Places&Faces 55 October 2014

October 2014 | ÂŁ2.95 where sold

THE Magazine for Norfolk

& North Suffolk

F R A N K celebrities | food | travel | fashion | homes & gardens | theatre ISSUE 55 www.placesandfaces.co.uk

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WelcomE to our October issue! This month is all about that most lovely time of year, autumn. Sure it is always sad to wave goodbye to summer but this season sees those glorious colours, misty mornings, catching up with friends over dinner - and offers the chance to curl up in front of a log fire with a mug of hot chocolate and enjoy our latest issue.

We’ve been nattering to lots of really interesting celebrities as usual with singer Steve Brookstein talking about his very special Norwich concert – and his forthcoming warts and all autobiography. We’re sponsoring the concert, on November 20 at The Assembly House in Norwich, so do try and join us.

We know how to throw a good party!

I’m not sure we’ve worked out what makes rapper Professor Green tick – I’m not sure he knows himself – but young Welsh singer Lloyd Daniels is just brimming over with excitement at playing Joseph which is such a feel good musical.

I’m of an age that I loved the movie Gregory’s Girl so interviewing John Gordon Sinclair was a treat – I now fancy reading one of his crime thrillers! And Frank Skinner, well, he’s a bit of a legend, isn’t he? I fancy seeing his show so I look like being busy, too!

Food wise we have Andy Newman visiting Gnaw chocolate makers in Norwich while Simon Wainwright has a lovely berry pudding which oozes autumnal goodness. We have a popular Norwich gastropub, The Earlham Arms, reviewed, along with Andover House in Great Yarmouth which is a real find.

Our competition this month is the chance to win a fab stay for two at Brasted’s just outside Norwich. It is well known for its first class food so it is a real treat. What a shame I can’t enter although my waistline is grateful. And congratulations to Pauline Bartram of Hethersett, near Norwich, who won our Bradley Hatch competition. She wins a pewter tankard and a selection of accessories including a corkscrew and stopper.

12 ISS UES F O R £ 24 General enquiries call Jane on 01493 742088 or visit our website at www.placesand faces.co.uk/magazine-subscribe

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| OCTOber 2014

70 Celebrities

Viva Las Vegas says Clare Millar as she reports from Party Central!

12 Lloyd Daniels tells us about putting on an

amazing technicolor dreamcoat as he stars as Joseph in Norwich 20 It all makes Perfect Nonsense for John Gordon Sinclair as he stars as dutiful valet Jeeves in this PG Wodehouse classic comedy

Our regular monthly round up of the best events and activities taking place this month

Fashion & Beauty

23 Wrap up warm this winter with a bold and bright cuddly coat 25 Meet our anti-ageing beauty heroes

What’s On

Franck Pontais creates an unusual dish with the humble carrot

33 Ghostly goings-on in our Halloween guide

Homes & Gardens

40 Our property of the month is a nine-bedroom

house in Wroxham which has seen a few great parties!

44 Our homes writers savour a mellow moment this month as we prepare for autumn 50 What should you be doing in the garden this month – let our gardening writer show you the way

57

Travel

74 Carolyn Atkins enjoys a family break in

Old Hunstanton

36

Benet Catty heads to the Savoy Theatre to see the hit musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Food & Drink

54 Simon Wainwright at the Imperial Hotel

in Great Yarmouth has a berry, berry good idea for pud 59 Wine writer Sam Matthews reports on a near perfect food and drink experience which involves a very cool beer and much more 62 Andy Newman checks out an artisan chocolatier in Norwich while Roger Hickman produces an indulgent dessert 64 Andover House in Great Yarmouth cooks up a treat for Sarah Hardy as she samples supper 66 So why does Emma Outten love her local?

Read her review of the Earlham Arms in Norwich 68 With 800 years of history, the Westleton Crown still delights visitors with its great food and comfy rooms – check out our review

t h i s mo n t h ’ s

Editor’s Choice Editor Sarah Hardy picks out the best events and activities this month…

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1

2

Soulful Steve Brookstein is our very special guest at an exclusive Places&Faces® concert

competition Win a very special dinner, bed and breakfast treat at Brasted’s, in the heart of the Norfolk countryside

Best Book Norwich author Rachel Hore celebrates the publication of her latest

Business

80 Our monthly business profile features Rachael

Waring, joint owner of Norfolk-based Warings Furniture which produces pieces for both homes and businesses

Motoring

96 Matt Joy reviews the third generation Audi TT 100 The Peugeot 108 comes under the spotlight

book, A Week in Paris, with a launch event at Jarrold’s on October 7 at 6pm. Her novels are always thoroughly enjoyable, flitting between different time zones and offering up a few surprises!

Visit www.jarrolds.co.uk for more.

Best telly Much though I’m enjoying the return of Simon Cowell on the X Factor – Strictly Come Dancing does it for me! Pixie Lott is the current hot favourite to take the honours this year but time will tell. Keep dancing, as Brucie would have said…

Regulars

Best activity

27 The Lust List brings you right up-to-date with

Christmas concert which will be held at City Hall in December. There

the latest gadgets and gizmos for people on the move 78 Richard Barr is just horsing around this month 104 Our High Society pages kick off with a garden party at the Catholic Cathedral in Norwich to welcome the new Dean, Father David Paul 110 Spend five minutes with the new headmaster of Gresham’s, Douglas Robb

is a no obligation taster session on October 7 at the Friends Meeting

Norwich’s Voice Project Choir is looking for new recruits for their

House Norwich. Visit www.voiceproject.co.uk for more details.

Best exhibition Now in its 50th year, The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum in London on October 24 and runs through to the end of March 2015. It’s a great opportunity to see extraordinary images of animals, captured by both professional and amateur photographers. For full details, visit www.nhm.ac.uk.

Cover Story

16 Frankly speaking – Frank Skinner on going back to his stand up roots

Best Booze The 37th Norwich Beer Festival, organised by the Norwich and Norfolk Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), opens at St Andrew’s and Blackfriars’ Halls on October 27 and runs until November 1. More than 200 cask-conditioned real ales from Britain’s independent brewers will be on sale, along with draught and bottled beers from Europe and a large range of traditional ciders and perries, with over 40 varieties from East Anglia, the West Country and elsewhere. More details on www.norwichcamra.org.uk for more.

Best Opera The Hoste in Burnham Market stages The Best of Gilbert and Sullivan 2 by The Grim’s Dyke Opera Company on October 16. Enjoy numbers from the Pirates of Penzance, Yeoman of the Guard, The Mikado, Trial

by Jury, Patience, and HMS Pinafore as you tuck into a three-course dinner. The entertainment starts at 7pm and tickets are £45. Visit www.thehoste.com for more.

1. 37th Norwich Beer Festival 2. Strictly Come Dancing 2014 line-up

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| OCTOber 2014

A Musical Education Rapper Professor Green talks to PlacesandFaces速 about his musical evolution and the joys of married life as he arrives in Norwich later this year

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Celebrity interview

Professor Green

P

rofessor Green, aka Stephen Manderson, has gone from amateur freestyle rapper (you can still check out his rap battles on YouTube) to a household name who is married to the heir of Quality Street confectionery, former Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh.

The 30-year-old’s latest single, Lullaby, featuring Tori Kelly, ‘who has the voice of a bloomin’ angel’ according to Pro Green, steers the rapper in a new direction and details his battle with depression.

Pro Green, who was raised on Hackney’s Northwold Estate, started competing in freestyle battles just for fun. He was signed to label The Beats after winning the £50,000 rap tournament JumpOff MySpace, having been spotted by The Streets frontman Mike Skinner.

When the rapper was aged just 18, his father, with whom he had a turbulent relationship, committed suicide. Pro Green, who earned his nickname due to the time he spent selling marijuana, has since been vocal about his struggle following the death of his father, and his current single Lullaby reflects this.

While many would be nervous to have their innermost feelings exposed through their music, he sees it differently.

‘It’s all subjective isn’t it? It can be scary in that you’re putting a piece of yourself out there to be judged but that’s what music should be really. All the artists I’ve admired have always put themselves in their music.’

Pro Green says that while Lullaby: ‘touches on depression and anxieties and my relationship with it,’ writing is a cathartic experience, and his single is primarily about ‘coming out the other side of it’.

In 2009 he was stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle in a London club and left fighting for his life. The wound narrowly missed a carotid artery, skimming his tattoo which spells out ‘Lucky’.

Changing labels to Virgin Records, he went on to support Coldplay on their European tour, and now holds a MOBO, a NME Award, along with critically acclaimed albums to his name. Shrugging that ‘I don’t wallow in self-pity,’ Pro Green calls his latest album Growing Up In Public, ‘a tongue in cheek look at some of the worst things that have happened to me.’

The transitional album reflects a change in the rapper’s sound. ‘It relates to the person I am now as well as the person who went through everything I have in the last 18 months,’ he says.

The rapper has spent his time building up an impressive collection of collaborations; each pairing coming together in an organic way. ‘Take Love to Dance, the first song on the first album,’ he says. ‘It was produced by Naughty Boy with Emeli Sandé on the chorus and we did that collectively. With Lullaby, we had the song already and asked Tori Kelly to sing the vocals. Then with Name in Lights I’d already written the song and I asked Rizzle Kicks to jump on board - it always happens in different ways.’

It’s a long way from his earlier musical trysts. Despite cutting his teeth with weekly battles, before being crowned a freestyle champion, he isn’t tempted to climb back into the ring. ‘I’m over the stress of that,’ he laughs.

His schedule is busy for the next two months as he embarks on a belated tour which calls in at Norwich’s UEA in December. It was delayed as he was involved in a car crash last year where he sustained fairly serious injuries.

His busy schedule may keep him far from home but married life is certainly suiting him. Calling it ‘an extension of being in a relationship,’ Pro Green says that ‘it means you can’t necessarily just run away from each other if sh*t hits the fan - which it hasn’t yet!’

He and Millie make a serious power couple; Millie is all over the fashion pages, launching her own clothing line last month, and she also took part in Celebrity MasterChef, reaching the semifinals. Now, the couple are considering a collaboration – ‘we’re about to start dropping pieces’ - and Millie has hinted that the next few years will see a move to the country.

It seems a world away from Pro Green’s humble beginnings, but something he’s created all on his own. Calling TV talent contests ‘a giggle to watch sometimes,’ he says that, ‘Irrelevant of what your story was beforehand, I think people always see it as a shortcut.’

In 2009 he was stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle in a London club and left fighting for his life.

Professor Green appears at the UEA on December 7.

Call 01603 508050 or visit www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk

Subscribe online at www.placesandfaces.co.uk

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| OCTOber 2014

FINDING HIS VOICE

Starring in the title role of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat marks a remarkable musical theatre debut for Lloyd Daniels. Emma Outten chats to the Welsh boy wonder before he comes to Norwich this month

L

loyd Daniels was on his way down to London for the audition of his life and there was nothing else for it. He was going to have to find his musical theatre voice by rehearsing in the train toilet!

The singer, best known as a finalist from the 2009 season of The X Factor, was on his way to win the starring role in the Bill Kenwright production, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

He had never sung musical theatre before so how did the singer we first heard on TV at the tender age of 16 land the title role in the UK’s longest running musical?

Speaking mid-tour from Dublin, he says: ‘Bill Kenwright had apparently seen me when I’d just come off the show. I got contacted back then but I was in the middle of doing The X Factor

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tour and gigs in-between.’ The West End theatre producer could obviously see that Lloyd would make the perfect Joseph.

Then, a few months ago, Musical Supervisor Tom de Kelsey asked Lloyd to go to London and sing two songs. ‘I was practising in the train bathroom. I was thinking ‘come on Lloyd, get this musical theatre voice out’! I’d worked on trying to get it down to a ‘t’.’

He continues: ‘I got there and sang them to Bill; he liked the way I sounded and basically offered me the role.’

Lloyd sounds as though he cannot believe his luck: ‘I never had any training so to be part of something so big is amazing.’

And yet wasn’t The X Factor also a big deal? After all, the sixth season of The X Factor had attracted 250,000 entrants and was the most watched season to date, with 10 million TV viewers.

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

LLOYD DANIELS

As the youngest contestant in the competition, Lloyd got to the final five, having been mentored by the one and only Cheryl.

‘Cheryl’s lovely – she was a gem. I can’t call her Cheryl Cole anymore; I’m not entirely sure what her new name is! But as long as she’s happy I don’t care.’

It’s fair to say the Welsh teenager didn’t receive the best press at the time. Lloyd is reflective: ‘They kind of used me as their weaker contestant, the younger one.’

Lloyd had to sing for his survival twice in the show. His mum had faith in him, however, telling him he was young and had yet to find his voice. ‘She was so right.’

He adds: ‘It’s probably taken me four years to find my voice. I’ve got control of it now. If you asked me four years ago, can you sing, I’d say ‘yeah, I can sing’, but really I couldn’t do what I’m capable of doing now, and it’s an instrument at the end of the day.’

Following the television show, he headlined on The X Factor tour in 2010 which sold out 56 arena dates in the UK and Ireland. Soon after, however, he was involved in a car crash - just five weeks after passing his driving test. ‘I’ve had two actually now since The X Factor,’ he says (perhaps he’ll be coming to Norwich via plane or train!).

As a solo artist, Lloyd reached the top 40 in the UK charts with his debut single Suburban Girl, and toured extensively throughout the country. And theatre-wise, he enjoyed two starring roles in pantomimes, alongside Coronation Street’s Bruce Jones in Jack and the Beanstalk and Loose Women’s Andrea McLean in Cinderella.

Then he got the break he’s been waiting five years for. In Joseph, Lloyd is starring with Over the Rainbow winner Danielle Hope as Narrator and former Dancing on Ice finalist Matt Lapinkas (who played Anthony Moon in BBC1’s EastEnders) as Pharaoh.

Lloyd says: ‘We’ve just done our 42nd show, not that I’m counting, and it’s going really, really well. The whole cast have made me feel so welcome and Danielle and Matt are just brilliant.

They’ve helped me out so much. The energy is great and the fun factor is there.’

Danielle has helped Lloyd find his theatre voice, and ‘Matt, obviously with his acting experience, has helped me out dramatically with the acting because I’ve not done any of that before.’

He likes the immediate audience reaction of theatreland, ‘you don’t have to wait until the Sunday night to get voted on or off, for the reaction.’

And his number one fan is his mum. ‘My mum watched the show and she bawled from start to finish!’

So who’s harder to impress: Simon Cowell or Bill Kenwright? ‘It’s probably harder trying to impress Bill because he is not just into musical theatre, he’s also a massive football man and owns Everton football club so he’s used to having a very effective opinion.’

He adds: ‘He’s great to work with and he’s actually a lot of fun, as scary as he is to work with for the first five minutes!’ By contrast, he describes Simon as ‘a little bit of a pushover’!

Lloyd is based in Manchester nowadays and admits that geography isn’t his strongest subject. Hence when he saw Norwich on the tour he thought it was a misspelling of Northwich: ‘I got confused because when I’m driving towards the M6 from Manchester itself I see that sign for Northwich!’ He adds: ‘I haven’t done much in the east so I’m looking forward to it.’

Theatre-land seems to be suiting this 21-year-old dressed in his amazing technicolor dreamcoat. Lloyd agrees: ‘I’m at a very, very happy stage.’

“I never had any training so to be part of something so big is amazing.”

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat comes to Norwich Theatre Royal from October 28 to November 1. Call 01603 630000 or visit www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk.

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| OCTOber 2014

Suits You!

Comedian Frank Skinner returns to his stand up roots this autumn, calling in at two venues in our region. James Rampton catches up with him

F

rank Skinner has had an immensely successful broadcasting career ranging

from The Frank Skinner Show and Fantasy Football League in the 1990s to today’s Room 101 (which is currently in its third series for BBC1), and his Sony Award-winning Absolute Radio show, which commands 600,000 listeners every week and has had more than 13 million downloads as a podcast.

But it is as a stand-up comedian where he feels most at home, ‘showing off’ as he calls it, and he’s bringing his new show, Man in a Suit, to a couple of theatres in our region this autumn.

The 57-year-old, who has over the years won numerous awards for his stand-up, including the prestigious Perrier Award in 1991, begins by underlining how much he is looking forward to returning to the stage. ‘It’s so different from other stuff. I like the sense that it’s not being recorded. Even when you come to record your DVD, no matter how much you fight it, you feel that you’re wearing a slightly smaller suit. It feels a lot more restrained.

‘So much stuff is recorded these days. Small standup clubs will often have a camera at the back of the room, and you never know where the footage will end up. In the end, memories will be completely closed down. YouTube has already totally killed the anecdote.

It provides anecdotes for the illiterate: ‘Here’s a funny thing – look at this!’’

The other aspect about live comedy that Frank revels in is the terrific rapport that he enjoys with his audiences. ‘I love interacting with the audience. When it goes well, suddenly I feel like I’m part of the audience as well. That’s very exhilarating. Last week a woman in the front row had an American accent, and I asked if she was from the US. She replied, ‘No, I’m from Iraq’. I’d made the wrong-est guess anyone’s ever made and my life flashed in front of my eyes – but the audience laughed about it for at least a minute.’

What makes Frank’s live work so special is its unalloyed candour. As he covers such varied subjects as relationships, religion, rows with your partner, filth, salty popcorn, Prince Charles, long black leather coats, the yard of ale, giving to the homeless, the Tube and taste, he delivers his material with an admirable sense of honesty.

This makes sense from a comedian whose first autobiography was simply entitled Frank. ‘Honesty is vital. Everything I do is autobiographical. When

I’ve strayed from that and tried to write a novel in the third person or sitcoms, they have not been great. I’m essentially an autobiographical writer,’ he says.

So just how much of Frank’s material in Man in a Suit is lifted directly from his own life? ‘You’d be amazed! I embroider very little. I never completely invent anything.

I think it would lack conviction if I did. It feels more real when it is true.’

One thing that has changed about Frank’s act over the years is that it now features far less blue material than it did in the past. ‘I still have to do a bit of filth on stage. If I didn’t, that would be like Bernie Clifton not performing with his ostrich. So I go through a process of negotiation with my audience – ‘let me read you some haikus, and I’ll trade you that for some nob gags later on.’ I think that’s a fair deal. I’ll talk about Plato, and I’ll then give you a nob gag. It’s like training a dog: you have to sit while I say my bit, but then I’ll reward you with a chocolate biscuit afterwards.’

Frank, who has recently published Dispatches from the Sofa, a collection of columns he wrote for The Times over a two-year period, muses that he is relishing the prospect of this tour so much because it is a very accurate portrait of who he is now. ‘I’m enjoying this tour more than I did in 2007. Then I was still feeling a strong obligation to be who I was in 1997. I’m never good at playing a version of myself. I like being me and reflecting where I am at that time.’

Frank is also currently preparing to record The Rest is History, a new six-part Radio 4 comedy discussion show on the subject of history. ‘I like the idea of doing a panel show on Radio 4 because I can say anything as far as cleverness is concerned. If people don’t know something, they’ll be angry with themselves, rather than me. On my Radio 4 comedy, Don’t Start, one section was largely based on Androcles and the Lion. That would’ve been harder to pull off on The One Show. In fact, the last time I was on The One Show, I did a CS Lewis joke and I said to them, ‘I bet that’s the first time you’ve had a CS Lewis joke’.

‘I thought I’d like to do a panel show where I could talk about anything to do with history. I love history, but I haven’t studied it. So I thought, ‘I’ve got two choices – Google or a radio show. Well, I might as well get paid for it!’ So the aim of the show is to teach me about history – you can listen too if you like! I’m hoping this will be one of those Radio 4 shows that lasts for 50 years and that my son Buzz will present it when I retire!”

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Celebrity interview

Frank Skinner

YouTube has already totally killed the anecdote.

It provides anecdotes for the illiterate: ‘Here’s a funny thing – look at this!

Man in a Suit calls in at the Ipswich Regent on November 6, call 01473 433100, and also the Cambridge Corn Exchange on December 12, call 01223 357851.

Tickets are also available from www.frankskinnerlive.com

Subscribe online at www.placesandfaces.co.uk

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| OCTOber 2014

X Factor!

T h e F o r gott e n M a n i s b ac k . Mark N i c h o l l s s p e a k s to th e f i r s t X Facto r w i n n e r St e v e B r oo k s t e i n a h e a d of a l i v e s ho w i n No r w i ch e xc l u s i v e ly o r g a n i s e d b y P l ac e s & Fa c e s ®

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t is not a label Steve Brookstein is wholly comfortable with.

But he does acknowledge that in titling his new album Forgotten Man, people will make a connection on how life has changed for the London-born singer after the high-profile success of winning the first X Factor in 2004 and his much-publicised fall-out with Simon Cowell.

‘I can understand that,’ he tells me, ‘but what I really want people to get from the title is to think about my new album and what inspired it.’

Back in 2004, Steve Brookstein won the coveted TV talent show though it turned sour as he found himself on the wrong end of a PR campaign.

