Now I am Alone – review  by Michael Rowan

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Michael Rowan ventures South to The Bread and Roses Theatre, 68 Clapham Manor St, London SW4 6DZ,   in pursuit of the Bard

 

Not that easy to find and with soaring summer temperatures it has to be something special to get me to venture south of the River Thames. Fortunately, ‘Now I Am Alone’ was well worth the effort.’

50 minutes running time with no interval, there is plenty of time for a drink and perhaps a meal in the bar below. Special mention to the Bread and Roses bar which is trying to do something different.

This one man play is definitely one for us Shakespeare lovers – what a treat.

The simple set has the actor, Dori Engel running through his lines before his dressing room mirror as the audience take their seats. Over the sound system various lines from Shakespeare percolate, overlapping and running into each other, like the thoughts in the actor’s mind.

 

 

 

Shakespeare’s metre was clear in every speech and my main problem was trying to recognise each speech as they came thick and fast. Edmund railing against his illegitimacy, Helena debasing herself for love and Shylock pointing out Christian hypocrisy, lost none of their power as Engel stepped seamlessly between the characters, bringing them to life.

The common thread is that the characters are all outsiders and in a break from the Bard the actor steps down from the stage and addresses the audience explaining how Shakespeare was himself an outsider and for some time he lived amongst outsiders.

The show tells the story of these people and proffers up their unique viewpoint on life and as a result suggests the viewpoint of Shakespeare himself.

The show is a delight for any who love the poetry of Shakespeare, beautifully delivered even if like me you can’t place all the speeches.

The show ends on Saturday July 8th and will hopefully reappear but in the meantime if you can make it to Clapham – get thee hence.

The Bread and Roses Theatre, 68 Clapham Manor St, London SW4 6DZ

info@breadandrosestheatre.co.uk

 

 

Ah… Brilliant…. More about Idle Women of the Waterways.  by Milly Adams  

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Idle  Women? When the 2nd World War came upon us, blokes signed up and women did their bit too. In time some robust women were recruited to join the Inland Waterways to help run the narrowboats and deliver supplies.

 

Inland Waterways badges were awarded once the girls were trained. IW was the basis for the ironic name, Idle Women, because of course they were anything but.

 

Instead they slogged in all weathers up and down the waterways delivering loads of coal, wood, wheat – whatever was needed, breaking through ice in the winter, shielding their eyes from glaring sun which beat off the cabin roof in the summer, lock-wheeling, eating at the tiller, loading, unloading then clearing out after the cargo, and generally earning their place in the closed and private boating community. Let’s not even mention the bucket, as loo facilities were a pipe-dream.

 

The original boating community had been forced from their houses by poverty, to live on the boats which provided their living. This boating community still lived and worked in this way.. They didn’t have time for education as they moved from pillar to post, living in their tiny back cabins because the hold must be as big as possible to allow as much of a load as possible.

 

How do I know so much about this world? Because I am writing a series of novels about The Waterway Girls for Arrow publishers  which is out on 7th September..

 

This is why I was so delighted to attend the launch of:

 

Idle Women of the Wartime Waterways with Frost Magazine’s drama critic, Paul Vates, some while ago at the Cruising Association at Limehouse. It was written and performed by Heather Wastie and Kate Saffin who  told the story of these women before  embarking on a tour along the Grand Union Canal in their narrowboat – to perform at canalside venues along the way. Paul and I had a fabulous evening: it was huge fun, and most informative too.

 

Heather has sent her latest blog on their progress along the canal. If you get the chance, you must see them in performance. So, over to Heather who is talking about The Bottom Road, which Verity, a character in my book, called the Brum Bum.

 

 

 

The women who hated The Bottom Road by Heather Wastie

 

 

When I was a child we owned a 70 foot narrow boat which was registered in 1913 and used to carry cargo for Fellows Morton & Clayton. My parents restored the tiny back cabin to its original state, with roses and castles on the doors, a stove to be blacked, brasses to be polished and a bed stored in a cupboard, and Dad built and fitted out a long modern cabin at the front, over the hold where the cargo would have been. As a family we started our boating adventures in the West Midlands in the 1960s and 70s when many of the canals were in a dreadful state, neglected, unloved and in many cases derelict. I remember what it was like travelling through Birmingham on a canal which was closed off with high walls – dirty, smelly and dark.

