Oxfordshire Archives • Page 59 of 60 • Round & About Magazine

From the heart

Round & About

July 1, 2018July 1, 2018

Oxfordshire

Phil Hall’s book Bangkok to Ben Nevis Backwards documents his journey, with his family, around the globe with lots of laughs and learning along the way. Debt, dementia, emigration and attempted murder are a pretty potent mix of ingredients…

However it’s testament to Wallingford dad Phil Hall’s writing style and honesty that these factors result in an entertaining page-turner. In fact, any reader of his new book might well feel as though they’ve known him ages…

Phil, who is 52, has written about his adventures, starting six years ago, when he decided to eschew midlife workplace disappointment and debt by moving to Asia along with his beloved wife Jum, son Tom, and dog Megan. Always honest and often heart-breaking, this exotic excellent adventure is beset with the real-life dramas that are more moving than fiction. As Phil’s father’s health worsened, he and the family found themselves torn between two continents and spinning several plates to try to manage the stress.

The Hall family are now living back in Wallingford, and Phil says the period, which he self-deprecatingly describes as “how not to move to a strange country” strengthened their love.

“Luckily, we have all come out relatively unscathed,” Phil says. “You can’t live life to the fullest without making a few cock-ups along the way. We’re so proud of Tom especially – he’s grown into a great young man. It’s been emotional but I don’t think life should ever be about regrets.”

You can buy Bangkok to Ben Nevis Backwards at Wallingford book shop and online. Please also visit www.philhallbooks.com for more info.

The Art of Kustom

Round & About

July 1, 2018July 1, 2018

Oxfordshire

Andy Saunders is one of the best-known customised car builders this side of the Atlantic, and many of his creations can be seen in The Art of Kustom exhibition at Beaulieu.

In the national home of motoring, you will find a riot of outrageous styling cues, awesome colour schemes and off-the-wall ideas, all engineeered from Andy’s imagination.

The Art of Kustom has gathered Andy’s creations from private collections across Europe. It also includes the 1930s splendour of Andy’s immaculate Cord, a Citroen that looks like a spaceship, a Reliant Rialto race car, a road-going speedboat, the world’s shortest Mini, enchantingly called the Mini Ha Ha, and a 1939 Peugeot 202 pick-up, called Metropolis.

You’ll be able to see just how Andy works his magic, with this last mentioned commercial vehicle, which looked not too disimilar to Sir Tow Mater from the cartoon Cars movie, when he rescued it from a French field three years ago. Now, Metropolis looks like a sleek retro
delivery vehicle.

Tetanus is one of Andy’s most widely acclaimed projects, taking 14 years to complete. This 1937 Cord 812 Westchester was in an appalling condition when Andy found it, having spent more than half a century decaying in a Yorkshire field. Andy’s friend accidentally christened this crusty car with its moniker when he declared: “I’m not touching that car without a tetanus shot!”

Tetanus was inspired by a stylish car illustration that Andy saw on a birthday card. To produce the streamlined two-door coupé the wings were widened and reworked, the roof was lowered and shortened, doors were lengthened and the rear-end built from scratch using sections from a Jaguar MKII and VW Beetle. With a sumptuously trimmed red cockpit and Chevrolet V8 engine under the bonnet, this beauty is a real crowd-pleaser, as you can tell from the picture above.

The Art of Kustom can be seen as part of standard admission to Beaulieu, which includes entrance to the National Motor Museum, World of Top Gear, On Screen Cars, the ancestral Montagu family home of Palace House, 13th-century Beaulieu Abbey and the stunning grounds and gardens.

To buy tickets in advance online or for more information visit www.beaulieu.co.uk or call 01590 612345. Entry is also included with a Hot Rod & Custom Drive-In Day event ticket. For online tickets or more details please visit www.beaulieu.co.uk

Meuross marvel

Round & About

July 1, 2018October 7, 2019

Oxfordshire

On Friday, 13th July, avoid the bad luck and tune into the dulcet tones of Reg Meuross at Holywell Music Rooms in Oxford.

Reg Meuross’ booking on the Holywell Music & Folk stage has had Round & About magazine’s Twitter feed aflutter thanks to fans near and far.

Geoff Smith, the inspirational promoter behind Holywell Music & Folk in Oxford, has bagged this exclusive for his live music series which has already included Teddy Thompson and exciting local band Xogara.

