1. Tickled Pink Ben & Jerry’s Love Is Topped, £2.50.
2. Dove Pomegranate, £2.85.
3. PG Tips, £2.
4. ghd gold ink on pink styler, £139.
5. Simple wipes, £3.
6. Pot noodle.
7. Vaseline Rosy Lip Tin, £1.50.
8. Lulu Guinness Breast Cancer Now Natasha in chalk blush, £145 .
9. ELEMIS Breast Cancer Care limited-edition Pro-collagen Marine Cream, 100ml.
‘A murder is the culmination of a lot of different circumstances all converging at a given time, at a given point. It’s Zero Hour.” So says Superintendent Battle in Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero.
The play begins with the shipping forecast, but the weather does not suddenly happen – it is the result of many influences and other events, in the same way murder does not just happen. Towards Zero is the current play at the Mill at Sonning, and the team are pleased that Brian Blessed, is once again directing one of Christie’s plays.
The “Queen of Crime” wrote it in 1944, when Agatha was married to Max Mallowan and living at Winterbrook, near Cholsey. But it was just over a decade later when a young Brian Blessed met Agatha Christie.
He was just starting his first job at Nottingham Playhouse where they ran a fortnightly repertory company under the artistic director Val May (who was later the artistic director of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre at Guildford) for the princely sum of £4-19-6 per week.
Agatha Christie was putting on Spiders Web at the Theatre Royal and came to the Playhouse for a look around. In those days the Stage Door opened on to the street.
Agatha and Brian often met up during the following three weeks. She helped him source some props he needed and told him some of her wishes about how her plays should be staged. Some of these, all these years later, Brian has remembered and used at The Mill, including the suit of armour that came to life. Towards Zero was Agatha’s favourite play, he recalls, and that of her good friend Robert Graves, the author of I Claudius.
Sometimes, either before or after their meetings, she was not going back to the theatre but to the police station to see if there had been any interesting murders! She described her meetings with him as relaxing which, for a lady who said that sometimes her head felt like a house where a light was on in at least one room 24 hours a day, must have been a blessing. Sadly, for Brian, her one gift to him apart from the advice a small radio covered in red velvet was taken from his bedsit.
As to what the audience can expect at the Mill, period music and the perpetual ticking of many different clocks as we head to the zero hour. Agatha was not Bran’s only source of advice, for Superintendent Battle, he went back to one of his early television roles – PC “Fancy” Smith on Z Cars.
There are more than 130 performers and artists, showcasing local and national talent at the event from 20th September to 6th October, the second oldest fringe in the UK after Edinburgh.
The launch party kicks off the festival with music from DJ Steve Nash and guests playing everything from reggae and jazz to funk and disco with drinks and food from street vendors to make it a great way to start.
Among the many musical highlights of the festival are jazz singers Claire Martin and Ian Shaw with A Century of Song (21st); traditional music from Spain with The Maiden & The Thief (25th); The Magic of Motown (27th) and An Afternoon of Music & Colour brings R&B and funk on the 29th.
There’s theatre in the form of The Red Balloon (21st) and a trip through Shakespeare in The battle of Love and Power (29th) before you go on Journey’s End on 1st and 2nd October.
Join a Victorian Windsor walking tour, discover Queen Anne’s Windsor and enjoy some of the work put on display by more than 30 artists at open house events around the town.
The family is well catered for entertainment to suit all ages from dance to an arts festival day and join The Last Puppet with an adventure aboard ship.
The festival also features the 16th international Kenneth Branagh Award for new drama writing. The three finalists’ plays will be performed nightly on 3rd, 4th, and 5th October before a panel of judges chooses the overall winner – why not watch one a night at The Old Court and decide for yourself?
Award-winning writers, established names and emerging authors are all on the bill at this year’s Marlborough LitFest which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Children’s authors, poetry events and themes including history, archaeology, mental health, travel, sports, food, nature and adventure should guarantee that there truly is something for everyone to enjoy this month.
Among the well-known names set to appear are Ben Okri, who is this year’s Golding Speaker, and favourites such as ian Rankin, Joanne Harris, Carol Ann Duffy, Robert Harris and David Baddiel.
Chair of Marlborough LitFest, Genevieve Clarke, said: “The LitFest has come a long way in 10 years. We’re thrilled to be celebrating our first decade with established literary names, plenty of writers just starting out, a mix of themes, creative workshops and a fabulous children’s programme. We’ve also stepped up our commitment to outreach as a way of drawing in new audiences from Marlborough and beyond. I’d like to thank our committee, volunteers and sponsors for all their help in putting together an exciting programme for 2019.”
