Star Q&A: Samantha Womack

Round & About

Posted on

Actress, singer, model & director Samantha Womack tells us about festive feelings as she stars as the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre as part of its UK tour

Q. Hello! We’re celebrating Christmas shows. Did you go to many of these as a youngster? “I loved all shows as a child. My grandmother was a choreographer and often had friends in shows. She was a great friend of the theatre manager at the Palladium and so I remember going to see Michael Crawford in Barnum countless times which was an incredible performance.”

Q. What is it about this production of the CS Lewis play that will really make Christmas sparkle? And why should we all book a seat? “This production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is directed by Michael Fentiman whose work I’m a massive fan of. With this production he brings a similar vibrancy and originality that he created with his award-winning Amelie. It is a magicial, spellbinding show with Narnia being revealed in earthy pagan magic and musicians on stage whose physical talent is breathtaking.”

Q. Any favourite hang-outs or places to visit while you’re in town? “Aylesbury is an area I’ve performed in over the years, in South Pacific, Guys & Dolls… so I have many fond memories of here. I always bring my dogs with me as there are so many beautiful walks around Thames Valley.”

Q. What’s your go-to snack or food or drink you could never live without? “I try to eat healthy food as I eat a lot. Avocados and kimchi is my current craving and homegrown veg. Having said that, Lidl does dangerously good ice cream…”

Q. What’s the best meal you’ve ever had & choice for a last supper? “The best meal I’ve ever had? Tricky! Anything my grandmother cooked. She did a mean Welsh rarebit and roast tatties.”

Q. Who would be your six dream dinner party guests, alive or dead, real or fictional? “My six dream dinner guests would be Oliver Reed, Richard Burton, Nick Drake, Edith Piaf, Sidney Poitier and Kathryn Hepburn.”

Q. What’s your first memory of music? And your favourite song or album? “My first memory of music was my Dad playing Cat Stevens on acoustic guitar. I miss that sound.”

Q. Do you love Christmas, and what especially are you looking forward to this year? “Christmas is special to me. My father Noel was born on Christmas Eve so that feels bittersweet but I always have a house full of people and music over the Christmas break.”

Q. What other highlights are on your horizon? “I have just bought a retreat business with my partner in Valencia in the mountains and so we will be working on that next year.”

Q. If you could be a real white witch for a moment and make one wish for the world, what would it be? “My wish for the world would be environmental awareness so we stop any more species and plants from being wiped out. And it sounds corny but… to be kind and love one another.”

For tickets please visit atgtickets.co.uk

Tell us your local news here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

October recipes: Sweet spot

Round & About

Posted on

Ravneet Gill’s Sugar, I Love You: Knockout Recipes to Celebrate The Sweeter Things in Life, is out this month.

For your eating pleasure, I spent weeks testing variations of chocolate cake. I knew what I wanted: something wonderfully moist, a touch bitter, light, quick-to-make and beautiful. The perfect lazy person’s cake. It had to be a gleaming beauty!

Lazy Person’s Cake

Ingredients:
For the wet cake mix
• 175ml light olive oil & extra
• 2 eggs
• 175ml buttermilk
• 170ml boiling water
• 5g/1 tsp instant coffee

For the dry cake mix
• 125g caster sugar
• 125g light brown sugar
• 80g cocoa powder
• 230g plain flour
• 5g/1 tsp sea salt flakes
• 10g/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 5g/1 tsp baking powder

For the malt chocolate ganache
• 150g 70 per cent cocoa solids chocolate, chopped
• 50g 55 per cent cocoa solids chocolate, chopped
• pinch of sea salt flakes
• 300g double cream
• 1 tbsp malt extract (alternatively use black treacle, maple syrup or honey)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas mark 4. Grease two 20cm (8in) cake tins with oil, then line with baking paper. Weigh all the dry cake mix ingredients & stir with a whisk (if the sugar is lumpy, you’ll have to sift it.).

