Budgie Smuggler Run for mental health

Round & About

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Surrey

Well done to the 20 brave men who have bared (almost) all for an outdoor winter fundraiser in Virginia Water raising more than £2,500 (so far) for the Mental Health Foundation.

We’ve all been feeling the cold in recent weeks. So praise is due to the local runners who braved the chilly trails of Virginia Water Lake togged up in just a pair of running shoes and “budgie smuggler” briefs.

The Budgie Smuggler Run 2023 event was founded by Brian Turner, Josh Lappin, Paul Dash and Jordan McDowell from Hampshire and Surrey in 2021 when they wanted to raise money and awareness for charity.

Since then, others have joined in the January spectacle, with 20 runners taking on the 7km route last Sunday (29th January) raising more than £2,500 for the Mental Health Foundation.

Brian said: “It started off as a bit of a laugh, but with a serious aim to raise money and awareness for charities that are close to our hearts. It certainly does turn heads, and after the first run I was surprised to find more people than just me willing to strip down and run the 7km route in the middle of winter.”

The Budgie Smuggler Run is now set to become an annual mass participation event in aid of raising money and awareness for men’s mental health.

World record holder Darren Hardy, a charity fundraiser and former British Army officer who was medically discharged from the army with PTSD in 2017, joined this year’s event. “It’s such a great event and certainly turned heads,” he said. “Despite the frosty January start we all rose to the occasion and drew quite a crowd at the finish line. I’d absolutely recommend it to anyone wanting to do something a bit different for charity.”

“It certainly does turn heads”

Over the last two years, runners have raised £2.5k for BulliesOut, an anti-bullying charity, and £1.3k for Cancer Research UK.

To find out more and donate please visit 7k Budgie Smuggler Run 2023 (gofundme.com).

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Chris Kamara to open Ninja Warrior

Karen Neville

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Surrey

Football pundit and presenter of Ninja Warrior UK launches the new Guildford attraction on February 2nd

In perfect time for the February half term holidays, the inspirational co-presenter of the TV show, legendary pundit, Chris Kamara MBE, will launch Guildford’s Ninja Warrior UK Adventure Park.

He will be at the venue to welcome the guests alongside a number of professional Ninjas who people may recognise from the TV series. Amongst them will be first-time women’s champion Beth Lodge, who took the title during the grand finale of Ninja Warrior UK Series 6 in October 2022.

Due to the demand for launch-day tickets, three sessions will now be available to the public at 4.30pm, 5.30pm and 6.30pm.

Chris Kamara said: “I am really excited about the opening of Guildford’s Ninja Warrior UK Adventure Park; the reaction I see from guests who experience these venues for the very first time is just unbelievable! Ninja Warrior UK is a great family show and it is brilliant to be able to give families in Surrey the opportunity to come and try an adventure park. And, I still get to do the best bit of the job, which is to watch on – it’s equally as entertaining, trust me!”

The new Guildford venue, which opens on Thornbury Way in Slyfield on February 2nd, will feature a mix of adrenalin-fuelled TV show-style courses and inflatable runs inspired by the family favourite programme, and promises to combine fun, fitness and fire imaginations, with many discovering their inner Ninja in no time.

Visitors aged 5+ can choose from a range of amazing obstacles that will test their climbing, balancing and swinging skills to the max, and of course, try to beat the infamous Warped Wall. The Mount Sasuke climbing feature is an additional challenge for wannabe Ninjas, and the enormous inflatable course with its tunnels, battle towers and assault course, promises even more fun, before a visit to the Ninja Café for a well-earned rest. For the under 5s, there is a dedicated Mini Ninjas soft play area as well.

Tim Morrison, Co-Founder of Prime Leisure Group, operator of the Ninja Warrior UK Guildford venue, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response to our Guildford opening next month, and now our Surrey visitors will have the added bonus of meeting Chris Kamara MBE at the launch event! We are very much looking forward to opening our doors and welcoming everyone from across the region to come and enjoy an adrenalin-fuelled, fitness-focussed visit.”

Admission starts from £13.95 per person and £6.95 for Mini Ninjas soft play (under 5s). Book your space at Ninja Warrior UK Guildford.

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Care Supplement: February 2023

Round & About

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Surrey

Make the right choices to help you or your loved one make the most of their later life

Click to view the interactive care map
Check out more care related articles

Man’s best friends

“Pets just make us feel happier” – the simple reason why many elderly people benefit from the companionship of an animal

We are a nation of pet lovers and for many this doesn’t change just because you have to enter a care home – man’s best friend can become even more important at this time of life.

Ill health, loneliness, depression and anxiety-related issues can all make later life harder but pets can help ease the elderly through and studies have shown that interacting with a dog, cat, rabbit, ducklings and even fish can kindle memories about past experiences and provide an opportunity to talk.

