Lincolnshire Pride September 2020

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LINCOLNSHIRE

PRIDE LINCOLNSHIRE’S FINEST MAGAZINE

£4.50

Out & About in Lincolnshire Post-Lockdown

Restaurants to enjoy, gardens to visit - enjoy the county this month...

Exclusive Interview with Professor Jonathan Van-Tam

Lincolnshire-resident and Covid-expert talks to Pride about his life and career...

FREE ONLINE

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WELCOME

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he combines are rolling around the fields, munching through cereal crops. Restaurants and pubs are filling up once again and Pride is back in print. Slowly but surely there’s a reassuring indication that life is returning to normal.

It’s incumbent on us all to make sure we support local businesses and that was one of the reasons behind the creation of a new venture by the team behind Lincolnshire Pride.

Our publisher has launched Yummy, a service which delivers high quality local food right to your door. Read about how the service works later in this edition... we think you’ll be impressed!

Meanwhile, we all love a pleasant surprise, right? Well, when I first pursued Lincolnshire resident and Covid-advisor Professor Jonathan Van-Tam for an interview I wasn’t optimistic; he’s pretty busy, after all.

Happily though, I was granted the interview and spent a fascinating hour talking to the Professor about his role this summer.

Also in this edition, we’ve a chat with Lincolnshire author Julian Earl as he publishes the second of his two-part autobiography about life as a countryside vet. Elsewhere we’re commemorating the anniversary of the Mayflower’s departure from British shores whereupon the Pilgrims established their new colony in America, and we’re discovering the story of Sleaford’s Lee & Green, who created the town’s aerated watered business, the legacy of which remains 100 years on.

Best wishes for a wonderful month!

Executive Editor robin@pridemagazines.co.uk

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68 CONTENTS NEWS & EVENTS 06

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NEWS The best ‘good news’ stories from across Lincolnshire, including HRH Prince Charles at RAF Cranwell.

HIGHLIGHTS 16

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PROFESSOR JONATHAN VAN-TAM Boston-born Covid advisor talks about the future post-lockdown... and his beloved Boston United, too!

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MAYFLOWER 400 Commemorating 400 years since the Pilgrims left the UK to seek religious freedom.

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WATER WATER EVERYWHERE How Sleaford’s Lee & Green has managed to bottle the town’s heritage.

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THE COUNTRY VET Julian Earl’s two-part memoir on life in practice.

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YUMMY The story behind an exciting new business... from a familiar team!

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OUR DAILY BREAD Sourdough with Lincoln’s Vines Bakery.

HOMES & GARDENS 68

WELCOME HOME A beautiful country home near Stamford.

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SITTING PRETTY Wonderful bespoke sofas from Delcor.

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GARDENS Goltho Garden near Wragby opens for the NGS.

LADIES & GENTLEMEN 100 JUMPERS FOR JOY Lincolnshire designer Jane Ireland’s new range.

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SUITS US Bespoke tailoring in Lincoln with Andrew Musson.

FOOD & DRINK

AND FINALLY...

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122 MOTORS The stylish classic car

DINING OUT Enjoying the reopening of Bicker’s Ye Olde Red Lion.

on our cover could be yours.

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THE WEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN THE AREA READ PRIDE MAGAZINE

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Pride Magazine is delivered free of charge, via Royal Mail, to high value homes in the county. Our circulation is to homes in the top three council tax bands, which are predominantly worth over ÂŁ300,000. This guarantees the magazine has an affluent readership commensurate with our content.

The magazine is also sold in supermarkets and newsagents and our in-house distribution team also works hard to hand-deliver the magazine to selected hotels and restaurants, doctors, dentists, executive motor dealerships and golf clubs.

This helps to ensure we have a continued presence, right across our catchment area.

Our titles also have more social media fans than any other local magazine. In addition we have over 30,000 online readers each month who view the magazine free of charge, online, on their tablet, computer, laptop or mobile phone via our website, our app, and via the Readly and Issuu platforms.

If your business would benefit from being showcased to the wealthiest people in the area, please call our friendly sales team on 01529 469977.

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Read Pride Magazine free online at www.pridemagazines.co.uk or by downloading our free iOS and Android App. LEGAL DISCLAIMER By supplying editorial or advertising copy to Pride you accept in full the terms and conditions which can be found online at www.pridemagazines.co.uk.

In the event of an advert or editorial being published incorrectly, where Pride Magazines Ltd admits fault, we will include an advert of equivalent size, or equivalent sized editorial, free of charge to be used in a future edition, at our discretion.

This gesture is accepted as full compensation for the error(s) with no refunds available.

Selected images in our content may be sourced from www.shutterstock.com.

THE PRIDE TEAM Managing Director: Julian Wilkinson.

Production Director: Ian Bagley.

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Executive Editor: Rob Davis.

Illustrator: Jocelyn Lawman.

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Pride Magazines, Boston Enterprise Centre, Enterprise Way, Boston, Lincs PE21 7TW

Tel: 01529 469977 Fax: 01529 469978 www.pridemagazines.co.uk | enquiries@pridemagazines.co.uk

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NEWS & EVENTS

Prince of Wales visits Cranwell

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE PRINCE OF WALES, ATTENDS GRADUATION CEREMONY...

CRANWELL In the Centenary year of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell’s history, His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales recently served as the Reviewing Officer for the Sovereign’s Review at Royal Air Force College Cranwell.

His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales arrived on the College Parade Square escorted by the Commandant of the Royal Air Force College to take the Royal Salute whilst one Typhoon, from 41 Squadron, RAF Coningsby provided a fly past overhead.

After reviewing the graduating officers, His Royal Highness presented the course prizes to the top performing cadets from each course.

The Queen’s Medal was also presented to the top performing cadet from all Initial Officer Training courses this year. The parade concluded with a spectacular

fly past by the Red Arrows.

Musical accompaniment was provided by the Band of the Royal Air Force College, under the direction of leader

Skegness Beach Renewed £7M HAS BEEN SPENT READYING SKEGNESS FOR THE RENEWAL OF ITS BEACH...

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Flt Lt Chris I’Anson, Director of Music. After the parade, His Royal Highness, met with the graduating officers on the Orange in front of College

Hall at the base. In keeping with tradition, The Prince of Wales was then invited to plant a lime tree beside the College Parade Square. n

SKEGNESS Has someone been taking their sandcastles home?

We ask because last month saw preparations for a £7m scheme to renew the beach and replacing 400,000 cubic metres of missing sand.

As well as improving the beach for its 4,000,000 annual visitors - a tourism industry worth £480m each year - the project will also help to protect 20,000 homes and businesses, 25,000 caravans and 35,000 hectares of land from flooding.

Mid-August will see the commencement of dredging, before a digger will transport

the huge volume of sand from offshore sites then pump it onto the beach at high tide through a 630m long pipeline.

“Our contractors will then push the sand into the right beach profile, using excavators.

Through this work we will replace sand lost to erosion, reducing wave overtopping during storms, protecting sea defences being damaged,” says Monica Stonham of the Environment Agency.

The campaign is part of the agency’s programme of works which will nourish the area from Sutton on Sea to Huttoft. n

SPALDING There’s been growing demand for allotments across Lincolnshire, according to new figures published by the National Allotment Society.

Nationally demand for a space to grow fruit and veg is up by a whopping 500%.

Spalding’s South Holland District Council reports a huge increase in the number of requests for allotments, whilst Lincoln has created a new site on Melbourne Road with 28 plots to meet the demand.

Allotments in Lincoln are 9m x 20m and can be rented for £36.30 annually, meaning that satisfaction is high and prices is low.

One allotment gardener, Hillary told the Lincoln Food Partnership that allotment gardening is as much about being part of a gardening community than the actual growing of crops. “We don’t worry about making mistakes,” she told the group, “We just enjoy the community!” n

Only Fools & Aircraft...

ONLY FOOLS’ DAVID JASON VISITS RAF CONINGSBY TO FILM NEW BATTLE OF BRITAIN DOCUMENTARY

GAINSBOROUGH A farming family in Lincolnshire have ‘found a way through’ Covid by spending lockdown creating a tribute to the NHS using their maize maze.

Grayingham Grange Farm at Gainsborough is home to Uncle Henry’s Farm Shop and to fifthgeneration faming family Graham & Emma Ward.

The maize maze has a tribute to the NHS mown into it and offers visitors the challenge to find 10 letters in the maze to spell out a message to the NHS. n www.maize-maze.com.

CONINGSBY Fans of vintage British comedy Only Fools & Horses thought it was ‘cushty’ to see their TV hero appear in Coningsby recently. The 80-year old TV star, a keen historian with an interest in the second world war, was seen at the village’s RAF base filming for a new documentary on the Battle of Britain.

The good-natured star waved and smiled at onlookers as he walked around the base talking to ground crew and enjoying a tour of the BBMF hanger.

ITV studios is producing the programme, a follow-up to a similar documentary he presented back in 2010.

£1,000,000

DEMAND FOR ALLOTMENTS UP 500%

SCUNTHORPE North Lincolnshire Council has been given a £1m share of the Government’s £3.6bn Towns Deal funding to create a new urban park at Church Square on Scunthorpe High Street. The council aims to create a new urban park at the centre of the town’s commercial and cultural quarter. n

Growing Demand

Maize maze’s a-maze-ing tribute to local NHS heroes...

LOCAL

NEWS In Brief GRIMSBY x

HERO TEACHER AWARDED AS ZANE DELIVERS PACKED LUNCHES TO KIDS A heroic teacher from Western Primary School in Grimsby has been recognised with an award in the Reed Improving Lives Award for Education scheme.

Zane Powles is assistant head teacher at the school and during lockdown, walked five miles a day to deliver school dinners to pupils. Zane also delivered teaching resources to prevent pupils missing out on their education.

Nominated by headteacher Kim Leach, Zane says it was an ‘absolute honour’ to be given the award. n 7

NEWS & EVENTS

Transforming Lincoln Cathedral

NEW STATE OF THE ART VISITOR CENTRE IS A STEP CLOSER AT LINCOLN CATHEDRAL

LINCOLN Another major phase of works to Lincoln Cathedral as part of the £16.5m Connected project, of which £12.4m is funded by The National Lottery, is now complete. Since ground was broken back in October 2018 by building contractor William Birch & Sons, the Cathedral and the surrounding close have seen considerable conservation and renovation works taking place.

Lincoln Cathedral Connected is a transformational project which will improve the Cathedral’s setting and visitor experience – offering more accessible, engaging and peaceful spaces, for a greater number of worshippers and visitors to enjoy.

The construction phase has seen the major refurbishment and extension of the Old Deanery – on the north side of the Cathedral – to create a new state of the art visitor

LOCAL NEWS In Brief

CRANES BACK IN LINCOLNSHIRE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 400 YEARS...

Ornithologists at Willow Tree Fen Nature Reserve were surprised and delighted to discover that cranes are breeding in the county for the first time in 400 years. There are now three of the birds in residence at the reserve including a young chick. n

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centre. The new facilities include a welcoming reception area, shop, café with inside and outside seating, learning spaces. The Dean’s Green has

been beautifully landscaped to create a peaceful outdoor space, and for the first time in decades, will be open to the public. The work will also see

Pride’s Brand New Home NEW OFFICE PROVIDES FLEXIBILITY FOR A GROWING TEAM AND OUR NEW BUSINESS...!

much-needed conservation work to Eastgate Wall, Exchequergate Arch, the Cathedral’s Romanesque Frieze, and Cloister Wall. n

PRIDE We’ve moved! The Pride team has relocated to brand new premises to provide space for future expansion and to consolidate our three businesses.

Shortly after lockdown, Pride’s publisher Julian Wilkinson launched Yummy, bringing fresh local food to the doorstep of Lincolnshire residents. Together with UKbride, the country’s number one wedding website, the three businesses needed more flexible premises to accommodate future growth, which meant a relocation. Please note our new address: Pride Magazines, Boston Enterprise Centre, Enterprise Way, Boston, Lincs PE21 7TW. n

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HALL ORCHARD LANE, WELBOURN

£600,000

A stunning six-bedroom contemporary home situated in the desirable conservation village of Welbourn. Arranged over three levels, this versatile home offers three spacious reception rooms, a beautiful kitchen with adjoining garden room, a family room/optional ground floor bedroom, bathrooms on each floor and en-suites to the principal and second bedrooms.

The generous and secluded gardens are a tranquil haven with views across the surrounding countryside and to the front of the property the driveway has parking for several cars and a detached double garage.

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SCHOOL LANE, CLAYPOLE, NEWARK

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EPC Rating: B

£875,000

A stylish and unique renovation of a former village school in the heart of the vibrant rural village of Claypole. This welcoming six-bedroom family home effortlessly combines the building’s original character with contemporary high-end modern design over an impressive 5,300 square feet of accommodation. Internally the property offers flexible open plan living throughout the kitchen, dining and sitting area alongside individual reception rooms including a family room, annex and study. Set in grounds approaching a third of an acre, including kitchen garden.

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DAIRY FARMHOUSE, METHERINGHAM

£595,000

This charming four-bedroom detached Lincolnshire farmhouse stands in grounds of approximately 0.85 acres and offers superb views over the neighbouring rural landscape. A generously proportioned family home, it offers a spacious entrance hallway, substantial family kitchen with Aga, cosy adjoining snug with open fire and patio doors to garden, separate dining room, spacious living room with open fire, study, four bedrooms and two well-appointed bathrooms. Set in a private position the property boasts a tennis court, lawned gardens and attached garage.

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THE OLD MILL, PICKWORTH, SLEAFORD

EPC Rating: F

£695,000

At the heart of this wonderfully unique four-bedroom family home is the original Mill of this quintessential country village. This beautiful conversion offers a superb family kitchen, separate dining room and spacious sitting room with patio doors that open onto the terrace and lawns, study, reading room, four good sized bedrooms and two bathrooms. Outside, delightfully landscaped gardens extend to approximately two acres, encompassing a range of outbuildings including a double stable block, hay barn and double garage.

EPC Rating: TBC

Fine & Country Lincolnshire,

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EPC Rating: E

55 High Street, Navenby, Lincs LN5 0DZ Telephone: 01522 287008 or 01476 247070 Email: lincoln@fineandcountry.com www.fineandcountry.com Associated offices at Grantham, Stamford, Nottingham and throughout the UK

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£249,500 Subject To Contract No Onward Chain

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PROFESSOR JONATHAN VAN TAM

Celebrating Lincolnshire’s

NATIONAL HERO For Boston Professor, Jonathan Van-Tam, providing medical expertise as Deputy Chief Medical Officer during 2020 has been an unprecedented challenge.

But how do you make the transition from academic to national hero?

To find out, we enjoyed an exclusive interview with Jonathan at a time when close monitoring of the nation’s health is more important than ever…

Words: Rob Davis.

IT’S MARCH 2020 and Professor Jonathan Van-Tam is in Downing Street, gearing up for an important meeting. With only a slight sense of trepidation he reaches his hand out to say hello. Happily, Larry is receptive. The brown and white tabby, a Battersea rescue moggy who holds the title of Chief Mouser to the First Lord of the Treasury, has been a resident of No. 10 since 2001.

postgraduate students. But Jonathan has very quickly had to trade the relatively anonymous dignity and calm of academic life to instead become one of the most recognisable faces on the frontline of the country’s fight against Covid-19. So recognisable and so popular he is that he even has a Facebook appreciation group in his honour.

Larry’s reputation as a good judge of character is formidable, and political folklore has it that a successful greeting from him is tantamount to an overarching blessing in politics.

Are you a member of the group?

“I think he sensed that I’m a cat lover,” says Jonathan. True to form, Larry’s endorsement of Jonathan was spot on. In a few short months we’d all know the Professor’s face from TV press briefings, and look to Jonathan, as one of the UK’s three senior medical advisors, to provide expert advice to the population and to politicians, allowing them to create the policy which would guide the country through the ensuing pandemic.

Jonathan was walking through the famous black door for the first time despite having served as the UK’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer since October 2017. An academic with a long-standing specialism in infectious diseases - specifically influenza – Jonathan recalls that just a month before his visit to Downing Street he was still delivering lectures to his postgraduate students, teaching preparedness for a likely pandemic outbreak and told his students this was a pandemic.