‘At the time I saw X Factor as an opportunity to push my career forward, I did not really look at it in the way people do now because it was the first series, it was just another TV show,’ he recalls. ‘I do think people were really surprised at how big it was and the way it went, but also just how manipulated and controlled we were.

‘Some bits were great and other bits made me question whether I wanted to be on it at all and during the whole programme there were ups and downs.’

It even got off to a bad start. His 2004 audition failed to impress Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, though Cowell invited Steve back to audition further and put him through to the next stage of the show. He eventually reached the final where six million public votes won him the contest. That record number of votes stood for five years until marginally topped by series six winner Joe McElderry.

It seemed he had made it as a star. His first single, a cover of Against All Odds, topped the charts and in May 2005 he released his debut album Heart and Soul before the bubble burst.

Critical of The X Factor format, which also spawned such talent as Leona Lewis and Little Mix, he found himself dropped by his record label.

The way X Factor gives the impression that it discovers

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people still irritates him somewhat as he feels a lot of the contestants are already involved in the music business in some way. He is a classic example having been a finalist on the ITV series The Big Big Talent Show, hosted by Jonathan Ross, in 1997 some seven years before his X Factor success.

After falling out with Simon Cowell, Steve pursued his musical interests, appeared in a touring production of the musical Our House in 2008 and recorded an album of jazz for his wife Eileen Hunter.

He recognises, however, that his career in recent years has been turbulent.

‘I’ve had some great ups but also some failures too, but people that truly fail are those that give up and I’m not giving up.’

That is underlined by the release of his new album.

And although it is called Forgotten Man, Steve doesn’t believe he is ready to be a distant memory in the music business and is determined to bounce back.

‘I am aware that people will think that the title refers to myself and the X Factor but it was actually inspired by a song called The Forgotten Man by David Ruffin from The Temptations.

‘He had great success but he battled with addiction and other troubles and there are elements of that in the song but for him it is also because he was a forgotten man after leading The Temptations. He was also a wonderful soul singer.’

The album is full of songs from great soul singers: At the Dark End of the Street by James Carr, Hey Girl by Freddie Scott and Sadie by Philippe Wynne from The Spinners.

There’s also Dance with my Father from Luther Vandross and a Marvin Gaye song too.

‘They are wonderful soul songs that were an inspiration for me from singers some people might have forgotten,’ he adds.

‘And I am very pleased with the album; it is the best album I have done so far and I want people to have a listen and see what they think.’

However, there is also the sense of ‘what-if’ he hadn’t fallen foul of Simon Cowell.

‘There were things that happened with X Factor and Simon

Celebrity interview

Steve Brookstein

Forgotten Man is out now and available from www.stevebrookstein.com

that made my position untenable and I could no longer work with Simon. I knew it, and he knew it, and we just had to part company.

‘There were different versions and one was that we parted because of creative issues. That was one of the major factors but there were other things too.’

Steve, 46, hints that more may be revealed in his forthcoming autobiography, called Getting Over The X. ‘Some of the powerful PR people who were working against me have since been discredited which now puts me in a position to say ‘this is what happened’ and people can now decide what they believe.

‘Simon Cowell also once said that I was the worst person he has ever worked with. That makes it a badge of honour for me but it does make me sad too because from the moment I entered X Factor I put in 100 per cent.

‘This book is an opportunity for me to put over my side of the story after so many years of negative publicity.’

Steve Brookstein, and his band appear at

The Assembly House in Norwich on November 20.

Tickets are £17 and are available from the Theatre Royal on 01603 598688. The concert starts at 7pm.

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19

| OCTOber 2014

Spiffing Good Fun Ac to r J o h n G o r d o n S i n c la i r arrives in Norwich this m o n t h to s ta r i n t h e J e e v e s a n d W o o s t e r c o m e dy, P e r f e c t N o n s e n s e . H e tal k s to Sarah H ar dy a b o u t ac t i n g , fat h e r h o o d a n d w r i t i n g s c a r y c r i m e n ov e ls !

20

J

Celebrity interview

John Gordon Sinclair

ohn Gordon Sinclair is best known for his starring role in the iconic coming-of-age 80s movie,

Gregory’s Girl, which is all about teenage angst!

The 52-year-old, who was an apprentice electrician when he left school, was plucked from obscurity by director Bill Forsyth and offered the part of the pimply teenager who lusts after his classmate, Dorothy, played

by Dee Hepburn.

John went on to forge a successful stage and screen career, including roles in another hit Forsyth comedy, Local Hero, John Byrne’s TV drama Your Cheatin’ Heart and the West End musical She Loves Me, which earned him an Olivier Award.

His latest role is that of dutiful butler Jeeves to the rather foolish English aristocrat Bertie Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, the first stage play ever created around PG Wodehouse’s great characters.

The play was written by brothers David and Richard Goodale and is based on the 1938 book, The Code of the Woosters. And you’re right in thinking that it captures that plain daftness of the duo while also offering up some wonderful word play.

The comedy opened in London to great critical acclaim last year, with Matthew Macfadyen and Stephen Mangan in the main roles, and John is delighted to be starring in the touring production alongside James Lance.

He was drawn to this production because of his admiration for the director Sean Foley. ‘He is a bit of a genius, isn’t he? I really enjoyed The Ladykillers, which he also directed, and this has the same silliness to it, too!’

He admits that it is a very physical show and that he engaged the services of a personal trainer to get him into shape. ‘I lost half a stone straight away! You have to have plenty of stamina to do this show – and pace yourself.’

John moved from Glasgow to London in the early 1980s after the success of Gregory’s Girl and has been married to GP Shauna for 10 years and they have two daughters, Eva, aged eight, and Anna, aged six.

Now based in Surrey, John happily admits that he turned to writing when Eva was a baby. ‘Well, I just didn’t want to be away so much, I didn’t want to miss out on anything,’ he says.

And it seems that writing immediately suited him.

He has now published two novels and they are, perhaps surprisingly for such a gentle soul, really violent. ‘Yes, I wanted to shock, to grab people’s attention,’ he says. ‘I guess I use violence in the way other writers use humour or sadness as an effective device.’

John, whose first book was called Seventy Times Seven, doesn’t discuss his novels with anyone as he creates them and admits to not being terribly disciplined when writing. ‘I can sit and drink tea and eat too many biscuits rather than get on with it,’ he laughs. ‘And I find myself acting out the storylines – I think I do write with the idea of the books being turned into movie or a TV series.’

John, whose new book, Blood Whispers, is about a prostitute on the run in Glasgow from a Serbian gang leader, revealed he had recently built a shed in his garden so he could fully concentrate on his writing career. ‘I’m already thinking about book number three, ideas are bubbling away although I’m now obviously concentrating on the play so I have put the writing to one side for now.’

Family remains at the heart of John’s life. ‘I adore spending time with my girls. I love hanging out with them and I try to minimise the amount of time I am away from them.

‘When I was young, we used to have a Chinese take-away once a week and we try to do this, too. And, of course, I like to cook. I like to develop our own little family traditions.’

John, who dated Suffolk actress Ruthie Henshall for several years, knows this part of the country well, saying: ‘I spent many weeks in both Norfolk and Suffolk but I haven’t been for some time so I am looking forward to rediscovering it.’

I find myself acting out the storylines – I think I do write with the idea of the books being turned into movie or a TV series

John Gordon Sinclair as Jeeves alongside James Lance.

Perfect Nonsense runs at Norwich Theatre from October 21 to 25. Call 01603 630000 or visit www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk for more.

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21

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Coats – Ou t –

Ditch the dull black coat this season

for something much more fun, says Sarah Hardy. Rather go For bold and bright numbers to inject a bit of much needed colour as the days start to darken…

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Blue high neck coat, £120, Wallis Great Plains funnel neck coat, £130, Jarrold’s Belted Gerry Weber coat, £250, www.house-of-gerryweber.eu Blue tailored coat, £230, French Connection, Intu Chapelfield Pink Butterfly by Matthew Williamson coat, £110, Debenhams Orange Red Herring coat, £65, Debenhams Lilac M&S Collection coat, £120, Marks and Spencer Red Teddy coat, £449, Hobbs, www.hobbs.co.uk

No. 05

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23

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Beauty

Anti-Ageing Products No. 02

Rewind Rewind Rewind Rewind

No. 03

No. 04

the Years

Anti-ageing products remain big business as we all want to look as young as possible for as long as possible. Here’s a round up of what’s on the market for you to try!

TREAT OF THE MONTH

No. 05

No. 08 No. 07

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I have put off having them for fear of them moving from the ‘treat and luxury’ category into the ‘necessity’ one!

It takes about an hour and a half and you can choose the length, thickness and curl of your new lashes, so you can have a more natural look or go for all out glamour. I had my lashes lengthened by 2mm with over 100 lashes on each eye.

The result was amazing! Jo Taylor

NEW

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Estee Lauder Modern Muse Chic Eau de Parfum, 30ml, £45 We all love a new perfume launch from the top dogs of the cosmetics world. This one bubbles over with jasmine, plum, honey and vanilla fragrances and is most uplifting!

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The Harley Medical Group Performance Eye Lift, £49, www.harleymedical.co.uk Temple Spa Skin Truffle, £85, Selfridges Espa Pro Serum, £48, Aphrodite Beauty Studio, Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton, tel 01502 734343 Jivesse Marine Collagen Cream, £80, Harrods Trilogy Age Proof CoQ10 Booster Serum, £29.50, John Lewis Jan Marini Age Intervention Retinol Plus Face Cream, £66, Aphrodite Beauty, Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton, 01502 734343 Eau Thermale Avene Ystheal and Emulsion, £23, independent pharmacies Bio-Oil, £19.95, Boots

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27

| OCTOber 2014

What’s On Yes, there are all sorts of Halloween happenings in October, but there’s also much more besides as you can see in our monthly round up!

GIG Following the release of his amazing top 10 debut album, First Mind and top 40 single Cucurucu, Nick Mulvey will be playing the Waterfront in Norwich on October 19. It follows a busy summer of festival appearances including two performances at The Glastonbury Festival. Visit www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk.

THEATRE The Hollies are back on the Norwich Theatre Royal stage on October 12 and tickets are selling fast. Anyone who has listened to music in the past 50 years will know the sound of The Hollies - one of the greatest British bands of all time who had more hits than The Beatles from the early 60s through to the mid-70s. Call 01603 630000 or visit www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk.

TOP TRIBUTE T* Rextasy will be bringing their I Love to Boogie Show to the Pavilion Theatre, Cromer Pier on October 26. T*Rextasy is the only band to have been authorised and endorsed by Marc Bolan’s Catalogue Management and is officially recognised as the world’s number one group dedicated to the greatest glam rocker of them all, Marc Bolan of T.Rex. Call 01263 512495 or visit www.cromer-pier.com.

COMEDY Jasper Carrott comes to King’s Lynn Corn Exchange on October 2. Stand Up And Rock does what it says on the tin: Jasper is back to his very best, mike in hand, regaling the audience with his ‘new’ stand up routines before introducing his musical compatriots that have been ‘rockin’ audiences all over the world.

Visit www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk.

FAMILY FESTIVAL The Family Arts Festival with a Brazilian Beat comes to Snape Maltings from October 3 to 5. Leading Brazilian writers alongside their international counterparts, including Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje will join singersongwriter sensation Bebel Gilberto and legendary DJ Gilles Peterson. Visit www.flipsidefestival.co.uk.

FOOD FESTIVAL Aylsham’s annual Food Festival, presented

by Slow Food Aylsham, returns from October 2 to 5 for its ninth great year. Chief among the innovations this year will be a visit from the London Vegetable Orchestra.

Appearances on BBC TV, radio and ITV have ensured that the group’s unique sounds are already known to a large audience.

Visit www.slowfoodaylsham.org.uk.

GARDENS On October 11 East Ruston Old Vicarage and Blickling Estate devote the day to the nursing and caring charities supported by the National Gardens Scheme. These renowned gardens have a fabulous range of plants and features and provide a splendid finale to a great year for Norfolk NGS! Visit www.ngs.org.uk.

COMEDY A big line-up of comic stars will kick off the comedy schedule at Loddon Mill Arts on October 3. Peter Dobbing, Iszi Lawrence will be joined by headline act Mitch Benn, probably one of the best comic songsters in the UK and one of the stars of BBC Radio 4’s award winning show ‘The Now Show’. The evening will be hosted by Dave Thompson.

Visit www.loddonmillarts.co.uk.

28

WHAT’S ON

MONTHLY ROUND UP

BURLESQUE Direct from London’s West End, Britain’s biggest burlesque show, An Evening of Burlesque, is coming to King’s Lynn Corn Exchange on October 11. A quarter of a million people have now seen what promises to be the slickest, wickedly wittiest, most delightfully choreographed cabaret spectacular of the year.

For over-18s only. Call 01553 764864 or visit www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk.

CLASSICAL Bury’s Apex classical music programme is set to feature some of the UK’s most respected chamber orchestras and award winning musicians from October 7. The programme kicks off with the London Mozart PlayersTasmin Little in a concert called A Violin for All Seasons, and will run until April 2015.

Visit www.theapex.co.uk or call 01284 758000.

WEDDING FAIR Godwick Great Barn is holding its first ever wedding fair at the barn, which is one of the most popular wedding venues in Norfolk, on October 12. The Most Unusual Wedding Fair will be held in conjunction with outdoor events specialist Magical Events, and promises to be no ordinary wedding fair! Visit www.themostunusualweddingfair.co.uk.

Birds Moulton Nurseries Plant Centre, near Acle, has a RSPB Representative on site on October 24 and 30 to give information and advice on feeding the birds in your garden throughout the winter and their conservation work. Call 01493 750458 or visit www.moultonnurseries.co.uk.

© Andrea Ferreira

FAMILY FUN There is one last chance to do 50 things at the Wild Wednesdays on the Brancaster Estate on October 29. Join the team for a day of 50 themed activities on the Norfolk coast, from bug hunting to mud pie making, holding a scary beast to tracking a wild animal. Please meet at Brancaster Staithe - booking essential.

Visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk.

BLUES A two-day Fine City Blues Explosion comes to Norwich Arts Centre on October 24 and 25.

The event will feature some very special Blues & Blues Roots artists including Paul Lamb and The Kingsnakes, Wallace Coleman & his Cleveland Allstars, Sean Taylor and Dove & Boweevil Band.

Visit www.norwichartscentre.co.uk.

COMEDY Fresh from his smash-hit tour across the length and breadth of the UK last year including his solo arena debut, Jimeoin - Yes, Yes, Whatever...?! comes to the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft on October 23. You’ve no doubt seen him on TV in shows including ‘Live at the Apollo’. Visit www.marinatheatre.co.uk.

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WEIRD CREATURES TV presenter Nick Baker brings his Weird Creatures to The Cut in Halesworth on October 24. Perhaps best known as the presenter of BBC 2’s Springwatch Unsprung, Nick is a supporter of World Land Trust (WLT), and in early 2014 made a field trip to Paraguay with John Burton, WLT Chief Executive.

Visit www.worldlandtrust.org.uk.

SOUND & VISION The opening night of Norwich Sound & Vision 2014 on October 9 is set to be an audio visual feast at Epic Studios with three pioneers of electronic music all under one roof: the brilliant Public Service Broadcasting, Radiophonic Workshop, and Ulrich Schnauss.

Norwich Sound & Vision returns for its fifth year and finishes on October 11. Visit www.norwichsoundandvision.co.uk.

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OCTOBER Northern Ballet Cinderella

BOX OFFICE: (01603) 63 00 00

Tues 14 – Sat 18 Oct HENRY IV PARTS I & II Antony Sher stars in Royal Shakespeare Company’s acclaimed productions £6.50 - £28

Mon 29 Sept – Sat 4 Oct PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ Lorna Luft stars in tribute to the golden age of movie musicals £6.50 - £33.50

Tues 7 – Sat 11 Oct CINDERELLA Northern Ballet with lavish dance version of popular fairytale £6.50 - £36.50

Sun 5 Oct BRITTEN SINFONIA Mozart and Tavener £6.50 - £26

Sun 12 Oct THE HOLLIES All the hits £6.50 - £26.50

Tues 21 – Sat 25 Oct JEEVES & WOOSTER John Gordon Sinclair and James Lance star in inventive, bonkers comedy £6.50 - £26 Tues 28 Oct – Sat 1 Nov JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT Lloyd Daniels (X Factor), Danielle Hope (Over the Rainbow), Matt Lapinskas (EastEnders) star in glorious family musical £6.50 - £27.50

Book online: www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk T H E AT R E ST R E E T, N O RW I C H N R 2 1 R L

Sunday 12th October 7.30pm

HENRY BLOFELD & PETER BAXTER IN CONVERSATION All Seats £18.50 · Box Office: 01603 620917 · www.maddermarket.co.uk

The Maddermarket Theatre, St John’s Alley, Norwich, NR2 1DR

3 Course Sunday Roast £14.50 per person

Under 10’s eat free from a children’s menu (with a full paying adult)

Book now to avoid disappointment

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WHAT’S ON

Halloween

The

Witching

Hour

Bewilderwood, Hoveton, tel 01603 783900, visit www.bewilderwood.co.uk All members of the family can play together in the park and trees, enjoy daily performances of the BeWILDerbats story, stay warm by the fires and spend time creating luminous lanterns in the ‘Big Hat’. As dusk settles over the wood, the Glorious Glowing Lantern Parade takes places which weaves majestically through the light and laser-lit woodland, dropping in to sneak a peek at familiar faces!

Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, tel 01328 851465, visit www.pensthorpe.com Celebrate the spooky season with a spine chilling selfguided trail around the reserve and uncover a host of fang-tastic facts and solve mysterious puzzles. There will be prizes for those who complete the trail and those who come dressed in freaky fancy dress!

Norwich Ghost Walks, tel 07831 189985, visit www.ghostwalksnorwich.co.uk

It’s the time of year when we all, for some reason, want to be scared out of our wits! True scaredy cat Sarah Hardy picks out just a few Halloween highlights in the region

Holt Hall, visit www.fairytaletrust.org The Fairytale Trust stages its regular ‘Real Halloween’ weekend on October 25 and 26, where magical workshops are held, there are twilight animal lantern parades, live music, traditional games such as apple bobbing, real fires and a Halloween café. It is a lovely family event.

Fairhaven Woodland Water Garden, tel 01603 270449, visit www.fairhavengarden.co.uk Scare yourself silly on Fairhaven’s haunted trail which features mummies, witches and even the Grim Reaper. Add in live music, children’s entertainment and a firework finale at 7.45pm and you’ve got a little bit of everything!

FOR AN EXTRA SCARE!!!

Dinosaur Adventure, Lenwade, tel 01603 876312, visit www.primevil-scare.com It’s back – bigger and more scary than ever. PrimEVIL, with its mix of live action thrills, has a nightmare clinic, a maze of mutants, a circus of terrors and more hair raising adventures to test your nerves. It sounds completely terrifying! It runs from October 26 to November 1, from 6-11pm and is really only suitable for the over 12s! There’s also a fireworks display on November 1.

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Creep through hidden courtyards and silent alleyways as The Man In Black stages five nights of spooky walks from October 28. The terrifying trips leave Cow Tower and are only suitable for those with a strong disposition!

The North Norfolk Railway, Sheringham, tel 01263 820800, visit www.nnrailway.co.uk The Poppy Lane is staging a week of activities including, on October 31, a Ghost Train to Halloween Hall, home of witches, warlocks and, eek, spiders! It leaves Sheringham at 6.30pm – but will it return?

Holkham Hall, tel 01328 713111, visit www.holkham.co.uk There’s a packed week of ghostly goings-on at Holkham Hall from a mind boggling code breaker trail to spellbinding mystical tales, pumpkin carving, phantom football, a fancy dress parade and silhouette bingo! Step inside the Curiovan in the Bygones Museum to see the natural world in a magical way, with clockwork ladybirds, tiny skeletal fairies and more. Events run from October 26 to 31.

Pleasurewood Hills, visit www.pleasurewoodhills.com Join Count Woody Bear for a fun filled week for the whole family including trick or treat, spooky stories with Woody and shows along with all your favourite rides and attractions. If you like to be scared then why not experience the EXTREME Horror Evenings from October 30 to November 2? And don’t miss the spectacular fireworks display on November 2, too. Don’t forget to wear your favourite Halloween costumes.

Norwich Castle Museum, tel 01603 495897, visit www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk Head into the dark and dingy dungeons for tales of past prisoners and other frightening Norfolk stories – and what about those instruments of torture – ugh!

33

Christmas Party Nights At Yarmouth Stadium Looking for a fantastic Christmas Party venue?

After the fun of the racing, the track lights dim, guests can enjoy an evening in our Raceview Restaurant or Executive Lounges and be invited to stay and party with our DJ until 1am.