 

I have written poems and songs since I was very young, and remember writing a humorous song about all the rubbish you could find in the canal in those days. Little did I know that many years later I would write and perform a show about the canals, touring by narrow boat to canalside venues. The show is called Idle Women of the Wartime Waterways and is a double bill with writer and actor, Kate Saffin. Kate already had a theatre company, Alarum Theatre, and we met on Twitter in February 2016, quickly realising that we each had half a show. Within 2 months we had started our first tour.

 

During World War 2, cargo boats travelled from London to Birmingham to Coventry and back to London, and part way through the war, a new breed of boater joined the workforce. Women from mainly middle class backgrounds were trained up to operate pairs of boats – a motor boat towing an unpowered ‘butty’, each 70 feet long – carrying 50 tons of cargo from London up to Birmingham. Once the cargo had been unloaded, the boats travelled empty to pick up coal from the Coventry coalfields. ‘The Bottom Road’ is the nickname that was given to the route they took in the early days of the scheme, a route hated by trainees and working families alike. Up to that point, they had been operating wide locks into which motor boat and butty could fit side by side. Now they were faced with narrow locks which could only take one boat at a time, so they had to work the boats through separately and pull the butty by hand – known as bow-hauling. It was tough, dirty work. Here’s the chorus of a song I wrote for the show, all about The Bottom Road:

 

We all hate The Bottom Road,

Oil and grease and soot and muck.

We’d rather go back the way we came

Than work through dirt and single locks.

 

There was an alternative route which involved going back through the double locks but all the working boats were told to use The Bottom Road in order to save water. Towards the end of 1944 there was a sit down strike after which the boats were allowed to ‘go back the way they came’. The Idle Women tour (‘Idle Women’ is a nickname given to the trainees after the war) has been travelling since the end of April with two boats – a modern one and a historic boat very similar to the boats the women used. We decided we should include The Bottom Road in our tour in order to take the show to more places through which the trainees would have passed. It is no longer the filthy route it was; in fact much of it is in beautiful countryside.

 

Though I have been boating for most of my life, I struggle to remember which canal goes through which places. I remember The Bottom Road though, because I turned the place names into a section of the song! I will sing it at shows until we leave the Bottom Road next week and head back towards London where our tour ends on 5th August. As I write this, we have completed 34 out of 50 shows, having performed in pubs, pub gardens, a hay loft, an abbey, a church, community centres, historic waterside buildings, marquees, a cafe, a museum … in a variety of weather, from heatwave to rainstorm, and have developed a deep empathy for the wartime women whose stories we tell.

 

See www.alarumtheatre.co.uk for tour dates and further info.

 

The Waterway Girls by Milly Adams: pub Arrow. Out in pb on 7th September 2017

 

 

 

 

The Business of Books: Jane Cable Gets Distracted But Finds She is Not Alone

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Jane Cable gets distracted but finds she is not alone

It’s a small miracle you are reading this article at all, to be honest – and great credit to writer friends who have rallied around to provide me with some content. The thing is, last week I moved house. Long distance and for the first time in over twenty years. Not only did time become an issue, but the mental effort turned my brain into a huge mass of Cornish clotted cream.

I am not the only author suffering from a life event at the moment. Frost’s own Margaret Graham has been in the wars but in typical fashion is seeing the positive: “Falling into a wall recently and breaking my shoulder not only put one hand out of use but a whole brain, it seems to me. I feel that actually giving it a rest is probably not a bad thing. You will find that creativity is better for a bit of a holiday.”

Writer of historical fiction, Rosemary Noble, is also good at seeing the upside of potentially distracting events. “Sometimes you can avoid the stress by burying yourself in writing. I’m thinking of trying to sell my mother’s flat to pay for her care home. The only way I got through that 12 months was writing,” she told me.

