Round & About Magazine

Category: lifestyle

  • Summer of love! 2024 festivals guide

    Summer of love! 2024 festivals guide

    Ready to rumble? Liz Nicholls looks at the fabulous festivals on offer this summer, for happy campers & fairweather fans, with tickets up for grabs, too!

    Miss out on Glasto tickets!? Never mind: there are so many festivals to choose from, large and small, with something for everyone. And Astonbury might well give Glastonbury a run for its money! Read on…

    Cookham Festival, 2nd to 19th May, has a line-up of literary and musical stars, including Lorraine Kelly, Theresa May, Ross Kemp, Will Gompertz, Terry Waite, Stars of the West End with Toby Cruse, Rogue Opera, Formosa Fest, Cantorum Choir, local comedians, The Cookham Ceilidh team and more. Enjoy art, at this community fave; cookhamfestival.co.uk

    Immerse yourself in the magic of live classical music with the Investec International Music Festival, with world-class concerts, walks and talks across the Surrey Hills, including RHS Wisley, West Horsley Place & The Menuhin Hall in Stoke d’Abernon 7th-18th May; iimf.co.uk

    The 45th Newbury Spring Festival offers a fortnight of world-class classical music, including the Sheepdrove Piano Competition, 11th-25th May; newburyspringfestival.org.uk

    Wholesome family favourite WOOD is back at Braziers Park in Oxfordshire, 17th, 18th & 19th May with children’s fun including the marvellous Nick Cope, music and more workshops than you can shake a stick at; woodfestival.com

    Live music and horse racing is odds-on for a good time, and Newbury Racecourse has both! Firstly, Lovely Laura & Ben Santiago will star at the Lockinge race day on Saturday, 18th May. Then the mighty Sigala will star on 20th July & Dizzee Rascal on 17th August for Party In The Paddock sizzlers! newburyracecourse.co.uk  

    An amazing team of volunteers have been working flat out to make the 51st Chippenham Folk Festival, 24th-27th May the best yet. Melrose Quartet, Breabach, Tim Edey, Bruce Hamilton, John Tams, patron John Kirkpatrick & more will star; visit chippfolk.co.uk

    Chesham Fringe Festival, 25th-27th May, will offer you a vibrant array of local, national and international talent, music, comedy, theatre, cabaret, spoken word, book and poetry readings, food & drink; visit cheshamfringe.com

    Sorted for Cheese and Fizz..? That’s not me making yet another (wholesome) reference to Jarvis Cocker’s lyrics. It’s the name of a fantastic local four-piece band who’ll bring their ’90s bops to Shynefest. This fun, family-friendly festival returns to Merrist Wood College in Worplesdon, on 31st May & 1st June. Other stars set to keep all the generations entertained include (the actual) Dodgy, Counterfeit Kylie and The Faux Fighters, with kids’ fun including a climbing wall, Bubble Fairy, football and circus skills, with camping & glamping options. Please visit shynefest.uk

    Returning to Cheltenham Racecourse for its 18th year wondrous Wychwood will dazzle you with music, comedy, kids’ fun, literature & workshops, 31st May to 2nd June. Sister Sledge, The Coral, Seth Lakeman, Seasick Steve, Dexy’s, Stereo MCs and CBBC’s Hacker T Dog and Katie Thistleton will star; wychwoodfestival.com

    Witney Music Festival on 7th & 8th June will dazzle The Leys with Lucille & The Lightning Soul Train & more; witneymusicfestival.com

    The Lightyears will star at Astonbury, 3-11pm on Saturday, 15th June at Aston Rec near Didcot, with a perfect blend of music, family fun, food & drink. Limited £15pp tickets at eventbrite.co.uk

    Madness, Tom Jones, Nile & CHIC, Placebo, Air, Paloma Faith, Loyle Carner & more will star at Southampton Summer Sessions, in Guildhall Square, 16th-30th June; smmrsessions.com

    Hampton Court Palace Festival is the jaw-dropping backdrop for Tom Jones, Nile & CHIC, Jack Savoretti, Sam Ryder, Björn Again, Sheryl Crow & Paloma Faith, as well as a Tudors live edition of The Rest is History Podcast, 11th-17th June. Visit hamptoncourtpalacefestival.com

    Raise vital money for Hampshire Medical Fund by enjoying action-packed, family-friendly highlight Good Festival at Dummer Down Farm near Basingstoke on Sunday, 16th June. Activities include bushcraft, bubble football, alpaca walking, crocodile encounters, yoga and delicious food & drink Visit goodfestival.co.uk

    Hold tight! The Prodigy and The Streets will help get The Isle of Wight Festival, 20th-23rd June off to a flying start on the Friday. Pet Shop Boys, Green Day, Suede, The Pretenders and Johnny Marr will also star. Visit isleofwightfestival.com

    Award-winning Beacon Festival, Oxfordshire’s best family-friendly festival, is back at Watlington Hill Farm, 21st & 22nd June with local bands & loads more; beaconfestival.net

    Hold tight! The Prodigy and The Streets will get The Isle of Wight Festival, 20th-23rd June, off to a flying start. Green Day, Suede, and Johnny Marr also star; isleofwightfestival.com

    Nathan Moore will host another marvellous Marlow Rock Bottom with Coldplace, beer aplenty, family fun, live music, street food on 29th June; visit marlowrockbottom.com