The festival which features nearly 40 events this year will begin with poet Carol Ann Duffy on Thursday, 26th September at Marlborough College where she will read from her latest collection, Sincerity as well as some of her earlier work.
The Golding Speaker Ben Okri will address the audience at the Town Hall on Friday 27th. The Nigerian-born writer came to recognition in 1991 when aged just 32 he was the youngest winner of the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Famished Road.
Debut authors will feature alongside the established with Elizabeth Macneal and Stacey Halls showcasing their novels on Saturday 28th. Macneal’s The Doll Factory is set in 1850s London and tells of a woman who is both artist and artist’s model. Halls’s novel The Familiars is set at the time of the Pendle witch trials when 10 people were hanged for murder by witchcraft.
Among the other attractions is this year’s Big Town Read, Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path,
chosen for local book groups to enjoy and telling the true story of a homeless, penniless, jobless couple who walk the 630 miles of the South West Coast Path from Minehead to Poole. Their walk and the story of it is defiant and life-affirming.
Festival favourite, Poetry in the Pub returns and new for this year is LitFest’s own What the Papers Say on Sunday morning.
A key feature of this year’s festival is the growth of its outreach events which intend to bring the best of good writing to Marlborough and this year includes a partnership with Save the Children, links with HMP Erlestoke and increased activity with local schools.
If you’re ever fancied yourself as a bit of a sleuth there’s the perfect opportunity to put your skills to the test at this year’s Agatha Christie weekend.
Discover the real-life world of the Queen of Crime who lived in Wallingford and Cholsey for 42 years until her death in 1976 writing many of the novels for which she is best known.
As part of this year’s weekend, unleash you inner Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple and take part in Science Oxford’s CSI Forensic Challenge at Wallingford Museum. With a fresh crime scene, grab your magnifying glass and dusting powder, unravel alibis and solve clues to find out whodunit. Booking is essential for this with sessions at 6.30pm, 7.15pm and 8pm.
Among other events planned for the weekend from Friday, 6th to Sunday, 8th September are a talk at Cholsey Church where she and husband Max Mallowan are buried – Murder Most Flowery will look at Christie’s use of horticulture in the creation and solving of whodunits given by keen gardener and fan, Ruth Brompton-Charlesworth. The talk will take place at Cholsey’s St Mary’s Church, 7.30pm and includes a glass of wine or soft drink, tickets £12.
Across the weekend Wallingford Museum will hold an enhanced exhibition, At home with the Queen of Crime, and in Cholsey Old School enjoy the A is for Agatha art exhibition which will feature work created by artists who each read one of her murder mysteries and then used their own interpretation to depict it.
Reading Film Theatre is celebrating its 50th year and wants your help to design a new logo to mark the occasion.
Reading’s only independent cinema shows a range of art-house, foreign language and indie films as well as the occasional mainstream blockbuster.
Having started as a joint project between the British Film Institute and the University of Reading, the registered charity runs with the help of 50 volunteers and in the words of its president, Sir Kenneth Branagh: “Independent cinema is vital to the cultural life of town and I am pleased to be President of the cinema which provides opportunities for people to see films that otherwise would not be shown in Reading.”
Films are shown on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at the Palmer Building at the University of Reading where film goers can enjoy screenings with state-of-the-art equipment.
The new season starts this month with films to amaze, amuse and delight.
And there’s the chance for you to win a year’s Classic membership to the theatre in the competition to design a new logo ahead of next year’s anniversary.
The design requirements:
Hard copy A5 size or no smaller than 50mm x 50mm and 300dpi if digital
Make clear the RFT is celebrating its 50th year
Able to be combined with the film theatre’s existing logo to be placed next to it
All entries should be original, unpublished and directly created for the competition
The RFT will retain the right to use or adapt all designs submitted in any format
Entries should be sent to Reading Film Theatre, Logo Design Competition, PO Box 217, Palmer Building, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AH or by email to [email protected] with 50th Anniversary Logo in the subject line.
All entries should provide full contact details. By entering you agree to RFT contacting you about your entry and forthcoming events.
Weekly well-baby clinics will be held, including advice sessions with the health visiting team, a self-weigh drop in service and regular health checks by appointment. More services are planned to follow at the old Salvation Army building at the Castle Hill roundabout.
