October 2018 - Stockton on Tees by My Local Magazine Middlesbrough & Stockton on Tees

My Local Magazine ®

Issue 88 | October 2018 | The BEST of Stockton’s Business, News, Reviews and To-Do’s

Local Stories | Local Businesses | Gardening | Car Reviews Health & Beauty | Home

distributed by GPS Leaﬂet Distribution

Keep Me for 2 Months

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This Winter… STAY WARM, STAY SAFE, STAY WELL As the Nights are starting to close in and I do believe I had the first frost on my car this week. HomeInstead Senior Care Cleveland would like to share the following tips on how best to say fit and health this winter. Get a flu jab. Everyone over the age of 65, living in the UK is eligible for a flu jab and is encouraged to take up this free NHS service to protect themselves from the flu virus, which can be unpredictable and serious. You can get a flu jab at your GP’s surgery or at participating pharmacies. See your pharmacist if you aren’t feeling well. Even if you have just a cough or a cold, your pharmacist might be able to help you prevent it from becoming more serious. If you can’t physically get to a pharmacy, make sure to call them to discuss your symptoms. If you

Keep mobile. Try not to sit still for more than an hour at a time. Even simply standing up to stretch your legs for a few moments can help to increase your body temperature. If you have good mobility, moderate exercise is a great way of keeping warm when temperatures are low.

need more urgent advice, ring the NHS helpline on 111. Keep warm. During the cold winter months, it is advisable to wear several layers of clothing, rather than one thick layer. Clothes that are made from cotton, wool or fleecy fibres help to maintain body heat, and are better than silky and thin materials that don’t insulate well.

Drink warm beverages. When you get up to stretch, why not make yourself a hot drink to help keep you warm? You should also try to eat at least one hot meal a day. Making sure warm foods and drink are going into your system will keep your weight up and contribute to keeping your body temperature up. Keep your medicine cabinet stocked. If you treat early-onset symptoms of illness they are less likely to develop into anything more serious. By keeping your medicine cabinet stocked, you could avoid having to go out in the cold, if you do find yourself unwell. The temperatures were really cold last year, so it’s important to think about what you can do to protect yourself and any vulnerable friends and family from the ill-effects of the cold. At Home Instead Senior Care, our wonderful CAREGivers can help older people to stay well and can help with many of the tips mentioned here. If you or your loved one need help or support, please call us on 01642 309650.

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Quality in the materials that we use for all our installations and the fact that all our loft packages are fitted by time served tradesmen so our customers are assured of the best job. Integrity in that we will turn up at the time we The company, based locally, say and make sure the house offers homeowners the opis spotless when we leave, portunity to maximise their and Value in that we offer storage space with a loft our services at a price people ladder, 50 sq ft of boarding can afford. Our business and a light all fully fitted in relies on referrals and we got less than a day from just a huge amount of our calls £277 + VAT. But it’s not just from people who have been the affordability of the pack- referred to us by our existing age the company offers that customers - that simply makes Yorkshire Loft Ladwouldn’t happen if we didn’t ders stand out as manager adhere to our overriding Mark Hodson explains: principles. These days most homeowners suffer from a lack of storage space. So many precious items that need to be kept – but where to store it all? That’s where Yorkshire Loft Ladders come in.

‘Our watchwords are Quality, Integrity and Value.

lead to more happy customers is true and we work hard to make that happen for every installation we carry out!’ So, if you want to make use of your loft space, however

big or small, call Mark on 0800 612 8359 and he’ll be happy to pop round and give you a no obligation quote so you too can make use of your loft!

At the end of the day the old adage that happy customers

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EDITOR’S LETTER

October 2018 Disney World in Florida. As

I Hopefully, everything has got back to normal, and all the children who have started new schools have settled in. Also good luck to all who are starting new beginnings this Autumn.

usual, lots of great memories were made. If you would like something included in the Next Edition of My Local Magazines, the

Summer does seem to have gone quickly, but as we are going to press we are still getting a few good warm days. The winter pansies are really appreciating the warmer soil, so hopefully, we might have some colour throughout the winter.

deadlines are always the last Tuesday of the month. Enjoy October, and you will see our local magazines coming through your letterbox in December.

