The Taste of Autumn Menu has been crafted to celebrate the launch of the new The Ivy Collection Cuvée, set to become a star of the wine list for restaurants nationwide*.
This autumn, The Ivy Collection introduces its new The Ivy Collection Cuvée, set to be a standout addition to wine lists at restaurants across the UK. To mark the occasion, the brand has launched an exclusive ‘Taste of Autumn’ menu, offering guests a seasonal three-course meal paired with a glass of Cuvée for £29.50.
Available from 18th September at The Ivy Collection restaurants nationwide, the menu has been carefully crafted by The Ivy’s executive chefs to celebrate seasonal ingredients and complement the flavour profile of the new Cuvée. For those seeking a non-alcoholic option, the Wild Idol Sparkling White is also available.
Diners can enjoy starters like the rich Truffle Taglioni, made with durum wheat pasta and topped with black truffle, or the fresh Stilton, Chicory, and Pecan Salad, served with sliced apple and a honey mustard dressing. Main courses include the classic Ivy Shepherd’s Pie or the new Artichoke and Sweet Potato Tagine with harissa couscous. Dessert options feature the Cherry and Pistachio Nougat Glacé Flambé, doused in kirsch, or the indulgent Sticky Toffee Pudding with salted caramel sauce.
The Ivy Collection Cuvée, produced in Kent, is the first English sparkling wine to join The Ivy’s portfolio. It features aromas of elderflower, pear and apricot, with a fine mousse and refreshing finish – perfect for pairing with the autumnal menu.
Sebastian Kasyna from The Ivy Collection explains, “We wanted an English sparkling wine to celebrate the great quality wines being produced locally. The Cuvée, sourced from a vineyard in Kent, perfectly complements our seasonal British dishes.”
*The ‘Taste of Autumn’ menu and The Ivy Collection Cuvée will not be available at The Ivy West Street, The Ivy Belfast Brasserie and The Ivy Dublin Brasserie.
The ‘Taste of Autumn’ menu is available at The Ivy Collection restaurants until Sunday 20th October, from Sunday to Friday (excluding Saturdays), starting at 11:30 am.
*The ‘Taste of Autumn’ menu and The Ivy Collection Cuvée will not be available at The Ivy West Street, The Ivy Belfast Brasserie and The Ivy Dublin Brasserie.
Robbie James laments the demise of Top Gear and love them or loathe them, Jeremy, Richard and James
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May take to our screens for one final time this month. Together with their various crew and production team, they’ve created some of the most entertaining television of the last couples of decades, whether we like them or not.
At the turn of the century, in a Top Gearless world, if you’d told a television controller that a car review show as going to be on BBC Two every Sunday at 8pm, they would tell you that you don’t know what you’re talking about, and they’d be right. There was no way a niche like this would even get to take BBC Two out for a drink. It had to have an additional entertainment factor, and a cast that drove (oh dear) that entertainment.
Whether you like any of Jeremy, Richard or James (not that many of us know them), there’s no denying that they are extremely talented at what they do. They have such clarity as to what their role within the show is. Jeremy knows he’s the anchor (you thought it, not me). Richard knows he’s the slow, sensible grandad.
While they all possess an understanding of how our attention, how to make us laugh, and how to bring out the best (or in most cases, worst) in each other, there’s an underlying knowledge of the car world that is far less glamourous and takes fewer headlines, but is equally important to the success of the show.
I always enjoy things that can bring multiple together, and it’s harder than ever to succeed in doing so. The simple, Pythonesque humour that they’ve so often adopted over the years doesn’t discriminate; people falling over will never not be funny.
The success of Top Gear and The Grand Tour provides us with a few reminders. Firstly, the concept of a show may sound plausible, but it’s the case that turn a one series fling into a sustainable, nation capturing television show that runs for the next 22 years. You can’t fake a friendship for 22 years. You can’t fake your humour or your enthusiasm for that long.
Oh and also, television is expensive. Like, really expensive, especially if you’re planning on giving your audience an opportunity for a ‘cwoaaaar’ or a ‘no no no no no OH’ as another vehicle descends off a cliff into the English channel. Explosions to pay for. Travel to pay for. Oh, and it’s a car show isn’t it, so lots of cars.
