Drink quench marks

Round & About

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Berkshire

Our beautiful part of the world is full of fantastic food & drink producers. We uncork some of our favourites to enjoy this summer…

If summer joy could be encapsulated in a sound, surely it would be the “pop” of a perfectly chilled bottle? And when you’re uncorking the fruits of your own labours, success is sweet indeed…

“This land is a b***** to cultivate,” says Henry Laithwaite as he stands on the undulating Chiltern slopes alongside his wife Kaye. “It’s so flinty that the harrow kept breaking when we started working the soil, which inspired our name. But it is a very special spot.”

Indeed, this beautiful Thames Valley terroir is one of the many magical ingredients (along with lots of hard work) which have helped conjure up the lush velvety blushing fizz we uncork and sample in Harrow & Hope’s adjoining state-of-the-art winery. This non-vintage brut rosé, made exclusively from pinot noir grapes, won a gold medal in the Sommelier Wine Awards. Produced using traditional methods and the precious fruit from these relatively young vines, Harrow & Hope’s sparkling wines are flying the flag for the Great British food and drink revolution. Visit www.harrowandhope.com

Here at Round & About Magazine we are passionate (not to mention greedy and thirsty) supporters of local pubs, restaurants and producers. After all, anyone working in the food & drink industry will know all too well that it takes a lot of hard graft to create the perfect recipe for punters to enjoy.

Chalgrove Gin

Gin has seen a surge in popularity and there are some interesting local producers in this spirited part of the world. Chalgrove Artisan Distillery use juniper berries, coriander seed, angelica root, cardamon and black peppercorns, honed in an alembic copper still, to create their OX44 Gin; visit www.chalgroveartisandistillery.com.

Did you know gin started out as a medicine (it was thought to cure gout and indigestion)? In the 18th century, alcohol was safer to drink than water and gin was cheaper than beer; it was untaxed until the government cottoned on, sparking hooch production. Much of the gin was drunk by women (with historians blaming it for child neglect and citing wet nurses giving gin to babies to quieten them), landing many in debtors’ prisons or the gallows, or driving them to madness, suicide and death (hence the term Mother’s Ruin). However, these days it’s a more joyful summer spirit, and can even be considered a beauty tonic…

Young In Spirit is the world’s first company which combines spirits with pure collagen. Oxford “gintrepreneurs” Camilla Brown and Liz Beswick have earned attention from Vogue and The Daily Mail, among others for their Collagin; www.collagin.co.uk.

The artisans at Toad in Oxford craft gin, absinthe, vodka and rye whiskey worth a shot – and there’s a new cocktail bar at Bicester village; www.spiritoftoad.com. And Mr Hobbs Gin, part of the Hobbs of Henley Experience, has launched two new fruit flavoured gin liqueurs; Rhubarb & Ginger and Raspberry & Elderflower www.mrhobbsgin.co.uk 

Is beer your tipple? Hoppy bunnies are spoilt for choice. For tours, tastings and hearty ales, check out Witney’s wondrous Wychwood Brewery (www.wychwood.co.uk). Cirencester’s Corinium Ales (www.coriniumales.co.uk), Chipping Norton’s Hook Norton Brewery www.hooky.co.uk. A passion for good beer and social justice fuel Botley’s Tap Social, where the team offer live music and street food every Friday and Saturday in August as well as the monthly comedy night and reggae night, www.tapsocialmovement.com. Ciderniks near Kintbury has been making natural ciders, pure apple juice and cider vinegar since 2003; www.ciderniks.com

Spice up your life…

Variety is the spice of life and there are so many restaurants to enjoy this summer. Michelin-starred Atul Kochhar (the father of Benares in London and Sindhu in Marlow) hosts Indian nights in August at his divine Hawkyns in Amersham; www.hawkynsrestaurant.co.uk. The Bottle & Glass Inn in Binfield has made a splash, gaining a nod from Harden’s Guide and a Michelin Plate; www.bottleandglassinn.com. For summer dining in style, check out The French Horn in Sonning (www.thefrenchhorn.co.uk), The Crooked Billet in Stoke Row (www.thecrookedbillet.co.uk) and The Nelson in Brightwell Baldwin www.thenelsonbrightwell.co.uk. Feast on fresh Lebanese and Middle Eastern delicacies (many vegan or veggie) including colourful salads and wraps at Comptoir Libanais in Oxford’s Westgate; www.comptoirlibanais.com
We also love the rustic summer vibes of The Highwayman (www.thehighwaymaninn-checkendon.co.uk). Cheers!