One charity which knows a thing or two about the benefits our furry and feathered friends can bring is Oxfordshire-based Pets As Therapy who say a PAT pet can improve a person’s mental health and overall wellbeing, adding that there’s often an increased connection with carers and family too, and those living with dementia can feel energised and elated, “It comes down to a very simple truth: pets just make us feel happier”.

The charity was founded in 1983 by dog owner and volunteer Lesley Scott-Ordish and as it enters its 40th year, its vision remains unchanged to ensure everyone has access to the companionship of a pet regardless of their circumstances. In addition to its work in care homes, Pets As Therapy also extends the services to schools, hospitals and prisons.

More than 4,000 volunteers go out and about with their animal friends extending the paw or claw of friendship to day care centres, residential homes and hospices as well as the other facilities. Pets As Therapy volunteers are pet owners who give up their time to help, if you would like to help find out more and apply at petsastherapy.org/information/for-volunteers

One such home company which has benefited from the love and attention of a PAT dog is Brendoncare which has homes in and around Alton and Winchester in Hampshire and at Froxfield near Marlborough.

Staff and residents there have seen first hand the positive effects of the joy and companionship that animals can bring.

Rebecca Spicer, Volunteer and Activity Manager at Brendoncare, said: “Wellbeing is so much more than the word games and outings. Bringing animals to show our residents adds an element of home: a visiting PAT dog, social farm experience or even a pet animal for the home adds to this.

“Animals bring love and comfort to our residents, and for them the nurturing feeling of caring or parenting something is familiar. In practice all residents have a natural instinct to stroke a dog, hold a chick or pet a horse. It’s those integrated moments that are engrained in our memories that give us that warm fuzzy ‘good’ feeling in our tummy.”

Animals offer unconditional love and companionship. Sometimes, they provide a level of companionship that people can’t and many find interacting with pets such as simply stroking their fur to watching their antics can have a very calming and reassuring benefit.

Animal visits to care homes can bring back fond memories for residents, with many remembering previous pets or happy times with friends and family when they come face to face with visiting animals.

Brendoncare Alton recall a recent visit by a range of farm animals which for one resident was a special afternoon as he reminisced about the pig farm he used to run and remembered precious memories for him and his family – whilst stroking a pig!

Animals give residents a break in routine and something they can look forward to. But that’s not all – research suggests that animals and their calming nature and affection can offer health benefits such as lowering people’s blood pressure and heart rate, increasing levels of oxytocin (the stress-reducing hormone) and decreasing the production of the stress hormone cortisol.

Brendoncare say that while they love seeing their residents’ excitement when they get to hold a duckling or stroke a donkey, their lovely smiles aren’t the only benefit of petting these animals. Stroking an animal’s fur/feathers, hearing their unique sounds, holding them in their lap, feeding them and grooming them are all interactions which provide great sensory stimulation for residents and are particularly beneficial for people with dementia.

Brendoncare Park Road in Winchester helped welcome some baby ducklings into the world and alongside the familiar caring and nurturing aspects that bring back familiar feelings, cuddling and petting the ducks also provided sensory stimulation.

Find out more at brendoncare.org.uk

In addition to the work of charities such as Pets As Therapy in care homes, many residential homes welcome residents to bring their much-loved pets with them with they move in recognising the benefits to older people – improving mental wellbeing, decreased dementia rates, a sense of purpose and fun.

View the interactive care map

More care related articles

Hear clearly – Try ear microsuction as a way to help hearing loss

A day in the life… – Nurse turned care home manager Susie Green shares her memories of life as a care home manager in A Most Precious Gift

Planning for the future – Get your financial affairs in order with a Will or Lasting Power of Attorney

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Care for your trees with Brackendale

Round & About

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Brackendale Tree Care has valuable advice to help you care for your trees in winter

At this time of year, your garden will probably look as if it’s settled down for winter. That surely means your jobs for the year are all wrapped up. All you need to do now is feed the birds and enjoy your garden from the warmth of your home.

However, winter is the perfect time to crack on and care for your trees.

Not only is winter the ideal time for tree care from Mother Nature’s perspective, but it’s also a great time for us humans. Other garden jobs, such as weeding, lawn mowing and hedge trimming aren’t needed so we have time to lavish on our trees instead. And after all, what’s better than getting outside into the fresh air and work up an appetite for all that hearty winter food?

The two big tree-related jobs for the winter are winter pruning and planting bare rooting trees.

Job 1 – winter-pruning your trees

It’s nearly always better to prune your trees in the winter than in the spring or summer. There are a host of reasons for this, which we’ll now go into.

For deciduous trees at least, the lack of leaves makes it far easier to see what you’re doing. This means you’re less likely to trim your trees back too far or into a shape that you’re not happy with. There’s also the benefit of having almost no leaves to sweep up afterwards – only the branches and leaves. You’ll also know that nesting birds won’t be an issue – it’s only from March onwards that nesting becomes something to bear in mind

Because trees are dormant in the winter, their sap is less active. Sap delivers water and nutrients throughout the tree which may ‘bleed’ when the tree is cut. Too much bleeding can shock your tree so it’s important to make sure you’re pruning at the right time of year. Most trees are best pruned in the winter, although there are some such as magnolia and birch which should be pruned at a different time of year.

