sussex style jan/feb 2015

cool glam

Bring back Borstal

TEACHER TURNED TV STAR SHOWS

US HOW

MR BLEGENDARY

HIP-HOP GENT

secret life ofLady Emma

of Parham House

JOHN MARQUEZTALKS ACTING

BRIGHTON & FAMILY

URBAN FASHION + 2O15: WHO IS ON OUR RADAR?DETOX YOUR WARDROBE + GORGEOUS GREENS

+ MEET ARUNDEL’S MASTER OF ANTIQUES

SUSSEXstyleJAN 2O15

CARPETS/FLOORING • BEDS • SOFAS • CURTAINS/BLINDS • CHAIRS •

Tel: 01342 325033 87-89 London Road, East Grinstead, RH19 1EJ

Shop on-line at: Rusdens.co.uk

BEDROOM/DINING/OCCASIONAL FURNITURE • LINENS • ACCESSORIES

Excellent teachers are just the beginningCome and find out how we ensure our pupils are happy,

confident learners who excel in all areas

Open MorningSaturday7th and

Wednesday 11th March

Entry at Reception, 7+ and 11+

Spaces may be available in other year groups

Innovative. Creative. Excellent.For girls and boys aged 2-13www.pennthorpe.com

Excellent teachers are just the beginningCome and find out how we ensure our pupils are happy,

confident learners who excel in all areas

contents

30Capital of Cool

Classic knits, silk and cashmere come together in our exclusive

London fashion shoot of Edina Ronay’s new collection.

Photography by Parisa Walkett.

8 Editor’s letter

10 News

12 John Marquez Julie Graham interviews the Doc Martin actor

16 Ones to Watch Keep these individuals

on your radar this year

20 Secret Life Of What’s life like in Parham

House, Pulborough?

26 Paul Burston Our man in Hastings

renovates his new home

fashion & beauty

30 Fashion The streets of London

are the perfect backdrop for feminine silks and cashmere

36 Wardrobe detox 10 simple steps to a

better wardrobe

38 Agony Auny Cleo Rocos shares her wisdom with readers

40 Sussex Gentlemen Chap-Hop legend, Mr B

42 A-Z of Detox Everything you need for a healthier 2015

46 Beauty Notebook Radiant skin and hair

48 Dan Raven Is detox just a con?

contentscontents

food & drink

52 Food news Vegetable delights for a

pain-free detox 54 Gorgeous greens What is the key to healthy

eating? Go green for good health

58 Drinks news What to drink after the

crazy Christmas season

60 Back to Basics We speak to local artisan food and drink producers

home & garden

64 Spencer Swaffer What this man doesn’t know about antiques isn’t worth knowing

70 Interior storage Declutter with our stylish storage solutions

73 Fabric Lady Once a hoarder, always a hoarder?

On the coverWool Oversized Pop Coat, £430, by Edina Ronay. www.edinaronay.com Photography by Parisa Walkett.

life & style

76 Bring Back Borstal

The Ditchling teacher who has become a TV star

79 Pennthorpe Innovation and

community at Pennthorpe Independent Prep School

80 Eastbourne The Sussex town is

undergoing something of a revival

85 Mum on the Run Confessions of a secret toy snatcher

86 My Sussex We speak to David Fisher about the Our Brighton Hippodrome campaign

89 Book Club Curl up with our pick of

the best new releases

90 Minxy How our columnist is

trying to be a better person this year

JANUARY 2015 | SUSSEXSTYLE.COM | 7

8 | SUSSEXSTYLE.COM | JANUARY 2015

All rights reserved. except for normal review purposes, no part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission of the publishers. No artwork or editorial content may be used in any other form or publication

without the publisher’s consent. Every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, but the contents are only meant as a guide to the readers. The proprietors of this publication ARE publishers, not agents or sub agents of those who advertise therein. They cannot be held liable for any loss suffered as a result of information gained from the publication. Copyright 2014 S and R Publishing Ltd - Sussex StyleTM

EDITOR IN CHIEFJO REEDER

DEPUTY EDITORALEX HOPKINS

CREATIVE DIRECTORBETH DONSON

FOOD & DRINK EDITORSAM BILTON

HEALTH & FITNESS EDITORMATT GUY WRIGHT

FASHION PHOTOGRAPHERPARISA WALKETT

HEAD OF FINANCERICHARD JUDD

PUBLISHING DIRECTORSEÁN KANE

COMMERCIAL MANAGERJACQUELINE NICHOLSON

CONTRIBUTORSPAUL BURSTON

WILL CALLAGHANJULIE GRAHAMLAURA JANDAC

LAURA LOCKINGTONCHRIS ORR

JANINE QUINNDANIEL RAVENCLEO ROCOS

MINXY MANN YEAGER

PUBLISHED BYS AND R PUBLISHING LTD

SUSSEX STYLE™ COPYRIGHT 2014-09

ISSN 2049-6036

SUMMERHILL HOUSEHYTHE ROAD, KENT, TN24 0NE

T: 01273 358850

SUSSEXSTYLE.COM FACEBOOK.COM/

SUSSEXSTYLEMAGAZINE TWITTER.COM/SUSSEXSTYLEMAG

Welcome...Christmas is over and that’s it for another year. All that’s left is some old satsumas and a half-eaten bag of nuts. Did we really consume all that food/alcohol/cheese/turkey/chocolate (delete where appropriate). And the presents, my goodness, the presents. It’s enough to make Santa weep. But although we’re sad to say goodbye to lazy days, nights in front of the fire and carols around the tree, we’re looking forward to a fantastic 2015 filled with new discoveries, plans and challenges.

If you’d like to detox after all the excesses, we can help. Whether it’s your body, mind, home or wardrobe, we get you prepared for the year ahead. Our healthy recipes will help put some zing back in your step. Plus, we take a look at some thriving cottage industries that are succeeding against the odds. A testament to the fact that customer service, quality and traceability count for everything these days.

Sussex Style trod the streets of London this month for its fashion shoot, there’s inspirational interior ideas and we take a peek behind the doors of Parham House to see what really goes on in those huge stately homes across Sussex. Our Ones to Watch feature showcases some brilliant up and coming individuals. Whether in design, art or fashion – we predict big things for these people in 2015.

We’ve got interviews with Doc Martin actor John Marquez and a real-life Sussex gent, Chap-Hop legend, Mr B. Plus, Daniel Raven shares his thoughts on detoxing. Is it really worth it? Will it even work? We’ll let him be the judge of that! We hope you enjoy this issue of Sussex Style.

Get in touch!We’d love to hear

your comments, views and suggestions:

jo@sandr publishing.co.uk

SUSSEXstyle

JANUARY 2015 | SUSSEXSTYLE.COM | 7776 | SUSSEXSTYLE.COM | JANUARY 2015

PRISONS EDUCATION MANAGER SALLY WENTWORTH-JAMES WAS CATAPULTED TO TV STARDOM

WHEN SHE WAS SELECTED TO TAKE PART IN ITV SERIES BRING

BACK BORSTAL. THE RESULTS, SHE TELLS ALEX HOPKINS,

ARE REVOLUTIONARY

bringing back hope

Bring back borstal...

Sally Wentworth-James is hot on dreams. “They need to be real,” she tells me. “If you have a dream and you think you can achieve it then you’re more likely to succeed at it, but you’ve got to be able to visualise it. That’s essential.”

The 51 year old Ditchling resident has spent the last 20 years trying to make young people’s dreams reality. Through

her job with public services provider A4e, she’s provided education and vocational skills to offenders in prisons across London and east England.

This month, delivering those dreams took on an unprecedented new dimension, with Wentworth-James becoming a TV star: she’ll be swapping her smart office suit for heavy tweed and stern metal-rimmed spectacles as she steps back in time to help run a 1930s borstal for real-life young offenders in new prime time ITV series, Bring Back Borstal.

The programme aims to explore the impact on today’s young offenders, aged 18-23, of Britain’s Borstal regime, based on a busy schedule of “physical and purposeful activity”. TVs, camera phones and computer games will be replaced with strict discipline. Pupils will begin the day at 6am, with two hours of tough physical activity. Work activities will follow and then, between 6 and 8.30pm, they’ll be handed over to Wentworth-James, who will be equipped with only a blackboard and chalk.

Wentworth-James, who attended Hove’s Cardinal Newman Catholic School, jumped at the opportunity to get involved. She was originally considered for the role of matron, but production company, Shed Media – who approached her off the back of a highly successful vocational learning project she’d set up – decided she’d be better as the head of education.

“I’ve always had a lot of empathy for low level learners and people who don’t make it through the compulsory education system,” she explains.

“I was one of those myself. I was great at sports, but hadn’t realised I had dyslexia. I just couldn’t do exams and left school with only three O Levels.”

That put paid to Wentworth-James’s dream of becoming a teacher. But, undeterred, she went on to achieve her first degree at 30 years old, followed by a Masters 10 years later. It showed her that goals can always be achieved, no matter what the odds are.

“The first thing I said to the pupils was that ‘no one was going to fail here’. If you have a learning difficulty or if compulsory education doesn’t suit you, as it didn’t me, then you’re pushed through a system that doesn’t necessarily work. We’re told that you’re a ‘failure’, but you’re not if it’s the wrong time for you to learn.”

The curriculum was devised by Wentworth-James. She centred it on building confidence amongst the group and embedding skills into practical application. Getting the students to sit down and just read and write wouldn’t work – they were always on the go. She opted instead for imaginative and lively learning options, and before long the pupils were having highly-charged debates.

“When people think of Borstal they remember the 1970s film Scum, but that’s not where we were at,” she tells me, her voice brimming with energy and passion. “The 1930s Borstal concept was based on rules, standards and expectations, but also praise, competition and reward. But it was also about support – and people believing in you. That was crucial.

“Society says that young offenders have to be knife-wielding maniacs, but they’re not like that. Most of these young men had made just one mistake. They were good lads. Yes, they were angry young men, but they were inherently good.”

Wentworth-James realised that her approach was working when the ALL

IMAG

ES; B

RIN

G B

ACK

BORS

TAL,

TH

URS

DAY

8 JA

NU

ARY

2015

, ON

ITV.

pupils started to self-police. When a visitor came into the classroom and swore, one of the young men stood up and asked him not to use that language, because “Miss James doesn’t like it”.

The cameras were on Wentworth-James and the rest of the team from 6am to 10pm. It was, she admits, the hardest thing she has ever done. “And wearing tweed in the heat of summer is very itchy, let me tell you,” she laughs. “Oh, and losing my voice and then falling down the steps on the final day, resulting in four stitches in my knee, wasn’t great either. But throughout all of this the kids were so respectful.”

Wentworth-James was cautious that this TV show would not become another type of “Big Brother malarkey.” It was deeply important to her that the pupils were treated with complete respect.

“These are people’s lives you’re dealing with and I wouldn’t have signed up to it if I couldn’t continue following and mentoring the kids after filming finished. The producers have been great here.”

The results speak for themselves: one student, who was homeless, is now in residential accommodation while doing an access course with plans to study Criminology at university. Others have gone back into education.

“I only had four weeks with these kids, so I only saw small changes, but

when you look at these outcomes it makes me feel as chuffed as hell,” beams Wentworth-James. “Guiding them was not easy. You can’t make massive changes in that time, but what you can do is steer them on to a path that’s probably better than the one they were choosing.”

The experiment shows the potential power of rehabilitation, she says, quoting the cost of putting somebody in jail for one year – around £42,000 – and suggesting that the cost of a resource intensive programme, such as the Borstal one, should be compared with this cost.

“I really hope I’ve done something to open up a debate. One side will, of course, say ‘if we lock them up they will change’, while the other will echo what I firmly believe: if we offer these kids encouragement, that might make a difference.

“It comes back to that idea of a dream, really,” she muses. “Everyone deserves a shot. It can be a very simple dream. One of the most touching cases I’ve come across in my work is the 60-year-old man who just wanted to learn to read so he could read Harry Potter

to his grandson. We can all visualise that image in our heads and that makes it possible – with the right support. No one should be denied that.”

Bring Back Borstal is on ITV on 15th and 22nd January at 9pm.www.sallywentworthjames.co.uk

“Society says that young offenders

are knife-wielding maniacs, but

they’re not. Most of these young men

had made just one mistake.”

Left: Sally Wentworth-James. Right: the young men she teaches in Bring Back Borstal



Lady ofthe Manor

JO REEDER TALKS TO LADY EMMA BARNARD, CHATELAINE

OF PARHAM HOUSE & GARDENS, ABOUT LIFE

LIVING IN ONE OF SUSSEX’S MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES

Left: West Room of

Parham House. Right:

sunlight streams in

through the windows

of Parham House

Jo Reeder



interview

IMAG

ES B

Y JU

LIE

GRA

HAM

It’s a fair

W hen asked if I’d like to sit down with John Marquez over lunch and vino, to have a chat to him about his life and career, I jumped at the chance. I’ve known John for many years as a friend and we’ve worked together on Doc Martin, which wasn’t really like work at all... more like playing! He is a wonderfully talented actor and although he is probably most well known for playing the village bobby, Joe Penhale, in Doc Martin, he has a varied and ubiquitous career, working extensively in theatre, including The National, RSC, the West End and Chichester Festival Theatre.

I first met John when I worked with his brother, Martin, also an actor, but it was through my dear friend and John’s ex-partner, Clare Cathcart, that our friendship was sealed. Tragically, Clare died last year leaving John to bring up their two young daughters, Elsie and Jeanie, on his own. Although they were separated, they maintained a strong friendship and very much parented together. It’s been an incredibly challenging time for John, so for the next few hours, over a couple of delicious sirloin steaks in Côte in Brighton, we chatted about his career, how his life is now being a single father, the challenges that lie ahead and, of course, our mutual love of our adopted city, Brighton.

JG: I’m curious as to what made you want to become an actor because from conversations we’ve had in the past you had aspirations, and by all accounts the talent, to become a professional footballer.JM: I loved football and I was a good striker. I wouldn’t say I was brilliant in the same way as say the premiership players are now, but there was a possibility I could have made a living from it, though certainly not at that level.JG: So did you go to drama school because your brother Martin went? Did you do it to annoy him?! Was it a sibling rivalry thing?JM: Not at all. I was doing my A levels when Martin was at drama school and I wasn’t doing too well because I preferred messing around and girls, so Martin suggested I audition for the school play. I’d never really been interested in acting, partly because I thought actors were the children of other actors. I thought there was a world you had to be part of to become an actor. Then when I found out you didn’t need any

qualifications to become one I thought, great! JG: But you must have been aware at school that you had the ability to make people laugh? Did you never connect the two?

JM: No, not at all. As I said, I wanted to be a footballer or, believe it or not, a dentist. The aim was to have the big house and all the trappings. I remember telling my mum at that age that all I wanted was to be on my own, with an armchair and a pipe in a cream and brown room. I know, I know!JG: Weird child! So when you eventually went to drama college, was there any rivalry between you and Martin?

JM: I think Martin is unique. His lack of rivalry and jealousy astounds me. We’ve had quite emotional times during our relationship and in our family life and I think that Martin became almost like my Dad.JG: I remember that actually. When Martin and I worked together many years ago, when you were still at college, he talked about you in a very protective and fatherly way. So when did you decide to do a comedy act together? (The Marquez brothers was a brilliant and hilarious double act where John and Martin played hundreds of different characters).

JM: I had bumped into an old college friend and had been persuaded to enter the terrifying world of stand-up comedy, so that got me into writing my own material. Martin was doing the same, so we teamed up, which seemed the natural thing to do. Although strangely out of all the characters we’ve written or played, we’ve never played brothers. Not on stage anyway.JG: However, you have played brothers on TV to brilliant effect in both Hotel Babylon and Doc Martin. Your character, Joe Penhale, is such a hoot. It’s a beautifully subtle comedy performance. How much input did you have in creating him and developing that part?JM: Well it’s going to sound big headed but I simply nailed the audition, which is a rarity! I wish I could do it in all my auditions. It had been weeks of recalls and it was down to me and one other actor. It was just one of those things. A part you are totally right for.JG: Not just right for, you obviously made him leap off the page. Funnily enough, I know the other actor and he had the daunting task of following you at that audition where he could hear everyone in

PROBABLY BEST KNOW

FOR HIS ROLE IN DOC MARTIN,

JULIE GRAHAM TALKS TO ACTOR JOHN MARQUEZ ABOUT LIFE, LOVE AND RAISING HIS CHILDREN

IN BRIGHTON

FREE SINK

BASE CABINET OFFER*

Worth up to £975 when you spend £8,000 or more on any of our kitchens. All you have to do is choose the style, colour and what accessories to combine it with - Neptune Hailsham, BN27 1DQ, 01323 849 483, [email protected]

*Free sink base cabinet offer closes 31st January 2015. For full details please ask in-store or visit neptune.com/offers

W E ’ R E g I v I N g AWAy A F R E E S I N k C A B I N E T. . .

Sussex Life_KITCHEN_OS_JAN_2015.indd 1 08/12/2014 10:21:13

GOOD MONTH FOR…Arundel-based children’s hospice, Chestnut Tree

House, which is set to benefit from sales of the X-Factor’s

winner’s single

Chichester college: it recently won an award for Healthiest

Workplace at the Sussex Business Awards

Neil Marsh of Littlehampton, who broke three world

records in a gruelling 80-hour indoor rowing challenge, raising money for charity

in the process

BAD MONTH FOR…Brighton family, the

Michael’s, who were kicked off Gogglebox after dad

revealed he would stand as a UKIP candidate at next year’s General Election

The site of the controversial Bexhill to Hastings Link Road,

regularly being targeted by fly-tippers

Bus services across East Sussex, due to be cut in 2015,

despite overwhelming public opposition

january news

These hand-made rings are perfect for the man in your life. Side hammered

Back to natureSussex Wildlife Trust has trained staff,

parents and volunteers from three children’s centres in East Sussex to

run Forest School sessions, aimed at helping pre-school children connect

with nature. After receiving a grant of £9,410 from The BIG Lottery Fund

Awards, The Nature Train project gained funding to help families in

Peacehaven, Newhaven and Seaford.

Rail commuters on the London to Brighton line are facing fare hikes of up to £664 per year. An annual

season ticket between Brighton and London will soon cost £4,304, up

18% on last year’s prices.

Book NowSIMPLE MINDS

Eighties pop legends, Simple Minds, return to Brighton

Dome on 14th April, back with their new album, Big Music. Showcasing their first new

material in five years, they’ll be stopping off at Brighton’s iconic music venue as part of a major

UK tour. Not one to miss!

REGION’S HERITAGE AT RISKEastbourne’s iconic Pier has been added to English Heritage’s ‘Heritage At Risk Register’, whilst the wreck of the Holland No.5 submarine, which lies off the coast of Eastbourne, has been removed.

