RedHanded Wales - Issue 49

DON’T GET CAUGHT WITHOUT IT

SPRING/SUMMER 2017

POP PERFECTION IT’S LOVELY JESS GLYNNE

MUCK AND NETTLES

NEIL WARNOCK IS FIXING CARDIFF FC

YOU’LL REMEMBER YOUR FIRST TIME

A VISITOR’S GUIDE TO COOL CARDIFF

READY FOR THE ALL BLACKS?

THE LIONS HEAD DOWN UNDER

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CONTENTS Features

17 Roaring Down Under The tips, the rumours, the fixtures. All you need for the up-coming Lions tour down under 21 Hold my hand?

Jess Glynne said ‘err, no thanks’. But she did tell us lots of good stuff in this exclusive chat 25 Can Neil rescue Cardiff?

He’s one of football’s most experienced managers. But has Warnock really got it?

28 It’s happening here First timer or a regular visitor? Our handy guide to Cardiff will tick all your boxes 36 Home tech Killer gadgetry around the house 44 Hit for six We love the sound of leather on ash 45 Speed Queen Powerboat champ Daisy Coleman on the Powerboat Grand Prix in Milford Haven

Regulars 6 Scene & Heard Summer’s here. So get out there!

10 Right Stuff Get kitted out for the sunshine 12 Niall’s World Niall’s got election fever 14 Write On Fancy hiring a hitman?

33 Travel Drag queens and dwarves in Poland 40 Fashion Looking flash, surrounded by ruins 48 Lifestyle Art, sport, more arts (performing), clothes, food and, er, hearts 54 Health & Grooming Why you need to drink cherry juice 57 Sport There’s no such thing as a free kick 59 Cars Get your top off! The new MX5 is here 63 Reviews Don’t eat, drink, shop or rock until you’ve read what WE think of it!

74 The Back Page What would Bennett do about Katie Hopkins if he could turn back time?

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REDHANDED 3

SCENE AND HEARD

Image: Julia Kennedy

“what exactly is the purpose of this?”

Summer, summer, summer time! Mike Took’s got his tent and bevvies ready. So, what’s happening?

In or out, shake it all about

Tent? Check. Factor 50? Check. Car boot loaded up with booze? Check and mate. We have the equipment, provisions and wheels ready to go, so where to?

Canadian pop prince Justin Bieber (Principality Stadium, June 30, from £50, principalitystadium.wales) brings his Purpose World Tour to Cardiff. Haters will probably be asking ‘what exactly is the purpose of this?’ whereas the Beliebers will be counting down the days until their bleached-haired hero touches down on Welsh soil.

Sticking with the theme of Marmite mega-selling acts, Coldplay (Principality Stadium, July 1/12, from £50, principalitystadium.wales) have A Head Full Of Dreams and they want to share them with you in Cardiff this summer. The tens of thousands singing along to every word at their gigs won’t care one jot about the critics.

Let’s turn our attention to something everyone likes... choice! There’s choice a-plenty when it comes to

music fests in Wales. The season begins with Fire in the Mountain (Aberystwyth, June 2-4, from £100, fireinthemountain.co.uk), a gentle, bluesy affair set at the foot of the Cambrian Mountains.

From mid Wales to south, if the festival purse-strings are pulling a bit tight, you can soak up tunes free of charge at Monmouth Festival (various venues, July 28-Aug 5, FREE, monmouthfestival.co.uk). Information on acts was scarce at time of press, but come on, it’s free!

Back to some festivals where you will have to part with your green (see what I did there?) Green Man Festival is one of our faves (Brecon Beacons, August 17-20, from £180, greenman.net). The picture postcard views of the Glanusk Estate pull us back every year, but the line-up for 2017 is one of the finest in Greenman’s history: PJ Harvey, Future Islands, Ryan Adams and Ride are the standout acts.

Not to be outdone in the star and scenery stakes, Festival Number 6 (Portmeirion, September 7-10, from £195, festivalnumber6.com) turns the Italianate village of Portmeirion into a cultural hive of activity. Music highlights this year include Bloc Party, Flaming Lips and Wild Beasts.

Staying in the north, the after dark little brother of the Eisteddfod, Maes B (Bodedern, August 4-17, season ticket from £110, maes.com) heads to Anglesey for another showcase of the best new Welsh-language music.

This year’s festival features Calfari, Y Reu and Yr Eira.

Of course, not everyone’s idea of a good time is spent outdoors. Those looking to sidestep the multi-faceted Welsh climate but still bend their ear towards some fine music will enjoy the splendour of the Welsh Proms (St David’s Hall, Cardiff, July 22-29, from £7.50, stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk). The Last Night of the Welsh Proms is the obvious highlight, but those who don’t sit

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Image: Paul Coltas

well in pomp and ceremony can instead make a date for the Folk Prom (featuring Josienne Clark and Ben Walker) or have all the relatives in tow for the Family Prom: The Dance Off. Go easy on those hips, granddad.

Summertime larfs

So that’s the summer soundtrack sorted, how about something to get us laughing other than the inevitable Welsh washout? Someone that’s sure to turn our pessimism around is stand-up stalwart Jimmy Carr (St David’s Hall, June 6, £27.50, stdavidshallcardiff. co.uk). Jimmy’s latest show is modestly titled The Best Of, Ultimate, Gold, Greatest Hits Tour. Essentially, a trawl through his favourite material from bygone days spliced together with new material.

Everyone’s favourite cross-dressing Irishman (because we don’t know of any others) Brendan O’Carroll, aka Mrs Brown, brings the insanely popular sitcom to the stage in Mrs Brown’s Boys: Good Mourning Mrs Brown (Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, June 14-18, from £38.50, livenation.co.uk).

From cross-dressing to crass laughs, the underrated Scottish comedian Limmy (Cardiff Glee Club, June 12, £16, glee.co.uk) will be bringing his Daft Wee Stories to Cardiff. Like Mrs Brown, Limmy’s not to everyone’s taste, but his weirdly hilarious take on life gets the double thumbs-up from us.

Treading on much safer comedy ground, ubiquitous TV panel-show guest Jon Richardson (St David’s Hall, September 28, £20.50, stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk) will be musing about the state of the world (and how he has no solutions to fix it) in his latest show, Old Man. Time for a shout out to RedHanded’s own resident comic and all-round top person, Bennett Arron. Bennett is recording the second series of his BBC Radio Wales show Bennett Arron Worries About...in Cardiff. (Chapter Arts Centre, June 1, FREE, chapter.org.uk). Hear Bennett worry about, amongst other things: travelling, relationships and whether or not he’s had an accident that wasn’t his fault. All for free too - don’t say we don’t give you anything.

Treading the bards

OK, let’s brave the outdoors again. Only this time we’re swapping the tunes for bards with a veritable feast of theatre. It begins with Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival (Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, June 22 - July 29, cardiffopenairtheatrefestival.co.uk). The signature Shakespeare staples are present and correct (Macbeth, Twelfth Night) but there will also be some lighter fare in the form of the musical comedy Spamalot and fun for the little ones with Disney’s Aladdin Junior.

“...how about something to get us laughing other than the inevitable Welsh washout?”

Back to grown-up entertainment (actually, not that grown-up at all), open air theatre group Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Cardiff Castle, July 6-7, from £10, cardiffcastle.com) present the theatrical farce Comedy of Errors. Roll out the rug, unload the picnic hamper and enjoy some riotous fun with a bunch of cross-dressing thespians (there seems to be a theme developing, here).

More Shakespeare happenings in the summer! This time they’re in the form of The Tempest (Thompson’s Park Cardiff, June 8-10, Roath Park Cardiff, June 18, tickets from £6, chapter.org.uk) and given a new spin by Taking Flight Theatre. We’ve been promised laughs, live music and a load of theatrical surprises.

OK, we get it, you don’t like the outdoors! No bother, there’s plenty of theatrical goings on in the dry. Time to slick the hair back, stick out the collar of your leather jacket and pull on your bobby-socks for the musical royalty that is Grease (Wales Millennium Centre, July 17-29, from £13, wmc.org.uk).

Staying indoors, Mrs Robinson is in full-on seduction mode in The Graduate (New Theatre, June 20 - 24, from £12, newtheatrecardiff.co.uk). This slick comedy breathes new life into the landmark novel and Oscarwinning film, including those awesome tunes from Simon and Garfunkel.

Until next time, friends.

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REDHANDED 7

In Brief Sheeny Happy People

Troy Restaurant has long been renowned as arguably the best place in Wales to enjoy middle-eastern cuisine.

Don’t let the relaxed, comfortable surroundings fool you, or jump to the conclusion that it’s just like many of the student-oriented kebab houses on Cardiff ’s City Road. Far from it. This place is a mecca for anyone looking to experience top class Eastern Mediterranean food. So much so, that The Times placed Troy in their Top Five Kebab restaurants in the UK. With a wide selection of dishes, ranging from Turkish classics such as Kofte and Sis to rarer dishes like Quail through to plentiful veggie options, all prepared with the finest ingredients, and mostly cooked over an open, authentic Ocakbashi charcoal grill you’ll not be disappointed.

One person who certainly wasn’t was a recent visitor – none other than Wales and Hollywood legend Michael Sheen. He loved the experience so much, Michael has promised to become a regular whenever he’s visiting Cardiff. The Times and now Michael Sheen – how impressive is that?

Troy Restaurant, 192 City Road, CF24 3JF t.029 2049 9339 www.troymezebar.com

Hole In One

Tee It Up is Cardiff ’s first indoor golf simulation centre. Pretend you’re on the pro tour and choose one of 40 championship courses from across the world. If you’re game isn’t in the best shape, book on for some lessons or, failing that, enjoy some post-game food and drink in the fully licensed bar. And keep an eye open for a floating green in the Bay over summer. If all goes to plan, you’ll be able pitch from the quayside to a pin 60 yards into the Bay, and rumour has it you may get a pleasant surprise if you sink it.

Tee It Up, Havannah Street, Cardiff t.029 2048 9768 www.teeitupgolf.co.uk

And there’s more

Etc… in Penarth may be renowned for its fabulously glamorous décor, for its extravagantly flamboyant, not to mention delicious, menu and for its party atmosphere but it has few other tricks up its sleeve. One of which is a cracking Sunday Roast – which makes it perfect for Father’s Day. It’s also available for private hire. What a way to impress the boss, significant other or family and friends for an important event. For more info: Etc… 1 Royal Buildings Stanwell Road, Penarth CF64 3EA. t. 029 2009 0060 www.etc-penarth.com

Lion trainers

No, not some dudes in top hats and red jackets brandishing whips but Sam Warburton and the squad training at the Vale Resort. You must have seen the pictures of them in the shiny new Lions training kit? Now you can get your hands on the very same British and Irish Lions training kit from Shop Rugby in Cardiff. The kit starts at £23.95 for the Singlets and includes Superlight training tees, polo shirts, Gym shorts and is completed with the Limited edition Anthem Jacket at £99.95 – could be a future collector’s item, especially if the boys pull off a rare win against the All Blacks down under.

Shop Rugby, 8 Duke Street, Cardiff CF10 1AY. t.029 2066 4466 www.shoprugby.com

Seafood, and eat it

There’s something fishy going on in Cardiff as we go to press. The finishing touches are being made to a new seafood restaurant called Seafood Shack that’s due to open soon in Cardiff ’s city centre. We’ve seen plans and it’s going to be very impressive with a restaurant, Victorian fish and chip bar and champagne and oyster bar all on site. Inspired by similarly themed American restaurants along the west and east coast, in addition to freshly caught seafood dishes - including fresh oysters, scallops, prawns, clams, mussels and langoustines – the menu will include steaks, home-made burgers, cocktails, craft ales and much more.

Seafood Shack, 5A High St, Cardiff CF10 1AW

Fire, fire!

Nice to see a new, more family oriented festival emerge on Wales’ music scene – if you’re not big on folk your choices have been limited in recent years. Now, however, there’s Burning Lantern on 12th August at St Fagans National History Museum, Cardiff. With the likes of Tom O’Dell, Jack Savoretti, The Shires and Martha and the Vandellas plus a host of other activities, from pony trekking to a vintage fair, to keep you and your kin busy. Sorted. www. burninglantern.com for info and tickets.

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Aelodaeth Membership Caru Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru?

Byddwch chi wrth eich bodd gyda buddion aelodaeth.

Love Wales Millennium Centre?

Become a member and be part of something special.

Archebu cynnar Gostyngiadau yn ein bariau a bwyty Cynigion tocynnau a newyddion sioeau

Early booking Discounts in our bars & restaurant Ticket offers and show updates

a mwy o ÂŁ36* y flwyddyn

and more from ÂŁ36* a year

*Debyd Uniongyrchol

*Direct Debit

wmc.org.uk/aelodaeth

wmc.org.uk/membership

THE RIGHT STUFF SELFIE-SUFFICIENT

Wipe that smarmy smirk off a selfie-stick owner with the AirSelfie. Basically your own personal drone controlled from your smartphone for taking pictures of you and yours. It’s a damn sight more impressive than a plastic stick to hold your phone – and just think of the cool pics you can take when travelling.

Retail: www.airselfiecamera.com Price: £220

HIGHWAY TO HELIOS

Despite the very functional use and objective behind the creation of the Helios designer laptop backpack, we think that the design is proper ‘jaw-to-the-floor’ stunning that sets it apart from other competitors.

Wouldn’t look out of place on the catwalk…or our office desk.

Retail: www.moshi.com Price: £95.00

ALL MY FRIENDS KNOW THE VERVERIDER

Whilst wireless earbuds are fast becoming the norm, there are still massive disparities in quality from one to the other. However the Motorola VerveRider doesn’t just perform in terms of sound-quality – they’re easily the comfiest earphones on the market too.

Retail: www.motorola.co.uk Price: £59.99

SUMMER OF SAM(SUNG)

The speed, memory, GB capacity, camera and price of smartphones evolve on a daily rate. For their new S8, Samsung rethought every part of the phone's layout to break through the confines of the smartphone screen so that all you see is pure content and no bezel.

It's the biggest, most immersive screen on a Galaxy smartphone of this size – and our favourite.

Retail: www.vodafone.co.uk Price: From £37 a month (with upfront cost)

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SPEAKER’S CORNER

Hidden beneath Moshi’s elegant Wireless Spatia Speaker is a spectrum of innovative technologies that deliver a powerful, yet balanced sound. And whilst the sound is the most important element in a speaker, we can’t help liking this because it looks so goddam gorgeous too.

Retail: www.moshi.com Price: £330.00

IN CASE OF FIRE…

For too long the humble Amazon Firestick has been the poor relation of the Prime family – but not for much longer. Amazon’s highly coveted ‘Alexa’ voice recognition technology is now available with the USB stick version of the TV on-demand service. Just don’t expect it to understand North Walian.

Retail: www.amazon.co.uk Price: £39.99

MAKE A DASH FOR IT

Dashcams are big business these days and can save the user a few quid with the insurer if used properly. Nextbase has just launched the 412GW, which also includes in-built Wi-Fi – allowing motorists to instantly upload footage to their social media channels, insurer or even the police.

Retail: www.halfords.com Price: £129.99

SHAVER TIMESAVER

The Braun Series-3 Shaver doesn’t claim to reinvent the wheel, it simply does what you expect from a quality electric shaver – whilst being able to take it into the shower…saving you some precious minutes in the morning before work.

Retail: www.amazon.co.uk Price: £50.00

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REDHANDED 11

THE STATE WE’RE IN What does she think we are, ballot box junkies?

Niall’s a tad annoyed about Theresa May’s decision to call an election

Jonesing for the booth in the school and the village hall? Afflicted with a yen for the pen-on-a-chain? At the time of writing, Our Great Leader has, a few days ago, called a snap general election, after promising five times that she wouldn’t, to secure a mandate that she claims she already has, in order to pursue a programme that she spent a year actively campaigning against. This is British politics, 2017. Someone show me the way out of this rabbit-hole.

It must be nice, being a vicar’s daughter (I know - Our Great Leader hardly ever mentions that, does she?), and having a personal hotline to God. It must be nice, having an imaginary friend to guide you, to steer you, to reveal His messages through cryptic symbol and coded happenstance that only you, being besties with him and all, know how to decipher. Apparently, this occurred to Our Great Leader on a walking trip around Dolgellau. There among the great green swells and crystal streams, the Excalibur-ringing stones and flat blank lakes, it was revealed to her that what ‘The People’ are longing for, howling for, is another trudge to the voting booth.

Why? Well, to see off the opposition, of course; to tell them that, in this mother of all democracies, there must be no dissent, no holding-to-account, no undermining whatsoever of Our Great Leader’s supreme will. Damn that democratic opposition, democratically opposing; how dare they. What was the quote? ‘The country is coming together, but parliament isn’t’.

The country is not coming together, as anyone outside the wishful-thinking Westminster bubble can see; it is riven with chasms. And as for parliament - that is not supposed to be united; division is at its very heart.

Without division, it is useless, hollowed-out, utterly unfit for purpose, an echo chamber only for Our Great Leader’s pronouncements.

“Crush the Saboteurs!” shrieked the Daily Mail (and that’s her other bezzie, the non-imaginary one). But this represented, of course a ‘free press’, which Our Great Leader loves. Save your outrage for something more deserving, like Cadbury’s, which didn’t leave the word ‘Easter’ out of its chocolate egg hunt (which anyone logging onto easter@cadburys.com could attest). There’s Her other friends, in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, nodding their approval at this too. The enemy within? The dissenting voice? Crush it. Demonise it; annihilate it. It is not of ‘The People’. You cannot hear it. This is not the time for nuance, or detail, or even independent thought; this is black-and-white. You are either with us or against us, and if you’re against us, you will be crushed. Obey. Obey. British politics, 2017.

Hysterical? Exaggeration? Over-the-top? Look again at the covers, last week, of the gutter press. And last

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night, I watched a programme about voting intentions in the Valleys, where polls suggest that Our Great Leader may, after nearly two centuries, regain seats.

Why? Well, ‘The People’ do not trust the leader of the vilified opposition to be strong enough to rectify or remedy the savageries and depredations that the party of Our Great Leader has inflicted; so they plan to cast their vote for Our Great Leader instead.