    Legends The Stranglers will star at Guilfest which returns to Stoke Park, on 29th & 30th June. Other stars on the impressive line-up include Sam Ryder, Peter Hook & The Light, Black Grape and The Blockheads. Please see our competition & visit guilfest.co.uk

    I’m still buzzing after my chat with Chaka Khan (see our Q&A). She’ll star at Love Supreme Jazz Festival in Glynde Place, 5th-7th July; lovesupremefestival.com. You can also catch her and Sister Sledge on 13th June at Blenheim Palace thanks to Nocturne Live. And Soft Cell & Heather Small star here on 14th, Sugababes & Melanie C on 15th with Crowded House & Sheryl Crow on 16th; visit nocturnelive.com

    Run entirely by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis in a stonking Cotswold location, Nibley, 5th-7th July, prides itself on being the friendliest festival of the bunch! General Levy, local legends EMF, The Hoosiers & Dodgy will star, with fun such as retro gaming & The Flying Seagull Project; nibleyfestival.co.uk

    Small & mighty Childreyfest will bring you a winning blend of family-friendly music and fun to Childrey in Oxfordshire on Saturday, 6th July: childreyfest.co.uk

    Celebrating disability lifestyle & inclusivity, the award-winning Parallel Windsor on 7th July, in Windsor Great Park’s Long Walk, will offer live music, storytelling, arts & craft, sport, wellbeing, dance, family fun and more, all accessible, with a quiet space & sensory zone. Tickets just £7.50pp; parallellifestyle.com

    Ash, Echobelly, a Goldie Lookin’ Chain DJ set, Republica, Fabio & Grooverider, Dub Pistols and Reading Community Gospel Choir are among the delights at Readipop in Caversham, 12th-14th July, with Purple Turtle bars and an indie market, all for a great cause helping local people; readipop.co.uk/festival

    Gladys Knight, Rylan, Nicole Scherzinger, Nigel Kennedy and Sam Ryder will make for another sparkling riverside black-tie Henley Festival 10th-14th July; henley-festival.co.uk.

    Barrioke (EastEnders’ Shaun Williamson) will star at Fi.Fest in Maidenhead on 13th July, with Cast, Heather Small & Rick Parfit Jnr; fifest.co.uk. And Monty Don, Ronan Keating, Beverley Knight & more will star at Kew the Music, 8th-14th July; kewthemusic.org

    Sadly the organisers of PennFest have made the tough decision (after our May editions of Round & About went to press) not to hold a festival this year, but the Bucks favourite should hopefully return next year! pennfest.co.uk

    Fleur Fest is back at The Fleur De Lys in East Hagbourne, 19th-21st July, with Miss Disco, The Style Councillors & more. Plus Ronnie Scott’s All Stars & Fleur Stevenson on 16th June, and AJ Clarke & Richard Digance on 17th August & more! thefleurdelyspub.co.uk

    Raising funds & awareness for mental health in memory of the much-missed Caroline Flack, Flackstock will offer music, dance & comedy galore, including Olly Murs, Joe Wicks, Shaznay Lewis, The Neptunes Choir & a Gok Wan DJ set at Englefield House near Pangbourne on Monday, 22nd July; visit flackstock.com. Also at Englefield, enjoy Madness with the Lightning Seeds on Friday, 19th July, Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics, a Groove Armada DJ set & more on 20th and Elbow on 21st; heritagelive.net

    WOMAD brings cultural delights from the whole wide world to Wiltshire (Malmesbury’s Charlton Park to be exact) 25th -28th July. Expect a huge array of genres from R&B, rap, rock, blues, punk and jazz all the way to New Orleans brass bands, Qawwali, mambo and flamenco. The line-up includes Young Fathers,  Sampa The Great & Alison Goldfrapp with food galore on the Taste The World stage. You can chill out in style in the World of Wellbeing and WOMAD Spa, plus you can enjoy spoken word in the World of Words, science exploration at World of Physics and fun in the World of Children; visit womad.co.uk

    Bestival’s little sister Camp Bestival, organised by BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob Da Bank will star Pete Tong with his Ibiza Classics, one of my fave star Q&A interviewees the mighty Paloma Faith, Orbital and manny more at Lulworth Castle in Dorset, 25th-28th July; dorset.campbestival.net

    Jamie T, Wet Leg, The Streets, Idles, Holly Humberstone, The Snuts and Sub Focus will star at tremendous Truck Festival, 26th-28th July at Hill Farm, Steventon; truckfestival.com

    Multi Grammy-winning songwriter, composer, producer and guitarist Nile Rodgers & Chic will star at Cheltenham Racecourse on Friday, 26th July, as part of the sizzling Summertime Live highlights; visit summertimelive.co.uk

    Wilderness will thrill the wild crowd at Oxfordshire’s Cornbury Park, 1st to 4th August, starring Michael Kiwanuka, Faithless, BICEP, Alison Goldfrapp, as well as banquets, wellbeing including lakeside hot tubs and theatre, workshops and more; wildernessfestival.com

    Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be! Rewind to a simpler, better time, 16th-18th August in Henley on Thames. Stars set to dazzle include Billy Ocean, The Jacksons, Gabrielle, Jason Donovan, Kim Wilde & more, plus funfairs, a silent disco, inflatable church, kids’ zone and much more. Check out the fabulous Jenny Powell trailer & book at south.rewindfestival.com