Peruse art at Pallant HouseConscience and Conflict: British Artists and the Spanish Civil War, runs until 15th February at Chichester’s Pallant House. The exhibition focuses on the impact of the Spanish Civil War on British artists such as Edward Burra, Henry Moore and Wyndham Lewis, examining them alongside international artists like Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró.

Say ‘I Love You’ with this Blue Topaz ring, £358 by SVP Jewellery,

svpjewellery.com

rings in silver and gold, from £150, Pruden & Smith. prudenandsmith.com IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: NIG

EL T

EMPL

E PO

STCA

RD C

OLL

ECTI

ON

, SU

SSEX

WIL

DLI

FE T

RUST

EDITORLOVES


Creating a holiday home? We can help!

NATIONAL reach, bespokelocal service...

Call Tim Patient at your local office on: +44 (0)1273 475530 or 07889 723711 [email protected] mulberrycottages.com

...we’re very proud of our results!

15%Growth in UK

self-catering market

99%Customer

satisfaction

31%Of our

guests are International

• Expert advice onholiday letting

• Prepare income projections

• Create that all important ‘look’

• Manage and develop bespokemarketing

• Provide income analysis, forwardtrends and areas for growth

The

KeyFacts

New Owner ad_297x210mm ad_Layout 1 25/11/2014 11:20 Page 1

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: NIG

EL T

EMPL

E PO

STCA

RD C

OLL

ECTI

ON

, SU

SSEX

WIL

DLI

FE T

RUST

Creating a holiday home? We can help!

NATIONAL reach, bespokelocal service...

Call Tim Patient at your local office on: +44 (0)1273 475530 or 07889 723711 [email protected] mulberrycottages.com

...we’re very proud of our results!

15%Growth in UK

self-catering market

99%Customer

satisfaction

31%Of our

guests are International

• Expert advice onholiday letting

• Prepare income projections

• Create that all important ‘look’

• Manage and develop bespokemarketing

• Provide income analysis, forwardtrends and areas for growth

The

KeyFacts

New Owner ad_297x210mm ad_Layout 1 25/11/2014 11:20 Page 1

interview

MAIN

IMAG

E BY W

OLF M

ARLO

WE.

ALL O

THER

IMAG

ES BY

JULIE

GRA

HAM


It’s a fair

W hen asked if I’d like to sit down with John Marquez over lunch and vino, to have a chat to him about his life and career, I jumped at the chance. I’ve known John for many years as a friend and we’ve worked together on Doc Martin, which wasn’t really like work at

all... more like playing! He is a wonderfully talented actor and although he is probably most well known for playing the village bobby, Joe Penhale, in Doc Martin, he has a varied and ubiquitous career, working extensively in theatre, including The National, RSC, the West End and Chichester Festival Theatre.

I first met John when I worked with his brother, Martin, also an actor, but it was through my dear friend and John’s ex-partner, Clare Cathcart, that our friendship was sealed. Tragically, Clare died last year leaving John to bring up their two young daughters, Elsie and Jeanie, on his own. Although they were separated, they maintained a strong friendship and very much parented together.

It’s been an incredibly challenging time for John, so for the next few hours, over a couple of delicious sirloin steaks in Côte in Brighton, we chatted about his career, how his life is now being a single father, the challenges that lie ahead and, of course, our mutual love of our adopted city, Brighton.

JG: I’m curious as to what made you want to become an actor because from conversations we’ve had in the past you had aspirations, and by all accounts the talent, to become a professional footballer.JM: I loved football and I was a good striker. I wouldn’t say I was brilliant in the same way as say the premiership players are now, but there was a possibility I could have made a living from it, though certainly not at that level.JG: So did you go to drama school because your brother Martin went? Did you do it to annoy him?! Was it a sibling rivalry thing?JM: Not at all. I was doing my A levels when Martin was at drama school and I wasn’t doing too well because I preferred messing around and girls, so Martin suggested I audition for the school play. I’d never really been interested in acting, partly because I thought actors were the children of other actors. I thought there was a world you had to be part of to become an actor. Then when I found out you didn’t need any

qualifications to become one I thought, great! JG: But you must have been aware at school that you

had the ability to make people laugh? Did you never connect the two?JM: No, not at all. As I said, I wanted to be a footballer or, believe it or not, a dentist. The aim was to have the big house and all the trappings. I remember telling my mum at that age that all I wanted was to be on my own, with an armchair and a pipe in a cream and brown room. I know, I know!

JG: Weird child! So when you eventually went to drama college, was there any rivalry between

you and Martin? JM: I think Martin is unique. His lack of rivalry and

jealousy astounds me. We’ve had quite emotional times during our relationship and in our family life and I think that

Martin became almost like my Dad.JG: I remember that actually. When Martin and I worked together many years ago, when you were still at college, he talked about you in a very protective and fatherly way. So when did you decide to do a comedy act together? (The Marquez brothers was a brilliant and hilarious double act where John and Martin played hundreds of different characters).JM: I had bumped into an old college friend and had been persuaded to enter the terrifying world of stand-up comedy, so that got me into writing my own material. Martin was doing the same, so we teamed up, which seemed the natural thing to do. Although strangely out of all the characters we’ve written or played, we’ve never played brothers. Not on stage anyway.JG: However, you have played brothers on TV to brilliant effect in both Hotel Babylon and Doc Martin. Your character, Joe Penhale, is such a hoot. It’s a beautifully subtle comedy performance. How much input did you have in creating him and developing that part?JM: Well it’s going to sound big headed but I simply nailed the audition, which is a rarity! I wish I could do it in all my auditions. It had been weeks of recalls and it was down to me and one other actor. It was just one of those things. A part you are totally right for.JG: Not just right for, you obviously made him leap off the page. Funnily enough, I know the other actor and he had the daunting task of following you at that audition where he could hear everyone in

PROBABLY BEST KNOW

FOR HIS ROLE IN DOC MARTIN,

JULIE GRAHAM TALKS TO ACTOR JOHN MARQUEZ ABOUT LIFE, LOVE AND RAISING HIS CHILDREN

IN BRIGHTON



interview

the room falling about laughing. Anyway, tell me about your move to Brighton. What made you decide to move from London?JM: Your priorities change when you have children. Clare and I were struggling in London, not living where we wanted to, having to compromise and live in an area that wasn’t so nice. Plus the extreme wealth and inequality of London is so in your face. I’m from Coventry and Clare was from Northern Ireland where there are much more equal and open communities, people actually talk to each other, know their neighbours. Brighton has those qualities, which is what attracted us to it. I remember one of the first times we drove down and there was a bit of a traffic hold up and everyone was so laid back about it, it was a shock! The general attitude is just, ‘Come on, let’s enjoy ourselves’.JG: I always feel like I’ve given my children a better life by living here. I think I would have found it much harder to raise children in London. Is that how you feel?JM: I remember sitting on the beach watching the sun come up, I used to take Elsie down there early in the morning when she was a toddler. When she first started to talk, she turned to me one day and said, “I love Brighton”. I remember thinking, there’s no way she would have suddenly said, “I love Tooting” in the same way!JG: Probably not, no. No offence to Tooting. I wanted to ask you a question that you always get asked as a woman in magazine or newspaper interviews, one that men are rarely asked. It’s about being a parent of young children and how you ‘juggle’ – I hate that expression – so let’s say, manage your career and the responsibilities of being a single father?JM: Well, it’s all very new to me, I haven’t quite experienced it yet. I guess I’ll have to get a nanny for the times I’m away filming but I’m not panicking about it yet because of the wonderful friends I have around myself and the girls, so I know it will be a team effort. I’m sure at times it will be stressful and hard and I won’t feel as comfortable leaving them because I knew they always had their mum. Obviously since she died I feel that extra sense of responsibility, but also because of the strong bonds that have formed since. I know there’ll be times when it’ll be challenging but it’s a joy to have the girls living with me all the time now. I feel guilty about saying that, I know I shouldn’t, but I do, because of what happened to Clare, but it feels like a proper home with my girls there.JG: So what’s the best thing about being a dad? JM: Unrequited love. Do you want me to think a bit more about the question?JG: No, it’s a great answer. So where are your secret Sussex places that you love to go with the kids? Or without!JM: Well unfortunately I haven’t explored this beautiful county as much as I would have liked to because I work away so much. But I love Clayton, a really lovely village with fantastic old buildings and windmills and, of course, great pubs surrounded by gorgeous countryside. Devil’s Dyke is very special to our family and it’s right there on our doorstep.JG: OK, so let’s do a quick-fire round of your favourite places in Brighton. Favourite pub?

John Marquez and Julie Graham.Picture by Julie Graham

JM: I love the Evening Star. I’ve recently started drinking ale and it has a great selection. Also, the Good Companions,

which is my local.JG: Clothes Shop?

JM: Thread in Dukes Lane.JG: Who cuts your hair?JM: Scott in Room 5 on Dyke Road.JG: Restaurant?JM: Otello’s in Hove is a family favourite and I love The Ginger Pig.JG: Cafe?

JM: Harrisons of Hove. They do great food and amazing breakfasts.

JG: If you were the Mayor of Brighton what law would you bring in?

JM: no stag or hen dos. That sounds a bit mean doesn’t it? OK. Maybe, restrict the numbers.

JG: What couldn’t you do without?JM: The beach – how lucky are we to have the sea right there? JG: OK, some personal favourites. Film? JM: Angels with Dirty Faces.JG: Book?JM: Restoration by Rose Tremain. JG: TV series?JM: Got to be The Young Ones. JG: Band? JM: Linkin Park. JG: If you hadn’t become an actor, which other profession would you have liked to pursue? JM: Hair Stylist. JG: Really?!JM: God yeah, I would have loved it! I’m always drying Jeanie’s hair, pretending I’m a top stylist! JG: Who made you laugh when you were growing up? Who’s your comedy hero?JM: Benny Hill.JG: If you could play any part, what would it be? JM: James Cagney. He was a brilliant actor and all round entertainer, he could do everything.JG: Tell me a joke.JM: Why did the baker have dirty hands? Because he kneaded a poo. Jeanie told me that one.

“I remember

sitting on the beach with my

daughter, waiting for the sun to come up. She’d just started to

talk and turned to me and said, ‘I love

Brighton.’”


Ones to watch in

WE PREDICT BIG THINGS FOR THESE SUSSEX-BASED DESIGNERS THIS YEAR. JO REEDER FINDS OUT WHAT INSPIRES

THEM AND DISCOVERS THE SECRET TO THEIR SUCCESS


Baines & FrickerFurniture & Interior Designers bainesandfricker.net

What is the name of your company? Baines&Fricker.Where are you based? Brighton, East Sussex.How long have you been in business? We launched our business in 2011.What do you make/sell? Furniture, hand-printed wallpaper and interiors accessories.Describe your product in five words… Long-lasting, simple, considered, crafted, contemporary.What is your background/training?We don’t have any formal training or degrees in furniture making. We have just always been interested in working creatively and so after we met, we decided to launch our own company.How do you stand out from your competitors?We try not to work on a trend basis, we create investment pieces that will stand the test of time. We use traditional methods of production and are greatly influenced by our heritage.Who has been your most vocal supporter?Private clients who come back time and time again asking us to make bespoke pieces for them.Where are your products stocked?We work with many small retailers all over the UK who we’ve built a good personal relationship with. We also sell direct through our website and Liberty also stocks our Rocker. Are you working on any interesting partnerships or collaborations at the moment?We have recently been working on a project with the fabric designer, Thorody. We made a room divider/screen with them, which has gone down really well.What has been your proudest achievement so far?Our new workshop and studio.What brands or designers inspire you?We love Muller Van Severen and Pinch Design.What advice would you give to people thinking of starting their own business?You don’t need the best computer, tools or studio; just start doing things you enjoy and your business will grow organically. What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?Learn by your mistakes. You will mess up along the way but by doing this you learn not to do it again!And the worst?We’ve never really been given bad advice. We’ve worked with some awful people but we know when to walk away now.If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what other career would you have chosen?I’d like to write a graphic novel one day.What does 2015 have in store for you?We have lots more interior projects in the pipeline and we are taking part in the Clerkenwell Design show in May.

Ones to watch in

Clockwise, from left to right: Hair pin leg tables; selection of wallpaper; Eliza Fricker and Steve Baines; tweed rocker

“You don’t need the best computer, tools or studio; just start doing things you enjoy and

your business will grow organically.”


Clockwise, from top: Gayle Shapton; selection of oil paintings with decorative printed backgrounds in chalk paint

“The Sussex countryside is my inspiration. I’m fascinated

by the wildlife, especially the deer that roam freely.”

Gayle ShaptonArtist gayleshapton.com

What is the name of your company?Gayle Shapton.Where are you based?I live on the Sussex/Kent borders, just outside Tunbridge Wells.How long have you been in business?Just over a year.What do you make/sell?I specialise in creating oil paintings of animals with a decorative printed background in chalk paint. Describe your product in five words…Decorative animal paintings with a contemporary twist (sorry that’s seven words!).What is your background/training?Since being a little girl I always wanted to be an artist and planned to study fine art at degree level. However, during my foundation year at Camberwell College of Art I discovered a love of textiles and fashion and decided to study fashion textiles at Brighton University. Upon graduating I worked in fashion buying for a large UK department store and thoroughly enjoyed it. I left this to bring up my two daughters and when I moved to Sussex was inspired to pick up a paintbrush again. I exhibited my paintings for the first time a year ago and have been working hard since on commissions and further exhibitions.How do you stand out from your competitors?I think my textile training comes through in my paintings. I want my work to look beautiful in people’s homes. My first printed background was inspired by a shirt worn by Anna Wintour. Who has been your most vocal supporter?Apart from my family, my most vocal supporters are two lovely local ladies, Mop and Issie, who run Molly Dishwasher, a lovely boutique camping experience on their stud farm. They inherited the farm a few years ago and have been working tirelessly by diversifying from the main business as a racehorse holiday home! Where are your products stocked?I mainly work through private commissions and people find me

through recommendations, via the internet or my website. Social media has been a very effective way of marketing myself. I run an open studio policy where if anyone is interested in my work they can make an appointment to see me, and we can take things from there. Are you working on any interesting partnerships or collaborations at the moment?Each commission I take is a challenge and I’m always nervous before I start a new painting. I have recently completed a very large stag painting on a canvas larger than myself and this was a huge challenge, but thoroughly enjoyable. What has been your proudest achievement so far?This whole journey started a couple of years ago on my Dad’s birthday. He is a man who has everything he needs, so finding him a gift was proving a problem. Sadly, he had lost his much-loved spaniel to old age a month previously so I decided to paint him a portrait of her. His reaction to this could not have been better.What brands or designers inspire you?The Sussex countryside is my inspiration. I’m fascinated by the wildlife, especially the deer that roam freely. Spotting a stag when walking my dog will always be a highlight of my week. I am also very much interested in current trends, motifs and colours and take inspiration from high fashion brands and interior trends. What advice would you give to people thinking of starting their own business?I’m not sure who said it, but I read somewhere that there are two types of people in life. Those who get involved and take part and those who sit on the sideline sniggering at those trying. It’s much better to be the ones involved. And the worst piece of advice?Go and see Die Hard 2!If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what other career would you have chosen?I am still very much a Mum to my children. To me, this is the most important job there is.What does 2015 have in store for you?I hope to find a balance between working on commissions and developing my own private work. I also hope to broaden my audience and would love to find a gallery to represent me.


Clockwise, from top: acrylic jewellery designed for Topshop; Evie Armstrong-Clarke (left) with Topshop model

“... it just so happens that my idea, at the right time, in the right situation, is being accepted and appreciated.”

Evie Armstrong-Clarke Jewellery Designer evangelinearmstrong.com

What is the name of your company?Evangeline Armstrong.Where are you based?I currently live in London, and am in my third year of Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martin’s in Kings Cross. I was born and grew up just outside of Wadhurst in East Sussex, close to Bewl Water reservoir. How long have you been in business?Not very long. I recently won a project designing for Topshop. It was a second year live project that I started when I was 20 and launched when I was 21. I ended up winning out of a class of 50 students and was judged by a panel of 15 judges. I was designing very closely with them and launched my collection in the top 20 Topshop stores this autumn.What do you make/sell?For Topshop I made a collection of acrylic jewellery, inspired by the newly emerging skyline of London. Glass buildings like the Shard and those in the Bank area were some of the silhouettes used in my final designs. I initially wanted to make accessible, affordable jewellery for the Londoner based in London.

My personal work aims to reach a wider audience. I believe jewellery and body adornment should be accessible and desirable irrespective of class, gender or wealth. I see the male jewellery market as a broad space for expansion, but overall my current jewellery is intended to be unisex, made from materials that are unconventional, such as concrete and resin. Describe your product in five words.Accessible, modern, androgynous, minimal, affordable.What is your background/training?I studied a foundation degree in art and design at Central Saint Martin’s and my Jewellery Design BA is still ongoing.How do you stand out from your competitors?I feel there are no real competitors, just a mush of different ideas! It just so happens that my idea, at the right time, in the right situation, is being accepted and appreciated. If you stay true to your intuition and passion, this will stand out through your work. Who has been your most vocal supporter?I don’t want to sound corny, but my mum. Perhaps for her ability to brag about my achievements to the customers in her cafe or just giving me a (brutally) honest opinion. Are you working on any interesting partnerships or collaborations at the moment?With my final year it’s all on hold, but once I have time there are a few things in the pipeline.What has been your proudest achievement so far?This is quite hard to answer. Central Saint Martin’s has given me so many fantastic opportunities, so I guess without being accepted there none of this would have happened!What brands or designers inspire you?People who are intimate to me: friends, my boyfriend and classmates. What advice would you give to people thinking of starting their own business?Enjoy everything you do. Keep your mind open and have fun. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?Jump in and enjoy – you might get hit by a bus tomorrow.And the worst?Saint Martin’s is a sausage factory, don’t go.If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what other career would you have chosen?The next thing I enjoy! Originally I painted and drew figuratively, doing portraits. I love life drawing and etching. What does 2015 have in store for you?There’s a bit of a list that my ego wants but I’m happy to stay open to opportunity and keep producing what I love.


Lady ofthe Manor

JO REEDER TALKS TO LADY EMMA BARNARD, CHATELAINE

OF PARHAM HOUSE & GARDENS, ABOUT LIFE

LIVING IN ONE OF SUSSEX’S MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES

Left: West Room of Parham House. Right: sunlight streams in through the windows of Parham House


Nestled in the countryside near Pulborough, West Sussex, sits the stunning Parham House and Gardens, home to Lady Emma Barnard and her family since 1994. Only three generations of families have lived in

this majestic house since its foundation stone was laid in 1577, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, all striving to maintain its tranquility and timeless beauty, both of which have changed very little over the centuries.