The relevance of cars to the show itself tells you everything you need to know about what has made the show the mainstream success that it’s become. While the BBC’s Top Gear, the show was featured based. Any time they were actually doing the car review bit, that was scrolling time. I don’t care about the new Audi’s A7 torque, I want to see Paul McKenna try and get a Suzuki Liana around a wet Dunsfold Aerodrome, or watch James test sail the car he’s converted into a boat.
They’ve had their controversies and won’t be for everyone, but no one is. There’ll be a gap in the car-based-television-show-market, but no doubt in 22 years’ time, they’ll still be on the newly named U&Dave. I can’t think of many shows that have remained so consistent when it comes to format and personnel over such a prolonged period of time, and I think they deserve credit for that.
Neighbours fan Liz Nicholls chats to one of her heroes, Ryan Moloney, who has played Toadfish in beloved Aussie soap for 30 years and is sharing his behind-the-scenes stories with the Toad On The Road UK tour.
G’day fellow Neighbours fans (and fans-to-be)! This week I was honoured to chat to Neighbours royalty: Ryan Moloney who has played Jarrod Vincenzo “Toadfish” Rebecchi for an astonishing 30 years.
In case you missed the memo, Toadie is leaving the beloved soap very soon which is why he’s in the UK. Ryan is hosting the Toad on the Road show which stops at The Anvil Basingstoke this Friday, 13th September, and has been winning rave reviews so far!
Toadie has survived a brutal kidnapping, croc attack and breakdown in Neighbours’ thrilling #DeathInTheOutback week but we’re still unsure what form his demise might take… But it can’t be that final, can it, Ryan? Bear in mind that Dionne (my personal favourite of the Toad’s five wives, along with her evil twin… but that’s another story) came back from the dead after plummeting off a cliff, and Harrold Bishop was also famously resurrected. Is this really the end of the Toad? “Ummm. Well, yeah… Nothing’s ever final, but I think it might be for Toadie!”
Q&A with Ryan Moloney
Wow, ok, no spoilers! Toadie’s has a lot of trauma over the past three decades, hasn’t he? I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone cry so much on screen! How do you do that?! “Well, actually that’s part of the Toad On The Road show. When you’re younger, you spend a lot of time trying to extend your skills and make things more real so you can connect with your audience more. And the more truthful and honest things are for me, it’s almost like the less I have to act. And from that point on, there’s access to this emotionally deep well.”
It’s so good to see mental health – my favourite subject – explored in my favourite soap… “Yeah, absolutely. Mental health is not necessarily something that we show on television. I get that it’s a tough subject, but I think we need to show it. It’s part of our psyche, our world, so we should represent these stories. That’s the thing about watching shows, television, movies, hearing music, it connects people. If you don’t see this stuff on television, it almost shuns people going through stuff and makes them feel mental health problems are something that we need to push away. But it’s something that so many people deal with.
“That’s why I’m so glad that this is actually what I’m doing for my last year on Neighbours. We get to tell the story of this character’s mental demise. Thirty years of trauma catches up with Toadie and he ends up having a psychotic snap. And then by the end of it he has a realisation… This is almost my last gift, in a way. This is what I want to go out with.”
When it was announced that Neighbours was ending in 2022, it was a big shock to fans. Then the whole world tuned in for the finale, starring the likes of Guy Ritchie, Kylie and Margot Robbie. Is it down to the love of the fans that Neighbours is back, for a year now, with a new network? “Absolutely! It would not have come back without the fans’ demand for Neighbours to exist. And I think it was almost like a happy accident that Amazon wanted to launch Freevee. If I was Amazon, I’d be thinking: ‘What am I going to launch with?’ And here’s this show with an audience just screaming for it back on TV.”
Apart from Neighbours, what’s your favourite TV show, and what’s your favourite film? “Oooh film is a tough one but I’d say Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch: I love films that are not just your run-of-the-mill kind of storytelling.
“But I don’t actually watch a lot of TV. I’m too busy kind of building things and learning things, mainly mechanics. I tend to spend a lot of time on YouTube, just kind of going down rabbit holes. At the moment I’m trying to make my son’s go-kart go faster! Apart from doing a directing traineeship with the Neighbours team, I do a lot of things. We’re building farms, and I do civil construction. Mainly, now I just want to spend time with my kids. My daughter’s coming up 18 and my son’s just turned 16. And I want to just be able to grab that last second with them before they disappear.”