@mylocalmag

CONTENTS

Over the summer months, we were lucky enough to visit

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Features Recipe: Mincemeat Sponge Puddings 6 Recipe: Tikka Biryani

Making an Entrance

Hallway storage

Travel

Quirky Britain

Finance

Jeremy Middleton Managing Director T: 01642 924847 M: 07533 265 475 E: jeremy@mylocal-magazine.co.uk W: www.mylocal-magazine.co.uk My Local Magazines Ltd, Office 4, Walker House, 3rd Floor, High Street Stockton on Tees TS18 1BG My Local Magazine does not endorse any advertisement within this publication. My Local Magazine cannot be held responsible for breach of copyright arising from publication artwork supplied. It is the advertiser’s responsibility to ensure conformity with the Trades Description Act 1975 Business Advertisement Disclosure Order 1977 and The Consumer Act 1974. Reproduction of this magazine is in any way is strictly prohibited. If you wish to use any of the advertisements or content within this publication, please contact Jeremy Middleton 01642 924847 While we, the publisher take great care to be accurate, no liability will be accepted under any circumstances should any of the contents of this publication be incorrect.

Worldly Wisdom

Stockton News

Gardening

Technology

Trades

Struggling with dentures? We can help Can you eat with conﬁdence? Are you happy with how they look? Are you embarrased to smile? Chris Egan GDC 119949

will not only treat you personally in clinic, but he’ll also carefully handcraft your dentures from start to ﬁnish.

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MINCEMEAT SPONGE PUDDINGS With Christmas just around the corner there will be plenty of jars of rich and fruity mincemeat in the shops – perfect for adding to mini sponge puddings. Makes 4 Ready in 1hour 10 minutes 115g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 6 tbsp good quality mincemeat 115g caster sugar Zest of ½ orange or lemon 2 medium eggs, beaten 125g self-raising flour, sifted 1 tbsp milk 1 Thoroughly grease 4 x 175ml pudding basins with butter. Divide the mincemeat between the basins. Preheat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/ gas mark 5. 2 Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together until pale

and creamy. Beat in the orange or lemon zest then gradually beat in the

eggs, adding 1tbsp of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle. Fold in the rest of the flour with the milk to give a soft dropping consistency. 3 Divide the mixture between the pudding basins and cover each with a square of pleated buttered foil, scrunching it tightly around the sides of each basin. Transfer to a large roasting tin and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the basins. 4 Bake for 45-50 minutes or until risen and firm to the touch. Leave in the basins for 5 minutes then turn out onto serving plates. Serve with cream or custard, if liked. TIP Spice up the sponge mixture by adding 2 tsp ground cinnamon and ½ tsp ground nutmeg instead of the orange or lemon zest and replace the caster sugar with light soft brown sugar, if liked.

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CHEATS’ CHICKEN TIKKA BIRYANI If you fancy a midweek curry but don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen, then whip up this quick and easy version of a classic Indian rice and chicken dish in next-to-no time. Using tikka curry paste and pouches of microwave spiced pilau rice, it’s the perfect cheat! Serves 4 Ready in 35 minutes 400g chicken breast fillets, cut into chunks

2 tbsp natural yogurt 1 tbsp tikka curry paste Squeeze of lemon juice 1 tbsp sunflower oil 1 red onion, peeled and roughly

chopped 450g frozen mixed vegetables with cauliflower 3 x 250g sachets instant pilau rice Sprigs of fresh mint, to garnish Mango chutney and poppadoms, to serve 1 Toss the chicken chunks in the yogurt, curry paste and lemon juice, then spread them on a baking sheet lined with foil. Cook under a medium-hot grill for 12-15 minutes, turning frequently, until the chicken is cooked through and lightly charred in places. 2 Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the onion and fry for 2 minutes. Pick the cauliflower out of the frozen vegetables. Add to the pan and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until browned in places. 3 Stir in the remaining vegetables, the rice and 90ml water or vegetable stock. Cover and cook over a low heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring once or twice until piping hot all the way through. Toss the hot cooked chicken tikka chunks into the rice. Garnish with sprigs of mint and serve with chutney and poppadoms. TIP To make a cooling cucumber and mint yogurt to accompany the biryani, mix ¼ of a grated onion and ¼ of a grated cucumber with 300ml natural yogurt, 2 tbsp freshly chopped mint and ½ tsp ground cumin.

