A home from home

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Birtley House Nursing Home is unique and unlike other care homes

At a time when new care homes are opening across the South-East on a weekly basis, Birtley House offers its residents a very different proposition. It takes years to build a true home, a bank of trusted staff and an excellent reputation, as we have done. 

Established in 1932, and a fourth-generation family-run business, the owners of Birtley House live on-site and our history and experience in care means we truly understand what it takes to create a genuinely homely environment whilst offering the highest quality service not just in care but with quality of life for the resident at the heart of it.

We pride ourselves on creating the ultimate home-from-home stay that exudes a vibrant, friendly and relaxed atmosphere. We encourage our residents to feel at home by bringing their own furniture and personal belongings, so they have familiar home comforts available to them. Birtley House prides itself on no specific visiting times, and with ample parking on site, family and friends can visit whenever they wish.

Birtley House provides specialist care services for both long and short-term stays including respite, and convalescent care, palliative care, or end-of-life support. Boasting a strong care team, Birtley House has on-site well-being staff such as physiotherapists, and an in-house chef creating delicious and nutritious food throughout the day, much of it sourced from our own large kitchen garden.

We offer potential residents a variety of accommodation options including nursing home rooms and our unique West Wing apartments, both of which have 24-hour nursing care on call. We also have an over-65’s retirement development of two-bedroomed supported-living flats, designed to provide a calm and worry-free life for those who are looking for more independence and flexibility, and who don’t require care just yet.

We always say that the best way to decide if Birtley House is right for you is with a visit. When you enter any care home, you will get an immediate feel as to whether the atmosphere and environment suit you, and what you are looking for. We are here every step of the way to guide you with impartial advice, and help you make an educated choice that is right for you.

For an insight into life at Birtley House, please take a moment to look at our social media accounts. Additionally, there is an independent website which publishes verified reviews from both residents past and present and their relatives, and our entry can be found here. We are very proud of our 9.9 out of 10 review score on carehome.co.uk.

Find out more at www.BirtleyHouse.co.uk, call 01483 892 055 and email [email protected]

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Art & soul

Liz Nicholls

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John Vardon raises a toast to Arts’ Society Farnham Evening who have been meeting for 20 years this month

Venice was the subject of the inaugural lecture given by Douglas Skeggs to the Cobbett’s Wey Decorative and Fine Arts Society on 14th January 2004. 

Eight months earlier, in April 2003, a group of like-minded ladies got together with a view to setting up a Decorative and Fine Arts Society (DFAS) that would meet in the evening, complementing the existing society meeting in the daytime, and giving an opportunity for working Farnham people to attend lectures.  There was much to do, from finding a suitable venue, through procuring audio visual equipment, creating a programme of lectures, finding a name for the nascent society, drafting a constitution and preparing publicity material to establishing a membership.  In the intervening period, the steering committee worked hard and with success; the society was born.

From the beginning, refreshments were served before the lectures, allowing members and their guests to socialise and the society’s meetings rapidly gained a reputation as friendly as well as informative events.  In the beginning, nine lectures were presented each year but, after only two years, this was increased to ten. The range of lectures has been extremely wide; topics covered have been as diverse as gardens, silver, furniture, tromp l’oeil, architecture, music, bricks and much else.

The society also arranges visits and study days for members, often related to a the subject of a lecture. Members have also been active participants as Church Recorders and Heritage volunteers. Church Recorders ensure that the contents of a church are meticulously described and fully recorded whilst Heritage Volunteers work to conserve artefacts in museums, archives, gardens and historic houses.  Another aspect of the society’s activities was the Young Arts Bursary designed to assist promising young students in their studies to support artists of the future; more recently, the Society has provided financial support to the Woodlarks Centre, specifically in support of the on-site Activity Centre.