Racing Dining Disco

December at the Raceview Restaurant Date

Price

Offer

Mon 1st

£17.99

Starter & main course (No disco)

Wed 3rd

£17.99

Starter & main course (No disco)

Fri 5th

£26.99

Starter, main course & disco until 1am

Sat 6th

£27.99

Starter, main course & disco until 1am

Mon 8th

£17.99

Starter & main course (No disco)

Wed 10th

Afternoon Meeting, please call for further information

Fri 12th

£29.99

Starter, main course, dessert & disco until 1am

Sat 13th

£32.99

Starter, main course, dessert & disco until 1am

Mon 15th

£17.99

Starter & main course (No disco)

Wed 17th

£17.99

Starter & main course (No disco)

Fri 19th

£29.99

Starter, main course, dessert & disco until 1am

Sat 20th

£32.99

Starter, main course, dessert & disco until 1am

Mon 22nd

£17.99

Starter & main course (No disco)

Fri 26th

£24.99

Boxing Day Brunch

Sat 27th

£24.99

Festive Special - 4 for the price of 3 Starter & main course (£18.75)

Mon 29th

£12.99

Main course only

Enjoy the festivities in our Party Lounges!

Book Now! 01493 720343

Mon & Wed £18.99

Gold Buffet

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£31.99

Frankincense Upgrade only £5 per head!

Includes upgraded buffet with hot choice and a bottle of wine per 5 guests.

Yarmouth Road, Caister-on-Sea Norfolk NR30 5TE 01493 720343 www.yarmouthstadium.co.uk

Working for our community all year round

Brandon Lewis M E M B E R of PA R L I A M E N T for G R E AT YA R M O U T H

Get in touch – I’d love to hear from you

www.brandonlewis.co office@brandonlewis.co 01493 652928 Brandon Lewis MP @BrandonLewis

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| OCTOber 2014

Good Clean Fun! Benet Catty’s funny bone is well and truly tickled by Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, now showing at the gorgeous Savoy Theatre in the West End 36

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels runs at the Savoy Theatre, Savoy Place, The Strand, London.

Visit www.dirtyrottenscoundrelsthemusical.com

WEST END REVIEW

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

T

he Broadway critic Brooks Atkinson said that the ‘large, loud, lavish, vulgar musical show’ was the great American contribution to world theatre. Musical comedy is an art form to which the British have made scant contribution over recent years. The great British musical masterworks of the last few decades have rarely troubled the laugh muscles of the paying public. Even the monolithic Mamma Mia! has lightness only in terms of weight rather than levity.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels pulls off the considerable trick of being a great American musical comedy with a style and class that feels quintessentially British. It’s even playing at the Savoy, the classiest address any show can call home. It’s suave, smart and sophisticated and is the funniest musical London has seen since The Producers 10 years ago.

Like the games of its protagonists, the plot of Scoundrels looks complicated but is actually simple. Lawrence, a suave English gigolo with looks and class (Robert Lindsay) is conning rich heiresses like Samantha Bond’s Muriel Eubanks out of their money on the French Riviera.

So is a down-market American schmuck, Freddy (Rufus Hound). When their paths cross, they agree to join forces. But then they strike a bargain: whoever can tempt a woman out of $50,000 first will get Beaumont-Sur-Mer to himself, the other will leave and never return. Right on cue, in walks a glamorous soap queen, Christine Colgate (Katherine Kingsley) and battle commences.

The story is a rollicking good yarn in itself - as proven by the hit film in 1988 with Steve Martin and Michael Caine - but it is the treatment of it that lifts the evening into its own class.

Jeffrey Lane’s adroit wise cracking book packs more oneliners into a single scene than any current musical has in its entire length. David Yazbeck’s songs (he is one of the few musical theatre writers to pen both music and lyrics) blends the wit and whimsy of Cole Porter show tunes with more contemporary rock and pop idioms.

This blend of styles was deployed on his musical version of The Full Monty which ran in London a few years ago, and will be displayed again with his musical Women on the Verge of a

Nervous Breakdown when that opens in London this Christmas starring Tamsin Greig.

The score has a funky sophistication that mirrors the personalities of its protagonists: Robert Lindsay sings his Cole Porter-ish big number Give Them What They Want complete with hats and canes; Hound’s big number Great Big Stuff is a funky semi-rap embracing the possibilities of lots of cheap tat while dancing with waitresses in French knickers. ‘I’m tired of being a chump / Wanna live like Donald Trump / Two hundred pounds of caviar in one gigantic lump.’

The dexterity of Yazbeck’s lyrics never flags, in full command of the power of innuendo (‘If music be the food of love he ate my smorgasbord’), romance (‘Nothing is too wonderful to be true’) and pastiche pop (‘Love is my legs and you are my love so you are my legs, my love’). All rooted in character and comedy, this show about class is a classy affair indeed.

The writing is matched by a typically slick production from Jerry Mitchell (whose production of Legally Blonde was such a treat a few years ago at the same theatre) who eschews the obvious temptations of the Broadway musical comedy and has all his actors playing for truth rather than laughs.

It may be a show about indulgence but there is none on display in how Lindsay and Hound get their laughs. And with the vaudevillian edge to proceedings (particularly with Lindsay) including corpsing and asides to the conductor, it gives a nod to music hall as well as West 47th Street.

Lindsay and Hound are a masterful pair of crooks, and they are wonderfully matched by the rest of the cast, not least the ever-gorgeous Samantha Bond (recently replaced by Bonnie Langford) and dazzling West End debutant Lizzie Connolly as the gun-toting good time girl demanding marriage from Lindsay.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a first rate old school musical comedy written in a contemporary idiom. It has a strikingly British sensibility combined with full-tilt American showmanship. It stands head and shoulders above the competition. If you can find someone to con out of their tickets, do it.

“Lindsay and Hound are a masterful pair of crooks, and they are wonderfully matched by the rest of the cast”

Subscribe online at www.placesandfaces.co.uk

37

LANGLEY PREPARATORY SCHOOL & NURSERY

11 December 2014 Sprowston Manor, Norwich Pamper Session or Golf Day followed by Christmas Dinner & Party in the evening

Sponsor sought for Golf Day: contact Martine on 01493 446534

Revellers book now: www.eeegr.com/events

| OCTOber 2014

Perfect for Parties St Margarets House in Wroxham regularly hosts parties for up to 150 people. Emma Outten needs no excuse to look at this stunning Edwardian house in the Broads village

Guide Price - £1.2 million

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T

his month’s property, in Wroxham, is thought to have been built in 1922 for the former owners of Sprowston Hall, now Sprowston Manor – well if it was good enough for them!

St Margarets House is certainly an impressive home in a wonderful setting, with room for families and for friends, too.

The current owners have been here for 15 years and it’s been a happy home to them and their six children. It looks like a great place for children to grow up, with plenty of room within the house and gardens for a large family. Have I mentioned that there are nine, yes, nine bedrooms yet?

Over their time here the owners have made a number of improvements, re-plastering almost the whole house, fitting new hardwood windows and installing new bathrooms and a new kitchen.

For example, the en suite bathroom in the master bedroom has a pair of his and hers Villeroy and Boch sinks and the breakfast kitchen really

PROPERTY OF THE MONTH

ST MARGARETS HOUSE, WROXHAM

is the hub of the house. It was produced locally in Wroxham by Eric Bates, all of the units are crafted out of Norfolk oak and the focal point of the room is a large double sided breakfast bar with a single piece of Greenland granite. Moreover, there is space for a four oven gas powered Aga and an American style fridge freezer. Plus there’s a large under mount stainless steel Franke sink and additional smaller matching Franke sink – very nice, too!

If that’s not enough, they’ve also added a significant extension, consisting of three bedrooms, a shower room and a large family room with kitchenette. This part of the house could be separated off as an independent annexe and would be ideal for an elderly relative, older children, a live-in nanny or even as a private rental.

So you can really keep your options open with this property.

The owners say: ‘We all have our own space and the children can have their friends here whenever they like but there’s always somewhere quiet to go. If the children are out and it’s just the two of us at home we like to have a peaceful supper in the sun room.

‘And if we’re up early on Sunday mornings and everyone else is sleeping in, we sit here with a coffee reading the papers, before everyone gets up and we have a busy houseful again.’

The owners have enjoyed having space here not just for their large family but also for friends, regularly hosting parties for up to 150 people.

With doors opening out onto the garden, guests wander in and out freely. ‘We’ve celebrated so many birthdays here, with entertainers for the children when they were younger and pool parties as they’ve grown older. People seem to love coming here – perhaps it’s the pool,’ laugh the owners.

Ah yes, the beautiful large pool area certainly looks like a great place in which to entertain.

‘When the builders were working on the extension they said they’d been to parties here in the 1960s Subscribe online at www.placesandfaces.co.uk

– apparently it’s always been something of a sociable house.’ So its credentials as a party place span the decades!

When the children were younger they made dens in the woodland and played croquet, football, badminton and more on the lawn – now they’re older they hang out with friends in the spacious family room or take a dip in the pool, open from April to October. The whole garden is very private and nobody can see in, but from the house you have lovely views across the lawns.

This is a wonderfully peaceful spot, very secluded yet close to all amenities. The owners have found it ideal as their children have grown older, with a bus stop at the end of the road and the train station over the bridge in Hoveton. It’s easy for their teenagers to walk to the shops or to hop on the bus and meet friends in Norwich.

There’s a primary and secondary school within walking distance and transport to private schools in Norwich. They say: ‘Wroxham and Hoveton have everything – hairdressers, banks, a library, Post Office and of course Roys – the biggest village store in the world – so you don’t need a car here.

We’ve found it brilliant for gradually giving the children independence.’ It’s also handy for work with the Park & Ride in nearby Sprowston. You’re well placed for everything here yet within the gardens it feels like you’re in your own little world!

‘This is our dream house and it’s more than lived up to expectations, with room for our large family and the space to entertain.’

They add: ‘Wroxham is a great place to live.

You’re in the heart of the Broads but very close to Norwich with all the shops and transport links you could need.

‘We love sailing and there’s no better place than the heart of the Broads. There are sailing clubs at Wroxham, Horning and Hickling so you’re spoilt for choice.’

And if you love a party, preferably with a pool, there’s no better place than St Margarets House, by the looks of it!

Fact File • Nine bedrooms • Four bathrooms/ shower rooms • Six receptions • Breakfast kitchen with separate utility room • A wealth of period features can be found throughout the property • Swimming pool • Double garage • Beautiful landscaped plot of 1.3 acres

* Dealer Details Fine and Country 7 Bank Plain, Norwich, Norfolk NR2 4SF Call 01603 221888 or visit www.fineandcountry.com

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Kitchen Sense of Harleston For Quality Fitted Kitchens and Appliances

KITCHEN SENSE COMMON SENSE • General Dentistry • Hygenist Available Special interests include:

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• Cosmetic Dentistry • Oral Surgery • Childrens’ Dentistry • Anxious Patients • Facial Aesthetics • Tooth Whitening

62 London Road, Harleston, Norfolk IP20 9BZ Tel: 01379 852592 Fax: 01379 854411 staff@kitchen-sense.co.uk | www.kitchen-sense.co.uk

10-12 Cathedral Street, Norwich NR1 1LX

|

Tel: 01603 628963

Biomass

RHI Renewable Heat Incentive

By having renewable heat technologies installed in your property, not only could you reduce your fuel bills considerably, you may also be eligible for annual payments with the Renewable Heat Incentive which in most cases exceeds the cost of the installation! This includes Biomass Boilers, Heat Pumps & Solar Thermal Systems.

The RHI is a UK Government scheme to encourage commercial and domestic properties to uptake renewable heat technologies. This will be a significant contribution to help lower the CO2 emissions and meet the government’s target in the year 2020.

Call us for more information or to arrange a free survey to see how much you could be saving & earning.

Log Gasification Boilers

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Thermal stores

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Air source heat pumps

APS Energy Solutions can answer all your questions

01473 719950 info@apsenergysolutions.co.uk www.apsenergysolutions.co.uk

Multi-award winning luxury estate agents in over 275 locations worldwide

Time for a change?

We’ve got people searching for homes in the Waveney valley and surrounding areas.

We are selling in your area!

Due to a high demand from buyers looking to purchase in the Waveney region, we urgently require more properties to sell.

If you are considering selling, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss our unique marketing strategy and how it could be of benefit to you.

For a confidential conversation, without obligation, please call a member of the team in our regional head office on 01603 221888 We look forward to hearing from you.

If you have already instructed an agent on a sole agency basis, please check the terms and conditions in order to avoid the potential liability of having to pay two fees.

Norwich 01603 221888 London 02070 791515

FineandCountry

FineandCountry

| OCTOber 2014 Joules Moss Stitch Throw £85, Cushion £35 This is another enormously successful brand that loves to make a bold statement. These beautifully crafted accessories come in a variety of rich jewel colours that just light up the room.

Be daring and throw all the colours together for a real show-stopper.

AUTUMN MAGIC O u r hom e w r i t e r s H ay l e y Ph i l p ot a n d J e n n i f e r R e a d a r e h av i n g a m e l low mom e n t a s th e s e a s o n s a r e a b o u t to ch a n g e

K

eats described autumn as the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’, when the days shorten and the countryside slowly turns from green to golden brown, and the branches are laden with the deep, rich colours of the fruit and berries. So why not bring some of these beautiful shades into the home with furniture and accessories that echo the landscape outside? They add a warm and cosy feel to the interior, and the soft textures of the cushions and throws are just what we need for the chillier evenings. Country creatures are still hot news in the world of interiors and add a charm and elegance to any room. They’re guaranteed to be a talking point, too.

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Voyage Maison Moorland Stage Floor Cushion from £150 This would be perfect if you’re entertaining and need extra seating or just when you feel like stretching out in front of a roaring fire. Children love to claim these as their own, too. The handsome stag’s head sits proudly on the 100 per cent linen fabric bordered

by Arran Granite tartan – available from 75cm diameter.

Parker Knoll Canterbury Sofa RRP £1993 now £1590 A timeless classic, the Canterbury features delicately scrolled arms, deep seat cushions and luxurious back cushions to provide sumptuous comfort. Available in a wide range of fabrics, this sofa would grace any home style, both traditional and contemporary, and this great British company offers a 25 year guarantee on the frame construction.

INTERIORS

AUTUMN TRENDS

Orla Kiely Linear Stem Cushions £35, Linear Stem Towels from £4, Scribble Stem Bedding from £28 Instantly recognisable as the designs from this iconic Irish designer - the vibrancy and clever use of colour in all her home accessories simply lift the mood in any room of the house.

The cushions are ready-filled with a neat zip closure. The deliciously soft deep pile towels in jacquard weave come in four sizes and add a real contemporary feel to the bathroom, 100 per cent cotton. Her Scribble Stem bedding design is perfect if you’re looking for a touch of retro chic and this colour combination just sings autumn.

Parlane Flagon Vase £25 This classic ceramic bottle vase almost has something of a historic feel about it and yet is still very on-trend. In a wonderful shade of green, it would compliment any wooden surface.

Hayley & Jennifer are homeware buyers at Jarrold’s Jarrold’s, 1-11 London Street, Norwich, NR2 1AL www.jarrold.co.uk The Granary, 5 Bedford Street, Norwich, NR2 1AL www.thegranary.co.uk

Subscribe online at www.placesandfaces.co.uk

Voyage Maison Mr Pheasant and Moorland Stag Cushions £40 Because this fabulous UK brand has terrific creative focus and masses of expertise, it can reinvent its designs every season using natural fibres like cotton, linen, wool and silk. A clever watercolour effect to the cloth really brings them to life and provides an interesting finishing touch to your seating area. They’re also a fantastic way to bring a plain sofa or chair right up to date.

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OPEN MONDAYSATURDAY 9-5PM SUNDAY 10.30-5PM BANK HOLIDAYS 9-5PM

FULLY BESPOKE HANDMADE KITCHENS, BEDROOMS, OFFICES, BATHROOMS & FREE STANDING FURNITURE

Suppliers and installers of granite, quartz and solid timber worktops FROM DESIGN TO INSTALLATION

Earsham Hall, Earsham, Bungay, Suffolk, NR35 2AN 路 Tel 01986 893420 路 Mobile 07876 395197 info@earshamhallkitchensandinteriors.co.uk 路 www.earshamhallkitchensandinteriors.co.uk

THE METICULOUS MOVERS

We’re on the move!

Ollands is upping sticks to a new home!

Don’t worry it’s our speciality.

BESPOKE RESIDENTIAL MOVES

Our new premises are close by and will help us improve our excellent service still further. Please contact us if you’d like to know more.

Watch this space

STORAGE BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUES & FINE ART

The Mill, Holt Road Horsford, Norwich Norfolk NR10 3DD

E: enquiries@ollands.com T: +44 (0) 1603 898 679 F: +44 (0) 1603 710 200

www.ollands.com

For free advice call us on

01502 531825

Change your perspective Luxury conservatories, quality and hand-built to meet your needs

www.earlydawnwindows.co.uk Rushmere Road, Carlton Colville, Suffolk NR33 8HA Opening Times 10am-4pm | 7 days per week

Darby & Liffen Ltd 42 Bells Road, Gorleston on Sea, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR31 6AN

ESTATE

AG E N TS

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MA NAGE M ENT

Darby & Liffen Ltd are here to provide you with a comprehensive service for buying, selling, and letting property in the East Norfolk coastal area. We are totally independent and offer a first class service for buyers and sellers, based upon our extensive local knowledge and many years of experience in all aspects of property sales and management.

www.darbyandliffenea.co.uk · 01493 600411 · info@darbyandliffenea.co.uk

Two outstanding coastal properties by the agent who gets results www.your-move.co.uk

Find your local Your Move branch… 154 London Road, North Lowestoft 01503 534998 168/169 High Street, Gorleston, Great Yarmouth 01493 600005 · 26-28 New Market, Beccles 01502 273333

Hedley Lane, Carlton Colville, Lowestoft

Offers over £380,000 A 5 Bedroom Property with Holiday Wood Log Cabin and Garage/ Workshop with Office, situated down a Private Road, benefiting from having an En-Suite to Master Bedroom and Separate Annex Accommodation. The property includes a 14’8” x 10`kitchen, spacious dining room, lounge, sitting room, breakfast room, utility room and 5 bedrooms, the outside is mainly laid to lawn, shrubs and borders.

Kessingland, Lowestoft

Offers over £295,000 Modernised and Renovated to a high standard of finish, this 3 Bedroomed Detached Cottage enjoys sea views and is situated along a gated Private Drive, benefiting from having a Separate Dining Room and Breakfast Room.

| OCTOber 2014

A Golden Time For The Garden

Our gardening writer Ellen Mary tells us what we should be doing in the garden this month

O

ctober is the month when we watch in awe as the landscape changes colour to beautiful shades of gold, brown and red glowing in the autumnal sunshine.

It may be getting colder but there is plenty to do in the garden to tidy up after a productive year and to be well prepared for the next. This is the time to write down your successes from the year and take photographs or sketches of your borders ready to start again in the spring. Let’s not forget this is the month to harvest your butternut squash and enjoy warm pumpkin pie.

Garden and Flowers If you have been graced with lots of beautiful dahlias and gladioli this year you will need to lift them from the soil to store over the winter months, otherwise you may not see them again! Cut off dead foliage, brush away soil and clip off small roots before storing. A bucket of dry sand in the shed is the perfect place for them until next year.

Plant your spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils and alliums and wait in anticipation for them to appear next spring. Bulbs look great in groups so plant out a few together in your borders or naturalise crocus bulbs in grass areas. Bulbs are simple to grow, so if

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you have little space, they can be planted in pots and containers for a pretty display on a patio or balcony.

If your summer pots and hanging baskets are past their best, re-plant them with beautiful winter bedding plants such as cyclamen with trailing ivy or pansies and violas.

If your lawn is looking a little worse for wear, now is a very good time to lay new turf.

Preparing your lawn now will give it time to settle in before the wet winter, getting it off to a good start before next spring. Try not to use any chemicals on your lawn, to protect insects for birds and other wildlife.

Gardening

Jobs For OCTOBER

Fruit and Vegetables When you have harvested the last of your beans and peas, cut your plants away at ground level and don’t pull them out just yet. By allowing the roots to break down in the soil, nitrogen is released which naturally helps you to prepare for next year’s crops.

If you haven’t tried growing your own mushrooms, this is the time of year to get started. Mushroom growing kits are readily available providing you with everything you need, or make up your own well rotted manure based compost to plant mushroom spores in. Use a box or even a black sack, ensure they are not left in direct sunlight and pick your own mushrooms.

Rhubarb is very popular to grow on allotments, in garden borders, grow bags and troughs. To ensure your plant continues to provide you with perfect stems divide any congested clumps gently digging them up and split with a spade. Re-plant only the healthy looking split rhubarb for even more crops next year.