There’s a lot to be celebrated about Toadie. How much of Toadie is in you, Ryan? “I’d say, you know, he’s probably about 25% like me. Toadie’s a knight in shining armour and one of the main drivers behind him is that he’s the eternal loser. We always need him to lose so we can get behind him. So we give him little wins and then we make him lose. He’s a generous person, always looking out for other people; that’s very much me. But also, he makes some very bad decisions and he doesn’t seem to learn from his past behaviours: I don’t think that’s me! Nobody can always be liked, that’s for sure. I think it’s important to have off-putting elements in a character like Toadie, because that’s real.”
Speaking of which, as much as I love Toadie, Paul is my favourite character… So what’s Stefan Dennis (one of the finest actors of our generation) like behind the scenes? “Ahhh he’s such a lovely fella. I absolutely love Steffi. He’s just so kind and generous and he’s pretty funny too.
“I love Paul too! He’s the character that you just love to hate. I can’t believe that everyone keeps getting sucked in! See here’s the thing, right? If Toad is the eternal loser, Paul is the baddie who comes good in a way. He’s a… winner! The audience always want him to come good and then he does for a period of time. But the important thing to remember is that he is completely flawed and he will never be truly good!”
I’m really looking forward to the show on Friday! So what can people expect from Toad On The Road? “You can expect a journey. It’s not superficial, we talk about Neighbours and storylines and whatnot, but it’s really kind of the conduit for explaining character development, how we actually use structures to create families, and how we get audience to buy-in, and then manage and manipulate that audience buy-in as well. But on top of that, then it’s also about how the really emotional stuff. The beautiful thing is that when people come and see it, when they leave, they’re like, wow, I was not expecting that.
Q1. As a teen troublemaker Toadie tried to blackmail Lucy Robinson with nudie centrefolds in which fictional British porn magazine?
Q2. Toadie and Hannah Martin found buried treasure when Hannah’s dog dug up an old tin box. Name that dog! (It’s not Bouncer).
Q3. While living at the Kennedys with his surrogate parents Karl and Susan, Toadie had a turkey that was supposed to be dinner but became a beloved pet. Name that turkey!
Q4. In which nightclub did Toadie meet his future wife Dee?
Cadbury World counters cursed calendar date with free entry for all those celebrating their birthday on Friday 13th September
No such thing as bad luck at Cadbury World! The Bournville attraction is celebrating ‘unlucky’ birthdays by gifting a free-entry offer to all those with birthdays on Friday 13th September 2024.
For guests whose birthday falls on Friday 13th September – it’s their lucky day! In defiance of superstitions, those with a birthday on 13th September can celebrate with a day that’s choc-full of fun. To change their fortunes, all guests will need to do is bring a valid proof of ID to the reception team on the day, and they will be granted a free entry ticket for a brilliant Bournville birthday, filled with chocolatey fun.
Speaking about Friday 13th September at Cadbury World, Gerrard Baldwin, General Manager at Cadbury World said ‘What could be unlucky about free chocolatey fun?! We can’t wait to welcome guests to celebrate their Friday 13th birthdays with us here at Cadbury World, Bournville. There’s so much on offer here for all the family and we look forward to welcoming everyone to celebrate a choc-tastic birthday with us.”
Guests can enjoy a variety of chocolatey activities while at Cadbury World. Jump aboard the new Cadbury Chocolate Quest ride and zap up the ingredients needed to make a Cadbury Dairy Milk, get creative and doodle with chocolate in the newly refurbished Have A Go zone. Guests can even meet their favourite iconic Cadbury characters including Freddo, Caramel Bunny, Mr Cadbury’s Parrot and Bertie Basset.
13th September is Roald Dahl Story Day and Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity is inviting schools to celebrate by hosting their very own Roald Dahl Story Day event to fundraise for the charity.
Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity establishes specialist nurses to care for children with complex lifelong conditions.
There are more than 150 Roald Dahl Nurses caring for more than 36,000 children across the UK, including lots in the Round & About counties, such as Roald Dahl Nurses Stephanie Lawrence in Surrey, Hannah Gerrard in Berkshire, and Katrina Williams in Hampshire.
Hosting a dress-up day for Roald Dahl Story Day is one fantabulous way to support the charity while having lots of fun and celebrating the joy of reading and the power of spellbinding stories. There are so many inspiring characters for children to choose, from Willy Wonka to Matilda to Fantastic Mr Fox! You may even get a Giant Peach or two turning up!
