Biddy at Newbury Artisan

What a busy half-term it’s been in Newbury, with the brilliant Halloween Haunt Hunt running all week in the town and then hot on its heels the first Newbury Artisan Sunday market taking place on 1 November.

Despite it being a cloudy day there were lots of sunny smiles in the town centre which was buzzing with families, couples and individuals out and about enjoying both the Farmers’ Market in Market Place and Newbury Artisan running the length of Northbrook Street.

The Farmers’ Market had a great choice of meats, fish, eggs, cheeses, apple juice, beers and fresher-than-fresh seasonal vegetables. Yummy. (And despite the fact that I’m told it’s going to shorten my life, I could not resist buying some delicious dry-cured bacon from a lovely lady from Dews Meadow Farm Shop.)

And then onto Northbrook Street where stalls stretched for just about as far as the eye could see.

Artisan is a well-used word at the moment but it perfectly described the eclectic, exciting displays of food, drink and crafts on offer.

Having arrived on lunchtime, the senses were alive with a huge choice of street foods, from paella and pulled pork rolls to pies and pastries. The bread, buns and patisserie were right up my street and mouth-wateringly good; never mind a sliced white, give me a rustic sourdough or seeded spelt loaf any day.

Tutts Clump Cider put in an appearance and was doing its usual roaring trade, and there was another stall with sparkling wine which was proving popular. Oh yes, and some gorgeous fishcakes to take home; they will be putting in an appearance on our dining table later this week.

And what else? Bags, cushions, hand-felted plant pots, and a clever idea of 3-D paintings crafted from your own photograph. The silver jewellery which you could have personalised, for example with your child’s finger print or your four-legged-friend’s paw print, looked very cute and would make a perfect present.

Then there were very pretty shabby-chic home furnishings, and vintage clothing put in an appearance with some cleverly reconstructed pieces that gave them a whole new look.

Jack FM was providing lively musical entertainment and children were enjoying colouring in masks at the Newbury BID stand, but one particularly intriguing stall that was attracting a lot of attention was the one offering the chance to hold a wild creature for £1. Personally I did not feel the need, but there were plenty of others who were enjoying having Hissing Sid draped around their necks!

Shops, restaurants and cafés that were open were also making the most of the extra footfall and drawing in the crowds, so it was good news all round.

All in all it was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday, and it’s great to know that Newbury Artisan is going to be a regular monthly event in 2016.

See you there next time.

Biddy x

 

 

 

Hungerford Food Festival

Hungerford Food Festival - Sunday 4 October 2015

With over 50 stalls, sizzling street food and the buzz of live cooking demonstrations, this year's Hungerford Food Festival 11am - 3.30pm Sunday 4 October promises to be another inspiring celebration of local and seasonal fare.

This year's demonstrator chefs will include best-selling What's for Dinner? cookbook author and head of the Honesty Food Group, Romilla Arber; Head Chef of Blandys@Inglewood Gert Pienaar and leftovers queen Ilja Harvey for Love Food, Hate Waste.

As usual there will be plenty for local foodies to do. Come and test your ingredient knowledge (as well as your flexibility...) on the Young Farmer's Food Challenge version of Twister. Get your pinny on and enter the Hungerford Cook-Off or take up Barney's Pumpkin Challenge: last year local head gardener Barney Barnes displayed the largest pumpkin of his crop which weighed in at a whopping 95.5 kilos. Can you beat Barney this year? More details on how to enter our competitions can be found on www.hungerfordfoodfestival.com.

Local and award-winning food and drink producers will offer a tempting array of fresh produce, local meat and game, pies, beer, cider and wine, rapeseed oil, apple juice, honey, mushrooms, cakes, artisan bread and preserves ... with many offering free tasters and samples. And there will be plenty to feast on from Secret Pizza Society's popular wood-fired pizza, Andi's Finest German sausage and T.H.Burrough's burgers to Mrs B's saucy salads, Hog Crackle hog roast and Asian street food.

Hungerford Food Festival is proud to be part of British Food Fortnight and is kindly sponsored by Doves Farm, Audley Inglewood and Cobbs Farmshop.

Entry only £1 for adults (U16s free).

For more information please visit www.hungerfordfoodfestival.com or contact 01488 648534 or hungerfordfoodfestival@gmail.com

Newbury Real Ale Festival 2015

4,500 people can’t be wrong. That’s how many attended Newbury Real Ale Festival last year, and what fun they had consuming 18,000 pints between them. Join them this year for what promises to be another fabulous event, and something of a musical extravaganza to boot.

The event takes place at Northcroft Fields, Newbury RG14 1RS on Saturday 12 September, with gates opening at 12 noon.

The organisers have selected the ‘best of the best’ ales and ciders from around the country, and there will be around 140 ales and 100 ciders to choose from, including those from local brewers Two Cocks, West Berkshire Brewery and Tutts Clump. (But if beer or cider is not your thing there is a selection of wines to try instead.)