2. Weigh all the wet cake mix ingredients, except the water & coffee, into a large bowl and whisk. Make the coffee in a cup, pour it into the wet ingredients bowl and stir. Add the dry mix to the wet mix and whisk to combine. Divide the mixture evenly between tins. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before flipping on to a wire rack (allow to cool fully before ganache).

3. To make the ganache, put both the chocolates and the salt in a large heatproof bowl. In a saucepan, heat the cream with the malt extract until steaming but not boiling. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave for 1 minute. Use a whisk to stir from the middle outwards – so as not to whisk in any air – until silky & beautiful. Let ganache sit for 10 mins.

4. Take a large plate with a lip. Place a cooled cake on the plate and spoon over enough ganache to cover the top. Don’t worry if it spills over the edges, we kind of want this. Place the next cake on top. Pour the remaining ganache all over, without a care in the world. Use a spoon to guide it over, making sure plenty of ganache is falling down the sides. Put the cake in the fridge for 20–30 minutes.

5. Remove from fridge and, using a small offset palette knife, scoop up the set ganache from the edges of the plate and spread over the sides to create a smooth finish. It really is that easy and effortless.You’ll have your friends thinking you really care…

This cake keeps best in an airtight container at room temperature for three days. If kept in the fridge, allow to come to room temp before eating – it’ll be nicer! I recommend mircowaving a slice for 20 seconds & pouring cold cream all over it.

We have two copies of Ravneet Gill’s Sugar, I Love You to giveaway this month!

See our other recipes

Click here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

The Divorce Revolution

Round & About

Posted on

New business launched to help separating and divorcing couples save money and stay out of court

Divorce rates are increasing and relationship experts warn the pandemic-induced break-up curve may not have peaked yet. Some law firms are seeing over a 100% increase in enquiries based on the same period last year and courts are struggling to keep up with the new demand.

Claire Colbert and Rachael Oakes have set up their own business called “Family Mediation and Mentoring” because they want to work with individuals and couples in a way that law firms cannot.

Most people know someone, a friend or family member, who talks about the nightmare of their divorce, the conflict, stress and what seemed like never-ending legal fees.  Well, separation and divorce no longer need to be like this anymore.

At Family Mediation and Mentoring LLP the focus is to keep people out of court, save them money and facilitate the resolution of any issue involving family breakdown, separation, divorce and its financial consequences, arrangements for children and any other kind of family dispute.

We will be supporting couples to achieve an amicable divorce using the skills we have as accredited mediators and drawing on all the knowledge and experience we have each built up working as specialist family lawyers for more than 20 years. We are leaving the world of litigation behind to focus on supporting individuals and couples in a way that will reduce acrimony, legal fees and stress.

Our aim is to become the go-to business for people who find themselves considering separation and divorce and want to know what all their options are and gather as much information as possible about the process before going to lawyers. If the couple wish, we can then mediate to discuss and sort out all the issues that need to be resolved, meaning that they may only need a lawyer at the very end of the process to receive legal advice and draw up a legally binding agreement.

Lawyers cannot meet with a couple together. They are prevented from doing so because it is regarded as a conflict of interest by the rules that govern how lawyers’ practice.

One of the unique services Family Mediation and Mentoring LLP will be providing is a fixed price Family Law Information Meeting.

Whilst working as family lawyers we were conscious that many couples wanted to meet with us together to obtain an understanding of the steps and options involved in divorce situations. Law firms cannot offer this service, they are unable to meet with couples together, but we can.

This is a great first step for any individual or couple wanting to receive as much information as possible about how the divorce process works and enables couples to make joint decisions about next steps. This service can reduce the risk of conflict, help keep legal costs down and assist people who are already representing yourself in the family court.

We can use these meetings to answer all the questions people have that they often think they must go to lawyers to get the answers to. In our experience, once lawyers are involved, many cases are then on the litigation pathway and options to consider and resolve issues amicably have been lost.