So, we’d like to know what’s your favourite pub or restaurant and why? Join in the conversation and comment below.

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Hooked on Peter Pan

Round & About

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Journey to Neverland thanks to an open-air musical production of Peter Pan by the Immersion Theatre team, writes Peter Anderson

Once again, the theatre’s artistic director James Tobias combines with composer Robert Gathercole for this latest adaptation of J. M. Barrie’s iconic story about a boy who never grew up.

“I’m incredibly excited to continue expanding Immersion’s portfolio of work,” James tells me. “Peter Pan is shaping up to be another
larger-than-life summer treat for families of all ages, complete with all the ingredients that make an Immersion show such a uniting, and above all fun family experience.”

So, what you need to do is follow young Peter, as he guides Wendy and the Darling boys on an awfully big adventure as they think happy thoughts and fly high to Neverland. Once there, they will meet a collection of well-known characters, from Peter’s friends – the Lost Boys, his close friend the cheeky Tinkerbell, and then of course there is the hilarious Smee and the most feared villain of them all, the evil Captain Hook. Filled with catchy music, heaps of audience interaction (oh yes there is!), and a laugh-a-minute script makes this a hilarious and exciting musical about the boy who never grew up, one where every member of the family will be hooked!

Speaking of Hook, Thomas Cove who plays him says: “It’s such a pleasure to be teaming up again with James Tobias and the great people at Immersion Theatre. It’s not often that chances to play such an iconic character like Captain Hook come along, so as soon as the casting came up, I knew it was something I wanted to be involved with. The team who have been assembled truly bring this timeless story to life. The show is packed with Immersion’s trademark high-energy, fantastic entertainment for all ages, and the beautiful open-air venues we’ll be visiting will be in for a treat.”

The performances are outside, so audience members can take their own picnic, chairs or rugs, and drinks will be served during the interval. After the performance you may also have a chance to meet members of the cast.

Peter Pan will be performed on lawns, in our readers’ areas on the following dates:
Wednesday 8th & Thursday 9th August in Hatchlands Park, East Clandon, Surrey.
Friday, 10th August In Langley Park, Iver, Buckinghamshire.
Monday, 13th August in Shaw House, Newbury, Berkshire
Sunday, 26 & Monday, 27th August in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

For details and tickets, visit www.immersion theatre.co.uk

Peter Pan by Immersion Theatre

https://www.facebook.com/immersiontheatreuk/videos/1205216526284960/

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Summer favourites from Atul Kochhar

Liz Nicholls

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Berkshire

We asked Atul Kochhar the twice Michelin-starred chef, and owner of Benares in London, Sindhu in Marlow and many other restaurants, about his summer favourites

Atul Kolchhar
Atul Kolchhar

Q: What’s your favourite kitchen gadget?
“I wouldn’t be without a wok or a karahi. A slightly heavier wok is best as you can stew, braise and fry. It’s a good idea to season a new wok before using it for the first time; Put plenty of salt in and heat then take a kitchen cloth and rub the salt all over the sides and base, wash with weak soapy water and dry.”

Q. What’s your fave al fresco dish?
“Anything I can do on the barbecue, meat, vegetables or fruit. You don’t need to add lots of spice; keeping it simple with salt, pepper and lemon juice is ideal. Try to retain the juices as much as you can by grilling on a high heat so the food seals quickly and retains flavour.”

Q. Do you have a favourite pub or restaurant?
“I love The Footman in Mayfair where, once in a while, I go for a pint with my team. A great place.”

Q. What about a fave farm shop or supplier?
“Laverstoke Park Farm [in Basingstoke] does the best cheese, especially buffalo mozzarella.”

Q. Which British summer produce do you love?
“Early this year I made a pact with the family to spend less time travelling and more time at home so I’m mostly in the UK. Strawberries are my favourite. Chard and rhubarb I love, too, especially at this time of year. Chard is best blanched quickly, used in the same way as spinach. If I’m cooking a chicken curry I’d add the whole leaf to the pot – which makes it slightly salty but amazing, since it absorbs all the juices. The eating is fantastic! If you’re a vegetarian chard is a great option.”