Tickets can be bought on-line in advance, and included in the admission price of £10 are THREE, yes THREE, drink tokens. All drinks are bought via tokens – this speeds up serving time with no change needed – and additional drink tokens (which are non-refundable) can be purchased on site.

This is a family friendly event, so there will be a tuck shop selling snacks and soft drinks. Although the family dog is not invited, under-18s get in free but must be accompanied by an adult. Anyone lucky enough to look under 18 will need to show ID to be served alcoholic drinks.

This year there is a fantastic mix of music genres performing, from rock to reggae, from blues to indie, from dance to acoustic. The Main Stage features some of the finest tribute bands around, including Guns 2 Roses, Noasis and The Doors Alive, and original work from the likes of Echotape and In Darklight. The Tent, too, has some fabulous offerings, including from popular local artists such as Oli Hill and Jenny Bracey.

There will be plenty of opportunities to tuck in and soak up the beer, with no less than four hog roasts supplied from Graham and Charlie Plank’s Bucklebury farm. Beer and barbecues make a wonderful pairing – try America-style treats from Sal’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Q and slow-cooked delights from Pit Smoked BBQ. California Taco brings the joys of tacos, fajitas, quesadillas and the like from native Californian Laura Hunt, who now lives in Newbury. There will also be authentic wood-fired, handmade pizzas from Little Reds. Or how about a kebab or burger and chips from local seller Ghassan? And if you’ve got a sweet tooth you won’t be able to resist Crown Ice Cream.

Thanks to the sponsorship of several local companies, the festival is once again raising money for Naomi House, the local children's charity, who last year were presented with a cheque for £10,000. There are all sorts of benefits to being a sponsor – including Cider Friday, need we say more? – so if you want to be part of the mix next year, check out the website for details.

The music draws to a close at 10pm, with an expected festival finish time of 11pm when weary but happy festival-goers will be wending their way home and looking forward to the next one.

Further details of the event from www.newburyrealale.co.uk 

Dubai International Arabian Races

Dubai International Arabian Races - Newbury Racecourse 26 July

This full day of Arabian racing was run under the Dubai International Arabian Races banner for the first time in 2014, and in 2015 this flagship event comes to town on Sunday 26 July. For anyone who has not been racing before this race day is a great introduction to the ‘sport of kings’. Not only is entry absolutely free to everyone, but there is fun to be had for all the family. 

The Dubai International Arabian Races are part-organised by Shadwell Estate Company Ltd, based at Nunnery Stud in Thetford, Norfolk, whose horses have been running in the famous blue and white colours of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum since 1980. 

From its origins in the Middle East, Arabian racing has become increasingly popular across Europe as it aims to emulate Thoroughbred racing, and Shadwell Arabian stallions have been at the forefront of this sport since the beginning. Shadwell’s Chairman, Mirza Al Sayegh, explains the reason behind developing the Dubai International Arabian Races: ‘The idea is to help countries by supporting racing, in particular Arabian racing, to develop it as a sport, and we are encouraging breeders, owners and trainers to get involved.’

A horse that people might want to follow is last year’s Shadwell Dubai International Stakes winner Al Hibaab, trained by Newmarket handler Gill Duffield. He is likely to contest this race again in 2015 to try and emulate former Shadwell star No Risk Al Maury who won back-to-back Dubai International Stakes in 2007 and 2008 for the same trainer. 

So what will be happening at Newbury Racecourse on 26 July? With no need to pre-book free entry tickets, gates open at 12 noon and there will be eight races to enjoy. There will be plenty of outlets where you can enjoy a variety of food and refreshments, but if you want to dine in real style you are advised to pre-book The Hennessey Restaurant.

Something special this year will be an exhibition by the Society of Equestrian Artists entitled ‘The Arabian Horse in Art’; a children’s art workshop will be running on a ‘first come first served’ basis and there will also be artists painting ‘live’ around the course during the day.

Continuing the art theme, children from 14 local schools will be there hoping to win the Arabian Rainbow competition, a community arts project that challenges pupils to use their imagination to paint life-size horse sculptures. The competition has generated more than £60,000 in prize money for primary schools in the region since its introduction in 2009.

Along with Shadwell Stud, sponsors this year include Jebel Ali Racecourse, Emirates NBD (Bank), Emirates Airline, Rotana Hotels & Resorts, Emirates Equestrian Federation and National Academy of Indian Payroll, all of whom are supporting the organisers to ensure that once again this will be a fun day out for all ages, with henna artists, face painting, magician Marc Oberon and Newbury Racecourse mascot Harry the Horse out and about. As in 2014 there will be a free draw to win an amazing brand new car and the chance to win fabulous holidays to Dubai, courtesy of Emirates Airline and Rotana Hotels & Resorts. Two other exciting competitions to enter will be for the Best Dressed Lady and Best Children’s Hat. 

For further details about the Dubai International Arabian Races visit www.diaraces.com.

