Fortitude

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Host of Radio 4 Extra’s Newsjack, Angela Barnes is touring her show. Peter Anderson chats to her.

Q: Your father was a large influence on your comedy; was humour and watching comedians part of your memories of growing up?
“He was. I grew up watching all the greats – Monty Python, Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore, Morecambe and Wise, then in addition to that, listening to the Radio 4 comedy programmes like Round the Horne and The Navy Lark.”

Q. Which comedians have inspired you?
“I think the late Linda Smith; she came from Kent just like me. When I heard her doing comedy on Radio 4 it was just like listening to one of my own family and it helped convince me that I could do it.”

Q. This show is about you turning 40. Have you set yourself any targets for the next ten years?
“I am not someone who believes in setting targets at all! As for my career, I would much rather live in the moment and enjoy the ride.”

Q. What is your technique for writing – are you disciplined and allocate a certain time each day or do you write when the Muse/ideas appear?
“I so cannot write to order; a blank sheet of paper or screen just freezes my brain. Don’t laugh: but I have a pad and pencil by my bed and soap crayons so I can write things on the tiles if I have an idea while I am in the shower…”

Q. How do you relax after a show?
“After a show, there is nothing like a three-hour drive to relax you, or if I am nearer home I just potter around catching up with the washing-up or maybe watch some television.”

Q. You are coming to the Phoenix Arts Centre; do you have any memories of performing here?
“Yes, it is a lovely little theatre. I came here when I was the warm-up for Alan Carr. After doing my piece, I dived into the dressing room and spent the rest of the evening playing with his two red setters, Bev and Janice.”

Angela Barnes will perform her show Fortitude at the Phoenix Arts Centre on Thursday, 10th May. Visit www.phoenixarts.co.uk  and at Putney Half Moon on Wednesday, 4th July, Visit www.halfmoon.co.uk and www.angelabarnescomedy.co.uk

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Great expectations

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Youngsters – of all ages, from tots to teens – can enjoy a taste of wildlife and the countryside thanks to volunteers helping with events in Windsor Great Park, writes Peter Anderson

There are lots of super-natural events in Windsor Great Park’s educational centre.

Windsor Great Park Environmental Centre is an exciting five-year partnership project between the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust and The Crown Estate. From the Nature Tots to the Young and Teen Ranger meetings, there are monthly sessions where children can get real hands-on experience of life in the countryside, and the flora and fauna you can find here, with guidance from skilled supervisors.

Nature Tots is a parent-and-toddler group with a difference. You can head along with your pre-school little one and introduce them to the great outdoors. The 90-minute sessions spend about the first 15 minutes outside before coming indoors and there are a wide-range of activities to spark their curiosity and have fun in natural surroundings. Each session will include seasonal nature discovery, games, crafts and lots of fun! Story-time and drinks also included. Children must be accompanied by a supervising adult, and younger brothers and sisters are welcome.

Young Rangers is a monthly wildlife group which meets in the early evening for children aged between eight and 12. Here they can become nature detectives and find all about the birds, bats, deer, mini-beasts and more, which live in the park and forest. Activities include pond-dipping, bug hunts, animal tracking, shelter building and bushcraft. Drinks will also be provided during the sessions, and they will require a signed consent form from an adult. There are two sessions per month, but the second one is a repeat to allow for any children who cannot make the first session.

Teen Rangers is a monthly group of budding naturalists aged between 12 and 16 who meet in the early evening. Here you can spend time in the forest discovering who and what lives there, but it may not be them you spot first! You may need to use your tracking skills, but you will have skilled volunteers and trainers from BBOWT to help you with that, as well as shelter-building and bushcraft, as you learn all about the flora and fauna in this marvellous location.

For further information on dates, times and suggested donations, please visit www.bbowt.org.uk. The website also has information on other events organised by the trust and how you can donate to help the valuable work BBOWT does to protect and preserve natural surroundings around the three counties.

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Have you tried a TFKC?