Political idiocy has never been starker. Do not think.

Cultural suicide has never been entered into with more enthusiasm, more thoughtless welcome, more hopeless glee. Is a con or a fraud still despicable if its victims are so keen to be conned and defrauded?

“Someone show me the way out of this rabbit-hole” And that’s another word - ‘fraud’. As I write, 30 of Our Great Leader’s minions are under investigation by the Electoral Commission; they effectively bought their votes two years ago, is the gist. 30 of them, and, at the time of writing, OGL has a parliamentary majority of 12. Do the sums. Not even her bezzie can get her out of this one, but maybe her good buddies in Fleet Street can. Now you must call for constitutional upheaval. Distract, and do it with dead eyes and dead delivery because in that lies the illusion of conviction.

No misgiving, no whisper of conscience, can be countenanced. Crush such voices. They must be crushed.

Friends in the far North, and across the Celtic Deeps - they’re refusing to be crushed. They’re not on their knees yet. Here in Wales, on the whole (with the honourable exceptions of the capital and ardalau Cymraeg), after last night’s vox pops and the dashboard-dog-nodding-heads behind OGL as she drivelled on in Bridgend, there seems to be acceptance of lapdog status; Stockholm Syndrome is in evidence, capitulation, the cowed and cringing love of the slave for the man with the whip. There’s the young, maybe, but Christ what tonnage of expectation has been dumped on their shoulders, and what responsibility, and, yes, what undeserved punishment.

Yet another night of swingometers and Dimbleby-isms approaches; yet another morning of nausea. On her Damascene walk through Eryri, I wonder if she heard it, Our Great Leader; wonder if she heard the sad little cough, the pitiful little hiccup, as, in its cave, the red dragon folded its wings over its face and, finally, died? ©Niall Griffiths 2017

® As the UK’s leading group of high street galleries, Castle Fine Art has been delivering style, creativity and quality to its clients for over 25 years. Offering a welcoming, relaxing environment to enjoy art in accessible, high street locations, Castle Fine Art’s ethos is encapsulated in its motto “Your World, Our Art”.

Specialising in original works and signed limited editions, Castle Fine Art in Cardiff boasts an extensive collection sure to enchant and inspire. Visitors will find work from cultural icons such as Bob Dylan and Ronnie Wood on the gallery’s walls, alongside pieces from critically acclaimed artists making their mark on today’s contemporary art scene.

Alex in his studio

MEET THE ARTIST ALEX ECHO International abstract artist Alex Echo will be visiting the gallery to present his latest collection of original paintings, entitled ‘Imagine’, on Saturday 8 July from 1-4pm.

Have you picked up your free copy of the Fine Art Collector Magazine yet?

Now available from the gallery. gallery

Grand Arcade, St David’s | Dewi Sant, Cardiff, CF10 2ER 02922 130 100 | cardiff@castlefineart.com

RENDEZVOUS

WITH A HITMAN An exclusive extract from Cardiff-born novelist Graham Jones’ latest work: Return from Darkness

A dozen cars and two buses were parked around the harbour exit as the Rosslare ferry disgorged its passengers into a Welsh monsoon. Leaning into the wind, huddled under rain hoods and wrestling with aerobatic umbrellas, they scurried off to the dejected vehicles. A lone BMW waited apart from the others; a man standing alone scrutinized it from a distance.

He wore a brown ankle-length stockman’s coat, done up to the throat with its tails blowing behind him like wings on his legs, and a broad-brimmed hat which he held in place with one hand.

Suddenly he hurried across to the BMW. As he approached, Jenkins leant across and opened the passenger door. ‘Dr Jenkins?’

‘A dirty day Mr Roberts, get in.’

After a curt exchange of pleasantries they drove off to a more secluded place to conduct their business.

Roberts needed to return within an hour to catch the ferry’s turnaround, and already passengers were dribbling towards it. Up the hill overlooking the harbour, a long a series of narrow, puddled lanes led them to a mean little church that the French invaders had ransacked two hundred years earlier leaving it empty and desolate, which is how it remained.

‘We won’t be interrupted here, Mr Roberts,’ Jenkins said, staring fixedly ahead.

‘Down to business,’ the passenger said gruffly. ‘What do you want?’

‘I want Verres out of the way.’ Neither man had yet looked at the other. ‘And no foul-ups by blundering policemen this time.’

‘Permanently?’

‘That’s understood.’

‘And we won’t speak to each other again?’

‘If that’s what you want.’

‘And one payment of £2,000 in cash is all you want?’

‘That’s correct.’

‘It doesn’t seem very much for what…’

‘It’s all I want,’ he uttered icily. ‘It’ll cover expenses. I’d do it for nothing if I had to.’

Oh Jesus, what am I doing? Jenkins thought, as he slid a sealed manila envelope across to him. Roberts opened it, thumbing through its contents before backhanding it into an inside pocket.

Jenkins noted Roberts’ hands; they were square and muscular with blunt, almost brutal, fingers. He could see such a hand nailing another hand onto a wooden cross. He shivered.

‘When?’ he asked.

‘He’s gone to ground for the time being, but I’ll know as soon as he shows himself… then I’ll do the business.’

The man frightened Jenkins, but his career needed Ruth and he would break a lot of rules to keep her. His conscience made a weak last-minute appearance.

‘We are talking about getting him back in police custody aren’t we, Mr Roberts? Nothing more serious!’

‘That’s no longer your concern, Dr Jenkins.’

Jenkins stared into the rain beating on the windscreen.

He felt uneasy and disliked Roberts in the flesh more than he had done on the telephone. For a second he flirted with second thoughts but finally said, ‘I’ll take you back to the ferry.’

‘Permanently.’

‘You sure?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘And you’ll give me a completely free hand to do it my way?’ Roberts still stared ahead.

‘Are you sure you can do it? He’s very resourceful, and seems to be a jump ahead of everyone.’

‘He won’t be a jump ahead of me, Dr Jenkins. It’s me who’s a jump ahead of him.’

‘So you know where he is?’ Jenkins half-turned so he could see Roberts’ bullet-like profile.

‘No, but I will soon.’

‘Then what?’

‘Do you really want to know?’ Roberts pivoted and returned the gaze, quizzically raising the stubbly skin of shaven eyebrows.

Jenkins looked away. ‘No. Not really, but understand,

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after we part today I’ve never heard of you, nor you me.’

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Not a word was spoken during the return journey.

Roberts got out of the car at the harbour entrance and turned to look at the driver. Although only an inch or two over medium height, he was solidly built, and standing there with his legs apart against the wind he looked, to Jenkins, immovable. A giant defying a tidal wave of honour and decency. He had a cold, emotionless resolution that chilled innocence.

‘I don’t suppose we’ll meet again, Mr Roberts.’ Out of habit he started a flowery farewell speech. ‘Let’s hope not.’ Roberts turned and walked away towards the gate, pushing the wind aside as he went.

‘Amen to that,’ Jenkins intoned fervently.

Return from Darkness by Graham Jones is published

by Y Lolfa, priced £9.99 (www.ylolfa.com)

Spooky Men’s Chorale 12.07.17

Bowie Experience 14.07.17

Glory of Strauss and Elgar 15.07.17

Family Prom 2017 23.07.17

Miranda Sings 25.09.17

Jon Richardson 28.09.17 & 01.10.17

St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra 17.10.17

Russell Brand 11.10.17 & 27.02.18

Ray Mears 19.10.17

John Wilson Chorus 30.11.07

@stdavidshall / @NeuaddDewiSant

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REDHANDED 15

A HELL OF A TOUR have generally smashed all those who have washed up on their shores. The Lions are pursuing their first Test series win in New Zealand since 1971 and on their last visit, in 2005, they suffered a 3-0 ‘blackwash’.

In all, there have been 11 Lions tours to New Zealand stretching back to 1904 and that 1971 win stands as the only victory.

The players

The squad has been announced, the fixtures set, the battle lines drawn. At the end of May, the British and Irish Lions will board a flight for New Zealand and face the toughest assignment in rugby.

Across six weeks, they will take on seven brutal tour fixtures and three Tests against the best team in the world. In the words of head coach Warren Gatland it is “a hell of a tough tour”.

The history

Gatland is coming in on the back of a win in Australia in the previous Lions Tour in 2013 but the scale of the task in New Zealand is incredible. History offers them little hope. The All Blacks have won the past two Rugby World Cups and in the context of Lions Tours

Gatland named a 41-man squad and his Wales skipper Sam Warburton will lead the Lions in the three Test matches. The squad is comprised of 16 Englishmen, 12 from Wales, 11 from Ireland and two from Scotland.

Perhaps the biggest name to miss out is England’s victorious Six Nations captain Dylan Hartley.

Regarding the Welsh contingent, there have been suggestions, particularly in Scotland, that Gatland has shown a touch too much favouritism to the country he has coached since 2007. There could be a degree of merit to the claims, considering Wales finished fifth in the Six Nations this year. On that basis, it is hard to make an argument for great form. Of those Welshmen selected, Ross Moriarty, Jonathan Davies and Dan Biggar were far from certainties.

An interesting aspect of the squad announcement, and one which reflects the brutality Gatland is expecting, is the sheer size of the travelling party. Gatland had intended to bring 37 players but switched to 41 to cater for what he anticipates will be a spate of injuries. “If you look at the midweek games we’ve got the Super Rugby champions (the Hurricanes), the Highlanders who won

Warburton is captain (of course). But what can we expect from the Lions against the mighty All Blacks: a roar or a whimper?

Our Sports Editor Riath Al-Samarrai has the lowdown

The dates June 3

Provincial Union XV v Lions

Toll Stadium, Whangarei

June 7

Blues v Lions

Eden Park, Auckland

June 10

Crusaders v Lions

AMI Stadium, Christchurch

June 13

Highlanders v Lions

Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

June 17

New Zealand Maori v Lions

International Stadium, Rotorua

June 20

Chiefs v Lions

Waikato Stadium, Hamilton

June 24

New Zealand v Lions

First Test, Eden Park, Auckland

June 27

Hurricanes v Lions

Westpac Stadium, Wellington

July 1

New Zealand v Lions

Second Test, Westpac Stadium, Wellington

July 8

New Zealand v Lions

Third Test, Eden Park, Auckland

“Warburton was in a supermarket car park… when Gatland called” www.redhandedmagazine.co.uk

REDHANDED 17

“We have got to earn some respect from the New Zealand public” [Gatland] it the year before, the Chiefs and the Blues - it’s going to be incredibly tough,” Gatland said.

“Our original thoughts were to pick a squad of 37, but we looked at previous tours and you lose six to ten players through injury. So we decided to pick a slightly extended squad to compensate for what we know is going to happen in terms of injuries, and as much as possible protect that 23 going into the first Test.”

The captain

Warburton becomes only the second man to captain the Lions in back-to-back tours, after England’s Martin Johnson in 1997 and 2001. Warburton was in a supermarket car park while his wife was buying bread and milk when Gatland called to offer him the role.

The games

It truly is a bone-crunching schedule. The Lions will play games against five Super Rugby franchises and New Zealand Maori, as well as three Tests. The Tour opener, against the Provincial Barbarians, is the only game of the lot that is considered to be straightforward. The attrition rate in those extremely tough and physical non-Test fixtures could be the deciding factor in how the Lions get on in the three big ones.

Former Wales coach Graham Henry, who led the Lions in 2001 and won the World Cup with New Zealand, believes the schedule could break the Lions. He recently told ESPN: “I just wonder if the itinerary is suicidal. That is my concern. They are playing New Zealand Maori, they are playing the five franchised teams… those five franchised teams have nothing to lose, no pressure on them at all, so they will fire everything at the Lions and take them on. Hopefully the Lions have the ability to overcome that. But really when you tour, you need to ensure some momentum is created by results and you just wonder how they are going to go into the Test series with that itinerary. It is very demanding.”

The hoodoo

The Lions play the first and third Test in Auckland, where New Zealand have not lost since 1994.

The attention to detail

Given the challenges on the field, Gatland wants to minimise the opposition they face off it. That means they will go on a hearts and minds mission, which will include learning the local culture and presenting a respectful front where possible.

Gatland explained: “We have got to earn some respect from the New Zealand public. There are a few bridges to build from 2005. So it’s important to get things right off the field with the community stuff, in schools and hospitals, and to play some positive rugby to win the public over. A lot of teams that arrive in New Zealand aren’t prepared for the stuff off the field and aren’t prepared culturally. I saw that at the World Cup in 2011. I will say to the players to go and watch a couple of New Zealand films, like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, with Sam Neill, maybe Whale Rider or Boy. It’s about getting an understanding of the country, the people and the humour, which is a little bit different. If you can understand New Zealand, the intensity of the place, the opposition, it makes us potentially a bit better prepared.”

The cuddly toy thing

You will notice a fluffy lion gets plenty of media attention throughout the Tour. That is Bil (an acronym for British and Irish Lions) and he will be in the care of the squad’s youngest player, as per tradition. This time that falls to Maro Itoje, 22. The routine dates back decades. Itoje will have to transport Bil throughout the tour and any errors will lead to punishments or fines. In the past that has meant calling up your club’s director of rugby in front of the entire squad and demanding the captaincy next season.

The quirk

Gatland actually played against the Lions when Waikato beat them 38-10 in 1993. He scored a try.

The family affair

Gatland’s son Bryn has been named in the Provincial Barbarians squad to face the Lions in the tour opener on June 3.

The British & Irish Lions take on Provincial Union XV on June 3rd in the first game of the tour. The first Test is June 24th.

18 REDHANDED

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20 REDHANDED Issue 3

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AND

LAUGHTER TEARS

With a brace of number ones and a smash hit album, Jess Glynne is fast becoming a fixture at the top of the charts - but it hasn’t all been plain sailing.

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REDHANDED 21

Few people make quite the impact Jess Glynne has made in such a short space of time. Within two years the 27 year old from North London had five UK number ones, collaborated with the likes of Tinie Tempah and Clean Bandit and had a debut album go number one as well. Last year she was nominated for a slew of Brit awards, embarked on a sellout UK arena tour and played at Glastonbury. Not bad for a former brand manager for a drinks company who dabbled in hairdressing and worked at a fitness centre before being spotted by Atlantic Records. The loud ginger lass with the remarkable soulful voice is coming to Parc y Scarlets on June 3rd and we caught up with her to talk about the gig, X Factor, Amy Winehouse and getting into trouble with the police.

“When people come up and tell me they’re such a big fan, it’s cool.

But weird”

RedHanded: The music industry is weird isn’t it?

Once you get the record deal everything goes totally mental!

JESS GLYNNE: When Hold My Hand went to number one, it was like ‘Holy shit, this is mad!’ It was number one for six weeks. I honestly wasn’t expecting it at all. You put a song out and just don’t expect anything other than for people to enjoy it. It has probably been the most surreal two years of my life. They have flown by in such a mad way. Life has changed in so many ways and I’ve learnt so many things. I guess most importantly I’ve learnt to surround myself with good people, keep my feet on the ground and that it is ok to say no.

RH: How do you find dealing with the success and the attention?

JESS: I still get overwhelmed by it. I don’t see myself as a famous person. It’s really strange. I do find it quite uncomfortable, people staring at me while I’m having a drink with my mate. But of course I deal with it, it’s fine. When people come up and tell me they’re such a big fan, it’s cool. But weird.

RH: What about performing? Presumably that’s pretty cool?

Lyrics have always come naturally to me. I’m terrible with words when it comes to speaking. If I have to get up on stage and say something or accept an award, I panic, but with music it flows.

RH: You appeared on the X Factor with Cheryl last year. What was that like?

JESS: She was lovely, but so terrified to pick who to put through because she knows she’ll be heckled for whatever she decides. She was, like, “Jess, help me!” So I would whisper in her ear, “Just do it.”

RH: That’s not the first time you’ve come into contact with the show is it? You were asked by the producers to apply when you were 15, but turned it down?

JESS: I just wasn’t really feeling it. It wasn’t really me.

It was a great thing to see but also a great thing to walk away from. I was quite an opinionated girl, I still am, and I know what I want so I don’t think it would have been the right thing for me. Some people do need that platform, and for some people it’s perfect because not everyone enjoys the creative part, the writing and making the music. But that’s my favourite part.

RH: So you’re not a big fan of TV talent shows?

JESS: I’d hate for young singers to think that’s the only

22 REDHANDED

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way and there’s no hope if you don’t win. My advice to someone entering the industry is to have a thick shell, as there’s a lot of rejection, and to believe in what you do, because if you don’t, no one else will. You need to be committed, too – success is not going to be handed to you on a plate.

RH: Were you into music as a kid?

JESS: I grew up with stacks of records around the house – artists such as Sting, Aretha Franklin and David Bowie. I was just obsessed with soul singers who had these big, powerful voices. I used to listen to Aretha, Whitney, Mariah and try and imitate them, note for note and riff for riff.

RH: And did you get into scrapes knocking about in North London?

JESS: Oh yeah, once I was driving and my friends thought it would be really funny to get out of the car and run around it at the traffic lights to swap seats.

One was in the front, one was in the back and little did they know there was a police car behind us! So I got pulled over and breathalysed. At the time I was so annoyed but looking back, it was funny.

RH: Aretha, Whitney, Maria… all great voices… but your biggest influence more recently was the late, great Amy Winehouse wasn’t it?

JESS: It’s no secret that Amy was a massive influence on me. She was the person I wanted to be. When I found out she had passed away, I didn’t believe it. I

“It was important to write an album that was hopeful and full of belief” was in tears. I used to always see her around, as we lived near to one another.

RH: You quite often cover Amy’s Tears Dry On Their Own in your live set don’t you?

JESS: I had it in my head that she and I would work together one day. Amy had that sadness, didn’t she? I have it, too. But for me it wasn’t about sinking into it, it was about seeing the good and taking lessons away.

Aside from her family, I don’t think Amy had the best people around her like I do. I think there were people who could have saved her, but didn’t.

RH: Like Amy, you’re not afraid to wear your heart on your sleeve. The album was about a break up wasn’t it? Did writing about it help you come to terms with it?