In speaking with us people may decide that Mediation is the process that they want to use to reach an amicable agreement about their family dispute. If they do, then we will then provide that extra support and put in place the necessary meetings to take things forward. If mediation isn’t right for any reason, then we can provide recommendations about other professionals who can help.

We are the only local business who are able to provide all of the following services to help and support people resolve their family dispute;

• Traditional Family Mediation where a couple meet with a mediator to facilitate resolution of the practical and financial consequences of separation and divorce.

• The new Hybrid Mediation model where both lawyers representing the couple are involved in meetings so that they became part of finding the solution and stop litigating. Having the lawyers at meetings means that they can provide legal advice to their client as and when it is needed, when discussing proposals for reaching an agreement, and then a binding legal agreement can be drawn up on the day. This significantly reduces the time it can take to reach an agreement with lawyers involved, hand in hand with the costs.

• Meeting with children to ascertain their views about future arrangements so that they have a voice in the process and so they feel they have been consulted about important decisions that are going to impact on their future.

• Mediating for couples to facilitate what might be included in a pre-marital agreement, post marital agreement or cohabitation agreement.

• Coaching people who are having to prepare for or go through the court process. This is a very stressful process and one we know inside out. We can offer real and practical tips that people can use to help them cope.

• Resolving other types of family disputes by mediation.

• Mentoring lawyers who work in the field of family law. This service is led by Rachael who also sits as a Deputy District Judge.

Our business came about after much reflection about the way we wanted to work moving forward and wanting to help couples find a better way to separate and divorce. As Alice Walker said – “Look closely at the future you are constructing. It should look like the future you are dreaming”. We have dreamt the dream, now we are creating our future and a better future for those we will work with.

Our website contains lots of information about all the services we provide and explains all the above options in more detail so please do have a look –  www.familymediationandmentoring.co.uk

Here is a video we have put together to explain a little more about our new business. We very much hope that we can help people and their friends and family find a better way to separate and divorce.

If we can help you or anyone you know, call us on freephone 0800 206 2258 or email us at claire@familymandm.co.uk or rachael@familymandm.co.uk

Tell us your local news here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

Hands free!

Round & About

Posted on

Paul Zerdin on his Hands Free show at Camberley Theatre on Tuesday, 21st September

By popular demand, ventriloquist Paul Zerdin is back, with Sam, Albert, Roger the bodyguard and an urban fox, all set for his show & tour. Liz Nicholls finds out more about the “one-man Muppet show”

Most of us have felt as if our wings have been clipped over the last 18 months. But Paul Zerdin and his motley crew of puppets are feeling more than a little liberated ahead of their live tour…

“Cannot bloody wait!” says Paul. “For once I think I know how the puppets feel being locked away after this last year locked down! I’m itching to get back on stage with a load of new gags and just be able to travel again.”

In case you’re uninitiated in his shows, Paul, who wowed the judges to be crowned winner of America’s Got Talent in 2015, describes it as a mixture of stand-up comedy with puppets… “Some sections use animatronic puppets which I control and voice, all live, and so it’s kind of like a one-man Muppet show with me at the helm trying to control my alter egos!”

Over lockdown Paul was kept busy writing the tour script for Hands Free. “It takes me a long time to come up with a new show. Lockdown has been a very creative time for me – I was lucky enough to work all last summer for Butlin’s as they moved their shows outdoors. I also wrote, produced and presented my own TV comedy series for YouTube which took up a lot of time but was enormous fun and am now talking to a major broadcaster about it. I also worked on my culinary skills, worked out at home and enjoyed vodka in the evenings!

“Camberley & Basingstoke [both on the tour] are two venues I know really well as before I was able to tour on my own I used to support a lot of famous names on tour including Brian Conley, Joe Pasquale and Ronnie Corbett. I have nothing but happy memories of touring these venues with what I can remember amazing audiences.”