There are some everyday distractions which make the list too. Day jobs (most writers have them), family commitments, lack of sleep, paying the bills – even social media – all sap creative energy. Sometimes the good things do as well. Ghost writer and freelance wordsmith Sue Kelso Ryan cited her dog as the biggest culprit – and it was a great excuse to use her lovely picture as well.

Which just goes to show that good things interrupt our writing too. “Having twins,” says media medic and women’s fiction author Carol Cooper. “That knocked writing on the head for a few months. And illness/surgery. You resent having to rest or slow down because it stops you writing.” Although she did manage to create a top-selling practical parenting guide about her experiences once she was able to find the time.

Crises involving other family members which hit without warning seem to have the biggest effect, as fantasy & romance writer and brand strategist Amy Tipper-Hale has just found out: “My boyfriend breaking his leg in Milan after being run over by a motorcyclist, and me having to fly over to be with him so he wasn’t entirely stranded…I thought I’d have plenty of time to write, but it ended up being stressful and exhausting – my mind all over the place, and not a single word written…except this.” Luckily the patient is now at home – and hopefully Amy will get back to writing again soon too.

As for me, now I have unpacked my desk and settled it into its new location, I need to have a plan. I’ve been sitting on the edit notes for my current manuscript for a month or so and my brain is just starting to tick over them. And one thing this house move is meant to achieve is more time to write. Fingers crossed I can make it happen.

As well as those mentioned above, my thanks also go to Barbara Copperthwaite, Victoria Cornwall, Morton S Gray, Wersha Bharadwa, Carol Thomas and Clare Ruel for their contributions.

 

 

Shop Skincare Launches: The New Beauty Site You Will Love

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Very exciting beauty news indeed: a new website for beauty lovers has launched. shopskincare.co.uk are a team of like-minded beauty lovers who love a beauty recommendation. However they describe themselves as a cynical bunch who try every product before it makes its way onto the site to make sure it is good enough. Shop Skincare lets you try something new from a brand you love, experience a new brand or give a gift. If that was not enough each order over £40 receives a free beauty box which contains full size products from the brands on the site.

There is over 200 products on the site from the biggest and best brands. What are you waiting for? Dive in….

shopskincare.co.uk

Are you an aspiring make-up artist or beauty blogger? Do you love trying out new beauty products?

Shop Skincare the exciting new online beauty retail site launches July with a panel of beauty, health and wellbeing experts, the search is on for a makeup artist / beauty blogger to join the team.

We are looking for someone who loves to try out new make-up and beauty products who we can support with free products for them to review as well as feature them on our blog and social pages. We’d love you to share this with your readers, as it’s a great opportunity, or you might want to enter yourself!

How to enter:  

Follow @shop.skin.care on Instagram and tag a photo with your favourite make up look and the winners will be picked as soon as the site is launched.

 

How to Talk to Your Teen About Drunk Driving

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Teenagers across the United States, excited to be mobile and independent, obtain their driver’s license, and set out on our roadways with little experience, and even less understanding of the dangers of driving while impaired. You may or may not know that auto collisions are the number one killer of teens in America, and that teen drivers are four times more likely to die or be injured in a car crash than older drivers.2 Further, while teens account for approximately 10 percent of the population in the U.S., they are involved in nearly 14 percent of all auto accidents.2

Unfortunately, due to their lack of experience, and their higher levels of distraction, teen drivers have an extremely high risk of a crash during their first year of driving—some statistics say as many as half of all teens will be involved in a crash during their first year of driving. Teenage drivers tend to underestimate—or simply fail to recognize—dangerous situations on the roadways, and are much more likely to speed, make illegal turns, ride with an intoxicated driver, run red lights, and drive while impaired. As you can see, you have teens who are already inexperienced, who are also much more likely to drink and drive, or to ride with other teens who are drinking and driving. In fact, teen alcohol use kills 4,700 people each year. Consider these additional statistics1 on teenage drunk driving:

  •   Eight teenagers die in DUI crashes every day in the United States;
  •   Alcohol is a factor in a third of all teenage auto collision fatalities;
  •   Underage drivers are much more likely to drive recklessly while drinking, and much lesslikely to wear a seat belt than adult drivers.
  •   The effects of a single beer are much stronger in a teen than for an adult, as teens are stillgrowing and developing, and
  •   Teens are more likely to be involved in a drunk driving accident on the weekend, andmale teens are almost twice as likely as their female counterparts to drive under the influence.

