tell us about your look Well, it’s very casual – I don’t even own a skirt! My jumper is an old one from Zara.

My scarf is from Joules and belongs to my daughter, and my jeans and bag are from a market in Italy.

My boots are very old and comfy but, to be honest, I’m usually in trainers from M&S – they do the best ones.

And the best bit of your body?

Probably my hair.

COLLEEN MOORE, 71 Tell us about your look Red is a favourite for winter. My coat, trousers and bag are all from M&S and my look is usually smart and co-ordinated. I liked the stripe on these navy trousers.

It’s nice to add interesting details, although I wouldn’t want anything too fussy. My trainers are by Hotter – they are so comfortable!

And the best bit of your body?

It changes – but let’s say my legs.

Margaret Robinson (née Holt), 1956. Sent in by her daughter, Julie Gallagher Here is my mum in a photo taken in Southport, when she was 21.

She was engaged to my dad Eric, and he was away in Ceylon on National Service. They married the following year.

✢ We’d love to see how great you looked in any era up to and including the 1980s. Please send a good-quality photo with your name, address and daytime phone number clearly written on the back, to: Fashion Dept, Woman’s Weekly, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Photos will be returned.

Woman’s Weekly

7

The

‘I’ve spent my career doing what interview

I’M TOLD!’ Joanna Lumley reveals the secret of her success and why she never takes anything for granted

T

he acting business is notoriously tricky for women of a certain age, with decent roles often few and far between.

But Joanna Lumley is bucking the trend.

Aged 73, she’s busier than ever. In the past few years, she’s starred in bigscreen dramas and romantic comedies, reprised her careermaking role as Patsy Stone for the Absolutely Fabulous movie and even played opposite Leonardo DiCaprio

in The Wolf of Wall Street.

‘I feel terribly lucky,’ she whispers to us, almost conspiratorially, in that familiar caramel-smooth voice. ‘I have an absolute mass of stuff on the go and now I just have to work out how I can do it all.

‘You wait so long for projects to be green-lit and then they all come at once. My whole life is like that, everything changing all the time.

‘Most of what I work on, I get offered, which is wonderful,’ she adds. ‘In fact, I’ve probably spent

‘I feel terribly lucky. I have a mass of stuff on the go’

With Leonard DiCaprio and her Ab Fab co-star Jennifer Saunders 8 Woman’s Weekly

most of my career just doing what other people tell me to!’

It’s certainly served her well.

She’s already landed two major acting projects for this year. There’s a film, Falling for Figaro, in which she plays a singing teacher and former opera diva. This is contrasted with a hard-hitting ITV drama called Finding Alice, alongside Keeley Hawes, which sees her playing the mother of a woman whose husband dies suddenly.

But aside from acting, Joanna has also moved into presenting travelogues. She’s now equally famous for her

Her Silk Road Adventure series took her to Istanbul

jet-setting TV shows exploring the ancient Silk Road, plus escapades through India and Siberia.

Now she’s back to front another – Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean, a twoparter that sees her exploring the undiscovered treasures of Cuba and Haiti. It’s a trip that required her to pack her bags and jet off for a month-long filming stint last summer.

‘It is hard leaving my husband [conductor Stephen Barlow], my home, garden and cats, and it feels like a terribly long time, but I try not to miss things while I’m away – mostly because I know I’ll be coming back to them and also because I’m very busy while I’m out there,’ says Joanna.

‘I don’t call my

Celebrity

husband while I’m gone, though. I tend to keep in touch with postcards because I’m old-fashioned. But the ones I sent in Cuba have never been seen again!’

The idea behind the series, Joanna explains, was to explore two of the more under-theradar Caribbean islands. She was shocked by the realities of daily life in Haiti, which, she reveals, is ‘completely corrupt, utterly lawless and very dangerous’; she had to be accompanied by two bodyguards at all times.

Joanna admits she was ‘born in a suitcase’ and always gets a thrill from jetting off on a new adventure.

‘I had the travel bug in me from an early age because I was travelling huge distances before I was a year old,’ says the actor, whose father was in the army, and who spent her early childhood in Hong Kong and Malaysia.

‘Then I was a model in the 60s and my passport was stamped with all sorts of places. All my life, I’ve been packing and leaving, packing and arriving. But it’s pretty exciting and I love it.’ ✣ Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti is on ITV. Woman’s Weekly

9

WORDS: KIRSTY NUTKINS. PHOTOS: FILMMAGIC, GETTY, PA ARCHIVE/PA IMAGES

Joanna and husband Stephen Barlow in 2016

Celebrating

BRITAIN

A passion for

PANCAKES If you’re planning to stir, toss and fry this Shrove Tuesday, you’ll enjoy these 10 tasty facts

P 1

ancakes have been a staple food for thousands of years, and are made all over the world using similar basic ingredients. They are generally cooked on the stove in a pan or griddle, and are topped with anything from meat and cheese to fruit, chocolate or even caviar. Tempted? See our recipes on page 22.

3

Temptation beater

Of course pancakes have long been eaten on Shrove Tuesday – Pancake Day – the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. Traditionally, people fasted during Lent, so they got into the habit of making pancakes to use up the last of the rich foods, such as eggs, butter, sugar and fat.

Favourite ingredients Pancakes are also known as flat cakes, griddle cakes, hotcakes and flapjacks. They consist of a starch-based batter that may be made from flour, potatoes, rice or even bananas, mixed with a liquid such as water, milk, buttermilk or coconut milk. Eggs, butter and oil may also be included.

4 2

Ancient delicacy

Pancakes have a long history – the Ancient Greeks and Romans liked them for breakfast. They were made without eggs or milk, just flour mixed with water and perhaps a pinch of salt, then fried in olive oil. Typically, they would be topped with honey, sesame seeds or dates.

10 Woman’s Weekly

Mixing it up

Across the world, there are different types of pancakes – many of which we eat in the UK too these days. From Russia comes the blini, a small, thick pancake made from leavened batter. India has the dosa, while France has crêpes and galettes (made with darker buckwheat flour). In America, small, light risen pancakes are piled in stacks and often topped with fruit or bacon and maple syrup.

5

Eggs-traordinary sales

Typically, each Pancake Day, the number of eggs we buy in the UK shoots up by about three million.

That’s 10 to 15% more than we usually buy.

Dominic Cuzzacrea’s highest pancake flip

8

Sky high

9

Speed king

The highest pancake flip ever recorded was 9.47m (or 31ft 1in) high.

American Dominic Cuzzacrea managed this feat in November 2010 at Cheektowaga, New York.

A pancake race in Olney in 1950

7

Big is beautiful

WORDS: CLARE WALTERS. PHOTOS: GETTY, GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS

The world’s largest pancake weighed three tonnes – that’s as much as a hippo! It was made on 13 August 1994 in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Measuring 15.01m across and 2.5cm deep (49ft 3in and 1in), it took hours to cook. It was cut into 15,000 pieces, which were sold to raise money for charities – though apparently it wasn’t very tasty!

6

Most of us try (and often fail) to flip our pancakes, but Dean Gould from Felixstowe in Suffolk holds the record – 399 flips in two minutes. He says his personal record is an amazing 424 flips.

10

Get flipping In February 2012, the University of Sheffield organised an event where it got as many people as it could to toss a pancake at the same time. The final total was an impressive 890 people.

Pancake races

If you’re in Olney, Buckinghamshire, on 25 February, you’ll see the town’s famous Pancake Race. In a tradition that dates back to 1445, the women of Olney run with their frying pans and pancakes to the finishing line near the church. It supposedly started when one housewife was still busy frying pancakes when she heard the bells ringing out, calling her to church. Eager to get to the service, she ran out of her house still holding the frying pan complete with pancake, tossing it to prevent it from burning! For more info, see olneypancakerace.org Woman’s Weekly

11

The health secrets in

YOUR EYES

They’re not just a window into your soul – they can reveal insights into your wellbeing.

Eye surgeon Romesh Angunawela reveals what your eyes tell you about your health Stress or fatigue A twitch on the lid above or below the eye, called myokymia, is usually a sign of stress or fatigue. A lack of sleep will also often leave eyes looking puffy and red. There’s a simple solution – get more rest!

Diabetes

Jaundice

A white ring around the iris is a common sign of ageing but can also indicate high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, increasing your risk of heart attack or stroke. Get it checked by an optician.

12 Woman’s Weekly

Contact lens problems Over-wearing contact lenses can deprive the cornea of oxygen and result in blood vessels growing onto it. Early diagnosis is important. The most common cause of corneal infection is also contact lens wear, and good contact lens habits are essential to avoid serious problems.

PHOTOS: GETTY

High cholesterol

A yellowing of the whites of your eyes is a warning sign that should not be ignored. The most common cause is jaundice, a build-up of bilirubin, the yellow substance formed when red blood cells are broken down. If your liver can’t filter the cells properly, the bilirubin levels rise, turning your eyes and skin yellow. This, in turn, is usually a sign of serious health issues such as hepatitis, liver disease or something blocking the bile ducts, such as gallstones or cancer.

Blurred vision usually just means you need glasses, but it can also be a sign of medical problems with the eye such as cataracts or macular degeneration, or more serious health issues such as diabetes. Even if you haven’t noticed any change to your vision, an ophthalmologist will be able to detect diabetes from retinal irregularities such as tiny haemorrhages or fat deposits during a regular eye test.

Health

Sun damage Yellow brown patches on the whites of your eyes called pinguecula, or thicker growths called pterygium, are usually caused by overexposure to the sun’s UV rays. While most are harmless, they can cause irritation and a small number of them are pre-cancerous, so always wear sunglasses with good UVA and UVB protection.

High blood pressure High blood pressure damages blood vessels in your retina, called hypertensive retinopathy. While these effects are not visible to the naked eye, an ophthalmologist will be able to flag this damage during an eye test.

Retinal tearing or detachment

Little specks moving across your field of vision – known as eye floaters – are pretty common, but should not be ignored if new. A sudden increase in the number of floaters can be a sign of retinal tear or detachment.

Autoimmune disease Droopy eyelids on both eyes can be a sign of myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease that causes muscle weakening. Autoimmune diseases can cause dry eye conditions, such as Sjögren’s syndrome, and in their most severe form can actually be deadly so always get droopy eyelids checked. If they’re combined with different-sized pupils in both eyes, it can be a warning sign of an aneurysm – swelling of a blood vessel – or a tumour in the neck.

Overactive thyroid Bulging or protruding eyeballs, known as exophthalmos, is often a sign of an overactive thyroid, also called Graves’ disease, which carries many health risks, so should be treated as quickly as possible.

Allergies People who have asthma and eczema can also commonly have itchy, red, allergic eyes. Skin around the eye can also develop eczema and become flaky and sore. Speak to your GP because appropriate treatments are available.

And remember…

Most health conditions picked up through your eyes can be treated swiftly and effectively. Have regular eye tests (at least every two years), and respond quickly to any changes in your eyes by seeing your doctor quickly and taking the recommended treatment and medication. ✣ Dr Romesh Angunawela is consultant eye surgeon and director at Ophthalmic Consultants of London; oclvision.com

Woman’s Weekly

13

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It’s a funny old world

Column

‘My vicar told me off for a saucy Cold Feet scene!’

This week’s columnist: Actor Robert Bathurst

I get recognised a lot when I’m out and about, and people don’t always have good things to say!

When my Cold Feet character, David, had an illicit encounter with a stranger back in the day, I got it in the neck from people in the street! It’s the only time he’s ever gone off-piste and I got, ‘How could you have done that?’ Even the vicar told me off, saying, ‘How could you possibly?’ It was the same when Anthony Strallan left Edith at the altar in Downton Abbey.

However, I get a lot of lovely things said to me too! People come up to me and say, ‘I really liked you in…’ and they give a whole list of your CV and then ask for three photographs – one for themselves, one for their aunt and one for their cousin! Some people have even told me they courted to Cold Feet, and I love that. I think it’s great.

The relationships between actors and

audiences are very different when it comes to TV and theatre. With theatre audiences, everybody knows it’s not real. You’re sitting in a plush seat, you’ve bought a ticket and you’ve got the lights coming on. But on TV, if viewers see a lamp or a double yellow line in a period drama, or a television error, it’s ruined for everybody. They can’t cope with the extraneous parts of the world creeping in on them. The contract with the audience is, ‘This is real, and nothing can distract you from that,’ whereas in theatre, the conspiracy is we all know it’s make-believe, but let’s all join in!

As well as acting, I occasionally get asked to do reality TV shows, and I was on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, which my daughter says is the best thing I’ve ever done!

I usually turn these shows down, though.

I was offered one recently, which took me about a millisecond to say ‘no’.

I’m never quite sure where celebrity starts and finishes. I sometimes wonder, ‘Are you a celebrity when you wake up? Are you a celebrity at breakfast, or are you only a celebrity when you step onto the red carpet or sit on Lorraine Kelly’s sofa?’ It’s only about how people perceive you, rather than how you perceive yourself.