With the lines of reality blurred in his shows, sometimes it’s confusing even for Paul to know who’s running it. To make sure he remains in charge, Paul is bringing his bodyguard Roger – who claims to be ex-CIA – to help him keep Sam, Albert and Baby in order as well as an urban fox. Hands Free also features Paul giving us a glimpse into his own reality, demonstrating what it’s like to be able to throw your voice in everyday situations where anything and everything can talk back.

If Paul had a magic wand what would he wish for the world? “I’d wish everybody download my Paul Zerdin – All Mouth Live Special on Amazon & iTunes; that way I could spread happiness, laughter and become financially secure!

* To find out more, please visit paulzerdin.com

Tell us your local news here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

Star Q&A: Ed Byrne

Round & About

Posted on

Liz Nicholls talks about life, laughs & lockdown saviours with comedian & dad Ed Byrne, 49, ahead of his live shows in September, including Oxford, Newbury, High Wycombe, Farnham, Camberley & Dorking

Q. Hello! Which comedians did you like when you were young? “I always liked Dave Allen. My brother had a 12-inch album The Pick of Billy Connollly which I remember laughing at with my Ma & Da. And then repeating the jokes (that I didn’t really f***** get but were still funny), to other kids who also didn’t get it, in a bad Glaswegian accent.”

Q. Have you had to rewrite material for your new show If I’m Being Honest? “I’ve done a few outdoor & drive-in shows, so I’ve been able to tinker as I go, see what works and what doesn’t. Now I am making jokes about the fact that jokes in the show are a couple of years old which really changes the joke. It demonstrates that life has been in suspended animation for two years.”

Q. What were your lockdown saviours? “I had visions of having a nice break, then taking myself off to the Scottish Highlands when the kids went back to school…but no! I did manage to film a show interviewing celebrities while hill walking but people love to accuse you of breaking the rules. At home we did a lot of Dungeons & Dragons and Pokemon battles. We divided and conquered in this house, and I was banished to the garden. I dug a vegetable patch, made raised beds, I laid a patio… all in the first flush of lockdown, obviously, before my get up and go got up and went. I taught myself via YouTube. When it comes to practical stuff it’s better to watch someone who’s only slightly more qualified than you cackhandedly find their own way through it first.”

Q. Is it true you shook hands with David Bowie? “It was more than that! I was in Adelaide and was invited on to an evening TV chat show. It was live, and as I was doing my bit, Bowie and his band gathered opposite me next to the cameras and audience. Then he did his interview & he was easily as funny as I was. We had a chat and, despite the enormous disparity in our standing, he spoke to me like we were contemporaries, like equals, which was very sweet, if mad! The following day Steven K Amos did the same TV show and he got to meet… The Wiggles. So I won that one.”

Q. What’s your most memorable heckle? “To this day the most devastating heckle I ever had was in Sydney when woman just stood up and shouted [adopts drunken Aussie accent] BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! That really was all she was hearing.”

Q. You’re a humanist, right? “Yes. Humanists help people organise things differently. A lot of the big things in life; how we mark marriage, babies, death, used to be controlled by religion but now there’s choice. You can be altruistic and an atheist.”

Q. Any up-and-coming comedians worth a shout-out? “When work was scarce, I watched a lot of short videos. I do think it’s fitting that I’m made to feel old by the app TikTok, which sounds like someone pointing at their watch counting my career down. I have enjoyed Alistair Green, Tom Little and Naomi Cooper who are all very funny.”

Q. If you could make one wish for the world what would it be? “Wow; big question! That it be disease free. And if we can’t go for disease-free, can we just make the diseases we have slightly less contagious?”

For Ed’s show details & to book, visit edbyrne.com

Tell us your local news here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

September recipes: Coffee & banoffee

Round & About

Posted on

This September, Macmillan Cancer Support’s iconic Coffee Morning event is back on Friday 24th September, however you plan it and whatever your baking talents (or lack of) host your coffee morning your way and help raise millions to support the growing number of people living with cancer

The smallest gesture really can make the biggest difference to those affected by cancer, and every year Macmillan supporters up and down the country help raise millions of pounds just by taking part in Coffee Morning.