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Making an entrance Your hallway is the first part of your home you see when entering. A well thought-out design helps make an impression. Hallways are crucial to the look and feel of a house, acting as a ‘welcome home’, a connection between rooms and a vital storage area for everything from shoes and umbrellas to coats, gloves and scarves, plus all kinds of things that don’t have a specific place elsewhere. On the wall In a narrow hallway, pale colours emphasise a sense of space. Specialist light-reflecting paints may help, or look for patterned wallpaper with a metallic sheen, and add large mirrors. Choose an extra-tough paint if you expect wear and tear, or add a dado rail and clad the walls below it with panelling, tiles or hard-wearing vinyl wallpaper. Period-style tiles or embossed wallpapers suit older properties with period features. Durable floors Flooring should be non-slip, durable, dirt-resistant and easily maintained. Darker colours are generally better than pale, especially if you have pets

and children. Stone, ceramic or quarry tiles, or Victorian encaustic tiles, are all easy to care for, while solid wooden boards or parquet simply require regular polishing or waxing. Linoleum or vinyl can look impressive but carpet is more problematic. Choose a colour or pattern that won’t show the dirt, and make sure it’s suitable for a hallway: an 80:20 twist classified for heavy domestic use is often the best. Lovely lighting Light in the hallway should illuminate steps, stairs and thresholds clearly and help provide an even flow of light.With a high ceiling, a beautiful chandelier, or a series of pendants, looks great; otherwise, a row of downlights set into the ceiling is better. Avoid protruding wall lights in a narrow hall where they become obstacles. Sensible storage Built-in storage makes the most of available space. Shallow, floorto-ceiling cupboards with doors painted the same colour as the walls, or mirrored, are discreet but hold masses. Alternatively, use free-standing cupboards, sideboards, tables, benches, hooks or racks that suit your layout

and style. Somewhere to keep post and keys is useful: perhaps a bowl and rack on a console table, radiator cover or shelf, or a small, wall-mounted cupboard and hooks. Finishing touches Windows will benefit from shutters, blinds or curtains, with fabric coordinated with cushions or upholstery. A long, thin floor runner works beautifully on hard flooring. Fit shelving above doorways or above head height along the hall’s length for books and delicate items. And, finally, add a personal touch with paintings, photographs or other artworks. Katherine Sorrell

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Hallway storage Coats, shoes, umbrellas and scarves – with so much to store in what is often a small space, it’s important to choose products that work hard as well as provide a good-looking welcome to your home. Make an entrance • When storage space is at a premium – as it so often is in a hall – use the full height of your walls as much as possible. Tall, shallow units are very useful, while little-used items can be stored on a shelf above hooks and racks. • Try to unify design so that your hallway blends seamlessly with the rooms it adjoins. A coat cupboard could have the same style doors as kitchen units, for example, or hooks could complement your door handles. A colour theme will tie the look together, too. • Cupboards or consoles with doors and drawers help conceal mess, while baskets are a great way to store bits and bobs. Storage benches are also great choices, providing somewhere to sit while putting on footwear and the

chance to personalise the space with pretty cushions or upholstery. • Make it easy for children to keep their stuff tidy by hanging their coat hooks at a lower level and labelling shelves, baskets or boxes so they can kick off their shoes and (hopefully) pop them away instantly. 1 Add character and heaps of storage with an industrial-style bench stand, reminiscent of a school corridor. Harlem vintage industrial hall bench, £545, Alexander & Pearl. 2 This minimal, hard-wearing design adds a bold accent of fashionable yellow. Essentials Alana shoe rack, £69, Made.com. 3 Simplicity is the key to this coat hook made from distressed wrought iron hooks and a wedge of reclaimed elm. Withnail coat hook, £65, Loaf. 4 Robust and sturdy, this row of five aluminium hooks is ideal for heavy items and has an elegant, vintage style. Coat hooks, £24.95, live laugh love.