Visit www.atulkochar.com

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Seeing red

Round & About

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Tony Hersh of Newbury Astronomy Group explains more about what we can see in the skies above us this month, including the red moon.

July is exciting for astronomers due to the total lunar eclipse between 8.45pm and 9.30pm on Friday, 27th.

During this event Earth comes between the moon and sun. Instead of plunging the moon into darkness from Earth’s shadow, something unusual happens. Sunlight is made of light of all the colours of the rainbow mixed together, but as it travels through Earth’s atmosphere, the path of the light changes as it hits air molecules and particles. Colours with shorter wavelengths, such as blue, are scattered off in random directions but colours with longer wavelengths, such as the reds, are scattered less. So the light that emerges after being bent in the Earth’s atmosphere has more red colour and turns the moon an amazing ruby hue. Have a look out and see how red the moon becomes!

Turning to constellations, see if you can find part of Sagittarius which is visible low in the sky directly south and appears as the shape of a teapot. Planets are difficult to spot in a lightish sky but Mars is at its largest and brightest all year this month and should be visible close to the moon on the first of the month. Venus should be clearly visible just to the left of a crescent moon at 9.30pm on 15th July and Saturn again just to the left of the moon around the same time on 24th.

Object of the month

When a comet approaches the sun, the frozen gases trapped beneath its surface evaporate and dislodge dust grains from the surface of the comet which can be seen from Earth as the comet’s “tail”. In 2014, after a 10-year journey, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft finally reached its destination with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. For the next two years, Rosetta orbited the rubber-duck-shaped comet, analysing the dust the comet was losing. Recently a landmark study was published, reporting about half of the 35,000 dust grains captured and analysed by the Rosetta probe were made of organic molecules; carbon-based molecules such as proteins, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. The finding adds weight to the suggestion that comets were responsible for “seeding” the early Earth with organic matter which eventually gave rise to life.

Newbury Astronomical Society hosts monthly meetings for beginners and experienced astronomers. Visit www.newburyastro.org.uk. Email any questions to [email protected]

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Music & more marvels

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Family-friendly Marvellous festival at Dinton Pastures Country Park over the weekend of 21st & 22nd July promises tribute acts galore and lots more!

Our respect for the talent of tribute acts has risen to such a point that whole festivals are dedicated to them. This certainly makes economic sense: in this time of austerity how else can you enjoy Tina Turner, Coldplay, Pink and Led Zeppelin in concert?

One of the longest running and best tribute festivals is the suitably named Marvellous which returns to Dinton Pastures Country Park near Hurst over the weekend of 21st and 22nd July.

Marvellous features 15 top tribute performers who perform their pitch-perfect imitations all over the world. On the Saturday you can have a fiesta with Oye Santana, listen to when Sting was great with Police Force and enjoy the sounds of Ed Sheeran (minus 100,000 screaming teenagers) in Jack Shepherd’s tribute.

Marvellous is well known for serving up an eclectic mix of musical genres and eras, and this year you will be right royally entertained by tributes to all your favourite artists and more as well as a second stage marquee featuring a plethora of unsigned local talent. Kids of all ages will find plenty to do with fabulous fairground rides as well as loads of free activities in the Big Kids’ Village – including balloon modelling, arts and crafts, games, and face painting.

New for 2018 is the Silent Disco tent where revellers wear headphones and can switch between two channels of music transmitted wirelessly to them by the DJ – great fun to do and to watch! The festival offers both day tickets and weekend tickets, camping and glamping packages.

Then there’s Sir Tom (Jones), P!nk, and Definitely Might Be (Oasis). That’s another great thing about tribute acts – you can watch unexpected reunions such as the Gallagher brothers or even reunions from beyond the grave in the case of T Rextasy who support Saturday headliners Ultimate Eagles.

On the Sunday the fun continues with Bruno (not Frank; Mars), Sounds of Simon (& Garfunkel), Boot Led Zeppelin, Typically Tina, The Fillers (The Killers tribute), Legend (Bob Marley tribute), and the headliner Coldplace.