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Malaysian, Portuguese and a sprinkling of London sophistication is what inspires the cusine created by husband and wife team Test Kitchen Food, writes Rachel Wakefield

The Test Kitchen van has been seducing late night drinkers, near the Windsor and Eton Brewery, for more than a year now. It’s also been turning heads every Saturday morning near the Loading Bay Cafe, with its tasty, cooked-to-order food.

It’s easy to understand why – just talking to owner, Milly O’Connor about what she serves is beyond distracting. Take for example, the popular Super Bon Bon: marinated pork loin, in paprika, garlic and thyme, grilled and served with melted cheese, fried mushrooms and a garlic aioli sauce, in a ciabatta roll. Or, the TKFC: deboned chicken thighs, marinated in mirin sauce, soy sauce, garlic and ginger, then covered in sweet potato flour, deep fried and finished with a maple syrup and soy glaze, with a spiracha dip. In my mouth!

Milly and her husband John, who is the chef, met through a mutual love of food. She was managing the Kensington restaurant and nightclub, Dirty Bones, he was a cook at Fulham’s Malthouse. They both have interesting foodie heritages, he’s from Portugal and her mother is Malaysian.

“I was nine months pregnant when we bought the food truck,” recalls Milly. We had just moved back to my home town of Windsor, as we had made a decision to bring up our son Salvador here. “We had this idea to bring the London, foodie sophistication in the neighbourhood.”

It has not taken John long to establish good relationships, with his main supplier being the Royal Windsor Farm Shop. “Our menu is based on good, local, seasonal produce and Tony, the butcher always delivers from there,” says Milly.

“We called the business Test Kitchen Food, because we wanted to be flexible in the food we offered. Not sticking to one style of cuisine.”

The adventurous pair will be curating a foodie event on Friday, 25th May, called Hawkers Bazaar. This event is inspired by the vibrant night markets and hawker centres of Malaysia. It will take place at the Loading Bay Cafe, Vansittart Estate, Windsor SL4 1SE. It will be a showcase of local talent including an experimental cocktail truck, an exotic ice cream roll trader, lots of authentic hawker style food plus local musicians performing late into the night. Tickets available to book online, visit: www.eventbrite.co.uk

To keep up-to-date with what’s cooking in the kitchen, take a look on the Facebook page @testkitchenfood.

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Free Spirit

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Her Majesty chose The Free Spirit Horse Memorial Project as a partner for this year’s Royal Windsor Horse Show, writes Rachel Wakefield

The Free Spirit Horse Memorial Project, is a charity which acknowledges the horse’s unfaltering service to mankind throughout history, through war, sport, industry, therapy and recreation. This charity has been announced as the official partner of Royal Windsor Horse Show, taking place from Wednesday, 9th to Sunday, 13th May, in the private grounds of Windsor Castle.

The project has been created to raise funds for a memorial, named The Free Spirit Horse Memorial, which will be located at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire and will be unveiled, this year, to coincide with the centenary anniversary of the end of the First World War.

The memorial will be accessible to able bodied and disabled people, providing a tactile as well as a visual experience, with seating for reflection and contemplation, information plaques in braille for those who are visually impaired, Makaton symbols and dyslexia approved font to aid communication. This accessibility was of paramount importance to the project organisers as it mirrors the horse, who does not judge but treats and respects each person as an individual, bringing together all members of the community without prejudice.

As part of its charitable aims, the Free Spirit project also provides education around the role of the horse through art, music and history to ensure that the significance of the horse is taught to future generations.

The project has released a charity single to help raise funds which is downloadable through Spotify and I-Tunes. The song brings together young people from a variety of backgrounds and is an expression of their thoughts and feelings in regards to the horse now, and in the future.

Ambassador of the project, Sarah Clegg says the song is: “Sensitively written and beautifully performed, the Free Spirit Song represents the very best of young creativity in honouring the horse.”

Horse Show director, Simon Brooks-Ward says: “We are delighted to be supporting The Free Spirit Horse Memorial Project. Royal Windsor Horse Show is an annual celebration of top equestrian sport and entertainment, so this partnership is a natural fit, commemorating the role of horses in society, past and present.”