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Excellent rates of pay. Full training provided

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Karnak, Egypt On the banks of the Nile, some 800 km south of the delta, Karnak is praised by historians as one of the world’s largest religious complexes, second only to Angkor Wat. It is also the country’s most visited monument, after the Giza pyramids, first built in the Middle Kingdom then greatly extended during the New Kingdom when the monumental city of Thebes (now Luxor) reached its golden age as capital of the united ancient Egypt. Bristling with monuments, this ‘most select of places’ is a vast open air site spread across three precincts divided by rough walls. Best preserved is the central zone covering around 30 hectares and dedicated to the god Amun, already known in the Old Kingdom but who became patron deity of Thebes from the 11th dynasty onwards. Such an extensive temple, they say, could contain St Peter’s of Rome or cover half of Manhattan. To the south is the sanctuary of Amun’s wife and to the north that of Munt, the god of war. At least 30 pharaohs added new structures to Karnak over time, revealing to modern historians a vast panorama of Egyptian history, architecture and art. Approaching visitors are greeted by ram-headed sphinxes which once stretched all the way to the Luxor temple. They send shivers down your spine but as you wander among massive walls, columns, obelisks, stunning inscriptions and friezes, and monumental statues, it’s all “wow, look at that”, especially when the warm sandstone glows coppery gold under a deep blue sky. Not to be missed is the obelisk, 30 metres

high and weighing 200 tons, built by the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. According to legend, she paid for it with “bushels of gold as if they were sacks of grain”.

bas-reliefs of the White Chapel of Senusert I from the Middle Kingdom.

Most impressive, however, is the hypostyle hall, just over 100 metres long, the largest of its kind in the world, and once supported by 134 columns with stylish open-papyrus tops. It’s estimated that during the 19th dynasty, over 81,000 people were employed in the temple, including workers, peasants, guardians and priests, supported by booty from victorious battles and wealth from ever-growing estates. Then there is the Great Festival Hall, also known as the ‘Temple of Millions of Years’, where traces of 6th century paint seem to indicate it was used by Christian monks. But Karnak still hides many secrets, though some once-forgotten treasures are now displayed in the open-air museum. Among them are

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Britain’s quirkiest Bonfire Night celebrations November is the month for firework displays, when adults and children gather together on a chilly field to spend half an hour ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ as fiery fountains erupt, Catherine wheels spin and rockets light up the night sky. It’s a fun family event, but our 21st century firework displays seem like pretty tame stuff when compared to the bonfire festivities enjoyed in times gone by. Fire festivals have been held for thousands of years but the practice of marking 5th November with bonfires and fireworks began as a rowdy celebration to mark the deaths of the conspirators who tried to blow up England’s parliament in 1605, with activities calculated to make any modern-day health and safety officer run for cover. While it’s no bad thing that firework displays are now controlled and regulated to avoid accidents, some of the devil-may-care spirit that was once the hallmark of November 5th seems to have been lost. However, there are certain parts of the UK where risk and excitement are an essential part of the enjoyment. Anarchic fun in Sussex Welcome to Bonfire Night in Lewes, Sussex, where the smell of burnt gunpowder is always accompanied by a faint whiff of anarchy. It’s a night of celebration that promises activities that are – to quote the website lewesbonfirecelebrations.com – “not suitable for very young children … the frail or if you have breathing problems.” Each year this bonfire event turns the normally sleepy town of Lewes into a heady combination of raucous street bands, rowdy processions, heaving crowds and huge effigies – usually in the form of hated public figures of the day – made for the sole purpose of being consigned to the flames amidst cheers, jeers and cat-calls. The town uses Bonfire Night as an opportunity to uphold the traditions

of free speech and to remember the dead, particularly the seventeen Protestant martyrs who were burned at the stake in Lewes between 1555 and 1557 under the reign of ‘Bloody Mary’ (Queen Mary I). Their martyrdom is marked annually by a procession of 17 burning crosses. Tar Barrel Racing in Devon Another place you might prefer to avoid on Bonfire Night if you are of a nervous disposition is Ottery St. Mary, in Devon. This tranquil West Country town changes character on the night of 5th November, becoming the stage for a perilous and fiery race through the streets. This exhilarating and risky spectacle involves setting light to huge wood and iron barrels soaked in tar. The barrels are then carried through the