Somerset singer-songwriter Reg is known as a troubadour with a social conscience. He has chosen Holywell Music Rooms for the launch of his eponymous new album which he was invited to record in Germany by cutting-edge studios Stockfisch Records last year.

This album is a retrospective of 12 Meuross favourites, with fresh arrangements and production by Gunter Pauler. Reg will sing these 12 songs of love, death, politics and social commentary.

Reg, who is a patron artist of Holywell Music & Folk says: “Holywell is a very special venue. My own connection goes back to 2010 when I was invited to play here by the late Stephen Jordan, then head librarian of the Bodleian Music Library after he’d commissioned a collection of unreleased songs from me. This live series is a fantastic initiative by Holywell Music & Folk and I’m proud to be a patron artist and to support it every way I can – that’s why I chose the venue for my album launch.”

Doors open at 7pm, with support from Edd Donovan. Tickets £12.50 from WeGotTickets + £1.25 booking or £15 on the door or from Truck Store. Some CDs for sale at the gig. Visit www.holywellmusicandfolk.co.uk and www.regmeuross.com

Oxford Organic

Round & About

July 1, 2018October 7, 2019

Oxfordshire

Michael Soth of West Oxford Food Coop explains more about the co-operative making organic food available, accessible and affordable in Botley

Are you interested in buying organic food at two thirds of the recommended retail price?

Do you avoid unnecessary packaging?

Are you interested in sustainability?

Would you want to join a community group that organises wholesale delivery of more than 5,000 products? We have been organising a small neighbourhood buyers’ group for more than 20 years, buying organic products from wholesaler Infinity Foods in Brighton, whose team deliver to Oxford once a week. For many years we had been collating a collective order every few months.

Since October 2016 we have been inviting more members, to expand the group, generate bigger orders, get even better discounts and maybe establish a local cooperative community enterprise. This would help to concentrate on expanding these orders to a wider group of households to make it worthwhile increasing the frequency of deliveries to weekly, renting local storage space, so we can set up a refill station that would help us avoid packaging and make organic food available and accessible in Botley.

We intend to partner with SESI Food and Household Refills who have been operating in east Oxford for more than 10 years. In the future, we might look into cooperating with other projects to extend the range into fresh produce.

We have now expanded to include about 26 households and have had 10 deliveries since then. One of our members has calculated that he has saved 40% as compared to shopping at wholefood shops. Currently we are aiming at a delivery about every six weeks.

The big news for 2018 is that we have just transitioned to online ordering – Infinity has set up an incredibly fast and efficient online system. Each member can have their own log-in and complete their own sub-order as part of the overall Food Coop order. This makes our project fairly hassle-free and keeps the admin to a minimum.

To get an idea of the range of products available (most items you would expect to find in a wholefood shop, i.e. more than 5,000 lines), visit www.infinityfoods.coop

If you are interested in joining such a community enterprise, please contact us to receive a membership form.

To spread the word about this project, please visit
www.westoxfordfoodcoop.wordpress.com or Facebook.

Golden example

Round & About

July 1, 2018October 7, 2019

Oxfordshire

The Arts Society Abingdon celebrates the golden jubilee of the founding of national organisation The Arts Society, formerly known as NADFAS, with an illustrated lecture

Can we trust the experts on good and bad art..? That’s the question David Phillips will pose on Wednesday, 18th July, at the Amey Theatre at Abingdon School.

David will explore several art controversies and tackle the trickiness of attribution by critics and experts alike. But he claims the minefields facing experts need not deter the rest of us from making artistic judgements based on our own experiences. The talk will start with a reception at 6.30pm in the Jekyll Garden next to the theatre, when celebrated harpist Pervin Shahin will play a programme of music from Baroque to Jazz.

The aim of The Arts Society, which has 90,000 members worldwide, is to ensure the arts are accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Expert lecturers have been assembled whose subjects range from English medieval gardens, to Chinese textiles, Renaissance artists, Staffordshire potters, Middle Eastern carpet-makers, Venetian glass or street art.

Alongside the programme of lectures (on the third Wednesday of every month in Trinity Church, Conduit Road, Abingdon, at 10.30am and again at 2pm), there are regular visits to exhibitions and other places of interest including this year a visit to the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery near Winchester.

There is ample free parking for the talk at Amey Theatre at Abingdon School, OX14 1DE, and tickets are £12.50 – to buy yours email [email protected]. For more on the society, visit www.theartssocietyabingdon.org.uk

Maymessy magic

Round & About

July 1, 2018October 7, 2019

Oxfordshire

Maymessy is the empowering West Challow cookery school which recently marked its first anniversary with a celebratory food festival, writes its founder Anna Richards.