The manor of Parham was once owned by the Monastery of Westminster and the foundation stone of the current house was laid on 28 January 1577 by little Thomas Palmer, whose great-grandfather Robert had bought the manor of Parham in 1540 after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The custom of getting a small child to lay the stone was considered to be good luck. The house took around six years to build, and after Thomas Palmer grew up and inherited it, he sold Parham to Thomas Bishopp of Henfield in 1601, whose descendants were to live at Parham until 1922, when Lady Emma’s great-grandfather, the Honourable Clive Pearson, bought the house and estate in 1922.

He and his wife, Alicia, restored it with great sensitivity and care and opened the doors to visitors in 1948 – a shrewd, forward thinking move that would ensure the house and grounds survived well into the 21st century. Their hard work was continued under the watchful eye of Lady Emma’s great-aunt Veronica Tritton, who inherited Parham and lived at the house until her death in 1993. It was in that year Lady Emma was selected to become chatelaine of Parham and continue the upkeep of the House and estate. Parham House and Gardens is now owned by a charitable trust, of which she is chairman.

Childhood memories“I have known Parham well since I was a child,” says Lady Emma. “I came here a lot when I was at boarding school nearby and then when I was at Oxford. I absolutely adored my great-aunt Veronica. She was like a second grandmother to me and made everything magic. Clive and Alicia opened the house to visitors in 1948, having saved it, restored it and completely furnished it. It was one of the first of what I call the

smaller large houses to be opened to the public. They wanted to share it with as many people as possible and were way ahead of their time.”

The sprawling Parham estate comprises a total of 875 acres of working agricultural and forestry land, and includes an area of parkland of about 338 acres, designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest with ancient oak trees, rare insects and lichens and a deer park home to around 350 deer. The gardens, open to the public between Easter and the end of October, boast landscaped Pleasure Grounds, Veronica’s Maze, Wendy House, and a Walled Garden originating from the 18th century. A team of staff helps the family look after Parham on a daily basis: there are 14 permanent staff, over 80 seasonal staff and a large group of volunteers who help maintain the beautiful gardens that Parham is so famous for.

Lady Emma also has a small team of ladies who help her look after the private side of the house and her family. No mean feat considering the amount of rooms in the private residence. “People often ask me how many rooms there are, and I am never quite sure whether to include various large lobbies, walk-in cupboards and other hidey-holes!” she says. “The answer is about 75 – but you could stretch that a bit further, I think. The Great Hall and Long Gallery do take up a lot of room, which is why that number seems rather small given the house’s size.”

Family home meets visitor attractionLady Emma shares the house with her husband, James, and two sons, Benjamin and Arthur, and has always strived to keep the house as a family home first and a tourist attraction second. “We live in the east half of the house. Visitors have access to the west half and the Long Gallery runs across the whole length of the house at the top. The family side is not open to the public and never has been,” says Lady Emma. The house and gardens welcomed over 21,690 people in 2014 and that number is set to rise in 2015, with a brand new programme of events planned for next year.

“The house has always primarily been a family home, and it is important to me that it doesn’t feel like a museum,” explains Lady Emma. “We have fresh flowers in every room, all grown here in our gardens, and I’m always flinging open the windows to let in the fresh air. I resist anything that makes the house look corporate or institutional. Of course, there are many requirements that we have to fulfill living here, but we try to do everything as sensitively as possible.


“People ask how many

rooms there are. I’m never sure whether

to include large lobbies, walk-in cupboards and

hidey-holes.”

Clockwise, from left to right: Great Hall; Long Gallery; Great Chamber; Spinet in Long Gallery; Great Ante-Room looking into Green Room; Saloon; Long Gallery’s ceiling; Saloon


PARHAM HOUSE & GARDENS Essential Information

ADDRESSParham House & Gardens, Parham Park,

Pulborough, West Sussex, RH20 4HSWHEN TO VISIT

The house and gardens are open from Easter to the end of October

COST £10 (adults), £9 (senior citizens),

£5 (children over 5)WEBSITE

parhaminsussex.co.ukKEY DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Midsummer Magic, 19th JuneThis year the event will include live music in

the gardens, an opportunity to meet gardening experts and to enjoy the grounds in the late summer sunlight (or in the house,

weather permitting).26th & 27th September

This exciting new autumn event is an amalgamation of two previous events, Grow Your Own and Autumn Foraging. The event

will concentrate on estate life and the food the estate produces, in particular game, honey,

fruit, vegetables and livestock. A celebrity chef will be on hand offering demonstrations in

the Kitchen Theatre and traditional equipment will be on show, giving visitors a real insight

into historic estate life.

“It’s a huge privilege to live somewhere so beautiful, so old and so peaceful. Sometimes I still

can’t believe it, even after 20 years.”


“When my boys were growing up they used to love riding their plastic tractors around the Great Hall table – it was a real treat for them. I’m not sure what their favourite part of the house is now – to them it’s home, and when their friends come over (they are now 18 and nearly 17) I know they feel very proud and enjoy showing them around.”

So what is the best part of living at Parham? “There are so many best parts,” says Lady Emma. “It’s a huge privilege to live somewhere so beautiful, so old and so peaceful. Sometimes I still can’t believe it, even after 20 years. It still makes me catch my breath. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t notice something new or discover something I haven’t noticed before. It’s like living in the middle of a jigsaw puzzle that keeps on growing.

“I know it’s a cliché, but I love the Long Gallery and the Great Hall. The light streams in from the Downs, and both rooms sing to me,” she enthuses. “On our side of the house, my favourite room is the South Library, which is our main sitting room. It holds a huge collection of old books – the best decoration ever. The house looks very much the same as it did when I was a child – I haven’t changed anything much.”

And the worst part of living at Parham? “It’s very hard to find privacy sometimes, particularly during the open season. I don’t much enjoy being the centre of attention, especially when I’m unloading the car after a visit to the supermarket, or being stared at leaving for a party all dressed up,” she says. “Sometimes it’s hard when you have to make an effort but don’t really feel like it. And people often seem to know what we are doing before we even know! But that’s all part of the territory, and we’re fairly used to it now after all these years. I certainly wouldn’t have come to live here if I’d been too worried about that. Parham needs to be shared, and we love sharing it with people who come back time and time again. That’s why my great-grandparents opened it to visitors in the first place – it wasn’t because they needed the money to mend the roof – they were way before their time.”

Historic heirlooms and prized possessionsAs you make your way around the house, family heirlooms and treasures fill every room, shelf, wall, nook and cranny. The stunning collection encompasses well-loved paintings, furniture, needlework and tapestries from all over the world that have been passed down through generations and are now on show for the public to enjoy. The extraordinary Robert Peake portrait of Prince Henry Frederick in the Great Hall is truly striking, as is the narwhal’s tusk and needlework cushion in the Great Chamber depicting the Pharaoh’s daughter finding Moses in the bulrushes. But it is the quirky, family-owned items that hold most sentimental value for Lady Emma and are amongst her most prized possessions in the house. “On my side of the house, there are so many little things that remind me of my great-aunt Veronica. Like the tiny teddy bear she tied to

the flex of the lamp next to her bed, where I now sleep. That brings back so many happy memories for me. I feel incredibly lucky to be living amongst all these beautiful things,” says Lady Emma.

So what does the future hold for Lady Emma and her family? Will they always live at Parham and ensure that the house stays in the family? “We won’t always live here – James and I would like to move out before we get too old, and that moment will probably come when we are in our mid-sixties. I was 30 when I moved in, and one of the best things about living here has been to be able to bring up our children in this house.

“Great houses die when there is nobody living in them. It’s been so much fun to have people over, have little children around making a mess, the odd party, all the while with everyday life going on around us. That’s what it has always been about. Our visitors love the fact that Parham is lived in by a real family,” she says. “If one of my sons lives here after me, I will be very happy, but of course one can never legislate for one’s children. I’m just very glad that I was given the opportunity to come here and take this on. I’ve never regretted a moment of it – although there are moments of difficulty and it’s a huge responsibility – it’s the greatest privilege ever.”

Speaking to Lady Emma, you get the impression that leaving Parham House would be a huge wrench at any stage of her life. Her passion for her home, the people who visit, its priceless treasures, historic past and exciting future are palpable. The house is an integral part of her and her family and a legacy that will be hard to leave behind. “When I leave, I will miss Parham’s quiet tranquility and its great beauty. And little moments like seeing the barn owl fly across the courtyard at dusk, hearing the old clock chime, listening to the deer in the autumn, seeing the house bathed in gold in the low light of a setting sun. And the gardens, which bring so much joy,” she says. It’s clearly not going to be easy to leave, but luckily for her and the people who visit this stunning home, that isn’t going to happen for a while yet.

Clockwise, from left to right: East end of Long

Gallery; Lady Emma Barnard (portrait by Elizabeth

Zeschin); Green Room West Wall; Clock Tower; Great Hall


It was like a scene from a horror film. I pulled back the curtains in our new flat in Hastings to reveal, not a view of the sea or the charming square below our front room, but a dirty windowpane buzzing with flies. And not just a few flies. A swarm. Surely flies aren’t supposed

to be this active and this numerous in the dead of winter. Honestly, it was like a scene out of The Amityville Horror. What next, I wondered. Strange smells? Things that go bump in the night? Walls dripping with green slime?

“You’re over-reacting,” sighed our new friend Mary. Like us, Mary is a former Londoner who escaped to Hastings a few years ago. Now in her 60s, she’s been a sign painter for the past 30 years and has a nice sideline in splash backs. She spends a lot of time up ladders, enjoys ballroom dancing and is the proud owner of an impressively large toolbox. This is not a woman who is easily fazed. “Chuck the curtain out of the window,” she said. I did, and the plague of flies was no more.

Mary had popped in to lend me a claw hammer. The flat has a number of fitted cupboards that were waiting to be dismantled. The biggest of these is in the bathroom, and takes up a quarter of the available floor space. Inside is an enormous water tank, which is heated from a back boiler in the living room. Next to it is a second cupboard, larger than life and twice as ugly.

We’d decided months ago that the back boiler would have to go, along with the obtrusive water tank. Call us picky, but we’d prefer a bathroom you could enter without turning sideways and holding in your stomach as you squeezed past the washbasin. And who needs a bathroom cupboard as big as a wardrobe? Even I don’t have that many skincare products.

Later that night I woke to a blood-curdling sound emanating from the living room. What fresh hell is this, I wondered. If this really was a horror film, this would be the point at which I discovered a secret door leading to a small hidden room with red painted walls and the stench of death. In fact, it was just the water pipes creaking back to life.

The next day, a British Gas engineer came to start work on the new heating system. The old back boiler is being replaced with a combi boiler. There’ll be new pipes and energy-efficient radiators throughout and a heated towel rail in the bathroom. But first I had to take down the bathroom cupboard, which came away quite easily but brought part of the wall with it.

“It’s only a bit of plaster,” Mary said. “You’ll be having the walls plastered soon anyway, won’t you?”

“We will now,” I replied, before suggesting that we leave the gas man to get on with the job in hand and pop along to The White Rock Hotel for a spot of lunch to forget about the renovations for a while.

Thankfully, there’s plenty to keep me occupied while men with physical skills far greater than mine tackle my plumbing and plaster over old walls in my new abode. Nothing would drag me to see Louie Spence in Aladdin, but there’s an ice rink at Priory Meadow Shopping Centre, an international chess tournament at Horntye Park and a musical celebration of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at The White Rock Theatre.

Coming soon, there’s also a major exhibition of works by Chantal Joffe called Beside The Seaside at the Jerwood Gallery. All this, and I’m already hatching plans for a series of live literary events in the Spring.

So you see, there are no flies on me.

WALLS DRIPPING WITH GREEN SLIME, A SWARM

OF FLIES AND A DECREPIT CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEM OUT OF A HORROR FILM...AS PAUL BURSTON BEGINS

RENOVATIONS ON HIS NEW HOME IN HASTINGS THERE

ARE MORE THAN A FEW SURPRISES IN STORE

our man in hastings

The gasman cometh

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: SH

OW

CAKE

/SH

UTT

ERST

OCK

IMAG

ES S

UPP

LIED

BY

FAIR

LIG

HT

HAL

L, H

ASTI

NG

S

T his year’s Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, now well established as one of the major events of the Sussex cultural year, will take place at the White Rock Theatre in Hastings from February 28 to March 7.

Over eight music-filled days, 43 of the finest young pianists from around the world will play live in front of a

distinguished international jury. Three of them will make it to the final on Saturday March 7, when they will play a complete concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

One of the highlights of the week will come on Friday March 6, when the three semi-finalists who did not go through will be given a Masterclass by members of the international jury in the elegant Recital Room at Fairlight Hall, home of David and Sarah Kowitz, who are major sponsors of the competition.

It’s a fascinating and intimate occasion, when outstanding young musicians are given advice and encouragement based on knowledge acquired by the judges during internationally distinguished careers. It’s also a bargain at just £20, which includes excellent wine and delicious canapés. But tickets are limited, so don’t delay.

All stages of the competition are open to the public. For information and tickets, please go to www.HastingsConcertoCompetition.co.uk.IM

AGES

SU

PPLI

ED B

Y FA

IRLI

GH

T H

ALL,

HAS

TIN

GS

FINALISTS OF HASTINGS INTERNATIONAL PIANO CONCERTO COMPETITION WILL PLAY COMPLETE CONCERTO

WITH ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA

Master pianists

11th HASTINGS I N T E R N AT I O N A L

PIANO CONCERTO C O M P E T I T I O N With the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra

Sat 28 Feb to Sat 7 Mar 2015ALL STAGES AT

THE WHITE ROCK THEATRE, HASTINGS

For more information visit www.hastingsconcertocompetition.co.ukBookings (apart from Masterclass): www.whiterocktheatre.org.uk Tel: (+44) 1424 462288

43 contestants from 30 countries

International Jury

First prize £10,000

Total prize money of £17,700

Masterclass at Fairlight Hall

Concert pianists aged 16 to 30 compete in one of the UK’s fastest-growing premier piano competitions for worldwide talent!

STYLISH INDEPENDENT LADIES BOUTIQUEDESIGNER CLOTHING LABELS FROM ITALY, PARIS & THE UK

TEL: 01903 882 642 F: ENVY-ARUNDEL

SS-DEC-Envy Ad.indd 2 27/11/2014 11:40


fashion & beauty

p30 Capital of cool get decadent with Edina Ronay’s new silk and

cashmere collection p36 Wardrobe detox how to overhaul your

closet p38 A problem shared meet our resident agony aunt Cleo

Rocos p40 Sussex Gentlemen rapping gent Mr B p42 A-Z of detox

get in shape for the new year p46 Beauty notebook revitalising

your skin and hair p48 Dan Raven why detoxing is a big con

Shearling Collar Car Coat, £545, edinaronay.com;Photographer: Parisa Walkett

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: PAR

ISA

WAL

KETT

/PAR

ISAP

HO

TO.4

ORM

AT.C

OM


Wool Oversized Pop Coat, £430


CLASSIC KNITS, SILKS AND CASHMERE

COME TOGETHER IN EDINA RONAY’S

LATEST COLLECTION, EPITOMISING

GLAMOUR, DECADENCE AND

STREET STYLE

CAPITAL OF

COOL

Above: Silk Dot Print 40’s Shawl Collar Dress, £345; Below: Alpaca Oversized Cable Sweater, £330; Rose Gold Lamé Pleated Midi Skirt, £460

Above: Cashmere Embroidered Sweater, £240; Below: Black Cashmere Fairisle Sweater, £335



Red Wool Chelsea Coat, £420. All items from edinaronay.com. Photographer: Parisa Walkett


1Think about your lifestyle What do you wear on a day-to-day basis? If you have a city job you probably need more of a corporate wardrobe.

For other women, it’s more about casual jeans, boots, blouses and jumpers. Whatever you’ve got planned – a day out with the kids, lunch date with friends, a date night – you should be able to open your wardrobe and know exactly where to find the outfit you want.

2 Space solutions If your clothes are all over the place, try and organise it so you have one current working wardrobe. Some people have

clothes in two or three different places in the house, which means it can be hard to find the items you want. Creating a visible array of outfits saves you so much time and stress.

3Take care of your clothes How many of us are guilty of keeping clothes stuffed into drawers or rammed into the wardrobe? I guess

they look pretty creased up and wrecked, yes? Did you buy them like that? Unlikely, so you need to look after them. Making a little effort to look after your clothes makes them last longer and look great.

4What’s your style? Think about what you like wearing and what actually suits you. Do you feel good in your clothes? Having a fresh

pair of eyes from a style coach can make a huge difference. A lot of women buy something because they like the look of it, regardless of whether they

have anything to go with it or if it suits their body shape. Items like this are more than likely going to be left in the wardrobe gathering dust, so think carefully before you buy.

5Dress for the season Try to plan a seasonal wardrobe. It’s January, so we need to see our winter clothes in front of us. Summer

clothes can be a distraction and take up valuable room, so put them away. I recommend putting them in another wardrobe that you’re not using. If you haven’t worn something for a year, donate it to charity – keep your wardrobe fresh.

6Create some colour Understanding colour is vital. It can help on these grey days to know what colours really suit you. If you have a

wardrobe full of black, grey and generally dark colours, try adding some splashes of colour. Maybe a brighter scarf, gloves or jumper. It can also really lift your mood when you wear the right shades.

7 Plan your outfit Create outfits on hangers in the main wardrobe in front of you. For example, a nice shirt that would look great

with a mauve jumper or maybe a dress that works well with a thin grey cardigan. It’s about displaying items together and giving yourself simple options.

8Section your wardrobe This is where it’s great to create sections: business clothes, socialising outfits, maybe dog walking clothes and so on.

If outfits are grouped carefully you’ll always know where to look when you need that outfit.

9Accessorise, accessorise, accessorise Accessories can make any outfit sing. Often scarves, necklaces, bags and hats are hidden

away out of sight. It’s vital that things are visible. If you have planned your outfits and know you have some great necklaces that will work, hang them on your dressing table ready to add.

1OWhere are the gaps? Once you’ve had a proper detox and organised your new wardrobe accordingly, you may

discover some glaring gaps that can be filled with some brand new key pieces. Work with your style coach to decide what would be the best pieces to buy. You won’t regret it.

Janine Quinn is a personal stylist and owner of Sassy Style. For more information about her wardrobe detox service, email: [email protected].

IT’S THE TIME OF YEAR WHEN WE START THINKING ABOUT

OVERHAULING OUR BODY WITH A DETOX. BUT WHAT

ABOUT DETOXING OUR WARDROBE? JANINE QUINN

SHARES HER TIPS FOR A CLOTHING CULL

steps to detoxing your wardrobe

1O

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: DAR

WIN

S H

OM

E

Book a styling appointment at 2 Victoria Street Brighton BN1 3FPTel: 01273 757 258 Maudbysophiecorbett.com

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: DAR

WIN

S H

OM

E

Book a styling appointment at 2 Victoria Street Brighton BN1 3FPTel: 01273 757 258 Maudbysophiecorbett.com


Q My husband is always checking his mobile phone and I’m worried that he might be

having an affair. Should I check his phone or confront him about this?