town at great speed. Some families have been taking part in the races for many generations and almost 10,000 people turn up each year to cheer them on. Another quirky and high-spirited bonfire event is Shetland’s Viking fest Up Helly Aa, which takes place at the end of January. These celebrations – tapping into our primitive feelings about fire as something to be loved, feared and respected – are a powerful way of bringing communities together. Although no-one would want to return to the days when members of the public could be injured when activities got out of hand, it’s good to know that some UK communities are still prepared go to such lengths to let their hair down and celebrate together.

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Can you still get a mortgage if you are an older borrower? Whether you are moving house or remortgaging an existing property, you may find it difficult to secure a mortgage as you get older. Some mortgage lenders are reluctant to take pension income into account, which means you could be refused if you have already retired, or want a mortgage term that continues past your retirement date. Is there an age limit for getting a mortgage? Officially there is no upper age limit for a mortgage, but providers use their own in-house criteria when assessing a mortgage application.They may apply an age limit for older people taking out new mortgages, and another for when the mortgage must be paid off. These limits are typically 65-70 years of age, and 70-85 years old respectively. This means that if you are aged 60, for example, and looking for a mortgage term of 25 years, your options may be limited. Is there anything you can do to increase your chances of securing a mortgage?

As a result, all regular payments leaving your bank account will affect the affordability calculation, and reduce the amount you are able to borrow. Acknowledging longer life expectancies There has been a trend in recent years for longer life expectancies to be acknowledged, along with the fact that, for a variety of reasons, people need to borrow money later in life. The higher cost of housing, helping children onto the property ladder, or late entry into the housing market, can all result in the need for a mortgage after you have reached 50 years of age. Mortgages for older people It is often smaller building societies that offer flexibility with regard to age, with high street banks remaining steadfast in their cautionary approach to mortgages in retirement. • The Family Building Society offers mortgage terms of up to 25 years for a 70 year old, and up to a fiveyear term for someone aged 90 years old.¹ • Aldermore Bank is a specialist

mortgage lender that allows repayments to continue up to the age of 99.² According to the Building Societies Association (BSA), some building societies operate with no upper age limit at all for mortgages.These include, but are not limited to, Cumberland, Bath, Chorley, Cambridge, Ipswich, and Buckinghamshire Building Societies.³ ¹ familybuildingsociety.co.uk/Mortgages/ Later_Life_Lending.aspx ² www.aldermore.co.uk/mortgages/ later-life-lending-mortgages ³ www.bsa.org.uk/information/ consumer-factsheets/mortgages/ building-societies-lending-age-limits

• Reduce your outgoings By reducing your spending, and paying down debt over six months or so prior to your mortgage application, you stand a better chance of success and may be able to access a wider choice of products that offer better terms. • Use a mortgage broker Obtaining the services of a mortgage broker who understands this particular market is a good idea. If too many mortgage applications are rejected, it can adversely affect your credit status, which then has a knock-on effect to any future applications you make. Mortgage affordability checks New regulations introduced following the 2008 recession, known as the Mortgage Market Review rules, mean that lenders must make more stringent affordability checks prior to lending. 18

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How to make your Conservatory Feel like a Proper Room If you’ve ever tried to use your conservatory in the winter, you’ll know that it can feel like a cold, damp and dismal part of the house. In all the glossy conservatory sales catalogues, the sun is always shining, the garden is blooming and everyone is having fun being in the bright and clean ‘new room’. The reality is that most conservatories are too hot to use in comfort in the summer, and certainly too cold to use in the winter. Condensation can be a problem in the winter, and it’s too bright to watch a tv in there in the summer. And when it rains, the noise can be deafening! Most conservatories have been built as temporary structures and usually as a less expensive alternative to an extension. This means that they don’t comply with the building regulations that an extension would have to do especially in terms of the thermal efficiency. The team at local specialists Inceil talk to homeowners every day