Tickets for Saturday or Sunday cost £43 (£70 for the weekend) for adults, and £20 (£35) for children. If you plan to camp – or glamp! – then there’s an additional charge. For more details and to book visit: www.marvellousfestivals.com

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Homegrown heroes

Round & About

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Henley Symphony Orchestra will take centre stage on Saturday, 14th July, at the Henley Festival which Round & About magazine is proud to sponsor this year

Featuring a programme of popular classics from around the world, Henley Symphony Orchestra will play an inaugural concert from 11.30am to 1.30pm, on the “floating stage” as part of Henley Festival.

This is the first of two special classical concerts over the festival weekend; the second being the English National Opera’s concert on Sunday evening.

The HSO, now in its 48th season, continues to attract a wide audience and soloists of the highest calibre. It has given performances in Henley’s twin towns of Leichlingen, Falaise and Bled. Most recently it performed to a full house at the Hexagon, Reading, with the inspirational young cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

July’s concert will feature the violinist Min Kym who has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras and eminent conductors. She will be playing two showpieces with the orchestra; Massenet’s beautiful Meditation from Thais and Sarasate’s scintillating Zapateado.

Under the masterful command of conductor Ian Brown, the orchestra will also perform Dvorak, Gershwin, Marquez, Offenbach and Walton. Tchaikovsky’s iconic 1812 Overture, with its resounding bells and cannon fire – a fitting end to the concert!

Tickets for the concert on 14th are £20 (£10 for under-18s and students). For the full Henley Festival line-up visit www.henley-festival.co.uk

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Imaginative arts

Round & About

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Make a date to visit Basildon Park this month to enjoy a spectacular exhibition. The grounds of Basildon Park, Lower Basildon, are the setting for Wayfaring.

This is a free outdoor installation and performance space created in the grounds of this country house, by artists Mandy Dike and Ben Rigby, who work together as And Now.

As the name poetically inspires, Wayfaring is an artistic journey of exploration, inspired by the landscape and ancient routes of the Icknield Way, a pre-Roman pathway running from north Norfolk to the Dorset coast. Basildon Park, where the North Wessex Downs meets the Chilterns, sits on the edge of the route.

Usually visitors pay to enter Basildon Park’s beautiful parklands – but on the 18th, 19th and 20th July entry is free.

The journey begins in the park, where you can contribute to the artwork, with materials found by Mandy, Ben and their team and a group of volunteers and local schoolchildren.

On the evening of Saturday, 21st July, at 7pm, fire, pyrotechnics, live music and performance will light up the installation in a rousing celebration. The audience will play an active part in Wayfaring – walking, looking, listening, maybe even singing. This event is an exciting opportunity to create an amazing journey for audiences in a very special location.

Wayfaring is the culmination of a three-year artistic and heritage collaboration between And Now: and the National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

This project will provide a stepping stone to transform natural locations with imaginative arts events.

www.wayfaring.org.uk

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Meat and greet

Round & About

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Ever since he was in his early teens Christian Alba knew that he wanted to be a butcher. Jonathan Lovett finds out more about the butcher boy who has realised his dream.

I loved that funny meaty smell that butchers’ shops had,” he says, laughing. “I started in the trade as a Saturday boy when I was 13, doing the cleaning, and a couple of years later they offered me an apprenticeship. When I was 15 I was on a butcher’s bike in the Cricklade Carnival with sausages hanging around my neck wearing a bowler hat and a moustache drawn on my face!”

Fast forward 30-odd years and Christian is now the proud owner of his own shop, Christian Alba Traditional Butchers, located in Hungerford High Street. Opening at the start of May it’s the realisation of a dream for the cheery meat man who staked his own house to buy the shop.

“If it’s your own money and your own life it makes you more driven to make it work,” he adds. “I’d been searching a while for somewhere suitable but hadn’t got anywhere and then this supplier I knew came into the place I was working and said, ‘I’ve got one for you in Hungerford!’ I’ve never been here before in my life but I came over and just knew this was right the moment I stepped inside.”

Christian was previously manager of the award-winning Michael Hart & Sons Butcher in Cirencester and he aims to bring the same high standard of quality to Hungerford and shoppers in nearby towns. But what makes his shop special?

“I pride myself on buying English or British. I’m a proud believer of supporting the English farmer because if you don’t, they will be gone. I’m also concerned with animal welfare and if I could sell everything free-range I would but I appreciate not everyone has the money to afford that. But we do sell free-range pork and lamb, beef and chickens.”