Well, my sweet, this can be quite tricky to gauge as you may just be being overly suspicious. My advice is to simply ask him what he’s looking at without any accusations. Has he got extra work? Or perhaps he is planning a wonderful surprise for you. On the other hand, if you have cause to be suspicious, or if he has he been unfaithful to you in the past, then of course you are going to check his messages no matter what I say. In the meantime, always remember that you are fabulous.

QEvery time I see my friend, all she does is talk about herself and her problems. It’s beginning to get on my nerves. Should I say something

or carry on as normal with our friendship?

Darling, it sounds as though it’s time to tell your friend that she is becoming something of a crashing bore. It is a strain on your friendship and indeed rude of her to be so self-absorbed. Imagine how cross you’d feel if you were run over on the way home from another dreary evening spent listening to all her nonsense. Problems are something you try to get rid of. If she is always attached to hers then you may have to drop her and find better company.

I suggest that you take charge and arrange to go out together for lunch, tea

or cocktails and declare that today you’ll both leave all problems to one side (especially hers!) and just go out and have some fun together. I truly believe that once you both go out for a major glee together and she remembers how good it is to feel good, her problems will start to disappear and you’ll have your friend back.

Q How can I stop shouting at my children? They know exactly how to wind each other

(and me) up. I’m sure shouting doesn’t help but I’m not sure how else to deal with them. Am I a bad mother?

Well at least you are not gaffer taping them to the ceiling… yet! Threaten to leave home and pack them

off to an unpleasant relative. That can work wonders.Of course you are not a bad mother. Probably a bit too soft I should think.

I don’t know how old your little angels are but my first thought is to dramatically cut down on any sweets and all refined sugar. Sounds like a cliché, but it is a huge part of calming and stabilising their moods. Stick with strict bedtimes too. Dinner, bath, pyjamas and bed… fabulous!

If you are doing most of the shouting then cut out your sugar intake too, lovepot. If they are winding you up to that point then they have the control, which is obviously completely unacceptable. The little darlings can be taught to negotiate and they will always respond well to a little clever bribery. This way you set the rules and they can choose the outcome. It is real life. Now just pour yourself a drink, put your feet up and relax.

WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU SUSPECT YOUR HUSBAND

IS HAVING AN AFFAIR? HOW DO YOU HANDLE THOSE

TROUBLESOME CHILDREN? OUR RESIDENT AGONY

AUNT, CLEO ROCOS, OFFERS SOME SAGE ADVICE

FOR READERS

cleo rocos

“Darling, it sounds as though it’s time to tell your friend that she is becoming something of a crashing bore.” IM

AGE

CRED

IT: N

AILI

A SC

HW

ARZ/

SHU

TTER

STO

CK

a problem shared

This offer is non-transferable and cannot be used in conjunction with another offer. Offer valid on full price items in store only until 31st December 2014. Not valid on sale purchases. No cash alternative. Pure Collection withholds the right to change or withdraw the promotion at any time. One use only.

WRAP UP IN PURE CASHMERE WITH OUR NEW LUXE CASHMERE COLLECTION NOW IN STORE

AW/14 at Pure Collection is all about contemporary style, timeless appeal and understated luxury. Visit us in store and discover the finest cashmere and beautiful wardrobe essentials ideal for luxe winter dressing.

Enjoy

20% OFFour full collection in store

Offer Code - STYLE20

Visit your nearest Pure Collection store

TUNBRIDGE WELLS

38 High Street, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1XF

REIGATE

47 High Street, Reigate, RH2 9AE

GUILDFORD

14 Market Street, Guildford, GU1 4LB14 Market Street, Guildford, GU1 4LB


sussex gentlemen

Tell me more about Chap-Hop...If you can imagine Chuck D from Public Enemy, English comedian Terry-Thomas and George Formby getting drunk in a bar on sweet sherry and deciding to form band it would sound something like that.

Where did your interest in

being

a gentleman come from?I was brought up relatively well. I didn’t come from a wealthy background, but my parents gave me values: they taught me to treat people decently – which is a pretty splendid thing. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of Englishness. I loved Tony Hancock and the Carry On Films. There’s a certain repressed madness to that cult of Englishness, I think – an eccentricity that really appeals to people.

What does being a gentleman mean to you?It’s about taking care of how the world perceives you, looking after your appearance – but also, and perhaps most importantly, taking care of others.

Are gentlemanly values out of date?Lots of people mistake chivalry with being misogynistic, but this is wrong. If you hold the door open for a lady it doesn’t mean you slam doors on men; it’s about treating everyone with respect. From the 1980s, the idea of individualism has changed ideas of gentlemanly behaviour. I see it as being longhand for selfishness. Talking in a chappish manner – which was very popular in the mid-20th century – is less common now. Similarly, going out wearing a tie, a fine suit and moustache

goes against the grain, but I delight in it and see it as a little act of rebellion.

How important is a

gentleman’s appearance?It’s crucial. I quickly realised this from the way people react to me when I’m out; they’re generally very polite when they see someone dressed like me on the streets. I firmly believe people appreciate someone who dresses up.

How do you put your look

together?It started with my moustache, which is integral to the character of Mr B. Wearing T-shirts and jeans just didn’t seem to go with a moustache, so I moved on to wearing suits.

Chap-Hop has been my excuse to dress better and I began by looking for clothes in vintage shops. I get tweeds by Walker Slater in Edinburgh (walkerslater.com) and a lot of my day wear from Old Town Clothing (old-town.co.uk), who make marvellous original pieces based on clothing blocks from Victorian work wear. I also love Bobby & Dandy in Hove (bobbyanddandy.co.uk) and Wolf and Gypsy Vintage in Brighton (wolfandgypsy.co.uk).

Finding a good-fitting suit is key. I prefer looser trousers. Many men don’t look beyond a tight, shiny suit, but these only look good if you go to the gym all the time. A well cut, tailored three piece suit can hide a multitude of sins. It makes you hold yourself in a certain way.

I love ties and have a large collection. Woollen ties with a nice check on them are great for day wear. You have to think about what you’ll wear in the

BRIGHTON RESIDENT MR B IS ON A ONE-MAN MISSION

TO INTRODUCE HIP-HOP TO THE QUEEN’S ENGLISH

WITH HIS AWARD-WINNING BRAND OF CHAP-HOP.

HE TALKS TO ALEX HOPKINS ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A REAL MODERN

GENTLEMAN

Meet Mr B

IMAG

E CRE

DIT:

SCOT

T CHA

LMER

S

MR B’S STYLE RULES• A gentleman can occasionally

flout the rules, but he needs to know what they are first.

• No brown in town: brown shoes don’t go with city attire. Opt for blues and greys for town and tweed and brogues for the country.

• Watch the ties: make sure you have a small crease going down the front of your tie from the knot – a little fold from the knot, but no more than that.

• Never have an identical tie and pocket square.

• Hats are for outdoors only. Take them off as soon as you get inside – even if it’s only the pub.


A Z to

THE NEW YEAR IS WHEN MOST PEOPLE AT LEAST TRY TO START AS THEY MEAN TO GO ON. THE WHEELS

MAY HAVE WELL AND TRULY COME OFF THE WAGON BY MARCH, BUT MATT GUY WRIGHT OFFERS SOME

TIPS TO STEER YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

detoxof

A Alcohol Ditch it. Give that poor liver of yours a well-earned rest. Your skin will glow and your mind will regain its sharp focus

and clarity. Your figure will thank you too.

B Beetroot Eat lots of it and drink pure beetroot juice. This powerful detoxifying vegetable thoroughly cleanses your system and

is rich in Reservatrol, which relaxes the arterial walls and can help lower blood pressure. Handy for when you open your credit card bill this month.

C Charcoal Charcoal is a magnet for gunk and toxins in your skin, drawing all the bad stuff out while giving your pores a deep clean. Try

a charcoal face mask twice a week this month and see what difference it makes. We love Origins Clear Improvement Mask, £23, from Boots. boots.com

D Diets There are thousands of them out there, so if you want to diet, research the pros and cons wisely and choose which diet suits you

best. ‘The Burn’ by nutritionist Haylie Pomroy, whose clients include J-Lo, Raquel Welsh and Cher, guarantees you will lose 10lbs in 10 days if followed to the letter. Always seek advice from your GP before embarking on any diet.

E Exercise It’s a no-brainer. Your sloth-like semi-hibernation in front of the telly throughout Christmas means that you really do need to

start exercising – and pronto. Whether you invest in a good pair of running shoes from a Sussex-based sports shop like Sweat Shop and start pounding the streets or begin a regular class at the gym, just get out there and get active. Set yourself realistic targets and you’ll make progress. sweatshop.co.uk

F Fruit The darker the fruit, the more anti-oxidants they contain. Go for purple fruits: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries,

blackcurrants. Fruits with a purple hue are packed with Flavanoids, which help reduce inflammation, boost circulation, improve heart, liver, lungs and kidney health.

G Goals Set some. People who have a fitness or weight loss goal achieve results far quicker than those who don’t, as they have a date to

focus on. Think of a positive reason to get healthy and you’ll triple your chances of success. Why not sign up for the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton Bike Ride, a 54-mile challenge that takes you through the stunning Sussex countryside and raises money for charity at the same time? bhf.org.uk


H Happiness Research has shown that if you are happy you are much more likely to feel healthier, live longer, have lower stress-

related hormones and improved hormone function. Practicing relaxation techniques can release tension and improve mental health and performing acts of kindness boosts our mood. Smiling also releases the ‘happy hormones’ endorphins, so remember to smile, laugh and stay positive in 2015.

I Iron Pop an iron supplement in the morning and you’ll feel much more awake and alert. Many people are iron deficient due to poor diet, so

keep your iron intake up and you’ll feel better for it all day long. Sussex-based Infinity Foods stocks a great range of high-quality vitamin supplements. infinityfoods.co.uk.

J Juicing The high altar of any detox programme; juicing will benefit your overall wellbeing in so many ways. One of my favourite detox juices

is apple, beetroot, carrot, celery, kale, spinach and ginger. You can just taste the goodness seeping into your body as you drink it.

K Kelp Our Sussex coastline is awash with kelp. Like all seaweeds, kelp is rich in iodine, which is a crucial nutrient for the thyroid. Kelp

contains vitamins, B, C and E, which are essential for good blood vessel health, cellular metabolism and providing your body with energy. Minerals, such as calcium, boron and magnesium, are plentiful in kelp; they are necessary for strong bones and normal muscle function.

L Lymphatic Drainage Sounds painful, but this is a type of gentle massage designed to clear all the toxins out of your body. It stimulates the

second major waste disposal system in the body – the lymphatic system – to cleanse, renew and strengthen your body’s defences. It helps alleviate tiredness, bad skin, cellulite and circulatory problems. The Living Elements Clinic in Chichester offers reasonably priced therapies. livingelements.co.uk

M Maca powder This magnificent mix of fibre, minerals and nutrients originates from Peru. Nicknamed the ‘Peruvian Ginseng’,

this little root vegetable has been cultivated and enjoyed for centuries by the indigenous population of the Andes. The slightly malty powder reminds me of Horlicks and is a great healthy compliment to milkshakes, hot drinks, cereals and smoothies. It claims to improve everything from post-workout muscle fatigue to an increase in your sex drive. Easy tiger. organicburst.com

N Nutribullet Unlike juicing, which just extracts the juice, the Nutribullet completely breaks down every part of the fruit or

vegetable so you ingest the whole lot. It helps unlock minerals, essential fatty acids and vitamins to give you increased strength, energy and vitality. It’s also small and compact (making it easy to store), really simple to use, quick to wash and can also be

used to make soups, dressings and sauces and mill flour! Is there nothing it can’t do? nutribullet.co.uk

O Oxygenating facials A luxurious way to boost circulation and skin tone in your face. This grim January weather can make even

the peachiest complexion look as dull as dishwater, so an oxygenating facial is just the ticket. La Belle boutique in Worthing uses the OXYjet system, which works by using pulses of pure oxygen pressure to effectively shoot a blend of active ingredients deep into the lower levels of skin. This amplifies the collagen within the skin, filling lines and wrinkles. Madonna swears by them. Beauty Tox Facial, £95, labelle-beauty.co.uk

P Probiotics Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts, often described as ‘good bacteria’. Used on a regular basis, they can help eliminate bad

bacteria and restore the natural balance of the body, especially in the gut, where toxins can build up over time. Find them in yoghurts and probiotic drinks, widely available in supermarkets.

Q Quinoa With twice the protein content of rice or barley, quinoa is also a good source of calcium, magnesium and manganese.

It also possesses good levels of several B vitamins,

vitamin E and dietary fibre. In recent years, foodies in the UK and the US have heralded it as a superior alternative to bulgur wheat and couscous. Though it often occupies a similar role to these grains in dishes, quinoa is actually in the same family as beets, chard and spinach. It is also a fantastic wheat-free choice.

R Relax In our hectic, frantic lives, relaxation is often the last thing on our to-do list. The whole point of being a super-achiever is having

a healthy work/life balance, so we can recharge the mind, body and soul and enjoy the fruits of our labour. Whether it’s a walk in the countryside, a hot bath with essential oils or just staying at home all day in your pyjamas, just chill out, man.

S Sweat This is not only a good sign that your exercise routine is working, sweating is our body’s automatic in-built detox system. All

those toxins that you have bombarded your body with over the festivities need to go, so steam, sauna, dance, run – just exercise those poisons out of your body. This is one time when you do want to sweat it.

T Try something new Join a new fitness class at your gym, try yoga, pilates, Tai Chi (surprisingly tough yet relaxing at the same

time), Martial Arts, spinning, a running club or swimming. Working out in new ways refreshes the mind and exercises your muscles differently. Take the plunge and try new challenges. Master Chen Bing is president of Sussex Tai Chi – take a look at what they offer at sussextaichi.co.uk.

U Ugli fruit These Ugli wuglies are a type of Tangelo from Jamaica. A cross between a grapefruit, Seville orange and tangerine,

one Ugli fruit has 140% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C – detox heaven! Hunt some down now and get eating.

V Vitamin D Lack of sunshine in the winter months can leave us feeling lacklustre and a little bit down. Bring some sunshine to

your day and boost your mood with a Vitamin D supplement. Holland & Barrett stocks a wide variety, including a handy spray that you take orally, delivering vitamin D directly into the bloodstream, providing a superior alternative to the traditional tablet supplement. hollandandbarrett.com

W Water It’s free, literally available on tap and helps maintain the body’s fluid balance, which transports nutrients

around the body, regulates body temperature and aids digestion. We should all be aiming to drink around eight glasses (two litres) per day.

X Xigua Well, the Xigua is basically similar, actually identical to, lycopene-rich and citrulline packed watermelon. Oh give me a

break – there aren’t many foods that start with X!

Y Yoga Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Hatha, Bikram, Iyengar, Anusara: there are many types of yoga to choose from. Practising yoga helps

improve immunity, aids sleep, tones the body, relaxes the mind and helps with general wellbeing. The British Wheel of Yoga is an excellent resource to help find a Sussex-based practitioner in your area. bwysoutheast.org.uk

Z Zzzzzzz Yes, sleep. There is nothing more detoxing and restorative than a good night’s sleep. If you struggle to get to sleep, try

some simple breathing and relaxation exercises pre-bedtime or sip a herbal tea. Or maybe you need to invest in a new bed? Warren Evans has a great selection at reasonable prices. The more sleep you get, the better you’ll be prepared to face the New Year ahead. Sleep tight. warrenevans.com

“Your sloth-like semi-hibernation at Christmas means that you really do need to start exercising - and pronto.”

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: MAK

ITAL

O/R

. LEG

OSY

N/S

HU

TTER

STO

CK


s

kin

saviours

beauty notebook

PERFECT PURIFICATIONA cream cleanser with a floral twist, containing moringa seed peptide, great burdock and noni and assai fruit.Elemis Pro-radiance cream cleanser, £29, elemis.com

GOLDEN LOCKSA sumptuous oil, pressed by hand, that’s guaranteed to revitalise your tired locks and provide instant shine. An all-round win.Argania Liquid Gold Hair Oil, £14.99, Boots

FOR HIMA moisturiser that’s entirely free of man-made chemicals, artificial colours and synthetic fragrances. Bulldog’s Original Moisturiser, £6.99, meetthebulldog.com

PUMPKIN POWER!Gentle exfoliation without stress to the skin. This is a pumpkin-enriched scrub that softens and soothes.Glo-therapeutics Pumpkin Enzyme Scrub, £32.95, gloprofessional.com

THE NEW YEAR IS ALL ABOUT SKIN REJUVENATION; NATURAL INDULGENCE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO THIS MONTH

GO BOTANICALAromaWorks use the finest 100% pure essential oils combined with botanical extracts and BioActive natural ingredients.Absolute Face Serum (30ml), £48, aroma-works.com

MOD

EL IM

AGE C

REDI

T: W

WW

.AMAZ

ON.CO

.UK

WELOVE

LaseritTHERAPY ROOMS

New team, new year for Laserit Therapy RoomsAll geared up for a new you

Tel: 01323 411811 Email: [email protected]

Laser It, Ground Floor Enterprise Shopping Centre Station Parade, Eastbourne East Sussex, BN21 1BD

New treatments now available;FEEL GOOD THERAPY

Sun bedSports massage

Sports injury massageHolistic massageSwedish massage

Mini facialHydrating facial

Rebalancing facialCalming facial

BODY THERAPYCellulite reduction

Fat loss / toningBody sculptureStretch mark

Tattoo removalLipo experience

SKIN THERAPYAcne

PigmentationTightening

RejuvenationWrinkle Reduction

Open 6 days a week

VOTED

BUSINESS 2013BEST NEW

BYSovereign Fm

COMPETITIVEPRICES

MOST


As inveterate soaks, the wife and I have always been easy prey for the marketers of any product that claims to restore, revitalise and/or repair the booze-sodden husks that were once our bodies. So it came as no surprise

when she returned home one afternoon a couple of years ago with a packet of ‘detox pads’. Designed to be worn under our socks as we slept at night, they looked just like white Odor-Eaters™ but were apparently hungry for something rather more substantial than mere whiffs: they wanted to eat our impurities. We both felt we had more than our fair share of those, but even we were amazed to find, upon waking the next morning, that all four of our pads had yellowy-brown gunk on them, as though our feet had somehow been going to the toilet all night.