who want to be able to use their conservatory all year round and not on the handful of days when the temperature is just right! Their cost-effective solution is to fit an insulated ceiling fitted to the existing roof structure in just 1 or 2 days. The new plastered ceiling follows the contours of the existing roof and uses the most thermally dynamic insulation available. Your conservatory will feel like a proper room with a better temperature year round. And you don’t have to do anything to the external roof. It’s important when having any works done that you are happy with the people working in your home. Customers frequently comment on how polite and friendly everyone is in the Inceil team – and that they cleaned up when they had finished! On the Inceil informative website www.inceil.co.uk you can watch

an installation video which shows exactly how the process works, and request a free survey and quote. Or give them a call on 01904 891936. In just one or two days, your conservatory can be transformed into a comfortable and usable part of your home.

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You Don’t Say! Worldly wisdom can be so simple that it’s hard to make sense of it. Unconvinced? Try these on for size: Thanks to modern technology we can really immerse ourselves in the past. The older some people get the more childish they become. (And it’s always other people.) There’s no substitute for experience, but try telling that to the training industry. Miscarriages of justice are a matter of trial and error. With enough alcohol, every man thinks he can dance. If a dog is so clever it needs very little training, it’s also smart enough to ignore you.

Fifty percent of your holiday will be spent getting over the planning and the travel. There’s always a use for spare change, usually just after you’ve given it away.

Making a To Do list is never on anyone’s To Do list and yet it still gets done.

We only ask someone to be philosophical when they’re disappointed. Where are the happy philosophers?

Give someone a time machine and they’ll revisit an experience they’ve already lived.

An unexamined life is no preparation for coming up with an online password.

The only thing most people can do without is deprivation. Violence is never the answer, unless the question is “Do you want a fight?” The fuse you’ll need will be the one you don’t have. Whoever said you can’t have your cake and eat it has never been to a bakery. If the secret of comedy is timing, what is the secret of timing?

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Determined to quit? Here’s six ways to help Stockton-on-Tees smokers kick the habit Smokers in Stockton-onTees are being urged to quit next month as part of Stoptober – the annual stop smoking challenge which encourages people to give up their nicotine habit. The campaign, which takes place each October, is based on research that those who stop smoking for 28 days are five times more likely to stop for good. Councillor Jim Beall, Stockton-onTees’ Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, said: “Stopping smoking is one of the single most beneficial things that you can do for your own health, your family’s health and your wallet, but it isn’t always easy. That’s why we support the Stoptober campaign as a way to encourage people to make healthy choices and remind them of the help available throughout the year. Why not take the first step and join in the Stoptober challenge? With the right support, you too can quit for good.”

Quitting is a personal decision but if you feel like the time is right for you, I would 100 per cent recommend the stop smoking service to help you achieve your goal.”

smoking services. People choosing this combination have some of the highest quitting success rates.

Here are SIX ways smokers across the Borough can get the help and support they need to become smokefree.

Stop smoking advisors can advise on the best way to tackle cravings using Nicotine replacement therapies. From patches, gum and inhalers to replacement tablets, there are lots of options to help with cravings which can be hard to handle. Nicotine replacement therapies replace some of the nicotine without the harmful elements.

Face to face support Throughout the year the Council works with the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust to provide a free, friendly, specialist stop smoking service.

She said: “I have been a smoker for the past 20 years and have tried unsuccessfully to give up in the past.

Stockton’s stop smoking service offers weekly drop in sessions where people can get practical help and advice. Those accessing the service find it easier to stop and are four times more likely to stay smokefree. The stop smoking service can also advise on a range of ways to tackle cravings.

“Through the stop smoking service I started taking Champix, a prescription medicine which greatly increases the chance of successfully quitting as it reduces cravings.

For support and advice on quitting smoking in Stockton-on-Tees, phone the stop smoking service on 01642 383819 or visit www.nth.nhs.uk/ stopsmoking

“At times it was a struggle to quit but with amazing support from the stop smoking service, as well as from friends and family, I am much healthier and saving up to £70 a week.

E-cigarettes

Mum-of-two Claire Gibson, 40, from Billingham successfully gave up smoking 25 cigarettes a day after seeing her mother struggle with a chronic lung condition.