‘I’m never quite sure where celebrity starts and finishes’

Cold Feet continues on ITV on Mondays at 9pm

PHOTOS: GETTY, ITV/BIG TALK

My Funny Old Week WHERE I’VE BEEN Rehearsing and getting ready to open my new stage project, Love, Loss & Chianti, at London’s Riverside Studios. I’m very excited about it!

WHAT I’VE BOUGHT Nothing big this week, but occasionally there are financial lulls, when I think, ‘Oh gosh, have I bought something I shouldn’t have?’

WHO I’VE MET I’ve been all over the place chatting about the most recent series of Cold Feet with my fellow castmates.

WHAT I’VE SEEN I’ve not had much time to watch anything, due to the fact I’ve got my own play starting.

The cast of Cold Feet

NEXT WEEK Sophie Thompson

Fashion

How to wear

A f loral SKIRT

Pastels work well with lightcoloured denim

Available in five colours

Necklace, £22, Accessorize

Team this flattering midi with different items for fresh looks

Jumper, £18, sizes 6-22, F&F Clothing

Skirt, £49.50, sizes 6-24, Per Una at M&S Jacket, £44.99, sizes 8-20, M&Co

Available in petite

Blouse, £36, sizes 6-18, Warehouse

Coat, £79, sizes 4-18, Topshop

Shoes, £19.99, Deichmann

COMPILED BY: PAULA MOORE

Bag, £35, Joe Browns

Watch, £25, River Island Boots, £16.99, TK Maxx

Trainers, £19.99, bonprix.co.uk Woman’s Weekly

17

Thicker hair

MADE EASY!

Transform your fine or limp locks into full and bouncy with our easy-to-follow expert tips IDENTIFY THE CAUSE Fine hair is different to thin hair, with the former referring to the density of the hair strand itself, and the latter to how many hairs you have on your head. Although you might have spent most of your life blessed with plenty of hair, factors like stress, poor diet and the menopause can lead to excessive hair shedding. ‘Your body has many tasks to attend to on a daily basis to keep you healthy and alive – your hair being the last thing it cares about,’ explains trichologist Anabel

Kingsley. ‘As your body views hair as non-essential to survival, it’s the first thing to suffer when your general health, lifestyle and/ or diet is not up to scratch.’ It’s normal to lose around 100 hairs a day, but if you’re noticing more than average in your brush, it might be worth visiting your GP. In the meantime, Pantene Pro-V Grow Strong Shampoo, £5, Boots, uses biotin to strengthen hair, while Fudge Professional Xpander Conditioner, £11.25, beautybay. com, plumps each strand for the appearance of fuller locks.

Next time you visit the salon, speak to your hairdresser about updating your colour.

Just a few lowlights will add depth to light hair, especially if cleverly placed on the bottom layers. If you’re dark, try a multi-tonal brunette made up of different shades to create the illusion of texture and movement.

Hair thinning is most noticeable along the hairline, so you could use a powder or paint at home to cheat the appearance of thickness around the roots. Available in 18 Woman’s Weekly

five shades, Josh Wood Colour Blending Brush in Lighter Brown, £15, Boots, has a helpful paintbrush-like applicator and lasts for up to three washes. Nanogen Hair Thickening Fibres, £29.99 for a two-month supply, Boots, is a brilliant choice if you’re grey.

Designed to be shaken and blended onto sparse areas, the tiny hair-like fibres cling to each existing strand, adding natural-looking volume and colour.

WORDS: JESS BEECH PHOTO: GETTY

COLOUR CLEVER

Beauty ADD TEXTURE Adding a little extra oomph to fine hair does involve rediscovering some old favourites. Mousse is a good place to start. The days of sticky, crispy curls have been replaced with the next generation that are all about light, airy formulas, and provide plenty of volume. A golf ball-sized blob of Pureology Clean Volume Weightless Mousse, £13.95, lookfantastic.com, worked into damp hair will reward you with plenty of lift, whether you’re air or blow-drying.

Not just for soaking up grease between washes, dry shampoo is another brilliant tool. Spray onto clean hair to add texture – the powdery consistency adds plenty of grip to help keep backcombing in place.

Use sparingly to avoid visible residue, you can always add more. Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Body Builder, £23, M&S, is the perfect finishing touch. Smarter than your average hairspray, it has an adjustable nozzle, letting you choose how much body you want to add.

CUT DOWN ON HEAT STYLING

‘If your heat-styling routine is a little rushed, this may be a good time to go easy,’ advises hairdresser Michael Van Clarke. As straightening, curling and blow-drying your locks can make them dry, brittle and prone to breakage, take a break from the heat to help restore them to their former, thicker glory. If you really can’t beat the habit, make sure you’re shielding your hair with a nourishing protector, like Philip Kingsley Damage Defence Leave-In Conditioner, £25, M&S.

LOOK AFTER YOUR SCALP ‘Scalp health is key to healthy hair growth. Try to shampoo daily or every other day to keep your scalp clean and flake-free, as a flaky scalp can cause hair loss,’ Anabel Kingsley explains.

‘Once weekly, use an exfoliating scalp mask to gently lift away dead skin cells.

Like the skin on your face, your scalp benefits from gentle weekly exfoliation.’

If you’re suffering from dandruff, swap your regular shampoo for Nizoral Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, £6.39, Asda, to treat both the condition and the symptoms. Grow Gorgeous Defence Detoxifying Scalp Scrub, £24, Boots, makes for a satisfying weekly treat, buffing away build-up and dead skin for a fresh-feeling scalp.

Woman’s Weekly

19

THE MOTHER of all walks After a difficult few years, Beth Wickes, 51, decided she needed a new adventure

A

fter suffering two bereavements and a dyslexia diagnosis while completing a degree as a mature student, Beth Wickes, 51, thought she would take a well-earned break after her graduation.

But rather than jetting off to a beach for a couple of weeks, Beth felt the time was right for an adventure.

Inspired by a story she’d read online about a man litterpicking his way around the British coastline, Beth decided to follow in his footsteps and walk the coastal paths of England, Wales and part of Scotland – alone, with no support crew.

As well as coming to terms with her dad’s death while

want to be like that.

‘As well as losing Dad while studying, my beloved dog Kai died too. I’d had him a long time and he was my closest companion.

I just needed a complete break.’

Beth decided she would use the Setting off: Beth opportunity to raise with the RNLI funds for three charities: team in London the Association of Lowland Search & Rescue, the RNLI, and Mountain fourth day to catch up on admin, finances and Rescue England and Wales. route planning.

After putting all her ‘It’s been tougher in more possessions into storage, she ways than I thought it would handed the keys to her rented be,’ says Beth, who previously home back to her landlady worked as a cartographer on 3 October 2018, and and photogrammetric surveyor began her epic journey from Tower Lifeboat Station, Victoria at Ordnance Survey before completing a degree in Embankment, in London.

Human Nutrition at Since then, she has walked Worcester University. clockwise around the country, ‘I’m doing this full-time, solo taking in the south coast and unsupported. I have no and the Isle of Wight, Wales partner or support team in the and Anglesey. background helping me with She cut across the John the huge amount of admin Muir Way – a coast-to-coast work involved in a project route across Scotland – and like this, or with logistical has continued down the issues of getting to and from eastern edge of England, accommodation,’ she says. adding in some unplanned ‘The only support I’ve inland routes she was had is from the kindness of keen to explore, such as strangers offering me their Lincolnshire’s Viking Way. spare rooms, food, clothesSo far, Beth has clocked The walk supports washing facilities, and transport up more than 4,800km UK search-andfor me and my rucksack.

(3,000 miles), walking rescue charities ‘People often ask how my 16km to 19km a day and feet are – but, actually, it’s the taking a rest day every

studying, Beth had also lost her mum in 2011 to asbestosrelated lung cancer – and her illness played a part in Beth’s decision to take on the challenge. ‘[From] Mum’s diagnosis to death was only a few months, and she wasn’t well enough to do anything for half that time,’ recalls Beth, of Stourbridge, West Midlands.

‘The deciding factor for me was wondering whether I might regret not doing the walk when I’m on my deathbed, and my answer was yes.

‘I love walking and I wanted to explore Britain,’ she says.

‘I didn’t have a reason why I shouldn’t or couldn’t do it, other than procrastination. I didn’t

‘People ask how my feet are, but the mental load is more taxing’

20 Woman’s Weekly

Real life

Beth has clocked up more than 4,800km so far

mental load that is far more taxing than the physical – the walking part is the easy bit.

‘It’s more about the strain of constantly moving home and the complications around not having a fixed address, like accessing products and healthcare,’ she says.

Beth has faced further problems in some parts of the country due to prolonged winter flooding.

‘Some footpaths are completely overgrown, and several have been unpassable due to flooding, and then there have been cases of livestock not looking too friendly in the fields.

‘Diversions add time and mileage, and are bad for morale, especially on the roads where there are no

footpaths,’ she says. ‘Then it becomes really hard going.

‘I slipped on a wet rock a few months back and bruised my coccyx. It took a couple of weeks to heal but I think wearing my rucksack made the injury less severe as it took some of the impact. I had been about to take a little break, so I just brought that forward.’

Beth plans her routes three weeks in advance and uses social media to ask if anyone can put her up in specific locations.

In many instances Lowland Search & Rescue volunteers have provided her with a bed, while Christmas was spent with the family of a woman she met on a railway platform in Macclesfield.

So far, Beth has raised

WORDS: KATE CHAPMAN

‘I’ve met truly kind strangers who have become friends’

around £3,000 for her chosen charities but hopes to raise more as her adventure continues.

‘It has been a real experience. I’ve just got the rest of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex to go, and I’ve had some wonderful support from people, followers on Facebook and the Lowland Search & Rescue teams, who are all volunteers and do such a fantastic job – especially one woman who negotiated me free hotel stays on a couple of occasions!

‘I could not have done it without them and, in that sense, it is a team effort.

‘There have been some wonderful highs – walking the beautiful Pembrokeshire coastline back in the summer, as well as meeting some truly

Pembrokeshire was a scenic highlight

kind strangers who have become friends.

‘I’m very lucky that I’ve been able to fulfil my dream. But once I’m done – hopefully next summer – I think I might take that beach break after all!’ ✣ Follow Beth’s adventures and make a donation via her website: bethfootforward.co.uk Woman’s Weekly

21

Pancake

PERFECTION

Celebrate Pancake Day in style this year with our super-chic savoury and sweet recipes SOUFFLE PANCAKES

PER SERVING

Float away on a pancake cloud with these lighter-than-air Japanese pancakes.

1

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and 30g (1oz) of the caster sugar until pale. Add the milk, flour and baking powder; whisk until smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar until frothy and pale, adding the remaining 45g (1½oz) sugar slowly. Continue to whisk until the whites become thick and glossy and hold a peak. Don’t over-whip.

Take a third of the meringue mix and whisk

2

3

it into the bowl with the egg yolks to lighten the mixture. Gently fold the remaining meringue into the mixture with a spatula until completely incorporated.

Heat a large, non-stick lidded frying pan on low.

Brush with oil and use a paper towel to rub it around. Spoon dessertspoons of the batter onto the pan, cover with the

4

lid and cook for 4-5 mins.

Remove the lid, top each with another dessertspoon of batter, cover and cook for 5 mins.

While the pancakes cook, mix the berries and yogurt together. Set aside.

Gently flip the pancakes, cover and cook for 5 more mins. Top with the yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup.

5 6

TIRAMISU CREPE CAKE This stunning layered cake is a fun alternative for a special occasion – it looks super impressive and anyone can do it.

PER SERVING

390 cals, 32g fat, 20g sat fat, 16g carbs

22 Woman’s Weekly

SERVES 16 For the crepes: ✣ 250g (9oz) plain flour ✣ 4 eggs ✣ 450ml (¾ pint) whole milk ✣ 2tbsp espresso powder ✣ 15g (½oz) butter For the filling: ✣ 600g (1¼lb) whipping cream ✣ 500g (1lb 2oz) mascarpone ✣ 1tbsp espresso powder ✣ 75ml (3fl oz) Marsala wine ✣ Cocoa powder

1

For the crepes, whisk the flour, eggs, milk, espresso powder and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Melt the butter in a 25cm (10in) crepe pan or frying pan.

Ladle the batter, swirling the pan to leave a thin coating.

Repeat to make 24 crepes.

For the filling, combine the cream and mascarpone together, and whip to form soft peaks.

Remove a third of the cream and add the espresso powder to this third. Whisk gently to medium peaks and set aside in the fridge. Add

2

the Marsala wine to the remaining cream and whisk through to medium peaks.

To assemble, place a crepe onto a serving plate or cake stand and add 2-3tbsp of cream, spreading to the edges with a small palette knife or spoon. Top with another crepe and repeat until you have used all the cream and crepes.

Add the coffee cream to a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle and pipe small bulbs all over the surface of the cake. Dust with cocoa powder and serve.