In 2017, the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies rebranded as The Arts Society so, as an affiliated organisation, Cobbett’s Wey DFAS became The Arts’ Society, Farnham Evening (ASFE) but it still retained its reputation as a welcoming and friendly society offering an excellent series of lectures.  The COVID pandemic presented further challenges to the Society which went on-line enabling its programme of lectures to continue with only minor interruptions.  However, it was a real joy for Members to reconvene to socialise over a drink and listen to excellent lectures. Over the years, a hard working and cohesive committee supported by enthusiastic volunteers has ensured the success of the Society.  And so at the end of 2023, the Society celebrates the completion of twenty years with the return of Douglas Skeggs, speaking this time on the topic of James Whistler: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

New members are most welcome or come to a talk as a visitor. Free parking and a glass of wine are included! For further information visit theartssocietyfarnhamevening.org.uk

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Moving mountains

Liz Nicholls

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Angelina Messenger tells us about her role as a mountain leader and her love for life in the Chilterns

When it comes to aspirations and living life to the full, it’s fair to say that Angelina Messenger sets high standards for herself.

The 47-year-old mum of twin boys who lives in Lane End has a degree in archaeology from Reading University (becoming a member of Mensa many years later), sails regularly at Maidenhead Sailing Club and is an experienced and qualified mountain leader and National Navigation Award Scheme provider.

“As a family, we all climb together at indoor walls and outside on the crags when we can get to them,” she says of her husband and boys, who have just started secondary school in Marlow. “My job and personal hobbies definitely merge into what would be considered mountaineering, but nothing on as grand a scale as Everest, yet…”

Angelina began walking and camping in the hills and mountains as a child growing up in Surrey and has felt the urge to explore ever since. “I later took up mountain biking and adventure racing, kayaking and climbing; I seem to have a never-ending need to try new things. I remember poring over maps, atlases and all things geography as a teenager.

“I love being outside in our beautiful countryside and mountains, and I’m passionate about improving wellbeing through that connection with the natural world.

“I also love sharing my experience and helping other people to achieve new skills and have amazing adventures.”

However adventure starts close to home and Angelina loves where she lives, especially the area around Maidensgrove for some wide open space on the common and its quaint villages… “I’d also pick St Mary the Virgin Church in Radnage,” she adds. “Built far back in the 12th century by the Knights Templar, the inside is always open and tranquil, and it has some fascinating wall paintings that span 600 years. And the views from the hills as you approach it are so picturesque.

“I often use Coffee on the Green in Stokenchurch to meet groups for navigation courses because it’s so well positioned for access from the motorway and the bus service, as well as offering great service and cake! I love the Chilterns’ rolling chalk hills with the special and unique species of plants and animals, the extensive walking network and the conservation work going on to protect our precious natural landscapes.”

This year Angelina is increasing the number of walks and courses she’s running locally, and is looking forward to welcoming people and local groups to gain skills and experience that lead them on to adventures beyond in other beautiful and remote upland areas of the UK.

Please visit angelinamountainleader.com

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Tastes of the town

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Marlow Tastes, the town’s excusive safari supper, is now open for bookings to allow hundreds more diners to sample gourmet food while helping charities that support families in need of help.

The three-course mystery tour of some of the town’s finest restaurants was introduced on a limited scale last April and was a resounding success. Places were sold out within a few weeks and the evening raised £8,000 for charity.

This year Marlow Tastes plans to double in size to enable around 400 food-lovers to sample the culinary delights of eight of Marlow’s top restaurants. But the mystery is, they won’t know which three restaurants they will be eating in until they arrive for each course.

A choice of menus will be offered a few weeks before the supper to include dietary needs and preferences. Then the adventure begins with a drinks and canape reception at All Saints Church in Marlow on Tuesday, April 30.

The event is being hosted by Marlow Thames Rotary Club and the website for bookings opens on New Years Day.

The club’s president, Julian Rhodes, explained: “This progressive supper is unique to Marlow, a town gifted with fine restaurants. It’s an opportunity to try out some of our best fare at new venues.