For further details about Newbury Racecourse, and to book The Hennessey Restaurant on 26 July, visit www.newburyracecourse.co.uk.

(A longer version of this article appears in the summer edition of In Newbury magazine www.innewburymag.co.uk © Newbury BID. Photographs © Shadwell Estate Company Ltd.)

Parkway en Provence

There’s lots of summertime fun to be had in Parkway Newbury this July!

Saturday 11 July: Parkway en Provence 

This event sees Parkway turned into a charming and compact French market for the day … or should that be un peu marché Français?

Look out for wonderful French breads, cheeses and wines from boulangerie, pâtisserie and café PAUL, and at Marks & Spencer. Pop in to Café Rouge for tasty taster treats. 

Be indulged with a hand massage and samples from L’Occtaine, the natural beauty skincare specialists, with their Mediterranean-inspired techniques and products.

Whilst you enjoy all this, there will also be entertainment from French mime artists, accordion players … and you can even have your caricature drawn. 

It’s going to be a très bon jour! 

Remember there is plenty of parking at Parkway and it costs just £1 for the first hour.

Look out for another fantastic event at Parkway on Saturday 18 July.

Visit www.shopatparkway.com for further details.

Biddy Conquers 4 Kingdoms

A fine spring day beckoned and the husband and I decided to take our grandson (DD) to conquer 4 Kingdoms.

If you’ve conjured up visions of suits of armour, dashing chargers, fire-breathing dragons and pointed lances, do not fear: 4 Kingdoms is tamer than that – though very exciting for anyone up to age of 12.

4 Kingdoms Farm and Adventure Park, to give it its full title, is just on the outskirts of Newbury, at Headley. (It is very easy to find but see www.4-kingdoms.co.uk for directions and details of opening times etc). We arrived on a bright May morning, but my goodness the wind was chilly. There are wide open spaces here and I suspect the wind whips up pretty regularly, so my advice is to take plenty of layers.

After parking up in the spacious car park, a warm welcome awaited us. Once you’ve paid your entrance fee, everything (except food and drink, obviously) is free, even the ride-on machines which normally cost at least £1 – and when you are only two-and-a-half you can never get enough of a see-saw with Mr Bump on the other end. 

DD barely knew where to start exploring. To an adult eye the sight looked fairly modest to begin with, but once you are properly ensconced you begin to realise that it stretches on… and on… and on. In fact there are 40 acres of Kingdom and, despite its proximity to the A339, you are surrounded by trees and countryside so well protected from road noise. And within those 40 acres there is lots to keep youngsters occupied for, quite literally, hours on end.

Clearly during school holidays and weekends it gets much busier, but we are making the most of DD being a pre-schooler and, mid-week, were able to enjoy everything at 4 Kingdoms with other families in the same position, and no need to queue.

While many of the facilities have certainly been well-used and could do with a lick of paint, it was early in the season when we visited and the staff were busy making improvements and carrying out general maintenance – and all cheerfully and discreetly. Maintenance is, of course, essential, so visitors are warned that not every ride or facility is necessarily available every day.

So, what is there at 4 Kingdoms? Sandpits, bouncy castles, forts to explore and climb, and lots of slides of varying heights and lengths, so plenty of choice depending on the size of your child. DD is very keen on small buildings which he can run in and out of, and there are many of these in the play village – a police station (plus prison), fire station, post office – even a bank with an ATM machine (non-functioning, I should add). Here too are lots of stationery vehicles, including a speedboat, for those who like to ‘drive’, and DD ran from one to the other with the greatest of glee. (I especially liked the London taxi – you could twist the driver’s head round so he could ask the backseat passenger, ‘Where to, Guv?’)

There are go-carts a-plenty, and what fun we had on those. There are two outside tracks, with go-carts that involve pedal power – great exercise for us – plus an indoor track with electric-powered ones. Woo-hoo!

Then on to the crazy golf (sadly no holes in one for me), and I managed to persuade the husband that perhaps the zip-wire and assault course were not for him.

The site is bordered by the River Enborne and there are three lakes. Go through a gate to follow a nature walk or picnic beside the water while watching ducks and other waterfowl. Beside the Magic Lake is what I would love most of all if I were still five-years-old: the Fairy Wood. There are little fairy houses in the trees too…

Although the Tractor Train was not running on the day of our visit, the fun had not stopped yet. There are animals to be admired in the great outdoors – pygmy goats, llamas and ponies – and in the animal petting area you can meet smaller creatures: rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens and, one of the highlights of our day, baby lambs, which you get a chance to feed at certain times of day in the spring. 

If you don’t bring you own picnic there is an indoor café where you can buy drinks, snacks and lunches – sandwiches, jacket potatoes, or such things as burgers or fish fingers and chips cooked to order. As well as two indoor seating areas, there is a soft play area for little ones if you want some time indoors.

We were there for hours so thought it well worth the entrance fee. Wind-blown, full of fresh air and well exercised, an exhausted DD was asleep in the car before we’d even left the car park!

Biddy x