Wildlife Gardening You may notice hundreds of starlings gathering in groups up the trees or chattering on telephone wires as they prepare to roost in woodlands. Allow your lawn to grow longer providing them with an essential source of food. Starlings along with blackbirds and thrushes enjoy many insects such as leatherjackets, which you will be happy to see the back of, ensuring they don’t ruin your lawn.

We all like to have a little colour in our gardens, even after spring and summer which isn’t just great for us; it’s perfect for insects too. Ensure you have some late-flowering plants such as asters, Michaelmas daisies and sedums. Don’t be too quick to cut back alliums and crocosmia as they form pretty seed heads and are valuable to tiny creatures. All are essential foods for insects that will become food for birds in early spring.

A wildlife friendly garden will be full of berries, seeds, nuts, acorns and allow weeds like teasels and thistles to attract finches; you might even find goldfinches happily enjoying your space. An autumnal garden can be easily made into a wonderful haven for wildlife and even means less work for you!

Ellen Mary Gardening provides no jargon, easy to follow gardening advice, along with a range of colourful gardening products at: www.ellenmarygardening.co.uk

Gardening Product of the Month It’s that time when the leaves fall everywhere but did you know that once well rotted, they are a great soil improver? Collect your leaves in one of these leaf sacks and let them rot to use as mulch around your plants. If you wait two years you can even use it as seed compost. £4.95 for two hessian sacks in a bundle.

Available from Ellen Mary’s website.

Subscribe online at www.placesandfaces.co.uk

Give it a go

ens us private gard s some gorgeo ha ll Ha am r 19. lkh be Ho a tour on Octo visit as part of ll wi r which you can nathan Taylo ape Manager Jo to en op Deputy Landsc lly not usua nd the gardens, en rd ga guide you arou ell sh s, rrace e the formal te the public, to se m. tu re bo ar and spectacular m. m, 1pm and 3p o.uk Tours run at 11a w.holkhamhall.c ww eded. Visit Pre booking ne for more.

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Home-grown seasonal bedding plants including Pansies, Violas, Wallflowers, Cyclamen and much, much, more Ready-planted Autumn Hanging Baskets and Containers Great range of Hardy Plants and Houseplants Everything you need to make your garden grow!

Wild Bird Care Unusual Gifts for the Home and Garden New Season’s Outdoor Clothing The Greenhouse Coffee Shop offers morning coffee, afternoon tea or a delicious meal at lunchtime – On a sunny day, relax outside in our secluded patio courtyard where your well-behaved dog is also welcome ARRIVING IN OCTOBER – Christmas Decoration and Gifts – wonderful displays to inspire you for the Festive Season!

DON’T FORGET OUR FUN CHRISTMAS CHARITY EVENT WEEKEND - 6TH & 7TH DECEMBER 2014

You can find us 2 miles from Acle, on the Acle to Reedham Road Acle Road, Moulton St Mary, NR13 3AP Tel: 01493 750458 email: info@moultonnurseries.co.uk Opening times: Monday to Saturday 8.30am - 5.00pm Sunday 10.00am - 4.00pm

www.moultonnurseries.co.uk

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* VE OW SA N % 20 YE

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YOUR LOCAL

SPECIALIST

COME AND SEE OUR DISPLAY IN OUR SHOWROOM ON WHAPLOAD ROAD, LOWESTOFT Open 7 Days | Call 01502 516781 | karpetkingdom.co.uk

*OFF RRP

| OCTOber 2014

Berry

Nice

This month Simon Wainwright, executive chef at the Imperial Hotel in Great Yarmouth, finds some ‘berried’ treasure for us to enjoy!

Autumn Berry Pudding & Berry Sauce Method 1. Blend 250g of the berries with the icing sugar to a puree, strain through a sieve to remove any seeds. Check the sweetness and add more sugar if needed.

2. Remove the crusts from the bread and cut out four small circles to fit the bottom of four small dariole moulds and four larger circles to cover the top. Cut the remainder of the bread into strips the height of the moulds.

3. Lightly oil the inside of each mould, then line with cling film.

4. Dip one side of the small bread circles into the puree and place in the bottom of the mould (dipped side down). Repeat with the bread strips around the side of the mould, overlapping them slightly.

5. Next stir the remaining berries into the puree and spoon into the moulds filling to the top, pressing down well.

6. Dip the larger circles of bread into the puree and place on top of the mould.

7. Cover with cling film, place in the fridge for 12 hours before serving.

54

8. Serve with the remaining puree spooned over the top and a spoon of clotted cream on the side.

RECIPE

IMPERIAL HOTEL

Picture by Barkers Photographic, Gorleston, www.barkersphotos.co.uk

SE R VES 4

Ingredients

*400g of autumn berries (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries) 2-3 tbsp icing sugar 6-8 slices of white bread 4 spoonfuls of clotted cream

Wine Choice

2007 Botrytis Semillon Eclat, Chile Nick Mobbs, director and wine expert at the Imperial Hotel, says: This late summer fruit pudding is a dish that has sweetness and acidity from the fruit as well as richness from the clotted cream so, the choice of a dessert wine needs to have the structure to match these components.

The Semillon grapes are attacked by Botrytis, as the name suggests. Botrytis is a winemaking term for rot. You need special climatic conditions to make this wine which are mist and warm days plus ripe grapes. Basically the noble rot attacks the grape and reduces the water content of the grape, thus concentrating the sugars. The grapes are harvested by hand and, as the grapes do not rot uniformly, the most expensive dessert wines will pick individual grapes and others will go through picking selected bunches which can be very labour intensive and expensive.

The techniques, originally from Bordeaux in France and specifically in the region of Sauterne, are now used throughout the world.

The vineyards for this wine are located in the foothills of the Andes. The wine is fermented 50 per cent in barrel and 50 per cent in stainless steel. And then aged for 12 months (again in barrels: 50 per cent and stainless: 50 per cent).

The colour is intense and golden/yellow, with an aroma of stone fruits, citrus marmalade, ripe peaches and apricots; sweet on the palate with structure and a refreshing acidity which complements the acidity in the fruit, yet rich enough to blend with the sweeter components in the dessert.

• A team of brilliant chefs • Superb wine list • Laid-back atmosphere The perfect restaurant for dinner or Sunday lunch. At the Imperial Hotel, North Drive, Gt Yarmouth, NR30 1EQ. To book call 01493 842000

www.cafecru.co.uk

Sunday 12.30 - 2pm Monday - Saturday 6.30 - 10pm The Terrace is open daily. For opening times & menu go to imperialhotel.co.uk

Stay

Play

LOCAL

LOCAL 7th

NOV

COMPLETE MADNESS UK’s No 1 Madness tribute 7.30pm - £7

s 15th NOV

CASINO ROYALE 007 Evening 7pm - £34.95

CHRISTMAS PARTY NIGHTS Sunday - Wednesday £26.95 per person Thursday - Saturday £29.95 per person

4

th

DEC

28th NOV

11th & 16th DEC

kl

s OLLY (MURS) & THE IVY

2 course meal, show & after party - £29.95

s

MURDER MYSTERY Christmas party nights £32.95

kl

Contact us or see website for full details

Enjoy a one night stay in a double deluxe room for two people...

Quote “stay local “ upon booking

Only

£30 per person*

STAY AND PLAY LOCAL Attend any one of our events on the left and enjoy a one night stay in a superb double deluxe room for two people for only £30 per person* PLUS a bottle of wine on arrival in your room.

Quote “stay and play local” upon booking

Follow us online for the latest updates and offers! www.thecliffhotel.co.uk

* Single supplement applies

Thecliffhotel

CliffHotelGlstn

Book your tickets on 01493 662179 · Cliff Hill, Gorleston-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth, NR31 6DH

Book for parties & birthdays 01493 330200 www.fishandgrillgy.co.uk Find us on Facebook

Recipe

FRANCK PONTAIS

Sp icy carrot so up (L a Soupe de Carottes aux épices) Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients 600g of fresh carrots 1 medium onion 3 medium tomatoes 1 medium red pepper 2 garlic cloves ½ bunch of fresh basil 1 tbsp of olive oil 250g of cooked chick peas 600ml of chicken stock 2 pinches of ground turmeric 1 pinch of ground chilli Salt and pepper

www.andrewflorides.co.uk

Photography by ANDREW FLORIDES,

This month our French chef Franck Pontais turns the humble carrot into something quite exotic!

Method

Let our French chef cook for your private dinner parties, and for those who really enjoy cooking, he also offers master classes, for all abilities, in your own home.

More information is available at www.franckpontais.com Subscribe online at www.placesandfaces.co.uk

1. Peel and dice the onions, dice the red

5. Pour the chicken stock in a saucepan and

pepper and cut the tomatoes into wedges.

2. Wash, peel and cut the carrots into slices and place in an oven tray along with the onions, red pepper and tomatoes. Season well with the salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

3. Roast the vegetables for 15 minutes at 220ºC. 4. While the vegetables are roasting, peel and chop the garlic.

bring to a simmer, along with the chopped garlic and the cooked chickpeas. Simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Once the vegetables are roasted, using a hand blender, blitz the vegetables with the chickpeas and garlic; add slowly the hot stock, then the turmeric and ground chilli.

7. Taste, season if necessary, and serve hot with fried basil, cracked black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

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menus

FO NO 5 R W co C B ur H O se R O ta IS K sti T IN ng M G m A en S u !

2/3 COURSE LUNCH OR DINNER JU JOUR With seasonal daily changing dishes

À LA CARTE

Signature dishes carefully selected by Chef Patron Daniel Smith

TASTING MENU Savour the whole dining experience with 7 courses

SUNDAY LUNCH Featuring our popular ‘Roast Fillet of Beef’

Find us at The Ingham Swan, Sea Palling Road, Ingham, NR12 9AB 01692 581099 · www.theinghamswan.co.uk · info@theinghamswan.co.uk

DRINKS COLUMN

Mother knows Best

POLLEN STREET

Our wine writer Sam Matthews toasts his mother’s 60th birthday in style, thanks to the best drinks service he’s ever experienced!

L

ast month, my mother’s 60th birthday celebrations took me to one of London’s trendiest restaurants. It was a slap-up lunch on my father’s credit card – so a double pleasure for me – as I wasn’t paying! Pollen Street Social is the first solo venture of ex-Ramsay head chef Jason Atherton and it’s a name and brand he is already rolling out around the world. This was, by far, the best meal I have had in this country for a very long time and I’ll tell you why the food was superb but it was largely down to the drinks service from start to finish.

Now, of course, any big name TV chef in central London just off Regent Street with the finest china and glassware and accolades coming out of their ears comes at a price. But even taking that into consideration, pound for pound, it was 10 times better value for money than any Wetherspoon’s I have ever been in (and they, it must be said, do value for money at the other end of the scale).

My aperitif of choice, before the Michelin-starred lunch, was a beer. I was in London after all, a lot more famous for its beer production that its vineyards. My Pale Ale was served in an icy cold silver tankard which must have come straight from the freezer. It was only just the right side of frozen so I could grip it and not leave my tongue plastered to the rim! The beer was fantastic.

They only offered a couple of beers on draught but they obviously look after them. It was hoppy but with enough refreshing fruit flavour to be a welcome aperitif. The tankard added that bit of care and class.

Then the wine list: as someone who loves wine and everything about it, I can generally navigate around a fulsome wine list and cut through the hyperbole. It can often be daunting being handed a 200 page dossier with grape varieties you have never heard of, vintages older than myself, or wine producing countries you couldn’t even attempt to place on a map! However at Pollen Street, the wine list was impressive without being over-bearing, and very easy to handle and read.

We decided on a bottle of white - a Chilean Sauvignon from the Aconcagua Region. It was nothing like any Sauvignon Blanc from Chile I have ever tasted before. It had all the fruit flavours associated with New World Sauvignon but with a creamy elegance of an Old World Loire version of the grape variety. It was superb, and made all the more special by the way it was served.

Here’s what happened - on ordering our bottle (whilst I enjoyed my last sips of icy cold London beer from the tankard) our wine made its way to the stunning central service station in the restaurant. Something I like about top-end restaurants is a nice central service station for the waiting staff to work from. Rather than cram every available floor space with all-important money-making tables, they give up this space for a more elegant and ordered service.

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After presenting the label to me at the table, our wine was whisked off to the service station to be uncorked. The sommelier then poured herself the tiniest tasting from the bottle, much to my father’s shock and surprise: ‘That’s a couple of quid’s worth she’s having there!’ She swirled the glass a couple of times before having a really good sniff.

Now I don’t mind all of this, and I rather like this detail of service. Behind the scenes, a chef wouldn’t dare serve you a bowl of soup they haven’t tried themselves or a portion of meat before checking the seasoning. Logically it should be no different with drinks. If there is a problem with the wine, surely it is better it doesn’t make it to the customer?

As the person who made the wine choice I was the one to try it before being proffered around the table. It was then taken away from us back to the central serving station to be put on ice. My father was unnerved by this, he’s a thirsty man who likes to be in control and not risk the daunting possibility of an empty wine glass. More to the point it was on his bill and out of sight. How could he be sure someone else wouldn’t get an accidental swig of his wine? However, without ever realising it, for the three hour period we were sat in the restaurant, our glasses were never empty and always had an adequate couple of inches in the glass throughout. Just at the right moment a polite query as to whether we would like a second bottle was put to us.

Needless to say we did. We were even offered fresh glasses even though it was exactly the same wine.

On other tables in the restaurant, I saw red wine corks being presented to customers who accepted it was fine to sniff and they unashamedly did, red wines being decanted at just the right time in preparation for the serving of main course dishes, and magnums of champagne perfectly handled and poured at the table. That’s not easy - I speak from experience!

It was genuinely the best service I have experienced in this country even down to the fact my mother was offered a handbag stand to sit right by her and under the table.

On returning to Norwich, I found myself back in a local bar the following evening wondering if a chilled tankard would enhance the beer and pondering on the whole Pollen Street experience, which I’m sure is replicated in many a top London establishment. What ideas could I bring to the Assembly House? My mother is much taken with the discrete handbag stand especially for our many afternoon tea female guests. Should I take a slurp from every customer’s wine bottle to check it before serving? Don’t worry, I won’t – I wouldn’t last long through a busy dinner service!

Sam Matthews is Food & Beverage Manager at The Assembly House, Norwich. www.assemblyhouse.co.uk

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Wine Cellar

Table D’Hote Menu

3 courses £15.50 | 2 courses £13.00

THE WINE CELLAR is a piece of gourmet heaven born from an ethos of gorgeous wine, great food, and generous service.

Tucked away in the heart of Norwich, just a few steps away from the vibrant Market Place, a beautiful courtyard steeped in history is the setting for this charming hidden gem that has so much more to offer than just fantastic fine dining.

Ambient and chilled, The Wine Cellar is the perfect place to mingle and socialise. Ideal for a sophisticated, lazy lunch or a wallet friendly supper.

· Accommodation · Weddings · Parties · · Evening Meals · Sunday Luncheons · Bar Snacks ·

LARGE FREE CAR PARK

North Drive, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR30 1EG

01493 844568

www.winecellarnorwich.co.uk | 01603 886100 Guildhall Hill, 8 Woburn Court, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 1JG

www.burlington-hotel.co.uk For Accommodation, Functions, Weddings, Parties, Evening Meals, Sunday Luncheons and Bar Snacks.

eon Lunch ble y a d Sun g Advisa in Book Table d’ote menu Three courses and coffee Large choice of Fish and Roasts served to your table Free parking available - ask at reception North Drive, Great Yarmouth, NR30 1EG Tel: 01493 844568 Email: enquiries@burlington-hotel.co.uk

Showroom now open

Mon-Fri 9.30-4.30 · Sat 9.30-12 · Appointments always available

Find us at: Unit 8 Owen Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR31 0NA · 01493 923113 · info@thekitchenshopgy.co.uk

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Four Course Christmas Day Carvery

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Just £32.95 pp with Children £16.95

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Saturday Steak Nights u ‘Below Decks’

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Two Steaks, all the trimmings & a bottle of wine

u £24.99 per couple

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Café, Restaurant, Bar, Music Venue and speciality Bed & Breakfast

Two Course Festive Luncheons with variety entertainment

Tuesday 2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd December £13.95 pp (FREE PLACE for every 15 booked!)

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Festive Party Nights Saturday 6th, 13th, 20th December

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OPEN: 12 noon until late

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Two course Dinner and Disco

£15.95

(FREE PLACE for every 15 booked!)

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ALBATROS

14 Albert Square, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR30 3JH 01493 855070 · reception@comfortgreatyarmouth.co.uk

www.comfortgreatyarmouth.co.uk

ADDRESS: Quayside, Wells-next-Sea, NR23 1AT

TELEPHONE: 07979 087228

THE ALBATROS IS A TRADITIONAL Dutch cargo ship from 1899. Instead of sailing the high seas she is now permanently moored alongside The Quay in Wells and used as a Dutch style cafe, bar, restaurant, music venue and B&B, offering one of the most entertaining ways to spend a couple of hours (or a couple of nights) on the North Norfolk coast. The restaurant serves an extensive choice of sweet and savoury Dutch pancakes and other Dutch specialities for lunch and dinner. Guests can sit below deck in the cosy bar area or outside on the main deck with fantastic views over harbour and marshes. It’s a great place to experience something a bit different!

www.albatroswells.co.uk

With local dishes being created by our Head Chef Derrick Ormsby, our restaurant is the perfect social hub for sharing good food and wine. Serving food from 6pm, 7 nights a week.

28-30 Camperdown, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR30 3JB www.andoverhouse.co.uk · 01493 843490 · bookings@andoverhouse.co.uk

| OCTOber 2014

FOLK SUCCESS This month, food writer Andy Newman finds a relatively new Norfolk food brand which is making waves across the world, while top Norfolk chef Roger Hickman creates an indulgent dessert

Pictures by ANDY NEWMAN ASSOCIATES, NORWICH

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Matt Legon

ow many of us dream of quitting the rat race and following our passion by creating a business making handcrafted food?

Norfolk seems to be a magnet for such people, and I have written before in these pages of individuals who have dared to make the jump and who have joined the ranks of the county’s artisan producers.

Matt Legon is another; an investment banker for six years, in 2011 he decided that this was not the life for him, and with wife his wife Teri made the move to Norwich. A former UEA student, he knew and liked the city, decided it was a nice place to live, and so left the capital behind.

Even though he had decided to leave the cut and thrust of investment banking behind him, Matt is not the sort to sit doing

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nothing. Despite quitting the financial rat race, he still loved business, and wanted to start again, building a strong local brand which he could be proud of.

As a self-confessed foodie, he had been impressed by the passionate people selling great food he had met at farmers’ markets, and so the move into becoming an artisan food producer was an obvious one.

Casting around for ideas, he and Teri soon realised that there was a huge opportunity in chocolate. ‘All the quality chocolate brands seemed to be very similar,’ he says. ‘They were a bit boring, with lots of dark colours. We wanted to create something fun, quirky and unique.’

And so Gnaw Chocolates was born. The idea was simple: they would create a range of chocolate treats offering a ‘fun twist on familiar flavours, as well as some outrageously frivolous new taste experiments’.

Taking on a small factory in Brooke, the first bars were produced in March 2011. Little could Matt have known just

Norfolk Produce

Chocolate

RECIPE

Roger Hickman’s chocolate mousse with cherries and pistachios serves FOUR

Gnaw chocolate is available widely from independent retailers throughout Norfolk, including Jarrold’s, East of England Co-ops, the Elveden Estate store, The Forum store and Goodies Farm Shop. A full list of retailers is available at www.gnawfolkchocolate.co.uk

how much the world had been waiting for an approach like Gnaw. Within 16 months, a move to bigger premises in Norwich was necessary, and today the company is producing more than 800,000 bars a year.

This is all the more extraordinary when you realise that the ethos of handcrafting every product is still there – this is no automated production line.

What has expanded is the range, which now embraces around 30 different flavours, some of them outrageous: banoffee and lavender flavours sit alongside lemon meringue and cherry bomb. The team continue to look for innovative ideas, knowing as they do that survival means staying ahead of the competition. The criteria for new ideas is simple – quirky and different, flavours that are not already out there on the market, and, simply, ideas which the Gnaw team think people will like.

The brand, and what it represents, has struck a chord. From those small beginnings just three and a half years ago, Gnaw products are now sold in 22 countries around the world, and the company is growing fast.

One place you won’t find Gnaw chocolate is in a big supermarket. Determined that the products will remain handcrafted, Matt prefers to deal with smaller, independent retailers who ‘get’ the brand. The company will continue to grow, but not to the extent where that ethos is lost.

Gnaw remains very much a local concern, too. Employing local people and firmly rooted in the county, many of the ingredients used to flavour the chocolate are locally sourced, although the chocolate itself comes from Belgium.

When Matt decided to walk away from his high-pressure, fast-paced life in high finance, colleagues’ reactions were mixed, ranging from ‘you’re crazy’ to a recognition that he was a natural risk-taker and would therefore in all likelihood make a success of the new venture, even if it was started in the depths of recession.