M&S, headline partner of Macmillan Cancer Support’s Coffee Morning, want to inspire you to get in the kitchen for this worthy cause by providing a delicious recipe for their M&S Banoffee Banana Bread with Caramel and Popcorn Sauce. So pop your apron on, grab your whisk and give this delicious recipe a go!

Banoffee Banana Bread with Caramel and Popcorn Sauce

Ingredients:

• 25g salted caramel popcorn
• 250g mascarpone
• 150g icing sugar
• 45ml caramel and toasted popcorn flavour sauce
• 2 ripe bananas
• 30g pecans
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 180g self-raising flour
• 20ml black treacle
• 2 medium eggs
• 150g light muscovado sugar
• 100g unsalted butter

PREP:  15 minutes

COOKING: 40-45 minutes

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line a 19cm loaf tin.

2. Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, or a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one a time, along with the treacle and mix well.

3. Gently fold in 2 tbsp flour, to loosen the batter. Fold in the remaining flour, baking powder, pecans and bananas.

4. Pour half the batter into the tin. Drizzle 40ml of the caramel sauce on top, then pour the remaining batter into the tin.

5. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool.

6. To make the icing, whisk the icing sugar with the mascarpone until smooth and creamy.

7. When the loaf has cooled, spread the icing on top and finish with an extra drizzle of the remaining caramel sauce and the salted caramel popcorn.

 

Do something amazing today sign up to host a Macmillan Coffee Morning at coffee register.macmillan.org.uk

See our other recipes

Click here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

Build your dream home

Round & About

Posted on

A visit to Build It Live this month will help you create a home as individual as you

Are you planning an extension to your home? Or perhaps you even have aspirations to build a new home from scratch? Whatever your plan for a dream home, make sure you pay a visit to the Build It Live show coming soon to Bicester on October 2nd and 3rd.

The exhibition aims to provide a stress-free route to creating a truly individual home with the opportunity to meet a wide range of suppliers plus a host of independent experts who can provide invaluable (free!) advice and top tips on your own self-build or home renovation project.

Architects and other experts will be offering one-to-one advice on how to turn a project into reality including how to find land, what is possible with and without planning permission and how to ensure you have the right design.

At the show there will be a number of specialist areas including a Heating Advice Clinic, glazing manufacturers displaying a huge range of bifold and sliding doors, French doors, windows, contemporary and traditional front doors, and rooflights – plus a Build Cost Clinic to help you understand how much it will cost to build the home of your dreams.

We have 100 pairs of free tickets worth £24 to giveaway.
Simply visit www.builditlive.co.uk and use promo code ROUND100.

Tell us your local news here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

Interiors inspiration

Round & About

Posted on

Treat yourself to a day out with some shopping on the banks of the beautiful River Thames thanks to Henley Decor Fair from Thursday, 23rd to Sunday, 26th September

Hosted by TV personality, Gary Wallis of Restoration Workshop, the Henley Decor Fair will return this September to its stunning riverside location.

With more than 150 of the finest decorative traders, the Henley Decor Fair has built a reputation for being the interiors event of the year and a destination for top dealers, interior designers and movie prop companies alike.

This is no ordinary antique or salvage fair; this lifestyle event has everything to inspire the vintage lover or the interior designer in us all. From vintage clothes and jewellery to a wide variety of decorative antiques, architectural salvage and reclaimed items for the home and garden. It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet the country’s top dealers and even mingle with personalities and experts from well-known TV shows such as Salvage Hunters: The Restorers and The Bidding Room.

Take a break from shopping and enjoy the live ambient music in the beautiful riverside surroundings. You will find cocktail bars, craft beers from the local Rebellion brewery, vintage tearoom and a wide choice of delicious gastro food stalls all at your service.

Henley Decor Fair welcomes families and well-behaved dogs; a great day out is guaranteed with something for everyone.