3

RECIPES AND FOOD STYLING: KEIRON GEORGE AND ROSIE BENSBERG. PHOTOS: SAM STOWELL. PROPS: ELISA ROCHE

SERVES 4 (MAKES 8) For the pancakes: ✣ 2 egg yolks ✣ 75g (2½oz) caster sugar ✣ 4tbsp milk ✣ 60g (2oz) plain flour ✣ ½tsp baking powder ✣ 4 large egg whites ✣ ¼tsp cream of tartar ✣ 15g (½oz) oil, for frying For the topping: ✣ 200g (7oz) Greek-style yogurt ✣ 100g (3½oz) mixed berries ✣ Maple syrup, to drizzle

246 cals, 10g fat, 5g sat fat, 32g carbs

Cookery MULTIGRAIN PANCAKES WITH POACHED RHUBARB Light, fluffy and full of flavour! Stack them high and get stuck in.

SERVES 6 (MAKES 20) For the pancakes: ✣ 100g (3½oz) oat flour ✣ 75g (2½oz) gluten-free buckwheat flour ✣ 2tsp baking powder ✣ ¾tsp bicarbonate of soda ✣ 75g (2½oz) granulated sugar ✣ 45g (1½oz) rolled oats ✣ 350ml (12fl oz) buttermilk ✣ 300ml (½ pint) oat milk ✣ 1 egg ✣ 50g (1½oz) unsalted butter, melted

✣ Handful of pomegranate seeds, to serve For the poached rhubarb: ✣ 400g (14oz) forced rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 5cm (2in) pieces ✣ 300ml (½ pint) pomegranate juice ✣ Vanilla pod ✣ 1 orange, zest peeled with a vegetable peeler ✣ 150g (5oz) caster sugar ✣ 2 star anise

1

In a large bowl, sift the flours, baking powder,

bicarb, sugar and ¾tsp salt, and stir through the oats. In a jug, whisk the buttermilk, oat milk and the egg. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Fold through the melted butter and leave to rest.

For the poached rhubarb, add the ingredients to a large pan and bring to the boil.

Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 5-6 mins, until the rhubarb is just tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a dish. Bring the leftover juice to the boil and

2

Gluten Free

reduce by two-thirds until thick and syrupy. Strain and reserve.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and ladle in the batter. Fry for 3-4 mins until bubbles come to the surface and pop.

Flip the pancakes and fry for 2-3 mins on the other side.

To serve, stack the pancakes, top with the poached rhubarb, drizzle over the syrup and scatter with pomegranate seeds. >>

3

4

PER SERVING

503 cals, 12g fat, 6g sat fat, 86 carbs

TIP Always grease the pan if you’re not using non-stick.

Woman’s Weekly

23

TIP Make the batter the day before and keep in the fridge overnight.

SPINACH CREPES WITH BEETROOT PUREE AND GOAT’S CHEESE The vibrant colours give these crepes instant wow factor, but they’re pretty simple to make.

SERVES 6 (MAKES 6) For the crepes: ✣ 1 large egg ✣ 100g (3½oz) plain flour ✣ 200ml (7fl oz) milk ✣ 45g (1½oz) baby spinach ✣ Vegetable oil For the filling: ✣ 300g (10oz) cooked beetroot ✣ 45g (1½oz) pumpkin seeds ✣ 45g (1½oz) sunflower seeds ✣ 150g (5oz) goat’s cheese ✣ 30g (1oz) dill, chopped

PER SERVING

600 cals, 38g fat, 11g sat fat, 48g carbs

SWEETCORN PANCAKES WITH SOUR CREAM AND A FRESH TOMATO SALSA This Mexican-inspired recipe is the perfect Pancake Day breakfast.

SERVES 6 For the pancakes: ✣ 250g (9oz) plain flour ✣ 2tsp baking powder ✣ 500g (1lb 2oz) canned sweetcorn, drained ✣ 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped ✣ 2 eggs ✣ 5tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra, to fry ✣ 300ml (½ pint) milk For the salsa and topping: ✣ 250g (9oz) plum tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped ✣ 1 red onion, finely chopped ✣ 30g (1oz) fresh coriander, leaves finely chopped ✣ juice of 1 lime ✣ 1tbsp olive oil ✣ 300ml (½ pint) soured cream 24 Woman’s Weekly

✣ 2 avocados, peeled, stone removed and finely sliced ✣ 1tsp chilli flakes

1

For the pancakes, put the flour, baking powder and 1tsp salt in a large bowl and grind over plenty of pepper. Stir in the sweetcorn, reserving 1tbsp, and half the red chilli. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add the oil and milk. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well to make a thick batter.

Heat a frying pan with 2tbsp vegetable oil.

Once hot, add heaped tbsp of the batter, keeping the portions well apart. Cook gently for 1-2 mins until golden on the underside.

2

Flip over and cook for a further 1-2 mins. Transfer to a plate and cook the remaining pancakes in the same way, adding a dash more oil for each batch.

Once finished, fry the remaining sweetcorn in the pan until charred.

For the salsa, mix together the tomatoes, onion, remaining chilli, charred corn, coriander, lime juice and olive oil.

Season with a little salt and pepper.

To serve, stack the pancakes and top with a dollop of soured cream and the tomato salsa.

Arrange half an avocado on each plate and sprinkle over a few chilli flakes.

3 4

1

For the filling, use kitchen towel to absorb excess moisture from the beetroot.

PER SERVING

322 cals, 19g fat, 7g sat fat, 22g carbs

Cookery Then blend with a stick blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the oven to 180C/ Gas 4. Roast the seeds on a baking tray for 6-8 mins.

Sprinkle over a little salt and set aside.

For the crepes, mix together the egg, flour, milk, spinach and 1tsp salt in a blender, until completely smooth. Place a large nonstick frying pan on a medium heat with a little oil and then spoon on a thin layer of batter, roughly 2tbsp, tilting the pan to move the mixture around for a thin and even layer. Cook on one side for 2 mins until lightly golden, then place on a plate and repeat until all the batter has gone.

To assemble, spread each crepe with 1-2tbsp beetroot purée, crumble over a little goat’s cheese and sprinkle with the dill and toasted seeds.

2

TIP Switch out the duck for jackfruit for a veggie alternative.

3

4

CRISPY DUCK HASH PANCAKES Crispy duck pancakes… but not as you know them! Our fun French-inspired twist on this classic is well worth the effort.

SERVES 4 (MAKES 4) For the pancakes: ✣ 75g (2½oz) plain flour ✣ 5 large eggs ✣ 200ml (7fl oz) milk ✣ Vegetable oil, for frying For the filling: ✣ 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes ✣ 2 confit duck legs (find them in supermarkets) ✣ 5tbsp hoisin sauce ✣ 100g (3½oz) spring onions, finely sliced

1

For the filling, steam the sweet potato until soft.

Cook the duck according to the pack instructions, then carefully shred it into bitesized chunks. Stir together the sweet potato, duck, hoisin sauce and spring onions (keeping a few to

garnish). Place to one side.

For the pancakes, put the flour and a little salt in a large bowl. Whisk in 1 egg and half the milk until smooth. Gradually whisk in the remaining milk.

Heat a 20cm (8in) crepe pan or frying pan and brush with a little oil. Pour 2tbsp batter into the pan, tilting so that the batter coats the base evenly. Cook, loosening the edge with a spatula until the pancake is browned lightly underneath.

Turn over the pancake and cook until browned on other side. Transfer to a plate or ovenproof dish, and cover to keep warm, while you cook 3 more.

In a separate frying pan, heat 2tbsp

2 3

4

PER SERVING

590 cals, 30g fat, 7g sat fat, 48g carbs

vegetable oil on a mediumhigh heat and fry the sweet potato mix, stirring now and then until crispy, about 5-10 mins. Remove the mix from the pan, add another 2tbsp oil to the pan and fry the remaining 4 eggs.

To assemble, place 1 pancake back into the pan and bring up to a medium heat. Spoon a quarter of the sweet potato mix into the middle of the pancake, place a fried egg on top and fold up the edges to form a little pancake parcel. Leave in the pan for a further 1 min until the bottom crisps a little. Repeat with the remaining mixture and eggs, and sprinkle over the reserved spring onion.

5

Woman’s Weekly

25

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Good to know

Are electric cars

GREEN?

Finding local charging points Access to charging points is a big issue for many drivers considering a switch to an EV. There are currently 30,205 available charging points in

the UK. If you want one at home it will cost around £1,000 to install, but the Government offers a £500 grant towards this. The availability of charge points for on-street parking is improving, with some EV drivers able to plug in to lamp posts and using wireless charging. The average range of an EV is increasing too, now standing at 181 miles, according to charging access website newmotion.com.

How long does charging take?

Anything from 30 minutes to 12 hours, depending on the size of the EV’s battery and the speed of the charging point. Superfast charging points are being rolled out to major motorway service stations to allow for longer journeys, which can charge up to 80% in under 30 minutes. A typical electric car (60kWh battery) takes just under eight hours to charge from empty to full with a 7kW charging point. Not surprisingly, over 90% of charging happens at night.

Tax benefits There are plenty of benefits for companies who choose to add electric vehicles to their fleets. Ultra-low emission vehicles offer significant tax advantages

Public charging points have increased fivefold since 2011

and exemption from city centre air pollution charges.

What will it cost?

There is a grant of £3,500 for all new electric cars. A new ‘miles per pound’ (mpp) figure reveals how far a car can travel for £1 of petrol, diesel or electricity. This makes it easier for buyers to compare the true cost of the car.

Although electric cars tend to be more expensive to buy than their petrol and diesel counterparts, the monthly

running costs are much lower. For example, the Kia e-Niro and Renault Zoe 65kW can achieve 33.1mpp of electricity. Meanwhile, the most economical version of the petrol-driven Ford Fiesta can achieve a figure of 9.3mpp.

WORDS: ANGELA TERRY. PHOTOS: ALAMY, GETTY

F

or starters, EVs (electric vehicles) have a motor instead of an engine, which is far more efficient. The battery in an EV is powered from electricity, which is now supplied by over 50% low-carbon sources such as renewable energy and nuclear power. Combustionengine cars run 100% on fossil fuels like petrol or diesel.

So driving an EV completely eliminates harmful exhaust pollutants and emissions such as particulates, which are known to cause respiratory health problems. Transport is the main source of greenhouse gases in the UK, with passenger cars the biggest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions.

Here’s what you need to know about their environmental credentials

Find out more

✣ Find a guide to home charging points at fullycharged.show ✣ See zap-map.com/live for existing charging points. ✣ For info on home-charging grants, and tax benefits, visit gov.uk ✣ Visit greencarguide.co.uk for help in choosing the right EV for you, or see goultralow.com. ✣ For information on running costs, visit motoringresearch.com Woman’s Weekly

27

Health

Your wellbeing Latest health solutions for your mind and body

Going out is the key to

Mary McHugh, 79, from Leeds, West Yorkshire

STAYING HEALTHY

WORDS: TANYA PEAREY. PHOTOS (POSED BY MODELS): GETTY. IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT YOUR HEALTH, SEE YOUR DOCTOR

A

busy social life is crucial to my wellbeing. I love going out and about.

Monday I do tai chi. It’s WeightWatchers Tuesdays, and Wednesdays I’ve started singing classes. Friday, I’m out for a meal with my neighbours.

I live alone, but I’m never lonely because so much is going on in my life. But I started struggling about 20 years ago when my hearing started to go. My daughter is an audiologist and spotted it first.

‘You need to book a hearing test, Mum,’ she told me.

So I did and that’s when they first suggested a hearing aid.

I was nervous at first – I kept checking it was still in my ear and worried that people might spot it. Now I’m proud to say I wear hearing aids because

they make such a difference.

When I used to go out and there was music and background noise, I couldn’t hear what the person next to me was saying. But with my hearing aids it’s marvellous to switch your background noise down and join the conversation.

And the technology has come on so much, particularly in

the past 10 years, with digital aids, which means no wires or fiddling around with tiny batteries. One charge lasts more than 24 hours. My latest pair – Starkey Livio AI – I got last year, and they’re really cutting edge. They include a fall alert function – if I fall over, they automatically call my son or daughter with my location and they can get help to me. It gives me so much peace of mind.

They help me get out and about and that’s essential to a great life. ✣ Starkey Hearing Technologies devices start from £800.

For information and stockists call 08000 683 533 or visit starkey.co.uk

EAT CHILLIES Recent research found that those who had chilli pepper more than four times a week had a 60% lower chance of stroke.

You’re most likely to find the meaning of life in your 60s.

People in their 60s feel the most purposeful, according to new American research from the University of California, San Diego.

And having meaning in your life is associated with better health and a longer life, say researchers.

NEW READ

3 ways to… cut your stroke risk CUT BACK ON SALT Too much can increase your blood pressure and your likelihood of a stroke. Stick to one teaspoon a day (6g).

Read food labels carefully for ‘hidden’ salt.

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29

Dr Gill

Advice from our Woman’s Weekly doctor

Garlic benefits A recent study found statistically significant decreased risks of stomach cancer after short courses of treatment for H pylori, a bacterial gut infection that may be underdiagnosed. Curiously, long-term (many years) ongoing vitamin supplementation also yielded statistically significant reductions in gastric cancer incidence and mortality, while garlic supplementation also reduced mortality, and had a small beneficial effect on incidence. Potential strategies for gastric cancer prevention need further research and development.

Coping with...