Three and a bit years on, there is no argument about that.

In Gnaw, Matt, Teri and their small team have created a stand-out brand which has caught the imagination and the taste buds of retailers and consumers.

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INGREDIENTS 400g 56 per cent cocoa content chocolate, 800ml water, 550g caster sugar, 2g salt, 1kg frozen cherries (or fresh if in season), pitted, the juice of one lemon, 50ml Greek yoghurt, a handful of sour dried cherries, a handful of pistachios, a few lemon balm leaves, cocoa nibs

To make the mousse, boil 400ml of the water in a pan with 50g of the sugar and the salt. Pour this over the chocolate, and whisk until it has achieved a ribbon state – a little like ‘soft peak’ whipped egg white. Be careful not to over-whip, or you will split the mixture. Put in a clean, dry container and refrigerate.

Now make the cherry puree. Bring the cherries, 300ml water and 400g sugar to the boil, along with the lemon juice. Now blend in a mixer until smooth, and pass through a fine sieve for a super-smooth puree. Allow to cool.

Take 400ml of the puree, and mix with 100g of sugar, and 100ml of water. Churn this mixture in an ice cream maker, to make the cherry sorbet.

Mix the yoghurt with 50ml of the puree to create a deeply-coloured, flavour-full cherry yoghurt.

Roast the pistachios in an oven at 180°C for 15 minutes, and allow to cool.

Put a quenelle of the sorbet on the plate, on a pool of puree. Alongside this, put a quenelle of mousse, and cover this with the dried cherries and roasted pistachios. Now put on a pool of the cherry yoghurt, and dress the whole plate with cocoa nibs and one or two lemon balm leaves.

Roger Hickman is chef-proprietor at Roger Hickman's Restaurant in Upper St Giles, Norwich. More details at www.rogerhickmansrestaurant.com

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| October 2014

All The Right Ingredients A n e n d e a r i n g s m all h ot e l i n a s i m ply g o r g e o u s t r e e - l i n e d s t r e e t i n G r e at Ya r m o u t h h as a f i r s t c lass r e s ta u r a n t.

Sarah H ar dy t u c k s i n at A n d ov e r H o u s e

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hh, going out for dinner on a Friday night is really rather special, isn’t it? The end of the working week, the prospect of two days of R&R – it all puts you in a great mood and ready to party!

We were heading to the coast to enjoy supper at a popular restaurant in Great Yarmouth which opened six years ago. I remember visiting in the very early days, and loved the owners, Victoria and Phil Newstead, who, along with Victoria’s parents, Barry and Sharon Armstrong, had poured their heart and soul – and a fair bit of cash – into the hotel’s renovation.

It remains a little gem, with sensitive improvements but with much care taken to preserve original features such as ceiling roses, shelving and fireplaces. And look out for the staircases, with polished bannisters that you just want to whizz down!

It comprises two town houses on a tree-lined street just back from the sea front. There are 20 bedrooms and there have been a few additions over the years, including a lovely courtyard garden.

There’s a buzzy bar with ritzy little tables and chairs, and a more comfy lounge with sofas to sink into – and newspapers to read. So that’s where my husband and I positioned ourselves as we perused the menu.

As we chatted about this, that and the other and sipped our drinks – Peroni for him and a decent G&T for me – the cares of the week slipped away!

The menu changes weekly, reflecting the produce available and seasonal favourites, and dishes are all

Restaurant review

Andover House

Andover House, Camperdown, Great Yarmouth, tel 01493 843490, visit www.andoverhouse.co.uk

beautifully prepared by the hotel’s head chef Derrick Ormsby.

At present the dishes on offer range from a fresh soup (leek and potato), to duck confit and lamb kidneys as starters to Gressingham duck, grilled chicken breast and pork burgers as mains.

For me, six starters and mains is about right – there’s enough choice but not so much that you think the restaurant team can’t hope to keep an eye on it all. And interestingly, the restaurant serves food every night from 6pm. Well done to them!

We sashayed into the dining room, another attractively decorated space with a very friendly atmosphere. It can seat 24 people with additional seating in the bar, and was pleasantly busy when we strolled in at 8.15pm.

As a starter, I opted for spicy whitebait and tartar sauce at £5.50 and thoroughly enjoyed them although it was a very good portion!

My husband tried the pan seared scallops with pineapple and chilli salsa with a coconut and coriander pesto at £7.25. This dish really did look the business, and tasted as good as it looked. So a good start!

As a main course I went for an 8oz rib eye steak with Bearnaise sauce, mushrooms, tomatoes and posh chips at £18.95. It was cooked to perfection and disappeared quick!

The addition of a cheekily little side salad was a great finishing touch, too.

Himself ignored the sea bass, his usual favourite, and instead went for the veggie option, Moroccan marinated Subscribe online at www.placesandfaces.co.uk

halloumi cheese with roasted vegetables, cous cous and cucumber minted yogurt at £13. This was a delicately flavoured dish which looked pretty and was a great end of summer treat.

We were delighted to spot a ‘tasting plate’ for puds, which we quickly decided to share. At £12.95, you get four mini puds each including pecan pie and sticky toffee pudding. It was a great finale to a lovely meal. Next time I’ll have the Norfolk and Suffolk cheeseboard with accompanying chutneys and the like which sounded most interesting!

Portions are just right – I loathe those ‘pile em high’ places, and the staff are very friendly, especially manager Kris who is as passionate as Victoria and Phil about the place. Dishes are attractively presented on white china and care is taken with presentation.

I was given a mini tour of the hotel, including the private dining room which looks just the spot for a family gettogether or select dinner table. It can seat up to 18 people.

And the bedrooms are as charming as you would imagine and very well priced so perfect if you fancy a quick night or two away – with great food – this autumn.

Then it was back to that rather comfy sofa for a refreshing peppermint tea before heading home, contented and at peace with the world.

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| OCTOber 2014

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Lov ng My Local Could the Earlham Arms in Norwich be described as the perfect local?

Emma Outten thinks so, and that’s before she’s even tasted the food!

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verybody needs good neighbours, don’t they? And they don’t come much better than mine. I’ve had him climbing up a ladder to hack away at the climber creeping around my satellite dish; I’ve had him down on his knees changing a tyre so I could get to the Places & Faces office on time, and that’s to say nothing of the countless times he’s fed and watered our rabbits when we’ve been away!

Likewise, a good local is also priceless, and we are lucky enough to have just the place in our neighbourhood: The Earlham Arms in Norwich. First licensed in 1974, it had a smart revamp a couple of years ago and is headed up by Katie Hales.

Having only had a drink in the bar area before now, I was looking forward to supper! But there lay the challenge. Waiting to be tested for a potential food allergy, I’d had a good look at the online menu beforehand. And talking to Katie afterwards, it sounds as though The Earlham Arms is very on-message when it comes to catering for those with food allergies.

We went on a Friday night so there was a good, lively atmosphere (including a touch of musical chairs to accommodate everyone – popular!). To the right of me there was an arty crowd, and to the left there were a couple of yummy mummies sipping on cocktails at the end of the school week.

The neighbour likes his real ale and with the number on offer reaching double figures, he was spoilt for choice. He went for a pint of Moon Gazer Black (at a relatively strong five per cent) and

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followed this up with a pint of Adnams Lighthouse. He assured me that they are cheap at the price: Jo C’s Norfolk Kiwi is only £2.50 for example. And The Earlham Arms is well known for its Tap Room, complete with closed circuit style TV screen.

We were also intrigued by the fact that the extensive wine list includes an Indian wine, a Chenin Blanc Fratelli - a case of ‘who knew’ if ever there was one?

Quite rightly a fan of locally sourced food, the neighbour tried the homemade focaccia bread, with Norfolk rape seed oil for starters (Crush oil, in case you were wondering), with balsamic vinegar - despite being a complete carnivore he liked the fact this was offered as a vegan dish. And it was only £2. The bread was

Restaurant review

Earlham Arms

warm and the oil had a nice nutty flavour.

I went for the creamed goat’s cheese with rocket and black olive salad, ciabatta crisps and red pepper coulis (£5.75). There were a fair few dollops of the cheese and it was exceptionally creamy.

As well as a choice of mains, there are pub classics, such as local pork sausages with mashed potatoes.

The neighbour went for the catch of the day: lemon sole, with sautéed potatoes (they got a special mention), nero cabbage and wild mushrooms. The lemon sole was sourced in Scotland and it certainly got his vote!

I, meanwhile, had char-grilled chicken (£13.95) with a hotpot of celeriac rosti royal on the side (the neighbour sampled this and said it reminded him of cauliflower cheese, which is not a bad thing in my book); roast squash, buttered greens and Cafe au Lait sauce. I didn’t think I was going to like this, but the sauce really complemented the dish and I appreciated the fact they’d left a small jug of it on the side. The chicken was cooked just so – whenever I cook it, I manage to turn it into a tough old bird!

I eschewed dessert although once I’ve been allergy tested I’ll definitely be back for The Earlham Arms Sundae of the Day. The neighbour liked the look of three English cheeses, with biscuits, celery, homemade chutney and apple (£6.95), accompanied by Adnams Ruby Port (£3). It became an even better prospect when he realised there was a separate cheese slate menu to choose from, and he need only have two cheeses, for £5.25. He went for

Mrs Temple’s Norfolk Binham Blue (you can’t go wrong with one of our great Norfolk producers) and Norfolk Dapple. The black biscuits piqued our interest, and the waitress informed us this was because of its charcoal content – good for the digestion I’m sure!

What is also great about The Earlham Arms is that there’s a tapas menu, complete with dessert style nibbles, so you can really have whatever sort of dining experience you like here.

In other words, despite new places seemingly opening in Norwich all the time, The Earlham Arms remains a great place to meet, eat and drink. The Christmas menu should be online by now and it’s worth noting that there’s a function room which seats 40 alone. And, did you know that Katie and Matthew even run their own running club? A 10k fun run takes place on the 5th of this month, for example.

Most importantly, however, the food went down very well with the neighbour so I’m sure he won’t dare say no to me the next time I need him to be the good neighbour that he is!

The Earlham Arms remains a great place to meet, eat and drink

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The Earlham Arms, Earlham Road, Norwich.

Tel 01603 622993 or visit www.earlhamarms.co.uk.

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| OCTOber 2014

With guests including the Royal Family, Paul Pitcher decides to check out The Westleton Crown

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or their first wedding anniversary the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge could have had their pick of palaces or grand country estates but instead chose to stay in the idyllic Crown which is ideally located in the peaceful village of Westleton, on the Suffolk Heritage Coast.

The Crown is a charming inn which dates back to the 12th century and has an excellent restaurant, stylish refurbished rooms and lovely gardens.

It is an ideal base to choose at any time of the year; in the warmer months the terraced gardens offer a charming place for those early evening drinks or some alfresco dining. As autumn takes hold, the flickering log fires and impressive selection of real ales offer guests a cosy retreat.

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Restaurant review

The Crown, Westleton

Events: The Crown is staging three Learn and Lunch cookery demonstrations over coming months: October 15 – Game for your family table November 19 – Beets and roots February 4 – From the Sea The Westleton Crown, The Street, Westleton, tel 01728 648777, visit www.westletoncrown.co.uk

But what of the food – the main reason most of us visit?

Well, The Crown is clearly passionate about the quality of its food. Head chef, Robert Mace and his highly skilled team, pride themselves on their imaginative and varied dishes and deservedly they have achieved an AA 2 Rosette restaurant award.

On the evening of our stay it was evident from the initial look at the menu that the excellent reputation and character of The Crown is in safe hands. With an extensive pedigree and plenty of local knowledge, Robert has developed a menu that offers a wide range of dishes from fish and chips through to the finest a la carte dishes such as pan fried grey mullet with mussel and brown shrimp risotto. Every dish on the menu is created from scratch using only the very best locally sourced ingredients, with suppliers including Simper’s of nearby Ramsholt who farm on the banks of the River Deben.

After carefully studying the menu we both went for the seared king scallops for starters. They were cooked to perfection and served with a tasty pea puree and a Parma ham crisp. We both agreed they were simply delicious and left us wanting more.

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Another option was a tapas plate, crammed with little lovelies such as Suffolk salami, Parma ham, goat’s cheese, and pickles.

I wasn’t able to resist Adnam’s Ghost Ship battered fish and chips for my main course. I can honestly say the fish and chips served with crushed peas and a tasty chunky jalapeno tartare sauce were up there with the best I have ever eaten.

The deliciously crisp batter was quite light and somehow fluffy – real melt in the mouth stuff!

My partner chose the pan fried sea bass fillet, salt-baked potatoes with local samphire, fennel in a shallot and chilli ‘crazy water’ broth which she described as delightful. Broths seem to be the current trend at the moment and why not?

Most dishes benefit from some sort of accompanying sauce and a broth is as good as it gets!

Other dishes on the menu included slow cooked Blythburgh pork ribeye with roasted baby potatoes, buttered greens, baby vegetables accompanied with a sweet and sour cherry sauce. I was almost tempted with one of the dishes from the vegetarian menu – and how great to have an entire vegetarian section. Other restaurants take note! The feta cheese, spinach and red onion filo pie which was served with braised peppers and a balsamic dressing was calling my name but the local fish and chips won on the evening.

We couldn’t manage desserts but what a selection! Apple and plum crumble with vanilla custard was one option alongside lemon and lime crème brulee, with fennel and pistachio biscuits. Ouch - so hard to resist! The cheese board, packed with some of our great local cheeses, will have to wait until next time, too!

We opted for a bottle of crisp Sauvignon from New Zealand from the extensive wine list and, as you’d expect, it slipped down very well indeed. Do take time to look at the list as there are a few very interesting numbers worthy of sampling!

The Crown has 34 individual, stylish and exceptionally comfortable bedrooms ranging from cosy singles to luxurious doubles with four poster beds. All of the rooms have en-suite bathrooms, flat screen televisions and tea and coffee making facilities. There is a range of room sizes and styles all different in character ranging from traditional rooms in the main inn to more contemporary ones in the newly converted stables and cottages.

We stayed in The Marsh Harrier suite which was a real treat.

The well sprung mattress, feather duvet and crisp white bed linen all contributed to one of the best night sleep I have had in ages. The white roll top free standing bath in the room gave it a rather lavish feel and a comfortable sofa and TV in a separate lounge was rather a nice addition.

Dogs are also welcome at The Crown and a number of bedrooms are dog friendly so Fido can come, too. Wolf!

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| OCTOber 2014

IN VEGAS The real Las Vegas City is the flip side of The Strip and its delights. Just ask Clare Millar, who found out that there is definitely more to Downtown Las Vegas than meets the eye

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Travel

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ver the years Las Vegas has earned a reputation as a place where adults can indulge their desires without shame. ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ was the slogan coined to promote Sin City as it is often referred to. Considering the roots of this desert city are in gambling and adult entertainment, it is easy to understand why Las Vegas’ reputation hasn’t always been squeaky clean. But with almost 40 million visitors flocking to the city every year, I set out to find the real Las Vegas and looked beyond the big, brash and bold to check out Downtown Las Vegas and discover why this part of town is becoming the newest draw on the block.

Never ending buffets, free flowing drinks and near perfect reproductions of the Egyptian Pyramids, Eiffel Tower and St Mark’s Basilica are all still present and correct. But Las Vegas also has a luxurious side thanks to a new breed of hip hotels, fine dining, designer bars, exclusive spa retreats and great golf. The ‘anything can happen playground’ is also much easier to reach these days with an abundance of direct flights to McCarran International Airport, just a stone’s throw away from the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip.

But many people don’t realise that ‘The Strip,’ which is home to all of the modern day mega resorts, isn’t actually in ‘Las Vegas’ City. It’s in a twin city on the other side of the Clark County border, simply known as ‘Paradise’.

Continue a few miles north up Las Vegas Boulevard, past the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower, past the drive-thru wedding chapels and the world’s biggest souvenir store and you’ll come to the true Las Vegas City.

I can immediately feel the soul of this relatively low-key part of town. Known locally as ‘Downtown’, this is where the story of Las Vegas began and is home to some of the city’s oldest and most historic casinos.

The downtown area of Las Vegas, long neglected in favour of the brighter, shinier Strip - is back and I couldn’t wait to explore it. New developments include Downtown Container Park, a mix of boutiques, bars, and galleries all housed in cleverly refurbished shipping containers and Downtown3rd which is a 10-acre entertainment centre filled with a dozen bars and restaurants. With plenty of cultural attractions to fill your time, you’ll be spoilt for choice of things to see and do. Perhaps most surprising of all is the 18b Arts District – named after the original 18 blocks designated as the Las Vegas Arts District, located immediately south of downtown Las Vegas. Today, the area is undergoing massive regeneration offering a cultural urban mix of galleries, studios, shops, eateries and bars. I stopped

by The Arts Factory, housed in a former commercial warehouse and now a thriving commercial art centre.

Across the street is the equally engaging Art Square which provides studios for local artisans and creative start-ups.

My stay in Downtown Las Vegas allowed me to escape from the Strip’s narrow, crowded sidewalks in favour of the original Las Vegas entertainment district: picture vintage sparkly signs from classic hotel-casinos peppering these blocks (yes actual blocks, not just a Strip) where the Rat Pack and Elvis once strolled.

At the heart of Downtown Las Vegas is the wellestablished Fremont Street Experience - a pedestrian

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LAS VEGAS plaza covered by a massive canopy wired with 12.5 million lights where a half-million watts of audio, blast light-andsound shows nightly.

Looking beyond the dinging and ringing casinos and huge, bright souvenir emporiums, I wandered to the $42-million Mob Museum, a worthy historic jaunt in this neighbourhood where the city’s scandalous side took root decades ago. Plus, the museum occupies an authentic mafia-linked locale: the former federal courthouse where organised-crime ringleaders stood trial back in the 50s.

The Neon Museum is an absolute favourite of mine, housing an outdoor exhibition space known as the Neon Boneyard bearing a collection of more than 150 vintage Las Vegas neon signs ranging from the 1930s to the present day. Both daytime and night-time tours are available and you can’t help but be impressed by the colour, imagination and stories behind each of the signs. Timeless!

Weary from the tourist throngs and flashing LEDs, I was lucky that the Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino proved a welcome retreat for the duration of my stay.

Design-conscious yet relatively low-key with budgetbusting room rates starting from just £25 per night (inclusive of all taxes and hotel fees) and this is in July!

Better still, was the ‘Urban Rooftop Pool Experience’.

Top Left: Cocktail at The Downtown Grand’s Art Bar Top Right: The famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign. Middle: Downtown Arts Factory. Bottom: The Strip at night

71

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Travel

LAS VEGAS

Further Information

Top: Gambling and pool party fun at Downtown Grand. Left: The Neon Museum Day Tour. Top Right: Downtown Container Park.

Bottom Right: Downtown Grand Hotel standard twin room

Downtown Grand proved to be a real winner and ticked all the boxes to ensure my stay was relaxing yet memorable. I particularly loved the 24-hour dining at the hotel’s Stewart + Ogden Restaurant – perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

As downtown moves to the beat of its own drum so too has it created a handful of boutique restaurants such as ‘Eat’ specialising in farm-to-fork dining, a novelty in an area long dominated by the Heart Attack Grill, where people who weigh over 350 pounds (about 160 kilos) eat free. I also had a wonderful dining experience at downtown’s Triple George Grill, a popular steakhouse oozing quality with inspired dishes and some great cocktails to boot.

While downtown is on a steady upswing, the 4.2-mile-long Las Vegas Strip remains the city’s ace card. With new attractions springing up all the time and ever-sprawling mega resorts being built there is always something new to discover whether you are a first time visitor or are a loyal Vegas fan. This was my eighth visit and I certainly fall into the latter category so for something completely different I headed to The Gun Garage to discover why shooting ranges in Las Vegas are massive tourist magnets. If the Trip Advisor placement and 5-star ratings were anything to go by then I was in for a treat. As the background rattle of blazing weapons resounded from the range I was asked to sign a waiver declaring that I was free of drugs, alcohol and emotional impairments.

I was thoroughly briefed on safety and etiquette and after choosing my weapons was handed over to my ‘range-master’ to guide me through my shooting experience.

I was shown how to hold each weapon and how to hit my target. For the next 30-minutes I blazed away with my high-powered weaponry, all with reasonable accuracy I must add, and certainly with a great deal of satisfaction - a little surreal, but a harmless bit of role playing, and completely Las Vegas.

Aside from the heady buzz of Las Vegas life with its almost limitless number of things to see and do, I opted to take a fantastic side trip to Red Rock Canyon, great for when the neon lights simply get too much. In just 40 minutes you can drive out to spectacular cliffs and canyons that certainly make for a refreshing change of scenery.