Teachers can visit the schools fundraising page at http://www.roalddahlcharity.org to register and the charity’s schools team will be in touch with buckets of fundraising support and resources to make your Roald Dahl Story Day a truly splendiferous one. There are even some dressing up tups on the website – it couldn’t be easier!
All funds raised will go towards establishing Roald Dahl Nurses and the incredible work the charity does caring for seriously ill children living with complex medical conditions and supporting their families who find life very tough. Every seriously ill child deserves a Roald Dahl Nurse.
Watch this space for our interview with Dame Felicity in our October editions.
Round & About’s resident wine columnist Giles Luckett looks at South Africa’s changing white wine scene by talking to Mike Dawson of Journey’s End
Now and again, you come across a producer that epitomises a region’s or even an entire country’s winemaking. Be it mastery of a certain grape variety, like Australia’s Yalumba and Viognier, innovation and Errazurriz in Chile, or a style, such as Nyetimber and sparkling wine in England, they encapsulates what’s best in their industry.
I recently discovered such a producer in the shape of South Africa’s Journey’s End Vineyards. I’ve been a fan of their wines for years, particularly their brilliantly bonkers Honey Drop Chardonnay (Majestic £9.99), but it was only recently that I got the chance to take a deep dive into their impressive range of white wines. These range from fun and fruit-filled to some serious, age-worthy wines that possess a strong European accent.
To find out more and to get an insight into the South African wine scene, I caught up with winemaker, Mike Dawson. Critics often say that the best wines are a reflection of their maker, and that’s certainly the case here, Mike being as generous, interesting and young (though at my age I look at everyone under 30 and wonder why they aren’t in school) as his excellent wines.
Q. How would you sum up your winemaking philosophy? Are you an interventionist or do you prefer to be hands-off where possible? “Overall, I am a non-interventionist. I see myself as more of a caretaker than a manipulator. When you’re blessed with grapes as good as we have in South Africa I believe it’s best to work with what nature gives you.”
Q. So fancy fermentation vessels, artificial regulation of acidity or cultured yeasts aren’t for you? “No, keep it simple. No matter which grape I’m working with, be it Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Semillon or Sauvignon, I want a taste of place to come through. Journey’s End isn’t in the business of masking or manufacturing flavours. Natural fermentations, treat what you’ve been given with respect and focus on creating great wines.”
Journey’s End Haystack Chardonnay (Tanners £13.90). Inviting mid-gold hue with a lively, yet rich, bouquet that blends citrus fruits with honey. Ripe and mouth-filling, there’s an impressive breadth of flavours on show here everything from red apples and melon to tropical fruit and butter. A crisp grapefruit acidity keeps everything balanced and makes it an ideal partner for poultry or game birds.
Q. Journey’s End wines’ have quite a European feel to them, is that a winemaking decision, a product of site and vine, or a little bit of both? “Both. Our grapes are planted in ocean-cooled areas and many of our vineyards are on south-facing slopes which helps to keep temperatures down and gives us longer growing season. For white wines, this is ideal. Sugars and flavouring compounds develop slowly and evenly while maintaining good acidity. There’s a good diurnal (day to night) temperature range that promotes fragrance and balance as it does in many European regions. We’re also big fans of oak and French oak is used in many of our wines as it adds complexity and nuance.”
Destination Chardonnay 2022 (Vinum £31.50) is a hugely impressive glassful. Golden with green-gold highlights, the powerful, profound nose is picked with green and yellow fruits, smoky vanilla and citrus. Big but not brash, it’s one of the biggest Chardonnays I’ve tasted in some time, but it doesn’t feel flabby or overpowering. The firm acidity, clever use of oak and abundance of fruit means it maintains its balance and, remarkably, it feels precise and focused. Still young, at the moment it needs partnering with fine food – monkfish, mushroom risotto, guinea fowl – but in a few years it will be a sensational solo sipper.
Q. Climate change is obviously a huge issue for winemakers worldwide, how is it affecting you and what steps are you taking to deal with it? “It’s taking effect here. We started seeing changes in 2015/2016. Everything is getting more extreme. We’ve had five or six years of drought and we’ve seen winds of 120 kilometres an hour which have ravaged wines. Our winters are getting wetter – we’re collecting rain in dams for the summers – and harvests are getting earlier. In the last seven years, we’ve seen vintages come forward by an average of 10 days. It’s challenging. We’re learning something new every year, and while we have a lot of old vines that are more resistant, you have to adapt.