We tried them for a few more nights and the result was always the same. After a week or so, though, we just sort of started not bothering (wearing socks to bed is far from ideal even when you’re not planning on any funny business). We noticed no ill effects, any more than we’d noticed positive effects while wearing them, and this only compounded our growing suspicion that the whole thing was probably a massive con. A few months later, Julie was commissioned to write a newspaper article about the world-famous Mayr Clinic in Austria, where she spent a week drinking no booze, eating hardly any food and receiving numerous detoxification treatments from the very people who’d practically invented the term. She was visibly healthier on her return so, just for pedantic kicks, we wore detox pads to bed that night.

Guess what? In the morning, there it was, the same old gunk – exactly the same amount on all four pads, even though I’d spent the whole of the previous week drinking Brasso and rubbing dirt into my eyes. So I can now say, with

DOES DETOXING YOUR BODY REALLY WORK OR

IS IT ALL ONE BIG MARKETING CON DESIGNED TO MAKE US SPEND MORE

OF OUR HARD-EARNED CASH? DANIEL RAVEN

INVESTIGATES

daniel raven

near-total certainty, that either detox pads are crap, or the Mayr Clinic is crap, or they both are. And I strongly suspect all three are true.

Why? Because the human body is a miracle, and one of the most miraculous things about it is the fact that your insides can literally clean themselves. If they didn’t, you’d still be hung over from that first bottle of Merrydown you drank when you were 15 years old, and would need regular kidney dialysis in order not to die. To quote from an American nurse whose comments I found under a web article about the aforementioned pads, “Patients with renal failure are unable to excrete or filter waste products and toxins from the blood, which is done by the kidneys.

So if this was an effective product, don’t you think medical staff, researchers and hospitals would be stockpiling it?”

The believers will probably reply that this omission must surely be the result of our blinkered medical establishment refusing to embrace the wisdom of our spit-dribbling, loincloth-filling ancestors yet again, but no – the real reason is that not a single manufacturer of detox treatments has ever submitted its products for proper clinical trials. Given the loftiness of their grand claims, I don’t think shyness is the issue here.

And those ‘detox diets’ are just as pointless. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed yourself excreting waste matter, but it does seem to have a purpose: if you eat something your body needs, you’ll take it on board, and everything else goes the way of all cress. Our current obsession with detoxing has only arisen through a combination of medieval-peasant-grade ignorance about human biology, a not-entirely-unfounded mistrust of the medical establishment and a more than healthy dose of wishful thinking. But fatigue and misery aren’t caused by ‘toxins’ any more than illness or disease are – unfortunately for all of us, things are a little more complicated than that.

No pain, no gain?

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: WAV

E BRE

AK M

EDIA/

SHUT

TERS

TOCK

Divine organic body lotions and washes, perfect for a little festive indulgence

Our new Limited Edition bath and body collection brings a exciting twist to our bestselling body care range. All the skin benefits you love and the organic credentials you expect wrapped up in a new, deliciously fresh and natural aroma.

Choose from 3 beautifully scented gifts with Red Mandarin, Ho Wood, Ginger and Lemongrass to enliven, lift and invigorate the senses.

OF F E R: Save £5.00* on Limited Edition gifts. Only available at www.greenpeople.co.uk/sussexgifts and 01403 740350. Quote SUSSEXSTYLE *Valid to 12/12/14.

D I S C OVE R G R E E N P EO P LE ’S N EWLI M ITE D E D IT I O N C O LLECT I O N

Looking for something special this Christmas?

GP_SussexLife_FP_271014.indd 1 23/10/2014 09:59

Divine organic body lotions and washes, perfect for a little festive indulgence

Our new Limited Edition bath and body collection brings a exciting twist to our bestselling body care range. All the skin benefits you love and the organic credentials you expect wrapped up in a new, deliciously fresh and natural aroma.

Choose from 3 beautifully scented gifts with Red Mandarin, Ho Wood, Ginger and Lemongrass to enliven, lift and invigorate the senses.

OF F E R: Save £5.00* on Limited Edition gifts. Only available at www.greenpeople.co.uk/sussexgifts and 01403 740350. Quote SUSSEXSTYLE *Valid to 12/12/14.

D I S C OVE R G R E E N P EO P LE ’S N EWLI M ITE D E D IT I O N C O LLECT I O N

Looking for something special this Christmas?

GP_SussexLife_FP_271014.indd 1 23/10/2014 09:59

The UpholstererNow an official stockist of

CHALK PAINTTM decorative paint by Annie Sloan

THE UPHOLSTERER 15 NORTH STREET MIDHURST T: 01730 810284

E: [email protected]


food& drink

p52 Food news fruit and vegetables for a pain-free detox,

the best apple juices and gadgets p54 Gorgeous greens from

Brussels to Broccoli, follow our easy recipes p58 Drinks news

forget the fizz and move into the New Year with fine wines and

gin p60 Back to basics a look at small-scale Sussex producers

IMAG

E CRE

DIT:

JACKIE

SOBO

N


3great

Sussex applejuices

what’s cooking

SAM BILTON PICKS FRUIT AND VEGETABLE DELIGHTS TO MAKE

YOUR DETOX PAIN-FREE

In Season...Broccoli Broccoli is the nation’s most popular brassica. It contains an antioxidant called glucoraphanin, which is believed to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack. It also contains lots of other goodies like vitamins K and C, as well as chromium and folate.

Brussels sprouts Contrary to what my grandmother’s generation seem to believe, Brussels sprouts do not need to be boiled until soggy. They are far more enjoyable when roasted whole in olive oil with a bit of sea salt or stir fried with garlic, soy and chilli. They are equally lovely raw, finely shredded in a salad. Like other brassicas, they boast anti-inflamatory properties and can help lower cholesterol.

Kale Vitamins A, C and K abound in kale, which can be curly, tinged red or blackish green as in the exotic sounding Cavolo Nero. It’s a good source of calcium and is rich in fibre and protein. The antioxidants in kale are also thought to reduce inflammation.

Green CocoMakes approximately 500ml (Two cups)Add some extra greens and a bit of lemongrass to create one of the most delicious ways to hydrate, alkalise, detox and tantalise your taste buds. Close your eyes and you could be in Thailand.

1 pear (stalk removed)1 cup of kale

¼ lime (rind and pith removed)1 lemongrass stalk1 cucumber¼ cup coconut water

Juice, then add coconut water.

Taken from Plenish: Juices to Boost, Cleanse & Heal by Kara M. L. Rosen (Mitchell Beazley, £12.99)For more ideas visit my blog, comfortablyhungry.com

food news

TOP PRODUCT... Novis Vita Juicer. A juicer and citrus press in one, which claims to retain

more nutrients than other juicers. Steamer Trading, £299.95, steamer.co.uk

Business Accolade Village store, The Grove in Blackboys received a highly commended award in the Campaign to Protect Rural England Countryside Awards. The Sussex Rural Enterprise category showcases businesses that bring opportunities to rural areas through employment and/or education. Andrew Doherty, manager of The Grove, said he was “delighted” to win the prize.Oh Sugar! Most of us

have a bit of a sweet tooth, but do you really know how much sugar you’re consuming each day? When a yoghurt contains more sugar than ice cream, and a cereal bar is sweeter than chocolate, you know something’s gone wrong with our diets. In her new book Oh Sugar, health writer Katherine Bassford provides advice on kicking the sugar habit and satisfying your sweet tooth naturally.

WIN!We have three copies of Greens

24/7 by Jessica Nadel (Apple Press, £14.99) to give away. For a chance to win, email your name and address to [email protected]

1. Wobblegate Russet Apple Juice, £2.95. Made from Egremont Russet apples that originate from Petworth. 2. Ringden Farm Cox/Bramley Apple Juice, £2.50. A blend of Cox and Bramley apple juice that’s neither too sweet nor too tart. 3. Oakwood Farm Fiesta Organic Apple Juice, £3.50. A beautifully crisp apple juice made from Fiesta apples.

1

2 3

DID YOU KNOW? An 80g serving of Brussels

sprouts contains four times more vitamin C

than an orange

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: SAB

INO

PAR

ENTE

/SH

UTT

ERST

OCK

THE PErfEcTMargariTa rEciPE:

35 mls 1. AquaRiva®Tequila

25 mls fresh squeezed lime juice 2. (juice of one lime)

15 mls 3. AquaRiva® organic agave syrup

Shake with plenty of ice and serve in a 4. rocks glass with more ice. Garnish with an orange zest.

likE drinking your firsT day of HolidayTequila evangelist Cleo Rocos created AquaRiva® Premium Tequila and

Organic Agave Syrup in 2011 after working with a Master Blender in

Mexico for 10 months.

Being featured in the Virgin Atlantic inaugural flight

to Mexico in 2012 with Richard Branson, we are

proud that AquaRiva® is now available in

Virgin Clubhouses.

AquaRiva® Tequila is a double

gold medal winner in the UK

and voted ‘Best of the Best’ in

the USA.

Available in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s,

on-line; DrinkUpNY, thedrinkshop.com, Amazon

and in clubs and bars nationwide.

aquariva.co.uk @cleorocos1 aquarivatequila

gorgeous greens

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE LEFTOVER CHRISTMAS VEGETABLES? FROM BRUSSELS SPROUT SALAD TO KALE

CRISPS AND CORIANDER PESTO, START THE YEAR WITH THESE DELICIOUS, LOW CALORIE GREEN DELIGHTS, SAYS SAM BILTON


Mediterranean Broc-coli and Barley Salad Prep: 10minsCook: 40mins

Cold grain salads are right up my alley, and I just love the chewiness that barley offers – it’s a really nice contrast to the bright, crisp broccoli. This dish is high in fibre and protein and has loads of vitamins A, C and K.

250g (9oz) pot barley, rinsed750ml (26 ½fl oz) water180g (6 ¼oz) broccoli, chopped3-4 kale leaves, stems removed15g (½oz) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced50g (1 ¾oz) black olives, pitted and chopped2 tablespoons olive oil1½ tablespoons lemon juiceFreshly ground black pepperSea salt

Put the pot barley in a pan with the water and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 40 minutes, or until tender and all the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, fluff with a fork and allow to cool.

While the barley is cooking, bring a pan of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook for one minute over a medium heat. Drain, then plunge directly into a bowl of iced water. Let the broccoli sit for one minute, then drain and pat dry. Stack the kale leaves and slice them into ribbons.

Transfer the barley to a serving bowl along with the broccoli, kale, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Whisk together the oil and lemon juice, season to taste with salt and pepper, then pour over the bowl. Toss well and serve.GREEN TIP: When a salad is made with hearty greens, such as broccoli and kale, it can be made well ahead of time as they will not wilt easily, even when dressed.

Calories per serving: 333. Protein: 8.9g.

Clockwise, from left: Chard and Coriander Pesto;

Mediterranean Broccoli and Barley Salad;

Cool Ranch Kale Crisps

Chard and Coriander PestoServes 4 (Gluten-free)Prep: 5mins

Who says pesto has to contain basil? This non-traditional chard and coriander pesto is an amazing change from the standard fare. It’s also nut-free for those with allergies.

75g (2 ½oz) chard leaves50g (1 ¾oz) fresh coriander, leaves and stems75g (2 ½oz) raw sunflower seeds2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast½ teaspoon sea saltFreshly ground black pepper

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Season to taste with pepper and more salt.

Calories per serving: 119. Protein: 4.1g. Total fat: 10.4g. Saturated fat: 1.4g. Carbohydrates: 4.7g. Dietary fibre: 2.4g. Sugars: 0.6g. Vitamins A, C, K

Cool Ranch Kale CrispsServes 4 (Gluten-free)Prep: 15minsCook: 60-80mins

This is the dish to make for anyone who claims not to like curly, leafy greens. After being coated in a rich and tangy dressing, the pieces are baked at a low temperature until dehydrated to a delicious crisp. The recipe is enough for four to share, but I have been known to polish off the entire batch myself.

1 bunch curly kale (about 450g/1lb)110g (4oz) raw cashews, soaked for 4 to 6 hours85ml (3 fl oz) water2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar1 teaspoon garlic powder1 teaspoon dried dill weed1 teaspoon fine sea salt¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 110°C (225°F). Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Wash the kale and, using a sharp knife, cut out the tough rib. Stack the leaves and cut into large crisp-sized pieces. Pat dry and set aside. (Make sure the kale is really dry, otherwise you risk steaming your crisps instead of crisping them up).

Drain the soaking cashews. In a blender or food processor, combine them with the water, vinegar, dried spices, salt and pepper, and blend until a thick, smooth texture is achieved. You may add more liquid a tablespoon at a time, if required.

Stir in the parsley and chives. Combine the cashew mixture with the kale in a large bowl and toss well so that all of the leaves are coated. Spread out the kale on the two baking sheets, ensuring it is spread out in a single layer.

Bake for 60 to 80 minutes with the oven door left open slightly. Gently rearrange the kale after 45 minutes of cooking time and rotate the baking sheets to ensure even cooking. Keep a close eye on them to ensure they don’t burn; they should just crisp up. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before diving in.


All recipes are taken from Greens 24/7 by Jessica Nadel, with photography by Jackie Sobon. Published by Apple Press, £14.99.

Sussex Style is giving away three copies of this wonderful book to readers. To enter the competition simply email [email protected] with your name, address and contact number.

IMAG

E CRE

DIT:

JACKIE

SOBO

N

Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes with Broccoli, Swiss Chard and Hum-mus Serves 2 (Gluten-free) Prep: 10mins Cook: 80mins

Forget a white-fleshed baked potato with sour cream – this healthy version is ten times better for you and your taste buds! Thanks to the greens, it’s also loaded with vitamins A, C and K.

2 sweet potatoes75g (2 ½oz) Swiss chard leaves1 tablespoon olive oil1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger90g (3oz) broccoli, choppedJuice of ½ lime175g (6oz) hummus

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F). Skewer the potatoes with a fork several times and place in a suitable baking dish. Bake for an hour or until tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes before slicing carefully down the middle, keeping the potatoes intact. Score and mash the insides of the potatoes gently with a fork, keeping their shape.

Stack the chard leaves and roll them into a tight cigar. Slice thinly, so that you end up with long, thin ribbons of greens. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and add the grated ginger, cooking for one to two minutes until fragrant. Add the broccoli and sauté for two minutes until bright green. Cover with a lid and steam in the pan for three to five minutes or until tender. Remove lid, add the chopped chard and lime juice and cook uncovered for two to three minutes, until the leaves are wilted.

Pile the potatoes high with the chard, broccoli and hummus. Serve with hot sauce on the side for those who like it spicy.

Calories per serving: 350. Protein: 10.3g.

WIN, WIN, WIN!

Left: Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Hemp and Orange. Below: Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes with Broccoli, Swiss Chard and HummusShaved Brussels Sprout

Salad with Hemp and Orange Serves 4 (Gluten-free) Prep: 10mins

I have a serious love of Brussels sprouts. Usually I roast them, but after trying them shredded in this salad I discovered how amazing they are raw, too. Like all brassica family veggies they are full of antioxidants and blood-healthy vitamin K, and the avocado and hemp offer heart-healthy omega fats.

275g (10oz) Brussels sprouts40g (1½oz) rocket1 orange1 avocado35g (1¼oz) shelled hemp seeds3 tablespoons olive oil2 tablespoons lemon juice1 teaspoon agave or maple syrupSea salt and freshly groundBlack pepper

Peel any browned leaves from the sprouts, but don’t trim their ends – this gives you something to hold onto. Shave the sprouts finely, then place them in a large salad bowl with the rocket. Peel and dice the orange and avocado and add them to the bowl with the hemp seeds.

Mix the remaining ingredients together to create a simple vinaigrette, season to taste, then toss into the salad and serve.GREEN TIP: There’s more than one way to shave a Brussels sprout. Use a mandolin and box grater, a food processor fitted with the slicing attachment, or by hand with a sharp knife.

Calories per serving: 271. Protein: 7.7gTotal fat: 21.7g. Saturated fat: 3.2g.

IMAG

E CRE

DIT:

JACKIE

SOBO

N

Dining at Pelham House ~ Delicious and seasonal Pelham House focuses on simple and delicious food, using good quality seasonal and locally

sourced produce. We offer a variety of regularly changing menus.

The restaurant is the perfect setting for a special lunch or dinner. We also have several additional dining rooms which seat between 4 and 120 guests private dining.

Pelham House has a carefully selected list of wines and cocktails to complement our menus.

Diners can choose the historic Panelled Room, the charming Garden End Room or to dine alfresco on the stunning south facing Terrace.

Our Gallery menu is available from 10:00 until 22:00 for brunch, bar snacks, light meals and pre-dinner drinks and afternoon tea between 3pm and 5pm.

The Restaurant is open daily from 12:00 for lunch, and 18:00 for dinner.

To Book, or for any enquires please contact Pelham House: p: 01273 488600 e: reception @pelhamhouse.com

WEDDINGS / RESTAURANT / BEDROOMS / MEETINGS

Quaff the

blues away

WE’VE STUFFED OURSELVES WITH AS MUCH GOOSE AND

TURKEY AS POSSIBLE AND ARE LOOKING AT A MEAN, LEAN 2015. CHRIS ORR HELPS YOU

FOCUS ON BEATING THE BLUES AND SHEDDING SOME POUNDS

W ith the number of people going dry this month, we’re not exactly looking at party central. The thing is, it doesn’t really have

to be that way. Just because money is tight and the waistline’s even tighter, it doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy ourselves during the cold folds of the first month of the year. Quite the contrary. I would proffer that this is the month when we need to celebrate more than ever. It’s the start of a New Year. Our resolutions are still intact, and there should be nothing but hope and joy to get us moving forward.

Question is, what is the best way to make sure January goes with nearly as much bang as December? Personally, I think carrying the fizz factor through from New Year’s eve is a good start. You can never really have too much fizz, and the one I’ve listed is not only fabulous but also home-grown and local. It should help you breeze through this miserable month with a perma-grin wrapped around your face.

Of course, whilst fizz is fab, it’s not going to warm the cockles, so once you’ve given yourself a lift with a glass or two of bubbly, you’ll have to move on to something a little more hearty – perhaps something to match the meaty stews and big soups that will be the mainstay of your culinary corner when the snow is settling in and the big freeze hits. In which case, there’s only one way to go – big and bold. The bigger and bolder the better. So big bad Shiraz is a must, and monumental Cabernet’s a necessity.Oh, and don’t forget to wrap up warm too, it will help ease the January blues.

drinks news

Brighton Gin A group of intrepid Brightonians with a passion for distillation have banded together to produce Brighton’s first authentic, legal and available gin. It uses a plethora of different “botanicals” during its formation, all of which leave it with a distinctly citrus (and most notably fresh blood orange) nose and flavour. It’s also ridiculously smooth. Try it with tonic, and a slice of orange as an alternative to your usual gin options – or just on its own over ice. £29.99, available from Butler’s Wine Cellar and Quaff.

DID YOU KNOW? Volume sales of Prosecco

at UK supermarkets have more than

doubled since last year!