JESS: I definitely handled my emotions by writing music. That was my therapy and I think it’s why the album is so special. I’d sit down and be amazed by what would pour out. It was important to write an album that was hopeful and full of belief. Someone hurt me, but I didn’t want to seem broken. I didn’t realise how tough I was until I had to go to endless meetings with people from the record company and, each time, find a way to hide my pain. Looking back, I feel proud of how I dealt with it. There’s no secret to getting over someone: it just takes time and space.

RH: It was a girlfriend you broke up with…

JESS: The songs on this album are about a girl. I feel like with the album I’m putting my cards out on the table. I wouldn’t want it to be misconstrued and the fact of the matter is those songs are about a girl. I was heartbroken about a girl, it wasn’t a guy.

RH: Do you think society is too quick to label people as gay or straight?

JESS: Aren’t those terms meaningless these days?

I’ve been in love with a man and with a woman, so I can’t say it would be one or the other; it’s about the person. If it’s right, I’ll commit, but my experience has definitely damaged me. She just f***ed me over.

It was the first girl I’d ever fallen in love with. It was a relationship that was so new to me. Someone I met working.

RH: Let’s talk about nicer things! You played the Motorpoint Arena in December and you’re appearing at Parc Y Scarlets in Llanelli for the first time in June. What has brought you back to Wales and what can we expect?

JESS: I had a lot of fun last year firstly. Secondly I couldn’t say no. 2017 is going to be an exciting year.

You’ll have to wait and see!

Jess Glynne plays Parc Y Scarlets on 3rd June.

For tickets see http://tickets.scarlets.wales or call 0871 871 8088

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REDHANDED 23

CANTERBURY,

and

are registered trademarks of Canterbury Limited. © Canterbury Limited 2016. All Rights Reserved. Trademark and Copyright in the Lions Badge is owned by British Lions Ltd.

MUCK AND NETTLES

If there’s one thing Cardiff City’s new manager Neil Warnock knows, it’s how to dig in and get the job done.

An exclusive interview

by Riath AlSamarrai

www.redhandedmagazine.co.uk

REDHANDED 25

“...the Championship, it is what I call my muck and nettles” else. I will never forget my wife saying she had been on the internet. She goes, “Darling, you will never believe what I’ve been reading. Everybody likes you at Cardiff.” She was all shocked! “I have been on the websites, the forums, they like you. I can’t believe it, they like you.” From day one we both felt this job was right.

“At the top level money changes you, changes personalities”

26 REDHANDED

RedHanded: Neil, you’re still going at 68. After seven attempts at retirement you just keep on going.

What is it that keeps bringing you back?

Neil Warnock: I know. But I love it. Initially I wanted to call it a day in 2007 after Sheffield United. I also thought about quitting a couple of years ago and even last year but my wife’s illness did it really. Sharon was having chemo and one morning she was telling the nurse, “When he washes the pots he splashes everywhere, never cleans it up, at night he never frumps the cushions and when he goes to bed he just leaves them there and they all need frumping”. That morning someone from Rotherham United had rung me to ask if I were interested. So when Sharon was saying all this stuff I said, “Well, if that’s how you feel, Rotherham have asked me to help out until the end of the season. I’ll go there if you want?” She said back to me, “Well you get off then”. That got me back in management in 2016 and then the Cardiff job came up part way through the season. Got to say, I am enjoying it.

RH: It’s a significant challenge, though, having inherited the club in relegation trouble. The hope presumably is to land that record-breaking eighth career promotion?

NW: It is something that was on my mind when I thought about coming back into football. It is probably the main reason I didn’t stay at Rotherham.

Cardiff have potential.

RH: What has retirement typically looked like for you?

NW: All sorts, really. I am generally up at half 6, get the papers, have breakfast, have a read, get on the tractor and cut the grass, take the dogs for a walk – we have two dogs, Monty, who is a rescue dog Shih Tzu, and Donald a Norfolk Terrier. Our place in Cornwall is lovely for that life. But I miss the football.

RH: Cardiff has felt like a good fit for you from the start. Has it felt that way?

NW: It really has. On one hand it’s about being in the Championship - I love it. I’ve never enjoyed the Premier League but the Championship, it is what I call my muck and nettles. People don’t understand this league is its own thing. Doesn’t matter how much money you have, it is a unique league. It is not money that guarantees success, it just helps. At Cardiff, I always felt I had a good rapport with the fans and then I got here and it all felt great.

RH: How has management changed in your time?

NW: Obviously there have been a lot of changes but then again I don’t think it has all changed. At Gainsborough, when I was starting way back when, I wanted them to have their own V-neck jumpers, blue ones. I always wanted my sides at whatever level to be like a team. Getting a group to be a team is still what it is about. The best part for me is still being on the training pitch with the humour. That is what you miss. I take the mickey out of them and because I’m manager they can’t do it back to my face. Behind my back, God knows. I love taking the mickey out of their dress sense or what they’ve done the night before. I enjoy that banter. I think at the top level money changes you, changes personalities a bit. You have to adapt to that. Back in the past if someone did something wrong you would fine them a couple of week’s wages and they wouldn’t do it again. Now you can fine them £20k and they won’t flinch. You have to deal with it in other ways. You can get your qualifications and there are good courses you can do, but you cannot get a degree in experience, you have to go through bad times to remember how you got through it. We all get sacked.

RH: You didn’t arrive in the easiest of times, did you? Relegation was very much a possibility.

NW: They had not had great times - they have endured pain. But the welcome my wife and I had was great. Two or three other clubs were talking to us, but Cardiff just felt like the right choice. I like the chairman, Mehmet Dalman. He said he didn’t want to interview me, he just wanted me for the job, no one

RH: You wouldn’t say you have mellowed through the years?

NW: I am how I am. I get in battles sometimes. I still give my opinion to this day on the ref. I still go in after the game and try to be constructive, share my thoughts. Sometimes I get a fine. That is one thing that hasn’t changed. But you know what? I still love it all so let’s see where we go.

RH: What is it about management, though, that still appeals? From the outside it does look like a brutally hard way to spend your time.

NW: I enjoy it, though. At my age I don’t care about CVs. I don’t worry about the sack. I just want to enjoy it, the bits you can’t replicate at home: that whistle when you’ve won, when you look around the dressing room when they’ve put in a shift for you.

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CAPITAL There’s a heck of a lot happening in Cardiff. Mike Took has the inside knowledge on… everything!

Cardiff. Caerdydd. The ‘Diff.

Our mighty capital has been the scene for many great sporting and musical triumphs, but this summer is set to put it into the focus of the world. Mega gigs from Robbie Williams, Justin Bieber and Coldplay take place at The Principality Stadium, whilst cricket fans will descend on the SWALEC Stadium for the ICC Champions Trophy. There is also the small matter of the Champion’s League Finals at Cardiff City Stadium and the National Stadium of Wales, where the best male and female footballers will duke it out for Europe’s most prestigious club prize. So, aside from world-class sporting drama and music megastars, what else does Cardiff have to offer? Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned Cardiffian, you’ll find our handy guide to the best places to eat, drink, shop and play utterly indispensable!

EATING

Pitch - Mill Lane Pitch is the place to go for alfresco diners in the summer months. And if it gets a little chilly, fear not; there’s plenty of warmth inside this classy Cardiff eatery. Owner Ben Browne sources all his produce locally so expect some top beef and lamb cuts. But if we had to choose a favourite it would be the fresh mussels from Pembrokeshire every time.

Arbennig - 6 - 10 Romilly Crescent Located on the cusp of Pontcanna and Canton, Arbennig (Welsh for distinct or unique) certainly lives up to its billing. It offers a smorgasbord of the finest Welsh produce with Porthgain crab from Pembrokeshire and Pant-ysgawn goat’s milk cheese from Abergavenny. Keeping with the homely feel, bilingual staff are ready to take your order in either Welsh or English. Perffaith!

Call: 029 2034 1264 Web: arbennig.co.uk Facebook: Arbennig.co.uk Twitter: @ArbennigCardiff

Call: 029 2022 8882 Web: pitchcardiff.com Facebook: pitchcardiff3 Twitter: @pitchcardiff Troy - City Road In a survey by The Times, Troy Restaurant was ranked as one of the top five kebab restaurants in the UK. The meat is cooked over an open ‘Ocakbashi’ charcoal pit, not vertically rotating on a spike. Throw in some tasty meze dishes and aromatic breads and this is anything but a stop-off for the late night boozing brigade. No, this place is the real Turkish delight.

Call: 029 20499 339 Web: troymezebar. com Facebook: Troy-Meze-Bar Twitter: @ troymezebar Chai - Wellfield Road First opened as a Chai house, Chai has spread its culinary wings a little and now offers Indian styled bistro to its customers. Dishes are made from scratch daily by Pramod Nair. His glittering CV includes 5 star Indian Hotels, cooking for royalty and the title of Welsh Curry Chef of the Year. So, the food is nothing short of regal.

Call: 029 2049 5975 Web: chaiholics.com Facebook: Chaiholics.Cardiff Twitter: @ ChaiholicsUK

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Yakitori#1 - Mermaid Quay At Yakitori#1, you can go carte blanche on the menu without staring nervously at your waistline. Using only the freshest ingredients from sustainable sources, expect the best sushi, grilled meats, fish, rice and noodles that Cardiff has to offer.

Call: 029 2049 5050 Web: yakitori1.co.uk Facebook: 1Yakitori Twitter: @1Yakitori

Porro – Llandaff Village and Wellfield Road Hip and trendy, this eatery is from the same people behind the Potted Pig but indulges their love for all things Welsh and Italian with a menu that fuses the best of both cuisines.

The freshest ingredients are imaginatively combined and prepared expertly and with passion - buon appetito!

Call: 029 2240 2200 Web: porrocardiff .com Twitter: @porrocardiff

STUFF! Restaurant James Sommerin - The Esplanade, Penarth A winning combination of seriously tasty food and seafront scenery, Restaurant James Sommerin (RJS) is one of Wales’ best restaurants. The proof? RJS was recently named Restaurant of the Year by the AA and bagged a coveted Michelin Star. If you really want to impress your nearest and dearest, this is your destination.

Call: 029 2070 6559 Website: www.jamessommerinrestaurant.co.uk Facebook: restaurantjamessommerin Twitter: @RestaurantJS

The Kings Arms - Church Rd, Pentyrch, Cardiff Situated in the chocolate box village of Pentyrch, The Kings Arms is a picture postcard 17th century gastropub and restaurant that has been the focal point of the local community for most of its existence. New owners Owen and Helena took the helm in March 2017, giving this friendly public house a refurb along with a refresh of the menu.

Call: 029 2089 0202 Web: kingsarmspentyrch.com Facebook: KingsArmsPubPentyrch Twitter: @kingsarmswales

The Longhouse - St Nicholas, Cardiff Cardiff ’s newest gastro pub, The Longhouse is a perfect setting for food and drinks with mates. This 17th century Longhouse (hence the name) is full of original features and offers superb views over the capital. The menu is a mix of perennial pub favourites and tasty Welsh seasonal fare. For drink enthusiasts, The Longhouse Cellar Club is a great opportunity to try new wines, spirits, beers and cocktails.

Call: 029 2115 7754 Web: longhousewales.com Facebook: longhousewales Twitter: @LonghouseWales

Chez Francis – Glebe Street, Penarth and Cowbridge Road East, Canton Now open in Penarth, Cardiff ’s best French restaurant, owned and run by Francis Dupuy, serves up classic, rustic French staples such as cassoulet and coq au vin as well as Petits Plats (French tapas) like chicken livers and ratatouille plus a lovely Sunday roast, all presented with a little ‘je ne sais quoi’.

Call: 02920224959 Web: www.chez-francis.co.uk Facebook: chezfranciscardiff Twitter: @eatchezfrancis

Etc Penarth - Stanwell Road, Penarth A collaboration between designer Alex Mules and chef Stephen Gomes, Etc Penarth is a great fusion of style and taste. Part cocktail bar and part restaurant, Etc Penarth is all about providing a high-end gastronomic experience. We recommend going all out and trying the sensational 5 course Chef ’s Tasting Menu.

Call: 029 2009 0060 Web: etc-penarth.com Twitter: @etc_penarth

Kestrel Inn – Brecon Road, Nr Crickhowell OK, we know this is nowhere near Cardiff, but there are times when you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The Kestrel Inn is perfect for those seeking some quiet time. The food is mostly inspired by the Mediterranean with local produce at the forefront of the menu. We recommend booking a room and taking in the splendour of the Brecon Beacons.

Call: 01874 731044 Website: www.thekestrelinn.com Facebook: thekestrellinn Twitter: @thekestrelinn

New York Diner – City Road, Cardiff A bite of the Big Apple in the ‘diff, NYD’s home to some mighty fine Burgers, plus plenty more Americana - waffles, steaks, dogs and shakes. A special addition to their menu to mark the UCL final is the awesome Champion’s Burger consisting of 6oz of fresh minced Veal pattie, Italian parmesan, Spanish-style ratatouille and standing tall in a black brioche style bun. Championes…

Call: 029 2048 9790 Facebook: nydcardiff Twitter: @nydcardiff

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REDHANDED 29

DRINKING Lab 22 - Caroline Street Fancy some award-winning cocktails in sleek surroundings? Lab 22, as the name suggests, takes a scientific approach to creating lip-smacking tipples. Book a masterclass with one of the resident mixologists and create your own cocktails (or just sit back and let the experts show you how it’s done).

Call: 029 2039 9997 Web: lab22cardiff.com Facebook: Lab22Cardiff Twitter: @Lab_22 The Bootlegger - Womanby Street Haverfordwest siblings Lee and Gary Miller opened their first Bootlegger bar in Bristol and have brought the New York style-speakeasy over to Cardiff. Over 80 cocktails are on offer along with some fine craft ales.

They’ve also got live music on every night with a mix of soul, jazz, blues and funk.

Call: 029 20373 482 Web: cardiffbootlegger.co.uk Facebook: Bootleggercardiff Twitter: @CdfBootlegger Chapter Arts Centre - Market Road One of Cardiff ’s most revered cultural institutions, Chapter has been serving art, cinema, comedy and a lot more in between for more than 40 years. There’s also much to admire on the food and drink front with a wide-ranging menu and regular beer and cider festivals.

Call: 029 203 0400 Web: chapter.org Facebook: chapterarts Twitter: @chaptertweets

SHOPPING

Watches of Switzerland – St David’s Shopping Centre They say you can tell a lot about a person by the watch they wear. Well, if you see one of your friends modelling a timepiece from Watches of Switzerland, you know they’re doing pretty well for themselves.

This is a showroom that’s laced with high-end brands (Hublot and Patek), expert customer service and an exclusively that marks it out from its competitors.

Call: 029 2034 0300 Web: watches-of-switzerland. co.uk Facebook: watchesofswitzerland Twitter: @WOS_OfficialUK

PLAYING

Crouch - St David’s Shopping Centre Crouch is a name synonymous with quality and it’s renowned for its fine range of jewellery, rings and watches and has a particularly large collection from Rolex. In addition, the store offers a complete repair, valuation and re-modelling service, as well as expert help and advice on insurance replacements.

Call: 029 2034 1795 Web: fraserhart.co.uk/store/ Cardiff-StDavids/ Castle Fine Art - St David’s Shopping Centre Castle Fine Art features original and limited edition fine art from the country’s most innovative and talented artists. Whether you’ve yet to acquire your first piece of art, or are lucky enough to already own a growing collection of work, Castle Fine Art is a welcoming, inspiring and exciting gallery space.

Call: 02922 130 100 Web: castlegalleries.com/ galleries/castle-galleries-cardiff Facebook: castlegalleries Twitter: @castlegalleries

30 REDHANDED

Morgan Menswear - Morgan Arcade Morgan Menswear specialises in selling high quality, distinctive clothing, footwear and accessories. If you’re not sure what gear you’ll look best in let Morgan Menswear create a combination of outfits just for you.

You’ll be looking your sharpest whatever the occasion.

Call: 029 2022 7877 Web: morganmenswear.co.uk Facebook: morganmenswear Twitter: @MenswearMorgan

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Cardiff International White Water - Watkiss Way Located in the heart of the International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay, Cardiff International White Water is the place to go if you’re looking for high-octane water sports. Get a few mates together and hurl yourself into white water rafting. If you’d prefer to ride solo, step on a board and surf on the awesome indoor FlowRider.

Call: 029 203 0400 Web: ciww.com Facebook: cardiffintww Twitter: @cardiffintww

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A CITY OF

SURPRISES

Ever heard of Wroclaw?

I hadn’t either. It’s Poland’s 4th biggest city and I expected a drab industrial cityscape.

In fact it was full of surprises.

I found a romantic old town with an ornate medieval Town Hall, pastel-coloured gabled houses, a tinkling fountain and narrow cobbled streets. And a bearded lady in bright green stilettos.

She (he?) almost fell flat on her face as she tripped across the cobbles. Apparently she’s a bit of a local celebrity with her own You Tube channel.

And then there were the dwarves. Hundreds of the little fellas. Bronze statues at knee height playing instruments, cooking, reading and err, pole dancing.

Up to mischief, they kept almost tripping me up (and no I wasn’t wearing stilettos).

The big daddy – dwarf number one - stands on the tip of a large bronze finger outside a funky new cafe called Barbara. It’s a hub for alternative events involving locals painting, photographing, dancing and more. It’s also home to a funky café.

I ate herby Polish pasta called Peirogi and sipped cappuccinos as Arleta my guide explained that the café was formerly where intellectuals and poets cooked up campaigns of dissent against the authorities when Poland was under communist control. The dwarf was a symbol of rebellion. They stencilled them on communist propaganda posters – a bit of cheeky graffiti – two fingers to the establishment.

Jeremy Head trips over dwarves and explores Nazi hideouts in the Polish city of Wroclaw

The little statues of dwarves dotted all over town take their inspiration from this. There’s even an official form you fill in to request a dwarf for your business.

And an official ‘dwarf lady’ who creates them.

The city’s communist past can be found in other places too. Those ornate Baroque buildings have mostly been restored after the Nazis destroyed them in World War II. As a result they’re almost too pretty.