“We’re fortunate in that we’re part of a community of winemakers who are happy to collaborate. We share knowledge and ideas and muck in when someone needs assistance. It’s one of the best things about making wine here.
“In terms of what we’re doing to combat further climate change, we’re using a lot of organic and environmentally friendly practices. We re-use of grape waste on the vines, water waste is recycled, and Journey’s End was the second winery in South Africa to install solar power generation.
“Our business is built on sustainability, community projects – such as hiring and training local people – and making sure there’s a proper trade-off between money and sustainability. We want to create great wines that won’t cost the earth.”
Q. Many countries and regions – I’m thinking of places like McLaren Vale and Bordeaux – are changing their plantings to deal with climate change, is that something you’re considering? Personally, I’d love to see a Fiano or an Assyrtiko from Journey’s End – any chance? “In Durban they are looking at mildew (a form of mould) resistant grapes. It’s a massive undertaking. You need to wait three years to get any fruit and it takes time to see if the wine you can make from it is up to standard. For the time being, we’re sticking with what we have. We’re looking at different rootstocks, cultivars and clones. Our focus remains on Chardonnay and we’re very excited about white Bordeaux grapes such as Sauvignon and Semillon. Our Ad Infinitum is a blend of 87% Sauvignon and 13% Semillon from small blocks planted at 250m above sea level. It’s a passion project of ours and we think it’s got exceptional potential.”
The Ad Infinitum 2022 (£28 from Noble Green Wines) is ghostly pale with a shimmering, green-gold hue. The nose is fresh, zesty has piercing notes of gooseberries and rhubarb with a smoky tone and savour, mineral edge. The fruit-savoury tension continues on the palate, where mouth-watering citrus, red pears, and white peach are balanced by a steely minerality, a curt touch of peel and a hint of creamy honey. Youthful and intense, in another year or two this will be outstanding.
Q. I’m a huge fan of South African Chenin – especially when it’s oaked. Do you think it enjoys as good a reputation as it might? Many UK consumers don’t see it as a serious wine, they certainly don’t see it in the same light as a Vouvray or one of the other great Loire Chenin. “It’s an education thing. South Africa is still seen as a bulk producer of Chenin and a lot of it goes for distillation. We love it, especially when it’s oaked.”
Q. South African white wines have come an awfully long way over the last twenty years or so. Do you think they have further to go and if so how/what does that look like? Is it a case of greater site/varietal/clone selection to create small batch ultra-premium wines in the way Australia and California have? “We can do everything, and we can do everything well, but there needs to be a balance between premiumisation and affordability. There will always be a need for bulk/cheaper wines, but the small batch production is an exciting space, one we’re happy to work in.”
Journey’s End Spekboom Sauvignon Blanc (Sainsbury’s £11) shows how well and how distinctive South African Sauvignon can be. Grown in the cool of the Coastal Region there’s freshness without aggression. The bouquet is fresh but gentle, favouring lemons, nettles and grass over gooseberries and green peppers. On the palate, it’s generously fruited, but there’s a softness and plumpness of cooked rhubarb and grapefruit where you often find lemons and limes. The finish is long, firm and savoury making it the perfect foil to white meats, stir-fries and fresh seafood.
Q. What’s your fantasy South African wine? If you could choose any site, any vine, and any production techniques, what would you produce? “The Ad Infinitum!”
There are many questions to ask when considering which school is right for your child. Headmaster Tom Dawson examines the options to help you make an informed decision
As independent schools face ever increasing challenges; a fall in birth rate, higher cost of living, increase in mortgage rates and now VAT on school fees; the necessity to evolve and adapt has never been greater.
Schools must listen to the needs and desires of parents in order to survive and thrive. They should also, however, be very clear about what they offer and maintain an individuality that provides choice for parents. Some schools, faced with this existential question have chosen to extend down or up, to adapt their boarding model or in the case of a number of independent schools recently, go from single-sex to co-ed. This is a huge shift in policy for some schools with a very long history of educating just boys or girls. These changes have not been made on the spur of the moment but after long consideration of the advantages of both models; so what exactly are they?