    Inspired by late beloved music-lover Jody Dickinson, J Fest will dazzle in Carswell near Faringdon on 2nd & 3rd August. The highlight, powered by bass, features accessible elements including DJ workshops, glamping & more to prove dance and festivals are for everybody; j-fest.co.uk

    Strap in for a Revolution of Imagination with chapter three of Boomtown, 7th-11th August, near Winchester. This fabulous parallel world promises sensory overload, with 12 main stages, 50+ hidden venues, and one red-hot secret line-up. I went for the first time last year and had a blast. (I recommend you book the following week off work). Visit boomtownfair.co.uk

    Dreadzone, Kosheen, Dub Pistols & more will star at wondrous Weyfest at Tilford’s Rural Life Museum 15th-18th August; weyfest.co.uk

    Jools Holland & his rhythm & blues orchestra will star at Windsor Racecourse on Friday, 16th August, as part of the sizzling Summertime Live highlights; visit summertimelive.co.uk

    Groove Armada, Leftfield, Dillinja and more will star at Stowaway, 16th-18th August at Stowe which also offers immersive theatre, comedy, paddleboarding, feasting and a roller disco. See our competition to win tickets & also visit stowawayfestival.co.uk

    Fred Again.. Lana Del Rey, Liam Gallagher, Raye, Pendulum and Skrillex are sure to thrill at this year’s Reading (& Leeds), 21st-25th August. Visit readingfestival.com

    Or head on up to Creamfields in Cheshire 22nd-25th August to rave to Robbie Williams’ dance project Lufthaus, Calvin Harris, Chase & Status live, Tiësto & more; creamfields.com

    Shambala in Northamptonshire, 22nd-25th August. This summer’s line-up includes Sampa The Great, The Congos, The Beatbox Collective and a brand new stage show from HENGE; visit shambalafestival.org

    Towersey Festival, which is the UK’s oldest independent music festival, will deliver a new programme of delights for its 60th anniversary celebration, 23rd to 26th August on the Claydon Estate near Buckingham. Comment & Comedy, curated by Gavin Osborn, will offer comedy straight from Edinburgh Fringe, award-winning short films, authors as well as Billy Bragg, The Staves and Seth Lakeman. See our separate article & visit towerseyfestival.com

    CarFest lands at Laverstoke Park, 23rd-25th August; carfest.org. You’ll also love Billing, June 29th & 30th, the UK’s largest 4×4 show, with two off-road courses, 100+ trade and autojumble stands and family fun family; thebillingoffroadexperience.co.uk

    Big Feastival on Alex James’ Kingham farm will serve up family fun, food and frolics, 23rd-25th August. Becky Hill, Ministry Of Sound Classical & Snow Patrol will headline with Raymond Blanc & George Egg on the menu, too. See our competition & thebigfeastival.com

    Idles, Slowdive, Bonnie Prince Billie, Ty Seagull, Yo La Tengo & more will dazzle at the award-winning End Of The Road, 29th August to 1st September in Blandford Forum; visit endoftheroadfestival.com

    Beloved Bunkfest is back with bounce in Wallingford, 30th August to 1st September; bunkfest.co.uk

    Hop down the rabbithole with Congo Natty, General Levy, LTJ Buken, Beans On Toast & more at the Wonderland-themed Mucky Weekender, 5th -7th September near Winchester. Visit mucky-weekender.co.uk

    Leftfield, Orbital & more will star at The Last Dance Dreamland in Margate, 14th September, as well as other bangers! dreamland.co.uk

    Great Barn Festival returns to Great Coxwell, SN7 7LZ with music, family theatre, art and nature for all; visit greatbarnfestival.com

    Take care of each other & enjoy! LN

    Liam Gallagher photo credit: Gavin Bond

  • ‘Shoellery’ – jewellery for your shoes!

    ‘Shoellery’ – jewellery for your shoes!

    Nadine invites you to lead a charmed life with her 4KIX footwear accessories range

    So Nadine, tell us a little more about 4KiX… 4KiX is a British accessories brand that encourages self-expression through fashion, flair and fun! Our mission is to celebrate what makes each of us unique. Inspired by street wear and pop-culture, our “shoellery” personalises the look of any footwear as well as lending itself to accessorise other aspects of an outfit. It’s mindful and versatile with the quality and flair of high end fashion, at more inclusive pricing. 

    What exactly is shoellery? Shoellery is basically jewellery for your shoes! We accessorise all the other parts of an outfit, and it’s so much fun to be able to add that touch of personalisation to our shoes as well. The way they attach is our creation and is completely unique to the brand. It’s comfortable, durable and attaches without the need for undoing your laces or straps.

    What was your inspiration to start the brand? I’ve had a passion for trainers and jewellery since the moment I could speak and point at sparkly things. In more recent years, I had been obsessing over the trend for sparkly trainers, but hesitant about the high price tags, so I started buying simple trainers and embellishing them myself. I wore them everywhere, even on holiday and wherever I went, I was stopped in the street by people saying: “I love your kicks, where can I buy them?” That was my lightbulb moment where I was initially inspired to design a line of trainers, but then I realised that what I truly loved was accessorising them, and that’s how the idea for the product started to form. 