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“A bearded lady in stilettos almost fell flat on her face as she tripped across the cobbles” CRUCIAL INFO Getting there: Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies daily to Wroclaw from London Stansted Staying there: The 4* Art Hotel (www.arthotel.pl) is comfortable and ideally located. Typical cost is £60 for a double room.

Eating and drinking: Spiz micro brewery – www.spiz.pl Karczma Lwowska Polish Restaurant – www.lwowska.com.pl Find out more: Polish National Tourist Office www.poland.travel Wroclaw tourist office www.wroclaw.pl Lower Silesia Tourist Board www.dolnyslask.info.pl

But just as I was getting fatigued by the swirling flourishes and romantic spires, I stumbled into a wide square with monumental blocks of Soviet-era flats on all sides. Each one was almost identical to the next. Uniform, square, angular, I found this honest concrete brutality oddly refreshing - particularly from a photographic perspective. They made moody shots for my Instagram feed. I doubt the residents feel the same way, judging by the crumbling state of many of the balconies. Some had been boarded up and were in a very precarious state.

Wroclaw was once known as Breslau and was part of Germany. Early 20th-century concrete architecture from this era is much more stylish than Soviet-era apartment blocks. Star of the show is Centennial Hall, the centrepiece of a complex in Szczytnicki Park. It was created to commemorate the centenary of Germany’s victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. A concertina of concrete circles rise steeply upwards with a vast dome at the top. Inside there’s a forest of sIoping buttresses that support the vast roof. It took a little perseverance to sneak inside, but was worth the subterfuge. (Just stick nose in guidebook and walk past No Entry sign).

Back in town, the Central Market Hall dates from the same era. Despite its more working class clientele, the architecture is no less spectacular. More vast concrete arches support a space flooded with light that’s packed with stalls selling colourful fruit and veg. I took a walk up to the mezzanine level. Here I found a great little shop selling chunky, colourful pottery made at nearby Boleslawiec. With their vaguely vintage-style swirls and flowers the mugs and teapots were perfect souvenirs.

Another (pleasant) surprise was that Poland is cheap.

It’s not in the Eurozone. With nearly six Polish Zloty to the pound, the souvenir pottery cost just a few quid.

And even better, a pint came in at only around £1.50.

The perfect place to sup local brews is Spiz, a microbrewery in a cellar bar under the Town Hall. Later in the day, I sat surrounded by locals quaffing smoky dark lager served cold from shiny copper pumps in the dimly lit, buzzing bar. I ate at a traditional Polish restaurant called Karczma Lwowska which was on the main Market Square. The food was hearty stuff – dark purple borscht soup with stuffed pasta bobbing about in it, pork steak in plum and horseradish sauce and local potato dumplings called kluski. Prefect grub for

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a chilly spring evening and big portions at, err, dwarfsized prices. The whole lot was about £12.

Here’s another one I didn’t see coming. Next day I took a trip into the countryside to discover an old wooden church at Swidnica. It’s a 40-minute drive or about an hour by train. Outside the church looks plain – simple wooden beams and white plaster. But inside, wow! A phantasmagorical feast of swirling cherubs, brightly painted ceilings and delicately carved columns. And – get this – all of it in wood. Not a single nail is used in its construction.

And then there was the fairy-tale castle with a gruesome secret. Ksiaz Castle, 15 minutes’ drive away, sits atop a vast lump of granite. I trooped around historic rooms with vast fireplaces and portraits of hairy aristocrats on the wall. It all lulled me into a false sense of security.

A hidden door in a corridor suddenly revealed a 50-metre deep concrete lift shaft down into the rock below. This was a Nazi command centre in World War II. Many of the rooms I’d just seen were to be living accommodation for Hitler himself. The hidden elevator was an escape route should the castle be taken.

I explored some of the tunnels under the castle that the shaft leads to. The Nazis built them using slave labour. Sinister and spooky, the place feels like a villain’s lair from a James Bond movie. Recent rumours about other tunnels in surrounding hillsides that hide a Nazi ‘gold train’ laden with booty stolen during the war have provoked a bit of a gold rush of tourists. You can even buy fake gold bars in the castle souvenir shop!

Next day as I nearly jumped out of my skin coming face-to-snout with a monster crocodile in the new Afrykarium hall at the city zoo, I had to admit I’d been bowled over by this city of surprises. One thing you can be sure of if you visit, you won’t be bored. Just keep an eye out for those dwarves.

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Gorgeous Yes, We’re Talking Houses 2016 was the year of vintage, retro and other polite words for old.It was also the year of the celebrity death plague, so let’s leave behind 2016’s trends because we don’t want to relive that mess.

What’s 2017 got in store for our homes?

On the surface, trend predictions include two-tone woody interiors, more mirrors and a continuation of the industrial-chic look. But surfaces are pointless: look at banana peels. A huge incoming theme is going to be more than looks – your house needs to have more than a pretty face; it needs a brain, too!

Space is a commodity, so the focus of aesthetics is shifting to include good old fashioned functionality.

That has no place in 2017 homes, so you want to keep your eye on items and systems that give your home that extra IQ point so that they truly earn their respective places in your home.

I sense that you’re intrigued… whether it’s sight, sound, touch or some kinky sixth sense, there’s something out there that will make your home hit all of this year’s fashion buzzwords.

SIGHT “The Den” is a key aspect of any gentleman’s home. It’s the room in which you relax, unwind, and most likely kill many, many animated enemies. Let’s step it up a notch though and give your den the look and sound of a cinema.

Getting yourself a home cinema is more affordable than ever, and the rate at which technology is sprinting along means your home cinema can be so cutting edge you’ll actually hurt yourself on it. Ditch that Ikea

print from your statement wall and go for a giant 4K TV instead. Smarta Homes does a coolly impressive selection of Loewe screens that are a deep cut above high street fare. It suits whatever décor you have in place already and it’ll save you from having to actually leave the house to go to the cinema. If you’re not watching telly, don’t forget you can use the screen to pretend you’re a collector and display a Picasso or two to up the class factor.

What sets apart a proper home cinema from a dusty old projector? The sound, for starters. Get yourself in touch with Smarta Homes and hook up a heavy duty system with Dolby Atmos surround sound. Go wireless with your set up to keep your den looking clean and minimalist.

Don’t forget to top off the cinema look – you’ve got the screen and the speakers, now you need the comfort.

Get yourself some decent cinema seating installed; go for a timeless material like dark leather and you’re set not just for 2017, but for life.

FrontRow is killing it with cinema seating designs, each year adding new features to optimise their range. We like the FrontRow Serenity best; put your head back, your feet up and plug whichever gadget is normally glued to your hand into its USB port.

SOUND Nobody likes the sound of their own voice, but you’ll grow to love it when you realise it can give you Sith powers.

Take the Amazon Echo, for example. It fits into any house, small, sleek and unassuming. It looks good nestled amongst your nik-naks or as a standalone, but more than its look is its power. Echo connects to your new best friend, the Alexa Voice Service. Tell your new mate to play your music, check the news or test the limits of Google with your questions.

Smarta Homes has taken it a step further and sells a

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& Smart? bundle of Amazon Echo with Control4, so your voice just became more powerful than the Dragonborn.

Not at home? It’s okay, tell Alexa to turns the lights off and lock the doors – she’ll sort you right out with a ping to Control4. Control light levels to set the scene (whatever that scene may be!) and put on some smooth jazz – or death metal – all with a few choice words from you. Nik-naks meet technology to make your home scarily smart.

We’re not the only ones who like the look of voice automation. Mark Wray of Smarta Homes has his predictions for this year based on activity he’s been seeing. Here’s his take: “This year I think the popular thing is all about voice automation. When you can say Alexa, turn the lights off, or Alexa, turn on BBC Radio 2, it’s going to be big because it’s so easy. Google is bringing out their version at some point which we’ll test out.”

TOUCH Ah, the sofa. Essentially a large fabric brick taking up the majority of space in your living room. When it comes to saving space, modular sofas are the way forward. Not only do they fit the profile of 2017 trends, boasting a clean, sharp-edged look, but they can be chucked in the corner to accomplish a feat of

Escher in which you get more floor room but also more seating space. The aptly named SofaSofa has a range of modular sofas that’ll have you asking why you ever bothered with your two-seater.

If you’re doubling up your living room and your cinema space, the FrontRow Prima can amalgamate a corner sofa and cinema seating into one beautiful leather bastion of laziness.

While we’re at it, get yourself toasty while you recline on your new sofa with your feet up. Automate your heating so that your house is at an optimum temperature at all times, even when you’re out and about. Smarta Homes designs heating systems that can do pretty much whatever you want. You can control the heat from mobile or tablet to save getting up from the sofa. Even better (especially for your wallet), you can tell your system which rooms to heat so that you don’t end up with accidental saunas.

TASTE If you’re a few seasons into adult life, chances are you can cook by now, so you’re at a point where you can really appreciate a good kitchen. You’ll also know that the clutter problem extends to kitchens in a major way. A standard work unit never seems to quite fit all of your pots and there’s always a few stray items that are a bit too strangely shaped to get into the horror that is everyone’s “large and random utensils” drawer.

Why try to fit your kitchenware round a few cupboards when you can have those cupboards fit around you? Custom-built kitchens are timeless if

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you play your cards right. Suppliers like Space Fitting Furniture specialise in materials designed to last centuries, both practically and fashionably. Stainless steel, granite, glass, corian – if it looks good, they can build with it.

It’s not all about surfaces though. Space Fitting

has some tech that’ll scratch your gadget itch too.

Surprisingly essential, once you’re used to it, is Quookers’ boiling water tap. With its own tank you’ll have boiling water on demand – perfect for cooking and it’ll be the quickest cuppa you’ve ever made. Or how about a Miele induction hob with a built-in wok?

Their current fave kit though is a Miele combination steam and conventional oven that cooks mainly using steam to preserve nutrients and keep food tender and

moist but browns to a lovely finish.

If you like tech, get this. LG has a fridge coming to the UK soon that’s so smart you’ll feel a bit threatened by it. The InstaView Door-in-Door™ Refrigerator is a bit of a mouthful – but mouthfuls you’ll be saving because it can warn you when your food is near expiry and keep an inventory of everything in it. The fridge comes with an app that allows you to control everything from temperature to the filter no matter

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where you are.

Knock twice on a dark panel on the fridge and it turns into a window so that you don’t have to let the cold air out – unless you want to open the door, in which case you just step in front of a light sensor and it opens hands free. Not an inch is wasted in this fridge, as there is a second door within the main compartment that folds out. The LG engineers have done everything to utilise space and it looks to be a promising purchase when it’s launched in the UK. One more thing – remember your nan’s pantry and the goodies it contained? This refrigerator has a fridge freezer and pantry section. Get ready to store fairy cakes and marzipan.

No matter which room you spend the most time in, you don’t have to sacrifice breathing space for style and vice versa. 2017 is the year of putting things away and upping your technology game. Engaging in either of those trends will bring your home to the forefront of scarily current fashion, and adding both together will catapult you even further. If you don’t like catapults, you have been warned!

www.spacefittingfurniture.co.uk The Design Quarter, 4 Colchester Ave, Cardiff CF23 9XE t. 029 2045 5778 www.thinksmarta.co.uk Unit K7, Capital Business Park, Parkway, Cardiff CF3 2PU t. 029 2000 6588 www.sofasofa.co.uk www.homecinemaseating.co.uk

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FASHION

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Adrian Jeans – Boston £98 Jacket – Kitson £228 Tee – Jefris £45 All from All Saints Keshia Jacket – Balfern £318 Jeans – Birds, Boyfriend £115 Tee – Macey £35 All from All Saints

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FASHION

Keisha Top – Lavine £108 Jeans – Mazzy £98 From All Saints Adrian (bottom) Shirt – Ulua £95 Trousers – Tallis £128 From All Saints Adrian (top) Tee – Lyle & Scott £25 Jeans – Hugo Boss £100 From Scotts

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FASHION

Adrian Tee – Diesel £30 Jeans – Diesel £120 Both from John Lewis Keisha (Above) Shorts – Warehouse £32 Tunic – Maison £135 Both from John Lewis Keisha (Left) Dress – Nima £138 From All Saints

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FASHION Adrian Shirt – Ralph Lauren £109 Tee – John Lewis £10 Jeans – Hilfiger £95 Hat – John Lewis £20 All from John Lewis Keisha Silk dress – Lk Bennett £325 from John Lewis

Adrian (Right) Shirt – Adidas Originals £33 Shorts – Adidas Originals £45 Hat – Adidas £22 From Scotts Adrian (Above) Tee – Paul & Shark £70 Shorts – Paul & Shark £100 Jacket – Paul & Shark £155 From Scotts

Credits Thanks to our models Adrian and Keisha Hair and make-up by Michelle Marshall Salon, 12 Beulah Road, Rhwbina. Tel: 029 20611566 Clothes supplied by All Saints, Scotts and John Lewis – St Davids Centre, Cardiff

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WHITE OUT

Springbok Ingram relishing packed summer of one day cricket It’s a huge summer of white-ball cricket in Wales with both the ICC Champions Trophy and international and domestic T20 matches landing in Cardiff. One man with an interest in it all is Glamorgan’s South African batsman Colin Ingram.

The left-hander was the Blast’s leading run scorer in 2016 and has tipped his native South Africa for ICC Champions Trophy success this summer where Glamorgan’s headquarters will play host to four matches in June, including a semi-final. The South African side is currently ranked number one and Ingram has pinpointed key men who can propel his country towards the trophy.

”It’ll be tough to repeat last year (in white-ball cricket),”

“I’m massively excited for this year’s Champions Trophy,” said Ingram. “It’s fast and furious cricket and you need to start winning games very early. All the sides hold the tournament in high regard, because it shows where you are at with your ODI cricket. I rate South Africa’s chances really highly. I think we’ve got an organised side with some really big players back from injury. With guys like Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers, I really like the brand of cricket they are playing at the moment, so I think they can do well.”

South Africa reached the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy four years ago and Ingram played a pivotal role in their journey before stepping back from the international scene later that year.

“I was fortunate to be part of a Champions Trophy that was in the UK and it was a great event, and a tournament that I thoroughly enjoyed,” he said.

“Cricket is supported massively in Cardiff, and we get great crowds in for all ODI games down at The SSE SWALEC.” The ICC Champions Trophy (1-18 June) will see the best players compete in what’s been described as a mini-World Cup this summer. To complete a feast of international cricket in Cardiff, Ingram’s countrymen will also face England in the final match of a threegame NatWest International T20 Series, a week after the Champions Trophy tournament final.

As well as backing his old team for Champions Trophy success, Ingram is hoping for his best season yet with the county as he prepares for this year’s NatWest T20 Blast campaign.

Ingram topped the batting averages in both the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup with a total of 869 runs for Glamorgan, as well as taking 15 wickets and being awarded the 2016 PCA MVP and T20 Blast Player of the Year award.

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”It’ll be tough to repeat last year (in white-ball cricket),” said Ingram “but I’m coming with every intention to do that. It was a special season but I’ve had those in the past.”

Ingram, 31, who has made 40 appearances for South Africa, helped his Warriors team to the final of both limited-overs competitions in his native country before returning to Cardiff in March.

“It’s great to be back and probably the fittest I’ve been in the last two years. It took a lot longer than I thought, but fortunately having months away to get it sorted and spending some time in the middle since, it’s nice to get back into it.”

So far this season Ingram has enjoyed success on all fronts after recording career best List A performances with both bat and ball, as well as signing a new contract with Glamorgan and receiving his County Cap. Ingram struck a List A career best 142 at The SSE SWALEC as Glamorgan edged a 1-run win against Essex Eagles in the 50-over cup competition in May. The left-hander will extend his stay with the Welsh County for another two years after he signed a contract to continue playing white-ball cricket until at least the end of the 2019 season.

“I am delighted to commit to Glamorgan,” said Ingram. “I’ve been made very welcome at the club and have made a lot of friends so it was an easy decision to extend my time here. Being presented with my Glamorgan cap by Club legend Alan Jones was a great honour so I’m determined to continue delivering my best for the Club and myself.”

Visit www.glamorgancricket.com for information about this year’s international and domestic cricket fixtures in Cardiff.

POWER ON Pembrokeshire’s very own Powerboat world champ, Daisy Coleman, looks back over her career and forward to the arrival of Powerboat P1 in her home county.

RedHanded: What is Powerboat P1?

Daisy Coleman: It’s the premier marine motorsport in the UK. It’s also the most heavily subscribed and seems to be turning into a global phenomenon! It’s the only marine motorsport broadcast globally and on Sky Sports in the UK. We are the pinnacle of our sport and race off-shore, but close enough in-shore for it to be spectator friendly, so you get good air-time from the choppy sea conditions as we race in some pretty tough conditions. It’s exciting and exhilarating. All the boats are the same, so it’s the crews that make the difference.

With 12 boats side by side heading into the first pin on the course there’s nothing else like it. The race lasts about 30 minutes. We race in big sea conditions so there’s a tremendous amount of skill involved and the pack can get really stretched, especially when you factor in the differing techniques of drivers.

RH: How did you get into it?

DC: I fell into it, after I left the military, when I was invited to have a go at a corporate sponsorship day. I then got invited to do some training with seven times world champion Neil Holmes. Being the only female on the course and not having any boating experience, not knowing my port from my starboard, I was ridiculed a bit but I did pretty well and ended up being the only one to pass on my course! Three days later I finished third in the toughest race in the series - a 35 mile roundtrip between Poole and Cowes, which has since been cancelled because it’s so rough. This led to me being scouted by John Wilson, three times ex-champion.

RH: And you’re now Number 1 in the world?

DC: Yeah. Sam (my brother) and I won the British championship last year, our first year racing together as Coleman Racing, which qualified us for the World Championships in Mumbai in March. Went out there, did the quickest lap in qualifying and then won all three races to be crowned World Champions.

RH: For you personally, what do enjoy most about the sport? The skill, the speed, the challenge?