LIVER CANCER This cancer can be primary, from liver cells, or secondary, spread from other cancers

T

he liver is the largest organ of the body, containing a variety of cells that perform over 500 jobs, many to clean the blood. The main tasks are: to metabolise fats, proteins and carbohydrates; to produce and excrete bile, aiding digestion; storing minerals, vitamins and energy as glycogen; synthesising blood proteins and clotting factors; and clearing and excreting drugs, hormones and cholesterol.

Primary liver cancer is rarer but there are many cell types, all of which could produce cancers. The commonest primary is a hepatocellular carcinoma, which occurs more in people with long-term liver diseases such as hepatitis B or C, and in those who drink heavily or have cirrhosis.

There is also a higher risk in people with fatty liver, diabetes and a family history.

Secondary liver cancer occurs where cancer cells spread through the blood (metastasis) from many other cancer types, such as breast, bowel, pancreas, stomach and lung, and skin tumours. Less common neuroendocrine tumours can also come Research suggests that, as well as food from the hormone-producing tissue labelling for content, physical activity of the stomach, lung and bowels, calorie equivalent (PACE) labels should be and move in the blood to the liver. included too. These show the amount and Initially you may not notice any type of exercise needed to burn off a food’s symptoms, as the liver has great calories and might be a more effective way reserves, but then you might lose of encouraging healthier dietary choices your appetite, lose weight, feel tired than current options. For example, eating the or nauseous, have aching in the 229 calories in a small bar of milk chocolate abdomen or swelling from fluid would require about 42 minutes of walking build-up. Later, yellowing (jaundice) or 22 minutes of running to burn it off. affects skin and eyes, with dark urine

FOOD LABELLING

30 Woman’s Weekly

What you need to know

✣ It’s important to lead a healthy lifestyle to improve how you feel and cope – eat a varied diet, exercise regularly, cut alcohol and smoking. ✣ See your doctor regularly to discuss symptoms and have regular blood checks, as well as reviewing relief from medication or other therapies. ✣ Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your GP or specialist. Take someone with you or make a list – liver cancer treatment options are complex. ✣ Ask your doctor about local services and check online at Macmillan Cancer Support for excellent guides to understanding all types of liver cancer. and pale stools, and you’ll bruise easily.

The diagnosis of liver cancer is made using blood tests; scans including ultrasound, CT and MRI of the abdomen, and laparoscopy, where a camera is put into the abdominal cavity; and biopsy of tissue samples.

Research trials

Treatment will depend on the specific cell type and whether the cancer is a primary growth in the liver or secondary from cancer elsewhere. Treatments include surgery to specifically remove a primary cancer, or for all types you may be offered chemotherapy as tablets or

PHOTOS (POSED BY MODELS): GETTY. DR GILL IS UNABLE TO OFFER INDIVIDUAL ADVICE OR SEE INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS. ADVICE GIVEN HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY. SEEK HELP FROM YOUR GP IF YOU HAVE A MEDICAL PROBLEM

Dr Gill Jenkins has more than 25 years’ experience as a GP

Health

Q A

When am I too old to need contraception?

Put simply, you don’t need contraception once you can’t become pregnant, which is once you stop ovulating. However, the advice varies depending on your age. To be certain of not becoming pregnant, women using non-hormonal contraception are advised to continue with these until two years after their last period if they are under 50, but only a year if they are over 50. If using hormonal contraception, or HRT, where timing of the menopause may be unclear due to hormone-induced menstrual bleeds, women can continue using contraception until age 55 and then stop, as spontaneous conception at this age is rare even if menstrual bleeds still occur. The coil should be removed at around 55 as it can become a focus of infection. GPs should generally assess and treat women based on their needs rather than checking blood hormone levels. However, a blood test for follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) showing a level over 30 IU/L, in a woman over 50 who isn’t on the combined pill or HRT, confirms ovarian insufficiency, and contraception can be stopped one year later.

injections, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapies for some hormone-sensitive cancers. Targeted and immune therapies activate the body’s immune system to fight cancer, while stem cell and bone marrow transplants can be used with high-dose chemotherapy. As for all cancer care, supportive and symptom management medication are also important. Newer targeted and immunotherapies stimulate the immune system using antibodies, vaccines, system modulators and inhibitors.

Research trials are running for many cancers, including liver cancer, using new treatments, or new combinations of treatments looking for better outcomes.

Some drugs could cause dementia TRUE TRUE. A UK study in 2016 of over OR 250,000 dementia patients showed FALSE? a significant link to dementia in people over 55 who had used daily strong anticholinergic medicines such as some antidepressants, anti-vertigo drugs, Parkinson’s medication and some bladder medications. Patients taking these medicines should have regular reviews.

4 fixes for... obesity DO THE MATHS

MAKE SMALL CHANGES

WAKE UP TO WATER

GET ACTIVE

Energy consumed has to be less than energy burnt off, so you either have to eat fewer rich foods or be more active.

They’re easier to sustain and less likely to fail: one less choccy biscuit a day could lose you 5lb over a year.

Start your meal with a glass of water and lower-calorie foods such as vegetables, before enjoying smaller portions of higher-fat/higher-calorie foods.

Find activity you enjoy and do it with friends. Walking or cycling for just 30 minutes three times a week can make a difference.

Woman’s Weekly

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Health

Here to help Let counsellor Keren lighten your load

My husband is becoming so selfish

Q

My husband is becoming more and more self-centred as he gets older. He will only look after the grandchildren if he’s in the mood, won’t go out with people he doesn’t like that much and wants to watch what he likes on the TV. His view is that we’re old enough to do what we want as there isn’t that much time left. I think it’s selfish.

Marilyn, Eastbourne I’m wondering what selfish means in your terms. It sounds from what you’ve said that, if he isn’t doing what you want when you want him to, he’s the one who’s selfish! I wonder how often you ask him whether he’s happy to do something or if you just make the arrangements and mind when he says no. Of course, we need to compromise in a relationship, but does it always need to be him? Rather than dismissing his behaviour, I suggest you chat about what you both want in life and decide how you ask each other what they want to do, when it’s important that he comes with you and when it’s all right to do things alone.

A

My new neighbour is very intrusive

Q

We have new neighbours and the husband uses binoculars to look at our house in the evening and early morning. We’re opposite so he can see right into our bedroom. I’ve not got net curtains so I’ve started keeping the curtains closed in our bedroom and our daughter’s, which I really don’t want to do. Is there anything I can do about this?

Name and address withheld This sounds very unpleasant and is intrusive behaviour that needs to be tackled. No one wants to fall out with their neighbours so the first step would be to ask him round and say

A

Can you ask your children to pay you?

Q

I’ve recently left my job as I found the atmosphere very toxic. My son and daughter-in-law have two pre-school children. They’ve asked while I’m off if I can do some childcare, as my daughter-in-law is returning to work. I’d love to spend time with them but I need to be paid as I can’t afford to do it for free.

Louise, Cardiff

A

I wonder what’s behind your question? Are you concerned they won’t think you love them enough if you want to be paid? It’s important to separate the two things out. Your family have asked you to provide a service that they would

otherwise have to pay for. You need to earn money. Both of those things are facts.

I suggest you sit down and tell them that you’d love to be with your grandchildren, but that you have a dilemma.

I’m sure that they’d be happy to pay you,

that you’ve noticed him doing this and ask him his reasons. Explain that you find it uncomfortable and that you’d like it to stop. His wife may not know he’s doing this so it creates less ‘fuss’ if he comes alone, although I think your partner should be with you when you chat. If he agrees to stop and does, that will be the end of it. If he doesn’t, then the next step would be to involve his wife and then, if nothing changes, you need to involve the police.

Am I good enough to apply again?

Q

I applied for a job four months ago, where I met all the criteria and I didn’t get an interview.

as they’d know a loving grandmother would look after their children very well. ✣ Keren welcomes your letters, emails and texts, but she cannot reply to individual cases and will select correspondence at random for publication.

They said in the advert not to call and ask for feedback. I’ve just seen it re-advertised and I‘m wondering whether to apply again. I still think I’m a good fit and I’d like to work there.

Judy, London It’s hard to know why you weren’t shortlisted when you have no feedback. Often, in large companies, a junior HR member of staff with fixed criteria guidelines looks at the applications, so people can be overlooked. They often give you a name of someone you can call in the advert to discuss the position. I suggest you call them and ask them to tell you more about the job and then explain the situation and why you think you’d be good. You’ll know from that call if it’s worth applying again.

A

Woman’s Weekly

33

PHOTO (POSED BY MODELS): GETTY

Our relationship expert Keren Smedley has over 20 years’ experience

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34 Woman’s Weekly

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© REBECCA HOLMES, 2020. PHOTO: GETTY

I

was gazing out of the window at the snowman, and the snowman’s pebble eyes were staring back at me, just as all his ancestors had, when Alice came into the kitchen, taking care not to bump into the cardboard boxes.

‘I’m off now, Mum.’ She was the last to leave. Matt and Luke, both with longer drives home, had set off earlier.

‘Remember to take photos, like you promised. I’ve already reminded Dad.’ She nodded towards the garden before looking round the room as if trying to imprint every little detail on her memory. ‘I’ll miss this place.

I’m glad we got to make one last snowman. It feels… right.’

Her brothers had said exactly the same.

Thirty winters we’d been there, and whenever we had snow, five pairs of hands – three small and then Tom’s and mine as we showed them the ropes – would push, shove and roll one big snowball for a body and manoeuvre a smaller one for a head, in time-honoured fashion. As for the snowmen, whatever the size, year or name, from Frosty to Flaky to Glitz, each one thawed in the same way, forming the same shape.

We soon came to recognise the stages. First the carrots, pebbles and twigs fell out, quickly and brutally if hastened by rain, followed by the scarves and gloves, transferred to the washing machine or dried out on radiators if more urgently needed. Then the edges would start to smooth, worn down by wind and water.

The head would taper, pointed at the top, dipping in at the neck before sloping out towards the ground, lowest

The last

SNOWMAN Every creation was a memory and now it was time to make the greatest of them all

section widest. It happened every time, mesmerising and reassuring in its constancy.

A shrinking Buddha; the meditative sort, sitting in a lotus position. Stubborn, calm and silently resisting.

Each day they lasted felt like a little victory as we watched from the kitchen. As the children grew and life did its best and worst, I sometimes looked at the various snowmen and was struck by the thought that we had a lot in common – weather-worn, hanging on, and perhaps even getting wiser.

Eventually, one by one, the children moved out, leaving empty rooms and a snowman-less garden.

‘I know we’re fond of this house, Clara, but it feels wrong, the two of us rattling round,’ Tom said one day, and I agreed. Sometimes you know it’s time to go. Plus, frankly, it had become a bit of a nuisance to look after.

The house was sold and so we found a place that was

smaller, but not too small, and a moving date was set.

Alice, Matt and Luke, with partners and Matt’s toddler son, Liam, all came to stay for one last weekend, to collect the rest of their things and say goodbye.

Everything considered, even with the first signs of the coming spring beginning to show, somehow none of us were surprised that snow should start to fall as everyone arrived.

By morning, the garden was a blanket. Breakfast hastily disposed of, wellingtons were dug out, gloves and scarves unearthed. Everyone rolled back the years as they rolled the giant snowball, teaching Liam the ropes in the process.

They were ultra-organised, starting from the nearest corner of the garden, pushing straight to the far end before manoeuvring and working back. Work continued through freezing dusk in the light glowing from the windows.

Short story Phone cameras flashed.

We had Solitary Snowman, Abominable Snowman, Frosty (Mark Seven), group photos and individual poses. All ways of reliving long-gone childhoods and establishing one new one, before getting on with the other business of the weekend, and reality.

‘Make sure you take more photos as it shrinks,’ they all told us. ‘We want a record of every stage.’

Just as Tom and I had made sure to record every stage of their lives.

Luckily, the weather stayed fine and cold over the remaining days as we packed. Boxes were piled up and pictures taken down.

Family photos, those recorded stages, were wrapped extra carefully. Even with the furniture still in place, the house seemed to sense we were leaving. Just the snowman stayed constant.

I’d never known one to last for so long, almost as if he was hanging on, especially for us. As promised, I sent photos, to be rewarded with replies of ‘A record’ and ‘Best. Snowman. Ever!!’

The rain arrived two days before we left. Out fell the carrot nose. Down slipped the pebbles. On the penultimate day, the Buddha appeared, observing us benignly, smaller by the hour.

On moving day, I hardly noticed him in all the activity.

Only when the lorry was loaded and we were about to pull the door shut for the final time did I take a proper look out of the window.

A small mound remained, just proud of the grass. I made sure no one was looking, and waved. It felt like the best possible goodbye.

THE END Rebecca Holmes, 2020 Woman’s Weekly

37

Travel

Seen on

SCREEN Discover the locations of your favourite dramas filmed around the UK

The port of Charlestown features in Poldark

Gold Digger was filmed in Widecombe-in-the-Moor

Town and country

The show: Gold Digger The location: Devon and London Landing on BBC One at the is in the heart of Dartmoor end of last year, the thriller National Park. In one Gold Digger, starring Julia episode, the duo are seen Ormond and Ben Barnes, walking together down a gave us a wealth of dreamy street next to The Church landscapes along the House, which dates back Devon coastline. Eagle-eyed to 1537. The extensive viewers will have spotted heathland of Dartmoor can Widecombe-in-the-Moor, also be seen in the trailer. where Ormond and Barnes In terms of filming locations filmed many of their scenes. in London, you’ll see the The quaint village, which British Museum, where the often appears in the series, two characters first meet.