“My family is over the moon that I am smokefree and I now have money to spend on myself and save too. 22

E-cigarettes are a great way to help combat nicotine cravings and carry less risk than cigarettes. E-cigarette vapour doesn’t contain tar or carbon monoxide – two of the most harmful elements in tobacco. E-cigarettes are particularly effective when combined with support from stop

Stop smoking medicines

Download the app The free smokefree app onto a phone or tablet can bring step-bystep help with the quitting journey. The app can help motivate by tracking the number of smokefree days, calculating the total amount saved by not smoking and creating a distraction when cravings hit. Sign up for daily email support Through the Stoptober campaign, people trying to quit can receive daily emails to help keep them on track and stay smokefree. visit here www.quitnow.smokefree.nhs.uk Make Stoptober social Share progress and craving-busting tips on social media. Be motivated by success stories and join in the conversation @NHSSmokefree to access support, tips and advice.

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e legs of one of the back-seaters are undeterred by fines and points e dashboard, the rest of them is through enough happening on our road creen. You look down to see your virtual yet another distraction within a “Alexa! I’m In The Car” shed against the glovebox. Outside, seems insane. gency services are

A virtual reality presentation of being in a car crash left me feeling sickened recently. Picture this: you’re the front seat passenger in a hatch-back, whizzing down a lane. To your right the driver is laughing with the two back-seat passengers, who are passing him a phone. He shows the phone to you and looks at the screen. As we round a corner to see a tractor across the road, there’s a scream and it goes black.

You come ‘around’ to the screaming of the injured driver. The legs of one of the back-seaters are across the dashboard, the rest of them is through the windscreen.You look down to see your virtual legs smashed against the glovebox. Outside, the emergency services are tending to the injured as the roof is being cut off. It’s very realistic. I discussed the many in-car distractions that go towards creating conditions for a crash with the policeman running the demo.

This chimed with a news piece that Amazon are aiming to put Alexa incar. I note its hands-free operation, to request traffic information etc., but I am also aware of the distraction chatting to ‘her’ will create: two friends of mine nearly rear-ended a car because they had been talking to Siri on a phone and weren’t paying attention to what was happening outside. I know it’s the responsibility of drivers and passengers as to how these devices are used in-car, but daily I see drivers still using phones, undeterred by fines and points. There is enough happening on our roads already, so yet another distraction within a driver’s reach seems insane.

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The Great Cover-Up There is a lot to be said for some variation in the height of the plants in your garden. Any garden, whatever its size or location, will look more interesting with ‘ups and down’ in the planting, so by all means include some tall plants as well as those which are just a bit closer to the soil. Don’t forget how attractive and useful ground-cover planting can be, covering the soil with good-looking foliage which, in some cases, is decorated with a fair smattering of flowers or berries. Some ground-cover plants are available as ‘bare root’ plants, lifted from a field and ready for putting in to the ground whilst they are dormant, so now is a great time to get ordering and buying ready to plant during suitable weather over the next few months. Look at what is available in local nurseries and garden centres but also visit a few websites. Ground-cover plants are also often available in potted form, especially if it is some of the smaller, less woody plants which appeal to you. These can be planted now too, but as their roots come well-encased in compost,

they can be planted at any time of the year. For best results avoid extremely cold and wet weather, and the very hottest and driest period in summer. Ground-cover planting is an excellent way to reduce the amount of work you need to do – perfect if your garden is too big for the time or energy you have to spare. Rather than having a flower bed full of herbaceous plants or summer bedding, a ground-cover bed, once planted, needs little maintenance and pretty well looks after itself. It will need watering during the first year or two, especially in dry weather, so that the roots have a chance to establish. One of the best uses for this sort of planting is on a steep slope, where access for weeding, watering, feeding and pruning is difficult or even dangerous. The initial planting up may be a tough job, but once growing well a ground cover-clad slope will be far simpler to look after than a steep grassy slope. Gardens on slopes or indeed