His sausages are handmade, there is a great deli selection and a range of gluten-free goods. But there is one special ingredient Christian believes only the best of butchers have… “Service. People buy from people and if they like who they’re buying from and the product is good then they’ll come back. We operate a ‘nothing is a problem’ service so, if we can get it, you can have it. And I love talking to people. When people walk into a small business they don’t want to be treated as a number, they want someone to respond to them with a bit of soul. We want to treat everyone as a friend.”

˜ Christian Alba Traditional Butchers, 9 High St, Hungerford, RG17 0DN, is open Tuesdays to Fridays, 8am to 5pm and Saturdays, 8am to 3pm. Call the shop on 01488 680970.

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Birth & beyond

Round & About

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Following the success of The Nature of Forgetting, Theatre Re bring Birth – their latest work in progress – to the Wilde Theatre in Bracknell, writes Peter Anderson

That is it we carry deep down within ourselves from the very beginning? Diving into a world of myths, legends, fairytales, folk songs and taking inspiration from the fields of neuroscience and psycho-genealogy, Theatre Re will use their trademark mix of mime, live music, sound, light, costumes and props to explore what is passed between generations and how this shapes us.

Theatre Re are an associate company of South Hill Park and Guillaume Pigé, their founder and artistic director has many happy memories of Bracknell, he tells me. “We absolutely love bringing our work to SHP! It is always our first port of call and has nurtured numerous projects at early stages. We have fond memories of performing in 2012 and in 2013. Then the stage of The Wilde was the largest we had ever been on. We could not be more excited to share our newest discoveries in July!”

What are the advantages of putting a play in development in front of a live audience? “It gives us a deadline, otherwise we could keep exploring for a very long time without getting anywhere! Things start off with a few ideas, props to play with but it can also be texts, poems, images, movements or set exercises. We realised having an audience helps us to rediscover and reinvent and sometimes also questions the material that we have created in the rehearsal room. It is also incredibly useful for us to hear people’s feedback very early on. It allows us to gain a better understanding of what we are doing and check it is accessible and meaningful.”

What is it about the human condition that so fascinates him? “I don’t think I’ve ever made a conscious decision about it. After having made a few pieces I realised the common ground to all the different shows was the fragility of the human condition. Birth is very much a continuation of the exploration we started with The Nature of Forgetting about memory, when we explored what is left when memory is gone. With Birth the idea is to look at the same question but from the beginning point of view. What is it that we all start with or what is it that we carry deep down within ourselves from the very beginning. We are exploring genetic and family memory and what it is that we subconsciously inherit from our ancestors.

“There will be a lot of Theatre Re trademarks –sweat, live music, not many words – but also new elements we are playing with… you’ll be surprised”

Birth is on Thursday, 12th July, at 7.45pm at the Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park, RG12 7PA, and there will be a post-show discussion. Call 01344 484123 or visit www.southhillpark.org.uk

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Much ado outdoors

Round & About

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Summer wouldn’t be summer without a spot of open-air Shakespeare, and Progress Theatre is bringing Much Ado About Nothing to Reading’s medieval Abbey Ruins.

Written right at the end of the 16th century, Much Ado About Nothing is, of course, a comedy, albeit one with a hint of darkness. It also explores the meanings of loyalty, chivalry and true love.

In this al fresco production Progress Theatre shifts the time and place of the story from Italy’s Messina to an English country house at the end of World War II.

Director Trevor Dale, a veteran of many local Shakespeare productions, says: “One of the key elements of this play is the speed with which the romance emerges – these aren’t people who can afford the luxury of a long courtship. The war in Europe is over, but people would have been mindful of the continuing conflict in the Far East.

“Historically, there was a lot of social change at this time than after World War I, and so much of the humour and conflict comes from the difference in the social positions of men and women. So I wanted to highlight the strength of women in relation to men.

He continues: “Being outside really adds to the show – Shakespeare’s plays would originally have been performed in an open-air theatre. On top of that, the Abbey makes for an amazing backdrop and that alone is a reason to see it.”

Much Ado About Nothing is at Reading Abbey Ruins, from Wednesday, 11th July until Saturday, 21st July.

To book a ticket, visit www.progresstheatre.co.uk

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