38 Woman’s Weekly

The show: Poldark The location: Cornwall If you’re missing Ross after the end of the final season last year, head to the glistening blue waters, lush countryside and craggy cliffs of Cornwall.

Much of the action on-screen takes place outdoors, so there’s plenty to spot on your travels.

The Grade II listed Georgian port of Charlestown, near St Austell, has been a favourite filming location for years, and it’s easy to see why, with its unspoilt beauty.

It’s home to a fleet of sailing ships, so you have the perfect setting for an 18th-century drama. All the harbour scenes were filmed here. The small beach alongside the harbour was also used in filming,

where it doubled as St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly.

For true wilderness, head to Bodmin Moor. Even during the busiest of summer seasons, you can get away from the hustle and bustle. The expanse of moorland, with its rocky tors, is punctuated by the occasional village consisting of a huddle of granite cottages. One of these cottages, in St Breward, was used for filming the exterior shots of the Poldark family home, Nampara.

WORDS: HELENA CARTWRIGHT. PHOTOS: ALAMY, BBC/MAINSTREET PICTURES/MIKE HOGAN GETTY

West Country wonders

Peaky Blinders was shot at Arley Hall in Cheshire

Midlands in the north The show: Peaky Blinders The location: Manchester Yes, you read that right – while the show (soon heading into its sixth series) is set in Birmingham, much of the action is filmed in Manchester, with Victoria Baths and the former fire station in London Road featuring as backdrops for many shoot-outs. Once home to firemen and their families, as well as a police

station and a court, the London Road Fire Station is now being turned into a destination, with everything from a gym to boutiques. Out of the city centre in Cheshire, the beautiful Arley Hall, with its impressive gardens, doubles up as the setting for Tommy Shelby’s impressive manor home.

Ely Cathedral was used for scenes in The Crown

Fit for a queen The show: The Crown The location: Ely Cathedral, Knebworth House and more Royals’ Scottish summer If you watch Netflix and residence, Balmoral Castle, love The Crown, their the perfect TV stand-in story of Queen Elizabeth’s reign – which is now filming throughout the series has been Ardverikie House in the much anticipated the Highlands. There have season four, then head been lots of other incredible to Ely Cathedral, which locations, including doubled as Westminster Knebworth House, Belvoir Abbey for the royal Castle and Audley End marriage and Coronation House in Essex. scenes. And for the

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WASH day TESTED

BY US so they work for you

Stitch these pretty appliqué laundry bags to organise your light and dark loads

Difficulty Fuse the Bondaweb YOU WILL NEED level ✣ 20cm x 25cm to the reverse Bondaweb of the plain cotton fabric by following the ✣ 10cm x 25cm plain pink cotton fabric manufacturer’s instructions. ✣ 10cm x 25cm plain peach Print or draw out the cotton fabric words ‘light’ and ‘dark’ ✣ 45cm x 70cm teal in block capitals; transfer patterned fabric the templates to the paper ✣ 45cm x 70cm floral backing on the Bondaweb. patterned fabric Cut out each letter ✣ Contrasting sewing thread and arrange on the ✣ 2m braided cotton cord patterned fabric. Position the ✣ Bodkin or large safety pin words about 9cm from the right edge and 18cm from STOCKISTS Alexandria the bottom edge of both Wayfinding Blue and Bloom patterned fabric pieces.

Bouquet Blue, £14 per m, Tula Peel off the paper Pink Designer Solids in Tula Pink backing and carefully and Persimmon, £9.60 per m, replace the appliqués in braided cotton cord in red, position on the fabric. Using £1.50 per m, all sewhot.co.uk a warm iron, fuse the letters

1

2

WORDS AND MAKE: ESME CLEMO. PHOTOS: BARRY MARSDEN

Craft

3 4

in place. Using a small meet and pin all the raw zigzag stitch in a contrasting edges apart from the thread, sew all the way channel opening. Stitch around the letters to secure. all the raw edges with a 1.5cm seam allowance.

Taking the two patterned Turn right sides out, rectangles, turn over making sure to push the top long sides by 8cm out the bottom corners, with wrong sides together and press. and press. Along the short edges, turn under the sides Cut the cotton cord by 1.5cm for the top 10cm. into two 1m lengths.

Pin and topstitch in place.

Using a bodkin or The Fold over the long large safety pin drawstring edge again, this time threaded with the close on these by 4cm. Pin and braided cotton laundry bags makes them great topstitch in place cord, push the for hanging up along the folded cord around the on the back of edge to create channel. Leaving a door. a channel. an extra bit of cord at each channel end, knot the Turn the rectangle two together and use as a right sides together drawstring to seal the bag. so the two short sides

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Woman’s Weekly

41

Gardening

Summer SENSATIONS Splash swathes of exuberant colour across your garden with summerflowering bulbs in pots and borders

Get prepped Summer-flowering bulbs such as begonias and lilies will be available around now, ready to plant out in early spring.

If the weather remains cold, pot them up and keep on a bright windowsill until it’s time to plant them out, ideally in a sunny position in well-drained soil. Dig a hole or trench and plant the bulbs around three times their depth, with the pointed ends upwards.

Plant out lilies in early spring

Luscious lilies Tall, fragrant and exotic-looking, lilies bring drama to any space.

Preferring sun or light shade, they will flower from June onwards.

Good drainage is key, so add grit or spent compost to the base of the planting hole. If your soil is heavy, grow them in pots.

Classic, sophisticated ‘Casa Blanca’ (above) has pure white trumpet-shaped flowers on tall stems (1.5m) in July. Grow under a window so the scent drifts indoors.

For containers or the front of a border, choose a petite variety such as the freckled pink Oriental lily ‘Mona The petite ‘Butter Pixie’ Lisa’ (H: 45cm) or citrus-yellow ‘Butter brightens borders Pixie’ (H: 35cm).

42 Woman’s Weekly

Glorious gladioli Forget the old-fashioned Dame Edna vibe; gladioli are attracting new appreciation.

Their tropical-style blooms are a favourite with flower arrangers. Slender, with sword-like leaves, they flower from July to September, adding colour and height to the garden. Try dwarf varieties for containers as well as the shorter ‘Butterfly’ gladioli, which have softer, frilly petals. Plant the corms every two weeks, 15-20cm deep, for a successional display. For statement planting, go for the burgundy ‘Espresso’, lime-coloured ‘Evergreen’ or the rich indigo ‘Purple Flora’.

Rich-hued ‘Purple Flora’

Plant trailing varieties in hanging baskets

WORDS: CHRIS MORLEY. PHOTOS: ALAMY, GAP PHOTOS/JENNY LILLY, GAP PHOTOS/VISIONS

Abundant begonias Popular for bedding and container displays, begonias are available in a rainbow of colours – from orange and pink to red and yellow – and flower freely from June to October. There are also trailing varieties for hanging baskets and raised beds. Start off the saucershaped tubers in shallow boxes with a mix of loam, leaf mould and sand, and when shoots appear, pot them up and keep on a sunny windowsill. Plant them in the garden once any danger of frost has passed.

Fragrant freesias This South African wild flower is a florist’s must-have, thanks to its delicate form and peppery scent. It can be grown in a greenhouse or in the garden after April (or when the risk of frost is over).

Look for corms that have been heat treated to encourage flowering. Take your pick from vibrant reds, yellows and mauves or gentler pastel shades.

Freesias are prized for their scent

S

o, what did we think of the Regency romance?’ Josie asked the members of the book group seated at her dining table.

‘Enjoyable. The characters came to life,’ Maggie said.

Cath giggled. ‘I wouldn’t mind a duke sweeping me off my feet!’

New member Tiffany took a deep breath. ‘It wasn’t my thing at all, I’m afraid. I prefer novels that challenge perceptions and reflect real life. How about something more literary next time? The latest Booker, maybe?’

She went on to enthuse about several prize-winning novels. ‘We could write our own reviews and take turns in reading them out,’ Tiffany continued.

Her suggestions were met with silence and bemused expressions. Tiffany blushed and bit her bottom lip. ‘I mean… only if you want to.’

Josie glanced at the stack of library books ready to hand out as the next read.

Cornish Cove CafŽ might not have won any prizes, but it was by an author they’d read before and enjoyed. Frivolous cover illustrations and titles often belied poignant plots.

She hoped Tiffany would give it a chance.

Josie cleared her throat.

‘Well, that’s certainly worth thinking about. Now, who’d like a cup of tea?’

After the meeting, while Josie was washing up, her thoughts drifted to three weeks previously. From her bedroom window, she’d watched a removal lorry draw up outside the house opposite and a small car pull into its driveway.

A lad, five or six years old, 44 Woman’s Weekly

JUDGING a book Change was definitely on Tiffany’s agenda, but was the village ready for what she had in mind?

she guessed, and a young woman got out and hurried into the house. A few hours later, Josie knocked and introduced herself.

‘Nice to meet you,’ the young woman said. ‘I’m Tiffany Meadows.’ She turned to the boy hovering in the hallway.

‘And this is my son, Lucas.’

A pang of nostalgia tinged with sadness settled in Josie’s chest as she took in the boy’s appearance. The tight black curls and eyes the colour of peanut butter reminded her of Elijah at that age.

She smiled at the boy and shifted her gaze back to his mother. ‘Welcome to the

village and do let me know if you need anything.’

It was then that Tiffany had said she wanted to throw herself into the community.

She’d asked about local groups and clubs, so Josie invited her to the book group.

With a sigh Josie brought her mind back to the present and finished the washing up. She picked the book up from the dining table and headed for the lounge. It was time to escape to Cornwall, away from village life.

Her suggestions were met with silence and bemused expressions

Two days later, Josie was doing some gardening when Tiffany, a little breathless in

running gear, stopped at the gate and pulled out her earbuds.

‘Josie. Hi,’ she said. ‘Can I ask you something?’

What was she going to come up with now? Aerobics instead of the usual keep fit in the church hall, energetic enough for the average age of those attending?

She’d already ruffled feathers at the residents’ association meeting by suggesting a winter celebration instead of the usual primary school nativity.

The vicar’s eyebrows had almost disappeared into his receding hairline.

‘I wondered if you’d have Lucas for me tomorrow for a couple of hours? I didn’t realise until yesterday that he’s got a half day,’ Tiffany said.

‘Well, I…’ Josie looked

down at the secateurs in her gloved hand. She hadn’t looked after a child in years.

‘I… I’ve got an important appointment and no one else to ask at such short notice.’

Josie frowned. Nervousness seemed to have replaced Tiffany’s usual self-confidence.

‘In that case, of course,’ she said, hoping he’d have homework to keep him busy.

Tiffany let out a relieved sigh. ‘Brilliant. I’ll let his teacher know.’

Josie picked Lucas up from the school playground and they walked along the lane lined with hedgerows that in the warmer months would be full of fragrant honeysuckle.

After asking if he liked school, to which he simply answered ‘Yes’, and whether he had homework – that was a ‘No’ – she rooted around for something else to say.

‘Would you like to help me pick tomatoes and beans in my heated greenhouse?’

He shrugged. ‘Our garden’s messy. Daddy always cut the grass at our old house and we didn’t have a greenhouse.’

Tiffany hadn’t volunteered any information about Lucas’ father, so Josie decided not to pursue the subject, and within a couple of minutes they reached her house.

Once inside, she gave Lucas a glass of homemade elderflower cordial, which he sipped warily, picked up a wicker basket from the lean-to and led him towards the greenhouse.

She told him the names of some plants, let him pick the ripe tomatoes and showed him the cane wigwam of runner beans.

‘We have to hunt among the leaves because the beans play hide-and-seek,’ she said, remembering she’d told Elijah the same thing when he was

little. ‘Let’s see how many you can find.’

‘We picked loads, look,’ Lucas said, pointing at the wicker basket, when Tiffany, dressed in a smart navy suit, arrived to collect him.

‘Wow!’ she said. ‘And thanks, Josie. I’ll repay the favour somehow.’

‘No problem,’ Josie said, handing over a brown paper bag full of tomatoes and beans. ‘For you and Lucas.’

‘That’s so kind,’ Tiffany’s eyes filled with tears. ‘Sorry, it’s been a bit of an emotional day.’

‘Oh, dear,’ Josie said, a little flustered. ‘Why don’t you sit down? Would you like a cup of tea?’

‘No thanks,’ Tiffany replied, but sat on the sofa. ‘I’ll be OK,’ she said, sounding anything but. Josie noticed Lucas’ face cloud over.

‘Lucas,’ Josie said, going to the kitchen tap and filling a plastic jug, ‘could you top up the birdbath and then go and check that we locked the door of the greenhouse properly?’

Once he was out of earshot Tiffany said, ‘I’ve been in court.’

‘Court?’ Josie sank into a chair.