    Who can wear 4KiX? Anyone and everyone. While we seem to have a sweet spot among pre-teens and tweens, we have a broad age range of customers comprising teens, mothers, mothers matching daughters, grandmothers and even some boys. 

    When did you hit the U.K. high street? We hit the UK high street this past Christmas 2023 with a very successful pop up at John Lewis on Oxford Street. We featured in their Christmas Shop for the last week before Christmas. It was an honour and a pleasure to make our high street debut with such an iconic retailer on one of London’s most prominent streets for shopping and trends. 

    What are your best sellers? We genuinely have so many bestselling styles that we struggle to keep in stock. Among them are: Yummie Gummie, Over the Rainbow, Murakami Me, Say Cheese, Loved Up, Grin-a-bling, all of our evil eye styles, Pucker Up, and Cloud 9. 

    Has anyone famous worn 4KiX? Yes, sports presenter & broadcast journalist Kiri Bloore has worn our Evil Eye bracelet and MVP charms. We also have some high profile celebrity customers whose names we can’t reveal out of respect for their privacy, but we can share that they ordered our Loved Up and Eyes on You bundles, which come in our branded boxes that look like candy and make great gifts. 

    And what’s your background? My background is PR, but when I moved to the US, I had started pursuing a health coaching certification because I have a passion for helping people. On a visit back to the UK, I stumbled upon my Art History sketch pad in the back of my closet and remembered how much I loved everything artistic. In an effort to deal with the stress of my coaching coursework, I began drawing, designing and crafting. I posted photos of my creations on Instagram and received calls from family and friends saying, “Drop everything and do this!” That’s what planted the seed towards developing the idea for 4KiX. 

    What does luxury mean to you? To me luxury is about joy. The joy of discovering pieces that make you smile, feel good, bring out your sparkle. It’s about making you feel pampered and seen. Everyone deserves to feel celebrated. Luxury is about connection, quality and self-expression. Ultimately, it’s our goal to make people smile and help them express what makes them unique. 

    You started from a kitchen table, what are your plans to expand in 2024? We currently have a few stockists in locations including USA, Monaco, Bahrain and Holland. Our goal for 2024 is to continue growing with more stockists in more locations throughout the world. We’d love to reach as many audiences as possible, and most importantly, to spread as many smiles as possible.

    Check out 4KiX here.

  • Spring Whites

    Spring Whites

    Feel fresh this year with a crop of palate pleasers – Giles Luckett reviews some seasonally appropriate wines

    Spring is in the air.  Well, spring rain is in the air at least, and the new season calls for a fresh crop of wines.   For this month’s column, I’ve looked for classics that will pair with the new season’s produce alongside a couple of head turners that you may not have encountered before.  Anyway, enough preamble, let the recommendations flow…

    I’ll start with a wine that’s always been synonymous with spring, Muscadet.  One of the breakthrough wines of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Muscadet played a big part in turning the UK into a nation of wine lovers.  At its best, it’s as fresh as a spring morning, with citrusy fruit offset by a yeasty tone and a taste of the sea that makes it the perfect partner to fish and seafood – it’s glorious with new season oysters.  The Adnams Muscadet (Adnams £9.99) is as a delicious example of this classic wine, providing the complexity that many a more expensive Chablis can only dream of.  Dry, crisp, and loaded with green apple, melon, and greengage fruit, the creamy-saline finish makes for a surprisingly satisfying glassful.

    Next up the first of two Rieslings.  Riesling is invariably an excellent wine, but many people are put off as they think it will be sweet.  Riesling is capable of astonishing sweet wines such as the fabled Trockenbeerenauslese from Egon Mueller (a snip at around £10,000+ a bottle), but most New World producers focus on producing crisp, dry wines that are as food-focused as my Springer Spaniel.   A great example is the Villa Maria Private Bin Riesling (Waitrose £10.99).  White gold, the piercing bouquet comprises of apple blossom, citrus, and white peaches with a suggestion of honey and lime.  On the palate, it’s just as complex, with green and white fruits vying with minerals and a rapier-like grapefruit acidity.   This is just the thing for new- season asparagus or a herby spring chicken.

    Staying with Riesling, we have something that shows this grape’s incredible range.  The Empire Estate Dry Riesling Reserve (Good Wine Good People £34.50) hails from New York’s Finger Lakes region.  This is an arresting iteration of Riesling that nods at France’s great Alsace Rieslings in its dryness and piercing intensity, but it is very much a Finger Lakes wine in its sophisticated, slightly idiosyncratic style.  Pale green-gold with an evolved nose of candied lemons, grapefruit, apple blossom, and a green herb bitterness, it seems to change with each inhalation.   In the mouth, almond-tinted grapefruit leads the fresh, tangy attack.  This is followed by ripe pears, peach stones, a white peel bitterness, and a very fresh, lemony acidity that’s mellowed by honey and minerals.  This is a wine to buy by the case and see how it evolves over the coming decade.

    Viognier is an interesting, not to say mercurial grape.  In California, it can produce buttery behemoths, while in South Africa it tends towards leaner, cleaner wines.  In its home of France’s Rhône Valley, it can produce wines that combine freshness with depth, power with finesse as showcased by the Chapoutier Combe Pilate Viognier (London End Wines £15).  Opening up with a surprisingly subtle nose of apricots, oranges, and bergamot against a background of citrus, it was love at first sip.  Supercharged with fruit and very fresh, it quickly develops in the mouth revealing juicy apricots, peaches, and vanilla spice that contrasts beautifully with the firm mineral and lemon finish.  This would be lovely with baked white fish, pan-fried poultry, or salmon.