Alternative New Year’s drinking

CONCHA Y TORO, CASILLIERO DEL DIABLO CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2012,

Chile, £7.50, winedirect.co.ukBig bold Cabernet that more than holds

its own against a chunky beef stew – even if it has lots of spicy chorizo chucked in for good measure. Wonderful rich black cherry

and cassis fruit flavours, good chewy tannins and a nice long finish. Bingo!

RIDGEVIEW BLOOMSBURY NV, RIDGEVIEW VINEYARDS, Ditchling,

£28.99, Quaff Wine Merchants, HoveMade locally in the South Downs and founded by brothers Mike and Chris

Roberts, Ridgeview makes some marvellous sparklers. This Bloomsbury NV is one of my favourites – simple, luscious fruit-flavours crammed with fresh citrus

hints pair up with a sweet brioche edge to give lasting flavour and lots of zip and zing. YALUMBA, THE SCRIBBLER SHIRAZ 2010,

Australia, £12.95, winedirect.co.ukA top flight Shiraz from down under. Full of plums and damson fruit flavours, backed up with a rich vein of dark chocolate and

spice. A fabulous match with anything from Coq au Vin to a classic beef daube.

Awesome stuff that will help you through the long winter nights in front of the TV.

TOP PRODUCT... Anna G Corkscrew by Alessi. Uncork some classics with this iconic

corkscrew with smiling face, quirky haircut and vintage dress. £29.95, johnlewis.com

WELOVE

Live-in care & companionship in the comfort of your own home.

Your Home. Your Lifestyle. Your Choice.If now’s the time to talk,

we’re always happy to listen.

Contact us on

0844 209 2646www.country-cousins.co.uk

Country Cousins Est 1959

Countrycousins5

Country Cousins

Live-in care & companionship in the comfort of your own home.

Your Home. Your Lifestyle. Your Choice.If now’s the time to talk,

we’re always happy to listen.

Contact us on

0844 209 2646www.country-cousins.co.uk

Country Cousins Est 1959

Countrycousins5

Country Cousins

Highdown Vineyard, Worthing, West Sussexhighdown-vineyard.co.uk

How do you produce your wine? We grow all the grapes and process them here. Growing grapes for wine production is done on a trellis system and has been done like this for hundreds of years. The UK, like the rest of the world, is continually evolving and trying to improve wine making techniques. How much wine do you produce per year?English wine making has very variable vintages. When we started here we were producing 7-8,000 bottles a year. For the past two years we produced approximately 14,000 each year. In 2012 (the worst year in English wine making history) we only produced 960 bottles!Where do you sell your wine?Up until last year, 95% of our sales were ‘Cellar Door Sales’, i.e. direct from our vineyard in Worthing. We have a shop here and organise a lot of functions and events. As our yields have improved and increased we are now selling to more restaurants and gastro pubs. We are also in the process of supplying Waitrose for a few of its ‘local’ branches, which is a great achievement for us.What is the secret to your success?Be flexible. Start out with a clear idea of what you want to achieve and keep re-visiting that idea. However, unless you can adapt in tough times (like the terrible 2012 vintage) you will not survive. You need to be prepared to work very long hours and for your business to be all consuming. You also have to love what you do and believe in it.Why do you think people like buying from you?People who buy from us like to meet the person who has nurtured the grapes along the way from growing them, right through to the harvest and winemaking. I’m involved every step of the way from winter pruning, through bud burst and berry set to maturation and ripening. When people visit the vineyard for a tour and tasting they often say they had no idea how much actually goes into making a single bottle of wine. People like the fact that they can taste varietal difference in our wines. They can tell that we take the time and care to achieve that.How do you compete with bigger companies that have bigger budgets?It is always hard to compete with bigger companies but being small does enable you to be more involved with the product you are producing. Some people like that personal touch and it’s a matter of finding those customers. Quality is also very important and I believe that being smaller does mean you can keep a check on quality more easily.Do you think consumers are shifting towards more locally produced, small-scale producers?I think customers are becoming more polarised in their purchasing. They either want the super-cheap or the more quality, local produce from small-scale producers like us. We try to use local, small-scale businesses ourselves wherever possible too. Who are your biggest customers and supporters?Our biggest customers at the moment are individual wine buffs with a lot of knowledge about wine. People who really know about wine tend to love small-scale producers who care about how their wines are made every step of the way and therefore make more interesting wines.

BACKTO

BASICS

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to change my shopping habits when it comes to buying the weekly food shop. Last year I became disillusioned with the produce on offer at my local supermarkets. I’ve tried them all and my conclusions are always the same: too much packaging, not enough local produce, no personal service, pointless offers resulting in me throwing food

away. Don’t get me wrong, I am no eco warrior trying to change the world or win praise: I just want to eat better food and have a happier shopping experience.

Living in Brighton I have endless opportunities to shop at independents, but scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find that Sussex is bursting at the seams with artisan producers. Business savvy producers in Sussex have spotted an ideal opportunity to reconnect with consumers and give them high quality products they won’t find in the big chains. With people keen to return to the days when they knew where their food came from and shopped on a daily basis for food they wanted to eat, rather than what was on offer, the rise of Farmers’ Markets, street food sellers, foodie festivals and events have all helped the cause and brought a number of outstanding Sussex producers to our attention.

With its geographical location close to the sea, rolling countryside and rich, arable land, Sussex is perfectly positioned to supply a wealth of produce to ever-hungry consumers. We spoke to two small-scale producers doing it their way.

IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE TO MAKE BETTER FOOD CHOICES THIS YEAR, SHOPPING LOCALLY AND

AVOIDING THE BIG CHAINS? JO REEDER FINDS OUT


IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: EM

MA

GU

TTER

IDG

E


What does the future hold for your business?The English wine industry is going from strength to strength. In the past few years I have seen enormous changes. The UK has gone from making admittedly rather awful wines to making truly world-class wines in the past decade. Now there are a lot of English producers, large, medium and small, making fantastic wines and winning medals at the big competitions. What is your proudest moment so far?Winning awards makes us very proud. We are a grand finalist for Sussex Drink Producer of the Year. However, my proudest moment happens every year. When the first bottle of wine comes of the bottling line, my eyes well up and I think, “I’ve made that, I’ve created it from the ground”.Where would you like to be in five years time?We have been making huge changes in the last year. We are just about to unveil our new branding. Going from selling direct to selling via other outlets has made us look at how our products would stand up on a shelf against others. I’d like to think that over the next five years we would consolidate our brand and establish a name as a quality producer. For many people, having a vineyard is a dream, and for us that dream has been an extraordinary reality.

Barcombe Nurseries, Barcombe, Near Lewesbarcombenurseries.co.uk

What do you produce?We grow a variety of vegetables organically and sell them through a local vegetable box delivery scheme.Do you still employ traditional methods of production?Some of the methods of production are traditional, for example, hoeing and weeding is all done by hand. But we are able to benefit from the years of research and modern understanding of soil science, which helps us produce our vegetables.Will you always stick to traditional methods?I would call our production method ‘progressive’; drawing on the past and incorporating it with modern scientific awareness of how the soil works. There is growing recognition that soil is a finite resource. Conventional farmers are starting to use techniques that were originally developed by Organic farmers, including soil conservation measures and biological pest control. In other words, encouraging beneficial insects by improving their habitat.How many vegetables do you produce per year?We sow, propagate, transplant, tend and harvest about 80,000 leeks, nearly 5,000 Kale plants and 20 tonnes of Squash every year, in addition to our seasonal summer crops and salads. We also deliver over 400 boxes to local customers in the Lewes area every week.How many staff do you employ?10 at the moment.What is the secret to running a successful business?It’s all about taking calculated risks, not being afraid to fail and truly believing in what you do.Has your business been affected by customers spending less during the recession?Yes, it has definitely affected us. But people are also more aware of what they are eating, how it’s produced and the impact their food has on the environment.How do you compete with bigger companies?You can’t. Food makes up a much smaller percentage of a household budget now compared to 30 years ago. People expect food to be cheap, when actually it isn’t cheap to produce, particularly if you’re not relying on

cheap oil-based fertilisers, weed killers and pesticides or fuel to import it from countries that pay lower wages. We all need to re-think our priorities.Do you think consumers are shifting towards more locally produced, small-scale producers?We hope so. We have a very loyal following locally but are always looking for new ways to reach customers and tell them about our produce.Why should people buy your vegetables?Because they are produced organically with respect for the soil and wider environment, which is an invaluable investment for future generations. They also taste great! Our box scheme supports other small local businesses as we buy in from them too.Why do you think people like buying from you?All our customers are committed to their health and the health of the soil, they love the taste of the produce, want to buy as locally as possible and are keen to support local producers in their area.What does the future hold for your business?Sustainable, healthy food production. This is always at the core of that we do.Who are your biggest customers and supporters?People from all walks of life who want to prioritise what they eat and choose who they buy it from.What is the biggest complement you’ve received from a customer?An elderly lady who is a regular customer at one of our markets. “It’s your fault I’m still alive”, she jokes!What is your proudest moment so far?We had an open day recently and it was wonderful to see how much interest the children had in how food is produced. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? “Feed the soil, and not the plant.”And the worst?“You can’t grow crops commercially and organically” – this turned out to be complete rubbish.

5 of the best: SUSSEX’S FINEST

SMALL-SCALE PRODUCERS

GARLIC WOOD FARM, HORSHAMgarlicwoodfarm.co.uk

A family-run butchery rearing the finest quality sustainably farmed meat produced

in harmony with the environment.

HIGH WEALD DAIRY, HAYWARDS HEATHhighwealddairy.co.uk

Award-winning makers of organic and non-organic cheese, all made in

its modern dairy, just 20 metres from where the cows are milked.

OUSE VALLEY FOODS, UCKFIELDousevalleyfoods.com

Purveyors of hand-made jellies, jams, chutneys, conserves and marmalades, using produce from local growers to

ensure authenticity and quality.

WOBBLEGATE, BOLNEYwobblegate.co.uk

Founded by a father and son team back in 2009, Wobblegate produces delicious

apple juice and cider from produce grown on its farm right in the heart

of the Sussex countryside.

WEALD SMOKERY, FLIMWELLwealdsmokery.co.uk

The awards say it all. This leading smokery uses traditional methods, largely unchanged over the years, to produce a range of smoked fish, meat and cheese.

“People expect food to be cheap, when actually it isn’t cheap to produce. We all need to

re-think our priorities”

Clockwise from top: Greenhouses at Barcombe Nurseries; apples ready to be sold at local farmers’ markets. Left: Rainbow over Highdown Vineyard

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: EM

MA

GU

TTER

IDG

E

Your LocaL Independent KItchen StudIo

the Kitchen people61 the high Street, LindfieldWest Sussex rh16 2hn

tel: 01444 484 868email: [email protected]

www.facebook.com/kitchenpeople@kitchenpsarah

Your LocaL Independent KItchen StudIo

the Kitchen people61 the high Street, LindfieldWest Sussex rh16 2hn

tel: 01444 484 868email: [email protected]

www.facebook.com/kitchenpeople@kitchenpsarah


home& garden

p64 Master of antiques Europe’s top antiques dealer, Spencer

Swaffer, welcomes us into his majestic emporium in Arundel

p70 Stylish storage it’s time to banish Christmas clutter with

the year’s quirkiest storage trends p73 Fabric lady resident

columnist, Laura Jandac, reveals she’s a secret hoarder - how

will she tackle the challenge of detoxing her beautiful home?

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: ALE

X RO

Z/SH

UTT

ERST

OCK


Spencer Swaffer barely pauses for breath as he tells me about his weekly schedule. “I was in France on Monday, back in the shop to see a customer on Tuesday, at local auctions all of Wednesday and then up at 4am on Thursday to travel to Yorkshire.

I got there for 9am and started a huge tour of the north.” He must be utterly exhausted, I remark. “Oh, yes,” he replies, with an infectious laugh. “But it’s the way I work: I’m simply terrified of missing anything.”

The shop Swaffer is referring to is located on Arundel’s beautiful High Street. Swaffer has been there since 1971 and is as much a fixture of the quaint market town as the restored and remodelled medieval castle, which he has a stunning view of from the upper floors of his premises.

Swaffer is widely recognised as one of the top antique dealers in Europe. His customer list reads like a who’s who of interior decorating. He’s travelled all over the world, sourcing antiques from Scotland, France, Italy and Sweden, which he brings back and adds to his treasure trove, nestled in the steep vale of the South Downs.

“It all began as a boyhood obsession,” he says. “I was a very strange, solitary child who used to wander the Downs picking up shards of Roman pottery and Neolithic axe heads. That same lonely boy frequented all of Brighton’s jumble sales. I was always first in the queue, just as I am now, for most things.”

By the time he was 11, Swaffer had created a museum in his bedroom. He was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. A canny Brighton antiques dealer just happened to be listening and contacted Swaffer, offering him £50 for two Egyptian Scarab beads. It was a turning point: Swaffer realised that he preferred selling to being a museum curator and opened stalls in various antique markets. Aged just 16 he graduated to a small shop outside Brighton station and a weekend stall in London’s Camden Passage. But then tragedy struck: his mother died of cancer and

two weeks later his father killed himself. From the proceeds of the sale of his parents’

Saltdean bungalow, Swaffer bought the shop in Arundel High Street and has, he proudly tells me “been open seven days a week ever since.” How, at such a young age, did he master his trade?

“The easiest way to learn is to buy something and then listen to why people don’t want to buy it,” he tells me. “They’ll never tell you why they’re buying it – and that’s whether it’s a dealer or a member of the public. Instead, they’ll rubbish it and from what they say you’ll slowly gleam what’s wanted and what isn’t.”

Swaffer, who describes himself as a “dealer’s dealer”, believes that every dealer has an innate sense of the value of something: “It’s rather like a bookmaker who can always put the price on a horse’s back; a dealer can always put the price on a chest of drawers.”

The perfect location for an antiques dealer is a building rich with history, and one couldn’t get better than Swaffer’s Arundel shop, which used to be an inn – the George Tavern – 400 years ago. The main part of the building was a coach house, while the tavern occupied the whole of the street, right up to Arundel Castle’s entrance. The enchantment in Swaffer’s voice is palpable as he describes his place of work.

“It’s a wonderful building. We’re spread over four floors and there’s a wealth of architectural detail, from stone mullion windows to magnificent Elizabeth Herringbone brickwork. There’s a window upstairs with beautiful copper plate graffiti carved into it by English Civil War prisoners, who were brought there via tunnels from the castle, which still exist under the

FOR OVER 40 YEARS, SPENCER SWAFFER HAS RUN HIS ANTIQUES SHOP IN ARUNDEL. HE TALKS TO

ALEX HOPKINS ABOUT EFFORTLESS GLAMOUR, ENGLISH STYLE AND

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY ON ANTIQUES

Clockwise, from top right: green antique pots; spiral staircase in Spencer’s shop; scrubbing boards; antique dresser; globes; four statues. All images by Alan Pilkington

Master of antiques

“It all began as a boyhood obsession. I was a very strange,


solitary child wandering the Downs picking up Roman pottery. ”


“You don’t need the best computer, tools or studio; just “I don’t do huge and Rococo. It’s a more restrained feel, which


English elegance to them – that English simplicity. I don’t do huge and Rococo. It’s a more restrained feel, which English people are more comfortable with.”

This cosy, effortlessly refined ambiance is carried over to Swaffer’s own home, a grade II listed Georgian house, just around the corner from his shop, which is full of English furniture and roaring open fires. You won’t find what he dismissively refers to as “waxy furniture” in Swaffer’s home; he prefers things to have a drier feel – “to be real.”

“For the last seven years there’s been this obsession with bleaching everything and I just can’t understand it,” he says. “Our front room is dominated by this enormous carved 18th century pine Sunburst from a Roman Catholic church in Italy. Underneath is a dry Italian trestle table. We don’t have lots of things on surfaces and favour washed-off floorboards. Yes, they’re cold in winter, but so much better than fitted carpets.”

It sounds like the perfect retreat for this indefatigable man who has lived and breathed antiques since he was no more than a child – and shows no sign at all of slowing down. “What drives me on?” he says. “Again, it’s that fear of missing something. That’s why I’m out there constantly buying and why the shop is always open. I can’t bear to miss an opportunity.”

huge walled garden at the back. The past history just seeps from the walls.”

Inside, Swaffer has been very precise in how he lays out the antiques, admitting that he suffers from “an acute form of OCD.” Everything he buys is placed as he would see it in somebody’s home.

“It’s not unusual for me to create a setting,” he explains, “but I don’t do very formal room settings. It’s much more a design-led display; however, it’s not uncommon for people to come in and buy the whole thing: chairs, table and the pictures over it.

“It’s a curious business in that it fulfils an equal amount of things to both dealers and to private clients. I’ve a big international following of travelling antique dealers who come to me to buy for their shops, but equally because they’ve taught me what they need, I also understand what the ultimate home owner wants. In that way, what I have is quite an edited collection.”

Swaffer tells me that he has always bought the same thing: items with a very homely, warm feel. He favours a lot of paint and mirrors, and even, he laughs “what is supposedly boring: English brown furniture. This mixes marvellously with great big, flamboyant mirrors and shabby upholstered furniture from Italy.”

After four decades in the business he knows precisely what his customers want. It is, he maintains “about the whole mix – a very English way of decorating. If you walked into my shop, although you’d see a lot of European things, you’d notice that they have

Buy what you really like, whether you know anything about it or not.

Always act on instinct.•

Don’t be frightened to mix new with old. We have quite a contemporary kitchen table, with a zinc top and some Conran

chairs around it, but beside that is a period dresser with period china.

The whole thing just works.

Go for something humble and go for something grand and you’ll end up

creating a comfortable feel. •

The marvellous thing about antiques is that the moment you buy them they’re

still worth what you paid for them. Go and buy something at a modern

furniture store and it’s worth nothing the moment you buy it.

An expert ’s guide: MAKING ANTIQUES WORK FOR YOU

I find English people are more comfortable with.”