Further information on events that pay tribute to this honourable and emotive creatureå can be found at www.freespiritmemorial.co.uk

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Mend your ways

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The South Downs Way needs urgent fixing for future generations and you can help with a new initiative, writes Rachel Wakefield

It was my playground as a child, proudly states Andy Gattiker, about the South Downs Way (SDW). Now, he works as a SDW trail officer, for the National Trails, managing this natural asset, stretching from Winchester to Eastbourne through 160km of wild beauty – it is no easy task.

“Fifteen thousand pairs of boots, 10,000 bicycle tyres and 800 hooves travelling the length of the trail each year cause a lot of wear and tear! Our existing funding allows us to make most repairs but there are a number of projects which are too expensive to tackle using existing funds. Each year, as the erosion and mud gets worse, they get more damaged and much harder to fix.”

SDW is asking everyone who loves the trail to help raise £120,000 to mend broken sections of the trail. The ‘Mend Our Way’ campaign is being run by the South Downs National Park Trust, an independent charity working with the National Trails and British Mountaineering Council. Find out more  www.mendmountains.thebmc.co.uk.

—Old Winchester Hill is a scheduled ancient monument with an Iron Age Hill Fort, a Bronze Age cemetery and is also a National Nature Reserve. It’s one of the most iconic hills in the National Park. But the route up to it becomes a slippery kilometre of boot-churned mud every winter. Being inaccessible to machinery and vehicles makes it a great place to be (when it’s dry) but almost impossible to reach to fix. What is needed is £50,000 to scrape away the mud and replace the surface with stones.

Millpond Bottom, between Beacon Hill and Penn Hill, has some impressive scaring. Successive feet, wheels and hooves have more than doubled the width of the chalk track – putting nearby sensitive Scheduled Ancient Monuments at risk. What is needed is £15,000 to safely transport materials to the site, mend the trail and keep walkers on the straight and narrow.

— Hyden Lane near Butser Hill sits on top of the chalk ridge but suffers from a lack of drainage. As large puddles get trapped on the busy track. It will take £35,000 to fix 1.6km of the track and create a camber to help it drain.

Andy adds: “If we want people to care about our environment and feel some ownership and responsibility for it, then they need to fully experience it. It needs to be easy for people to get out and explore our fantastic National Park. That’s what the ‘Mend Our Way’ is really all about.”

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Gluten-related disorders

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If you are presenting with any chronic health or wellbeing conditions that cannot be explained, then a professional assessment should be advised for the following disorders.

Gluten-related disorders (GRDs) are fundamentally caused by the inability of the body to properly digest gluten (the storage protein in grains), typically driven by imbalances in the bacterial species of the gut in combination with genetic predisposition. If identified, eliminate gluten from a diet permanently in order to repair the damage.

Coeliac disease (CD) is the autoimmune variant of GRDs where the immune system attacks and destroys the small intestine reducing the ability of the body to absorb nutrients. CD can be diagnosed using a combination of blood, genetic and physical assessments.

Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) are not an auto-immune disease, but is no less serious. This evidence is based upon results of a large study that reviewed 351,000 intestinal biopsies clearly showing that there was not only just as much inflammation detected with NCGS as with CD, but also that the increased risk of early mortality was 72% with NCGS compared to 39% with CD.

There is also a “new kid on the block” called non-coeliac wheat sensitivity (NCWS), where gluten is not necessarily the trigger, but instead significant immune system reactions are being triggered by other components of wheat. You can start to appreciate that both gluten and wheat can have serious implications on individuals that do not have CD but instead NCGS/NCWS.

Simply eliminating wheat or gluten, in your diet, before you have had a professional assessment is not advised.