While it’s tough to identify an off season in the city that famously never sleeps (Las Vegas puts out the welcome mat all year round), as winter sets in at home a few days in the Nevada desert where there are blue skies and warming temperatures is a tempting prospect. Next time you’re searching for a long-haul destination, keep Las Vegas in mind if you want quite possibly the adventure of a lifetime. Las Vegas can be anything to anyone: a foodie’s smorgasbord offering cheap eats to Michelin-starred dining, a gambler’s utopia; a road tripper’s desert oasis but for me, Downtown Las Vegas proved to be a cultural revelation!

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Downtown attractions www.downtowncontainerpark.com www.18b.org www.vegasexperience.com www.themobmuseum.org www.neonmuseum.org

Downtown Eateries Triple George Grill – www.triplegeorgegrill.com Stewart + Ogden at The Downtown Grand www.downtowngrand.com Eat – the breakfast & lunch joint www.eatdtlv.com

Sleep www.downtowngrand.com

Best of the rest… www.visitlasvegas.co.uk www.gungarage.com www.redrockcanyonlv.org

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| OCTOber 2014

EASY REACH Car o ly n At k i n s a n d h e r fa m i ly h e a d to O l d H u n s ta n to n fo r a ho l i day at hom e

T

he great thing about staycations is the time you save travelling. We set off from

Norwich to Old Hunstanton for a week away and an hour-and-a-half later we were there, unpacking our things before heading down to the beach.

Forget hanging around at airports and coping with delayed flights and jet-lag; a holiday at home means you can concentrate on just that - actually having a holiday.

It was a lovely evening when we arrived and so we crossed the championship links golf course and strolled on to Old Hunstanton’s vast, open beach, heading left along the sand towards the lighthouse.

The tide was out and we carried on past the ancient stripy cliffs, the people perched hopefully over rock pools with their buckets and nets, and on towards Hunstanton itself.

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Travel

Main IMage © brenmna, Beach Huts © Bryan Ledgard, Beach Image ©KronDOL

Norfolk Our lovely, bracing walk blew the cobwebs away and, arriving in Blackbeards Adventure Golf is also well worth a visit, with nine the town, we crossed the green near the well-known Golden Lion pirate-themed and nine Aztec-themed holes, as is the Sea Life Hotel to Fishers, close to The Princess Theatre, and tucked into fish Centre next door. Severely damaged during last year’s tidal surge, it and chips with a clear conscience. has since re-opened and is a great way to spend a day.

But there are downsides to holidaying at home, too, of course, Hunstanton is a typical British seaside resort – think candyfloss, and when we looked out of the window the next morning chips, doughnuts, funfair and pony rides – and it’s a great place we remembered the most significant of these – this country’s to people-watch. We sat in Rockafellas to do this, the Americanunpredictable weather. themed diner on the front, and enjoyed our milkshakes and coke It was pouring, so we decided to go out for breakfast and, armed floats while we did so, while Elvis crooned away on the jukebox. with a bundle of brochures, drove round the corner to the Caley The town’s central Tourist Information Centre is great for ideas Hall Hotel to treat ourselves again and to plan our day from there. and there are plenty of places to visit in the area, from the vast This popular place is modern and welcoming with a big bar area Norfolk Lavender Centre in Heacham to Snettisham Farm Park, where you can go on a deer and lounge as well as a large outdoor safari. terrace for when the We enjoyed playing pitch and weather improves.

Forget hanging around at putt on the windy cliff top and Fortunately the weather cleared airports and coping with eating in the Northgate Indian quite quickly and so it was back to delayed flights and jet-lag; a restaurant. Friends joined us the beach with a football, this time during the week and we also walking past Old Hunstanton’s holiday at home means you tried The Lighthouse Café on expensive-looking houses and down can concentrate on just that the cliffs, near the ruins of St. past the RNLI lifeboat station and actually having a holiday.

Edmund’s Chapel, and The hovercraft hangar, which are often Ancient Mariner Inn which open to visitors. does good food and which has a The beach had been cleaned by the rain and was full of interesting little pools, rocks and razor shells great view across the garden to the sea.

In previous visits we have also been on the Wash Monster boat and people walking their dogs – the tide goes out a very long way and so there’s plenty of room for everyone. trip – the amphibious vessel that’s painted like a killer whale and In the afternoon we headed to Bowlers where Hunstanton pier which travels from Hunstanton to the lighthouse and back, with used to be (it burned down in 2002) to have a go at ten pin bowling – an interesting commentary along the way. it’s located above a huge amusement arcade, which is another great Le Strange Old Barns antiques arts and craft centre is also in the way to pass the time if the weather turns. old town and is worth a browse, while Sandringham is also just a With our six-year-old’s wishes fulfilled, we then headed up the short drive away. hill to The Norfolk Deli to fulfil some of our own – this lovelyWe loved our trip to ‘Sunny Hunny’, the east coast town that faces looking place stocks all sorts of local products, such as cheese, cold west, and would definitely recommend it for a few days away. Just meats, chutney and chocolate, and has a vast wine cellar think – pack a bag now and in a couple of hours you could be there! area downstairs.

The town is also home to The World of Fun, Britain’s oldest joke shop, which sells everything from whoopee cushions and exploding peanuts to sweets that turn your mouth blue!

Carolyn stayed at Levante in Old And so the week went on. We went to Hunstanton market on Hunstanton. She booked through Norfolk the Sunday and back down to Old Hunstanton beach whenever Hideaways, visit www.norfolkhideaways.co.uk. we could – the beach is vast and there were lots of other people Also visit www.visitnorthnorfolk.co.uk for more there for the day, with their windbreaks, cool bags and information about the area. disposable barbecues.

On other days we headed back to Hunstanton proper to look around the shops, including The Colourful Cook Shop, which I loved, and The Pavilion Toymaster, with its huge animatronic dinosaur.

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75

Christmas at Great Yarmouth Town Hall

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COMPETITION

BRASTED’S

A Prize Worth

CELEBRATING How do you fancy dinner, bed and breakfast at the award-winning Brasted’s, in the heart of the beautiful Norfolk countryside? This fabulous prize could be yours if you enter this month’s Places&Faces® competition!

D

inner in an award-winning restaurant followed by bed & breakfast in a boutique B&B sounds rather nice, doesn’t it?

Brasted’s, nestled in the heart of the beautiful Norfolk countryside just four miles from Norwich, celebrates 30 years in the business this year and offers a diverse range of services comprising an award winning 2 AA Rosette Restaurant, a boutique B&B – as well as a weddings and event venue.

John Brasted (or JB as he was often called) founded Brasted’s in 1984. JB was well renowned in Norfolk and is often hailed as one of the industry’s ‘great bon viveurs’. His philosophy can be simplified in the quote: ‘Great company, fabulous food and wonderful wines as often as possible.’

Brasted’s was originally a 22 cover restaurant, centrally positioned on St Andrews Hill, Norwich. Renowned for its high quality food and service, it fast became one of Norwich’s leading restaurants earning 3 AA rosettes.

In 1999, with the lease expired, JB and Nick Mills (managing director) created Brasted’s Barns in Framingham Pigot.

Originally devoted to weddings, conferences and parties, in 2004 Brasted’s Restaurant opened and in 2009 Brasted’s Lodge was created: the beautiful guest accommodation comprises six individually designed en suite bedrooms.

More recently, 2010 proved to be a very successful year, serving HM The Queen, and being awarded 2 AA Rosettes, 5 AA stars for Brasted’s Lodge!

The à la carte Menu in the restaurant changes on a seasonal basis, usually every six to eight weeks, and offers locally sourced ingredients and produce, resulting in traditional British dishes with a modern European twist. As a Fine Dining Restaurant, service and food are paramount, resulting in the ultimate dining experience.

As for the boutique B&B, Brasted’s Lodge is the perfect luxury bed and breakfast country retreat, whatever the nature of your stay.

Individually designed and created, the rooms are named to reflect the history of Brasted’s and Framingham Pigot. There’s the Squire’s Retreat; The Playroom; Robin’s Nest; JB’s; Lady Jane’s; and The Beach Hut. How do you fancy staying in one of those?

After dinner in the restaurant you might want to retreat to The Snug, which is perfect for enjoying a night cap at the end of the day. And in the morning, breakfast will take place in the large dining room, with French doors opening onto the beautiful sunken terrace with rattan furniture and a bespoke water feature.

So if the two of you fancy enjoying fabulous food and wonderful wine, in the words of JB, followed by a night in a boutique B&B, look no further than October’s competition.

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To enter our competition, simply answer the following question: HOW MANY YEARS IN THE BUSINESS IS BRASTED’S CELEBRATING THIS YEAR? There are two ways of entering. You can answer this question and send your entry to competitions@h2creativemedia.co.uk.

Remember to include your answer, name, address, email and a daytime telephone number.

Or, if you’re into social media, you can go to our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/placesandfacesmagazine and like and share the competition. It’s that simple!

The prize is dinner, bed & breakfast for two, available on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights. The prize must be used by April 2015, there are no age restrictions, and all drinks must be paid for separately.

Normal Places&Faces® competition rules apply and the editor’s decision is final. See our website for more details. The closing date is October 31 2014 when a winner will be selected at random.

Brasted’s, Manor Farm Barns, Framingham Pigot, tel 01508 491112, visit www.brasteds.co.uk.

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| OCTOber 2014

Hold Your

Horses

T h i s mo n th O u r R i ch a r d d i s cov e r s w h at h a p p e n s w h e n yo u t r y to c lo s e th e s ta b l e doo r a ft e r th e ho r s e h a s b o lt e d !

some people are born horses, some become horses and others have horses thrust upon them.

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A LOOK AT LIFE

Richard Barr

T

here was a thud of hooves. I looked behind me just in time to see two large horses emerging through the gate I had just opened. Moments earlier I had finished laying down some new shavings in their stable.

The bales were heavy and I had used a trolley to take them over there. I was pulling the trolley through the gate when it happened.

I am not a great fan of horses. In fact, I am not a fan at all. My mother (who claimed she was born on a horse in the great plains of Nebraska) always had at least one horse throughout her life, and kept riding until six months before her death at the age of 86. She probably found it difficult to believe that any son of hers would not just love to spend his day perched on top of one of these ridiculous animals.

Inevitably, as a child I was made to go to riding lessons and endure small rotund children bouncing up and down on small rotund horses. I fell off at least as many times as I got on and never, at any time, felt safe on the small slab of leather that I was expected to sit on, with my feet shoved through those metal hoops. I never learned to steer, nor found the forward or reverse gears for the beasts.

Only once did I enjoy riding a horse. I had been put on a brown and white spotted one on an American prairie by some cousins who knew how to ride. Suddenly they set off towards the horizon.

My horse, not wanting to be left behind, raced after them. Fortunately American saddles have a handy handle to hang on to – and hang onto it I did. With the wind rushing through my hair and most of me in the air for the whole journey I had the same kind of thrill that you probably get if you are falling from a great height without a parachute.

For once I did not land with a bump, but that excitement many years ago did not convert me to the joys of horsemanship.

But as the Shakespeare saying might have gone (had he not been talking about greatness), some people are born horses, some become horses and others have horses thrust upon them. I fall into the last category. Not only did I take on my second wife and four stepchildren (all of whom are a delight), I also took on two horses. Over the years, horses have died off, but they never seem to reduce in number, as more move in to replace the void.

One of the horses was indeed self-inflicted (in

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a sense). When my mother died, her horse had to be cared for. A kindly neighbour offered to have it put down but, fearing that my mother would come back and haunt me, we agreed that she could spend her last years here. The horse (Magic – don’t all horses have silly names: ours have included Dougal, Secret, Trudi and SugarPlum) immediately formed a relationship with another horse (Secret), even though both had been neutered many years earlier. Shortly afterwards they eloped together along Bloodslat Lane (which runs past the house).

Confusingly, Radio Norfolk announced that there were cows on the road. Even I with my limited understanding of such things knew that these animals did not give milk or allow themselves to be formed into tenderloin or rump steaks.

The elopers were eventually rounded up and lived out their lives gazing into each others’ eyes until they crossed the rainbow bridge and were in due course replaced by the present incumbents Trudi and Dougal. The problem is that any horse left on its own immediately has a nervous breakdown and has to have a companion, so the process never ends unless by chance both are struck by lightning simultaneously. Chance (like millions to one against) would be a fine thing.

Now, if they were run over on the road… And that, to my horror, looked like it was going to happen as the horses careered past me. Even though both are more than 30 years old they behaved as though they were new born foals, galloping in crazy circles, stopping to sniff a flower, making a right angled turn in the direction of the neighbours’ garden then lurching towards the road (the same road that their predecessors eloped onto all those years ago).

I am not fit, and have seldom run more than about 25 yards, but that day my feet took wing as I galloped past the horses to head them off. Pictures formed in my head of the newspaper headlines: Blood on Bloodslat Lane, Nags Knocked Down by Nissan Car, or indeed, Our Richard Run Over by Racehorses. Some papers would never get the story right.

Relief came when my wife came out holding a bucket. To a horse, food means more than freedom, and they did not realise that the bucket was empty until they were safely behind bars again – and that is where they will stay until they too cross that rainbow bridge.

79

| OCTOber 2014

The Furniture Maker Warings Furniture is a Norfolk success story, supplying furniture to some of the biggest names in the hospitality industry. But despite sitting comfortably, the company is far from complacent, continually expanding from its south Norfolk base. Carolyn Atkins meets joint managing director Rachael Waring to find out more 80

Business Profile

rachael waring

If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it,’ is a saying that certainly applies to Rachael Waring, who is constantly on the go.

She and her husband, Graham, are owners and joint managing directors of Warings Furniture, a 17-acre site in Larling, near Attleborough, which is home to a factory, brand new offices, an enormous warehouse and a fleet of delivery vehicles for their busy business which specialises in contract, restaurant and café furniture for some of the biggest names in the UK. Warings Furniture is projected to turnover around £9 million this year and makes furniture on a contract basis for, among others, Jamie’s Italian, Pret A Manger and Pizza Express. But their biggest and most prestigious contract is the one for Whitbread which encompasses the Costa Coffee and Premier Inn chains.

Sitting on a deep red leather sofa in Café Waring, her beautiful café, furniture and home accessories store on Cattle Market Street, Norwich, Rachael explains: ‘In the UK that contract is the contract – every competitor of ours would want that contract and they only chose one UK company.

‘To expand you either have to sell the same products to different people or different products to the same people,’ she continues and, while contract furniture is its over-riding concern, the company is also developing its retail side, opening the café and furniture store in Norwich in August 2011 and launching a new website www.waringsathome.co.uk last month.

Rachael is one of five company directors – the others are her husband Graham, Stuart Smith, Julie Edney and Mike Walker – and her working day is structured so that she can achieve what she sets out to achieve. She states: ‘It’s really important to work in a pro-active way.’

She is clearly a good operator, but is also keen to stress that to succeed it’s important to have good people around you. She also firmly separates her work and home commitments, saying: ‘Being a mum is a job as well’ and ‘once I’m in mum mode, I’m in mum mode’.

Graham started the furniture business from very basic premises on Unthank Road in Norwich back in 1986; he and Rachael met six months later, with Rachael joining the business after they got married in 1989.

Today they employ over 120 staff and are constantly recruiting for both skilled and unskilled workers; posts such as upholsterers, qualified machinists, warehouse staff, drivers and drivers’ mates.

Rachael, 46, and Graham, 49, have three children and Rachael carries out the school run for the younger two, Jemima, 16 this month, and Jack, five, while also speaking

regularly to her eldest daughter Harriet, 20, who works in London as a buyer’s assistant for women’s accessories company Anthropologie.

Rachael’s maiden name is ‘Colchester’ and she can trace her Norfolk roots back to 1400. Her father farmed in Hoveton (Wroxham Barns now occupies the family’s former dairy barn), before moving into the hospitality trade – he owned The Petersfield House Hotel in Horning.

Rachael’s younger sister, Laura, and brother, Matthew, are also in the hospitality business, with Laura owning The Red Lion pub in Eaton and Matthew The Recruiting Sergeant in Horstead, The Ship in South Walsham, The Black Boys in Aylsham and The Blickling Arms (naturally, Warings Furniture fulfils all their furniture needs).

Hard work is clearly in their genes and Rachael’s role is demanding. After dropping the children at school, she visits her Norwich café and shop where she collects the post and picks up a coffee before arriving at her desk in Larling for another varied day. She says: ‘I’m the main director liaising with our accounts department and I’m very much involved with the Costa, Travelodge and Centre Parcs contracts.’

She keeps an eye on these from a higher level, taking responsibility for stock forecasting and overall management with the assistance of her PA, Rachel Spencer.

Following increasing demand from eastern countries for western hospitality chains, Warings Furniture has also recently opened an international office in China and Graham travels there frequently.

With all this activity, it’s easy to assume that it’s all work and no play, but far from it – the Waring family is wellknown for playing polo, keeping four horses at the Norfolk Polo Club in Langley and playing in tournaments across East Anglia.

‘I don’t play polo, I just ferry kids around!’ smiles Rachael, adding that she enjoys being a spectator and the family atmosphere, and also likes to walk her wire fox terrier Mabel around the grounds (take a look around Café Waring next time you’re in Norwich and you’ll spot Mabel in many guises in the home accessories section).

What’s more, the family is planning to move house next month, as well as to let out their existing home through English Country Cottages.

So it’s all go. But Rachael seems calm and collected and attributes this to her personal time management technique.

She smiles: ‘When you’re a busy person, you have to have an empty brain! Write it down and put it in your in-tray – my in-tray is my brain!’

Almary Green Investments Ltd

Advising clients throughout East Anglia Tel: 01603 706740

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www.almarygreen.com 81

| OCTOber 2014

A ONE STOP SHOP FOR FITNESS The Body Wellness Gym in Great Yarmouth is fast becoming a one stop shop for fitness. Read more to find out

R

ather like a good workout itself, the Body Wellness Gym in Great Yarmouth has increased its efforts to be in tip-top condition of late. And the good news is that all walks of life and all levels of fitness are catered for at the gym based in Bessemer Way. BWell co-director Paul Brice says: ‘We have recently redeveloped our gym, expanding the floor space, and increasing the workout options we provide. This means we not only have more equipment suitable for the very fittest in our community, we can also provide more variety for the most unfit. We think it helps prevent the gym becoming too cliquey, as it is common to see an octogenarian working out at the same time as an international athlete, or a patient referred to us from the NHS working out next to a relative who has joined them at the gym, amazed at the changes that they have made to their health.’

The latest change to the layout is the addition of the largest indoor fitness rig in the area, and an outside functional training area. Functional training is one of the coolest and most time efficient ways to work out, however, like the game of squash you need to be fit to use the rig, rather than use the rig to get fit. The club also supports Gary Klimek, one of the club’s Personal Trainers, who has set up his own spin studio at the

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club, and this provides group training sessions each week.

To further support the club’s one stop shop label, BWell not only hosts Sally Rainer Niali’s Hair Logic hairdressers, and Nicky Bett’s Touch of Beauty Salon, it has sports massage therapists Barnaby King, Karen Ryan and Katy Whitton, plus Graeme Franklin, podiatrist/chiropodist, and BWell has recently started to host George Nadakavukaran and Luke Hills, two of the region’s most respected physiotherapists, with their new venture; BodyPhysio.

This new service enables members to have an injury diagnosed and treated more quickly. Spencer McCormack, codirector of BWell, explains: ‘We used to find it frustrating that we know exercise is good for your health, but found members could lose momentum and lose their way when waiting for hospital appointments for a back or shoulder problem. Now we work closely alongside two of the most highly qualified specialist physiotherapists in the area, to ensure a speedy diagnosis and treatment.’

Paul sums up the growth of BWell: ‘More and more people are realising that our environment does not give us the chance to be as fit as we would like. The pace of modern life and our reliance upon the car means we simply do not do enough activity to benefit our health. BWell provides a cheap and effective solution to this problem. Our annual membership costs less than 68p a day.’

ADVERTISING FEATURE

BWELL GYM

WHAT’S ON OFFER AT THE ONE STOP SHOP SCULPT Ultimately, shaping your body involves selecting the right exercises and the right intensity. BWell has a large range of resistance machines to help shape and tone muscles, and with the guidance of their vigilant staff you will soon know what exercises are right for your body to progress.

BURN There are 42 stations of cardiovascular machines close to the main reception. With treadmills, three types of arm bike, three styles of cross trainers, two types of recline and upright bikes, as well as steppers and rowers, all tastes are catered for.

STRENGTH Whether you are an experienced weight trainer, or just starting to work on developing strength, you will appreciate the vast array of training BWell provides. From smith machine and squat cages, to preacher curl benches, cable machines, plate loaded machines, a range of benches and tons of Olympic free weights and dumbbells, there is everything you could wish for.

CORE STABILITY Developing the ability to engage your deep tummy muscles is now seen as key to a balanced posture. There are two dedicated areas to help you achieve this often overlooked but essential aspect of fitness. There is a Sweat Box; a small room with a padded floor with different levels of core exercises which you follow in a circuit controlled by a lighting system, as the lights change, so do you.