Clockwise, from left: interior shot of Spencer’s shop; exterior of shop; Spencer Swaffer; antique pots


TRUNKS WITH A TWISTTrunks have always been the traditional way to transport and store your worldly goods. They hark back to the halcyon days of the British Empire: the old colonial shipping his treasures back from a Far Eastern paradise to the rolling Sussex countryside. Think steamer trunks, beautiful wooden boxes and intricately engraved antique chests. This year it’s all about vibrantly coloured metals.Metal Trunks, £35, House by John Lewis, johnlewis.com


home & garden

1 BALANCING THE BOOKSNo home is complete without books, but where do you store them? Heavy duty, wooden cases limit light and can induce claustrophobia. Banish wood from your walls and plump for jazzy plastics and light metals. Be artistic and transform practical storage for books or CDs into an eye-catching feature in any room.Kartell Bookworm 11 Bookend by Ron Arad, £416, Heal’s, heals.co.uk

2 COFFEE AND CONTAINMENTWith house prices continuing to soar and space at a premium, multi-purpose storage is essential. Make a feature out of an elegant chest that doubles up as a coffee table. Go for the extraordinary and vintage like this large, funky aluminium chest – perfect in a living room.Vintage Large Aluminium Chest or Coffee Table, £190, Modetro, modetro.com

3 WONDERFUL WHITE WALLSKeep colours natural and reflective to make the most of the light. Utilise your walls with a highly functional unit that holds everything from kitchen utensils to car keys and those annoying knick-knacks that clutter up your work surfaces. With its different-sized and shaped containers, this sleek organiser is perfect for either offices or children’s bedrooms.Vitra Uten.Silo White, £217-£269, Heal’s, heals.co.uk

4 BEAUTIFUL BASKETSKnitted and intricately woven fabrics give your home a rustic feel. They’re also light and easy to move around. Go for simplicity with a rope body, illuminated with bold flashes of thread that will blend in with almost every colour scheme. You can’t beat a well-crafted basket. They’re ideal for managing every mother’s nightmare: children’s toys.Macey Large Orange Basket, £45, Habitat, habitat.co.uk

IT’S EVERY HOMEMAKERS’ DILEMMA: WHERE DO YOU PUT ALL THAT CHRISTMAS CLUTTER?

MINIMALIST, UNFUSSY AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, UNDERSTATED –

ALEX HOPKINS SHARES 2015’S TOP STORAGE TRENDS

stylish storage 1

2

4

3

editorloves

Both have a long-term, keen interest for interior design and home improvement. Having successfully transformed several homes of their own and those of friends and family over the years, Pip and Helen decided it was time to turn a passion into a business. Seeing

a gap in the market for home makeovers prior to selling they launched Improve & Move in 2012.

If you’re familiar with TV shows like House Doctor or Phil Spencer’s Secret Agent then you’ll appreciate the importance of preparing your home for sale and doing it the right way. No longer are a few tricks like making sure your home smells of fresh bread and coffee enough to sell your house.

“Often people don’t feel they have the time, energy or money to invest in a property they are leaving. This can be a costly mistake and that’s where we can help,” says Pip.

“By choosing different wall colours, decluttering, improving furniture placement and using accessories in a clever way your house can be transformed for minimal cost, providing that invaluable first impression to your potential buyer,” says Helen.

Is your house looking its absolute best and able to achieve its maximum

sale price? If not, Improve & Move can ensure your home is welcoming, calm and desirable – the successful way to a profitable sale.

Additionally, Improve & Move offers moving in services, a great way to make your move less stressful – particularly helpful if you are working, have young children or would simply prefer to have it all done for you. On moving day Pip and Helen assist with unpacking your belongings and arranging your furniture in your new home, allowing you to simply move in and relax!

What they say… “Pip and Helen surpassed our expectations and transformed our house from top to bottom. They took care of everything required to present our house at its best. We were delighted when we were “Sale Agreed” at the full asking price just a week after we put it on the market. A great result.” - Mrs T, Burgess Hill.“Improve & Move presale makeovers really add the ‘wow’ factor and definitely help to sell properties. We would really recommend their service.” - Mishon Mackay, Brighton.

Improve & Move is a property presentation business set up by Cuckfield residents Pip Bucksey and Helen Laben specialising in home presale makeovers.

Sell with style before beforeafter after

before beforeafter after

Invest to impress – don’t give anyone the excuse to offer less for your property than you deserve.For a FREE initial consultation call Helen 07944 749174 or Pip 07714 203165Our successful transformations speak for themselves, please take a look at our

photo gallery online at www.improveandmove.co.uk


New Year, New You! Detox your body!, Banish Christmas Excess! These slogans are everywhere in January, with most of us using the New Year as a fresh chance to get fit, healthy and thoroughly detoxed.

But why just focus on our bodies? Part of our emotional wellbeing is linked to our environment, so why not detox our homes at the same time?

I know if the house is a mess I’m a grump. Fact. My family and I have spent the last two weeks of December getting everything out but putting very little away. There are remains of Christmas wrapping paper under the sofa, there’s glitter everywhere and the house feels like it’s suffering the after-effects of Christmas – just like us. To take my mind off the fact that I am now on a diet and restricted to 500 calories for two days a week, I decide to tidy the house from top to bottom.

I think there’s a part of me that’s a secret hoarder. So secret is this fact that even I didn’t realise until I started to look around. I don’t think I’ve thrown anything away for at least five years. I find myself uncovering gifts bought for me that I didn’t like the day they were given, have never learned to like, but still keep, just in case, afraid to upset the gift giver.

Unable to think of anything but food, I venture into the kitchen. I have more kitchen gadgets than Lakeland, most of which have a layer of dust or grime caked on them. The electric slicer I bought because Jamie Oliver said I should and the hand blender purchased to puree baby food for my son – who is now approaching six – just sit there, taking up valuable worktop space. The kitchen cupboards don’t fair much better. There are lots of things in tins that are

AS THE CHRISTMAS CHAOS SUBSIDES, LAURA JANDAC, A SECRET HOARDER, DECIDES

THAT IT’S TIME TO DETOX HER MIND, BODY AND

HOME. SHE FINDS SOME INTERESTING DISCOVERIES

ALONG THE WAY...

fabric lady

out of date. So out of date that I must have packed them and moved them from our old house. Maybe my New Year’s resolution should be to write better shopping lists.

Clothes. Always a hard one to throw out. I have clothes for fat days and clothes for thin(ner) days. Shoes for every possible occasion, even though I only ever wear one pair of Uggs in the winter and one pair of ballet pumps in the summer. The clothes I wear on a daily basis would fit into an overnight bag, but the clothes I actually own require their own postcode.

I feel quite weak from the effects of going cold turkey from Quality Street, mince pies and Baileys, so I sit on the sofa. Well, I perch actually because so much

of the sofa is covered in scatter cushions there isn’t much room for actual people. Looking at the cushions more closely I realise that half of them have some sort of food stain on them and the rest can’t have 40 feathers between them. Why are they even here? Surely a few beautiful cushions has got to be better than a fleet of cushions that can only be turned one way so as to hide the biro marks and baked bean residue from prying eyes.

The spare room. It’s a tricky one: a general dumping ground for anything that doesn’t have anywhere else to go. I have three sets of sheets for my son’s single bed – the single bed we got rid of 18 months ago and replaced with a double bed. I have more towels than an entire chain of Travelodge, a couple of which are still white. One is even fraying down one side, but it’s sat there, neatly folded, where it will stay until the next millennium.

This year I’m going to exchange those unwanted gifts. Return them to the stores and choose something I do actually want. Ungrateful? Perhaps, but there really isn’t any space left and there’s a lovely lamp that I’ve got my eye on.

Confessions of a hoarder

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: PH

OTO

GRA

PHEE

.EU

/SH

UTT

ERST

OCK

Eurotiles & Bathrooms Brighton: Unit 6c, Freshfields Business Park, Brighton BN2 0DF

Email: [email protected] Phone: 01273 605445

Eurotiles & Bathrooms Rustington: Unit F, Brookside Ave., Brookside Ind. Estate, Rustington BN16 3LF Email: [email protected] Phone: 01903 785226

www.eurotilesandbathrooms.com

Style, design & innovation in tiles & bathroomsCome in and see our ranges of porcelain, mosaic & natural stone tiles, bathroom furniture, basins, taps, showers, baths & sanitary ware

Biggest stockist in the area | Free local delivery | Lots of parking

Brighton showroom now open

25% off all selected tile ranges with this vouchercode SU14


life& style

p76 Bring back borstal the Ditchling teacher who has become

a TV star p80 Elegant Eastbourne how the coastal resort is

getting trendy p85 Mum on the run what to do with all those

unwanted toys p86 My Sussex Journalist David Fisher on

saving The Brighton Hippodrome p89 Book club inspiring New

Year reads p90 Minxy the challenges of New Year’s resolutions

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: DAV

E LE

E


PRISONS EDUCATION MANAGER SALLY WENTWORTH-JAMES WAS CATAPULTED TO TV STARDOM

WHEN SHE WAS SELECTED TO TAKE PART IN ITV SERIES BRING

BACK BORSTAL. THE RESULTS, SHE TELLS ALEX HOPKINS,

ARE REVOLUTIONARY

bringing back hope

Bring back borstal...

Sally Wentworth-James is hot on dreams. “They need to be real,” she tells me. “If you have a dream and you think you can achieve it then you’re more likely to succeed at it, but you’ve got to be able to visualise it. That’s essential.”

The 51 year old Ditchling resident has spent the last 20 years trying to make young people’s dreams reality. Through

her job with public services provider A4e, she’s provided education and vocational skills to offenders in prisons across London and east England.

This month, delivering those dreams took on an unprecedented new dimension, with Wentworth-James becoming a TV star: she’ll be swapping her smart office suit for heavy tweed and stern metal-rimmed spectacles as she steps back in time to help run a 1930s borstal for real-life young offenders in new prime time ITV series, Bring Back Borstal.

The programme aims to explore the impact on today’s young offenders, aged 18-23, of Britain’s Borstal regime, based on a busy schedule of “physical and purposeful activity”. TVs, camera phones and computer games will be replaced with strict discipline. Pupils will begin the day at 6am, with two hours of tough physical activity. Work activities will follow and then, between 6 and 8.30pm, they’ll be handed over to Wentworth-James, who will be equipped with only a blackboard and chalk.

Wentworth-James, who attended Hove’s Cardinal Newman Catholic School, jumped at the opportunity to get involved. She was originally considered for the role of matron, but production company, Shed Media – who approached her off the back of a highly successful vocational learning project she’d set up – decided she’d be better as the head of education.

“I’ve always had a lot of empathy for low level learners and people who don’t make it through the compulsory education system,” she explains.

“I was one of those myself. I was great at sports, but hadn’t realised I had dyslexia. I just couldn’t do exams and left school with only three O Levels.”

That put paid to Wentworth-James’s dream of becoming a teacher. But, undeterred, she went on to achieve her first degree at 30 years old, followed by a Masters 10 years later. It showed her that goals can always be achieved, no matter what the odds are.

“The first thing I said to the pupils was that ‘no one was going to fail here’. If you have a learning difficulty or if compulsory education doesn’t suit you, as it didn’t me, then you’re pushed through a system that doesn’t necessarily work. We’re told that you’re a ‘failure’, but you’re not if it’s the wrong time for you to learn.”

The curriculum was devised by Wentworth-James. She centred it on building confidence amongst the group and embedding skills into practical application. Getting the students to sit down and just read and write wouldn’t work – they were always on the go. She opted instead for imaginative and lively learning options, and before long the pupils were having highly-charged debates.

“When people think of Borstal they remember the 1970s film Scum, but that’s not where we were at,” she tells me, her voice brimming with energy and passion. “The 1930s Borstal concept was based on rules, standards and expectations, but also praise, competition and reward. But it was also about support – and people believing in you. That was crucial.

“Society says that young offenders have to be knife-wielding maniacs, but they’re not like that. Most of these young men had made just one mistake. They were good lads. Yes, they were angry young men, but they were inherently good.”

Wentworth-James realised that her approach was working when the ALL I

MAG

ES; B

RING

BACK

BORS

TAL,

THUR

SDAY

8 JAN

UARY

2015

, ON

ITV.


pupils started to self-police. When a visitor came into the classroom and swore, one of the young men stood up and asked him not to use that language, because “Miss James doesn’t like it”.

The cameras were on Wentworth-James and the rest of the team from 6am to 10pm. It was, she admits, the hardest thing she has ever done. “And wearing tweed in the heat of summer is very itchy, let me tell you,” she laughs. “Oh, and losing my voice and then falling down the steps on the final day, resulting in four stitches in my knee, wasn’t great either. But throughout all of this the kids were so respectful.”

Wentworth-James was cautious that this TV show would not become another type of “Big Brother malarkey.” It was deeply important to her that the pupils were treated with complete respect.

“These are people’s lives you’re dealing with and I wouldn’t have signed up to it if I couldn’t continue following and mentoring the kids after filming finished. The producers have been great here.”

The results speak for themselves: one student, who was homeless, is now in residential accommodation while doing an access course with plans to study Criminology at university. Others have gone back into education.

“I only had four weeks with these kids, so I only saw small changes, but

when you look at these outcomes it makes me feel as chuffed as hell,” beams Wentworth-James. “Guiding them was not easy. You can’t make massive changes in that time, but what you can do is steer them on to a path that’s probably better than the one they were choosing.”

The experiment shows the potential power of rehabilitation, she says, quoting the cost of putting somebody in jail for one year – around £42,000 – and suggesting that the cost of a resource intensive programme, such as the Borstal one, should be compared with this cost.

“I really hope I’ve done something to open up a debate. One side will, of course, say ‘if we lock them up they will change’, while the other will echo what I firmly believe: if we offer these kids encouragement, that might make a difference.

“It comes back to that idea of a dream, really,” she muses. “Everyone deserves a shot. It can be a very simple dream. One of the most touching cases I’ve come across in my work is the 60-year-old man who just wanted to learn to read so he could read Harry Potter

to his grandson. We can all visualise that image in our heads and that makes it possible – with the right support. No one should be denied that.”

Bring Back Borstal is on ITV on 15th and 22nd January at 9pm.www.sallywentworthjames.co.uk

“Society says that young offenders

are knife-wielding maniacs, but

they’re not. Most of these young men

had made just one mistake.”

Left: Sally Wentworth-James. Right: the young men she teaches in Bring Back Borstal

Eurotiles & Bathrooms Brighton: Unit 6c, Freshfields Business Park, Brighton BN2 0DF

Email: [email protected] Phone: 01273 605445

Eurotiles & Bathrooms Rustington: Unit F, Brookside Ave., Brookside Ind. Estate, Rustington BN16 3LF Email: [email protected] Phone: 01903 785226

www.eurotilesandbathrooms.com

Style, design & innovation in tiles & bathroomsCome in and see our ranges of porcelain, mosaic & natural stone tiles, bathroom furniture, basins, taps, showers, baths & sanitary ware

Biggest stockist in the area | Free local delivery | Lots of parking

Brighton showroom now open

25% off all selected tile ranges with this vouchercode SU14

Happiness & imagination: welcome to Pennthorpe

At Pennthorpe we have a simple aim: to put children in an environment where they want to learn and can discover their passions. We have a well-deserved reputation for academic excellence and an enviable record of excellent pass rates and scholarships to top senior schools including Wellington, Hurst, Millfield, Christ’s Hospital and Brighton College. Last year out of 30 year 8 pupils a staggering 20 won scholarships! The reason for this is simple: our teachers pride themselves on finding the spark in

each child, whether that is lit in the classroom, on the sports field or even on the race track where our construction teams and their electric cars excel.

We understand that true success demands more than can be tested in an exam room and an excellent education should be rigorous and challenging but it must also be diverse, vibrant and innovative: preparing children for an evolving world.

Our broad curriculum allows every child to experience specialist sport, drama, music, art and DT within their week, while an innovative approach to academic teaching helps to engage and inspire. Our teachers are committed to finding the fun in every subject they teach. So, you might find Year 4 learning Maths in our outdoor classroom; Year 7 exploring poetry in the iMac design suite and Reception out in the woods learning teamwork skills in their weekly Forest Schools sessions. Lessons are interactive and collaborative and extend every pupil beyond the rigid strictures of the National Curriculum. We understand that true education is not just about learning facts but about asking your own questions, exploring answers and researching topics. Creativity is central to all that we do and our walls teem with paintings and photographs by our passionate young artists, while Notebook Club for gifted and talented writers is always oversubscribed.

A visit to Pennthorpe soon reveals what a happy place this is. Parents always comment on our cheerful, confident pupils, who bubble with enthusiasm for what they are working on and are so proud of their school. We are dedicated to making time for every child and family as we believe that our emphasis on community is what helps our children succeed and our small class sizes and high staff numbers allow us to focus on every individual at every stage: from hearing our Lower School children read individually every day to running one to one scholarship and interview sessions with our Senior pupils. Tailored curriculum plans and half termly academic reports set pupils clear goals and keep parents informed; while the support of a strong pastoral network of form tutors and pupil buddies ensure the well-being of every child. Children here feel valued, nurtured and inspired.

“We only wish we’d found Pennthorpe sooner,” one family told us recently. Why not come and discover us for yourself?

To book your tour, please contact our admissions secretary, Fiona Long on 01403 822391 ext: 201 or email [email protected] www.pennthorpe.com

AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING IS CENTRAL TO PENNTHORPE INDEPENDENT PREP

SCHOOL, IN RUDGWICK, MEANING THAT PUPILS ARE ALWAYS ENGAGED, INSPIRED AND HAPPY.

WITH ITS FADED GLAMOUR AND AN ALTOGETHER MORE LAID BACK VIBE THAN ITS NEIGHBOUR ALONG THE COAST, EASTBOURNE

IS THE PLACE TO BE, WRITES WILL CALLAGHAN


Next month I’m celebrating four years living in Eastbourne. As Gordon Brown was counting down his remaining days in office, two blokes from Bounds Green helped us bundle the contents of our tiny two-bedroomed flat into a Luton van and we headed off to our new life. We’d fallen out of love with London – too pricey, too busy – and we stood less chance of

getting into a nearby school than scoring on the Euromillions. Our youngest son was almost four and we had another on the way. It was definitely time to go.

Friends wanted to know why we were swapping the permanently up and coming North Finchley for the ‘retirement capital of the South Coast’. They’d decided on that viewpoint without ever venturing south of Lewes, of course.

So why Eastbourne? Well, it certainly ticks the estate agents’ boxes – stunning seafront, five minutes to the Downs, good schools, affordable homes. Check. But we’ve also happened upon a proper ‘we’re all in it together’ spirit, which means Eastbourne consistently punches above its weight. It’s the

little town that could. Or can in fact.Take the Pier burning down last summer – an appalling event made worse

by the tragic death of pier worker Stephen Penrice. People paid their respects, pulled together and the boardwalk was open within a few weeks. Remarkable. It’s the same kind of ‘we won’t be druv’ Sussex spirit that’s producing sterling work on Hastings Pier.

There’s a statistic I hear a lot, that Eastbourne is the fastest growing town for families on the South Coast. I’ve never been sure if it’s made up or on the level, but it feels about right. Old Town, where we live, seems to have plenty of babies in buggies and upstart toddlers. We’ve been there and got the T-shirt.

If you’re thinking of moving to Eastbourne then Old Town is a good first place to look – there’s plenty of attractive Victorian streets and leafy suburbs with houses around the £200-300k mark. Ofsted rates the schools around here too. There’s Motcombe and Pashley Down for infants, Ocklynge for juniors, Ratton and Cavendish for teens. Plus, there’s the recently opened

Elegant Eastbourne


“Eastbourne has a proper ‘we’re all in it together’ spirit, which means it consistently punches above its weight. It’s the

little town that could. Or can in fact.”