Jonathan was raised in Boston and still lives in the county, commuting back and forth to London and to Nottingham where he still holds an academic post – currently reduced to one day a week – publishing 8-9 research papers a year and supervising

No! I understand there are memes and songs about me which have gone viral online… but I’ve been more occupied dealing with other things that have gone viral this year. I’ve a daughter aged 22 and a grown up sister who think it’s all quite hilarious and keep me posted.

People have been saying largely kind things about me, even on social media, and it’s lovely when people say nice things, but that’s sometimes transient and I know that not all the advice we give is easy or popular.

People are less complimentary about politicians…!

My job is to be honest, objective and (as I see it) to speak the truth to power, and that’s an approach which has served me well.

I’m not daft though; I recognise that there’s going to be an economic cost to society following the pandemic. The government was ultimately faced with the unenviable decision of harming the economy to save lives.

That was never going to be an easy path to take. Some have questioned the decisions the government has made but with the benefit of hindsight (and of course, hindsight by its very definition isn’t available at the time you have to make those tough decisions!)

I don’t believe any government anywhere in the world has found this easy. >>

Main Image: Jonathan Van-Tam was born and raised in Lincolnshire, and still lives in the county. An academic specialising in epidemiology and influenza, he was appointed Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England in October 2017 and has advised the government throughout the Covid-19 crisis.

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PROFESSOR JONATHAN VAN TAM

Ever since joining the government I’ve come to realise that everyone involved from junior civil servants to ministers are incredibly bright, very articulate, genuinely motivated, and really determined.

They’ve done astonishing work under the kind of pressure that many can only imagine.

Have the government taken your advice on board?

Academics deal in data. As a doctor and an advisor, I don’t get involved in making policy decisions – only advising on which ones make the best sense scientifically and clinically. It’s my job to present options and offer solutions based on data and science which the policy officials can then decide to submit to ministers and the ministers can decide on. I’m concerned exclusively with public health, science and medicine, but the government has to take into account a whole load of other considerations. It’s an unenviable position to be in.

Have you had any bad feedback?

There was just one incident. I was walking around Westminster and one passer-by recognised me. She hissed ‘shame on you,’ as she walked by. I suppose there was also the 30th of February [laughs]!

The public has been scared by the virus, and how it has changed the country and their lives.

That’s what I put it down to. Aside from that I think the public have been largely accepting of how sensitive the situation remains and appreciative of the difficult position the government finds itself in with no painless choices available.

How did you become a part of the government’s team?

I was offered the position of DCMO in October 2017, academically aware that another pandemic-level event was probable, even though we’d had ‘swine flu’ in 2009… but not anticipating such a severe one in my working lifetime.

What’s so fascinating about influenza and respiratory viruses?

People use the terms bacteria and viruses interchangeably. Bacteria are single cell organisms, larger than viruses. They are susceptible to antibiotic medicines. Viruses meanwhile can’t be treated with antibiotics and antiviral drugs are fewer and much harder to use successfully. Viruses attach and enter host cells, taking them over completely, and are much smaller.

Viruses aren’t sentient but they do occupy that grey area between living and inanimate things. They are programmed to survive and multiply, they’re adaptable and they mutate which makes the field of research and disease control challenging.

“The public have been scared, but I think they have been largely accepting of how sensitive the situation remains and appreciative of the position the government finds itself in...”

From Boston’s Grammar School I trained as a doctor at Nottingham University and spent five years working in clinical medicine in a hospital environment before my public health training.

I had been mentored by Professor Karl Nicholson (Leicester) who was a great doctor and was also very active in research; he got me into influenza. He’s largely retired now but remains a great authority on influenza and respiratory viruses.

After my public health training, I became a Senior Lecturer in Nottingham and at the same time also a Consultant Regional Epidemiologist at the Public Health Laboratory – the distant forerunner to Public Health England. I also spent time after that working in the pharma sector at SmithKline Beecham and for Roche, which produces influenza drugs like Tamiflu.

I undertook a role at Roche as Head of Medical Affairs and then joined Aventis-Pasteur MSD, at the time Europe’s largest vaccines company, before returning to the public health sector in 2004 at the UK Health Protection Agency as head of its Pandemic Influenza Office.

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In 2007 I returned to the University of Nottingham as Professor of Health Protection – I wanted to get back to research. I was also on the committees like SAGE and NERVTAG and was Editor-inChief of the journal Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses.

The societal implications of a pandemic-level outbreak are potentially huge, which is another dimension to an already fascinating area of research and another reason that doctors and the government should work together in the event of a pandemic.

What is the role of a Deputy CMO?

There are two DCMOs, both working under Professor Chris Whitty, the CMO, who has overall responsibility for advising the UK government on health matters. My colleague Dr Jenny Harries is usually concerned with longer-term healthcare; issues pertaining to diet and exercise for example.

But of late she’s her work has had to be 100% Covid-19. My specialism has always been communicable diseases, pandemics including influenza and vaccines. So I always knew that a pandemic-level event, if it happened whilst I was at DHSC it would fall under my jurisdiction.

How much warning did we have?

We knew there was an issue in China in early January but we had so little data to work from. We always knew that we could utilise non-pharmacological interventions in the event of an extreme pandemic-level event. These included vigilant handwashing, social distancing, face coverings, school closures and ultimately… isolation in households, as unfolded during our period of lockdown. >>

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PROFESSOR JONATHAN VAN TAM

What makes Covid-19 so tricky?

Global pandemics aren’t unprecedented, but this is the first known coronavirus pandemic. In 2003 SARS was identified and from 2012 MERS has been affecting the Middle East. These are both coronaviruses too, but their periods of communicability are different.

That’s the time during which an infectious agent may be transferred directly or indirectly from an infected person to another person.

In the case of SARS and MERS, the period of communicability occurs later in the illness, when someone may already be symptomatic, and already isolated.

By contrast, Covid-19’s period of communicability occurs earlier, often prior to symptoms. In other words, what makes Covid-19 so difficult is the fact that you may be oblivious to having it and unable to recognise the need to isolate until you have infected others.

By and large Covid-19 is nasty but not life threatening for most people; but this disease is also characterised by a more serious course in older age groups (those over 50) and people with underlying illnesses and many require hospital care and oxygen.

This disease is also very much more contagious than even flu.

What will happen next as lockdown is eased?

The future is hopeful, but far from certain; Covid-19 is still in circulation now and could return in significant numbers in winter 2020 if we don’t stay alert and follow the advice. A number of vaccines are currently under development. I’m hopeful but not certain we’ll have some kind of a vaccine in production by the end 20

of the year, but not at full volumes, so I don’t think the use of vaccines will provide a meaningful ‘public health result’ until about Easter; after that I’m hoping that their impact will be substantial.

I’d hope that spring 2021 will represent a new dawn for the country, by which time we’ll be able to live life fairly safely. Even so, moving forward, the way we live will change. Covid-19 won’t be eradicated anytime soon and we’ll have to learn to live with it to some extent.

Maybe working from home will become far more common over the longer term in some industries.

What are you most looking forward post-Covid-19?

It’s well known that I’m a fan of Boston United. There was a flurry of interest as I wore my Boston United tie to a press briefing at the end of May and spoke optimistically about a time when we could once again follow our favourite teams.

Currently Boston is one of six in the National League North play-offs. They’re due to play in the semi-finals at the end of July and hopefully in the final on August 1st. I’m looking forward to the first time we can step through the gates into the team’s new ground later this year, hopefully as newcomers in the National League.

I enjoy living in Lincolnshire, it’s a great place to raise my two boys.

My daughter has left home now and being the sort of person who likes to live his life quietly, I’m looking forward to a little normality.

I think that’s a sentiment everyone can relate to. n Professor Jonathan Van Tam lives in Lincolnshire and was appointed to the role of Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England (DCMO) in October 2017.

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MAYFLOWER 400: 1620-2020

400 YEARS OF THE

MAYFLOWER September 2020 represents 400 years since the Mayflower departed Britain for America, and here in Lincolnshire, that deserves recognition...

Words: Rob Davis.

I’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED that history is not about the past. It’s about the future.

We simply glance back at the past to shape the coming years.

September sees the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims leaving Britain for the New World. It’s believed that there are now 35 million descendants of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew, making the anniversary first and foremost an issue of being able to trace the heritage of a significant number of people.

Secondly, themes of religious tolerance and the necessity of defending freedom and democracy are no less relevant today.

Thirdly as we move towards a truly completely globalised society, a historic illustration of how immigration and the impacts around the integration of two disparate cultures, is something we should continue to learn from 400 years later.

The importance and the contemporary relevance of the famous voyage will be commemorated in 2020 thanks to a special partnership, Mayflower 400, of which Mark Howell is the Director of Communications.

“Mayflower 400 is a partnership of 14 UK destinations which recognises the impact of the Mayflower’s journey and colonisation on Native American communities and addresses themes of

migration, tolerance, freedom and democracy that have such contemporary relevance, as well as the long-standing relationship between the UK and the US.” As well as partnering with Lincolnshire towns such as Boston, Immingham, Gainsborough and Nottinghamshire’s Scrooby, Plymouth, Southampton and eight other UK destinations, Mayflower 400 is also working with Leiden in the Netherlands and the United States of America and the Wampanoag Nation.

The programme will now continue into 2021 as a result of the current pandemic

Main: The Embarkation of the Pilgrims (1857) by American painter Robert Walter Weir at the United States Capitol building in Washington. Above: Boston’s Pilgrim Fathers Memorial.

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MAYFLOWER 400: 1620-2020

and see community, creative, educational and capital investment which aims to bring communities together, boost the creative, cultural and tourism sectors and reflect a more accurate story around the history of this journey than has been the case with previous commemorations.

Nearly 130 years after Columbus discovered the Americas, both Spain and Portugal had already established colonies there. 1606 saw King James I grant charters to the Plymouth Company and London Company to establish permanent settlements in the region. This was reorganised as the Plymouth Council for New England following corruption, with a New England Charter of 1629.

Following the English Reformation around a century earlier, a group of religious separatists remained unhappy with the English church and sought escape from Boston to Holland. Betrayed by the captain of their chartered ship, they were all imprisoned in the town’s Guildhall.

Finally freed, they made a second attempt to flee persecution and this time departed from Immingham alongside separatists from Scrooby in Nottinghamshire led by William Brewster and a group from Gainsborough who would worship in secret at the town’s Old Hall under John Smyth. The group departed Lincolnshire and arrived in Leiden, Holland, remaining there for 12 years.

“Leiden was a city of free-thinkers, relative religious tolerance, and a long tradition of offering shelter to the dispossessed,” says Mark.

“Many worked in the textile industry and similar trades – but it was hard work and a challenging life. Eventually the time in a foreign land took its toll and the group started to plan a journey to start again.”

From 1617 they planned to leave and eventually settled on Virginia in America.

This area of America was an attractive destination because several colonies had

already settled there. However, they also felt that they should not settle too near to them and end up with a similar environment to which they originally fled.”

The Separatists worked with their counterparts in England to fund and organise the journey – which had to make commercial sense. They negotiated with merchants in London and convinced them that funding their journey would see a return on investment thanks to the goods they would be able to send back to England. They also needed permission to land in Virginia and establish a colony.

A ship called the Speedwell would carry the Leiden group to America while another ship called the Mayflower was hired to take passengers who weren’t necessarily travelling for religious, but rather, commercial reasons.

Speedwell set sail from Holland on 22nd July 1620 for a rendezvous with Mayflower prior to the two vessels travelling across the Atlantic via Southampton. On 15th August, just off the coast of Southampton, the Speedwell vessel developed a leak and needed to be repaired in Dartmouth.

The second attempt at leaving England saw the ships 300 miles from Land’s End before Speedwell once again proved she was

Above: Edward Winslow travelled on the Mayflower in 1620. He was one of several senior leaders on the ship and also later at Plymouth Colony. Both Edward Winslow and his brother, Gilbert Winslow signed the Mayflower Compact.

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THE PILGRIMS’ JOURNEY

The Timeline...

1533: King Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn in a secret ceremony following his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, breaking away from the Catholic Church and beginning The English Reformation.

Autumn 1607: Unhappy with the English church, a group of religious separatists plan to defy the authority of the church and escape from Boston, Lincolnshire, for Holland but are caught in the attempt and held and tried at Boston Guildhall.

Spring 1608: The Scrooby Separatists finally manage to escape from Immingham Creek, Immingham, Lincolnshire.

August 1608: The group arrives in Leiden, where they live for 12 years.

1st August 1620: After making an agreement with the Virginia Company to travel to the New World and create a new community, the Leiden Separatists set sail in the Speedwell for England to meet the Mayflower.

August 1620: The Separatists who remained in England board the Mayflower ship in Southwark, London including Captain Christopher Jones and his crew.

August 1620: The Mayflower arrives in Southampton, later joined by the Speedwell. It is thought this is where John Alden, a merchant, and William Brewster boarded the ship.

15th August 1620: The Mayflower and Speedwell depart Southampton, planning to sail to Virginia.

23rd August 1620: The two ships arrive in Dartmouth after the Speedwell begins to take on water.

August 1620: The Speedwell continues to take on water so both ships turn back to Plymouth.

16th September 1620: The Mayflower departs Plymouth alone, after the Speedwell is deemed unfit for travel, with up to 30 crew and 102 passengers on board.

19th November 1620: The Pilgrims sight the tip of Cape Cod. 21st November 1620: Mayflower Compact is signed upon arrival in Provincetown or ‘Cape Harbour.’

26th December 1620: After 66 days at sea, the Mayflower finally arrives in what is today, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

NB: In 1620 the Mayflower set sail from the New World. The official anniversary date used by the Mayflower 400 partners to mark the 400th anniversary is 16th September 2020. Some recognise the anniversary on the 6th September which was the date in the Julian calendar used by the Pilgrims. The Julian calendar is around 10 days behind the Gregorian calendar that we use today.

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MAYFLOWER 400: 1620-2020

deemed not seaworthy. The vessels returned to Plymouth. The 30-strong crew and 102 passengers had already spent six weeks at sea and were already supposed to be in America. Finally the group left Plymouth in 1620 in the Mayflower and arrived 66 days later after enduring winter storms and seasickness.

In early November 1620 the group reached Cape Cod and spent a month exploring the region, trying to decide where to settle.

The group was unaware that it was near the Native American Wampanoag people’s settlement of Patuxet.

The group’s smaller vessel - its shallop - was dismantled during the voyage and had been damaged upon reassembly, hindering

exploration of the area in and round Provincetown, Duxbury, Plymouth and Nausett.

The natives were cautious of the newcomers and having already agreed upon The Mayflower Compact - a realpolitik - among themselves, the Mayflower passengers had to make peace with the native Wampanoag and Pokanokets, without whose help they would have struggled to survive.

The travellers settled in the area between Duxbury and Plymouth, an area known today as the Plymouth Rock landing. Construction of new homes were completed in January 1621 and by spring,

Recreating Mayflower

A recreation of the Mayflower was completed in 1956. The original ship was a Dutch cargo fluyt and was 110ft long, had four decks and was owned

by Christopher Jones.

The Pilgrim Fathers’

LOCAL LEGACY

n Scrooby, Nottinghamshire: The leading religious Separatists (who later became known as ‘Pilgrims’) were originally from the Bassetlaw area of Nottinghamshire, where their beliefs were shaped. The group were seen as dangerous religious outlaws and so they were forced to worship in secret. Among them was William Brewster who was brought up in Scrooby and later became the leader of the colonists’ community. n Boston: One night in the autumn of 1607, a determined group of men, women and children secretly met a boat on the edge of ‘The Wash’ at Scotia Creek, Fishtoft, near Boston.

They planned to defy the authority of the English church and escape across the North Sea to Holland to live in religious freedom. The group were betrayed and stripped of their belongings and hope, they were brought by boat to Boston and held and tried at the Guildhall, home to the local law court and cells.

Top: Visitors at Immingham Museum.