DC: It’s the most exciting sport – to race on a course

that’s constantly changing, side by side with 12 other boats only centimetres apart at speeds of up to 70mph all heading for one mark, it’s challenging. The sea state is constantly changing so in a race a team could make hundreds of mistakes and it’s the team that makes 50 mistakes less that will win. On tarmac you can plan and practice – with P1 you can’t do that and you have to be far more reactive, adapting to the conditions.

There’s huge skill needed to keep speed up as you take a corner, and teamwork is paramount to success.

RH: It sounds as though there are a few thrills and spills?

DC: I’ve been thrown out of a boat at 55mph and there were a couple of spills last year. It’s quite easy to catch the edge of a wave so there’s a risk a boat can go flying but if it wasn’t dangerous everybody would be doing it. It’s a non-contact sport, however it does happen – there’s an old adage in the sport that rubbin’s racin’ but you do it at your peril as there’s a risk you’ll get disqualified.

RH: What can people expect to see when Powerboat P1 comes to Milford Haven?

DC: It’s going to be a fantastic spectacle. There’ll be racing on Saturday and Sunday – you’ll see the 12 P1 boats in four races over the weekend. Then you’ll also see jet-ski racing, which is great fun to watch – those guys are really, really quick. There’ll also be hover boarding demonstrations, which looks like something out of a James Bond movie as the guy does his tricks which are great fun to watch. There’ll be a food festival and loads of exhibitor stands. It’ll be a great family day out.

RH: How does it feel to be bringing P1 to your home county?

DC: I’m absolutely over the moon. In Pembrokeshire we have the most stunning coastal scenery and a great national park and to be racing there and in front of our home crowd is a huge honour. It was great to be racing in Cardiff these past few years but to bring it to Milford Haven in front of friends and family is really special and we’re really looking forward to them getting behind us.

The Powerboat P1 Welsh Grand Prix of the Sea takes place 15-16 July at Milford Haven Waterfront, Pembrokeshire.

For tickets visit www.milfordwaterfront.co.uk

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LIFESTYLE

YOUR REGION #WALESCAPITALREGION Don’t miss a beat of the action in the heart of the Welsh capital. Season memberships for the 2017/18 campaign at Cardiff Blues are on sale NOW! Join the Blues again in 2017/18 for another thrilling year of top class rugby and be part of another season of sensational support at the home of The Blues - BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park.

The likes of Jack Roberts, Franco van der Merwe and Damian Welch will all join an increasingly settled Cardiff Blues squad next year. For the Blues though, the fans are the most important signing of the summer and they urge you to get behind Danny Wilson’s men again this year.

Join the Cardiff Blues for the 2017/18 season at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park. Call the Ticket Office on 02920 302030, visit in person during office hours or visit www.cardiffblues.com.

Sommerin The City

The gift that keeps giving

With a Michelin star and ranked highest of any restaurant in Wales in the Good Food Guide Restaurant James Sommerin has won plaudits aplenty thanks to its wonderful, original fusion of modern British and French cuisine and imaginative mix of textures and flavours. But the food’s not the only thing that’s great.

Location, location, location. You’d be hard pushed to find a better situated restaurant within a stone’s throw of the capital. Located on Penarth’s esplanade, adjacent to the recently restored pier, it has a stunning, uninterrupted vista over the Bristol Channel and offers stunning accommodation too for customers.

The ‘restaurant with rooms’ concept allows guests to enjoy their visit to Cardiff, knowing they can kick back, relax and savour arguably the best dining experience to be had in Wales assured that their bed is near to hand. This is one case where the location cried out for it. And with a jam-packed calendar of events in the Cardiff area over the summer it’s the perfect base for an extended stay or return visit.

As James puts it “You can come and pay from £120 per person for the room and a five-course meal. It gives the diner a different experience because they can relax, enjoy the wine and then just go and crash out upstairs.”

And when they wake up in the morning, there’s the view which can be fully enjoyed in five of the available nine rooms. But those staying in rooms without the view won’t feel too hard done by either since all of them are light and airy, have been designed to a very high spec and have a modern, chic and homely feel.

All told, the perfect way to round off a night of fine dining.

Whether for yourself, or as a unique and thoughtful gesture, the gift of giving comes with its own rewards…and Membership of Wales Millennium Centre comes with so much more.

As Wales’ national arts centre, its key objectives are to raise the aspirations of every young person in Wales, increase accessibility to the arts, and create innovative work that showcases Wales to the World. It aims to be seen as a leading international arts venue, producing its own work – including this year’s main stage production ‘Tiger Bay the Musical’.

A Platinum, Gold or Promise Membership has something for everyone, whatever your lifestyle.

If you simply want preferential early booking with special discounts on tickets, food and beverages, then Promise is right for you. Platinum Members benefit from an account manager for all your ticketing and hospitality requirements, access to an allocation of best seats, use of an exclusive supporters’ bar and much more. Memberships range from £36/annum for Promise to £10001/annum for Platinum.

Restaurant James Sommerin, The Esplanade, Penarth CF64. T. 029 2070 6559 www. jamessommerinrestaurant.co.uk

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By buying a Season Membership for the 2017/18 season at Cardiff Arms Park you earn huge savings in comparison to buying match-by-match tickets. A full season of Guinness PRO12 and European rugby plus entry to all Cardiff RFC games - is available from as little as £20 for Under-16s, £79 for Under-21s & Students and £190 for Adults. Renew before the end of May and you can enjoy Early Bird prices!

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To find out which one is best for you call: 029 2063 6464; or visit: wmc.org.uk/Membership

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THE PERFECT TREAT AT STRADEY PARK HOTEL & SPA Gentleman’s Tea

Award winning Parc Spa

Due to the incredible popularity of their afternoon tea, which offers dainty finger sandwiches and a selection of cakes all served on fine china, Stradey Park Hotel has announced a more male-focussed option, with heartier menu options. Their chefs were sent on a mission to forage the wilds of Carmarthenshire in search of the finest ingredients to be used in preparing the smorgasbord of deliciousness that is the Stradey’s Gentleman’s Tea. For an extra £19 you can opt for ‘The Business’ which also includes a hot towel shave, haircut and nasal wax. Despite being called Gentleman’s Tea, ladies are more than welcome to savour it (though you may want to hold off on the shave and nasal wax!). In fact, they’ve had as many women ordering the Gentleman’s Tea as men. Only £15.95 per person

Stradey’s also has the perfect day spa package for all men who wish to ‘take time out’ called Gentleman’s Time. Soothe away those aches and pains with a deep tissue massage, then to cap a great experience refuel with a Gentleman’s Tea. This package includes, a 25 minute deep tissue massage, use of the Hydrotherapy Suite & Relaxation Rooms and a delicious Gentleman’s Tea. Only £55 per person

HAVE A HEART

Welsh Hearts, the leading heart charity in Wales is holding heart screening sessions throughout Wales!

The heart screening session is being held as a part of Welsh Hearts’ Campaign, The Danny Jones Memorial Fund. Danny, a Keighley Cougars player, who also represented Wales in the 2013 World Cup, tragically died at the age of 29 during a League 1 match against the London Skolars in 2015. Danny was suffering from a hereditary heart disease, cardiomyopathy.

This condition can be diagnosed by an echogram, something that was not available to Danny.

Appointments can be made by visiting the Welsh Hearts Website: www.welshhearts.org/ heartscreeningwales

Unfortunately, hundreds of young adults die each year from undiagnosed heart conditions – that’s hundreds too many. A simple ECG (electrocardiogram) will identify most cardiac abnormalities so that conditions can be managed.

SMARTEN UP

Morgan Menswear’s different. Having sussed that there’s real shortage of smart, high quality clothing for Men online and on the high street that isn’t stuffy and old, and realised there’s also a gap in the market for rarer labels they’ve carved themselves a nice little niche. And they have an amazing selection of colourful striped t-shirts, shirts and sweaters this Summer to liven up and bring your wardrobe to life.

Morgan Menswear, Morgan Arcade, Cardiff. t. 02920 227 877 www.morganmenswear.co.uk

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Treat your dad this Father’s Day (Sunday 18th June) Spoil your dad with a mouth-watering 3 course carvery lunch within Samphires Restaurant. Dad’s will also receive a free pint on us to celebrate their special day. Only £20 per person (½ for children)

Sharon Owen, Charity Director commented, “Welsh Hearts is pleased to be funding such a vital and lifesaving initiative. It is our mission to help protect and promote the heart health of people here in Wales.

Many people still associate heart disease and heart attacks with older people, however this is sadly not the case. But with screening we can make a massive difference and we will save lives.”

Limited to 18-35 year olds only, the test is painless, non-invasive and takes only 5-10 minutes to perform but could save your life and possibly other family members too if it reveals a hereditary condition.

This heart screening session will be part-funded

by Welsh Hearts and they’re only asking for a £35 donation to help towards the cost of the program.

With brands like Oliver Spencer, Kestin Hare, You Must Create, Universal Works, Livid Jeans and Fiorentini + Baker to name a few, they have some lovely, edgy but smart pieces that’ll take your look to a new level. Of the new arrivals, we’re particularly fond of the Oliver Spencer Portobello Jacket, Oliver Spencer green sneakers, East Harbour Surplus Crazy shirt and Kestin Hare Attadale polo.

LIFESTYLE

SEE AN ECHO Alex Echo, an American artist living full time in London, considers himself an ultimate outsider and one of the most successful, happiest, utterly unknown artists in the world. Over 37 years his artwork has been placed in collections of some of the world’s top corporations, institutions and celebrities. He also works relentlessly raising money for various charities and institutions from sales of his work using the proceeds of over £650,000 to date to support a range of great causes.

Sales from paintings at the prestigious Wallace Collection in London were used to rebuild an earthquake-destroyed school in southern China.

Royalties from sales of his “The Imagine Love” design SWATCH watch, went to over 80 children affected

by AIDS supporting their health care at a New York summer camp.

Creating the principle designs for the Paul Smith “Couture Women’s Wear Collection”, painting a bespoke guitar by request of Eric Clapton, to work with HRH Prince Charles and The Elephant Family project include just some of his diverse projects.

The guitar played by Clapton was later sold at auction to benefit Mr Clapton’s Crossroads Centre

rehab clinic in Antigua. Most recently he worked in cooperation with HRH Prince Charles and The Elephant Family in London, creating a one of a kind Tuk Tuk that was auctioned at the Prince’s private residence raising £52,000 that was dedicated to saving the Asian Elephant.

He has built a successful client base around the world with collectors including The Carter Centre, Jimmy and Roslyn Carter, HSH Prince Rainier of Monaco, The Princess Grace Foundation, Sir Paul Smith, Ted Turner, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Downey Jr. Madonna, Alain Boublil, The Estate of Dr Timothy Leary, Climate Change Capital, The Elephant Family, NIKE, Sony SWATCH Watch, AT&T, MGM, Gibson Guitars, Broadway Cares, APLA, Seagrams, Montblanc, The Elton John AIDS Foundation AMFAR and Absolut.

A collection of Alex’s original paintings is now available to buy from Castle Fine Art, situated in St David’s Dewi Sant. Visitors can expect a welcoming environment, with the Cardiff team hosting an exciting programme of art exhibitions and events for 2017. Alex will also be visiting the gallery to talk about his new collection, Imagine, on Saturday 8 July, from 1-4pm.

Images © Washington Green 2017

Castle Fine Art, Grand Arcade St David’s | Dewi Sant Cardiff, CF10 2ER 02922 130 100 cardiff@castlefineart.com

FOR INSTANT FUN, JUST ADD WATER As much as we love watching sport, there’s nothing quite like being part of the action by trying out new activities for yourself. Located a stone’s throw away from the city centre, Cardiff International White Water (CIWW), offers exhilarating sports for all abilities, including White Water Rafting, Indoor Wave and Air Trail.

Get thrown in at the deep end by hitting the white water course and enjoying the thrills and spills of Rafting. Descending the rapids is ideal for groups of friends (up to six people can ride in a raft), and guaranteed to inject some adrenaline into your free time.

Those who aren’t fans of water can get their kicks from the Air Trail high rope, steel and timber adventure course. Tackle the challenge of the Burma Bridge, Monkey Swing, Barrel Crawl and Zip Wire obstacles, towering above the white water.

You’ll find a café bar on site, as well as a large balcony that overlooks the water course – perfect for watching even more sport this summer!

Sessions cost from £10 per person; height restrictions apply; all kit and equipment will be supplied. To book, call 029 2082 9970, or visit www.ciww.com for more information.

Suitable for complete beginners, as well as board sport enthusiasts, Indoor Wave is available all year round at CIWW, even when the weather is misbehaving. The simulated bodyboard machine, FlowRider, features a double lane design, so you’ll have a blast showing off and comparing your newfound skills.

If exploring the great outdoors is more your thing, why not try Gorge Walking? This off-site activity in the scenic Neath Valley involves scrambling up and down rivers and streams, running through steep gorges and jumping into plunge pools. Don’t worry – training from expert instructors will be provided.

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LIFESTYLE

CHAPTER AND VERSE

It’s all happening at Chapter, Cardiff, this summer.

Proceedings kick off with Art Car Bootique on 28 May. As part of Cardiff ’s Russia 17 Festival, this year’s theme is Revolution! Reflecting on 100 years since the Revolution, organisers are asking artists and makers what Revolution looks like to them, transforming Chapter’s car park into a psychedelic village fete, jam-packed with an eclectic mix of artist projects and performances, live music, delicious street food and vintage fashion.

Revolution is rapidly followed by Flowers (8-10 June), a hilarious and anarchic display of distorted memory and lost loving families that isn’t for the faint-hearted, featuring live music, puppetry and improvisation. On 13-14 June, evergreen comedian and social activist Marc Thomas, invites his audience to help work out just what the future holds, creating a fantastical, hilarious and sometimes spookily accurate vision of the world.

Chapter Arts, Market Road, Cardiff CF5 1QE. Tel: 029 2030 4400 www.chapter.org

lamb pattie, veg pakora, cucumber raita and mango chutney. Pair your choice with a specially selected beer while enjoying some of the free live music on offer!

Then there’s the Megan Cope and Helen Johnson exhibition 1 July - 24 September, using the medium of painting, interrogating notions of identity, power and social history to explore the complex colonial relationship between Australia and Britain.

At The Cider & Perry Palooza (23 to 27 August) it’s time to grapple with the apple and share the pear. If you fancy a glass of Blaengawney’s Blindfold, Gwynt y Ddraig’s Black Dragon or Palmer’s Rubber Chicken, there will be varied selection of craft perry and cider from local Welsh producers, available from Chapter’s special festival bar.

From 29 June to 1 July it’s Chapter’s Burgerstock, with plenty of options to tempt your tastebuds, like: the Big Blue – beef pattie with deep fried pulled pork and blue cheese; the Y Byrger Mawr – lamb pattie, with Welsh rarebit and leeks; and the Indian – tandoori spiced

THE BRECONS BECKON AT THE KESTREL INN There’s nowt much more sating for the body and soul than a mildly challenging walk through beautiful countryside followed by a glorious meal and some fine ale or a glass or two of wine in a charming old inn.

And having sampled its wares a few months ago we can vouch for The Kestrel just outside Crickhowell on all counts.

Nestled in the Brecon Beacons this old drovers’ inn has been given a new lease of life by owners Richard and Fiona, having moved back to the UK after many years in France. They’re real foodies and have gone to great lengths to source the best local ingredients for their imaginative menu, serving them with panache and skill. This combination of great food, friendly service and stunning location makes the Kestrel a perfect and convenient getaway for anyone living in south Wales.

The Kestrel Inn, Brecon Road, Nr Crickhowell, Powys, NP8 1SB t. 01874 731044 e. richard@thekestrelinn.com www.thekestrelinn.com

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Of course, you don’t have to do the walking – you could just take a spin in the motor, enjoy a meal and take in the amazing views over the valley towards the Black Mountains from the beer garden. Or you could go the whole hog with a long walk, a hearty meal and a few drinks before settling in for the night, taking advantage of the spotless, modern bed and breakfast facilities. And then be treated to a full Welsh breakfast before you go again.

And as a special offer exclusively for RedHanded readers you can enjoy a night’s dinner, bed and breakfast for two for only £115 on a Wednesday or Thursday, or, book both nights for an awesome price of only £200 for two, including dinner.

CIDER & PERRY PALOOZA

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30 November - 3 December 30 Tachwedd - 3 Rhagfyr Half Page - Red Handed Magazine.indd 1

15/05/2017 13:29:54

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LIFESTYLE

CYMRU AM BYTH

Proud Kurd and adopted Welshman Agit Ceviz talks business, Wales and hopes for the future What’s your background?

I was born in south east Turkey in a Kurdish community, and arrived in the UK in 1996 to study International Business Management at what was then the University of Glamorgan. After graduating I settled in Pontyclun and started working at Bosch Siemens as a Stock Controller. Having fallen in love with Wales, I decided not to work abroad, which was a lucrative option, but to stay and make it my home.

After Bosch, my career took me to Panasonic in 2002, as a buyer. It was a great company to work for, with plenty of international travel (HK, Singapore, China and all over Europe), amazing training and some great managers, both British and Japanese, from whom I learnt an enormous amount about running a business.

Is this what spurred you to start setting up businesses?

I guess I always had an entrepreneurial spirit so I didn’t need much encouraging but yes, Panasonic gave me the skills, experience and confidence needed to make a success of it. I think working a for a good large company, allows you to learn and broaden skills that will always put you in good stead for a successful career if you choose to take advantage of them.

At first, I wasn’t a full-time businessman. My first venture was in 2005 when, with some business partners I helped to set up Troy, which was the first restaurant of its kind on City Road, with a proper Ocakbashi grill. I then set up Laviva which was followed by a meat product distribution and wholesale company supplying restaurants, takeaways and bars.

It became the fourth largest business of its kind in Wales, employing fifteen people, before I sold it in 2013. I’ve also invested in property, mainly back in Turkey, which has been interesting to say the least.

And now you’re at Chai in Roath?