We celebrated our first year in style, offering young carers and their families an afternoon of respite in our beautiful grounds.

It was super fun with circus skills, a rock choir, helter-skelter, bouncy castle, face painting and stalls. We ran our own Bake Off style competition, and were delighted to have it judged by BBC and Round & About magazine star Christine Wallace.

Maymessy opened its doors just over a year ago after transforming a disused cowshed into a state-of-the-art training kitchen. Adult cookery courses are run on demand and Maymessy works with schools, charities and youth groups to provide classes for young, vulnerable people. Children learn about teamwork, they strengthen their confidence and self-esteem while learning about healthy eating and wellbeing.

With more than 2,700 young carers in the county and the number rising, Maymessy saw the festival as a great opportunity to raise vital funds. Ten per cent of the proceeds were donated to Oxfordshire charity, Be Free Young Carers.

We were very grateful to receive grants from the Vale of White Horse District Council, Tesco in Faringdon and the Big Lottery, as well as refreshments from Waitrose in Faringdon. We’re now looking forward to the year ahead and continuing our work with empowering young people. We’d love to hear from local businesses who would be interested in supporting our enterprise and helping to bring our vision to fruition.

Visit www.maymessy.com or email [email protected]

Wild things

Round & About

July 1, 2018October 7, 2019

Oxfordshire

On Saturday, 14th July, enjoy an afternoon of wildlife discovery, writes Peter Anderson

Big cats? Perhaps not. But experts and enthusiasts will be on hand with a variety of bats, bugs, bees, butterflies, moths, reptiles and small mammals; animals you’d only normally see on television.

Head to a free Wildlife Discovery Day, 2-4.30pm, organised by the conservation group and Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), at Letcombe Valley Nature Reserve OX12 9JU.

The event is suitable for all ages, (under-18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult). There will also be den building, nature craft and mud kitchens along with a chance to make a bird box or even your own fossil.

Letcombe Valley is a rare habitat; the brook is one of Oxfordshire two chalk streams (there are about 150 across the country). The clear waters are home to unusual, interesting wildlife including water vole and fish such as brown trout and brook lamprey.

The nature reserve has a café and gift shop, from which you can take self-guided tours of the reserve and discover what to find where. This is your chance to watch kingfishers hunt across the valley, flashing blue as their piercing call echoes all around. Then, silent and still like statues at the streamside, herons and egrets wait for their own tasty treats. Return at dusk and the kingfishers are replaced by Daubenton’s bat skimming the water, gorging on the insects found in the surrounding lakes.

Any donations enable BBOWT to not only put on magnificent events like this, but also to aid their work as custodians of cherished parts of our countryside so generations to come will still be able to enjoy it. For further information on this event and others, visit www.bbowt.org.uk

Flute force

Round & About

July 1, 2018October 7, 2019

Oxfordshire

On Saturday, 7th July, head to Old Mill Hall in Grove to enjoy a performance by star musician Jeremy Salter

Jeremy Salter has had a long association with Wantage Orchestra. Although now primarily a flautist, Wantage-born Jeremy started on the piano at the age of seven. He later took up violin, oboe and flute before settling on flute as a student at the University of Manchester.

After graduating in 2015, Jeremy stayed in the city to complete a Masters in flute performance at the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music. Jeremy was delighted to be offered the opportunity to work for leading music for health organisation LIME, bringing music to the paediatric wards of Manchester Children’s Hospital for patients and carers. Last year he participated in Adages, an Arts Council-funded oratorio composed by Holly Marland and inspired by the musical creations and experiences of those living with dementia. Jeremy was recently appointed a house assistant at Chetham’s School of Music and enjoys teaching all ages.

Wantage Orchestra was founded in February 1977 to provide an opportunity for local musicians, including children, to play together. They rehearse on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-9.30pm during term time, at King Alfred’s Sports and Community College West site, OX12 9DU. New players are welcome and the group normally gives three concerts a year.

On Saturday, 7th July, 7.30-9.30pm, at Old Mill Hall in Grove, Jeremy will perform a programme including Suppe’s Overture Poet & Peasant, Ibert’s Flute concerto (solo) and Brahms’ Symphony no. 2. Please visit www.wantageorchestra.org.uk

Curiouser and curiouser

Round & About

July 1, 2018October 7, 2019

Oxfordshire

Susannah Steel explores the veritable Wonderland of adventures awaiting Oxford on Saturday, 7th July for the 2018 celebrations of Alice’s Day.