Above: Scrooby Manor was home to William Brewster, one of the Pilgrims who journeyed on the Mayflower to New England.

Left: Plymouth Plantation is a living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, founded in 1947. It attempts to replicate the original settlement of the Plymouth Colony established in the 17th century by the English colonists who became known as the Pilgrims.

William Bradford followed John Carver as the settlement’s governor, with the Pilgrims signing a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe in March 1621.

By October that year the settlers would hold their first Thanksgiving feast to celebrate a successful first harvest thanks to the help of the Wampanoag.

‘Boston: The Pilgrims and the Thread to America’ is a new exhibition being hosted by town’s Guildhall when it reopens, and will run into 2021, whilst Gainsborough’s Old Hall and Immingham Museum & Heritage Centre both have displays detailing the towns’ respective role in the story of the Pilgrims. n More information about Mayflower 400 celebrations post-Covid-19 can be found at www.mayflower400uk.org.

n Gainsborough: Some of the Separatists are thought to have worshipped clandestinely at Gainsborough Old Hall with the permission of its owner, merchant William Hickman; they later escaped to Holland from the town’s riverside.

The Hall is regarded as one of the best-preserved medieval manor houses in Britain. Their preacher, John Smyth, was a strong influence on the Mayflower Pilgrims and is considered to have been a founder of the Baptist denomination. n Immingham: The year following the trial of the Scrooby congregation at Boston’s Guildhall, the Pilgrims made another attempt to escape, securing the services of a Dutch boat which set sail from Immingham Creek. Near to St Andrew’s Church is a memorial to those who made the journey, organised by the Anglo-American Society.

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MINERAL WATER

Water Water

EVERYWHERE Lincolnshire was once the home of many fine suppliers and producers of bottled water. This month we discover the story behind the most prominent one of all; Lee & Green based in Sleaford...

Words: Rob Davis.

THESE DAYS British consumers are practically drowning in bottled water. The UK market is huge; about 4bn litres of bottled water are sold each year, with consumers spending £1.5bn a year on the stuff.

We think of it as being quite a young and trendy product, consumed in abundance by yuppies in the 1980s with ice & a slice and a filofax. But in fact, the bottled water market is far older than you might think, and Lincolnshire has had its fair share of the action.

Still waters ran deep, for instance, in Sleaford. That’s where Lee & Green was one of Lincolnshire’s most well-established provider of ‘aerated’ waters. In fact, at the peak of its success, Lee & Green was producing its products in five Lincolnshire towns and overseas in America, too.

The wharf where Lee & Green established the business in 1881.

Mark Reed and Jonathan Smith are two of the most knowledgeable experts when it comes to Lincolnshire’s bottled water heritage. Mark is the author of Lee & Green Aerated Mineral Waters: A Collector’s Guide, the first – perhaps only –book comprehensively detailing the company’s history. Jonathan Smith, meanwhile, is curator of Bourne’s Baldock Mill Heritage Centre, treasurer of Sleaford Museum, former journalist… and a keen gardener.

“A few decades ago now I was in the garden, turning over the soil,” says Jonathan.

“My spade chinked against something large and I dug up a fragment of bottle which had the Lee & Green logo on it. My interest was piqued and I did a bit of research on the subject.”

In the years that followed, Jonathan dug up a few more Lee & Green bottles, and began collecting their stoneware. It’s an interest which continues today and Lee & Green bottles are highly collectable, with bottles designated with one to six stars depending on their rarity. >> 33

Some years later, during the late 1980s ‘benzene in bottled water’ scare, whilst working as a journalist at the Lincolnshire Free Press, Johnathan’s editor commissioned him to write an article about the company.

The success of bottled water in Lincolnshire meant that as many as 30 different businesses were established in the mid-tolate Victorian era providing aerated waters.

The temperance movement was ostensibly an American creation although The Band of Hope in Leeds were there slightly earlier, albeit not achieving such recognition.

The movement aimed to save the population – or at least the working class from the perils of drink, and with cholera prevalent in the 1800s – the last reported case was in 1893 – bottled water was a healthy, clean drink.

Aerated water was created and bottled as much in small grocers’ shops or in bakers’ premises as larger factories. Water – from Sleaford Waterworks or Guildhall Springs in 34

Quarrington, latterly known by locals as Boiling Wells – was typically filtered through carbon before entering slate-lined tanks.

At Lee & Green, carbonated gas was added and a revolving fan was used to give the water its fizz, and a flavouring room added syrupy flavours (like orange, lemon or potass) or added the ingredients to create the firm’s ginger beer. The firm even bottled Vimto - created in 1908 as both a drink and a medicine - under license.

Bottling was originally in stoneware, with The Lincolnshire & District Bottle Exchange set up to collect and reuse expensive bottles.

Later glass bottles in ‘torpedo’ or codd shapes were used. At its peak the Sleaford factory was bottling 15,000 dozen bottles every single day.

Filling the bottles at 200psi was occasionally hazardous – one employee, a young man called Pepper, in April 1901 suffered cuts when his work literally blew up in his face.

“The success of bottled water in Lincolnshire meant that as many as 30 different businesses were established in the Victorian era which provided ‘aerated waters...’

price of £15,000 (three quarters of a million pounds today).

Some bottles were occasionally stolen by children as early cork sealings were replaced by glass marbles… later, crown caps were also used.

Lee & Green was established in 1881 by George Ranyard Lee and Arthur Green who became brothers-in-law upon the marriage of George to Sarah Jane Green… who was just 17 at the time, to George’s 32 years of age.

The company established itself in a new works in 1885 in Sleaford’s Albion Street, with the original factory on what is now the site of the Barge & Bottle pub restaurant adjacent to The NCCD. It’s believed the company took over a competitor in Spalding, in 1885 and added a Bourne production facility in 1887 then on Skegness’ Wainfleet Road around 1900.

Bourne especially carried kudos because of the quality of water in the Eau, and the firm had three premises including ones on the town’s North Road and Abbey Road.

The firm was sold, although Sleaford’s Carre Street premises continued to produce products under the respected brand name.

In 1910 the founders both passed away at the same time a Lee & Green factory was established on Boston’s High Street.

At this time the company had also expanded into the US, with a factory in Syracuse, New York. In 1927 and 1930 the company recorded profits of £1,778 and £1,478 (about £78,000 and £70,000) and in April 1934, Spalding’s Soames & Co expressed interest in the purchase of Lee & Green, with shareholders agreeing on a purchase Above: Once a familiar sight in Sleaford and Bourne, a Lee & Green tanker full of the good stuff!

A purchase of Soames & Co by Stewart Patterson which itself was subject to takeovers and mergers eventually saw the Lee & Green brand die out.

Jonathan has one of – if not the largest collections of Lee & Green bottles and memorabilia, which were displayed in the first full exhibition of Sleaford Museum and now reside in Bourne’s Baldock’s Mill Heritage Centre.

As Pride goes to press both are due to welcome visitors in once again and are highly recommended! n Many thanks to Jonathan Smith, curator/ treasurer at Sleaford Museum Society and Bourne’s Heritage Centre, and to Mark Reed, author of Lee & Green, A Collector’s Guide.

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The ‘promises’ that are not kept when Wills are read...

This month Katherine Marshall delivers the cautionary tale of a daughter whose inheritance fell short following a contested will. Alas, such cases are more common than you’d think, which is why the help of a specialist in wills and probate can prove invaluable...

‘ONE day, all this can be yours…’ It was a father’s promise to his daughter who had given her life to the family farm.

However, her loyalty was not repaid upon her father’s passing. Despite the verbal promise, the Will left her with only a small stake.

Cases of contested Wills like this are more common than people think, and I have seen a recent increase.

It is likely the pandemic has played its part in this rise in ‘contentious probate,’ buoyed by factors including new social rules and the financial and emotional consequences.

A rise in Inheritance Act claims, when someone is left out of a Will and claims against that estate, has also been noted.

Meanwhile, the risk coronavirus presents has prompted an understandable jump in demand for the preparation of Wills, Powers of Attorney and ‘interim wills.’

It is the latter that people must be especially mindful of. These are hurriedly prepared to be finalised later.

However, if this does not happen, families may be left with inconsistent, hard-to-interpret Wills.

Social distancing is also causing complications with regards to will-witnessing, which is critical.

Disputing a Will on the grounds of someone’s mental capacity is increasing too. Upon preparation, a solicitor must establish that the Will-maker understands their actions, but social distancing and a lack of face-to-face contact can make that difficult.

Again, with personal meetings less likely, the challenge of ‘undue influence’ may be seen more often.

This is a claim that a person forces someone into making a Will to benefit themselves.

The financial strain some people currently face may be responsible for a

rise in claims and this can be a good thing. I have seen people reluctant to pursue genuine claims, due to the shame of doing so.

It is comforting for such individuals to understand that court proceedings are a last resort and disputes are often settled through negotiations and mediation.

Katherine Marshall can be contacted on 01522 515015, email katherine.marshall@ wilkinchapman.co.uk or visit wilkinchapman.co.uk.

LINCOLNSHIRE VET JULIAN EARL

A Memoir in the Life of a

COUNTRY VET A national lockdown recently afforded us a bit of extra time to relax with a cuppa and a biscuit and enjoy Julian Earl’s wonderful, warm and eminently readable memoir of his life as a Lincolnshire country vet. This month we find out more about the author and recommend his excellent two volume story of all creatures great and small, or rather those which grunt and smell…

Words: Rob Davis.

REMEMBER JAMES HERRIOT? That halcyon country vet was born in Sunderland, the same as the present Mrs Davis, though she was of a different vintage. James Alfred Wight, upon which the eponymous veterinary surgeon was based, spend much of his time in Thirsk, a period which provided the inspiration for his series.

Unlike those books, though, which were pastoral, perhaps a bit watery, Lincolnshire vet Julian Earl’s two-part memoir is different; rather more light-hearted, funny, readable and witty.

Being locked down at home during the great pandemic of 2020 at least afforded me the chance to read Cows in Trees and its second volume, The Dog with the Head Transplant.

The only criticism could level of either is that they’re so light and readable that they’re demolished in just a few hours. I’d advise anyone reading them to pace themselves and spread the amusement out a bit.

We recently spoke to Julian not just about his career and how it was cut short, but his recovery from a devastating accident and how rebuilding his life afforded him a chance to reflect on what an extraordinary career life as a vet can be… especially in a county like Lincolnshire.

What inspired you to become a vet?

Probably a latent sense of guilt! I was just a couple of years old when I accidentally threw my teddy on the open fire at my

childhood home in Leeds. Poor Ted suffered burnt paws, but my mother and I managed to patch him up. From that point on, I rather enjoyed looking after animals in their time of need.

At the age of seven or eight I was in awe of the vet who treated our Labrador/Irish Wolfhound cross, Jet. He was a super pet with a wonderful calm temperament, and a major influence on my love of animals.

And an influence that led to your eventual career?

Yes. At the age of 13 I took a job at my local vet. Ostensibly that means cleaning up after the animals, feeding or fussing them and so on. But in fact, that’s the job that teaches you not the ‘menial jobs,’ but more like the ‘fundamentals’ of being a vet.

Compassion, empathy for both animal and owner, how to handle them gently, how to be patient with them… if you can’t do any of that, there’s no point embarking on any further study or training – without those qualities, nothing will overcome that shortcoming.

Where did you study?

I enrolled in a B.V.Sc Degree in Veterinary Science at Liverpool University, which would last from October 1976 until I qualified on 10th July 1981. A teacher at my secondary school had rather sadly said that I wouldn’t make it, but fortunately that’s inveiglement to a determined young person, and I did make it – indeed, I achieved an Advanced

Vet Practitioner-status, one of the highest qualifications that the UK’s 20,000 vets can obtain.

How difficult is it to become a vet?

A veterinary degree takes five years, and broadly speaking it begins with a study of anatomy. There’s a little crossover but each species has its own distinctiveness, and within each species even different breeds have their own characteristics.

There are constant assessments at the end of each terms and big exams at the end of each year, the cumulative grades of which make up your total mark. After studying anatomy, you move onto pathology – essentially, we study what’s ‘normal’ then how pathology changes these when the animal has been subject to trauma or disease. The final two years are the clinical ones – principles of anaesthesia, diseases, pharmacology, helping out the alimentary system, orthopaedics and eventually surgery.

When and where did you begin to practice?

After qualifying I applied to various practices and spend around eight months working in Preston before moving to Burnley. I spent eight wonderful years there and I’m still in touch with my former employer. It was a great practice because it was mixed farm and domestic work.

What was that important?

It gives the role great variety. Domestic animals are wonderful of course but because

Main Image: Author Julian Earl has detailed his career spend working as a country vet in Lincolnshire over two wonderful volumes.

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THE LINCOLNSHIRE VET

you’re in the practice and see successive patients, but it can feel a little like a production line if you’re not careful. When I eventually owned the practice, I worked in I was always conscious not to cram in appointments. As someone who cares about their own animals, as well as a vet, I always remained conscious about giving each animal, as well as their families as much time and patience as possible.

But you also loved farm and equine veterinary work? Yes. It was different. Harder work in

a lot of ways as the animals are much larger, stronger and less amenable to being handled, but it was lovely to leave the practice and drive around the countryside, to have time between each consultation and to get to know local farmers and landowners.

I’d estimate that around three quarters – perhaps even more – of veterinary work in the UK involves looking after domestic animals.

The industry finds it harder to recruit vets with experience of equine and farm animals.

That, and the fact that it’s more specialised, and physically more demanding makes it a less common role. But for me, working in both areas of the profession was essential.

And that’s what appealed about working in Lincolnshire?

Well I had no connections whatsoever to Lincolnshire, but to progress in my career I was looking for another practice – and it has to be one that involved both domestic and large animal elements. I had never heard of Horncastle, but I can remember the exact date I visited; 30th August 1989.

Others don’t remember it so well, though…?

Apparently not! As I was being shown around the practice I was taken into the operating theatre. It was being deep cleaned following an operation. Little did I know that the person sorting the theatre out for the next patient, Annika, was my future wife!

She can’t remember that, but I do!

What was your life like at the practice?

Wonderful. I joined the practice, Banovallum Veterinary Group, in 1989, and became a partner in 1991 along with four others. I then became sole partner in 2005.

We saw around 5,000 cases a year, we had a thriving mixed-practice and employed around five vets plus six nurses. It was really busy and soon we had satellite practices in Woodhall Spa and Coningsby.

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We got to know all of our patients and their families, and soon felt like a real part of the community. It was idyllic but in the context of being busy and professional.

And in your spare time you cycled?

Yes. That was an interest which began whilst I was studying in Liverpool. I would walk to university lectures, and one day it occurred to me that so many people where whizzing past me on their bikes, getting around quickly and saving money on bus tickets.

A smart move, I thought.

I played rugby and football as a kid, so I wasn’t unfit, but when my parents bought me my first bike - a Puch Free Spirit racing cycle – I quickly came to appreciate being able to get around and develop my fitness levels. I soon found myself cycling for pleasure and visited a local cycling club, racing about 12.5 miles a night and doing quite well. When I moved down to Lincolnshire I joined a local cycling club in Alford and made some really good, life-long friends. They’ve been very supporting in helping me rebuild my life after my accident in 2012.

What happened?

Two weeks before I had completed my first league race of the season. I came 10th which I was happy with. It was my next local race, with 85 riders, quite a number. I remember thinking it was crowded but I knew the road like the back of my hand. It was a decent surface with no potholes.

I don’t quite remember the crash, but the most likely scenario is that I ‘touched wheel’ with another competitor. It’s not uncommon, even though we do the best to avoid it, and when it happens, you tense up, waiting for a crash which, mercifully, rarely comes.

We were going downhill at about 35 miles an hour and just near a farm entrance. The next thing I know, I woke up in Hull Royal Infirmary.

What injuries did you suffer?

A CAT scan revealed that I had a basal skull fracture, which occurs in less than 12% of severe head injuries. A morbid fact, but it’s the same injury that’s induced during execution by hanging.

It can include a loss of spinal fluid and bruis-

ing around the eyes and in addition I had several brain haemorrhages – bleeds to the brain – and a subdural haematoma where blood collects between the skull and brain.