Yes, an old friend Ray Sanddhu launched Chaiholics as a Chai house in 2014 and he asked me to come on board to move it to the next level. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to get back into the restaurant industry and I saw that Chai had tremendous potential. There were two branches, one in Cardiff, one in Singapore both specialising solely in Chai. In 2015 we added a lunch menu and a full a la carte evening menu that specialises in authentic Indian food, the type of which you’d see in Indian hotels, homes and street markets.

Since turning it into an Indian Bistro, Chai has gone from strength to strength, recently winning a Peoples Choice award for best restaurant in Wales. We’ve expanded the team and have a plan to roll out more over the next couple of years.

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You’re also an active member of Plaid Cymru, what made you get involved?

Wales has been good to me and I’ve chosen to make it my home so I always felt I should make a contribution. As someone who has come from circumstances that have not been easy, where Kurds in Turkey struggle to make a good living and have no voice, I realise just how fortunate I am to live in a country where the opposite is true. Because of this, I have always wanted to give something back. I do this in two ways. Firstly, I help the Turkish and Kurdish community in Wales, on a day to day level and having represented them at the European Parliament in Brussels. Secondly, through active support of Plaid which is increasingly important to me.

What was the appeal of Plaid?

I first got involved in 2005, through my work on behalf of the Kurdish community in the European Parliament. They seemed to be the only party that genuinely acknowledged the Kurdish issue in Turkey.

It quickly became clear that they were also the only party that really represented the best interests of Wales and want only what’s best for Wales. Since I’m as passionate about my adopted home in Wales as I am about my own background, it was natural for me to align with Plaid. I also believe that they’re the only party that cares about Welsh businesses, so there’s some self-interest there too!

What have you done to help the cause?

Initially, I just attended conferences, got to know some of the individuals and learnt more about their ideas and principles. I started campaigning in local council elections and then over the years my involvement has grown. I’m regularly pounding the streets campaigning, organising local election meetings, liaising with local businesses to canvas support and find out what matters to them etc.

We recently hosted the launch of the General Election Manifesto at Chai, which was attended by the Chief Executive, local candidates and filmed by the BBC. Ultimately, I’d like to see Plaid get a majority in the Assembly so it’s in a position to determine Wales’ future, push our case at Westminster much more effectively and obtain much more autonomy, so we can rebuild relations with Europe, with access to the single market for example.

I’ve never forgotten where I’m from and the lucky opportunities I’ve had. I just want to make sure that others have the same opportunities, whether they be Kurdish, European or Welsh and that’s what drives me.

Email: agitceviz@hotmail.com Twitter: @laviva2012

LIFESTYLE

THE COCKTAIL WORLD’S A STAGE At Lab 22 they try to be different. For many years Lab’s mixologists have been twisting and contorting a wonderful array of spirits, mixers and homemade syrups to give customers the greatest tasting Molecular cocktails that can be had in Wales and beyond (having recently set the Gold Standard at the Imbibe Awards, beating world renowned London bars). Whilst they can fix any of the great classic cocktails with aplomb, they’re just as comfortable pushing the envelope of what can be achieved when mixing new creations or ‘out-there’ takes on familiar themes. Think of it as a fine cocktail experience akin to the kind of dining you’d get in a Michelin starred restaurant.

But the Lab 22 experience doesn’t stop at the sensational taste of the cocktails, nor how prettily they’re presented. Far from it. They’ve sought to make their cocktails a real visual extravaganza – an event that’s as much theatre as it is taste. Something that stimulates all the senses – sight, sound smell and touch - and makes those who experience it involuntarily exclaim ‘wow’.

There are a number of cocktails that do this on Lab’s menu but here are three of our favourite examples.

in a crystal decanter using a smoke gun with smoke from mahogany wood chippings. It’s then served at your table with Crystal glasses - the explosion of smell and wafting of smoke when the decanter is unplugged and the cocktail poured is to die for.

Velvet Choco Chill A real show stealer. This little beauty set the Gold Standard at 2016 Imbibe Awards courtesy of its style and content. The content comes courtesy of a large measure of El Dorado Number 12 rum, John.D.Taylor’s Velvet Falernum, dry orange Curacao, Aztec chocolate bitters and smoked with Lab’s own woodchips. A hum-dinger of taste sensations.

The style is where the wow factor comes into its own - there’s a real sense of drama in its presentation at the table. Hidden in the cloud of smoke within the bell jar, the server unveils it with a magician’s flourish, by lifting the jar. The smoke billows, filling the air with a heady woodchip aroma, and disperses to reveal the gem of a cocktail beneath. Et voila.

Lab 22 Tea Making a Lab 22 Tea is as much performance art as mixology. Something easily seen with a Lab 22 Tea. Presented in a beautiful bone China tea set, it’s prepared using Hendricks Gin, Chai Infused Martini Rosso, Home-made Black Pepper bitters, Earl Grey syrup and Malic Acid. But the fun really starts with the infusion – smoke is added to the teapot in which the Tea is served and billows from the pot as it placed in front of you, creating a carpet of wonderfully fragrant smoke, before being poured into frozen China teacups. A whole new take on Britain’s favourite drink.

Rum Burgundy The name may be a playful pun on Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy but this is one serious cocktail. Mixed using Bacardi eight year old rum, Antica Sweet Vermouth, home-made vanilla and chocolate bitters and Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, it’s then infused

These are but a taste of what to expect when you For more information visit Lab 22. For the full experience you really have www.lab22cardiff.com while away an evening in Lab’s eclectic bar or even or visit 22 Caroline St, Cardiff better, attend one of their extremely popular cocktail from 5pm most nights. masterclasses.

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HEALTH & GROOMING Jason Jones says you need to eat more purple fruit. OK?

6 of the Best… Capsule Essentials

The concept of a capsule wardrobe has been knocking around the fashion world for decades, namely curating the contents of your closet to a few choice pieces of clobber that create the perfect put-together killer look. As the grooming industry has mushroomed into a multi-billionbuck business and the selection of products has swelled stratospherically, the need for a hard edit has become equally important to our grooming kit.

Enter the practice of capsuling, the hoarders’-hated practice of paring back the bathroom cabinet clutter to its bare minimum to concentrate the mind for maximum faff-free impact.

1. Malin+Goetz Sage Body Wash (236ml, £18) Capsule products are best if they perform double-duty, so this is brilliant because it’s a shower/ shampoo/bath trifecta. Plus, the crisply bosky smell of sage lingers on the skin and in the air. Win-win.

2. Anthony Conditioning Beard Wash (177ml, £26) New to the market and another multitasker. Not only does it do what it says on the tin and tame the old facial fur, but works well at moisturising and shining up the hair on your head too.

3. The Refinery Shave Foam Gel (125ml, £18) If the clean-cut look is more your thing, then this is the ne plus ultra of shaving creams.

Combining peppermint to cool the skin with its alcohol-free formula to hydrate it, the blade glide is so silkily smooth there’s no need for any pre- or postshave product paraphernalia.

4. Lush Dirty Styling Cream (104ml, £7.25) This is a great omni-purpose hair styler.

Whether your barnet is lank, frizz-curly or desert-dry, this will sort the hair wheat from the chaff without leaving it looking too fry-up greasy or rigor-mortis rigid.

5. Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Serum (30ml, £65) Potent without being pore-clagging, this lightweight cream packs a moisture-packing punch.

It’s a great all-rounder that brightens, tightens and leaves your face feeling like it’s been Botoxed minus the needles.

6. Dunhill London Icon Elite (100ml, £77) Fragrance finishes off any grooming routine and this gives great nose. Mixing basenotes of suede and wood with black pepper and cardamon, it is both classic and contemporary and good for work or play. Bonus: the jet-black, textured bottle looks artily cool on a bathroom shelf.

5 Simple Health Hacks Eat purple fruit: According to scientists at the University of Manchester, many degenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, are linked to poorly bound iron in food, which triggers the release of dangerous toxins in the body. Purple fruits are especially rich in chelators, substances that cling to iron, preventing this negative reaction and upping the immuneboosting benefits of the vitamin C in the fruit.

Drink cherry juice: The juice of the montmorency, a tart-tasting variety of cherry, reduces muscle pain caused by joint inflammation, arthritis or even exercise. The painkilling qualities are derived from the high content of compounds called anthocyanins in the cherries, which have healing properties.

Check your blood pressure: It’s estimated up to 60 per cent of men between 18 and 39 have high blood pressure, a prime source of chronic fatigue, but don’t realise it.

Take omega-3 oils daily: Research consistently shows compelling evidence of the myriad health gains of fish oils. They help prevent heart disease and cancer, especially of the prostate, as well as boosting memory power. Oily fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines are by far the best food source of omega-3, but if you don’t fancy eating fish every day take it in capsule form instead.

Get a massage: Studies show massage helps conquer three serious energy drainers – anxiety, headaches and muscle soreness. St David’s Hotel & Spa have a great variety to ease all ills. thestdavidshotel.com

Spa Gazing The Vale Resort, Hensol Park Signature treatment: Temple Spa My Kinda Skin (55 mins, £60) is a bespoke treatment that is designed to address your own specific skincare needs. The ultimate in personal service.

Prices: Given the ritziness of the joint and that, by definition, spa-ing is a luxury pursuit, the pricing here is remarkably competitive. The Classic Spa Day, including a 90-minute treatment of your choice, comes in at a reasonable 99 quid.

Service: High-end without any hoity-toitiness, the attention to detail is impressive.

The X Factor: It’s such a cover-all-bases destination.

As the name states, this 4-starrer really is a resort. It boasts, not only a clutch of bars and restaurants, but a state-of-the-art gym, a 20-metre swimming pool, tennis and squash courts and not one but two topflight golf courses that attract both amateurs and pros alike. It’s all set slap-bang in 650 acres of sprawling, lush countryside. All that, and it’s still only 15 minutes from Cardiff city centre so has the best of both worlds.

Score: A knockout 9 out of 10. vale-hotel.com

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The Kestrel Inn nestles in the foothills of The Black Mountains near Crickhowell, designed and built to offer a warm comfortable stay for passengers in horsedrawn coaches in centuries past. We now invite you to stay with us to enjoy The Brecon Beacons National Park, work up a healthy appetite and reward yourself with a cosy, relaxed dinner. We are proud to showcase many talented local producers and artisans as well as a wine list of more than 100 different wines from around the world.

New summer food and drink menu, still all locally sourced, including the new bottomless prosecco brunch.

Recently featured in the Sunday Telegraph’s top 30 brunches in the UK. Private hire available

pitchcardiff.com

Brecon Rd, Nr Crickhowell, Brecon Beacons National Park, NP8 1SB t.01874 731044 www.thekestrelinn.com facebook.com/thekestrelinn

3 Mill Lane Cardiff CF10 1FL t:029 2022 8882 e:bookings@pitchcardiff.com

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D LI M IT E S T IC K E T

ENG v NZ

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NZ v BAN

FRIDAY 09 JUNE

SRI v PAK

MONDAY 12 JUNE

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ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA SUNDAY 25 JUNE 2017, 2.30PM ADULT TICKETS £35-40 / UNDER 17S £10 GLAMORGANCRICKET.COM - 02920 419 311 (booking fee per ticket applies)

SPORT Forget snooker, Ray Reardon once got stuck down a mine! Riath Al-Samarrai explains all

Swans need a leader

Of all the lessons learned from Swansea’s horror show of a season, one is that you should never underestimate the value of the obvious. Namely, if you take away a team’s leader, you are in serious trouble. Quite aside from his merits as a centre-half, Ashley Williams was the heart and soul of that side. It is true that they did not want to sell him to Everton, but once it became apparent that he was going, heaven and earth should have been moved to find a personality capable of plugging the gap. If they had succeeded, it is a fair bet the campaign would not have been such an appalling mess.

The Warnock effect

Neil Warnock will have to wait at least a season to deliver the record-breaking eighth promotion he craves, but given where Cardiff were headed before he arrived, he can take a tremendous amount of credit for their mid-table finish. He riles people, but there can be no doubting he is among the very best men working in the second tier. He calls the Championship his ‘muck and nettles’ and he is a specialist at cutting a path through a uniquely difficult division that has made fools of many bigger names.

Rewriting the marathon rulebook

How tremendous to see Josh Griffiths rewrite the rulebook of marathon running. To recap, he is the 23-year-old club runner who was part of the mass start at the London Marathon and made himself a star a little more than two hours later. He not only caught the elite athletes who had set off before him, but he passed them, one by one, until he finished 13th, one place behind the Olympic silver medallist. RedHanded spoke to him moments after he crossed the line, when he explained he was a student from Cross Hands without a coach. He also revealed it was his first attempt at the 26-mile distance. What he didn’t immediately realise was that by being the first British runner to cross the line, he secured himself a place in Britain’s team for August’s World Championships. To illustrate the scale of that achievement, an official from British Athletics who was on site at the time had never heard of Griffiths.

Warren picks Wales

Warren Gatland must be the most loyal Welshman in New Zealand. It caused quite a stir that he went with 12 Welshmen for his 41-strong British Lions squad and only two Scots, with the rationale that Scotland’s form away from home was concerning. It seemed strange for him to consider such minutiae when set against an even more glaring statistic that shows that his Wales teams have lost all 10 of their games against New Zealand since he took over in 2007. After finishing fifth in the Six Nations, a few Welsh players can probably feel slightly fortunate to have been selected.

The ultimate rematch?

There are talks over bringing Anthony Joshua’s proposed rematch with Wladimir Klitschko to the Principality Stadium in October or November, owing to the fact it is just about the only arena big enough to host it. If the noise levels are anything like they were at Wembley, the ground might not have that roof much longer.

Old guys rule

A recent conversation with Tredegar’s Ray Reardon was wonderful on a couple of levels. One was because the six-time snooker world champion explained how, aged 84, he is still hitting centuries at a rate of one a fortnight. Another was because he proved once and for all how younger sportsmen simply cannot compete with the old guard when it comes to quality story telling. In the space of two hours he detailed how he was once trapped underground for three hours when he was a miner caught in a collapse. From there he shared a tale from his time as a policeman, when he walked in on a theatre nightwatchman who had ‘engaged in an act’ with a fire extinguisher. It was only towards the end of a long chat that sport even came up.

Compared to chats with the over-protected sportsmen today, who have been raised in sport academies and tutored in how to say nothing, it was a magnificent change of pace.

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Exquisite modern Japanese cuisine, using the freshest ingredients from sustainable sources.

The extensive menu features the best sushi, grilled meats, fish, rice and noodles, with both traditional Japanese favourites and dishes you may never have tried before. Dishes are healthy and alluring with something to suit every taste and pocket - you can enjoy a superb several course meal or just a light bite in a contemporary, informal and friendly setting where you can even watch the expert chefs at work in our open kitchen.

Special Offers

- Set Lunches and Dinners, Lunch Bento Boxes and Lunchbox Takeaways

Christmas Booking Available Now (contact Yakitori#1 for details)

Unit 10, Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff CF10 5BZ. Tel. 02920 495050

www.yakitori1.co.uk

twitter @1yakitori | Facebook 1yakitori Mon - Thurs 12pm - 10.30pm Fri - Sun 12pm - 11pm Takeaway available

True French Cuisine Traditional Sunday lunch (Penarth) Petits Plas French tapas now available Tues-Thurs lunch and evening Bar area for cocktails (Penarth)

185 Cowbridge Rd East, Cardiff, CF11 9AJ 029 2022 4959 Thurs-Sat 12-3 & Tues-Sat 6-10 www.chez-francis.co.uk

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1 Glebe St, Penarth CF64 1EE 029 2070 2429 Tues-Sat 12-3 & 6-10. Sun 12-3

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Thanks to Victoria Park Mazda, Hadfield Road, Cardiff. www.victoriapark-mazda.co.uk

Mazda MX5 RF Lovely. That’s my first, instinctive reaction to the sight of the Mazda MX5 RF. Mazda has used the addition of a tin top to the MX5 as an opportunity to play with the styling and the result is stunning. Its new roofline reminds me of a classic Ferrari Dino or Triumph GT6 (also an Italian design from the ‘60’s) in the way the roof buttress slopes to meet the rising high hip of the rear wheel arch. It’s beautifully proportioned and has so much more panache than the rag-top or indeed the old folding hardtop.

It’s also a clever, effective design. As you’d expect, when raised, the tin roof makes for a more comfortable, refined and quieter cabin than the rag-top. But at the touch of a button the mid-section of the roof lifts, Targa style, and folds away invisibly underneath the rear buttresses, which then serve to give some protection from the elements while allowing you to enjoy proper al fresco driving. It really is the best of all worlds – stylish, comfortable and invigorating.

It’s also worth noting that not only does the rear folding roof look great in isolation, it also blends seamlessly with the MX5’s overall design. It’s almost as though the MX5’s curves, lines and general shape were designed from the outset with the ‘Targa’ roof in mind.

Mazda has tweaked the RF’s chassis adding more strength and a tad more firmness to try to preserve the rag-tops excellent handling. And it works - you’d never guess the RF is 45kg heavier (having said that, it’s still way lighter than most ‘sports’ cars). Mazda’s ‘SkyActiv’ philosophy of minimal weight lends itself perfectly to a stripped down, two seater sportscar.

Combined with a cracking suspension set up and lovely direct, balanced steering that provides oodles of feedback, you have a car that grips likes a limpet and

puts a huge smile on your face as you throw it through corners.

Performance, though not outrageous, is brisk and certainly fast enough for a car that majors on fun rather than outright speed. With 158bhp, the 2.0 litre engine is good for 134mph and a 0-62 of 7.4 seconds giving you plenty of mid-range punch for overtaking.

But that’s only half the story. A high compression ratio and the absence of a turbo means it revs freely and comes alive above 2000. With a sweet-as-a-nut gearbox and nimble handling you can get close to supercar levels of fun without having to drive at licence-losing speeds.

Even though the MX5 is all about fun there are practical considerations to factor in. It’s a close-fitting cabin, as you’d expect from a small lightweight sports car but still comfortable, even for my 6ft plus frame.

The boot, whilst usable, is compact. That aside, there aren’t any compromises. The driving position is great and the seats are supportive, even after a day’s driving.

The dash is clear and well laid out whilst fit and finish are up to usual Mazda standards with knurled chrome switch-gear, carbon fibre and ebony-effect inserts.