Winter pruning is a great way of reinvigorating trees and bushes that were beginning to look tired or straggly. Successful winter pruning can encourage bushy, healthy growth, helping revive a previously tired-looking specimen.

Pruning during the winter also helps prevent diseases. That’s because the bacteria, insects and fungi that carry the diseases are dormant or dead. So, by pruning during the winter months, your tree is less likely to pick up a serious disease.

Job 2 – plant bare rooted trees

Another job that’s perfect for the winter months is planting bare rooted trees. Loved by gardeners and tree surgeons alike, bare rooted trees are the best choice for anyone wanting to enhance their garden with healthy, strong plants.

Using bare rooted trees and hedges gives you a better range of plants to choose from, thanks to the range of specialist nurseries that deal with bare rooted plants. They’re also far better value than pot-grown plants giving you a healthy sapling for a bank-balance friendly price. This makes bare-rooted trees and hedges a must-buy for anyone wanting to plant lots of trees or a new hedge.

There are a few things to remember when planting bare rooted trees:

1. Plant bare-rooted trees quickly as you can

The longer you leave your bare rooted trees unplanted, the more moisture they will lose from their roots. And the more moisture they lose, the lower your chances of having a healthy tree in your garden. If you can’t plant your tree immediately, store them somewhere cool (a garage or shed is perfect) with their roots wrapped in a plastic bag.

2. Stake your bare-rooted tree after planting

Staking your bare rooted trees will help them establish more successfully by keeping the roots healthy. By keeping your new tree in a stable position, you minimise the chances of torn roots. It can take as much as two years for a new tree to fully anchor itself into the soil, which makes this step especially important.

3. Water trees thoroughly in the first year after planting

Although your new tree or hedge won’t need water while it’s dormant, as soon as you start seeing leaves bursting into bud, it’s time to water. Water your tree thoroughly (a full watering can is perfect) once a week – or more often if the weather is dry. In especially dry, warm weather you should water your new tree two or three times a week to help it establish.

Get in touch for help with winter pruning and planting

Winter pruning and planting bare rooted trees are tasks that your tree surgeon can advise on and help with. If you have questions or would like us to look after your pruning and planting, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.

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February recipes: Batch of the day!

Round & About

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Here’s a taste of Suzanne Mulholland’s The Batch Lady: Cooking on a Budget, out now, published by HarperCollins

She says in the introduction to this book: “As I became a busy working wife and mum I realised that those skills are also very much needed in our home environment too. We’re constantly playing the juggling game that is modern day life, and it can be stressful as we try to manage budgets, feed our families well, and get nutritious meals on the table that offer variety and keep everyone happy. That, combined with trying to reduce packaging, reduce food waste and eat less meat, can have our brains spinning.

“This book was packed full of hearty recipes designed to fill your freezer (and your belly!) with tasty food that could be put on the table with little fuss. My second, The Batch Lady: Healthy Family Favourites, focussed on making the comforting family food we all love a little bit healthier.”

Roast butternut squash with a couscous crust

Prep: 10 minutes | Cooking: 70 minutes | Serves: Four

Ingredients:

• Glug of olive or vegetable oil
• One large butternut squash, topped, tailed, cut into quarters and seeds removed
• ½ cup (100g) couscous
• ½ cup (120ml) boiling water
• 100g feta cheese
• Juice of one lemon
• Two heaped tbsp pesto
• Eight cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil, for roasting

Roasting butternut squash in this way brings out its natural sweetness and delicious earthy flavours. Bulked up with fluffy couscous this is substantial enough as a main meal, but would also work as a side dish or even a dinner party starter.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4. Add a glug of oil to a lipped baking sheet. Place in the oven to warm.
2. Once the oil is hot, add the butternut to the tray, turning to coat in the oil as you do. Bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway through, until the squash is golden and just tender.
3. Transfer the couscous to a large bowl and pour over half a cup (120ml) of boiling water. Cover and set aside for five minutes, then fluff the couscous up with a fork.
4. Crumble the feta into the bowl, then add the lemon juice, pesto, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

If you’re cooking to eat now… Spoon the couscous mix over the roasted squash and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. Divide the wedges between serving plates and serve. Zhuzh it up with a good drizzle of balsamic glaze.

If you’re making ahead to freeze… Set the squash and couscous aside until cooled to room temperature, then transfer the squash wedges to a large freezer bag and the couscous to a smaller bag. Seal the couscous bag and then place inside the bag with the squash before sealing. Label and freeze flat for up to three months.

Then… Remove the squash and couscous from the freezer and place in the fridge to defrost, ideally overnight. Once defrosted lay the squash on a foil-lined baking sheet and spoon over the couscous. Transfer to an oven preheated to 180˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4 and bake for 30 minutes, until piping hot all the way through. Serve as above.