    A good Chardonnay is always a treat and is the ideal foil to spring staples such as roast pork, goats’ cheese and rocket salad, or roasted guinea fowl.  I recently tasted one from Austria, the Allacher Chardonnay Reserve (Good Wine Good People £24).  I’m a big fan of Austrian wines, though my experience has been largely confined to their stylish Rieslings and brilliant Gruner Veltliners.  This was an unusual and delicious take on this noble variety.  Deep gold, the nose brims with honey-coated tropical fruits with a soft, perfumed edge.  Big and bold, the generous palate has a creamy texture and is suffused with baked apples, apricots, honeydew melon, vanilla, and spices before the fresh, zingy finish adds a refreshing balance.

    Sauvignon Blanc is another great spring wine.  Its freshness and easy drinking nature means it lends itself well to garden sipping or as a partner to new season treats like steamed Jersey Royals, creamed broad beans, or roasted celeriac.  Sauvignon grows well all over the world except for Tasmania, apparently, where a leading winemaker told me it was a ‘weed that needs grubbing up’.  I touched a nerve there, it seems.  South African wineries are better disposed to it and when you taste wines like the Journey’s End ‘Eagle Owl’ (Majestic £9.99) it’s easy to see why.  Rhubarb and gooseberries are the signatures of this weighty, rounded Sauvignon.  The nose is bright, zesty, and suitably intense, but – as with the body – it’s not green peppers and citrus that dominate, there’s more to it than that.  Over a bedrock of acidity is overlain a tart-sweet tone of stewed rhubarb with a sherbet edge and some riper flavours from the gooseberries, giving a wine that’s refreshing and seriously good fun.

    I’ll finish on a patriotic note with an English wine, the Denbies Chardonnay 2022 (Denbies £24.50).  When I started in wine, England’s vineyards were just about getting marginal grapes like Müller-Thurgau – which usually tastes as good as it sounds – to produce something.  Roll forward thirty years and leading English wineries like Denbies are being spoken of by the likes of Oz Clarke as being capable of giving Burgundy a run for its money.  On the evidence of this, I think he has a point.  The nose is creamy, nutty, fruity, and harmonious with the rich red apple and peach fruit freshened by lemon and lime.  On the palate, it has a lovely peachy texture that displays nectarine, red apple, and lychees with a honey and lemon coating.  Thoroughly impressive it shows that English wine, not just English sparkling wine, is capable of being a world-beater.

    Well, that’s it from me for now.  Next time I’ll be joining in the World Malbec Day celebrations and running down (bigging up) my top ten Malbecs.

    Cheers!

    Giles

  • Guy Deacon: Running On Empty

    Guy Deacon: Running On Empty

    Guy Deacon CBE will be appearing at Oxford Literary Festival this Friday (22nd March) to talk about his forthcoming book and Channel 4 Documentary – Running on Empty.

    Guy’s story is truly inspiring; the former British Army officer he drove from his home in the UK to Cape Town in South Africa ten years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

    The journey fulfilled a childhood dream to drive across Africa, whilst also raising awareness of Parkinson’s Disease which is heavily stigmatised in Africa where it is often linked to witchcraft and black magic, leaving sufferers ostracised by their communities. 

    Parkinson’s Disease is the fastest-growing neurodegenerative illness worldwide and has no known cause and no cure. By 2040, more than 13 million people will be living with PD – a quarter of them in Africa where the disease is little understood. On his journey Guy met with Parkinson’s sufferers in almost all the countries he travelled through and learnt what daily life was like for those sufferers that he met, but first he had to get there.

    There are never more than a handful of vehicles a year attempting to drive from the North African coast to Cape Town in South Africa. Some never complete the journey. Conflict in Libya, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Cameroon, make any journey exceptionally dangerous. In central Africa, road conditions, particularly in the rainy season make the going difficult and often treacherous. Add illegal checkpoints, extortion, contaminated fuel and lack of services and this was to be a huge undertaking.

    Guy first set off in November 2019 making it as far as Sierra Leone in March 2020 when the COVID 19 epidemic struck. The borders were closed and after being stuck in Sierra Leone with no way out, Guy was evacuated by the British Government on an emergency relief flight leaving his trusty van behind. Many adventurers have setbacks on their journeys but for Guy, with each passing month that he waited in the UK for travel restrictions to lift, his Parkinson’s would advance and his mobility would deteriorate. By the time he restarted the journey two years later in March 2022 his condition had deteriorated significantly.

    Parkinson’s disease affects mobility so the simplest tasks from emptying pockets, to tying up shoelaces became herculean for Guy. The day to day challenges of living in Africa, the condition of the roads and living in a relatively small space would be challenging to anyone let alone a Parkinson’s sufferer who struggles to move limbs and has to take every task incredibly slowly.

    Several times throughout the 12 month journey Guy came close to giving up.  The challenge left him both physically and mentally exhausted and as the days wore on, he found it more and more difficult to communicate and began feeling increasingly isolated and alone. He had a phone to keep in touch with friends and family, but with his limited dexterity it was often easier not to.  In the end it was the kindness of strangers that restored his faith and spurred him on in his darkest hours.