There is also another area with a range of equipment to make things easier, from fit balls to air-disks, from Bosu to medicine balls, and from fit pods to wobble boards, where we can guide you to safely strengthen your core.

RIG FIT

READER OFFER BWell invites Places&FacesÂŽ readers to sample a free trial workout with one of their personal trainers before November 1st 2014. All you need do is call 01493 604340, email info@bwellgyms.co.uk, or simply pop into the club at 8 Bessemer Way, Harfreys Industrial Estate, Great Yarmouth NR31 0LX.

The best gyms in the country are providing the option of a dedicated area for developing functional fitness. This is where everyday activities are which use a large number of muscle groups for a quick and effective workout. It has the only fitness rig in the Great Yarmouth area, and we find that not only is it an excellent challenge for the fittest members, it also helps them skip their lengthy treadmill workouts, and have more fun.

MEDICAL RESTRICTIONS BWell has long had links with the local NHS, providing a number of support programmes for people who would not normally be seen in a gym. There are regularly members in the gym using wheelchairs and oxygen bottles, as well as people with visual impairments and those with musculoskeletal injuries.

SPORT SPECIFIC Sport enthusiasts often need some specialist guidance, whether it be biomechanics, long term training programmes or strength and conditioning. BWell has two Olympic lifting areas, Plyometric boxes, battle rope, body bars, punch-bags and a Tabata training system all available to help you cross train.

PERSONAL TRAINING A personal trainer essentially takes responsibility for your fitness, and having regular sessions is the single most effective way of ensuring you enjoy and maintain your workouts. BWell personal trainers are available from 6am to 10pm, and most offer a reduced rate first session.

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| OCTOber 2014

Kitchens of Distinction The kitchen is very much the hub of the house, says Sarah Hardy as she visits a new showroom in Great Yarmouth which offers the most fabulous ranges on the market

Television’s George Clarke, presenter of Channel 4’s Restoration Man and George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, is an accomplished and passionate architect - and also ambassador for Mackintosh kitchens.

He says: ‘I’m delighted to be working with Mackintosh, a brand that is genuinely passionate about good design and great British craftsmanship. I’m here to offer help and advice to make planning and buying your kitchen a little less daunting.’

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Advertiser’s announcement

The Kitchen Shop

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The showroom has its own cookery theatre where the company plans to stage foodie demonstrations. ‘That way people can see how everything works, how easy it can be – and it is very social, getting people together over good food and drink!’ says Ben, who is a keen cook.

‘We will be starting them soon, with executive chefs from around the region. So watch this space.’

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our kitchen somehow really says something about you, doesn’t it? It reflects your personality and is a place where you spend much of your time. Nowadays, formal dining rooms are less popular as we like to dine casually with family and friends so our kitchen is not just where we cook but also entertain.

We need to get it right but the choice and logistics of it all can be daunting. But fortunately, there’s not much that John Rodgers doesn’t know about kitchens and boy can you tell!

As joint director of the new The Kitchen Shop, he and Ben Jay (yes, one of the great Jay clan) sell some of the most beautiful and high quality kitchens currently available.

And it gets better – their two chosen brands, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Chippendale, are both British made – in Yorkshire, in fact!

The brands, both exclusive to The Kitchen Shop in the area, offer just over 60 different styles of kitchen so whether you prefer a more traditional farmhouse feel or a high tech studio look, there is a kitchen for you. And for added oomph, all cabinets have co-ordinating interiors and a choice of 80 handles. Wow! The showroom will inspire you and it is great to be able to touch and feel the various kitchens, eyeing-up different work surfaces, examining the various drawer and cupboard options, selecting colours, thinking about ovens, hobs and more.

There are some wonderful gadgets and gizmos available, from hide and slide oven doors, steam ovens for fish, vegetables and rice, rise and fall down drafts and very snazzy boiling water taps. You have to see them to believe them. I loved the trendy wine fridge and pull-out ironing board.

Yes please.

John, who has almost 15 years’ experience in the kitchen business, is very keen on customer service and is on hand from the start of the project to the finish ‘I usually go on a site visit first, to see where the kitchen will go and to discuss what the customer would like – what their lifestyle is, their family requirements and so on. We can include say an existing Aga, or sort out any tricky little awkward corners as we can request bespoke pieces.

‘And then we draw up a plan which the customer receives and can obviously comment on. All that is free of charge. Once the kitchen is ordered, it takes just 14 days to arrive - straight to your home – and usually about two weeks to fit.’

He adds: ‘We can cater for all budgets and really encourage people to come to the showroom and see just how much choice there is.’

John also points out that the company can advise on tilers, lighting designers, plumbers and other specialist areas. ‘We have a lot of contacts, all very trustworthy.’

The Kitchen Shop is a ‘master partner’ with Bosch and Neff which, John explains, means that they can offer the same prices as internet sites for appliances. And they can provide a wide range of work surfaces from quality laminates from Duropal, Prima and Axiom to quality Corian solid surfaces.

After a blissful hour, I left the showroom feeling like I really want a new kitchen – one of theirs if at all possible! Husband – take note!

MORE INFORMATION The Kitchen Shop, Owen Road, Great Yarmouth, tel 01493 923113, visit www.thekitchenshopgy.co.uk

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We are delighted to offer our personal, professional and prompt service… … for all your property transactions, wills, family and other legal matters.

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For more information please call us or email us on info@hkbw.co.uk

S329 Almary Green Faces and Places Monthly Ad ARTWORK.pdf

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06/11/2013

12:38

Caring For

Your Finances • Choose the right investments • Plan ahead for retirement • Provide disaster protection for your family • Secure your inheritance for your loved ones • Save tax on savings and gifts • Fund care fees, if and when needed

Almary Green Investments Ltd, Greenfields House,10 Meridian Way, Meridian Business Park, Norwich NR7 0TA Tel: 01603 706740 Email: enquiries@almarygreen.com

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WEALTH MANAGEMENT

WORKPLACE PENSIONS

why you have to be

in the ‘In’ crowd Both b o s s e s a n d wo r k e r s a r e a ff e ct e d b y th e n e w w o r k p l ac e pension rules.

Carl Lamb l oo k s at w h at com p u l s o r y a u to e n r o l m e n t e n ta i l s fo r b oth camps

Carl Lamb Almary Green Independent Financial Advisers www.almarygreen.com 01603 706740

M

ost small and medium sized businesses are aware that they will very soon have to provide a new-style workplace pension scheme for their staff and many will have already received notification of their ‘staging date’ – the date on which they will have to start automatically enrolling their workers into a qualifying scheme. The notification should arrive at least twelve months before the business’s specific staging date in a letter from The Pensions Regulator.

The two main elements of the new regime are that firstly employers must automatically enrol all of their eligible staff into a qualifying scheme and secondly that the employer must make contributions into their employees’ funds. Every employer is affected – if there is at least one employee, the business must offer a Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme (QWPS).

What some employers may have failed to realise is that there is a considerable task facing them in the preparation stage: selecting a suitable scheme, getting software and systems in place and adjusting staff terms are just a few of the elements involved.

Those employers who already have staff pension schemes in place are not exempt from the task – they too will need to make adjustments to their existing schemes and, in some cases, new schemes may need to be set up. It’s important to remember that failure to provide a qualifying scheme on time and enrol staff members into it will attract substantial fines.

Selecting a suitable scheme isn’t straightforward either. There are a multitude of choices from traditional insurance companies through to NEST – a Governmentbacked multiple employer scheme that offers basic functionality – along with new providers that offer suitable solutions. However, employers who want to offer more than the

minimum requirement may feel that this is a great opportunity to enhance their staff benefits offering.

There will also be a requirement to keep staff members up to speed with what the rule changes mean for them. Employers will have to assess all of their staff to establish their status – the assessment covers not only permanent employees but also part-time, temporary and seasonal workers. Workers who are classed as eligible will have to be auto enrolled into the scheme but all other employees have a right to join the scheme.

The employer has no choice about this, but staff members themselves do have the option to opt out, if they really want to do so. Even if the employee does opt out, the employer is required to automatically re-enrol him or her into a scheme at least every three years – and the process of opting out has to be repeated, if desired.

However, opting out does mean that the employee is declining a valuable employment benefit. Under the new rules, the employer is obliged to make contributions into the scheme for the vast majority of the members. Minimum contribution levels for both employer and employee are outlined in the rules and are set to increase between now and 2018. There is another benefit for employees too: the Government will give tax relief on the contributions paid by the employee into the fund. In practice this means that, for a basic rate taxpayer, for every £8 put in, the Government will add another £2. Higher and additional rate taxpayers can reclaim the additional tax they’ve paid via their self-assessment tax return.

The new Workplace Pensions regime is the biggest change in the pensions marketplace for many years. Understanding the responsibilities and benefits well in advance of staging dates will help both bosses and workers prepare properly and make sound decisions for the future.

For independent advice, contact Almary Green on 01603 706740 or email carl.lamb@almarygreen.com.

Please remember that the advice here is generic and we recommend that you get individual personalised advice.

The value of an investment and the income from it could go down as well as up. The return at the end of the investment period is not guaranteed and you may get back less than you originally invested. The tax treatment of investments depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change.

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ho can remember the property slump of the late 1980s?

I certainly can. It put the English property market into the doldrums for eight or more years, as prices dropped like a stone and then languished.

Many firms of estate agents went to the wall.

What preceded it was a bubble in property prices. This tends to happen when any market rises suddenly to levels which common sense reflection makes you realise is unsustainable.

Remember the dot com bubble, when prices of various internet companies which had never made a profit rose to fantasy levels before crashing? Investors then took leave of their senses, swept along by a hysteria that said that ‘this time things are different’! But they weren’t. The dot com phenomenon was the 18th century South Sea Bubble all over again. Investors tend not to be historians!

In the case of property, the mid 1980s saw a rash of buy-ups of estate agents by the building societies and banks, such as Black Horse, Bradford and Bingley and Norwich and Peterborough. The corporate mindset had a very simplistic view of estate agency which was coupled with a very short memory.

This translated into the idea that selling houses was a licence to print money and that the good times would never end. So, many established successful local firms sold out to the big corporates, their owners walking away with their retirement fund.

What those corporate entities quickly realised was that, whilst any fool could make money in a rising market, it took skill and human resourcefulness to make any sort of profit when the market plunged or stagnated.

Unfortunately, enforced corporate mindset saw many of the skilled and able employees leave their bought out firms, disgusted at the mentality of their new masters, which paid scant attention to skills and experience on the ground.

Some of these, as well as some of the original entrepreneurs who had sold out, ended up buying back the businesses at a fraction of the price the big boys had paid, as they retreated from the market, their fingers well and truly burned.

In the 21st century it has become the turn of the lawyers to face a similar scenario. This time it is not so much take-overs, though

there have been quite a number of those, but new entrants to the market, the Alternative Business Structure (ABS). This breaks the mould of centuries by allowing non lawyers to own businesses providing regulated legal services. Now, it is true that the law has become more commoditised and that it is possible to do much legal work using a centralised, anonymous structure which in theory at least should give economies of scale and therefore increased profit.

One of the early entrants to the ABS market was Co-op Legal. If solicitors in private practice could do it then why not a brand already established in the market place, selling things as diverse as household goods and funerals?

Yet a company so experienced in other areas (leaving aside the banking debacle) cannot seem to get it right. In 2013, it made a loss of just over £9m, an increase of 60 per cent on its 2012 loss. It seems not to have adjusted in the way that private practice firms have had to do - a reduction of around 25 per cent in fees in the personal injury sector, to take one example. Yet, in the same period its staffing grew by over 25 per cent, with one of its directors being paid a massive £277,000 salary. To add to all this, the amount the Coop owes its creditors has doubled in a year. In any normal company that, on a virtually static turn-over, would be a warning sign that the business may be running short of cash.

Had this been a private firm, heads would have rolled and salaries been reduced. Despite this lamentable performance, the Co-op has issued confident predictions of profitability next year. Few who work at the coal face of private practice regard that as credible. The legal landscape has changed very radically over the last few years with reduced income in most traditional types of work. It could be said that it is the modern equivalent of the beginnings of a property crash, just slightly slower.

The likes of the Co-op may come to realise that without the rising markets to make earning a decent profit a relative stroll in the park, they lack the basic ingredient to keep the business going, namely a skilled and dedicated local staff, using those skills and experience to run things as they best judge, rather than according to head office diktat.

Many big enterprises unfortunately either never realise this at all, or at least not until it is too late.

The corporate mindset had a very simplistic view of estate agency which was coupled with a very short memory…

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Leathes Prior is one of East Anglia’s leading law firms providing a full range of services for corporate, public sector and individual clients

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KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE NUMBERS

An innovative and forward thinking firm of chartered accountants, which has been helping families preserve and grow their wealth for over 150 years.

For a free consultation contact: Kevin Bunting | 01493 335100 | k.bunting@lovewell-blake.co.uk

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Tax

Company Car Tax

Baby, You Can Drive My Car! T h i s mo n th Kevin Bunting a dv i s e s o n th e so-called ‘perk’ of h av i n g a com pa n y c a r

Kevin Bunting LOVEWELL BLAKE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS www.lovewell-blake.co.uk 01493 335100

I

t is quite common these days for employers to provide members of staff with a company car as part of a salary package. If the employee has a choice of vehicle one of the important factors to take into account in choosing it is the level of income tax attributable to a particular vehicle.

Car Benefit Where a car is made available as part of a remuneration package, it is regarded as a ‘benefit in kind’ for income tax purposes. The calculation of the level of that benefit in kind is determined by special rules which are predominantly based on the list price of the car plus optional accessories, the car’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel type.

Government policy, for many years now, has been to design the tax system for company cars to favour those cars less damaging to the environment.

Therefore you can potentially reduce the amount of tax you pay by choosing a car with lower CO2 emissions. Cars that run on alternative fuels, such as hybrid electric and LPG, also have reduced tax charges.

The benefit in kind charge will be somewhere between 0 per cent and 35 per cent of the list price of the car, plus the value of optional accessories, and will depend on the level of CO2 emissions.

For the current tax year the maximum percentage charge can never exceed 35

per cent, increasing to 37 per cent from April 6 2015, even for diesels, most of which incur a 3 per cent surcharge to reflect other pollutants that exist in this type of fuel, with this surcharge being abolished from April 6 2016.

A table showing the percentage charges that apply to the different levels of CO2 emissions can be found on HMRC’s website (www.hmrc.gov.uk/ cars/rule-changes), or you can use the car benefit calculator on the LB App, available to download from the App Store and Google Playstore.

Private Car Fuel Benefit In addition to the car benefit charge there is also a charge where the employer pays for fuel for the employee.

This charge is calculated by applying the CO2 percentage to a flat amount, which is £21,700 for the current tax year.

The car fuel benefit charge is the same amount irrespective of how much fuel the employer actually provides. So it

If the employee has a choice of vehicle one of the important factors to take into account in choosing it is the level of income tax attributable to a particular vehicle.

makes sense to work out whether or not it is going to be cost effective to pay the tax rather than just paying for your fuel yourself.

Disclaimer: Please note that this article is provided for your information only.

While every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, information contained herein may not be comprehensive and you should not act upon it without seeking professional advice.

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You do the business We ll do the lunch High quality signs and engraving for more than 50 years.

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ELLOUGH PARK CORPORATE & TEAM BUILDING EVENTS Ellough Park near Beccles has a purpose built 1050m outdoor floodlit kart circuit and laser combat village. Offering conference room facilities, on-site catering and ample parking, it’s ideal for staff training, team building and product launches.

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MAKE A BOOKING

Call Nick on 01502 573457 to make your booking Email nick@funnells.com or visit www.funnells.com

Take on your colleagues at the only British Championship hosting circuit in East Anglia with its fast technical flowing corners designed by racing drivers. Choose the event to best suit your needs, from Grand Prix’s to team endurance races, using the UK’s biggest 390cc engines in corporate karts.

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Using state of the art technology from America, experience outdoor urban warfare with the latest laser weapons in a team game of wit, stealth and strategy.

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Advertiser’s announcement

Conferences

Make Time!

A conference can be a small and intimate affair or a

1.

large-scale event that requires months of planning.

Here are some reasons to take time to hold one

Building Morale: Taking staff away for a team-building event is a great way to build people’s morale and to encourage effective communication amongst employees. It also helps to identify leadership skills.

3.

Brief Staff/Clients: Hold a conference to brief staff when the company is undergoing large operational changes ie a company merger or technology upgrade.

Solve a Problem: You may need to hold a mini-conference in order to discuss various solutions to a company problem. You can divide staff into groups and each group can present their solution to the problem.

5.

4.

Exchange Information: Hold a conference to share and exchange information on a particular subject. A conference is an excellent platform to share the results of new studies and to keep everyone updated.

Initiate and Review Policies: This is a popular reason to have a conference. Each year, company policies should be reviewed and new ones created where necessary.

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2.

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Product Launch: This is always a great reason to have a conference.

Invite all companies or clients that fit into your target market and combine the product launch with useful information that delegates can take home.

Develop Annual Strategy: Go on a conference getaway and spend time developing your business strategy for the following year.

8.

Brainstorming and idea generation: Develop great ideas for your business, whether it be ideas for marketing, products or services.

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There’s a Volkswagen for all of us.

Cookes of Fakenham Norwich Road, Fakenham, NR21 8SL. Telephone: 01328 864951. www.vindis.volkswagen.co.uk Branches also at Bedford, Cambridge, Sawston and Huntingdon.

Standard EU Test figures for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results. Official fuel consumption figures for the Volkswagen model range in mpg (litres/100km): urban 23.7 (11.9) – 74.3 (3.8); extra urban 35.8 (7.9) – 94.2 (3.0); combined 31.0 (9.1) – 88.3 (3.2). Combined CO2 emissions 239 – 85g/km. Official fuel consumption figures for the e-up! in mpg: n/a.

| OCTOber 2014

Third Generation It’s take three for Audi and its hugely popular TT, which promises better efficiency, a more sporty driving experience and some clever new technology, says motoring writer Matt Joy What’s new?

You don’t have to be car-ista to know about the Audi TT. Since the first generation appeared in 1999 it’s been the choice of the fashion-conscious, but it took until the second model in 2005 before the driving experience could match its looks.

Now the third generation has arrived and it promises to move the TT forward in a significant way. Like the old car it uses a mix of aluminium and high-strength steels to keep the weight down, yet it is 50kg lighter than the old car. It also debuts what Audi terms the ‘virtual cockpit’ – a large display screen where the instruments would normally be. Add to that a new exterior, interior and refreshed engines and there’s plenty to take in.

Looks and image You’d be forgiven for thinking that the third generation TT is barely changed, but park one next to the old car and the differences become clearer. It’s broader in the shoulder and more edgy than before, particularly at the front where there’s a mean six-sided grille and vertical LEDs in the headlights to match the R15 Le Mans

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motoring

audi tt

Facts at a glance Model Audi TT 2.0-litre TFSI, £29,860

*

Engine 2.0-litre unit producing 227bhp and 273lb/ ft of torque

*

Transmission Six-speed manual gearbox driving the front wheels

*

Performance Top speed 155mph (limited), 0-62mph in 6.0 seconds

*

Economy 47.9mpg combined

*

CO2 Rating 137g/km of CO2 All prices correct at time of going to press.

racer. The unique curved roof stays, and hotter TT models get a more distinctive nose. A job well done then.

Space and practicality Move to the inside and the focus is clearly on those up front. The virtual cockpit means an uncluttered dashboard, and there’s plenty of clever thinking here. The air vents house the controls for the air con itself, while the instrument display is crystal clear and informative.

Front seat passengers have good space for head and legs and the boot is 13 litres larger than before, but the rear seats remain the domain of children unless your adult friends are very short in stature.

Behind the wheel There are three flavours to choose from; 2.0-litre TFSI in 227bhp and 306bhp forms, plus the 181bhp 2.0-litre TDI Ultra. The lower-output petrol is likely to be the most popular and strikes a good balance between performance and efficiency.

Wring it out and it will hit 62mph in 6.0 seconds flat, half a second quicker if you go for Quattro four-wheel-drive and the

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S tronic gearbox, yet it can also manage 39.2mpg combined. There’s a pleasing gruffness to the exhaust note when you rev it out yet it is quiet and refined when cruising.

With standard suspension the TT fractionally prioritises comfort over ultimate handling but for everyday use it does very well; it handles neatly, with strong grip and a sense of security while doing a fine job of soaking up bumps.

can get excited about it too. It’s not the ultimate sports car but it is sharp enough and sufficiently good fun to keep the majority of drivers very happy.

This car summed up in a single word Teutonic.

If this car was a gadget It would be an iPhone 6; this season’s must-have.

Value for money All versions get the clever virtual cockpit as standard, the touchpad MMI control system to operate it, keyless go and the Audi Drive Select system. There’s leather and Alcantara sports seats, 18-inch alloy wheels and LED daytime running lights as standard too, but you need to pay extra to get sat-nav and fully automatic climate control.