The fluid was drained from my brain I was put into an induced coma for 11 days.

Annika was told that I wasn’t expected to live. I woke up and met my absolutely wonderful doctor, Gerry O'Reilly.

To whom you owe your life?

Yes. Definitely. When I came around, he asked me if I knew where I was despite my coma. I replied that I thought I was in Hull.

I wonder if I had looked out of the window and seen the Humber Bridge? He told me that he had two important questions to ask me, which I suppose were designed to tell him if certain areas of the brain were affected.

The first was ‘what are you like as a person?’

I told him that I was stubborn and didn’t give up easily. He told me that was useful in his patients. The second question was what I wanted to do in the future. I told him, all I wanted was to get back on my bike.

“We got to know all of our patients and their families. It was idyllic but in the context of being busy and professional...”

Then I was back in hospital in January 2013 when the metal plate in my head – a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, designed to prevent cerebrospinal fluid on the brain, known as hydrocephalus – became blocked.

To his credit though he probably didn’t see that as a possibility, he never let on to me.

He replied, unforgettably, ‘Well if you want to get back on your bike? I will get you there!’ What a fantastic attitude for a consultant talking to a nearly dead man!

I couldn’t stand up to perform a consultation at work without tiring or losing my balance, which meant I couldn’t operate. I could train younger colleagues, but it was hugely frustrating. For that reason I had to sell the business, and that’s a lengthy process, one which is stressful and drawn out in good health, never mind during my recovery.

What were the effects of the accident?

I was an active 55-year old professional man, always on the go and now I was suddenly unable to stand up. The accident affected my balance, and my short-term memory was affected.

The accident occurred on 8th August 2012 and I wasn’t discharged until December.

More broadly, not being able to drive – in case I passed out at the wheel – and not being able to sleep without suffering bad dreams really affected my life. I was later diagnosed with PTSD.

You had lots of support from the profession?

Definitely, both from colleagues and from Julian and his former boss another practiceDavid whoGreenhalgh offered to withbuy his the business from me. called wifeThere’s Christine aat group the Literary Festival at Walledfinancial Garden and Vetlife which offers emotional, Baumber, July 2019. mental health support to vets who contacted me when they heard what happened. >> 41

THE LINCOLNSHIRE VET

>> It’s unfortunate but those working in veterinary practice have one of the highest rates of suicide among different professions.

There’s a terrific amount of pressure not to make mistakes, worried owners and long hours – and there is access to drugs used to euthanise poorly animals too, which amounts to a potentially very dark outcome.

Thankfully I’m a positive person and never contemplated such a course of action, but Vetlife were great, and have run stories on my recovery and ongoing physiotherapy.

And you have continued cycling?

Nobody could quite believe it but I was back on my bike in February 2013 just six months after the accident. In the beginning I would topple over when setting off or stopping because my balance wasn’t great. My friends were wonderful, and they would ride out with me to keep me safe.

In September 2013 I completed a 55-mile Sportive event and three weeks after that, I took part in a 100 mile event which began from Ludford and took us around Lincolnshire. Riding a bike, is something you never forget like… well, like riding a bike.

But I’m hugely grateful to my club. That year I took home the Presidents’ Trophy and at the presentation evening I received a standing ovation from the club. It was so touching and so humbling.

I’m also registered as a MC2 paracyclist and was ranked fifth in 2018, competing alongside athletes like Dame Sarah Storey.

You’ve also found time to write your books?

It was during my recovery in 2013 that Annika suggest I keep my mind active that I decided to write the first book.

During the 1990s I was approached a number of times by Womens’ Institution and Young Farmers’ groups to give talks, and I created a presentation which was lighthearted and revealed a little about the work of a country vet. I am more than happy to give this presentation to interested groups, Lock-down-permitting of course. I can guarantee that people laugh!

Annika found my notes and persuaded me to turn them into a book. In July 2016 I had

the first edition published and 2500 copies sold, but the publisher didn’t have the resources for a second print run, so they returned the publishing rights to me, which was recently decent of them, and in 2019 Cows in Trees was reprinted and received some really great feedback.

were there too with Jet. I still have a soft spot for Labradors and Wolfhounds.

Not least from your old boss in Burnley?

When I came around from the coma, I asked about him, having forgotten that he had died the previous December. It was like losing him all over again.

Yes! I sent him a copy, thanking him for all of his kindness and support when I was fresh out of university. He responded really warmly but he also pointed out that I’d forgotten one of the funniest anecdotes. He told me that he thought I should write a second volume, which became The Dog with the Head Transplant, which was published in 2019.

I’m grateful to Ted Stanley of publishers Hammond House in Grimsby. He and Annika met on a willow weaving course in Baumber, of all places, and helped to get the books into print.

“The loss of a pet is heart-breaking. I still have a soft spot for Labradors and Wolfhounds because of Jet, my childhood dog...”

So, what’s life like for you now?

My rehabilitation is ongoing, and I think it always will be. But I’m blessed to have Annika, and our son Robert who is 23 and currently beginning his career as an Aerospace Engineer. Hopefully he won’t have the late nights that I had to contend with during my career.

The worst bit about being a vet?

I don’t think there were any worst bits – it was an incredible profession; one I miss very much but one I’m happy to relive through the books.

It goes with the career, but the worst bit is probably having to break the news to an owner that their beloved pet needs to be put to sleep. It never ceases to upset me because

The loss of a pet is heart-breaking. When Annika and I were a young couple, and I was still resolutely a ‘dog person,’ she got me into cats. We had a silver tabby called Horse – the reason for the name is revealed in the books.

What are the best aspects about the career?

There are too many to mention. Making an animal better, being able to take their pain away and helping is humbling.

I also love spring and helping to bring new life into the world. We have three sheep today and Annika has a pony and a couple of horses.

Together with a very large ginger cat, a Maine Coon-Cross called Wiggo, which we acquired just after Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France win! My career has given me a lifelong connection to animals, one where every bit of love you show comes back to you tenfold.

Were there any animals you’d shudder at when they came into the practice?

No! You can’t be afraid of spiders, snakes or lizards when you’re a vet… they all come through the doors. One of the nicest things about our practice was that in addition to dogs and cats, you’d have animals like birds of prey through the door; something different every single day, lots of variety!

Do you have any advice for future vets?

Hopefully the books will prove not only entertaining but will also provide some good guidance for how your patients will chase you, embarrass you, puzzle you, occasionally bite you, certainly cover you in fluids and every so often knock you over.

Buy they’ll also reveal how heart-warming, humbling and how thoroughly wonderful being a vet can be. If I lived a thousand more lives, I’d be a vet in every single one… especially a vet who’s lucky enough to work in Lincolnshire! n

n Based near Horncastle, Julian Earl’s two-volume memoirs, Cows in Trees and The Dog with the Head Transplant are now available from all good bookshops, published by Hammond House.

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VETS IN THE UK...

Facts & Figures n There are over 25,000 vets in the UK, and 12,500 veterinary nurses. n Those in the profession work at over 4,058 vet clinics in the UK. n The average age of a UK vet nurse is 34, the average age of a veterinary surgeon is 41. Men account for fewer than 250 vet nurses but around half of all surgeons. n Recent new registrations with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons saw 795 UK-born vets register, plus 701 from the EU, 100 from Australia and New Zealand, 20 from the US and Canada, 15 from South Africa and eight from the rest of the world. n In 2018, UK households spent an average of £2.5 on pet food and a further £2.1 on veterinary and other services for pets every week. n 50% of UK adults own a pet. 24% of UK adults have a cat with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats. 26% of the UK adult population have a dog with an estimated population of 9.9 million pet dogs. 2% of the UK adult population have a rabbit with an estimated population of 900,000 pet rabbits. n The practice of veterinary medicine is regulated by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) in the United Kingdom. Veterinary medicine can only be performed by fully qualified and regulated professionals as subject to the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.

Julian at the British National Para-Cycling Time Trial at Llandeilo, Wales in July 2019.

n Dog owners trek more than 1,000 miles, play 2,080 rounds of fetch – and call their pet’s name 3,120 times while walking them each year, a study has found.

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OPEN NOW - NEW OUTDOOR SHOW AREA. BOOK AN APPOINTMENT TODAY!

EXQUISITE OUTDOOR LIVING

Create your own outdoor paradise using our natural stone. Let us inspire you with our brand new outdoor show area which showcases our full range of stone paving. Other stone elements on display include walling, capping, benches and our centrepiece - a bespoke pizza oven.

To visit, book an appointment on 01780 740970 or view our collection online at www.ssathome.co.uk.

Free stone samples can be requested.

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SCHOOLS & COLLEGES

Schools & Colleges Lincoln Minster School

“Providing an inspiring education, for life...”

At Lincoln Minster School we are very proud of our school and welcome visitors to come and see our facilities at one of our Open Days.

We are proudly non-selective, offering an all-through education in a nurturing and stimulating environment We aim to provide an environment that sets high expectations, facilitating stretch and challenge, where each child is stimulated to fulfil their potential in preparation for the next stage of their education and future employment.

Through an inspiring curriculum, exciting clubs, activities and trips, excellent academic and pastoral support, and dedicated and caring staff, we provide each and every one of our pupils with an ‘education for life.’

Through encouraging active involvement in a wide variety of inclusive co-curricular opportunities pupils are engaged in school life, engendering a spirit of community and co-operation.

At LMS we value everyone equally, building self-esteem and self-respect by demonstrating respect and care for people, ideas and our environment.

We recognise the importance of things that enrich life beyond material possessions, which contribute to a sense of wellbeing and fulfilment We are now offering Personal Tours by appointment only which are ideal for a first visit, they are designed to give you a broad overview of the school.

Please call us for more details. n For more information visit www.lincolnminsterschool.co.uk or call 01522 5551300.

The Suthers School

“Teaching pupils to work hard and be kind...”

The Suthers School is a new 11–18 free school which opened in September 2017.

The school primarily serves the communities of Fernwood, Middlebeck and Newark and is part of the Nova Education Trust, which established Nottingham Free School in 2014 and also runs Toot Hill School in Bingham and Newark Academy in New Balderton.

Head of School, Andrew Pettit, says: “The Suthers School has at its heart the absolute conviction that young people deserve an education that excites and enthuses.”

“Our ‘work hard, be kind’ philosophy, together with our unique approach to character development means that there is something very special about The Suthers School.

In short, we aim to deliver a

highly academic, enriching curriculum and to empower the young people of Newark to do more than they ever thought possible.”

Initially housed in temporary accommodation at Toot Hill School, the pupils and staff of The Suthers School were due to move into their newly-completed state-of-the-art building at Fernwood Business Park after the Easter 2020 break.

However, this was delayed so he building’s official opening has been postponed until after the summer holidays, and the school will welcome pupils and staff to their new accommodation in September. n To register your interest in The Suthers School and for further information, including details of the new school build and upcoming open events. Visit suthersschool.co.uk or call 01636 957690.

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Join Stamford Our Schools work together to provide an outstanding day and boarding education for girls and boys aged to 18. We take pride in developing intellectual curiosity and a love of learning, while helping to shape wellrounded individuals who are fully equipped for the next stage in their lives.

Book a visit at stamfordschools.org.uk/visit-us or call us on 01780 750311

NEWARK’S NEWEST SECONDARY SCHOOL

The Suthers School is a new, non-selective secondary school which serves the communities of Newark and the surrounding areas.

Our uniquely character-centred approach means that personal development is ranked alongside academic preparation and through our extended day we guarantee access to a broad range of enrichment opportunities.

We will be moving into our brand-new, state-of-the-art accommodation in Fernwood, Newark, after the summer holidays. To keep up-to-date with our progress, we invite you to visit our website or follow us on Twitter.

Cross Lane, Fernwood, Newark, Nottingham NG24 3NH  01636 957690  www.suthersschool.co.uk  @SuthersSchool 48

St Hugh’s School, Woodhall Spa “Developing the confidence to explore...”

Pupils at St Hugh’s Prep School, Woodhall Spa have joined in the world’s Climate Change campaign and are aiming to promote an awareness of sustainable development and create an environmentally friendly awareness through the School and also in the local community.

Known as Eco Warriors the St Hugh’s pupils have installed new recycling bins for paper throughout the School, they have been out litter picking in the village and are transforming part of the Headmaster’s garden into an environmentally friendly garden with bee friendly plants which are rich in nectar for all pollinating insects.

At home they are returning all non-recyclable plastics to supermarkets to encourage them to invest in plastic-free

food shopping. This all follows on from the School’s initiative to reduce the use of plastic water bottles by introducing metal ones for pupils and replacing the plastic sachets of condiments in the dining room with pump dispensers.

Located in the picturesque village of Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire, the school is a co-educational preparatory school offering both day and boarding options.

With exceptional facilities and an outstanding academic record, it provides a happy, inclusive and stimulating learning environment for children aged 2-13 from a broad catchment area and a wide range of backgrounds. n The school is based on Cromwell Avenue, Woodhall Spa. For a guided tour, please contact 01526 352169 or visit www.st-hughs.lincs.sch.uk.

Stamford Endowed Schools “Independent schools for independent minds...”

Nestled within the heart of Stamford, the Stamford Endowed Schools educate pupils aged 2-18 years in a ‘diamond’ structure: girls and boys learn together until the ages of 11-16, where they are taught separately, joining again for co-educational learning in the Sixth Form.

The Schools take pride in nurturing active, engaged and independent learners.

Beginning at the Nursery, Stamford students are taught to learn from experience, form good habits of mind and understand how to make informed choices, through independent learning programmes catered for their developmental age.

Stamford Endowed Schools also has a broad co-curricular offering - over 430 weekly clubs and activities spanning

the Arts, music, sports and outdoor learning.

The pastoral programme is given the highest priority, and encourages students’ personal resilience. Such commitment, care and integrity underlie every aspect of life at the Stamford Endowed Schools, and Stamford’s results illustrate this: 90% of leavers go on to attend university, with others confidently pursuing their choice of apprenticeships, volunteering, or gap years.

Pupils leave the Schools as ‘Stamfordians,’ equipped not only with their exam results, but the knowledge and experience to prepare them for whatever path they choose to take in life. n Call 01780 750311 or visit www.ses.lincs.sch.uk/visitingus to arrange a tour of the schools.

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Pan seared loin of Lincolnshire venison with summer greens, crispy potato rostĂŻ, charred clementine and juniper sauce.

FOOD & DRINK

Ye Olde Red Lion

at BICKER, NEAR BOSTON It’s more important than ever to support local restaurants and pubs, so this month we’ve even more cause to recommend a trip to Bicker’s Ye Olde Red Lion to enjoy delicious dining and a great atmosphere...

Words: Rob Davis.

For the hospitality industry, it has been a rubbish summer. Rubbish to a hitherto unprecedented degree. You know you’re talking to a really good restauranteur if they can remain confident and positive despite all that 2020 can throw at you. And Bicker’s Rebecca Duffy is still smiling... with good reason, too.

“It’s during challenging times that you tend to see the best of people,” she says as chefs Marcus and Adam are busy preparing dishes for our camera.

“We are experiencing the best of our small team as everyone pulls together in these times. And we’ve also seen the best of our customers who have been amazing sticking to the guidelines, whilst commenting that they’re glad we’re back and wishing us well.”

Rebecca says as a young child growing up in the area she often used to pop in pub with her parents. It was a meeting place for many of her friends too, and the place her best friend from school had her first date at 16...

“YE OLD RED LION IS A PLACE THAT’S WELCOMING, WHERE PEOPLE CAN ENJOY TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY...”

meet the CHEF MARCUS FRANKLIN, HEAD CHEF the couple in question are still happily together some 30 years later!

“It really holds some memories for us all as a family and with friends. We’ve lots of affection for the place, but that wasn’t why we took it on,” she says.

“We believed we could create a really great place to enjoy a drink or a meal; one that made the most of local produce and took loads of care and attention over your meal.”

“We also knew that we could create a place that’s welcoming; a place people could enjoy spending time with friends and family.”