Call Mark BSc (Hons) BA (Hons) mBANT CNHC on 0118 321 9533 or visit www.entirewellbeing.com

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Hardeep and meaningful

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Peter Anderson catches up with Hardeep Singh Kohli ahead of his Alternative, Fact stand-up show which lands at Bordon’s Phoenix Theatre & Arts Centre

Q: Which came first for you; comedy or journalism..? And how did you discover satire?
“I grew up in the VCR generation which meant we recorded and rewatched comedy over and over again. I never dreamt that I’d one day be working in comedy. Comedy was my passion but journalism was going to be my job. Then I ended up going to law school and joining the BBC. I never ‘discovered’ satire because I don’t remember a time before it. Not The Nine O’Clock News, Yes Minister, Bill Hicks, The News Quiz, The New Statesman – satire was everywhere. And I was at school with Armando Iannuci…”

Q. Who were/are your inspirations?
“I would be nothing without Billy Connolly; I think there’s a generation or two of comics that feel the same. From the age of six I was listening to his records and singing his songs. The brilliant linguaphilia of The Two Ronnies, the sheer joyous nonsense of Eric Morecambe, the multi-talented wordsmithery of Victoria Wood… I continue to be inspired by comics such as Tez Ilyas who is both hugely warm and very funny. Katherine Ryan amazes me with her ability to be crushingly funny yet remain utterly adorable. I never tire of Kevin Bridges’ effortless excellence and I love the darkness of Romesh Ranganathan.”

Q. Do you prefer stand-up where you can get a response or satirical journalism where the response can be a little slower?
“Very good question. When I write I have the ability to delete, rewrite and change. I can go and make a cup of tea and reflect upon a thought. On stage you have one chance, one moment. You have to be able to read the room and feel the energy of the crowd. There is nothing that sharpens focus quite like that! Plus, you never see a reader throw down the paper in disagreement; you definitely see them get up and go!”

Q. Is there somewhere you would really love to perform your show?
“I’d love to play universities and colleges and tap into the energy of the next generation of thinkers and activists.”

Q. How do you relax?
“I love to cook and to eat. I find both – with the inclusion of excellent craft beer – the best way to be.”

Q. What is your writing method; can you discipline yourself to write for so long each day, or do you write as and when The Muse descends?
“I’m a paid writer; I have two deadlines a week so I have to be able to write on demand. The Muse will descend from time to time; I need to make more space for her in my life.”

Q. If you were stranded on a desert island, with two or three others – living, fictional or historical – who would you pick?
“Rosa Parks, My paternal grandfather who died before I was born and my daughter.”

Hardeep’s politically charged show Alternative, Fact is at The Phoenix Theatre & Arts Centre on Friday, 27th April. Tickets £12 – visit www.phoenixarts.co.uk to book.

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Fighting Talk

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Comedian Lucy Porter brings her smash-hit Edinburgh Fringe show Choose Your Battles to various venues Peter Anderson catches up with her…

In Choose your Battles Lucy Porter, with the aid of the audience and a punchbag, works out when she should stick to her guns and fight and when she can use her disarming charm to defuse a situation. I caught up with her and, while ducking the boxing glove, asked her about her life and the tour.

Q. Is your current tour based purely on your life and experience, or observation as well?
“It’s a bit of a mixture. Most of the material comes from my own experience, but my audience are wonderful at coming up afterwards or emailing me and saying ‘that story you told reminded me of something awful my husband did…’ or ‘when my kids were little, I found this was a really useful tip…’ so I get a lot of helpful feedback that finds its way into the show.”

Q. Have your husband or children seen the show?
“Oh goodness, no! My whole act relies on the fact that my husband is looking after the kids while I’m out talking about them on stage. I don’t know what I’ll do when the children are old enough to see my act – I’ll have to change it and just talk about our cats.”

Q. How long does it take you to collate and write material for a show?
“It’s a never-ending process of writing, presenting stuff to the audience and then revising it. It’s 100% my favourite thing about live stand-up; the fact that no two shows are alike. The skeleton of this show was written for the Edinburgh festival in August last year, and some of my favourite bits have stayed in, but there’s always stuff that’s new this week, today, or even on the night.”

Q. As someone who prefers not to make a fuss, and carefully choose your battles would you like to have lived in 1717?
“Ooh, I hope you’re referring here to my play the Fair Intellectual Club, which was set in 1717 and concerned a group of young women who decided to set up a secret society for studying maths, physics, astronomy and all the other things that ‘nice girls’ weren’t supposed to concern themselves with. I hope I’d always have been a mouthy, opinionated and difficult woman like they were.”