Dealer Details Norwich Audi 17 Meridian Way, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0TA 01603 709200 | www.norwich.audi.co.uk

Who would buy one?

If you loved the previous TTs then this one will be right up your street. Fashionconscious buyers will be happy to be seen stepping out of it, but now keener drivers

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Rainbow Resprays

EST. 1990

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NEW CITROËN C4 CACTUS

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DUFF MORGAN 01603 775477 WHIFFLER ROAD, NORWICH, NORFOLK, NR3 2AZ www.duffmorgan.citroen.co.uk

DUFF MORGAN KING’S LYNN 01553 770144 49 BERGEN WAY, KING’S LYNN, NORFOLK, PE30 2JG www.duffmorgankingslynn.citroen.co.uk

°Prices & offers apply to retail sales of qualifying Citroën models ordered & delivered 01/07-30/09/14 & include VAT, delivery to dealer & number plates, Government Registration Fee & 12 months’ graduated vehicle excise duty. Black/metallic/pearlescent paint optional at extra cost. Elect 4 Personal Lease rentals shown apply to New Citroën C4 Cactus PureTech 75 manual Touch - New Citroën C4 Cactus e-HDi 92 ETG6 Flair respectively. Model(s) shown New Citroën C4 Cactus PureTech 82 manual Flair from £205 per month.

One significant advance rental will be required, which varies by model, followed by 46 monthly rentals at the rates shown & a significant optional final rental. Excess mileage charges may apply if the agreed annual mileage is exceeded. Payment of the optional final rental extends the rental term (this does not transfer title of the vehicle) & requires an annual rental equivalent to one months’ rental. Finance subject to status. Written quotations available on request from Citroën Financial Services, Quadrant House, Princess Way, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QA, UK. Over 18s only. A guarantee may be required. Offers & specification correct at time of going to press from participating Dealers. Terms & conditions apply. Please ask us for details. Subject to stock availability.

Official Government fuel consumption figures (Range): Urban cycle, Extra urban, Combined (litres per 100km/mpg) & CO2 emissions (g/km); Highest: New Citroën C4 Cactus PureTech 110 S&S manual Feel 5.8/48.7, 4/70.6, 4.7/60.1, 107. Lowest: New Citroën C4 Cactus BlueHDi 100 manual Touch 3.5/80.7, 2.9/97.4, 3.1/91.1, 82. MPG figures are achieved under official EU test conditions, intended as a guide for comparative purposes only, and may not reflect actual on-the-road driving conditions.

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M R KING & SONS

Horn Hill, LOWESTOFT, NR33 0PX 01502 573955 www.mrking.co.uk

Official Fuel Consumption in MPG (l/100km) and CO2 emissions (g/km) for the 108 range are: Urban 52.3 - 62.8 (5.4 - 4.5), Extra Urban 74.3 - 83.1 (3.8 - 3.4), Combined 65.7 74.3 (4.3 - 4.1) and CO2 99 - 88 (g/km).

MPG figures are achieved under official EU test conditions, intended as a guide for comparative purposes only, and may not reflect actual on-the-road driving conditions. #Terms and conditions apply, participating dealers only or visit www.peugeot.co.uk. +The first year Road Fund Licence (RFL) is included in the on the road price. The Dealer will provide customers with a cheque equivalent to twice the current RFL cost. The customer must apply for years 2 and 3 RFL. Just Add Fuel (JAF) is subject to status. *Minimum age 21, 25 or 30 on selected models, maximum age 75. Policyholder must have a minimum of 2 years NCD to use on the vehicle. All drivers must meet eligibility criteria including minimum 2 years’ full UK licence, driving convictions/claims limits. Excesses apply. 3 years motor insurance is provided and underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. A guarantee may be required. Written quotations available from Peugeot Financial Services, Quadrant House, Princess Way, Redhill, RH1 1QA. JAF is incorporated into a Personal Lease contract.108 Active 3 dr 1.0 68, customer initial payment £2,875, optional final payment £4,295. 35 monthly payments payable.

If you choose to pay the optional final payment, you can pay an annual payment equivalent to one of your monthly payments but will not own the car. Ownership is possible with JAF Passport, ask us for details. Rentals quoted for a typical customer and will vary according to age, postcode, initial rental and annual mileage. Excess mileage charges may apply. Routine servicing included only. Excludes wear parts. This offer is not available in Northern Ireland. Offer available on cars ordered by 30/09/14. Calls may be recorded for training purposes. Information correct at time of going to press.

| OCTOber 2014

SMALL

BUT BEAUTIFUL

Peugeot’s city car has been re-invented and it’s now better than ever, says motoring writer Matt Joy What’s new?

Space and practicality

The original Peugeot 108 was a joint project with sister company Citroen and also Toyota, creating three brand-new city cars. Now in 2014 it’s time for the second generation version.

The basic underpinnings remain the same although the 108 is now a little longer overall, while under the bonnet there is now the option of a more powerful 1.2-litre engine alongside the previous 1.0-litre.

On the inside there’s a brand-new dashboard with smarter materials plus a touchscreen system on all bar the entry-level model.

The 108 is less than 3.5 metres long but still manages to offer respectable space inside. Up front it’s nice and airy, with comfortable front seats and plenty of space. In the rear it’s a bit tighter – adults sitting behind big front seat passengers might grumble – but kids will be happy. The boot now offers 196 litres too, and as long as you pack sensibly you can fit a decent week’s shopping in there.

Looks and image Peugeot has done a good job of giving the little 108 some character. It manages to wear the new family grille with ease and with standard 15-inch alloy wheels and tinted windows on Allure models it manages to look smarter than you might expect of a humble city car.

It feels more classy inside too, and although there’s the odd flash of body colour it all hangs together well. There’s also a stack of personalisation options inside and out.

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Behind the wheel The view out from the driver’s seat is excellent thanks to the big windows and the dashboard layout is clear and attractive.

The 1.2-litre three-cylinder fires up with an enthusiastic thrum, and while it’s not the quietest engine at low speed it is smooth and the sound is pleasant enough. It’s also quite a perky unit and although it needs some revs to get going it does so happily.

The steering is faithful and accurate while remaining light at low speeds and the ride is good for such a small car. The only demerit is that pulling away smoothly requires a delicate left foot on the clutch.

motoring

peugeot 108

Facts at a glance Model Peugeot 108 1.2 Allure, £10,995

*

Engine 1.2-litre unit producing 82bhp and 86lb/ ft of torque

*

Transmission Five-speed manual gearbox driving the front wheels

*

Performance Top speed 106mph, 0-62mph in 11 seconds

*

Economy 65.7mpg combined

*

CO2 Rating 99g/km of CO2 All prices correct at time of going to press.

Value for money An Allure with the 1.2-litre engine checks in at £10,995 and for that you get a good specification; features like a reversing camera are still quite unusual for a car in this class, and there’s leather on the steering wheel and air-conditioning too. The 7-inch touchscreen uses phone mirroring so you can use your smartphones connectivity although you do need to download some new apps to get features like sat-nav.

Who would buy one?

The 108 would suit a range of buyers; newly-qualified drivers can get behind the wheel of the 1.0-litre Access model for just £8,245 while older buyers can enjoy the low running costs and small-car convenience with high equipment levels on the top spec models.

Families might find it a bit too tight on space for holidays but it could handle the school run with ease.

This car summed up in a single word Charming

Dealer Details MR King Horn Hill, Lowestoft, NR33 0PX 01502 573955 MR King St Johns Road, Saxmundham, IP17 1BE 01728 603435 www.mrking.co.uk

If this car was an animal It would be a loyal pet dog – great to have around and utterly faithful.

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101

The official fuel consumption figures in mpg (l/100km) for the Mazda Range: Urban 25.4 (11.1) - 60.1 (4.7), Extra Urban 45.6 (6.2) - 83.1 (3.4), Combined 35.3 (8.0) - 72.4 (3.9). CO 2 emissions (g/km) 188 – 104.

eye cAtching mAzdA cx-5 AVAIlAblE WITH

0% APR* REPRESENTATIVE ON MAzDA CONDITIONAl SAlE

Book a test drive˚ today, call us on 01502 713885.

Wrights mazda Beccles

ards 2014 Aw

Common lane North beccles, Suffolk NR34 9bl 01502 713885 www.wrights-mazda.co.uk

31822_bs193430_WrightsMazda_Beccles_CX-5_Ad_v2_163x267mm_v2.indd 1

The mpg figures quoted are sourced from official EU-regulated test results obtained through laboratory testing. These are provided for comparability purposes only and may not reflect your actual driving results.

DEFY CONVENTION

Retail sales only, subject to vehicle availability for vehicles registered between 01.07.14 and 31.09.14 at participating dealers. T&C apply. *0% finance available on all Mazda CX-5 models with a minimum 50% deposit required. Finance subject to status. 18s or over. Guarantee/Indemnity may be required. Mazda Financial Services RH1 1SR. We can introduce you to a limited number of carefully selected finance providers. We may receive a commission from them for the introduction.

Model shown: Mazda CX-5 150ps 2WD Sport. OTR £25,695. Model shown features optional Pearlescent paint (£540). OTR price includes VAT, number plates, delivery, 12 months’ road fund licence, first registration fee, 3 year or 60,000 mile warranty and 3 years’ European roadside assistance. °Test drives subject to applicant status and availability. Not available in conjunction with any other offer unless specified. Details correct at time of publication and may vary, e.g. if list price changes.

Call today to arrange a test drive. Offer ends 31st October 2014.

12/08/2014 17:29

ON A

PRICE

NEW BRZ

SUBARU

REDUCTION Subaru BRZ SE 2.0i With the lowest centre of gravity of any Subaru, perfect weight distribution, impressive fuel economy and a truly engaging front-engined, rear-wheel drive configuration, the BRZ represents the pinnacle of our chassis and engine innovation in one truly attainable package.

Cruise control 17’’ aluminium alloy wheels Leather wrapped steering wheel and gearshift 39.8mpg combined

FROM

Special paint finishes extra at £500 inc VAT.

5 YEAR WARRANTY†

21,995

To book a Subaru Test Drive contact us today.

Hammonds Norwich Road, Halesworth, IP19 8HX

Telephone: 01986 244086

www.hammondgroup.co.uk

Mon-Fri 8:30am - 6pm | Sat 8:30am - 5pm | Sun 10am - 4pm

MPG figures are official EU test figures for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results.

Official fuel consumption figures for the Subaru BRZ 2.0i SE in mpg (L/100km): Urban 29.4 (9.6). Extra urban 49.6 (5.7). Combined 39.8 (7.1). CO emissions 164 (g/km).

Price shown is for the BRZ 2.0i SE, manufacturer’s on the road price £21,995.00. On the road price includes VAT, delivery, number plates, 12 months road fund licence and first registration fee. Offer is available until 30th September 2014. We may receive commission or other benefits for introducing you to Subaru Finance. Available at participating dealers only. Not available in conjunction with any other offers. Offers may be varied or withdrawn at any time. Model shown for illustrative purposes only. †For built-in peace of mind, every vehicle marketed by Subaru (UK) Ltd, excluding WRX STI, is covered by a 5 Year/100,000 mile (whichever comes sooner) Limited Warranty. www.subaru.co.uk

Photo sessions

£25

including a free 6” x 8” print

Portraits for Generations Get the family together for the all important mantel piece photo.

We can suit any style, be it more alternative or traditional, we can come up with something to be perfect in your home.

We can produce lots of different framed prints and even photo gifts, so give us a ring to book your family in for a photo shoot.

It would make a great gift, so why not ask for a personalised voucher.

CHRISTMAS IS NOT TOO FAR AWAY NOW! 4 LOWESTOFT ROAD, GORLESTON, GREAT YARMOUTH, NORFOLK, NR31 6LY TEL: 01493 888222 WWW.BARKERSPHOTOS.CO.UK

CAR OF THE MONTH GREAT YARMOUTH COACHWORKS CAR SALES

Established since 1950

£5,995

VAUXHALL AGILA SE AUTO 5DR

(60) 14,000 miles · Alloys · Tinted Windows · A/C · E/M · E/W · CD · FSH

Here at Great Yarmouth Coachworks we offer everything for the motorist in the Norfolk and North Suffolk area of East Anglia.

Sales of quality vehicles Servicing and repairs

MOT testing Towbar fitting

www.gyccarsales.co.uk | 01493 843835

15 Queens Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR30 3HT

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The Narthex Garden Party Local businesses, Councillors, VIPs and Trustees attended The Narthex Garden Party at The Cathedral of St John the Baptist. Welcoming the new Dean Father David Paul to Norwich’s Catholic Cathedral, Right Reverend Alan Hopes, Bishop of East Anglia gave a speech about the facilities at The Narthex, including The Garden Cafe, the stunning gardens, Mac’s Bar, Duke Henry’s Room, and Abney’s Cathedral Shop. Guests were welcome to wander around Norwich’s hidden gem, participate in the Tower Tour and discover the delights within the cathedral, including The Duckett Library, which currently houses over 3000 publications including biblical, theological, spiritual and pastoral texts.

Photos by Jungle

PR Ltd

Father David Paul and The Right Reverend Alan Hopes, Bishop of East Anglia

Beverley Hannah, Brian Lewis and Councillor Brian Hannah

Samuel Duncan and Verity Cooper

Stuart Turner and Christine Bakewell

Rich Hill and Ben Wills

Beryl Stock, Paul Wilson and Huguette Andriès-Smith

Gavin Sargent, Karen Buchanan and Rachel Stevenson

Greg Hacon and Samantha Clifford

Nikki Gray and Lindsey Rix

Alex Carlson and Sheila Parsons

page sponsored by

high society

Designer Sunglasses Event Dipple & Conway Opticians Norwich Fashionistas from all over Norfolk visited Dipple & Conway Opticians in Norwich to get papped in the latest designer frames.

With champagne and canapĂŠs flowing throughout the evening, guests enjoyed trying on the latest designer sunglasses and spectacles while getting expert advice from representatives of Gucci, Tiffany, Prada and Mykita. Guests chose their favourite sunnies and specs and had their picture taken in a funky photobooth as a keepsake of the exclusive event.

Photos and words by AMANDA SANDLAND-TAYLOR Newsmakers pr

Justine and Damian Conway

David Gunn and Alex Brown

Kellie Sheridan and Bertie Landis

Kamila Galka-Dudkiewicz and Laura Blake

Neil McDonald and Angela Goymer

Greg and Evelyn Chapman

Robert and Jo Conway

Kerrie Eastaugh, Becky Ruci and Ben Conway

Marion Veal and Sarah Watkins

Maciek Dudkiewicz and James Conway

Simon Sandland-Taylor and Suzanne Nicholas

SUBSCRIBE 1 2 ISS U ES FO R £ 2 4

Never miss a copy of Places&Faces®, subscribe now, 12 issues for only £24 posted to your home, visit www.placesandfaces.co.uk/magazine-subscribe

An Evening of Jazz and Cabaret – Norwich Playhouse An Evening of Jazz and Cabaret, sponsored

by Newsmakers, was hosted at Norwich Playhouse by Chris Bailey for the 12 year in a row. It raised funds for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Keeping Abreast charities. The programme featured sets from singer Albert Cooper, comedian Steven Allen and the Janet Seidel Trio – who flew from Australia to take part. At the after-show party guests were treated to an impromptu performance from another of the show’s stars, Earl Okin.

Photos and words by AMANDA SANDLAND-TAYLOR Newsmakers pr

Robert and Maria Todd

Michael Bailey, Danielle Bussell and Lily Thompson

Dawn Towns and Aileen Newman

Beryl and Roy Blower

Chris Bailey and Earl Okin

David and Janet Seidel and Chuck Morgan

Richard Hartley and Helen MacFayden

David and Sarah Littlechild

Paul Hill and Laura White

Tim Eagle and Sandy Gannon

page sponsored by

high society

Birketts Celebrates 10 Years in Norwich To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the opening of their Norwich office, leading law firm Birketts held a reception at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Just under 300 guests enjoyed Champagne and canapĂŠs. The guest speaker was leading futurologist David Smith who was welcomed and introduced by CEO Jonathan Agar.

Photos by ROB

WARD PHOTOGRAPHY

John Spoor and Fenella Littleboy

Jo Harrison and Judith Kemble

Anna Douglas and Janet Rudge

Richard Proctor, Nigel Farthing and Michael Graham-Cloete

Martin Aust and Frances Berridge

Lorna Spear and Edward Crisp

Matthew Newnham and Jonathan Agar

Giles O’Halloran, Ginny Colman and Judy Lincoln

Jonathan Boston and Stuart Bizley

Russell Leggett and Ian Hacon

| OCTOber 2014

108

photography

suffolk

Caught on Camera Suffolk-based photographer Gill Moon offers us this stunning shot of Orford on a clear autumnal morning. She also produces calendars and diaries.

Visit www.eastcoast.photos for more.

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109

| OCTOber 2014

5

min u t e s

with

Douglas Robb Douglas Robb is the new boy at Gresham’s, one of our leading private schools. The headmaster tells us about his love of boats, a well-kept pint and musicals

Describe your job to us I am the new headmaster of Gresham’s School in Holt on the north Norfolk coast. I am involved in a number of different aspects of the school, but essentially I try to spend as much time as possible talking to the pupils.

Where were you born and what brought you to Norfolk?

I was born on the Wirral peninsula near Liverpool to Scottish parents. I only moved here in the summer but have visited the beaches of Norfolk a number of times before with my family.

What’s your ideal day out in the area?

My ideal day out would be to breakfast at one of the many lovely eateries in Holt with the family (I am married to Lucinda and we have three young children) and then spend the day messing about in a boat and on the beach on the nearby coast. I have two spaniels who are developing their surfing skills at Salthouse and so I would have to invite them to come along as well.

Which iconic Norfolk characters do you most admire and why?

Lord Nelson has to be the iconic character of the county; this is his county! His ability to lead and inspire and his courage were extraordinary. More recently and more locally I think that former Gresham’s headmaster Logie Bruce-Lockhart would certainly count as a living icon.

What’s your favourite pub in Norfolk and what do you like to drink there?

The Dun Cow in Salthouse is a super pub, in a great location with well-kept beer and good food.

Where do you like to eat out in Norfolk and why?

And what do you order?

The food in Jarrold’s is excellent quality and good value. We are also rather spoilt for choice in Holt with so many good restaurants, pubs and delis. I did

110

have a very good plate of crab at Cookie’s Crab Shop in Salthouse last week. I tend to try to eat fish and seafood when we are out, ocean fish with a nice Reisling particularly.

What do you miss most when you leave the region?

The pupils at Gresham’s. They are so full of beans and unstuffy. I only have to chat to them for a moment and I am filled with enthusiasm and good humour.

What are you reading at the moment?

I am afraid I am reading rather a lot of papers from work at present as a new boy! The last book I read was Roy Jenkin’s biography of Gladstone whilst I was on holiday, a rip roaring account of an amazing life.

Would you prefer a day on the Broads or a day at Yarmouth’s Pleasure Beach? Why? I would certainly prefer a day on the Broads, as I am always keen to ‘mess about in a boat’.

Opera, musical, drama or movie - which would you prefer to watch?

I am keen to see any of the above and have certainly enjoyed all of them. The last show I went to see was Cats at the Theatre Royal in Norwich. I will be rather spoiled for choice in my new job; there is a superb programme on offer at school.

Sum up Norfolk in three words Everything but mountains.

Sum up yourself in three words Large, jovial, approachable.

MORE INFORMATION Gresham’s is a co-educational day and boarding school for children aged three to 18 in Holt.

Visit www.greshams.com for more information.

Int ern IN et P ST ric OR es E

The new Audi S1.

The power of small The smallest car in our range is now bigger on performance. It’s thanks to a 2.0 TFSI engine that goes from 0-62mph in a blistering 5.8 seconds. And because we’ve included eyecatching details like Xenon plus headlights, ‘S’ design alloy wheels and S line embossed upholstery, the new S1 is just as big on style.

Featuring quattro® all-wheel-drive, available across the Audi range.

To find out more, contact your local Audi Centre or go to audi.co.uk/S1

Norwich Audi 17 Meridian Way Norwich Norfolk NR7 0TA 01603 709200 www.norwich.audi.co.uk

Official fuel consumption figures for the S1 range in mpg (l/100km) from: Urban 30.7 (9.2) – 31.0 (9.1), Extra Urban 47.9 (5.9) – 48.7 (5.8), Combined 39.8 (7.1) – 40.4 (7.0). CO2 emissions: 166 – 162g/km. Standard EU Test figures for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results.

Model shown shows Black styling package at £355 inc. VAT and quattro® exterior styling package at £1,245 inc. VAT.

20906261-59_Norwich_Audi_S1_Ad_220x307_V1.indd 1

17/07/2014 09:41