windswept spots can suffer quite serious and irritating soil-slippage or erosion if left unplanted. But once planted up, the roots of your groundcover planting will help to secure the soil and the stems and foliage will help to protect the soil surface. Weeds just love open spaces, but cover spare bits of ground with ground-cover planting and the weeds will often be swamped out: literally starved of light and suffering such competition from your chosen planting that they cannot thrive. For best effect choose plants which are evergreen and so hold their leaves throughout the year. Evergreens just shed their leaves little and often, rather than their deciduous relatives which drop them all in one go in the autumn, which means you won’t suffer from the bare, twiggy effect that deciduous plants would give. If you choose a ground-cover plant such as Cotoneaster horizontalis you will be able to enjoy really attractive berries as well as the neat foliage. Ground-cover planting like this will often offer a useful source of shelter to local wildlife and food for berry eaters too. Sometimes it can be difficult to spot suitable ground-cover plants unless the nursery or garden centre has a designated area for them, so, when searching out plants for ground cover, always read the information given about each plant thoroughly. Ideally you want those where the stated height is smaller than the stated spread – it is outwards not

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upwards you are after! Look for clues in the plants’ Latin names too – those with words suggesting spread out or horizontal are good indicators e.g. prostrata (prostrate), horizontalis (horizontal), repens (creeping).

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Twelve Great Ground Cover Plants Taxus baccata ‘Repens Aurea’, Hypericum calycinum moserianum, Hedera, Lonicera pileata, Pernettya mucronata, Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’, Euonymus fortuneii, Ceanothus prostrates thyrsiflorus var. repens, Cotoneaster horizontalis, Cotoneaster ‘Gnom’,Vinca Visit Pippa’s website www. pippagreenwood.com and you’ll ﬁ nd some great gardening items and perfect Christmas gifts for gardeners: a ‘Grow Your Own with Pippa Greenwood’ gift card (great vegetable plants and weekly advice from Pippa), stylish cloches, the fantastic SpeedHoe, raised bed

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday: are the deals really real? One weekend in November is one of the most significant dates in the retail calendar. It’s Black Friday, an American import that’s become a big deal. On Black Friday, retailers – especially internet ones – promise incredible deals to save you a fortune. Do the deals live up to the hype? That really depends on what you want to buy. Black Friday used to be a single day, and this year it’s Friday the 23rd of November. But it became too big for one day, and soon spread to include the following Monday, dubbed Cyber Monday. It’s since outgrown that too, so for example, in 2017 Amazon ran a series of sales over what it called Black Friday Deals Week. For many retailers, most of November now means some kind of discounting. Some of the deals are genuine and many aren’t. If you use a site such as PriceSpy.co.uk or CamelCamelCamel. com to research the price of things, you’ll often find that a Black Friday deal only appears to be good value because the retailers put the price up in the weeks before. Others quote manufacturers’ recommended retail prices that nobody has ever actually paid: a saving of 50% off the RRP is only a saving if the product was actually on sale for the higher price for a long time. In many cases it wasn’t. However, there are good deals to be had across Super Mega Black Friday Fortnight Of Sales, or whatever your favourite retailer calls it this year.They include: • Video game console bundles. There’s a lot of profit in bundles that combine a console with some games, and as a result they’re often discounted heavily during Black Friday sales. Bundles for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 should attract big discounts this year. Expect discounts on memberships for gaming services such as PlayStation Plus too. 28

• Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cookers. For some reason Amazon cuts their price every Black Friday. If you haven’t joined the Instant Pot cult, Black Friday’s a good time to start. • Amazon devices. Amazon slashes the price of its Kindles, Kindle Fire tablets, Fire TV sticks and Echo smart home devices every time it has a sale and Black Friday will be no different. • Older stock. As ever, sales are a great way for retailers to shift old stock to make room for new lines. The longer something’s been around the more likely it will be discounted. • Big-screen TVs.These plummet in price very quickly and retailers use big discounts on them to attract customers. The trick to bagging bargains on Black Friday is to know what you want but not to be too picky. For example, if you want a Sony 65-inch TV you can probably get a deal, but if you only want a very specific model there’s every chance you’ll be out of luck. Research the market so you know what things are actually worth and stick to a budget. It’s not a bargain if you don’t need or want it. Last but not least, use the price checking services on the day to make sure you really are getting the best price.

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