That was back in 2012, and the Green Welly Inns-owned Red Lion now has two sister venues, accommodation-oriented Supreme Inns and The Poachers, which is a popular venue for weddings and special occasions.

Food History: I’m from Northampton, originally, and have worked in fine dining restaurants before coming to the county as an agency chef.

I worked at the Supreme Inn, the sister restaurant of the Red Lion just down the road but fell in love with this place!

Food Heaven: I really am fond of game!

Food Hell: I really hate baked beans! n

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Above: Cumin-spiced Scotch egg with soft poached yolk and pickled veg with beer gel.

Below: Crispy belly pork with chorizo crust and scallops with pea purée.

Tandoori fillet of salmon.

Ye Old Red Lion’s remit was to be the best dining pub in the area, a goal which it has unequivocally achieved. It’s entirely unfair, then, that a fire in 2019 in some electricity network supply infrastructure spread to the Red Lion and spread to the venue causing it to shut for a few months.

The place reopened in early 2020 with relieved customers glad to be able to visit again, only for Covid to throw another spanner in the works.

“But it’s at this time that a positive attitude is more important than ever, not just here but across the industry,” says Rebecca.

OPEN FOR FOOD Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 12 noon - 9.00pm.

Saturday: 12 noon- 9.00pm.

Sunday: 12 noon - 7.00pm.

on the MENU FROM THE À LA CARTE MENU AT THE RED LION, BICKER Lincolnshire Tapas Baked British Camembert with garlic & rosemary, beer jam, and warm crusty bread.

Sticky pork belly bites.

Duck liver parfait with plum chutney and crostini.

Lincolnshire venison and chorizo meatballs.

Main Courses Fresh Norfolk moules marinières with garlic and Chardonnay sauce and warm French bread.

Summer berry cheesecake with sticky meringue and raspberry tulle plus strawberry coulis.

“In any restaurant or pub up and down the country, people are a bit unsure, and places like ours are having to reduce their capacities to accommodate social distancing and lower staff levels.”

“But that’s when being a welcoming happy place comes into its own. I’ve been so proud of the whole team and how they’ve adapted to the challenge of ensuring we can still offer a warm welcome as we reopened and slowly began to get back to ‘the new normal.’”

“Our hygiene has always been impeccable anyway, but we’ve become super vigilant, we’ve thought carefully about how we can keep customers safe and we’ve created weekly-changing menus that can still prove really satisfying, whether our customers are dining indoors or out in the garden.”

“The aim was to make customers feel safe, relaxed and to provide a calm, welcoming place to enjoy great food.”

The temporary menu features local suppliers including Boston’s Mountains butchers, plus Lincolnshire Game, and The Lincolnshire

8oz fillet steak with flat mushroom, vine tomatoes, onion rings and rustic chips.

Game Company supplying meat and game.

Moorcroft’s of Grimsby and East Lincs Seafood provides daily deliveries of fish fresh from Grimsby’s morning markets, as well as fresh fruit and veg from J Hull and from the family’s own land around Bicker.

The menu provides a choice of 14 Lincolnshire Tapas options - small dishes diners can ‘graze’ on or mix & match to create a meal comprising different elements with big flavours. There’s also a choice of 10 main courses plus three stone-baked pizzas, or tapas and five desserts plus cheese options.

Suffice to say the food is brilliant, the welcome is warm, professional and the environment itself - a 12th century former lighthouse and pub - has bags of character.

No wonder diners are very happy to be back.

It’s rotten luck that through no fault of its own Ye Olde Red Lion has faced Covid almost straight after its reopening. And yet the place and the team are more upbeat - not less - and are better placed than ever to provide a lovely welcome, great service, and of course, really fantastic food. n

Marcus’s homemade steak and ale pie with creamy mash or rustic chips.

Barbecued free range hoisin chicken breast with garlic and soy roasted sweet potato.

Dessert Dark chocolate salted caramel tart with raspberry sorbet & honeycomb.

Banoffee tart with caramelised banana, toffee sauce and Chantilly cream.

NB: Featured dishes are subject to change.

n Ye Olde Red Lion, Bicker, Boston, Lincolnshire, PE20 3EF Call 01775 821200, www.redlionbicker.co.uk.

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• Beautiful unique thatched cottage • Stunning 40 seater à la carte restaurant • Open seven days a week • • Function room catering for birthdays, wakes, christenings, conference, small wedding receptions •

Pools Lane, Sutterton, Boston, Lincolnshire PE20 2EZ

Tel: 01205 461006 enquiries@thethatchedcottagerestaurant.co.uk | www.thethatchedcottagerestaurant.co.uk

NEW CARAVAN PARK OPENING SHORTLY

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YUMMY

Introducing Yummy

The team behind Lincolnshire Pride is now delivering fresh local food from Lincolnshire right to your doorstep!

Words: Rob Davis.

THE WORD ‘COMPROMISE’ IS PRETTY ROTTEN. It suggests that we can’t have what we want; we shouldn’t have what we want. For instance, supermarkets can deliver food to your door.

Which is convenient, certainly… but that food doesn’t have local provenance.

“Your order is loaded into one of our refrigerated vans to ensure it’s kept chilled overnight.

Bright and early the following morning, we’ll drop off your order, leaving it on your doorstep.”

Alternatively, you could visit the butcher, then the baker, followed by the greengrocer and perhaps the fishmonger, too… but that’s time-consuming. And so you’re forced to make a compromise, a concession to either quality or convenience.

“Where do we start? You’ll enjoy high quality food, locally sourced where possible (alas, we’ve not managed to find a Lincolnshire banana grower) such as meat from local butchers; vegetables that were still in the fields of Lincolnshire less than 24-hours ago; plus artisan bread and items like Lincolnshire cheese.”

The people behind Yummy, a new quality food delivery service in Lincolnshire, don’t like having to compromise, and they don’t believe you should have to, either. We know that for certain because, well, Yummy is the sister company to Lincolnshire Pride magazine, and we’ve worked hard to launch the service so you can enjoy having fresh local food - from the local shops and independent food producers that you’re already familiar with - brought right to your door.

What is Yummy?

“It’s a service that allows households, currently those in South Lincolnshire, to order locally sourced food online and have that order delivered right to your doorstep,” says Julian Wilkinson, the creator of Yummy and Publisher of Pride Magazines.

What are the advantages?

“We’ve teamed up with Yummy ‘preferred partners,’ from butchers to bakers to local greengrocers to fishmongers to producers of local free range eggs, local honey, cheese and lots of other great suppliers too.”

How does Yummy work?

“As a Yummy customer, you’ll visit our website online at www.yummy.co.uk and fill your online shopping basket with your choice of highquality, locally-produced food.”

“You’ll then specify a day for delivery. On the afternoon the day before, our team of Yummy delivery drivers visit each of our partners and pick up your items and those items ordered by other customers too. Back at Yummy HQ , they pack your order carefully into your Yummy box, with insulated polystyrene boxes and ice packs to ensure your meat and fish remains separate and stays fresh.”

“We’ll also save you a trip to the supermarket, or separate trips to each individual food producer. What’s more, if you recycle your Yummy packaging, we’ll even credit you £5 on your next Yummy order, which is the equivalent of providing customers with free delivery.”

Why did you launch Yummy?

“We’ve long championed local food producers in Lincolnshire Pride. As we were all witnessing the Covid-19 crisis unfolding, we noted that people were increasingly nervous to visit supermarket but really enjoyed re-visiting their local butcher or baker.”

“Back in May, I wrote the Editor’s Welcome for the digital editions of Pride Magazines. I spoke about the need to remain optimistic through

Above: Pride’s Publisher and Managing Director Julian Wilkinson has launched Yummy, our sister company which provides fresh local food delivered right to your doorstep.

Opposite: The Yummy team celebrates the launch of the business with Mayor of Boston Anton Dani and Mayoress Maria Dani.

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YUMMY

Covid, about the importance of supporting local businesses and the need to ensure that Lincolnshire retains its uniqueness.”

“I felt that I needed to do something else to support local businesses and to help consumers and farming communities. That was the idea behind Yummy - to provide quality food in a convenient way.”

So you’re aiming to replace the supermarket?

“Supermarkets were experiencing a greater demand than they could match for their home delivery services.” “‘If only,’ we thought ‘we could combine the ability to choose great food but without compromising the convenience of a supermarket delivery service,’ and that’s just what Yummy aims to do.”

“Supermarkets are good at what they do.

Their business is predicated on curating and maintaining really good supply chains; really efficient logistics networks. The compromise is that to fulfil that efficient supply chain, supermarkets have to acquiesce to the rapid and industrial production of food – from bread that’s produced in just a couple of hours to meat that isn’t hung to develop flavour, like butchers’ meat should be.”

“Yummy provides the opportunity to reduce your reliance on the supermarkets and support local independent food retailers and producers; it gives you more choice when it comes to your weekly food.”

Where is Yummy available?

“We’re currently in the South of Lincolnshire and

Calling all Food Producers

If you’re a local food producer and believe your products would appeal to our customers, do please get in touch via info@yummy.co.uk.

We’d love to hear from you!

Happy Customers enjoying

YUMMY FOOD

“We got our first yummy box today and we are so pleased! Thank you so much. It’s great to be able to support local businesses!” Alexandra Daisy “I received my order yesterday and I’m really happy with it. Will definitely order again soon.” Pippa Dore “Thanks Yummy! Been looking forward to this fantastic delivery service.

Brilliant idea and all very professional.”

Tony Swiss “I would always prefer to support local independent businesses and this is making it possible to do this while I still want to stay away from the shops and town centre. Off to a flying start, well done to all the team at Yummy!”

Janine Lockyer “Looking forward to seeing your lovely green van again - I’ve already booked our next delivery - keep up the outstanding work.” Kylie Collier “Received our order today. Just brilliant, meat, fruit and veg so fresh.

And love the idea of recycling the boxes. Fantastic!” Helen English Above: Yummy Manager Jez Elmer was joined recently by Harry Parkhill of BBC Lincolnshire to discuss Yummy on radio.

cover Boston, Spalding, Sleaford, Grantham, Woodhall Spa, Bourne, Skegness, Spilsby, Long Sutton and all of the many surrounding villages in between. Our aim is to bring Yummy to the rest of Lincolnshire over the coming months and eventually to roll it out across the whole of the UK.” What feedback have you had?

Left: A couple of our Yummy Preferred Partners.

Top we see Gerald and Will Fletcher of East Lincs Seafood, and left is some of the team at Carl Dunham Butchers.

“The feedback from our customers has been incredible. We were determined to make sure the products and the service that were right from the outset, because the aim of Yummy is that our customers will use the service time and again. Our first customers were delighted both with the service they received and the quality of the produce itself. We’ve included some of the feedback we’ve received opposite!”

Sounds great… what next?

“Visit www.yummy.co.uk and have a look at the products we stock!” n

“We received our delivery this morning, fantastic service. Recycling the packaging is a brilliant idea and the quality of the produce is perfect too. It’s great way to support local businesses.” Sally Norman “First delivery this morning. Arrived in good time. The quality is excellent.

Will be recommending to everyone.”

Anne E. Goulbourne-Rennie “Early delivery of lovely fresh produce thank you!” Glynis Bruerton “Just had a delivery - In a box in a cool box, all looks very good quality and all looks Yummy!” Maureen Cheshire n You can see more feedback by ‘liking’ Yummy on Facebook where you’ll also be kept up to date with special offers and the latest news.

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In the KITCHEN Make a mess in the kitchen this month, with this cherry twist on a traditional Eton Mess pudding...

ROAST CHERRY & CHOCOLATE MESS 400g cherries, halved and then pitted • 3 fresh bay leaves • 2 tbsp white caster sugar, plus 1 tsp for the cream 2 tbsp pomegranate juice • 250ml whipping cream • 50g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), finely chopped ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)• 4 meringue nests (or 12 mini meringue shells), very roughly broken Preheat the oven to 220˚C, gas mark 7. Put the cherries in a medium roasting tin and toss with the bay leaves, two tbsp sugar and the pomegranate juice.

Roast for 5-7 minutes to get the juices going and bubbling at the edges (don’t cook the cherries through). Set aside until just warm. Meanwhile, put 4 tbsp cream and 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Put the chopped chocolate in a small bowl, pour the hot cream over it, and stir

until smooth. Spoon 1 tbsp into the bottom of 4 small tumblers. Put the remaining cream, 1 tsp sugar and the vanilla, if using, into a large bowl. Whip to very soft peaks.

Add a generous dollop to each glass, then a few chunks of the meringue, some cherries and juice.

Repeat, finishing each with a final small dollop of cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.Serve straight away, with any extra chocolate sauce on the side.

Recipes & Dishes: Thousands of recipes can be found at www.waitrose.com/recipes.

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SOURDOUGH BREAD

OUR DAILY

BREAD

Lincoln-based Sourdough bread baker Emma Vines and her ilk maintain an almost messianic devotion to real bread. Little wonder, as her products prove that the best things in life really do come to those who wait...

Words: Rob Davis.

“IT’S THE BAKERS’ TATTOO,” says Emma.

She’s referring is a series of deck oven burn marks up and down her arm which she and her tribe of self-confessed bread nerds have come to regard as somewhat of an occupational hazard for an artisan baker.

Dr Emma Vine is the most fascination person in the world. Her doctorate is in psychology, although it might as well be in the field of artisan baking, for her knowledge is encyclopaedic.

Emma arrived in Lincolnshire with her family when her father was commissioned to oversee the civil engineering of John Adams Way in Boston from 1977 to 1981.

Emma left her teaching career with various universities – Hallam, Loughborough et al – to open her own bakery on Lincoln’s Steep Hill in October 2018.

to retailing to consumers from her shop just opposite The Jew’s House restaurant, she supplies a number of restaurants and coffee shops around the city.

“Sourdough breads - the products in which we specialise - are distinct from mass-market bread and are even distinct from bread baked by producers you’d probably class as artisan bakeries,” says Emma. “But supermarket loaves and all industrially processed bread is made from scratch in a dizzying two and a half to three hours.”

Thank goodness she did, say all of her customers. Emma and her team can barely keep up with demand, such is the popularity of her range of artisan bread.

“In-store bakeries spend perhaps an hour longer producing their bread and even craft bakeries – whatever they are, for the term is a bit woolly – spend just five hours or so baking each batch of bread.”

In total, Emma has around 35 lines in production at any time, and in addition

“By contrast, we spend a minimum of 24 hours - but up to 72 hours - producing

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conventional bakers use to make their production more consistent, more reliable.

We use a bespoke in-house blend of flours to achieve the intended texture and flavour of our bread, alongside our all-important sourdough cultures.”

“Sourdough cultures are an alternative to commercial natural yeasts. Made of flour and water, they contain lactic acid bacteria and they ferment to make bread rise in lieu of commercial yeast. And unlike yeast, which is simply used once, sourdough cultures are ‘grown’ and fed daily to increase in volume and are used successively. They’re nurtured, like children.”

Sourdough cultures can be created with different profiles, from younger, gentler and more lactic cultures to those which are more acetic - for bread with stronger flavours - depending on the product to be created.

Emma is also wearing a t-shirt which reads ‘Sourdough Slinger’ meaning she self-identifies with Wayne Caddy, the baker to whom sourdough disciples pledge an almost messianic devotion.

If you’re from the North, like Emma, your baking alma mater is Worksop’s School of Artisan Food. Southerners, meanwhile, tend to graduate from The National Bakery School at London’s South Bank University.

our sourdough loaves. The sourdough process is slower and much less industrialised by its nature. Sourdough aficionados eschew flour improvers and dough conditioners that

At Vine’s Bakery Emma and the team curate two different cultures, and they even have names: Riley and Frenchy - her house Levain. Her House Sourdough is a workhorse bread using wheat and rye flour with levain culture for a gentle flavour (more lactic and less acidic) the bakery also produces a Deli Rye, Dark Rye and a London Loaf.

The latter is long-fermented and firm, “Like bread used to be,” says Emma. It holds hot or wet sandwich fillers well and it neatly proves one of the main principles of baking bread using sourdough; time equals flavour.