There’s also plenty of kit, such as a snazzy 7 inch infotainment screen.

At speed and with the roof up the RF is pretty refined – you can hear some wind noise but it’s not intrusive and it’s certainly a step up from the fabric convertible. Despite the firm suspension it irons out road imperfections well and soaked up the worst the Vale’s backroads could throw at it. To live with day in day out, it would be fine.

To sum up, the MX5 RF maintains all the attributes of the full convertible but dials in more sophistication, refinement and style. What’s not to love?

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“Close to supercar levels of fun without having to drive at licencelosing speeds”

Top speed: 134mph 0-62: 7.4secs CO2: 161g MPG: 40.9 Price: £23,395 REDHANDED 59

ITALIAN FLAIR COMES TO TOWN

Maserati Levante

“Handling is safe, predictable and entertaining”

0-62mph: 5.9 secs Top speed: 143mph MPG: 39 CO2: 189gr/km Price: £54,335

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Maserati. Say it again, slowly. Sounds great doesn’t it?

And what a pedigree - F1 winners, ground-breaking designers of the superlative ‘60’s Ghibli and 70’s Bora. Shame then, that, despite a recent return to form, it’s still not perceived as being up there with the big beasts, such as Porsche or Jag. Which is why the Levante is probably the most important car in Maserati’s history. As an SUV, it can tap into a market that’s far bigger than the marque’s traditional stomping grounds of posh GT’s and sports cars to further build and improve the brand.

But how does an SUV fit with the company’s ethos?

Ask Maserati about its decision to build an SUV and the company will swiftly point out that the Levante is first-and foremost a Maserati. What that means is, they see this not as a traditional load-lugging SUV, but rather, as a GT car with enough pace, grace and space to uphold customer expectations, and lure buyers away from other brands.

It’s also the first model in ages to be designed and built without external meddling and with the benefit of state of the art design and production facilities.

This isn’t to say that Maserati hasn’t already tackled reliability and quality issues. Those have been nailed.

And it’s worth adding the Quattroporte remains one of our favourite cars to drive in all the years we’ve been running road tests, so they clearly know how to create a beautiful piece of automotive design.

It’s off to a great start. While other big SUVs look awkward or flash, as they try to marry familial design cues with the height and form required for an SUV, the Maser succeeds in creating something elegant and GT-like. This is perhaps because a large grille is intrinsic to the marque’s design language, that’s a far more attractive and better resolved proposition than anything else in the sector.

Inside, like the rest of the range, it has an Italian panache and sense of occasion that’s rare in functional German and trad-Brit alternatives. There are acres of

sumptuous leather and it’s all very plush but it’s the little touches that do it – the oval clock for example and an option to spec silk trim. It’s spacious with comfy seats and comes well specced, with a nice big, easy to use, touch sensitive infotainment screen.

Fire the V6 diesel up and the first thing you notice is the sound – just as a Maserati should! A sporting throb and thrum you have no right to expect from a diesel – making it the best sounding oil burner we’ve come across. On the move, it has sufficient oomph to please with 275bhp and 442lb ft of torque on hand, allowing it to do 0-60 in 6.9secs and overtake without fanfare. The CO2 of 189 and an mpg of 39 are respectable too. It is a match for most of its rivals, though it won’t embarrass them – outright performance doesn’t quite match that of a diesel V8, and for the moment, the faster petrol V8 isn’t available in the UK. Still, it’s a thoroughly decent, refined engine that will satisfy most and sounds lovely, which counts for much in a segment that’s rather lacking in passion.

Handling is safe, predictable and entertaining, thanks to air suspension as standard, 50/50 weight distribution and a chassis that’s derived from Ghibli/ Quattroporte. It corners flat, with plenty of grip and feels alive unlike some SUVs that may corner better, but where big tyres and firm suspension numb the senses. Ride and refinement are good too, probably for the same reasons – compliant suspension and sensibly sized tyres. Not that we tested it, but off-road performance is by all accounts none too shabby either.

So, it looks like Maserati are on to a winner and anyone in the market for a characterful, interesting, attractive SUV has a real alternative to check out. And there’s one more factor that will be a big plus for many – exclusivity. It may be reasonably priced, but, thanks to limited production numbers, they’ll be something of a rarity at the school sports day.

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UK’S 1ST AUTHENTIC CHAI INDIAN BISTRO Open Monday – Saturday offering a unique LUNCH menu from 12:00PM – 3:00PM and an award winning Indian kitchen serving DINNER from 6:00PM onwards till late.

Discover it for yourself.

hen serving DINNER

Chai (formerly known as Chaiholics) is widely regarded as the best and most authentic Indian bistro in Cardiff and renowned for its tea-based organic cocktails and exceptional service.

By day, it is a favourite meeting place to savour a hot, fresh cup of chai/pot of tea, to enjoy freshly prepared lunch cooked with organic spices and ingredients whilst discussing the day’s events.

By night, experience our award winning, fresh and delightful Indian cuisine. Try our signa-ture dishes which includes Truck Stop Chicken and our popular Indian Railway Lamb Curry. Wash it all down with our tea based cocktails; a combination of tea and alcohol infused for that exceptional taste.

The perfect venue for that special occasion whether it be a birthday anniversary, hen night or business. www.chaiholics.com / 029 20 495 975 / Chai (formerly Chaiholics), Unit 6, The Globe Centre, Wellfield Rd, Cardiff CF24 3PE

Conceptual fusion restaurant and cocktail bar in the heart of Penarth Tel: 02920 090060 Email: enquiries@etc-penarth.com Book Online: www.etc-penarth.com

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Restaurants & Bars Lamb & Flag - Wick

The Lamb & Flag, a quaint public house in the village of Wick, has been re-energised on the food front with chef John Cook (he of Arbennig restaurant fame) stripping down the menu for the summer months.

Sometimes, when you enter a new watering hole outside of your regular patch, you get that unnerving death stare from the bar. Fortunately, we’re greeted by warm smiles from both punters and staff.

My friend and I nestle in with the locals and order two red wines (there are plenty of ales and lagers available for proper drinkers). My friend sips on a sweet, Chilean Merlot whereas I sup on a very agreeable Shiraz from South Africa.

My friend tells me she wants to forgo a starter but I’m not so foolish and plump for the tempura chicken strips coated in a honey mustard dressing. The battered chicken is tender and crispy with the dressing adding a

pleasant sweet kick. Inevitably, my friend wants to try one and I begrudgingly let her in on the starter action.

For mains, my friend chows down on a mighty aged beef burger that also includes a brisket ragout (essentially, slow-cooked pulled beef). Topped with cheddar, bacon and balsamic mayo, it was a masterpiece with crispy, triple-cooked chips finishing off the plate.

I also go big with a hearty sirloin steak and all the trimmings. Served medium rare, tender and full of flavour. Perfect. For dessert, my friend orders crushed strawberry pavlova and raspberry sorbet whilst I go for Josie’s chocolate & hazelnut cheesecake with salted caramel ice cream. The pavlova is crisp and light and neatly accompanied by the sweetness of the sorbet. The chocolate & hazelnut cheesecake is so tasty you can understand why Josie wanted to put her name to it.

Good honest pub grub in welcoming surroundings.

Lamb & Flag Church Street Wick CF71 7QE 01656 890278

The Kings Arms - Pentyrch, Cardiff The Kings Arms is a beautiful longhouse gastro pub located in the village of Pentyrch. New owners Owen and Helena have given the Grade II listed building a lovely freshen up whilst retaining the features that make this public house so popular such as the impressive stone walls, roaring open fireplace and expansive beer garden.

My dining partner and I begin with a couple of glasses of red; I opt for a rich, juicy Malbec whilst she takes on a lighter, sweet Tinto. To start, I have the pork loin ribs marinated in chocolate and chilli with a hickory BBQ sauce. It is a fantastic dish; the succulent, tender meat pulls away so easily from the bone whilst the sauce dances on the palette invitingly. My partner's sweet potato, quinoa and kale fritters with a white bean puree dip are light and crispy.

For mains, my Welsh raised lamb & apricot pie is chock-full of flavour. The lamb is cooked beautifully and the apricot brings a nice sweetness. It's accompanied by bacon and herb mash, spring greens

and red wine gravy. My partner takes on the pan-fried seabass with spicy chorizo, crushed potatoes and salsa verde. The seabass is both fresh and sweet, whilst the spicy chorizo and salsa verde bring subtle heat and zing to the plate.

For dessert, I make room for sticky gingerbread sponge cake with vanilla pod custard whilst my partner orders pear, vanilla and hazelnut tart with pouring cream.

Both are a delight with approving noises coming from both parties. The sponge cake is firm and fluffy and the custard smooth. The tart is wonderfully fruity with a crumbly shell and lashings of cream completing the dish. We loved The Kings Arms before, but this visit has taken our affections to a whole new level.

The Kings Arms Church Road Cardiff CF15 9FQ 029 2089 0202 kingsarmspentyrch.com

things sweet? Or maybe a bit more sharp? Once we make our decisions the drinks are served up.

They are both bang on the money. The Caipirinha, to my taste, is sharp and refreshing. The Strawberry Cheese is a delightful, boozy dessert in a glass. Away from the bulging cocktail list, there's an exhaustive list of gins, wines, prosseco and also some excellent craft ales courtesy of local brewers Crafty Devil. Bootlegger's mantra is that it's a place for ordinary people to have a great time. We concur.

The Bootlegger 5A Womanby Street Cardiff CF10 1BR 029 2037 3482 cardiffbootlegger.co.uk @CdfBootlegger

The Bootlegger - Womanby Street, Cardiff A wicked slice of prohibition New York has made its way to Cardiff city centre. Conceived by Haverfordwest siblings Lee and Gary Miller, Bootlegger has all the cool hallmarks of a 1920s speakeasy but without the fear of being shut down by the Feds.

Situated in the heart of Womanby Street, the Miller boys have done a fine job with the interior. The stair entrance welcomes you to a spacious room split on two levels. At the top, a Gin Bar choc-full of fine booze and fresh fruit ready for the cocktail shaker (there are a whopping 120 on offer). Below a short flight of stairs is where the live music takes place with artists turning out soul, jazz, blues, 50’s/60’s rock’n’roll and funk. The live music is nightly and entry free (there's also ample space to shake your thing).

My friend and I decide to take full advantage of happy hour (like the live music, constant throughout the week). I order a Caipirinha and my friend chooses a Strawberry Cheesecake (each to their own). Mixologist Drew is great company and rather than just slamming all the ingredients together and shaking them up, he asks us about our personal tipple tastes. Do we like

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Restaurants & Bars

Porro

57 Wellfield Road, Roath, Cardiff. Tel: 029 2240 2200 www.porrocardiff.com

The clue’s in the name. ‘Porro’, Italian for the most Welsh of vegetables, leek. And this encapsulates the vision of the people behind Porro. Having cut their teeth at The Potted Pig, they’ve combined their love of British/Welsh cuisine with a passion for Italian food and created a menu that fuses both in a cool, sophisticated space. It’s now open in Roath, a smart addition to their Llandaff site.

We’re off to a great start with Nduya (a Calabrian spicy sausage) with a, very British, poached egg on sourdough toast - a deep, full flavoured, spicy hit mellowed by a dash of delightful olive oil and a perfectly cooked egg.

My main course was a revelation – Gurnard. For so long thrown back by trawlers, it was stunning. A slightly denser, meaty rather than fishy, white fish roasted and served in a garlic and stock sauce with

capers and crab. Accompanied by fresh seasonal purple sprouting broccoli and a cracking roasted potato cake it made for a balanced, multi-layered and simply lovely dish.

Same story with A’s Ricotta Gnudi. Such an elegantly simple idea – but so effective. Little balls of quality ricotta and parmesan left to set in semolina then deep fried. The crunchy outside but pillowy soft inside and slightly salty ricotta pairs perfectly with the taste and texture of the accompanying sage butter, Pangritata and purple broccoli.

We’ve also got to mention the deep fried Jerusalem artichokes with Truffle oil side – stunningly sweet, nutty and mellow, rather like the heady aroma of fresh pipe tobacco.

I rounded mine off with a rich, indulgent Dark Chocolate Torte accompanied by a delicately salted caramel and crunchy hazelnut ice-cream. A went for the Tiramisu Parfait, a compact and rewarding take on the flavours of the classic Italian desert.

Chez Francis - Penarth

21 Glebe St, Penarth CF64 1EE. tel. 029 2070 2429 www.chez-francis.co.uk

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Where’s best in Penarth for a leisurely lunch on a wet Wednesday afternoon? I nominate the fabulous Chez Francis. Having recently worked with Welsh national treasure Ivor Davies, I wished to thank him with a memorable meal; a fluent French speaker, and a native to Penarth, he’d never been to Chez Francis.

I, on the other hand, still dreamt of the French Onion Soup and Tart Tatin I’d tasted at Francis Dupuy’s original restaurant in Canton. Keen to discover how the recently-opened Penarth branch compared, I must say, I was most impressed. The restaurant is located in a quiet spot on Glebe Street, a stone’s throw from busy Windsor Road. Raphael , at front of house, was an attentive host, who happily guided us through the 2 courses for £19.95 lunch menu.

Ivor’s soup of the day – a seasonal vegetable broth - was a heart-warming start to the meal. My onion tart was a bittersweet treat, served with lightly dressed salad leaves. The rich puff pastry was artfully undercut by a sharp balsamic glaze. A cool, full-bodied, glass of Picpoul de Pinet was the perfect white wine selection with both dishes.

The main course was rather a no-brainer choice for us both, as we eagerly plumped for the coq au vin, served with mashed potato. As the rich red-wine stew coated the succulent chicken, the meat fell off the bone like a dream. There is nothing more comforting on a rainy weekday than this perennial French menu favourite.

Too stuffed for dessert, we vowed to return to sample further menu delights. This is traditional French

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cooking, with a warm Welsh twist, brought to the table with great heart and integrity. Chez Francis Penarth retains the charm of its original branch, and offers another home away from home.

“As the rich red-wine stew coated the succulent chicken, the meat fell off the bone like a dream”.

Danny Jones Heart Screening for Wales Appeal Welsh Hearts, the heart Charity for Wales offer heartscreening sessions across Wales for 18 - 35 year olds.

Welsh International and Keighley Cougars Rugby League player Danny Jones, died aged 29 after suffering a cardiac arrest during a match in May 2015.

Post mortem results showed that he died of cardiomyopathy, an inherited condition that can be diagnosed following an echocardiogram screening which was not available to Danny.

Like Danny, hundreds of people die of an undiagnosed heart condition in Wales each year.

Help us to get every young heart screened in Wales and save more lives!

To donate to the Welsh Hearts Screening fund and to help us screen more young people for undiagnosed heart conditions visit our website welshhearts.org/donate

“This is a great initiative from Welsh Hearts that will hopefully prevent lives being lost from undiagnosed heart conditions. I’ve worked closely with Welsh Hearts for a number of years and they do a fantastic job in raising the awareness of heart conditions as well as screening across Wales.”

Sam Warburton.

To book your heart screening ession call us today on 02922 40 26 70 or go to welshhearts.org/screenings welshhearts.org WelshHearts Registered charity 1154109.

wh_195x128_dannyjones_01.indd 1

09/05/2017 15:13

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BOOK & FILMS

Jason Jones feels the sharp end of A.A. Gill’s remarkable wit

LINES IN THE SAND

TOAST HASH ROAST MASH

When revered/reviled journalist A.A. Gill died last year he became one of a long list of creatives lost during 2016. He was also one of the most controversial.

During his two decades-plus of prolific output at The Sunday Times, he coruscatingly critiqued restaurants and television as well as opened a window on the world with his travel writing. In the process he pricked a few overblown egos – Gordon Ramsay famously threw him out of one of his restaurants after a savage review – and angered a great swathe of his readership with his defiantly politically-incorrect pieces. Tellingly, after his death even the people who got the sharp end of his pen paid tribute, such was his towering talent.

According to a survey, us Brits on average own six cookbooks a piece but staggeringly nearly half of us admit to never opening their covers. This is due to our time poverty so we get ready meal- and Deliveroo-happy. It’s also because cookbooks have become too aspirational (code for unattainable). So we don’t even begin to try and it’s also partly because more and more of us are buying cookery tomes as coffee table books “to decorate our homes in order to signpost our lifestyle”. Eh?

A.A. Gill £20, Weidenfeld & Nicholson

That talent is wrangled into this anthology of his most recent journalism. The range is impressively diverse.

From binge-drinking to Brexit to a brutal and hilarious takedown of Morrissey’s pompous autobiography, his writing, within the space of a few sentences, is honest, lyrical, awestriking, damning, funny but, most importantly, not sentimental or condescending. Never is this more evident than when he casually announces he has cancer at the beginning of a restaurant review.

Equally unsentimental is Gill’s chronicling of his NHS treatment disproving the hoary, old dictum that money can’t buy you health. A fitting parting-shot from a perma-polariser who will be sorely missed.

Adam Kennedy slips into his snuggest Speedos for the reboot of…

Baywatch!

Dan Doherty £20, Mitchell Beazley

Dan Doherty, big-cheese chef at London’s much-lauded Duck & Waffle restaurant, attempts to take the ‘eh?’ out of what is essentially just cooking food for fuel and pleasure by opting for a more do-able approach. So, we get hearty, informal recipes for tacos, toasted sarnies, leftovers and a load of different ways to make eggs.

(You know, food we actually eat everyday in the real world rather than the drizzles and reductions of Planet Restaurant where Doherty usually lives.) The most real recipes are in the chapter devoted to culinary hangover cures that use – shock! horror! – shop-bought ingredients like the fast-food classic the potato waffle.

A rib-sticking riposte to the current foodie fad of socalled ‘clean eating’, A.A. Gill would likely approve.

THE PROMISE

ALIEN: COVENANT

A few notable exceptions aside, Christian Bale rarely does light-hearted, and that is certainly the case with this early 20th century drama, based on true events. It catapults the Haverfordwest-born A-lister into the dying days of the Ottoman Empire and the lead-up to the Armenian genocide. Bale, sporting a prodigious beard, is an American journalist. He ends up entangled in matters of love and war in the midst of historic brutality, with his trademark intensity blazing a trail through The Promise. A century later, the issues in the movie are still raw. Turkey and Armenia still disagree over the bloody events, but this window into the time is compelling.