Mexican beef nacho topper

Prep: 10 minutes | Cooking: 8-10 minutes | Serves: Four

Ingredients:

• Splash of vegetable or olive oil
• One cup (115g) frozen chopped onions
• 1 tsp frozen chopped garlic
• 250g minced beef
• 1 x 30g packet taco seasoning
• 1 x 395g tin mixed beans in chilli sauce
• 2 tbsp tomato purée 
• One cup (175g) frozen sliced peppers

To serve:

• One 200g bag lightly salted tortilla chips
• One cup (90g) pre-grated Cheddar cheese
• MAKE IT Veggie! Replace the beef with a plant-based mince of your choice.

Cheesy, spicy and loaded with flavour, this is the ultimate sharing dish for when you have lots of hungry mouths to feed. If you’re feeding more than four, this is easy to scale up by simply doubling or tripling the ingredient amounts.

Method:

1. Heat a splash of oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and mince and cook, stirring, for about five minutes, until the onions are translucent and meat browned.
2. Drain any excess fat from the pan, then return to the heat and add the taco seasoning, beans, tomato puree and sliced peppers. Give everything another stir to combine, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and leave to cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Remove from the heat.

If you’re serving now… Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4. Transfer the tortilla chips to a large baking dish and warm in the oven for five minutes, until crisp. Remove from the oven and ladle the chilli over the top. Scatter over the grated cheese then return the dish to the oven for 6-8 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Put the dish in the middle of the table for everyone to enjoy. Zhuzh it up… Scatter over some fresh coriander and serve with guacamole and pickled jalapenos alongside.

If you’re making ahead to freeze… Leave the beef chilli to cool to room temperature, then transfer to a large, labelled freezer bag and freeze flat for up to three months.

Then… Remove the bag from the freezer and leave to defrost in the fridge, ideally overnight. Once defrosted, tip the beef chilli into a large saucepan over a medium heat and reheat, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes, until piping hot. While the chilli is reheating, warm the tortilla chips then assemble the Mexican Nacho Topper as described above.

We’ve got a copy of The Batch Lady: Cooking on a Budget by Suzanne Mulholland to give away.

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Star Q&A: Kate Mosse

Liz Nicholls

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Surrey

Best-selling author Kate Mosse OBE shares her thoughts ahead of her Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries tour at a theatre near you

Q. Hello Kate! How are you?

“Very well, thank you for asking! I’ve just become a grandmother, so loving everything about that.”

Q. It’s wonderful that you’re shining a light on previously overlooked trailblazing women. Can you tell us a little about any of your favourites?

“There are so many amazing women – from every corner of the world, in every period of history – but I love the extraordinary footballer, Lily Parr, who scored more than 1,000 goals in her professional career in the early 1900s, and also the legendary 18th century pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Reid, who were fierce and uncompromising – my next novel, The Ghost Ship, is partly inspired by their story.”

Q. What was your favourite book as a child?

“So many, but certainly The Golden Hamster, a beautiful story for young children about being true to who you are (a hamster, not a rat or a cat or a mouse). My beloved, and much missed Dad, used to read it to me at bedtime, and I still have that 1960s edition. I also loved The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder for their sense of freedom, the amazing descriptions of the American mid-west in the 1880s and 1890s, and the feisty, principled heroine of the books herself.”

Q. And how about now – who is your favourite author?

“I try to avoid ever answering this question – too many of my friends are writers – but, going back in time, certainly Emily Bronte, Adrienne Rich, Rider Haggard and Agatha Christie would be at the top of the list.”

“It’s quite a challenge starting a new career as a performer at the age of 61!”

Q. Do you enjoy touring?

“I’m excited and nervous – what if nobody comes or my voice gives out – and it’s quite a challenge starting a new career as a performer at the age of 61! On the other hand, you have to keep having new challenges and pushing yourself. I’m not ready to hang up my boots and sitting dozing by the fire quite yet. I’m really looking forward to meeting audiences and hearing all the amazing women from history they would like to celebrate. The tour is about starting a conversation, having a great night out in the theatre, and putting some incredible women back in to the history books.”

Q. How well do you know the parts of the South East where you’re on tour?

“Very well. I grew up, and live now, in Chichester, so one of our days out was always to Guildford. My aunt and uncle lived in Woking, and my son-in-law comes from a beautiful village in the Surrey Hills. So, it’s home from home. Also, the Guildford Book Festival is one of my favourite festivals. I was lucky enough to go to university in Oxford, so I had three years of getting to know not only the city itself, but also the amazing countryside around about. The joy of being on tour is not only meeting audiences from all over the country, but also getting to know new parts of our beautiful country. Every day before the evening show, I’ll be out exploring.”

Q. What is your first memory of music?

“My fabulous Ma had an LP of Nancy Sinatra’s Swinging Safari, and I adored it and dancing along with her. In those days, you had to drop the stylus on to the record, listen, and then start again…”

Q. Who would be your dream dinner party guests?

“So many of the women I’ll be celebrating in my show – so, as well as those I’ve already talked about, the great British composer Ethel Smyth; the extraordinary 13th century Mongolian wrester princess, Khutulan – who was the inspiration for Puccini’s opera Turandot; Pauli Murray, one of the ‘freedom riders’ along with Rosa Parks who changed the racist ‘Jim Crow’ laws in America in the 1940s and 1950s; Josephine Cochrane who, in 1893, invented the dishwasher (yes, really!) Eunice Newton Foote, who discovered global warming but saw her discovery attributed to the men who came after her; and perhaps Beatrix Potter, to talk about her amazing work in conservation as much as her writing for children.  Oh, and of course, my own great-grandmother, Lily Watson, who is at the heart of the Warrior Queens tour, who I would have loved to have known.” 

Q. How much do you love life in West Sussex and why?

“I’m a Chi (Chichester) girl, born and bred, and it’s where all my family live.  So, my whole life – apart from a few years away at university, then working in London – has been spent in and around Chichester and Fishbourne.  There is something for everyone – amazing woods and beaches, incredible art galleries and an internationally-renowned theatre, the canal and Roman Palace, history and folklore, music and community. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.” 

Q. Can you tell us a bit about your first impressions of Carcassonne and how you fell in love with it, changing the course of your life?

“We first bought a tiny house in the shadow of the medieval city walls of Carcassonne back in 1989 and, from the moment I first saw the extraordinary ‘crown of stone’ sitting on the hill above the river Aude, 52 towers and turrets, two rings of defensive walls, everything stepped in history, I fell in love.   I didn’t intend to write about Carcassonne but, little by little as I read history about Languedoc and learnt about the people who had lived there in the 13th century, the ‘whispering in the landscape started’ … that’s to say, I started to hear the voices of characters and the outline of a story.  Those whisperings became my novel, Labyrinth, and since then, almost all of my fiction has been a kind of love letter to this beautiful corner of southwest France.”

Q. What advice would you have for any woman out there who has always dreamt of writing a book? “Do it! A little writing every day, just so you start to get your muscles used to the process, that’s how a novel or biography takes shape. Don’t worry about how good it is, or quite where it’s going, just get some words down. Soon you’ll have a sentence, then a paragraph then, before you know it, a chapter. Once you have a rough draft, then you have something you can start to edit into the novel you’ve always wanted to write.” 

Q. If you could make one wish for the world, what would it be? “That we all share the same planet. So, more kindness, more remembering how to listen and respect one another’s point of view – even if it’s not the same as our own – more attention to saving the planet, and a return to public service not self-interest built on values of decency, honesty and equality.  I’m still an idealist and believe that we can all work together, we can leave the world in a better state than we found it.  And most of the women I’m celebrating in Warrior Queens did precisely that.” 

Book at katemosse.co.uk/events 

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David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny in Woking

Liz Nicholls

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Surrey

David Walliams answers some questions ahead of the theatre adaptation of his book landing at New Victoria Theatre in Woking from Wednesday 9th February to Saturday 12th February

Calling all families! The coolest Granny around is coming to Woking from Wednesday 9th February to Saturday 12th February.

The West End production of David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny is being brought to Woking by the producers of the hit stage shows, Horrible Histories and Billionaire Boy.

Inspired by Walliams’ own granny the show follows Ben as he dreads going to stay with his cabbage-obsessed granny every Friday. But what Ben doesn’t know is that Granny has a secret – and Friday nights are about to get more exciting than he could ever imagine, as he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime with his very own Gangsta Granny!

David Walliams Q&A:

Q. What inspired Gangsta Granny?

“When I was a child I would spend lots of time with my grandmas. Sometimes I would selfishly think spending time with them could be boring but when I got them on a subject like living in London during World War II when bombs were raining down, they would become very animated and I would be enthralled. I realised everyone has a story to tell.”

Q. What were your grannies like and are there any elements of their characters in Gangsta Granny?

“There was definitely a smell of cabbages in one of my grandmas’ houses. The other did break wind like a duck quacking when she walked across the room.”

Q. Many people would say there’s a special bond between children and their grandparents, why do you think that is?

“I think grandparents love being grandparents because they get to give the children back to the parents! Children love spending time with their grandparents because they love hearing their stories and being allowed to stay up past their bedtime.”

Q. When did you decide to write children’s fiction and what encouraged you?

“Ten years ago I had an idea for a story. What if a boy went to school dressed as a girl? I thought it would be a thought-provoking children’s book. That became The Boy in the Dress, the first of my children’s novels.”

Q. What are the delights of writing children’s fiction?

“The only limitation in a children’s book is your imagination. You can take children on magical journeys in books that many adults would be reluctant to go on.”

Q. And the challenges of writing for children?

“Children love to be scared but it can’t be too horrifying. Children love to laugh but it can’t be too rude. You always have to be the right side of the line.”

Q. You’ve often talked about Roald Dahl, what do you think makes him special?

“I think Dahl’s books always feel a little bit forbidden. He manages to balance the humour and scary elements in his stories perfectly.”

Q. Which Dahl books do you particularly like and why?

“The Twits is utterly hilarious and I love that it is a children’s book with no child characters.”

Q. Which other children’s writers did you enjoy as a child and why?

“I loved Dr Seuss books as a child, especially ‘Green Eggs and Ham’. His books are like nightmares come to life. They are rich and strange and utterly unlike anybody else’s work.”

Q. What do you think children enjoy in your books?

“I imagine they like the humour and that I don’t patronise them. I deal with quite big topics, crossdressing, homelessness, grief. I know children are a lot smarter than most grown-ups think.”

Q. What were your feelings on seeing Gangsta Granny adapted for the stage?

“It’s a huge thrill seeing Gangsta Granny have this whole new life on the stage. It has already been a TV film. People seem to really like the story. In fact, Gangsta Granny is my best-selling book by far and the stage production is brilliant.”

“There is lots of action in Gangsta Granny, especially when they try to steal the Crown Jewels.”

Q. Do you feel there are any particular challenges or difficulties with staging Gangsta Granny?

“There is lots of action in Gangsta Granny, especially when they try to steal the Crown Jewels – so it’s quite a challenge for the Birmingham Stage Company to bring those scenes to life, but they do it so wonderfully well.”

Q. Are there any scenes you particularly like seeing on stage?

“I like the characters of Ben’s mum and dad. Their obsession with ballroom dancing is very funny brought to life in the play.”

Q. Why were you keen to work with Birmingham Stage Company on the adaptation?

“I saw their Horrible Histories show which was superb. I loved the humour and the interaction with the audience, so I knew they were the right people to stage my book.

Q. What do you hope children will take away from watching Gangsta Granny on stage?

“The moral of the story is ‘don’t assume old people are boring just because they are old’. In fact, they are likely to have had a much more interesting life than yours. Talk to old folk, listen to their stories. They are bound to be full of magic and wonder.

Q. In what way do you think experiencing the stage show will differ from their experiences when reading the book?

“The great thing about seeing Gangsta Granny on stage is you will get to share it with an audience. So hopefully you will laugh and cry along with everyone else. That’s what makes theatre so special.”

Q. What do you think are the elements that make up a good theatrical production for children?

“Those for children need to be fun and fast-paced which Gangsta Granny certainly is.”

Q. Strictly Come Dancing raises its head in Gangsta Granny – would you like to be in the show and, if so, how do you rate your hopes of holding the glitter ball?

“I can’t dance at all (as you might have seen in the TV adaptation of Gangsta Granny when I tried to dance with Miranda Hart). So I would say my chances are less than zero.”

Gangsta Granny was adapted from David Walliams’ book by Neal Foster, actor-manager of Birmingham Stage Company. He has also directed the show. The show is suitable for ages 5+ and duration is about two hours.

Tickets from £13, fees apply. You can book tickets by calling the Box Office on 0844 871 7615 (Fees apply. Calls cost up to 7p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge), Groups Booking Line 0207 206 1174 or online at ATGTICKETS.COM/Woking (fees apply).

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M&S Food launch new breakfast range

Round & About

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Surrey

M&S have just launched their biggest ever breakfast range from its own label for the first time, offering a range of tasty new cereals, granolas, porridge, breakfast toppers and breakfast pots to brighten your morning

Start the day right with an Eat Well breakfast from M&S Food – our clever product developers have created lots of new tasty cereals and breakfast toppers – complete with the health benefits you’d expect from Eat Well – for all the family.

Some have even been given the professional footballer seal of approval thanks to Eat Well’s partnership with the home nation football associations. Midfielders Mason Mount and Jordan Henderson and defender Eric Dier have all picked their choice for breakfast.

Mason Mount’s choice
Jordan Henderson’s choice
Eric Dier’s choice

Not only do we have some brand new cereal-ously tasty Eat Well options but we also have porridge, granolas and a new breakfast pot.

Our breakfast boffins have also added more Made Without options, alongside Vegetarian and Vegan options to cater for special dietary requirements – so no matter who you are we have a breakfast FOR YOU.

Sarah Jane Large, Product Developer, M&S Food, said: “At M&S we are constantly listening to our customers on what food and new products they would like to see across our Foodhalls. We know that most people have the same breakfast every day and think that’s a travesty! So, we wanted to inspire them to try something new this New Year and while we were at it completely overhauled our entire range to make it healthier and EVEN tastier.

“In particular our new gut health products taps into 48%* of Brits who are interested in breakfast items that support digestion and gut health – so we have introduced some great options for them.  Our new Eat Well Plant Kitchen High Protein Vegan Choco Crunch and Made Without Wheat Triple Chocolate Crunch also mirrors the trend that although people are looking to be healthier, they just can’t beat that sweet chocolate fix – just mix them with your favourite milk or alternative for a breakfast that feels like you should only have on special occasions!”

It’s not just chocolate and gut health that are trending at breakfast. Taking inspiration from our American friends across the pond, dessert flavours in the morning, yes in the MORNING, are also on the rise. And as the home of the food hybrid we HAD to get involved – so have introduced Eat Well Pecan Pie Flavour Porridge and Made Without Wheat Maple Syrup Flavour Porridge to our breakfast line up. And hey, who says you can only have it at breakfast anyway!

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Raising a glass to Australian wine

Round & About

Posted on

Surrey

Our wine columnist Giles Luckett is on a mission to raise January spirits with these wizard (wines) of Aus!

Hello, and a belated Happy New Year.

While for many people January can be a trying month, for the wine trade it’s a time of excitement and discovery. With the Christmas rush a distant memory and stocks as low as many people’s moods on Blue January, this quiet sales month gives wine professionals the chance to get out and taste. While tasting invitations are already piling up like pizza leaflets, there’s one that’s a big red-letter day in my calendar: 24th January and the Australia Trade Tasting.

I’m part of the generation of wine lovers who got to know wine thanks to Australia. In the late 1980s they exploded onto the scene, offering big, bold, fruit-bomb wines that were about as reserved as an Aussie backpacker in an Earl’s Court pub at closing time. They were a revelation. Affordable and accessible, they offered budding wine students the chance to get to grips with a range of grapes and styles.

Fast forward 30 years and Australian wines have matured and now boast a raft of examples that are fit to rank with the world’s best. Wines such as Penfolds’ Grange Hermitage and Bin 707, Henshke’s Hill Of Grace and Mount Edelstone, Leeuwin’s Art Series, and Wynn’s Michael Shiraz should be on every fine wine lover’s tasting wish list. And beyond these super stars there remain hundreds of exceptional wines that encapsulate Australian wines’ founding principles of individuality, brilliance and value. So, here are some suggestions for alleviating the January gloom with a taste of Australian wine excellence.

My first recommendation is the Robert Oatley Signature Series Chardonnay (The Co-Op £11.50) Oatley produce wines in various parts of Australia with the emphasis being on producing ones that have a “taste of place”. Modern in origin and outlook – the winery was founded in 2006 – the Signature Series Chardonnay is a fine wine at an affordable price. Pale green gold, the use of oak is well-judged and the nose is focused on fruit and floral tones. In the mouth there’s an immediate freshness and lift from apple, white peach and melon tones, before richer, fatter vanilla and honey comes through. The whole thing is rounded off with crisp acidity and touch of savoury minerals. Sophisticated is the word that leaps to mind, this is a far cry from the ‘bottled sunshine’ Chardonnays of old.

Next up is a wine that’s as leftfield as its much-missed creator, Taras Ochota. I had the pleasure of meeting Taras in London and his home in the Adelaide Hills before his untimely death at the age of 49. He was a maverick, a devout punk – wines such as Fugazi and In the Trees are named after bands and songs he loved – and one of the most talented winemakers of Australia’s modern era. Ochota Barrels Weird Berries in the Woods (Indigo Wines) Gewurztraminer is, for me, his best white.

I’ll be honest, usually Gewurztraminer isn’t my cup of tea. I find the combination of lychees, black pepper, sickly lavender honey, and tinned peaches about as lovely as it sounds. Taras, however, managed to tame these wild elements to produce a dry, elegant, complex wine that flows with oriental fruits with hints of spice and add a dryness, and a cleansing acidity that make for a memorable glassful.

Jacob’s Creek were one of the first brands to make it big in the UK wine market. Their wines have always been good value make for a great buy when popping into a corner shop for a last-minute bottle. Their Reserve Adelaide Hills Chardonnay (£6, Amazon) is on another level though. Adelaide Hills is a cool climate region that’s making some of the most exciting wines in Australia. This fantastically well-priced wine offers a smoky, crisp, elegant example of Chardonnay. Peaches, pears, stonefruit, and a touch of grapefruit make for joyful drinking.

I’ll leave the whites with a Riesling. Australia is rightly proud of its dry Rieslings, with examples from the Clare or Eden Valley being as good as the finest French and German efforts. One I’ve always liked is the Tim Adams Riesling (Tesco £10). This Eden Valley wine offers an intense nose of limes, grapes, and citrus mingled with apple blossom. In the mouth its precise, clean, and poised, with a lovely combination of white berries, green apple, pear and citrus fruit, with minerals on the long, dry finish.

Australia arguably offers the most consistent and consistently good value reds in the world. From entry level wines such as Koonuga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet (Waitrose £7.99) to the likes of the mighty Hill of Grace (£250 Berry Brothers & Rudd), Australia has it all. I’m going to start my red recommendations with a pair of Cabernet Sauvignons from revered producer Wynns.

Wynns’ wines are classically styled and are made to reflect the vineyards from which they are made. Founded in 1891, their years of experience shines through their wines which are always beautifully crafted and offer an exceptional drinking experience at all levels.

My first wine is The Siding Cabernet Sauvignon (Tesco £15). This is produced in the Coonawarra region which is famed for its iron-rich terra rossa soils. This soil gives wines minerality and an extra level of complexity and depth, something Wynns have taken full advantage of. The Siding offers fresh, intense notes of blackcurrants, mint, mulberries and raspberries on the nose, while in the mouth fleshier notes of black cherries, roasted meat, plums and dried herbs come through. Medium-bodied but with powerful intensity, this is one for the hearty winter dishes.

Providing a fascinating contrast we have the Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (Majestic £25). Same grape, same producer, very different results. This is Aussie Cabernet showing its elegant, nuanced side. While the characteristic blackcurrants, mint and cherries are present, there’s also plums, earthy spices, these are all low-key, seamlessly integrated and nuanced. This is a fine wine that deserves respect. If you’re drinking it this year, I’d decant it or at least give it several hours open and serve it with fine red meats or baked cheeses.

Good Australian Pinot Noir was once a rarity. This notoriously fickle vine was once ‘a nice idea’ as one Australian producer caustically described Australian Merlot. These days great examples abound, and one of my favourites is the Yering Station (Waitrose £12.99). Based in the cool Yarra Valley in Victoria, Yering Station has established a reputation as one of Australia’s leading Pinot producers. The 2016 has a fragrant nose of plums, raspberries, with highlights of flowers and spices. In the mouth this gentle, medium bodied wine gradually reveals layer upon layer of black fruit flavours intermingled with creamy oak and touch of jamminess to the finish. This has to be one of the best value Pinots on the market, and it well-worth seeking out.

My last red is another Cabernet and another wine from Western Australia, the Robert Oatley “Signature” Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (Taurus Wines £13.99). This is Cabernet in the Bordeaux mould. The benign climate and exceptional soils of Margaret River give us a Cabernet whose emphasis is on elegance and complexity rather than power and drama. Deeply coloured, the nose is a quiet riot of fresh blackcurrants, eucalyptus, black cherries, spices, and smoke. The silken palate is packed with fruit, but everything is sedate, unhurried and poised. Like a great Bordeaux, it deserves time and fine food to appreciate its charms.

“I was lucky enough to spend some time in Tasmania on my last trip to Australia”

And finally, a fizz. Well, I couldn’t write a column and not mention at least one sparkling wine, could I? I was lucky enough to spend some time in Tasmania on my last trip to Australia, a region that is probably the most exciting in Aus. Cool, damp, and undulating, it’s ideal for sparkling wine production and Jansz Rosé (Fenwicks £15.99) is a fantastic wine. Pretty in pink colour, the vibrant red berry and yeast nose is followed by a fresh, tangy palate that leads with raspberries and strawberries, before darker, richer notes of dried cherry, rhubarb, and yeast come through.

Right, all this writing and meandering down wine memory lane had given me quite a thirst so it’s on to the practical for me – well, I need to have my palate in shape for the trade tasting, don’t I?

Next time out I’ll look at some reds that will banish those winter blues.

More soon…

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Healthy start to 2023 at Squire’s

Karen Neville

Posted on

Surrey

Wholesome food and a warm welcome await at Squire’s this January and there’s a comforting 15% off the bill

Healthy eating habits are often front of mind when looking to start the new year, with vegan and vegetarian preferences a considered choice, as well as wholesome, thoughtful eating options.

Squire’s Garden Centres has a great range of delicious, flavoursome food and healthy meal choices available to start the new year off – and all with a welcoming 15% discount off total food and drink* bills (promotion does not apply to alcoholic drinks) – from 1st-31st January* across all centres.

A visit to a Squire’s Café Bar makes the perfect spot this January to keep warm, meet up with friends, and enjoy saving money too.

Now is the time to try different flavours in the comfort of Squire’s Café Bars with a great range of dishes including Light Bite options of Mushroom & Sage Soup and Parsnip or Apple & Thyme Soup – served with sliced sourdough, Jacket Potato with Cheesy Beans as well as the delicious Smashed Avocado & Red Onion Sandwich.

More filling options available are the plant-based ‘Moving Mountain’ Burger in a vegan brioche bun with chargrilled tomato chutney, the delicious Butternut Squash, Cranberry & Red Onion Tagine – roasted butternut squash and red onion wedges in a sweetly spiced tagine style sauce served with basmati rice and garlic flatbread and Cauliflower & Spinach Balti Pie. Alternatively, and for a satisfying taste of tradition, try Squire’s Hand-Battered Fish & Chips – MSC certified cod with petit pois and fresh tartare sauce. Menus vary by centre.

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