“Rotary is at the heart of its communities but is also quick to respond to worldwide demands. This year our Marlow Tastes adventure will support two leading charities: Marlow United Charities which supports struggling local families, and Parkinsons UK. Further funds will be distributed to other charities supported by Rotary.

Restaurants welcome Marlow Tastes because it enables them to showcase their offerings. Taking part are the Compleat Angler Riverside restaurant, La Cantina del Vino, Cote Brasserie, The Ivy Marlow Garden, , Lavvin, The Marlow Bar and Grill, The Oarsman and Suum Kitchen.

The cost of the reception and the three courses is £65 and much of this amount will be shared by the charities.

Bookings open on Monday, 1st January on the website Marlowtastes.menu and close on March 25 ahead of the event on Tuesday April 30. Bookings can be made for groups of up to six people, in even numbers. Every effort will be made to place known groups together.

The selected restaurants for all groups will not be announced until arrival following the reception and are always within ten minutes’ walk.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised by Marlow’s three Rotary clubs in a variety of ways and the most familiar – and the biggest contributor – is the Santas Fun Run.

Beneficiaries include One Can Trust, Marlow United Charities, Horizon Sports Club, Marlow Opportunity Playgroup, Rivertime Accessible Boating, Wycombe Homeless Connection, various refugee support groups (including Ukraine), Thames Valley Air Ambulance, JAM Theatre, Bucks Young Carers, South Bucks Hospice, South Bucks Headway, Thames Valley Hospice, Alexander Devine Hospice, Thames Valley Adventure Playground, Bucks MIND, Aquabox, Shelter Box and many more.

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Wild life

Karen Neville

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Brian Clews tells us about Wild Cookham which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and how we can help ahead of Big Cookham Wildlife Weekend

This year, the WildCookham team are celebrating our tenth anniversary, during which time we have organised dozens of talks, guided walks and several significant wildlife projects in the Cookhams. These include toad patrols, wildflower meadow creation, the Wild About Gardens awards scheme and the reintroduction of water voles after 30 years of absence.

As is well-known, much of our wildlife is struggling in our open countryside which has needed to be worked hard to produce our food and other country pursuits. But, while there is not much we can do individually about that, the good news is that we can all do something within our own gardens to help our beleaguered wildlife. So WildCookham is challenging us all to help our gardens become havens for as many species as possible.

Ponds.

We are asking our neighbours to do a bit of preparation for the Big Weekend. Firstly, if you don’t yet have a pond or water feature, we recommend you create one early this year. It need not be huge, but it needs to be fish-free and suitably planted up. Advice is available on our web site at wildcookham.org.uk

Wildflowers.

Also we are asking as many of you as possible to create a small patch of wildflowers, perhaps a square metre to start with as a minimum. In memory of much-missed Adrian Doble, who worked with Boston Seeds to create a mix of seeds suited to our area, we will soon have available small packets of seed to create such a patch (2gms per sq m). Our website will advise where in the village these can be obtained from, and how to prepare the area. 

Hopefully, by the time of the main weekend in June these efforts will be contributing to even greater diversity of garden creatures.

And so to the main event itself in June. We would love as many as possible to spend some time that weekend observing and recording as many critters and creatures as possible. Great fun for the whole family as the search in shrubs and bushes, and under leaves, stones etc goes on. You can list all the ones you know, but you can also simply count how many different sorts of birds, butterflies, bugs, beetles, ladybirds, bees and other beasties you find. Our website will list sources of online identification aids of animals to help families, and there are numerous apps one can download too.

So put the dates in the diary, check our website, and get ready for the “holiday safari” of a lifetime! For more info please email [email protected]

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Love your liver

Karen Neville

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Tiffany Redman of Point9 Acupuncture, Henley, has some tips for how we can all get 2024 off to a healthier start

What can we do this January to kick-start our health for 2024? Giving our liver some love after all the festivities is a great start!