 

Talking to Your Teenage About Drinking and Driving

Should your teen driver be one of the many who drink then get behind the wheel, he or she could find the effects of a DUI can be extremely far-reaching. The DUI must be disclosed on college applications, employment applications, and even applications for financial aid, in some instances. Failure to report a DUI could potentially result in loss of rights, and even charges of perjury, when discovered. Remember that a teen’s social center of the brain develops faster than the executive center (responsible for weighing outcomes and controlling impulses). Because of this, it is essential that all parents talk frankly about driving under the influence with their teen driver. The following information may help you talk to your teen driver about drunk driving:

  •   Know the facts about teens and drunk driving when you speak to your teen.
  •   Encourage your teen to engage in activities which foster self-confidence and self-esteem;teens who are confident in their own abilities are less likely to succumb to peer pressure.
  •   Make sure your teen driver is completely familiar with the laws regarding underagedrinking and driving, and really understands the consequences.
  •   Consider a parent-teen driving agreement which sets limits on number of passengers inthe vehicle, driving times, use of cellphones in the vehicle, and drinking and driving.
  •   Take the time to get to know the friends of your teenager as well as the parents of those friends.
  •   Make sure there are clear expectations for your teen’s behavior—and clear consequences when the rules are not followed.
  •   Model responsible behavior by never getting behind the wheel when you have been drinking—even if you have “only” had one beer.
  •   Make sure your teen driver knows that his or her safety comes before anything else, and that he or she can call you for a ride home at any time, day or night.
  •   Encourage your teen to get involved in such organizations as Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) or Teens Against Drunk Driving (TADD).

 

1. http://dui.drivinglaws.org/resources/dui-and-dwi/dui-basics/the-sobering-facts-underage- duis.htm

2. http://www2.courtinfo.ca.gov/stopteendui/teens/facts/teen-driving-crash-and-fatality- stats.cfm#content

 

By Dianne Sawaya.

Mindful Chef Recipe Box Review

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Food delivery boxes are now huge business. People are getting everything from ingredients to whole meals delivered. The latter is what the Mindful Chef does, but with a twist. They do healthy recipe boxes which take out the hassle of cooking. They deliver all of the ingredients and from prep to plate it all takes 20-30 minutes. The ingredients are all lean and sustainably sourced. Mindful Chef was founded in 2015 by Myles and Giles, two young men from Devonshire.

 

Myles and Giles were inspired to launch Mindful Chef due to busy schedules and finding it hard to eat healthily because of their hectic lifestyles. Although recipe box delivery companies existed at the time of their need, none were truly healthy.

What makes Mindful Chef different is their ability to create well-balanced, imaginative recipes whilst still being 100% gluten-free. Their healthy recipe boxes include no refined carbs and therefore avoid high-carb fillers such as pasta or bread. Instead they guarantee genuinely exceptional quality, gluten-free, dairy-free and locally sourced fresh, organic produce. Working with local, sustainable farmers in the West Country, the award-winning organic meat and fish included in the recipes are also stocked in Fortnum & Mason and Harrods.

All the recipes and ingredients are scrutinised by personal trainer and nutritional coach Myles. He works closely with some of the very best nutritionists and chefs in the UK, who take their inspiration from around the world to create imaginative, varied and delicious recipes. The instructions are easy to follow and the meals are easy to make; helping make chefs out of even the most inexperienced of cooks. The pair believe that the key to a healthier life is reducing your intake of gluten and that refined sugars and refined carbohydrates should be avoided.