Sourdough bread’s longer production time also ensures it is highly digestible, as well as more flavoursome. Gluten is the protein which gives bakery products their structure and it is replaced by other sugar and fat in gluten-free products. True gluten intolerance does exist, but it is a rarer occurrence than its notoriety – and those who wish to sell gluten-free products - suggests.

“It’s analogous to a friend who says they have the flu when actually they have a bad cold. If you’re truly suffering from flu – or from gluten intolerance - you really know

about it. It’s nasty, and those with gluten intolerance (as opposed to those who are merely gluten-avoidant) have to be incredibly careful.”

“Often people are not intolerant to gluten per se, but from the speedy industrial processes in mass produced bread, which prevents the protein being sufficiently ripened.”

“If you believe you’re gluten intolerant you should seek medical advice, but if you find yourself bloated after consuming bread, a sourdough bread may prove more digestible.”

“I work alongside two other bakers and we prepare dough for our bread by working three or four days in advance... so the loaf you purchase today has been several days in the making.”

Emma shows us the three-tier deck oven – the source of her ‘tattoos’ - which injects steam into the oven cavity during the bake to balance heat and moisture.”

“It’s a more consistent, accurate heat than any domestic oven with upper and lower baking stones controlled independently.”

Her three industrial fridges have retarded the dough’s development, holding the previous days’ batches at a precise 2°c; the accuracy of the bakery’s processes is very well-controlled.

“It’s a more complicated, and more timeconsuming than other bakery operations, but there’s a reason we invest the time and effort. I’ve been so thrilled with the way the people of Lincoln have taken to our products.”

“They report that our bread is of a quality unlike they’ve ever experienced, which is incredibly rewarding for a bakery which goes to great pains to really show our customers just how good bread can be.” n

Find Our More: Emma’s Vine’s Bakery is based at 61 Steep Hill, Lincoln LN2 1LR. Call 07703 159052 or see www.vinesbakery.co.uk.

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INTRODUCING BANDSMAN GIN

A cold compounded gin with tomato, basil, rosemary and elderflower, made right here in Lincolnshire...

Buy online at www.bandsmangin.co.uk or call 01522 695893 for stockists

Vine’s Bakery, specialists in sourdough, beautiful bagels and croissants daily

61 Steep Hill, Lincoln LN2 1LR www.vinesbakery.co.uk Follow us on social media to keep up with daily specials - Vinesbakeryuk

THE BLACK HORSE GOSBERTON RISEGATE

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www.theblackhorse-gr.co.uk 66

Wine of the Month

The Next Big Thing in Drinks...

Rum is set to be just as fashionable as gin in 2021

Sparkling Brut Rosé, Ovens Farm, Louth, Lincolnshire £156, six 75cl bottles

Like most things, alcohol is subject to changing fashions, and in recent years, Aperol, Prosecco and artisan gins have all enjoyed a summer boom as those drinks have all found themselves in vogue.

Rum will be next big thing in to reach bars, and ahead of the trend is Lincoln’s Unconventional Distillery Co., established by Sam Owen. Pioneer is the distillery’s premium handcrafted English rum which has been created with elderflower, citrus, pepper and other botanicals, £20 / 40cl / 35% ABV. unconventionaldistillery.co.uk.

For the third month running we’re awarding Oven’s Farm our Wine of the Month title.

This time it’s for the Louth vineyard’s sparkling rosé offering, a perfect late summer or early autumn tipple.

An attractive rose gold colour, this delicious sparkling wine has delightful aromas of strawberries and cream, with a light floral, spicy hint of dried hibiscus. Its palate has vibrant fruit – raspberry, redcurrant and strawberry, with a soft textured, creamy mousse. Crisp and clean to the finish.

The Wine Cellar ALL THE LEAVES ARE BROWN, AND THE SKY IS GREY, SO THIS MONTH WE’RE HEADING TO CALIFORNIA’S NAPA VALLEY FOR SOME CALIFORNIA DREAMING, AND ENJOYING ARTISAN RUM CALIFORNIA DREAMING: A trio of transatlantic treats from Napa Valley...

1. Rodney Strong’s Chalk Hill Chardonnay enjoys great complexity with apple, spices and melon. Ideal with autumn dishes which utilise cheese and seafood. £24.99 / 75cl / 13.5% ABV.

2. This cotton-candy coloured rosé from California is ideal with fish and poultry dishes, with apple and strawberry hues. A cheerful tipple to enjoy in the garden in the event of late summer sunshine. £10.50 / 75cl / 11% ABV.

3. Sound like it comes from Cornwall’s Poldark country, but in fact Trefethen Merlot is produced in the Napa Valley.

Rich, bold and robust. £34.99 / 75cl / 14.4% ABV.

n Available from www.ovens farmvineyard.com or by calling 07919 320290.

Dolce Far Niente!

A great gin for those ‘doing nothing’ moments!

The sister product to Malfy’s Con Arancia and Con Limone (orange and lemon) gins, this ace Italian gin is built around the awesomeness of Sicilian pink grapefruit, and features a hint of rhubarb too.

This works especially well in a Gin Fizz, but it also makes a marvellous Martini, too!

Tangy pink grapefruit at the fore, balanced well by peppery juniper and a touch of thyme. Distilled by the Vergnano family for ‘Dolce far niente’ the sweet art of doing nothing in Italy! n £25.59 / 70cl / 40% ABV

n Our featured wines are available from

the best local independent wine merchants, supermarkets and online, prices are RRP and may vary from those stated.

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HOMES & INTERIORS

BEAUTIFULLY

PRESENTED

This month’s property is a beautifully restored country home that’s so impressive it has been nominated in the International Property Awards.

Words: Rob Davis. Images: Dean Fisher.

Some properties can boast a beautiful location. Some can boast character and period features. Others still can provide those seeking a new home with the results of a comprehensive renovation often years in the making.

This month’s featured property near Stamford can offer all the above and more.

It’s so desirable, in fact, that it has been put forward by estate agents Fine & Country as a contender in the International Property Awards which, to the layperson, is a sort of estate agent’s choice award. Suffice to say it’s pretty special. And its owner, Mark Aitchison, is fairly unique too.

Top: The property is arranged over two floors and carries a Grade II listing. Its interiors have been designed by Elizabeth Stanhope Interiors whilst Alexander Lewis created the bespoke kitchen.

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A Liverpudlian and a biologist by education, Mark then found himself specialising in agronomy and soon found himself helping farmers and landowners to ensure better yields before gradually transitioning towards the corporate elements of the agricultural business.

“The property, which dates back to 1750 and carries a Grade II listing, is set within an acre of grounds...”

From new pointing and plasterwork, new electrical and plumbing, a replacement of the floors and the installation of new oak doors, the property itself was soon beginning to take shape, structurally and in terms of its utilities, at which point it was time for Mark to turn his attention to the details.

Mark founded his business, Frontier, in 2005 and in just 15 years the business has grown to support 25% of the UK agricultural supply industry – becoming a business that employs 1,200 people across 56 different sites.

of Stamford with beautiful panoramic views of the Welland Valley. At that time though, the property was pretty hard to love.

With three reception rooms – currently arranged as a living room, drawing room and a dining room adjacent to the living kitchen, Mark enlisted the help of Mill Street interior designer Elizabeth Stanhope to furnish the property with a range of luxury fabrics and tasteful neutral colours.

Mark found himself working across the UK and needed a home from which he could commute to his head office just south of Lincoln - and from which he could reach the capital easily. In 2014 he came across Welland House in Tixover - a satellite village

“It was in a really poor condition,” says Mark.

“The roof leaked, the windows were rotten and it was damp throughout… needless to say it required a lot of attention.”

The property, which dates back to 1750 and carries a Grade II listing, is set within an acre, and Mark chose Fordson Developments to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment lasting over two years.

The kitchen was created by Harboroughbased cabinet makers Alexander Lewis incorporates powder-grey bespoke cabinetry and granite surfaces. A Mercury range cooker and bank of cooling appliances are 71

arranged around a central island, and neatly integrated into the kitchen is a boiling water tap and two Miele dishwashers.

On the first floor of the property there are three large bedrooms with the two largest rooms having en suite bathrooms.

The master bedroom also enjoys a dressing room built into the mezzanine level and there’s a fourth bedroom downstairs.

“We’ve created a garden with different levels and incorporated oak sleepers and raised beds. There’s a greenhouse and potting shed, and a garage complex with a workshop, so there’s plenty of space for storage. The views over the Welland are really lovely and we’re visited by lots of wildlife like otters, kingfishers and red kite soaring overhead.”

Left: The property has four bedrooms, two with en suites.

Right: The house is set within an acre of grounds.

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“To the bottom of the garden is the River Welland, and the property comes complete with fishing and mooring rights.”

Mark is currently in the process of restoring the Old Forge in the grounds into a twobedroom annexe, ideal if the property’s next owners are seeking additional accommodation to use as a holiday let or for elderly relatives.

“The village is very beautiful indeed,” says Mark. “I’m a bit torn really because I’m spending more time travelling on business, but I still want to keep a foothold in Stamford too, so I’ve put the property on the market, but I’m really sad to be leaving it.”

“It wasn’t a property I renovated with a view to putting it on the market, and I’m the sort of person who’s very keen on fine detail. So together with the team who have helped me, we’ve really invested a lot of time in making sure the property looks and feels lovely.”

“I won’t get to enjoy it when it’s sold, but at least I know I’ve created a stunning home for its next custodians to really enjoy!” n

WELLAND HOUSE

TIXOVER, STAMFORD Location: Stamford six miles.

Style: Beautifully renovated Grade II listed country house.

Bedrooms: Four with two en suites.

Receptions: Three drawing, dining and living rooms.

Guide Price: £1.8m.

Find Out More: Fine & Country, 01780 750200 or see www.fineandcountry.com. n

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BESPOKE SOFAS

Enjoy a Winter of

CONTENT Are you sitting comfortably? If not, now’s the time to commission a completely bespoke sofa or chair to guarantee your comfort throughout autumn and into winter, with Stamford-based handmade furniture specialists Delcor!

Image: Pavilion is a contemporary twist Chesterfield refined by sleek, sculpted lines. Shown here in this simple grey linen prices start from ÂŁ2,608.

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Choose your sofa frame, fabric, filling, then tweak its dimensions and choose your finishing touches to create a bespoke sofa or chair...

Opposite: Eaton fabric in soft pink.

Above: Petite snuggler chair in floral fabric.

Victorian Leafy botanical print sofa.

Right: Ambassador three seat sofa in stone fabric.

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Above/Left: Chelsea Fixed Back Sofa, inspired by the traditional Victorian parlour piece; prices start from £1,958.

This beautiful Edwardian sofa from another age shown is in timeless classic William Morris Snakehead print prices start from £2,123.

Above/: Ridley two seat sofa in white linen. Library chair in lemon, foot stool in ikat fabric.

The Delcor Difference Delcor is different. Why? Because instead of forcing you to hunt for your perfect sofa - or make compromises - you can design your own, from dimensions to details, fabric to filling.

Choose your frame, then your fabric and customise your design.

The company manufactures bespoke sofas, chairs and bed frames, with 50 year guarantees, offer, 100% made in Britain. n

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Left: Montrose Sofa. Lavish, undulating arms recall the generous proportions of a 1940s Cadillac. Prices start from £1,773.

Far Left: Chesterfield Sofa, an icon of British style, the Chesterfield never goes out of fashion. Shown here in a scrumptious crushed grey velvet prices start from £2,620

Delcor is based on Bath Row, Rear of St Marys Hill, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 2QX. Call 01780 762579 or see www.delcor.co.uk.

www.delcor.co.uk

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HARDWICK WINDOWS

A DRAUGHT

PROPOSAL Providing fenestration, not frustration, Hardwick Windows presents a draught proposal to take the chill out of your home this winter...

Words: Rob Davis.

At risk of stating the obvious, the problem with older homes is that they aren’t new homes. Whilst most people can appreciate all of the character and charm in a period property, ownership often entails a lot of work, and higher energy bills, as more senior properties aren’t always very efficient.

Choose the right fenestration - windows, doors and your conservatory or orangery, however, and you could very well have the best of both worlds; a period property that’s more efficient, more secure and just as stylish.

Hardwick Windows is based just over the border in Nottinghamshire, but frequently work in Lincolnshire, Rutland & Stamford thanks to their ability to transform any property, irrespective of size, age or style.

“Half of our clients live in more modern properties; half in period properties, often in listed buildings or conservation areas.

All of our windows and doors suit either and are bespoke, engineered right down to the last millimetre,” say the firm’s Martin and Callum.

“Our products are made of Red Grandis hardwood and Accoya®, or in aluminium or wood alternative UPVC Flush Casement, Residence - R9, R7 & R2, providing up to A+ rated energy efficiency and the very best enhanced security features. Meanwhile, our technical paint coatings are guaranteed for 86

ten years and can match any RAL colour.

We’ve a range of door furniture, and we can provide roof lights, bi-fold doors and orangeries too.”

“We have the very latest windows and doors chosen by us for your home. With unrivalled quality & specification, and all are manufactured by craftsmen here in the UK completely bespoke for you.”

“Our products are ones that we’re really proud of,” adds Martin, “But we’re also

HARDWICK WINDOWS

very conscious of the poor reputation that has previously blighted our industry. It’s a real shame, given the visual and energy efficiency benefits that good quality windows and doors can bring.”

“Commission, plus pressure-selling and poor advice have traditionally blighted our whole industry. It’s the responsibility of every company in the industry to present their products fairly and offer no-obligation advice, that ensures customers are happy with their experience from initial consultation to fitting and aftercare.”

“We’re not on commission, so the advice we offer is predicated on providing a great service and products that last, with no upselling. We enjoy giving impartial advice

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and helping to improve not only the thermal performance of your home but also, giving your home additional kerb appeal.”

“We should also not forget the added value that the correct windows and doors can bring to any home, and with the Ultion locks we fit as standard, you’ll also be introducing unprecedented security to your home.”

“A window and door company shouldn’t leave you feeling cold. That’s why we value customer service and deliver both products and an experience that are second to none, leaving you with a warm feeling in every sense, and now is the ideal time to seek our free, no obligation advice with a view to making your home warm and draft-free in good time for winter.”

“We’re not on commission, so the advice we offer is predicated on providing a great service and products that last, with no upselling.”

n No obligation. No pressure-selling. No property too challenging. For a discussion about your property and your requirements, call 0115 855 6010, or see www.hardwickwindows.co.uk.

The company is based at Criftin Enterprise Centre, The Mophreys, Oxton Road, Epperstone, Nottingham NG14 6AT.

HERITAGE WINDOW SPECIALISTS ENHANCE THE STYLE, VALUE AND APPEARANCE OF YOUR HOME WITH THE VERY LATEST ALUMINIUM, WOOD OR UPVC FLUSH CASEMENT BESPOKE WINDOWS & DOORS. UNRIVALLED QUALITY & SPECIFICATION, MANUFACTURED IN THE UK BY CRAFTSMEN.

Call our friendly team on 0115 855 6010 hello@hardwickwindows.co.uk â&#x20AC;¢ www.hardwickwindows.co.uk VISIT OUR SHOWROOM BY APPOINTMENT FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE

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C O N S E R VAT O R I E S , ORANGERIES

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ROOF LANTERNS

BESPOKE AND L O C A L LY H A N D M A D E IN HARDWOOD

01529 300609 07832 344046 morrissandshawgardenhouses.com info@morrissandshawgardenhouses.com chris@morrissandshawgardenhouses.com 91

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GARDENING

QUIETLY MAGNIFICENT This month we celebrate the work of sisters Debbie Hollingworth and Lesley Burton, plus their dedicated volunteers who all work hard to ensure that the quietly magniďŹ cent Goltho Gardens near Wragby looks more and more beautiful each year. September see the opening of the garden for the NGS...

Words: Rob Davis.

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A GOOD GARDEN will make you coo with pleasure... but a truly great one will leave you speechless. My visit to Goltho Gardens in early July was unusual though. Where there should have been crowds circulating, murmuring approval to one another in semi-hushed reverence, there was, instead, complete silence.