‘Oh, I haven’t done anything wrong. It was a custody hearing.’

‘Did everything go OK?’ Josie asked, tentatively.

Tiffany nodded. ‘Joe and I have been granted joint custody, which is fine. Lucas will be delighted when I tell him he’s staying with his dad next weekend. But I was dreading seeing my ex. He makes me feel like “timid Tiffany” all over again.’

Josie frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

Tiffany sighed. ‘Joe’s such a gregarious person, whereas I’ve always been shy. We were the typical oppositesattract couple and he loved being the centre of attention.

‘But as the years went on, I seemed to be in his shadow more and more. Once, during a row, he called me “timid Tiffany”, said I was boring and had nothing to say.’

She opened her handbag and pulled out a tissue, pinching it to her nose.

‘Of course, he’d met someone else and was trying to blame me for the break-up.’

‘I’m so sorry. How horrible,’ Josie said, moving onto the sofa and gently squeezing Tiffany’s hand.

‘After we split, I decided no one was ever again going to think of me as timid again.’

She gave a little laugh. ‘I wasn’t lucky enough to inherit a café in Cornwall, but I had enough from our house sale to make a fresh start. We had no reason to stay where we were. My parents live in Spain and Lucas wasn’t settling at school. It’s early days but he seems to be doing fine at the new one.’

‘He seems happy enough and you’ve certainly made… an impact.’

Tiffany pulled a face.

‘Maybe too much of one?

I got the feeling at the book group…’

‘Oh, we needed a bit of a shake-up. In fact, I checked and the library has enough copies of the latest Women’s Prize, so I’ll suggest it to the group next time we meet.’

‘That’s great. Mind you, I’m

‘Of course, he’d met someone else and was trying to blame me for the break-up’

racing through Cornish Cove Café. I’ll never judge a book by its cover again.’

Me neither, thought Josie, thinking how she’d misjudged Tiffany. ‘And there’s nothing wrong with reinvention if it means building confidence, but don’t destroy your gentle nature by pushing too hard.’

It had been Elijah’s downfall.

The stressful city job, the pressure to meet targets, the ridiculously long hours.

‘Mummy!’ Lucas shouted, charging in. ‘I saw so many birds, Mummy!’

‘How lovely.’

‘I wish we had a garden like Josie’s,’ Lucas said.

Tiffany gave a rueful nod.

‘I need to sort ours out. It’s full of weeds and the grass desperately needs cutting.’

Josie smiled. ‘Oh, I don’t do it all myself these days.

My nephew Elijah has recently started up a little gardening business. I could ask him to contact you, if you like. His prices are very reasonable.’

‘Cool,’ Tiffany said. ‘When it’s in better shape I’ll have a garden party to celebrate.’

After they’d gone, Josie walked into the kitchen and looked out onto the garden.

Nurturing the plants and vegetables had helped both her and Elijah bond and heal after her sister’s death. With a father who’d disappeared before he was born, Elijah had come into unmarried Josie’s care.

With a warm glow she thought about her nephew now. How being close to nature had also helped him recover after he quit his job.

She glanced at the book on the kitchen table. She had one chapter left and felt sure that, like the characters in the story, Tiffany and Elijah were heading for a happy ending.

THE END Claire Buckle, 2020 Woman’s Weekly

45

© TI MEDIA LIMITED, 2020. PHOTO: GETTY

Short story

✔

Readers are advised to take any necessary precautions before entering into arrangements with advertisers. Every effort is made to ensure that the advertisements in Womans Weekly are honest and truthful.

Should you have any comments about the products and services you receive from these advertisements we would be pleased to hear from you. TI-media accept no responsibility for loss or damage.

OH SO

simple

Crochet If you’re a complete beginner to crochet or knitting, you can practise your skills with these basic squares

TESTED

BY US so they work for you

Crochet pot holder MEASUREMENTS About 20 x 20cm/8 x 8in.

MATERIALS 2 x 50g (75m) balls of Drops Paris Cotton Uni Colour (100% cotton) in Apricot (01)*. 3.5mm crochet hook.

Yarn is available from theknittingnetwork.co.uk.

TENSION 20 stitches and 23 rows, to 10 x 10cm, over double

crochet, using 3.5mm hook.

ABBREVIATIONS Ch(s), chain(s); st(s), stitch(es); dc, double crochet; slst, slip stitch.

NOTE Yarn amounts are based on average requirements and are therefore approximate.

Instructions in square brackets are worked as stated after 2nd bracket.

Difficulty level TO MAKE With 3.5mm hook and Apricot, make 41ch.

Foundation row (right side): 1dc in second ch from hook, [1dc in next ch] to end, turn – 40 dc.

Pattern row: 1ch (does not count as a st throughout), 1dc in first st, [1dc in next dc] to end, turn.

Continue in pattern until piece

measures 20cm from beginning and do not turn at end of last row.

Hanging loop: Make 12ch, slst into st at end of 3rd row from top, slst into st at end of 4th row from top, turn.

Work 18dc into the hanging loop, slst in last dc of last row.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Woman’s Weekly

47

Knitting

Knitted pot holder

therefore approximate.

Instructions in square brackets are worked as stated after 2nd bracket.

TO MAKE Using 3.75mm knitting needles and Ice Blue, cast on 40 sts.

1st row (right side): K all sts.

Last row sets gst. Continue in gst until piece measures 20cm from cast-on edge.

Cast off, but do not fasten off last st.

Hanging loop: Cast on 10 sts, pick up and k 1 st from end of 7th row below the cast-off edge, turn and cast off all sts.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

*YARN SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. FEATURE: TERESA CONWAY. PHOTOS: ANGELA SPAIN/TI-MEDIACONTENT.COM. STYLIST: ANNE HARTNETT. DESIGNER: PENNY HILL

MEASUREMENTS About 20 x 20cm/8 x 8in.

MATERIALS 1 x 50g (75m) ball of Drops Paris Cotton Uni Colour (100% cotton) in Ice Blue (29)*. Pair of 3.75mm (No. 9) knitting needles. Yarn is available from theknittingnetwork.co.uk.

TENSION 20 stitches and 36 rows, to 10 x 10cm, over garter stitch, using 3.75mm needles.

ABBREVIATIONS St, stitch; k, knit; gst, garter stitch (knit every row).

NOTE Yarn amounts are based on average requirements and are

Difficulty level

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48 Woman’s Weekly

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Readers are advised to take any necessary precautions before entering into arrangements with advertisers. Every effort is made to ensure that the advertisements in Womans Weekly are honest and truthful.

Should you have any comments about the products and services you receive from these advertisements we would be pleased to hear from you. TI-media accept no responsibility for loss or damage.

STEPPING Out Nothing was going to derail her dreams, not even her feelings for handsome Jack Carter

THE STORY SO FAR: Vicar’s daughter Carrie has long-held dreams of stardom and a life on the stage but after a confrontation with her father makes it clear what he expects of his daughter, she decides to escape her restrictive life and seek out a position with the performers in the popular Yakov’s Variety Show. Having spent time with the girls in the show earlier in the day, she is given an introduction to Mr Yakov himself and, with the help of dancer Belle, convinces him to give her a chance. Despite never having danced or sung professionally in her life, Carrie has secured her dream role. There’s no turning back now!

C

arrie had slipped out from the digs she shared with the other girls while they caught up on their sleep after last night’s performance.

She was pretty tired too. But a fierce desire to make herself unsackable drove her to work even harder than the others.

She had no intention of screwing up her chances with Mr Yakov.

‘You need to relax,’ Belle had told her, at the end of her first week. ‘You know what you’re doing. If the old man wanted to get rid of you, believe me, he’d have done it by now.’

Belle spoke so irreverently about Mr Yakov. It was as if she were discussing an old family pet.

The janitor had let her inside the theatre this morning, grumbling about being interrupted in the middle of his work. She wondered if that was him now, coming to spy on her.

That movement was coming from the pit – a stool scraping, the piano lid being lifted, some tentative notes being 50 Woman’s Weekly

played. She held her breath.

More notes. Melancholy, cautious, but gathering in confidence to make a delightful if unfamiliar tune.

Intrigued to discover the identity of the mystery musician, Carrie crept onto the stage and gave the curtain a twitch. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she saw it was Jack Carter, her reluctant companion to the station the night she’d run away.

On that walk she’d attempted to make conversation with him, asking him if he was one of the performers in Yakov’s Variety Show. His reply had been brusque. Not likely, he’d said. He was just the odd-job man. She’d ploughed on in her best vicar’s daughter’s manner, remarking how interesting that sounded, but wished she hadn’t, given the withering look he’d given her. After that, no other words had passed between them and it had

been a huge relief to arrive at their destination.

Since then, she’d ignored him and he her, apart from a brief nod of acknowledgement whenever their paths crossed.

She’d heard him speak enough times to classify him as one of those varsity types.

No doubt he thought she was below him in rank, a mere chorus girl with no education to speak of.

Well, she’d soon put him right. She’d proved herself more than a match for those Oxford boys, much to the dismay of her mother.

Remembering her mother brought a pang to Carrie’s conscience. It had been rash of her to run away like that without leaving a note. She’d written since, a short, polite note, in which she’d expressed her regret at leaving the way she did, but also her certainty that it was the right thing to do. She hadn’t left a forwarding address.

‘That was lovely,’ she piped

So far she’d sailed through the week without a single mishap

SERIAL PART TWO up, cheerfully, stepping in front of the curtain.

His eyes, previously closed, sprang open, startled at this interruption.

‘Do you always creep about like that?’ he said.

‘I was practising,’ she said. ‘Like you. I’ll leave you alone now.’

He was very rude, she thought.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘You gave me a shock, sticking your head between the curtains like that.’

‘Are there any words?’ she said.

He looked puzzled.

‘To the song,’ she said.

‘I don’t recognise the tune.’

‘You won’t,’ he said. ‘I wrote it myself. It’s meant to be a love song. But the lyrics insist on evading me.’

Carrie decided it was impossible to continue their conversation at this distance.

She clambered down from the stage and lowered herself nimbly into the orchestra pit.

‘Perhaps I could help,’ she said. ‘It can’t be too hard to think up words to a love song.’

He gave her a cynical look.

‘Maybe, if you’re content

Serial

with spooning under the moon in June,’ he said.

‘While sweet doves croon,’ she added, for good measure.

He pulled a face, which made her laugh.

‘I’m tired of love songs anyway,’ he said, becoming serious again. ‘After the war, they seem so shallow.’

A look of pain passed briefly across his face. She felt a momentary surge of tenderness for him, guessing that, like so many people, he’d lost comrades, perhaps brothers too. And then there was that awkward limp of his.

She could have asked how he’d come by it. But instinct told her not to tread where she hadn’t been invited.

‘You seem deep in thought,’ he said, allowing his fingers to rest on the keys.

‘I’m just thinking about what you just said. About love songs.’

‘You disagree?’

She shook her head.

‘Not disagree entirely,’ she said. ‘It’s just that...’

He studied her face, waiting for her answer. She’d never been looked at in this way before. There was such

keenness in his gaze, such a lack of guile. He wasn’t flirting like those boys she’d met at parties, but really seemed to want to know.

‘Go on,’ he said.

‘Well, maybe right now – now more than ever, really,’ she said, haltingly. ‘Love songs are exactly what people need.’

He tilted his head, slightly, as if he were considering her words. ‘Maybe it’s time to turn away from hate and turn to love, is all I’m saying,’ she said.

His face lit up, as if he’d just heard something to make him change his mind.

‘You might have something there Miss… what’s your name again?’

‘It’s Carrie Nash.’

Now she’d delivered her little speech, she suddenly felt awkward again. ‘And now, if you don’t mind, I have to be somewhere,’ she said.

She couldn’t stay here. She needed time to process exactly what it was that seemed to be happening to her.

Another week, another town, another venue. After a month, Carrie was beginning to feel like she belonged. She’d never had a sister, but now she felt surrounded by them.

Apart from Belle, there was Maud, who taught her that the best way to catch bedbugs was with a bar of soap, and Nancy, who showed her how to stretch her muscles properly after a performance, as well as Betty and Connie, her room-mates. Even so, she still didn’t feel confident enough to discuss her feelings about

Jack Carter with any of them.

Mostly because she didn’t know what her feelings were.

Their last conversation – their only conversation, in fact – had been serious and meaningful.

But it might as well never have occurred, given how he was once more ignoring her.

What if she’d somehow put him off? Exhausted by going round in a loop thinking of him, Carrie reminded herself just what exactly it was that had driven her to leave home.

Certainly not so she could find herself a beau! No, it was her ambition that had set her on this path. She’d made the chorus line of Yakov’s Variety Show. But this was just the start.

It was with this stiffened resolve that she put Jack Carter out of her mind and threw herself into her work.

Tonight was their final night in Knedburn. Audiences had been small and steady during the week, but tonight was a Saturday, the final night, and it was a full house.

Just before the curtain went up, Belle had insisted she could smell the audience’s excitement and, although Carrie wouldn’t have gone that far, there was certainly a different mood out front, a charged atmosphere that always brought out the best in the performers.