Looking at the latest Independent Schools Council (ISC) census, 18% of schools are now single-sex (not including nursery), with more girls being educated in single-sex schools than boys. Interestingly, between years 7 and 10 (ages 11 to 14) 30% of ISC schools have year groups of either all boys or all girls.
Learning styles
Single-sex schools will argue that boys and girls learn in very different ways. This is certainly a generalisation but it does have a strong element of truth in it. This is particularly when the pupils are younger. Girls mature more quickly and approach learning in a more disciplined and determined way than the majority of boys. You only have to look at two pieces of work side by side and more often than not, it will be obvious which was produced by a boy and which by a girl. In order, therefore, to get the most out of the different learning styles, the teaching needs to be adapted to suit. Personalised teaching is a mark of a good independent school and that can be easier in a single sex environment.
It is also true that in single-sex settings, boys and girls can feel more able to be themselves and involve themselves in activities they might otherwise not. Children often feel pressure to conform to traditional gender roles, and this can be a barrier to learning. In single-sex schools, pupils are free to express themselves without fear of judgement or ridicule. This can lead to increased confidence and self-esteem, which can have a positive impact on academic performance and in participation in other activities. It is sometimes precisely because there are no girls that some boys will be happier to sing in the choir or play a female role in a play. The same can be said of girls who might have interests that may be seen by the more traditionally minded (some might say ignorant!) as more male pursuits.
The flip side is that co-ed schools can be seen as much more representative of the society that all school leavers will emerge into. Why separate children when that is not what the future holds for them? Many will say that children need to be in co-educational environments in order to learn that everybody is equal regardless of gender or any of the other protected characteristics. The need for mutual respect and understanding of both sexes is of paramount importance and a co-educational environment can facilitate this in a natural way.
All single-sex schools create situations with other schools where boys and girls are able to mix with each other but these events are often excruciating in their awkwardness. Thankfully, they are often more imaginative than the discos with boys on one side and girls on the other but it is rarely natural and it is always fleeting. There is the rush at the end of the event with a frantic swapping of numbers or ‘snaps’ but this can lead to all sorts of problems if the children are not properly guided in how to use these appropriately. Co-education can improve these social skills and help boys and girls to be more natural in each other’s company.
Whatever your view, the key element is choice. It is ultimately for parents to decide which route is better for their children and, providing that these options remain, there are so many good schools out there providing an outstanding education in a range of different settings.
James Bond fantasies can easily unravel as Michael Smith reveals in his latest account of spies and secret lives
The popular image of a spy as epitomised by James Bond all too often leads people to imagine they can be spies.
FBI Special Agent Richard Miller was supposedly a professional paid to look for spies, but he was 48, seriously overweight and widely expected to be fired for a series of lapses that included leaving the keys in the door of the FBI offices overnight. He did have one potential asset.
Svetlana Ogorodnikova, a slim, pretty, blonde Russian, had emigrated to the US in the early 1970s hoping to become a Hollywood actress. She was all too happy to play a Mata Hari role by helping Miller to recruit the KGB man as his own agent, and turn himself into a hero, a top spy.
The KGB officers in San Francisco were rightly suspicious and rejected the approach. But their bosses in Moscow ordered them to go ahead. When the KGB said yes, Miller and Ogorodnikova celebrated and ended up making love. “It was just something that happened,” Miller said. “She was a very attractive woman. It just sort of came with the territory. I had a James Bond kind of fantasy.”
But the fantasy was spiralling out of control. The KGB sent Ogorodnikova to Moscow to be briefed on what to do and it was agreed that Miller would be paid $50,000 in return for handling over anything the KGB wanted. Ogorodnikova took Miller to the Consulate-General for a meeting with the KGB boss, but the normally teetotal FBI officer was so nervous that he had a few drinks to calm his nerves and became very drunk. He got out of the car in the full view of the FBI surveillance team watching the building, who photographed him with Ogorodnikova and soon identified him.
The FBI set up a surveillance operation against them Operation Whipworm – she was Whip, he was Worm. They bugged Miller’s and Ogorodnikova’s phones and cars, recording an agreement to fly to Vienna to seal the deal. But the trip never went ahead. They were both arrested and jailed.
* Read more stories about spies who never became famous in Michael Smith’s book The Anatomy of a Spy, published by History Press
Whether you’re meditating, practising yoga or just want to create a chilled atmosphere, the new Earth range by Temple of Incense is your grounding in peace
A harmonious blend of amber woods, earthy musk, tonka bean and mitti (Hindi for soil). Earth by Temple of Incense captures the raw, earthy elements that keep you connected and grounded, and will bring the outside in.