Gildredge House Free School, which we’re hearing good things about.There’s often no need for us to venture into town. We’ve two (soon to be

three) supermarkets on our doorstep and five decent pubs. There’s a smattering of cafés, like Cafe Corro in Green Street and Love All in Gildredge Park – we spend an unhealthy amount of time in both.

South west of us is Meads Village, perhaps the most well-heeled area of Eastbourne. It has its own High Street with shops like Barley Sugar, Martha’s Kitchen and the ArtisVin wine merchant affording the place a Muswell Hill sur la mer vibe. Meads is too pricey for us, but many London and Brighton types have made it their home.

Prices are a little more manageable east of the Pier. The Seaside area of town, immediately behind the prom, boasts street after street of well-proportioned homes. There’s several four bed semis on the market for £250k right now – if this was Brighton they’d be heading towards seven figures. Plus, there’s an excellent curry house, Shimla Palace, which we’ve got on speed dial. Also check out the Crown & Anchor – Eastbourne’s only seafront boozer – and the Victoria – unspoilt and off the beaten track.

Nautical types head further east to Sovereign Harbour, one of the largest marinas in the UK. There’s a fair few contemporary looking apartments off Midway Quay changing hands at around £220k for a two bed. They overlook the Waterfront, a recent development of shops and restaurants, including the excellent Seasons Tapas and Deli.

There’s been a lot of talk about regenerating Eastbourne, but our town centre has mostly been looked after. The slightest infraction makes the letters page of the Herald newspaper, so it’s hard to get away with much. The largest shopping area, the Arndale Centre, is a stone’s throw from the station. Architecturally it’s a bit dated, but has all the High Street shops you need. The Arndale is also about to receive an (almost) £100m shot in the arm with work starting next year on a modern-ish looking extension and nine-screen cinema. When you think about all the places that have been decimated by out of town shopping malls, the fact that there’s this amount of investment in our town centre is pretty amazing.

Like Brighton, we can’t move for coffee shops, but thankfully there’s a lot of decent ones. The latest is Nelson’s across the road from the station and its website describes the beans, grinders and espresso machine to a coffee nerd’s level of detail. Owners Ben and Lucy were inspired by a honeymoon trip to Canada and brought a small part of it back home – Lumberjack shirts optional. Elsewhere in the town centre, check out Urban Ground on Bolton Road and also now at the Towner Gallery. Neate’s Cakes on Terminus Road is a must-gorge on the way to the seafront.

Every seaside town worth its salt has an arts scene and Eastbourne is no exception. Everyone should have heard about the Towner by now, designed by modernist master Rick Mather and recent winner of the Brighton Argus’ Best Museum award. It’s recently become an independent trust and won the support of David Dimbleby, so expect some good things this year. IM

AGE

CRED

IT: D

AVE

LEE

If you are passionate about flowers you will love what we do at Flowers of Eastbourne, the Enterprise Shopping Centre’s exciting new florist.

Just drop by or phone us on:

01323 738147

Experts in all aspects of floral design, indoor andoutdoor... plants and gifts.

Open Monday to Saturday 9am until 5pm

[email protected]

The Enterprise Shopping Centre,Station Parade, Eastbourne

BN21 1PD

Next to Eastbourne Stationwww.enterprise-centre.org

Flowers of Eastbourne 9/8/14 07:10 Page 1


F ather Christmas was particularly generous in my house this year. My son’s bedroom is practically bursting at the seams with new games, books and art paraphernalia and I am convinced the ceiling below is actually starting to

bow. I have suggested to him the idea of a clear out, which has gone down, as expected, like a lead balloon. Work-wise, the run up to Christmas was hectic, so the annual throw-out-last-year’s-presents-to-make-way-for-this-year’s-presents didn’t happen and I am now paying a hefty price.

The art of old toy removal is a tricky one, should never be undertaken by a novice and requires years of practice. It is normally done under the cover of darkness when children are little or during school hours as they get a little older. So nerve-racking can the task become that I have developed my own technique.

There is nothing worse than disposing of a toy, either in the bin or to the charity shop, only to discover that this week it’s their favourite toy and they cannot sleep/eat/smile/live without it. You can’t get the toys back once they’ve gone and you find yourself pretending to look for them in a very unconvincing manner knowing full well that they are probably already in landfill.

My solution? I have designed a holding area. A half way house for unwanted toys where items are held for a couple of weeks and moved on if no five year olds have noticed their absence.

My holding area is my shed. A word of caution here though, the place you pick must be somewhere your little one won’t find themselves. I learnt

this one the hard way. “Mummy, why are all my toys in that black bag?” is a hard one to answer, so keep everything out of sight. After two weeks, if they haven’t been requested, they are disposed of one way or another and it’s back in for the next batch.

This technique is also particularly effective for all those unwanted cardboard box creations that our little darlings bring home from school. The ‘train’ made from cornflake boxes (normally the same boxes you had sent in to school that morning) or the ‘boat’ fashioned out of someone else’s rubbish that you find charming on day one but that just clutters up the house by day two. Simply move to the holding area

and then re-cycle if no one has noticed. Top tip – always put some genuine recycling on top of the precious works of art to avoid any embarrassment when the open bin lid reveals your dirty crime.

I did once manage to convince my son to take a couple of things to the charity shop. But by the time we had gone to the shop and dropped off the goods, he had already spotted three or four new things to buy, so the exercise was not as successful as I had hoped. Perhaps my son is destined to be a hoarder, a little bit like me. His conker collection is now looking decidedly ropey but he refuses to ditch it. When he’s older I’m convinced he’ll move in with his girlfriend still clutching a Tupperware box of mouldy old conkers.

As I’m putting the living room back together after the Christmas tree has been thrown out, I realise I have a cupboard full of old VHS videos and a couple of albums on tapes. I own neither a video player nor a tape deck. It’s obviously hereditary. Perhaps I could do with using the holding area myself.

LAURA JANDAC IS DETERMINED TO GET RID

OF SOME UNWANTED TOYS. ALL SHE HAS TO DO IS

MAKE SURE HER LITTLE BOY DOESN’T CATCH HER RED

HANDED – HOW HARD CAN IT BE?

mum on the run

Secrets of a toy snatcher

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: BEA

TRIZ

GAS

CON

J/SH

UTT

ERST

OCK


I came to live in Brighton in 1978 and have been here for just over 36 years. My first visit to the city was in 1970 as press officer for the British Industrial Film Festival. I found myself living in the city as an opportunity arose to rent a house

just off Marine Parade. Property in London was too expensive to buy and the move to Brighton gave me time to look around and save up for somewhere of my own.

Some of my earliest memories of Sussex – from over 40 years ago – are of coming to stay at a friend’s mother’s house next to the church in Sutton, near Bignor. I still have a lot of photographs I took while walking in the area around Barlavington, Duncton and Fittleworth. One particular image is of a maze of footprints of hens in the mud between the platforms at the disused Fittleworth train station.

I recall walking down the lane in the pitch black to the pub in Sutton, which I think had a tap-room, rather than a bar, with wooden benches around the walls. For me, this was Starkadder country. After all this time, perhaps my memories are beginning to

merge with having read Cold Comfort Farm in my late teens. This was a new experience for someone then living in west London and who had grown up in (post-) industrial Lancashire. The Downs were much gentler than the Pennines, but somehow more alien.

I have always been self-employed as a journalist, editor and researcher. My former principal day job (that I held for 39 years) was as editor of an international media business and technology journal, which had a large number of spin-off business reports and other activities. Among other things, I was executive editor of the Royal Television Society Journal, taught part of an MA course in European Cultural Policy at Warwick University and was a British representative on the European Audiovisual Observatory in Strasbourg.

Since ‘retiring’ nearly four years ago I have written and published Cinema-by-Sea: Film and Cinema in Brighton and Hove since 1897, which is available in all good bookshops. I am now involved in local history research and, time permitting, run a website called brightonhistory.org.uk. I was elected a trustee of the Regency Society in 2014.

my sussex

GUTT

ER CR

EDIT

JO REEDER TALKS TO JOURNALIST, EDITOR AND

RESEARCHER, DAVID FISHER, ABOUT HIS MEMORIES OF SUSSEX AND THE

ONGOING OUR BRIGHTON HIPPODROME CAMPAIGN

David Fisher


Clockwise, from left: interior and

exterior of The Brighton Hippodrome (images copyright of The Theatre’s

Trust); David Fisher outside The Brighton

Hippodrome

“The Brighton Hippodrome is completely unique, as well as having a stunningly beautiful interior

that should be conserved at all costs.”

I am also heavily involved in the Our Brighton Hippodrome campaign.

I attended a crowded meeting organised by Professor Gavin Henderson one wet Sunday afternoon in October 2013 to draw attention to the proposal being put forward by a developer to convert the Hippodrome into an eight-screen cinema with four restaurants. I set up an e-petition on the Brighton and Hove Council website, urging the council to use its best endeavours to make sure the Hippodrome was restored as a theatre, little realising that a key element in the council was already firmly opposed to the idea. That petition attracted 1,199 signatures.

When my friend Jevon Antoni-Jay arranged another meeting in February 2014 I was one of about 30 people who signed up to work on an active campaign. The aim was to raise public awareness of the Hippodrome’s historical and cultural importance, and to prepare an alternative proposal based on full restoration. I have been responsible for putting together the arguments, the viability study and the business plan. I have also been the principal spokesperson for the campaign.

The Brighton Hippodrome is completely unique, as well as having a stunningly beautiful interior that should be conserved at all costs. It could be the most versatile performance space of the size in the country, capable of configuration as a proscenium theatre, with a thrust stage, for theatre-in-the-round or with a central arena for circus-type performances. It could stage ballroom dancing, conferences, snooker tournaments, exhibitions, dinners and commercial presentations, as well as drama, musicals, opera, ballet and stand-up comedy. The sort of shows that would be presented would attract a huge number of tourists, helping boost the city’s economy.

Our Brighton Hippodrome’s plans also include developing a strong community aspect to the project. Brighton and Hove City Council has approved the plans for retail/restaurant/cinema conversion that will irreversibly lose up to 60% of the heritage asset. This is despite a strong case being made for theatre restoration, which the District Valuer, clearly not a theatre expert, dismissed as not viable.

Our next step is to wait and see what

happens. The developer has been granted planning permission but does not have to carry out the plans. Our Brighton Hippodrome is talking to all interested parties about its future. As well as over 14,000 people who have signed the petition wanting the Hippodrome to be restored as a theatre, we have had support from such theatrical luminaries as Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Christopher Biggins, Brian Capron, Julie Christie, Dame Judi Dench, Ken Dodd, Dame Beryl Grey, Roy Hudd, Sir Nicholas Hytner, Dillie Keane, Joe McGann, Sarah Miles, Graham Norton, Dara Ó Briain, Jack Shepherd, Count Arthur Strong, Lalla Ward, Sir Arnold Wesker and Mark Wynter, amongst many others. We have also been supported by senior personnel from the Royal Shakespeare Company, Wakefield Theatre Royal, Hackney Empire, Equity and the Musicians Union, local novelist Peter James, the head of Brighton Fringe and parliamentary candidates of all the main political parties.

Sussex has always been a favoured place for writers, artists and performers of all kinds. Although there are thriving networks of people, the infrastructure, especially for performance arts, should be much better than it is – hence the campaign for the Hippodrome, not only as a major touring theatre but as a strong community base. Membership of Our Brighton Hippodrome is open to all and I urge everyone in Sussex and beyond to get involved in this campaign and save this historically significant building for future generations.

What do I love most about Sussex? I think it has some of the best gardens in the country, such as Great Dixter, Standen and Sheffield Park. Nymans is the one we visit most often when I have a rare day off. In terms of what I dislike, now that the A23 is fully operational again, my dislikes are confined to Brighton, which seems to lack the energy and drive of a modern, aspiring city. How would I describe Sussex in five words? An English South Coast county.

For further information about the Our Brighton Hippodrome campaign and to sign the online e-petition, please visit ourhippodrome.org.uk.

I in 4 women WILL BE affected by domestic abuse at some point in their life. (Council of Europe 2002)

You are not alone Call RISE 01273 622 822www.riseuk.org.uk @riseuk

Wraparound services for women, children and LGBT people affected by domestic abuse in Sussex.

Visit Domestic Abuse Surgery, Hove Town Hall, Wednesdays 9.00-12.00

Sanctuary and Support in Sussex since 1994

20 YEARS

R.I.S.E. (Refuge, Information, Support and Education) is a registered charity (No.1065846)

Donate text RISE15 £5 to70070

3-year accreditation by

2012


book club

FALLING ANGELS by Tracy Chevalier (The Borough Press, £7.19)Maude and Livy are just six when they meet in a cemetery and the whole of the nation is in mourning for the death of Queen Victoria. As they grow and their innocence disappears, we discover the unexpected links between their families. The etiquette of mourning in Edwardian times seems preposterous now (one year in black silk for a sister, 18 months for a parent) and the girls’ preoccupation with the place that they first met takes on a far from morbid sense of mystery and enchantment. As with her bestseller, Girl With a Pearl Earring, Chevalier transports us effortlessly into a past world, using the tiny details and day-to-day revelations to bring her story alive with great verve and charm.

book club

THERE’S SOMETHING I’VE BEEN DYING TO TELL YOU by Lynda Bellingham (Coronet, £7.95)There’s an indefinable quality to Lynda Bellingham that has crept into our hearts. She wasn’t incredibly famous, but she touched many people in an artless, unaffected way. In 2013 she was diagnosed with cancer. This is an account of how she and her family dealt with the news. Bellingham’s warmth and humour is inspirational. She brings light and comfort to a tragic tale, making you laugh out loud at her stories and memories. The book was written in the last days of her illness and speaks with an authentic voice that is a revelation. A brave and courageous guide to loving each other and living life to the fullest.

LAURA LOCKINGTON HELPS CHASE THE POST-CHRISTMAS BLUES AWAY WITH THESE

BOOKS THAT WILL TRANSPORT AND ENCHANT YOU. HAPPY READING!

WAITING FOR DOGGO by Mark B Mills (Headline, £10.39)Meet Doggo. He’s an ugly, nearly bald dog with a bizarre attraction to Jennifer Aniston. You can’t help falling in love with him. Dan inherits Doggo when his girlfriend, Clara, leaves him. She recommends that he takes him back to the dog rescue home as they never ‘got on’. Dan then loses his job and ends up taking Doggo with him for a big interview. What could possibly go wrong? Well, everything... This is a big, warm-hearted, witty and wise book. It manages to pull off a feel-good read, without being sentimental or schmaltzy. Reading this is like being hugged in a cashmere blanket whilst sipping a hot chocolate.

WIN!We have three copies of the fabulous

Waiting for Doggo up for grabs. For a chance to win one, simply email [email protected].


W ell, here we are again, back in my kitchen at Schloss Y, the coffee machine still not de-scaled. When Shirley Conran said, “Life’s too short to stuff a mushroom,”

she clearly hadn’t filled and re-boiled an automatic Espresso machine three times in order to clean it! I promise myself to make sure it gets done by the time the kids go back to school.

We’ve survived Christmas Day, eaten virtually all the birds in the carol, my goose was cooked and we were all as pickled as the walnuts that went with the guilty pleasure cheese board and cheesy 80s sing-along (calorie free when eaten standing up in the kitchen after everyone else has eaten and are now pretending to be George Michael, flinging tangerines at each other).

I vow to eschew all dairy once the festive fare is finished and to give up all alcohol for the first three months of the year as an attempt at detox – except for my birthday, my best friend’s birthday, my best friend’s dog’s birthday. Can you see where this is heading?

I’m roused bleary eyed, thick of head and dry of mouth on Boxing Day. One eye closed, stairs negotiated and the sudden realisation that a drum kit was perhaps not the most ideal Christmas gift for the fruit of my loins.

I studiously avoided the temptation to make any kind of resolution this year, having failed so miserably in all my past attempts. It is a proven fact that 88% of resolutions fail, despite the fact that more than half of us think we can stick to them. Who do we think we’re fooling?

The problem with New Year’s resolutions is that they are made with all the best intentions at the worst possible time of year. The days are dark, the weather miserable and we are all in dire need of as much comfort and joy as we can get.

The idea of cleaving to an unrealistic promise made on the spur of the moment is about as likely to happen as David Cassidy/Mark Bolan/Simon Le Bon (insert your own teenage object of desire here) stepping out of the poster on your bedroom wall and asking you out on a date. Most of the resolutions we make involve some kind of deprivation or another: less chocolate, less dairy, less alcohol, less weight and the flip side is more exercise, more gym, more water, more lettuce. So I say, “NO MORE OF THEM!”

Instead, this coming year, my resolution is not to make any promises to myself that I know I can’t keep. I know I hate being out in the dark and the cold, so I’ll go to the gym during the day before I do the shopping, rather than at night, when the only thing that calls me on is the welcoming glow of

a pub fire or the twinkle of candles on a restaurant table.I will not resolve to give up cake or chocolate or alcohol, but instead

will really enjoy each mouthful and savour it fully in the hope that I will eventually slow down and eat less.

Instead of resolving to be kinder about other people’s crying children, old men in hats that drive at 20mph, people who stop dead in the middle of the pavement and cold callers, I will be kinder to myself – and my blood pressure, by ignoring all of the above and becoming an oasis of calm. This will only occur if I give myself regular treats and fun rather than the punitive denial of so many rubbish self-imposed resolutions.

In a nutshell: 1. I resolve not to make any resolutions. 2. I will be more consistent. 3. I will learn how to say ‘NO’ to uber-mummy and her bake sales.

It’s true. I haven’t de-scaled the coffee machine yet, but it’s still very early days and it’s definitely on the cards; particularly as I haven’t set myself up to fail by making a resolution of it.

CHRISTMAS IS DONE AND OVER WITH. THE NEW YEAR NOW BECKONS, MEANING

THAT OUR COLUMNIST MINXY FACES HER NEXT

BIG CHALLENGE: HOW TO MAKE NEW YEAR’S

RESOLUTIONS THAT SHE KNOWS SHE WILL ACTUALLY

BE ABLE TO KEEP

minxy mann yeager

new year, old me

IMAG

E CR

EDIT

: EVE

RETT

CO

LLEC

TIO

N/S

HU

TTER

STO

CK

JanuarySale

up to 50% off selected items

rusdens.co.uk

SS-JAN-Rusdens-IBC.indd 1 09/01/2015 13:35

sussex style jan/feb 2015

Documents

wardrobe detox

z of detox

life style76

painfree detox

streets of london

sussex town

wardrobe gorgeous greens

london road