Tea and Romance A well as being a wonderful attraction to visit Goltho Gardens also has an excellent tea shop, its 16th century barn for “We worked back towards weddings and its two the house rather than from it, B&B bedrooms!

It was midweek, we were still in lockdown and the heavens were about to open - I owe my poorly-timed visit to a woefully inaccurate weather forecast. Still that afforded me the rare pleasure of having the whole 4.5 acre site to myself.

Goltho Gardens is quietly magnificent, it’s one of the most understated but truly beautiful places to visit in the whole of Lincolnshire. And happily, at a time when most NGS garden openings would have come and gone – or have been cancelled because of Covid-19 – the Wragby garden is still very much worth a visit. In fact, on 27th September, it’s very much open to visitors, one of the few gardens still able to open and support the charity.

Owned by Debbie Hollingworth and her sister Lesley Burton, the family arrived at the site back in 1997. The family really did have their work cut out for them with several barns to convert and a house nearly in ruin, in addition to the garden, part of which was a field that was still growing crops.

“We bought the barns with a view to turning the site into a nursery and tea shop,” says Debbie. “But we needed to work on converting the barns first and making our homes more habitable!”

“After nearly two years of working on the house, we started to work on the gardens, planning and planting and laying border hedging. Where the gardens are now there used to be a ploughed field, so there wasn’t an awful lot to work with.”

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as the field that once had crops growing in it had been newly ploughed and was still very much functioning as agricultural land.”

By the millennium, the overall layout of the garden was established, and finally the old farm pond as cleared ready for a new pond garden with an adjacent area of decking.

With the landscape itself taking shape, it was now time for the family to start to establish the planting schemes that visitors can enjoy today. Over subsequent years, the number and species of plants has been refined, with a long grass walk flanked by mixed borders of various colours and a prairie border.

There’s a nut walk to the back of the garden, which looks especially wonderful in the spring, and peony garden for mid-summer colour too.

Nearer to the side of the garden which borders the A158 is the wildflower meadow which is a conservatively-mown area of the garden designed to provide a home for butterflies and bees. >>

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>> Just near the entrance to the house is a potager, too, which is planted with herbs and vegetables and to the front of the house, just adjacent to the nursery and teashop, is a gravel garden with all sorts of alpines.

Whilst most gardens concentrate on midsummer interest, Goltho House has been thoughtfully created to ensure all-year-round interest. This month the autumn garden beyond the nut walk area is set to be a real treat for visitors to the garden’s NGS event on 27th September.

“Creating places in the garden that reflected the beauty and uniqueness of each season was really important to us,” says Debbie.

“The garden is laid out with a strong feeling of colour, form and texture in both flowers and foliage which reflects our interest in a wide range of plants, including some rare

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“We wanted to inspire not just the more experienced gardeners but all of our visitors, and to prove that a garden really can have all-year-round beauty...”

Goltho Gardens as the site is also open to visitors until the end of March from Thursdays to Sundays.

and unusual ones. We wanted to inspire not just experienced gardeners but also less experienced gardeners to prove that all-yearround beauty in the garden is achievable.”

“We’re hugely grateful to our volunteer gardeners who enjoy the site so much that they help us with the seemingly infinite number of hours it takes to complete jobs like weeding. All of our volunteers share our passion for the gardens and we simply couldn’t manage without them!”

At the moment the NGS is recommending that certain gardens use a ticketing system to pre-allocate spaces to visitors. As Pride goes to press it’s not clear whether that system will be lifted. However, there’s no need to be concerned with missing out on

“We do love the garden, and we really enjoy it when visitors come, recognise how much work is invested in maintaining the place and when we see our regular visitors who want to sit in their favourite spot and just enjoy some peace and quiet.”

n Goltho Gardens is located on Lincoln Road, Goltho, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 5NF. Call 01673 857768 or see golthogardens.com.

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ELECTRIC & MANUAL GATES, AND BESPOKE METALWORK FABRICATION SPECIALISTS 30 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE, FREE, NO OBLIGATION QUOTES

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JUMPERS for JOY The countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jane Ireland creates beautiful and timeless fashions for her brand Tom Lane, from her family farm in Lincolnshire, inspired by our county, and by visitors to Cornwall, where this shoot of her autumn knitwear collection took place...

This Page: Pure lambswool jumper in beige with ribbed cuffs and hem, XS-XL, ÂŁ95.

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- FASHION -

Top/Left: Lambswool roll-neck jumper, sage green, with split sides in S-L, £95. Top/Right: Lambswool jumper in pink with roll neck S-L £95.

Bottom/Left: Zip-neck jumper with ribbed-cuffs and hem, in various colours, blue here £95. Bottom/Right: Gents’ charcoal jumper, S-XL £129. n

Tom Lane is the fashion brand of Lincolnshire’s Jane Ireland, visit www.tomlane.co for more information.

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Belle & The Peacock’s Feather...

10% OFF NEW DESIGNER BALL GOWNS FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY APPOINTMENTS ONLY - WE ARE A COVID-19 SAFE BOUTIQUE

79 High Street, Lincoln LN5 8AA Tel: 07728 981568 www.bellemode.co.uk • belleandthepeacocksfeather@mail.com 102

Set in 88 acres of breathtakingly beautiful parkland, the award-winning Branston Hall provides a truly magical setting for your wedding day and incredible photo opportunities to capture those special moments.

The hotel offers unparalleled service and a luxury ambience with bespoke wedding packages to suit all budgets.

WEDDINGS • SPA • RESTAURANT • BAR • NON RESIDENTS • EVENTS • FUNCTIONS • INDOOR POOL • CONFERENCES • GARDENS • PICTURESQUE LAKE • AFTERNOON TEA • 50 BEDROOMS

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A Dress to Impress

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LEADING WEDDING DRESS DESIGNERS REVEAL THEIR RANGES FOR 2021...

1. Dani Badgley Mischka’s A-Line profiled dress in Champagne, also created in lace and sequin tulle £2,700.

2. Nadia Created by Blue by Enzoani, Nadia is available in ivory or ivory and nude, Floral Embroidered Lace, Glitter Tulle & Tulle £2,310..

3. Koh-I-Noor Designed by Élysée, Koh-I-Noor combines an A-Line skirt with illusion bodice in beaded baroque lace £4,650.

4. Paisley Enzoani’s ivory, sand or nude sheath-style dress in beaded baroque lace with lace and tulle train £2,760.

5. Debbie Badgley Mischka’ Debbie is a classic A-Line dress in ivory lace and tulle £3,050.

6. Nasrin Beaded and embroidered dress from Blue by Enzoani with A-Line profile £1,740.

7. Mercier Designed by Élysée, mermaid silhouette with detachable A-Line skirt and 3D motifs £4,410.

8. Porter Sleek column dress with detachable train by Enzoani £2,970. n www.enzoani.com

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CHAUFFEUR VIP TRAVEL

Style & Luxury for your

WEDDING

Get me to the church on time! That’s the challenge facing Chauffeur VIP’s team, led by Paul Elliott, whose fleet of executive vehicles and wedding cars are perfect for your big day... this month we sample the luxury for ourselves!

Words: Rob Davis. Images: Jonathan Scrimshaw.

They reckon it’s better to travel than to arrive. I can see that. From the back seat of a Mercedes S-Class, reclined and enjoying the comfort of nappa leather, climate control and legroom to spare in long-wheelbase luxury, I’m letting my driver take the strain of navigating central London.

“Likewise with business clients who ask us to transport them from site to site across the UK. We’ve vehicles with tables and wi-fi and seating configurations where passengers face each other, so in-between stops, there’s no wasted time; they can catch up on emails or discuss the next meeting.”

Some decisions are made with your head, others with your heart. But making the decision to travel in luxury with Chauffeur VIP is a decision you can make with both, whether you’re travelling for business or pleasure.

“We also transport business clients to sporting fixtures like Wimbledon or Ascot, which is nice because they can have a drink and socialise with colleagues or clients without incurring an overnight stay. All of our business clients have access to wi-fi, daily newspapers, hand wipes and mineral water.”

Practically, enlisting Paul Elliott and his team of drivers means you don’t have to negotiate traffic in an unfamiliar city London? In rush hour? You don’t have to abandon your vehicle in an airport car park, and there’s plenty of space for your luggage.

If there’s a few friends or colleague along for the ride, you can all travel together too, with vehicles for up to 16 passengers.

Beyond that though, you can enjoy a snooze in your reclining leather seat, pop on some headphones and listen to some music, enjoy a glass of fizz along the way... or if you must, you can also get to work with the help of business-class wi-fi connectivity.

That makes being chauffeured a much nicer way to travel; a great way to make a business trip a less exhausting experience or a way give your holiday a luxurious start and finish.

“I’ve been self-employed for over 20 years and started the business five years ago seeing a gap in the market,” says Paul, as we stop at the services so I can stretch my legs.

“Really the journey begins not when we start the engine but when the customer first makes their enquiry. We’re a family operation, and my wife Julia and her team act as a sort of travel concierge service for customers.

Nothing is too much trouble, we try to honour any request. A seamless journey and attention to detail is really important to us.”

I think what’s surprised me most is not just how being chauffeured is a luxurious and pleasant way to travel, but how practical it is too. Being able to carry luggage and people but also taking the stress of navigating away from people is something that both private and business clients really value. Negotiating London traffic? I’ll happily delegate that to a chauffeur!

“We’ve a good mix really. Private clients who are going on holiday love the fact that they don’t have to drive to the airport or have the hassle of parking and rushing across to their terminal with loads of luggage. When they return, sometimes early in the morning or late at night, they can just get in and catch up on some sleep as we drive them home.”

“And then, of course, there’s our wedding clients. The main backbone of our fleet are modern Mercedes saloons cars, and executive MPVs with six, seven or 16 seats.”

“But for the wedding market we also have classic vehicles from the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s, as well as vehicles like our convertible Morris Minor, VW Camper Van and Landaulette Daimler limousines.

Our wedding cars come with Champagne and are decorated with ribbons to match their colour scheme.”

“The size of the company is ideal,” says Paul. “We’ve different drivers - all CRB checked for security - and a range of vehicles to meet different needs, but being a privately owned business we can still provide a totally bespoke, flexible service that puts you in the driver’s seat... metaphorically speaking.”

Better to travel than to arrive? You’d better believe it. After enjoying the chauffeur driven lifestyle, I could rather get used to being driven around... n

Find Out More: Paul Elliott and his team of CRB-checked professional drivers run a fleet of executive saloons and MPVs to transport up to 16 people in luxury for business and private clients or weddings anywhere in the UK. Call 0800 014 9222 or see www.chauffeur-vip.co.uk.

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Wedding transport to ensure you enjoy the day of your dreams...

UNIFORMED CHAUFFEUR DRIVEN TRANSPORT FOR THE BRIDAL PARTY, GROOM OR GUESTS COMPLIMENTARY BUBBLES AND DECORATIVE RIBBONS TO SUIT YOUR COLOUR SCHEME

01522 401150 | 08000 149 222 www.chauffeur-vip.co.uk Mercedes S-Class, E-Class executive saloons, Mercedes V-Class for 6-7 passengers and Mercedes Sprinter 16 passenger executive minibus.

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COMMITTED TO PROVIDING THE VERY BEST DENTAL HEALTH CARE...

“Before I joined the Dental Health Centre about two years ago my teeth weren’t in good shape.

I happened to pick up a copy of Lincolnshire Pride in my local restaurant and read a feature on the Dental Health Centre. I have since had two implants, one at the front and one at the side, which is a double one, as well as a bridge. The care I have received has been absolutely fantastic and the change my treatment has made to my life has been very dramatic...”

Steve Finn, Newark

Avenue Road, Grantham, NG31 6TA CALL 01476 594 480 WWW.DENTALHEALTHCENTRE.CO.UK • BRACES • DENTAL IMPLANTS • NERVOUS PATIENTS • HYGIENIST • FAMILY DENTISTRY • TOOTH WHITENING • WHITE FILLINGS • SAME DAY CROWNS • VENEERS •

Purveyors of Luxury Eyewear Since 1979

Francis Klein glasses range in stock now.

43/44 Wrawby Street, Brigg, North Lincolnshire DN20 8BS Tel: 01652 653595. Web: www.obriensopticians.co.uk Call for an appointment or pop in to view our latest designer eyewear.

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AUTUMN BEAUTY

Live & Let Olive THIS AUTUMN WILL SEE A PROLIFERATION OF OLIVE-TINGED COSMETICS TO PROVIDE AN EARTHY LOOK TO YOUR MAKEUP

1. A Green Light from Charlotte Tilbury...

Giving the Green Light to the proliferation of green and olive hues to this season’s makeup palettes is Charlotte Tilbury.

A doyen of retailers from Harrods to Selfridges and a frequent flyer on Vogue’s covers, her Green Lights palette brings together four complementary shades (£40). Meanwhile the makeup artist’s eyeliner duo (£21) is a good partner to her eye palette. n

2. Green with Envy Urban Decay’s Glide-On eye pencil is shown here in Mildew, available from John Lewis.

Creamy, long-lasting, award-winning and waterproof, Glide-On velvety-soft formula stays creamy for blending (about 30 seconds), then dries down to a long-lasting finish that will not budge, £16/10g.

3. The First Lady OPI’s nail lacquer is shown here in Suzi, which the brand says the ‘first lady of nails.’ Beyond its colour, it’s a quality formula providing 11 days of wear. Use with Infinite Shine primer and gloss top coat, £15.50/15ml.

5. Fresh Green Casual Chic...

Sisley’s Eau de Campagne is an EDT designed, the PR blurb states, to ‘capture the French art of living.’

Available from John Lewis, the unisex scent is a harmony of citrus and grassy notes with a fresh and stimulating bouquet.

Rich in scents of basil, wild herbs and Lemon but with aromas of musk and patchouli too, £95/100ml.

6. Back in Time with Floris’ 1927 Fragrance Floris 1927 is a sparkling citrus fragrance bringing to mind the elegance, opulence and glamour of the twenties.

Violet, ylang ylang, and narcissus with as top notes; musk and amber and patchouli base notes. £140/100ml.

4. Hourglass Figure Scattered Light is Hourglass’s glitter eyeshadow, seen here in Vivid shade.

Light-reflecting pearls create the optical illusion of light scattered across the lids in a unique multidimensional formula, £28/3.5ml.

n All our beauty products are available from local independent stockists unless otherwise stated, please note that prices stated are RRP and may vary according to retailer.

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O’BRIEN’S OPTICIANS

Eyecare that’s Clearly Better There are 14,000 opticians in the UK, but Sheeraz Janjua’s practice, O’Briens, based in Brigg, is leading the way in eyecare...

A UK OPTICIAN AWARDS runners-up in both 2018 & 2019… offering eye examinations by a UK Optician Award Finalist Optometrist 2018, and a specialise in lenses for Macular Degeneration (AMD), Glaucoma and More........

O’Briens on Brigg’s Wrawby Street has been a purveyor of Luxury Eyewear since 1979. It’s a nationally recognised and acclaimed practice being runner-up in the UK Optician awards 2019 and owner Sheeraz Janjua is happy to report that the practice is open to clients, Covid-compliant, to offer peace of mind.

All eye examinations are performed by Optometrist, Sheeraz Janjua who was awarded the degree of Doctor of Optometry (DipSv) from Aston University for his research in Dry eye syndrome.

He was runner-up in the 2018 Optician awards for UK Optometrist of the Year. Supported by longstanding staff new services have been introduced including dry eye and blepharitis appointments and treatment plans.

Doctor Janjua takes great pride in what he calls precision calculation of spectacle prescriptions – using techniques honed over twenty years in optometry.

“Emphasis is placed on personal service,” says Sheeraz. “We really value correctly fitted original and international frames and accurately dispensed ophthalmic lenses by exceptional manufacturers such as Carl Zeiss, Nikon, Seiko, Rodenstock, Essilor (Varilux, Transitions), Kodak, Hoya and many other superior independent lens suppliers… including one that makes the thinnest lens in the world.”

“We are also a specialist in lenses for Macular Degeneration, and dispense specialist lens types, tints and coatings which can help people with various daily tasks such as driving (day driving and night driving), poor vision in low light level and VDU work.”