    There are countless examples of things going wrong and strangers stepping in to help and offering him a bed for the night. But each time Guy thought that the latest setback would be the end of the road and he would have to give up, there was always someone who would step in to help, a stranger reaching out to help him in his hour of need.

    Throughout the 18,000 mile journey Guy kept a video diary and was joined on four occasions by a documentary maker. This has resulted in 85 hours of footage and several thousand photographs of this incredible adventure through the heart of Africa which will be made into a 1 hour documentary for Channel 4 to be released in Spring 2024.

    Guy was supported throughout his journey by The Cure Parkinson’s Trust a charity set up to find a cure for Parkinson’s as well as Parkinson’s Africa, whose mission is to raise awareness and empower those with Parkinson’s to make informed decisions about their own health.

    At the festival, guy will be speaking with Matthew Stadlen to recount his incredible journey, crossing Europe and the full length of Africa, which took the former army officer and 60 year old father of two over 3 years to complete, see him drive 18,000 miles, across 25 countries, with 5 breakdowns, as well as one emergency evacuation from Sierra Leone during Covid, whilst taking 3650 prescription pills to help manage his Parkinson’s.

    Further information on Guy’s event at Oxford Literature Festival can be found here.

  • Cosy crime

    Cosy crime

    Author and journalist Michael Smith is talking murder this month with the popularity of whodunnits, a good mystery and quirky characters all adding to the killer plots

    Those easy-paced detective novels – where you try to solve the crime before the detective – are perennial bookshop favourites. Witness the recent success of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club novels or Robert Thorogood’s similarly titled The Marlow Murder Club series.

    Now the Crime Writers’ Association is getting in on the act with a new addition to its legendary Dagger awards. The Daggers have tended to go for more complex and innovative crime thrillers, with interesting settings and psychological twists rather than the more traditional Agatha Christie-style detective mysteries. But the Whodunnit Dagger will celebrate the increasingly popular “modern cosy, traditional crime, and Golden Age mysteries”. The association says the new award “will focus on the intellectual challenge at the heart of a good mystery and revolve around often quirky characters”.

    The quirky character is of course one of the most important staples of the ‘whodunnit’. Dilly Knox, himself one of the quirkiest of the Bletchley Park codebreakers, and his two brothers Evoe, a journalist, and Ronnie, a successful writer of murder mysteries, devised a set of 10 strict rules to which whodunnits must adhere. They included that the killer must be mentioned in the first five chapters, and that no supernatural causes, no previously unknown poisons and no more than one secret room or passage were allowed. The rules were adopted in 1929 as the Solemn Oath of the Writer’s Detection Club, which included such luminaries as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers.

    The small south Oxfordshire town of Wallingford, where Round & About is put together and published, can fairly claim to be “cosy crime central”. Agatha Christie was one of the town’s most famous inhabitants. She and her husband bought a house there beside the Thames in 1934 and she was still living there when she died in 1976. There’s a bronze bench statue looking out over a park where you can sit beside her.

    The town and the surrounding villages have also been repeatedly featured as locations in that long-running cosy crime series Midsomer Murders. Now Marlow, just down the river, is to be featured on television as well with Thorogood, a successful television writer and producer with Murder in Paradise, bringing The Marlow Murder Club to the small screen. Samantha Bond plays the lead character Judith Potts, a retiree living alone in a Thames-side mansion who drags two of her friends into investigating murder.


    Can’t wait!

  • My Secret Closet event style saviour

    My Secret Closet event style saviour

    Liz Nicholls visits Jan Parkinson whose new My Secret Closet in Benson offers beautiful dresses & accessories for hire, plus a pep talk!

    Dressing up can be one of life’s greatest pleasures.

    But if you’ve lost your confidence (in your body shape or your style) an invitation or ticket to a special event can trigger a hot thought that just makes you panicky… what on earth to wear?!

    Jan Parkinson understands this all too well. The mum of two grown-up twin daughters has spent her life traversing the globe working in luxury aviation. Her globe-trotting life includes time living in Florida working in hair & beauty, and so she’s naturally impeccably turned-out (while being modest and camera shy!).

    Jan has collected some stunning occasionwear on her travels, some of which has barely been worn. This prompted a brainwave: why not hire out dresses and accessories? That’s how My Secret Closet was born. Jan’s outfit rental is perfect for mothers of the bride or groom, wedding guests, regattas, balls… or how about hiring something to give you that extra boost of confidence for an all-important job interview?

    “With Jan’s help you shall go to the ball!”

    From mid-March you’ll find high-quality/designer outfits and accessories in various sizes and colours to suit any style. We all feel a bit clueless sometimes (imposter syndrome, too) when we have to dress up, but Jan is the perfect fairy godmother to guide you to an outfit that might even make you feel like a princess. If you’re scared of colour, don’t be: Jan can show you how to build the perfect outfit, head to toe.

    Her wardrobe has a fabulous range of accessories, including handbags, jewellery, pashminas and more along with dresses from Veni Infantino, Ted Baker, Karen Millen, Reiss, Hobbs and Coast to name but a few. Jan’s aim, by renting outfits, is to reduce fast, disposable fashion and offer an affordable and fun long-term or short-term rental solution. With Jan’s help, you shall go to the ball!