Henley Decor Fair Trade Day is on Thursday, 23rd September. The fair will be open to everyone from Friday 24th to Sunday, 26th September.
For more information and to grab your tickets please visit www.henleydecorfair.com

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

A community where you can flourish

Round & About

Posted on

Pangbourne College is a co-educational day and boarding school set in 230 acres within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Founded in 1917 by Sir Thomas Devitt of the Devitt & Moore Company to train boys for a career at sea, the College is now a modern, friendly day and boarding school for 450 boys and girls aged 11 to 18.

We are a small school which offers sound academic results, first-class sports coaching and an excellent pastoral structure which prioritises the happiness and wellbeing of each individual member of our community.

We also offer plenty of co-curricular opportunities for sport, art, music, drama and adventurous training, so that each individual fulfils their potential and develops confidence, values and skills to make a positive difference to the world.

In November 2019, the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) rated the college as ‘Excellent’ for both the academic and personal development of its pupils, and in June 2021, we were shortlisted for the ‘Co-educational Independent School of the Year’ category in the Independent Schools of the Year 2021 Awards.

Meet our Head, Mr Thomas Garnier

Open Mornings

We will be opening our doors to those families starting on their journey towards selecting the right senior school for their child in the Autumn. Our open mornings include a presentation from the Head, a tour of the College and plenty of opportunities to meet our community of staff, pupils and parents.

The next Open Mornings will take place on the following dates:

● Whole College Open Morning: Saturday 18 September
● Dunbar (Year 7) Open Morning: Saturday 16 October

Booking is essential. To register, please visit: https://www.pangbourne.com/prospective-families/admissions/open-morning-booking-form

For further information, please visit our website: www.pangbourne.com

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

Goblin Market at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Round & About

Posted on

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre welcomes BYMT’s Goblin Market

This August, opera, fairy-tale and musical theatre will combine in a spectacular show, Goblin Market at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.

“Goblin Market is a chamber opera like no other that stands out from other British Youth Music Theatre shows. With complex musical harmonies, it reveals the unlimited imagination and enthusiasm of its young cast, who will at last unleash their incredible talent after many months of confinement. It promises to be a truly spectacular show,” says Zoë Wanamaker, BYMT patron.

A new extraordinary musical theatre adaptation of Christina Rosetti’s famous tale, Goblin Market is coming to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre on 26th-28th August.

With music by renowned composer Conor Mitchell, this enchanting chamber opera of high energy physical theatre and complex musical harmonies charts the story of two sisters tempted by goblin merchant men. Unmissable, tempting, controversial, seductive… can you hear the Goblin call?

Grace Murray
Richard Gerard Jones

Director Gerard Jones (The Royal Opera House, English National Opera, La Scala) says: “Theatre centres on shared experiences, both for the audience and the performers. BYMT’s work gives this experience to the young people, and to us creatives working closely with them. I wanted to work again with the company since the first time I directed a piece there. That show had one if the very best group bonds I’ve ever experienced among cast and crew, and I’m sure that will be the same again also with this darkly exciting piece.”

One of the young performers, Grace Murray 18 from Market Drayton, Shropshire, says: “I have absolutely loved my BYMT experience. I’m playing Laura in Goblin Market and I’m enjoying every second of rehearsals. It’s so rewarding to take part in a show where everyone is as dedicated to the project as to each other, which also comes from the incredible score and an amazing team of creatives”.

This spectacular production was last seen in Edinburgh in 2005 and was hailed by press and public alike as a huge success:


“Magical… Kath Burlinson and Conor Mitchell have created the ideal vehicle for such a versatile and talented company of performers’ – Belfast Telegraph


“A brilliant production…energetic, dynamic, exciting, superb… Conor Mitchell has excelled here with a demanding and ambitious score…” – Irish News


“The greatest musical Sondheim never wrote…” – Broadwaybaby.com

To book tickets visit www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk/whats-on/goblin-market

Tell us your local news here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter: