WESTERN MORNING NEWS SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 2012 WESTCOUNTRY LIFE 11WMN-E01-S310 WESTCOUNTRY LIFE SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 2012 WESTERN MORNING NEWS WMN-E01-S3

Crafts/Christmas wreathsChessBOB JONES

Devon beat Cornwall 12-8 at sunnySaltash on Saturday. The detailswere (Devon names first): 1 DMackle 1-0 J Menadue. 2 J Stephens½-½ M Hassall. 3 S Homer 1-0 LRetallack. 4 J Wheeler ½-½ SBartlett. 5 K Hurst 1-0 J Willman.6 B Hewson ½-½ G Trudeau.7 A Brusey ½-½ C Sellwood. 8 OWensley ½-½ J Nicholas. 9 J Leung1-0 DJ Jenkins. 10 M Shaw ½-½M Hill. 11 B Gosling ½-½ R Smith. 12A Kinder ½-½ C Long. 13 N Rahimili1-0 DR Jenkins. 14 T Thynne 1–0 ABarkhuysen. 15 W Ingham 1-0 PSpargo. 16 P Brooks 1-0 D Lucas.

The top game was this, with notesbased on those by the winner.

White: D Mackle (202). Black: JFSMenadue (187). Queen’s Gambit –Slave Defence – Alapin Variation.[D15]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3dxc4 5.e4 b5 White has gambited apawn in return for extra space forhis pieces. 6.e5 Nd5 7.a4 e6 8.Ng5h6 9.Nge4 b4 10.Nb1 Qh4 11.Qf3Ba6 12.Nbd2 c3 13.Nc4 Bxc414.Bxc4 cxb2 15.Bxb2 Nd7 16.a5f5 17.exf6 N7xf6 18.Bd3 Kd7 B l a ckdecides to keep his king in thecentre as he plans a kingside attack.White accepts the challenge andgoes for a queenside counter. 19.0–0Nxe4 20.Bxe4 Bd6 21.g3 Qf622.Qd3 a6 23.Rfc1 h5 24.Rc2 h425.Rac1 hxg3 26.hxg3 Rhc827.Qb3 Ra7 28.Qa4 Rac7 29.Bd3Qf3 30.Be2 Qe4 31.Qb3 Rh8 32.Bf3Qf5 33.Bg2 g5 34.Qc4 Ra8 T herenow follows some toing and froingas the time control at move 40 looms.35.Re2 Rcc8 36.Rce1 Re8 37.Rc2Rec8 38.Qe2 Re8 39.Rec1 Rec840.Re1 Re8 With an extra 20minutes thinking time nowavailable, White can afford to workout the details of his attack. 41.Bf3Rac8 42.Bg4 Qg6 43.Rcc1 Re744.Qxa6 the final assault. 44...Nf645.Rxe6 Rxe6 46.Bxe6+ Kxe647.Qxc8+ Nd7 48.d5+ cxd549.Re1+ 1-0 as the king mustabandon his knight. 49…Be5 doesn'twork after 50.Rxe5+ nor 49...Kf750.Qxd7+ Kf8 51.Qd8+ Kf7 52.Qe8#.

Meanwhile, Somerset beat Dorset10½-5½ at Bradford Abbas, whileHants lead Glos 8-7 with onedisputed result to be settled. Moredetails next week.

The solution to ChristopherRe eve ’s problem was 1.Nd8! afterwhich Black has four tries, all ofwhich fail; viz (a) 1…BxR 2.BxB#; (b)1…PxN 2.QxP# (c) 1…BxB 2.QxQP#and (d) 1…PxP 2.QxQP#.

This position is taken from anearly Paignton Congress game – THTylor v FEA Kitto. Black (to move)has sacrificed a rook in pressing hisattack. Was it worth the price?

Deck the halls with boughs of holly and berries

The tradition of the wreath pre-datesthe Victorians by centuries, but itwas a tradition they embraced andmade their own.

Today there aren’t many doorswithout a wreath at Christmas time,but to buy a fresh one can be verye x p e n s ive.

With “crafting and creating” athome becoming increasingly popularmore people are choosing to maketheir own.

I have to confess that I have at-tempted to make a few Christmaswreaths in my time, but I usually endup reverting to the slightly batteredbought one after a few weeks becausemine starts to shed clumps of dec-oration before the festive season evenbe gins.

T hat’s why I decided to find outwhere I’m going wrong from KateTrewartha-Wyatt, who is running acourse at the Moorland Garden Hotelin Yelverton, near Plymouth, nextwe e k .

K at e ’s been making wreaths andgarlands and Christmas decorationsand all other manner of seeminglyunachievable beauties for sevenye a r s.

Her wreaths use locally sourcedmaterials (straight from the garden)and are decorated with little claytrinkets that she has also made her-self (but she’ll kindly give them to youon the course).

She gave me a simple step-by-stepguide to making a wreath. We used:■ A metal wreath ring bought frommost garden centres or hardwares t o re s.■ Twine and wire to attach things tothe rings.■ The base of the wreath is stuffedwith hay – Kate gets some from a localfarmer, but you can buy it at a gardencentre in small bags.■ Christmas tree branches or ever-green cuttings.■ Pine cones, cinnamon sticks andhomemade decorations.■ Oranges which had been scoredand dried out for a few days.

1 ForagingYou will need to collect together youritems which will also mean foragingwith your secateurs in your garden,on common land or on roadsideverg es.

We used a variety of greenery andwere lucky enough to find some ber-ries. Look out for anything that willadd colour – leaves, twigs and berriesare good – but remember, you shouldonly take enough for your personalu s e.

2 HayHolding the hay in large handfuls,gradually twist it around the metalring, securing it with twine as you go.We used a romantic, heart-shapedwreath ring, although a circular onemight be easier for a first try.

Make sure that the hay is packedthickly and tightly on all sides of thering.

3 Decorative sprigsCollect small pieces of your greeneryand start to create small bunches orsprigs of the foliage to add one at atime. Ensure that the back piece islonger than the front and that thereis plenty of variety in colour andt e x t u re.

Secure them around the stems witha small piece of wire. Create enoughbunches to cover your ring, we madeten.

4 FillingOnce you are happy with your col-lection of little bunches, use the wireto start securing them to the base.Start the first one with the stems ofthe bunch in line with the point of thehear t.

Once you have secured the first, dothe other side (always with the stemsdownwards). The top of the nextbunch goes towards the bottom of theprevious bunch and you turn eachone out to keep increasing the size ofthe wreath. Be generous with yourlayering, you can always trim back atthe end; there’s nothing worse than abald wreath!

5 Final touchesAdd your little decorative touches tobreak up the green. If you have no realberries you can buy fake ones on wirefrom most florists. Add pine cones (ifthey are tightly closed, open them upby putting them in a lukewarm ovenfor half an hour). We added small claystars that Kate has made for thepeople that attend her course, but youcan also add other little decorations.

6 PerfectionOnce you’re almost satisfied, you willneed to tie a ribbon at the top to addthat final touch. We had a very prettyChristmas red ribbon which reallyhelped to complete the look.

You will also need to add a discreetwire hook at the back of the wreathonce you have measured where itneeds to be against the door you aimto hang it on. Finally, you will need tosoak the back of the wreath in ashallow tray of water. The hay willabsorb the water and keep the foliagelooking fresh until New Year.

7 Your wreathFinally, hanging it up will help youdecide if you need any extra flour-ishes, like berries or bows, or if thereare a few stray pieces that needwiring in tighter or trimming off. Itmight not be a professional job, butcreating something yourself in lessthan an hour is such a delight andreally helps to get into the festivespirit.

Kate’s wreath-making course this Tuesday at theMoorland Garden Hotel in Yelverton will teach youhow to make a wreath and includes a two-courseChristmas lunch in The Wildflower Restaurant, all for£28.50 per person. Kate will provide all the equipmentand foliage as well as the Christmas ceramics that shehas made in her Blue Button Workshop. It’s a perfectfestive day for a group of friends to enjoy together,with a homemade wreath to take home at the end of it;one that you can be re-made again every Christmas.But places on this workshop are limited so please call01822 852245 to book a place.

Bracken Vernon-Jelier gets expertadvice on creating a beautiful Christmaswreath from Kate Trewartha-Wyatt

To make aChristmaswreath, KateTrewartha-Wyattbegan bycovering a metalframe with hay,graduallybuilding up thefoliage beforeadding ceramicdecorations andbright redribbon

Kate Trewartha-Wyatt runs craft workshops in which she demonstrates how to make a fresh Christmas wreath

PICTURES: STEVEN

HAYWOOD