    Email mysecretclosetco@gmail.com and see My Secret Closet on Facebook for info.

  • Varvara Neiman Exhibition and Event

    Varvara Neiman Exhibition and Event

    Elgiva Theatre hosts an exhibition and a “meet the artist” event in March

    A solo exhibition featuring local artist Varvara Neiman began at the Elgiva Theatre in Chesham on Saturday and will run until the 1st April.  Power Of Colour In Light is open to the public from 10.30 am – 3.00 pm daily, except Sundays. There is no cost to enter during these times.

    Varvara obtained her MA in Fine Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg in 1996. Subsequently she worked in several local theatres specialising costume and set design.

    Following a move to the UK in 1999 Varvara concentrated on her career as a professional artist, staging exhibitions in Suffolk, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and London. She now has a studio in Beaconsfield and is a member of both the Bucks Art Society and “HP9”, a group of local artists.

    Varvara is also an art educator and teaches for artsmart School of Art and Buckinghamshire Adult Learning. She is currently teaching Life Drawing and her key subjects also include Portraiture, Water Colour, Oils and Acrylics.

    At this solo exhibition Varvara is showing two of her favourite subjects, Portraiture and Landscape.

    “I have always drawn people from a very early age and am passionate about creating a character either from life or from photos when undertaking commissions,” she says. “These can be celebratory surprises or simply commemorative. My favourite portrait artist is Rembrandt from whom I am always learning that a portrait of a person is all about their eyes which are a mirror of their soul.”

    Varvara is very enthusiastic about painting en Plein Air and passionate about Cezanne’s famous quote: “Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one’s sensation…”

    “For me whether it is a watercolour technique or painting in oils or acrylics it is about the power of light reflecting in a prism of a kaleidoscope of colours,” she says.

    Varvara will also be showcasing her watercolour technique on Saturday 16th March when the is a chance to meet the artist at the Elgiva. The event starts at 1pm, and will explore Varvara’s artistic journey and inspiration and she will discuss her work in depth.

  • A virtual shaggy dog story

    A virtual shaggy dog story

    Grand Theft Auto and AI help Surrey team turn dog pics into 3D models

    Photographs of dogs could soon be used to help generate 3D models more accurately than ever before – thanks to an award-winning study from the University of Surrey and the famous video game, Grand Theft Auto.  

    The researchers taught an artificial intelligence (AI) system to predict the 3D pose from a 2D image of a dog – which they trained on images they created using Grand Theft Auto V.  

    Moira Shooter, a postgraduate researcher at the University of Surrey, said:  

    “Our model was trained on CGI dogs – but we were able to use it to make 3D skeletal models from photographs of real animals. That could let conservationists spot injured wildlife, or help artists create more realistic animals in the metaverse.” 

    One way to teach AI to get 3D information from 2D images is to show it photos while giving it information about 3D ‘ground truth’ – where the objects actually are in 3D space. For humans, that means wearing motion capture suits.  

    Even on their best behaviour, getting dozens of dogs to wear motion capture suits can prove challenging.   

    Instead, researchers created a myriad of virtual dogs to study.  

    They altered the code of Grand Theft Auto, switching the main character for one of eight kinds of dog – a process known as “modding”. They generated 118 videos of the dogs sitting, walking, barking and running in a range of different weather and lighting conditions.  

    The team called their new database ‘DigiDogs’ – made up of 27,900 frames. They will now fine-tune it using Meta’s DINOv2 model to make sure it can predict a 3D pose just as well from real dog pictures.  

    Moira added, “3D poses contain so much more information than 2D photographs. From ecology to animation – this neat solution has so many possible uses.”  

    Here comes the science bit…

    The research won the prize for Best Paper at the IEEE/CVF’s Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision.

    It helps promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and 15 (life on land). 

    All images were produced by Moira Shooter of the University of Surrey, using the engine of GTA 5 (Rockstar Games). 

  • Mother Mother – Grief Chapter review

    Mother Mother – Grief Chapter review

    Album number nine finds the Canadian band dealing with grief in the best way possible

    You’ve probably heard of Mother Mother without even knowing it. After their song Hayloft blew up on TikTok they became something of a viral hit – if the earworm “daddy’s got a gun” means anything to you, then you’ve definitely come across Mother Mother. Hayloft was in fact 12 years old before it discovered a new life as a trend, having appeared on the band’s second album, 2008’s O My Heart. Social media eh? A rabbit hole of wasted time scrolling it might be, but breathing life into old songs is one of its more positive aspects.  

    Life is at the heart of Grief Chapter, the band’s 9th or more specifically, contemplating the vagaries of life and the inevitable final chapter. It would appear that Mother Mother has reached something of a midlife/end of life crisis. Not that you would notice if you’re not paying attention, because they have a habit of wrapping up complex and disturbing ideas in finely crafted indie pop. Take for example The Matrix, on the surface it’s a booming, thunderous pop anthem, but at its heart, it’s a defiant and rebellious rejection of the status quo. It’s about making the most of this life because you only get one go around and as vocalist and principal songwriter Ryan Guldemond croons at the start of the song “…you’re going to die”. However, as the song progresses, it veers from nihilism to the spiritual as he starts to ponder the possibility of an afterlife. If all this sounds overly heavy, rest assured, it possesses a hook that is impossible to ignore and a deluge of profanity, which is a pretty fine combination.