 

Mindful Chef offers eight weekly changing recipes to choose from, with four containing fresh, locally sourced meat and fish, organic vegetables and delicious herbs and spices. Mindful Chef also caters for those who eat a meat-free diet, with four plant-based recipes available each week. The boxes are delivered to homes or offices in the UK free of charge.

We reviewed Mindful Chef with their two meals for two people box. It is priced at £7 per portion. 

Chicken & quinoa paella with artichokes.

Za’atar Lamb, quinoa & roasted rainbow carrots. 

The food arrives in a box with the meat in a large envelope which has ice packs in it. On top are two smaller bags with the ingredients of each meal in. They are clearly labelled. Also in the box are the recipe cards.

The entire thing is very easy. You take the ingredients out of the brown paper bag and then you follow the recipe. The recipes are written out in an easy to follow way. The recipe did take me longer than it said on the card, but only because I am inept at cooking. It took me ages to chop. I also think I did not drain the quinoa properly so the paella was liquidly when it should not be. My husband made the lamb dish the next day and it was a huge hit on Instagram.

On the other side of the recipe cards are the amount of time it takes to make the meal, how many calories it is, information on where the meat comes from, and confirmation that it is gluten-free. The entire thing is convenient, healthy and easy. It is pricey at between £6-9 per portion, but it is less than a takeaway and a lot less than a meal out. It is also a whole lot healthier. Would I sign up to Mindful Chef? I would indeed. It is healthy eating made easy as they team up with nutritionists. Another great thing about them is that there is no food waste. Good stuff indeed.

RECIPE BOXES

Recipe box companies are still relatively new to the UK. The concept was born in Sweden to provide healthy meals for busy people and this has translated well on our hard-working shores.

Naturally popular in busy towns and cities such as London and Manchester, recipe box deliveries take away the hassle of shopping and cooking, promising all the ingredients needed to a make a quick meal at the end of a long day with no waste.

PRICE

From £6 per meal

EXAMPLE RECIPES

Meat and Fish Recipes:

  •   Beef & mustard burger with balsamic onions & carrot fries
  •   Red Thai chicken curry with courgetti & cashew nuts
  •   Peanut satay pork with wild rice, leek & red pepper
  •   Pan-fried plaice with asparagus , dill quinoa & crispy capersPlant- based Recipes:
  •   Vietnamese pho with courgetti noodles, tofu & cashews
  •   Mexican veggie chilli with sweet potato nachos & guacamole
  •   Roasted cauliflower & chickpea tikka masala with black rice
  •   Veggie lasagna with aubergine, cannellini bean ragu & pesto

 

 

Mindful Chef is more than a recipe box company, it is a lifestyle brand offering customers a healthy, mindful way of life.

 

For more information see: www.mindfulchef.com

Instagram & Twitter: @MindfulChefUK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MindfulChefUK/

 

Mindful Chef have great reviews on Trust Pilot: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/mindfulchef.com

 

 

Bellavita Showcase the Best of Italy in London

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Bellavita are set on bringing the best of Italian food and drink across the globe. Being the ambassadors of Italian Excellence, their expo is designed for traders to try out their best exports and see if they fit into the UK market. We went to their annual expo held in London to see what is traders are dying to supply the UK market and we picked our top brands to look out for;

Cipriani – With their iconic blue packaging and their notorious chain of restaurants including the famous Harry’s Bar in Venice, Cipriani are set on bringing out their famous Bellini Bottled and available to buy on the UK market.

Cà Rovere – Italian Sparkling Wine – Currently not no the UK market, Cà Rovere winery explain that despite being made in a Prosecco region they are an Italian Sparkling Wine made in the same way Champagne is produced with Chardonnay grapes. This was probably one of the most satisfying and luxurious products we tried at Bellavita Expo and we hope that it is available very soon. Despite this, you can still visit the winery if you happen to be in the Vicenza region.

La Gioiosa – This brand are already making a mark in all good UK retailers. One of Italy’s leading producers of Prosecco, La Gioiosa are set to introduce their Superior edition without added sulphites. This will join a very small range of Organic Prosecco currently available in the UK.