The health visiting service offers a universal programme to all families from ante-natal through to when the child reaches school age including assessments during the first 30 months of a child’s life.
Drop in well-baby clinics are also offered to families with children under five to receive support and advice on child health, growth and development.
The new central clinic in Anstey Road has been created as part of a wider review of the health visiting service across Reading.
Further changes are also planned for Southcote Community Hub, Sun Street Youth and Community Centre, Ranikhet Children’s Centre and Whitley Health Centre, Caversham Children’s Centre and Battle Library – check locally with those.
A duty health visitor telephone/email advice line will operate Monday to Friday. View the button below for a link to online resources.
Lead councillor for health, wellbeing and sport, Cllr Graeme Hoskin said: “The new Salvation Army child health centre will offer Well Baby Clinics alongside a host of other advice and support services for families in a convenient central Reading location.
“The review of the Health Visiting Service has focused on making the best use of limited resources and ensuring that those who need the service most have easy access to clinics either by foot or by public transport.
“The mandated five baby health checks will continue to be held in all our centres and the popular Duty Health Visitor phone line and email will also be available to families as well as support and advice on the Berkshire Healthcare website.”
Reading residents are invited to a family event which aims to promote disability awareness, with a wide range of activities on offer.
Reading’s Physical Disability and Sensory Needs Network (PDSN) is hosting the Disability Awareness Day 2019 tomorrow, Thursday 15th August, under the theme of ‘Staying Healthy – Mind & Body.’
The free event at The Oracle Shopping Centre in Reading will run from 11am to 3pm and will offer fun, interactive and informative sessions.
A wide range of activities will be on offer for all age groups and abilities, including blood pressure checks from the Stroke Association, lip reading learner sessions and hearing tests from Action on Hearing Loss, shoulder & neck massages, as well as musical entertainment.
For further information and/or additional support at the event, please contact [email protected] or call 0118 937 2383.
Simone Illger is chair of the PDSN (Physical Disability and Sensory Needs Network) and a disabled Reading resident. She said: “There is so much on offer at our event this year – with some great activities and stalls offering advice and support. I’d really encourage people to stop by and find out more.”
The team won a Top20 Homecare Provided 2019 Award for being one of the top 20 homecare providers out of 1,358 agencies in South East England.
And this award came hot on the heels of the Twyford-based company being given a 5 Star Employer 2019 award. This award came from independent research agency WorkBuzz after an extensive survey of Right at Home employees.
Right at Home managing director Kevin Lancaster is quite rightly delighted at the success. He said: “When I opened the 50th UK Right at Home in Twyford I was determined to build a care company of the highest quality, delivering at a level that I would be proud to offer my own family.
“It’s heart-warming to get such great independent feedback from our employees, clients and their families that our approach to providing care is working so well with our local community and our super team.”
Right at Home is the only Top20 Homecare Award Winner in both the Reading and Wokingham area, and the Reading & Wokingham branch joins nearby Right at Home Maidenhead as one of only three homecare companies in the whole of Berkshire with a 10/10 rating on the homecare.co.uk independent review website.
“The most eclectic line-up of events yet” is set to take Reading by storm as the Reading Fringe Festival hits town with more than 80 shows to choose from.
As well as surprising shows, they’ll be popping up at some surprising venues too with an orchestra at Reading station and yoga at the Abbey Ruins among others.
Reading Fringe features a host of local, national and international performers for 10 days of comedy, music, film, family fun theatre, art, walks and much more from 19th to 28th July.
This year’s festival has the theme of Into the Woods and Beyond and one of its stars will be the flagship venue of Reading Minster which will host everything from Irish dancing to ‘bring your own baby’ comedy afternoons for new parents.
A conversation with some of Reading’s refugees, a commission with artists from Norway and an evening of songs from musicals are among some of the other treats for visitors.
There’s live music and family fun at the Oracle Riverside and the Vue Cinema will hold the film festival for the first time.
Cabaret, comedy and drama are on offer at the pentahotel, the Purple Turtle, After Dark, the Three Guineas, South Street and the Rising Sun. Music comes in genres to suit every taste including jazz, rap, steampunk, folk, soul, classic and a capella.
There’s plenty of entertainment too for younger Fringe goers who won’t want to miss out on the singing snails at the very least!
Festival director Zsuzsi Lindsay said they are “beyond excited” with the programme for this year’s festival. She added: “We truly believe there is something for everyone – whether you are a comedy fan, an art aficionado, a film fanatic, looking to keep the kids entertained during the holidays or none or all of the above!”