Whether you’re meditating, practicing yoga, looking to sync your body to the natural rhythms of the earth, or just want to create a chilled atmosphere, Earth incense sticks are the gateway to peace and tranquillity.
Even a brief burn of 10 minutes will renew your energy and enhance your vibe with the natural world.
Temple of Incense masterfully creates fresh and diverse vegan and cruelty-free, temple-grade incense sticks, resins, oudh and oils for every occasion and every room. Each box contains 20 luxury incense sticks, ethically hand-crafted with love and consciousness, masterfully created from the best quality oils and resins, sourced locally and from around the world.
The Temple of Incense story began in 2012 on a little market stall on Portobello Road, when two sisters from London – Simi and Sam Aydee – brought their expertise and passion for incense stick artistry to life, creating and marketing world-class natural incense, along with traditional and contemporary sculptural stick holders and bowls to complement every home décor.
Liz Nicholls chats to Johnny Ball, 86, who’s on a mission to make maths easy for all & stars with his daughter Zoe at Wantage Literary Festival
Hi Johnny! Did you enjoy school? “I had a dream time in primary school in Bristol. Aged 11, we moved to Bolton and though I was at a grammar school, I was neglected; two illnesses caused me to miss most of the autumns in years 2 and 3. I achieved two O-Levels. So they were surprised when they saw I’d got 100% in maths.”
Q. What would help youngsters master maths at school? “The main problem is the neglect of geometry [in the curriculum]. It’s geometric thoughts and ideas that help our future engineers as well as artists. Geometry is a visual explanation of mathematical concepts and thus far more relevant than just numbers.”
Q. Can anyone become good at maths, even those who are frightened? “Being frightened of maths can happen. But everything we get wrong in education is repairable, if and when we get the student in the right frame of mind. Often when school is ending, youngsters get the urge to achieve, despite recent failings. Things can be turned around in sixth form.”
Q. Who was your hero growing up? “As regards my maths and science career, Jacob Bronowski’s TV series and book, The Ascent of Man, became my bible especially when I was writing Think of a Number and Think Again.”
Q. What do you love about life in Bucks? “We moved to south Bucks just as my TV career took off and Think Again had won a BAFTA. We bought a wreck of a house, but today it is our pride and joy. Every aspect of the house has been improved over the years.”
Q. What was your favourite book a child? “I read Treasure Island when I was about eight. In my 30s my mother told me they had been advised to keep me away from books as was clearly so clever, I might have a brain tumour.”
Q. I asked you about Strictly when we chatted years ago & you were not enamoured with how you were treated. How do you feel about it now? “I went out first through a series of circumstances I don’t wish to revisit. But the very day after I was thrown out, the Strictly Tour asked if they could pencil me in, as they understood how badly I had been treated. Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace (who I had danced with at a sort of audition) said they wanted me to play the old man in their touring show, but I could not accept, due to other work.
Q. I loved you on TV as a child! Do you have any favourite shows? “Sadly, BBC children’s TV on its own channels get nowhere near the viewing figures we achieved. It was a criminal decision by the BBC. It was clear when we were making our Think programmes, that our script and editing standards were very high – the best in the world. I often worked in the adult sector and never saw anywhere near the directional standards we achieved. I turned down Tomorrow’s World three times.
Q. What has it been like writing your memoirs? “I have a quite detailed memory and my problem in writing my memoires, is cutting it down to only feature stories that are worth telling because they are unusual and often unique – Like Dad walking home with me on his shoulders while totally asleep – Mum being machine gunned in Bristol with me in the pram – The lad who robbed a bank and caught a bus home – The thief, who proved how good a thief he was, by stealing the Charge Book from the Police Station – The time I did the Val Doonican show with not one rehearsal and how the camera broke down after a couple of gags – we were live to 19 million viewers. Why, when Roy Orbison and The Bee Gees did their ONLY appearances at British Clubs, I was chosen as the comedy before their spots.
Q. If you could make one wish for the world, what would it be? “For the world I worry a lot, but if you examine every say ten years back through your life, you see that things do get better when compared with the past – I hope we can always say that this continues. For me, I make wishes every day – mostly that I can keep on working.