With the warm weather, sea-blue skies and stretching evenings, Oxfordshire has given us a wonderful precursor to summer. Indeed, many of us may have been inspired to take to the outdoors; perhaps a stroll in Abingdon’s Abbey Gardens or a picnic on the riverbank in Christ Church Meadow.

While we may think nothing more of these activities than of the soft touch of the sun on our skin or the taste of homemade sandwiches, it was just one such sunny Oxford day that led to a seismic shift in children’s literature, a tale which would pave the way for Secret Gardens, Narnia, Middle Earth and many more adventures.

In July 1862, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) took to the waters of the Thames with three of Henry Liddell’s children. After tea on the riverbank, the girls demanded a story and the adventures of Alice (named after Alice Liddell), the white rabbit and the Mad Hatter emerged. More than 150 years later, we are still celebrating the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, now a classic of children’s literature, its characters instantly recognisable thanks to the numerous illustrations and films associated with the tale.

Alice’s Day, this year on Saturday, 7th July, promises another fine celebration of all things Wonderland, with Alice-themed fun planned around the city. Dress up as your favourite character, enjoy scavenger trails, street shows, the mysterious Voyage of La Sibylle, and the acrobats of the Circus Raj, to name but a few of the exciting entertainments that await.

As always, The Story Museum, our southern sanctuary for children’s literature, will take the lead, with activities linked to a ‘journeys & adventures’ theme. The day will also mark the final public opening of the Story Museum’s exhibition spaces before an exciting redevelopment begins. Head along there on 7th July to enjoy the museum, the Alice-inspired illustrations exhibition and the rest of the madness. Children will be given free entry to the museum on the day.

Other venues joining the fun this year include Alice’s Shop, the Ashmolean Museum, Bodleian Libraries, Blackwell’s Book Shop, Christ Church, Museum of History of Science, Oxford Castle and University of Oxford Botanic Garden. All in a city which still boasts some of the most-loved children’s writers publishing today.

In these uncertain times of politics, polluting plastics and the never-ending pressures of technology advancement, where even children’s fiction is beginning to reflect a negatively realist mirror, it’s comforting to know you can still step through a looking glass or fall down a rabbit hole and enjoy the adventures that await in Wonderland.

Visit www.storymuseum.org.uk

Christine Wallace: in the mix!

Round & About

July 1, 2018October 7, 2019

Oxfordshire

Hello everyone! Is it just me or is there a feelgood factor in the air recently?

In general people seem to be quite happy and smiley. Just passing someone in the street or at the shops seems to generate a “hello” and my goodness, doesn’t it make you feel good!? I put it down to summer, the weather isn’t bad and holidays are on everyone’s mind so lots to be happy about. There also might be a measure of trying to forget that we live in quite a troubled world and the news can be depressing so let’s just live for the day! Whatever it is, I hope it lasts!

July brings hedgerows heavy with berries, fennel to liven up salads and lots more including aubergines and courgettes. Cherries and peaches are at their best and the glorious gooseberry is here. The poor gooseberry doesn’t get a good press and it’s hard to find them, even in farm shops. But there are wonderful recipes using this vitamin C-rich fruit; poached gooseberries with a creamy vanilla custard, gooseberry compote which is super used in cakes or to top a cheesecake, gooseberry jam or the very delicious gooseberry fool. Take 400g gooseberries and cook with 50g sugar over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until soft. Remove from the heat, crush and cool. Pour two tablespoons of elderflower cordial and 1tbsp lemon juice into 400ml double cream and whisk to medium peaks. Add 4 tablespoons of ready-made custard. Fold half the gooseberries into the mixture. Spoon half into four glasses. Layer the rest of the gooseberries, then top with the rest of the cream mix. Chill until ready to serve. You’ll love it!

Also in shops is new-season lamb (the best is from Kent). Lamb breast is a great make-ahead meal – slow cooking turns a cheap cut into a luxury. Tom Kerridge’s breast of lamb with broccoli, anchovy and caper dressing is lovely!

The Greeks and Romans are returning! Stretch Didcot’s Roman Festival at the Didcot Girls School on Saturday, 7th July (10.30am-5pm) will have more than 20 different experts and events, including me! Tickets are a fantastic £4.

Visit www.christinebakes.co.uk and please get in touch!

Tuesday 21 Jan 2025

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