In 2016 Dr. Janjua introduced specialist lenses from the USA for people with vision loss related to Glaucoma, Retinitis Pigmentosa, Diabetic Retinopathy and macular degeneration (AMD).

These special – prismatic lenses can change the direction of light to alternative healthier parts of the retina. Combined with a special filter to improve contrast - they have been a huge success.

The practice can now also supply revolutionary lenses that use a built in mesh in the lens to improve the vision for those who struggle to see very well – especially at night. In 2020 the practice also became stockists of Lindberg, a brand which has won over 95 international design awards including the prestigious Silmo Gold award.

The multi-award-winning Danish company is undoubtedly the best of the best in the world. Their craftsmanship is unmatched by any other existing brands today and now available in Brigg. n

Find Out More: Based on Wrawby Street, Brigg, O’Brien’s welcomes the registration of new patients. The practice is open from Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. Saturday 9am-4pm.

Telephone 01652 653 595 to make an appointment or see www.obriensopticians.co.uk.

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The Bespoke Tailor whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

A CUT ABOVE Bespoke tailor Andrew Musson spent 25 years on Savile Row cutting suits for politicians, businessmen and celebrities.

For the last decade though, he returned to the area to provide the same exceptional service to gentleman closer to home...

Words: Rob Davis.

TAILORING FOR GENTLEMEN

“The difference between style and fashion is quality,” said Giorgio Armani, and we’re in broad agreement... but no matter what label you sew into the back of a ‘designer’ suit, if its fit is rubbish, it’ll always look terrible.

throughout his career, and no two have ever been identical, thanks to a choice of over 1,000 mostly English fabrics, as well as the dimensions and options being completely different, tailored to each recipient.

Tailored suits flatter any man, regardless of age or build, but if you think that achieving a perfectly cut suit means an eye-wateringly pricy trip to Savile Row, we’ve some great news. The area is blessed with the presence of Andrew Musson, who spent 25 years on London’s legendary street before returning to Lincoln to service the gentlemen of Lincolnshire, Rutland and Stamford with a completely one-off suit, measured and cut to fit, for a price not too far away from a very ordinary ‘off-the-peg’ suit with a fancy name sewn into the back.

“We offer tailored, but also made-to-measure suits,” says Andrew, taking a break for a few minutes from cutting a pattern onto some beautiful grey wool cloth. “Made-to-measure suits cost the same as higher-end off-the-peg suits and are still based on your own body measurements, but they’re laser-cut off site.”

You can spot a tailored suit a mile off. Even the untrained eye can spot the better fit and the fact that around 50 man-hours are invested in each bespoke suit. Andrew believes he has created over 12,000 suits

“A bespoke suit sees the client measured but the suit cut in-house. Clients also attend a first or ‘baste’ fitting, a ‘forward’ fitting with linings, pockets, butons and so on in place.

A final fitting allows for minute adjustments to be made before the client collects their suit - a process that takes 10 to 12 weeks.”

“All of our suits afford a customer the ability to choose the number and style of buttons, presence and shape of pockets, colours and 119

Top Left: A blue or grey suit will prove versatile enough for most occasions. Bespoke accessories or a contrasting waistcoat can add individuality.

Top Right: Most suits today are single-breasted but this client preferred a double-breasted jacket.

Below Left: Lighter coloured and weighted suits are more comfortable for summer months.

A subtle check accommodates coloured shirt and ties.

Below Right: Andrew created this sports jacket with a tweed fleck.

TAILORING FOR GENTLEMEN

Specify a Bespoke

JACKET LINING Is there any way to make a bespoke suit even more special? Well, Elliott Rampley is the founder of Rampley & Co, which specialises in creating of hand-painted silk linings for suit jackets. The firm can create a bespoke suit lining, or you can reproduce artwork from artists like Canaletto, Giordano, Turner and Rubens.

The firm also creates pocket squares and sells accessories like ties, socks, umbrellas and overcoats.

“Rampley & Co was born out of a passion to create elegant clothing and accessories through innovative design, the best available fabrics and quality craftsmanship,” says Elliott.

style of lining, the option of a matching or contrasting waistcoat, stitching and so on.

And of course, you can choose the cloth and decide on the weight of the suit too.”

“We also collaborate with partners such as the National Gallery, the British Museum and the V&A because we want to create accessories that were both interesting and unique.”

“Alas the traditional tailor is a rarer sight on our High Streets than they used to be. That’s why we have clients visiting us from a radius of a few hundred miles. Some clients still make the journey from London to visit a tailor they trust. Some clients purchase a suit for a milestone birthday, a wedding anniversary or for a graduation ceremony.”

“It’s a relatively new or unfamiliar experience for most men, but once they’ve experienced the fit and the quality of a bespoke suit, it’s difficult to go back to wearing off-the-peg suits.”

“All our products are manufactured in Britain, produced in factories with rich histories that span hundreds of years of textile production. It is this blend of true craftsmanship developed through the ages with interesting and historical designs that make our products truly remarkable.”

Your Three Essential Suits

Andrew recommends a grey or navy ‘workhorse’ suit for any occasion, plus a sports jacket perhaps in tweed or fleck, and a lightweight suit for the summer months.

“Life on Savile Row was great fun, but being back in a provincial shop enables me to bring a quality product and experience to a much wider audience. And with lower overheads, we can also provide tailoring at a price that’s more accessible for a suit that’s still of Savile Row-quality. As a business we also stock quality British shoes from Trickers,

For more information see www.rampleyandco.com.

ties, wedding-hire suits... even bespoke shirts with matching Covid face masks!”

“2018 saw us reach my 10 year anniversary in Lincoln, but the shop has been here, originally run by my father, since the late 1970s. We now have the sons of previous customers coming to see us, which is great for a business whose aim is to provide quality tailoring for men of any age, any build and any background. After all, great tailoring is a right, not a privilege!” n

Find Out More: Andrew Musson is the bespoke tailor serving Lincolnshire, Rutland & Stamford. For a personal, no-obligation discussion, call 01522 520142. See www.andrewjmusson.com. It is based at High Street, Lincoln LN5 8AS.

Above: Silk suit jacket lining based on The Death of Major Peirson (1783) - by John Singleton Copley.

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MOTORS

TEACHING AN OLD CAT

NEW TRICKS Classic cars are great when they work... but that’s sometimes a frustratingly rare occurrence. Happily a number of specialists like Matthew and Heather Ambrose now offer the best of both worlds, teaching old cats new tricks with a mechanical upgrade...

Words: Rob Davis.

TAKE A LOOK AROUND and you’ll find that Jaguar’s E-Type, once declared by Mini designer Alec Issigonis to be ‘the most beautiful car in the world,’ is available in quite some quantity.

Matthew and Heather Ambrose will help you to avoid such an eye-watering of classic car expenditure, and the hassle of an unreliable purchase, with their Classic 120 and Classic 140 replicas.

Later 1970s Series III E-Type with the bigger and ostensibly better V12 engines are cheaper and can be picked up for around £50,000 depending on condition. But the really desirable - and pricier - models are the Mk I and Mk IIs E-Types.

Prices are from £62,679 and with modern mechanicals, not only are you likely to enjoy a more reliable classic car experience, but a more civilised one, too.

But E-Types majored on luxury. And they’re a bit... well, predictable. The real Jaguar enthusiasts covet the E-Type’s predecessor, Jaguar’s XK120 and XK140.

Essentially a kit car, Nostalgia Cars’ XK120 uses the mechanicals from a modern Jaguar and can accommodate a modern engine, fully rebuilt if necessary and displaced out to 3.6 litres. There’s an automatic gearbox as standard, making driving rather easier than wrestling with an old school gearbox.

These can command a price of anywhere from £100,000 to £200,000, and were built purely for racing and to achieve high speed records from 1948 - 1954, and 1954-1957.

A manual gearbox is optional, as is power steering, and air con. You can specify an analogue clock and even an infotainment system, if you can’t bear to be parted from

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Teaching an Old Cat New Tricks: Classic Jaguars, re-engineered...

E-Type Zero: Of all the people to trust to create a re-engineered E-Type, you’re in safe hands with Jaguar’s own SVO (Special Vehicle Operations) team. Usually seen fettling with Range Rover and Jaguars to produce super-high performance cars, they’ve created a replica E-Type based on the 1986 Series 1.5 model. 60mph is dispatched in a decidedly quick 5.5 seconds, and the car has a fully electric powertrain, with not a combustion in sight. The only sticking point is the price. You’ll be lucky to get change out of £350,000! n

XK120: If we’ve piqued your interest with the prospect of XK ownership, but you’re also sold on eco-friendly motoring, Lunaz has the answer. This XK120 is a fixed-head model, but with the firm’s proprietary electric powertrain. Power output is from a single or twin motor ranging up to 700NM of torque (516lb ft) from zero engine speed and 375bhp. Using certain elements from the last generation XK, you’ll also find a rotary gear selector and a custom-designed central infotainment screen which, naturally, keeps an eye on battery range too. An electrified XK120 from Lunaz starts at £350,000. n

modern luxuries like sat nav, audio and a Bluetooth connection to your phone.

Single colour hide and a standard range of colours are provided, but by virtue of the fact that each car is hand-built the pair can accommodate anything that’s technically feasible. 15” wire wheels are standard, but you can also specify wire wheels in silver and chrome.

E-Type Reborn: Of course, if you’re a traditionalist, Jaguar’s SVO department also has you covered.

E-type Reborn is a complete service from Jaguar Classic, which offers prospective customers the unique opportunity to purchase an original and highly collectible E-type direct from the vehicle’s original manufacturer. Every E-type Reborn, which starts with a base vehicle sourced by Jaguar’s E-type experts, is completely restored according to the company’s original 1960s factory specification. Prices for E-type Reborn restorations from Jaguar Classic are dependent on specification, starting from £285,000. n

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Delve a little further into the options list and you can also enjoy a centre console, two-tone leather, magnolia wood dash and wet weather gear.

The XK120 was so-called because it was one of the first cars to reach 120mph and still today its 160bhp and 0-60mph time of

“Delve a little further into the options list and you can spec a centre console, two-tone leather, magnolia wood dash and wet weather gear - advisable, given the British climate...” around eight seconds means it’ll keep pace nicely with modern vehicles.

The XK140, meanwhile, provided more interior space, better brakes, shock absorbers and rack & pinion steering which is still the technology used in many modern cars; Matthew and Heather can upgrade your XK120 to XK140 spec for a modest £1,500.

The E-Type may be most people’s go-to sports car, but there’s something about the XK120 which is rarer and a bit more special.

Whilst looks are subjective, we think it’s a prettier vehicle than the E-Type, and with modern mechanicals, it’ll waft along on a Sunday afternoon sortie for lunch at your local country pub.

Specified with cherry red paintwork and biscuit-coloured hide, this is the connoisseur’s Jaguar, back when Britain built sports cars that were the envy of the world... five minutes behind the wheel and you’ll almost certainly look like the cat who got the cream! n

JAGUAR XK120 REPLICA Price: £62,697 (from) Drivetrain: Re-engineered 3.6 litre straight-six engine with automatic gearbox.

Performance: 0-62 mph: 8 seconds. Top Speed: 120mph.

Economy: Unspecified.

Equipment: Leather upholstery, wire wheels. Air con, power steering and infotainment optional.

See www.nostalgiacars.co.uk. n 125

MOTORS

A Baby Bugatti There are few motoring brands which carry the kudos and the heritage that Bugatti enjoys, and now you can have your very own Bugatti on your driveway for £27,000... although there is a ‘small’ catch...

What’s that phrase? Caveat emptor; ‘may the buyer beware.’ The headline news is that you can have a Bugatti on your drive for just £27,000 as the firm releases its exclusive new model to celebrate the brand’s 110th anniversary.

Let’s not forget that this is the company that gave us the 250mpg Veyron and £2.5m Chiron. But before you rush to the company website and start registering your interest, we should point out that there’s a catch.

First, the good news. This is a new model from the firm, featuring a hybrid engine and composite or carbon fibre bodywork, plus coachwork and interior that recreates the firm’s 1924 Bugatti Type 35 Lyon Grand Prix racer. The company created 3D scans of the original 1924 car and re-engineered it with modern technology.

Which brings us to the bad news. The car is not actually a full size car. Rather, it’s a clever reproduction which is 75% the size of the original.

Bugatti Baby II Type 32 Replica Price: £27,000-£40,000.

The Bugatti ‘Baby II’ Type 35 mini replica is not being sold as a children’s toy, but there is a mode that limits the car’s speed to just 12mph. Otherwise the ‘adult’ setting will allow drivers to enjoy a top speed of 30mph and a range of 15 miles. Two models are available; the base Baby II at £27,000 with its 1.4kW power plant; the £40,000 Vitesse which can travel at 31 miles at 42mpg.

Engine: 1.4kW or 2.5kW electric motor.

Performance: 12mpg (children’s setting); 42mph (Vitesse).

Inside, the cabin has a wood steering wheel and turned aluminium dashboard. Baby II is also available in 21 different colours with a choice of eight colours of leather upholstery.

Interior: Aluminium and leather, single seater. n

Small? Yes. But perfectly formed... it seems the best things really do come in small packages. n

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MOTORS

Five Star Luxury...

NEW VERSION OF BMW’S POPULAR LARGE EXECUTIVE IS NOW ON SALE

E-Class family expands with new coupé and convertibles...

will also be available with a plug-in hybrid drive system from November 2020. The use of mild hybrid technology with a 48V starter-generator will be rolled out to all models with a four- or six-cylinder engine, except PHEV and M550i xDrive models. The car also benefits from the latest camera and radar-based assistance like steering and lane assistant and active cruise control. n

Goldfinger DB5 Resumes ‘YOU EXPECT ME TO TALK?’ NO. I EXPECT YOU DRIVE, MR BOND

NEWS In Brief

BACK ON THE ROAD

Mercedes has supersized the convertible with a new four-seater version of its soft top GT and a coupé model for those concerned about ruining their hairstyles.

The latest measures to boost their attractiveness make these two dream cars even more desirable.

The styling has been sportily honed with the front sections, in particular, being given a fresh look.

The all-LED headlamps have been given flatter housings, while the interior of the LED tail lights has been reworked. n

MOTORISTS STRUGGLE BEING BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL AGAIN AFTER LOCKDOWN A fifth of motorists have struggled to get to grips with driving again - after being off the road during lockdown. The average UK car is driven more than 7,000 miles per year or an average of 583 miles per month, according to MOT data. But a survey of 2,000 motorists revealed that over the past 28 days the average driver has covered just 90 miles with 30 per cent driving 25 miles or fewer. With so little driving, 18 per cent say they have struggled to get back to normal behind the wheel of a car.

However, one third of the drivers surveyed said they have been driving more cautiously since the start of the pandemic.

ASTON MARTIN The good folk at Aston Martin were all keen to resume work as lockdown was relaxed, and soon restarted production of their £2.75m DB5 Continuation model, a run of just 25 cars made famous by the James Bond film Goldfinger.

Fewer than 900 saloon examples were built by the brand between 1963 and 1965. Now, 55 years after the last new DB5 rolled elegantly off the production line at Aston Martin’s then global manufacturing base in Newport Pagnell, work is once again underway there on the cars, which include simulated radar tracking screens plus ‘smoke screen’ and ‘oil slick’ switches. n

Top 10 errors made by drivers since lockdown: 1. Stalled.

2. Struggled to parallel park.

3. Forgot to indicate.

4. Scraped wheels on kerb.

5. Had to think carefully about what each pedal does.

6. Not checking mirrors when pulling away.

7. Forgot where the fuel filler cap was.

8. Forgot to turn the ignition key.

9. Not shut the door properly.

10. Not put their seatbelt on. n

MERCEDES

BMW The new BMW 5-Series reaches showrooms this month and reaffirms its position in the premium executive class thanks to a new look, an interior brimming with refinements, cutting-edge innovations and even greater efficiencies, as most models now feature mild-hybrid technology. Like the new BMW 5-Series Saloon, the new BMW 5-Series Touring

MOTORING

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