She’d started off on the back row, but just this week in Knedburn, thanks to all those extra hours of training she’d put in, she’d been promoted to the front row, albeit to the spot nearest the wings, stage left. Right before her first performance in her new position, she’d been racked with stage fright. What if she forgot the steps, she’d remarked to Belle. If she got it wrong tonight then she’d be banished to the back row for the rest of the season.

Belle had told her not to be silly. Just keep smiling and

don’t look at the audience, was her final piece of advice, whispered in her ear just as the curtain rose on that first matinee. It was good advice and so far she’d sailed through the week without a single mishap.

As usual, the final turn before the show ended was the medley – three tunes belted out on the piano, each faster than the other and with the footwork becoming increasingly complicated. It demanded great concentration and yet the girls’ smiles were never allowed to falter for one second. So far, so good. The music swept her along and her body felt like a fine-tuned instrument. Any minute now the music would come to an end and the curtain descend. It was then she forgot Belle’s words and allowed her eyes to roam around the audience.

It was then she picked him out. Sitting right in the middle of the front row was her father, stiff and upright, his dog collar in plain view, an indecipherable expression on his face. Her initial reaction was one of fear. But then she told herself to buck up. The show was the thing. She had to carry on with the routine or she’d let the other girls down.

She danced on, with more ardour than ever. She would jolly well show him what she could do!

Finally, the show was over.

As the cast drifted off into the wings, Carrie gripped Belle by the arm.

‘You’ve got to help me, Belle,’ she hissed. ‘He’s come to drag me back home. I know it! And I won’t go! I won’t!’

At first, Belle didn’t appear to know what she was talking about. Her feet were aching, she said, and she desperately needed to take her shoes Continued overleaf Woman’s Weekly

51

off. Carrie only gripped her tighter.

‘But you don’t understand,’ she said, almost in tears.

‘My father was sitting right in the middle of the front row!

He’s come to get me!’

Belle dropped the shoe she’d just removed and gave a shriek, attracting the attention of Jack Carter, who’d been loitering in the wings watching the action on the stage.

‘I say,’ he said, coming over.

‘Is there anything I can do?’

Belle quickly filled him in on the situation. Well, there was no way they could let him take Carrie back home, if she didn’t want to go, he said, firmly.

‘I don’t,’ Carrie wailed. ‘It’s the last thing I want!’

Her dreams were crumbling before her very eyes. This time tomorrow she’d be back in Sittingford, the vicar’s daughter who’d brought shame to his good name.

Carrie let out a mournful sob.

Jack gave a click of his fingers. ‘I’ve got it,’ he said.

‘What are you going to do?’ the girls demanded, with one voice.

‘You don’t need to know,’ he said, firmly.

‘Just keep this one under lock and key until I give the all-clear.’

him for what he’d done last night. She hadn’t heard it from him, since she’d been stuck at the sink with a towel round her head. But according to the others, Jack had gone in search of her father and struck up a conversation with him.

He told him he felt a calling and that it was a sign from God to send the reverend to this very spot just when he needed to talk things over with someone who could advise him. Apparently, her father couldn’t get away from him. Jack steered him round the corner out of sight of the theatre, and proceeded to question him about the gospels till the poor reverend’s head was spinning and they’d arrived at his hotel. What he’d achieved was a work of sheer genius!

But, just in case he did get it into his head to follow them to their next venue, all the girls agreed, they needed to make sure he didn’t recognise his daughter. Back at the digs, Connie had taken the clippers to her hair. She’d insisted on changing the colour of Carrie’s hair too, and Carrie was now the owner of a very fashionable bob. Once it had been applied and taken, the unanimous decision had been that she was very fetching and that her father wouldn’t recognise this auburn-headed dancer if he came looking for her again.

It was with a sense of optimism that she left for the theatre with the others to make sure nothing was left behind, given they’d be heading north to Adlingby that afternoon. But as soon as she arrived, she was

‘I’m afraid I have to let you go,’ he said. ‘Take your things and leave’

When she woke up the next morning, it was with a sense of relief that she was still in her own bed in the room she shared with Betty and Connie.

She thought it seemed colder than usual this morning.

When Carrie put her hand to her head she immediately remembered why.

What would Jack think of her new hairstyle, she wondered, idly. She longed to see him again, to thank 52 Woman’s Weekly

summoned to Mr Yakov’s office and her optimism plummeted. He must have spotted that one tiny step she’d missed, the moment she’d seen her father…

Meekly, she knocked on his door. Instead of his usual ‘Come’, this time he flung open the door. Red in the face, he angrily threw a piece of paper at her. Carrie stepped back, terrified.

‘Do you know what this is?’ he said.

Even before she could admit that she didn’t, he told her.

‘This,’ he said. ‘Is a letter from your father’s solicitor.’

Carrie gave a step back.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Your father.

Reverend Edwin Nash.’

He drew out every syllable so that there could be no mistaking that he was aware of the previous night’s trickery.

‘He is accusing me of kidnapping his daughter,’ he said. ‘Threatening to take me to court.’

‘But that’s ridiculous!’

Carrie protested. ‘Nobody’s kidnapped me. I came here of my own free will.’

He raised his hand before she could say more. As far as he was concerned, she’d lied to him. He wasn’t going to risk his livelihood and his reputation for her. It was no use pleading, he said.

‘I’m afraid I have to let you go,’ he said. ‘Take your things and leave. Immediately.’

She hadn’t said a word to the other girls. She couldn’t have borne to speak to them

without bursting into tears.

She simply picked up her little case and walked out through the stage door, in the direction of the station.

There was a train to Birmingham in 20 minutes.

From there she could take a connection back to Sittingford. For where else could she go? Thoughts spun round her head. Of Belle and the others. And Jack too.

She hadn’t had time to say goodbye to him, to thank him for what he’d done, and now she would never see him again. And then there were her dreams. Destroyed in the blink of an eye.

For the past five minutes or so she’d been half aware of footsteps following her.

Her immediate thought was that it was her father. She quickened her steps but the faster she hurried, the faster her pursuer hurried too.

As she entered the station, the noticeboard told her the London train was due in three minutes. But it was on the other platform, and she was going to have to cross the bridge. Carrie ran, determined to shake off her stalker.

But it was to no avail. He was gaining on her. She could hear his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. She thought she heard him call out to her but his words were swallowed up by the roar of the London train steaming into the station.

She was on the bridge now with very little breath left, but determined to make it. It was then she made the mistake of turning her head to see if she’d shaken him off, lost her footing and took a tumble.

When she looked up, his shadow was looming over her.

‘So! I’ve caught up with you at last!’ he said.

CONTINUES NEXT WEEK Geraldine Ryan, 2020

© TI MEDIA LIMITED, 2020. ILLUSTRATIONS: ZARA SLATTERY

Serial

Your stars For 19-25 February with Barbara Goldsmith

yourastrologysigns.com

LIBRA 24 Sep – 23 Oct Someone new could come into your life this week.

It could be the start of a friendship or a romance.

SCORPIO 24 Oct – 22 Nov Family and home are in the spotlight this week. You may be thinking about moving house or making changes to your environment.

SAGITTARIUS 23 Nov – 21 Dec Don’t be tempted to overspend this week. It’s time to focus on your creative ideas for bringing in more money.

CAPRICORN 22 Dec – 20 Jan Don’t allow yourself to be rushed into anything. Take your time and know another deal is around the corner.

AQUARIUS 21 Jan – 19 Feb It’s time to pamper and treat yourself. You might get a new outfit or hairdo, or go to a spa for a rejuvenation day.

PISCES 20 Feb – 20 Mar In financial terms, this is a positive time for you.

Nurture ideas of abundance and wealth, and watch them manifest in your world.

ANSWERS TO 11 FEBRUARY PUZZLES

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SUDOKU

5 1 6 8 3 4 2 9 7 JUMBO PUZZLE ACROSS: 4 Sin 8 Amp 13 Organic 2 3 9 6 7 5 8 4 1 14 Inexact 15 Origami 16 Chip 17 Breezy 18 Tread 7 8 4 1 9 2 6 3 5 19 To let 21 Set free 22 Endless 24 Enclave 26 Ailing 9 2 5 3 1 8 7 6 4 1 4 7 9 2 6 3 5 8 28 Unearth 30 Wall bars 35 I do 36 Rosette 38 Eight 39 Cloud 40 Noah 41 Nature reserve 43 Liar 47 Chime 3 6 8 4 5 7 9 1 2 6 5 3 7 8 1 4 2 9 48 Skull 49 Auditor 50 Ill 51 Tweaking 52 Delayed 4 7 1 2 6 9 5 8 3 8 9 2 5 4 3 1 7 6 54 Mingle 57 Carry on 60 Cosiest 62 At a loss 64 Amble 66 Scour 67 Remedy 68 Elba 70 Literal CODEWORD R E N EWA L QUA K E D 71 Attract 72 Nominee 73 Eat 74 Egg E Y H I P P N I C E L L O T E L E P HON E DOWN: 1 Coach station 2 Ageist 3 Ink 4 Scorned O O L H O E W T 5 Nineteen 6 Sexy 7 Mantle 8 At least 9 Poodle 10 Dirt MP I N C ME M E A TT R O EL L B E X C E E D D E F E ND E R 11 Dahlia 12 Distressed 20 Granary 23 Drape 25 Calico N H A R R X G E S CA L L I ON C I N EMA E P B S K 27 Lookalike 29 There 31 Activate 32 Agonising J E E P O V E R T H R OW O R R T A E I A 33 Assassin 34 Agreed 37 Taurus 42 Ellie 44 Roller P RO F I L I NG N I GH T U N Z C L C H skates 45 Weekly 46 Arrival 47 Cat’s cradle 49 Amaze S T E R E O E L E C T O RE 53 Estimate 55 Acrobat 56 Landing 58 Rebate 59 Nestle 61 Sprite 63 Online 65 Euro 67 Read 69 Imp Answer: ANGELFISH LINKWORD BUCKLE, LAUNCH, FRIDAY, BUTTON, FRIEND, ALMOND, PUPPET, STREET, SHOWER, SPONGE Answer: CUTTLEFISH WORDWISE Able, aloe, alto, babel, bale, bauble, belt, blab, blah, bleat, bloat, blob, blot, blub, blue, bole, bolt, bulb, hale, halo, halt, haul, heal, helot, hobble, hole, holt, hotel, hula, late, lath, lathe, leat, loathe, lobe, loth, lout, lute, oblate, table, tale, teal Answer: TABBOULEH

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ARIES 21 Mar – 20 Apr Taking quiet time – to be in nature, to meditate, to read, to listen to music – will be soothing for you this week.

TAURUS 21 Apr – 21 May Financially, the aspects are positive for you. This is an excellent time for starting a business or launching a new product or service.

GEMINI 22 May – 21 Jun Setting priorities is vital, as you’re likely to be very busy.

Allow extra time for getting to your appointments.

CANCER 22 Jun – 23 Jul This is a wonderful time to plan a trip somewhere you haven’t been before.

Short- or long-distance travel is under positive stars.

LEO 24 Jul – 23 Aug You may be searching for more meaning in your life.

Volunteering your time or helping others is a great way to start.

VIRGO 24 Aug – 23 Sep Your health is important and may need more of your attention. Listen to your body and take action immediately.

In your NEXT ISSUE

On sale 26 February Editorial Complaints We work hard to achieve the highest standards of editorial content, and we are committed to complying with the Editors’ Code of Practice (https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/cop.html) as enforced by IPSO. If you have a complaint about our editorial content, you can email us at complaints@ti-media.com or write to: Complaints Manager, TI Media Legal Dept, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Please provide details of the material you are complaining about and explain your complaint by reference to the Editors’ Code. We will endeavour to acknowledge your complaint within five working days and we aim to correct substantial errors as soon as possible.

Woman’s Weekly

53

PUZZLE TIME

Wordwise LINKWORDS You have 15 minutes to find as many words as possible using the letters shown in the grid. Each word must contain four or more letters, one of which must be the central square.

No proper nouns, plurals or foreign words are allowed. There is one nine-letter word in the grid, for which this week’s clue is: Sluggish person

A CW CO L OH S

Average = 15 More than 35 = well done

SUDOKU

To solve this puzzle, fill in the grid so that each 3 x 3 box, each row and each column contains the numbers 1-9.

7

2

4

6 3 9 1 3 2 5 5 1 3 9 8 5 4 9 3 6 2 5 7 3 8 4 4 7 9 4 2 7

YOU CAN WORK IT OUT...

Fit 10 words into EASY the grid so that RED each links with the end of the ICE word on its HEADACHE left and the beginning LAVENDER of the one on HARD the right. Then unscramble the NORTHERN letters in the SECOND shaded squares to make a word.

LIE CLUE: NEW TABLE ZEALAND CITY

Codeword Every letter of the alphabet has been replaced by a number, the same number representing the same letter throughout the puzzle.

Just decide which letter is represented by which number.

To start you off, we’ve revealed the codes for three letters.

Once you’ve filled in these letters throughout the puzzle, you’ll have enough info o guess words nd discover ther letters. Use e letter checklist nd letter grid keep track of e letters you ave found.