Bellavita are committed to bringing you the best and if you can’t wait to see the best of Italy, check out the Bellavita shop online bellavitashop.co.uk

Island Yoga on Koh Yao Noi: by Alex Bannard – Bangkok Correspondent.

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Alex’s yoga retreat on Koh Yao Noi becomes more than just a welcome break from solo parenting.

 

When Mr P suggested he would return for the first week of the Songkran school holidays and I should take some time off from holding the fort I have to say it took all of about 10 seconds to agree. A quick search on bookyogaretreats.com identified several options in Thailand. After reading the reviews, looking at locations and prices, yoga styles, classes, workshops, accommodation, I settled on Island Yoga in Koh Yao Noi.

 

Island Yoga nestles just off the beach amongst the mangroves and is a, relaxed, serene venue. The sunrises on the beach and you can enjoy a 45min tai chi moving meditation before the morning yoga session. The cicadas dawn chorus is deafening and vibrant and ensures you won’t miss the freshly brewed coffee prepared to accompany the sunrise if tai chi doesn’t appeal. I did the class several times and it is truly a beautiful way to start the day. It is amazing how you can really feel the energy, the chi, in the palms of your hands. It was my first experience of tai chi and I feel inspired to explore more back in Bangkok.

 

The morning yoga class is two hours of flow vinyasa style yoga but it begins with meditation and pranayama, breathing work, so it is not two hours of pure asana work and there was not too much focus on sun salutations.. My first morning class began with moving and shaking and dancing round the room to get the body moving

 

The yoga throughout the six days I was there was pitched perfectly: not too strenuous, not to easy, just the right amount of stretch physically, mentally and spiritually. The teachers are all young and incredibly knowledgeable and I learnt lots of different things that I look forward to putting into my own practice and even exploring with my own clients.

 

I was there for the Pink Full Moon, the Spring full moon and that day both sessions worked on channelling the energy of the moon. Given that the moon can move oceans and that our bodies are 70% water, it makes sense that the full moon can dramatically impact our own bodies. It can leave you feeling unbalanced, energised or out of sorts. Since this particular full moon was especially powerful combining the spring full moon with a number of planets in alignment, creativity and new beginnings were ripe for harnessing.

 

The late afternoon sessions are more gentle yin style classes where, similar to restorative yoga, poses are held for several minutes to open up fascias, encouraging healing and improved movement. On arrival you will generally begin the retreat with this class and it is a perfect introduction. All classes finish with savasana which is the most important pose of any yoga class and a time for blissful serenity.

 

The resort is owned by a local lady Khun Ning who runs the restaurant that offers a buffet style breakfast straight after the morning class and other Thai dishes from lunchtime onwards which are both delicious and reasonably priced. David who heads up the yoga side of things saw the potential in the 3 hut resort 8 years ago and after six months of climbing, tai chi and yoga on the island never went home. The resort can now support 55 guests with 2 salas for yoga practice. In high season groups are split into beginner and intermediate to advanced. He has plans to open next high season with a third state of the art 180m yoga hall, three therapy/treatment rooms,  a meditation hall and a sound healing chamber with many of the existing team returning to teach. By high season 2018 there will be additional accommodation.

 

If you need more between the classes than just relaxing by the pool, there is enough nearby within walking distance to entertain:  Arita massage has some wonderful treatments; Bay View restaurant offers spectacular views of the bay and yet more delicious Thai food, their Panang curry is especially good; La Luna, 500 m, away offers the best pizza I have tasted in Thailand, wine and a lovely vibe; Chaba, around a km’s walk or bike ride away, offers real coffee, an amazing gluten free chocolate cake (which essentially makes it free of calories, right?) and organic delights.

 

This was my first yoga retreat and I can honestly say I absolutely loved it and really hope to return, depending of course what the universe has in store for us I would really recommend a yoga retreat and in my limited experience Island Yoga offers a completely authentic, beautiful opportunity to immerse yourself in yoga, serenity, peace and calm in surroundings that are rare to find the days in Thailand.

 

Island Yoga closes in May and September.

Images courtesy of www.renesolari.com