For fans of: Exodus: Gods and Kings; War Horse Verdict: Not for the faint-hearted 4/5

It’s been a long wait. It’s been five years since the end of Alien prequel Prometheus teased us with a shot of the original movie’s extra-terrestrial monster. Has it been worth it? Well, with three of the Prometheus cast returning, including Michael Fassbender’s brilliantly disconnected android, there’s a sense of continuity.

And the plot variation – couples sent to colonise an Earth-like planet with perhaps predictably unpleasant gory results – keeps the franchise moving forward with plenty of frights en route.

For fans of: Prometheus; Alien Verdict: An out of this world horror 3/5

BAYWATCH You have already assumed that this reboot of the popular 1990s TV series/porn-lite titillation-fest is going to be garbage. And essentially you’re right, but it approaches the task with tongue in cheek. From the phallic beach balls and surfboard poster onwards, there’s ‘bulge in trousers’ enough to make it at least mildly diverting trash. Which means among slo-mo shots, original cast cameos and scarcely palatable plot involving some criminal palaver, there are enough willy gags. The silly humour – thanks to being from the people behind Horrible Bosses – is mostly enough to keep your attention. Bonus: you get to witness Zac Efron being emasculated by the surprisingly likeable Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who slightly incongruously plays the character made famous by David Hasselhoff.

For fans of: Central Intelligence; Horrible Bosses; Baywatch (the TV series) Verdict: Watch out, The Rock’s about 2/5

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“Wonderful food and the warmest of welcomes”

Zoe Williams, The Daily Telegraph

“We aim to create a dining experience our guests will not forget”

Restaurant James Sommerin The Esplanade. Penarth, CF64 3AU Tel. 029 20706559 www.jamessommerinrestaurant.co.uk

James Sommerin

Arbennig is a family owned restaurant situated in the leafy streets of Pontcanna, Cardiff.

We change our menu every week to ensure that we only use the finest seasonal produce, to guarantee that our customers only get the best.

Michelin recommended Listed in the Good Food Guide 2015, 2016, 2017

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GIGS Mike Dennis, Gwdihw, Cardiff

Jane ‘Jukebox’ Williams,The Bootlegger, Cardiff

Regular contributor to Cardiff ’s Grassroots music scene Mike Dennis returns to the capital as part of his ‘Junction 19’ EP launch tour.

In addition to Bootlegger’s usual repertoire of swing, blues, soul, jazz and 50’s/60’s rock’n’roll they’re prepared to chance their arm with something a little different once in a while. So it was with Jukebox Jane.

An intimate affair with a relaxed atmosphere and, with ukulele in hand, her powerful yet melodic voice resonated throughout the venue. She performed a variety of eclectic covers, including songs from E.L.O., Joni Mitchell and Fair Ground Attraction. All of which were reworked for ukulele and voice only - the structure and melodies remained but stripped to the bare bones - but she still managed to get across the emotion of the originals.

Beginning with an organic beat overlaid with violin segments played and then recorded live, Dennis loops each new segment over the last adding further layers to create a rich, hypnotic soundscape. Once the atmosphere is fully formed he then raps over the music creating his own highly individual brand of hip hop, which he calls ‘Violinica’. It’s a technique that’s been crafted and polished to a fine art and is incredibly distinctive.

Highlights of the show include ‘Men with Guns’, a crowd pleaser that allows him to show off his more comedic side. Snappy, quick-fire rhymes combine with a political edge and razor sharp humour. By way of contrast he slows things down with ‘Undo’ a more melodic track that showcases his softer side with its smooth groove and lyrics.

Dennis is an artist in the truest sense of the word. I’ve seen him play several times and I have never seen him make a mistake or have to start a track over. Perfection.

With Cardiff a regular haunt keep an eye out for his next gig, or if you can’t wait for that, check out his EP, you won’t regret it.

Her rendition of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ was wistful, melancholic and uplifting, a wonderfully different take on an iconic 90’s song. I’m a sucker for classic rock and Jane’s take on Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ was a pleasure to behold, so much so that I found myself involuntarily singing along with glee. Nor was she afraid to turn her hand to more modern music. Her performance of Rag’n’Bone Man’s ‘Human’ was deeply soulful, her voice suited to this style of music.

Jane performs mainly in Wales and the South West on a regular basis solo and as part of ‘Omega Two’ where she performs alongside Pete Mathison. She has also rehearsed and recorded with Sir Van Morrison. High praise indeed but no surprise once you’ve heard her. A must see and a cool venue.

Theatres of Dreams There’s an action-packed programme coming to St David’s Hall with cracking kids’ shows, superb stand-up comedy and captivating classical concerts.

Keep the little ones entertained with hilarious Aussie musical group The Wiggles (Sun 6 Aug), whilst teenagers will love the perfect parody and OTT rants of Miranda Sings (Mon 25 Sept).

There’s classical music too with the Family Prom (Sun 23 July) performed by Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra and guest host, Connie Fisher. The Dance-Off features popular pieces from Beauty and the Beast, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. CPO also celebrate their 35th birthday with The Glory of Strauss & Elgar (Sat 15 July).

In the autumn, there’s The John Wilson Orchestra (Thurs 30 Nov) in A Celebration of the MGM Film Musicals.

Plus, the 2017/18 International Concert Season offers 12 more breath-taking performances starting with St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and pianist John Lill (Tues 17 October) Comedy shows include Jon Richardson (Thurs 28 Sept & Sun 1 Oct) and Russell Brand (Weds 11 Oct & Tues 27 Feb). Gardeners will love Monty Don (Thurs 2 Nov), and equally fascinating is Ray Mears (Thurs 19 Oct).

The Starman’s spirit lives on in The Bowie Experience (Fri 14 July), and similarly quirky is the weird and wonderful world of The Spooky Men’s Chorale (Weds 12 July) and the scary and sinister Psychopath Night from Cardiff ’s world-renowned author, Jon Ronson (Thurs 16 Nov)!

For more info and tickets: www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk or Call: 02920 878444 The New Theatre Cardiff also plays host to a fantastic mix of musicals, thrillers, drama and comedy this summer season.

In June THE WOMAN IN BLACK (6 – 10 June) “The most brilliantly effective spine –chiller you will ever encounter”(Daily Telegraph) comes to the stage followed by a new production of THE GRADUATE, (20 – 24 June) based on the Oscar winning film with a memorable 60’s sound track. Jodie Prenger then stars in the first major revival of feel good classic SHIRLEY VALENTINE (27 June – 1 July).

Ian Hislop’s THE WIPERS TIMES (12 – 16 Sept) explores satire on the front line during WWI. BUDDY (4 – 8 July) – the world’s most successful rock & roll musical - also makes a welcome return this summer, as does children’s favourites BEN AND HOLLY’S LITTLE KINGDOM( 15- 16 July) and PEPPA PIG (25-26 Oct).

CILLA THE MUSICAL (31 Oct – 4 Nov) is a brand new show charting Cilla’s rise from an ordinary girl with teenage dreams to one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers. Along with CABARET (17-21 Oct), and BLOOD BROTHERS (26 – 30 Sept) this autumn, there is plenty of opportunity to have a great night out!

Visit www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk or call 029 20878889 for more info and tickets.

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Designer: Alan Chaston Additional design: Emily Hicks, James Meredith Sub-editor: Paul Spencer

Music: Michael Took Health And Grooming: Jason Jones Sport: Riath Al Samarrai Riath Al Samarrai, Bennett Arron, Phil Boucher, Gwynn Davis, Niall Griffiths, Jason Jones, Adam Kennedy, Greg Laing, Ana Klein, Arman Rahman, Madoc Roberts, David Rogers, Owain Taylor Shaw, David Took, Michael Took, Nigel West, David Whitley Photography: Mei Lewis MissionPhotographic.Com

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VEND IT LIKE MORGAN RedHanded: Tell us about the idea for the business?

Scott Morgan: It all started when I was playing rugby.

After matches or training we’d go home, and just play Call of Duty. At 30 years of age, I thought I should be doing something more constructive so I built a website selling sports nutrition products. I came up with a solution where people could buy them in vending machines at gyms and training grounds too.

RH: How has your experience as a professional rugby player helped?

SM: I wasn’t the most gifted player but I got where I did through adaptability, hard work and a dedication to be as fit and as good as I could. If you apply that mindset to business - work harder, be dedicated and make sacrifices - you’ll get there.

RH: So where has the business come from and where is it now?

SM: My dad and I started out of the back of an estate car with four vending machines, running all over the country while still playing rugby to see if the concept would work. Then quickly got up to twenty machines but still working out of my garage at home. The first year turned over about £50k but four years on we’ve now got hundreds of vending machines turning over £3.5 million. It’s an incredible story to be honest and a monument to my dad, who has since passed away.

RH: What type of challenges have you had to overcome?

SM: Growing so fast has presented problems such as cash burn and we’ve had to think of new ways to maintain cash flow. We’ve had to do things that are way outside of our comfort zone. There’s always a solution to a problem even if it may not be desirable and you’ve got to be willing to learn - especially from mistakes.

RH: How did you go about building a team?

SM: We started very small and grew steadily to the 18 people we have now. As you go forward you reassess as the shape of the business and its requirements change and the type of people we need changes.

That’s the nature of the beast. I’m very proud of

where we’ve got to with the teams we’ve had. But to go again I need to look at what’s needed to get us to the next stage.

RH: How have you gone about financing it? Has Finance Wales always been involved?

SM: No, at the very start I put my own funding in to it. Then I got a start-up loan from Finance Wales plus investment through xénos, the Wales Business Angel Network. The business angel investment was as much about tapping into his knowledge and experience.

Whilst I knew the concept and what I wanted to achieve I had no idea how to manage growth in the business. Nigel was able to help me with that. Having worked with Barry Davies as a player and coach, he invested in the business and took a role too. Then Finance Wales came in again 18 months ago and we’re kicking on again.

Scott Morgan, expro rugby player, coach and MD of Nutrivend talks about making the transition from start-up to a sustainable highgrowth company

RH: What has been Finance Wales’ input?

SM: The financial backing and support has been crucial. The ability to take on bigger projects – providing there’s a business case, means the sky’s the limit essentially. It also allows us to really manage the business and keep focussed on what we’re trying to achieve and keep on track. They are always on hand for advice and assistance when we need it and support us in everything we’re doing.

RH: What are Nutrivend’s next steps?

SM: Keep growing and exploit all opportunities.

Put in place policies, procedures and internal structures that will allow us to kick-on in a stable and controlled way. When you get to a critical mass you need to be able to exploit the growth of the market – and not just tread water. We want to be aggressive and at the forefront of everything that’s going on.

RH: If you were talking to a younger self, what advice would you give?

SM: Everyone makes mistakes – just don’t make the same mistake twice. And always employ people who can do their job better than you can do it! www.nutrivend.co.uk

Nutrivend “Nutrivend is a great example of a company that has gone from a microloan through to a bigger follow-on equity investment. They have a great business plan and are now taking advantage of funding available from us to really grow their company. We wish them the very best. We pride ourselves on being a flexible funder and offer investments from £1,000 to £3 million. We also work with our existing portfolio to find opportunities to help them develop through additional funding and support.”

Sam Macalister-Smith, Portfolio Executive, Finance Wales www.financewales.co.uk @financewales

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THE BIG CELL Andrew Davies, MD of RWG Mobile explains the thinking and plans behind the launch of its dedicated mobile phone service for Wales

RedHanded: Tell us about the idea?

Andrew Davies: Having been involved with mobile virtual network operators before, and being Welsh, I just wondered why there was nothing Welsh in this market space so decided to do something about it.

RH: What does RWG do?

AD: At its core, RWG Mobile is a Pay as you go mobile network that offers the same level of coverage as our network partner, Three, including access to 4G networks but our smart technology means we offer more than that. Smartphone and tablet users can, via an app make free voice calls over the internet, as well as register up to five different phone numbers for multiple profiles such as personal and work calls - on one single device. The network is supported by a customer service team based in Wales who can speak to customers in both Welsh and English.

RH: How did you raise the finance to launch?

AD: Having been involved in similar projects before I was able to use my network of private investors and business angels. However, we have recently secured additional investment by Finance Wales and S4C. Our partnership with S4C is of significant strategic importance which will benefit both S4C and us. In the future we hope to share information and develop our capabilities together. RWG Mobile, like S4C, is all about providing a service that is tailored to customers in Wales and reflects their lives.

RH: Obviously, you’re up against some big companies – are they worried?

AD: Not really. We still use their infrastructure so we’re paying them wholesale rates so they’re getting money from us, albeit less than they get at retail level.

They see MVNO’s as the real innovators and get their ideas from us. And often they acquire us at a later date as they see us as real catalysts and market testers for new services.

RH: As an entrepreneur, you’ve clearly thought about what will happen in the future, is the exit plan to sell the business to one of the market leaders?

AD: Yes, in the telecoms space it’s unlikely to be an IPO and because the big four networks are so large it’s much more likely to be a trade exit.

RH: In order to get it off the ground was it quite resource intensive?

AD: It’s far less resource intensive than it used to be, there’s far more technology available. If you go back six years apps were in their infancy whereas now you can roll out a telecoms app reasonably quickly and for a reasonably low cost. It’s a lot more capital intensive and less labour intensive – there’s a core group of four or five people in our business that have brought the technology to market. We’ve outsourced most things such as sales, IT, design and marketing, but we are slowly bringing those in-house.

RH: What’s the next phase?

AD: To get the distribution network as mature as possible. We’ll soon be launching our cross-channel marketing campaign to increase visibility. We’re aiming to interact with businesses and the general public at events throughout Wales in the coming months, so as many people get to know about RWG Mobile as possible. And then we’re looking at bundling products in different ways, with media partners, and content from our supplier base, and maybe into financial services. More than a telecommunications company and more of a communications hub for our segmented market – the Welsh population.

RH: So similar in principle to what the nationals are doing but with a Welsh slant?

AD: Yes, if you look at news, sport and entertainment it will take a Welsh stance. But there will be other aspects with a Welsh flavour. When I was seeing investors I told them the story of O2 giving away tickets to customers to gigs in London but what use is that to individuals in Wales? But if you’re giving away loyalty rewards that relate to Wales you are rewarding your customers for being loyal to your network.

RH: If there was one personal quality needed to succeed in a launch like this, what would you pick?

AD: Aside from expertise, that would be determination. You have to stick to what you believe in even through difficulties or when others are telling you different. By all means take advice on board but don’t be swayed if you think you’re right.

To find out more visit www.rwgmobile.wales

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Vis or H

BACK TO THE If you could turn back time what would you do?

Bennett has a few ideas

FUTURE

When my brother and I were younger my parents took us on a train from Port Talbot to Cardiff for the day.

Yes, they spoiled us. The thing was however, as the train pulled into Cardiff station and my brother and I got up to leave, we saw that my parents were sleeping.

So we quickly started to call them. But they wouldn’t wake up.

We shouted, we pulled them, but nothing. We then looked in horror as the train pulled out of Cardiff station! My brother and I didn’t know what to do.

We had never been further than Cardiff on the train.

What was the next stop? Narnia, Neverland or another magical place beginning with N?! (Yes, Newport) Anyway, our parents then opened their eyes. And laughed. They laughed! Apparently we weren’t going to Cardiff after all, we were going to London for a week to stay with my Aunty. We couldn’t believe it! They’d tricked us! Of course, in retrospect, the fact we had three suitcases with us should have been a giveaway.

I believe that memory, the panic of seeing our station moving away (yes, I know it was actually the train that was moving) was the starting point of my dislike for travelling. And also, to a point, of my parents.

“How will we be in say 20 years’ time?

Will the DFS sale eventually end?”

Unfortunately there’s a substantial amount of travelling involved in my job, via most modes of transport. I’ve recently been recording radio shows in both Cardiff and London, so I’ve been travelling along the M4 on a regular basis and paying the price for it. Literally. £6.70.

That’s the current price of the toll on the Severn Bridge.

Now, whether or not you think that’s a lot of money… it’s a lot of money.

(By the way, speaking of radio shows, my last one, Bennett Arron Worries About… has just been nominated for a Celtic Media Award. The new series is recording at Chapter in Cardiff in May and June. Be nice to see you there.)

Last year was actually the 50th anniversary of the Severn Bridge. The toll back then, when it first opened, was two shillings and sixpence.

No doubt some of the older readers are now thinking: “That’s so cheap!”

And some of the younger ones thinking: “Two shill... what?? Is that like Euros?”

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For those who don’t know, two shillings and sixpence is around twelve and a half pence. Yes, twelve and a half pence. Now taking inflation into account that means the toll today should be just under one pound, not £6.70!

But I’m not here to discuss whether or not the toll should be cheaper. It’s none of my business.

But it really should be cheaper.

As I mentioned, it opened 50 years ago last year which was the same year as the series Star Trek started on television. Which coincidentally also had a Bridge.

Now that’s proper travelling; a five year mission to seek out new life and new civilisations. Which reminds me of a comedy tour I once did up north.

I love science fiction, and when I was thinking about the type of travelling I do, it made me think about time travel. And I wondered if you really could go back in time and change things what would you do? Would you make a change that would affect the whole world?

Or would you just not order that one last drink – the one that gave you a three-day hangover and lost you your job? (I’m asking for a friend) For me, I’d go back and let people know the truth about what will happen if they vote for Brexit. And, more importantly, stop the person who invented the concept of Reality TV. That way we would never get to hear about Katie Hopkins, Russell Brand or President Trump.

And what about travelling to the future? How will we be in say 20 years’ time? Will the DFS sale eventually end? Will Piers Morgan have been found out? Will this country be in such a bad state that children in Africa organise charity events to help us?!

Well, I can’t think about that at the moment as I now have to go to another gig. More travelling. You know, sometimes I really wish there was a better way for getting around…..

See what Bennett’s up to at www.bennettarron.com Follow Bennett on Twitter @bennettarron © Bennett Arron Spring 2017

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