In acupuncture, the liver plays a crucial role in regulating emotions, storing blood and ensuring the free flow of energy throughout the body. The liver is known as the Commanding General of the body, having more than 500 functions.

If there’s an imbalance in the liver it can lead to various health issues, emotional changes, digestive problems, menstrual irregularities, insomnia to name a few. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is the organ that governs a woman’s health more than any other organ.

What can you to if the above resonates with you? Book an acupuncture appointment. Alternatively nourish your liver with a good clean diet, think about eating the rainbow and eat your last meal by 7.30pm so the liver can detoxify itself. Studies have shown a link between liver damage and external pollutants such as heavy metals and pesticides.

Even chemicals in your house cleaning products can cause your liver to work extra hard. One way to reduce this exposure is to switch to more natural cleaning products or even make your own.  Good Housekeeping offers a great guide: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a24885/make-at-home-cleaners/

Your Skin is your largest organ and at its most vulnerable when wet. From soaps to moisturisers/ oils/ serums/ talc/ bubble bath/ shampoos and conditioners. All of them may contain chemicals which the liver then has to contend with. Switch to natural alternatives such as Tallow, https://www.fiercenature.co.uk/

Learn more or book an appointment for more help at www.point9.org

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Woking Young Musician of the Year

Karen Neville

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Young talent on show on February 3rd as performers compete for awards

The Woking Young Musician of the Year competition takes place on February 3rd, with outstanding performers aged 14-20 from this year’s Woking Music festival invited to participate.

The adjudicator for the Young Musician of the Year competition will be Paul Barritt who has been leader of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the English Chamber Orchestra and until recently, the Hallé, having performed with this orchestra for the past 20 years.

Cash prizes are awarded to the winners and a bursary is also awarded to study at a summer school. Several of these performers have gone on to be in the finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and, in recent years, two have won this coveted title.

Other awards that will be presented at the event are Woking Junior Musician of the Year, Most Promising Young singer, Most Promising Young Actor, and a chamber music award.

The Woking YM evening is an annual event at which a selection of the best competitors aged 14 to 20 who attended the Woking Music Festival in November 2023 are invited to compete in concert conditions.

The talented young musicians will be performing at St John Church, St John, Woking where the audience would be treated to a delightful musical evening from some of our most talented young musicians.

Woking Music Festival is a celebration of the musical and literary vitality of Woking and the surrounding area. The festival welcomes people of all ages and abilities, who can derive and give pleasure in participating, whatever their tastes or performing standard.

Founded by Nancy Leigh in 1926 and affiliated to the British and International Federation of Festivals (BIFF), the festival is now one of the largest of its kind in the south-east with around 1,000 people taking part each year. Highly respected teachers and performers act as adjudicators, giving valuable advice and guidance to all participants.

More than 90 trophies are competed for in over 200 classes. Subjects covered include musicals, jazz, classical music including opera and oratorio, school choirs, bands, speech and drama.

The adjudicators come from music and drama institutions across the UK who judge winners in each category and give valuable advice and guidance.

Visit wokingmusicfestival.org.uk for information on all events, dates and venues. Tickets £12 per adult, children under 18 free.

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Pick up a Penguin!

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Real Penguins visit Rowan Lodge Care Home in Hampshire

Residents at Rowan Lodge Care Home expressed a wish for more animals to visit the home, so Terri Eakins, Forest Care’s Group Activity Lead suggested penguins, and their faces lit up.

On the day of the visit, the communal lounges were packed with residents, their loved ones, and staff members, everyone intrigued…and then they appeared, two Humboldt penguins – Pringle and Widget, came waddling through the door.

Faces full of fascination, everybody wanted to touch and cuddle them. One resident Jean said: “It was lovely, I have never seen it so packed here, they just waddled in. I learned that they have a partner for life and their only enemy is the shark. I would love to see them again.”