PRACTICE BOX LIST COMPUTER FIGHT

WONDERLAND OUT TRAIL DEER ELBOW A codeword is like a crossword puzzle but there are no clues!

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

ABCDEF

O HIJK MN

22 5

18

22

13 8

2

23

8

15

18

12 16

2 1

26

21

14

2

24

1

2

21 12

3 22

8

8 11

3

18 7

13

21

22

23

24

25

26

26

21

19

24

2

2

12

3

2

11

21

26

4

16

4

L

O G

21

26

11

15

11

15

16

26

2

18

16

24

8

16

16

26

12

18

17 22

11

16

8 8

2

15

15

18

24

15

7 9

2

20

7 19

16 23

2

15

14

21

17

12

2

3

24

10

8

15

3

L

PQRSTUVWXYZ

15

17 1

25

12

3

15

10

11

21

15 4

10

9

13

18

9

15

15

8 11

11

G

8

26

13

6

2 15

12

17

6 26

12 24

23

11

3 24

26

11

22

24 8

22

17

Puzzles Just for fun!

Jumbo PUZZLE

Read down the letters in the shaded squares to spell out a TV series.

ACROSS

1 Out of breath (6) 4 Channelled water to crops (9) 9 Feature, detail (6) 15 There were 10 of them a-leaping (5) 16 Quits a job (7) 17 Mike ___, US vice president (5) 18 Limb, branch (3) 19 Naming word (4) 20 Angler (9) 21 Spacious type of car (6) 24 Alliance, union (11) 26 Belonging to the past (10) 29 Thin, absorbent paper (6) 31 Major occasions (6) 32 Fringed, bordered (5) 33 Successful chart song (3) 35 Children’s park spaces (11) 36 Itching (10) 40 Make more sturdy (10) 42 Sensible, trusted (11) 44 Bitumen (3) 45 Market trader’s stand (5) 47 Fix firmly (6) 48 Platforms for actors (6) 50 Builds, erects (10) 52 Lettering style (11) 56 Putin’s country (6) 57 Devout or godly (9) 59 A lot of (4) 62 Hearing organ (3) 63 Perfect (5) 64 Quiet (7) 65 Alternative (5) 66 Tune (6) 67 Enigmas (9) 68 Followed orders (6)

DOWN

1 Making a heap (6) 2 Powdered baby milk (7) 3 Direction on a compass (4) 5 Takes a breather (5) 6 Items in a recipe (11) 7 Suppose, take for granted (6) 8 Costly (9) 10 Protected from weather (9) 11 Stretchable cord (7) 12 Domesticated, like a pet (4) 13 Floated on the tide (7) 14 Police inquiry (13) 22 Put up a fight (8) 23 Item of crockery (5) 25 After sixth (7) 27 Halts, ceases (5) 28 Operates (4)

30 Strew, disperse (7) 33 Fashion accessory (7) 34 Applauded (13) 37 Reply (7) 38 Dither, waver (8) 39 Animal (5) 41 Orderly, tidy (4) 42 Oblong-shaped (11) 43 Adhere, fasten (5) 45 Contented, fulfilled (9) 46 Strictly speaking (9) 49 Confided in (7) 51 Gearstick position (7) 53 Mischievous (7) 54 A storage cupboard (6) 55 Divided equally (6) 58 Sixteen in a pound (5) 60 Virus, bug (4) 61 Explosive device (4)

YOU CAN WORK IT OUT...

✣ The answers for 11 February puzzles are on page 53.

The answers to all this week’s puzzles will appear in two issues’ time.

WOMAN’S WEEKLY, TI Media Limited, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Call 020 3148 5000. Email womansweeklypostbag@ti-media.com. Advertising: 020 3148 3675. Offers: 0800 138 2826. Back issues: 01795 662976; email support@mags-uk.com or order online at http://mags-uk.com/browse-by-publisher/ti-media.html. Unless otherwise stated, all competitions, free samplings, discounts and offers are only available to readers in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland. All details correct at time of going to press.

Prepress by Rhapsody Media. Covers and text printed by Walstead UK Limited. Distributed by Marketforce (UK) Ltd, a TI Media Limited company, 2nd Floor, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf E14 5HU; tel: +44 (0)20 3787 9001. ISSN 0043-7417. ENGLISH WOMAN’S WEEKLY is published by TI Media Limited, PO Box 3873, SYDNEY NSW 2001. CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUBSCRIPTIONS, call 1-800-428035; or email eww@customersvc.com. Our Privacy Policy is available at timesouthpacific.com or may be obtained by emailing timeincprivacyofficer@time.com.au. Printed in Australia by Webstar, Unit 1/83 Derby St, Silverwater NSW 2128. Distributed in Australia by Network Services, 54 Park St, Sydney, NSW 2000, and in New Zealand by Netlink Distribution Co, c/o Moore Gallagher, 6 Donner Place, Mt Wellington, Auckland. ISSN 1039-5814. Subscription rates: One year, 50 issues (incl. postage and packaging): UK £68.98; Europe €142.57; USA $181.56; rest of world £97.73. For enquiries and orders email help@magazinesdirect.com or, from the UK, call 0330 333 1113 or from overseas, call +44 330 333 1113 (lines open Monday to Saturday, 8am-6pm, UK time).

Woman’s Weekly

55

What’s on Top entertainment for going out or staying in

Only Fools and Horses the Musical

Show

The musical based on the sitcom has been extended for a third time and will be at London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket until April 2020.

Co-writer and comedian Paul Whitehouse (far right) stars as Grandad, in this adaptation of the quintessentially British show that follows South London market trader Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter as he tries to get rich quick. Visit londontheatre.co.uk for information and tickets.

Last Tango in Halifax

Flesh and Blood

BBC1 The Yorkshire-set comedy drama makes a longawaited return, with Anne Reid and Derek Jacobi (above) reprising their roles as pensioners Alan and Celia. The couple are now seven years into their marriage, but aren’t seeing eye to eye, thanks to Alan’s brother Ted (Timothy West) coming home from New Zealand, and Alan’s challenging supermarket job. Nicola Walker, Josh Bolt and Sarah Lancashire are also back for the fifth series.

Show

TV

Message in a Bottle

ITV In this gripping drama shown across four nights, Francesca Annis (right) stars as Vivien, a recently widowed 70-year-old who causes consternation in her family when she falls for retired surgeon Mark (Stephen Rea, centre). As her grown-up children try to find out more about him, it leads to family secrets and betrayals being exposed – and a violent attack.

Imelda Staunton (left), Russell Tovey and Claudie Blakley also star.

Set to the songs of musician and 17-time Grammy Awards winner Sting, this original dance theatre production premieres at Sadler’s Wells’ The Peacock Theatre, London in February, before undertaking its UK and international tour. This collaboration between Sadler’s Wells and Universal Music tells the tale of three siblings undertaking a journey from their village to new lands, facing a series of astonishing adventures along the way. Visit sadlerswells.com to discover more and book tickets.

56 Woman’s Weekly

WORDS: JASON BEST, MICHAEL DARLING, ZOE WEST. PHOTOS: BBC/LOOKOUT POINT/MATT SQUIRE, JOHAN PERSSON

TV

Book club

Our pick of the best reads around The Guest List

by Lucy Foley (£12.99, HB, HarperCollins) As guests arrive on a remote island for a wedding, it’s soon clear that past grudges and hidden jealousies abound. The groom, a rising television star, and his bride, an ambitious magazine publisher, have planned the wedding of the year to perfection – except for the part when one of the guests is found dead. Told from the viewpoint of various members of the party, the Agatha Christie-style whodunit is packed with twists and turns amid an atmospheric setting. Another sure-fire hit from the author of the bestselling The Hunting Party.

Book of the week

Rules of the Road

Film

by Ciara Geraghty (£7.99, PB, HarperCollins) In this uplifting novel, we meet an unusual trio on their way to a clinic in Zurich, where one of them plans to end their life. As they make the trip, what should be the worst six days of narrator Terry’s life turn into the best because friendship can teach us to be brave, and this magical read certainly affirms this.

Under a Wartime Sky

Greed

Out 21 February Steve Coogan’s disgraced fashion billionaire Sir Richard ‘Greedy’ McCreadie is planning a lavish toga party on the Greek island of Mykonos for his 60th birthday. His official biographer (David Mitchell) is on hand to record events, and a reality TV crew is following his pampered daughter’s every move. But his celeb guests are cancelling, the fake amphitheatre he’s building isn’t finished and refugees are camping on the beach nearby. Does disaster loom? With real fat-cat retail tycoons firmly in its sights, this is a brazenly satirical comedy.

by Liz Trenow (£7.99, PB, Pan Macmillan) Fans of Kate Furnivall will enjoy this story based on real-life events at a top-secret research station. At a grand Suffolk house, Churchill has brought the brightest minds together to work on a secret invention.

When local girl Kathleen is told by a shy physicist they are recruiting women to help operate this system, she makes a decision that will change her life forever.

Woman’s Weekly

57

Rosemary

THREE’S

a crowd

There are times when I wonder whether this page should contain a health warning for those of a delicate disposition.

You might be flicking through Woman’s Weekly in the doctor’s waiting room, and a sudden onset of high blood pressure or a racing pulse is no laughing matter.

Be warned, then. We left last week’s exciting episode on something of a cliffhanger, and I’m afraid it’ll be a while before the blue lamps and sirens of the mountain rescue people arrive at the cliff edge.

The cliffhanger again concerned Graham, a man who once – in the barely remembered memory that is my youth – chatted me up as we sat on a hay cart, swinging our knees, outside a summer party.

Having arrived in our district recently, he took me out to dinner when Mr Dear was on a chaps’ weekend in the country, and recently invited me to lunch on St Valentine’s Day, having bumped into me unexpectedly outside the charity shop.

At least, he said it was unexpected. My colleague Grace, though – and this was the cliffhanger in question – revealed that he’d been waiting outside the shop for about an hour.

‘I wouldn’t be seen dead having lunch with him, Rosie,’ she advised. ‘He sounds like a right creep.’

‘Perhaps you’re right,’ I said.

Anyway, there we were at lunch on St V’s Day. Me and the right creep, Graham. We are not at The Little French Place on the Bypass, scene of our dinner date, but at The Nice Italian Place Just off the High Street.

‘Nice here,’ said Graham.

‘Rather oldfashioned, and probably a bit stuck in the 1970s – just like me.’

‘Ha ha,’ I said, because it seemed polite.

He’s not wrong about The Nice Italian Place, though.

It is still decorated in cream and brown, which were very popular colours in the 1970s. There is a ceiling fan and potted plants, and the waiters are armed with those huge pepper pots that could probably double as surface-to-air missiles.

Who cares about the decor, though, when the food is… well now, not quite up there with The Little French Place, if we’re being frank, but a very close second. And the portions of tiramisu are so large they could probably be served in buckets.

‘I hope Tom [alias Mr Dear] doesn’t mind me taking you to lunch on this day in particular,’ said Graham, with a smirk.

‘He doesn’t know,’ I said.

‘He’s off at a cricket club committee meeting.’

‘Oh,’ said Graham.

‘So you have the whole afternoon free?’

Distant warning bells began to ring, and not for the first time in Graham’s company.

You’ll remember that, having raised my hopes that evening on the hay cart, he promptly went off with somebody else.

On this evidence, and more recent hints, he is not the last word in reliability.

‘I wouldn’t say that,’ I replied cagily.

‘Really? What would you say then?’

He said this with something of a leer. Let me pause for a moment to give a word of advice to male readers (and there are quite a few chaps who are kind enough to drop in). Something of a leer is not a good look.

Definitely something to avoid if you are hoping to impress.

The rest of the meal passed without incident, although not for want of trying on

‘The portions of tiramisu could be served in buckets’

Graham’s part. It was clear that agreeing to lunch – today of all days – was a mistake. Just how much of a mistake did not become apparent until I arrived home.

‘How was the cricket committee?’ I asked Mr D, who was making himself a coffee. By the way, is this the least romantic thing anybody has ever said on St V’s Day? ‘Very boring,’ he said. ’So I need cheering up.

Remember I said I’d treat you to a Valentine’s dinner?

Well, I’ve booked us a table.’

‘Lovely,’ I said. ‘Where are we going? Not to The Little French Place on the Bypass?’

‘I thought we’d try somewhere new,’ he said.

‘Suits me. Come on, don’t keep me in suspense – where are you going?’

‘I thought we’d go to The Nice Italian Place Just off the High Street.’

I will say only that the expression on our waiter’s face, as he served up my second Valentine’s meal of the day and diplomatically ignored the way I was trying to hide behind my economysize menu, was a treat.

Honestly, I never realised eyebrows could be raised quite that high.

Rosie x

WOMAN’S WEEKLY ® is a registered trademark of TI Media Limited, and is sold subject to the following conditions, namely that it shall not, without the written consent of the publishers first given, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise disposed of by way of trade at more than the recommended selling price shown on the cover, and that it shall not be lent, resold or hired or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or in any unauthorised cover by way of trade or affixed to or as part of any publication or advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever. © TI Media Limited, 2020

58 Woman’s Weekly

ILLUSTRATION: JOY GOSNEY

How you can have too much of a good thing

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