Q. You write both comedies and dramas. Is it easy to switch between the two?
“I never had any ambition to write drama, but as I’ve got older I’ve realised my life experience has gifted me some serious points to make. That said, even when I’m writing drama I can’t help playing for laughs sometimes. I hope never to have to take life, or myself, too seriously.”

Q. If you were stranded on a desert island, who would like to be stranded with?
“I love my own company and I need a holiday, so I’d be delighted to be on a desert island for at least a week. If I could be stranded with Dolly Parton and Paul McCartney, I could have the music and good company as well.”

Q. You are appearing at The West End Centre in Aldershot. What memories do you have of appearing there?
“The West End Centre is one of the nicest and most welcoming places I’ve ever encountered. Also, the people who run it have impeccable taste in music (and comedy too of course!).”

For more details visit www.lucyporter.co.uk

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Food is the most powerful medicine

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We all know that the NHS is under considerable pressure. The cost of diabetes alone to the NHS is over £1.5 million per hour, says Diabetes UK. The conventional medical view on type 2 diabetes (T2D) is that this condition is irreversible and requires long-term medication to control.

T2D typically responds very well to specific dietary and lifestyle interventions. Working in collaboration with their GPs, I have seen, firsthand, clients come off/reduce their diabetic medications by making substantial changes to their diets and lifestyle.

I am therefore somewhat perplexed by the fanfare that has surrounded the results of a very recently published randomised controlled trial in The Lancet, that has concluded that after the participants focused on a weight loss programme for 12 months that ‘almost half achieved remission to a non-diabetic state and off antidiabetic drugs. Remission of type 2 diabetes is a practical target for primary care’. This is great news, but not new news. There is considerable existing evidence to suggest that calorie restriction (in particular carbohydrate restriction) is one of the most beneficial approaches to optimally managing diabetes, which, after all, is an intolerance to carbohydrate. Obviously any such intervention does need to be carefully managed by a suitably, qualified health care practitioner in conjunction with the client’s GP/medical consultants. The reality is that standardising this type of approach, has the potential to save the nation around £7 billion.

It is time to stop simply focussing on how much more money the NHS requires and really start thinking about reducing overall load on the system, by using well-managed dietary and lifestyle interventions that are supported by unbiased science. Food is one of the most powerful medicines known to human kind.

Call Mark BSc (Hons) BA (Hons) mBANT CNHC on 01183 219533 or visit www.entirewellbeing.com

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Treating urinary tract infections (UTIs)

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Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are very common, especially in women. It is estimated that one in five women will have a UTI at some point in their lifetime and once you have had one infection you are much more likely to have another. The standard medical treatment is with antibiotics. The problem with antibiotic treatment is that, while it will tend to work in the short term (and is often an essential treatment to avert a more serious infection of the kidneys), there is an increased risk of developing imbalances in the beneficial bacteria (microflora of the gut and urinary tract). Antibiotic resistance has also recently been described as a significant threat to our future health by Professor Dame Sally Davies – England’s Chief Medical Officer).  Microflora disturbance and growing antibiotic resistance mean UTIs often reoccur.

Thankfully numerous clinical studies indicate several natural substances work well to help prevent UTIs and there is also considerable evidence to suggest they can work very effectively even in acute infection scenarios, as long as the intervention is initiated as soon as an infection is suspected.

The best studied natural agent to help with UTIs is D-mannose (a simple sugar, from any good health store), which also helps with infections caused by E.coli bacteria(as is the case with the majority of UTIs). When however E.coli is not the cause, the use of D-mannose is unlikely to help. A number of other bacteria can cause UTIs; often it is possible to find out which bacteria are involved through testing.

Another reason to consider, if natural compounds such as D-mannose do not work, is biofilm issues. Biofilms surround a collection of bacteria that are attached to the body, effectively creating a shield that protects them from being attacked/controlled – this makes this type of infection very difficult to control. The key to breaking this cycle is to therefore disrupt the biofilm, which can be done using specialised enzymes.

Call Mark BSc (Hons) BA (Hons) mBANT CNHC on 01183 219533 or visit www.entirewellbeing.com

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