Another resident Janet, with a huge grin on her face, talked about how lovely it was to see them.

Pringle and Widget brought much joy to our residents, and their popularity has meant penguin visits to other Forest Care homes have been arranged.

Terri said: “Of all the animal visits to Forest Care homes, the penguins have had the most positive impact on our residents’ well-being. Pringle and Widget visited the rooms of our residents who are less mobile and able, and just sat on their beds. Residents’ faces watched them in amazement and were able to recall their personal penguin visit the following day. This is great proof of how meaningful the penguins were, and even weeks later residents are asking me ‘when are they coming back?’”

Stimulating environments, caring teams, onsite nurses 24/7, complementary therapies.

Call 0333 305 1785 or email [email protected] to arrange your personal viewing at a Forest Care home.

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Two operas come to Oxford

Ellie Cox

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Award-winning producer Ellen Kent returns to Oxford’s New Theatre.

The Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv will be presenting stunning classical productions of Bizet’s Carmen on Wednesday 17th January and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Thursday 18th January.

Bizet’s masterpiece, Carmen, is packed with passion, sexual jealousy, death and unforgettable arias. The story of the bewitching gypsy girl whose tantalising beauty lures a soldier to desertion and leads to her own murder, Carmen includes some of the most evocative and best-loved melodies in opera.

The stunning set, built by Setup Scenery, who also build sets for the Royal Opera Covent Garden, reflects the magnificent architecture of Seville with its Roman and Moorish influences.

Carmen will star Ukrainian mezzo-soprano’s Natalia Matveeva and Irina Sproglis.  Sung in French with English surtitles.

Madama Butterfly, the winner of the Best Opera Award by the Liverpool Daily Post Theatre Awards, returns in a new production with exquisite sets including a spectacular Japanese garden and fabulous costumes including antique wedding kimonos from Japan. One of the world’s most popular operas, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly tells the heart-breaking story of the beautiful young Japanese girl who falls in love with an American naval lieutenant – with dramatic results. Highlights include the melodic ‘Humming Chorus’, the moving aria ‘One Fine Day’ and the unforgettable ‘Love Duet’.

In Madama Butterfly the fabulous Korean soprano Elena Dee returns alongside Ukrainian soprano Alyona Kistenyova and Ukrainian mezzo-soprano’s Natalia Matveeva and Irina Sproglis. Madama Butterfly will be sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Ellen personally hand-picks and directs all soloists to create visually beautiful and moving productions. She said of these productions, ‘I am delighted to be working with the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv again after the huge success of the spring 2023 tour. I started working with Ukraine in 2000 and have continued these strong relationships ever since, working with the Odessa National Opera for which I was awarded The Golden Fortune Honorary Medal from the President of the Ukraine, as well as the Kharkiv National Opera and for the last couple of years with the brilliant Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv.’

Tickets for Carmen (17 January 2024) and Madama Butterfly (18 January 2024) at Oxford’s New Theatre are available here.

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West Wycombe Snowdrop Walk

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Child Bereavement UK helps families to rebuild their lives when a child grieves or when a child dies. They support children and young people (up to the age of 25) when someone important to them has died or is not expected to live, and parents and the wider family when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying.

On Sunday 4th February 2024 they will be holding the popular Snowdrop Walk at West Wycombe Park. This annual event is an opportunity to enjoy a walk in the beautiful surroundings. Children can enjoy a treasure hunt and visitors can finish their walk with hot food, cakes, and refreshments at West Wycombe Village Hall, where further children’s activities will be taking place.

Snowdrops will also be available to plant in memory of someone special.

If you’re not able make it along to the day but would like a snowdrop planted on your behalf, please make a donation of £5 and include the reference Snowdrop.

Child Bereavement UK offer free, confidential bereavement support for individuals, couples, children, young people, and families, by telephone, video or instant messenger, wherever you live in the UK. Face-to-face support is also offered from a number of locations.


For more information click here

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