    Head back to the start of the album, and the basic premise behind most of these songs is laid out in stark fashion. Nobody Escapes, cuts to the chase from the off. You’re dead too. This daunting idea could be overwhelming in the hands of the darker souls out there, but Mother Mother can make heavy concepts feel like a party at the end of the world. If anything, it feels entirely positive. In part, this is down to the band’s capability of mixing tight, catchy rock riffs with dance inspired beats, and vocals that wouldn’t sound out of place on a kids show. This is at play on Explode, a song whose main refrain is the line “when I die, I’ll let go”, which in plain black and white looks like the kind of thing an Emo band would have no problem in over-emoting (the clue’s in the genre name). But with the twin vocals of Ryan and Molly Guldemond it’s all oddly celebratory. As the song reaches its conclusion, it becomes clear that this is an album not so much about shuffling off this mortal coil, as embracing every moment and making the most of the time we have here.

    Pinning the band down to a specific style is quite tricky. They can veer from folk stomp to overblown pop ballad in a heartbeat. They throw in Pixies inspired guitar riffs and vocals (Monkey Gone To Heaven and Where Is My Mind? have definitely made an impression on them), strange off-kilter segues, choral flourishes, punk attitude, classical orchestration and occasional discord just for good measure. Somehow, they can deliver lines like “Innocence is just a bridge to pain” or “What if I just rip out her throat?” and make them sound entirely viable as a chart hit. Part of this is down to the smart vocal interplay between Ryan and his sister Molly, but essentially it points to intelligent and subversive songwriting.

    Grief Chapter isn’t an exercise in navel gazing – despite its main subject matter. There are moments of social commentary (Normalize tackles gender and sexuality politics), amusing stoner concepts (God’s Plan ponders what the great creator must have been on whilst devising their Earth project), and self-aware in jokes. Anyone who can consider the end of their life and imagine that anyone attending their funeral will just shout for Hayloft has a keen sense of humour.

    Ultimately, this is an album packed with pop songs that address the apparent pointlessness of life whilst simultaneously encouraging everyone to embrace their time here on this rock. Mother Mother might have just written a new chapter in the stages of grief, and it sounds pretty damn fine.

    Mother Mother are currently touring the UK
    Grief Chapter is out now on Warner Music / Parlophone.

    Photo Credit: Mackenzie Walker

  • Support for better sleep from Simba

    Support for better sleep from Simba

    Tossing and turning? Hot and bothered? We’ve teamed up to offer some tips for a sounder slumber thanks to the team at Simba

    We’re constantly told how important a good kip is for our health. However, if you struggle to get the recommended sleep, this can only add to the feelings of tiredness and anxiety.

    As the Simba team recognise, there are many reasons for not getting enough sleep, not least that the nation is home to an estimated 15 million snorers, keeping 78% of partners awake! Lack of sleep and stress are common bedfellows and can create a negative feedback loop that can be self-sabotaging.

    Our body temperature and room temperature can have a big impact of our sleep cycle which is regulated by the circadian rhythm and light and dark cycle. Temperature for sleep is important, as the body cools itself down by sending heat away from the core and towards the extremities using vasodilation. Cold feet may disrupt this process, so you may find bed socks will help you to nod off more easily.

    No matter the time of year, the ideal sleeping temperature is between 15.5-19.5C (that’s 60 – 67 degrees Fahrenheit). As a general rule, your bedroom should be cooler than other rooms in the house and babies need to sleep in a cooler room (between 16C and 20C).

    As any woman aged over 40 will know, trying to maintain a steady temperature all night can prove impossible, with many bedrooms becoming a sweaty, anxious landscape (partner or no partner) in the wee hours.

    There’s more bad news for bad sleepers. A higher body temperature is associated with a decrease in restorative REM or slow-wave sleep. During this phase of the sleep cycle, the body ceases most-temperature regulation which makes us more sensitive to the ambient room temperature, and more likely to wake from overheating. Lack of REM sleep leads to grogginess, impacts the immune system, memory, and focus.

    And it’s not just hormones, of course: globally, night time temperatures are increasing faster than day time temperatures due to the climate crisis.

    So what can be done? Creating good sleep hygiene, and a wind-down bedtime routine without screens has been proven to help, as has opening your windows and cutting back on stimulants. Certain types of mattresses can be warmer than others, so if you’re overheating at night, it’s worth switching from a memory foam mattress to a cooler mattress. Mattresses that promote airflow and use cooling technology can help reduce episodes of overheating and improve overall comfort.

    Clever choices of bedding will also help, including The Simba Renew Bio™ fill. The clever sleep experts at Simba have crafted the down-like soft and warm breathable duvet for a non-clammy feel. The fresh, cotton outer features the Stratos® temperature control tech to help dissipate excess heat. We can assure you that this sleep saviour can have you sleeping like a baby (not the best example, as new parents will attest) instead of being at the mercy of those hot night time flushes. It’s also made from recycled PET bottle fibres, biodegrades at end of its life and almost totally dissolves in about two years when deposited in a landfill environment.

    Watch this space for more info and a competition to win a Hybrid® Mattress Topper in our March competition.

    For more tips or to browse please visit simbasleep.com